Use of new technologies by traditional businesses-Information Essay

Use of new technologies by traditional businesses-Information technology management - Essay Example The state of competition requires that the business use some of the most inexpensive business tools technology available in the market and in the internet world. Some of these technologies are even costless. Many of them are inexpensive and can be afforded by small businesses. What are some of the most modern internet communication technology and services that can be accessed by a small business firm, particularly that one that is engaged in motorcycle sales and repair business? In short, what are some of the technological tools available for a motorcycle sales and repair business? How can one access the technology? How much would the technological tools costs? What are the applications for the business? These are the key concerns of this short report. We focus on five tools that can be used by small firms engaged in motorcycle sales and repairs businesses: the social networking sites, website, softwares for motorcycle diagnostics, Iphone, and the iPads. Description. Social networking sites are sites from which one can reach thousands of people on a daily basis. The social networking sites are many. One of the groups monitoring the social networking sites, the Selfgrowth.com, reported that the top social networking sites are Facebook with 500 million members, MySpace with 130 million members, and Friendster with 90 million members. Self-growth.com mentioned that Twitter is a fast-growing networking site that managed to grow so fast in a matter of a few months. Twitter allows one to send messages of more than 140 characters through SMS but current improvements in Facebook allows the user to change â€Å"status† or â€Å"messages† via SMS on a 24-hours/7-days-a-week basis. Cost. The additional cost of using the social networking sites are practically costless. Businesses usually have a computer and usually have access to the internet. A business can allocate one or two hours for social networking and it is feasible to pay the person executing

Modern Chinese Culture Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Modern Chinese Culture - Term Paper Example   As seen in the work of Dafu, a young Chinese man studying in Japan is drawn with self-esteem issues, distrust, fear, frustration, hypochondria and even solitude (31-55). This man can be related to China in the then period when the country was still caught in the conservative and customary way of life prior to modernization and westernization. China can then be related to the adolescent young man studying in Japan and was awaiting the day when he would emancipate himself from the forms of â€Å"slavery† that were existent in the times.  Writers and artists in early modern era have continually lived up to the meaning of the metaphor of China being an adolescent youth reaching puberty. As seen in the work of Dafu, a young Chinese man studying in Japan is drawn with self-esteem issues, distrust, fear, frustration, hypochondria and even solitude (31-55). This man can be related to China in the then period when the country was still caught in the conservative and customary way of life prior to modernization and westernization. China can then be related to the adolescent young man studying in Japan and was awaiting the day when he would emancipate himself from the forms of â€Å"slavery† that were existent in the times.   From Dafu’s work, China can be said to be in a state of confusion just like the modern Chinese man in Japan that was experiencing several clashes in his life and was in a fix whether to be liberalized or retain his old lifestyle.

In what ways does an understanding of history and changing Essay

In what ways does an understanding of history and changing museological ideas help to explain the foundation and early development the British Museum and The National Gallery - Essay Example hosts princely art collections, the British Museum and the National Gallery offer phenomenal cultural industries that form the pride and identity of the people of the United Kingdom. Given that museums reflect cultural ideologies, these institutions have undergone changes that to some amounts to distortion of what should have been held so dear, and to others, the changes have resulted in better safekeeping avenues for the kind of artifacts that they harbour. In order to have rationally informed understanding of contextual relevance of these two iconic institutions, an in depth analysis of the impacts of history and changing museological ideas have had on them is necessary. The British Museum owes its inception to the will and determination of Sir Hans Sloane, a physician, naturalist and collector, whose ambition of seeing his collections preserved, according to Edwards (2011), formed the basis for the foundation of the museum. The initial collections of this museum consisted of manuscripts, books and natural specimens. In addition, other relics such as coins, medals, paintings and drawings were also available among the collections. Housed at Montagu House, it became accessible to the public in 1759, majorly drawing attention from curious individuals, and entry was free to all persons. During the period covering the 19th century, the museum received enormous expansion, both in space and in the array of collections, with such artifacts as ethnological and archeological materials from Europe and as far as Syria being incorporated. To this present moment, the museum has continually expanded its antiquities and currently includes artifacts from all round t he world, from Chinese ceramics to Egyptian Tomb-Chapel of Nebamun. Currently, the museum is looking forward to building the World Contemporary Exhibition Centre that will offer an additional temporary display space (The British Museum, 2015). On the other hand, The National Gallery came into existence when the

Marketing and consultancy for food trucks Lab Report

Marketing and consultancy for food trucks - Lab Report Example The consulting services for concepts, menu, and the graphics are availed (Festa, 2012). There are five key stages of the management consultancy process that are quite essential for a food truck industry. Once apparently followed the chances of the project failing are minimal. This stage is a major determinant of the food truck consultants, which provides they provide value that relies on the people that are served. The expectation from the team is frequently set at this point. When the roles are set, the parties involved are aware of what they are supposed to do to attain the goal of the business (Food company consultancy, 2009). The staffs are very flexible, and the choice of who to head the business is never a big deal. The flexibility offers a chance to select the most competent and the profitable personnel from the crew. The food truck consultants echo the cry of the crucial steps while signing the clients should be the establishment of the well-defined expectations to have defined roles. Once that is done, there is no likelihood of the friction while on the road since everyone knows his or her roles. This step is quite imperative in the food truck industry. The overall expectations on the touch points and the derivable set the project and let the clients know what their expectations and what they cannot expect. It is always important to take care not to be too ambitious at this stage. The next step to undertake while after this is to make sure that all that is set can be attained or if possible exceed the objective. At this point, it is imperative to get the team and gear to the customers to survey the field and have a clear expertise of the ground (Magazine, 2012). After getting the food truck industry, the consultants will spend their precious time with the customers in this phase. At this stage, problems may occur, so it is always the high time to figure out the probable source and act appropriately (Magazine, 2012).

More Effective Communications Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

More Effective Communications - Assignment Example The major problem today is that many companies are wasting their precious resources on ineffective communications that cause confusion among the customers or clients and result in costly customer dissatisfaction. Business communications are not just a simple subject for management studies but it involves a whole range of pre- and post-sale communications, including welcome kits, account statements, invoices, applications, policies, manuals, customer educational materials, announcements of changes in terms and much more (Lundy 2-11). There are several models to show that business communication is one of the most important aspects and is linked to profitability. Under the Universal Business Model (UBM), communication between the three basic functions of production, marketing and accounting increase profitability. For instance, if the marketing unit has not been informed by production as to what it currently manufactures or the amount of stock, the marketing unit may face a problem. Similarly, if manufacturing is not told by accounting what products are profitable to produce, they may operate at a loss. This kind of communication between different units of the same organization also plays a vital role in business communication (Universal Accounting ® Center n.pag. 2007). The importance of business communication and its link to profitability was expressed clearly from the results of Sage Research. Through the study, it was discovered that 22 percent of the organizations polled experienced monthly communication-caused delays-and 13 percent experienced such delays weekly. As a result of communications delays, there was a disruption in the efforts to streamline business processes or adopt the emerging "best practices".

Community Immersion Essay Example for Free

Community Immersion Essay It is the city base for Jeff Davis Parish which combined has 6 cities in the parish (U. S. Census Bureau, 2010). Jennings is considered a rural area with a population of 10,909 people residing in the city. According to the census bureau the city of Jennings is populated with Caucasians at 7,736, African Americans 3, 076, Asian 32 and Hispanics 101 (U. S. Census Bureau, 2010). Jennings has two sub communities the south side of town where most of the blacks are under the poverty line and some middle class residents. Downtown is where the whites and a few blacks live, these two sides a separated by a railroad track. The founding of Jennings was a manifestation of the dynamic spirit in Americans which led them to continually seek new frontiers and new areas of economic exploitation. The story of its growth parallels that of many other Louisiana towns, but in two respects it has a claim to distinctiveness: its middle western origin and its connection with Louisiana’s oldest oil field. Jennings McComb, for whom the town was named, was a contractor of the Southern Pacific Railroad. He built the Jennings depot on a divide peculiar to southwest Louisiana (Riser, 1948). It is known that he was president of the Louisiana Western Railroad Company and had been associated with Charles Morgan in certain railroad transactions. McComb accumulated a great fortune, not from the railroad transactions. McComb accumulated a great fortune, not from the railroad but from the acquisition of the patent for the arrow tie buckle used in the baling of cotton. In 1901 an Jennings businessmen brought in oil operators to develop the Jennings Oil Field. This marked the first production of oil in the state of Louisiana. Oil became an important element in the economy of Jennings, but rice, the basis of the town’s economy, was still cultivated. After 1906 oil production declined and the importance of the industry to Jennings decreased. Rice remained, as it always had been, the leading economic activity of the area (Riser, 1948). The one thing about this community is the buildings; they still resemble the old design from in the beginning. This community on one side of the tracks maybe crumbling, but Jennings is a growing city. Jennings can give the illusion of nothing is going on and deep down inside of the town is array of discrimination of race, social class, an economic status. II. Community Structure: Community Function Jennings has few clubs for socializing and due to the divide in the population by race. Socialization between the white and blacks are limited if they do not work together. There are normally around event times in the community two different parades one downtown for the white the other Southside for the blacks. The city is ran by the mayor elected, making all the decisions in the city. During events for the city the decision in regards to can it happen is left to the chief of police. The city has two law enforcement agency the city police which handles everything inside the city and the sheriff’s department which is for surrounding parish cities. Each area or parts of Jennings have police jurors that are elected for the area. Residents are to contact their police jurors with complaints; they are then brought before a town meeting that is held each month at city hall. The meetings are open to all residents in the parish; however they are not openly advertised. There are many community leaders, or shall I say power families. These are the people who basically can have anything they want in Jennings. These families have been living here from the beginning and own most of all the businesses in Jennings. Jennings with these power families there is a lot of corruption within the city. According to an interview conducted with a resident of Jennings, it is a visible corruption. They stated that it’s in the police department and in the court houses. The court house is located in central Jennings and shares a uilding with the parish sheriff’s department. The courthouse has two courtrooms and on judge. One Monday’s, Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s are court days in Jennings. Because this is the parish base surrounding cities in the parish have to attend court in Jennings. The mayor’s office is located across from the courthouse, basically if he is in office the office residents have the opportunity to speak with h im. Election for public office are held every two years, however the judge and chief of police have held the same positions for the last 4 years. They were reelected with majority of the vote. Observing and interviewing residents across the tracks with a low economic status on the government of Jennings. Residents of this community fear the police and the government of Jennings. Most of the residents don’t vote because they believe it does not work. On resident showed me the curfew signs located for two blocks in front of the only club in Jennings. Residents reported having to leave the city to socialize (Jennings Daily News, 2005). III. Community Characteristics Jennings is a booming city new school, shopping centers, restaurants, car lots and new additions to the hospital. This is all downtown Jennings, continue to drive to Southside Jennings and the economy changes. The economy in Jennings is low compared to other cities in Louisiana. Local business owner, own most of the shopping places. The other centers are chain stores and restaurants which provide employment in city. To obtain a good job some resident must leave the city and drive at least 30 miles to the nearest city for work. There are 3 public schools and 2 catholic schools in Jennings there is a technical school which provides training in different fields. Just recently I was informed that Southside had the only elementary school residents. According to the Jennings daily news the school was moved uptown Jennings. There are no schools located in the Southside community of Jennings (Jennings Daily News, 2005). Looking for resources in Jennings is like looking for a needle in a hay stack. There are limited resources in the area for residents living in poverty. There is no office of community services which provides applications and face to face case managers for additional household help; the nearest office is 45 minutes away. There is a health unit that provides parenting classes other services to needed residents. Caring Hands is the only resource of helping people pay bills if needed. They help with light bills, gas bills, and water bills if qualified. There is no transportation system in the city, residents with no cars must walk to the stores. The community even with the lack of services seems not to harm most of the community. It’s for the most part beginning to overcome the racism that has been a factor over the years. However it still a big issue here in Jennings. Jennings have develop over the years an array of issues that need to be addressed like the lack of community services, the sub community of Southside Jennings, lack of activities for children, and jobs. With all this going on the murders of eight young ladies since 2005 has divided and turned the downtown residents against the city police that the city police no longer operate alone in the city the Louisiana state police has taken over (Jennings Daily News, 2005). Its apparent when driving through and speaking with residents, the blacks in the community experience oppression from the local government as well as themselves. There is a large amount of discrimination not only with the government but the local police. Residents state even if they are not doing anything the good suffers for the bad. Police patrol Southside and allow no room for socialization. The park on the Southside is always empty most children rather stay in the house. The local police abuse their power an residents live in fear every day. Jennings, Louisiana do not have a homeless population, most residents that lose their homes move in with relatives. Make some home occupied with multiply families. In this community, it’s a plus along with all the other problems they do not need a homeless problem. IV. Summary and Conclusion Jennings, Louisiana a booming city, with hidden racial problems. Jennings with the majority of the population being white runs the local government, making all the decisions for the city. The lack of resources makes it impossible for some residents to access them. It’s a city that can be two different cities in one. Although education is accessible most of the black don’t attend. Jobs are limited less and there is no public transportation out of city to find jobs. Most residents live under the poverty line for the ones who do not are enjoying this community as long as the blacks stay on their side of the tracks. Reading Netting and observing this community there is a lot going on like Social Darwinism due to the blacks believing that income between not only rich and poor, but white and black is natural (Kettner, McMurty, Netting, 1998). The manifest destiny in which is going on in Jennings today.

Fast-Moving Consumer Goods in India

Fast-Moving Consumer Goods in India The life styles and culture of India is changing drastically. The population of India is increasing every year and this will have a direct impact on the FMCG industry and its organizations. Although population of India is increasing every year the population growth rate is decreasing over a period of time. In 2008 the population growth rate is 1.6%, in 2009 it is 1.5%. In 2010 the growth rate is 1.3%. Although the figures didnt change drastically, the supply and demand of the FMCG products will be affected due to change in population structure. There will be decrease in demand and intense competition as the birth rates and number of customers decrease. Most importantly it is the change is life style of Indian customers and social behavior will affect the FMCG industry in India. It will demand a new products and services over the time and will lead to increase in investment in RD of FMCG companies. Now the world is facing with food shortage leading to increasing invest in food product ion. If the organizations fail to offer products and services according to changing lifestyle and behavior then it will be difficult for any organization to survive in the market. Economic: Current slowdown in global economic scenario affected almost every industry across the world. There has been increase in unemployment and low consumer spending power. This leads to consumers not opting to buy expensive products or services. This further pressurizes the RMCG companies to reduce the prices for the products and services. Organizations will have to review this economic ride and have to respond accordingly, A successful organization will respond according changing economic conditions, consumer and stakeholder behavior. An efficient organization must be aware of the changing economic condition across the country and global and should employ a suitable strategy to stay in the market. Political: Political factors will have a greater influence on the organization and industry and it is the duty of the organizations to comply with it. It is necessary for the organizations to comply with the legislations implemented non conformance of which may lead to serious implications on the organization. The government has implemented certain restriction in the import policies. However tax exemptions in sales and excise duty are provided for the small scale industries. This will allow the SMEs to invest more and will increase the number of new entrants. Transportation and infrastructure facilities are improving not only in urban but also in the rural area which will help in distribution network. Technological: Advancement in technology boost the production with enhancement in quality of products and services rendered to the customers. Organizations began to adopt e-business to improve brand communication and market. Technological advancement makes the supply chain and transactions along the chain simple. Organizations reduced costs with effective IT technologies and increased the rate of information transactions. Technology is playing a key and huge part in the FMCG sector by developing the new packaging, increasing productivity and longer shelf life of food products. Better, stronger, more effective and faster are the key elements that all manufacturers in this sector push for, as it drives sales. The advancement enhances the sales by enabling the manufactures to produce better products with attractive packaging and better communication. With advancement in communication technology and rising social media network it enables the organizations to communicate better to the customers by improved marketing campaigns. International trends: The economic crisis and slowdown had greatly affected the sales FMCG goods across the world. However emerging economies like India, China and Brazil are not greatly affected and manage to do well to recover quickly. A common trend that was followed across the world during economic slowdown was trading down. Because, customers became more cautious looking for less expensive brands, special offers and discounts. This added tremendous pressure on the market prices due to severe competition and down trading. However emerging economies like India, China and Brazil saw development in hypermarkets helping the growth of FMCG markets in these countries. Macro environmental opportunities: India has Vast Rural Market with majority of population where the market is still untapped market. India has cheap labour to provide cost advantage over other countries. Many multinational companies are having cost advantage by outsourcing its product requirements from its Indian company. ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES: Industry structure: The FMCG market of India divided into two sectors the organized sector and the unorganized sector. The organized sector has only few Indian companies and MNCS whereas the unorganized sector is crowded by a many local players. Indian FMCG market accounts for about Rs.460 billion where the market has been highly occupied by local and unbranded products. This has been a challenge for many organized players to successfully launch a product and to occupy the market share. Distribution and supply chain has also been a challenge as Indias infrastructure and transport systems not quite helpful with millions of retail outlets in the country. Although infrastructure and transportation system is developing in recent times it is still considered as a challenge by many players. The FMCG sector has a wide range of products including confectioneries, beverages, detergents, toothpaste, toilet soaps, shampoos, creams, powders, food products, cigarettes. Typical characteristics of FMCG products are: The products cater to necessity, comfort and luxury. Price and income elasticity of demand varies across products and consumers. Individual items are of small value (small SKUs) although all FMCG products put together account for a significant part of the consumers budget. The consumer spends little time on the purchase decision. He seldom ever looks at the technical specifications. Brand loyalties or recommendations of reliable retailer/ dealer drive purchase decisions. Limited inventory of these products (many of which are perishable) are kept by consumer and prefers to purchase them frequently, as and when required. Brand switching is often induced by heavy advertisement, recommendation of the retailer or word of mouth. Distinguishing features of Indian FMCG Business FMCG companies sell their products directly to consumers. Major features that distinguish this sector from the others include the following: Design and Manufacturing Low Capital Intensity as most of products in FMCG requires relatively little investment in plan, machinery and other fixed assets. Basic technology required for manufacturing is easily available. Third party manufacturing is common and the benefits include production and inventory planning flexibility, flexibility in controlling labor costs and logistics. Marketing and Distribution High Initial Launch Cost with huge investment in product development, market research, test marketing and launch. Creating awareness for a new brand requires enormous initial expenditure. Huge Distribution Network as India has millions of retail outlets across the country making the logistics functions difficult for many players. Competition Market is crowded with many unorganized players. Presence of many unorganized players and highly capable MNCs provides fierce competition in the market to launch many new brands. This gives wide range of choice of brands for the customers. PORTERS FIVE COMPETITIVE FORCES: BUYER POWER: The consumer base of this industry is larger than any other industry and they have little or no influence on the price of the product. The consumer always possesses great choice of brands within the product category and they can shift from one to another without much influence. Hence, buyer power is not quite strong in this industry. But they have power when they provide threat to shift from one brand to another brand. In FMCG retailers should also taken into the account for analysis. Retailers can always decide which brand to stock and consumers dont show much interest to wait if one brand of choice is not available. So retailers can always make choice between brands and they have more buyer power than consumers. SUPPLIER POWER: Supplier power is little or limited in the FMCG industry. The industry always has great number of suppliers with great size. There will not be any uniqueness in the product or service of suppliers and the manufacturer can always shift from one supplier to other supplier. However manufacturer faces some amount of supplier power due to the cost they have to incur when switching suppliers. Suppliers who do large business with manufacturers are always obliged to their customers. THREAT OF NEW ENTRANTS: Threat of new entrants is limited in this industry. The new entrants generally cater to local or small markets contributing to the large unorganized sector. Raw materials for most of the segments in FMCG industry can be easily procured. The investment will not be high for machinery and other assets required for most of the products in the industry. Also the basic technology is easily available. These factors can make the local or small manufactures to enter easily in the industry. But this industry requires high initial launch cost and distribution network is always a challenge. These factors act as a barrier for any new entrants in the industry and virtually provide low threat of new entrants. THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES: The FMCG industry bears a high threat of substitutes. The industry possesses many organized players with great number of local manufactures. The products in the industry can always be imitated and marketed. The industry possesses high level threat of substitutes in rural market than in the urban. DEGREE OF RIVALRY: The degree of rivalry is high in the industry. There are many global players along with local manufacturers. The industry enjoys low customer loyalty. The customers always have wide choice of brands and the switching cost is always minimum or negligible. There will be only slight difference in the quality of brands. So the competition is fierce in the industry to attract customers and retain them. Strategic groups in the industry: Among the FMCG companies in India Hindustan Unilever Limited is most catered company to almost every segment in the industry. Its competitors are only catered to certain segments but HUL faces stiff competition from all competitors in every segments. The major companies of strategic groups in FMCG industry are Hindustan Unilever Limited, ITC Limited, Nestle India, Emami Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited, Dabur India Limited, Procter Gamble, Godrej Consumer Products Limited and Cadbury India. International Competition: India is an emerging market and has become a hotspot for many multinational FMCG companies like HUL, Proctor Gamble and Nestle. However domestic companies like Marico, Dabur and Emami are giving tough competition to them. These companies step into natural product category by offering herbal products and managed to occupy the market. For instance, Maricos flagship brand Parachute Coconut Oil has no foreign competition. The presence of international competition is restricted to areas of where they can act and categories like natural products did not interest the global players. Industry Threats: The organized players in the industry are facing problems high magnitude of imitative products. The fake products are seen highly in rural markets and the Indian FMCG sector is losing large amount of money due to presence of counterfeits products. The industry is facing increasing input costs due to increase in price of the raw materials due to global economic slowdown and potential impact of rising crude oil prices Industry Opportunities: The FMCG sector is the fourth-largest sector in the Indian economy and has been growing considerably over the past few years due to changing lifestyle, consumer preferences and high disposable income. The rural market is being highly untapped and provides favorable condition for growth of the companies in this sector. EVALUATING HUL STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESS: VRIO Framework of Hindustan Unilever Limited: The value of HUL lies in their ability to offer different products and cater to the different segments in the industry. The organization has international expertise and wealth of knowledge to cater to different segments satisfying the customer needs. The organization is displaying high standards of corporate behavior towards its stakeholders. The company realizes that its employees are the primary source of success and well committed to their employees. The organization encourages the open communication with customers to get feedback and improve its product offerings. Rarity: The company enjoys the competitive advantage in its robust supply chain and distribution network. Though the company resources are not rare it enjoys the competitive advantage in its resources employed in supply chain and distribution network. Imitability: The organization possesses valuable and rare resources in its supply chain and distribution network that the competitors did not have cost advantage in imitating the resource. The social relationships entailed in resources are complex that the competitors cannot easily imitate and manage well. Organization: The organization structure of HUL with its empowered managers across the companys nationwide operations imparts speed and flexibility in decision-making and implementation. The organization leverages its resources for efficient management. The company realizes that its employees are the primary source of success and well committed to their employees. Analysis of Corporate Strategies: Hindustan Unilever Limited has robust supply chain and distribution network covering over 3400 distributors and 16 million outlets. HULs sales organization structure integrates the Household, Personal Care and foods distribution networks together. By this the organization aligns all the units of its organization towards the common goal. Analysis of Business Strategies: HUL introduces wide variety of products in different segments at different price points. HUL analyses its strategy to improve its foothold in the processed foods category which is largely unoccupied. HUL Strengths: The company has variety of products in each category giving wide array of choice to customers. Robust Distribution Network covering over 3400 distributors and 16 million outlets. The Company enjoys many reputed brands and created a well reputed brand image in the customers mind through advertisement. Well developed quality management. The company has highly capable and well developed RD resources. HUL Weakness HUL not able to compete effectively with local competitor in the rural market: The Companys product mostly target middle class and lower middle class population. So the upper middle class population terms the companys product as a cheap product with low quality HUL is over dependent on Indian market and depends on it for majority of revenue generation. This makes the company subject to changes in weather, political and economic conditions and also makes it vulnerable to potential risks arising in India.