Australian Consumer Law

There was a major change for Australian Consumer Law. Within this paper, the differences on the old and the new system will be discussed further. Australian Consumer Law is a single national law, which is, applies in all jurisdictions, to all business and to all industry sectors. The ACL also represents a new approach to considering consumer policy issues, with the Australian Government and the States and Territories working closely together to consider develop and implement changes. This essay will explain about the differentiation between the old system and the new system. There are several benefits for the consumer such as, this ACL will replace 20 existing state with one law, this new law is also easier to understand and clearer. On the 1st January 2011 was the beginning of a new consumer policy in Australia. That policy is called ACL (Australian Consumer Law), ACL is a single national law covering all each state and territory. This ACL will replace the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 and will renaming the Trade Practices Act 1974. This law will also apply similar to Commonwealth law. Every state and Territory will also make the ACL as their policy so that it will be equal for all Australia. All Australian courts and tribunals also from the states and territories enforce this law. This law has created a new different system as mentioned above, this law is one for all. There will be several major changes applied to customer or to seller. For example; * Product safety, a new national product safety legislative regime is set out. Also includes extensive new notification requirements for all suppliers. * Misleading or deceptive conduct, ACL prohibit misleading or deceptive conduct in trade or commerce. The ACL will provide the same broad protection as section 52 of the TPA. Unfair Contracts, on the old law this took effect at a commonwealth level in Victoria and NSW and now, this law took effect as law of other states and territories on 1 January 2011. * Unsolicited sales; a new national governing unsolicited consumer agreements (door to door sales, telemarketing and other direct sales) are introduced. * Lay-by agreement is also introduced in this ACL. * Product safety, a ne w national product safety legislative regime is set out. Also includes extensive new notification requirements for all suppliers. There are also specific protections for the new ACL against unfair business practices. Not like the general protections mentioned above this specific activities that can be particularly caused negative impact, such as; * Failing to supply gifts and prizes or not supplying them as offered (mislead). * Pyramid selling schemes; such as network marketing. This new ACL also cover consumer guarantees. They create a single set of statutory consumer guarantees replace the old system of conditions and warranties in the Trade Practices Act. The guarantees modernise and clarify the operations of the law on consumer rights in relation to goods and services and align Australia’s law with the New Zealand Consumer Guarantees act 1993. Lay-by agreements, on this ACL there is a rules that cover the basic elements of lay-by agreement transactions in a non-prescriptive way. There are some key themes in the Consumer Law changes – enhancing consumer protection, reducing regulatory complexity and having a consistent national approach to facilitate a seamless national economy. The key components of the framework involve a new national consumer law, to be called the Australian Consumer Law, based on the existing consumer protection provisions of the Trade Practices Act (TPA). In addition, there will be some new consumer laws including: Provisions which regulate unfair terms in consumer contracts; new penalties, enforcement powers and redress options for consumers (ultimately, what every supplier doesn't want to hear); and a new national product safety regulatory system. There are strong reasons to have a national approach to consumer protection in Australia. The obvious reason is to ensure a consistent approach for both suppliers and consumers. Many organisations that supply consumer products and services, supply to consumers nationally and this is an increasing trend. It can become a logistical nightmare to manage different regimes in different states. In addition, there is no rational explanation for why consumers are offered different levels of protection just because they live in a certain state or territory. For some organisations, however, introducing a national approach with new consumer laws will mean change and substantial review of existing processes – this of course, means time and money. For example, a national approach to unfair contract terms will mean that organisations supplying to consumers will need to ensure that their agreements do not contain â€Å"unfair contract terms†. According to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), unfair contract terms are those, which cause significant imbalance in parties' rights and obligations arising under a contract and are not reasonably necessary to protect the legitimate business interests of the supplier. Such terms will be prohibited in agreements (ie. greements that are not negotiated) with remedies available where a claimant can show detriment to the consumer, or a substantial likelihood of detriment (not limited to financial detriment). In getting up to speed on this change, it will be important for organisations to assess the meaning of an â€Å"unfair contract term† – the Consultation Paper provides some examples, but in practice it is likely that there will be uncertainty about what is an d isn't an unfair contract term. Based on all of those changes in ACL, it can be seen that the government trying to give an equal opportunity for every customer in Australia. As mentioned above, if we are buying iPad in Northern Territory, we will get insurance or a certain bonus but not when we are buying it in Victoria. The population of some certain states causes this issue, thus a store on the other state must have another promotion to cover their customer. On the other side for a business opportunity, this will be a little bit harder for a businessman to grow their business. They are so many rules for them to protect customer to be harmed.

Administering Desktop Clients

Course number CIS 293, Administering Desktop Clients, emphasizes Windows client administration tasks in a network-based environment. Topics discussed include installation and configuration of desktop clients, user management, resource management and security.These topics are the subject of a number of Microsoft Certified exams I have taken, all of which have training and experience requirements attached. I believe that my training and experience as a Microsoft Certified Professional, including the Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator and Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer endorsements, is an exceptional demonstration of my competence in the topics covered in CIS 293.The Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA) certification, which I achieved in 2005, included two exams, as well as credit for previous exams I had taken. The first, Managing and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Environment for an MCSA Certified on Windows 2000 (Exam number 70-292), included mos t of the topics included in CIS 293.The second exam, Planning, Implementing and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Environment (Exam number 70-296), also covered the content of CIS 293. Previous knowledge of administering desktop clients was included in the tests and training taken to achieve my MCP and MCSE certifications.In addition to the exams required for the MCSA certification, I was also required to have live experience administering Windows 2000 or 2003 in a medium to large scale networked environment.The first exam for my MCSA certification, Managing and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Environment, was an updated exam available because I had previously achieved the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) certification on Windows 2000.In order to be eligible for the exam, I was required to have experience administering client and network operations in a medium to large-scale computing environment of 250 or more users, including responsibility for network servi ces, messaging, email and print services, proxy servers, firewall, Internet and intranet connectivity, and client computer management, as well as remote user connectivity.This exam covered areas such as administering user, computers and group accounts in a Windows 2003 Active Directory-based environment, using the Group Management Console to enforce group policies, resource and security management, Terminal Services, and Software Update Services.User management training for the exam included learning how to create and modify user accounts, singly and in groups; change passwords; and use Active Directory to manage users. Additionally, the exam covered use of the Group Management Console, a Group Policy tool that allows for easy management of user groups.Resource management training included discussion of NTFS file permissions and ways to change the owner of a file or directory; it also included such tasks as creating and using security templates and using security templates to config ure NTFS file permissions and using the Security Configuration and Analysis utility to audit and correct current security settings.Terminal Services configuration and control was also included in the MCSA certification exams. The training included such tasks as using Remote Desktop Client to troubleshoot user problems and using Software Update Services to keep all clients on a network up to date and functioning properly.The exam Planning, Implementing and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Environment covered a number of areas included in CIS 293. A substantial portion of this exam consisted of learning to plan, implement and troubleshoot User and Group policies.It also included such client administration duties as Active Directory planning, execution and maintenance, and design of an authentication strategy including such possibilities as a SmartCard reader. Security monitoring, certificates and public key infrastructure design were also discussed.My certification as a Microsoft Cer tified System Administrator indicates experience in administering desktop clients that is both broad and deep, encompassing all aspects of system administration, including those listed in the course description as well as many more.I have training and experience configuring and using desktop clients, remote troubleshooting using Remote Desktop Client as well as using other Terminal Services tools, using Active Directory and other methods to create and modify users and user groups, using the Group Management Console to create and maintain groups, administering resources and designing and implementing security policies and many other client-based administration tasks as well.On the strength of my multiple Microsoft Certifications, as well as the training, experience and knowledge required to gain these certifications, I believe that I should receive credit for the course CIS 293: Administering Desktop Clients.

A Study Of Teachers Perceptions Of Online Teaching And Satisfaction Dissertation

A Study Of Teachers Perceptions Of Online Teaching And Satisfaction Within A Private Organizational Setting - A Mixed Methods Study - Dissertation Example It stands to reason then that, according to statistics maintained by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), nearly 4,200 U.S. institutions or approximately 66% of ‘degree-granting postsecondary institutions, offered distance education courses to over 12 million students during the academic year 2006-07. Of these, 77% were enrolled in online courses, 12% in hybrid courses, and 10% in other types of courses (Institute of Education Sciences, 2007). Online education and teaching is also growing in K-12 schools. This trend was shown by a national survey comparing online and blended learning conducted in the 2005-06 academic year (Picciano & Seaman, 2007). Another follow- up survey during 2007-08 showed a 47% rise from the previous survey, with over 1 million students enrolled in online learning nationwide (Ibid.). Drawing on national data compiled over a span of six years, it has been predicted that no less than half of all high school courses will be online by 2019; b efore then, it is expected that about five to six million K-12 students (10% of the national total) will be taking classes online (Picciano, Seaman, & Allen, 2010). Industry organizations such as the â€Å"International Association for K- 12 Online Learning† (iNACOL) believe online learning is more than a trend. It is revolutionizing global education, and those academic institutions with strong e-learning strategies will advance to help prepare students to reach their full potential in a digital age (Arora, 2009, p. 17). Education through online learning is presenting fresh opportunities for all students, despite learning abilities, background, income level or location (Curran & Allen, 2006). Statement of the Problem The dynamic state of online... Online education and teaching is also growing in K-12 schools. This trend was shown by a national survey comparing online and blended learning conducted in the 2005-06 academic year (Picciano & Seaman, 2007). Another follow- up survey during 2007-08 showed a 47% rise from the previous survey, with over 1 million students enrolled in online learning nationwide (Ibid.). Drawing on national data compiled over a span of six years, it has been predicted that no less than half of all high school courses will be online by 2019; before then, it is expected that about five to six million K-12 students (10% of the national total) will be taking classes online. Industry organizations such as the â€Å"International Association for K- 12 Online Learning† (iNACOL) believe online learning is more than a trend. It is revolutionizing global education, and those academic institutions with strong e-learning strategies will advance to help prepare students to reach their full potential in a digital age (Arora, 2009, p. 17). Education through online learning is presenting fresh opportunities for all students, despite learning abilities, background, income level or location (Curran & Allen, 2006). The dynamic state of online education has outpaced empirical research into the theory that applies to the area of teacher satisfaction. Even a moderately intensive search of the literature shows that more than half are devoted to student satisfaction, suggesting an overwhelming concern with market forces and revenue streams.

DuPond fibre Inc Marketing Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

DuPond fibre Inc Marketing - Case Study Example Thus the technological upgradation works need to be undertaken without causing much harm to the prevailing business volumes. Further, all the management functions too need to be appropriately re-engineered to meet the future growth expectation of the company and also to retain its competitive advantage being enjoyed currently. The brief descriptions on the type of initiatives being undertaken in the various departments are explained as follows. The supporting data and the other relevant information about all the decision being presented here given separately in the Appendix. The raw materials being used in both type of the processes are the same and no significant change in the type materials procured for the process exist. But the change in volume of procurement would certainly vary occurs across the sites of production. Earlier, pattern of procurement was identical at site 1 and site 2, while the site 3 had almost three times higher rates of procurement than the earlier mentioned locations. But in the changed scenario all the locations would be having same procurement patterns after full-scale operations are in place at all the centers of production. And with increased volume requirement identification the current suppliers would be given the license of the supply and also to maintain the identical quality of materials supplied. On production sigi On production sigifinificant changes are expected. The change over of operations from the production of one type of fibre to the other need a careful planning. Both at site 1 and site 2, a new set of facilities would be installed. This might require atleast 3 to 4 years due to the process involved in approvals and installation works. In 2006, the modification to the facilities could also be initiated as the sales forecast is lesser in 2008. This process might require only 2 years. Once, site 1 modifications is completed ,site 2 works could also be initiated. Thus by 2009 , four fully functional facilities would be in operation to produce the modified fibre. The only one of the three units at the site 3 shall be changed to accommodate the new type of production process. The other two types here shall be retained for the manufacture of non-woven fibres. Sales and Marketing The major change in the marketing process is to bring a new set of customers to its modified fibre product. Though all its non-woven customers have not shifted to the newer product, it leaves a big exercise to create a new set of clients for its products (Kotler and Amstrong, 2001). The major marketing campaign involves extensive business conference that has been arranged for all the industry operators to create the importance of the modified fibre supplied by the company. The sales team would be set into operation to generate the potential sales. These exercises have a time of 4 years from now as the forecasted sales is 3 million Kg in the year 2009. With the prevailing demand for these type of fibres, the sales team would generate higher sales volume as the expected sales from this product category is 30 million Kg of fibre. Finance/ Costing Based on the forecasts presented in demand it is estimated significant investments would be required during the period from 2006 to 2009 (Beasley, n.d.). The with the total volume of sales in 2006 is reported as 24.7 million Kg of fibre. With the prices of 0.9 UD dollars for every Kg of non-woven fiibre, the

Knowledge Management Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Knowledge Management - Term Paper Example This discussion stresses that it is always possible to build a network within the organization where data from various departments will be collaborated into a single centralized system before forwarding it to Google’s platform. As far as the use of the database is concerned to, the platform put forth by Google cloud services makes it possible for all individual systems within the organization to have a common access so that organizational roles and functions on the database can be undertaken on a collaborated purpose.As the report highlights  comes with the cloud services offered on Google’s website is that it makes organizational innovation more revealing. That is, is stimulates the act and practice of organizational innovation among the personnel within the organization. This is done in a number of ways. Because of the idea of bringing about collaboration, it becomes almost mandatory that every sector of the organization should be working on its own miniature databa se that would be forwarded into a centralized system before sending it to the Google database. This decentralized system eradicates the temptation that certain departments will be waiting on the centralized system to get all the work done. Rather, the innovative skill of every sector is quickened and brought alive as they all take up a role to deliver within the organization.  Expert systems and neural networks are both components of a technology based management system that is rooted in the principles of knowledge management.... cloud services offered such as replication, patch management and backups require that people within the system get themselves at breast with the technological time to be able to live up such challenges. By so doing, creativity and innovation is highlighted among the people because they will be forced to live up to modernity and time. 2. Generally, expert systems and neural networks are both components of a technology based management system that is rooted in the principles of knowledge management. This is because in both cases, there is that conscious effort by stakeholders to ensuring that the capabilities, insights and experiences available to the human resource base are identified, nurtured, utilized and developed through the use of basic technology (Guo & Sanchez, 2005). As far as expert systems is concerned, it could be said to be tilted more towards artificial intelligence that allows for the use of computer system to undertake the basic processes of decision-making that would have otherwise existed for the human resource to undertake. The process is referred to as expert systems because in its delivery of work, it functions and undertakes processes as a human expert would do. The capabilities available in expert systems thus have to do with the fact that it does not use logical procedures of developers but use consequential logical reasoning to solve complex problems. In the long run, the inadequacies and weaknesses of the creator of the systems are overshadowed by the complex reasoning capabilities of the system and this is a huge advantage to users of expert systems. Neural network is also attributed to artificial intelligence in the manner in which it uses the artificial basis of the biological concept of neurology to solve basic technological problems of

Development of the Constitution Act of Canada and the sections which Essay

Development of the Constitution Act of Canada and the sections which apply to immigration - Essay Example Immigrants were freely allowed in to Canada so that they could occupy the available lands and create market for Canadian commodities. Two years later, in 1869, the government passed the first immigration Act that had a few discriminatory restrictions. The discriminations were for strategic reasons and was supported by some Acts such as the1885 Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Act (Makarenko). The Second World War made the Canadian government to enact more legislations on immigration that did not allow immigrants from enemy countries. These restrictions were enacted in the Wartime Elections Act and War Measures Act. After the world war there was need to create a more socially integrated nation that would favor economic growth considering that there were immigrants from counties that were perceived as enemies. Later the government banned immigration of Chinese people due to Canadians losing their jobs to immigrants. In 1976, the Canadian government introduced another law that provided a new policy for admission of immigrants and it gave categories of immigrants. The categories were independent, humanitarian, assisted-relative and family classes. Later, in 1978, the government recognized refugees as legal immigrants (Makarenko). The government still recognizes the earlier reasons for the need for immigrants. The country still needed immigrants for economic growth and thus in 2001 the government passed Immigration and Refugee Protection Act that put restrictions on immigration eligibility (Government Of Canada, 2001). Later the government got into agreement with America and British-Columbia so as to regulate inflow of refugees from these two countries (Makarenko, 2012). Makarenko, J. (2012, August 12). Immigration Policy in Canada: History, Administration and Debates. Retrieved from Maple Leaf Web:

President Bill Clinton's Impeachment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

President Bill Clinton's Impeachment - Essay Example Jones to his hotel room and started to make a sexual advancement towards her. Ms. Jones refused to have sex with him (Linder). Included in the least of potential witnesses for Ms. Jones case against President Bill Clinton was a woman by the name Monica Lewinsky. Monica Lewinsky had worked in the White House in the year 1995 and was an intern. Linda Trip, who then was a former employee at the White House, provided Lewinsky’s information. Ms. Trip was a confidante of Ms. Lewinsky, and she had managed to record some of the conversations that she had heard with Ms. Lewinsky without the knowledge of Ms. Lewinsky. The conversations that were recorded were mainly about her contacts with the president. On 12th January of 1998, Ms. Trip provided the tapes of her secret conversations that she had had with Ms. Lewinsky to Kenneth W. Starr who was an Independent Counsel that was pointed to carry out an investigation Whitewater Estate that belonged to Mr. and Mrs. Clinton. On 15th January, Starr secured an approval from Janet Reno, who was the then Attorney General. Janet Reno requested and received an order the Court of Appeals. The request was to expand the scope of the Whitewater prove and introduce new accusations. The next day, there was a meeting between Ms. Tripp and Ms. Lewinsky at a hotel, and federal agents secretly recorded the conversation. The federal agents later confronted Ms. Lewinsky claiming that she had committed perjury and further demanded that she should cooperate in providing evidence against the then president. Ms. Lewinsky at first denied them her cooperation and claimed that much of what she had told Ms. Tripp was not the truth about the events. July of 1998, this was after Ms. Lewinsky had been granted sweeping Immunity from the prosecution by Starr, who was the special prosecutor in the case. Under these new circumstances, Ms. Lewinsky confessed to having had a sexual relationship with President Bill Clinton, which did not include

Reflection paper - Characteristics & Support of Effective Coaching & Essay

Reflection paper - Characteristics & Support of Effective Coaching & Mentoring - Essay Example First, the team members expect that the coach should be objective and have positive criticism. This expectation requires that their coach is able to give constructive criticism to the members regarding their performance during the training, as well as being able to point out and acknowledge the positive aspects of the trainees (Knight, 2008). This is vital, since it enables the team members to know the truth regarding their performance, in terms of where they are doing well, and where they need changes and improvements, without frustrating or even killing their morale. The other expectation that the participants have regarding their coach’s characteristic is that; the coach should be readily available. This means that the coaches should avail themselves whenever the team members need them, or be available to the team members, whenever they make appointments with them. For the coaching to be effective, the relationship between the coaches and their team members who they are tra ining should be that of partners (Knight, 2002). This is because, individuals feel valued and appreciated, whenever they treated as equals, as opposed to being treated as subordinates, or even being dominated over by others, regardless of their position in the chain of command. Thus, to make the coaching more effective, the trainees require to have the freedom to make choices regarding certain aspects of the coaching, and requires the coach to honor their choices, being a partner to the coaching exercise (Knight, 2008). This way, the members of the team being coached requires the coach to be available when they need him, or whenever they make an appointment with the coach. This is also aligned with the principle of punctuality as one of the expectations that the participants would expect their coach to have. The participants in the coaching sessions expect that the coach will be available in good time, when they set such time. The availability and the punctuality of the coach are th e two characteristics that are fundamental for effective coaching, since they go a long way in enhancing the trust that the team members will have on their coach (Knight, 2008). The other important expectation that the participants have regarding the characteristics of the coach is that; the coach should be knowledgeable in the subject matter. There is nothing that commands respect and trust more, than an individuals’ competency and demonstrated knowledge and ability in the field of specialization of the individuals. Thus it is through being highly knowledgeable in the subject matter, that a coach is able to win the trust of the participants, since they have the comfort that they are gaining the best (Lipton & Wellman, n.d.). This motivates the individuals to be even more enthusiastic and committed to learning, considering that they have the belief that they are achieving the best. However, the most significant expectation of the participants regarding the characteristics of the coach is that the coach will have good listening skills, and thus be able to give them positive emotional support. Listening skills are vital for coaching, considering that they enable the coach to learn the team members, including their strengths and weaknesses, and thus enable the coach

Jason Aldean Night Train Essay Example for Free

Jason Aldean Night Train Essay Jason Aldean is an American country music singer who since 2005, has recorded for Broken Bow Records. In his years as an artist he has released five albums and sixteen singles. His 2010 album My Kinda Party is certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His 2005 self-titled debut, 2007 album Relentless and 2009 album Wide Open are all certified platinum. Of his singles, eight have reached the number one position on the Hot Country Songs charts: Why, Shes Country, Big Green Tractor, The Truth, Dont You Wanna Stay (a duet with Kelly Clarkson), Dirt Road Anthem, Fly Over States, and Take a Little Ride. Seven more have reached top ten on the same chart. Aldean’s latest album titled Night Train debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 charts and number two for the year. Shortly before the release of the album Billboard writer/ reviewer Ray Waddell did a detailed track-by-track review of the album. In this he talked about how originality, pace, musical skill, lyrics, overall impact and production played a part in each of the songs. Overall his review of the album Night Train and Jason Aldean as an artist was very detailed and applauded Aldean on his new album. Before Ray Waddell the reviewer of Jason Aldean’s Night Train album does a track-by-track review he does an overall review and quotes from both Aldean and his producer Michael Knock about the album. In this overall review Waddell talks about the type of music that the album has the instruments used and what as a whole the album has to offer the listeners and fans. The part that stands out most from the Billboard review and that really shines a light on Waddell’s feelings of the album is when Waddell says that â€Å"In the end, the two ended up with a record that stays true to Aldeans sound and still manages to move that sound forward sonically, vocally and lyrically.† (Waddell) This shows that not only what Jason wanted and tried to get out of and across with this album but also what the producer wanted from this album came true. Both men and the many men and women that they work with put in many hard long hours and in the end it paid off. From Waddell’s review fans can read that Jason Aldean has put out another successful album that is moving into the future in all aspects but is what the fans have grown to love and expect. The first seven tracks on the Night Train album are â€Å"This Nothin’ Town†, â€Å"When She Says Baby†, â€Å"Feel That Again†, â€Å"Wheels Rollin’†, â€Å"Talk†, â€Å"The Only Way I Know†, and â€Å"Take A Little Ride†. Each of these tracks bring something new to the stage but they also contain bits and pieces of the old and the things that work. In the first track â€Å"This Nothin’ Town† review Waddell points out that in the song Jason says â€Å"Theres something to be said when you hear a song for the first time, those visions pop into your head, and you can see it. This is one of those songs† (Aldean) Each of these songs has something special about it and in the review Weddell points out the strong points of each song. Some of the comments that he had about these songs included â€Å"Despite the ringing guitars and an arena-rock sound, this ones harkens back to 70s rock bands like Kansas or Journey, blended in with a prominent vocal by Aldean and a strong sense of melody, and A great intro leads to a power ballad that sequences perfectly on the record. Add a blistering guitar solo and Aldeans ownership of the vocal and this one sounds like a hit.† (Weddell) These along with the many others show that this album is really something special and not just another country music album. Weddell looks at every aspect of a song and critiques each of those aspects individually and all together so for this album to have done so well it is really an accomplishment on the part of Aldean and his production crew and band. The last eight tracks of the album are â€Å"I Don’t Do Lonely Well, â€Å"Night Train, 1994, Staring at the Sun, Drink One for Me, Black Tears, â€Å"Walking Away, and Water Tower. Just like the first seven Weddell gives high marks for these tracks. He talks about what each track contains both vocal and instrumental wise but also talks to and about Aldean about his reaction to these tracks and the process that he went through when creating them. Some of the many positive review points include â€Å" One of the albums standout tracks, this funky hick-hop blockbuster is a tribute to Joe Diffie and the 90s, and The albums most notable ballad and powerful vocal, with the great line, She gets under your skin like a tattoo, a wah-wah guitar solo, and nostalgic feel.† (Waddell) In the last eight tracks are some of the most notable and powerful songs and Waddell points this out to further signify that this album and its tracks are good and have put together work for Aldean and the country music industry. Some may say that this was just another typical Jason Aldean album and that he is just wasting time recording other people’s songs. It is through this review anyone can see that although he may not write the song he makes it his own through the way that he sings performs and records the song. It is apparent that each of the songs means something to him. Included in this review Aldean says that â€Å"Night Train was a perfect example of just how far things have come the last few years, going from a bus pulling a trailer to now like a freight train with bus and tractor trailers. The title, more than the song, sums up where were at right now.(Aldean) This is what make the album good and what proves that the review is positive and effective. It does not matter what everyone out there thinks it is what the fans and supporters think. Night Train is an effective album both in that it has true meaning and influence but also in that it effectively show that Jason Aldean along with cou ntry music are moving forward in all aspects of the music.

Evolution of Community Kitchens

Evolution of Community Kitchens Abstract Community kitchen, as a concept is critical for ensuring the food security of the vulnerable population. It is a gathering point where groups of people come together to pool their resources to cook large quantities of food. The main focus of this research thesis is to understand the concept of community kitchens and their operation in different social settings. This research also aims to understand the role of the government agencies (if any) in ensuring the food security for the communities (which is their primary responsibility). In the changing context of state relegating to a secondary position, initiatives by such private actors assume significance. By highlighting on two different case studies of organizations, we tend to unravel the process of community kitchens in separate social environments. With the help of participant observation, focus group discussions and in-depth individual interviews, this research is an exploration of the possibilities of food security through the c oncept of community kitchens. Introduction Community kitchen is an institution where food is prepared by the members of a community in a collective manner. There are different models of community kitchens that exist around the social space. Generally it is observed that members of a community who prepare food are also the consumers of the same meals cooked collectively. However there are other models like Akshay Patra (our case study in the present study) where food is collectively prepared but distributed among the non preparers of the food cooked. Community kitchens aid the community in preparing affordable meals through a self sustaining institution. The purchase, preparation and consumption are more often than not done in a collective manner which makes the enterprise a cost effective and time efficient in nature. While meeting a communitys social needs, collective kitchens are a mechanism which provide financial, social and food security to the community members. Community kitchens are socially rooted institutions, they help in increasing the solidarity among the members of the community. Grace Campbell states The formation and operation of community kitchens varies widely across communities and cultures and is largely dependent on the membership, yet each organization requires a well-equipped kitchen, willing participants, and initial capital. Food security is a modern day challenge, which needs to be addressed at all levels of society. Community kitchens at local level provide access to affordable and nutrition rich food to the members of a community, which goes a long way in ensuring food security. Globalization, inflation, increasing gap between the haves and have nots, are the major reasons which are keeping an average man food insecure. In such a scenario, this research aims to explore food security through the concept of community kitchens. Food security Food security is a condition in which all people at all times can acquire safe, nutritionally adequate and personally acceptable foods that are accessible in a manner that maintains human dignity.[1] The four components of food security, as described in the literature, are the quantitative, the qualitative, the social, and the psychological. The quantitative component describes what is traditionally known as hunger, not having enough to eat at the individual level, or not having food in the house at the household level. The qualitative component concerns the quality of the available food (its nutritional adequacy, safety, and variety). Individuals often compromise on food quality to cope with a lack of funds to purchase suitable foods. The psychological component includes the fears and decreased feelings of self-worth associated with dealing with the lack of funds to purchase sufficient, quality food, whereas the social component describes many of the coping strategies used to acquir e food when funding has run out, such as charity, stealing, and buying on credit. [2] In the 21st century disparities in economic growth have questioned the socio-economic and environmental sustainability. The issue of food security has now become a global concern. Notwithstanding the technological and scientific developments in the area of agricultural productivity, hunger and malnutrition continue to be a threat to the humanity. Access to food is still perceived by many as a privilege, rather than a basic human right, and it is estimated that about 35 000 people around the world die each day from hunger. An even larger number of people suffer from malnutrition. [3] UNFAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization) defines food security as Food security is food available at all times; that all persons have means of access to it; that it is nutritionally adequate in terms of quantity, quality and variety; and that it is acceptable within the given culture. Only when all these conditions are in place can a population be considered food secure. Based on the UN definition research world over emphasizes on four main components of the issue of food security those being availability to provide sufficient food to all, equal accessibility to nutritious food, acceptability of food based on local traditions and cultures and lastly adequacy which emphasizes on sustainability of production and distribution of food. Food security in India Food security has been a major development objective in India since the beginning of planning. The achievements of green revolution have somehow failed to reach the bottom of the pyramid. Chronic food insecurity remains at an all time high. Over 225 million Indians remain chronically under nourished. The state of Indias food security is worsening by the year.[4]The cost of food items is increasing rapidly, making them unaffordable to a majority of the people. In recent years, there has been a state policy focus towards household level food security and per capita food energy intake is taken as a measure of food security. The Indian government has been implementing a wide range of nutrition intervention programmes for achieving food security at the household and individual levels. The Public Distribution System (PDS) supplies food items, such as food grains and sugar, at administered prices through a network of fair price shops. There have been a range of food-for-work and other wage employment programmes. Another approach adopted by the government is to target women and children directly. This includes the mid-day meal programme for school going children, supplementary nutrition programme for children and women and Right to Food bill. [5] The Right to Food Bill introduced in the parliament in 2009 insists on the physical, economic and social right of all citizens to have access to safe and nutritious food, consistent with an adequate diet necessary to lead an active and healthy life with dignityWith the Right to Food campaign, hunger and food insecurity have come in the center of development discourse in India. Notwithstanding all these developments, our country is a habitat of people with unconscionable level of malnutrition and hunger. Malnutrition levels among the children and women are even higher than the overall average. Institute of Nutrition, Indian Council for Medical Research) estimates that nearly 40% of the adult population in India has a Body Mass Index of less than 18.5, which implies chronic energy deficiency of epic proportions, bordering on a national humanitarian crisis. [6] Since food security of the vast majority in the region is at stake, addressing such a wide range of issues demands community value-system based participatory approaches to ensure involvement of all the stakeholders. The various government schemes may serve as immediate means for dealing with food insecurity but shall be of ultimate irrelevance, until we work on developing our local community based food systems strong.[7] One of such means is through the institution of community kitchens. Community kitchens in their historic perspective Community kitchen as a concept is old, dating back to the late 15th century, which has undergone change over the years and the current form seems to be involving the community to address larger social issues like food security. In India, Sikhs have a history of providing food along with every worship service, ceremony, or event, and when Gurus gained popularity, people traveled from far of distances and gathered in groups to hear them preach the principles of equality and humanity. It was in the late 15th century that Guru Nanak dev ji, the founder of Sikhism, started the institution of Langar (community kitchens). Langar is a Persian word meaning an alms house, an asylum for the poor and the destitute.[8]Langar upheld and reinforced the Sikh principles of service to mankind, equality of all and humility. Although the institution was begun under aegis od Guru Nanak, it was institutionalized by Guru Amar Das, who sought to encourage a tradition of eating together that had begun with Nanak, the founder of Sikhism. Langar is the collective kitchen which is run in the Gurudwara. The institution feeds all who come, regardless of their religion, caste, gender or creed. Sikh devotes are involved in each stage from the food preparation, to feeding and to cleaning of the utensils. Today, this institution of Langar is cornerstone of Sikh religion, encouraging the discipline of service and a spirit of co-operation, philanthropy, equality, the ideas and practices deeply imbedded in the community kitchen movement. The practice and its origin must be seen in the light of its contradiction to the Hindu and Muslim custom at the time, which separated people on basis of caste (social ranking) or purdah (seclusion of women). In the recent past various moments around the concept of community kitchens can be seen across the world. In the nineties of the last century community kitchen was seen as a movement in Nicaragua, when Sandinista government lost power. The fall of the government put the nations food security policy in turmoil. It was then that community kitchens were set up all across the country to address the issues of hunger and deprivation. Similarly in Abkhazia, after the end of war between Georgia and Abkhazia (1994) community kitchens were established to provide food to the vulnerable populations of the country. The focus of the state sponsored community kitchens were women, children and elderly. Self sufficiency and sustainability were attained by purchase at local level and secondly by employing the local community. In America too, we see the moment of community kitchens. A not for profit body called Second Harvest was a pioneer to work in the area of food security in USA. Extensive community kitchens were set up to create hunger free America. The programme was unique as it involved students in the food preparation and distribution process. This led to skill enhancement and job training for the unemployed youth. History also holds evidence of collective kitchens operating in San Francisco. Community kitchens were set up there to meet the need of the immigrants and other discriminated sections of the population. These kitchens continue to encourage community unity through resource pooling, cultural exchange, and social interaction. Although in most of the cases the community and collective meal programmes were primarily organized to address financial challenges, many kitchens now focus on expanding social circles, multicultural interaction, address the challenges of hunger, dealing with food insecurity, and building community capacity. Food security and community kitchens Collaborative solutions that will make our communities resilient in the 21st century dont need to be at vast scales alone. Efforts at local community, household and individual levels play an important role to deal with the issue of food insecurity. One such model of community kitchens is a smart, practical program that has the ability to promote local food security. This model not only ensures that the participants have access to affordable food, but also in a sustainable and cost efficient manner. These are resilience building institutions, and work on principles of shared equality and mutual benefit. This local level initiative has the ability to grow across a wide range and make an impact on the global food security level. Community kitchens as alternate means of livelihood Community kitchens can serve as means of alternate livelihood to women of the marginalized sections, unemployed youth, local unskilled labor and other marginalized communities like sex workers. Community kitchen has the ability to provide the financial means whereby a group or a community can live a dignified and sustainable life. Sex workers face continuous social exclusion and are in a constant search for a stigma free means of livelihood as a pre-requisite for a dignified and better tomorrow. Initiation of community kitchens provides as a means of employment for many unskilled and semi-skilled workers thus ensuring a livelihood to the community. Collective kitchens serve to reduce vulnerability of marginalized sections of the society. It provides source of income as well as a sense of ownership and possession to the members of the community. Sex works lead a life of stigma and discrimination. The degree of stigma is higher among male and transgender sex workers. As members of the society it is their right to be a part of the normal social life, without any marginalization. Especially sex workers facing stigma of HIV Aids have a natural right to live in supporting environments free from social stigmas. United Nations Community based programs like community kitchens have a crucial role in assisting communities to identify and change stigmatizing attitudes and behaviors related to HIV and sex work and to foster a spirit of tolerance and inclusion. Community kitchens provide meaningful and comprehensive set of alternatives and meaningful economic options to sex work. Hunger, food productivity and illiteracy: establishing the link While talking about building community capacity the children of the community must remain the central focus. Children, who come from remote rural areas, work so hard at the household level that going to school remains no priority for them. It is a well established fact that knowledge has the ability to transform society. Education to these children can serve as a force which can liberate the coming generations from the clutches of abject poverty. Children living in vicious circle of hunger and illiteracy require special attention by the government and society, in form of new schools, better learning facilities, learned teaches, and locally relevant syllabus taught in their local language. Have we ever wondered why the hungry are always also illiterate? A study by World Bank states that the people who are undernourished and the adults who are illiterate are mostly the same people, mainly the poor in rural areas. Illiteracy and hunger thus are cause and effect of one another, making it a vicious cycle of poverty. Collaborating the solution of the issues of education and hunger represents an important step forward, it has led to the creation of a new partnership initiative called mid day meal scheme in India. Hunger among children leaves them with very little energy to attend school and learn effectively. Medical research proves that hunger impairs both mental and physical growth of children. If millions of hungry children cannot learn, or are forced to work instead of attending school we will not reach the Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education. Offering incentives like noon meal encourages children to attend and their parents to send them to school and such initiatives could have a major impact on child nutrition, school attendance and social equity. Universal and nutritious mid-day meals would be a significant step towards realization of the right to food.[9] National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE), popularly known as the Mid Day Meal Scheme, was launched as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme on 15th August 1995, initially in 2408 blocks in the country. The mid day meal scheme aims to ensure food security among the school going children in India. Under the aegis of the scheme the school going children in all government schools are to be provided with free lunch. Midday meal scheme began as a strategic program to address two most pressing problems in India: hunger and education. The government of India had made education for children between the age group of 6-14. Hunger obstructs the process of holistic education, as children are forced to leave schools and take up menial jobs. Lack of education curtails opportunities for development and leads to vicious circle of poverty and hunger. Midday meal programs (school lunch) emerged to address the multiple challenges of poverty, hunger, and access to education. Rationale behind the mid day meal scheme is firstly, to protect school going children from chronic hunger. Secondly to attain advancement in school attendance and enrollment rates. Thirdly, enhance socialization and feeling of oneness among students, thus breaking the schakels of gender, race, class and caste. Supreme Court of India passed an order on November 28, 2001, which mandated Cooked midday meal is to be provided in all the government and government-aided primary schools in all the states. This order expedited the implementation of the scheme. Mid day meal scheme was soon extended across the nation and across all government schools, government aided schools and for children in anganwari centers. The allocation and off take of food grains under the scheme during the 10th Plan and the first two years of the 11th Plan 2007-08 2008-09is presented in Table 1. The table 1 summarizes the allocation of funds in terms of food grains each year, from 2002-03 to the last financial year. The allocations have risen considerably over the years, both in terms of the rice and wheat food grains. It is seen from the table that allocations from the central government have been more than the off take or utilization of the food grains in the implementation of the scheme. The summary of subsidies in different states, as on November 2009, is listed below: The table 2 shows a comparative analysis of how the central government is contributing in terms of money and food grains for the smooth running of the mid-day meal scheme. It can be seen that in Karnataka the subsidy varies with three grade levels. Subsidy in terms of money is same for the level 1 to 5 and from 6 to 7, however it increases from 1.80 rupees to 2.20 per child per day when students reach grade 10. The grains available for children below grade 5 are 100 grams per child per day, which increases to 150 grams of grains per child per day from grade 6 onwards. On an average all states are providing 100 grams of grains per child per day in lower primary level and 150 grams per child per day in the upper primary level. Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh provide highest amount of monetary subsidy per child per day that is 3.00 rupees. Karnataka state shows the lowest figures (1.80 rupees) in terms of monetary subsidy. It must also be borne in mind that higher subsidy does not necess arily correspond to better performances. We shall look into the state of Karnataka in detail in section three. The scheme has a long history especially in the state of Tamil Nadu, where it was introduced by K. Kamraj government in 1960s and expanded by M.G Ramachandran in 1982. Ever since it has been adopted by most of the states in India after the landmark directions by the Supreme Court of India. The purpose behind the judgment was to enhance enrolment, retention, and participation of children in primary schools, simultaneously improving their nutritional status. The judgment aims to cater to the nutritional needs of low-income groups in both rural and urban areas (Planning Commission, 2007).[10] As per the programme the Government of India provides grains free of cost and the States will provide the costs of other ingredients, salaries and infrastructure. By January 2004, nearly 50 million children received midday meals provided either by the Government or by NGOs working in partnership with the government.[11] However, inconsistent food quality, occasional food poisoning, poor hygiene, and operational concerns were among the complications to the provision of government-sponsored midday meals. The meals were prepared by teachers, who cooked the same meal every day: ghoogri, gruel made of boiled wheat. Children reported that that they grew tired of eating the same food daily, they did not like the taste, and it often made them feel sick. In 2004, a fire accidentally started by a teacher cooking the midday meal killed 90 children in Tamil Nadu, an event which underscored the safety issues inherent in meals prepared in makeshift kitchens based on school sites. Given the scope of hunger in India and the difficulties faced by the government programs, the task of feeding school children was still a significant challenge. Public private partnership implementation As the research is based on two organizations located in the state of Maharashtra, the following section analyses the public private partnership model used to implement the mid day meal scheme in the state. The State of Karnataka introduced the provision of cooked meals in June 2002 which saw a successful private sector participation in the programme. One such initiative was Akshaya Patra, which started with leadership from ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness). The programme has evolved into a movement where by children in the government schools are provided with cooked lunch on all working days. The state and the central government support the Foundation in the execution of the programme. Hence the programme runs a collective kitchen based on a public-private partnership. The Akshay Patra program is conducted in partnership with the various State Governments and Central Government. All of these governments provide a subsidy to support about 55% of the running cos t of the Akshay Patra program. The Central Government support is routed through the respective State Governments. The meal includes a nutritious mix such as sambar, rice, vegetables and some curd on most days. Since the success of this programme there has been an in the private sector participation in India. The partnerships in execution of the programme are not limited to rural areas but also major urban centers like Delhi, and Hyderabad.[12] About the study Statement of the problem In the Indian context both GDP and food grain production have risen at a faster growth rate than growth in population over the past 50 years. Yet our country faces chronic hunger and starvation among large sections of our population. There has been declining calorie consumption especially in the bottom 30% of the pyramid. Attempting policy reforms in an era of overall weakening governance and state commitment in social sectors seems a challenge. In this background, concept of collective and community kitchens have evolved and grown acquiring various dimensions in the past few years. This research aims to explore the possible link between community kitchens and food security. The research revolves around the idea of community kitchens being the possible means to attain an end of food insecurity examining the models of Ashodaya Samiti and Akshay Patra in the Indian scenario. Ashodaya Samiti is a sex workers organization working for HIV prevention since January 2004 in Mysore district of Karnataka. In 2004 University of Manitoba was directly implementing the HIV prevention project ably supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations Avahan project.[13] The organizations collectivization and formal registering as Ashodaya Samithi was done in December 2005. Community mobilization since then has today resulted in the formation of the community based organization to take ownership of HIV awareness, prevention care, support activities and beginning of an entrepreneurial venture in the form of community kitchens. The second organization under study is Akshay Patra. Children from economically weaker sections are forced to seek work in place of education. Some of those who do manage to attend the school drop out to feed themselves and their families while others are known to perform poorly because of short attention spans and extreme hunger. Realizing that a nutritious school meal is an effective means of gettingunderprivileged childrencome to school and complete their education, Akshay Patra was formed as a not-for-profit organization in June 2000. The purpose of the organization in their words is to provide unlimited food for education, through modern community kitchens, thus freeing children from the vicious cycle of poverty and ensuring them an education.[14] Objectives of the study The main objectives of the current study are to Understand the evolution of the concept of community kitchens in India Provide a socio-economic profile of the respondents who are engaged in community kitchen in both settings (of the cases undertaken) Analyze the implementation of community kitchen undertaken by different organizations namely Ashodaya Samiti and Akshaya Patra Study how community kitchen is serving as a means to break social barriers (as demonstrated by Ashodaya Samiti). Understand how community kitchen could be a potential mechanism for eradicating hunger among school going children in the context of mid-day meal programme of Akshay Patra. Analyse the constraints in mobilizing the resources to keep the community kitchen a sustainable enterprise. Methodology Data collection for the research was done in two major organizations, Ashodaya Samiti in Mysore and Akshay Patra in Bangalore. The period of data collection was from 10.02.2010 to 22.02.2010. The data collection involved personal visits to both the organizations, interviews, focus group discussions and -participant observations. The current exploratory study attempts to understand the functioning of the community kitchens. Both primary and secondary sources of data have been collected for the study. The secondary data for the study came from annual reports of the organizations, websites, documentaries and media reports that have been provided by the organizations. The primary data for the study was collected from a diverse group of individuals engaged with both the organizations. In Ashodaya Samiti focus group discussions were carried out with the 20 sex workers who are the key in managing and operating the community kitchen. Individual in dept interviews were also carried out with 2 senior officials of the organization. The interview schedule consisted of open ended questions to include more information, their feelings, attitudes and understanding of the subject of community kitchen. In Akshay Patra data was collected through participant observation and interview schedules. Interviews were carried out with the workers in the kitchen to understand the mechanization of the operations. In-debt interviews were also carried out with the media spokesperson of the organization and the programme director. Visits to the kitchen on daily basis allowed an in-depth investigation of the process of food preparation and its distribution among the schools across the city. In this study in depth interview was useful in understanding the concepts related to community kitchens. The tool was helpful as it ensured that I received detailed information which helped me in exploring the idea to its depth. Focus group discussions were used as a form of qualitative research in which a group of people which included male, female and transgender sex workers of Ashodaya Samiti were asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs and attitudes towards sex work as their livelihood, need to collaborate at community level, evolution of the organization from heath interventions to community kitchen, empowerment through community kitchens and their future expectations from the project. Questions are asked in an interactive group setting where participants were free to talk with other group members. Participant observation which has its roots in the traditional ethnographic research was used a qualitative research strategy. Participation and observations were carried to varying degrees to study the communitys daily activities in both the cases (Ashodaya Samiti and Akshay Patra). Participant observation took place in the community settings, in locations like the sex workers day care centers, the Ashodaya hotel, community kitchen of Akshay patra which had direct relevance to the research questions. Engagement was done in such a manner such data could be collected by observing what life is like for an insider while remaining, inevitably, an outsider. While in these community settings, careful, field notes were made to record all observations. Data Analysis The current section provides an overview of both the organizations included in the study i.e. Ashodaya Samiti and Akshaya Patra. Ashodaya Samiti: Community kitchen used to break social barriers The first case that is presented in this section is the Ashodaya Samiti. The history of Ashodaya Samiti has to be seen in the backdrop of project Avahan. In the year 2003 Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded an India Aids initiative to reduce the spread of HIV in India under the project AVAHAN. Avahan was set up as a far ranging Aids prevention project, and has been a success story since its inception. Under the aegis of the project aids prevention work is carried out in six major sates in India. Within these states, it provides, prevention services to nearly 200,000 female sex workers, 60,000 high-risk men who have sex with men, and 20,000 injecting drug users, together with 5 million men at risk. [15] In 2003, UNAIDS studies reported that Asia presented the greatest risk of expansion of the global epidemic. The HIV cases have been on a continuous rise since the past decade. The major reasons for that are high prevalence of unsafe sex work and injecting drug users. Initial inter ventions by Avahan indicated that HIV transmission in south India was primarily sexual, and in the north-east mainly related to injecting drug use.[16] The Indian national response had a sound strategy for addressing high-risk groups. However, coverage of these groups was variable across the states and national average strikingly low.[17] [18] The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation designed a programme with help of technical experts to look into the HIV and aids prevention strategies. The project began with full co-operation from the Indian government. Avahans aim was to help slow the transmission of HIV to the general population by raising prevention coverage of high-risk and bridge groups to scale by achieving saturation levels (over 80 percent) across large geographic areas. Considering the scale of the country the project was magnanimous in its objectives. To avoid any complications the project began with local level involvement in operations and planning. Avahan in Karnataka As mentioned earlier, the project was started in six high prevalence states namely Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Manipur and Nagaland. The prevalence in the first four states was predominantly due to male, female and transgender sex workers. In the other two states there were high incidences of the spread of virus due to injecting of drugs among the people. In Karnataka, University of Manitoba took the initiative to take up the project in the 18 of the 30 districts. Among the 18 districts, in 16 districts the i

Tiger Airways Case Study

Tiger Airways Case Study Tiger Airways is an ultra-low cost airline which commenced services on 25 March 2005. It is currently the largest low-cost airline operating out of Singapore in terms of passengers carried. In 2006, the airline flew 1.2 million passengers, a growth of 75% from the previous year. These days, the hottest news pops that Tiger Airways and Thai Airways International will form an airline based in Thailand, where Thai Airways International and Tiger Airways will own 51% and 49% respectively of the newly formed airline. Operations are expected to begin in the 1st quarter of 2011. This paper is based on this information with further discussion the business model and strategies with Tiger Airways and the whole low-cost airline industry. Question 1 a) Discuss why Tiger Airways jointly launch a low-cost airline with Thai Airways. Provide 5 (five) reasons. Tiger Airways and Thai Airways are both infusive airlines in Asia. Tiger Airways jointly launch a low-cost airline with Thai Airways can benefits both two companies to achieve a win-win situation. Tiger Airways based on Singapore, choose to co-operate with Thai Airways could further develop the international market in Asia. Thailand is one of the most famous tourist resorts in the world. Tourism is a major economic factor in Thailand, contributing an estimated 6.7% to Thailands GDP. No doubt, more and more people will choose Tiger Airways to Thailand as it price advantages. This strategic decision will attract more passengers to Tiger Airways. Compare to Jet star, Air Asia and other low-cost airlines, Tiger Airways is still smaller than its rivals. This move could increase the overall strength of the market competitiveness in Asia. Tiger Airways is all along with its low-cost airline business model from the day when it established. This is a superexcellent chance to advertise its business model and corporate image. b) Evaluate whether Tiger Airways decision in the above strategy is considered as a strategic decision. Support with 6 (six) reasons. The definition of a strategic decision is the decision that is concerned with whole environment in which the firm operates the entire resources and the people who form the company and the interface between the two. There are some characteristics/features of a strategic decision A strategic decision has a major resource proposition for an organization. The resource proposition of Tigers decision is to occupy Thailands international airlines which concerned possess a new market of Asia civil aviation. A strategic decision deal with harmonizing organizational resource capabilities with the threats and opportunities. Thai Airways used to be Tigers competitor, this decision change the competitor to its partner contains with threats and opportunities. A strategic decision deal with the range of organizational activities. Tiger Airways plans to increase its fleet to 68 by 2015 and has the same pan-Asian aspirations as its competitors through this co-operation. A strategic decision involves a change of major kind since an organization operates in ever-changing environment. Both Tiger Airways and Thai Airways are low-cost airlines. This move signified that the two companies want to through this co-operation to change the environment of Asia civil aviation. A strategic decision will involve a lot of risk. Thai Airways own 51% of the low cost airline that means they control the scales. If some contradictions between them, this decision will be a big risk for Tiger Airways. A strategic decision is consider both administrative and operational decisions. Tigers decision aim to reduce cost which co-operate with Thai Airways to achieve the airline business in Thailand through its operational decision of cost-saving actions. c) Discuss which 5 (five) macro-environment factors that will most likely affect the low-cost airline industry. Political factors are how and to what degree a government intervenes in the economy. Specifically, political factors include areas such as tax policy, environmental law, trade restrictions, tariffs, and political stability. Eg, if the government wants to increase the airport construction fees, that must can be a big challenge for the low-cost airline industry. Because it will threaten the price advantage which is the biggest advantage for low-cost airline industry compare to others. Furthermore, governments have great influence on the airport infrastructure built, foreign affairs and many other factors that will most likely affect the low-cost airline industry. Economic factors include economic growth, exchange rates and the inflation rate. These factors have major impacts on how air tickets operate and make the price decisions to each low-cost airline industry company. As the low-cost airlines usually between country to country ,the exchange rates and other economic factors will direct influence the costs of goods and the supply and the price of tickets in the low-cost airline industry . Social factors include the cultural aspects and include health consciousness, population growth rate, age distribution, career attitudes and emphasis on safety. Trends in social factors affect the demand for the low-cost airlines products and how that company operates. For example, Tiger Airways not only supply the airline services but also supply hotel booking, sightseeing tour and other services. But all these should take different social factors into account. Technological factors include technological aspects such as aerosatsystem, technology incentives and the rate of technological change in this industry. They can determine barriers to entry, minimum efficient service level and influence strategic decisions. Furthermore, technological shifts can affect costs, quality, and lead to innovation in the low-cost airline industry. Law factors include the relevant laws affect low-cost airlines. Eg. Tiger Airway Australian only provide domestic service in Australian, because the legal rule of Australian to limit. Question 2 Based on the case study and information on the webpage (www.tigerairways.com/sg), analyze 3 (three) levels of strategy that you can identify at Tiger airways. Corporate and Business level strategy. Operational strategy. Porters Competitive Strategy Model Porter (1980) has described a category scheme consisting of three general types of strategies that are commonly used by businesses. These three generic strategies are defined along two dimensions: strategic scope and strategic strength. Strategic scope is a demand side dimension and looks at the size and composition of the market you intend to target. Strategic strength is a supply-side dimension and looks at the strength or core competency of the firm. In particular he identified two competencies that he felt were most important: product differentiation and product cost Competitive Strategies for Tiger airways In view of the above challenges, low-cost airlines must do three things to ensure their long-term survival. Cost Leadership. Tiger airways maintained a sustainable low-cost advantage over their full-service competitors. Tiger airways ensured that their costs per passenger-km continue to be 50 per cent or more below those of full-service airlines and continuing to reduce their own costs too. Differentiation Strategy. Tiger airways focused on differentiation of their product, that mean they must also offer a product with some frills, which is very highly rated by passengers in terms of value for money. They have draw lessons from the successful model by their competitors like Virgin Blue in Australia and JetBlue in the USA. Virgin Blue was the first carrier outside North America to introduce multi-channel real-time satellite TV to its flights called Live2Air. The strategies of Tiger airways are twofold to take on the legacy carriers and attract higher-yield passengers, and to add points of difference from other low-cost airlines Market Share and Market Segmentation Strategy Tiger airways ensured that on most of their routes they become the number one or number two carriers in terms of market share in Asia. This dominance, combined with their low fares, gives them a very powerful defensive position should new competitors attempt to enter, while also ensuring a strong cash-flow base on which to mount further expansion. Tiger Airways survival and success is due in no small measure to its growth strategy, which has focused on becoming dominant in most of its markets. Operational strategy As mentioned earlier, the chief difference between low cost carriers and traditional airlines fall into three groups: service savings, operational savings and overhead savings. Tiger Airways tend to focus on short haul route. To achieve the low operating costs per passenger, this type of carriers need to have as many seats on board its aircraft as possible, to fill them as much as possible, and to fly the aircraft as often as possible. Tiger Airways want to through its low cost airline affect the traditional airline hub-and-spoke networks poses interesting questions for the airlines industry and policy makers. It means choosing to perform a system of activities differently from that of traditional rivals and providing a coherent set of key activities that reinforce each other to achieve such position in a sustainable manner. Despite the challenges faced, Tigers low-cost model appears to be sustainable in Asia as it has been in the Singapore, Thailand, China and elsewhere. It has a different and substantially lower cost structure than the conventional network model, because the latter imposes higher costs on those who operate network systems. While Tigers network airlines can reduce their unit costs further, they can match those on short-haul routes. Tiger Airways competed for a part of their own traditional markets with low-cost carriers and it will increasingly generate most of their business from the denser, short-haul, inclusive tour markets and from long-haul routes. Within Asia, in South-east Asia and even in Australia, Tiger Airways cleared that low-cost airlines will become the dominant carriers in domestic and short-haul markets. It is not a passing phase. Tiger Airways was here to stay and it will dominate most of the markets they enter. Tiger Airways jointly launch a low-cost airline with Thai Airways was a example to prove. Question 3 a) Using Porters 5 (five) forces model, analyse all the forces in the low-cost airline industry. Buyer power Low-cost Airlines generally have a large number of buyers. Many of these are individual consumers purchasing flights directly from the airline, although there are B2B sales to charter companies, discounters, and similar buyers. In the low-cost carrier market, airlines are competing for the same market segment. The bargaining power of the consumers is increasing as the supply exceeds the demands. Price sensitivity is high; a result of factors such as the growth of online price comparison sites, corporate travel expense policies for business flyers such as Jetstar and Virgin Blue. The consumers are price sensitive. One of the challenges that all the low-cost Airline must face is the lack of customer loyalty in the low-cost carrier arena where passengers easily switch to airlines that offer lower fares. Buyers have no loyalty in low cost airlines such as Tiger Airways as the trip is purchased according to price. Supplier power Low-cost Airlines must enter into contracts when buying or leasing aircraft from suppliers. Breaking hose contracts can often imply a heavy financial cost. Furthermore, Boeing and Airbus effectively form a duopoly of suppliers of new jetliners, not only in the large jetliner category, with planes such as the 747 and A380 but also in small jetliner category with planes such as the 737 and A320. In the market for lower-capacity regional jets and propeller-driven aircraft, companies such as Embraer, ATR, and Bombadier are significant suppliers. The relative lack of alternative manufacturers or substitute inputs increases supplier power. Air Indias passenger fleet consists of 46 Boeing, 78 Airbus, seven ATR, and seven Bombadier planes. Southwest Airlines is the worlds largest low-cost carrier. Southwests successful business model involves not only flying multiple short, quick trips into the secondary airports of major markets but also using only one aircraft type, the Boeing 737. Suppliers offer fuel, labor, airport and security services all with changing prices. Aviation fuel is another vital input. Number of fuel suppliers is still relatively few. However, it is difficult for suppliers to forward integrate. Strategic alliance among airlines for economies size such as code sharing and economies scale such as purchase of fuel and aircraft could reduce the supplier power in some level. New entrants The economic entrance barriers to the not only low-cost airlines but also all the airlines industry is relatively high. For an entirely new company, they include the considerable up-front outlay needed to obtain planes, although this may not be an issue for an existing airline beginning to offer flights to a new country or region. Distribution is not particularly easy, as new players need to establish an online booking system, and relationships with travel agents and other sales intermediaries. It is also vital to obtain airport slots for take-off and landing. There has been a growth in air traffic over recent years which mean that congestion at airports in many countries is expected, especially the major hubs. The time slot given to an low-cost airline is important, and is something all airlines negotiate with airports. Established airlines will already hold the monopoly over slots at certain airports, making it harder for new low-cost airlines to infiltrate. This creates difficulties for a new low-cost airline aiming to negotiate prime slots at busy airports and can result in it being restricted to offering flights only at off-peak times, or having to fly to airports further away from popular destinations. This can be a deterrent to new airlines, as customers may seek more convenient alternatives. For example, in Singapore infrastructure constraints pose as a formidable entry barrier. Because of the intense price war, a new entrant will find it almost impossible to offer rates that are lower than Tiger Airways. The airline industry is highly capital intensive. New entrants are challenged by expensive aircrafts, high cost of operation and war for talents. New entrants also find it very hard to look for suitable airport as airport slots are reserved for established airlines. Substitutes Other forms of transport such as road, rail and marine travel are considered as substitutes to airline travel. Buyers take into account not only the cost of travel but also how long the journey will take on corresponding forms of transportation. In some countries, air travel makes it easier to overcome long distances and has certain benefits such as shorter travel time than rail travel, even including the time to check in. However based on the price advantages of low-cost airlines, rail and road transportation will not becomes more attractive alternatives for a majority of buyers. Furthermore, many consumers are now aware of the environmental impact of air travel, and are turning to rail travel instead. It is possible to travel around much of the world by long-distance bus or train, although levels of service vary and some border crossings may present a difficulty. Rivalry In the airline industry where the market is highly saturated, the rivalry between existing airlines is one of the strongest forces. Rivalry is increased by the presence of low-cost carriers in the market, as these companies can compete more intensely on price. Switching costs for buyers are low. Besides, existing airlines such as SIA will sometimes marketed big promotions which almost has the same price as low-cost airlines, it means that it is easy for them to change to a competitor. In terms of intra-industry competition is also high. Eg. In Asia, Tiger Airways as a new entrant poses as a threat to established low-cost carriers such as Jetstar and Virgin Blue. The competition in the budget sector is very high as all airlines has the same no frills philosophy. Price is the major differentiating factor in the low-cost carrier market, an area where Tiger Airways lead. b) Provide a conclusion and reason on the attractiveness of the low-cost airline industry. No doubt, the biggest attractiveness of low-cost airline industry is based on its great price advantage as it saves money compare to the ticket price of the traditional airways. Besides, it promotes great vacations. For example, Tiger Airways also supply Airways hotels, Travel insurance, Budget accommodation, Car hire etc. With Tiger Airways you would be thrilled because you get to have a great holiday. At the same price compare to other transports ,you do not need to worry anymore about long and tiresome journeys by bus, train or car. This would invariably involve countless days on road, living out of a suitcase and staying in uncomfortable hotels. The flight does away with all this inconvenience. Question 4 Explain value chain analysis. Based on the case and research done through the companys website, analyse the value chain of Tiger Airways. Value Chain Analysis describes the activities that take place in a business and relates them to an analysis of the competitive strength of the business. Influential work by Michael Porter suggested that the activities of a business could be grouped under two headings: (1) Primary Activities those that are directly concerned with creating and delivering a product (e.g. component assembly); (2) Support Activities, which whilst they are not directly involved in production, may increase effectiveness or efficiency (e.g. human resource management). It is rare for a business to undertake all primary and support activities. Primary Activities Primary value chain activities of Tiger Airways include: Primary Activity Description Inbound logistics Tiger Airways based on Singapore, Tiger Airways can attempt to co-operate with Airbus to lower the cost of the airplanes. It can also co-operate with food suppliers to get cheaper and more delicious. Operations Tiger Airways now operates a fleet of 19 Airbus A320-family aircraft and is committed to increasing its fleet size to 68 by December 2015. The airline operates flights to 33 destinations across 11 countries and territories in Asia and Australia from its aircraft bases in three locations Singapores Changi Airport Budget Terminal, Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne and Adelaide Airport in South Australia. Besides it has detail duties, responsibilities and specifications for every position include Flight Dispatchers, Operations Controllers, Flight Safety Manager, Pilots and Cabin Crew. Outbound logistics Tiger Airways of Singapore has agreed to open their operations in various countries. It is also stepping forward to associate with a Global Distribution System company to strengthen its ticketing system to enable travelers to access to more passengers. Marketing and sales The Company recorded an operating profit of $28.0 million and a profit for the year attributable to shareholders of the Company of $28.2 million for the financial year ended 31 March 2010. Revenues grew 28.6% to $486.2 million while operating costs grew only 7.7%, despite the 53.8% increase in passengers compared to the preceding 12 months. Growth in revenues was supported by the combination of passenger seat revenue increasing 19.6% and ancillary revenue growth of 87.4%. Ancillary revenues currently comprise 19.4% of our revenue base, an increase from 13.3% in FY2009. Management continues to be focused on optimising ancillary revenues, with initiatives such as the carriage of cargo being introduced in FY2011. During the last 12 months from 2009 to 2010 the number of passengers reached at 4,872,000 Service Besides online sales and flying services à ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã…’Tiger Airways also supply Tiger Airways hotels, Travel insurance , Budget accommodation, Car hire etc. Support Activities Support activities include: Secondary Activity Description Procurement The procurement of Tiger Airways was a low-cost carrier operates a fleet of Airbus A320s. Now Tiger Airways has a fleet of 19 Airbus A320 aircraft and it aim to increasing its fleet size to 68 by December 2015. Human Resource Management The human resource management was organized by its special department in details. Processing of Employment Pass, Airport Pass and Staff Pass Administer Staff intranet database Administer procedures for new hires and resigned employees Compiling of information for surveys requested by its special agencies. Technology Development Around 75% of Tiger Airways seat sales come from the internet, both from the public and agents, while the balance 25% comes from call centers and airport outlets. By these years ,Tiger Airways continue to develop its webs power by co-operate with Facebook, Twiter, Youtube and other media agencies . It also emphasis on advising. For example in 2005, it had an increase of more than 60% in revenue and website visits since it launched its new advertising campaign: Whats New Pussycat? Infrastructure By 16 June 2010, the biggest shareholder of Tiger Airways is Singapore Airline Limited which holds 33.55% of the company shares. Approximately, 31.8% of the companys shares are held in the hands of public. Question 5 a) Analyse at least 5 (five) common cost-cutting strategies adopted by low-cost carriers that directly affect the passengers. 1. Develop creativity. A good example to support this strategy is the invention of Boeing 737. The Boeing 737 is a short-term and lower-cost twin-engine airliner developed by U.S. which influenced the whole low cost airline in the world. With this aircraft, it can save the gas but also narrow the costing of supplier to gain the biggest benefit of airline. Southwest Airline is the biggest low-cost airline in the world which using only this aircraft type to add a batch management to get the cost-cutting. 2. Rational use of resources. The low-cost airlines usual have limit resources, however use it rational become the key to success. After 911 the airline industry in U.S. was decreased. But Southwest Airline remodeled its Boeing 737 , added six more seats to every plane and guarantee will not effect the comfortable of the passengers, which help Southwest gain the profit even the past-911 time. 3. Efficient chick in service. The low-cost airways usually provide short-term service. The fly travel time will not over 2 hours. All the passengers concerned how fast they can chick in and how long they can arrive. The same successful example of Southwest Airline proved that they only need 10-15 minutes from chick in to take off, which usually take 1 hour to do that. This action not only gains the trust of passengers but also save the time. As time is money in business, they gain the efficient cost-cutting. 4. 0 strategy. Every low-cost airline should have a self- orientation of their company. For the low-cost airlines 0 means no luxury fitment, no free-service of food, no provide of TV and ear phone ect. to make a cost-cutting. 5. Effective and efficient operation. The low-cost airlines operate many planes. The key is how to operate them efficient. The biggest successful factor of Southwest Airline is the number 11 in its cost-cutting culture as 11 means they guarantee every Boeing 737 of their airline fly 11 times per day. It gains both the passengers benefit and the max operation of their airplanes. b) Recommend at least 3 (three) future strategies that Tiger Airways could implement to maintain its low-cost strategies. Break-even. A useful method for making expense comparisons is break-even analysis. Break-even is the point at which gross profit equals expenses. In a business year, it is the time at which your sales volume has become sufficient to enable your over-all operation to start showing a profit. It is important for low-cost airlines to remember that once sales pass the break-even point, the fixed expenses percentage goes down as the sales volume goes up. Locating Reducible Expenses. The airlines profit and loss statement provides a summary of expense information and is the focal point in locating expenses that can be cut. Taking cost cutting Action. When the airlines have located a problem expense area, the next step obviously is to reduce that cost so as to increase the profit. A key to the effectiveness of your cost-cutting action is the worth of the various expenditures. As long as you know the worth of your expenditures, you can profit by making small improvements in expenses. Keep an open eye and an open mind. It is better to do a spot analysis once a month than to wait several months and then do a detailed study. Take action as soon as possible. You can refine your cost-cutting action as you go along. Conclusion The low-cost airline revolution has injected a dose of democracy into the travel world. Low-cost airlines have succeeded in taking over a large part of the market. Tiger Airways jointly launch a low-cost airline with Thai Airways provide a new opportunity, a new market and a new business model based on its successful business strategies. Moreover, Tiger Airways get ready to take off more quickly; enabling it as competitive airline to schedule more flights and provide more attractive schedules for passengers. No doubt, there is a bright future for Tiger Airway!

Free Hamlet Essays: Use of Deception in Hamlet :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

Use of Deception in Hamlet Hamlet is a play by William Shakespeare about a prince named Hamlet who was spoken to by the ghost of his dead father telling Hamlet to kill his uncle Claudius (the new king) because Claudius killed him. The story revolves around Hamlet's dillema of how to kill his uncle while being deceptive enough so that no one finds out about the ghost. This essay will prove how deception is often used in Hamlet for many reasons. Claudius uses deception to protect himself from being prosecuted for his crime of killing the King. No one knows what the deal is with Gertrude because she deceives everybody by keeping to herself all the time keeping everyone from knowing anything. By using quotes from the book I will prove how these two (Claudius and Gertrude) and among a few others , use deception for different reasons and in different ways. A lot of the times it is to protect someone, or themselvs because they believe that the truth will hurt more than their lies. Claudius decieves everyone in different ways and at different times , always and only to protect himself from everyone else finding out that he killed the king. We can't truly say that he deceived Gertrude or not because we still don't know if she knows about Claudius killing the king or not because that is part of her own deception , but we know that he deceived the people and Hamlet himself (before he talks to the ghost). This next quote comes from the ghost of the king convicting Claudius of the murder ,"If thou didst ever thy dear father love- revenge his foul and most unnatural murder(p.57, act1,scene5 ,lines29-31). This quote proves that Claudius actually did commit the murder. This next quote is from Claudius himself after the funeral and the wedding giving a speach about the death of the king and the whole deal with Fortinbras,"To our most valiant brother-so much for him(p.21, act1 ,scene2 ,line25)." This quote shows that Claudius obviously doesn't have much remorse for his d ead brother and might be covering up the fact that he killed him. And we all know what that means...What does it mean?! It means that he actually is the rat and is the evil one in the play. Hamlet's deception , possibly the cruelest of all. Maybe even though Hamlet's deception was derived from Claudius's deception , it is the one that killed everybody.

Civilization Paper -- essays research papers

Civilization is a term used in many different ways. It can be defined as; people who eat the same kind of foods, People who live together, people who speak the same language, and so on. Yet each way that it is defined relates towards the same topic; Humans and their existence on the planet. Civilization is known greatly as a group of humans or animals that live generally together and practice the same habits. Civilization, according to some historians, first came into play in the year 3000 BCE. These historians look at civilization as people who have the same dietary needs and habits, who practice these habits regularly in order to survive. A couple of years before 3000 BCE, the world went through what historians call the Agricultural revolution. They feel that because of this revolution, groups of people started to come together to practice their farming ways. Because of all the new food supplies that came about through the agricultural revolution, the population started to grow into little villages, which eventually turned into city states. This caused people to look further beyond their little villages in search of more land to hold their growing populations. This caused groups of people to break off and form their own little towns or civilizations. After a while the people learned that by being in different places their farming encountered different weather and growing conditions. Forcing them to grow products that will grow more sufficiently in their new conditions. Thi...

Halal Cosmetic

Name: Abdullah Al-Shuraim ID: 0804461 Group: S3G7 Instructor: Brian Thompson Contents * Executive Summary:3 * Overview of non-food Halal product:11 * Overview of Avon Cosmetics Company:13 * Avon Products:15 * Some of Avon Products:16 * Potential Product Summary20 * Process for Halal Certification21 * The procedure to make it a Halal Product is:22 * The procedure of Halal Certificate:23 Changes or Improvements for Launching Halal Product24 * Define three different market segment for Kuwait market place25 * Mission & Vision and How might be affected by new Halal Product:28 * Providing the same quality of service to existing customers30 * Major Promotional Activities & RMOI:32 * One Year Budget and ROI:36 * Competitors:39 * Communicating the changes in the Current Operations with Introduction of Halal Product:41 * Recommendation:42 * References:43 Executive Summary: 1. Avon Overview:Avon is a very successful and leading global company in the cosmetics industry. It was founded in 1886 by Mr. McConnell. When Mr. McConnell was selling books he used to make his own perfumes and he used to give them to his customers, then he realized that the customers likes his perfume and it was one of the reasons why they are buying his books, so he decided to make his own cosmetics company and now Avon is one of the best cosmetics company in the world. Avon Company was renamed after a river that runs through the English midlands.Avon CEO is Andrea Jung who committed to make Avon the most wanted company by women and also to satisfy the need of women globally. The main product are beauty products and fashion jewelry and also Avon has many brands that comes under the name of Avon such as Avon color, anew, Advance techniques, skin-so-soft, Avon naturals and Mark. Avon is the faster growing market on China and Russia which means they are doing a good and successful business. 2. Recommendation of Halal Product in Kuwait market Launching Halal product in Kuwait will be a very succ essful idea because of many reasons. . Kuwait is an Islamic Market b. Kuwaitis always seeks for Halal product and they are loyal to this type of products c. Kuwait is a trendy market which means word of mouth might make the company one of the biggest company I Kuwait market and by launching Halal product that will be a good reason to make people in Kuwait talk about your products and that will help us to sell more, increase product awareness and get the market attention 3. Who are the three market segments? A. Demographic: Age| 18 – 30| Gender| Females| Income| Above 500 K. D| Religion| Muslims| B. Psychographic:We will be focusing on the interest because women who are interested to attend social meeting and family gathering which are a very important part in our society will be more likely to buy make up because this type of women use it more than others. Also we will be focusing on the opinion because we don’t sell only cosmetics, we sell Halal cosmetics and that mig ht make a difference on people who thinks and believe that Halal product are better than other regular product and we will be focusing on this type of women because they care about the ingredients and how did we make our products.C. Behavioral: We will be focusing on the usage rate because women who use makeup and cosmetics more than other because they have more occasions so these will be focused on and also brand loyalty because there are some women when they like a certain brand of makeup they don’t tend to change it and they became loyal to this brand and this type of women who we are looking for.Also Occasions is one of the important parts of behavioral segment because there are women who don’t use make unless they have an occasion and this type we can satisfy them by offering them promotions for a whole set of cosmetics and they will have the opportunity to buy it and keep it till they use it. 4. What changes and improvement to current organization with launching new Halal product A. Kuwaitis have their own taste in some of the fragrances and perfumes and adding â€Å"Bokhor† smell to the fragrances and perfumes will a very good step in Kuwait Market. B.Also since our products are Halal product we might add some â€Å"Henna† which is a planet with a nice smell and Kuwaitis also put â€Å"Henna† on their hairs often and they believe that it helps the hair to be stronger, better smelling and shiny. C. We must create a website in Arabic so customers can read all of the ingredients and what are our products made of in Arabic so they can trust us and feel safe. D. We will use some Kuwaitis celebrities to represent our makeup and do some commercials for us. E. Customer Service is a very important thing that we have to look after and we will be collecting our customer’s Mobile number r emails so we can inform them if we have any promotions or discounts. F. Since we will be doing some commercials and advertisement for our new Halal product we must have an Arabic advertisement and also an English advertisement. G. We will be publishing flyers that shows how Halal cosmetics are better than regular cosmetics to increase the target market awareness. H. To ensure that the team or the employees are working affectively we will set a commission for each clerk so we can encourage them to work better. 5. ROI and ROMI for new Halal product ROMI: Promotion Method| Promotion Budget|Events Promotions| 5,200 K. D| Media Promotions| 2,600 K. D| Internet Promotions | 750 K. D| Total| 8,550 K. D| Return On Marketing Investment| 17,100 K. D| As we can see the table shows each promotion method budget and also it shows the total budget for the Marketing plan in 8 months including the two pre launch months. It also shows you that the ROMI is 17,100 K. D because what are we planning for is in every 1 K. D we pay for promotions we want to get 2 K. D for example, When we budgeted 5,200 K. D in the Event promotions we want t o make sales of 10,400 K. D and we did that because after making sales of 10,400 K.D we have to pay all of our expenses and we will have the rest as a profit. The best way to make sure that you are making profit is to make sure that the ROMI is 50% or above. ROI: Sales| 133,000 K. D| | COGS| 80,000 K. D| | | | 53,000 K. D| Gross Profit| 53,000 K. D| | Expenses: * Sales Expenses: 13,700 * Operation Expenses: 6,000 * Financial Expenses 5,000| 24,700 K. D | | Net Profit| | 28,300 K. D| This table shows the sales we make for a period of 14 months, how much did we pay for the goods or product we sell and it shows what expenses did we have and how much each one of them cost us.Also as you can see it tells us how much profit we make over one year. We calculate that by taking how much sales we made minis how much did we pay for the product we sells and then we will get the Gross profit. Then we take the Gross Profit minis Total Expenses and we will get the Net Profit which means the money w e make over a period of time which is in our case 14 month. 6. Promotional Activities of New Halal product Main Promotional Activities: Event | October| November| December| January| February| March| April| May| Cost| Exhibitions in Mall| | | | | | | | | 3,200 K. D|Trade Show| | | | | | | | | 2,000 K. D| Media | October| November| December| January| February| March| April| May| Cost| Catalogs | | | | | | | | | 400 K. D| Magazines| | | | | | | | | 600 K. D| Radio| | | | | | | | | 1,200 K. D| Flyers| | | | | | | | | 400 K. D| Internet | October| November| December| January| February| March| April| May| Cost| Social Network| | | | | | | | | 600 K. D| Blogs| | | | | | | | | 150 K. D| One year Promotional Activities: 7. Who and How you will communicate the changes in the company When any company introduce new product there will be many changes in the organization.The successful companies are the companies that focus on the new product and also they still focus on the old product and they know how to communicate the changes that happens to the current operation in the organization. For our company we will have 5 main steps to be able to communicate the changes. Who? 1. Employees 2. Management 3. Board of Directors 4. Clients or customers if necessary How? 1. We must communicate through many channels such as writing, intranet of the organization and training and explain more about the change 2. We have to give enough time for people to ask question and know more about the change 3.We have to clearly explain the Vision, Mission and the objectives of our company 4. Explain the reason of the change clearly and what that might benefit the company and the clients Overview of non-food Halal product: Halal has become a very famous word specially for food industry, Hala could extends non-food products such as personal care, cosmetic, pharmaceutical and other consumers goods. Halal is an Arabic word, meaning lawful, and is the Islamic dietary law that identifies food permitted for Muslims. Non-halal is also referred to in Arabic as Haram (meaning not permissible).Halal word comes from Al. Shareyah law or the religion law. Halal in general means that the food is clean, safe and good quality. In Islam everything is Halal except the harmful things and things that might harm. Also in Islam any food or drink comes in the middle area between halal and haram it’s called ‘Shobha’ and Muslims should avoid consuming Shobha foods and drinks until the label of the food or drink becomes clear. In Malaysia, the definition of halal food is provided by the Malaysian and they have standards of halal food such as storing, handling, ingredients and production.Why does halal products and food are so famous nowadays even in the non-Muslim countries? The answer is because Muslims are all over the world there are Muslims everywhere and they considered a large segment of target market and if we could produce a product that may attract all of the Muslims in o ne spot to my product that will be a very big success to any company and that what many companies tried to do and now it become a very successful business and Halal is recognized world-wide. Kuwait is an Islamic country and it follows the Quran and Shariyah law which means that non-halal products are not allowed in Kuwait.In order to import goods such as personal care, cosmetic, pharmaceutical and other consumer’s goods it should be halal according to the law in Kuwait and Shariyah law. Now cosmetics industry is getting bigger and they are making a very good business in all over the world. And also because people in all over the world have become a very specific about the cosmetics ingredients and caring more about what are they made of, we must come up with a very good solution that insure the customer a better cosmetics ingredients and could attract more consumers to the product and increase the market share and be more widely.Overview of Avon Cosmetics Company: Avon is a l eading global company was founded in1886. Avon caters to the cosmetics demand of women across all over the world. Avon Company follows a certain marketing policy in over than 130 countries through million of Avon representatives. Avon has a unique line of cosmetics product. Most of these products include fashion jewelry, apparel, and beauty product. The well recognized brands launched by Avon are Avon color, anew, Advance techniques, skin-so-soft, Avon naturals, and mark the company has its presence in over 135 countries.It is the faster growing market in china and Russia. Almost all the products are sold to the retail stores. The skin care product line comprises bath and skin lotions, anti-aging cream, perfumes, lipstick, only to name few. Avon is one of the best cosmetics company in the world with over $6 billion in annual revenue. When the company began it began as the California Perfume Company. The founder of Avon cosmetics Company is Mr. David McConnell. He discovers that peop le were buying his books because he was giving them a rose oil perfumes. In 1939, Avon was renamed after a river that runs through he English midlands. Avon produces makeup, bath and skin lotions, anti-aging cream, perfumes, jewelry, clothing, cosmetics and toys. Now Avon products are sold in over 135 countries all over the world.The main target for Avon is women, but even though now they are manufacturing product for children. Although Avon products are sold in shops and retails outlets, but many of them are also sold by being marketed as door to door through â€Å"Avon Ladies† or Avon Representatives. The company chairman and CEO is Andrea Jung, who was promoted to this position in 1999. Avon Strength and weaknesses: * Strength: * It gains a huge profit every year That tells us that Avon is a very successful company and there are many demands on its product * Avon is one of the best names in Cosmetics Industry. Avon is the fastest growing market in China and Russia and that tells us that Avon is one of the best names in Cosmetics Industry.* Avon company has a very successful history Avon was founded in 1886 and they’re still doing business which means they have a very great history and that what makes them still doing business. Avon Cosmetics are high quality cosmetics with a possible price Avon has a big responsibility towards the clients because Avon promised that they will provide the best cosmetics with a very high quality and that consider as a strength and also what makes it better that the price is not expensive. * Avon has a very good reputation in the market. Avon is a well-known company world-wide and it’s a very famous company as we mentioned before its revenue reaches $6billions annually. * Weaknesses: * Avon Fake Product Many companies are selling fake product and pretending that they represent Avon * Internal Operating problems:There was many compliant about Avon because of the Internal operating problems such as order were taken, but not filled, packaging wasn’t enough also the internet wasn’t used as a marketing and selling tool since Andrea Jung changes all the problems and fixed them, however there are few things must be fix ed. * Old Product: Even though Avon are developing new products every year, but there are still product that Avon produce and no one want to buy them and there are some studies that tells us that these old product are causing a loss in the profit because of the wasted money that are spent on the marketing, packaging and buying the supplies . Few Product Variety: As we can see most of the companies that comes to the industry after Avon such as Unilever, and Procter are offering a variety of product, while Avon has a focused product line and they are over focusing on it. Avon Products: Avon cosmetics are famous and they have achieved the bestseller in many countries over the world. Avon products are available in many countries and in many shops in more 130 countrie s all over the world. The ingredients that Avon uses in their product are high quality ingredients and also they have committed to provide Avon clients the best product in the market.Avon believes that all the women in the world deserve the best quality and the best cosmetics product and that what Avon is looking for. Since Avon is a women company as they name their self we believe that their product are meant to be for women and their product is exactly what women all over the world is looking for. Avon has many products and many products line, they have lips, eyes, nail and face cosmetics and also they have beauty tools and beauty gift sets. However, Avon has many brands of their product such as, Anew Beauty, Avon Color, Extra Lasting, Healthy Makeup, Ideal Shade, Jillian Dempsey, NailExpert, Perfect Wear and Smooth Minerals. What makes Avon a very special cosmetics company is that Avon has many healthy product and they are also care about the health so Avon is a part of Breast Ca ncer Crusade and also Avon is against the domestic violence. The people who sells Avon products or Avon representatives are trained very well to know all the ingredients of each product that Avon sells and they have a good products knowledge, so when a customer ask any question or need a recommendations Avon representatives will be more than happy to help him and guide him to the best cosmetics on the planet.Some of Avon Products: The Product Name| Price| Description| Ingredients| Colors| Picture| ANEW Age-Transforming Compact Makeup| $15. 00| With 4D Wrinkles Reverse Technology. Skin looks younger, even after you take makeup off. Minimizes fine lines, wrinkles and age spots. Water-based for ultra-fresh feel. Natural radiant finish. Medium coverage. | WATER COCOS NUCIFERA (COCONUT) FRUIT JUICE OLEA EUROPAEA (OLIVE) LEAF FRUIT EXTRACT BENZYL ALCOHOL NYLON-12 DIMETHICONOL GLUCOSAMINE HCL ALUMINUM DIMYRISTATE TITANIUM DIOXIDE/CI 77891 MICA/CI 77019 IRON OXIDES| | |The Product Name| Pri ce| Description| Ingredients| Colors| Picture| Healthy Makeup Concealer| $8. 00| Radiant color makes your entire look come alive. Healthy Makeup is infused with skin-loving nutrients. | WATER/EAU CYCLOPENTASILOXANE TRIOXAUNDECANEDIOIC ACID PHENYL TRIMETHICONE DIMETHICONE GLYCERIN SODIUM CHLORIDE SORBITAN SESQUIOLEATE ETHYLHEXYL METHOXYCINNAMATE GLYCERYL BEHENATE PEG/PPG-18/18 DIMETHICONE DISTEARDIMONIUM HECTORITE OLEA EUROPAEA (OLIVE) LEAF EXTRACT PYRUS MALUS (APPLE) ROOT EXTRACT PUNICA GRANATUM FRUIT JUICE | | |The Product Name| Price| Description| Ingredients| Colors| Picture| Healthy Makeup Lip Conditioner| $3. 0| Healthy makeup The essence of a beautiful look. A fresh face. Vibrant eyes. Rosy lips. It lets your natural radiance shine through and your true beauty come alive. To your skin’s health and radiant beauty Jillian Dempsey, Avon Global Creative Color Director & Hollywood Makeup Artist| Active IngredientOctinoxate 7. 5% Other Ingredient: DIISOSTEARYL FUMARATE BA RIUM SULFATE SQUALANE POLYBUTENE OZOKERITE MICROCRYSTALLINE WAX/CIRE MICROCRISTALLINE DI-C12-15 ALKYL FUMARATE POLYETHYLENE ZEA MAYS (CORN) STARCH CETYL ALCOHOL PETROLATUM PUNICA GRANATUM FRUIT JUICE GLYCINE SOJA (SOYBEAN) OILOLEA EUROPAEA (OLIVE) LEAF EXTRACT ALOE BARBADENSIS LEAF EXTRACT RETINOL COLLAGEN | | | The Product Name| Price| Description| Ingredients| Colors| Picture| Healthy Makeup Lipstick| $9. 00| Healthy makeup†¦the essence of a beautiful look. A fresh face. Vibrant eyes. Rosy lips. It lets your natural radiance shine through†¦and your true beauty come alive. | Active Ingredient: OCTINOXATE 7. 5% Other Ingredients: DIISOSTEARYL FUMARATE SQUALANE POLYBUTENE BARIUM SULFATE OZOKERITE MICROCRYSTALLINE WAX/CIRE MICROCRISTALLINE DI-C12-15 ALKYL FUMARATE POLYETHYLENE ZEA MAYS (CORN) STARCH CETYL ALCOHOLPETROLATUM | | | The Product Name| Price| Description| Ingredients| Colors| Picture| AVON PRO Color and Gloss Lip Duo| $10. 00| Luscious shine wrapped in rich color. Lipstick on the outside, lip gloss on the inside. Wear each alone or both together†¦3 looks in one! Multi-dimensional color and shine. Lips look and feel moisturized. Lipstick, . 07 oz. net wt. Lip Gloss| LIPSTICK: RICINUS COMMUNIS (CASTOR) SEED OIL POLYGLYCERYL-2 DIISOSTEARATE SQUALANE GLYCERYL TRIACETYL HYDROXYSTEARATE MYRISTYL LACTATE OZOKERITE MICROCRYSTALLINE WAX/CIRE MICROCRISTALLINE LIPGLOSS: DIISOSTEARYL FUMARATETRIISOSTEARYL TRILINOLEATE TRIISOSTEAROYL POLYGLYCERYL-3 DIMER DILINOLEATE POLYGLYCERYL-2 DIISOSTEARATE/IPDI COPOLYMER SUCROSE ACETATE ISOBUTYRATE VP/HEXADECENE COPOLYMER BIS-STEARYL CAPRYLYL GLYCOL | | | Potential Product Summary After studying the market in Kuwait and studied the product of Avon we decided that the products we want to bring to Kuwait are lipsticks and lip treatment products. This type of product has a very big demand in the world especially in the Middle East. A study in 1937 survey revealed that over 50% of teenage girls fought with their pa rents over lipstick.This means that lipsticks have been a very good product for the companies to sell since lipsticks has a strong demand in all over the world. Even in Kuwait, after we studied the market in Kuwait we found that most of the women and girls buy lipstick and they prefer to buy lipstick more than buying any other cosmetics. During the Islamic Golden Age the notable Arab Andalusian cosmetologist Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi invented solid lipsticks, which were perfumed sticks rolled and pressed in special molds, and he described them in his Al-Tasrif. That shows us the importance of the rouge and lipsticks in the Arabian Culture.Also after studying the market in Kuwait and the demand of the lipsticks we found that the ages who uses lipstick are from 13-35 years old which means a bigger target market for us and this is a very good number and if we succeeded in getting 20% of the market interesting in our product we will be making a very good sales and making a good number of revenue. Also one of the reasons why did we choose lipsticks is that lipsticks are used everyday not like other cosmetics and make up which are used in a special occasion and that increases the demand of lipsticks in the country pecially in Kuwait because most of the girls and women here they don’t get out of the house unless they have some make up on which shows you the importance of the makeup and cosmetics in Kuwait Market. The last reason why we choose lipsticks and lips treatment product is that Avon Company has many types of lipsticks and many varieties of lipsticks. That’s an advantage for us because we will bring many types of lipsticks so we can satisfy all the needs and wants of the customers who wants lipsticks and we can offer them more than one type.Also we will be bringing eyes products such as eye liner, mascara and eye shadow. These products also have a strong demand in Kuwait market and the eye product is as much important as the lips products. Thatâ⠂¬â„¢s not all, we will also bring some make up special product such as foundation which is so important in Kuwait market since the women use it a lot for wedding and other occasions and also blush because it’s also used in the same occasions and even more. In Kuwait Kuwaitis care about perfumes and fragrances so much and I believe that bringing this product to Kuwait market will be the best choice as a beginning.After we launch these products we will be launching more products such as bath and body product, skin care products and hair care products. Process for Halal Certification Even though there is a long hard procedure to follow in terms to certificate your product as a halal product, but it worth it. First of all since we are going to sell our product in Kuwait and Kuwait is an Islamic country we have to sell a halal product and we can’t sell anything that hasâ€Å"haram† ingredients. Also to have a halal product, this will improve the brand image in the m arket and internationally.Also Halal certificate will help us exploring the cross border trade opportunities and it could obtain us the advantage to be better than our competitors and have a competitor advantage. Halal certificate also will help us attracting more customers not only in Kuwait, but internationally also and Halal insignia is a trustworthy and autonomous and dependable. The procedure to make it a Halal Product is: First of all no food served inside the factory to make sure that the factory is always clean.Second, only Halal Ingredient should be in the product and there are no â€Å"Haram† ingredients in it. To make the product Halal it should be: * Free from Alcohol or wine for food. * If it’s not food the alcohol content in the finished product must be less than 0. 5%, but it is better to keep it less than 0. 01%. * Free from filth * Free from animal part, except what has been approved as â€Å"Halal†. * Free from animal fat such as, enzyme, emuls ifier and other fats except what is â€Å"Halal†. * Free from pork or dogThis table shows the Halal and Haram ingredients and also it shows â€Å"Mashbooh† ingredients which mean it is not clear yet if it’s Halal or Haram, but it would be better if we did not use it. Ingredient| Status| Ingredient| Status| Alcohol| Haram| Hydrolysed Animal Protein| Mashbooh| Ammonium Chloride | Halal| Lard| Haram| Animal Fat | Haram| Leavenings| Halal| Animal Shortening | Haram| Lecithin (commercial) | Halal| Ascorbic Acid | Halal| Malt| Halal| Bacon (Pork) | Haram| Molasses| Halal| BHT| Halal| Monoglycerides| Mashbooh|Cholesterol| Mashbooh| Oxalic Acid | Halal| Collagen (Pork)| Haram| Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil | Halal| Dextrin / Dextrose | Halal| Pepsin| Mashbooh| Dicalcium Phosphate | Halal| Phospholipid| Mashbooh| Diglyceride| Mashbooh| Phosphoric Acid | Halal| Diglyceride (Plant) | Halal| Pork| Haram| Enzyme| Mashbooh| Potassium Bromade| Halal| Ergocalciferol| Hal al| Potassium Citrate | Mashbooh| Ethoxylated Mono/ Di Glyceride | Mashbooh| Propionic Acid | Halal| Fatty Acid | Mashbooh| Renin / Rennet | Mashbooh| Fungal Protease Enzyme | Halal| Shortening| Mashbooh|Gelatin / Kosher Gelatin | Haram| Soya Protein | Halal| The above is a list of some of the known ingredients only. Source : Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America| The procedure of Halal Certificate: First we have to fill the application forms and supporting documents includes a detailed of the company’s profile and the local authority’s license, also we have to inform them with all the ingredients that in the product, the address of the manufacture and the name or the suppliers of the ingredients name and address.Also the original status of ingredients, packaging materials, manufactures process and procedures. Second, we have to pay full payment of the certification fees before the inspection and we have to succeed in the physical site inspection includes inspe ction of storage, ingredients, production, general hygiene and quality control. Third, a report will be sent to the evaluation committee and recommendation and then the report will be tabled and evaluated by a committee for issuing Halal Certificate.Then they will give us a validity period of the certificate is only for two years. Then it will be carried out the Halal conformity through inspection, constant monitoring by surprise visit or calling the companies involved. Changes or Improvements for Launching Halal Product Because Kuwait market is an Islamic Market and they follow the rules of â€Å"Alshariyah† that means they usually eat, drink, wear and buy Halal products and the demand on Halal product is huge.Also on the other hand the demand in Kuwait market for the cosmetics is also huge and strong as in Kuwait cosmetics is used every day and its one of the important priority for women and teenagers in Kuwait. If we could take a product with a high demand on it such as co smetics and turn it to Halal cosmetics and also introduce it in an Islamic market such as Kuwait market, you will be doing an excellent business. If we see the demand and supply we will find that the demand of Kuwait market is cosmetics product and they are also demanding Halal product, but unfortunately they didn’t have the opportunity to find Halal cosmetics.Now we will be supplying their demand by offering them Halal cosmetics and if we just monitor the marketing mix well we will be doing a very good business in this market. Every business has its own special marketing plan and strategy to attract the customer and to grab their attention. Every company has its own way how to make the product and all of the marketing mix works with each other in terms to be successful company and to make more sales and profit.There is one important thing that not many of us might be aware of it, which is there might be some changes required to be successful in that market and as we know not all the markets are the same and any strategy that works in a certain place or market might not work in another place. For example when Cheetos Company for cheese curl wanted to expand in China they did not study the market well and after introducing the product in china they was shocked with the big failure they have faced. The reason why Cheetos Company failed in this market is because they didn’t do some changes.In China cheese curl is not famous and even though when they tried it they didn’t like it. After Cheetos company realized the problem they have done a research to find what are the best flavor for China market and they find that Strawberry, blueberry and BBQ flavored are the best to suit this market and when they changed the flavor they succeeded in this market. For our business we also will make some changes since we studied the market well and we think these changes will attract more customers to our business and make it a successful business. 1.Kuwaitis have their own taste in some of the fragrances and perfumes and adding â€Å"Bokhor† smell to the fragrances and perfumes will a very good step in Kuwait Market. 2. Also since our products are Halal product we might add some â€Å"Henna† which is a planet with a nice smell and Kuwaitis also put â€Å"Henna† on their hairs often and they believe that it helps the hair to be stronger, better smelling and shiny. 3. We must create a website in Arabic so customers can read all of the ingredients and what are our products made of in Arabic so they can trust us and feel safe. 4.We will use some Kuwaitis celebrities to represent our makeup and do some commercials for us. 5. Customer Service is a very important thing that we have to look after and we will be collecting our customer’s Mobile number or emails so we can inform them if we have any promotions or discounts. 6. Since we will be doing some commercials and advertisement for our new Halal product we must ha ve an Arabic advertisement and also an English advertisement. 7. We will be publishing flyers that shows how Halal cosmetics are better than regular cosmetics to increase the target market awareness. 8.To ensure that the team or the employees are working affectively we will set a commission for each clerk so we can encourage them to work better. Define three different market segment for Kuwait market place Before we complete our study we should divide the customers into different categories, so we can know what are the expected demands are and so we can meet need or want of these customers. Since satisfying all the customers is almost impossible, so we have to divide the customers into different groups and after dividing them we have to select a part and try to meet the need and want of this part.Now how can we divide the market or split it? We can group the customers based on 3 main groups 1. Geographic 2. Demographic 3. Psychographic 4. Behavioral Now I will discuss three of the s egments and I will rank them based on their viability and likely contribution to the business. 1. Demographic: Age| 18 – 30| Gender| Females| Income| Above 500 K. D| Religion| Muslims| We choose the age of 18-30 because from 18- 25 are likely to buy most of our products and because most of them are in Colleges and universities they will use it more.And from 25-30 are likely to go for weddings and in Kuwait they must have makeup on them when they are going to wedding and that why we will be focusing on this age group. Cosmetics are used by females and also Avon Company is a women company so we will be focusing on women and tries to satisfy their needs and wants. The income should be above 500 K. D because women who have an income which is below 500 K. D will not be able to buy from Avon because they will have a more important priority to do with their salaries and they will prefer to buy from other shops that cheaper than Avon. 2. Psychographic:We will be focusing on the inter est because women who are interested to attend social meeting and family gathering which are a very important part in our society will be more likely to buy make up because this type of women use it more than others. Also we will be focusing on the opinion because we don’t sell only cosmetics, we sell Halal cosmetics and that might make a difference on people who thinks and believe that Halal product are better than other regular product and we will be focusing on this type of women because they care about the ingredients and how did we make our products. . Behavioral: We will be focusing on the usage rate because women who use makeup and cosmetics more than other because they have more occasions so these will be focused on and also brand loyalty because there are some women when they like a certain brand of makeup they don’t tend to change it and they became loyal to this brand and this type of women who we are looking for.Also Occasions is one of the important parts of behavioral segment because there are women who don’t use make unless they have an occasion and this type we can satisfy them by offering them promotions for a whole set of cosmetics and they will have the opportunity to buy it and keep it till they use it. Which segments are likely to purchase our product?Now if we want to see which segment is more likely to buy my product and ranking them from one to three, Number one will be Demographic segment because they are likely to buy my products since the religion is included and Halal product means that this product is the best product for Muslims and also because they are women and the age of 18-30 is the best age to buy from us.Second, Psychographic women who are interested in family gathering and social meeting and gathering are likely to buy our product more than the others because they use the makeup more than others and those whom we want to attract and they will be likely to buy our product because we can offer them speci al discount and promotions if they visited us more and more.The last one is Behavioral because women who uses the cosmetics based on usage rate and brand loyalty won’t buy our product so much because cosmetics products isn’t used for one day, it’s used for a period of time and we want women who use more so they will buy more and this is the reason why behavioral segment comes in the last place. After segmenting the market, now we can say that our best customer is a Muslim women between 18-26 years old who is interested in social activities and meeting and also interested in family gathering with an income above 500 K.D and she thinks that Halal cosmetics are better than regular cosmetics because they don’t have Haram ingredients and it is been produced and manufacture in a better way. Mission & Vision and How might be affected by new Halal Product: Avon Vision: To be the company that best understands and satisfies the product, service and self-fulfill ment needs of women—globally. Avon’s Mission: The Global Beauty Leader Avon Company will build a unique portfolio of beauty and related brands, striving to surpass their competitors in quality, innovation, and value, and elevating our image to become the world’s most trusted beauty company.The Women’s Choice for Buying Avon Company will become the shopping destination for women, providing a personal, high-touch experience that helps create lifelong customer relationships. The Premier Direct Seller Avon Company will expand their presence in direct selling, empowering women to achieve economic independence by offering them a superior earnings opportunity as well as recognition, service and support, making it easy and rewarding to be affiliated with Avon. The Best Place to WorkAvon Company will be known for their leadership edge, including their passion for high standards, their respect for diversity, and their commitment to create exceptional opportunities for professional growth so that associates can fulfill their highest potential. The Largest Women’s Foundation Avon Company will be a committed global champion for the health and well-being of women through philanthropic efforts, with a special focus on breast cancer, domestic violence and women’s empowerment. The Most Admired CompanyAvon Company will deliver superior returns to our shareholders by tirelessly pursuing new growth opportunities while maintaining our commitment to be a socially responsible, ethical company that is watched and emulated as a model of success. When Avon Company introduced the Halal cosmetics many things were changed in the Vision and the Mission of the company. This step has given the company an opportunity to prove that Avon Company is a real Women Company and they care about women. By introducing Halal product they have attract more customers to their brand name.Every company has its own Vision and Mission and now we will see what did the Halal cosmetics change in the Vision and the Mission? Halal cosmetics have changed the company to be a better company that cares about all the religions and try to have the best ingredients and satisfy the women needs globally. By providing Halal cosmetics Avon proved what they have promised when they said they wanted â€Å"To be the Company that best understands and satisfies the product, service and self-fulfillment needs of women— globally. Halal products have worked in make the Avon Company image better and trustworthy and also it helps the company with their mission such as being the most admired company and also by introducing Halal product to the company they’re achieving their mission to be the largest women’s foundation and the women choice of buying and to be the global beauty leader. Providing the same quality of service to existing customers Customer service is a very important part that we have to focus on because customer service is in every purch ase the customer does.We all have stories with bad customer service and good customer service and we used to share it with others. We know that word of mouth could be the reason why customers always come back for your store or company or it could be a reason of loosing many customers by treating them poorly. Warren Buffett said: â€Å"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. To be honest with the customers is the best way to ensure a good customer service.Being honest with the customers and communicating with the customers when there is any mistake that happens ensures you that the mistake will never happen again and this is an advantage of being honest. There are few steps if we follow them we will continue to provide continued quality of service. 1. Response quickly When something goes wrong we have to quickly call the customer and explain him what happened and explain him our company’s mistake.If We have to communicate with a large number of cu stomers, then we have to send them an email explaining them what’s the company’s mistake and we will send them an email because it’s faster if we are communicating with a large number of customers. 2. Set a Realistic Expectation If we promised the customers something that didn’t delivered as we promised, the customers will feel disappointed and we will lose their trust in our words and promises, so we must do what we have committed to do even if it takes some arm wrestling with other departments who want to launch a product to the market before its been ready. . Respect The customers are so important to any company, without them we will not have any company, so all of our staff should love the customers even though there are some customers who will push the limits, but with the philosophy of respecting our customer and appreciating him we will get the customers satisfaction and we will be providing good customer service. From Gandhi, â€Å"We must become the change we want to see in the world. † How could we know if the customers are satisfied with our customer service or no? We have many ways to see if the customers are satisfied or no.First, after purchasing we can ask them to do a survey for us and also by doing an annual survey is a good way to ask. Also a follow up calls from the call center department will be a good idea. Measuring our services is an important thing to do because it gives us the opportunity to improve our company performance or even to save our company of losing. We will do some steps to know if customers are satisfied or no. How can we keep the customer satisfied? We can keep the customer happy and satisfied by following also several rules.If we follow these rules we will be able to satisfy the customers and ensure that they are happy with our services. 1. Service level: For the call center the first call is just like the first impression for the customer. The customers will know if the service is good or bad from the first call. Also for the shipment and delivery we must give a very good impression for the customer from the first day. 2. Response time: The response time is a very important tool we should use to ensure that our customers are satisfied and what we mean by response time is that when any customer has a question we should answer him as soon as possible.This will help us to keep the customers satisfied. 3. Give the customer his time: Some of the companies tell their agents to keep the calls short, but this is not helping the company because this might send a wrong message to the customer, so we will be giving the customer plenty of time to feel free to ask about anything he want and also our agent will give the customers a full detailed answers. After doing all these steps we will be sure that we are provide the same quality of service to existing customers with the introduction of the new Halal product.Major Promotional Activities & RMOI: This table shows our pro motion major activities and also it shows which promotion we will use in each month before launching the product and after launching the product. We have choose three main promotions activities section and under each of them we have choose a certain promotions ways that we thinks it best deliver our message to our target market. | October| November| December| January| February| March| April| May| Events & Exhibitions| | | | | | | | | Media| | | | | | | | | Internet| | | | | | | | |We will be launching the product in December 2012. In October and November these two months are pre launch months and we will be doing some exhibitions and advertisement on these two months to create product awareness before launching it. When we launch the product we want to reach the highest number of target market so we will be using the three major promotions to reach our target market on December. Event | October| November| December| January| February| March| April| May| Cost| Exhibitions in Mall| | | | | | | | | 3,200 K. D|Trade Show| | | | | | | | | 2,000 K. D| For the Event we will be using this promotion in October before launching the product, December when we launch the product, January, March and May. We will be using two types of Events promotions. The first one is Exhibition in malls such as Avenues, Marina Mall and Al Fanar Mall. The second one is the Trade show where there are some exhibitions for cosmetics brand where many cosmetics brand rent a booth and promote their product. This table will show you what Event promotions we will use and when. Media October| November| December| January| February| March| April| May| Cost| Catalogs | | | | | | | | | 400 K. D| Magazines| | | | | | | | | 600 K. D| Radio| | | | | | | | | 1,200 K. D| Flyers| | | | | | | | | 400 K. D| For the Media Promotions we will be using 4 types of media. The first thing we will be printing some Catalogs of our product and a brief description of our company and what are the Halal Products. The se cond thing we will be doing some advertisement in some Magazine that targeted the women such as Laki Magazine, Al-Mara’a Magazine and Sayedati Magazine.Also Radio is a good way to advertise for such a product, we will be doing some commercial advertisements in Marina FM because there is a study that said 78% of the channel listeners are females and that was said during one of the programs in Marina FM. Also flyers will be printed and we will be publishing them in some salons and Malls. Internet | October| November| December| January| February| March| April| May| Cost| Social Network| | | | | | | | | 600 K. D| Blogs| | | | | | | | | 150 K. D| For the Internet Promotions we will be using two methods.First we will be using Social Networks such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube. We choose this method because nowadays many people are being a part in the social networks websites and in Kuwait it has been a very attractive way to reach your target market. Also some of the so cial networks could offer you to advertise just for your target market. For example, if your target market is female age from 18 to 30 and their interests are Cosmetics, The social network can advertise your promotion just for the target you choose.The second method we will be using is Blogs since now many people are interested in blogs and they can share their opinion and get new ideas. This method might be used to educate our target market about Halal Product and also we might use it to tell more about our products and company. This is table shows our promotional budget for 8 month before and after launching the product and also we have mention the expected ROMI for these 8 months. Promotion Method| Promotion Budget| Events Promotions| 5,200 K. D| Media Promotions| 2,600 K. D| Internet Promotions | 750 K. D| Total| 8,550 K. D|Return On Marketing Investment| 17,100 K. D| As we can see the last table shows each promotion method budget and also it shows the total budget for the Marke ting plan in 8 months including the two pre launch months. It also shows you that the ROMI is 17,100 K. D because what are we planning for is in every 1 K. D we pay for promotions we want to get 2 K. D for example, When we budgeted 5,200 K. D in the Event promotions we want to make sales of 10,400 K. D and we did that because after making sales of 10,400 K. D we have to pay all of our expenses and we will have the rest as a profit.The best way to make sure that you are making profit is to make sure that the ROMI is 50% or above. One Year Budget and ROI: This table shows which promotions we are going to use for a period of 14 months include the two months of the pre launch period. This table shows in details which promotion we are going to use and when also it shows how much each promotion cost. Promotion Method| Promotion Budget For one year + Pre launch 2 months | Events Promotions| 7,000 K. D| Media Promotions| 3,800 K. D| Internet Promotions | 1,400 K. D| Educational Promotions| 1,500 K. D| Total| 13,700 K.D| Return On Marketing Investment| 27,400 K. D| This table shows the promotional budget for a period of 14 months including the 2 months before launching the product. As we mentioned before in the report we always assume that our return on investment will be the double because we usually set a plan to get 2 K. D for every 1 K. D we invest in promotions and marketing. Sales| 133,000 K. D| | COGS| 80,000 K. D| | | | 53,000 K. D| Gross Profit| 53,000 K. D| | Expenses: * Sales Expenses: 13,700 * Operation Expenses: 6,000 * Financial Expenses 5,000| 24,700 K.D | | Net Profit| | 28,300 K. D| This table shows the sales we make for a period of 14 months, how much did we pay for the goods or product we sell and it shows what expenses did we have and how much each one of them cost us. Also as you can see it tells us how much profit we make over one year. We calculate that by taking how much sales we made minis how much did we pay for the product we sells and then w e will get the Gross profit. Then we take the Gross Profit minis Total Expenses and we will get the Net Profit which means the money we make over a period of time which is in our case 14 month.Competitors: MAC: MAC Company is one of the best names in the cosmetics industry. MAC Company was founded in 1984 in Toronto, Canada by Frank Toskan and Frank Angelo. The MAC is a short cut of Make-up Art Cosmetics, but its known world-wide as MAC. Frank Angelo was a beauty salon owner and he come up with a makeup line that would be well with photography. The two owners use to cook the cosmetics in their own kitchen and most of their clients were artist, models, photographer. Strength: * Strong Brand Name * Brand Loyalty * Many Branches in KuwaitWeaknesses: * Uncomfortable products * Potential skin irritants products * No anti-blemish products * Poor customer service * Not many Advertisement L’Oreal: L’Oreal is the world largest cosmetics and Beauty Company. It was founded in 190 9 by the French chemist Eugene Schuller in France. L’Oreal has a variety of products such as hair color, skin care, sun protection, makeup, perfumes and hair care. L’Oreal reached the top 100 Brand in the industry which means it is one of the leading cosmetics company in the cosmetics industry. Strength: Many distribution channels sells their products in Kuwait, but they don't have a store here * Many Advertisement * Many varieties of products line * Many products for men * Their product almost in every super market in Kuwait Weaknesses: * No experts in Makeup and no makeup artist * No store for L'Oreal they only supply other stores with their products * They are focusing on hair product and less focusing in cosmetics Threats: There are few threats that our company is facing from MAC and L'Oreal. 1. They have a good customer base Customers prefer to try something have been in the market for long time then trying new thing specially for cosmetics products so it might be hard for us to attract and get customers interested in our product 2. They might do promotions or discounts on the time we launch our product * They may fail our product launching because they might do discounts or huge promotions on the same time we launch our product in and that could distract the customers for noticing our products 3. They might introduce Halal Product Our competitive advantage is that we have Halal products, if they produce Halal products and launch it in Kuwait most of the customers will buy from them since they are well-known and have a big customer's base. Communicating the changes in the Current Operations with Introduction of Halal Product: When any company introduce new product there will be many changes in the organization. The successful companies are the companies that focus on the new product and also they still focus on the old product and they know how to communicate the changes that happens to the current operation in the organization.For our compa ny we will have 5 main steps to be able to communicate the changes. Who? 5. Employees 6. Management 7. Board of Directors 8. Clients or customers if necessary How? 5. We must communicate through many channels such as writing, intranet of the organization and training and explain more about the change 6. We have to give enough time for people to ask question and know more about the change 7. We have to clearly explain the Vision, Mission and the objectives of our company 8.Explain the reason of the change clearly and what that might benefit the company and the clients If we follow these 4 steps, we will be able to make a very good communication and all the people who works in the company will know why we are changing and how we will change and when also, so they will be on track with any step the company does and they will help to make the introduction of Halal product more successful. Recommendation: Avon Company is a very successful company in the cosmetics industry and it has a ve ry long history in the industry.Avon products are in more than 130 countries and that show us how big and successful the company is. I believe that Avon Company will make a huge success in Kuwait and even in the Middle East because Avon has the perfect products that satisfy the needs of Kuwait market the Middle East market. The Vision of Avon is to be the company that satisfies the needs of the women internationally and globally and by introducing Halal product they are proving to the people that Avon is the Number 1 Company that understands the women need and try to provide the products that satisfy that need.The introduction of Halal Product will make a big change in the marker. Kuwait market is small and Kuwait community is also small and a word of mouth in Kuwait is doing a great job for the companies and organizations. By introducing Halal Product we will get the Kuwait market attention and many people will be talking about it and we will have very good product awareness by wor d of mouth and we will make a big success in this market since it’s an Islamic market and they are trendy people who like to try new things. References: http://en. wikipedia. rg/wiki/Halal http://www. npros. com/dir/avon/ http://www. avoncompany. com/aboutavon/index. html http://licence2halal. com/our-services/ http://www. malaysiahalalfoods. com/ingredients. html http://www. halaljournal. com/article/194/jakim-halal-certification-details http://www. scribd. com/doc/26155318/New-Product-Development-Strategy http://managementhelp. org/fp_progs/mkt_mod/market. htm http://managementhelp. org/fp_progs/mkt_mod/mrk_nlyz. htm http://www. netmba. com/marketing/market/segmentation/ http://samehar. wordpress. com/2006/05/29/a223/