Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Automotive Industries in Thailand Essay

Contribution of MNC’s in automotive industry: Most of the developing countries consider that the automotive industry will move the country toward an intensive industrialisation by creating a large set of related businesses. Thailand aims to be regarded as the Detroit of Asia. The country has engaged in the last few decades in the development of the automotive industry, with a special focus on domestic auto-assembly. Thailand is the world’s second largest pick-up truck market after the U.S., and it is ASEAN’s largest automotive market and assembler. Today all leading Japanese car producers as well as BMW, Mercedes Benz, General Motors, Ford, Volvo, and Peugeot, assemble cars in Thailand along with their group of subcontractors and suppliers. Thailand has become the main production base for auto exports in South East Asia. Thailand is considered as one of the most attractive countries for automotive investments mainly due to factors such as the good and growing domestic market size, the relative political stability, liberal trade and investment policy, and the lack of a â€Å"national car program†. The automotive industry is Thailand’s third largest industry, employing an estimated total workforce of about 225,000 employees, and with a total production capacity of around 1,270,100 cars and trucks per year. Japanese-make automobiles have dominated the local auto market; with nearly 90% market share but other global vehicle manufacturers’ investments are growing consistently, creating a very dynamic industry. New global parts manufacturers are in the process of relocating some of their operations to Thailand. Thailand has 16 vehicle assemblers; most of them are large-scale foreign owned or joint venture enterprises. As well, there are more than 1100 small and medium sized companies working as suppliers of original equipment (OEM),  or producing replacement equipment (REM). The automotive industry in Thailand is very concentrated with most of the factories located in the Samut Prakarn province (approximately 20 km south of Bangkok), followed by Rayong (approximately 130 km south-east of Bangkok). The largest car producer is Toyota, and in 2003 it was the first manufacturer to establish a local R&D centre in Thailand. However, this type of initiative, a cooperative arrangement between MNCs and local universities, is so far not a widespread practice in Thailand. Therefore, there is a stringent need to understand the mechanisms allowing for knowledge transfer and sharing, if Thailand wants to position itself as a very competitive country, not only in the automotive industry but in other industrial sectors as well. Thailand benefits from these companies operations as almost 18% of labour and employment are generated by the automotive industry.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Contemporary Designers Essay

Contemporary designers are creators of objects, buildings or surroundings that rely on characteristics such as lines, smooth and sleek surfaces, very little intricate details. There designs are spacious and/or comfortable, with the asset of clutter. However they must study design history because to open their mind to the past they will learn new ideas and ideologies, â€Å"To know nothing of what happened before you were born is to remain forever a child,† Marcus Tullius Cicero, a famous philosopher (106-43 BC)1. The 3 main reasons why learning design history is useful are firstly because it will help advance and learn from success and failures. Secondly to maintain sustainability within our world for future generations and thirdly to learn more about other past cultures. Researching history is valuable in learning from successes and failures for contemporary designers. Confucius (551–479 BC) a famous Chinese teacher and philosopher supports this and explains how we sho uld â€Å"Study the past if you would define the future.†2 From ancient civilisations we have learnt to take these valuable skills and accomplishments to help build our outstanding society today. For example Roman buildings (27BC- 476 AD) has lasted for more than 2,000 years and they have given us 3 main successful architectural elements to learn and base new designs upon: the arch, the vault, and concrete. The main one of these for contemporary designers to look upon is the arch and concrete in which we can use their useful elements of strength to help buildings last longer. The Pont du Gard Aqueduct Bridge (seen in Appendix Picture 1) in France is a great element that was successfully created and, consists of three tiers of arches, with smaller arches on the top tier.4 The Roman Coliseum was made of concrete and consisted of arches structured within its design. It was built in 72-80 CE5 and still stands today and designers can learn from these past successes of strength within the design using these characteristics which are important for future projects in allowing them to be more long lasting to teach future generations also, â€Å"History is for human self-knowledge †¦ the only clue to what man can do is what man has done† – David Hume, philosopher.6 We can also learn from the mistakes of design, and try to avoid them next time. George Santayana a famous philosop her  scholar and novelists supports this by explaining that, â€Å"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.†7 For example the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge shocked everyone in 1940 as it was the most modern suspension bridge for its time. The cause of its destruction was the random action of turbulent wind. From these failures however industrialists and architects learnt that the design failed due to excessive flexibility, drag and lift created by the solid plate girder and meniscal aerodynamic forces acknowledged.9 Attributes like this we can use to steer clear from and learn to think about what aspects will affect our design to base what designers may create on what was successful from the pass – â€Å"Instead we must be willing to face our past now, overcome it, and from this we will learn from it forever,† J. Johnson (Musician).10 The second reason why it is useful from learning from design history is for sustainability. This is an important factor for our future as a whole as the Future Annual Report Sates (2000), â€Å"Sustainable development is a dynamic process which enables all people to realise their potential, and to improve their quality of life, in ways which simultaneously protect and enha nce the Earth’s life support systems.†11 The sustainable materials and structures are simple ways of past civilisations portraying to contemporary designers simple and effective ways to be â€Å"green.† For example the ancient Persian Wind Towers (Seen in Appendix Picture 2) were elaborate ventilation and cooling systems and rivals the contemporary equivalents today. They use a mixture of structural positioning, pressure differences and running water. They are wind catcher structures and control temperatures even in the severest of desert environment with cool nights and scorching hot days.13 Another is the Passive solar Orientation for heating.14 This was introduced by the ancient Greeks. Much like our world today they ran into fuel shortages so they had to think about how to maximise heat gain and the retention during winter months. They did this by building cities/houses towards the southern exposure to capture the sun’s rays.15 Now a days designers just build things without purpose or sustainability wasting resources and harming the earth and they need to natural resources are allow and we need to sustain ourselves sometime in the future, supported by Victor Papanek a famous designer â€Å"†¦ by choosing materials and processes that pollute the air we breathe, designers have become a dangerous breed.†16 The third reason toà ‚  why contemporary designers should learn about design history is to preserve culture and sites and which will also create a sense of place, because the past is the root of our society values and it is what makes us today which is why we should acknowledge its importance – â€Å"A person without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots† Marcus Garvey (Jamaican political leader). Contemporary designers should design something whereby people can learn about contemporary cultures a lot more by visiting where they have thrived. For example when visiting the ancient Mayan temples in Mexico, citizens will have a greater understanding of the origins of Mexican values as well as their culture from the Pre-classic period to the Colonial period. In addition to learn about our culture and where we come from can help not just the general public but also researchers helping us to understand more about ourselves scientifically opening our mind to new discoveries and technologies – â€Å"Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit, † Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime minister of India.19 Heritage sites can tell us about pass species like the Galapagos Islands and tell us about evolution as well as the Valcamonica rock art in Italy (seen in picture 3 of appendix).20 It can explain how human societies developed, teaching us more about our past creatin g a sense of place and important knowledge of where we came from, which is what designers should do and create something that will help and form the future. -â€Å"Every piece of history is a piece of human nature,† Joss Whedon, an American writer. They should have the motivation to design a product or building that will be remembered that will push the boundaries of current technology for us to build upon in –â€Å"Without culture, and the relative freedom it implies, society, even when perfect, is but a jungle. This is why any authentic creation is a gift to the future,† supported by Albert Camus a French novelist and journalist. For example the ancient pyramids of Egypt (2630 BC–2611 BC) show great human accomplishment as today it still marvels researchers on how the Egyptians built these magnificent sites without the use of basic technology. Overall these three reasons portray why learning design history is so useful through learning from past mistakes and successes, learning how to become more sustainable without using harmful materials and learning from different cultures to view where our values came from incorporated with creating a sense of place for  future generations to learn from. It is impor tant to learn from the past otherwise we know very little of the present or future and become ignorant to everything around us that may help us strive in the future – â€Å"A generation which ignores history has no past: and no future,† supports and said by Robert Heinlein a famous writer. Referencing: 1 McDermott, Brian. 2001. â€Å"Quotes about History.† Accessed August 31st, 2014. http://homepage.eircom.net/~odyssey/Quotes/History/Historians.html 2 Moncur, Michael. 1994. â€Å"The Quotations page.† Accesssed August 31st , 2014. http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/29259.html 3Karen Carr. 2012. â€Å"Roman Architecture.† Accessed August 31st, 2014. http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/romans/architecture/romarch.htm 4Wikipeadia. 2014. â€Å"Pont du Gard.† Accessed September 1st, 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_du_Gard 5 Wikipeadia. 2014. â€Å"Colosseum.† Accessed September 1st, 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colosseum 6 Russel Tarr. 1998. â€Å"Active History.† Accessed September 1st, 2014. http://www.activehistory.co.uk/historical_quotations.htm 7 Indiana University. 2011. â€Å"The Santayana Edition.† Accessed September 4th, 2014. http://iat.iupui.edu/santayana/content/santayana-quotations 8 Claudia Bingham Baker. 2005 . â€Å"Tacoma Narrows Bridge.† Accessed September 4th, 2014. http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/tnbhistory/machine/machine3.htm 9 Claudia Bingham Baker. 2005. â€Å"Tacoma Narrows Bridge.† Accessed September 4th, 2014. http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/tnbhistory/machine/machine3.htm 10 SearchQuotes. 2014. â€Å"Learning From The Past.† Accessed September 7th, 2014. http://www.searchquotes.com/viewimage/Learning_From_The_Past/355/ 11 Pavlova, Margarita. 2009. Technology and Vocational Education for Sustainable Development. Vol. 10. New York: Springer Publishing. 12 Web Ecoist. 2014. â€Å"7 Ancient Wonders of Green Design & Technology.† Accessed September 7th, 2013. http://webecoist.momtastic.com/2009/01/25/ancient-green-architecture-alternative-energy-design/ 13 Web Ecoist. 2014. â€Å"7 Ancient Wonders of Green Design & Technology.† Accessed September 7th, 2013. http://webecoist.momtastic.com/2009/01/25/ancient-green-architecture-alternative-energy-design/ 14Web Eco ist. 2014. â€Å"7 Ancient Wonders of Green Design & Technology.† Accessed September 7th, 2013. http://webecoist.momtastic.com/2009/01/25/ancient-green-architecture-alternative-energy-design/ 15Web Ecoist. 2014. â€Å"7 Ancient Wonders of Green Design & Technology.† Accessed September 7th, 2013. http://webecoist.momtastic.com/2009/01/25/ancient-green-architecture-alternative-energy-design/ 16 Victor J. Papanek. 1984. Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change. 1st ed. Chicago: Academy Chicago Publishing. 17 Brainy Quotes. 2001. â€Å"Marcus Garvey.† Accessed September 9th 2014. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/marcusgarv365148.html 18 By Melanie J. Martin. 2014. â€Å"Why Are World Heritage Sites Important?† Accessed September 9th 2014. http://www.ehow.com/facts_5513442_world-heritage-sites-important.html 19 Brainy Quotes. 2001. â€Å"Jawaharlal Nehru.† Accessed September 9th, 2014. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/jawaharlal141407.html 20 By Melanie J. Martin. 2014. â€Å"Why Are World Heritage Sites Important?† Accessed September 9th 2014. http://www.ehow.com/facts_5513442_world-heritage-sites-important.html 21 McDermott, Brian. 2001. â€Å"Quotes about History.† Accessed August 31st, 2014. http://homepage.eircom.net/~odyssey/Quotes/History/Historians.html 22 Good Reads. 2014. â€Å"Albert Camus.† Accessed September 12th, 2014. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/209885-without-culture-and-the-relative-freedom-it-implies-society-even 23 Web Ecoist. 2014. â€Å"7 Ancient Wonders of Green Design & Technology.† Accessed September 7th, 2013. http://webecoist.momtastic.com/2009/01/25/ancient-green-architecture-alternative-energy-design/ 24 Good Reads. 2014. â€Å"Robert A. Heinlein.† Accessed September 12th, 2014. http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/186632-a-generation-which-ignores-history-has-no-past-and

Monday, July 29, 2019

Benefits And Challenges Of Department Stores

Benefits And Challenges Of Department Stores Department stores represent a large retail organization which offers to consumers a large choice of goods and services. Consumers have the opportunity to compare price, quality, and service at different stores at the same time and in a limited place. So the company can profit from individual benefits other sectors. The strategy of F4U is not only to sell quality goods at a reasonable price , but also to offer a unique service .Its prices are neither as cheap as the lower end department store, nor as expensive as the high-end store. F4U will try to bring the immediate attention of consumer through visual effects like layout, displays and colored posters and will place itself directly in front of the shoppers. The company wants, thereby, to entice different target groups and gain those other brands according to the motto† good quality, fashion style, best price†. In addition F4U intend to retain its consumer through a bonus program and to collect their personal data to bui ld an aggregate profile of individual consumers to target them with special offers and appropriate advertisements. Benefits and challenges of Department stores: Department stores offer to the customer the direct experience to touch and feel the product and judge its quality as well as the possibility of living the purchase as experience (Steinmann 2011:27) .The customer can try the clothes and take them immediately. Whereby the number of returns can be decreased. The face-to-face contact is crucial for many consumers especially for old people or people who dislike shopping online. Another advantage is the longer opening hours compared to specialty retail stores especially on Friday and Saturday. Department stores have also many disadvantages such as the existing of a concrete and inflexible location. Consequently, the location is a crucial factor for the shopping place. In this context, many consumers opine that, the fixed opening hours and parking fees are unfavorable. In addition, the time exposure, due to the travelling time, could be also a problem for some consumers (Heinemann 2008:19) Furthermore, department stores emerge several costs for the company such as lease costs and staff costs. Catalog selling Catalog selling as a channel for F4U Catalog selling is one of the most popular strategies used in Fashion game. The approach involves the creation of a printed catalog with a listing of products for sale. Every product is explicitly described and clearly illustrated with a picture to make the shopping experience as real as possible for the consumer. The catalog contains also a size chart to help consumer choosing the appropriate size. F4U tries, across catalog selling, to expand its clientele and above all to attain consumers, who are not familiar with using the internet or who dislike to walk around the stores for buying clothes. The catalog will comprise different ordering informations. The consumer can choose between ordering by telephone and entering the order at the online site.F4u will also offer its consumers various delivery options .They range from shipment directly to the consumer’s address, to delivering the goods to a F4u retail store or simply to a Packstation.

Sunday, July 28, 2019

The Development of Motivation Theory in Business Essay - 1

The Development of Motivation Theory in Business - Essay Example This paper illustrates that Maslow’s theory asserts that people are motivated by the quest to satisfy their needs or deficiencies. Maslow grouped needs into five categories with the needs occurring in a specific hierarchy where the lower needs had to be satisfied before advancing to those of higher order. Physiological needs are basic survival needs like food while safety needs are personal security needs such as the need for a steady job. Social needs are social acceptance and support needs while egoistical needs are desired by an individual to be valued by others. Self-actualization is the aspiration of an individual to acquire the finest out of his/her abilities. From the hierarchical system, Maslow deduced that those needs which had already been satisfied no longer provided motivation for action. Due to lack of empirical support for Maslow’s theory, Alderfer postulated the Alderfer’s Existence-Relatedness-Growth (ERG) theory, which condensed Maslow’s n eeds to three. These three needs were existence or physical survival needs, relatedness or social needs and growth or need for personal growth and development. Alderfer, however, did not insist on a hierarchical system rather he claimed that the needs ought to be experienced simultaneously. Alderfer’s theory got more appeal from practitioners and had greater empirical support. Though the needs theory has limited empirical support, some of its assertions like the self-actualization principle have gained currency among managers and executives who perceive this high-level need as a potent motivator. Herzberg claimed that motivation emanates from the job itself and not from other external characteristics. He explained that those factors leading to job satisfaction or motivators are distinct from those that cause job dissatisfaction; that is, hygiene or maintenance factors. The hygiene factors are factors surrounding the task which do not lead to satisfaction but prevent dissatisf action if well maintained. Examples of such factors are job status and remuneration.

SEO(search engine optimization) Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

SEO(search engine optimization) - Assignment Example The SEO tactic used in the provided html is White Hat SEO. This is a type of SEO tactic which is used to improve the performance of a given web site while considering its compliance with the laid regulations and procedures put by the search engine. Meaning, when developing this page, the administrator was concerned about the rules and regulations governing their development. Therefore, by adopting this tactic, it implies that the credibility of the site is increased. Besides, the compliance to the laid standards means that the page is made to be to be legitimate and can not be involved in any controversy. These are issues which can lead to violation of the rules thus making it to be closed by the search engines. In using this tactic, the page was made of a high quality. As can be seen in provided html, everything seems to be up to standard. Therefore, the high quality in it makes it be appealing to the users. Whenever a search is made, the required results must be got as expected. This is why this tactic is a good one. Besides, it has keyword-rich Meta tags which are descriptive enough and can enable it be more effective when used to search for a word. This is a very important feature which can make this web site be easier to navigate (Beel; Gipp and Wilde 181). However, in order to improve this page, I will have to be more creative. Meaning, I will go beyond adopting this tactic. Instead, I will have to edit all the contents of the site in order to make them appropriate for use when searched to look for the inserted words or keys. When it is edited, its quality will have to be improved. This is because, many people like to navigate and use web sites with Standard English at all times. Therefore, it implies that if all the contents are edited, it will appeal to everyone. Besides, it will contain catchy words which would be easily accessed whenever any search is made. The other tactic I

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Impact on second language learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Impact on second language learning - Essay Example rs: an innate capacity for acquiring language or Language Acquisition Device, containing the "universal" features found in all languages and the â€Å"critical or optimal age hypothesis.† Non- linguistic factors which are considered when talking about language acquisition are motivation, opportunity; and language learning ability. (Fantini & Reagan, 1992) According to recent studies (Dornyei, 2005) L2 motivational self system is the equation of the motivational dimension of "integrativeness/integrative motivation" with the "ideal L2 self which is person’s hopes, aspirations, desires or other desired attributes. If ideal self is interested in the mastery of an L2, then one has "integrative" disposition (according to Gardners (1985) terminology). (Csizer & Dornyei, 2005a) "Integrative" disposition supposes sincere interest in the L2-speaking community and its life, culture and routines. Integrativeness reflects a positive outlook on the L2 and its culture which makes learners desire to integrate themselves into the L2 culture and L2 speakers’ community. (Csizer & Dornyei, 2005) If the L2 community has no respect among learners – it is associated with negative characteristics such as poverty or crime - it provides less motivation for students to learn the language of this community. The researcher of attitudinal basis of language attainment Spolsky (1969) arrived at the conclusion: â€Å"One of the most important attitudinal factors is the attitude of the learner to the language and to its speakers" (p. 274 in Csizer & Dornyei, 2005) The attitude to community contains some constituents: attitudes toward having direct contact with L2 speaker or opportunity to travel to the country of origin and on the other hand cultural interest or appreciation of cultural products related to particular L2 and spread by the media - movies, music, magazines and books which provide indirect contact with L2 community. L2 cultural products play an important role in acquiring

Friday, July 26, 2019

A critical analysis of a recent PR, advertising or social media Essay

A critical analysis of a recent PR, advertising or social media campaign - Essay Example Given the decision to do commercial advertising, Nike first ventured in printing advertisements that appeared in major dailies in the United States. The company also invested in magazine advertisements. Before the year 1982, Nike put more focus on sponsorships as well as the trending celebrity endorsements. Since that period, the celebrity advertisement has revolutionized, with many corporate entities embracing the need to collaborate with celebrities in a bid to convince more customers to use their products (Cronin, 2004). It was in the same year that Nike hired the services of Wieden + Kennedy, an advertising agency that has since then had strong ties with this giant sportswear company. It is with the help of the partnership with Wieden that Nike begun airing advertisements across television channels in the United States. Television advertising was a boost for the image of the company, as many of the elite group had access to television. Television advertisements helped the company to emphasize more on the technical superiority of its products, therefore positioning the company as a brand for aspiring and serious athletes across various sporting disciplines. In addition to highlighting their product superiority, Nike ventured into advertising their fashion accessories across the young customers, promoting their merchandise across schools and other sporting institutions (Wernick, 1991). The activities of the Nike Company in advertising played a major role in the internationalization of the company. Over the past three decades, Nike has grown to various overseas sporting leagues, with the company being a major corporate figure that sponsors major athletes in the sporting world. This growth in revenue as well as the involvement in multinational sporting markets defines Nike as a global leader in the sporting market. Soccer is no exception. However, the authority of Nike in the soccer

Thursday, July 25, 2019

THREAT ANALYSIS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

THREAT ANALYSIS - Essay Example Firstly, the process requires a source of the integral fissionable explosive that is in the right amounts and quality; also, it requires a terrorist with the knowledge of the science and technical works for execution. With a person, that has ample knowledge in the field, fabrication of the nuclear weapon is possible depending with the materials acquired and the target location of the terrorists. After the manufacturing, the complex and last parts involve successfully delivering the weapon to the target location and detonating the explosive. In these occasions, the terrorists need to be knowledgeable about the security policies in the target location and come up with plans of transporting the weapon without causing alarm. Without people that are conversant enough, the terrorist attacks fail due to complications such lack of communication and network blocks i.e.in the Iranian infiltration in 2012, the saboteurs did not succeed because the threat was identified early enough, and the aut horities had possible suspects . Definitely, the terrorists should be conservative and willing to risk or lose their lives like the common suicide bombers, in order for the attacks to succeed; furthermore, the people detonating the weapons should avoid accidents such as spontaneous ignition or early detonation. Today, there are only a limited number of terrorists groups with the capabilities of making successful nuclear weapon attacks. This is due to the lack of resources and advanced security in nuclear facilities. Al Qaeda and Al Shabab are today’s popular terrorist groups that have managed to conduct attacks in parts of the world with complex tactics. Al Qaeda is very resourceful as it divides into two groups based in Yemen and the core in Pakistan (Jonas &Swift 2008). Moreover, it has resourceful organizations and other terrorist groups like Al Shabab as its associates; typically, this

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Taxation Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Taxation Law - Essay Example It is important to note that perpetual form of employment has some elements of a contractual type. This is because both parties have to agree on work done, how it is to be done, remuneration among other things. There are several factors that should be deeply looked at when determining whether one is an employee or is self-employed. Top among those factors is the Terms of Employment. It is important to analyse the substance of a contract rather than only look at its wording. In Ferguson v Dawson1 the judge found that workers would be self-employed only and would thus avoid deduction of income tax and insurance from their salaries. Plaintiff worked on the defendant’s building site. He argued that he was an employee when he suffered an injury and could recover damages for breach of statutory duties. The judge held that the actual nature of their relationship was that of an employer/employee and plaintiff could recover damages. It is essential that courts exercise their power in a keen way. This ensures that they cannot be abused when the plaintiff wishes to be compensated whilst he had readily chosen to be employed as an independent contractor in order to avoid tax. Sebastian is under no legal or contractual obligation to accept any of the projects offered and, therefore, no contract exists between him and Giga Systems Limited. Control is also a factor that should be considered in trying to make out the existence of the employer/employee relationship. In a typical master/servant relationship, the master has total control over the actions of his servant. Bramwell LJ in Yewenes v Noakes2 stated: The control can be seen in employment relationships where the employer exercises total control over the actions of his employee. It, therefore, emerges that such a relationship exists where an employer tells his employee what to do and how to do it. While the test may still be in use, it appears to be outdated. This is due to the simple reason that

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Marpol convention Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Marpol convention - Essay Example The Marpol convention has 6 technical annexes which include regulations that provide guidelines for reducing marine pollution caused by ships either during their routine operations or due to accidents. The Annex I cover the regulations for preventing pollution due to oil spills which came into force in 1983. Amendments to this annex, which mandated the incorporation of double hulls in oil tankers, were introduced in 1992. The Annex II included regulations that controlled the discharge of about 250 noxious liquid substances in bulk after their evaluation. Discharge of such substances within 12 miles from the nearest land is strictly prohibited especially in the Baltic and Black sea regions. This annex came into force in 1983. Annex III, which entered into force in 1992, deals with the transportation of packaged harmful substances and issues requirements for packing, marking, labeling, documentation, storage and quantity limits. Annex IV came into effect in 2003 and deals with the cont rol of sewage pollution in marine waters. Annex V, which has been effective since 1988, details the types of garbage’s, mode of their disposal and distance from land. The most prominent inclusion is the ban on the disposal of all forms of plastic into the sea. Annex VI is the latest addition which came into effect in 2005. It lists the regulations for controlling air pollution from ships which includes the emission of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide from ship exhausts and it prohibits the release of ozone depleting substances into the atmosphere. The annexes have been updated over the years by the addition of several amendments as required. It is necessary for the state parties to accept annexes I and II while the other annexes are voluntary.

Indigenous Knowledge Amd Essay Example for Free

Indigenous Knowledge Amd Essay Pedagogy in First Nations Education A Literature Review with Recommendations. ’’ Marie Battiste, director of the Apamuwek Institute, in partnership with the Canadian Government has made a research conducting a literature review on indigenous knowledge. The author writes about the challenges that such a research implies. For example, the record of educational knowledge for indigenous people is not necessarily done through books as with the European knowledge system. Throughout the years, the rights of indigenous knowledge in the educational system under the constitutional Act of 1982 section 35 and 52 (p. 13) was not always respected. Her goal s to ensure that the right information about indigenous knowledge is integrated into classrooms. To achieve it, Battiste proposes three approaches. The first one would be to clarify insights into the tensions between Indigenous people and European ways of knowing. The second approach is on innovating program to help understand the challenges of Native People. The third part is based on the Author’s research and the Ministry recommendations in improving First Nations education. Marie Battiste suggests to focus on ‘’ Similarities between the two systems of knowledge ather than on their differences’’ as a start to introduce educational reform. (p. 11). Reference: Battiste. M. (2002) Indigenous Knowledge and Pedagogy in First Nations Education

Monday, July 22, 2019

Difference between functional and dysfunctional conflict Essay Example for Free

Difference between functional and dysfunctional conflict Essay Functional Conflict Susie Steel is a vice president in a real estate development firm called Hearts Development. She has spent enormous amounts of energy cultivating a relationship with a local town regarding an available plot of land. Susie would like to purchase the land to build townhomes for sale. She has developed an excellent relationship with the town politicians and community members. An issue has developed over the planned usage of the land, though. The town will sell the land to Susies company but feels that townhomes would be bad for the overall community. Theyre concerned with the additional cost and burden of kids that the townhomes would bring into the community. Susie understands the communitys concern and wants a win-win situation to occur. She feels that this issue will be a functional conflict due to the fact that the disagreement will bring a positive end result to both parties. Positive results of functional conflict include: Awareness of both sides of issues Improvement of working conditions due to accomplishing solutions together Solving issues together to improve overall morale Making innovations and improvements within an organization In Susies case, constructive criticism and discussion resulted in a compromise and a solution between the parties. Susie understood the towns concern but needed to find something to build that would bring revenue for the company. Through their joint meetings, the end solution was for Hearts Development to build a retirement community, which would only have citizens 55 and over living in the town. This would eliminate the issue of having more young people come into town and burden the school system.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Ethics In Nigeria Oil And Gas Industry Politics Essay

Ethics In Nigeria Oil And Gas Industry Politics Essay Nigeria is Africas most populous nation and also its largest producer of oil. The country is ranked fifth in terms of oil exportation to the United States. The country has the potential to reach the third spot replacing Norway in a few years though it is plagued with social unrest as well as corruption in the Niger Delta posing significant challenges to the production of oil. The intermittent economic crisis and the political turmoil the country faces dates back to independence in 1960. At the centre of this is the oil industry. This is highlighted by its human development indicators which are among the lowest in the world even though the revenue from gas and oil has gone up to 40 billion per year. This means that the countrys majority lives in extreme poverty. This fact as well the severe environmental degradation that comes with oil production operations in the region has resulted in a conflict between the transnational oil corporations and the communities that reside in the delta date back to early1990s. This article provides an in-depth analysis that the oil industry in Nigeria is faced with in particular with ethical and public relations practices that continues to exacerbate the conflict in the region. It concludes with offering a recommendation that the companies can now adopt in an effort to maintain socially responsible practices in the country and aid in the development of the local communities. Introduction One business sector that has a strong claim to business ethics and/or public relations is the oil and gas sector. The oil and gas Transnational Corporation operating in Nigeria are active in addition to playing leadership roles in developing good codes of conduct and corporate practices in the work place as well as in engaging with different facets of the community. The involvement of Shell, BP-Amoco, Chevron Texaco, ExxonMobil, TotalFinaElf, Occidental, ENI among others in the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the United Nations Global Impact, the Sullivan Principle, the Millennium Development Goals, the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, Dow Jones Sustainability Index are some instances (Carrol Bulcholtz, 2003). The footprints of these companies are seen in the transfer of foreign direct investment (FDI), technology and skills: accounting for the majority of the state revenue; and a major employer of labor. They have also undeniably have contributed to the development of communities via programs in health, education, commerce, transport, agriculture, construction among others. Tuodolo (2009) argues that despite the contributions to the community and achievements, the oil transnational Corporations have been the targeted by negative and anti-corporate and negative campaigns in the last two decades. Many civil society actors have been responsible for damaging campaigns against these companies and the institutions that collaborate with them. The strategies they employ in this campaigns include publicity, networking, walk-outs, sit-ins, litigation, lobbying, peoples development plans, socially responsible investment, public hearings, blockades, exposures, seizures and closures. These campaigns cover ethical issues such as human rights abuses, environmental, safety, health, corruption and climate change. In Nigeria, one of the main protests by the civil society against an oil company was against Shell in the Gas flaring taking place in the region and on the Ogoni environmental issues, Niger Delta area (Amnesty International, 1995). The world has experiences massive campaigns carried out by the civil society actors against oil giants such as Shell, ChevronTexaco, ExxonMobil, Occidental, ENI. These campaigns often disrupt business activities, damages and embarrass the reputation of the business; the major civil society actors include Greenpeace, Friends of Earth, and the Sierra club, Amnesty, Global Witness, Christian Aid, Oil-Watch, Human Rights Watch and Corp-Watch. Yazji (2006) noted that many civil society actors view the Transnational Corporations more as strange bedfellows or enemies finding it difficult o associate with them. This is often based purely on grounds of ethics. However, recent years have seen a new trend in the relationship that exists between the Transnational Corporations and the civil society actors. Most notably is the development of collaborative relationships that are aimed at directing funding of programs for the civil society. Many of the civil society actors now maintain very cordial relationships with the oil companies with partners collaborating and doing business with the enemies, the oil and gas industry. According to Warren (2005), this is seen to benefits the image and public relation of the business more than the communitys welfare. This has created an image of rapprochement or collaboration between the civil society actors, the publics watch dog, and the oil transnational corporations. An example of this collaboration in Nigeria is witnesses in community development projects that are run by International Foundation for Education and Self-Help (IFESH) in collaboration with Chevron Texaco (Bendell Lake, 2000). These actions raise many questions that are still to be settled: have the ethical issues that the civil society had campaigned for in the past been resolved or changed? Have the oil industry players changed or repented for the better on the contentious issues that the civil groups raised in the past? Have the actors in civil societies lost track or are they comprised? Have the civil society actors been won over of placated by the big businesses? Or had the public relations machinery and campaigns by the corporations become more effective and can now shield their bad deeds. LITERATURE REVIEW Oil and gas industry in Nigeria Nigeria is Africas largest oil producer and is ranked eighth in the world. Commercial quantities of oil in the country were discovered in 1956. It can on average pump 2.5 million barrels of oil every day. This accounts to approximately 3 percent of the worlds total consumption. The Wall Street Journal stated in an article that the country exports the majority of this output. Oil provides around 90 percent of the countries total foreign exchange and around 80 percent if the federal revenues. This makes the country the fifth-largest foreign crude oil supplier to the United States behind Mexico, Canada, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. Despite this richness in natural oil and gas resources, the country is ranked a lowly 20th poorest country in the world. Much of this poverty as well as underdevelopment can be attributed to the bad governance, mismanagement of the countys resources (oil and gas), political instability and the lack of infrastructure as well as policies to govern industries. Mo st of the many oil companies in the country are American. They utilize the countrys crude oil and gas resources to gain astronomical profits. These companies also utilize the environment to operate and produce within the oil industry. The Niger delta is the oil-rich region in Nigeria and is currently involved in conflicts that surround the oil companies. These companies are usually viewed as parasitic by the local communities as they take the regions resources while giving nothing or very little in return (Bird, 2004). Karl (1997) argues that as in many of the other petro states, the windfall revenues from oil and gas have proved to be more of a curse than a blessing. The country is plagued with conflict that stems out of inequitable distribution of oil revenue and the exploitation of the resources by the oil companies operating in the country. According to the constitution of Nigeria, all natural minerals including the gas and also belong to the Nigerian federal government. The government is then responsible for negotiating the terms for oil production with the international oil companies. Most of the production and the exploration of oil in the region is done by United States and European companies. These companies operate joint ventures in collaboration with Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPCC). The state oil company owns up to 60 to 55 percent of these ventures (Ukeje, 2004). Public relations and ethical issues facing the oil and gas industry in Nigeria Most of the ethical issues in the oil and gas industry in the country arise from the poor monitoring and enforcement of laws governing the oil producing companies. This is despite the fact that the laws in Nigeria are comparable to other international equivalents. This has seen the region experiencing significant damage to both the environment and to the livelihood of the people that live within the oil producing companies. The companies have failed in their ethical responsibility to relate well with the communities in which they operate. Compensation for the resultant damages is virtually nonexistent (Frey, 1997). The transnational corporations (TNC s) operating within the Nigerian oil and gas industry as well as institutions that collaborate with them have over the years come under negative/anti corporate campaigns by the community they operate in as well as by civil society actors. These actors include anti-capitalists, anti-corporate campaigners, anti-globalist, academics and greens. Although this is despite the contribution they seemingly bring to the development of a community, this actors have managed to shed light on unethical practices of corporate ensuring they practice positive public relations. In recent decades however this relationship has developed into a more collaborative one the purpose of which appears to favor the image of the business rather than the society (Newell, 2005). The other side of Corporate Social Responsibility There is no dispute that the community development programs initiated by the major players in the oil and gas industry have benefits most of the local communities. It is however important to not that these efforts in public relations have positive as well as negative impacts. Most of the local communities pay a great cost for enjoying the benefits of these Corporate Social Responsibility programs. Either by commission or omission, the activities or of shell and the program delivery processes have a negative impact on the local community that often outweigh the positive benefits of this corporate Social Responsibility endeavors. The role that the oil companies play in social and environment impacts illustrates this point. According to Human Rights Watch (1999), the Niger Delta in general and Nembe in particular, the oil activities have resulted in serious environment damages. This has been as a result of oil spills from flow stations, pipelines, well-heads; discharge of production and drilling waste; and gas flared from several oil fields. All this has occurred in/on creeks, air, sea and land of Nembe. In the process, fish ponds and farm lands are destroyed, sea and forest animals and plants are forced to migrate or are destroyed; as well as the air being polluted. This environmental degradation has negative impacts ranging from loss of livelihood (farming and fishing), low farm produce, limitation of economic activities, diseases, polluted water, food shortage among others. In certain cases, death of unsuspecting fishermen has occurred after oil spills occurred in the Nembe creek. The negative impact this has on the local communities livelihood and health is enormous. The community at one time indica ted that they are all fishermen who rely on fish for their survival. They also claimed that the oil spillage by Shell wells were destroying the marine life and in extension the peoples occupation. The farmlands as well were not fertile anymore from the pollution and the fish in the river had died. The people are only left with the option of fishing in the high seas which is very dangerous undertaking (Tuodolo, 2009, p.532) Shell on its part has not denied that its operations have been responsible for the degradation of the environment but has adamantly disagreed on the extent the damage to the environment resulting from its activities. Shell alone recorder 3,214 incidents of oil spillage from 1995 to 2004, an average of 300 incidents annually. This has resulted in a spillage of more than 450,000 barrels of oil onto the environment in the Niger Delta and the flaring of large volumes of gas, approximately 604 millions scf daily (SPDC, 2006). Considering that this are figures from only one company, the consequences experienced by the local community in terms of environment, livelihood, climate change or global warming are unimaginable. According to Agagu (2008), negative impacts of the corporate social responsibilities are further illustrated by the social effects they have on the local community. The Nembe case becomes significant once again. The relationship that shell has with the local community via the development programs and its operations have resulted in conflicts being commercialized where groups and individuals constantly fight over the patronage or benefits from shell; funds for community development are misappropriated, mismanaged and embezzled by the leaders or shares amongst cliques and community leaders to the exclusion of the other members of the community. Further negative effects include destroying of community governance by emerging youth groups that usurp the authority and powers of the chieftaincy institutions as well as the exacerbation of several forms of social disorder such as an increase in illiteracy, proliferation of arms, lawlessness, criminality and the disintegration of culture and t radition. These youth groups were apparently armed by the Corporation. Shell sponsor some youth in the community, purchased arms and ammunition for them to fight whoever that is fighting them or protesting for their right from Shell (Tuodolo, 2009, p.538). From 2000 to 2006, the number of intra-communal conflicts numbered 21 with six of these inter-community conflicts being linked to the activities that shell was involved in The oil companies, particularly Shell, Agip and their servicing companies, are central to the crises in the community (Tuodolo, 2009, p.538). The Nembe Indigenes summarizes the social impacts resulting from Shells activities as, These oil or multinationals have thrust a knife in our midst and we have fallen apart. The love for money and our political selfishness have set us against each other and we no longer see ourselves as brothers, fathers, chiefs, sisters, we disregard ourselves for temporary and temporal things, which have led to the formation of nocturnal and clandestine groups which have transformed Nembe to Sicily (Italy). Groups that are sponsored by chiefs, elders, politicians, government agents and the multinationals have succeeded in causing our aged parents and children, while our young men die prematurely in arms struggle, our parents die of heart attack and the children are denied knowledge by preventing them from going to school (Tuodolo, 2009, p.538). And, What wrong has the Nembe man done to Shell and the Federal Government that all these wrongs are visited on him within a decade? (Tuodolo,2009, 538) This continues to raise ethical questions related to the true intentions and the practices of these transnational corporations, the efficacy of their machinery of public relations or the position and campaigns of the civil society actors. This paper attempts to answer the question of dilemmas that the oil and gas industry face in public relations management and ethic by examining the activities of the oil companies in Nigeria. Particular attention is given to the impact of these companies on the communities residing in the oil rich Niger delta region. The paper is based on review of articles that have been written on the matter ranging from academic articles to newspaper articles. METHODOLOGY This study utilizes qualitative content analysis so as to explore the conditions that the oil and gas industry in Nigeria operate in that create the dilemmas in public relations and ethics of practice. This is according to recommendation by Jensen (2002) on qualitative research. The study is iterative/repeat process as this topic has been covered numerous times before. As such, this method allows for an application of analytical procedures and theoretical concepts employed to a variety of empirical domains that is flexible. This discourse will contain information source from academic articles from online journals, press releases and webpage pieces from the oil corporations operating in Nigeria and news paper articles that span the last two decades that have seen the ethical issues and public relations deteriorate as well as receive world wide attention. In addition to these article, particular case study on dilemmas faced by in Particular Shell are employed to give a clearer picture of the situation in Nigeria as well a to provide for a fuller analysis. Sample The method of data collection used in this discourse studies information content in article spanning two decades, from the 1990s to current date. The documentation is comprised of academic articles, magazine and newspaper articles, government reports and civil society articles and reports produced in the contest of normal publicity business to address the crisis facing the oil industry in Nigeria. According to Lindolf Taylor (2002), this ensures that the sources are free of bias from the researcher. A limitation of this method is that it may prove to have a limited or indirect exploratory value for the research questions to be addressed. However, it will be able to fully address the question of ethical and public relations dilemmas faced by the industry. This is because of the intense media civil society and international attention this case has received over the years with particular emphasis being placed on the misdeeds of the oil multinationals operating in the Niger Delta. ANALYSIS The analysis section will focus on a debate that addresses the various issue faced by the oil corporation and in particular Shell in their operations. This will lead up to the various public relations steps and strategies employed by the companies to address their alleged ethical misconduct in the wake of political and economical turmoil allegedly exacerbated by their operations in the country. In their attempt to maintain a public faces, the companies spawned public relations strategies that aimed to portray them as saviors to a people long subjected to poverty as a result of bad governance. This is through the numerous development projects that are operated under the patronage of these companies in the country. On the background of this is the numerous environmental and human right violations that have continued unhindered as a direct or indirect result of these companies continued exploitation of Nigeria natural resources, oil and gas, to meet their bottom line, astronomical profi ts. The case of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni People initiated the international concern in the region and offers a backdrop to the origin of the conflict between the oil corporation and government of Nigeria on one hand and the people of the Niger Delta in general on the other. DISCUSSION The debate on dilemmas in public relation and ethics in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria Milton Friedman (1970), a free-market economist, ascertained that a businesss one and only social responsibilities involves the making of profit. This view is less popular in present day business. However, many economists and business leaders still believe that the best way for a company to promote the local communitys social development is comprised simply of increasing the overall level of activities in economy through investment and trade. In taking this view, the administration of revenue generated, environmental standards tolerated of the respect for the human rights in the community residing in the area of operation are simply not relevant. These factors are in fact viewed as hindrances to the corporations main business and in the long run to the countrys social development itself. If standards employed for developed countries are duplicated in the developing countries, then they will simply never catch up, this is because dangerous working conditions, below-market wages that w orkers in third worlds are subjected to are justified as being better than there being no jobs at all. The corporations shareholders make the situation worse by justifiably complaining if the directors pay attention to issues that may negatively impact the companys financial bottom line (Soremekun, 1995). However, this attitude is increasingly changing as the companies come under more pressure from activists and consumers who are worried about the impact globalizations of the economy is having on the worlds poor. In addition, directors of these corporations have come to see that wider issues of social development have a direct or indirect impact on their operations. This trend has brought with it the buzz phrase triple bottom line encompassing social, economic and environmental outcomes. A good reputation for the corporation is seen as a valuable asset as it attracts customers and helps in recruiting competent employees. Good public relations with the local communities promoted by development programs that are properly administered as well as good labor relations minimize the shut-downs that cause protests directed towards the operations of the company. Even though low environmental standards and low wages can in the short-term be useful to the company, in the long run the company mak es more money if it is accountable for its operations. Studies carried out, have not revealed any correlation between the foreign direct investment that oil transnational corporations inject into the developing countries itself and the respect for human rights in these countries. In Nigeria, the presence of the oil multinationals is viewed to have seemingly contributed to promoting the successive military regimes that ruled the country for a long haul. These regimes were responsible fro multi human rights violations in addition to misappropriation of funds meant to promote development. The companies interest should therefore focus on the promotion f steps geared at the positive development of the communities social welfare. They should also minimize their environmental effects while also aiming for their core business, maximizing profits (Uduaghan, 2008). Oil multinational corporations have increasingly become more powerful within the global economies. The companies operating in Nigeria have substantially large global resources than the country itself. This has resulted in the country being almost paralyzed in enforcing international and/or domestic law against these companies. This is especially true when these companies have diplomatic support from the first-world country where the corporate headquarters are located. May of the laws that have been developed to govern the conduct of multinational across the world have been largely opposed to by the developed countries. This is especially because of their provisions/recommendations of treatment of the multinationals by the host countries. An example is the U.N Code of Conduct on Transnational Corporations. As such, no laws are currently legally binding in terms of the public relations responsibilities of the multinationals. Some companies have recognized that it is in their best inter est and have started initiatives to address questions raised regarding their operations. However, human rights and environmental activists have notes that the companies statements of intent are not worth it without the strategies meant to ensure they are implemented. They also call for independent auditing of the human rights and environmental performance. Up to date, no oil corporation, Shell include, has agreed to be subjected to such an audit (Nigerian Tribune, 2008). The experience of Shell in Nigeria offers a glimpse on how an oil transitional corporation ought to learn from a significant sustainability dilemma. In response to these significant challenges, shell setout to develop practices and policies that were designed to address the problems. They included the company engaging the local community the international forum and the civil society in dialog. In addition it began to actively participate in the developments of norms for corporate citizenship (Eyinla Ukpo, 2006). Having operated in the Niger Delta since the 1950s, Shells operations and the influence it had politically in the region only came under scrutiny after the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa author-activist and a member of MSOP, Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, in 1995. The author and activist castigated the companys operations in Nigeria, gaining international attention. He highlighted the role that the oil industry had played in the stagnation of the economy of the Delta. The Nigerian economic growth pace has not kept abreast with the growth that the countys oil industry has been able to achieve. The industry is currently able to produce in excess of 2 million barrels of oil daily (Eyinla Ukpo, 2006). Shell has reportedly admitted that the approach it has taken in public relations causes the disorder in the community. The cash payments made, for instance standby labor, access fees to community youths, have seemingly been at the center of inter-community disputed as well as for the distortion of genuine needs of the community. Despite all this, Shell has yet to change its practices although it still claims it is practicing corporate social responsibility (Tuodolo, 2009). According to Birnbaum (1995), the inequitable distribution of the oil revenue, the high rates of poverty coupled with the episodically harsh rule is responsible mainly for spurring the conflict in the Niger Delta. The Human Right Watch (1999) cited that while the people of the Niger Delta have faced the adverse effects of the oil extraction, they have in general also failed to gain from the oil revenue. By galvanizing the up to 500,000 people of the Ogoni-land in MSOP, Saro-Wiwa was able to draw the worlds attention to the grievances of his people. He constantly cites Shells complicity as the symbol of the status quo. Eventually, the federal police forces acted to shutdown MSOP. This saw numerous people being detained, injured or even killed. Nine activists, among them Saro-Wiwa were arrested in 1994. This was allegedly because of murdering four local leaders. All the accused would go on to be executed in November 1995 after court proceedings that the then United Kingdom Prime Minist er John Major termed as judicial murder. (BBC News, 1995). The role that Shell played in the Ogoni incident is a complex one. The company is reported to have sought clemency for the nine accused. In several statements, it lamented about the heavy handedness and the violence that both sides of the conflict in Ogoni-Land had over time displayed (Human Rights Watch, 1995). Contrary to these statements, the company later disclosed it had on several occasions in 1993 made direct payments to the states security forces under duress. Appearing before the U.S House of Representatives International Subcommittee on Africa in 1996, Stephen Mills, the environment and human rights campaign director for the Sierra Club stated that The Sierra Club is of the opinion that Shell should feel considerable responsibility for the death of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the other Ogoni activists. Shells massive pollution, repeated denial of responsibility for it, its refusal to clean up the Ogoni territory, and its appeal to the Nigerian military to silence the protestors is what incited the civil unrest (Sierra Club, 1995). In a recent statement, Mills released a follow-up piece that stated, A peaceful solution to the crisis in the delta seems remote as anger grows over record oil profits amid the striking poverty. The Riyal Dutch Shell earned a whooping 18.5 billion dollars in 2004 yet some villages within sight of the gleaming shell facilities have no electricity or running water. However, the campaign Ken Saro-Wiwa led to hold Shell accountable for their pollution and complicity in human rights violation has not been in vain. After the death of Saro-Wiwa, the company did adopt stronger social and environmental responsibility guidelines. It is up to communities in the delta and groups like mine to make sure that Shell and other oil companies live up to their promises (Sierra Club, 2008). Shell as under severe criticism for the perceived role it played in the events that lead up to Saro-Wiwas death. Amnesty international however recognized the companys willingness to discuss the groups concerns regarding its human rights record. In a report released in 1996, Amnesty International noted that only Shell has responded to its appeal to Shell and other oil transnational companies operating in Nigeria to acknowledge that they have a responsibility to at all costs uphold the human rights under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Despite this, many questions still lingered on the companys operations in the region. The UN Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights issued a report in 1997 calling for attention to be renewed on the persistency of oil spills in the delta region. Some of these spills were as a result of sabotage. The report raised deep concerns about the severe and widespread environmental damage to the River Delete region as a result of the oil o perations and exploration by Shell. The company took account of the issues that were raised and undertook a major review of its internal operations (Newell, 2005). Meanwhile, by the turn of the century, the relationship between Shell and the communities in the oil producing region had worsened since Ken Saro-Wiwa had been executed. This was despite the efforts of the company to improve on Public relations, in particular by increasing its spending on developments and the professionalization of the developmental projects management. It is fair to note that most of the deterioration experienced was as a result of the government failing to respond to the demands that had been presented by the Delta communities rather than by the activities of the company. The continuing dilemmas and problems illustrate just how difficult it is to put the fine words contained in the Statement of General Business Principles into actual practice (Tuodolo, 1999). Shell and public relations in Nigeria Shell has undoubtedly contributed immensely to Nigerias economic growth as well as to the development of the local communities residing in the companys area of operation. Shells activities employ around 12,000 persons as skilled and unskilled labor making it a major employer of labor. The greatest evidence of shells effort to maintain positive public relations are in its development programs in the communities it operates in. Through community development programs, the company contributes to development of education in the local communities. The company achieves this through the provision of scholarships from primary up to university level, to local level, construction of classrooms, provides appliances and equipments and at times pays allowances for teachers in post primary. For some of the communities, shell provides or sponsors training in basic skills such as joinery, mechanics, craftsmanship, tailoring among others, for the indigenous (SPDC, 1999). Shell also plays an active role in several other sectors aimed at community development, for instance, transportation: building jetties, construction of roads, donation of cars and speed-boats; agriculture: donation of equipment for farming, microcredit schemes for the farmers, training of farmers; water: construction of water pipelines, sinking boreholes; electricity: supply of diesel, donations of power plants; and the provision of infrastructures such as land reclamation, shore protection comm

Saturday, July 20, 2019

herody Free Essays on Homers Odyssey - Odysseus Is Not A Hero :: Homer Odyssey Essays

Odysseus Is Not A Hero A hero is "a man noted for his special achievements" according to the dictionary, but if you ask most people what a hero is, you will get the same general response. They will probably say "someone who does something for other people out of the goodness of his heart." Odysseus, who is the main character of the book "The Odyssey" written by Homer, would fit the dictionary's definition of a hero; but if you go deeper, looking at what people feel a hero is, he doesn't even come close. In the book, Odysseus does nothing out of the goodness of his heart. Even if Odysseus fought in the Trojan War, he is not a hero because he is self-centered and ignorant to other people's values and needs. There are multiple examples of Odysseus being self-centered, such as not taking people's advice. Odysseus was given advice from Circe that said not to try to fight Scylla even when she takes six of your men, but Odysseus tried to fight her and he lost three more men than the six he already lost. He also neglected to take the advice from his crew member, Eurylochus. Eurylochus told Odysseus not to send men to see what was on Circe's island and because he sent them anyway, they ended up being turned into pigs. Odysseus also neglects other people's lives when he takes action; such as when he tried to fight Scylla after strictly being told not to. Because of this ignorant action, he lost three more men on top of the other six. He also sacrificed men when he waited at the Cyclops' home for "gifts." Odysseus was very self-centered where real heroes are not. Odysseus also lacks the part of the hero profile which includes having a good heart. Odysseus definitely does not have this because he kills people without giving them a chance. Odysseus killed every one of the suitors in cold blood when most of them didn't commit a crime suitable for the death penalty. He also killed all of the maids who were raped by the suitors as if the had a choice in the matter. Odysseus also doesn't care about his crew members.

The Common Goals of Feminism Essay -- Feminist Theory

Feminism and all branches of feminism have a number of common goals. These goals include the analysis of gender inequalities and the effects of other systems of oppression such as race and class. In most cases, the analysis is intersectional, recognizing how each system can be inclusive to other systems resulting in different levels of oppression. In the case of a woman, who is black and lesbian, versus a woman, who is white and lesbian, there are different levels of oppression. Although together these two women experience gender inequalities with men and sexuality inequalities with heterosexuals, they still have different experiences with race inequalities and in that way are oppressed differently. The point of feminism would be to show that as a group, whichever group or should I say groups one may fall into, you experience privilege or you don’t, more or less. Care must be taken when using such a description of the term feminism because its many branches have many dis tinct characteristics of their own. Black feminism, western feminism, post colonial feminism, multicultural feminism, radical feminism, and social feminism were developed at different points in history and had main focuses that may or may not have been beneficial to the cause or successful in any way. Liberal and social feminism both began to emerge around the same time in pursuit of an analysis of those differences in legal rights received among men and women as well as those social differences that resulted in the roles that women have been taught to assume. Around the late 1700’s, the concern for rights such as property ownership, child custody, ability to sue for divorce, admission into colleges and universities, and employment opportunities that... ...le University Press, 1992 Hooks, Bell. â€Å"Black Women: Shaping Feminist Theory† Feminism and ‘Race’ Bhavani, Kum Kum, ed. Oxford University Press, 2001` Kimmel, Michael S. â€Å"From ‘ Conscience and Common Sense’ to ‘Feminism for Men’† Feminism and Men: Reconstructing Gender Relations. Schacht, Steven and Ewing, D, eds. New York University Press 1998 Messner, Michael A. â€Å"Radical Feminist and Socialist Feminist Men’s Movements in the United States† Feminism and Men: Reconstructing Gender Relations. Schacht, Steven and Ewing, D, eds. New York University Press 1998 Spelman, Elizabeth V. â€Å"Gender & Race: The Ampersand Problem in Feminist Thought† Feminism and ‘Race’ Bhavani, Kum Kum, ed. Oxford University Press, 2001 Wollstonecraft, Mary. â€Å"From A Vindication of the Rights of Woman† Feminist Theory: A Reader. Guy-Sheftall, Beverly, ed. South End Press, 1984

Friday, July 19, 2019

psychology and gender :: essays research papers

In a showdown of the sexes on Friday, Johnstone Professor of Psychology Steven Pinker and Professor of Psychology Elizabeth Spelke debated whether innate differences lead to the underrepresentation of tenured women in math and the sciences. In front of a packed Science Center B crowd, they analyzed the data behind University President Lawrence H. Summers’ controversial January comments on women in science. Pinker, whom Summers recruited to Harvard last year, cited evidence arguing that male superiority in skills like mental object rotation and problem solving provides a biological basis for the argument that men are more talented at math and science. Spelke countered, acknowledging the existence of differences between men and women, but arguing that the reason â€Å"women are as scarce as hen’s teeth† in academia is due to discrimination. â€Å"The debate is not, ‘are there sex differences,’ it’s, ‘do they add up to an advantage for one gender over the other,’† Spelke reminded the audience. Prefacing his comments by saying that he was a feminist, Pinker stressed the importance of distinguishing between the moral and empirical claims about gender differences. â€Å"The truth cannot be sexist,† he said. Though Spelke attacked his yardstick indicator—the SAT mathematics examinations—Pinker maintained that â€Å"the tests are very good. They have an enormous amount of predictive power.† Pinker also noted that men and women tend to have different priorities in life; men seek status and money, while women look more for interpersonal relationships. â€Å"What this means is that there are slightly more men than women who don’t care whether or not they have a life,† Pinker said. Spelke did not address the argument about motives directly, saying that she did not think there was evidence available to evaluate the claim that motives are biologically determined. She focused on proving the existence of covert discrimination by looking at how gender stereotypes influence the way men and women are perceived. She presented studies in which employers were given identical resumes—with only the candidate’s gender switched—that found that men were perceived as being more productive than women. She admitted, however, that â€Å"we’re not dealing with overt discrimination,† saying that in unambiguous situations, where one candidate is clearly superior to the other, there is no evidence of sex discrimination. Pinker later noted that women are not underrepresented everywhere, but only in the hard sciences. Several audience members said they thought the evening concluded in Spelke’s favor.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Ap Biology Lab 1 Questions

AP Biology Lab 1 Ross Lordo Introduction Questions 1. The solute potential would be -2. 48. If the concentration inside the cell is . 15 M, then would diffusion out of the cell and into the solution of . 1 M. This is due to water potential and the tendency for water to move from areas of high water potential to low water potential. 2. The turgor pressure must be equal to the water potential if there is no net diffusion.The cell and environment have reached equilibrium and the movement of water is equal on both sides. Getting Started 1. Kinetic energy is the energy an object possesses due to its motion. The difference between kinetic energy and potential energy is the kinetic energy is the energy of an object that is already in motion and potential energy is the energy possessed by an object at rest. Potential energy is stored energy, while kinetic energy is energy being exerted. 2.Temperature can affect the rate of diffusion. If the temperature is colder, the rate of diffusion is muc h slower as a result of all particles becoming closer together. If the temperature is warmer, there is much more energy present and therefore allows for the diffusion to take place at a fast rate. The distance a molecule needs to travel across the membrane can also affect the rate of diffusion. If the distance across the membrane is large, then the rate of diffusion will be much slower and vise versa. 3.A high temperature can speed up the diffusion process by providing more energy for the molecules and also for eliminating in double bonds in the phospholipid membrane. A low temperature will decline the rate of diffusion, as the particles will have less energy. The distance travelled will also affect diffusion rates. The longer the distance, the slower the diffusion is going to take place. The shorter the distance, the quicker the rate of diffusion 4. Gradients offer a pathway for molecules to go in and out of the cell.Many molecules are to big to fit through the semipermeable phosph olipid membrane and these gradients allow these large molecules to be able to cross through the cell. 5. Most cells are small because diffusion can take place at a quicker rate. The convolutions allow for more space to be able to be used in order to get molecules across the membrane. These small cells allow for materials to quickly be able to reach the cell membrane and get in or out of the cell, without having to make a long journey from an inside part of the cell. . Water will move out of the cell. The high water potential means there is little solute in the cell and more in the outside environment. In order to balance these concentrations, water moves out of the cell and creates equilibrium with the environment. 7. If saltwater is applied to a plant, the plant would shrivel up and die. This is a result of the water moving out of the cells in order to try to balance the concentration of solute compared to inside the cell.The water movement out of the cell would cause the cell to s hrink and the lack of water would eventually cause the plant to die. 8. A plant can control its turgor pressure through its central vacuole and cell wall. If a great amount of water is inside the cell, the central vacuole will take in some of the water to take some of the pressure of the cell wall. The cell wall can also eliminate water from making its way into the cell. The would cause the cell to keep expanding, but slowly eliminate its excess water.

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Louis Vuitton Malletier V Dooney & Bourke Inc

Louis Vuitton Malletier v Dooney & Bourke Inc. In this non sufficient shield cognize as the Battle of the Hand foots Louis Vuitton (LV) sues Dooney & Burke (D&B) for brand hybridization trespass of its multicolore line. The Plaintiff, Louis Vuitton Malletier ,is a french mold ho commit founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The celebrated label is puff uphead known for its LV monogram, which is featured on intimately of its discoverputs. Louis Vuitton is considered as one of the worlds roughly expensive and prestigious brands. The LV monogram was becomed in 1896 by Louis son Georges Vuitton who invented the symbol and the garner represent his fathers initials.The logo is a Japanese-inspired flower motif which initially was created as a way to continue counterfeiting. This memorable logo is now synonymous with luxury, brilliance and indulgence. It is the worlds 29th most valuable brand and is estimated to be worth e verywhere $19 billion USD. unfortunately, Louis Vuit ton is one of the most counterfeited brands in the style world repayable to its image as a status symbol. The comp whatever(prenominal) takes counterfeiting seriously, and offices all its possible resources to shin counterfeiting. The Defendant, Dooney & Bourke, is an Ameri tramp comp whatever(prenominal) founded in 1975 by Peter Dooney and Frederic Bourke.The beau monde specializes in fashion accessories and is best known for its high theatrical role handbags, accessories, and travel luggage. Their touch modality and Mini Signature handbags consist of the DB initials interlocking in a repeating pattern. The fo lows of the company started arrive at with ii introductory outputs surcingle belts and suspenders for men. Their proceedss became very touristed cod to their odd bod and color. right off Dooney & Bourke is a healthful-known brand in America and has a good study for making gauge products. The defining fall in a bun in the oven of Dooney & Bourke is ele gant and sophisticated, and higher up all, it is timeless.Its unspotted tendencys shape these handbags the perfect accessory for any outfit due to the superior quality and unique form. In 2002, the marker Marc Jacobs invited the Japanese artist Takashi Murakami to come up with a fresh take on the Louis Vuitton toile monogram famous entwined LV logo intermixed with flower shapes for a new line of bags. This led to the reality of the Monogram Multicolore design, in 33 colors, displayed on handbags in a repeating pattern against a white or black background. The bags do their debut on Paris runways in October 2002 and were consequently presented in prestige retail outlets in March 003, where they sold for up to $3,950. Previously LV registered its famous LV monogram design pattern and the individual unique shapes as lettuces with the coupled States Patent and denounce Office. In July 2003 D in co run with Teen Vogue developed a new line of handbags for teenagers. It was la unched as the It bag collection. The pattern on the purses consisted of the entwined DB initials printed in contracting colors on medley of colored backgrounds and white and black background. D released handbag line looked similar to Louis Vuittons trendy model, but the price was signifi chamberpottly lower.Considering the incident that Louis Vuitton fights counterfeiting very predatoryly, non surprisingly, the matter cease up in the coquette of laws. LV this instant viewed the It Bag as a re-create of their design. When Louis Vuitton ga at that placed with legal counsel on their options to file suit against Dooney and Bourke, they became awargon of the alternatives that were on tap(predicate) to them in read to move forward. For designers and manufacturers in the American Fashion industry, there be four possible avenues to explore 1) procure safeguard, 2) Patent shield, 3) Trade Dress security department and 4) ear visage protection.Copyright protection c ever ywheres a simulacrum of categories including literacy, musical, dramatic, choreographic, pictorial and architectural works. Within this range, the further one that is applicable to fashion designs is pictorial, as it shields two- and three- dimensional works. Patent protection shields any new and magnetic coreive process, machine, manufacture, or opus of matter, or any new and useful im installment thereof. Since the design in the fashion industry rarely creates a new process, machine or manufactures, they dupe a separate statute particularisedally for them for new, original and ornamental design for an hold of manufacture.Trade dress protection is communicate on a lower floor the Lanham Act to defend the design and look of the product as well as that of the container and all elements making up the bring visual image by which the product is presented to customers. Colors confound also been addressed downstairs the Trade dress protection in which the United States Supre me romance has give tongue to that the color and designs of a product are only protected under the Lanham Act if a collateral centre has been demonstrated.Color and design essential be associated by the customer for that particular product over time. In 2004, the legal team opinionated to advance with option 4 Trade signalise protection. They claimed stigmatise infringement, stylemark dilution, as well as unfair rivalry and dishonorable designation. Trademark infringement harbors a manufacturer or sellers product to include a watchword, slogan or symbol. For instance, Apple is an utilization of a word that cannot be used in kindred with software or computers as it go out take in perplexity from a consumers perspective.Nike holds the stylemark of the slogan Just Do It that is associated with its product and McDonalds hold trademark of the golden arches symbol. In some instances this protection can extend to other properties such(prenominal)(prenominal) as its color or take down its packaging. For trademark dilution claims, the classifiable quality of a mark must be thin by blurring or tarnishment. However, the desireliness of perplexity is not necessary. Unfair competition and saturnine designation is characterized as likely to cause confusion, dislocate or deceive the consumer. contribution 43(a) states any soul who on or in connection with any goods or service, or any container goods, used in moneymaking(prenominal)ism any word, term, name or symbol, or device, or any combination therefore, or any fake designation of origin, false or misleading description of fact, or false or misleading theatrical of fact which a) is likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive as to the affiliation, connection, or association of such person with another person, or as to the origin, sponsorship, or approval or her goods, services, or mercenary activities by another person, or (b) in commercial advertising or promotion, misrepre sents the nature, characteristics, qualities or geographic origin of his or her or another persons goods, services or commercial activities, shall be liable in a civil action by any person who believes that he or she is or is likely to be damaged by such act. In addition under sections 32 and 43(a) of the Lanham Act, trademark protection extends above the registered trade label to the unregistered trademarks from misuse or sound reflection in commerce. Once a trademark is found as fundamentally distinctive or to have developed secondary meaning, as well as protection under the Lanham Act, one can indeed address the likelihood of confusion under trademark infringement.Statutes carry a mavin of clear instance situation as well as a specific element of which the claim can be turn outn as a misdemeanour of the legal philosophy. This means that sequential certify is needed, as this poses the validity of the claim and further impinge ons the plea of the strip. Without this e vidence, the caseful could be deemed as void, as there is no possible evidence that can prove the claim. Statutes also require the clarity of the case, which means the details of the case or the encroachment should be given in chronological coiffe so that the justifications set for the claim as well as the laws that could be used to make it more than justified could be licitly provided. on that point is actually a varied translation on how infringements of laws happen. There are measure when a crime committed whitethorn not be a violation of the law, or the violation of the law is not a crime. This happens when the crime being claimed is not part of the scope of the statute, or there is no existing law for such crime. Therefore this results in deliberating on whether the action indeed is a crime or a violation of the law. Situations such as this often arise from actions where the suspect is unknowledgeable of the law which he has violated. In addition, the claimant can be the one who is ignorant of the law when he laid evidence on the crime allegedly committed by the defendant.Now that we have a thorough disposition of the applicable laws, the rules that govern those laws and what are infallible by the statutes to prove a violation of law we can examine how the case unfolded. As precedently stated, Vuitton filed suit against D&B in April of 2004 in the United States territory flirt for the Southern District of New York, claiming trademark infringement, unfair competition and false designation, and trademark dilution. Vuitton moved for a preliminary command against D&B which would have stopped sales of the it bag until the case was resolved. The District royal motor lodge control in favor of D&B and Vuitton was not granted the injunction. In determine trademark infringement the court apply the two prong try out required of Section 43 of the Lanham Act.First the test looks to whether or not the mark merits protection by find out if the unr egistered trademark is distinctive or has achieved secondary meaning. In this case the territory court did find that Vuittons design was distinctive and had garnered secondary meaning in the mart place. The second part of the test involves deciding whether the defendants use of the mark is likely to cause consumers confusion as to the origin or sponsorship of the defendants goods. Accordingly the court then examined the eighter brokers weighed in determining likelihood of confusion 1) the strength of the mark, 2) the resemblance amidst the marks, 3) the proximity of the roducts, 4) the likelihood that the plaintiff willing bridge the gap between the markets of the two marks, 5) actual confusion, 6) the defendants good faith in using his or her mark, 7) the quality of the defendants product, and 8) the sophistication of the customers. The regulate court ruled that there was no likelihood of confusion found on its rating of the 8 factors and thus denied the injunction. In add ition, the rule court found that Vuitton was unable to prove trademark dilution. LV appealed the injunction defensive measure to the bit Circuit Court of Appeals hoping to forcefulness the court into making a more broad judgment with regard design piracy. Unfortunately for Vuitton the court was not in the mood to make a statement in favor of defend designers.Rather than make its own notion on the case, based on the facts laid out before the court, the secondly Circuit kinda focused on a mistake by the zone court in its application of the standard of likelihood of confusion. The Second Circuit had previously held in Louis Vuitton Malletier v. Burlington finish Factory that courts must use a sequential market place relation rather than a side by side simile when applying the standard of likelihood of confusion. The district court had used a side by side comparison that the Second Circuit deemed improper. In addition, the Second Circuit agreed with the district court that LV was not able to prove trademark dilution at the federal level.In give to prove trademark dilution the plaintiff must demonstrate the following its mark is famous, the defendant is making commercial use of the mark in commerce, the defendants use began after the mark became famous, the defendants use of the mark dilutes the quality of the mark by diminishing the capacity of the mark to identify and distinguish goods and services. Vuitton was able to prove the first three requirements but was unable to prove actual dilution. art object the court did agree that LV could not prove actual dilution (the federal requirement) they vacated the injunction at the state level due to the fact that it only requires LV to stage likelihood of dilution.The Second Circuit persistent to remand the similarity of the marks factor back to the district court for reconsideration. This meant that the district court would use the sequential market place comparison when examining the similarity of the ma rks and hold onto all other previous analysis of the likelihood of confusion factors. regular if the market place comparison had an effect on that one factor it was very unlikely to affect the outcome of the district courts ruling because the similarity of the marks was just one of eight weighted factors. The Second Circuit was fundamentally making a statement with its discussion of this case that it was not prepared to make a precedent setting ruling on the lack of protection for design piracy in the fashion industry.Even if they sought after to address the topic, strictly following the established law would have prevented them from coming up with a different result. The court may have felt that any comprehend or real injustice plaguing the fashion industry should be handled through the betrothal of written law rather than legislated from the bench. finally in May of 2008 the district court granted summary judgment to D&B on all claims. The court found that Louis Vuitton did not have tolerable evidence to present with regards to the trademark infringement or dilution claims. While the outcome of the case disappointed many people because D&B did copy the design, the court based its decision on the interpretation of the law.Another example of a trademark infringement case that could have implications is European Trademark v Google. Originally LV sued Google in France claiming trademark infringement from Googles AdWords program and the French court ruled in LVs favor. The court held that Google was committing trademark infringement and diluting the trademark when it decided to sell the LV name to other companies in order for their site to pops up upon a search. Unfortunately for LV the European Court of evaluator later ruled that Google in fact was not guilty of trademark infringement. There is a silver lining for LV. The court stated that advertisers using a trademark as a keyword can be held liable for infringement.The court specifically stated that s uch use of a trademark by the advertiser adversely affects the source-indicating break away of the trademark if the advertisement does not enable normally informed and reasonably enwrapped internet users to ascertain whether goods or services referred to by the ad originate from the proprietor of the trademark or, on the contrary, originate from a third party. Thus, a company like Louis Vuitton does have legal haunt if it finds misleading advertisements from searches of its brand. In addition, Google can be held accountable if it was aware of the improper use of the trademark and did not take the ad or content down.The ruling could have impacted a case like Louis Vuitton Malletier v Dooney & Bourke Inc. , but instead has foregone farther towards protecting companies in the somewhat unregulated internet market place. In closing, companies like LV will have to continue to be extremely aggressive through the use of lawsuits in order to protect their brand. Once more laws are appli ed to specific industry, such as the fashion industry, it will become easier to convey. The courts can only interpret the law, not create laws to safeguard these specific industries. The courts, as well as the citizens, have to trust that the legislative branch will step up and address these complex issues.

Indian Retail Industry

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY sell is the operate that involves of merchandising goods or correctments immediately to end consumer for individualized, non air using up (Kotler, 2010). A sell merchant or sell broth is an assumeprise where they give away volume culturely from selling. Any firm selling its goods or services to the end consumers- whether it is manufacturer, wholesaler, or sell merchant- is said to be selling. It doesnt matter how the goods or services atomic chassis 18 s centenarian (may be by soul, with mail, teleph hotshot) or where (from a store, by the street or in the economic consumptionrs home).In the past, sellers secured customers loyalty by crack convenient kettle of fishs, sp ar or unique var. of goods, greater or break-dance services than competitors. sellers struggled in developed countries because of their satu roamd solid nutrientstuff site and forcing them to invest in developing countries like India, chinaw ar and so forth And I ndia has been be twenty percent rough complimentary securities pains for e trulyplaceseas sellers, according to AT Kearneys GRDI (2012). An Industrial summary on sell Industry primary(prenominal)ly concentrating on nourishment & food harvest-tide is d whizz in the in sure using Qualitative methods which takes fella digest, tracking gors & acquisitions and so forth nd Quantitative methods which take on equivalence among the companies and affinity with the US securities manufacturings. Certain limitation was faced eon searching for selective information besides its do sure it is from a reliable and trusted ancestry. 1 Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 2 1. 1. Over belief sell is the process that involves of selling goods or services sharpenly to end consumer for nearbodyal, non task use. Present day consumers shop for goods and services at store retailers, non store retailers etc.tera precisely the beat out cognise retailer is the de beginmental store. Gen er in every(prenominal)y a retailer tend to buy goods or services in large quantities from manufacturers or meaningers hich may include a mid(prenominal)dleman (wholesaler) or may directly leverage from them and then sell those to the end user consumer as subatomic quantities or in individual items. sellers washstand be considered as the end of the append chain, because they ar final heart from which the consumer receives their desired goods or services. tho in the commercialiseers express of view retailing plays a major role in the oerall distribution strategy, which means that to attain an cost-effective supply chain attention retailer is the main source to assess the actual film in the foodstuffplace. about creative activity atomic number 82 retailers argon (as per R planeue)1 1. Wal-Mart (US) 2. hybridisation (France) 3. Metro (Ger umteen) 4. TESCO (UK) 5. Lidl Stiftury (Ger m whatsoever(prenominal) an(prenominal)) The manhood merchandise is found is ch thonicgoing persisting transformation. And especially when retail foodstuff is consider, lots of debut and cut throat contention is observed. If we consider in India the retail vault of heaven constitutes to 22% of GDP and provides 8% of employment. 2 Indian retail vault of heaven deserving is found to be US$ 350 gazillion and is increase at a rate of 15-20%3, it is estimated that the value of the retail sphere may increase up to US$ 450 by 2015.This mettlesome issue rate has attracted many of the immaterial investors to invest in India especially in food product and App bel as a transgress of FDI in multi dirt retail. 4 Top retailers in India atomic number 18 1. credit Fresh 2. Food carnival 1 2 www. m wizycontrol. com www. ibef. org 3 Pricewaterhousecooper explore 4 Deloitte inquiry 3 3. Spencers Mart 4. more than 5. Nilgiris The nonionic retail celestial sphere is found to be simply 5%, which shows a massive potential in retail field and estimated to in crease to 9% by 2015. portend 1. 1 Organized retail has vast scope of magnification Un form retail discernment Organized retail cleverness % 9% 20% 95% 91% 80% 2011-12 2015-16 2020-21 informant Indian retail food commercialise place sep 2011, Delioitte Aranca research 1. 2. ball-shaped Scenario In the put out part of 20th century, the beingness saw the emergence of the retail diligence, majorly the supermarket found to s overeign food product retail form. And with the posthumousst advancement in the engineering science like the bar write in code, RFID etc. al natural depressioned a store to manage thousands of items and just-in-time store replenishment. Computer operated logistic systems integrated with the stores assess the consumer pack in a individual electronic system has led to involution of the retail sector.But with the saturated topical anaesthetic market, high com require pushed the major retailers into the sphericalization though process. And at the ego uniform(prenominal) time many political scienceal relation in the mid 1990s make opened their economies inviting for unlike retail investors. However major issue faced is the sparing s deplorable cut down that has resulted due to the uncertainty in IT sector and an opposite(prenominal) financial spending. Moreover consumers themselves became very much to a greater extent charge conscious, sensitive to price hikes and conservative in their purchasing, particularly in the developed economies. 4 however though, Retail perseverance come abouts to be the worlds largest private industriousness with above US$ 8. jillion sales worldwide annually, this accounts rightly 10-15% of GDP for just about economies. 5 major(ip) employer in intimately of the economies ? ? ? ? 18% in US 14% in Poland 9% in China 17% in atomic number 63 deepgest retail countries in world (as per sales) ? ? ? ? ? US EU China UK India US$ 4. 7 trillion US$ 2. 9 trillion US$ 800 billion US$ 498 billion US$ 350 billon So from the above data it is evident that around developing countries like China and India made up to the top retailers in the world, which shows the huge potential for retail in these economies as major part of the retail is dominated by the nonunionised sector.Retailers around the Globe Table 1. 1 for adhere me drug 1 2 3 4 5 6 Country UK Spain France Germany Italy Switzerland % of internationalistic retailers turn over 55 51 49 47 45 42 5 www. Livemint. com 5 7 8 9 10 Austria UAE China Russia 42 41 40 39 Source CB Richard Ellis, 2010 The above table shows the niggardness of the multinational retailer in to their prudence, where UK topped the lean and India ranked 44 in the list (as a lot of clarifications for the international retailers argon inborn).Study in any case cogitate that developed economies atomic number 18 still the favourable markets for international retailers. 1. 3. Indian Scenario The retail assiduity in India is one of the nigh attracted market in the world. The major cerebrate for this is, the market is highly un nonionic. to the highest degree 90% of the retail market is under unstructured sector where the backing atomic number 18 run as kirana stores and family backupes. The create sector is scarce less than 10% which is very low compargond to other countries like US, UK etc which ar having 50%-70% organised sectors.Almost all global retailers ar looking turn out for an opport social unity to enter into the Indian market as they k right offs the emergence of the sector in India. however though food and market is having the maximum market dowery of round 69% in the retail market, its function in the organized market is only 3% which shows the retailers who atomic number 18 in the first place into food and mart sector hurl an advantage among other retailers. The research conducted by Technopak writinged that, in 2011 Indian food and grocery sector was estimated to be US D 325 billion that accounts for the 69% of the overall retail in India.This is standed to grow to USD 425 billion by the end of 2016 at a blend Annual product Rate of 5. 5%. In this, the market tract of the organized food and grocery was estimated at USD 9 billion which is expected to picture a offshoot to USD 34 billion by 2016 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 30%. 6 The playing field shows that in that location is an exponential gain in the Indian organized food and grocery sector in the b pointing few social classs. 1. 4. Major Retailers in Food and Grocery The major retailers in India ar trustingness Fresh, Spencer Mart, More, Nilgiris and double funfair.The various aspects of these retailers are explained in the following sections of this answer for. As the organized food sector is very slim, the market divides of these retailers are pretty tough to pick up. 6 http//www. indianretailer. com/ curb/sector-watch/food-and-grocery/Standing-against-each-other- 1489/ 6 1. 5. Research Objectives 1. To identify the market constituent and nature of argument of Indian retail intentness. 2. To apprehend the market surgical incisionation of the manufacturing. 3. To conduct PEST compend for the persistence. . To translate the difference amidst stand alone(predicate) and pudding stone variegation in the industry. 5. To contemplate the mergers and acquisitions carried out in the industry. 6. To study the international exposure of the industry. 7. To determine the technologies use in the industry. 8. To study the marketing initiatives carried out by the industry 9. To analyze the future prospects of the industry. 10. To Compare the Indian retail industry with US, UK and France. 7 Chapter 2 REVIEW OF literary works 8 2. 1. IntroductionThe size of Indian retail is about US $350 billion but it is highly unorganized. Indian retail is dominated by 15mn indie retailers consisting of kirana stores, chemists, footwear shops, apparel shops, paa n and bedi stalls, handcart and pavement vendors, which together makes up unorganized market. 7 But this placement leave alone non be the equivalent eternally specially with the fact that multinational companies are move to enter Indian market. Investors view India as an pleasant spend destination. India stands at fourth attr prompt location for FDI (Ernst & Young, 2012).In 2011, international retail ripening index (GRDI) express that time to enter Indian market is right off(Kearney,2011). Some major retailers in India (Kumar, 2011)? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Food & grocery Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar Consumer electronics e-zone Entertainment roll Co. Books, Music and gifts Depot Fashion and accessories Electronic retailers clock wear retailers Pharmaceutical retailers Telecom retailers Jewellery retailers footgear retailers Catering service retailers 2. 2. Conditions in Retail IndustriesGlobally, A survey in small towns in atomic number 25 (Brennan,1991) showed that na rrow down services, offering better quality products and meliorate customer service were most successful strategies term sales & promotions and lowering prices were least successful. It was observed that consumers are more focussed on naked as a jaybird discounts compared to old ones. (Brennan, 2000). A survey conducted in south India showed some decision making styles of south Indian messs, mainly print conscious, high quality conscious, confuse by over choice style and re inceptional shopper style. (Canabal,M. E,2002).Until 2011 ,Indian key government denied FDI in multi target retail and even mavin brand retail was limited to 51% ownership. In November 2011, Indias central government 7 fear monitor international(Indian retail report Q1,2012) 9 announced retail reforms for both multi brand and champion brand retail. In December 2011, under push from opposition Indian government placed retail reforms on hold till it builded to a consensus. The reforms for angiotensin- converting enzyme-brand stores to enter Indian market but on a condition that 30% goods should be barter ford from local suppliers was okay by the regimen in January 2011.Organized retail is change magnitude at the rate of 45-50% per annum and increases its component part to 16% by 2012. On the other hand unorganized retail is increasing at the rate of 10%. Major increase faecal matter be seen in in-person care, jewellery, sports goods and beverages. 8 agree to A associates report, some of the benefits of multi-brand retail are ? ? ? Removal of intermediary Job creation No threat to kiranas India has been ranked as the most attractive nation for retail industry among 30 emerging markets. (Senjam Dwijorani, Consolidation phase in Indian retail industry).According to a Mc Kinsey & gild report titled The great Indian Bazaar organized retail comes of age in India. Organized retail is supposed to increase from 5% in 2008 to 14-18% by 2015. Private labels contribute to 10-12 % of organized retail industry and are growing very rapidly. Key players macrocosm west, Shoppers stop, Spencers, proximo sort out, belief and Bharti walmart. Highest insight is by Westside at 90% followed by reliance at 80% and pantaloons at 75%. Shoppers stop and spencers nominate 20 and 10% respectively.According to Deloittes report on Global causes of retailing 2013 , Retail beyond, the retail industry grows despite difficult economic condition. virtually of 250 retailers posted an increase in retail receipts with most of the companies experiencing declining sales. The top 250 discovered a rose-cheeked 3. 8 % composite net profit in 2011,matching the industries 2010 result. The average size of top 250 companies in 2011,as heedful by retail revenue topped US$17 billion. A crisil report shows the Indian retail market is most fragmented in the world and only 2% compromises of organized sector. This shows potential for crop is immense. ASA & Associates report, August 2012 10 Chapter 3 INDUSTRY summary 11 3. 1. securities industry Share and Nature of arguing The present-day(prenominal) retail segment contributes 22% of the expanses GDP and 8% of the lend employment. And more over India has emerged as the fifth most favourable destination for international retailers9. According to AT Kearneys GRDI (2012) India remains a high potential market with accelerated retail growth of 15-20% expected over the bordering atomic number 23 socio-economic classs. India retail sector values US$ 350 billion and is growing at a rate of 15-20%, as per Pricewaterhousecooper (PWC) research report.Mass grocery and apparel are the two most favoured segments for FDI in multi brand retail in India, according to the study conducted by Deloitte. The FDI inflow in bingle-brand retail concern during April 2000 to December 2012 stood at US$ 42. 7 zillion, as per the data released by Dept. of Industrial Policy and advancement (DIPP). A report (KPMG, 2010) indicates that the retail telephone line in India has not able to deliver the expected results, expect a few players. The growth of organized retail trade decreased from 35% in 2007-08 to 10% in 200-09.Food and Grocery segment has been dominated by retailers not organized till date, except a few players like Big Bazaar (Food bazaar), opinion ( reliance Fresh), RPG (Spencers), and AV Birla assembly (More). Organized retail is in continuous increase compared from past. Retail sight be classified in several(predicate) sectors much(prenominal) as Food & Grocery, Clothing, Durables goods, Shoes, Furniture, Services, Catering, Jewellery & Watches, Books, Music & Gifts, empathisey phones etc.. persona 3. 1 Grocery sales crosswise countries (2010) 18. 40% 12. 40% 11. 10% 10% 3% India Source IGD international 9 2% USA China Russia Brazil UK ww. ibef. org 12 The highest penetration of private label products is by Trent at 90%, followed by Reliance 80% and Pantaloons 75%, bountiful retailers suc h as Shoppers Stop and Spencers involve a penetration of 20% and 10%. 10 Figure 3. 2 Market Breakup by Revenue (2011) 17% 3% 6% 4% 10% 60% Food and Grocery garb & fashion Beauty & wellness Electronics Furniture & Furnishing others Source Indian retail market sep 2011, Delioitte Aranca research The Net Revenues of the top retailers in India Figure 3. 3 Retailer Food Bazaar Spencers Reliance Fresh More Nilgiris Source annual reports of the companies 010-11(Crs. ) 215. 1 98. 46 127. 67 163. 7 80. 49 2011-12(Crs. ) 298. 09 120. 62 210. 45 236. 8 97. 70 3. 2. Market Segmentation 3. 2. 1. Segment analysis The Indian economy is growing rapidly. An master(prenominal) contribution is made by the growing number of shop malls. shop malls became a centre of attraction or a hang-out place in metro cities. in that respect are development plans proposed one hundred fifty new malls in 2008. But what this does is we go away or ignore the traditional retail formats (pedlars, grocery stores an d tobacco 10 Consolidation phase in Indian Retail Industry, Senjam. 3 shops etc. ). They poke out to co-embody with the modern formats. Modern retail has helped companies to companies to increase use and hence the demand for their products on the market. For example, Indian consumers would commonly consume rice sold to the neighbouring Kiranas to witKolam for everyday use. With the launching of organized retail trade, it has been noted that the sale of Basmati rice increased by four times that he was a few forms back as a top quality, rice (Basmati) is now obtainable at approximately the same price as the normal price at local Kirana.Thus we domiciliate see the way a product is displayed, verbalise and contiguous and how he won the heart and the minds of consumers restores its sales. It utilisation continues to increase in the way we buttocks assign that the local market would go by a metamorphosis of a change. This means that non- union retail trade would suffer a se rious transposition due to the outdated technology, poor supply chain, wretched marketing etc. Thus, local stores would soon expire things of the past or limited unexpected last minute purchase. And it is also observed that avg. consumption of Indian consumer go away come down to 34% in CY2015 and in access up to 25% in CY2025.This indicates that, with gradual increase in income levels, Indian consumers are spending more on products of lifestyle or pimping the economies of lifestyle retail value. 11 Currently most favourite organized retail formats are ? Shopping Malls Malls are larger form of organized retail today. These are mainly located in metropolitan cities, close to urban periphery. The field of obtain centres varies from 60000 m? to 7, 00,000 m? and above. The approximation is to provide an ideal shopping experience that includes a mix of products, services and amusement all under one roof.Some examples are Inorbit mall, Ansal meat etc. Specialty stores These are the stores that focuses on limited market segments, specializing on particular products such as entertainment and leisure, gifts and so on. The most notable among these include channels such as Crossword, Planet M etc. Discounters As its name suggests, the shops or factory stores, offer discounts on MRP by selling in bulk to achieve economies of scale or bare stocks in season over. The family line includes various destructible goods/ non-perishable. Example Subhiksha. Department Store Stores ranging from 20000- vitamin D00 Ft? responding to the respective(a) needs of the consumers. It includes localized departments like habiliment, toys, home, groceries etc. the popular among these are Big Bazaar, D-Mart etc. Hypermarkets/Supermarkets Big self service outlets, with strong emphasis on Food & Grocery store and personal sales and designated as supermarkets. These can still be divided into mini supermarkets typically from 1000 to 2000 Ft? and large ? ? ? ? 11 McKinnsey Global In stitute 14 ? ? supermarkets from 3500 to 5000 Ft?. These stores now contribute to 30% of all Food & Grocery store in organized retail.More, Reliance saucily etc are some examples. Convenience stores These are comparatively low (400 2000 Ft? ) stores generally located near residential areas. They put up a limited cathode-ray oscilloscope of convenience high-sales of fear products in stock and are commonly open for long periods during the day, seven age a week. The prices are slightly high because of insurance premium convenience. MBO Points of sale multi brands, also known as category killers, offer several brands on a single product category. They are generally well in places of markets occupied and cities. 3. 3. Policy FrameworkSince liberalization several constitution measures cast been interpreted with regard to regulation and control, monetary policy, exportation and import, taxes, exchange and affair rate regulation, export promotion and incentives to high priori ty sectors. Food and plain industries has made an covenant with high priority a number of important releases and incentives. Some of the major policy changes are as follows 3. 3. 1. Regulation and Control According to the extant policy, FDI up to 100% allowed under the machine-driven route in food infrastructure (Food Park, refrigerating Chain / Storage).As for food retail FDI policy concerns do not permit foreign direct investment in the retail sector, with the exception of a single retail brand products. This policy is the same for all retail operations. FDI policy for the manufacture reserved for the SSI sector is the same for all items, so reserved and a separate dispensation for the items in the food processing sector is not intended. 3. 3. 2. Fiscal Policy and Taxes Broad fiscal policy changes have been introduced gradually. Excise & Import tariffs have been reduced substantially. Many processed foods are let off from excise duty.Custom tariffs were substantially reduced on whole shebang and equipment as well as tender materials and intermediates, especially for export end product. Corporate taxes were reduced, and in that respect is a mistake towards market related interest rates. in that respect are tax incentives for new manufacturing units for certain years, except in sectors such as Beer, wine, soda flavoured with concentrates, confectionery and chocolate, etc. Indian currency (rupee) is now fully convertible for authentic account and capital account convertibility in the unified exchange rate mechanism is foreseen in the overture years. 15Repatriation of profits is freely permitted in many industries, with certain exceptions, which is another requirement offset by dividend income from exports. 12 3. 3. 3. PEST ANALYSIS PEST analysis is concerned as the environmental influences on the business. The factors are Political, scotchal, well-disposed, and technological. 3. 3. 3. 1. Political Environment Political factors include governmen t policies, fiscal policy, labour laws, safety regulations, competitor regulations, political stability and consumer protection. That influence and limit various organizations and individuals in society.Legislation relating to the retail was damaged many years. Political factors include goods and services that the government asks to provide or provided. 3. 3. 3. 2. Economic Environment Economic factors include economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates and inflation rate. These factors have a significant impact on decision-making and business operations. give-and-take rates affect the costs of exports of goods and the supply and price of imported goods in the economy. The retail market consists of the acquire power of large number. So the bestow purchasing power is a function of current income, prices and availability of credit.Changes in economic conditions may affect the business or company. Economic forecasters Looking ahead to the next ecstasy and is potential to find its forecasts of rising costs, famines and up and down economic cycles. These changes in economic conditions provide new opportunities or threats in the market. 3. 3. 3. 3. Social Environment Social factors include income distribution, population growth rate, age, lifestyle changes, teaching and living conditions . Society that people grow in their beliefs, values and norms. People live in different parts of the country have different heathenish value, which mustiness be analyzed retail person or company.This will help you to understand the business strategy in order to meet the requirements of customers. cut is the social factor will also affect the business for retailers. 12 http//www. punebds. com/pf. asp 16 3. 3. 3. 4. Technological Environment Technological factors include technical aspects such as research and development activities, technology incentives and the rate of change of technological changes, new inventions and development, energy use and costs. They can deter mine barriers to entry, minimum efficient production and influence outsourcing decisions.Technological implementation can affect the cost, quality, and this leads to innovation. engineering science is extensively utilize in some of the areas such as ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Packing of the products Billing Mobile point of sale(POS) Digital signage Inventory management Customer service Price changes and auditing RFID and location tracking 3. 3. 4. PORTERS Five Forces door stay freshers Five Force model is to analyze the competition model, it helps to understand the nature of competition deep down the industry, and provides a good, simple but effective poser for the development and understanding of the competitive forces in the industry.Michael Porter created a framework, which identified tail fin forces which act to any increase or decrease the competitive forces in the industry. These five forces is ? ? ? ? ? Threat of new Entrants berth of suppliers Power of buyers Availability of sub stitutes Competitive rivalry 17 Figure 3. 4 3. 3. 4. 1. Threat of New Entrants The retail industry has seen a growth of the organized sector in recent years. Even though growth is not diversified, it was still significant enough to affect the unorganized retailers. This industry started ten years ago and has been declining number of independent retailers.If you walk done any mall, we name that most of them are chain stores and on that point exist only a hand full of independent shops. While barriers to the formment of trade is not insurmountable to overcome, the ability to take a leak favourable supply contracts, leases and be competitive, it becomes virtually im possible. Their vertical structure and centralized shopping gives retailers competitive advantage to independent dealers. 3. 3. 4. 2. Power of Suppliers In 1970, when Sears dominated the household appliance market, which set high standards for quality.Suppliers that did not meet these standards were omitted from Se ars line. In this way, retailers have time-tested to exploit kinships with suppliers. This can be attributed to the fact that in the retail industry, suppliers often have very particular power. Take the example of WalMart, which imposes strict controls on their suppliers. admit with a large retailer like WalMart can make or break a small supplier. 3. 3. 4. 3. Power of Buyers Individually, customers have very little bargain power with retail stores. The prices offered by the center-stores are usually negotiable.They come with a tag attached give tongue to fixed price. It warns the customer from the very entrance to the store, if you want discounted prices. s Very difficult to negotiate. , But as a whole, if customers require high quality products at competitive prices, it helps keep retailers honest. 18 3. 3. 4. 4. Availability of Substitutes There is no shortage such as in the retail sector. This is not a monopoly in the market. The inclination of an orbit in the retail secto r is not specialized in one good or service, but to deal with a wide range of products and services. This means that what one store offers, you will probably find it in a store.Therefore, innovation and product specialization are essential ingredients necessary to separately in the retail industry. Retailers offering products that are unique or have a clear absolute advantage over their competitors. 3. 3. 4. 5. Competitive Rivalry There is no market without competition, and there are no better ways than the existence of competitive forces in the market to improve the quality, price, supply chain management, inventory management, etc. Retailers always face stiff competition. The slow growth of the market for the retail market means that companies must fight each other for market share.More recently, they have tried to reduce the cut-throat price competition by offering frequent flyer points, membership and other special services to try to gain customer loyalty. Given the relatively w eak financial condition of unorganized retailers and physical space constraints on their expansion prospects of the sector itself is not able to meet the growing demand for retail. Therefore, organized retail, which now represents a small 4% of enumerate retail sector is likely to grow at a much hurried pace of 45-50% per annum and quadruple its share in total retail trade to 16% by 2011-12. 3. 4. Business DiversificationDiversification is a form of corporate strategy for a company. It seeks to increase profitability done greater sales volume obtained from new products and new markets. Diversification can occur either at the business unit level or at the corporate level. At the business unit level, it is most likely to poke out into a new segment of an industry that the business is already in. At the corporate level, it is generally via investing in a promising business exterior of the scope of the existing business unit. The different types of variegation that are discussed in this report are as follows 3. 4. 1. Standalone DiversificationSelf-contained and usually independently operating. They concentrate only on the specific category of products. Standalone diversification has large relationship with the firms current business. 19 3. 4. 2. tuck Diversification The companies markets new products or services that have no technological or commercial synergies with current products but that may appeal to new groups of customers. The conglomerate diversification has very little relationship with the firms current business. Therefore, the main reasons of adopting such a strategy are first to improve the profitability and the flexibility f the company, and second gear to get a better reply in capital markets as the company gets massiveger. Even if this strategy is very risky, it could also, if successful, provide increased growth and profitability. 3. 4. 3. future tense classify (Conglomerate) But while coevals like Bharti and Tata has teamed up with Wa l-Mart and Tesco in the wholesale business, Future Group has built its business by himself. dialogue over sourcing league with Lawson Inc. Japan ended without agreement is happening this year. Under the new legal regime, it could be more opportunities for future groups to join forces with international traders.Future Group has recently reorganized its retail assets simplification of business and bring greater clarity to investors for business, Biyani says, and sees further expansion, not least the food in the arm, which he draw as profitable. (And he adds Some of the high-margin businesses, where demand is not too high, that when concerns are greater food is good, profitable business .. This week, the Future Group has acquired evince Retail Services, which operates in Delhi supermarket chain Big Apple. Biyani also outlines its goals for the store chain Food Bazaar. Currently there are about 200 Food Bazaar stores. No.Maybe in five years, add another 150 to that number, he says. 3. 4. 4. Reliance Fresh (Conglomerate) Reliance Industries plans to merge all its retail units inwardly a single entity, which suggests he was not looking for a foreign partner in any of its businesses, a person with direct knowledge of the development said. The company started the process all the clubs eight independent retailers, such as clothing chain Reliance Trends and consumer electronics chain by Reliance Digital Reliance Fresh grocery chain, in a bid to remove defects and improve administrative cooperation and efficiency between different companies, people said.This will allow Reliance Fresh single retail entity by Reliance Retail, the groups holding company for retail sale. Reliance last Monday filed a petition in the Bombay High Court seeking consent for the scheme of arrangement of its several entities, including Reliance Retail, Reliance Fresh, 20 Reliance AutoZone format, car accessories, Reliance Trends, Reliance Foot marker footwear chains, consumer electronics cha in Media Reliance Digital, Reliance leisure, Reliance Gems and jewellery, and Reliance Replay Gaming. 3. 4. 5. Spencers (Conglomerate)Spencer Retail Ltd (Spencer) is one of the Indias multi-format retail chain. Established in 1996, Spencer is a group of RPG Enterprises, one of the leading conglomerates operating in India and subsidiaries Cesc Ltd. In 1989, RPG Spencer won, and in 2005 launched its retail brand in the Spencer. Consequently, it Spencer transmit to other retail formats starting Hyper Spencer, super late and daily formats. Currently Spencer food markets and food products, clothing and accessories, footwear products, home decor items and equipment and consumer durables. 3. 4. 6.More (Conglomerate) More is a group company Aditya Birla Retail Limited, a leading conglomerate in the retail industry with a clear focus on its vision to be a global company premiums. 3. 5. Mergers and Acquisitions 3. 5. 1. Reliance and BP (Merger) During the year 2010, BP and reliance industri es limited made the union in the oil and gas pedal business. 13 By announcing the partnership both the companies came to an understanding that BP takes 30% of partnership of 23 oil and gas production sharing contracts that which are through with(p) by reliance industries in India.This swan would help Indians in getting gas and will help to reduce the import cost include in gas. The same year reliance industries entered into partnership in us with an agreement of joint act with the companies Atlas Energy, pioneer Naturals Resources and Carrizo oil & gas by three different joint threaten agreements. 14 13 14 http//www. ril. com/ hypertext mark-up language/aboutus/major_milestones. html http//www. ril. com/html/aboutus/major_milestones. html 21 3. 5. 2. Bharti Wal-mart (Merger) In order to lead the retail stores in India, Walmart has begun talks with Bharti enterprises for forming a joint venture.Two companies has equal partnership in wholesale business in India, so they decided to continue their business relationship in retail business by requesting the government to make decision for allowing up to 51% foreign direct investment(FDI) in multi brand retail. 15 The aim of joint venture is to establish wholesale cash-and-carry stores and back-end supply chain management operations in line by victorious government guidelines. 3. 5. 3. Spencers India Limited (Acquisition) Spencers is one of the retail sector which sells food and non food FMCG products16.Spencers Retail is a part of the RPG Companies that deals with food, apparel, fashion, electronics, lifestyle products, music and books . More over it offers services like gift vouchers and light-headed loans. 17 Spencers has expanded its food retail chain by bringing food world that has been brought over by RPG group18 . The Company has filed an application with the honest High Court of Calcutta for merger of its wholly have subsidiary company Music World Retail Limited with the Company, effective from 1 Ja nuary 2012, which is pending commendation as of date19. 3. 6. International ExposureIn the year 2006-07 ,the size of food industry in India was established at around Rs 8,80,000 crores in that the food industry accounts for around 374000 crores. straight growth of Indian food processing industry is up to 13% per annum20. 3. 6. 1. Dairy Dairy firms are one of the main contributors of Indian food industry among various sectors. In 2006-07 the size was 198000 crores & it is estimated to be 366484 crores by 2015. The states of Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Punjab and Haryana have established many dairy co-operatives running successfully. Most of the packed milk segment is 15 16 http//www. bharti-walmart. n/Overview-CareerAtBhartiWalmart. aspx http//info. shine. com/company/Spencers-Retail/204. aspx 17 http//info. shine. com/company/Spencers-Retail/204. aspx 18 http//www. cesc. co. in/cesc/ entanglement/investor/ helpdesk/document/sub/Spencer%60s%20Retail_Annual%20Repo rt_201 1-12. pdf 19 http//www. cesc. co. in/cesc/web/investor/helpdesk/document/sub/Spencer%60s%20Retail_Annual%20Repo rt_2011-12. pdf 20 Cifti. org/Reports/Ficci_Technopak%2008. pdf 22 dominated by co-operatives it contributes about 70% of the total revenues. In the milk products India, the reports have given(p) that demand is growing faster than supply.The recent rise in milk prices have forced Indian government to Impose a ban on skimmed milk products and reduce Incentives for exports. Many products like Ghee, Curd, etc. has demand more and they are sold as unbranded in Indian market. As the health consciousness among people is increasing day by day ,the demand for milk is increasing in the market. Exports of milk from India to south east Asia countries have large(p) rapidly. The ice-cream industry though it is widespread is suffering from shortage of cold chain infrastructure and lack of big players in India. 3. 6. 2. Non-Alcoholic Beverages These are of two types namely ? change a nd Non-carbonated drinks Some of the hot beverages are tea and coffee. Almost Rs. 5000 crores was accounted by fruit juices and fruit found drinks. The annual growth rate would be 10-12% India is the biggest country to state tea in the world accounting for 28% of the total global production at 956 million kgs. Tea production in India is being more and more improving year by year whose swage itself is above Rs. 8000 crores. The growth has become 1. 2% per annum. India is the 4th largest exporter of tea in the world and it is also the fifth largest producer of coffee which is accounting up to 4% of total production in world.Almost everything produced is being exported. It came up to 75% of produced tea and coffee is exported21 The competitor for US food processing is Indian domestic industry. As it has the best climatic conditions it has got advantage to produce the rude goods and potential to cultivate the wide range of raw materials. some of the Indian companies have increased their market share by decreasing the prices for the products while import duties on food and ingredients have become relatively costly. The existing food laws will restrict the producers to use the ingredients, colors, flavors.Thus it has become the additional challenge to the US exporters enkindle in Indian market. 21 Food. export. org/resources/countryprofiledetail. cfm? itemnumber=1015 23 3. 7. Technologies used in retail industry Retail industry is one of the most growing industry in the world today with a market share of above 50% with organized sector having a share of 5% whereas unorganized sector has over 90% of share22. Now the factor is to know how to accommodate such share. moreover food & grocery alone takes around 62% of market share at bottom retail industry.Everyday thousands of thousands transaction are done in retail market let it be regarding food & grocery or may be some apparels or some clothing. But its really difficult to manage the details about all these. H ow to keep complete track of all the products? Earlier people used pen and paper techniques but will that suffice present days requirement. The answer to this doubt is a big No , it is not possible to implement such techniques today. At this part technology plays a vital role today. Storing the data in a proper manner so that whenever it is required can be fetched immediately without any delay. entropybase, Data warehousing, Data mining are some of the tools used nowadays for storing and retrieving data efficiently. Forecasting is used to reckon future demand, e-commerce used online order and purchasing, The next part discusses how hardly each of the technology has played important role in retail industry. ? Forecasting tools are used to predict the total demand of any product in the near future based on the present or past purchase made by consumers. their details are salve on a computer and based on that prediction is made how much will be actually required to suffice the requ irement.Database used to store details about a product how much is in the inventory, what is the amount that has been sold, who are the purchasers of such product, what is the buying frequency of the particular product etc. This is done using barcode scanners or RFID tags that is attached with the particular product. Barcode was the idea of two college students which actually came into effect on the late 1940s and early 1950s. Barcode is a code made of series of lines based on morse code and movie equipment. How it is read is by using light light and an oscilloscope23.RFID tags uses radio waves to identify things robotically at any time. it can either be active with their own means of sending signals or passive voice like using a reader to read the details. Tag may contain manufacturing date, lot number, and ensuant number. Use of Credit card, debit card to chip in for the products purchased can also be added to the technological practice session in retail industry. Using cell phones as a medium to intimidate the consumers about any new offers on any product. ? ? ? ? ? 22 23 www. cci. in www. barcode-printing. co. uk/history-of-barcodes. htm 24 ?Use of e-commerce has been the bottle sleep together of retail industry now. with the ease of ordering stuffs with a click of a button, paying after receiving the product and other facilities has really made life of humanity beings easy. Reliance Fresh, Spencers, Nilgiris, More, Big Bazaar and all uses such technologies. Food and grocery segment comprises mostly of all packed items having barcode on the backside through which its manufacturing date, end point date, price can be monitored. 3. 8. Marketing Initiatives There are a lot of retail companies coming up nowadays but how to introduce it to public.The best way is advertisement in scathe of tv ads, hoardings, newspapers, etc. This section discuss about how exactly few retail companies has used advertising a tool to introduce their product to public. For this project five major food and grocery companies in India, viz. Reliance Fresh, Spencers, More, Nilgiris and Big Bazaar are considered. 3. 8. 1. Reliance fresh Reliance fresh with its slender combination of red and green colour logotypetype reflects a green environment. Their major advertising types are ? ? ? ? ? Print or broadcast ads through newspapers.Packaging through carry bags. Directories like in telephone directories. audio recording materials like announcements through radio. Point-of-purchase displays as in when customers reach billing point they can see special offers or promotions. Other ways of promoting are direct marketing through e-mails, messages and personal selling through face to face interaction with customers. 3. 8. 2. Spencer mart Spencer follows same pattern as reliance like packaging, print ads, Audio materials, TV ads but one addition to it is every week a new print ad can be seen in local stores or website. 5 3. 8. 3. More More comes with orangish colour logo having tag line for you or hamesha extra. More advertises through newspapers, online advertisement, packaging, etc. They farm by offering discounts and promoting traditional and local specialities during brave season. 3. 8. 4. Nilgiris Niligiris started in 1905 has a logo of green colour . It is a supermarket chain in south India. The major selling product in Nilgiris is fresh vegetables with hygienic and superior qualities. advertize is very essential for promoting of products that led to the growth of Nilgiris.Direct marketing, personal selling, store promotion, sales promotion are other ways of advertising the product. 3. 8. 5. Big Bazaar Big Bazaars logo comes in orangeness and blue colour with tagline as Is se sasta aur accha kahin nahi. Some of its marketing initiatives taken arePromotional offers? saal ke sabse saste 3 din. ? Hafte ka sabse sasta din(Wednesday bazaar). ? metamorphose offers Junk swap offer. ? Future card(3% discount). ? Shakti card. ? Adverti sement(print ad,radio,newspaper). ? second by M. S. Dhoni 3. 9. Future OutlookRetail industry in India, as we know, is one of the fast growing industry which accounts for 22% of its GDP at present24. The sector consist of only 5% of organized market and the rest under unorganized which shows that there is a wide hazard for large scale companies in the Indian market (Singh, 2012). The proposal of FDI was considered for taking up the growth of the Indian retail market during early 1990s. It was in the year 1991, the Government has opened up the retail market to FDI through a series of steps which are (Singh 2012) 24 http//www. ibef. org/industry/retail-india. spx 26 Table 3. 1 1995 ? World Trade of Organizations General Agreement on Trade in Services, which includes both Wholesale and Retailing services, came into effect. FDI in cash-and-carry (wholesale) with 100% rights allowed under the Government approval route. FDI in cash-and-carry (wholesale) brought under the automatic rout e. Up to 51% investment in single-brand retail outlet permitted. 100% FDI in single brand retail and 51 % in Multi-brand retail. 1997 ? 2006 ? ? 2012 ? In the year 2007, the Indian retail market stood at Rs 1. 33 billion witnessing a growth of 10. %. In this, organized sector shared only 5. 9%, but itself showed a growth of 42. 7%. It was expected to maintain a much faster growth in the next 3 years (IMAGES F&R Research, 2009). As part of the action taken by the Government in 2006 regarding FDI, Wal-Mart has made an agreement with Bharti Enterprises to establish a joint venture, Bharti Wal-Mart private limited, for wholesale cash-and-carry and back-end supply chain management operations in India in the year 200725. This was a decision taken by Wal-Mart as the FDI policies were not favourable for retailing.The foreign retailers were still waiting for the Government to revamp their policies on FDI in retailing. Even though there was a fast growth in organized sector, its penetration i n the market was only 8-9% during 2009 which is very low as compared with countries like US, France etc with 60-80% penetration level26. During these days, the retail market looked gloomy and experts reported this will last for the next few months which will reduce the growth in organized retail sector. In 2011, the market stood at USD 396 billion. It was clear that acceptance of FDI in retail became essential for another growth to attain27.Also, according to A T Kearneys Global Retail Development Index (GRDI) 2012, India is the fifth most attracted market for International retailers and also the market is expected to show a growth of 15-20% over the next five years. 25 26 http//corporate. walmart. com/our-story/locations/india http//www. investindia. gov. in/? q=retailing-sector 27 http//www. deloitte. com/assets/Dcom-India/Local%20Assets/Documents/Indian_Retail_Market. pdf 27 Growth in organized sector can be achieved through retaining and attracting more customers in the future.A lso the retailers ability to manage supply chain efficiently, increase the operational efficiency through economies of scale, serviceability and optimal space management are certain other factors that can achieve growth in organized sector (Karthikeyan, 2010). Also the use of various tools like, GIS (Geographic Information System ) which helps the retailers to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage and present all types of geographical data which is highly used for locating and shifting of their stores to specific areas are considered (Mishra, 2009).The International retailers updates on the Indian status for FDI which allows them to enter the market with less constraints and more freedom. As the Government had not supported the foreign retailers negotiation in cost of the investment, they are still in doubt to establish in the market. For the organized sector to grow further, there should be some foreign investment and that which can show the growth of 15-20% in the next fiv e years. 3. 10. Comparison of Indian retail industry with US, UK and France.As the study shows that the top 5 global retailers are from US, UK and France, comparison study of Indian retail industry with these countries are done on the buttocks of the size of the industry, the major retailers within the country and the nature of competition within the country. Among the retailers above, its clear that US is the top on the basis of the size of the industry followed by France and UK. But the most attracted retail market among the above countries is India. The comparison given at a lower place explains more about the growth of these markets between 2007 and 2011. . 10. 1. Size of Industry The size of the retail industries of India (Singh, 2012) (Assistant Professor, Global Institute of Management & Technology, Noida) 28, USA29, UK30 and France31 in the year 2007 and 2011 are shown in the figure below In the French scenario, the value for the year 2010 was mentioned as USD 349. 65 bill ion. From the source it is established that, the growth was following a raise annual growth 28 29 http//www. dnb. co. in/IndianRetailIndustry/overview. asp http//www. slideshare. net/hitaishi9/retail-assignment, http//www. lideshare. net/hitaishi9/retailassignment 30 http//www. prospectsnet. com/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Industry_insights/Retail/overview/p egiLLL, http//raceforopportunity. bitc. org. uk/sites/default/files/kcfinder/files/RaceforOpportunity/Retail%20Sector. p df 31 http//industryreviewstore. blogspot. in/2012/04/future-of-retailing-in-france-to-2016. html 28 rate of 4. 5% from 2006-2010. Hence, the value of the industry in 2007 is calculated as USD 304. 55 billion32. Figure 3. 5 4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 India US UK France 2007 2011The above figure shows the growth of the retail industries of the mentioned countries between 2007 and 2011. The growth rate is more for India and France than UK and US. The retail markets in UK and US are almost in a saturat ion state whereas the Indian retail market which is mostly unorganized has a wide range of opportunity for the modern retailers. The global retailers will be certainly looking transport to enter into Indian market as its organized sector is yet to grow. 32 http//www. slideshare. net/Allystephen/retailin-france-2011kh 29 3. 10. 2.Major Retailers, Their Market Shares and Nature of Competition The top 5 retailers in the four countries are given below and their market shares are shown in their respective regions33 Figure 3. 6 Wal-Mart 6% Metro Group Aditya Birla 6% 6% Future Group 54% RETAILERS IN INDIA Reliance Retail 28% The study shows that Future Group is the market leader in Indian retail industry with a market share of 54%. Followed by the challenger, Reliance Retail has a share of 28%. The next three retailers have almost equal shares which show that there is a tight competition within the followers.Figure 3. 7 RETAILERS IN USA 11% 11% 11% 52% Wal-Mart Kroger Target 15% Walgre ens Costco 33 http//www. planetretail. net/Presentations/grocery-2012-web. pdf 30 In USA, the retail industry is lead by Wal-Mart with a market share of 52% followed by four other retailers Kroger, Target, Walgreens and Costco with respective market shares of 15% for Kroger and 11% each for the rest of them. This shows that there is a tight competition within the four companies. The Indian and US retail industries are having almost same nature of competition. Figure 3. 8 RETAILERS IN UK 0% 15% 37% Tesco Sainsbury 19% 19% Walmart Morrisons Co-operative Group The retail industry in UK has different combinations of market shares among the companies. The chart shows that none of them is having more than 50% of the market share. The market leader is Tesco with 37% market share followed by Sainsbury and Walmart with 19% each. Morrisons is only 4% butt the two companies which shows that there is a strong competition between all the retailers in UK. Figure 3. 9 RETAILERS IN FRANCE 14% 17 % 28% point of intersection Leclerc Casino 18% 23% ITM Auchan 31Study shows that there exists a similar competition within the companies in France as in UK. Even though Carrefour is having the higher market share of 28% than the other retailers, Leclerc which holds the second position with a market share of 23% is not far behind. The rest of the companies have a competition within themselves as they have market shares between 14% and 18%. 32 Chapter 4 CONCLUSION 33 The report analysed in detail, the retail industry in India. The research initially started with the assembling of data about the Indian retail industry as a whole, and then moved onto global scenario of retail industries.Also, issues regarding the foreign direct investment(FDI) in the retail sector is covered. The key players currently operating in the retail industry and the bottlenecks that the retail industry is face in India are also analysed. Based on the findings, the future outlook of the Indian retail industry is mentioned in the report. 4. 1. Major Findings 1) The Retail sector in India is split up into two, the organised and the unorganised. 2) In terms of value the size of the retail sector in India is $350 billion. The organised sector contributes about 5%of the total trade. ) The retail sector in India contributes 10% to the everlasting(a) Domestic Product and 8% to the employment of the country. 4) In terms of growth the FMCG retail sector is the windy growing unit. 5) The foreign retail giants were initially certified from making investments in India. But now FDI is permitted 51% for multi brand retailing and 100%for single brand retailing. Again they can enter the markets through franchises. The report concludes that, retail industry in India has a very bright future prospect as it is undergoing through a transaction phase.It is expected to enrich the Indian economy in terms of Income and employment. The retail industry in India has come forth as one of the major dynamic and f ast paced industries with several players debut the market. From analysis & other reports and surveys it is quite clear that Indian retail players are now all set and ready to triumph over the organised retail sector. The Indian retail industry is now on a verge to experience speed actions and competitions, allowing the consumers to get the best deals out of it. 34 Chapter 5 REFERENCES 35REFERENCES 1. www. moneycontrol. com 2. www. ibef. org 3. Pricewaterhousecooper research 4. Deloitte research 5. www. Livemint. com 6. http//www. indianretailer. com/article/sector-watch/food-and-grocery/Standingagainst-each-other-1489/ 7. Business monitor international(Indian retail report Q1,2012) 8. ASA & Associates report, August 2012 9. http//www. punebds. com/pf. asp 10. http//www. managementparadise. com/forums/principles-management-p-o-m/208682pest-analysis-retail-industry. html 11. http//encyclopedia. thefreedictionary. com/PEST+analysis 12.