International Financial management Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

International Financial management - Term Paper Example Although international banks offer their services to both individuals and organizations, they tend to prefer conducting business with organizations and relatively wealthy individuals. On its part the money market was primarily introduced for the sake of trading in currency rate futures contracts as well as options. Essentially, currency futures were intended to realize a liberally traded exchange market that would promote trade across national borders. Therefore, the money market serves a number of functions that include lubricating central bank policies, financing trade, enhancing the self-sufficiency of commercial banks and facilitating profitable investments. From their roles and functions, it can be seen that international banking and money market are inextricably linked. With the opportunities and challenges presented by globalization and the global market, there are also benefits and hazards associated with international banking and money market. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the concept of international banking and money market focusing on the reasons for international banking, how international banking and money market functions and also highlight the hazards associated with the concepts. International banks provide certain services that make a distinction between them and domestic banks. Most significantly, they facilitate export and import services for their clients through their role of arranging trade financing. Further, they not only play the crucial role of arranging the necessary foreign exchange multinationals use to carry out international transactions but also assist in making foreign investments by hedging exchange rate risk. This is typically in foreign currency payables and receivables options and forward contracts. However, the international banks are mainly distinguished from domestic banks by the types of loans they give, investments they make and deposits they accept. From the perspective of international money market,

Business Plan D&D Beauty Salon Essay Example for Free

Business Plan DD Beauty Salon Essay DD (Dreams and Desires) Customize Beauty Salon is a unique salon of its kind. It tends to provide all barberry and cosmetology services under one roof in a unique way. What makes DD so unique is its distinguish software. The software allows the client to see, realize and evaluate him/herself in a real time. It takes picture of the customer and instantly allows them to perform different functions, such as; try different hairstyles, change hair color, apply different types of facial hairstyle and for girls/women it allows them to apply wide range of makeup as well. The purpose behind such a unique idea is to fully satisfy the hidden needs and wants of the people which usually they are unaware of. Once they have the opportunity to realize and evaluate themselves there is more chance that the customer will leave as a happy customer. So using the same phenomenon we are going into the market with the different slogan _No One Leaves unhappy_. As the work of a beauty salon does not ends up here, it requires professional and well experienced staff to provide customers the services exactly what they perceive in their mind and what the software had shown them. For that we are striving to hire two foreign qualified professionals initially. Along with their regular duties they will also train our local beauticians/hairdressers. Our distinctive DD software will act as a competitive advantage for us, through which we are going to compete with the well established big giants in the beauty clinic industry. As no one in the industry is currently serving the customers with this mind set so its a kind of gap we have identified and we have prepared a strong strategy to fulfill these hidden needs and wants of the customers in the market. The trend has shown that there is a boom going on in the beauty clinic industry, new salons are opening consistently and the current established brands are generating massive profits, so its a very good time for us to enter into the market with our unique selling proposition. To achieve our objectives we are seeking additional loan financing. Our capital structure will be 50% equity based and 50% external financing. Our 50% equity will be equally distribute among five owners of the company, however we will take a loan on 19% interest rate from UBL to fulfill our external financing requirement. The initial capital that is required to start our salon is Rs.4079500 hopefully by the end of year _ we  will reach our break even. Our projected Income Statement shows that by the end of year 3 we will start earning substantial profits. Overall keeping in mind the industry and market attractiveness we are quite confident that future for DD Beauty Salon looks quite bright. COMPANY DESCRIPTION COMPANY INTRODUCTION Dream and Desire is a unique kind of beauty salon. It is one of the most innovative beauty salon which is going to revolutionize the entire barberry and cosmetology segment. This is the era of technology and Dream and Desire provides customers with a blend of classic service with updated technology. At Dream and Desire we provide services to both males and females. Services include hair cutting, facial services; make up, waxing and a lot more services that are provided at any other beauty salon. We provide services for people from all genders and age. The innovation brought in by Dream and Desire is the addition of technology in the service. At Dream Desire customers can have a look at their new looks before they actually get it. Customers can choose from different hair styles and cosmetology and then the specifically trained barbers and beautician at Dream and Desire would provide the customer with the required services. COMPANY HISTORY Dream and Desire is a new company in the industry. It does not have a history but it will surely create history by revolutionizing the barberry and cosmetology industry by introducing technology in the industry. In the past companies only used to cut hair and provide cosmetology services to customers on the basis of what customer told them about what the customers requires or how he wants to look but now with the most innovative beauty salon Dream and Desire customers can actually see how they would look in different hair styles and cosmetic before even getting the service performed on themselves. Where as in the past customers only used to get their hair  cut and they could only see their new look after they used to get the service performed on them. Before Dream Desire, all beauty salon, small and big barber shops and salons all used to just provide services without the much needed, dreamt and desired technology. MISSION STATEMENT _Our mission is to build the most innovative beauty salon in the industry. We at dream desire are passionately committed at providing our customers with the most innovative barberry and cosmetology service that they can ever experience._ VISION STATEMENT _Our vision is to revolutionize the barberry and cosmetology industry by making customers happy and satisfied through our DD Software Beauty Services._ SERVICE DESCRIPTION Dream and Desire provides all the services that any other beauty salon provides but the competitive edge that we have over other salons is the addition of technology. We can actually show the client how he would look after getting the service before even providing him services. At dream and desire we provide services and fulfill appearance desires of customers. Through our DD software we can provide our customers with their pictures of what they would look like with different hair styles and cosmetics. Our services include Hair Cutting ,hair styling , hair dyeing , hair streaking, threading ,bleaching, waxing, make up , bridal make ups for both grooms and brides, manicure ,pedicure ,consultation, face massage and all the other services that you find on any other beauty salon but with an assurity of how you would look after the service is provided to you. We  provide an additional service of DD software but at a very reasonable price as compared to other salons .This shows that we at Dream and Desire really want the customers to look as they have always dreamt and desired. We use branded products for providing our services whether its bridal make up, party make up, hair streaking and dyeing and all the other services provided at our beauty salon are provided by branded products whether its scrubs, moisturizers , toners, hair color, wax, creams, hair masks, nail polishes ,gel and every other product used by our beauticians is branded. CURRENT STATUS Our business is currently in the building stage. A full-fledged business plan has been made for Dream Desire but its not yet been implemented practically. LEGAL STATUS AND OWNERSHIP Our business is still in the building stage. We have a full-fledged business plan but we are still in the process of buying patents, copyrights and license for our business Dream Desire. Dream Desire is a partnership venture which is owned by 5 partners with each one having 20% ownership rights. KEY PARTNERSHIPS (IF ANY) Currently we do not have as such any partnership but in near future we are hoping to build some of them with the people in the same or different industries. Once we see the early growth of the company we will definitely going to look for companies like different garment stores and other fashion related segments to build partnerships with them which will be sustained for longer run. We will provide them the facility of our DD software which will enhance the level of their current services. Similarly in our salon we will  promote their brand and in return we will ask them to promote DD. So will build long term sustainable relationship with other companies once we are ready for the boom. INDUSTRY ANALYSIS INDUSTRY SIZE AND GROWTH The beauty salon industry is mainly composed of small, independently owned salons. An average salon offers services such as haircutting, styling, coloring, shampooing and permanents. Other salons have expanded their businesses to offer services such as nail care, facials, makeup application, waxing, massage, tanning and other beauty treatments. Our services belong to the Beauty Clinics Industry. When we look at the industry we can see that there are a lot of hair salons and barber shops in Pakistan. In the past few years Pakistani people have become very beauty conscious especially the youth of Pakistan because of which the number of Hair and Beauty Salons in Pakistan have increased significantly. This industry caters one of the most common needs of all the people in the world. On daily basis about 15 to 20 people on an average visit the male beauty salon whereas about 20 to 25 females visit beauty parlor. The industry is very crowded and its still growing. Both the number of beauty salons and the number of beauty conscious people are increasing in Pakistan. There are uncountable beauty salons in Pakistan but none of them provide an innovative service as we do so the industry that our services belong to is very attractive and its attractiveness is increasing with time. People were beauty conscious in the past too but now the number has drastically increased and more and more beauty salon have been opened especially a large number for men so the industry is quiet new. Even though there were barbers in the early eras but beauty salons in Pakistan a comparatively newer industry. Major players in the Beauty Clinics are Depilex, Nabila, however in Lahore some other competitors are, New Look, AlleNora, Samias, Muneeba, Elysium. There is no administrative or regulatory body to govern the practices of this industry so there is no statistical data available regarding the exact number of players in the market. CURRENT INDUSTRY STRUCTURE The number of beauty clinics in Pakistan has increased at a fast pace over the last few years. The size of this sector of service industry is still growing. Due to very low amount of investment that is required to start beauty parlors, the number of such establishments has cropped up in houses all over the country. In Lahore, more professional and large clinics have been set up in commercial areas like M. M. AlamRoad, Defence, and Main Boulevard Gulberg. Professional experts are currently operating approximately 15 large beauty clinics in Lahore. The beauty industry today encompasses far more than cosmetics and skin care products, though they are still a significant portion of the sector. A wide range of services and products are available to help us put our best face forward, and the beauty industry now also encompasses hair styling and hair removal, nail and tanning salons, massage parlors, shower and shaving products, perfumes, colognes and more. Many people now treat their beauty ritual as an escape from the hustle of the information age, whether its a few minutes spoiling oneself with a high-end product or a full day at a luxury spa. Comprised of a diverse yet interrelated set of business lines, the beauty industry helps us look and smell our best. Before we leave the house each day, we have likely undergone our personalized beautification ritual. Included in this ritual are the daily shower and shave, the weekly nail trim, and the monthly haircut. And increasingly we are taking a more holistic view of our health, and our beautification ritual may now include a periodic massage and trip to the spa. But our concern with our appearance is hardly anything new; indeed the beauty industry has been expanding and growing for all of recorded history. For the interested entrepreneur this continuing growth and evolution offers a diverse menu of opportunity. KEY SUCCESS FACTORS Quality and skilled employees familiar with energy work and oriented to a soothing spiritual disposition. Use very good quality beauty products. Preferably imported and branded. The atmosphere of the clinic has to be according to the taste of targeted customers. The charges for different services should be set keeping in mind the price charged bythe competition. Establish trust within the community that each customers needs will be taken care of during every visit. Easily accessible location. Effective advertising. Ensure good quality of service at all times, and be consistent. NATURE OF PARTICIPANTS Industry participants are those whose services include salon. Salon services concern hair styling,haircutting, coloring, shampooing and permanents, nail care, facials, makeup application, waxing and other beauty treatment. INDUSTRY TREND The salon business is notoriously competitive and has really transformed itself in recent years. Previously, salons paid little attention to their decor and focused mainly on keeping it attractive and neat with good basic hairdressing furniture. Today, many of the leading salons are investing in proper interior design and product showcasing to build their retail income streams alongside their hairdressing and beauty services. Hair is an essential part of look gorgeous and one should pay extra attention to it to steal the show. In Pakistan the hair trends in (2012) theres an absolute feast of looks. There are different hair trend like The Bob, Long and Wavy, Classy Ponytails, Straight Traces. MARKET ANALYSIS AND MARKETING PLAN: Effective marketing campaign is necessary to invite clients for a newly established beauty salon. For launching an effective marketing campaign we need to find some the following things. Market segmentation and Target Market Buyer behavior Competitor analysis MARKET SEGMENTATION Segmentation is a paramount to any businesses success. Identify the marketing segment for the product and explains why this segment was selected. DEMOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION Demographic segmentation involves dividing the market on the basis of statistical differences in personal characteristics, such as age, gender, race, income, life stage, occupation, and education level. DD Salon, for example, segment on the basis of age groups such as teenagers, young adults, and mature adults. DD Beauty Salon will be targeting three dissimilar groups of clients. The salon will work hard to particularly appeal to each of these groups. DD Beauty Salon will target Women, Men, and Children. Men will characteristically create up to 75% of the clientele. Men have shorter hair and require a faster, simpler job. DD Salon will gear toward women who cannot meet the expense of an upscale  salon. There is not often a dissimilarity in quality of an upscale salon comparative to a family hair salon other than a upscale salon will tend to pamper you more, only accepts appointments, and the salon itself is generally a bit plusher. Someone who is financially responsible as opposed to someone who likes lavishness will support a family style salon. Young mothers and children will also be welcome in our salon. Typically, children are disreputably complicated when it comes to getting haircuts. DD Salon will be a laid-back environment where children can have fun while they are waiting and we will work with parents to compose children while haircuts are performed. Where you advertise is as important keeping several factors in mind when looking for the client. Our segments is the people who visits beauty and hair saloons irrespective of their age and gender Take a good look at your business you should always know where you should advertise and this works to your advantage if your goal is to get customers out of what would normally be your target group. The social media is always a great place to advertise so as another place, often overlooked, is high school and college and university newspapers, fashion magazines. Expected customers are following 60% male 25% females 15% young children with mother PSYCHOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION VALS (Values, Attitudes and Lifestyles) is a proprietary research methodology used for psychographic market segmentation. Market segmentation is designed to guide companies in tailoring their products and services to appeal to the people most likely to purchase them. According to VALS our customers will be Innovators: These consumers are on the leading edge of change, have the highest incomes, and such high self-esteem and abundant resources that they can indulge in any or all self-orientations. They are located above the rectangle. Image is important to them as an expression of taste, independence and character. Their consumer choices are directed toward the finer things in life. Experiencers: These consumers are the high-resource group of those who are motivated by self-expression. They are the youngest of all the segments, with a median age of 25. They have a lot of energy, which they pour into physical exercise and social activities. They are eager consumers, spending heavily on clothing, fast-foods, fashion, music, and other youthful favorites, with particular emphasis on new products and services. GEOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION Geographic segmentation involves dividing the market on the basis of where people live. Divisions may be in terms of neighborhoods, cities, counties, states, regions, or even countries. Considerations related to geographic grouping may include the makeup of the areas, that is, urban, suburban, or rural; size of the area; climate; or population. For example, DD salon will focus on identifying potential user segments in areas where there are potential customers It is based on variables such as customer concentration and macro-economic factors; we will be targeting the residents of Gulberg, GOR, shadman, defense, model town, faisal town. As these areas are near to the place where we will be operating and people residing in these can afford these services PRODUCT-BENEFIT Segmentation is based on the perceived value or advantage consumers receive  from a good or service over alternatives. Our customers will be satisfied because of our uniqueness Thus; markets can be divided in terms of the quality, performance, image, service, special features, or other benefits we will provide to our customers. BUYER BEHAVIOR To design our salon around the emotional buying patterns of the consumer, We have to go beyond simple design. We must incorporate the vision of environmental psychology. We have to match the best-proven practices of successful service providers and marketers inside the beauty industry. The salon of today and of the future, must combine elements of dependable science, blended with wishful thinking to create an alluring cocktail of reality and desirable fantasy. The fundamental principle of market research is that you can ask people questions and what they tell you will be the truth. In fact, it turns out that the opposite is far closer to the truth.. When the mind considers the future, it does so with idealism that is both optimistic and simultaneously devoid of any objective assessment of the past. There is a way to obtain a deeper understanding of consumers and make better-informed decisions. Humans have virtually lost the ability to appreciate the present, so wrapped up are we in dwelling on the past and wondering about the future. UNDERSTANDING THE CONSCIOUS MIND The unconscious mind is the real driver of consumer behavior. Understanding consumers is largely a matter of understanding how the consumers mind operates. The saying first impression applies to more than just the visual when a consumer enters a salon. It is also important in verbal communication with a consumer. ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES Humans like animals, interact and respond to their environment far more than we are aware of at a conscious level. If we want to change peoples behavior, the first thing we can do is change the environment. Changing the environment is uniquely powerful in changing behavior. There is no greater single influence. If we want to know why someone does or doesnt buy, we have to understand how the environment shapes behavior. To maximize sales or impact of communication, the environment has to be right. It is not a revelation to learn that music and lighting can affect our mood and as a result, our behavior, the extent to which both can cause people to spend more is surprising. ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN + PERSONAL CONSUMER EXPERIENCE = SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE COMPETITOR ANALYSIS Knowing Your Enemy is key and could help traffic into your salon. Knowing your competition is as important as anything else you will ever do in business. You need to learn who their customers are, how they work as a salon, number of employees they have on hand, what their range of services and products are and where and how they advertise. This way we will be able to know how to better serve your clients and run your business. Major competitors are the following Diplex Sobias New looks Alenora Tony and Guy Nabeela STRATEGY AND IMPLEMENTATION Skill at what we do, good customer service, and creating a pleasant environment for our customers will be important to implementing our business plan. COMPETITIVE EDGE We are unique from others, our customized style of beauty and our softwares is unique of its own kind there is no other such saloon operating in Pakistan DD wants to set itself apart from other beauty salons that may offer only one or two types of services. Having come from such a salon, they desire all of the services that we are proposing. Although the focus of DD is hair services, we do wish to offer our clients the convenience of these other services in one location. There are a number of salons. But they are mainly in the very high income parts of our city and surrounding areas. We do not intend to compete with these we wish to offer a middle ground for those clients who cant quite afford those high-end luxury salons. Our business atmosphere will be a relaxing one where clients can kick back and be pampered. Soft drinks will be offered to clients as they enter for service. Televisions will be located in the waiting and hair-drying area area MARKETING STRATEGY Our marketing strategy is a simple one: satisfied clients are our best marketing tool. When a client leaves our salon with a new look, he or she is broadcasting our name and quality to the public. Most of our clients will be referrals from existing clients. No major advertising campaigns are expected. Our research has shown that word of mouth is the best advertising for this type of business. We will, however, run specials throughout the week. We will also ask clients for referrals, and reward them with discounted or free services depending on the number of clients they bring. We will also offer discounts to the new clients who have been referred. A client would simply refer new clients to us, and we will place a card in a box for each client he or she brings. The more they bring, the more chances they have of winning the free services Our marketing strategy is the key to our success: Emphasize our name and unique services through advertising. Focus on the convenience of our location. Build community relationships through unique and quality service, friendly and caring atmosphere, and establishing absolute dependability of our services. PROMOTION STRATEGY _ADVERTISING_ We will utilize local newspaper, local social and health magazines, local radio, local television, mail-outs to all households within the immediate five mile radius, and mail-outs to all local business within a five-mile radius. Often overlooked, is high school and college and university newspapers, fashion magazines. _INTERNET_ we will have a comprehensive website and on social media such as face book page and twitter. We will also add our salon placed on Google maps. The social media is always a great place to advertise so as another place _ALLIANCES_ this type of advertising will be implemented once we have grown beyond our break-even point. We will also form advertising alliances with  any business with whom we share common business goals. We will also implement mutual perks with our business and restaurant neighbors which will aid in local visibility. Advertising promotions with certain clothing brands such as Stone Age, outfitters, cross roads and in the ladies clothing we will alliance with Rang ja and wardah clothing and in ladies foot wear we will alliance with Heels. POSITIONING STATEMENT We will automatically position ourselves as one of the top customized beauty salons in the greater area. Considering that none of the other competitors will offer the range of services we will, or that their staffs will be trained like ours, and that there are not any beauty salons of our type in our target locations. PRICING STRATEGY Our pricing strategy will not be similar to that of our competitors. We will not charge over, or substantially under, standard prices for our services. We will be implementing a price penetration strategy PRODUCT PROMOTION We will manipulate our prices and offer discounts with services such as haircuts, shampoos and coloring treatments. Offering customers 10 or 25 percent off the purchase of a particular shampoo and conditioner with the purchase of a haircut and shampoo combination can help move merchandise and increase our service sales. Customers can be tempted by the desire to take the salon experience home with them and, with discounted prices on premier products MANAGEMENT TEAM COMPANY STRUCTURE MANAGEMENT TEAM Dream and Desire has 5 founders who are also going to be the member of the board of directors. They would have the voting power for any decision that has to be made. All the five founders of Dream Desire are Business Management Students with corporate experience. The founders are also going to act as operational managers who are going to visit the salon according to their shift times. Marketing and Finance Manager are also going to be hired for promotional and financial purposes respectively. Operational Managers are going to lead a team of stylists, beauticians and barbers. There is going to be one assistant operational manager for Male customers and one for female customers. The male assistant operational manager is going to lead a team of a signature stylist ,top stylist and two barbers and the female assistant operational manager is going to lead a team of a signature stylist ,a a top stylist and two beauticians. Operational managers are also going to deal with the activities of the staff. BOARD OF DIRECTORS The founders of Dream and Desire are also going to be the member of board of directors. Dream and Desire has 5 founders and each one would have 20% voting right. 80% of the vote should be in favor for any decision to pass. The board of directors is also going to responsible for HR activities (hiring Firing). All the 5 members are also going to serve as the operational managers who are going to visit the salon according to their fixed days. BOARD OF ADVISORS Our resource person Mr. Rashid Hussain will assist us in implementing this project so he and some of our other teachers will act as Board of Advisors as well. We will seek help and guidance from them time to time. Other than there is a person, Mr.Nasir who has been successfully running his hair salon, he has helped us a lot in this project and he will further assist us in implementation phase of our project. COMPANY STRUCTURE The company is owned by 5 founders who are equal stock holders of the Dream Desire. The sister concern of the board of directors is the board of advisors who advise the board on different issues mostly when the board or the owners are facing any problem with the business. The Board of directors perform the activities of HR Department themselves but they directly control three managers below them i.e. Operational manager, financial manager and marketing manager. The operational manager further controls 2 assistant operational managers one for the females and other for the males. Assistant operational managers report to the operation manager where as the operational manager directly reports to the board of directors. The operational manager also controls the duties of the staff (Receptionist, Security guard, clerk and sweeper). The two assistant operational managers further supervise 4 employees each. i.e. Signature Stylist, Top Stylist and two beauticians or barbers on each male and female case.

A Good Man Is Hard To Find The Storm Essay example -- essays papers

A Good Man Is Hard To Find The Storm Of the two stories I read, one being The Storm by Kate Chopin and the other being A Good Man Is Hard To Find by Flannery O'Connor, I found that each had characters with moral dilemmas. In both, the setting played a role in these dilemmas but in different ways. In The Storm, the bad weather was the set-off to and unpredicted intimacy while in A Good Man Is Hard To Find, the setting seems to be focused around a family's vacation and their encounter with a criminal. In the following paragraphs, I will go on to explain how certain characters have moral dilemmas and how the setting helps to support my interpretations. The Storm is based around a woman by the name of Calixta who is left home alone while a threatening storm blows up suddenly. Her husband and son are stranded at a local store until the weather calms down. While she is preparing for the worst, a man visitor appears at her doorstep needing a place of shelter. This man turns out to be an old sweetheart of hers, Alcee. As the story goes on, Calixta and Alcee, unleash themse...

Essay --

As I began my research for this essay, it became clearly obvious that there is no consensus on the roots of nations. From Gellner to Smith, a million little points in time and space can be credited for the creation of a nation, which in itself carries various meanings and connotations. Believing that both modernists, who interpret nationalism as being associated with industrial economy and centralized authority, and primordialists, who argue nations are ancient and natural phenomena, make valid points, I have opted to adhere to Michael Mann’s explanation that the structure of nations ‘had multiple causes and stages cascading on top of each other in unexpected and unfortunate ways. They were contingent because different causal chains, each of which we can trace and explain quite well, came together in a way that we cannot explain in terms of either of them, yet which proved timely for the outcome’ (Mann 2012: 3). Nevertheless, despite the range of explanations for nationalism, one concept is reoccurring. Humans, either in their local, state or international societies, are driven by power, and those who have the ability to force their decisions upon others yield power. Regardless of the fact that colonialism and imperialism are no longer recognized as current practices, international society still exists under the umbrella of neo-colonial influences, of which globalization is a product of. In this essay, I will explore the status of the nation and nationalism as it currently exists under neo-colonial influences. For long-term survival, human cultures, and therefore nations, have had to adapt to different environments and shifting conditions. Today’s technological growth has challenged nations to adjust at an ever-faster pace, unse... ...each into the international community. This is evident in the types of nationalism I’ve explored, both new nationalism and cosmopolitanism. They are opposing views of what nationalism is or can become in the future, but both have qualities that allow smaller nations to continue their existence in the international society. I have inadvertently expressed my opinion that nations are structurally political and that it is in the interest of their leaders to appeal to their unique traditions in order to maintain their power. Either way, the choice between these two approaches rests on the hands of the nation and its relationship with the international society. Globalization does not hinder the existence of the nation but rather helps it establish a place in the structure of power in a world which is still dominated by politically and economically dominant super powers.

Employee Rewards Essay

Introduction The purpose of this essay is to critically examine the processes used by Scotia Learning and identify if their rewards are appropriate to those of the market. The report will begin by discussing the background of Scotia Learning and follow on to define reward management highlighting the objective and constraints within the reward strategy. We will then consider the legal framework and examine why there are variations in pay and how job evaluation can ensure equity and fairness is achieved. Finally we will discuss the concept of motivation and the implications of pay for performance within the reward strategy. The report ends with an analysis of the key issues of the topic. Scotia Learning is the case study for this essay and is one of a network of university-based study centres offering preparation for students wishing to study undergraduate and postgraduate degrees for progression into university degree courses. The company has joint venture partnerships with top universities throug hout the United Kingdom, Ireland and United States of America. â€Å"Reward management is concerned with the formulation and implementation of strategies and policies that aim to reward people fairly, equitably and consistently in accordance with their value to the organisation† (Armstrong & Murlis, 2007, p3). Research by Redman & Wilkinson (2009) indicates that reward is an enormously complex issue and has to take account of three fundamental principles in determining systems and structures: internal equity, external equity and business strategy. In addition Thorpe & Homan (2000) state that the organisation should identify what objectives and behaviours the payment system should have for example, labour market competitiveness and management skills whilst Perkins & White (2009) highlight the importance of legal regulations that can put constraints on organisations, for example minimum wage (legal), collective bargaining (trade unions), and the external labour markets. Scotia Learning does not recognise a trade union however it does recognise that collective bargaining has been influential in discussing and setting pay arrangement due to internal and external rates of pay not being equal. Within the employment legislation pay has always been an area of controversy especially when one considers employee’s collective concerns (Brown et al., 2003). The introduction of The Equal Pay Act 1970 outlawing unequal pay for men and women having since evolved into equal pay for equal work and the Equal Pay (Amendment) Regulations 1983 after the UK joined the EU in 1973 (Perkins & White, 2009), now gives employees a certain degree of protection in their employment relationship. To strengthen current legislation The Equality Act 2010 was introduced highlighting human rights and discriminatory factors, such as equal pay, sex discrimination, race, disability and equality (religion, sexual orientation, and age) (Equality and Human Rights Commission, 2012). In response to this Scotia Learning are aware that they have a ‘duty of care’ to all employees and comply with the Equal Opportunities Policy by ensuring the relevant training is undertaken by managers and employees ensuring everyone understands the importance of and their responsibilities under this Policy. This is also promoted in all recruitment documents, ensuring that wording of job advertisements does not discriminate against any potential applicants. As part of this legislation, employers are legally required to ensure their pay structures are not discriminatory against men and women in terms of valuing work between them in their employment and in order to defend themselves against equal pay claims, organisations must be able to prove that the jobs within their grading system are valued according to the job rather than the gender of the person doing the job. Failure to adhere to these regulations can result in a tribunal claim and if proven the organisation will have to pay all money accrued which can be backdated six years in England and five years in Scotland. In the case of (Birmingham City Council v Abdulla and others [2012] UKSC 47), the Supreme Court ruled that equal pay claims brought in the High Court more than six months after the end of the claimants’ employment, which would have been out of time in an employment tribunal, should not be struck out under section 2(3) of the Equal Pay Act 1970. The reasons for a claimant’s failure to bring a timely claim in a tribunal are not relevant in any way to the notion of convenience under section 2(3). (PLC Employment Law Weekly email). Within Scotia Learning pay and benefits are provided on the basis of objective criteria, free from discrimination taking into account the principle of equal pay for equivalent work or work of equal value. In addition we ensure transparency within the reward system is clear to all employees in that they understand how their pay is worked out and what is required from them to achieve this. Job profiles and person specifications for each new vacancy are drawn up in keeping with other jobs of a similar size and responsibility which focus on the skills, experience and qualifications that are directly relevant to the job. Armstrong & Murlis (2007, p115) state that â€Å"the payment system is important as it not only conveys a signal to the employees what the organisational priorities are but also a cts as a catalyst for wider organisational change† a view reiterated by Armstrong (1996) in which he proposes that the foundations of reward management are to achieve the individual and organisational behaviour that a company needs if the business goals are to be met. Therefore the term ‘employees are the key to enhanced organisational performance’ becomes relevant with links to Kessler and Purcell (1994) where they emphasise that payment systems are related to recruitment, retention and motivation of staff and that the determination of pay is not only the interaction of market forces but also employers. It is also acknowledged that variations in pay can occur for a variety of reasons and from a legal perspective it is important to understand why (Redman & Wilkinson, 2009). Firstly the power scenario, in that if labour is scarce, employees will have more power and hence may be able to demand higher pay, in contrast with an over-supply of labour employers have the power and hence may be able to hold pay at lower rates (Redman & Wilkinson, 2009). Secondly, it has been acknowledged that ‘the rate for the job’ should be the same for employees doing the same job but considering organisational performance is reliant on the empl oyee’s effort, skills and competencies, it is not logical to assume that effort should be rewarded and pay should vary accordingly. A view shared by Redman & Wilkinson (2009, p161) who advocate that â€Å"variable pay schemes (VPS) are said to hold out the promise towards the creation of internal labour market that is fairer in rewarding people as it is only ‘fair’ that rewards should have a direct link with effort†. The argument with this theory is that ‘risk adverse’ workers will be less willing to ‘gamble’ on pay related performance than a set amount of pay. Thirdly, we should also take into consideration the external market rate of pay and uneven market pressures such as differing regional or occupational rates of pay as Kessler (2007, p167) states â€Å"external equity is an organisational imperative as failure to respond the labour market changes will leave organisations at a disadvantage competitively†. Scotia Learning responds to these challenges by regularly benchmarking and studying the market rate of pay within the educational sector. Data collected is beneficial in determining pay to ensure pay scales are in line with and competitive with similar jobs. For example, when recruiting teaching staff, the use of organisations such as SATEFL and other educational websites are particularly useful, for administration staff we would use S1jobs.com and jobseeker.gov.uk website and with management we would use agencies. However, although the aforesaid strategy is very useful, Scotia Learning is a relatively large organisation with Centres worldwide and other factors have to be taken into consideration, such as location and cost of living. In determining the value of jobs within our organisation, although we consider the external market pay rates, decisions concerning pay are done through a coherent wage and career structure internal to our organisation which ensures consistency and fairness in our reward systems. It has been reported that issues with this reward system have arisen within the banking sector resulting in Government intervention to deal with inequalities of pay setting at senior management/director level and low pay via the nati onal minimum wage. This is not an area of concern for Scotia Learning as the annual salary increase is a % rate consistent throughout the organisation and our pay structure process involves a job evaluation â€Å"a systematic process for establishing the relative worth of jobs within an organisation† Redman & Wilkinson (2009, p141). In addition Scotia Learning is accredited to the British Council and British Accreditation Council and all HR policies and personnel files are properly documented and filed. Our job evaluation comprises of an analytical (i.e., jobs are broken down into individual components) broad-band pay structure with a range of factors such as knowledge and skills, problem solving, decision making and then allocating points to them. It is interesting to note that research by IRS (2007) showed that an average of 86% of organisations use this form of job evaluation. Within this broad-band pay structure we have 6 wide overlapping salary bands made up of management, HR, teaching staf f, finance, student services and cleaning staff with a salary range for each bank of at least 75%. Progression up the bands will be by skills and qualifications, performance and competence enhanced through individual career development thus supplying the motivation for continuous learning. To support this, the annual performance review takes place, however it is not linked to pay or rewards and is based on the objectives of skills and competence which are linked to organisational performance. In terms of equity and fairness the rate of pay for full-time and part-time teaching staff is calculated on the same hourly rate therefore ensuring consistency and fairness within the system. It is interesting to note that research by Redman & Wilkinson (2009, p139) argues that by paying an hourly rate â€Å"employers control over pace and performance is reliant on either direct supervision or the willingness of employees to engage with the task† synonymous with the argument surrounding ‘risk adverse’ workers. This point of view may be viable in organisations such as ‘call centres’ where technology enables the monitoring and regulating of work by measuring output and input and within the customer service industry where we have the ‘secret shopper’, but within the education sector autonomy is part of the job as is their professional code of ethics which includes commitment, motivation and discretionary behaviour which is contradictory to the argument by Thorpe & Homan (2000) who suggest that non-financial aspects are secondary and rarely given the same prominence in the design of payment systems. Managing rewards is largely about managing employee expectations linking to their psychological contract which is concerned with pay, performance and the development of skills (Armstrong & Murlis, 2007). The argument then becomes, if reactions to rewards depend on the psychological makeup, values and needs of individual, one cannot wholly rely on performance related pay schemes to enhance all employees’ performance as not everyone is motivated by money. Motivation only takes place if rewards are worthwhile to the individual and if the process is seen to be fair, therefore, it would require to be customised for every individual in the organisation (Armstrong & Murlis, 2007). For example, an employee nearing the end of their career may be more interested in job satisfaction (intrinsic reward), whereas a graduate beginning their career may be more interested in training and development (extrinsic reward). For that reason it can be argued that both intrinsic rewards such as respect, recognition, job satisfaction and responsibility are just as important as extrinsic rewards such as pay rises, bonuses, training and development opportunities and benefits such as annual holidays, company sick pay and company pension. This highlights the importance of implementing an equitable and fair reward strategy in that by incorporating financial and non-financial rewards is that they can be used as a tool to enhance employee motivation resulting in improved organisational performance. Finally the importance of management skills cannot be undermined as they are a fundamental element of human resource management. The management strategy within Scotia Learning is based on autonomy, communication and high levels of trust between management and employees. Evidence to support this is the turnover rate of staff with one employee resigning over the past two years and the annual absence levels within Scotia L earning for all staff inclusive stands at 0.1% of working hours, which is the lowest in the entire organisation. Conclusion This objective of the report was to establish the processes that ensure equity and fairness in the reward systems. We have covered the legal aspects, strategies, market awareness, motivation, job evaluation and performance appraisal and it has become evident that Scotia Learning complies with all legal legislation, and displays equity and fairness within the reward systems. However there was an air of negativity surrounding performance and reward as within Scotia Learning the annual appraisal is not yet connected to pay for performance. It is possible that issues could arise if this was implemented, namely, it could seriously affect the dynamics of the office environment between a very closely-nit team of employees, managers and directors in that, how does the manager justify their decision in the event of a low reward without affecting the equilibrium of the office environment and within a unionised organisation all trade unions argue against performance linked to pay. Schemes relating pay to performance, although generating a tremendous amount of interest have very little in the way of conclusive evidence concerning their effects on performance (Redman & Wilkinson, (2009). This echoes Thompson (1992) findings in which he states, â€Å"research fails to provide convincing evidence of a link between individual performance-related pay schemes and improvements in productivity†. The evidence supports that other approaches should be considered in rewarding employees, for example a one-off bonus payment which would not affect the employees’ annual salary. References Armstrong, M. (1996) Employee Reward, London: Kogan Page/IPD Armstrong, M., and Murlis, H. (2007) Reward Management. 5thedn. London: Hay Group Brown, W., Marginson, P., and Walsh, J. (2003) The management of pay as the influence of collective bargaining diminishes. In: P.K. Edwards, Industrial Relations: Theory and Practice, Oxford: Blackwell IRS (2007) Job evaluation is thriving, survey finds: Employment Review, 667 Kessler, I. (2007) Reward Choices: strategy and equity. In: Storey, J. HRM: a critical text 3rd edition, London: Thomson Learning Kessler, I., and Purcell, J. (1994) Performance Related Pay: Objectives and application, Human Resource Management Journal, Vol.2, No.3 Perkins, S. J., and White, G. (2009) Employee Reward: Alternatives, consequences and contexts, 2nd edn. London: Chartered Institute Of Personnel and Development, Redman, T., and Wilkinson, A. (2009) Contemporary Human Resource Management: Text & Cases, 3rd edn. London: Prentice Hall, Thompson, M. (1992) Pay fo r Performance: The employers experience, Brighton, Institute of Manpower Studies Thorpe, R., and Homan, G (2000) Strategic Reward Systems, Harlow: Financial Times Williams, S., and Adam-Smith, D. (2006) Contemporary Employment Relations: A critical introduction, Oxford: University Press Equality of Human Rights Commission, available from: http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/human-rights/ – date accessed 23/10/12 PLC Employment Law, available from: employment@email.practicallaw.com – date accessed 26/10/12

Ethan Frome man of duty essays

Ethan Frome man of duty essays Ethan Frome is lead by desire however controlled by duty. Ethan is a self-contradicting character. Ethan is firm and strong, however Ethan is also feeble and weak. Ethan desires Mattie however he is bound to his duty as a husband and tradition to Zeena. Ethan is strong in that he sticks to his duty, but Ethan shows his weakness when he is manipulated by Zeena. I find the season of winter to be a symbol for Ethan. A reference coming from the Dictionary of Symbols by Jack Tresidder defines the season of winter; "Winter may appear as an old man by a fire or a bare-headed woman in a winter landscape. It is linked with Hephaestus (Vulcan) or Boreas, the salamander or wild duck, and Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces." According to astrologers, Capricorns have responsible, disciplined, practical, methodical, cautious, serious, and sometimes pessimistic natures. According to astrologers, Aquariuses feel most comfortable in the world of ideas; they find situations that require emotional responses, such as personal relationships, to be difficult. Also, according to astrologers, Pisceans tend to be idealistic; sometimes the real world gets too harsh and ugly for them. To escape unpleasant realities, some Pisceans retreat into their own dreams and fantasies, and Pisceans can be delicate and vulnerable, especially when under emotional stress. Ethan most definitely falls under these categories. Ethan is emotionally weak, in that he allows Zeena to control him. Ethan was described, in the beginning of the book, as looking far older than he was in actuality. His work and torment made his physical appearance to match his inner suffering. Winter is typically seen as cold, dark, and lonely. These are reflective feelings succumbing Ethan. Love mostly suites those who remain oblivious to the harsh reality of our duty. Duty binds but love sets people free. Ethan realizes his duty, the duty of tradition, the duty to remain with Zeena. Ethan realizes this ...

Periodic Table With Common Ionic Charges

Periodic Table With Common Ionic Charges The most-requested printable periodic table has been one for element charges, to predict compounds and chemical reactions. Now, you can use periodic table trends to predict the most common element charges. Group I (alkali metals) carry a 1 charge, Group II (alkaline earths) carry a 2, Group VII (halogens) carry -1, and Group VIII (noble gases) carry a 0 charge. Metal ions may have other charges or oxidation states. For example, copper usually has a 1 or 2 valence, while iron typically has a 2 or 3 oxidation state. The rare earths often carry many different ionic charges. One of the reasons you dont normally see a table with charges is because the organization of the table offers a clue to common charges, plus elements can have just about any charge given enough energy and the right conditions. Even so, heres a table of element charges for readers seeking the most common ionic charges of element atoms. Just keep in mind elements may carry other charges. For example, hydrogen can carry -1 in addition to 1. The octet rule doesnt always apply to ionic charges. In some cases, the charge can exceed 8 or -8! Ive got a  huge collection of printable periodic tables, which include all 118 elements. If you dont find what you need, just let me know and Ill have it made for you!

Complete Project on Nike Essays

Complete Project on Nike Essays Complete Project on Nike Essay Complete Project on Nike Essay A SUMMER TRAINING REPORT ON MARKETING STRATEGY OF NIKE AT â€Å"NIKESHOES INDUSTRIES LIMITED† SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT OF BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (BBA) TRAINING SUPERVISORSUBMITTED BY SESSION 2005-2008 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The present work is an effort to throw some light on Marketing Strategy of Nike at â€Å"Nike Industries Limited†. The work would not have been possible to come to the present shape without the able guidance, supervision and help to me by number of people. With deep sense of gratitude I acknowledge the encouragement and guidance received by my organizational guide †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. nd other staff members. I convey my heartful affection to all those people who helped and supported me during the course, for completion of my Project Report. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This marketing strategic plan has been written keeping in mind the Indian operations of Nike Inc. – the glo bal sports shoe giant. It aims first, at analyzing the sports shoe industry India and finding a place in it for Nike. It then sets out to describe the target audience for the product range and finally suggests a host of marketing strategies and activities that will help Nike to achieve its target of becoming the #1 sports shoe brand in India. The plan begins with a brief overview of the product category being dealt with, namely premium quality sports shoes. It also dwells briefly on the history of the company and its current position and activities. The project moves on to the crux of the matter – the marketing plan to be followed by Nike in India. Firstly, the objectives behind this plan and the core strategy are stated. Customers to be eventually targeted are described and compared with competitors’ customer targets. After starting the objectives and reasoning behind them, the actual marketing programs are described in detail. This includes aspects such as pricing, advertising, promotion, sales, channels, and the company website. Suggestions are made on each and every one of these aspects; improvements and innovations are recommended. The plan then goes on to the customer analysis section. The customer base is identified and various segments are pointed out. Various criteria and factors have been taken into consideration while segmenting the market. We have also tried to ascertain why customers buy these products, how they choose, and what factors matter most when making their decisions. The last few pages of this marketing plan deal with the various ways in which the plan, once implemented, can be monitored and controlled TABLE OF CONTENT 1)INTRODUCTION 1-13 a)Background of the problem1 b)About The Nike Industry 3 c)Nike Maxsight4 d)Industry Overview5 e)Product Trend8 2)RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 14-20 a)Research objectives14 b)Research design15 c)Data sources15 i)Primary data 15 ii)Secondary data 15 d)Questionnaire design formulation16 e)Sample design17 f)Limitations of the research20 3)COMPANY PROFILE 21-43 a)Nike Industries Ltd. A company profile21 b)Recent Development21 c)Future Plan23 d)Risk and Concern28 e)Literature Review31 f)4ps of Nike40 g)SWOT Analysis 41 4)DATA ANALYSIS 44-63 5)CONCLUSION FINDINGS 64-67 6)RECOMMENDATIONS68-75 a)OTHER SUGGESTION INCLUDE69 7)ANNEXURE 76-82 8)BIBLIOGRAPHY 83 INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM Since the late 1980s, Business School marketing professor Itamar Simonson has looked for ways to understand how consumers make choices . Much of his work debunks the accepted theory that giving consumers what they want and making a profit are the most basic principles of marketing. Customers may not know what they want, and second-guessing them can be expensive, says the professor who teaches MBA and PhD marketing and consumer decision-making courses. In Simonson’s words, â€Å"The benefits and costs of fitting individual customer preference are more complex and less deterministic than has been assumed. † That’s because â€Å"customer preferences are often ill-defined and susceptible to various influences, and in many cases, customers have poor insight into their preferences. † In one of his recent papers, Simonson tackles the issue of one-to-one marketing and mass customization. Supporters of these marketing approaches have suggested that learning what customers want and giving them exactly what they want will create customer loyalty and an insurmountable barrier to competition. In an example taken to the extreme in the 2002 movie Minority Report, Tom Cruise’s character runs through a shopping mall past talking billboards that recognize him by name and urge him to buy products he had earlier expressed an interest in such as jeans and Ray-Bans, the ultimate in personalized advertising. But Simonson has this to say: â€Å"The fact that consumer preferences are often fuzzy, unstable, and manipulatable is unlikely to change. So, the effectiveness of methods to give customers exactly what they (say they) want has been grossly exaggerated. † His take on the long-held assumption that individual marketing will supplant targeted marketing is â€Å"not so fast. † In studies, he has learned that â€Å"even when customers have well-defined preferences and receive offers that fit those preferences, it is far from certain that the response to such offers will consistently be more favorable than those directed at larger market segments. † It’s all psychology. Consumers with well-defined preferences may be skeptical that a marketer could match expectations. Those who don’t know what they want may not ever see the fit with what the seller wants them to buy. So, individualized offers depend on customers’ preferences ; how the offer was extended ; and on trust. â€Å"Effective individual marketing requires not only an understanding of individual preferences and matching offers to those preferences, but also a thorough familiarity with the various factors that impact customers’ responses,† Simonson writes. This is a tall order, one that some companies have been able to fill, at least to some extent. For example, Amazon keeps track of customers’ purchases and suggests other books they might like. Dell builds computers from mass-made parts to customers’ specifications. But Simonson argues some companies can take the concept too far, like the Custom Foot chain of shoe stores that took detailed measurements and specifications from each customer to design one-of-a-kind shoes. Custom Foot didn’t take into account that some customers were put off by the individualized attention, Simonson says, and felt obligated to buy the shoes because the store went to so much trouble. They often didn’t come back. So knowing only the customer preferences is not enough. It is required to understand other aspects of customer behavior. Kipping this in mind, present study will find out and analyze consumer behavior of Nike shoes with reference to ladies segment. ABOUT THE NIKE INDUSTRY In sport, visual acuity and protection can mean the difference between winning and losing. Light conditions have a dramatic effect on how the human eye perceives and, subsequently how the body reacts and performs in the sun glinting over the upper deck, shallow contrast on a putting green, or quickly adjusting from shadows to light on a tennis court or mountain bike single track. Nike knows that in athletic competition, even small advantages are critical to performance. Nike has spent the last eight years exploring the human eye to understand the science of vision in the development of the new Nike MaxSight Sport-Tint Contact Lens, available August 2005. WHAT IT IS Nike MaxSight, developed in partnership with Bausch Lomb, is a tinted soft contact lens that behaves like sunglasses, reducing glare and filtering out 95% of UVA and UVB and more than 90% of blue light. But because the lens rests directly on the eye, there’s virtually no distortion as with standard sunglasses. Athletes get the same clear view at all angles. Plus, Nike MaxSight eliminates the environmental effects that plague sunglasses like fogging, scratching, additional weight, or nosepieces and frames to obstruct vision. There’s no obstruction from the edge of the lens, the frame or the nosepiece, because they don’t exist. And there are no pressure points and no slippage. Max Sight also eliminates light leakage, reducing the need to squint, allowing the eye to relax and perform more naturally. Nike MaxSight is, in effect, one giant visual sweet spot. Nike Maxsight HOW THEY WORK Nike’s patented Nike MaxSight Light Architectureâ„ ¢ selectively alters specific wavelengths of light within the visual spectrum to enhance key elements in sport. The athlete gets crisp, clear vision without anything getting in their way. By removing most of the blue light, contrast and clarity are enhanced - a decided advantage for any competitor. For sports not conducive to eyewear, such as golf, tennis and soccer, athletes will see marked improvement, even on days where the sun’s not at its brightest. Nike MaxSight provides through-and-through tinting (unlike cosmetically tinted lenses), so there’s no bending or scattering of light. Plus there’s limited incidental light or peripheral flickering creeping around the sides, as with sunglasses. Athletes tested in Nike MaxSight lenses found they squinted less, were able to relax more, and had exceptional views of contours and movement. Marco Materazzi of Italy’s Inter Milan football club and Baltimore Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts are among the pro athletes wearing Nike MaxSight. It has been a lot of fun to start the season this hot,† said Roberts early in the MLB season. In fact, he became one of the first true fans of Nike MaxSight after impressive initial results. During a spring daytime game, Roberts said, â€Å"I wore the lenses and went 2 for 4. They are so awesome. † With Nike MaxSight, there’s minimal squinting in bright light, and quicker visual definition when going from bright light to shadows. Wearers will also discover a game-day benefit – the look. â€Å"It makes the eye look distinct, the large-pupil effect,† says Alan Reichow, Nike Vision Consultant. It looks competitive. † ROLL OVER PHOTOS FOR A MAXSIGHT LENSE SIMULATION THE WEAR Nike MaxSight is a 30-day lens, though most athletes will wear them selectively and for short durations. Lenses come in six-pack packaging. Nike MaxSight is available with or without a correction, thereby making it accessible to athletes whether they wear contacts or not. THE HISTORY Nike began exploring the Nike Max Sight technology in 1997, conducting an initial clinical project, then subsequent research projects using collegiate athletes. Oregon’s Pacific University baseball players were the first athletes to undergo testing. Coach Greg Bradley requested that he be allowed to try them before his players. â€Å"He’d never worn contacts,† says Dr. Reichow. â€Å"He took two pitches and turned around and said, ‘I’ve never seen a ball that distinct and clear. Put them on anybody who wants them. ’ INDUSTRY OVERVIEW Bill Bowerman said this couple of decades ago. The guy was right. It defines how he viewed the world, and it defines how Nike pursues its destiny. Ours is a language of sports, a universally understood lexicon of passion and competition. A lot has happened at Nike in the 30 years since we entered the industry, most of it good, some of it downright embarrassing. But through it all, we remain totally focused on creating performance opportunities for everyone who would benefit, and offering empowering messages for everyone who would listen. We feel lucky to have a genuine, altruistic reason to be: the service of human potential. Thats the great benefit of sports, and were glad to be in the middle of it. What started with a handshake between two running geeks in sleepy Eugene, Oregon, are now the worlds most competitive sports and Fitness Company. The World Headquarters is in Beaverton, Oregon. The Pacific Northwest is Nikes hometown, but like so many ambitious souls, we have expanded our horizons to every corner of the world. Nike employs around 23,000 people, and every one of them is significant to our mission of bringing inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world. Along the way Nike joined up with some great partner companies that help extend our reach within and beyond sports. Cole Haan offers casual luxury footwear and accessories out of New York City and Yarmouth, Maine. Bauer Nike Hockey, based in Montreal, Quebec, is the worlds leading manufacturer of hockey equipment and a wholly owned subsidiary of Nike, Inc. Nike partnered with Hurley International, a premium teen lifestyle brand founded by 20-year industry veteran Bob Hurley based in Costa Mesa, California. In 2003, Nike completed the acquisition of Converse, the globally recognized footwear brand with nearly a century of sports heritage, and home of the perennially popular Chuck Taylor All-Star and Jack Purcell footwear. Exeter Brands Group: In August 2004, Nike created the Exeter Brands Group, a wholly owned subsidiary, dedicated to building athletic footwear and apparel brands for the value retail channel. This portfolio of brands includes the Official Starter Properties LLC and Official Starter LLC which are the sole owners and licensors of the Starter, Team Starter and Asphalt brand names as well as master licensee of the Shaq and Dunkman brands, a line of athletic apparel, footwear and accessory products for the value retail channel. Separate business units within the Nike brand include The Jordan/Jumpman 23 brand and Nike Golf. As small as we feel, the Nike family is a fairly vast enterprise. We operate on six continents. Our suppliers, shippers, retailers and service providers employ close to 1 million people. The diversity inherent in such size is helping Nike evolve its role as a global company. We see a bigger picture today than when we started, one that includes building sustainable business with sound labor practices. We retain the zeal of youth yet act on our responsibilities as a global corporate citizen. If you have a body, you are an athlete. And as long as there are athletes, there will be Nike. PRODUCT TREND Bovine skin was by far the most preferred leather material, followed by goat/kid/lamb/sheep skin and crocodile skin. Respondents overwhelmingly preferred the color black and, to a lesser extent, dark brown. For handbags/briefcases, popular colors included light brown, white and red. Consumer Segments with the Biggest Spending Power Male professionals, managers and executives are the segment with the biggest spending power for now and in the coming three years. Other major consumer segments include male office workers; sole proprietors/business owners; female office workers; and female professionals, managers and executives. The Competitiveness of Hong Kong Brands/Suppliers of Leather Consumer Goods. Most retailers consider Hong Kong brands to be either very competitive or quite competitive in both high-end and mid-range segments, but less competitive in the low-end segment. The competitiveness of Hong Kong brands mainly rests on their product style/design and quality, with most respondents picking those as the major reasons behind the attractiveness of Hong Kong brands in the high-end and mid-range segments respectively. PRODUCT PROFILE Apart from delivering a pair of comfortable sports shoes Nike also provides a number of value-added features with its products. The features that are a part of every Nike sports shoe are as follows. High Performance Sports Shoes: Nike has patented the â€Å"Air† system and has made it into a regular feature in most of its models. Many models feature an air pocket in the shoe that reduces the weight of the shoe and reduces pressure on the heels. Besides the overall design and compactness of the shoes have made it a favorite of many professional athletes around the world. Comfort: Nike shoes are renowned all over the world for the comfort they provide. Well padded and cushioned, they provide a tremendous level of comfort to the wearer and reduce the strain to his feet while playing. Lightweight: This attribute is in line with the two described above. A lightweight shoe provides greater mobility and eases the pressure on the feet of the wearer. Durability: People purchasing a pair of shoes at such a high price often feel that they have made an investment. They would obviously want to see their shoes last a long time. To prove this point we draw the example of the authors of this marketing plan. All of us own a pair of Nike’s and have been wearing them for well over two years – a symbol of the durability of Nike shoes. Style: Nike’s designs are considered to be the most stylish in the industry and beat all others as far as looks are concerned. Attractively packaged, it is a delight to bring a pair home. Add to this the â€Å"Swoosh† – the most recognizable symbol in sports and you have a product that would give the user a definite sense of pride. Nike shoes also come with a guarantee card that enables the owner to return it in case of manufacturing defects. However, owing to the fact that the company implements strict quality control measures, coming across a defective pair in a store are a rarity. The most recent additions to their line are the Nike 6. 0 and Nike SB shoes, designed for skateboarding. Nike has recently introduced cricket shoes, called Air Zoom Yorker, designed to be 30% lighter than their competitors. [ Nike positions its products in such a way as to try to appeal to a youthful. materialistic crowd. [5] It is positioned as a premium performance brand. NIKE 6. O NIKE SB RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research comprise defining and redefining problems, formulating hypothesis or suggested solutions; collecting, organizing and evaluating data; making deductions and reaching conclusions; and at last carefully testing the conclusions to determine whether they fit the formulating Hypothesis. In short, the search for Knowledge through Objective and Systematic method of finding solutions to a problem is Research. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ?To study the tastes, preferences, and buying behavior of consumers in case of footwear of Bata. ?To analyze buying behavior of ladies segment of consumers. To recommend strategies to Nike to increase sales in ladies segment. The main objectives of this study are: ?Working of Insurance Plans ?SWOT analysis of the product sold ?Comparative study with the competitors RESEARCH DESIGN TYPE OF RESEARCH: Descriptive research Descriptive research includes Surveys and fact-finding enquiries of different kinds. The main characteristic of this method is that the resea rcher has no control over the variables; he can only report what has happened or what is happening. DATA SOURCES There are two types of data. Source of primary data for the present study is collected through questionnaire and answered by consumers of Nike shoes. The secondary data is collected from journals, books and through Internet search. PRIMARY DATA The data that is collected first hand by someone specifically for the purpose of facilitating the study is known as primary data. So in this research the data is collected from respondents through questionnaire. SECONDARY DATA For the company information I had used secondary data like brochures, web site of the company etc. The Method used by me is Survey Method as the research done is Descriptive Research. RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS Selected instrument for Data Collection for Survey is Questionnaire. QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN FORMULATION Under this method, list of questions pertaining to the survey are prepared for marketing staff of consumers of Nike shoes. Questionnaire has structured type questions as well as unstructured type questions. Structured objective type questions are prepared for the respondents with fixed response categories. Some of the questions are of multiple-choice type. The questions have more than one alternative. Questionnaire: A questionnaire consists of a set of questions presented to respondent for their answers. It can be Closed Ended or Open Ended Open Ended: Allows respondents to answer in their own words are difficult to Interpret and Tabulate. Close Ended: Pre-specify all the possible answers are easy to Interpret and Tabulate. TYPES OF QUESTION INCLUDED: DICHOTOMOUS QUESTIONS Which has only two answers â€Å"Yes† or â€Å"No†? MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS Where respondent is offered more than two choices. IMPORTANCE SCALE A scale that rates the importance of some attribute. RATING SCALE A scale that rates some attribute from â€Å"highly satisfied † to â€Å"highly unsatisfied â€Å" and â€Å"very inefficient† to â€Å"very efficient† SAMPLING UNIT: Who is to be surveyed? The marketing researcher must define the target population that will be sampled. The sample Unit taken by me; General public of different age group, different gender and different profession EXTENT:- Where the survey should be carried out? I have covered entire residential area of Delhi city for the survey TIME FRAME:- When the survey should be conducted? I conducted my survey for 8weeks from 10th may to 10th July SAMPLING FRAME:- The source from which the sample is drawn SAMPLING TECHNIQUE: How should the respondent be chosen? In the Project sampling is done on basis of Probability sampling. Among the probability sampling design the sampling design chosen is stratified random sampling. Because in this survey I had stratified the sample in different age group, different gender and different profession SAMPLE SIZE Consumers of shoes, 50 nos STEPS FOLLOWED IN COMPLETING THE STUDY (i)Libraries at (a) Indian Council for Applied Economic Research (ICAER),(b) Indian Institute of Technology, (IIT) Delhi, (c) Council of scientific and industrial Research (CSIR) (d) PHD chamber of commerce, are visited. Management / marketing books, journals are consulted. (ii)Internet sites containing information on Nike shoes marketing are browsed. (iii) Sample survey was conducted. (iv)Data was thoroughly checked for error. DATA PROCESSING METHODOLOGY (i)Once the primary data have been collected, they are (I) edited – inspected, corrected and modified. (ii)Tabulation – bring similar data together and totaling them in meaningful categories. Questionnaires are edited both in the field and later in home. Field editing took place just often the interview. Generally editing is required for open type of questions. Brief notes or symbols are frequently used during the interview to initially record the interviewer’s response since it was not desirable to interrupt the flow with lengthy note taking. Then immediately after the interview, brief notes are respondent. The responses are thoroughly checked in home for incorrect, inconsequential or contradictions categories are developed only often the replies has been reviewed. This review provided a feel for the pattern of answers and thus determine what categories best represent the answers. The collected data are placed into an order. Percentages of respondents answered similarly are calculated and placed in a table. Then this is interpreted. This involved drawing conclusion from the gathered data. Interpretation changes the new information immerging from the analysis into information that is pertinent or relevant to the study. CONCLUSION WAS DRAWN BASED ON THE SURVEY FINDINGS Finally recommendation was made to improve the sales strategy of Nike shoes to increase the sales volume in ladies segment. SAMPLE DESIGN THE BASIS OF SAMPLING: Consumers of Nike shoes are chosen randomly, so that unbiased, representative sample may be obtained. LIMITATIONS OF RESEARCH The geographical area was very much limited to residential area so the results are not particularly reflection of the current behavior. BIASES AND NON-COOPERATION OF THE RESPONDENTS. ?The collected data are placed into an order. Percentages of respondents answered similarly are calculated and placed in a table. Then this is interpreted. This involved drawing conclusion from the gathered data. Interpretation changes the new information immerging from the analysis into information that is pertinent or relevant to the study. Due to limited time period and constrained working hours for most of the respondents, the answers at times were vague enough to be ignored. ?Most of the people in India take their Nike Shoes in the period preceding March so the response to initial contacts were not all encouraging and that has been the primary reason in the inability to quantify the results large enough so as to deduce any relevant outcomes. COMPANY PROFILE NIKE INDUSTRIES LTD. – A COMPANY PROFILE Nike India Ltd (BIL) is India‘s largest footwear company. Nike first established itself in India in 1931 and commenced manufacturing shoes in Batanagar in 1936. The company has its Headquarters in Kolkata and manufactures over 33 million pairs per year in five plants located in Batanagar (West Bengal), Faridabad (Haryana), Bangalore (Karnataka), Patna (Bihar), Hosur (Tamil Nadu). It secures its leather supply from two tanneries in Mokamehghat (Bihar) and Batanagar (West Bengal). It has a distribution network of over 1,500 retail stores and 27 wholesale depots provide excellent access to consumers and wholesale customers throughout India. As on December 31, 2006, the Canadian parent had a 51 per cent stake while institutional holding was about 13 per cent. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS Nike India has said that it’s Faridabad and Mokamehghat units are being taken over by Fashion Shoe Private Ltd and BDCL Enterprises Pvt Ltd, respectively. The company is also enabling the buy back provision in its Articles of association to enable buy back of shares. The assets and liabilities of both the units will be transferred to these companies and shares will be offered in the agreed ratio to the existing shareholders of Nike India Ltd on a record date, which will be fixed by the Calcutta High Court. While retail sales have increased both in value and volume, wholesale sales have declined due to restriction of supplies as a means to recover customers‘outstanding. General recession and sluggish market conditions in the industry also have had a direct impact on lower sales and profitability. Resistance of consumers to price rises in popular volume products as well as discounts to clear slow-moving stocks and under utilization of production capacity adversely affected the operational results. The lockout declared at the Peenya factory on October 1, 2007 due to serious industrial relation problems and non-compliance with the tripartite settlement has been withdrawn. The footwear manufactured in this factory, which was shifted to the company‘s other factories and associated manufacturers, will now be gradually produced within the factory. The commencement of production from this factory will help in re-cooping the minimal loss being suffered by the company from this lockout. In Simonson’s words, â€Å"The benefits and costs of fitting individual customer preference are more complex and less deterministic than has been assumed. That’s because â€Å"customer preferences are often ill-defined and susceptible to various influences, and in many cases, customers have poor insight into their preferences. † In one of his recent papers, Simonson tackles the issue of one-to-one marketing and mass customization. Supporters of these marketing approaches have suggested that learning what customers want and giving them exactly what they want will create customer loyalty and an insurmountable barrier to competition. But Simonson has this to say: â€Å"The fact that consumer preferences are often fuzzy, unstable, and manipulatable is unlikely to change. So, the effectiveness of methods to give customers exactly what they (say they) want has been grossly exaggerated. † His take on the long-held assumption that individual marketing will supplant targeted marketing is â€Å"not so fast. † In studies, he has learned that â€Å"even when customers have well-defined preferences and receive offers that fit those preferences, it is far from certain that the response to such offers will consistently be more favorable than those directed at larger market segments. † It’s all psychology. Consumers with well-defined preferences may be skeptical that a marketer could match expectations. Those who don’t know what they want may not ever see the fit with what the seller wants them to buy. So, individualized offers depend on customers’ preferences ; how the offer was extended ; and on trust. â€Å"Effective individual marketing requires not only an understanding of individual preferences and matching offers to those preferences, but also a thorough familiarity with the various factors that impact customers’ responses,† Simonson writes. This is a tall order, one that some companies have been able to fill, at least to some extent. For example, Amazon keeps track of customers’ purchases and suggests other books they might like. Dell builds computers from mass-made parts to customers’ specifications. But Simonson argues some companies can take the concept too far, like the Custom Foot chain of shoe stores that took detailed measurements and specifications from each customer to design one-of-a-kind shoes. Custom Foot didn’t take into account that some customers were put off by the individualized attention, Simonson says, and felt obligated to buy the shoes because the store went to so much trouble. They often didn’t come back. So knowing only the customer preferences is not enough. It is required to understand other aspects of customer behavior. Kipping this in mind, present study will find out and analyze consumer behavior of Nike shoes with reference to ladies segment. FUTURE PLAN The management says that it is not averse to outsourcing if it worked out cheaper. It is also open to the idea of importing shoes mostly from China if it works out cheaper. Nike and Reebok India Company have announced an agreement to foray into retailing partnership for sale of Reebok and Rockport footwear in Nike outlets. The partnership entails retailing a range of sports shoes for walking, running, tennis and training for personal fitness and sports ranging between Rs 900-2,500. An attractive valuation compared to its peers is the main trigger for the scrip. Besides, the company’s aggressive focus on retailing and revamping of business (a division into shoes and apparels) is also helping sentiment for the scrip. Plans are afoot to start selling apparel in India made by the joint venture North Star. There’s talk that the company is planning on a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) to cut costs. For the third quarter ended 30 September 2007, Nike India reduced its losses to Rs 5. 68 crore (Rs 8. 51 crore) on a 9. 2% increase in net profit to Rs 154. 27 crore (Rs 141. 26 crore). Despite reducing its losses for the quarter, Nike India has, over the last few quarters, been continuously recording weak performances as a result of an overall slowdown in the industry due to lower consumer spending. Increasing domestic competition, particularly from the unorganized sector, has also been eroding into the company’s market share. The company is finding it difficult to maintain its market share in a highly rice-sensitive Indian market, despite having strong brand recall. 97% of the company’s revenues are from the domestic market while the remainder is from exports. Nike India is the biggest player in the Indian shoe market. Nike India’s major problems include its high cost of production and low emphasis on marketing. The company may be able to address the first prob lem through outsourcing products. Bata’s brand image has been restricted to that of a company that emphasizes on utilitarian products more than trendy ones. Customers feel the company is lacking in innovation. Hence, their preference has shifted to other local brands. Nike India has a large marketing network with over 1,500 showrooms, 27 wholesale depots and eight retail distribution centers across the country. Besides, there is a network of 300 exclusive wholesalers servicing 25,000 dealers all over the country. However, in spite of this and the license to sell other brands like Nike, Hush Puppies and Lotto, Nike has not been able to improve sales consistently. The recent rise in sales during the third quarter ended September 2006 can be attributed to the festive season. Recently, it also entered into a retailing tie-up for Lee Cooper shoes. Nike India has also been trying to focus on aggressive marketing of its product. The company has been going through a period of transition for the past one year. With the expansion of the retail industry in New Delhi and Mumbai, the company has recently decided to shift its marketing operations to Delhi in order to provide value shopping for its customers. However, the manufacturing activity and the registered office will continue at Kolkata. Nike India has plans to invest in sophisticated machinery to retain its niche place in manufacturing. The company has put a fresh focus to its retail business. The company has decided to cleanse its wholesale operation by building relationships with credit-worthy buyers. It is to the company’s credit that it has lately overhauled its marketing set-up into a four-tier retail structure that will be stocked with products matching the area’s customer profile. A Nike outlet in an up market place will offer a distinctly different range of footwear from another in the suburbs. At the top of the four-tier structure will be international stores stocking brands like Nike and Reebok. Next will be city stores, located in up market areas and catering to middle and high-income groups. The company has identified the brands Power, North Star, Bubble gummers, Marie Claire and Hush Puppies for the top end of the market. Third in line will be family stores at commercial locations displaying basic and mid-range footwear. At the bottom will be bazaar stores that will basically aim at driving volume sales at lower price points. The management of Nike India is taking major steps in terms of improving market penetration, focus on stores configuration, distribution logistics, better industrial relations and overhead rationalization. Launching of new products always remained at the center stage of the company’s operations. At the same time, with the opening up of the economy, more and more goods will be imported from China. This may significantly affect Nike India’s prospects unless it manages to wean away customers with a drastic cut in costs. Alternatively, like other Indian manufacturers, even Nike may consider relocating its manufacturing bases in China. However, it is not that easy a task to undertake. Nike India, the 51% subsidiary of Toronto-based Nike Shoe Organization, remains the biggest player in the Indian shoe market, though its share in footfalls has been decreasing over the years. Now in a determined bid to straddle across all product and price points, Nike India has decided to restructure its 1,300-outlet strong retail business division along specific customer segments into Bazaar, Family, and City and Flagship stores. Nike India has decided to appoint brand managers for each product group in a newfound aggression to tackle dwindling sales. Each of these managers assisted by a dedicated team would be like a brand champion responsible for procurement, production, advertisement, promotion and re-supply. Nike India has roped in Ogilvy Mother for devising its festive season advertising, side-stepping JWT, its incumbent agency. The job involves developing special communication directed towards the festival season shoppers. Nike India Ltd (BIL) is India’s largest footwear company selling over 60 Mn pairs per year in India, USA, UK, Europe, Middle East and Far East. BIL has a market share of 60% in leather products and 70% in canvas shoes. The footwear industry in India is highly fragmented and dominated by the unorganized sector. The industry size is around Rs 75 Bn and is growing at around 10% annually. It competes with Indian players such as Liberty Shoes, Phoenix International, Mirza Tanners, Tatas, Action Shoes and Lakhani Shoes and global players like Adidas, Reebok and Nike. Accessories and garments contribute footwear sales account for more than 96% of sales while the balance. The turnover break up is as follows – ? Products Volume (%) Value (%) ?Rubber and Canvas 50: 30 ?Leather 29 :57 ?Plastic 21: 9 GROWTH DRIVERS The company has a very comprehensive distribution network which comprises its own and franchise stores. It has 1500 showrooms, 25 wholesale depots and 8 distribution centers. POPULAR BRANDS Nike owns brands like Hush Puppies, Signor, Marie Claire Power, Sandak, Hawai, Naughty boy and Ambassador. It also distributes other brands such as Nike and Lotto. Focus on middle-class and upper class Nike will continue to focus on middle and upper class customers. It is introducing ‘budget stores’ which will help customers to identify with the brand. It is also increasing focus on rural thrust for volume growth in the low-priced footwear segment. RISK AND CONCERN Lifting of quantitative restriction on import of footwear will lead to the market being flooded by imports. Labor issues have always bothered BIL and this resulted in disruption of manufacturing activities on numerous occasions. Competition is hotting up in the domestic market due to popular brands such as Gaitonde, Red Tape, Lotus Bawa and Tatas. These brands are gaining market share especially in the premium segment and in this segment BIL has no significant presence. Latest Results Sales for Q3 FY2000 increased by 5. 5% yoy to Rs1. 7bn. profits dropped by 90% yoy to Rs3. 8 Mn due to lower operating margins and higher depreciation and interest. Depreciation increased by 6. 3% yoy to Rs 37 Mn while interest cost increased by 9. % yoy to Rs 23. 4 Mn. Operating margins dropped by 3. 3% due to increase in input cost. The Peenya plant has not commenced operations despite lifting up of the lock out since July 3, 2007. VALUATION BIL’s long-term success is dependent on the how labour issue is tackled and the flexibility, which it can adopt to meet threat of imports and competition from lo cal footwear companies. Long term investors with a two-year investment horizon can accumulate the stock at current levels. It is also increasing focus on rural thrust for volume growth in the low-priced footwear segment. Lifting of quantitative restriction on import of footwear will lead to the market being flooded by imports. Labor issues have always bothered BIL and this resulted in disruption of manufacturing activities on numerous occasions. Competition is hotting up in the domestic market due to popular brands such as Gaitonde, Red Tape, Lotus Bawa and Tatas. These brands are gaining market share especially in the premium segment and in this segment BIL has no significant presence. Sales for Q1 CY2001 decreased marginally by 0. 6% yoy to Rs 1590. 7 mn. There was a net loss of Rs 30. 2 mn as against a profit of Rs 39. mn in the corresponding period of the previous year. The loss is due to lower operating margins and higher interest. BIL’s long-term success is dependent on the labor issue and the flexibility, which it can adopt to meet threat of imports and competition from local footwear companies. Long term investors with a two-year investment horizon can accumulate the stock at current l evels. FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (In Rs Million) 200012 (12) 199912 (12) 199812 (12) Q1200103 Q1200003 Sales 7,315. 70 7,103. 90 6,353. 20 1590. 7 1600. 9 % Growth 2. 98 11. 82 (0. 6) Net Profit 304. 60 242. 60 166. 30 (30. 2) 39. 6 % Growth 25. 56 45. 88 (176) EPS(Rs) 5. 90 4. 70 3. 20 3. 08 % Growth 25. 53 46. 88 Ratios 200012 (12) 199912 (12) 199812 (12) Q300009 Q399909 OPM(%) 9. 77 9. 08 7. 16 1. 09 6. 9 NPM(%) 4. 16 3. 42 2. 62 2. 5 ROE(%) 8. 95 7. 44 5. 31 Nike understated 9 month losses Brief Financials (in Rs. Mn. )Detailed Quarterly Period ending (months)30-Sep-2007 (9)31-Dec-2006 (12)31-Dec-2006 (12) Net sales 4980. 206461. 177172. 91 Other Income42. 1063. 6165. 21 Total Income5022. 306524. 777238. 12 Cost of goods sold4974. 706471. 797051. 76 OPBDIT47. 6052. 98186. 36 PAT-117. 20-74. 1039. 80 Gross Block-2191. 072062. 26 Equity capital-514. 22514. 22 EPS (Rs. )1. 440. 77 DPS (Rs. )-0. 000. 75 BV (Rs. )-37. 2738. 71 P/E range (x)-0. 0 0. 00. 0 0. 0 Debt / Equity (x)-0. 320. 26 Operating margin (% of OI) 0. 90. 82. 6 Net margin (% of OI)-2. 3-1. 10. 5 As on 30 June 2007, the public, institutions and foreign bodies held 31. 23%, 13. 91% and 0. 16% stake in the company, respectively LITERATURE REVIEW The study of consumer behavior has evolved since the Information Processing Model (Bettman, 1979) assumed that the individual is logical in his/her buying process. This model was criticized because it failed to treat different consumption phenomena motivated by symbolic meanings (Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982). Individuals are not always looking for efficiency and economy, but also for distraction, aesthetic, expression, etc. (Boyd and Levy, 1963). Calling for a broadening of theoretical frameworks of consumer behavior, many authors pleaded in favor of the study of all consumption forms (Holbrook, 1986), being inspired by European semi logy and American semiotic (Levy, 1959, 1963, 1981; Hirschman, 1980; Kehret-Ward, Johnson and Louie, 1985; Mick, 1986; Holbrook, 1986; O’Shaughnessy and Holbrook, 1988; Noth, 1988; Stern, 1988; Grafton-Small and Linstead, 1989). These are the study of signs, meanings and production of symbols. Fantasy, emotion and pleasant aspects of consumption were then tackled from an experiential point of view. The Experiential View is a phenomenological perspective that perceives consumption as a primary state of consciousness having a variety of symbolic meanings, responses and hedonist criteria (Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982; Olshavsky and Granbois, 1979). The basis of the traditional Information Processing Model is the optimization of the utility of a product under the basis of a utilitarian evaluation of its tangible characteristics. Nevertheless, it neglects emotional aspects. On the other hand, the Experiential View leaves out different factors such as economic conditions, expectations, some elements of the marketing mix (price, distribution), perceived risk and conflicts, but mostly the social influence of the consumers’ reference groups (Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982; Business Central Europe, 1994) which is the aim of the Symbolic Interactionism Perspective. Acquisition, possession and consumption are activities taking place in a process of impressions creation or identity management which is, according to Belk (1978), an interactive process concerning both the image of goods consumed and that of the individuals consuming them. The Symbolic Interactionism Perspective deals with the relationship between consumers and the products they consume, and suggests that a significant proportion of consumption behaviors consist of social behaviors, and vice versa (Solomon, 1983). This leads us to consider the importance of socialization processes (family, reference groups) through which individuals learn the meanings of symbols and those of consumption. With the aforementioned meanings being negotiated and built through interactions with others, consumption is not only an individual activity, but also a social process of goods definition (Gallant and Kleinman, 1983). Since individuals are often motivated to acquire products according to what they mean to them and to members of their social reference groups (Leigh and Gabel, 1992), their behavior is subject to the pressures of cultural norms and the expectations of socialization institutions rules such as those coming from family and other reference groups (Faber, O’Guinn and McCarthy, 1987; Engel, Blackwell and Miniard, 1993). Thus, Symbolic Interactionism Perspective considers the human spirit as fundamentally social, and dependent on shared symbols. The symbols being generated at a global level (Geertz, 1973; Solomon, 1983; McCracken, 1986, 1988; Leigh and Gabel, 1992), the Symbolic Interactionism Perspective accepts as precept the fact that society and its culture precede every individual action, and that a cultural consensus results from interactions, communication, and negotiation between social actors (Charon, 1989). If, at a conceptual level, the consumption good becomes an instrument of communication, at an operational level, image variables may be regarded as the intangible attributes of the product that carry cultural and social meanings. According to Erickson, Johansson and Chao (1984), an image variable is defined as â€Å"some aspect of the product that is distinct from its physical characteristics but that is nevertheless identified with the product†. The image variables emerge from four cognitive representations individuals have of their environment: the symbolism of advertising, the celebrity endorsement, the brand, and the country of origin of the product. The made-in is considered by Dichter (1962) as the fifth element of the marketing mix, and is defined as the country where are located the corporate headquarters of the organization doing the marketing of the product or the brand (Johansson, Douglas and Nonaka, 1985). The country of origin carries a rhetoric that influences consumers’ preconceptions towards the products of a country. Its meaning can be conceived as an indication serving as a basis of evaluation (Bilkey and Nes, 1982), when one considers a product as a bundle of information. Consequently, according to Kaynak and Cavusgil (1983), the images of a foreign country that are formed by consumers are made of cognitive, affective and behavioral components. The first one represents the perceived characteristics of the country. The second one concerns the appreciation or not of those characteristics, and the third one corresponds to the actions about the country that the consumer feels are appropriate. A tendency to evaluate positively the local production compared to imported production, and biases in favor of industrialized countries have been found in previous studies (Bilkey and Nes, 1982; Cordell, 1992). This does not mean the consumer will not buy the product, but rather that he is not inclined to do so (Schooler, 1971). â€Å"When entering foreign markets, sellers often face quotas, tariffs, and non-tariff barriers. In addition, they may face an intangible barrier in the form of consumer bias on the basis of product origin† (Schooler, 1971). The informational value of the country of origin was also found to vary according to the level of involvement of the consumer in purchasing the product and the presence of other cues such as brand name, guarantee and price (Ahmed and d’Astous, 1993). In a recently published meta-analysis of country-of-origin effects, Peterson and Jolibert (1995) conclude that the average effect size is lower (0. 19) for purchase intention, higher (0. 30) for quality/reliability perceptions and context dependent. More specifically, they found that the characteristics of the study (research design, type of respondents, study cues, sample size, stimulus context etc. ) influence the relative effect of country-of-origin to a lesser degree for quality/reliability perceptions than for purchase intention. However, the type of respondents (students, consumers or businesspeople) had no influence on quality/reliability perceptions. Stanford GSB marketing professor Itamar Simonson and Ran Kivetz, an assistant professor at Columbia University, asked a group of 195 Columbia students to do; eat a lot of sushi. Participants were offered a frequent diner program that would reward them for their patronage at various university dining locations and given a card that would track their purchases. They were randomly assigned to one of two groups those in the low requirement group were told they would have to purchase 12 sandwiches to get two free movie tickets, whereas those in the high requirement group were told they would have to purchase 12 sandwiches and 12 orders of sushi to get two free movie tickets. So, the second group had to do much more to receive the same reward. Kivetz and Simonson also asked participants how much they liked sushi relative to the typical student. The result? Students who liked sushi were much more likely to join the frequent diner program that required them to purchase both 12 sandwiches and 12 orders of sushi. It shows a common mistake that consumers make if they see an offer that seems to fit them better than other consumers, for example, a program that requires sushi-lovers to eat sushi that fit completely colors their assessment of how attractive the offer is, Simonson says. As a result, by creating what appears like personal fit, marketers can attract consumers to frequency programs and many other promotional offers. Kivetz and Simonson replicated these findings regarding influences on participation in frequency, or loyalty, programs in studies with travelers interviewed at domestic airports. The sushi study is among a number of studies Simonson has been conducting since the late 1980s about how consumers make choices. Much of his work debunks the accepted theory that giving consumers what they want and making a profit are the most basic principles of marketing. The theme that pervades Simonsons work is that customers may not know what they want and second-guessing them can be expensive. In his words, â€Å"The benefits and costs of fitting individual customer preference are more complex and less deterministic than has been assumed. Thats because, Simonson says, customer preferences are often ill-defined and susceptible to various influences, and in many cases, customers have poor insight into their preferences. In another recent paper, Simonson tackles the issue of one-to-one marketing and mass customization. Supporters of these marketing approaches have suggested that learning what customers want and giving them exactly what they want will create customer loyalty and an insurmountable barrier to competition. In an example taken to the extreme in the 2007 movie Minority Report, Tom Cruises character Anderson runs through a shopping mall past talking billboards that recognize him by name and urge him to buy products he has expressed interest in such as jeans and Ray-Bans; the ultimate in personalized advertising. But Simonson has this to say: The fact that consumer preferences are often fuzzy, unstable, and manipulatable is unlikely to change. So, the effectiveness of methods to give customers exactly what they (say they) want has been grossly exaggerated. His take on the long-held assumption that individual marketing will supplant targeted marketing is not so fast. Thats because consumers are very difficult to figure out, science fiction and technology notwithstanding. Furthermore, even when customers have well-defined preferences and receive offers that fit those preferences, it is far from certain that the response to such offers will consistently be more favorable than those directed at larger market segments. Its all psychology. Consumers with well-defined preferences may be skeptical that a marketer could match expectations. Those who dont know what they ant may not ever see the fit with what the seller wants them to buy. So, individualized offers depend on customers preferences; how the offer was extended and on trust. Effective individual marketing requires not only an understanding of individual preferences and matching offers to those preferences, but also a thorough familiarity with the various factors that impact customers responses, he writes. This is a tall order, one that some companies have been able to fill at least to some extent. For example, Amazon keeps track of customers’ purchases and suggests other books they might like. Dell builds computers from mass-made parts to customers specifications. But Simonson argues some companies can take the concept too far, like the Custom Foot chain of shoe stores that took detailed measurements and specifications from each customer to design one-of-a-kind shoes. Simonson argues that Custom Foot didnt take into account that some customers were put off by the individualized attention and felt obligated to buy the shoes because the store went to so much trouble. They often didnt come back. Indeed, an Internet search produces no Website. Simonson, who has received many prestigious awards for his research on consumer behavior and marketing, teaches MBA and Ph. D. marketing and consumer decision-making courses. The loyalty program article is slated for publication in the Journal of Marketing Research this year. Online customization gives consumers the opportunity to choose characteristics they want in a product when they shop for it online. Many companies are looking at online customization as the future of online business Janis Crow, Kansas State University marketing instructor, researched how people make choices on the Internet. She recently studied consumers in an online environment and their ability to customize several products pizza, shoes, and electronic devices. Crow said that her study posed two questions for respondents: first, how difficult is it to customize a product, and secondly, how likely is the person to purchase the product he or she has customized? All participants in the study chose to customize products. In terms of customers’ likelihood to purchase, a greater number of customers made purchase decisions when there are more options to choose, she said. However, it was slightly more difficult when more features were offered. She created a website where people could customize products to their individual preferences and needs. Crow selected three generic products: pizza, shoes, and a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). Thirty-one college students took part in the study. Students could customize the three products, and I provided a drop-down box on the site with attributes to choose from, she explained. Consumers could click on a drop-down box to customize a product they would want to purchase, she said. She found that more people relied on the default choices rather than selecting other choices that were offered. She said, some research suggests that many people do not want to put a lot of effort into purchase decisions. A lot of times, people may not have preferences already in mind, she said. When consumers have the chance to create preferences, the question is whether they rely on previous preferences or if they develop new ones, she said. In the future, Crow says she will be studying strategies that consumers go through during purchase decisions. I will be studying decision processes to develop computer aids that could help the consumer reach their purchase decision, she said. Although her current project involves analyzing the consumer behavior of college students in an online environment, in future projects she plans to analyze other demographic groups. † Customization will be a key business opportunity in the future for businesses online or in more typical shopping envi ronments, Crow said. She hopes her research will help consumers in making purchase decisions and help businesses determine products to offer and how to offer them. Hong Kong companies, including leather consumer goods suppliers, have shown a growing interest in tapping the mainland consumer market after Chinas accession to the World Trade Organization and gradual opening of its domestic market. For Hong Kong companies targeting this vast market, a good understanding of the behavior of mainland consumers is necessary in order to formulate an effective and suitable market strategy. In view of this, the HKTDC conducted a survey study in four major mainland cities in February 2007. The study was composed of two interlocking surveys. The first survey (survey on shoppers) successfully interviewed a total of 1,000 shoppers of leather consumer goods in four major cities, namely Beijing (BJ), Chengdu (CD), Guangzhou (GZ) and Shanghai (SH). The second survey (survey on retailers) interviewed managers/officers-in-charge of major department stores in these four cities. The survey study analyses leather consumer goods in terms of consumer behavior, the competitiveness of Hong Kong brands and the consumer segments with the greatest biggest spending power. The main survey findings are as follows: CONSUMER BEHAVIOR Shopping locations, Department stores were the most preferred type of retailers, followed by outlets in shopping malls and chain stores. Product variety, guaranteed quality, brand choice, price, services and store environment were cited as the major reasons for visiting a leather consumer goods store. SHOPPING TIME Thirty-eight percent of respondents visited leather consumer goods shops at least once a month. Shopping during weekends is common. Other popular shopping occasions include National Day (1st October), Chinese New Year (January/February), New Years Day (January) and Labour Day (1st May). MARKETING CHANNELS Promotional activities in shopping malls and department stores are the most popular promotional and sales activities, followed by discount/price reduction, TV commercials, discount coupons, promotional stands, exhibitions, buy-one- (or more) gets-one-free. PURCHASING POWER On average, respondents owned 4. 2 pairs of shoes, 1. 2 pieces of wallets, 1. 3 pieces of belts and 1. 3 pieces of handbags/briefcases. Over the past 12 months, an average respondents spending on leather consumer goods was as follows: Shoes: RMB 597 (total) RMB 328 (per pair) Wallet: RMB 226 (total) and RMB 193 (per piece) Belt: RMB 220 (total) and RMB 194 (per piece) Handbag/briefcase: RMB 476 (total) and RMB 359 (per piece) SELECTION CRITERIA When choosing leather consumer goods, product quality stood out as the principal consideration for respondents, followed by product material, craftsmanship, style/design, price and brand. POPULAR BRANDS Most respondents considered brands important. 4PS OF NIKE Nike’s 4Ps comprised of the following approaches to pricing, distribution, advertising and promotion, and customer service: Pricing: Nike’s pricing is designed to be competitive to the other fashion shoe retailers. The pricing is based on the basis of premium segment as target customers. Nike as a brand commands high premium. Place: Nike shoes are distributed to Multi Brand store front and the exclusive Nike stores across countries. While this necessitates a second trip for the customer to come and pick up the shoes, it allows Nike to offer a much wider selection than any of the competition. Promotion: Location, targeted advertising in the newspaper and strategic alliances serves as the foundation of Nike advertising and promotion effort. The athletes and other famous sports personalities are always taken as brand ambassadors. They form the prime building blocks of their portion strategy. Product: The product range of Nike comprise of shoes, sports wear, watches etc. Its product history began with long distance running shoes in 1963. (Past 17 years: Air Jordan basketball shoes). Wide range of shoes, apparel and equipment. For example: ? Nike Oregon Digital Super Watch ?Nike Presto Cee Digital Medium Watch ?Nike Presto Cee Digital Small Watch ?Nike Ron Analog Watch ?Nike Triax 10 Regular Watch ?Nike Triax Armored II Analog Super Watch ?Nike Womens Imara Fit Digital Watch SWOT ANALYSIS SWOT ANALYSIS NIKE, INC. STRENGTHS ?Nike is a very competitive organization. Phil Knight (Founder and CEO) is often quoted as saying that Business is war without bullets. Nike has a healthy dislike of is competitors. At the Atlanta Olympics, Reebok went to the expense of sponsoring the games. Nike did not. However Nike sponsored the top athletes and gained valuable coverage. ?Nike has no factories. It does not tie up cash in buildings and manufacturing workers. This makes a very lean organization. Nike is strong at research and development, as is evidenced by its evolving and innovative product range. They then manufacture wherever they can produce high quality product at the lowest possible price. If prices rise, and products can be made more cheaply elsewhere (to the same or better specification), Nike will move production. ?Nike is a global brand. It is the number one sports brand in the World. Its famous Swoosh is instantly recognizable, and Phil Knight even has it tattooed on his ankle. WEAKNESSES ?The organization does have a diversified range of sports products. However, the income of the business is still heavily dependent upon its share of the footwear market. This may leave it vulnerable if for any reason its market share erodes. ?The retail sector is very price sensitive. Nike does have its own retailer in Nike Town. However, most of its income is derived from selling into retailers. Retailers tend to offer a very similar experience to the consumer. Can you tell one sports retailer from another? So margins tend to get squeezed as retailers try to pass some of the low price competition pressure onto Nike. OPPORTUNITIES ?Product development offers Nike many opportunities. The brand is fiercely defended by its owners whom truly believe that Nike is not a fashion brand. However, like it or not, consumers that wear Nike product do not always buy it to participate in sport. Some would argue that in youth culture especially, Nike is a fashion brand. This creates its own opportunities, since product could become unfashionable before it wears out i. e. consumers need to replace shoes. ?There is also the opportunity to develop products such as sport wear, sunglasses and jewellery. Such high value items do tend to have associated with them, high profits. ?The business could also be developed internationally, building upon its strong global brand recognition. There are many markets that have the disposable income to spend on high value sports goods. For example, emerging markets such as China and India have a new richer generation of consumers. There are also global marketing events that can be utilized to support the brand such as the World Cup (soccer) and The Olympics. THREATS ?Nike is exposed to the international nature of trade. It buys and sells in different currencies and so costs and margins are not stable over long periods of time. Such an exposure could mean that Nike may be manufacturing and/or selling at a loss. This is an issue that faces all global brands. ?The market for sports shoes and garments is very competitive. The model developed by Phil Knight in his Stamford Business School days (high value branded product manufactured at a low cost) is now commonly used and to an extent is no longer a basis for sustainable competitive advantage. Competitors are developing alternative brands to take away Nikes market share. ?As discussed above in weaknesses, the retail sector is becoming price competitive. This ultimately means that consumers are shopping around for a better deal. So if one store charges a price for a pair of sports shoes, the consumer could go to the store along the street to compare prices for the exactly the same item, and buy the cheaper of the two. Such consumer price sensitivity is a potential external threat to Nike. DATA ANALYSIS 1. Demography of respondents ANALYSIS: It was observed that the majority of the respondents consist of professional from various fields like engineers, software professionals, working executive etc. who effective form 38% of our database. While 36% were students from various fields. Others constitute designers and athletes etc. he further study is carried on the buying behavior of the above mentioned categories of consumer, which shows that our consumer is well educated and is very well informed about the product. 2. Consumer’s income level and spending capacity on shoes ANALYSIS: In the survey conducted a direct relation between the income level and the spending capacity was observed. Also it was found that students were spending in the range of Rs 1000 – Rs 3000 as compared to the working class professionals who were ready to spend between Rs 3000 – Rs 6000, since they have higher spending power because of higher income levels. SHOPPING SEASON ANALYSIS: Amongst the student and the prof