Principles of Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Principles of Marketing - Essay Example The report indicates that Thornton's PLC should focus on cutting down costs, improving convenience to consumers and enhancing communication. In doing this, there should be four main categories of services that the company need to focus on: Chocolate Sweets, Personalized Gifts, Hampers and Gift Ideas as well as Corporate Gifts. Based on the Boston Consulting Group model, it is recommended that Thorntons in Hull City should focus on the Star products that have high growth and high market share so that they expand on that and build profitability in the December markets. The paper concludes with guidelines on how to place, price, promote the Thornton chocolates in the December markets. ... ..........................14 Implementation and Control.......................................................................14 Increasing Fanbase......................................................................................15 Sales Increase Objectives & Budgeting Plans.............................................15 Introduction â€Å"The marketing plan sets out the marketing objectives of the company and suggest strategies for achieving these objectives† (Westwood, 2002 p5). This means that the marketing plan is a tool that supports a business to market its products to the public. The marketing plan is somewhat different from the firm's strategic plan and/or business plan. The marketing plan is specific and provides a strong blueprint for the promotion and marketing of a given product(s). The marketing plan lays out specific production objectives, financial objectives and personnel objectives for given products that are going to be sold (Westwood, 2002 p5). During Ch ristmas, sales increase tremendously. Stefanowicz identifies that sales in Christmas represents 14.3% of sales in the entire year (2010). This means that in a 12 month period, the month of December marks a disproportionately high level of demand for products. This trend could be attributed to the festive nature of the season and the fact that most people get a lot of bonuses in that people whilst others are prepared to spend more of their savings at this point in time. As such, it is appropriate for any business to have a marketing plan for such a period. This is because demand and sales could increase disproportionately in respect to the increase in the volume of buyers. This paper is a marketing plan for Thorntons PLC, a UK confectionery company. It examines how Thorntons can draw up a

Business plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Business plan - Assignment Example Fresh fruit segment is a rapidly growing segment with better future prospects and is segment to venture now. Though many people are venturing into the segment, those who are going to survive rivalry onslaught and tighter regulations must produce high quality products; follow industry regulation to the latter; innovate saleable sales ideas; and develop appropriate ways of communicating products to the customers. The fresh fruit juice segment is on the growth rate and promises higher returns to investors. The fresh juice market is large. Most people are embracing consumption of fresh fruits due to health concerns. Fresh fruit juice appeals most to people who are above thirty years (53% of Halifax population). Such population is health conscious and has the money to buy the fresh fruit juice. Therefore, their buying behaviour is reliable and predictable. The company is strategically placed in a high traffic area. In addition, it is able to innovate better juice mixes in future to keep i ts customer base and attract new customers. BestJuice Limited uses the cut out middleman model. This model eliminates middlemen in its distribution chain. Therefore, the Company shall produce and sell the products at its premises. This will lower the price of fresh fruit juices by about 30%. The management team is made of Assem (CEO) and Susan (Director Operations). Both members are entrepreneurial and dedicated to continuous improvement of the company and aspire for excellent performance. The business is a limited private company owned by seven shareholders (Assem, Susan, Charles, Robert, Angela, Hannington and Adan). The managing board is made up of executive and non-executive board members. Assem and Susan are the executive directors while Charles, Robert, Angela, Hannington and Adan are non-executive members. The company is at formative stage and does not have the money to employ all kind of professionals in the business. Therefore, it shall form strategic

Construction Engineering Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Construction Engineering - Assignment Example The essential ethics topics for training in construction industry include; a. The interest of stakeholders: The purpose of the project must meet the demands of the stakeholders in the project. Therefore, professionals are required to understand the need of the stakeholders and work towards their satisfaction. b. Conflict of interest: The decisions made must be professional and business oriented at the interest of the employer or profession. Any relationship that may be perceived to impair a project’s objectives must be checked. c. Compliance to legal issues: The actions of engineers must comply with the laws and regulations. This implies that there will be no compromise to ethical responsibility. d. Employee and public safety: The work place should be free from drugs and alcohol. Healthy and safe working environment need to be encouraged. Any violation of safety rules and conditions that endanger the welfare o employees must be reported to immediate authorities. e. The quality of workplace f. Protection and effective use of the assets of the employer g. Ensuring that records are accurate complete and maintained h. Guidelines concerning gifts, meals, and entertainment offered in projects that may influence performance of duties i. Access to confidential or proprietary information j. How to deal with kickbacks and bribes k. Acceptable relationship with competitors l. Whistle blowing activities m. Environmental protection acts n. Acceptable relationship among the clients, contractors, and consultants. Quiz 2: An engineer’s actions and ASCE’s Code of Ethics According to canon 4 and 5 of ASCE’s Code of Ethics, such an action of donating goods and services or subsidizing the construction of public official’s vacation home in exchange for favored treatment with a purpose of securing public construction contracts is wrong. Canon 4 categorically states that an engineer should act as a faithful agent or trustee in professional matters t o employers and avoid conflict of interest. The engineer should not accept gratuities directly or indirectly from contractors, agents, or clients in relation to work. Canon 5 emphasizes that the engineer is not allowed to compete unfairly with others. The engineer should build reputation professionally based on services rendered. An engineer is prohibited to give, solicit, and receive directly or indirectly political contributions, gratuity, or unforbiden strategies to secure a contract (American Society of Civil Engineers, 2000). The engineer is allowed to negotiate for contracts professionally and fairly based on the demonstrated competence and qualifications depending on the professional service needed. As a professional, the engineer is allowed to advertise professional services in a way that lacks misleading language that derogatoriness the dignity of the profession. If engineer has knowledge of any firm that violates canon 4 and or 5, the information should be presented to res ponsible authorities in writing and cooperate with the authority in providing further information or assistance needed (American Society of Civil Engineers, 2000). Quiz 3: Health and Safety in construction sites Employers engaged in construction work must emphasize on health and safety in construction sites. A construction site similar to McGill Hospital Project engages employees in leading edge work and precast concrete works among other activities. A conventional fall protection systems plan should be

Statistical analysis by michael cummins Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Statistical analysis by michael cummins - Essay Example ested whether there are significant differences among the overall job satisfaction of three departments, namely, Human Resources, Information Technology, and Administration. The results demonstrate that there is no significant difference among the three categories (F=1.74, p>.05). This means that they have more or less equal levels of overall job satisfaction. When tested by position, the results indicate that there is a significant difference between the two groups of full-timers and part-timers, with part-timers yielding a higher overall satisfaction level (t=2.34, p.05). This means that the three groups have more or less equal levels of overall job satisfaction. Gender. The results for gender that indicate no significant difference between the two gender groups are not supported by literature. The review of literature suggests that men are more satisfied at the workplace than women, mainly because of unequal treatment in the workplace. However, with work conditions being equal, women tend to be more satisfied at work than their male colleagues (www.coe.iup.edu). Age. A review of the relevant literature shows that most of the age-job satisfaction studies have concluded that there is some association between employee age and job satisfaction. Gibson and Klein (1970) have demonstrated an increase in satisfaction with age over all tenure levels in their sample. They discussed the age-satisfaction relationship in terms of changing needs, a mellowing process, and dynamic cognitive structures related to age. Siassi et al. (1975) presented higher levels of job satisfaction in workers over 40 than in those under 40, regardless of the

Significance of imperfect competition models for explaining the Essay

Significance of imperfect competition models for explaining the pattern of international trade - Essay Example The researcher states that international trade is growing day by day as a result of globalization and liberalization policies implemented by different countries at different parts of the world. The major obstacles for the smooth flow of goods and commodities between different countries have been diminished a lot as a result of globalization. At the same time one of the major problems associated with international trade is the fact that the problems happened in one part of the world can have detrimental effect in other parts of the world as well. Competition is growing immensely in the market as a result of the rapid growth of international trade. Ideally, all organizations would like to have some kind of monopoly or some kind of control over the price mechanisms in the market. However, growing competition prevent organizations from controlling the market effectively. Competition in the market can be labelled as perfect competition and imperfect competition. Perfectly competitive mark ets refer to the markets in which the firms do not possess any market power whereas in imperfectly competitive markets, some organizations definitely have control in the market as far as price mechanisms are concerned. â€Å"Competitive markets provide strong incentives for good performance - encouraging firms to improve productivity, to reduce prices and to innovate; whilst rewarding consumers with lower prices, higher quality, and wider choice† whereas imperfect competition denies all these things. ... tition†(Pomphret, 1992, p.1).This paper analyses the significance of imperfect competition in the market as far as international trade is concerned. International trade and imperfect competition â€Å"Imperfect Competition exists when more than one seller competes for sales with other sellers of similar products, each of which has some control over price† (Models of Imperfect Competition, n. d, p.1). In other words, in an imperfectly competitive market, firms may have some power in the market as far the fixing of the prices of its commodities is concerned. Monopoly or oligopoly exists in such markets. For example, Microsoft enjoys monopoly in operating system market. They are capable of fixing the prices of their operating systems like Windows 7 in global market because of lack of competition. Even though Linux and Apple’s Macintosh operating system are raising some kind of competition, still Microsoft is able to maintain their monopoly in the imperfectly competit ive operating system market. Same way, OPEC countries are enjoying oligopoly in the oil market. It should be noted that monopolies or imperfect competition helped Microsoft and OPEC to dictate the market with the help of least efficient products. Consumers forced to pay more than the actual prices of a product in an imperfectly competitive market. In short, â€Å"Firms in a competitive market have very little control over what price they receive for their output†(Perfect Competition, n.d.) whereas â€Å"Monopolies have the most market power, which yields the least efficient outcome† (Monopoly and Perfect Competition Compared, n.d., p.4) According to Krugman et al (2011) â€Å"In a competitive economy, supply decisions are determined by attempts of individuals to maximize their earnings† (Krugman et al, 2011,

Warfare in Medieval Japan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Warfare in Medieval Japan - Essay Example During the Nara period, conscription policy did not distinguish between a warrior and a peasant, which resulted in an army that suffered from poor organization because of the presence of unwilling farmers and government failure to devise regular system of promotion or command. Prior to 789 reforms in Japan’s army system with new regulations that necessitated the use of trained warriors together with men specially selected for their strength and prowess, imperial army was humiliated in 724. The year saw Yemeshi people revolt killing the governor of the province of Mutsu and seizing much of Japan’s mainland. Military power was the province of samurai families with two clans comprising many warrior households became the main security of the Imperial and the clans were Minamoto and Taira (Ratty and Westbrook 80). Another clan, the Fujiwara at the time dominated both Imperial court and the nation, grew its impact with soft life and intricate politics in the capital, which co ntained the seeds of disaster (Brinkley 4). However, the Fujiwara experienced their its first danger in 930 when the Fujiwara attempted the customary maneuver of putting a child in throne, a son eight years old named Shujaku, since the clan had selected Tadahira for the role (Kane 48). During Tadhira’s rule, Taira Masakado a warrior in Japan aspired to be a governor in his native province; however, Tadhira appointed his companion in a debauch manner, a man named Sadabumi. This made Masakado return to his home in disgust and even though he did not instantly get involved in a revolt, he was involved in family feuds. From his actions, Masakado became an outlaw to the Imperial court and instead of submitting to punishment of rulers that he detested, he raised a revolt. In 1159 rivalry in Fujiwara family created another upheaval with a dispute that concerned imperial succession with emperor Go-shirakawa abdicating in favor of his son and Fujiwara Shinzei supporting the ex-emperor. In an open battle, once the Taira household assembled its army the households met in the battle where Taira and Shinzei won a stupendous victory. Thus, the Fujiwara no longer ruled by their power and Taira Kiyomori, a man whose martial skills twice shaped the nation’s future, took advantage of the situation and crushed several conspiracies against his life (Kane 49). The Gen and Pei war that ended in 1183 with a naval battle at Dan-no-ura, saw Minamoto forces’ 800 ships attack Taira’s fleet of 500 in a battle that involved gaining the upper hand. When Minamooto secured defection of Taira admiral Tomomori, the Taira suffered total defeat as their samurai struggled to protect the ship carrying the infant emperor (Van Bergen 41). Emperor Antoku took the throne and the victorious Yoritomi paid long visits to the imperial capital seeking the office of Sei-i-tai-Shogun, the supreme military leader of the country, which he later gained. Though in the past emperors app ointed military leaders for brief periods in order to see the nation through certain crises, Minamoto Yoritomi ensured the office became permanent (Kane 50). Hideyoshi managed to impose control as well as peace and government, which partly lay in his diplomatic skills. Moreover, Hidoyeshi fought several fights campaigns against internal enemies, which ended not in military victories but with treaties in which rival clans received an active stake in the fresh Japanese order. Hideyoshi success lay in the ruthless

Poject Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Poject - Essay Example It manages the planning aspect carefully with the help of resources and treatment services at its disposal. It applies reasonable and meaningful sanctions against delinquent and non-conforming inmates Classification of prisoners is made on the assessment of its inmates’ security levels, checks and curative needs, thus putting up the inmates into different sanctioned programs. The criteria of classifying the inmates are the nature of crime, duration of sentence and the inmates’ attitude. The assigned institutions and correctional units differ by security levels. The Institutional Assignment Criteria is based on set guidelines for the corrections staff to recommend the most preferable institution while taking care of treatment needs as well. Different states have their own classification systems that have different security levels prevalent. After the completion of the court proceedings, the offenders are enrolled into the department of corrections as soon as final sentence of court orders reaches its office. This intake of offenders can happen at any of the DOC reception and classification facilities. Offenders are thoroughly interviewed by the expert staff to be put in a suitable security level according to which institutions are assigned The Client Management Classification System (CMC) of classification in probation and parole is a model system approach as prepared by the National Institute of Corrections. It provides an orderly method of incorporating all information to present an all-inclusive total view of the client (offender). Probation and parole officers get a complete view of the client within a span of 45 minutes interview, which otherwise could take months in any other system. CMC offers an objective method in which agents can compare their first hand impression of the client with an impartial attitude towards certain offences, resulting in a better understanding to prepare case plans of the clients. There is no need to go