Writer's choice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 41

Writer's choice - Essay Example Franz Ferdinand was the archduke in Austria- Hungary. He murdered by Gavrilo Princip, who was from Serbia. He was ordered to complete this mission by Black Hand; a secret military group. The rest were primary causes of the war but were not immediate. One of them was militarism. Britain had an immense army that Germany envied. They began to compete towards building larger armies that meant increased arms and weapons. Need for prestige and power, the more one nation built their army, the more the other governments felt need to increase theirs. In the long run, civilian nations began to suffer heavy taxation to cater for the militants. Creation of alliances. This was supposed to bring a sense of security. In any case of war, those countries were expected to protect each other. The alliances were a threat to cause a world war if any country confronted one of the allied countries will cause all the rest to come forward. Imperialism was mobilizing smaller nations a ruling them. Gathering colonies was a way of increasing a nation’s wealth. Global competition for this colonies resulted to major confrontations and chaos (Bentley and Ziegler, Traditions and Encounters. Volume I, From the Beginning to 1500: a brief global history). We care about the World War 1 because after the war; women gained more rights in the society than before. They were able to take better roles in the community and do things they couldnt. More job opportunities were created which automatically resulted to improved technology e.g. guns, airplanes, etc. After all, the war had its benefits that are very useful to date

Got Milk Case Essay Example for Free

Got Milk Case Essay The case deals with milk losing its appeal among the school children and the increasing preference to soft drinks in the US during the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. California people were drinking less milk every year. Milk consumption per capita in California had dropped 6 percent between 1987 and 1992. Realizing that the dairy industry is declining and needed outside assistance, the California Department of Food and Agriculture formed the California Milk Processor Board (CMPB) in 1993. A few months later the CMPB released it’s famous ‘‘Got Milk? ’’ campaign. For this purpose they hired Jeff Manning as executive director and raised a reasonable budget for promotion. The ad agency Goodby, Silverstein and Partners (GSP) created ‘‘Got Milk? ’’ with the CMPB’s $23 million annual budget. Previous campaigns had been intended at people who did not consume milk, but the agency’s research led it to target a sundry audience: people who were already milk drinkers. The consumers of California responded the campaign quickly, embracing the ads and also started consuming more milk. In USA outside California, the milk moustache ‘Got Milk?’ campaign is jointly funded by Americas milk processors and dairy farmers: The Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP) and Dairy Management. The goal of the multi-faceted campaign is to educate consumers on the benefits of milk and to raise milk consumption. The campaign was founded on a milk deprivation strategy and recognized that milk is not often a stand-alone beverage. Its consumption is permanently linked to a select number of meals and food occasions. And also, perhaps, the only time anybody cares passionately about milk is when they run out. The campaign was very successful in the USA. BRIEF OVERVIEW AND FACTS * According to the Exibit#1 from 1980 to 1993 annual milk consumption in California dropped from around 29 to 24 gallons of milk per person. * Milk industry spends less than 10 percent what beer spent on media. * The change in school district policy in 1982, which increases the options for children in lunch further reduce the milk consumption. * Two major reasons for declining in milk consumption are: the modern family size was shrinking and the number of working women had increased. * Hispanic population was increasing in USA (California in particular) and they drank significantly more whole milk than the rest of the population. MAJOR ISSUES AND PROBLEMS * Got milk? Campaign was a huge success in California resulted in quick increase in milk consumption but it was not equally successful nationally or internationally. National sales continue to decline for some time and then stables up to some extent but didn’t increased like in the California. * The milk market was declining market as compared to beverages market. Consumer study revealed that there are some reasons behind the continuous decline like proliferation of other beverages, lack of portability, lack of flavor variety, not thirst quenching, lack of consumer mind share and shared nature of consumption. * High price of milk in California during 1999 as compared to the rest of the country was another major issue as compared to its competitor beverages industry. Positioning milk as cool refreshing and energy boosting drink suffered due to its increasing prices also results in declining in sales. * Mind set of consumer. Although many people drink milk everyday, but still milk suffered a complete lack of consumer mind share. Milk has always been a somewhat forgettable beverage. * Media spending in the beverage categories approached $ 2 billion with half of the total accounted for beer and soft drinks but still Milk being a commodity suffered from lack of promotion as compared to the other beverages. Budget is also very low as compared to other similar category products. * Marketing expenditures are more or less concentrated on television advertising and billboards. Lack of BTL activities, experiential marketing and social event promotion were evident which can be one of the reasons of low recall and decline in consumption. * Considering the nature and storage limitation of milk the consumer attitude towards milk was wobbly and strong reasons to change the attitude were required. * Lack of support from the farmers and local milk processor results in small budget. Considering the size of the milk industry and high promotional cost running a successful nation wide campaign in small budget is rarely possible. Where Got Milk? Went wrong? * Hispanics were the major milk consumers in California; there population was increasing at a constant rate according to the US census. Initially when the ads were made it was found that running out of milk or rice in Hispanic family is not considered funny also the translation of got milk in Spanish is quite weird. * Got milk? took a step away from its deprivation formula in October 1997 and launched a new campaign of Drysville. But research revealed that Drysville campaign was unable to effect consumer’s immediate consumption or purchase decision. ANALYSIS OF PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY The ‘Got Milk? Promotional campaign has some objectives, Manning begin a grass root campaign keeping in mind the following objectives. * To change the public’s behavior about the consumption of milk and other milk products * To create the idea of ‘‘milk occasions’’ by associating the product with certain foods, recognizing that milk is not often a stand-alone beverage. * To control the decline in sales by persuading people to buy milk more often and in larger quantities. To achieve each of the objectives Manning carefully designed strategies, like changing behavior, in addition to attitudes, was done with carefully placed media. A consumption strategy focused on organizing the appropriate food with the time of day that a commercial was telecast (for example, a cereal commercial in the morning or late at night), because most milk drinking occurred at home. Beside the TVC, in 1998 CMPB launched a gravity tour. In this tour they travelled throughout the state high schools and featured top professionals and insisted on the importance of milk to young athletes and there bone density. In 2003 the CMPB took milks health message to a new level and developed the theme: strength comes from within†. They also signify and highlight the importance of research on milk benefits including how to increase bone mass in teens and adult and prevent them from osteoporosis. PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY UPSHOTS The Got Milk campaign was very successful and worked more than the expectations. Following are some of the upshots of the campaign. * The original objectives of the campaign were exceeded. * ‘Got Milk? ’’ had overtaken the ‘‘long-running ‘Does a Body Good’ campaign in top-of-mind awareness by mid-1994. ’ * The campaign objective to change behavior and increase milk consumption was also met. * Household penetration had increased from 70 percent in 1993 to 74 percent in 1995. * Results showed that, except for the first two months of the campaign, milk consumption in California increased over the previous year, while it declined nationally * Dairy Management, Inc. ’s decided to take the California ‘‘Got Milk? ’’ campaign nationwide in 1995 * The ‘‘Got Milk? ’’ campaign made its mark in advertising by collecting nearly every industry award * The CMPB reported that the campaign had a 97 percent awareness rate in California. HOW TO INCREASE AWARENESS AND DO BETTER IN FUTURE * As we can see in many of the commercials, individuals find themselves in an uncomfortable situation with a mouth full of dry or sticky food without a glass of milk. In print advertisements, celebrities are featured with the signature white mustache and got milk? in text. For an international advertisement we must create an appeal in the advertisement and ads should also involve a family environment or give a sense of oneness so that international user should associate themselves with advertisement according to their culture. * Number of collaboration with other brands should be increased to cover the issue of low budgets. Got Milk name has itself a huge equity, CMPB can effectively use it to increase the awareness. * Social media is another cheap source of creating awareness. CMPB can also use YouTube channels, face book page and twitter to increase the awareness about milk consumption and spread the benefits of milk usage. * To increase brand recall brand persona should be created and endorsement through celebrities can be useful in communicating the awareness in advertising. * As it can be seen the increase in price results in the decline of sales. Therefore, pricing should be competitive considering the other competing beverage industries. Also the flavored milk which is sold through vending machine must be priced bearing in mind the other beverages sell through vending machines. * Currently the BTL activities are on the lower side while experiential marketing was not used to create the awareness. Experiential activities at school and college levels to create awareness and product trial for new dairy product would be useful.

Technology - A Futuristic Prom :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

A Futuristic Prom RING, RING! "Hello, this is Matty337." "Hey Matty337, it's Zinc451, what's up?" "Nothin' much, I am just enjoying my Saturday afternoon home alone." "Oh, I Just called to ask you a question." "What is it Zinc? Is something wrong?" "No, Matty, I was just wondering if... well I know it's kind of short notice, but I was wondering if... you would like to go to the Neptunian Starlight Prom with me." "Sure Zinc I'd love to go!" "Yeah, I'll pick you up at 7:30, O.K.?" "Ya, I'll see you at 7:30, bye!" "Bye, Matty!" Finally, he asked me. I've been waiting all my life for Zinc to ask me out on a date. After all, I've only had a crush on him since the year 2149. Just think, the most astronomical guy in school asked me to the Neptunian Starlight prom of the year 2153. It's going to be the best night of my life! Oh no, I totally spaced it out. The prom is tonight and I don't have a dress. The Mars Mall is too many miles for my spacecraft to fly this afternoon from my galaxy purple house on 95070 Jupiter Street. What will I do? Suddenly, it dawns on me; I can order a dress off of the Universal Wide Web and have it teleported to my own house! My teleporter is a very complex machine used to make one object disintegrate and appear somewhere else in perfect replica. This is a machine that works on 3-dimensional objects as opposed to 2-dimensional sheets of paper. It looks almost like a fax machine and scans the original object, breaks it up into billions of tiny atoms, scans it to a new location and rearranges it in its perfect form. I run down stairs as quick as possible, there is no time to waste. I open the office door and plop down in the chair in front of my new 2153 Model Astrocomputer. After turning on the super fast computer and atomic laser printer I begin to work. When the 3-D super pixel screen comes up I immediately click on the blue U for Universal Explorer. I plug in my Interstellar Satellite Modem. I go to the top of the screen where the word DESTINATION: jumps out at me. I suddenly get a rush of excitement all throughout my body. Finally I am going to get the perfect prom dress! I click on the destination box and begin to type- www. Technology - A Futuristic Prom :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers A Futuristic Prom RING, RING! "Hello, this is Matty337." "Hey Matty337, it's Zinc451, what's up?" "Nothin' much, I am just enjoying my Saturday afternoon home alone." "Oh, I Just called to ask you a question." "What is it Zinc? Is something wrong?" "No, Matty, I was just wondering if... well I know it's kind of short notice, but I was wondering if... you would like to go to the Neptunian Starlight Prom with me." "Sure Zinc I'd love to go!" "Yeah, I'll pick you up at 7:30, O.K.?" "Ya, I'll see you at 7:30, bye!" "Bye, Matty!" Finally, he asked me. I've been waiting all my life for Zinc to ask me out on a date. After all, I've only had a crush on him since the year 2149. Just think, the most astronomical guy in school asked me to the Neptunian Starlight prom of the year 2153. It's going to be the best night of my life! Oh no, I totally spaced it out. The prom is tonight and I don't have a dress. The Mars Mall is too many miles for my spacecraft to fly this afternoon from my galaxy purple house on 95070 Jupiter Street. What will I do? Suddenly, it dawns on me; I can order a dress off of the Universal Wide Web and have it teleported to my own house! My teleporter is a very complex machine used to make one object disintegrate and appear somewhere else in perfect replica. This is a machine that works on 3-dimensional objects as opposed to 2-dimensional sheets of paper. It looks almost like a fax machine and scans the original object, breaks it up into billions of tiny atoms, scans it to a new location and rearranges it in its perfect form. I run down stairs as quick as possible, there is no time to waste. I open the office door and plop down in the chair in front of my new 2153 Model Astrocomputer. After turning on the super fast computer and atomic laser printer I begin to work. When the 3-D super pixel screen comes up I immediately click on the blue U for Universal Explorer. I plug in my Interstellar Satellite Modem. I go to the top of the screen where the word DESTINATION: jumps out at me. I suddenly get a rush of excitement all throughout my body. Finally I am going to get the perfect prom dress! I click on the destination box and begin to type- www.

Pay for Performance

Pay for Performance Park University Overview Incentive pay, also known as â€Å"pay for performance† is generally given for specific performance results rather than simply for time worked. While incentives are not the answer to all personnel challenges, they can do much to increase worker performance. (Billikopf) Performance pay has various names: merit pay, pay for performance, knowledge-and-skill- based pay, or individual or group incentive pay. Delisio) Pay for performance systems have further been proven to have two advantages for organizations: attracting more high-quality employees and motivating employees to exert more effort at their jobs. (Gordon, Kaswin) This paper will show the positive benefits of performance pay as well as some steps to implement the pay for performance program. Productivity Implications Companies that have switched from salaries to individual incentives have increased productivity dramatically—some by as much as 44 percent.Linking pay to p erformance not only motivates but also helps to recruit and retain the most talented employees. New graduates seek to join organizations that make use of performance-related rewards, and they have long-term loyalty to these organizations. The use of performance pay has also grown in popularity, as 67 percent of companies offer some form of performance pay to employees below the executive level. Likewise, the practice of compensating managers below the senior executive level with stock options and other forms of long-term incentives has risen dramatically.This is because performance-sensitive pay aligns the interest of all levels of employees with the interests of shareholders. (Gordon, Kaswin) Implementing a pay for performance system has been shown to resolve organizational problems because it aligns the preferences of firms and employees. In addition, creating a pay for performance system serves as a sorting mechanism to identify and attract the most capable employees. Gordon, Kas win) The economic downturn has accentuated the need to contain compensation costs by holding down fixed-based salary expenses. To maintain competitive pay plans, an increasing number of companies are giving more employees across different job functions the opportunity to earn variable, performance-driven incentives for achieving individual and organizational goals. (Gordon, Kaswin) Pay for Performance Objectives Developing a pay for performance philosophy and strategy is easier when we understand what such an approach is intended to achieve.If effectively constructed, pay for performance compensation plans should help a company fulfill the following objectives: * Recruit and retain the highest quality employees * Communicate and reinforce the values, goals and objectives of the company * Engage employees in the organization's success * Reward contributors for successful achievements (The VisionLink Advisory Group) Line of Sight Ultimately, the combination of rewards strategies that a company institutes should help to raw a correlation in the mind of the employees between interdependent elements: * Vision – where is this company going? * Strategy – how is it going to get there? * Roles and Expectations – what role does each key person have in that strategy and what is expected of him or her in that role? * Rewards – how will each employee be financially rewarded for the achievement of the expectations associated with his or her role    Pay for performance is the mechanism that is used to create this â€Å"line of sight† between related elements of company culture and purpose.In the final analysis, compensation needs to reinforce the behaviors that are desired within the strategy framework of the company in a way that is compelling enough to produce the desired performance. (The VisionLink Advisory Group) In adopting a rewards philosophy for how people will be remunerated for their contributions within an organization, a comp any has to determine what the right balance should be between short and long-term compensation and guaranteed versus performance compensation.Pivotal in that philosophy development is how and to what extent pay will be tied to specific types of performance. This issue will not be treated the same in every organization. However, every business should be able to identify certain performance objectives it wants its workforce to fulfill and the financial outcome that will be achieved if that result is attained. Such a projection can be translated into an increased shareholder value figure. (The VisionLink Advisory Group)Features of Effective Plans Top Management Support Supervisors must understand the incentive pay process in order to support and administer it. Oftentimes, a lack of understanding causes managers to ignore or adapt the process as they see fit. Moreover, if supervisors are not trained on how to measure performance, the process will not be standardized across the company. (Gordon, Kaswin) Having buy-in from key stakeholders is crucial for the success of an incentive pay system.For example, if top management does not support such a program, lower-level managers will place little importance on effectively administering the program. Hence, a lack of top management support often leads to a lack of accountability. (Gordon, Kaswin) Communication Consistent and methodical communication is necessary when implementing an incentive pay plan. It will ensure employees understand what is expected of them while decreasing the likelihood of morale problems that result from misinterpretations of how incentives are awarded. Gordon, Kaswin) Performance Management Oftentimes, a flawed performance management system is the main reason an incentive pay system in not successful. When designing a performance management process that will be linked with pay, it is imperative that both employees and managers know what the individual goals are, how they will be measured, and ho w they will be compensated when achieved. Managers must also be careful to ensure that there is adequate differentiation between high and low performers. If mediocre employees are given an average merit increase, hey will perceive that their performance is adequate. Conversely, if excellent performers only receive a little more in incentive pay than average performers, they will perceive that the company does not value their performance. (Gordon, Kaswin) Appropriate Rewards The amount of incentive a company should offer to an individual depends on current income, amount of effort needed to invest, likelihood of obtaining the reward, acceptance of risk, equity of reward and contribution, and industry standards.A minimum for incentive pay is considered to be 5 to 15 percent of an individual’s base pay. (Gordon, Kaswin) Considerations before Implementing a Plan The best compensation plans take into account several key considerations. Before instituting a pay for performance syst em, companies should define which employees should be eligible for the program. Furthermore, it is important for companies to determine the role of equity in a total rewards framework from the perspectives of the employee and employer, as well as in terms of cost.Steps should be taken to (1) review the current objectives and purpose of the equity plan; (2) identify alternative rewards; (3) develop a communication plan for how the effectiveness of the program will be measured; (4) gather employees’ perspectives via surveys, focus groups, or internal research; (5) gather external market information; (6) determine the costs; (7) develop recommendations for design change; and (8) create the communication plan. The communication strategy for the program should encompass the value employees place on various rewards and how the changes will be perceived by employees.It should then monitor and manage employees’ reactions to the changes in their compensation structure. (Gordon, Kaswin) Objectives of a Broad-Based Incentive Plan When creating an incentive plan, the organization has to determine and clearly define the goals for the program. The objectives should be aligned with the business strategy. These goals should be utilized to shape the incentive plan as well as the expectations and objectives of individual employees. A main reason why incentive plans fail is because they are introduced as an inflexible process.The incentive plan should be first implemented on a small group of employees in order to determine the flaws and rectify them before implementing them across the enterprise. Once the plan is implemented, it should be regularly adapted. (Gordon, Kaswin) If companies want a pay for performance system, the firm should define the desired performance and establish methods of measuring it first. Then, connect goals for individuals, for business units, and for the company. Meanwhile, track everyone’s progress and periodically give back the dat a to raise everyone’s awareness of the program.Sixty-two percent of compensation professionals report that their organizations did not attempt to measure the return on investment of their compensation program. (Gordon, Kaswin) Conclusion Research indicates that broad-based incentive plans can be utilized as a means to encourage both employee performance and productivity. When implementing an incentive plan, several considerations are needed to ensure the plan is successful. However, it is important to note that incentive plans cannot ensure employee productivity by themselves. They must be coupled with effective human resources practices in order to ensure a successful work environment.These include determining the appropriate rewards, instituting comprehensive performance management systems, widespread and effective communication, as well as buy-in from top management to support the compensation plan. Over the past decade and increasingly in the past year, performance pay ha s become the standard as companies reward strong performance and lower overhead costs. This trend is expected to continue in the coming years. (Gordon, Kaswin) Like most things in business, compensation is something that requires evaluation, study, assessment, strategy, modeling and integration.Achieving a pay for performance culture does not happen without paying attention to the behaviors, activities, rewards and motivations that have to be linked and reinforced through a well-engineered and effectively executed process. And if that process does not tie rewards to shareholder financial objectives, employ the proper mix of compensation elements, result in meaningful dollars, embrace performance that employees can impact and are effectively communicated and reinforced, then the results it produces will likely fall short. (The VisionLink Advisory Group) Pay for performance systems need ngoing attention to keep them functioning properly. Organizational goals will change; performance g oals and measures will become obsolete; performance may improve or decline; managers may make errors in evaluating performance or allocating rewards. For all these reasons and more, agencies need to monitor the operation and effectiveness of their pay for performance systems and modify them accordingly. Only by giving the pay systems and related organizational requirements the ongoing attention that they warrant will agencies be able to obtain optimal results from their pay for performance systems. U. S. Merit Systems Protection Board) Works Cited Billikopf, Gregoria. (2001) Incentive Pay (Pay for Performance). The Regents of the University of California, retrieved from http://www. cnr. berkeley. edu/ucce50/ag-labor/7labor/08. htm The VisionLink Advisory Group, The Five Essentials of Pay for Performance, retrieved from http://www. vladvisors. com/images/PDF/VisionLink_Five-Essentials-Pay-For-Performance. pdf Gordon, A. A. , Kaswin, J. L. , Effective Employee Incentive Plans: Feature s and Implementation  Processes, Cornell HR Review, 2010, retrieved from http://cornellhrreview. rg/2010/05/31/effective-employee-incentive-plans-features-and-implementation-processes/ U. S. Merit Systems Protection Board, (2006) Designing an Effective Pay for Performance Compensation System. Retrieved from http://www. mspb. gov/netsearch/viewdocs. aspx? docnumber=224104;version=224323;application=ACROBAT Delisio, E. R. , Pay for Performance: What Are the Issues? , retrieved from http://www. educationworld. com/a_issues/issues/issues374a. shtml

Assignment on Business Strategy Essay

Assignment on Business Strategy 1 . Evaluate a company of your choice’s Mission statement in the light of the 3 components of any Mission Statement. Also use the Abel framework to evaluate the business definition that this mission statement drives. Ans. ) While a business must continually adapt to its competitive environment, there are certain core ideals that remain relatively steady and provides guidance in the process of strategic decision making. These unchanging ideals from the business vision and are expresses in the company mission statement. The mission statement communicates the firm’s core deology and visionary goals, generally consisting of the following three components: a. Core values to which the firm is committed b. Core purpose of the firm c. Visionary goals the firm will pursue The firm’s core values and purpose constitutes its core ideology and remain relatively constant. They are independent of industry structure and the product life cycle. The core ideology is not created in the mission statement; rather, the mission statement is simply an expression of what already exists. The specific phrasing of the ideology may change with the times, but the underlying ideology remains constant. Here is the Coca-Cola Company’s mission statement for Stakeholders which is published in Jeffrey Abrahams’ new book, 101 Mission Statements From Top Companies . â€Å"The Coca-Cola Promise: The Coca-Cola Company exists to benefit and refresh everyone it touches. The basic proposition of our business is simple, solid, and timeless. When we bring refreshment, value, Joy and fun to our stakeholders, then we successfully nurture and protect our brands, particularly Coca-Cola. That is the key to fulfilling our ultimate obligation to provide consistently attractive returns to the owners of our business. The audience for this mission is specifically for the stakeholder. The values here are stated explicitly: refreshment, value, Joy, fun, and attractive returns. These words were obviously carefully chosen by those who crafted this mission statement. The â€Å"ultimate obligation† of â€Å"attractive returns† is a powerful way to state the company’s vision and keeps the values stated in context. A separate mission statement is published on The Coca-Cola Company’s website for access by the general public: â€Å"Everything we do is inspired by our enduring mission: * To Refresh the World†¦ in body, mind, and spirit. * To Inspire Moments of Optimism†¦ hrough our brands and our actions. * To Create Value and Make a Difference†¦ everywhere we engage. † These values are consistent with the stakeholder version of the mission: refreshment and value are echoed in addition to inspiration. 2. What does a Business model intend to achieve, and how? Evaluate any company of your choice’s Business Model in the light of the same. Ans. ) Business Models are simulations of actual business functioning. They act as ideal real life examples, and help participants actively discuss the pros and cons of the situation given. A business Model gives a Full Account of any particular Business Scenario. One has to SWOT analyze the Business Model based on different how it makes money or delivers value, and what it does and does not do. A business model can change throughout the life of business or can be applied to a specific product, or to a nonprofit. It is a more general and concise statement than the business plan, but is still often used to explain the business and its activities to investors, banks or employees. Standard business models are often referred to in shorthand, such as â€Å"subscription† or â€Å"low-cost leader. † As we know a business model is the mechanism by which a business intends to pecify a market offering. It is a summary of how a company plans to serve its customers and specifies its product offering. It mentions both the strategy and methods of implementation. As Amazon. com was being established, the delivery of information, goods, or services to end customers employed one strong business model called the Online Retailers of Physical Goods. This business model takes title to the newly manufactured products that they sell and often rely on third party providers. Like Amazon. com, it needed third party providers, such as Borders and Barnes & Noble, to maintain its product supply. When Amazon. om was first launched, Amazon. om was heralded for its feel-friendly culture that drew talented young people to apply for work there and employed smart hiring strategy by hiring the brightest, most intelligent and versatile people. Jeff Bezos wanted people who could share his vision and were willing to work to achieve it. He tried to establish a sense of community due to sharing both hard work and fun with his employees. Although pay was less than market salaries, attractive ownership options were offered. Amazon’s three operational strategies are 1 . Cost-Leadership – Amazon places itself as leader based only on the pricing. It offers the same product quality for lesser price. 2. Customer Differentiation – Amazon uses design, quality and convenience as a differentiator which set it apart from its close competitors. 3. Focus Strategies – Customer service is the major focus while realizing that each market has its own quirks. Amazon. com’s values and philosophy are at the center of the organization. These often determines the success and failure of the enterprise . The other important factors Amazon focuses on are customer satisfaction and operational frugality. These two values complement Amazon. om’s operational trategies in achieving and maintaining an effective competitive advantage. Growth Drivers There are four primary drivers for growth: 1. Product focus 2. Customer focus 3. Technology focus 4. Distribution focus Using the above stated strategies, Amazon has managed to place itself in a position of power and success. 3. Use the 5 forces model to analyze and interpret the opportunities and threats that the industry within which a company operates (of your choice), throws up. Explain how the company plans to capitalise on the opportunities and tackle the threats understanding where power lies in a business situation. It also helps to understand both the strength of a firm’s current competitive position, and the strength of a position a company is looking to move into. Despite the fact that the Five Force framework focuses on business concerns rather than public policy, it also emphasizes extended competition for value rather than Just competition among existing rivals, and the simpleness of its application inspired numerous companies as well as business schools to adopt its use (Wheelen and Hunger, 1998). * Chez Airlinbe company is not an isolated unit in the world and performs within a market full of other competitors. To be able to evaluate their position on market and to act accordingly they themed the Porter’s Five Forces Model. This model helped to define and realize their business and its surroundings and identify threats and opportunities to focthem on. They review this model periodically to obtain up-to-date data in this global and turbulent environment. The Porter Model consists of 5 elements which together comprises the environment business operate in. These elements are: suppliers, customers, new entrants, existing competition and the product itself. By assessing every one of these elements they get the whole picture of heir company within the market and the rating helps them target the key areas. They theme the scale of 0-5 to evaluate the policies of each element where O means no policies and 5 very high policies (reffering to the number in the brackets). * 1) Policies of Suppliers As they operate in the areas of services there are no critical commodities having large influence of their everyday service delivery. Therefore this area is not of critical policies in a short run. However, they should not underestimate this element as they wouldn’t be able to continue the business in long run without suppliers. f their supply (3) This is a threat in case of the aircraft machines. There are not many reputable airplanes (and airplanes parts) producers and therefore they could have strong policies to control the air travel industry. As for the catering, gift services and other indirect materials there are many fragmented choice and therefore their policies is of almost no significance as they could be replaced quickly. There are no substitutes for the particular input (5) There are no substitutes for planes (in case they want to continue providing air transportation instead of ground routes) and herefore the policies of this element is very high – business critical. They could reduce this policies by handling cargo theming the earth services but this might decrease service level they provide to their customers. * The suppliers’ customers are fragmented, so their bargaining policies is low (4) There are more than 200 airlines all over the world and despite some alliance organizations (such as IATA) they are all potential competitors. The policies of this element is relatively high as the suppliers could afford losing one customers but the customers can’t afford loosing the critical supplier (e. g. Boeing). The switching costs from one supplier to another are high (3) Switching costs in air transport industry are mainly related to the fact of limited airplanes producers and to the machine a company already owns. They theme planes form 3 producers: Airbthem, Boeing and ATR.