Instant Coffee Essay

Everyone will not believe that coffee is the second people income in the world. There are 30 millions people who gain their income from growing coffee. As the article which had been read by Bob told that coffee has been grown by a lot of farmers in different countries. The type of coffee are Robusta, Arabica, and labarica . Usually, Robusta coffee use to make instant coffee. The first country which grows robusta coffee is Uganda and Indonesia is the second producer of this coffee. Generally, Indonesia is the fourth country which grows coffee in the world. The height of robusta coffee is below 6 meters .The next type coffee is Arabica. That is the coffee which Bob was drunk. It usually uses to make premium coffee. The height is between 600-2000 meters and the largest producer is Brazil, followed by Columbia and Kenya. The last is Labarica coffee. This coffee grows in few areas which has below 2000 high meters. It uses to make blended coffee. Based on the article there are also 3 style of coffee that is instant coffee, espresso coffee and brewed coffee. Brewed coffee is usually drunk by the European country. But, it was strange that U.K mostly choose instant coffee. Britannia supposes to choose espresso coffee while American chooses instant coffee. In Asian, Japan drink more brewed coffee. There is also institution which maintains market price of coffee, is called ICO who was made up by United Nations in 1963. They act as mediator between producing countries and consuming countries.

Hurricanes Versus Tornados

Two devastating and deadly natural disasters are the hurricane and the tornado which both cause heavy amounts of damage and are uncontrollable. There are many similarities in how hurricanes and tornadoes are formed. Although they are distinct disasters, hurricanes, and tornadoes pose similar threats to resources because of high winds which can destroy properties and affect the economy along with people’s lives. Both the hurricane, and the tornado are rated on a category scale. First, devastating, and deadly natural disaster is a hurricane. In order for a hurricane to form it has to begin in a warm atmosphere. The seas are normally at their warmest from June to November. A hurricane requires sea- surface temperatures of at least 26 degrees Celsius (80 degrees Fahrenheit). This provides energy for the hurricane and causes more evaporation making humid air and clouds. The winds coming together force air upwards and winds flow outwards above the storm, allowing the air below to rise. Now this is what makes the storm and the light winds outside the hurricane steers it and this is how it grows into a formation of a hurricane. All hurricanes are dangerous and can cause numerous amounts of damage but the most dangerous parts of hurricanes are storm surges which also cause huge amounts of damages because of flooding. The flooding is caused by winds pushing ocean water toward sand. It is estimated that ten-thousand people die each year because of hurricanes. Many of human’s deaths are caused mainly by the flooding that occurs during a hurricane. For example, during hurricane Katrina in two-thousand and five it was devastating because much of the city of New Orleans flooded. Some eighteen-hundred people lost their lives because of hurricane Katrina and more than twenty-five hundred injuries occurred as well. No one wants to be caught in a hurricane because nowhere in a hurricane are you safe. This is why it is important to look for hurricane warnings and to evacuate if it is recommended in your area. Second, devastating, and deadly natural disaster is a tornado. A tornado can occur anywhere in the world. Most tornadoes in the United States form in an area called â€Å"tornado alley† the formation of a tornado is from a combination of thunderstorms, wind shears (change in wind speed or direction), and updrafts (upward moving winds). A tornado begins in a severe thunderstorm called a super cell. A super cell thunderstorm is a huge rotating thunderstorm and this can last for several hours. Usually these storms are likely to produce long lasting tornadoes and baseball sized hail. This is why super cell tornadoes are typically the largest and most damaging tornadoes because of the long duration of the storms. Many tornadoes cause high winds and sometimes massive damage. Violent winds cause trees to be uprooted, cars lifted, and roofs ripped off homes. For example, one of the most violent tornadoes was in Oklahoma City in 1999. It was one of the costly tornados in the United States history. Some 44 people died and more were to be reported. More than 750 people were injured in the Oklahoma City tornado. This was rated as an F5 causing incredible damage to homes, structures, cars, etc. In America there are emergency broadcasts which state the scale and category of the disasters. Both hurricanes and tornadoes are rated by how much damage they cause. Hurricanes are rated on a Saffir/Simpson hurricane scale. It was originated in 1969 by two men one named Herbert saffir who was an engineer with those skills Herbert could determine the destruction that would be caused by the high winds and storm surges associated by a hurricane. The second man involved in this scale was Robert Simpson; he was a meteorologist whose knowledge of the weather helped in determining wind speeds and intensity of storm surges. The categories of this scale are from one to five, five as the most destructive. Tornadoes are rated on a Fujita tornado intensity scale. The Fujita scale was created in 1971 by a man named Professor Theodore Fujita also known as â€Å"Mr. Tornado. † He was a pioneer in the study of tornadoes. Those studies helped create some basic knowledge of severe storms. The categories of this scale are from F-zero to F-five, five as incredible damage. As of yet there is no other tornado that has occurred with incredible damage besides the 1999 Oklahoma City tornado that was rated as an F5 (incredible damage). Wind speeds play a big role in the destruction caused from both hurricanes and tornadoes. Two devastating and deadly natural disasters are the hurricane and the tornado which both cause heavy amounts of damage and are uncontrollable. Both the hurricane and tornado can cause severe damage to many people’s homes, properties, and affect the economy. Many hurricane damages come from the flooding and the tornado damages come from the violent winds. Both the hurricane, and the tornado can be very deadly and this is why many humans should always be aware and look for warning signs that will be broadcasted in their area before a disaster occurs. Broadcasts will also keep you posted on the latest information on a hurricane or tornado, and it will also state if there will be an evacuation in the area. It is very important to watch all broadcasts because this could be a life saver for many humans.

Marketing Strategies for the New Economy Essay

Past paper: Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the new economy for marketers (60%). How might companies develop a new economy strategy for their products or services (40%)? Illustrate your answer with examples. * Does every company need a new-economy strategy * Definition: new economy means the industries that stimulate the development or play an important role in electronic commerce and the internet, market computer hardware and software, and provide any of growing arrays of telecommunications services. E.g. dot-com retailers—Amazon, web portals—Google and Yahoo! * The growing adoption of new-economy technologies in consumer and commercial sectors illustrates the importance of an internet strategy. E.g. high-speed broadband connection is revolutionizing the possibilities of what the internet can offer, in U.S. 2010, more than 70% households wanted to be broadband connected, compared to 31% in 2004. * The growing market acceptance of the internet and other new-economy technologies and the inherent advantages that they bring suggest that nearly every company needs to examine how it will be affected by and can take advantage of these new technologies. * Forms of e-commerce: B2B (Cisco) C2B (Priceline/ www.elance.com) B2C (Amazon) C2C(eBay) * E business models: Bricks and Mortar only; Bricks and back up clicks; Bricks and clicks and clicks only. * Threats or opportunities? (seven attractive elements) 1) The syndication of information (lies at the heart of e-commerce business models) * Syndication involves the sales of the same good (information good) to many customers, who may then combine it with information from other sources and distribute it. * Why syndication is important: a) Syndication delivers informational goods, variable cost of which is zero. b) Syndication process can be automated and digitized, enabling syndicated networks to be created, expanded, and flexibly adapted far more quickly than physical goods. * Syndication via the internet opens up endless opportunities for markets, replacing scarcity with abundance,  processing the information timely and can be distributed everywhere. * However, companies should identify and occupy the most important niches in syndication networks, which can maximize the number and strength of links to other companies and customers. 2) Increasing returns to scale of network products * Positive network effect (network externality): the characteristic of informational networks—a product becomes more valuable as the number of users increases. * Companies that can identify and exploit opportunities where they benefit from the increasing returns to scale that result from positive network effects can sometimes grow quickly on relatively modest capital investment. * Though some companies received lofty valuations, most are struggling to find a business model that actually makes any money. 3) The ability to efficiently personalize * Rules-based personalization: collaborative filtering is one way of personalizing a market offering to each customer, when formal rules can be identifies in the way customer behave, it is done. 4) customize market offerings * Customization technique: is user-driven instead of marketer-driven, allowing users to specify the nature of what is offered to them. * Personalization and customization can be help build customer loyalty and make it less likely that customers may switch to other suppliers. 5) Disintermediation and restructuring of distribution channels * The internet makes the distribution channels possible for marketers to reach customers directly, without expenses or complication of distribution channels (disintermediation). * Those who consider disintermediation their channels and selling direct must determine how they will perform these functions and must evaluate whether doing so is more effective and efficient than using intermediaries. * Web-based disintermediation has grown to fill new needs. E.g. eBay→ creates new type of intermediary, the consignment seller. * Other new intermediaries: aggregators and affiliate schemes. E.g. Kayak.com, a travel aggregator (seems like æ  ºÃ§ ¨â€¹Ã§ ½â€˜Ã¯ ¼Å'assist customers in finding the best deal among hundreds of sites.) The aggregator sites can  focus on improving the technologies that allow customers to find exactly what they want, and publishers can specialize in promotion and attracting customers, since they are not involved in managing the product that the customer is actually buying. 6) Global reach, round-the-clock access * Global reach, making them available 24 hours per day, providing instantaneous delivery. E.g. EasyJet airline, sells low price tickets of flight, allowing customers from different continent confirm the deal instantly at any time. With mobile telephony and GPS technologies develop, such deals can be done via mobiles. 7) The threats of new-economy and defenses * Raise complex ethical issues and present potentially significant threats * For most products, price usually is not far from variable cost in the long run, syndication implies that the variable of delivery of informational goods approach zero, then what about the price, how do the producers make money? * There are few barriers to entry and many internet strategies are easily imitated. * Privacy and security issues. * Two best defenses against these advantages: one is through the patent and copyright system. The other one is through versioning. Shapiro and Varian argue that even for information products whose variable costs are zero, the value of information to different kinds of customers is likely to vary substantially. * Versioning dimensions: time, convenience, comprehensiveness, manipulation, community and support * Skills in market segmentation and targeting, differentiation and positioning are needed to enable marketers to best take advantages of new-economy technologies and mitigate their disadvantages. * Developing a new-economy strategy: a decision framework * Steps for building marketing strategies for new-economy * Assess the nature of environment * Audit environmental influences (using PEST) * Identify competitive position (strengths and weaknesses via a vis competitors and customers) * Identify key opportunities and threats * Strategic position * Marketing segmentation, targeting and positioning * Identify bases for segmenting the market * Develop profiles of resulting segments * Develop measures of segment attractiveness * Select target markets * Developing positioning for each target segment * Develop marketing mix for each target segment * Marketing applications for new-economy tools * A six-stage consumer experience process: a) Consumer insights: consumer provides information about their need to sellers, which permits producers to develop goods and services intended to meet the customers’ needs. b) Promotion and brand building: information about the new product flows to customers to inform and encourage them to buy c) Transaction: requires that information about pricing, terms, delivery flows both ways. d) Product delivery e) Customer support or service: in which case additional information may flow in either direction or additional goods and services may flow to the customers. f) Return, dispose: the customer may need to return or discontinue use of the good and service. * Impact of e-marketing on marketing strategy * Power shift in supply chain (producers and retailers→ consumers) * More comparative information available to consumers. E.g. Amazon.com → leads to higher purchasing power * Increase nature and scope of competition in many industries * Impact of e-marketing on offerings * Atom based: Still a physical product that needs to be shipped. * Bit based: Digital data or information in electronic form. E.g. MP3 Implications: Online customer has greater information, wider search, online recommendations and price comparisons; competitive strategy must seek to avoid price competition and use web to augment the offering * Developing strategies to serve new-economy markets * What might tomorrow’s entrepreneurs do to craft marketing strategies to  serve new-economy markets? a) Would-be internet entrepreneurs should consider the various ways in which revenue can be generated on the web or in other new-economy settings. Understanding one’s revenue model and being willing to change it as market and technological conditions warrant are essential. b) Entrepreneurs must ask not what can I sell but what do new-economy customers and markets need, and how and where do new-economy consumers want to consume what I have to offer. c) Would-be entrepreneurs must realize that barriers to entry are incredibly low in the new economy. Conclusion: execution is key and understanding customers and the markets they make up, understanding industries and the competitors that daily do battle in them, and developing marketing programs that can establish and maintain sustainable competitive advantage.

A COMPSTAT policing program Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

A COMPSTAT policing program - Essay Example The only difference is that in the ILP, the data gathered and collected are not necessarily known facts and statistics but unconventionally gathered data from tips, leads and reports of suspicious activities. Meetings and sessions are also held in the COMPSTAT policing program periodically conducted usually, at least, once a week. This meetings and sessions, however, cannot be strictly categorized as strategic and tactical, as required in ILP, because they consist mostly of presentation by a commander of the crime-related incidents in his/her jurisdiction and the strategies taken as a consequence and an interrogation of some sort by a facilitator, usually the chief or his designated assistant, of the commander. In these meetings, discussion is usually a bilateral affair between facilitator and commander, in the presence of peers, where the latter is asked to clarify the data he/she presented and the solutions and strategies taken by him/her to solve the crime-related issues in his ju risdiction. This does not contemplate the tactical and strategic meetings of the ILP where attendees put all their heads together to discuss the best strategies and tactics possible to a given problem.Another point at which COMPSTAT diverts from ILP is that the former focuses on crimes, in general, and not on one or specific serious crimes. ILP centers its attention on particular offenders, rather than crimes in general, which are its targets. Moreover, its operations are focused towards big and serious threats such as terrorism and organized crimes.   Unlike ILP, which is emphatic on analytical and executive training, COMPSTAT participants often bewail the lack of adequate training, and are forced to rely on a sample COMPSTAT book that serves as a model for all its future books that will be presented during future sessions. The lack of adequate training is perhaps underpinned by the fact that it is only the unit commander who is saddled with the responsibility of presenting and a nswering questions during COMSTAT sessions, as well as making the hard decisions as what programs are to be implemented to solve specific problems in his/her jurisdiction. However, this is only as far as executive training is concerned because it is difficult to imagine the analysts processing the data and information gathered to have undergone no

The Darwinian Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Darwinian Economy - Essay Example During a House Financial Services Committee hearing, it was put across that the simplest way to frame regulation was capital. Capital informs the amount of risk that financial institutions can take overall. It assures that the institutions have cushions that can absorb extreme shocks. Capital requirements are designed so as, given the uncertainty about the future and ignorance that there is concerning some elements of risk, it will ensure a greater cushion for absorption of loss and save bankers from consequences of judgment mistakes, as well as global uncertainty. The debate on whether to regulate or not to regulate has a great deal at stake. The global financial systems and their stability are dependent on adequate and effective capital requirements for these institutions with the 2008 crisis revealing vital problems with requirements as they currently stand (Ferguson, 2012: p1). However, economic recovery prospects, in Britain, the EU, and the US are heavily dependent on a steady credit flow, as well as lending. In addition, the available evidence is suggestive of the fact that over the top increment of capital requirements, in deed, will cause a credit crunch. Therefore, while financial institutions do require some level of regulation, they should not be over-regulated. Regulatory Failure Regulatory requirements of capital are not equally effective in their totality, especially because of two essential pitfalls that they are susceptible to; discretionary recognition of loss by regulators and bankers and discretionary bailouts by their governments (Barth et al, 2010: p34). Discretionary loss recognition refers to the use of practices of accounting that act to alter the meaning of capital. Instead of utilizing market based concepts, such as bank stock prices, so as to measure risk, as well as establish capital needs, regulators are reliant on concepts of accounting. They check on the bank’s books, rather than on the market assessments of the firmâ€⠄¢s held value. Regulatory capital, therefore, is referred to as accounting residual, i.e. the difference between asset accounting value and debt accounting value (Barth et al, 2010: p34). Accountants, book value, of course, are subject strict requirements of law. However, these requirements provide the regulators and bankers with discretion, especially concerning timing, which allows them to delay the acknowledgement of problems, as well as acting on these problems (Barth et al, 2010: p36). In addition, neither regulators nor bankers tend to recognize losses fully during poor economic conditions. The bankers will usually prefer to use delay tactics, such as ever greening, i.e. re-lending of money to the delinquent borrowers in order for these borrowers to pay back ballooning costs of debt service using even more debt to mask their problems. Bank regulators, on their part, always crave system stability, especially forbearance, to avoid worsening or precipitating a crisis. Therefore, they find ways to utilize their allotted discretion so as to downplay the size of losses in order for the banks not to require lost capital replacement (Barth et al, 2010: p34). When the above-mentioned practices are done on a large scale, they can have disastrous results. In the preceding events of the 2008 financial crisis, for instance, their combination caused a failure in the replacement of bank capital in time, which led to an intensification of the eventual

X-ray Fluorescence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

X-ray Fluorescence - Essay Example J. Moseley number elements in 1913 through the observation of K-line transitions as observed in X-ray spectrum. This formed the basis of element identification through X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy by considering the relationship between the atomic number and the frequency. X-Ray fluorescence, XRF refers to the emission of characteristic secondary, also referred to as fluorescent X-rays by bombarding a material with X-rays at high energy or gamma rays so that the material gets excited. The wavelength of X-rays range between 50 and 100 A related to energy in the relationship: E = h? where h is Planck constant, 6.62 * 10-24 and ? is the frequency in Hertz. High energy X-rays would be required for XRF as the soft X-rays get absorbed by the target element, with the absorption edges depending on ionisation energies of the respective electrons, unique to each element. While the energy dispersive XRF, EDXRF methodology detects all elements from Na through to U, the wavelength dispersive X RF, WDXRF detects down to Be (Shackley 34). How XRF Works When the atoms of the target material absorb the high energy photons from the X-rays or gamma-rays, the electrons at the inner shell would be ejected from the atom transforming them to photoelectrons. As a result, the atom would be left at an excited state having a vacancy in its inner shell. The outer shell electrons would then fall into this resultant vacancy in the process emitting photons whose energy equals the difference in energy between the two states. It would be appreciated that each element has its unique energy level set, implying that each element would emit characteristic pattern of X-rays unique to itself which Sharma (527) refers to as characteristic X-rays. With increase in the concentration of the corresponding element, there would also be an increase in the X-ray intensity. This phenomenon also applies in the quantitative analysis of elements through the production of optical emission spectra. With characte ristic X-rays resulting from transition between the energy levels in an atom, the electrons that transition from energy level Ei to Ej would emit X-rays with energy Ex = Ei – Ej. With each element having unique atomic energy level set, a unique X-rays set would be emitted characteristic of the element (Sharma 526). Considering Bohr’s atomic model (see fig. 1), with atomic levels designated as K, L, M and so forth, each with additional sub-shells, a transition between these shells would result in the emission of characteristic X-rays. Fig. 1. Bohr’s atomic model from Sharma (527) As such, M X-ray would result from transition to M shell, so would K X-ray be a result of transition to K shell. K?1 X-ray would result from an electron dropping from M3 shell to fill in a vacancy in the K shell (see fig. 2). The emitted X-ray would have energy EX-ray = EK – EM3. Figure 2: X-ray line labelling from Bounakhla and Tahri (12) Sources According to Bounakhla and Tahri (21), radioisotopes provide the simplest source for configuration since one selects a source that emits X-rays slightly above the target element’s absorption edge energy. They have found wide application due to their stability and smallness in size in the context where monochromatic and continuous sources would be required. It serves well with regard to ruggedness, reliability, simplicity and in the consideration of cost of equipment. For safety, emissions would be limited to approximately 107 photons. The activity would be described in terms of disintegration rates of the radioisotopes where this activity would decrease from initial activity, A0 to final activity At for a duration of time, t. At = A0e(-0.693t/T?) where T? is the

Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 7

Psychology - Essay Example But when they look at themselves in the mirror, they see only the imperfections of which they are already well aware. The good news is that if we can’t depend on our own judgment and we’re mistrustful of the reassurances of our friends, it has been established that people have the inherent capability to alter how others perceive the way they look simply in the way they present themselves. â€Å"When you’re convinced you look good, others see you in a more favorable light† (Flora, 2006). People, mostly women, tend to feel more attractive around people who aren’t as appealing as they are and less attractive around people they perceive as having more appealing features. These social comparisons occur constantly and automatically, not only when strangers are deliberately scrutinized. Psychologists refer to this phenomenon as the ‘contrast effect.’ According to Richard Robins, professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis, women universally use a scale for beauty that is unreasonable. For example, in a study, neither gender used people such as Einstein as a comparison when appraising their own intelligence, but women compare a biased view of their own beauty to that of super models. Another study showed how self-awareness of appearance affects cognitive actions. When males and females were given a math test, both genders had similar results but when another test was given with the females dressed in swimsuits, they scored much lower than their male counterparts. When the men wore swimsuits, the difference was negligible. I am not surprised to find that studies show women to be more obsessed with their outward appearance than men. Society has long established the idea that a woman’s only value is reflected in the quality of the man she can attract. Since men tend to base their own preferences upon the outward appearance of women, it becomes necessary for women to be concerned with doing all she can to attract the

Ancient Dance References Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ancient Dance References - Essay Example Ancient Dance References Dance is a pastime and a ritual that, while historical, has very little traceable history. There is plenty of evidence to show that it has existed for many millennia, perhaps even since the dawn of mankind, but there are great gaps between the dance that we know now and the dance that existed back then.Dance, being a physical activity, is unable to leave behind concrete proof of its presence. As such, it is only a guess that dance has been around since the beginning of human beings. We are able to rely on the few bits of historical evidence to accompany this assumption, even though it still remains to be just an assumption. Likewise, the questions of where dance originated from, why it was started, and how it was originally practiced are only able to be answered with educated guesses. Descriptions of ancient dances are few and far between, but they do exist. This allows us a glimpse into the past of dancing. One of the first greatest descriptions of dance com es from India and was written by Bharata Muni, a man who lived approximately between 500 BC and 200 BC. The textbook that he wrote, which was called the Natya Shastra, outlined many things in regard to theatre and music, but the majority of the book was based on dance. Bharata wrote in great detail about a variety of dances, focusing a lot of pages to every movement in each of the dances. He also divulged into descriptions of the social contexts that these dances would be used in. This book is considered to be the first detailed account of dance.

Intellectual property right Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Intellectual property right - Assignment Example To a certain extent, it prevents the plethora of similar products. It helps an organization to remain unique in its own products. This paper discusses the necessity of Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and how it provides good protection for traditional knowledge as well as patents. The Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is an international agreement, administered by the World Trade Organization (WTO). It annotates minimum standards and guidelines for the various forms of intellectual property (IP) regulations, for nations who are signatories of the WTO. TRIPS came into existence in 1994, through the negotiations in the final stages of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), guaranteeing protection for many things. When the Uruguay Round concluded and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) was put into force in 1994 many believed that it is a step towards reaching a global solution for many product violation cases. (Alsegard 2004). Trips recommends all its signatory nations to follow and bring into effect the laws protecting intellectual property of various organizations, countries or individuals. The signatories consist of 153 countries, which represent s close to 95% of total world trade. These countries can be assured of, if or when they implement TRIPs, will be the avoidance of the economic and trade sanctions which industrialised countries would be entitled to impose under the terms of GATT. (McGrath 1996). There are certain standards which the nations laws should meet with regards to IP rights including: copyright rights, like the rights of performers including music artists, films, geographical indications, trademarks, etc, etc. These standards are stipulated by the TRIPS. Hence the WTO’s TRIPS agreement aims to facilitate the protection of rights in a more efficient way and so that it can be

MGMT Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

MGMT - Term Paper Example It is their management which is primarily responsible for the formulation of strategies, assigning goals, implementation of strategies, tracking the success of these by matching them to their predetermined goals. This is done in my forms however their strategic thrusts rely heavily on feedback which they receive. The most effective feedback is by the numbers which are generated by each store. These are then forwarded to the headquarters by the use of the vast digital network. In 2007 Wal-Mart was labeled one of the most competitive and innovative companies in the world (Plambeck, 2007). Their ability to be innovative is critical for them being able to achieve sustainability through measures that positively impact and reduce strain on the environment. This they do by three ambitious goals: incorporating as much of renewable energy as they can as part of their operations, minimizing the creation of waste and continuously striving to sell products which lead to sustaining their resources as well as the environment. As far as innovation is concerned an analysis of the activities and measures taken by Wal-Mart focus on incorporating a culture which aids the organization through making efficient use of a learning culture. This can be seen in the extensive measures taken by Wal-Mart to facilitate learning of the employees and introducing frequent training sessions. From the instance an employee starts working at Wal-Mart they undergo a extensive customer service training, they also undertake on the job training and ongoing formal training as far as responsibilities of the work are concerned. Analysis suggests that initially it was customer service and the ten foot rule applied to the workforce which served as driving forces for Wal-Mart’s innovative culture. Suggestions, feedback and communication with the employees were valued and some of their suggestions were even adopted

Expanding the Oral Care Group in India Case Study - 1

Expanding the Oral Care Group in India - Case Study Example 50% of the population is not concerned for oral hygiene. Those parts of the potential customers need awareness first of all about the oral health. Secondly, they are not in a reach of oral health care products as the disposable incomes of people living in rural areas have $2 per day, in comparison of urban population who are wealthy and they have great purchasing power. There is a shortage of dental care personnel in rural areas specially, single personnel handles thousands of dental patients. In addition, people with only high income consult dental professionals as they cost very high (Bruce, Moore, & Birtwistle, 2004). That defines the problem of affordability to the consumers. And the third is Accessibility, in which the director of the company, Brinda Patel want her manager to make a new market plan and she want to increase the unit sales nearly up to 30% of toothbrushes in India by spending 3% more in advertising budget, as her previous project in Thailand went successful. Whereas, manager Michael Lang is concerned if the strategy of increasing advertising budget more than Thailand’s budget will affect the sales positively as there are many cultural barriers in each region of India. The projections could go wrong, whether they can access the products and accept the change in oral health as they are using Neem twigs and tobacco and ashes since ages. Brinda believes that rural area need more hygiene protection messages and has a strategy to market its premium products and convince customers to switch to high range of oral care products, that might help the company to reach up to 30% per unit sales(Rudolf R. Sinkovics, 2009). On the other hand, Michael suggested not increasing the advertising budget and applying strategies in urban market to focus and persuade first time users of tooth brush and later spend on when they become habitual. Applying marketing strategies suggested by Brinda over rural areas

Atlas Honda Motorcycle company †BRM report Essay Example for Free

Atlas Honda Motorcycle company – BRM report Essay Atlas Auto Limited manufactures and markets Honda Motorcycle under a technical assistance agreement with Honda Motorcycle Company LTD. of Japan. An epoch-making event in the history of the company cementing of Atlas Honda relation with Honda Motorcycle Company LTD. Of Japan becoming as equity-holder in Atlas in 1988. Due to the suitability wide range and high quality of the product, Honda motorcycles are by for the best selling motorcycle in the country. Turnover has risen from Rs. 2. 5 million in 1965 to Rs. 830 million in1987. Pakistan’s motorcycle market size is still relatively quite small Nevertheless. Atlas has undertaken to develop local manufacturing capabilities to the highest-level economically feasible while a major role in localization has been assigned to vendor industries. Atlas has invested Rs. 197 million in fixed assets between 1983 and1987 to develop the country largest in house manufacturing capacity in the industry. By end of 1988 local component will go upto 70% of Atlas product. Atlas management is strivings to modernize company operation by adapting applicable aspects of research and theory and more especially Honda’s philosophy and practices to the realities of  Pakistani Conditions Company management structure and processes are being transferred to meet challenges of growth and change. Effort are being made to develop genuine participation of all levels of personnel in decision making; substantial and effective delegation has been established at all level various participation programmes, such as â€Å"Alaymayar† quality circles movement launched in 1985 are supported to encourage constructive self expression and team work. The company training and development programmes encourage each member to develop himself to his full potential. To support the production facilities the company has established a RD wing and tool making facilities which are set to grow rapidly in size and function. Atlas is playing a pioneering role in creating conditions for easy and confident use of motorcycle all over the country. A vast network of motorcycle, service and share parts dealers has been established to provide dependable service to every motorcycle user. To back up this system, Atlas has set up a permanent motorcycle technical training center in Lahore which provide several courses of varying duration and complexity for motorcycle mechanics user each year. Mobile training facilities take the latest know how on technology and maintenance of motorcycles to major rural centers around the country. ORGANIZATION HISTORY The established year of Atlas Autos Limited in 1963. In 1964 Atlas entered into technical assistance agreement with Honda Motorcycle Company of Japan for manufacturing and assembly of Honda Motorcycle in Pakistan. It is the only Public Limited Company in the industry of Pakistan. Atlas Autos Limited operate two plants one at Panjdarys Sheikhpura Road Lahore. Both Plants are franchises and have relationship of technical collaboration. MANAGEMENT OF ATLAS AUTOS. In 1964 Atlas autos started business as assembler of Honda Motorcycle, than they came into the business of import Honda spare parts. The organization set up of Atlas is as follows:- A Board of Director consists of 7 members, elect a chairman, chairman has all managerial authority. Chairman is selected out of directors and It is the responsibility of chairman to conduct the business on a satisfactory line and maximize the profit. After the chairman then comes C. E. O (Chief executive officer). Then for assistance of chairman and C. E. O personal manager, accounts manager, production manager and marketing manager are selected. Seven managers are working under C. E. O each manager is responsible for respective function. There are two sales managers one for North Zone and one for south Zone. In the every zone two provinces. In the North Zone come Punjab, NWFP and Azad Kashmir. In south zone Sindh and Baluchistan. In north zone there are three regions. 1- Lahore 2- Multan 3- Rawalpindi The head of every region is regional manager. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The main purpose of my research is:- v To Visualize and identify these factors that contribute to the demand of Honda Motorcycle in Multan city (Punjab, Pakistan). v To recommend suggestion to increase the demand of Honda Motorcycle and getting much marketing share. RESEARCH DESIGN Research design is the arrangement to condition for collection and analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine the relevance to research purpose with economy in procedure. Measurement For the measurement of attitude of people, We used open-ended questions as well as fixed alternative questions in our questionnaire. Sampling The basic idea in sampling is that the analysis of some of the element in the population provide useful information’s about entire population. An element is the subject on which the  measurement is being taken. It can be called as the unit of study. Population is the total collection of element about which we wish to make increase. For the selection of sample, we used the stratified sampling. We divide the Mutlan city into 4 regions which are given as under: 1. Gulgasht 2. Hussain Agahi 3. Shah Rukan Alam 4. Cantt After dividing the Multan city into different region. The we used random sampling and select 25 respondents from evry region. Our target respondents are the customers and dealers of Honda Motor Cycle. Sample Size Dealers and customers of Honda Motor Cycle are easily available, so it is easy to select a big  sample size. For the purpose of our research We selected a sample of 100 customers and 3 dealers of Honda Motor Cycle, because of the time constraint that’s why we selected these customers and dealers. Data Collection Method The report is based on primary data. Information are directly taken form the customers and dealers of Honda Motor Cycle for the particular purpose. For that purpose we developed two questionnaire ( for customers and dealers ). We have conducted personal survey method. The main qualities of this survey method are as fellows: 1. The most important features of this method is that it leads towards high participation. Moreover, in personally interview the interview can carry with additional information’s. 2. The props and visual aids can also enhance the vision of knowledge of interviewer. The interviewer has more control over the personal interview than other interrogation types. 3. The greatest value of this method is the depth and detail of information that can be secured. It for exceeds in volume and quality, the information we can usually secure from telephone and mail survey. 4. The interview can do more things to improve the quality of the information received than with other methods. Respondent motivation is heavily in the hand of the interviewer. Studies of reaction to a number of surveys indicate that respondents can be motivated to participate in personal interviews. Medium of Communication All the users of Honda Motor Cycle are not educated. So we adopt different style. For educated persons we use the same questionnaire. But for uneducated persons we translate the questionnaire for them. Questionnaire For Consumers Q. 1: What is your Occupation? REPONSES % AGE Student 15 15% Govt. Employee 40 40% Business man 20 20% Others 25 25% Total 100 100% Conclusion: In our respondents 15 persons are students, 40 are Govt. Employee, 20 business man and 25 are related to other occupation. From this result we can say the users of Honda Motorcycle are Govt. Employee and Other occupation. Q. 2: What is your Income Group? REPONSES % AGE 5000-10000 30 30% 11000-15000 40 40% 16000-20000 20 20% 21000-25000 8 8% 26000-above 2 2% Total 100 100% Conclusion: The respondents whose income is 5000 to 10000 are 30, 11000 to 15000 are 40, from 16000 to 20000 are 20, from 21000 to 25000 are 8 and finally 26000 and above are only 2. So we can say that the user of Honda Motorcycle is middle family people so it is bike of economical people. Q. 3: What is your preference? RESPONSES % AGE Yamaha 0 0% Honda 100 100% Suzuki 0 0% Total 100 100% Conclusion: We have interviewed just those persons who are driving Honda Motor Cycle so preference for this sample comes to 100%. Q. 4: You yourself purchased it? RESPONSES % AGE Yes 92 No 8 Total 100 Conclusion: Out of a sample of 100 respondent 92 were of the view that they personally purchased the bike and 8 said that is give to them by their company. So it means that 92% people have purchased the bike personally which 8% people got it from their company. Q. 5: When did you purchase Honda Motorcycle? RESPONSES % AGE Before 1984 0 0% 1985-1990 10 10% 1991-1995 20 20% 1996-2000 25 25% After 2000 45 45% Total 100 100% Conclusion: When we asked this question to respondent, out of 100, 10 were those who purchased during 1985-1990, 20 were those who purchased during 1991-1995, 25 were those who purchased during 1996-2000 and finally 45 were those who purchased after 2000 so we can say that the market or demand of latest model is more than others. Q. 6: Why you purchase Honda Motorcycle? Because of RESPONSES % AGE Fuel consumption 58 58% Less Noisy 0 0% Parts Availability 0 0% All of the above 42 42% Total. Conclusion: Out of 100 respondents, 58 persons said that they preferred Honda Motorcycle due to fuel consumption, and 42 persons say that they purchase Honda motorcycle because of all these qualities which mention are present in the motorcycle. So we can say mostly people purchase Honda motorcycle because of Fuel consumption. Q. 7: have you used any other brand of Motorcycle? RESPONSES %AGE Yes 45 45% No 55 55% Total 100 100% Conclusion: When we asked this question, 45 respondents said that they used other brand of motorcycle while 55 persons told us that they never used any other brand of Motorcycle. Q. 8: If yes then what is the reason of change? RESPONSES %AGE Fuel consumption 40 88. 888% Spare part availability 0 0% Any other mention 5 11. 111% Total 45 100% Conclusion: In response to this question 40 respondent said that they have change previous motorcycle with Honda motorcycle because petrol average per liter of previous motorcycle is very low as compared to Honda motorcycle and 5 respondent said that any other mention like there machines are not easily available and etc. Q. 9: What is average coverage of your Motorcycle per liter? RESPONSES %AGE 40-50 15 15% 51-60 60 60% 61-70 25 25% 71-80 0 0%. Total 100 100% Conclusion: In the regard of this question, 15 person said that their bike cover 41-50 km per litter while 60 respondents said 51-60,and 25 respondent said 61-70. So I can say it is a main factor of Honda bike. Q. 10: Do the spare parts easily available? RESPONSES %AGE Yes 100 100% No 0 0% Total 100 100% Conclusion: When I asked this question, response to this question is 100% in favor. The respondents said they have to never face any problem because the spare parts of Honda Motorcycle are easily available. So it is also a main cause that Honda motorcycle has an edge on other Motorcycle. Q. 11: Do you think that fuel consumption affect your purchase decision? RESPONSES %AGE Yes 91 91% No 9 9% Total 100 100% Conclusion: In the response of this question all respondent said that fuel consumption affect their purchasing decision. They said we can save our money. Because expense of this motorcycle is less as compare to other motorcycle. Q. 12: If Yes then how much? RESPONSES %AGE Very much 60 65. 94% High 20 21. 98% Low 0 0% Normal 11 12. 1% Total 91 100% Conclusion: Out of 100 respondent 60 said that fuel consumption affect their decision very much while 20 said that it is high affect on their decision. While 11 said that fuel consumption has normal affect on their decision. Q. 13: Do you think the price of motorcycle affect your buying decision? RESPONSES %AGE Yes 56 56% No 44 44% Total 100 100% Conclusion: In the response of this question, 56 respondent are those said that price affect their purchasing decision while other 44 respondent told that price does not affect their purchasing decision. Q. 14: If yes than up to what extent? RESPONSES %AGE High 32 57. 15% Normal 22 39. 29% Low 2 3. 58% Total 56 100% Conclusion: Out of 56 respondents are those who said that price affect their purchasing decision, 32 persons  said price has high affect while 22 respondent said that price has normal affect and finally 2 respondent said that it has low affect on their buying decision. Q. 15: Do the mechanics easily available for the repair of Motorcycle? RESPONSES %AGE Yes 100 100% No 0 0% Total 100 100% Conclusion: When we asked this question the entire respondent said that mechanics are easily available for the repair of Honda Motorcycle. So it is also a main factor that Honda Motorcycle captured the market and spread all over the country. Q. 16: What is the resale value of Honda motorcycle after four years? RESPONSES %AGE More then half price 70 70% Equal to half price 29 29% Less than half price 1 1% Total 100 100% Conclusion: Honda Motorcycle is a cash deposit bike. You can cash it at any time. When we asked about the resale value all respondent said that they preferred Honda Motorcycle because it will be sold more than half price. Some respondent said that they sold Honda motorcycle more than their original price. So it is an important factor of Honda Motorcycle. Q. 17: What is the performance of its shocks? RESPONSES %AGE Very good 25 25% Good 55 55% Normal 20 20% Bad 0 0% Very Bad 0 0%. Total 100 100% Conclusion: In response to this question, 25 respondent said V. Good, 55 said Good and 20 people said the performance of shocks is normal. So we can say that the over all performance of shocks is good. Q. 18: What is the performance of its engine? RESPONSES %AGE Very Good 25 25% Good 70 70% Normal 5 5% Bad 0 0% Very Bad 0 0% Total 100 100% Conclusion: 25 respondents said that performance of engine is V. Good 70 respondent said good while 5 person said normal. So it is a main cause due to which Honda Motorcycle captured the market. Q. 19: How is it’s electric system (cdi) ? RESPONSES %AGE Very Good 14 14% Good 40 40% Normal 45 45% Bad 0 0% Very Bad 0 0% No (cdi system) 1 1% Total 100 100% Conclusion: 14% respondent said V. Good, 40% said good and 45% respondent said Normal electric system and 1 respondent said that he has no cdi system I his motorcycle. So over all we can say that Honda electric system of Honda Motorcycle is good. Q. 20: How is the pick up of Honda Motorcycle? RESPONSES %AGE Very Good 5 5% Good 20 20% Normal 75 75% Bad 0 0% Very Bad 0 0% Total 100 100% Conclusion: 5% people said that pick up of Honda Motorcycle power sV. Good, 20% said good and 75%. respondent said its pickup is normal. From this result we conclude that Honda motorcycle is economical bike for the people. Q. 21: Is it a balanced bike? RESPONSES %AGE Yes 100 100% No 0 0% Total 100 100% Conclusion: From 100 respondent all the respondent said that it is a Balanced Bike. So we can conclude that it is balanced bike. Q. 22: Have you seen any Advertise of Honda Motorcycle on TV or any other media like Newspaper, journal etc? RESPONSES %AGE Yes 80 805 No 20 205 Total 100 100% Conclusion: Out of 100 respondents 80 says that they have seen the advertisement of Honda motorcycle and  20 says that they haven’t seen it. So we can say that most of the people have seen the advertisement of Honda Motorcycle. Q. 23: Whether the advertisement of Honda Motorcycle is Impressive? RESPONSES %AGE Yes 30 37. 5% No 50 62. 5% Total 80 100% Conclusion: In the response of this question 37. 5% respondent said that advertisement of Honda CD 70 is impressive while 62. 5% said that it is negative. So, we can conclude that advertisement is not good of Honda motorcycle. Q. 24: Do you thing the advertisement affect your purchasing decision? RESPONSES %AGE Yes 10 12. 5% No 70 87. 5% Total 80 100% Conclusion: Out of 80 respondent 10 said that advertisement affect their purchasing decision while 70 said advertisement has no affect on their buying decision. Q. 25: Do you think the market value affect your purchasing decision? RESPONSES %AGE Yes 95 95% No 5 5% Total 100 100% Conclusion: 95% respondent said that market value affect their purchasing decision while 5% said in No. Honda motorcycle is such motorcycle which we can sell it at any time. So it is a main cause Honda motor has an edge on other motorcycle. Q. 26: Are you satisfied with company after sales service? RESPONSES %AGE Yes 75 75% No 25 25% Total 100 100%. Conclusion: In the regard of this question 75 respondents said that they are satisfied with after sales service while 25 respondents said that they are not satisfied. Q. 27: Have you any suggestion about motor cycle to the company? RESPONSES %AGE Yes 30 30% No 70 70% Total 100 100% Conclusion: 30 respondents give different suggestion they said that company make it heavy, Improve the equality make it innovative reduces the prices of spare parts etc. while 70 respondents give no suggestion. Q. 28: What is your education? RESPONSES %AGE Metric 10 10% F. A. 30 30% B. A. 40 40% Masters 20 20% Uneducated 0 0% Total 100 100%. Conclusion: In our respondent 10 are Metric, 30 are F. A. 40 B. A. and 20 respondents are in masters. So we can say educated people mostly used it. Questionnaire For Dealers Q. 1: Why you preferred the dealership of Honda Motorcycle? RESPONSES %AGE Incentive to dealers 0 0% Easily dealership available 0 0% Much sale 3 100% Total 3 100% Conclusion: Out of 3 dealers, all of them preferred the dealership of Honda motorcycle because its sale is more than other motorcycle. Q. 2: How is the security requirement for its dealership? RESPONSES %AGE High 1 33. 333% Low 0 0% Normal 2 66. 667% Total 3 100% Conclusion: 1 respondent said that its security requirement is high, while 2 respondent said that security requirement is normal. Q. 3: How much the incentive given to you? RESPONSES %AGE Very much 2 66. 667% Much 0 0% Normal 0 0% Less 1 33. 333% Total 3 100% Conclusion: 2 dealers said that for it’s dealership a very much security is required and while 1 say that less security is required for it’s dealership. Q. 5: Do you advise your family members, friends to purchase it? RESPONSES %AGE Yes 3 100% No 0 0% Total 3 100% Conclusion: When we asked this question from dealers, the response is 100%. They said that which thing  they sale they must advertise for it. Q. 6: Why people purchase it? Because of RESPONSES %AGE Fuel consumption 2 66. 667% Spare parts availability 0 0% Four stroke 0 0% All of above 1 33. 333% Total 3 100% Conclusion: In response to this question, 2 dealers said that people purchase it due to fuel consumption, and 1 dealer said that people preferred it because all these qualities are in this motorcycle. It is a four stroke, spare parts easily available and also fuel consumption is less as compare to other motorcycle. Q. 7: Do you check the bike before its sale? RESPONSES %AGE Yes 3 100% No 0 0% Total 3 100% Conclusion: In response to this question all dealers said that they check the bike before its sale. Q. 8: How much are your monthly Sale? RESPONSES %AGE 1-10 0 0% 11-20 0 0% 21-30 3 100% Total 3 100% Conclusion; In reply to this question all the dealers said that their monthly average sale is between 21-30. Q. 9: How much profit you get on the sale of a bike? RESPONSES %AGE 1000-2000 0 0% 2001-3000 3 100% More than 3000 0 0% Total 3 100% Conclusion; All the dealers said that there profit is between 2001-3000 from the sale of each motorbike. Q. 10: What is the behavior of its user about it? RESPONSES %AGE Good 0 0% Very Good 3 100%. Normal 0 0% Total 3 100% Conclusion: All the dealers said that the behavior of customers is very good towards Honda Motorcycle. Q. 11: What step you have taken for its promotion? RESPONSES %AGE Not taking steps for its promotion 0 0% Motivating the people suggestion to the company 3 100% Total 3 100% Conclusion: We are taking too many steps. We are increasing sales promotion effort. We are also increasing the advertisement of Honda Motorcycle. We are also tried to motivate the people to purchase it. We held seminars with the help of company and also use P. R and tell the people its advantage. Conclusion Conclusion. After conducting the research we can say that Honda motorcycle is successful and popular in people because of the following reasons: Spare Parts Availability: The spare parts of Honda motorcycle is easily avilavble in the market. If some fault occurs and due to that fault customers has to replace a particular parts, Which is easily available in the market, so customer has to face no problem. It is a main factor due to which Honda motorcycle is too much popular. Resale Value: The customers are strongly satisfied with the resale value of Honda motorcycle. The user can easily sale it more that half price at which he purchased. Some time the user of Honda Motorcycle sale it greater that price at which they purchased so it is a fact users agree with its resale value. Petrol Average: The petrol average of Honda motorcycle is also very good. In the beginning its average is very good and more than 70 km per litter. After some time its average decrease but not too much. The minimum petrol average of Honda motorcycle is 50 according to our survey. It is a very good petrol average. Service And Maintenance: The mechanics are easily available for the repair of motorcycle and they also trained in their work. So consumers have to  Face no problem of service and maintenance. After Sale Service: The company gives free service after sale of motorcycle. Due to this customers are satisfied with its after sales services. Pick up: The pick up power of Honda Motorcycle is good. The pick up power of other motorcycle is very low as compare to Honda Motorcycle. 4Strokes: This quality of Honda Motorcycle make this product different from others motorcycle. It is only 4 stroke motorcycle. Electric System: The electric system of Honda Motorcycle is also to much affective. Design: The management of Honda motorcycle changes the design of motorcycle at the time. Honda Company introduced or replaced 113 models of motorcycle with in 18 months, other companies are not able to introduce new model so quickly. Due to this factor Honda motorcycle is popular. Others: When we asked questions to the customers about the bike, most people said that it is a balanced bike. They showed satisfaction on the meter performance, shocks reliability and speed. One more factor we felt during our survey is that mostly students and Govt. servant like Honda motorcycle and it is more popular in highly educated person the age group 20-25 years and income Rs3000 to 5000.

Concepts Of Performance Management In Human Resources

Concepts Of Performance Management In Human Resources Abstract Performance management is becoming increasingly important in the department of Human Resources in recent years. It refers to a systematic instrument for improving the development of individuals, teams and organizations. With the wide acceptance of performance management to the organizations, how can it be understood, accepted and implemented by managers and employees effectively in practice? The paper makes a study on the performance management from the perspective of Human Resources, analyses the definitions and process of performance management and discusses the positive and negative effects of performance management. Overall, it will be argued that the positive effects of performance management outweigh its negative effects, but it is also necessary to pay attention to its disadvantages, such as judgement errors caused by distortion of performance information. Performance Management in HR à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚  . Introduction The concept of performance has been around for more than a hundred years, experiencing some remarkable changes in the process of performance developments and subsequently integrating into the Human Resources Management system. Performance management, as one of the most important parts in these development procedures, has attracted intensifying attention in many organizations. In addition, economical globalization, speedy development of technology and high capitalizations are conspicuous trends in this fast-paced society, people have to promote their performance and become more flexible to satisfy the needs of this fast-changing and competitive society. Hence, how to select employees, who are regarded as an organizations greatest assets, plays a dominant role in avoiding companies to fall behind their competitors. Simultaneously how to keep the talent and how to encourage them to give their maximum ability to improve the competitiveness of company are crucial issues to managers. Effic ient use of performance management can help the company to solve such problems. In this essay, a clear definition of performance and performance management will be given firstly by the analysis of different interpretations put forward by many scholars. Then from four steps, including planning, implementation, appraisal and feedback, it will introduce performance management process. Finally, this essay will attempt to demonstrate that the positive effects of performance management are more significant than the negative. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ ¡. Defining the concepts A. What is performance? Performance management is obviously to do with performance, and what is meant by that word? There are two dissimilar views on the definition of performance. One is the outputs and outcomes of activities, Bernadin et al (1995, cited in Armstrong 2000: 3) states that performance should be defined as outcomes of work because they provide the strongest linkage to the strategic goals of the organization, customer satisfaction, and economic contributions. An alternative view contends that performance is behaviour, including working proficiency, literacy and efforts. Campell (1900, cited in Armstrong 2000: 3) believes that performance is behaviour and should be distinguished from outcomes because they can be contaminated by systems factors. Actually, in the practice of performance management in HR, managers usually intend to use a more comprehensive view of performance, which includes outputs and behaviour, because they have a mutual relationship of complementation, the behaviour is deemed to be one of the indispensable conditions to reach outcomes or outputs of performance. This view is concluded by Brumbrach (1988, cited in Armstrong 2000: 3) that performance is composed of behaviour and outcomes or outputs. Performer tries his or her best to turn abstract plans or behaviour into some concrete outcomes. In other words, behaviour is an instrument for gaining results. To summarize, an overall definition of performance should consist of behaviour and results, and these two elements need to be taken into account when measuring the performance of individuals and teams. B. Performance management Performance management is an essential part in HRM, which has become increasingly popular since the 1980s. Dransfield (2000: 69) states that performance management is a process which is designed to improve organizational, team and individual performance and which is owned and driven by line managers. According to Dransfields (2000) definition, currently, there are three different viewpoints on the definition of performance management. The first one is to be understood as organizational performance. It means that the implementation of organization strategies should emphasize on the adjustment of organizational structure, business process, technology and targets. The second viewpoint is that performance management is a means of getting better results from teams. Performance management applies to everyone in the business team, not just managers, but also employees. As stated by Armstrong (2000:5), It rejects the cultural assumption that only managers are responsible for the performance of their teams and replaces it with the belief that responsibility is shared between managers and team members. The third one claims that the core of performance management is developing individuals potential, and after that improving organizational performance through aligning individual and organiza tional targets. This essay is in favour of the third opinion, mainly because the inconsistent or missing information of target content is inevitable during the top-down transmission from organizational targets to individual targets. In order to make sure the staffs activities and outputs are congruent with organizational targets, it is widely believed that performance management should be focused on guiding and helping staffs to fulfil their tasks in the light of organizational target and requirement. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ ¢. The process of performance management In order to ensure the targets can be accomplished effectively and punctually, managers should follow a performance management process in an orderly way. An all-around definition is provided to reflect the performance management process, as a management cycle under which program performance objectives and targets are determined, managers have flexibility to achieve them, actual performance is measured , and this information feeds into decisions about programme funding, design, operations and rewards or penalties'(Curristine, 2005: 131). This section will introduce the standard Deming cycle applied in the performance management context and the Deming cycle refers to PDCA where P for plan ,D for do, C for check and A for action. During plan phase the goals and information are decided for employee or team. The do phase is for the implementation of plan and in check phase, supervisors will review and appraise the performance, then confirm the performance and gives feedback in the stage o f action(Evans Lindsay, 2008). A. Performance planning Performance planning is the starting point of performance management process, including three basic aspects-setting the direction, concluding performance agreements and agreeing personal development plans(Armstrong 2000:17-18). In other words, performance planning is deemed to be an activity of deciding what to do and how to do it. Compared to the other types of planning in traditional process and management activities, performance planning has the following characteristics: (1). The process of performance planning is a bidirectional communication between managers and employees. (2). All members, including managers and employees should be responsible for drawing up plans together. B. performance implementation Performance implementation is one of the most fundamental parts throughout the performance management. Undoubtedly, without this basic guarantee of performance implementation, plans cannot be put into practice. In essence, performance implementation is a process of delivering organizational targets or plans from managers to employees, and then people have flexibility to achieve them. C. Performance appraisal Performance appraisal is the focal part of performance management in which managers give assessment to individuals work and achievements in relation to the organizational targets. A useful definition of performance appraisal is set out by the Adivory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) which states that: appraisals regularly record an assessment of an employees performance, potential and development needs. The appraisal is an opportunity to take an overall view of work content, loads and volume, to look back on what has been achieved during the reporting period and agree objectives for the next'(cited in Dransfield, 2000: 71). Generally speaking, the main task of performance appraisal is to identify what the employee is to do and has it been done well. Hence, it is necessary to establish a standard for performance appraisal. If an employees behaviour can be in accordance with the following criteria, it is deemed that this is an effective performance: 1. Strategic Congruence, 2. Validity, 3. Reliability, 4. Acceptability, 5. Specificity (Baker, 1988). D. Performance feedback After being checked, individuals need to know whether their performance is good or not. So managers should provide feedback which needs to be concerned with actual performance and careful measurement. The good feedback is not simply warning employees what they have done wrong or successful, but also guiding a way for individuals future development and improvement. This feedback information is also the evidence that human resources strategy and feedback improve leadership capability and consequently affect organizational performance (Mabey Martin, 2001). In the practise of feedback, there are a number of methods to give feedbacks; one of the most famous systems is 360-degree feedback, which refers to a process in which employees receive confidential, anonymous feedback from the people who work around them, including managers, peers, subordinates and customers (Tyson Ward, 2004). To sum up, performance feedback can be collected from abundant information channels, ranging from superio rs to subordinates, colleagues to customers, and thereafter this feedback information will flow into decision about strategic adjustment, modification, rethinking operation and rewards or penalties. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ £. Performance management influences the development of HRM With the wide dissemination of performance concept, performance management has attracted intensifying attention in many organizations. Managers have placed a premium on the employees performance in their work. So the adoption of performance management not only can improve organizational performance, but also can be personally fulfilling and skill-enhancing. However, there are still some potential problems existing in performance management, which seems to undermine the organizational and individual development. This section will attempt to demonstrate that the functional effects of performance management are more significant than the dysfunctional. A comprehensive definition is provided to point out the functional effects, as In general term, we define a phenomenon as being functional if its consequences contribute positively to a larger structure (Van Dooren, 2010: 152). Performance management thus would have functional effects when it contributes to the whole target of organization. Firstly, performance management can stimulate learning and innovation among employees and inside the organization. In terms of employees, performance management provides a motivation for encouraging employees to improve their own skills, especially those who perform poorly; they are guided to meditate deeply on their working practice, the defects in particular, which is the pivotal to the improvement of their performance. So only keep learning, can employees ensure that they can hold the job position and follow the best career path for themselves. In terms of the whole organization, performance management may trigger changes and innovation. Accord ing to De Brujin (2004), it is obvious that the yearly growth in the number of employees is steady in a company, this means that the organization accumulate slack resources who do not make any contribution to organization. The managers in department of HR can therefore adjust and improve the standard of choosing and employing persons, and cut off the overstaffed offices. Moreover, performance management can create transparency in the organization. Managers or supervisors, who are used to having a lot of priority, may commit mistakes, such as judgement errors and bias. Performance management can make their performance more visible inside or outside the organizations. It is an effective way to supervise and keep managers from giving others unfair treatment. Despite the functional effects that performance management has, it is impossible to deny its dysfunctional effects, which can undermine the goals of the individuals and organizations. Deming (cited in Evans Lindsay, 2008) holds the view that performance management nourishes short-term performance at the cost of the long-term planning. In order to realize the short-term interests and personal achievement, employees may make a flimsy promises to their customers and overdraw organizational resources, at last, the development of the whole organization will be blocked. What is more, the negative effects of performance management can be often caused by distortion of performance information and outputs. In conclusion, despite the existence of drawbacks, the positive effects of performance management are more significant than the negative. Performance management is thus an evolutionary process in which individuals can obtain many opportunities for career development, such as receiving training and guiding, improving the development of capabilities, even attainment of full potential. Simultaneously, organizations can get generous profits in return from their professional performance management. It is likely that performance management will have a bright future in the department of HR. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ ¤. Conclusion As mentioned above, this essay has discussed definitions, process and effects of performance management. It has emerged that the functional effects of performance management are more significant, despite the existence of dysfunctional effects as well. According to Hatry (2008, cited in Van Dooren 2010), performance management may not have a bright future, because some challenges remain to a certain degree and its problems are so thorny that can hinder the development of organizations. Nevertheless, now there are increasingly managers using performance management, as stated by Van Dooren (2010:175), practitioners, management consultants as well as academics have sought solutions in response to the paradoxical and often problematic nature of performance management. Accordingly, the foreground of performance management is still optimistic. An efficient way to solve these problems is to improve the quality of performance information, which can guarantee the reliability and equality of pe rformance appraisal and feedback. From the aspect of employees, adequate training and skills development should be applied in the performance management. In a word, performance management is an indispensable part in the department of HR and it is to be hoped that improvements and adjustments should be taken to deal with challenges and ensure to gain the greatest returns on professional performance management.

UK Books and Publishing Industry Analysis

UK Books and Publishing Industry Analysis Table of Contents 1. Introduction5 1.1 Objective5 1.2 Reasons for Choosing the UK Books and Publishing Industry6 2. Industry Overview9 2.1 Market Size and Attraction10 2.2 Market Sectors10 2.2.2 Paperback11 2.2.3 Electronic11 2.2.4 Fiction11 2.2.5 Non-fiction11 2.3 Industry Target Markets12 2.4 Market Sales, Performance and Activities14 2.4.1 Domestic Market14 2.4.2 Export Sales15 2.4.3 Imports16 2.5 Publishing Companies17 2.6 Employment19 2.7 Distribution20 2.8 Major Trends and Developments21 2.8.1 Emerging Book Formats21 2.8.2 Emerging Distribution Channels and Markets22 2.8.3 Developments in Technology and Concerns in Copyright and Production23 3. Industry Analysis – PESTEL24 3.1 Using the PESTEL Analysis24 3.2 Political Factors24 3.2.1 Taxation24 3.2.2 Pricing24 3.3 Economic Factors25 3.3.1 Global Economic Factors25 3.3.2 UK Economic Trends25 3.4 Social Factors26 3.4.1 Consumer Preferences26 3.4.2 The Internet and Technology26 3.4.3 Reading Habits27 3.5 Technological Factors27 3.5.1 The Digital Age27 3.6 Legislative27 3.6.1 Copyright and Intellectual Property27 3.6.2 Market Regulations for New Entries28 3.7 Environmental 28 3.7.1 The Issue of Paper28 3.7.2 Other conservation measures29 4. Industry Analysis – Porter’s Five Forces Model29 4.1 About Porter’s Five Forces Model29 4.2 Rivalry29 4.3 Supplier Power29 4.4 Buyer Power30 4.5 Threats of Substitutes30 4.6 Barriers to Entry30 5. Conclusion31 References34 List of Tables Time Spent of Main Activities, by Sex, 20058 Total Book Sales 1998-200210 Projected Book Sales: 2002-200710 Unit Book Sales by Format: 1998-200211 Projected Book Sales by Format: 2002/200712 Value Book Sales by Target Market: 1998-200213 Projected Book Sales by Target Market: 2002/200713 Publishers’ Export Sales: 1998-200116 Book Imports: 1998-200117 Leading Publishers Ranked by Total Retail Sales 2001/200218 Total Employment in the Publishing Industry 1998-200220 Retail Distribution21 The UK Books and Publishing Industry Analysis 1. Introduction According to the Encyclopaedia of Global Industries (‘Book Publishing’, 2007), global spending on books increased from US$85.3 billion in 2000 to US$104.6 billion in 2005. This is despite the fact that the global demand for books had significantly dropped for a number of reasons. One of the major reasons cited for this drop was the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. In contrast, the United Kingdom (UK) is currently one of the world’s leading players in the world of publishing. However, it remains behind to major global producers the United States, Japan and Germany. UK is followed by another European major publisher, France In 2002, the UK book and publishing industry reached the value of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤2.5 billion (‘Books and Publishing – United Kingdom’, 2003) and continues to be the major location of European publishing’s central operations and the U.S. publishing’s gateway across the Atlantic. 1.1 Objectives The UK books and publishing industry is one of the UK’s distinct industries. As stated above, UK ranks among the world’s major book and publication producers. Readers across the globe are familiar with the UK’s contribution to the publishing world . UK writers have long been one of the more famous sets of writers in the classic and modern histories. Ranging from William Shakespeare to J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter franchise, the UK books and publishing industry continues to play a significant role, especially among the English-language readers across the globe. However, the new media forms that have been emerging lately such as electronic and online forms of publishing currently challenge the publication preferences of the consumers today and UK print media too has got impacted. The present study is an attempt to analyse the UK books and publishing industry. The objectives of this industry analysis are as follows: Provide an overview of the UK books and publishing industry, its current status and projected directions. Analyse the factors that influence the current and future operations of the industry by using the tool of PESTEL analyses. Assess the books and publishing industry and its impact and performance in the market by using market analysis tools of Porter’s Five Forces. Determine the critical factors that can determine the future of the UK books and publishing industry. 1.2 Reasons for Choosing the UK Books and Publishing Industry The UK remains to have a healthy and dynamic book and publishing market; not only does the UK contain one of the significant market shares in the global book market, it boasts of a number of in-demand authors. Books and publishing in the UK highlights the society’s inherent love for books . What is interesting in the UK book and publishing industry can be seen in the following factors: (1) UK has had a significant role in the publishing world especially among English-language readers across the globe; however, in terms of industry size, UK remains behind book producing giants the United States, Japan and Germany. These three countries have a competitive production advantage: the United States has strong media and entertainment industry which has also influenced its publishing sector; Japan is known for its graphic novel and books publication, as driven by the strong manga culture and demand; Germany’s media corporate giant, Bertelsmann, has managed to own and merge with large publishers, which makes this German company a significant player in the global industry (‘Book Publishing’, 2007). (2) New forms of media, electronic publishing and the Internet, have emerged which have challenged the conventional publishing forms. Electronic publishing and the Internet has become a challenge in a number of areas including the redefinition of publication format (electronic or published through the Internet) and publication access (self-publishing has become popular online). This also influences the amount of interest the public continues to have in books especially when more recreational forms have evolved which may be preferred over picking up a magazine or a book. Besides, recent times have also witnessed a rise of online / virtual schools and other forms of virtual reality which has now given way to emergence of digital versions of these books or e-books. (3) Emerging markets brought by globalisation also affect the expansion of UK publishers to other parts of the world. This is in addition to the increasing demand for English-language learning courses in non-English speaking nations can encourage the publication of books. Regional authors too can increase the interest of the global readers, and it is interesting to see how the UK publishing industry has responded to these new opportunities. In addition to this, it is interesting to evaluate the performance of this huge industry that reaches different global markets and at the same time, is serving a more particular sector of the people’s reading habits. Based on a survey on leisure activities in 2005 by the National Statistics Office’s, reading has been cited as constituting a negligible part of how people spend their time every day. Reading, on an average, only accounts for 23 minutes among men and 26 minutes among women. The following table illustrates how this industry has been catering to a fraction of people’s average daily activities: Time Spent of Main Activities, by Sex, 2005 (‘Time Use Survey’, 2006) As can be seen in the table, reading has taken a backseat as compared to the time people spend watching television or having a â€Å"social life†. A similar survey conducted in 2001 among full-time workers on how they spend their free time, reading emerged as the third highest activity whereas games/hobbies/computing came in close behind (‘Lifestyles’, 2004). Evidently, in the previously cited more recent survey, games/hobbies/computing activities have overtaken reading. However, this peculiar development holds true among males who spend an average of 37 minutes in playing games, indulging in hobbies or working on computers whereas women tend to be ardent readers, thereby spending more time reading than other hobbies. It should also be noted that reading does not only limit itself to the products of the book and publishing industry as the Internet has also become a significant source for information. 2. Industry Overview 2.1 Market Size and Attraction According to the Confederation of British Industry, the book sector has been one of the significant drivers in the overall UK retail sales growth, along with furniture and groceries (‘Books and Publishing – United Kingdom’, 2003). This shows that books are among the main purchases that people make in a combined demand in the leisure and educational sectors. The UK books and publishing industry reached the à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤2.5 billion mark in 2002, making this industry having a positive overall outlook. Volume and value gains were seen rising from 2001 to 2002 at 12.1% and 16.8% respectively. The 12.1% volume increase reflected the 323.8 million units sold by 2002, which contributed to the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.9%. Positive developments were also experienced, which started from the late 1990s up to the beginning of the millennium, with strong value gains eventually contributing to the 4% CAGR since the surge in sales in 1999 (‘Books and Publishing – United Kingdom’, 2003). Total Book Sales 1998-2002 ( Euromonitor International: Country Market Insight) Projected Book Sales: 2002-2007 ( Euromonitor International: Country Market Insight) According to the Publishing Industry Market Review 2006, the total publishing market was worth 18.63bn in 2005, having increased by 7.6% across the review period (2001 to 2005). The Publishing Industry is defined by Newspapers, Magazines as well as Book publishing. Newspaper publishing accounts for the largest share of the markets total value, followed by magazine publishing and book publishing. Within the books and publishing industry in 2004, retail book sales were  £3.98bn which represents a 3.2% increase on 2003.( UK Publishing Industry 2005,) Since 1999, the market has grown by a total of 16% and around 67% of the markets value is consumer books. The UK Publishing Industry 2004 report indicates that the UK publishing market is expected to grow by 12.9% between 2004 and 2008. Magazine revenues are likely to rise by 17.3%, newspaper revenues by 15.2% and book publishing by 14.7%. (UK Publishing Industry 2004,). 2.2 Market Sectors The commercial publishing industry extends far beyond books and journals. Products are available in electronic as well as print form. The overall book and publishing industry (‘Books and Publishing – United Kingdom’, 2003) can be classified on the basis of format and category Format: 2.2.1 Hardbacks Hardback formats are hardbound books. This format can be commonly found among books for children, new releases, and non-fiction books. 2.2.2 Paperback Paperback or softback is the most common format . This dominantly makes up the books targeted for commercial and educational purposes. 2.2.3 Electronic The electronic formats are the non-paper based products available on CD-ROM, or as audio books, e-books etc. Category: 2.2.4 Fiction The fiction category includes children’s books, novels across genres (crime, Western, thriller), historical, romance, etc. 2.2.5 Non-fiction The non-fiction category includes educational, academic and professional books, reference books, travel guides, DIY, etc. The performances of these different sectors (by format) are illustrated in the following table (‘Books and Publishing – United Kingdom’, 2003): Unit Book Sales by Format: 1998-2002 (Euromonitor International: Country Market Insight) Projected Book Sales by Format: 2002/2007 (Euromonitor International: Country Market Insight) Based on the performance of the two main categories, fiction and non-fiction, the latter continues to dominate the book sales and continues to grow (‘Books and Publishing – United Kingdom’, 2003): 2.3 Industry Target Markets Books can also be classified on the basis of the target market: consumer and institutional (‘Books and Publishing – United Kingdom’, 2003). The consumer market is the mainstream book market which includes regular readers and individual buyers. The institutional market for books is defined by institutions or organisations that buy books for specific purposes such as libraries. It also includes the books bought by the education sector. There is a potential confusion as to the identification of the consumer and the institutional market as the consumer market also includes publications for academic and professional purposes. However, institutional books are mostly identified by means of prevailing theme and the market segment, such as in the case of libraries and field-specific institutions (i.e. law books collection) whereas the consumer market’s main source of distribution channel are bookshops, online stores, etc. In terms of performance, the consumer market has a significant market share over the institutional market. The total sales brought by he consumer market in 2002 was at à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤2.0 billion, thereby having 80.3% of the overall book market share. Average growth was cited at 17.4%, with the surge of sales throughout the year usually picking up during the last quarter (‘Books and Publishing – United Kingdom’, 2003). The institutional market has been also experiencing positive growth at 14.3%, with its sales reaching à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤490.6 million and comprising 19.7% of the overall market sales. Educational sales continue to dominate the institutional sales at 63.4% whereas contributions from the library sector continue to fluctuate. As can be observed from the table given below, there was a significant drop in library sales from à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤114 million to à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤101 million from 1998 to 1999, with this particular sector experiencing fluctuations until 2002 (‘Books and Publishing – United Kingdom’, 2003). Value Book Sales by Target Market: 1998-2002 (Euromonitor International: Country Market Insight) Projected Book Sales by Target Market: 2002/2007 (Euromonitor International: Country Market Insight) 2.4 Market Sales, Performance and Activities The UK books and publishing industry relies on various market forces in order to maintain its dynamism; this can be attributed to its performance mainly on domestic sales, and then through the export and import volume and sales. 2.4.1 Domestic Market As previously mentioned, the consumer market mainly comprise of the industry’s domestic sales. Strong performance has been seen across sectors and categories, with positive developments in fiction as well as non-fiction books. Sales in fiction category experienced an average increase of 56% from 1998 to 2001, although non-fiction remains to have the significant market share (‘Books and Publishing – United Kingdom’, 2003). A number of market strategies have emerged in order to have the publishers improve their performance. It has been noted that UK has even adopted an American market strategy framework which includes book tours and taking advantage of the different media channels to increase exposure and promotion such as online book ordering promotions and book superstores (‘Book Publishing’, 2007). It can be observed that this has been apparent in the franchising sector in which UK fictional giant, the Harry Potter franchise, have further ventured into film and consumer products. In a way, books have established a force to create a peripheral market sector which relates the books to other relevant industries. However, the opposite takes place when classic British books such as J.R.R. Tolkiens’ The Lord of the Rings and C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia were made into movies, and because of the success of this channel, book sales for these works have also experienced a significant increase as this has become a promotional means in order to sell more books. Such strategy is not only felt in the UK domestic sector but also in other global sales as well. 2.4.2 Export Sales UK books are exported throughout the world and a cited increase of 4.4% was seen from 1998 to 2002. As per a Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) report, the export market is worth approximately  £1.4bn a year. However, UK’s main export competition comes from the United States, which also produces English-language books. Some exporting strategy can be also seen through the industry (‘Books and Publishing – United Kingdom’, 2003, p. 19): Although the worldwide Harry Potter phenomenon had a strong impact on exports, particularly over the 1999/2000 period, non-consumer publishing book sales were also a mainstay of export performance. English is the world language for titles in the scientific/technical/medical category and as such, the UK dominates the field internationally in terms of sales. For publishers of these kinds of texts exports can account for up to 60.0% of sales, particularly to the US, and it can be of great advantage for a publisher to have an American arm or to be part of an American-controlled group in terms of securing US rights of publication. In this case, despite the stiff competition with the US titles, UK books have also been performing fairly well in the United States; the UK mainly exports to the United States. In fact, UK has been the largest exporter of books to the United States books market. The performance of the UK publishers’ export sales are as follows (‘Books and Publishing – United Kingdom’, 2003): Publishers’ Export Sales: 1998-2001 (Euromonitor International: Country Market Insight) 2.4.3 Imports The UK also imports books from overseas markets such as the United States. Interestingly, Asian markets have been contributing significantly to UK book imports. The second largest imports, after the United States, come from Hong Kong, and the fourth largest market is Singapore; China too is also among the top sources, gaining the eighth import source position in 2001 (‘Books and Publishing – United Kingdom’, 2003). Interestingly, UK imports increases industry competition, with its value rising at 16.6% within the period 1998-2001. The following table shows the import value during this time period (‘Books and Publishing – United Kingdom’, 2003): Book Imports: 1998-2001 (Euromonitor International: Country Market Insight) 2.5 Publishing Companies Each of the three sectors of publishing in UK-newspapers, magazines and books- is dominated by around a dozen companies. Only a few companies are active in more than one sector. In fact, only Pearson PLC is involved in all three markets in a significant way. News Corporation, which publishes newspapers and which owns the book publisher Harper Collins too has entered the magazine market early in 2006. The UK publishing industry is still primarily UK owned. However, in the magazine market, there are several foreign-owned companies. These include the following: The Conde Nast Publications Ltd Hachette Filipacchi (UK) Ltd IPC Media Ltd The National Magazine Company Ltd The Readers Digest Association Ltd and VNU Business Publications Ltd. As indicated in Books and Publishing – United Kingdom 2003 The UK is not the home base of any major media player, such as Bertelsmann, Vivendi or AOL Time Warner. The regulations on media ownership make it easier for new entrants from abroad to establish a presence in the UK than for UK companies to substantially enlarge market share. Most of the major players in the book industry are owned by international multimedia publishing concerns, and therefore the most helpful form of comparison is to analyse leading publishing houses, and the results of the consolidated groups which own them. (‘Books and Publishing – United Kingdom’, 2003, p. 23) Thus, the books and publishing industry in the UK is characterised by a handful of global conglomerates or international companies, such as Reed Elsevier Group PLC, Pearson PLC, The Random House Group Ltd and Harper Collins Publishers Ltd. The leading publisher in the UK, HarperCollins, is a merger of British publisher William Collins Sons and Co Ltd. and the American publisher Harper Row. Today, HarperCollins is owned by the American media conglomerate, News Corp., although HarperCollins UK is the UK’s leading publishing house (Books and Publishing – United Kingdom’, 2003; ‘Harper Collins’, 2007). In the recent years, many other companies have been acquired and merged. For instance, in 2004 a major development was the acquisition of Hodder Headline from WH Smith by the French publisher Hachette Filipacchi in 2004. This merely added to further internationalisation of UK publishing. Hachette already owned Orion which further owned Weidenfeld Nicholson. This has lead it to become the UKs second-largest consumer book publisher. Macmillan and Random House are both owned by German companies. These main drivers of these developments have been the business strategies applied by these corporations. These strategies can be observed to be influenced by forces such as globalisation and certain deregulations when it comes to foreign operations. Besides these, other major publishers are Blackwell and the university presses of Oxford and Cambridge. The following table shows the leading publishers in the UK according to sales (Books and Publishing – United Kingdom’, 2003): Leading Publishers Ranked by Total Retail Sales 2001/2002 (Euromonitor International: Country Market Insight) 2.6 Employment By 2002, the books and publishing workforce, which also include employees in the printing sectors, were recorded at 352,000; according to the National Statistics, this figure was at 366,000 in 2001 (Books and Publishing – United Kingdom’, 2003; ‘Harper Collins’, 2007). In 2004, approximately 280,000 people were employed nationally and about 15% work part time. It has been cited that the books and publishing industry has not offered a very promising development to its workforce in terms of pay and employment confidence (Books and Publishing – United Kingdom’, 2003, p. 22): †¦ In a recent survey by Bookcareers.com, 66% of employees in the industry said that they had lost colleagues to redundancy. There is widespread discontent in the industry, particularly over the issue of pay. Levels of pay, especially for starting salaries, are notoriously low, particularly bearing in mind the level of education required for publishing work, and starting salaries can be as little as  £15,000 a year. Pay is a factor in most employees’ lives, particularly because most of UK publishing centres around London and the South East, where house prices are simply unaffordable for people earning average salaries in the industry. In addition to this, professional development does not sound as promising in this industry due to the lack of training initiatives and specific professional skills. Professionals in this industry are mostly managerial in nature. Hence, in terms of skills development, the demand has not been as impressive in this sector. It is therefore not as surprising that the number of employees in the industry has been discouraging in terms of rate, and employment has been also bleak due to redundancies. Total Employment in the Publishing Industry 1998-2002 (Euromonitor International: Country Market Insight) 2.7 Distribution In the past consumers were buying books through a variety of distribution channels such as large chain bookstores book clubs and independent and small chain bookstores, mass merchandisers, mail order, food and drug stores, discount stores, used books etc. The traditional bookshops have been losing their influence and as a result such booksellers have been also starting to fold up. The Internet is becoming one of the most active distribution channels for books and publications. Although the Internet does not have as much distribution share at this point, it continues to contribute significantly in this area as it also continues to increase as a highly-used distribution channel. Book retailers continue to dominate the product distribution; these retailers include chained retailers and independent bookshops. As compared to independent bookshops, in recent times, , bookshop chains are starting to increase its market grasp and influence (Books and Publishing – United Kingdom’, 2003). Another distribution source is through book clubs. The UK’s leading book club, BCA, combines to book club concept and its mail-to-order scheme, in addition to smaller subdivision of smaller book clubs. The book retail distribution trends have been presented in the following table: (Books and Publishing – United Kingdom’, 2003): Retail Distribution (Euromonitor International: Country Market Insight) It can be observed that there has been significant increase in sale through Internet and multiple (chained) booksellers whereas there has been a decrease in distribution through independent booksellers and book clubs/mail-to-order. 2.8 Major Trends and Developments The dynamism of the books and publishing industry in the UK can be determined by the key trends and developments that can eventually affect how the industry operates and performs. 2.8.1 Emerging Book Formats As previously mentioned, new formats such as e-books, CD-ROMs and audio books have now entered the market. Among the three, e-books have been creating a stir due to a number of reasons: it is in digital format that can be easily downloaded. What also works well with the emergence of e-books is the emergence of technologies.. For example, PDAs have now developed into small, handheld computers that can carry a substantial amount of data; e-books, which are usually in the PDF can be easily downloaded in PDAs and accessed through PDF reader (Microsoft Reader and Adobe Acrobat). Hence, people do not have to carry large books around as they can easily access them through their devices. As per the statistics from an online download source for public domain books, manybooks.net, PDF downloads have reached almost 140,000, not including the other electronic book formats such as eReader and RTF, and downloadable text in HTML format (Nagle, 2007). In any case, the number of downloads can reach hundreds of thousands, and this only includes books from one website and works within the public domain. Another popular source of free e-books is Project Gutenberg (Project Gutenberg, http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page) which claims to have over 2 million downloads every month. 2.8.2 Emerging Distribution Channels and Markets As discussed in the distribution channel section, the Internet is becoming to impress its influence among UK consumers; book sales online experienced an 11% growth in 2001 and continues to be significant till date. Although some online start-ups wanted to take advantage of the UK market, most of them were adversely affected by the dotcom bubble in the 1990s. Expectedly, Amazon.co.uk is the top online seller of books in the UK (Books and Publishing – United Kingdom’, 2003). 2.8.3 Developments in Technology and Concerns in Copyright and Production Technological developments have largely affected the books and publishing industry. As previously mentioned, technolo