Sales Management

What are the pros and cons of Mr. Evans’s e-commerce strategy? What is the best argument that Ms. Miko can make to keep her sales force intact? In your opinion, should Cardinal Connectors Inc. eliminate its sales force? Explain. 2. Assume your company, which sells paper products, has 60 percent of the business at your largest account. What factors would make it relatively easy for you to get a larger share of that customer’s business, and what factors would make it harder? 3. One manufacturer of dictating machines recruits only experienced people and does not recruit among graduating college students.A competitor recruits extensively among colleges in its search for salespeople. How do you account for the difference in sources used by firms selling essentially the same products? Explain your analysis in detail. 4. A manufacturer of small aircraft, designed for executive transportation of large companies, has decided to implement the concept of a selling center. Which pe ople in this company should be on the selling teams? What problems is this firm likely to encounter when it uses team selling? 5. You must choose between two sales recruits.One has scored very high in terms of the quality of his interview, but not very well on the series of psychological tests to predict qualities the firm thinks are necessary for success. Another person did well on the psychological testing, but not very well in the personal interview. All other things being equal, which one would you hire, and why? What do you think the strengths and weaknesses would be of the one you hired? 6. â€Å"Salespeople are born, not made. It’s futile to try to train a person to be a salesperson, so I don’t. How would you answer a sales manager who said this to you if you were trying to get her or him to hire you as a sales trainer? 7. In what respects would a compensation plan differ among salespeople for the following firms? a) the manufacturer of small airplanes used by executives; b) a wholesaler of office equipment and supplies; c) an automobile dealer. 8. Do you approve of Kathryn’s plans of action? If so, why, and how could she improve her plan of action? If not, what changes would you suggest she consider making? Describe your views in detail. 9.A petroleum firm with a sales force of 300 people planned to sell its fleet of company-owned automobiles and have the salespeople use their own cars instead. What problems are involved in this change? What actions should the petroleum firm take to address them? 10. As a sales manager for HighRising Company, Rocky Foster oversees 15 sales reps. Foster is an outstanding transactional leader, but he is hopelessly ineffective as a transformational leader. Is this a problem? Why, or why not? What recommendation, if any, would you make to the Vice President of Sales? 11.What advice would you give Michiko Takanaga on how she should reduce her departmental budgets? Justify your recommendations. 12. What control unit would you recommend in establishing sales territories for each of the following companies? Explained why you picked the control unit you did for each. a) manufacturer of laptops; b) food broker; c) appliance wholesaler; d) manufacturer of outboard motors; e) lumber wholesaler 13. What supporting points could be made over allocation of indirect marketing costs, by the proponents of each side, in the full-cost versus contribution-margin controversy ?Which of the two concepts do you advocate, and why? 14. If a company made a territorial volume analysis and found some subpar territories, how might these facts affect the following activities relating to salespeople? a) supervision b) compensation c) training 15. â€Å"Let’s face it. Our product is no different from that of 20 other competitors. It sells for the same price and for the same terms. We all give the same service. It really doesn’t matter to the buyer which of us gets the order. So the only way we can get an edge is through our aggressive entertainment and gift program.We work hard at making our buyers happy with us. They enjoy doing business with us. † Do you see any ethical problems involved here? What possible consequences are there to the company? What would you do differently, if anything? 16. As a sales manager for a baby food concern, you want to evaluate the ability of your representatives to obtain good shelf space in grocery stores. How would you do this? Before implementing this process, you call a meeting of your reps to explain your evaluation process to them. What would you say? Sales Management One of the major problem facing sales managers is on what criteria to judge a new salesperson when hiring him. In most cases, the sales managers look at the sales person’s past records and his performance in the previous organization but many a times, they see that a successful salesperson in one organization does not perform when hired in the new organization. One of the main reasons for that it is the difference in culture and values. The new recruit might be very good but he might not be compatible with your organization. Another major problem being faced by the sales managers is that even though the sales people meet their targets, they barely ever follow the sales process of their own company. Every salesperson tries his own tactics that he thinks will bring business. When giving bonuses to salespeople, sales managers find it difficult to determine the metrics on which to evaluate the salesperson’s performance. Should they judge the salesperson depending on how much business he brought and in that case, they will have to ignore the ways the business was brought, to what extent was business rules followed and how ethical was the deal, etc. Ethical issues are one of the major problems that are faced by the sales managers. Many sales people bring in a lot of business for the firm but in return, they are being paid kickbacks by the customer which means that unethical behavior is practiced. It is very difficult for a sales manager to oversee any unethical practices taking place in the organization from his office and therefore, they find it extremely difficult for stop unethical practices in the organization. Almost all sales managers face this problem. The sales manager has to evaluate the performance of the sales people and this responsibility makes the sales manager a judge and on the other hand, the sales manager is required to train and coach the sales people and this responsibility makes the sales manager a coach and a helper and both these roles are very conflicting so the sales managers find it difficult to fulfill both roles since both roles require different type of a relationship with the sales person. Many sales managers when evaluating the sales person give more emphasis to whether they like the sales representative or not rather than on the fact that sales person is bringing in business which is not the right thing. Because even if the sales manager does not that sales representative, if the representative is bringing in the expected business, then the manager has to reward him either through commission or bonuses. Sales managers find it difficult to decide whether they want to have a salary plus commission or salary plus bonus. In the first method, the commission is the percentage of the sales made in actual dollar terms whereas in the second method, you give a certain percentage of the sales representative’s salary as a reward to the sales person. Both have their advantages and disadvantages and one method works better for some sales people whereas the other method works better for other sales people and deciding which one to implement is an issue that is faced by sales people on a more strategic level rather than operational level. Sales managers also have to decide whether they assign sales teams or one sales person to each account. And if they have a whole sales team for one account then how do they plan to reward those sales people. Will those sales people be evaluated on the basis of team performance or individual performance and if they will be evaluated on team performance then will the rewards be given to a whole team equally or depending on each sales person’s contribution towards the goal because these things will affect the motivation level of the sales people. Answer 2: The emphasis on training the sales people cannot be emphasized enough. Sales people’ training is very essential for both new and old sales people. Training in communicating with people is important for both old and new sales people since they come across all sorts of customers. For example, a sales person who is selling detergent will be selling the detergent to all sorts of people whether the customer is in higher socioeconomic class or lower, whether he is a man or a woman or whether he is Asian or America. Sales people should know how to communicate with all sorts of people so that they can cater to more customers. Administrative training is really important because the sales people whether old or new should be told to keep all sorts of documentation because safely keeping all sales documents is important therefore, sales people need training about what documents they need to create when a sale is made, how the documents are maintained and how they need to be filled, etc. Sales people also need training regarding knowledge development. They need to be told how to keep themselves abreast about all the products of the company, its competitors and also information about substitute products because the customer of today is very knowledgeable and therefore, to sell to such a customer, a sales person must know everything in and out so that he can convince the customer to buy his product. The new sales people need to be trained regarding the sales practices of the company, the sales culture of the company and also the sales process. You need to have the new recruit get integrated into the new environment so that he can perform well and secondly, all organizations do not have the same way of selling so the sales representative need to be made aware of what is expected out of him so that he can strive to achieve that and in a way that is accepted and practiced by the new organization. The importance of training is also important since the world is becoming global and sales people are transferred from one region to another so they need to be aware of the differences in culture, language, etc so that they can sell to the locals without transgressing the boundaries or offending them in any way. Experienced sales people have to be trained because if they are not trained, they become outdated. They need to be taught about the new ways of selling which are practiced by the big companies so that they can utilize them to sell to the customers. Experience sales people will also have to be made aware of the new technologies. For example, now many companies are using Sales Force Automation systems which enhance the selling of the organization. These are new technologies and the sales people will have to learn these new technologies to remain current and competitive. Training is also essential for new sales people to let them know what they need to do to move higher up in the rung which helps to reduce employee turnover since if they know that doing so and so will lead them to a new destination then they will not look outside the organization for career opportunities. Moreover, it makes it clear to them about what they need to do to get a certain thing so that they can work towards it. Answer 4: The major advantage of building customer relationships via the internet is the cost factor. It is much cheaper to sell, answer queries, and provide customer service to thousand customers on the Internet because very few people can handle all this since most of the work is automated. However, in a brick and mortar environment, it would require hundreds of sales people to manage all these relationships and it will be costly because you need to pay them, you need to train them and secondly, the consistency will not be there. Another major advantage of building customer relationships online is that you can cater to a wide range of audience. The Internet is used by people around the world so if you are selling books on the Internet and your business is in Chicago then you are not just limited to people living in Chicago. People from all around United States and also outside the country can buy from you since all they need is that they have to do is go to your website. The communication becomes very quick when you are handling relationships on the Internet. For example, if the customer is finding some problem with a new appliance he bought from an online store, he can just e-mail them or chat with some online representative who will solve the query faster than in traditional stores. The Internet helps you to display millions of things to a customer who gets to have a wide range which is not possible with traditional methods. So you can display millions of goods to the customer which will keep him happy without increasing your cost since you do not have to buy a huge storefront to keep all those goods. When you are selling an electronic item in a traditional store, you need to train all the sales people so that they know how to operate the item and whenever a customer arrives, the sales person will have to demonstrate to him how the item works. With online websites, you can put videos of demonstration of how the item works which is cheaper plus the customer can view any time and he can watch multiple times even after he has bought the item. However, there are also disadvantages of this method. For example, it is very difficult to attract traffic to your online service or store. Many companies do not have enough funds to pay websites such as Google for advertising them and with online websites; there is no other way of attracting customers. Another problem with this is that customer and sales person cannot see each other And due to that the communication is not as effective as with traditional methods. In all sorts of communication, a communication becomes more effective if the other person can see you so that you can study his body language and facial expressions. Secondly, many people find it uncomfortable talking to a machine. There are many prospective customers whom you can sell but they do not access the Internet either because it is not accessible to them or because they are too busy so there are chances that you can miss out on important customers which results in lost sales. When you have to interact with a customer online, it is much more difficult than using the traditional ways. Therefore, when recruiting people, you need to ensure that they are capable of communicating with someone over the Internet effectively. Moreover, they should be trained well so that they can help the customer properly. Sales Management One of the major problem facing sales managers is on what criteria to judge a new salesperson when hiring him. In most cases, the sales managers look at the sales person’s past records and his performance in the previous organization but many a times, they see that a successful salesperson in one organization does not perform when hired in the new organization. One of the main reasons for that it is the difference in culture and values. The new recruit might be very good but he might not be compatible with your organization. Another major problem being faced by the sales managers is that even though the sales people meet their targets, they barely ever follow the sales process of their own company. Every salesperson tries his own tactics that he thinks will bring business. When giving bonuses to salespeople, sales managers find it difficult to determine the metrics on which to evaluate the salesperson’s performance. Should they judge the salesperson depending on how much business he brought and in that case, they will have to ignore the ways the business was brought, to what extent was business rules followed and how ethical was the deal, etc. Ethical issues are one of the major problems that are faced by the sales managers. Many sales people bring in a lot of business for the firm but in return, they are being paid kickbacks by the customer which means that unethical behavior is practiced. It is very difficult for a sales manager to oversee any unethical practices taking place in the organization from his office and therefore, they find it extremely difficult for stop unethical practices in the organization. Almost all sales managers face this problem. The sales manager has to evaluate the performance of the sales people and this responsibility makes the sales manager a judge and on the other hand, the sales manager is required to train and coach the sales people and this responsibility makes the sales manager a coach and a helper and both these roles are very conflicting so the sales managers find it difficult to fulfill both roles since both roles require different type of a relationship with the sales person. Many sales managers when evaluating the sales person give more emphasis to whether they like the sales representative or not rather than on the fact that sales person is bringing in business which is not the right thing. Because even if the sales manager does not that sales representative, if the representative is bringing in the expected business, then the manager has to reward him either through commission or bonuses. Sales managers find it difficult to decide whether they want to have a salary plus commission or salary plus bonus. In the first method, the commission is the percentage of the sales made in actual dollar terms whereas in the second method, you give a certain percentage of the sales representative’s salary as a reward to the sales person. Both have their advantages and disadvantages and one method works better for some sales people whereas the other method works better for other sales people and deciding which one to implement is an issue that is faced by sales people on a more strategic level rather than operational level. Sales managers also have to decide whether they assign sales teams or one sales person to each account. And if they have a whole sales team for one account then how do they plan to reward those sales people. Will those sales people be evaluated on the basis of team performance or individual performance and if they will be evaluated on team performance then will the rewards be given to a whole team equally or depending on each sales person’s contribution towards the goal because these things will affect the motivation level of the sales people. Answer 2: The emphasis on training the sales people cannot be emphasized enough. Sales people’ training is very essential for both new and old sales people. Training in communicating with people is important for both old and new sales people since they come across all sorts of customers. For example, a sales person who is selling detergent will be selling the detergent to all sorts of people whether the customer is in higher socioeconomic class or lower, whether he is a man or a woman or whether he is Asian or America. Sales people should know how to communicate with all sorts of people so that they can cater to more customers. Administrative training is really important because the sales people whether old or new should be told to keep all sorts of documentation because safely keeping all sales documents is important therefore, sales people need training about what documents they need to create when a sale is made, how the documents are maintained and how they need to be filled, etc. Sales people also need training regarding knowledge development. They need to be told how to keep themselves abreast about all the products of the company, its competitors and also information about substitute products because the customer of today is very knowledgeable and therefore, to sell to such a customer, a sales person must know everything in and out so that he can convince the customer to buy his product. The new sales people need to be trained regarding the sales practices of the company, the sales culture of the company and also the sales process. You need to have the new recruit get integrated into the new environment so that he can perform well and secondly, all organizations do not have the same way of selling so the sales representative need to be made aware of what is expected out of him so that he can strive to achieve that and in a way that is accepted and practiced by the new organization. The importance of training is also important since the world is becoming global and sales people are transferred from one region to another so they need to be aware of the differences in culture, language, etc so that they can sell to the locals without transgressing the boundaries or offending them in any way. Experienced sales people have to be trained because if they are not trained, they become outdated. They need to be taught about the new ways of selling which are practiced by the big companies so that they can utilize them to sell to the customers. Experience sales people will also have to be made aware of the new technologies. For example, now many companies are using Sales Force Automation systems which enhance the selling of the organization. These are new technologies and the sales people will have to learn these new technologies to remain current and competitive. Training is also essential for new sales people to let them know what they need to do to move higher up in the rung which helps to reduce employee turnover since if they know that doing so and so will lead them to a new destination then they will not look outside the organization for career opportunities. Moreover, it makes it clear to them about what they need to do to get a certain thing so that they can work towards it. Answer 4: The major advantage of building customer relationships via the internet is the cost factor. It is much cheaper to sell, answer queries, and provide customer service to thousand customers on the Internet because very few people can handle all this since most of the work is automated. However, in a brick and mortar environment, it would require hundreds of sales people to manage all these relationships and it will be costly because you need to pay them, you need to train them and secondly, the consistency will not be there. Another major advantage of building customer relationships online is that you can cater to a wide range of audience. The Internet is used by people around the world so if you are selling books on the Internet and your business is in Chicago then you are not just limited to people living in Chicago. People from all around United States and also outside the country can buy from you since all they need is that they have to do is go to your website. The communication becomes very quick when you are handling relationships on the Internet. For example, if the customer is finding some problem with a new appliance he bought from an online store, he can just e-mail them or chat with some online representative who will solve the query faster than in traditional stores. The Internet helps you to display millions of things to a customer who gets to have a wide range which is not possible with traditional methods. So you can display millions of goods to the customer which will keep him happy without increasing your cost since you do not have to buy a huge storefront to keep all those goods. When you are selling an electronic item in a traditional store, you need to train all the sales people so that they know how to operate the item and whenever a customer arrives, the sales person will have to demonstrate to him how the item works. With online websites, you can put videos of demonstration of how the item works which is cheaper plus the customer can view any time and he can watch multiple times even after he has bought the item. However, there are also disadvantages of this method. For example, it is very difficult to attract traffic to your online service or store. Many companies do not have enough funds to pay websites such as Google for advertising them and with online websites; there is no other way of attracting customers. Another problem with this is that customer and sales person cannot see each other And due to that the communication is not as effective as with traditional methods. In all sorts of communication, a communication becomes more effective if the other person can see you so that you can study his body language and facial expressions. Secondly, many people find it uncomfortable talking to a machine. There are many prospective customers whom you can sell but they do not access the Internet either because it is not accessible to them or because they are too busy so there are chances that you can miss out on important customers which results in lost sales. When you have to interact with a customer online, it is much more difficult than using the traditional ways. Therefore, when recruiting people, you need to ensure that they are capable of communicating with someone over the Internet effectively. Moreover, they should be trained well so that they can help the customer properly.

Juliet’s speech in Act 4, Scene 3 Essay

Juliet’s speech in Act 4, Scene 3, filled with much classic Shakesperean imagery, is a turning point in the play for Juliet in which she wrestles with the conflicts in her life and then ultimately comes to a decision. It encompasses all the major themes in the play and many ideas all come together for the first time in this passage. First of all, this soliloquy deals with fear, of what will happen if she takes the potion and of what will happen if she doesn’t. Secondly, it concerns time, specifically the recurring night and darkness motif. Thirdly, it discusses love and death, the two major contrasting themes. Lastly, it introduces or reintroduces other opposites, such as reality versus appearance, which was the major metaphor in Juliet’s earlier speech. If one had to summarize this speech in just a few words, one would say it was an inner monologue about fear, in which Juliet worries about all the possible problems that could befall her. When she says â€Å"I have a faint cold fear thrills through my veins, that almost freezes up the heat of life†, she is saying that she has a bad feeling something unfortunate is going to happen that may result in death. She even says, â€Å"God knows when we shall meet again† which shows that she isn’t sure what terrible consequences there may be from drinking the potion. Initially she worries â€Å"What if it do not work at all?† and that she’ll have to â€Å"be married then to-morrow morning† with Paris. Then, she becomes afraid that it’s a poison, which the friar â€Å"subtly hath minister’d to have me dead† so that he should not be punished for marrying her to Romeo. Next, she fears that she should awaken before Romeo arrives. Here, she imagines herself â€Å"stifled in the vault†, in other words that she dies suffocated because there is no â€Å"healthsome air†, or scared to death because of â€Å"the terror of the place†, and being â€Å"packed† amidst â€Å"the bones of all my buried ancestors†, including Tybalt. After that, she envisions the spirits she has heard stories about coming out to haunt her at the graveyard. Lastly, she worries she’s going to go crazy and, in her madness, kill herself. This is obviously foreshadowing, particularly in the lines â€Å"if I wake, shall I not be distraught†, since when she does wake, she finds Romeo’s dead body, and in the lines â€Å"dash out my desperate brains†, which represents that she is going to commit suicide. Clearly, fear is present throughout the entire speech until she gets carried away enough  to dare to drink the potion. Another recurring theme in this speech, which comes up again and again in the play, is night. The line â€Å"the horrible conceit of death and night† is very important as it ties together for the first time the two principal antitheses in the play, life and death and day and night. Here she is saying that if it is completely dark, she will be scared to death and therefore to lie there in the darkness of the vault is to be as good as dead. Before, darkness meant Romeo could be hidden by the night so he could go see Juliet and was therefore ironically associated with good things while light and the day brought them separation and troubles and was therefore associated with bad things. However, now the night represents for Juliet what it usually does for us, which is darkness, misery and death. Later, Shakespeare returns to the ironic implications of night as brighter times as it is during the night that Juliet is safe and things go according to plan, whereas the minute dawn breaks, confusion reigns again and the lovers take their lives. The night-related imagery is used here to paint a dark and gloomy picture of the tomb to make Juliet seem even more courageous and thus for the audience to sympathize with her. Love and death are two of the major themes throughout the play, which in a way contrast one another and in a way are dependent on one another. The entire speech is about Juliet questioning her love for Romeo and whether she is willing to sacrifice her life to remain true to her love. She contrasts what will happen if she doesn’t drink the potion and has to marry Paris, with the prospect of death if she does drink it. After listing all the possible disasters that could befall her as a result of drinking the liquor, she ends with â€Å"Romeo, Romeo, Romeo, here’s drink! I drink to thee!†. This tells us that to Juliet, marrying Paris is a fate worse than death and that she is willing to risk her life for Romeo. So, her love toward him is both a savior as that is what motivated her to drink the potion and escape her doom but it is also her ruin as their adoration for each other is what kills them both in the end. Another way to say this is that risking death will bring her love but death itself will take him away. Throughout this entire passage, there is this ominous threat of death, foreshadowing the outcome of  the play. Specifically, the phrases â€Å"God knows when we shall meet again†, â€Å"freezes up the heat of life†, â€Å"if I wake, shall I not be distraught† and â€Å"dash out my desperate brains† all hint at what will happen and tell us that Juliet had made up her mind and is willing to die for Romeo. This speech incorporates many opposites or antitheses that Shakespeare employs constantly in this drama. Some of these are in the concrete language such as the contrast at the beginning of this speech between hot and cold. The simile â€Å"I have a faint cold fear†¦that almost freezes up the heat of life† is very poetic and clever because life represents the warmth and passion between the two lovers, their â€Å"heat† and her fear is of death, which turns a body cold. Another example of opposites is when Juliet questions whether the potion is a poison or an antidote to her troubles. There are also metaphorical opposites, below the surface of the text, such as reality versus appearance. The main subject of this extract is the false death, which makes her seem dead but she is really alive. Later, the word â€Å"act† on line 19 also ties in to this symbol as it relates to theatricality and pretending to be someone or something that you are not. Clearly, opposites are very important in this passage because during the entire speech, Juliet is weighing her possibilities and asking herself what will happen if she does drink it and what will happen if she doesn’t. Inside, she is comparing what her life will be like with Paris and what her life will be like with Romeo. This speech is, I believe, an extremely important one in the play. It is truly the moment where what has happened and what will happen come together in Juliet’s decision that she would sacrifice herself out of love for Romeo. Parallel to that coming together in the plot is an assemblage of many images that have been used previously. It is also important because it is in my opinion the moment that Juliet enters into adulthood. In the lines â€Å"I needs must act alone†, Juliet is finally ready to leave the comfort of being a child and make her own choices in life. Her fears are natural; everyone fears change, the unfamiliar, and so, part of Juliet’s worries in this speech are those of having to move on and make her own way for herself in a world full of hardships and obstacles. In the end, she takes comfort in  Romeo, whom she expects to be there when she awakens, and drinks to him. Throughout the speech, beautiful imagery is used and the five senses are incorpo rated to make the scene come to life in order for the audience to sympathize with the lovers before their tragic deaths.

Are Test Scores a Good Indication of a Student’s Competency?

Are test scores a good indication of a student's competency? Nowadays, many students spend all their time in learning the courses and preparing the tests, and they don't have any time to take part in other activities. Is this phenomenon good or not? However, are test scores a good indication of a student's competency? Opinions vary from person to person. As far as I am concerned, test scores are not the only standard of evaluation, but it is still very important. First of all, not only those who get very high test scores can achieve success.Test scores only stands for a small part of one's competency. Test score is a reflection of your daily study. A good examination results indicates that you study hard, know how to go ahead and be different with those who lives without any aims. Scores themselves aren't what count, it's the fact that you are a person of ability or not. For example, the college entrance examination score of Jiang Fangzhou, who is a talent young writer, was not so hi gh. But Because of his outstanding writing ability she was unconventional admitted by Tsinghua University.Besides, the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Mo Yan, but he had only primary education. On the other hand, high test score does not always represent a very strong personal capacity. â€Å"High scores and low abilities† is a new phrase in china. Xiao Li, a graduate who was freshly out of school, hasn’t found a job yet. He said, â€Å"I can’t do anything except studying, especially interpersonal skills and the ability of living independence. Maybe because my ‘High scores and low abilities’, I can’t get an offer from any company. When you are a person who has no other ability, test score can be a standard to evaluate your ability. But when you enter the society, maybe it is meaningless. It just represents your history, and you need to have various other abilities, such as practice ability, innovation ability, target power and interpersonal communication ability. Thirdly, test score is not a capital, but some time it is the knocking brick of success. Test score is still an important standard of selecting candidates in today's china.For example, in most cases, the college entrance examination and the civil servants examination are completely according to the examination scores for students' admission. In addition, many employers choose better employees in according to their test scores. So to most ordinary people, if we have high scores, we can have more opportunities All in all, test scores are not the only standard of evaluation. But under the exam-oriented education, we must have a high score, only then we can be recognized by the society. Of course, we should not only manage to get high test scores, but also improve our other abilities as far as possible.

Competitor Analysis

We denote 793 stores in Canada as of December 2009 and 40. 6% of those stores are located in Ontario. Rivalry is moderate amongst different competitor in the market , as most of them are big and diversified companies who do not rely on the luggage market, Just like Canada Goose. The market is highly fragmented with a large array of competitors , varying from big retail department stores to highly niched retailers. Less diverse retailers face greater competition to obtain and retain buyers compared to larger companies. The competition is eased by the fact that the market is growing , so that a company can grow its sales and revenues without affecting the overall market share proportions. All this makes the degree of rivalry moderate in this market. Direct competitors (Manufacturers & their brands) (Specific market shares of direct competitors) Samsonite , Mulholland , Hartmann Brothers and Tumi , Louis Vuitton. Indirect Competitors The first major indirect competitor is the Japanese multinational AEON Co ltd. Aeon* is a retailing group of 169 companies operating lifestyle-enhancing retail and a variety of other services, from general merchandise stores and supermarkets, to fashion-conscious specialty stores, ? nancial services and amusement facilities. Their luggage brands are . The second major competitor is the Hudson bay company. The Hudson's Bay Company is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. Their luggage brands include Stuff by Hillary Duff , Sportek and Fields. Finally we have Aldo Group , a company created . Its main luggage brands are Aldo accessories and Spring. Appendix 1: Statistics Canada, Canadian Business Patterns Database, December 2009.

Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 6

Case Study - Essay Example The case study notes that a European manufacturer has approach the company to make a strategic partnership with the company which shows that some companies think that Morepen is ripe for taking a taking a stake in if not an outright takeover. The share price of Morepen shows a downward trend which means that investor confidence in the company has been eroding over the past few months. However, the firm shows healthy profit after tax figures which means that there could be some room for experimentation but not enough for the firm to engage in highly risky behavior. There is a substantial risk involved in the pharmaceutical business as noted by the case study since the behavior of other companies can lead to improved drugs coming to the market which can make older drugs obsolete. Morepen does not appear to have enough funds to conduct its own research and development into new drugs therefore sticking to generic drugs has led to the early success of the company. However, if Morepen wishes to remain competitive in the market with regard to other companies who are developing new drugs; it may have to make significant investments in research towards creating successful new drugs or improve upon older drugs. Luckily, since the company is located in India, the development cost of a new drug is substantially lower therefore it is possible that they can create drugs which let them remain competitive and avoid any attempts for takeovers. While the American and European markets remain lucrative for the company, the home market brings the bulk of their income and they can also focus on brining improvements to the home market drugs for a greater competitive advantage. It must be noted that all the recommendations which can be given to the company come with a high element of risk since the decisions are not easily reversible and the investment

Management of Personal financial services. China case study Essay

Management of Personal financial services. China case study - Essay Example Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in financial services has become utmost important because of the present challenging marketing environment. Presently, the company differentiate themselves by delivering exquisite customer experience and offer product, which are unique, tailor-made for delivering customer satisfaction. By delivering highly innovative financial products for core banking, insurance and wealth management, the company would be able to develop meaningful relationship with its customers. Often termed as relationship marketing in China, it is also focuses on customer retention. CRM also helps in laying emphasis on the product features, which highlights the product benefits that are meaningful and necessary for the customers. The Chinese investment banking companies rely on the strength of the financial services that help the banks to make tailor-made financial products for customized customer requirements. Although, CRM is relatively a new concept, it entails the diffe rent marketing approaches involved in obtaining the refined customer information search, which helps the management to attract potential customers (Besson, 2000). The CRM activities in the financial institutions involve the incorporation of electronic business activities, relationship and customer management activities, and integration of customer centric strategy with the back office or front office executives (Carson, 2005). The main crux of CRM activities involves building of long term and healthy relationships to retain customers in the competitive financial environment. 1.2.1 Customer Relationship Management in Chinese Financial Institutions The long term relationship building process with the Chinese customers has not only become an enduring strategy for relationship building, but it has also augmented for customer loyalty and retention. It was observed in Chinese banking that due to the financial implications there was a strong correlation between customer loyalty and profitability of the bank. The deregulation and emergence of new banking technology in the financial services industry have also

Globalization in Media Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Globalization in Media - Research Paper Example It is difficult to stop media globalization because it is taking place due to innovative communications in technology. Although globalization media plays significant roles in shaping culture and improving social standards of living, it has contributes to loss of cultural identity; thus contributing to a global village. The decentralized nature of communication media such as the use of Internet has improved the social, living standards of people in the contemporary society. The use of social media sites and as well as the e-mail sent through the Internet has made communication cheaper. The Internet is among the most widely communication media techniques used by many people including commercial industries in carrying out business activities. Moreover, the social networking sites has improved the social life standards of people in the society because social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and many others have enabled many people to communicate easily with friends or relatives across the globe. Many students and business companies utilize the Internet nowadays in carrying out research activities; hence, it facilitates effective learning and enabling companies to carry out marketing research effectively. Nezmah (224) argues that the increased global market media is through new digital technology that has made global markets effective and profitable. Many companies especially the international companies are now able to compete favorably with their competitors because of new digital technology. This has enabled many of the multinational companies to achieve competitive advantage in the market. The use of Internet, radio and television in advertising innovative products in the global market has enabled commercial companies to increase their sales; hence generating a lot of revenues. The international companies have formed new