Fantastik All-Purpose Cleaners Free Essays

Case: fantastik All-Purpose Cleaners Key Decision: Develop a brand strategy to increase fantastik’s sales and maintain its leadership position in the increasingly competitive all-purpose cleaner market. Problem/Opportunity: fantastik has limited financial resources to promote and develop its brand. Also, other heavy price discounting and new higher-priced cleaning products have threatened fantastik’s market leading position. We will write a custom essay sample on Fantastik All-Purpose Cleaners or any similar topic only for you Order Now Thus, fantastik needs to lower its retail price or innovate product categories to attract and maintain customers. Stakeholders: Johnson family benefit from the profits earned and success of the business. Customers need the strong cleaning function provided by the cleaners. Employees need a stable and safe working environment and expected salaries. Analysis: Internal: fantastik has leading brand equity in industry and strong social responsibility that commit to communities and the environment, thus customers who pursue green lifestyle could be loyal to fantastic. Moreover, fantastik’s retail price $3. 9 is relatively high compared with its competitors, thus it may lose customers who are price sensitive. External: Consumers are moving towards environmentally friendly products, it gives fantastik a good opportunity and competitive advantage to compete with other competitors. Consumer Analysis: The target market is women aged from 25 to 49 who are responsible for the cleanness at home and has upper household income. They are concerned about quality of life, thus they prefer to purchase produc t with high quality. Competitive Analysis: The competitors are other all-purpose cleaners such as Lysol, Easy Off Bam, Mr. Clean, Vim, Hertel and private label. Those competitors offer lower retail price than fantastik and have strong cleaning function. Especially, private label products have the advantage of high margin for retailer and good shelf space. Alternative Marketing Strategies: Decision criteria: 1. Maintain competitive market share 2. Commit to environment 3. Allocate limited financial recourses successfully Alternatives: 1. Develop new form of product and consistent with environmental responsibility. 2. Reduce retail price to remain competitive in the market. 3. Develop new scent of fantastik. It will cost too much to do market research and test and it’s easy to be copied by competitors. Recommendation: Decision: fantastik should develop new form of product and be consistent with environmental responsibility to attract more customers and improve household penetration, thus it can extend its product life cycle. Implementation Plan: Marketing Strategy: Target women aged from 25 to 49 who are responsible to do the cleanness of home and position high quality and functional benefit of product. Marketing Mix: Produce higher quality and new function product and commit to environment responsibility to earn brand equity from customers, and use higher retail price to indicate its high quality and make profit through high margin in the beginning. Moreover, company should use personal selling, product show and shelf advertising as promotion strategy. Finally, company can choose convenience stores nearby community as distribution centres in addition to major grocery, drug and mass merchandisers. Expected Results: fantastik can increase its dollar share by 4% in 2007 and keep its market leading position through implementing the marketing strategy. How to cite Fantastik All-Purpose Cleaners, Papers

Importance of IOT Devices-Free-Samples for Students-Myassignment

Question: Discuss about the about Internet of Things. Answer: Introduction Internet of things can be said as the connection of devices to the internet using embedded sensor and software for communication and collection and exchange of data with one another (Al Ameen, Liu Kwak, 2012). With the help of this new technology, people from all across the globe can get an endless array of opportunities and connections at various location like home, work and play (Gubbi et al., 2013). Here are some names of IoT devices like TP-Link multicolor smart Wi-Fi, Google Daydream with virtual reality headset, Sony speaker with Google assistant, Portable Wi-Fi video camera, Doorbell cam, Gesture control technology, smart thermostats and wireless blood pressure monitor. There are many more IoT devices coming in action in near future (Harrington Krapf, 2014). Discussion In the following report IoT devices like smart bulbs, Google Daydream with virtual reality headset, Google speaker with Google assistant, Motorola Smart Nursery Camera, Doorbell cam, Gesture control technology, smart thermostats, and wireless blood pressure monitor will be discussed (Riva, Wiederhold Gaggioli, 2016). Smart bulb LED smart bulbs are available in different sizes which have a wireless connectivity feature. These unique features allow homeowners to connect their mobile phones with bulbs. Smart bulbs have internet connectivity option which gives us a lot of option like simple on/off command and it gives more advanced option like scheduling their operations. When the smartphone senses the presence of house owner the lights will automatically turn on. These bulbs give us the option of automatic changing of colours according to the requirement (Al Ameen, Liu Kwak, 2012). In the near future, some bulbs are coming into action which will have the feature like it can sense the presence of someone when a doorbell ring is detected and some bulbs can act also as a Bluetooth speaker (Vandenberg, Stevenson Levin, 2012). Advantages Smart bulbs are more flexible compared with smart switches. These bulbs need minimum time to install. They offer a wide variety of colour choices. Disadvantages Smart bulbs lack the different shapes and sizes. Smart bulbs are costlier as they often require the use of a hub for their functioning which it is an additional cost to the user. Google Daydream with virtual reality headset Daydream with virtual reality headset is designed and developed by Google which gives the user a Daydream View, with it the user can experience sports, live events and many more things in 360degree paranomic view. The ultimate aim of the developers is to provide VR experience to all mobile user and so that the customer can easily carry and use them (Tanabe et al., 2012). Advantages Google Daydreamer with virtual reality headset is the most comfortable VR headset. It is inexpensive. It has high quality content (Lin et al., 2014). It works smoothly and has motion-tracking remote. It is very easy to setup. Disadvantages It works with specific mobile phones. It looks cheap from outside as it has a plastic frame. Some lights bleed from its edges. Sony speaker with Google assistant Google announced that its assistant will be soon expanded to third party speaker maker. This Assistant power speaker will allow the user to play various songs based on the commands from different services like Google play music. This new device by Sony is not waterproof (Lin et al., 2014). As per some experts, Sony has the latest speaker that provides complete 360 audio experiences to user. It has the power to completely fill the average room its sound. It has some of the recent technologies like NFC, gesture control which allow various user to perform activities like playing music, skip track and adjust the volume (Al Ameen, Liu Kwak, 2012). Advantages This new box by Sony supports all the latest connectivity technologies like Bluetooth, NFC and gesture control (Lin et al., 2014). It gives 360-degree audio experience which has enough power to fill an average room with sound. Disadvantages Sony speaker with Google assistant is not waterproof. It uses latest technology like Bluetooth and NFC which is distance depended (Vandenberg, Stevenson Levin, 2012). Motorola Smart Nursery Camera Motorola new smart camera provide us option of watching dear and near ones from anywhere on the compatible smart phone, tablets or computers. It provides us with features like two-way communication, infrared night vision. It gives a variety of option to user like video streaming and video analytics which provide active monitoring, expression detection (Vandenberg, Stevenson Levin, 2012). Through this user can get peace of mind. It provides pan, tilt, zoom and crystal-clear image to the user so that they can have a perfect view of their near and dear ones. It has two-way audio feature which allow the users to communicate from any location. Through this latest technology the users can connect to each other and can keep an eye on necessary things on their smart phone, tablet and computers (Barley Roach, 2013). Advantages It provides a path for two-way communication between users. It provides peace of mind to various users. Users can get a perfect view of their near and dear ones from any location. Disadvantages The initial cost of these cameras is very high. There is increase in expenditure like Wi-Fi and electricity. Doorbell cam Video doorbells are nothing but most basic devices that are equipped with video cameras that allow user to communicate with anyone standing in front their gate. It mainly requires a Smartphone or laptops (Vandenberg, Stevenson Levin, 2012). By the help of these gadgets user can communicate with the visitors. It gives the user certain feature like having a conversation with the delivery person while the owner is at office (Barley Roach, 2013). The installation process of this doorbells is quite easy, just a WIFI network is needed. It offers endless security and convenience to different users. Advantages House owner can have a communication with any visitors. It gives endless feature like having a conversation with the delivery person while the owner is at office (Lin et al., 2014). Disadvantages It depends on Wi-Fi for its working. Some systems are more prone to signal interference. Burglars have now learned how to disable the doorbell cam. During the power- off doorbell cam will not work which will give the burglars an open access to different houses (Tanabe et al., 2012). Gesture Control Technology Gesture control technology is nothing but a new technology used in cars for enhancing the performance of the driver (Harrington Krapf, 2014). Automaker from all across the globe are focusing to implement gesture control function in the car (Chang Liu, 2015). Car producing firms like Hyundai is focusing to implement 3d gesture so that drivers can operate audio system of their car with simple wave (Migos et al., 2013). The ultimate goal of the designers is to provide comfort to the drivers by providing voice commands to certain functions like radio stations, calling and searching of address (Bolkhovsky, Scully Chon, 2012). Advantages This new technology provides voice command to the functioning of radio stations, mobile phone and searching of address (Harrington Krapf, 2014). It minimizes the physical use of buttons, knobs, switches or icons on an electronic display (Suo et al., 2012). Disadvantage It has limited the distance factor in controlling of various devices (Barley Roach, 2013). Line of sight of communication between transmitter and receiver must be directly aligned for proper communication. The data rate or speed of transmission is much lowered than the typical transmission (Svigals, 2016). Smart Thermostats A thermostat generally works as per the requirement of a heating system. It mainly senses the air temperature and starts the heating process as per the requirement (Saha, Kuzlu Pipattanasomporn, 2013). If the heating system is a boiler with radiator then one room thermostat will be enough to control the working of whole house (Scalisi, 2015). It provides a sense of safety so that owners do not have to worry about their house. It reduces the electricity bill largely. It creates an opportunity for developing and selling various apps that can be used with smart thermostats. Advantages Gives customer from all nation a sense of safety as do not need to worry about their houses as they do not have to control everything. It reduces installation and production cost of various firms (Saha, Kuzlu Pipattanasomporn, 2013). It creates a new platform where developer can develop new softwares and sell them (Ricci, 2014). Disadvantages If the thermostats are lacking proper use then they are not considered as energy saving. Sometimes users are unable to detect the working of a thermostat. Intelligent feature of thermostat is considered to be useful as expected (Gubbi et al., 2013). Smart blood pressure monitor Nokia BPM+ is a most popular among the all blood pressure monitoring devices. It has some key features like instant feedback upon Measurement, health management tools, online capabilities (Riva, Wiederhold Gaggioli, 2016). If the user sees a red colour band then they can conclude that their health level must be optimized. This smart blood pressure monitor can detect the blood pressure which gets automatically synchronized with app provided by doctor which is used for creating a chart (Chang Liu, 2015). Due to this modern feature, monitors allow doctors to keep a regular eye on their patient health and get timely advise when needed (Jia et al., 2012). Advantages Nokia BPM+ is very compact device as it is highly travel friendly device. Due to its ease of use these devices can be fully implemented in our daily life. Disadvantage Products related to blood pressure like Nokia BPM+ have short term reliability which means that the product must be replaced every year. If the user gets stuck at any stage then customer support for it behind an email (Saha, Kuzlu Pipattanasomporn, 2013). One floor of a multistore home Source: (Riva, Wiederhold Gaggioli, 2016) Table of IoT Devices Product name Description Manufacture Cost Smart bulb Simple on/off command using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth Philips $65 Google Daydream with virtual reality headset Provides 360 degree paranomic view Google $98.26 Sony speaker with Google assistant NFC, gesture control technology for playing music, skip track and adjust the volume Sony $199 Motorola Smart Nursery Camera Keeping an eye on near and dear ones Motorola $415.00 Doorbell cam Keeping an eye on house from distance Godrej $82.75 Smart thermostat Used in heating system of homes Npower 159 Smart blood pressure monitor Instant feedback and report to doctor Nokia BPM+ $129.95 References Al Ameen, M., Liu, J., Kwak, K. (2012). Security and privacy issues in wireless sensor networks for healthcare applications.Journal of medical systems,36(1), 93-101. Barley, C. B., Roach, J. B. (2013).U.S. Patent No. D692,847. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Bolkhovsky, J. B., Scully, C. G., Chon, K. H. (2012, August). Statistical analysis of heart rate and heart rate variability monitoring through the use of smart phone cameras. InEngineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), 2012 Annual International Conference of the IEEE(pp. 1610-1613). IEEE. Chang, W. H., Liu, C. Y. (2015).U.S. Patent No. 9,092,177. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Gubbi, J., Buyya, R., Marusic, S., Palaniswami, M. (2013). Internet of Things (IoT): A vision, architectural elements, and future directions.Future generation computer systems,29(7), 1645-1660. Harrington, R. H., Krapf, C. W. (2014).U.S. Patent Application No. 14/160,160. Jia, X., Feng, Q., Fan, T., Lei, Q. (2012, April). RFID technology and its applications in Internet of Things (IoT). InConsumer Electronics, Communications and Networks (CECNet), 2012 2nd International Conference on(pp. 1282-1285). IEEE. Lin, Z. M., Chang, C. H., Chou, N. K., Lin, Y. H. (2014, April). Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) based blood pressure monitoring system. InIntelligent Green Building and Smart Grid (IGBSG), 2014 International Conference on(pp. 1-4). IEEE. Migos, C., Pagallo, G. M., Mouileseaux, J. P., Yaeger, L. S. (2013).U.S. Patent No. 8,448,083. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Ricci, C. P. (2014).U.S. Patent Application No. 14/253,476. Riva, G., Wiederhold, B. K., Gaggioli, A. (2016). Being different. The transfomative potential of virtual reality.Annu Rev Cybertherapy Telemed,14, 1-4. Saha, A., Kuzlu, M., Pipattanasomporn, M. (2013, February). Demonstration of a home energy management system with smart thermostat control. InInnovative Smart Grid Technologies (ISGT), 2013 IEEE PES(pp. 1-6). IEEE. Scalisi, J. F. (2015).U.S. Patent No. D727,769. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Suo, H., Wan, J., Zou, C., Liu, J. (2012, March). Security in the internet of things: a review. InComputer Science and Electronics Engineering (ICCSEE), 2012 international conference on(Vol. 3, pp. 648-651). IEEE. Svigals, J. (2016).U.S. Patent No. 9,432,378. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Tanabe, T., Takahashi, T., Maeda, F., Suzuki, A., Nagai, N. (2012).U.S. Patent No. 8,203,537. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Vandenberg, L. N., Stevenson, C., Levin, M. (2012). Low frequency vibrations induce malformations in two aquatic species in a frequency-, waveform-, and direction-specific manner.PloS one,7(12), e51473.

ZARA Fast Fashion

Table of Contents Inditex (Industria de Diseà ±o Textil) Strength of Inditex Weaknesses and challenges Coping with managing multi-chain stores Should it start up or add more chains Conclusion Reference Inditex (Industria de Diseà ±o Textil) Inditex, a global retail specialty, manufactured and sold accessories, footwear and apparel for men, women and children. These products were distributed and sold through Zara and other five chains linked to it in other parts of the world. Inditex was located in Spain and was the owner of Zara and other five apparel retailing chains and was founded by Amancio Ortega Gaona.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on ZARA: Fast Fashion specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In 2001, as it was coming to the end of its fiscal year, it had accomplished much. For instance, it had acquired a selling space around the world including Spain, an area of about 659,400 square meters and on it operate d 1284 stores. In addition, it generated 54% of total revenue of â‚ ¬ 3,250 million in the 515 stores it had outside Spain and showed a continued trajectory of rapid and profitable growth from Zara and its other chains with a net income amounting to â‚ ¬340 million (Ghemawat Nueno, 2003). Inditex had many employers who worked both in Spain and in other retailing chains outside Spain. Its total number of employees was 26,784 and out this number, 10,919 employees worked in the retail chains located outside Spain. Over 76% of Inditex employees were women and put together with men, they had an average year of 26. Additionally, the company had split its employees to work in different departments and sections. For instance, 8.5% of the employees worked in the distribution, logistics, design and manufacturing departments while over 80% were doing retail sales in the stores. The remaining activities were carried out by the small group that worked in the headquarters. To maintain its operations, Inditex split its capital expenditure giving 80% to new store openings, 10% on maintenance or logistics and another 10% on refurbishing (Ghemawat Nueno, 2003). Its working capital was higher in some season in the year and lower in others. Therefore, to deal with these issues, it had to come up with plans to tightly manage its working capital and its capital expenditure which was â‚ ¬50-510 million.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Also, it ensured that it had opened 230-275 new stores with the capital across all chains. It is important to note that in 2001, Inditex operating economics had involved operating margins of 22%, operating expenses with a revenue equivalence of 30%, of which one half of the 30% were related to personnel, and a gross margin of 52% (Ghemawat Nueno, 2003). Moreover, Inditex operated six retailing chains at the beginning of 2002. The r etail chains were Zara, Oysho, Stradivarius, Bershka, Pull Bear and Massimo Dutti. These retailing chains formed 60 companies consolidated into Inditex at the group level. The remaining chains were involved in finance, real estates, logistics, manufacturing, and textile purchasing. The net income of Inditex generated 82% from internal transfer pricing and other policies. The six retailing chains were organized as separate business units together with six support areas dealing with raw materials, logistics, manufacturing plant, real estate and so on. In addition to the separate business units, Inditex had nine corporate departments each operating independently with its own strategy personnel, financial results, image, distribution, and manufacturing system. The group management was to set strategic vision of the group, provide them with administrative services and coordinate the activities of the concept. Inditex ensured that coordination had been increased particularly in the areas of expansion and real estate. Also, it formulated plans to open up other chain stores in other locations with Zara helping to accelerate the process of expansion of new chain stores in other areas. Oysho, one of Inditex’s chain stores drew 75% of its resources from other chains and within 6 months it had come to operate stores in seven markets in different parts of Europe (Ghemawat Nueno, 2003). Also, top corporate managers of Inditex came up with strategic plan to control their performances, run the chains, approve business strategic of the individual chain and control the business. Inditex had a major scope in production than the three retailers. However, the competitors of Inditex outsourced all their production. It is important to know the strength and the weaknesses of the three strong competitors of Inditex.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on ZARA: Fast Fashion specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More To be gin with, The Gap’s level of apparel production was internationalized as it outsourced 90% of its production from outside the US. It was founded in 1969 and between 1980 and 1990 it had achieved great profitability from selling smart casual work clothes and collections of jeans and T-shirts. Its major operations were based in the United States. Secondly, Inditex faced stiff competition from Hennes and Mauritz (HM). This was a high performing retailer in apparel founded in Sweden. It performed better than Zara in terms of industry standards. By 1990, it had generated more than a half its sale outside Sweden through internationalizing its operations. In addition, HM outsourced to the suppliers in Europe half the sale of all its production. It was strategic in its approach to business getting into one country at a time and starting a center that dealt with distribution focusing on the northern part of Europe. Another competitor of Inditex was Benetton. Its outsourced activities to subcontractors were labour-intensive and these earned it prominence in the 1980’s. In addition, it used its investment to control many production activities. Strength of Inditex In its operations, Inditex set up strategies to assist it in increasing its production and gain market for its products. Being a global specialty retailer, it widened its market scope by opening Zara and five other chains that sold accessories for men, women and children around the world. Basically, its ability to achieve this lied in the number of stores, the selling area, its employers and the division of labor among its workers. For instance, Inditex had 659,400 square meters of selling area around the world occupied by its 1,284 stores. In addition, these stores earned Inditex a huge amount of revenue of about â‚ ¬3,250 million (Ghemawat Nueno, 2003). A greater percentage of that revenue came from its 515 stores located in Spain. Moreover, it employed people to work in Spain as well as in t he chain stores outside Spain. Its total number of works was 26,724 with about 78% being women. Among the total population of workers, Inditex used 8.5% of them to work in distribution, design, logistics and manufacturing while over 80% were to do sales in the retail stores (Ghemawat Nueno, 2003).Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In addition, it organized its expenditure and operating working capital to cover the plans of opening new stores across all chains and for refurbishing and maintenance. Also, Inditex derived its strength from its structure. Its top corporate managers set out corporate and business strategies, and controlled the operations and performance of all the chain stores down to the local store level. This was to ensure that they have maintained a high standard in returns on capital employed, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) margin and on sales growth. Additionally, performance metrics reports were monitored daily as well as being monitored personally by the CEO Castellano once a week. Moreover, Inditex had one of its six chains that was large, most internationalized and a source of most of its capital. This chain store was referred to as Zara. Zara operated 507 stores in Spain and in other countries around the world. Out of the total 659,400 square meters of working area, it occupie d 74% and earned Inditex â‚ ¬2,477 million which was about 76% of the total earnings (Ghemawat Nueno, 2003). Basically, Zara was the driver of the growth of Inditex through its international operations. In its operations, it had made quite tremendous achievements in terms of investments in manufacturing logistics and IT, constructing a warehouse of 130.000 square meters in Artexio close to the corporate headquarters and an advanced telecommunication system to connect production, supply and sales locations with the headquarters. Additionally, In the 1990’s Zara mandated internal development of information, merchandizing, financial, retail and logistical systems. Through Zara, Inditex was able to attract more customers’ preferences and placed with both internal and external suppliers. Compared to the 2000-4000 items produced by its key competitors like The Gap and the HM, production in Zara increased to 11,000 to several hundred thousand with variation in sizes, colo r and fabric putting consideration in time-sensitive items. Additionally, it was able to stock goods in stores within a very short time. This facilitated continuous manufacturing of new merchandise and reduced the intensity of working capital. This gave Zara and the whole of Inditex an advantage over its competitors as it could much later than its competitors commit to the bulk of its product line. This was in sharp contrast to the traditional industries that took up to three months for manufacturing and six months for cycling of new designs. Therefore, Inditex through Zara alone was able to overcome traditional retailers who restocked and designed only 0%-20% compared to Zara’s 40%-50% of the purchases of finished products from suppliers, 35% of purchase of raw material and product design and during the period when seasons started, it undertook 85% of the in-house production (Ghemawat Nueno, 2003). Also, Zara offered its customers garments and accessories like bags, jewelry , scarves, shoes and even cosmetics and toiletries that were fresh. The garments were of designer style and were being sold at relatively low prices. This was a strategy that drew fashion conscious customers and devout shoppers visited the chain 17 times a year compared to their competitors who only received such visitations three to four times a year. Weaknesses and challenges In its course of business, Inditex has faced a number of challenges and setbacks in Spain and in its other chains all over the world. The positioning of the company’s headquarters in Galacia posed a major problem to it in terms of communication links with the rest of the country. Even though Spain had a strong history of Galacians being tailors to aristocracy, their apparel workshops lacked a strong foundation upstream in textiles, demand, universities and technical institutes to facilitate training and specialized initiatives. Furthermore, they lacked association in the industries to underpin other ac tivities that were potentially cooperative. Also, most of the citizens of Spain depended on fishing and agriculture. As consumers they demanded low prices on goods. Inditex faced a challenge of stiff competition from its competitors like The Gap, HM and Benetton. For instance, The Gap had its production internationalized and so was competing with Inditex for international markets. It outsourced 90% of its production from the United States (Ghemawat Nueno, 2003). Its products like Inditex’s fresh and designer wear garments were considered to be unpretentious and fashionable in the 1980’s and 1990’s. it also had high stellar profits. These pose a great challenge to the business of Inditex as at such a time the attention of most of its customers were The Gaps products that had dominated most of the markets in and outside Spain. In addition, Hennes and Mauritz (HM) dominated most parts of the market outsourcing all of its production. Half of all its outsourced prod uction was taken to European suppliers. Due to this, HM significantly led in the market ahead of Zara for a long time. While Indited maintained its many chains style of operation, HM adopted a more focused single format approach and entering one country at a time. It had become internationalized faster than Zara by a decade and by 19190, had generated most of its sales outside Sweden, used several label in marketing its clothes and built distribution centers in each nothern Europe country it entered. Its decade of business ahead of Inditex gave it a solid foundation, popularity and dominance in some markets that would have otherwise been dominated by Inditex. Moreover, Inditex faced another competition from Benetton. It had become prominent in the 1980’s and the 1990’s. The news about its outsourced activities that were scale insensitive and labour-intensive to sub contractors that made it popular was due to its controversial advertising as a networked organization. In addition, it made heavy investments on production. Coping with managing multi-chain stores Inditex could have managed to cope with the complexity of managing multiple chain stores because it had a well established market all over the world. Its growth in terms of profit had reached â‚ ¬340. In addition, in the year 2001, it had an oversubscribed Initial Public Offering and a 50% increase in stock price (Ghemawat Nueno, 2003). Also its market valuation had rose to â‚ ¬13.4 billion. Its market projections were higher in terms of expectation and growth. Additionally, Inditex was a Global apparel retailing business system with chain stores spread all over major markets in the world. Global apparel chains are normally characterized by a unique combination of high value research, marketing, sales and financial services that allow retailers, branded manufacturers, branded marketers to act as strategic brokers. These strategic brokers link market with the overseas factories. Therefo re global apparel chain becomes a prototypical example of a buyer driven global chain. The attribute displayed by the strategic brokers distinguish other labor intensive industries from the vertical structure of the commodity chain in apparel stores. Labor intensive industries such as Toys and Footwear Chain stores, are dominated by upstream manufacturers rather than down stream intermediaries. Through the brokers, Inditex could manage to link its other chain stores with the market and even the overseas factories. Besides, Inditex was able to manage other retail chain stores because of its increased concentration of apparel retailing throughout the major markets. Having multiple chain stores would increase its dominance in shaping imports in the countries that have developed. In the 1990’s half of the apparel sales in the USA were done by the top chain stores. Therefore operating multi chain stores gives Inditex the opportunity to increase its concentration everywhere and to dominate the markets by displacing other independent stores. This does not compromise the excellence of individual stores because it had been the trend in the 1990’s. This trend had helped many chain stores to increase their sales and store sizes over time. Additionally, Inditex could have managed to control multi chain stores because of the set of policies and practices promoted by quick response (QR). These sets of policies and practices coordinated the roles of the manufacturers and the retailers for the purpose of increasing flexibility and speed of responses to a shift in market trends. Through QR, Inditex was likely to be able to control all the functions of its existing chain stores or others regardless of the geographic or organizational boundaries. In addition, QR would help retailers reduce inventory risks and forecast errors by planning, placing smaller initial orders and reordering more frequently, probing the market and planning assortments closer to the selling season. It is important to note that QR offered the global apparel chain stores many advantages. For instance, it led to improvement of information technology and significant compression of cycle times. It also changed the style of women dressing. This type of business strategy would have placed Inditex in a better competitive position as a way of coping with its larger number of chain stores. Managing multi chain stores would have been easy and like the individual chain, Inditex would have maintained excellence because of the availability of market and customers. In 2000, worldwide spending on apparel or clothing reached approximately â‚ ¬900 billion. According to the estimates, Asia accounted for 23%, United States for 29% and Europe for 34% (Ghemawat Nueno, 2003). The difference in per capita spending on the population level and on clothing was reflected by the differences in market size. However, an increase in per capita income tended to lower per capita spending which was also affected by price level. Another coping strategy was that Inditex had a variety of customers who had different tastes and preferences. Therefore it was important to have more chain stores in other countries to meet the demands of their customers. For instance, more shops in Britain would ensure that the needs of people in Britain were met. These individuals sought went to stores based on social affinity. Other chains would serve the needs of those in France and Italy who were fashion forward focused on quality and variety of the apparels. Additional multi chain stores would have catered for the ever growing needs of many nations to buy apparels. The British, other than seeking stores out of social affinity, bought apparels nine times a year. The French and the Spaniards also brought clothing at different times of the year. These time differences in places and by different nations reflected the great need for additional multi chain stores. In addition, both within the regions an d between regions demands for apparel increased. In japan, teenage market segment was making most demand for apparel. Therefore, managing the operations of multi chain stores would have required Inditex to arbitrage international factor price difference, minimize tangible investments, and invest in brands. Also, there was the need to emphasize partnering. Should it start up or add more chains From the perspective of meeting the growing market demands and its ability to make more products, Inditex should add more chains. The sourcing and manufacturing levels of Inditex had over the years expanded substantially. Through the help of its headquarter personnel and its purchasing office in Hong Kong and Barcelona, Inditex through Zara outsourced finished products, fabric and other inputs from the external suppliers, manufactured 40% of the finished products internally and sourced from Europe and North Africa approximately two-thirds of the items while one-third came from Asia. Zara, by it self, had enough factories to carry out this process and it also had its own centralized distribution system. More chains are needed to cater for the growing market needs. The plans that Inditex had for the year 2002 were to increase stores for Zara with 55 to 66 new stores. These stores were to be in Spain and outside Spain. Those outside Spain were to be 80% of the total added stores. These decisions to add more stores across the world would ensure more consumers are reached since Zara had accounted for a greater selling area due to such expansions. There was a need to do more significant investments in other areas North America, South America and Asia. In addition, other areas like the Middle East were profitable and worth having stores and products for consumers. In this region, expansion efforts could be made because of the higher than expected demand that would be able to cater for operating costs and it would offer the brightest prospects for a significant and sustained growt h. Also, Inditex could have added more chains through joint ventures in areas where it was difficult to obtain licenses to open a new store. Some of the difficulties in opening more stores that Inditex competitors face were solved through joint ventures. For instance, 1998 Benetton formed a joint venture to help it secure a location and obtain multiple licenses required to open a new store. Also, inditex had formed a joint venture with Percassi, an italan group specializing infashion retail and property in the year 2001 to enable it expand its stores in Italy. Conclusion To sum up, the growth and performance of Inditex was attributed to its good management team, strategies, policies and other chain stores that were performing well in Spain and in other countries around the world. Additionally, Inditex had well established international expansion strategies, a committed workforce, a good market for its products and a well established distribution system. Also, Inditex ensured that it made progress towards implementing a social strategy that involved a dialogue with local communities, non-governmental organizations, subcontractors, suppliers and employees. Reference Ghemawat, P. Nueno, L.J. (2003). Zara: Fast fashion, Harvard Business School, pp.1-35. This report on ZARA: Fast Fashion was written and submitted by user Blaze Banks to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Paul Klee Versus Cy Twombly. Around the fish (1926) and Tiznit (1953)

Paul Klee Versus Cy Twombly. Around the fish (1926) and Tiznit (1953) Introduction â€Å"Around the fish (1926)† and â€Å"Tiznit (1953)† could not be more distinct from each other. Each work of art epitomizes what its creation is about. One painting is geometric, another is haphazard; one is rhythmic, while the other seems to be free from such coordination.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Paul Klee Versus Cy Twombly. â€Å"Around the fish (1926)† and â€Å"Tiznit (1953)† specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, these diverge differences do not mask the similarities between the two pieces; their meanings are debatable and ambiguous to some extent. Both artists also pride themselves in the poeticism of their work. Comparisons Influences The fundamental differences between the artistic works of both artists stems from the influences in their lives. Paul Klee produced ‘Around the Fish’ during the constructivist era. Since he lived in Germ any, he was heavily influenced by perspectives of the Bauhaus (Fransciscono 255). This was an era where geometry, systemization and measurement were given the greatest precedence (Lanchner 26). It is no wonder that there are three cylindrical shapes that surround the fish. Furthermore, a crescent is placed alongside a circle. Even the very arrangement of the particles in the painting is cubical in nature. He uses lines directly and indirectly in the painting through the arrows and inside the cylinders too. The painting appears to be derived from motifs that have been placed on a plane. In fact Franciscono (247) explains that order, balance and regular progressions were some of the things that Paul Klee championed during this era. Since he was a lecturer at German University, he taught his students to start small and then combine these pieces to create a holistic picture. Conversely, Cy Twombly was classified as an abstract expressionist, although his work does not fall into any part icular movement. While Klee may have captured the prevailing sentiments of his time. His work is not as ordered as Klee’s; instead, it can be considered as some from of graffiti.Advertising Looking for research paper on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More At the time when Twombly had created the piece, mass culture has taken over various art forms. It was almost as if he would have no relevance in commercialization. While Twombly’s work is devoid of basic graphics, pictures or other bold images, Klee’s work was rich with images. It is quite difficult to place Twombly in any general movement because his work is indulgent and sensual at the same time. Therefore, while both artists are unique in their own right, Twombly’s originality is louder than Klee’s. He stood autonomously in different artistic eras (Sylvester 5). Child-like element Perhaps another factor that brings t hese two pieces of art together is their childish-like elements. Once again, Twombly’s painting has more of these elements than Klee’s. Paul Klee affirmed that his art is really â€Å"childhood captured at will† (Lanchner 26). The work is authentic and designed to capture the wild imagination of those youthful days. However, Klee adds the words â€Å"at will† in order to show that his impulsiveness, while useful, is quite controlled. When one looks at ‘Around the fish’, one sees a plate of fish surrounded by some unfamiliar and familiar objects. This may be a simple analogy of a dinner table in which one places a dish and then the surrounding silverware revolves around it. A child would not be bothered about any deeper meanings. In fact, Klee discourages audiences from trying to figure out the holistic meaning of ‘Around the fish’. He urges individuals to look at the individualistic patterns in the piece as they have more meaning . Klee wants his admirers to adopt the mind of a child, who does not concern himself or herself with hidden meanings. On the other hand, childishness has been one of the major descriptions used to talk about Twombly’s work, and this is quite clear in ‘Tiznit (1953)†. His use of crayon marks and rough lines appear to be more of scribbles than conventional art.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Paul Klee Versus Cy Twombly. â€Å"Around the fish (1926)† and â€Å"Tiznit (1953)† specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More One critic compares his artistic process as child’s play rather than a game. A game has many rules and it tends to confine an individual to a particular mould. If one ignores the rules, then one is automatically removed from the game. Conversely child play has no rules; the sole aim of playing is to enjoy freedom. As one looks at the lines and markings in ‘Tizn it’ one realizes that this artist conforms to no guidelines. Sylvester (21) explains that initially, Twombly was inspired by artists such as Klee to incorporate gravity in his works. However, he decided to abandon this direction because he wanted no restrictions. The painting appears to be a fantasy or game to the artist. To some extent, it appears messy as some pain drapes off the canvas. Nonetheless, this is a welcome mess and pleasant disorder. It is almost like a piece of cloth that a boy threw away into the corner of the room. In such a situation, the cloth does not cease to have value merely because it has been thrown away; it merely reflects the indifference or laziness of the boy. Likewise, Twombly’s painting appears to be scrapped or thrown. The artist has refused to finish his piece of work because that is his nature; he wants to indulge in fantasy. Meanings The meanings to be extracted from both artistic works are also quite divergent. In ‘Around the F ish’ the artist clearly thought about the motifs before placing them on the canvas. However, one should not be satisfied by the images as artistic pieces alone.. They had certain cultural or political meanings as well. In the same year that he made the painting, Klee had visited Italy. He saw a lot of medieval art in these travels, and probably drew inspiration from some of them. Of particular relevance is the Byzantine as well as the mosaic found in St. Apollinare Nuovo; it was an illustration of the last supper with Jesus at the centre. When one critically analyses ‘Around the fish’, one can find some similarities with these Italian pieces. The fish is at the centre of the piece and may therefore represent Jesus who was surrounded by his disciples. However, the dish contains two fish, so one cannot be sure that Klee really wanted to portray Jesus in his paintings.Advertising Looking for research paper on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Alternatively, one may think of this work of art in another way. Klee loved to focus on nature during his teachings in Germany. Franciscono (259) explains that Klee sought to reconcile nature with art. He often talked about the geometry inherent in natural objects. Furthermore, he usually collected items such as shells and plants. Therefore, one may think of the fish as a literal representation of the animal. Then one may think of the surrounding as the sea or its natural setting. However, Klee joins the flowers to the fish with an arrow. This may signify fate or the inevitability of certain actions. One can never really be certain (Grohmann 180). On the other hand, Twombly ‘s meanings cannot be found literally in his piece. These meanings must be deduced from what he did prior to completion of the test. One may assert that ‘Tiznit 1953’ is obsessive and impulsive. Therefore, on can deduce that these are the messages he is trying to send across to his audience. Th e painting does not impose its meaning and is thus less aggressive than Klee’s ‘Around the Fish’ (Sylvester 39). A critic once explained that when Twombly starts to work on his piece, he is like ancient Chinese artists who never had room to correct their mistakes owing to the delicate fabrics they used. Consequently, most of them could only paint once and put up with the consequences. In Twombly’s case, he is not obligated to create mistake-free work. He deliberately chooses not to correct his work once he puts that paint or crayon to paper. This is the reason why it is impossible to imitate Twombly. He does not desire to pass any hidden messages to his audience, and this explains why he uses an off-handed approach. Klee often thought about his methods but Twombly stayed unattached to his work. Several art observers may come up with the same deduction about the significance of ‘Around the fish’, but it is likely that ‘Tiznit’ woul d elicit extremely divergent reactions. Artistic process Both artists used different processes to create their final pieces. Klee often stressed that it is the process leading to the art that counts rather than the actual piece. As such, he always sought to distant himself from the meaning of his work. Paul Klee firmly believed in the importance of remaining vague during artistic creation (Franciscono 256). Nonetheless, Klee has imposed upon himself certain restrictions. He was economical with his forms and sought to stay away from excessiveness. Even mathematical processes were used in his work. However, this piece reveals that geometry was a means to an end; it did not establish order; it was a mechanism for getting there. There was still a high level of ambiguity in his work. This is the reason why one can find so many interpretations from ‘Around the fish’. The uncertainty he gave to this piece contributes to its authenticity. While Twombly never said this verbally, his painting says it for him. His work has eliminated the connection between the eye and the hand. All he wants one to encounter is the feeling of creating. The greatest emphasis should not be on the trace but the activity of tracing. One may equate this to the same thing that takes places when children play. They rarely think about who will win; all the want it to do is spend time with each other (Sylvester 37). Color The two artists also differ with regard to the use of color. Paul Klee had travelled to Tunisia in 1914. At that time, he realized that a painter must always utilize the beauty of color because each one is unique. Tunisia was laden with wonderfully colored mosaics that caused Klee to incorporate them into his work. These influences come out exceptionally well in ‘Around the fish’. The artist meant to create a sort of rhythmic unity in his work. His patterns and symbols would not have come out so clearly if the artist had not utilized colors in the manner that he did. Klee always prefers to use pale or darker backgrounds in order to focus all the attention on the motifs. However, color works best when used on a divergent material. The piece is a collage, and this utilized time and space as explained very clearly by Lachner (27). One may claim that Surealism grew right around the time when Klee made his piece. He captured this essence of color through collaging. To Klee, color provides a context to the rest of his work and this enforces his abstract motifs, which are always his centre of focus in his pieces. Conversely, Twombly used color in a totally different light. He appears to use it sparingly as if he is trying to flatter with the pieces. Additionally, he seems to enjoy the surprise that color creates when crayons meet paper (Sylvester 33). Klee puts a lot of thought into combining the right colors. However, Twombly does not appear to be bothered by this concern, he is not apprehensive about ruining his canvas because he has no goals to begin with. In ‘Tiznit (1953)’ he preferred to use a white canvas. Nonetheless, he appears to embrace the qualities of these seemingly plain color, every canvas has its own characteristics and patterns; therefore; when one accepts these differences and uses them in order to send his message, then one might create very intriguing work. Conclusion The most fundamental difference between these two pieces is that there appears to be an objective system of knowledge or rationalization in Klee’s work, but this is absent in Twombly’s painting. Additionally, Klee’s piece is highly structured and full of self-imposed restrictions. The opposite is true for Twombly; he appears to be interested in freedom rather than adhering to any sort of standard. Tiznit appears to be unfinished and disordered while ‘Around the fish’ is ordered or even geometric. Consequently, Twombly’s painting gives an illusion of fantasy and indulgence while Klee’s piece gives an illusion of cultural and symbolism Franciscono, Marcel. Paul Klee: His Work and Thought, Chicago: University of Chicago Press,1991. Print. Grohmann, William. Paul Klee. NY: Harry Abrams Inc, 1977. Print. Lanchner, Carolyn. Paul Klee, NY: MoMA, 1987. Print. Sylvester, Julie, Schama Simon Barthes Ronald. Cy Twombly: Fifty years of works on paper. London: Distributed Art Publishers, 1980. Print.

Compare and contrast Cortez and Ricci in their attitudes towards Essay

Compare and contrast Cortez and Ricci in their attitudes towards non-Christian cultures. Should they be regarded as part of the - Essay Example During this period, Cortes was primarily an explorer and intermediary that facilitated communications between the New World and King Charles V. Conversion of foreign natives to Christianity was an outcome of primary ambitions for improving the economic and political strength of the Spanish Empire. On the contrary, Matteo Ricci hailed from Italy, a nation that prescribed strongly to traditional Catholic values and where the papacy maintained considerable influence in the establishment of cultural rules and legislation. Ricci’s primary goal was not enhancing the political and economic might of Italy but to serve God through Catholic missionary activities around the world. Fundamentally, Ricci and Cortes maintained radically different views on the importance of adhering to religious doctrine and the existing spiritual foundations of foreign cultures. Though both condemned non-Christian value systems, they should not be regarded as being part of the same missionary project, as Ric ci was a devout believer in attaining rewards through Christ while Cortes sought empowerment, first and foremost, for Spain. In Cortes’ letter to Charles V in 1520, Cortes describes the majesty of the Aztec Empire, recurrently expressing the tangibles of architecture, resource availability, and the engineering prowess of this region. In great detail, Cortes highlights the amazing plethora of animals, vegetables, precious metals, and various commodities found in Temixtitlan. As if presenting a well-inventoried catalog, Cortes reinforces the potential economic benefits that this Empire holds for Charles V, as if to embolden action to ensure that these resources and talents are procured for the throne. It is not until all dimensions of economic benefits are found in Temixtitlan that Cortes begins to describe his condemnation of idolatry and the other non-Christian religious practices and ceremonies he has observed and attempted to thwart. Matteo Ricci, however, is far less defam ing non-Christian cultures, attempting to convert and educate various international citizens to the Catholic doctrine when he recognizes potential cultural interest in God and Christ. Ricci finds commonalities to religious beliefs similar to Roman Catholicism in China, but discovers Japanese cultural and religious behaviors simply too strange to fulfill conversion and incorporation into this doctrine. Rather than acting hostile toward these cultures, he focuses more intently on converting regions that are more conducive to Christian beliefs, and illustrate interest in its concepts. Ricci does not seek out exploitation of resources or economic benefits for Italy, having taken a vow not to seek individual wealth but use cooperative resources to adhere to Jesuit missionary agenda. Cortes is much more aggressive about converting Aztec citizens to the Christian doctrine, one that rejects idolatry and advocates respect for human life offered by Christian values. After having observed the places of worship, Cortes is sickened by the practice of human sacrifice, with special dismay placed on idols â€Å"all polluted with human blood† (Cortes 3), thus reacting with hostility by destroying the idols. Cortes is not withdrawn or inhibited in his public presentation of consternation and shock over recurring idolatry and the faith that Aztec citizens maintained in serving what he referred to as false gods. Ricci, unlike Cortes, works hard to incorporate Jesuit beliefs into the foreign

Porsche Changes Track Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Porsche Changes Track - Essay Example Dr. Wendelin Wiedeking (CEO, Porsche) while outlining the priorities of the company stated, "Yes, of course we have heard of shareholder value. But that does not change the fact that we put customers first, then workers, then business partners, suppliers and dealers, and then shareholders." This statement signifies the priorities accorded by Porsche to all its stakeholders in the business. That certainly doesn't mean that Porsche is not giving due importance to its shareholders, what it actually signifies is that, Porsche always believes in customer driven policies and keeping the employees happy. Satisfied customers and happy employees provide the company a distinct identity and edge over its competitors. At times Porsche appeared somewhat stubborn in its attitude owing to postures like non-listing on the NY stock exchange and non-disclosures of quarterly results. There's some confusion in the market place owing to the differences of opinion regarding the stated policy of 'keeping c ustomer's interest on top' and rewarding its own set people with huge dividends, as the company remains a closely held business entity. Porsche has been a closely held company as far as shareholding is concerned. That effectively means, despite its being listed on the bourses, majority of the stake is being held by limited number of people. The earnings growth too has been good enough during this decade despite a global slowdown in economies owing to reasons like t

The history of the alphabet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The history of the alphabet - Essay Example The Latin alphabets are regarded as the most widely used alphabets of the world. These alphabets are derived from the Greek that provided the concept of consonants and vowels (Stephen, p98) The Greek alphabets are rooted from the Phoenician alphabets that basically donate a system that proposed the use of symbols for every consonant. It implies that all the alphabets used in the present world have their roots deeply embedded in to the Phoenician alphabets (Joseph, p65). There are two main scripts that provide the hints for the history of alphabets. These scripts were created somewhere before the end of the fourth millennium BCE known as Mesopotamian cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphs. These scripts provide the base for the production of Phoenician alphabets and were widely used in the Middle East region. Many of the languages used in the regions are developed from the based provided by the Phoenician alphabets and the two mentioned scripts. The set of 22 hieroglyphs was created by th e ancient Egyptians in 2700 BCE. These hieroglyphs basically represent the individual consonants of their language. In addition to the consonant, the 23rd hieroglyph presented the concept of word initial or word final vowel for the first time (Stephen, p98).