All About Management

Adidas

Posted on 10.26 komentar (5)
Label: Business, SWOT

Introduction

Adidas is a company that manufactures shoes and sport apparel. The founder is Adolf Dassler who is German. The name created by combination of the name and surname Adi Dassler, who started producing shoes in 1920s with the help of his brother Rudolf Dassler. That make costumer, to recognize Adidas is three parallel stripes of the same color.
Slogan: “IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING”

1. History 1949-2005
Due to the death of Adolf’s son (Horst Dassler), the Company was bought in 1990 by Bernard Tapie. Back then Tapie was specialist of rescuing bankrupt companies. Next step was to change the place of production to Asia and make a promotion campaign by using a famous person as Madonna (famous singer). In 1992 economical problems lead Tapi to sell Adidas to Lyonnais bank. Lyonnais sold Adidas to Robert Louis-Dreyfus who was also the president of the Olympique de Marseille football team. In 1997, Adidas AG acquired the Salomon Group, and its corporate name was changed to Adidas-Salomon AG. Seven years later, top English fashion designer Stella McCartney launched a joint-venture line with Adidas. This line was a sports performance collection for women called "Adidas by Stella McCartney". After 2 years, Adidas introduced the Adidas 1, the first ever production shoe to utilize a microprocessor. In August 2005, Adidas bought rival Reebok. At the same time sales had been closer to those of Nike in North America. The acquisition of Reebok would also allow Adidas to compete with Nike worldwide as the number two athletic shoemaker in the world. Three months later Adidas released a new version of the Adidas 1, make it better, stronger and faster. On April 11 2006, Adidas announced an 11-year deal to become the official NBA apparel provider.

2. Products
Adidas manufactures anything related to sport, like shoes, clothes, watches, balls, Sunglasses, Protective Equipment, etc.
You can purchase Adidas almost anywhere. Except original stores that placed in every city in every country; you can find them also in super market as perfume shower gel etc, or in jewel store as watches. The pricing for per of shoe fluctuate 60 to 250 Euros, High price for most people; justifiably for High quality materials that company use.

• PLANING

Mission Statement

“Our mission is to become the best sports brand in the world. To that end, we will never equate quantity with quality. Our founder Adi Dassler was passionate about sports. For Adi, the athlete came first. He gave those on the field, the court and the track the unexpected and the little differences that made them more comfortable and improved performance. This is our legacy. This is what the brand stands for. This will never change.”

Vision

Passion for sport. This is adidas. We consistently bring our passion to every single sport, wherever and whenever it is played. Whether it's football in the park or the 100 meters at the Olympics - we have been there, we are there now, and we will always be there. Our dream is to bring our passion for sport, the athlete and the product, to anyone who comes into contact with adidas.

Objectives

We are innovation and design leaders who seek to help athletes of all skill levels achieve peak performance with every product we bring to the market.
We are a global organization that is socially and environmentally responsible, creative and financially rewarding for our employees and shareholders.
We are committed to continuously strengthening our brands and products to improve our competitive position and financial performance.
In the medium term, we will extend our leading market position in Europe, expand our share of the US footwear market and be the fastest growing major sporting goods supplier in Asia and Latin America. The resulting top-line growth, together with strict cost control and working capital improvements, will drive over-proportionate earnings growth.

Decision-making style: Centralized / programmed

S.W.O.T. Analysis

Strengths
• In many invents is the biggest sponsor
• Strong management team
• Brand recognition and reputation
• Diversity and variety in products offered on the web (footwear, apparel, sporting equipment, etc.)
• Strong control over its own distribution channel
• No bad reputation like child labor or environment pollution
• In the Soccer industry, Adidas has a stronghold

Weaknesses
• High prices in some products
• E-commerce is limited to USA
• The direct sale to consumers is creating conflicts with its own resellers
• Online customer service not "helpful" or easy to find

Opportunities
• Increase female participation in athletics “Adidas by Stella McCartney”
• Collaborate with other online retailers to offer Adidas products
• Possibility of outsourcing the web development and e-commerce to a third party developer
Threats
• Nike's strong reputation in the footwear and apparel industry
• Negative image created by the sponsored athletes (i.e. Kobe Bryant and his sexual assault case)
• Increase in the Price of Raw materials
• Continuing challenges in import/export duties

PEST Analysis

Political
Adidas policy is to control and monitor hazardous substance to protect human health and environment one of those is to eliminate PVC making progress in finding substitutes like polyurethane, ethyl vinyl, silicones thermoplastic rubber. Adidas also provide training sessions on employment standards and HR systems, health and safety is important for the company. Establishing teams to manage and monitor SARS in Asia factory, washing stations, disinfectant units. Finally Adidas protects and supports the rights of its employees by following all the current employment laws.

Economical
As a multinational company adidas helps countries to decrease unemployment by increasing every year the number of employees. The Industrial Production Growth Rate in Germany was 1% in 2001-3, 2004 become 1.7%. Adidas is a reason of this increase Because of the big sponsorship in 2004 Olympic Games. As exporting to Europe is not too expensive as it was before, Europe since 2002 has own money (euro) and the borders are not so tight. Labor salary is high in Germany and France but not so expensive in China (Suzhou). This is the reason that most of factories located in Asia.

Social
Adidas products declare in any raise, age, religion, and lifestyle, always in fashion with special design in any of product. Focus in people who like sports and athletes, almost everybody can purchase adidas products.

Technology
Adidas join into technology by make up the world’s first “smart shoe”, adding a microchip inside the shoe and wireless mp3 player. Also using hot melt system of the production that is environmentally safe, using heat-activated adhesives. The packaging that company use, are suitable for transportation over long distances, humid conditions and extreme temperature changes and use recycled paper and other environmentally-friendly packaging materials.

As many competitors that Adidas has, the external environment can’t be no other by dynamic.

BCG Matrix

Apparel Watches

Footwear Eyewear

Amazon.Com

Posted on 10.17 No Comments
Label: Business, SWOT

Strengths.

Amazon is a profitable organization. In 2005 profits for the three months to June dipped 32% to $52m (£29.9m) from $76m in the same period in 2004. Sales jumped 26% to $1.75bn. Until recent years Amazon was experiencing large losses, due to its huge initial set up costs. The recent dip is due to promotions that have offered reduced delivery costs to consumers.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Information Technology (IT) support Amazon's business strategy. The company carefully records data on customer buyer behaviour. This enables them to offer to an individual specific items, or bundles of items, based upon preferences demonstrated through purchases or items visited.
Amazon is a huge global brand. It is recognisable for two main reasons. It was one of the original dotcoms, and over the last decade it has developed a customer base of around 30 million people. It was an early exploiter of online technologies for e-commerce, which made it one of the first online retailers. It has built on nits early successes with books, and now has product categories that include electronics, toys and games, DIY and more.

Weaknesses.

As Amazon adds new categories to its business, it risks damaging its brand. Amazon is the number one retailer for books. Toy-R-Us is the number one retailers for toys and games. Imagine if Toys-R-Us began to sell books. This would confuse its consumers and endanger its brands. In the same way, many of the new categories, for example automotive, may prove to be too confusing for customers.
The company may at some point need to reconsider its strategy of offering free shipping to customers. It is a fair strategy since one could visit a more local retailer, and pay no costs. However, it is rumoured that shipping costs could be up to $500m, and such a high figure would undoubtedly erode profits.

Opportunities.

The company is now increasingly cashing in on its credentials as an online retail pioneer by selling its expertise to major store groups. For example, British retailer Marks and Spencer announced a joint venture with Amazon to sell its products and service online. Other recent collaborations have been with Target, Toys-R-Us and the NBA. Amazon's new Luxembourg-based division aims to provide tailored services to retailers as a technology service provider in Europe.
There are also opportunities for Amazon to build collaborations with the public sector. For example the company announced a deal with the British Library, London, in 2004. The benefit is that customers c an search for rare or antique books. The library's catalogue of published works is now on the Amazon website, meaning it has details of more than 2.5m books on the site.
In 2004 Amazon moved into the Chinese market, by buying china's biggest online retailer, Joyo.com . The deal was reported to be worth around $75m (£40m). Joyo.com has many similarities to its new owner, in that it retails books, movies, toys, and music at discounted prices.

Threats

All successful Internet businesses attract competition. Since Amazon sells the same or similar products as high street retailers and other online businesses, it may become more and more difficult to differentiate the brand from its competitors. Amazon does have it s brand. It also has a huge range of products. Otherwise, price competition could damage the business.
International competitors may also intrude upon Amazon as it expands. Those domestic (US-based) rivals unable to compete with Amazon in the US, may entrench overseas and compete with them on foreign fronts. Joint ventures, strategic alliances and mergers could see Amazon losing its top position in some markets.
The products that Amazon sells tend to be bought as gifts, especially at Christmas. This means that there is an element of seasonality to the business. However, by trading in overseas markets in different cultures such seasonality may not be enduring.

Ebay Company

Posted on 10.06 komentar (1)
Label: Business, SWOT

Strengths.

eBay is the leading global brand for online auctions. The company is a giant marketplace used by more than 100 million people to buy and sell all manner of things to each other. Pierre Omidyar, a French entrepreneur, was just 28 when he sat down over a long holiday weekend to write the original computer code for what eventually became an Internet megabrand. The brand has grown tremendously over the decade or so since its conception.
The company exploits the benefits of Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Buyers and sellers register with the company and data is collected by eBay on individuals. This is the Business-to- Consumer (B2C) side of their business. However the strong customer relationships are founded on a Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) business model, where strong interrelationships occurs, for example where buyers and sellers leave feedback for each other, and whereby awards are given to the most genuine of eBayers.
The term 'eBay' has become a generic term for online auctions. Other companies with such a strong position include Hoover for vacuum cleaners, and Google for search engines. Today it is common to hear that someone is 'ebaying' or is an 'eBayer,' or that someone is going 'to eBay.'

Weaknesses.

The organizations works tremendously hard to overcome fraud. However, the eBay model does leave itself open to a number of fraudulent activities. Often the company deals with such activities very quickly. Fraud includes counterfeit goods being marketed to unsuspecting (and suspecting!) eBayers. Other forms of theft could include the redistribution of stolen goods. It should be pointed out that fraud and theft are problems with individuals, not eBay. The weakness is that unscrupulous individuals can exploit the C2C business model.
As with many technology companies, systems breakdowns could disturb the trading activities of eBay. In the past both eBay and its payment brand Paypal have encountered shutdowns and outages. As technology improves such a weakness is less and less of an issue.

Opportunities.

Acquisitions provide new business strategy opportunities. eBay has agreed to buy online telephone company Skype Technologies in a deal reported to be worth $2.6 billion. Skype's software lets PC users talk to each other for free and make cut-price calls to mobiles and landlines. eBay has been buying up firms - including payment system PayPal - in an effort to increase the number of services it offers to consumers and keep its profits growing.
New and emerging markets provide opportunities (Market Development). Countries include China and India. There, consumers are becoming richer and have more leisure time than previous generations. Aspirating consumers are a growing segment in many developing nations.
There are also still opportunities in current markets (Market Penetration). Western Europe and the USA still have many potential consumers that have yet to discover the benefits of online auctions. Remember products have life cycles that eventually come to an end, and such products are ideal for selling and buying on eBay.

Threats.

As with many of the global Internet brands, success attracts competition. International competitors competing in their domestic markets may have the cultural experience that could give them a competitive advantage over eBay. In fact eBay has found that it has met with other USA-based Internet companies when trading overseas. For example, Yahoo! dominates the Japanese market.
Attack by illegal practices is a threat. As with weaknesses above, the brand is attacked by unscrupulous individuals. For example e-mails are sent to unsuspecting eBayers pretending to come from eBay. Logos and the design of the pages look authentic. However they are designed so that you input private information that the thieves can use to take passwords and identifications. -so beware!
Some costs cannot be controlled by eBay. For example delivery charges and credit card charges. If fuel prices were to rise, the cost is passed on to the consumer in terms of delivery and postal fees. This could make the overall cost of an auctioned item too expensive. Similarly, if a credit card company such as Visa or Mastercard imposed a charge for online transaction, the total cost of the same items would increase with similar consequences.

Founded in September 1995, eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) is The World's Online Marketplace® for the sale of goods and services by a diverse community of individuals and small businesses. Today, the eBay community includes more than a hundred million registered members from around the world. People spend more time on eBay than any other online site, making it the most popular shopping destination on the Internet. More . . .

Yahoo "Search Engine"

Posted on 09.52 komentar (1)
Label: Business, SWOT

Strengths.

Yahoo!'s Overture is a tremendously profitable Internet advertising business. It focuses on affiliate advertising for large advertising accounts, in the same way as Google's Adsense programme. This is an important income stream for Yahoo!.
Yahoo! has over 350 million users of its services and solutions. This makes it a very powerful marketing company, with a very well known brand. Some reports indicate that is it is the most popular website in the World.
A key long-term strength is Yahoo!'s international business presence. As the Internet expands and it is adopted by more nations the opportunities for Internet brands begin to emerge. Yahoo! is well placed to take advantage of these opportunities with its strategic business units in Asia, Europe and Australia.
The Yahoo! Directory is an original source of structured information. It has built over the last decade, and unlike mainstream search engines, its content is moderated (i.e. sites are vetted before their inclusion).

Weaknesses.

Differentiation is difficult for Yahoo!. Almost all of its packaged services are available from other sources.

(i)Search facilities are available on MSN and Google.
(ii)Free E-mail accounts are available from Hotmail (MSN) or G-Mail (Google), and many, many others.
(iii)New is available from CNN or the BBC.
(iv)Shopping is available everywhere on the Internet. Google has Froogle.

Online advertising is a new income stream for organizations such as MSN, Yahoo! and Goggle. Yes, today they are very, very profitable. However, as technology develops and new unforeseen advertising media emerge, the future is uncertain for these income streams. This is a weakness for Yahoo! and its competitors.
Another income stream that has been key to Yahoo! is derived from its partnerships with telecommunication providers. For example, you buy an Internet connection package from your local telephone company, and it includes a fee-based Yahoo! package including e-mail accounts, user support and other added value services. If ever this channel is changed or removed, the income stream would be affected.

Opportunities

The international market is a huge opportunity for Yahoo!. Yahoo!, Microsoft and Google are busy carving niches and taking over businesses in are around the Greater China Region. China has over 1,200,000,000 citizens. Other economies, such as India, also offer tremendous growth potential.
The Development of the Yahoo! Directory has potential for new business and income streams. Two thirds of organizations in Ohmae's Triad (Europe, Japan and the USA) are Small Medium Enterprises (SME'). SME's are potential directory advertisers.
Mobile technologies offer another opportunity for Yahoo!. Today we access the Internet using personal computers. Tomorrow phones, televisions, personal organisers, music players and computers will merge and morph. The mobile devices of the future will need services and solutions. Yahoo! would be well placed to provide many of them.

Threats.

The biggest threat for all web-based organization is competition. Huge profits attract investors, innovators and entrepreneurs. Dotcom fever has not gone away, it is now more focused on profit delivery. All of Yahoo!'s key services have competitors such as AOL, Google and many others.
International, culture specific competitors could affect Yahoo! in the future, unless strategic alliances are forged. China has developed its own search engines, as has India. Why should the World use USA based companies such as Yahoo!? There needs to be a series of substantial competitive advantages to see the business remain as an international brand. Look at what has been learned from the global car industry, or electronics industry.

When Yahoo!! was founded in 1994 by Stanford Ph.D. students, David Filo and Jerry Yang, it began as their hobby and has evolved into a global brand that has changed the way people communicate with each other, find and access information, and make purchases. More.

Marketing plan "Coca Cola"

Posted on 09.28 No Comments
Label: Business, CocaCola, SWOT

Giant soft drink company Coca Cola has come under intense scrutiny by investors due to its inability to effectively carry out its marketing program. Consequently it is seeking the help of Polianitis Marketing Company Pty Ltd to develop a professional marketing plan which will help the business achieve it’s objectives more effectively and efficiently, and inevitably regain there iron fist reign on the soft drink industry.

When establishing a re-birthed marketing plan every aspect of the marketing plan must be critically examined and thoroughly researched. This consists of examining market research, auditing business and current situation (situation analysis) and carefully scrutinising the soft drink industry and possibilities for Coca Cola in the market. Once Coca Cola have carefully analysed the internal and external business environment and critically examined the industry in general the most suitable marketing strategies will be selected and these strategies will be administered by effectively and continually monitoring external threats and opportunities and revising internal efficiency procedures.

Situation Analysis

Market Analysis:

The market analysis investigates both the internal and external business environment. It is vital that Coca cola carefully monitor both the internal and external aspects regarding it’s business as both the internal and external environment and their respective influences will be decisive traits in relation to Coke’s success and survival in the soft drink industry.

Internal Business Environment

The internal business environment and its influence is that which is to some extent within the business’s control. The main attributes in the internal environment include efficiency in the production process, through management skills and effective communication channels. To effectively control and monitor the internal business environment, Coke must conduct continual appraisals of the business’s operations and readily act upon any factors, which cause inefficiencies in any phase of the production and consumer process.

External Business Environment

The External business environment and its influences are usually powerful forces that can affect a whole industry and, in fact, a whole economy. Changes in the external environment will create opportunities or threats in the market place Coca cola must be aware off. Fluctuations in the economy, changing customer attitudes and values, and demographic patterns heavily influence the success of Coka Cola’s products on the market and the reception they receive from the consumers.

SWOT Analysis:

SWOT stands for Strengths Weakness Opportunities Threats. SWOT analysis is a technique much used in many general management as well as marketing scenarios. SWOT consists of examining the current activities of the organisation- its Strengths and Weakness- and then using this and external research data to set out the Opportunities and Threats that exist.

Strengths:
Coca-Cola has been a complex part of world culture for a very long time. The product's image is loaded with over-romanticizing, and this is an image many people have taken deeply to heart. The Coca-Cola image is displayed on T-shirts, hats, and collectible memorabilia. This extremely recognizable branding is one of Coca-Cola's greatest strengths. "Enjoyed more than 685 million times a day around the world Coca-Cola stands as a simple, yet powerful symbol of quality and enjoyment" (Allen, 1995).
Additionally, Coca-Cola's bottling system is one of their greatest strengths. It allows them to conduct business on a global scale while at the same time maintain a local approach. The bottling companies are locally owned and operated by independent business people who are authorized to sell products of the Coca-Cola Company. Because Coke does not have outright ownership of its bottling network, its main source of revenue is the sale of concentrate to its bottlers.

Weaknesses:
Weaknesses for any business need to be both minimised and monitored in order to effectively achieve productivity and efficiency in their business’s activities, Coke is no exception. Although domestic business as well as many international markets are thriving (volumes in Latin America were up 12%), Coca-Cola has recently reported some "declines in unit case volumes in Indonesia and Thailand due to reduced consumer purchasing power." According to an article in Fortune magazine, "In Japan, unit case sales fell 3% in the second quarter [of 1998]...scary because while Japan generates around 5% of worldwide volume, it contributes three times as much to profits. Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Japan account for about 35% of Coke's volume and none of these markets are performing to expectation.
Coca-Cola on the other side has effects on the teeth which is an issue for health care. It also has got sugar by which continuous drinking of Coca-Cola may cause health problems. Being addicted to Coca-Cola also is a health problem, because drinking of Coca-Cola daily has an effect on your body after few years.

Opportunities:
Brand recognition is the significant factor affecting Coke's competitive position. Coca-Cola's brand name is known well throughout 94% of the world today. The primary concern over the past few years has been to get this name brand to be even better known. Packaging changes have also affected sales and industry positioning, but in general, the public has tended not to be affected by new products. Coca-Cola's bottling system also allows the company to take advantage of infinite growth opportunities around the world. This strategy gives Coke the opportunity to service a large geographic, diverse area.

Threats:
Currently, the threat of new viable competitors in the carbonated soft drink industry is not very substantial. The threat of substitutes, however, is a very real threat. The soft drink industry is very strong, but consumers are not necessarily married to it. Possible substitutes that continuously put pressure on both Pepsi and Coke include tea, coffee, juices, milk, and hot chocolate. Even though Coca-Cola and Pepsi control nearly 40% of the entire beverage market, the changing health-consciousness of the market could have a serious affect. Of course, both Coke and Pepsi have already diversified into these markets, allowing them to have further significant market shares and offset any losses incurred due to fluctuations in the market. Consumer buying power also represents a key threat in the industry. The rivalry between Pepsi and Coke has produce a very slow moving industry in which management must continuously respond to the changing attitudes and demands of their consumers or face losing market share to the competition. Furthermore, consumers can easily switch to other beverages with little cost or consequence.

Product Life cycle:

When referring to each and every product or service ever placed before the consumer i.e. in the long term all the existing products and services are dead. For e.g.:- Replacement of Ford Cortina ( a highly successful car) by Ford Sierra, the replacement of sierra by the Ford Mondeo and the replacement of the old Mondeo by the new Mondeo in 2001. So every product is born, grows, matures and dies. So in the commercial market place products and services are created, launched and withdrawn in a process known as Product Life Cycle.
To be able to market its product properly, a business must be aware of the product life cycle of its product. The standard product life cycle tends to have five phases: Development, Introduction, Growth, Maturity and Decline. Coca-Cola is currently in the maturity stage, which is evidenced primarily by the fact that they have a large, loyal group of stable customers.
Furthermore, cost management, product differentiation and marketing have become more important as growth slows and market share becomes the key determinant of profitability. In foreign markets the product life cycle is in more of a growth trend Coke's advantage in this area is mainly due to its establishment strong branding and it is now able to use this area of stable profitability to subsidize the domestic Cola Wars.
Insert the picture of the product lifecycle

Marketing Objectives

The objective is the starting point of the marketing plan. Objectives should seek to answer the question 'Where do we want to go?'. The purposes of objectives include:

-> to enable a company to control its marketing plan.
-> to help to motivate individuals and teams to reach a common goal.
-> to provide an agreed, consistent focus for all functions of an organization.

All objectives should be SMART i.e. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timed.

Specific - Be precise about what you are going to achieve
Measurable - Quantify you objectives
Achievable - Are you attempting too much?
Realistic - Do you have the resource to make the objective happen (men, money, machines, materials, minutes)?
Timed - State when you will achieve the objective (within a month? By February 2010?)

1.Market Share Objectives:
To gain 60% of the market for soft drink industry by September 2007.

2.Profitability Objectives:
To achieve a 20% return on capital employed by August 2007

3. Promotional Objectives
To increase awareness of the product on the market.

4. Objectives for Survival
To survive the current market war between competitors.

5. Objectives for Growth
To increase the size of the worldwide Coca Cola enterprise by 10% .

Selecting Target Market

Once the situation analysis is complete, and the marketing objectives determined, attention turns to the target market. The soft drink market is very large, and the business cannot be “all things to all people”, so it must choose which market segments have the greatest potential. The target market is the group of customers on whom the business focuses attention. The target market is where Coca Cola focuses its marketing efforts as it feels this is where it will be most productive and successful. The target market for Coca cola is very wide as it satisfy’s the needs for many different consumers, ranging from the healthy diet consciousness through Diet Coke to the average human through its best selling drink regular Coke. Most Coke products satisfy all age groups as it is proven that most people of different age groups consume the Coca Cola product. This market is relatively large and is open to both genders, thereby allowing greater product diversification.

There are four broad ways which Coca Cola can segment its market:

-> Mass marketing
-> Concentrated marketing
-> Differentiated marketing
-> Niche marketing

The most apparent method used by Coca Cola is with no doubt the differentiated marketing method as Coke satisfy’s a range of different markets. Diet coke satisfy’s the weight consciousness, regular coke, sprite, fanta the average human, coffee, iced tea etc. Each group of beverages satisfy a particular group of people but majority the average human.

Developing The Marketing Mix

The marketing mix is probably the most crucial stage of the marketing planning process. This is where the marketing tactics for each product are determined. The marketing mix refers to the combination of the four factors(price, promotion, product, place) that make up the core of a business’s marketing strategy. In this step of the marketing planning process, marketing mix must be designed to satisfy the wants of target markets and achieve the marketing objectives. The most successful businesses have continually monitored and changed their marketing mix due to respective internal and external factors and have monitored the external business environment in order to maximise their marketing mix components.

Product:

Many Products are physical objects that you can own and take home. But the word product means much more than just physical goods. In marketing, product also refers to services, such as holidays or a movie, where you enjoy the benefits without owning the result of the service.
Businesses must think about products on three different levels, which are the core product, the actual product and the augmented product. The core product is what the consumer is actually buying and the benefits it gives. Coca Cola customers are buying a wide range of soft drinks. The actual product is the parts and features, which deliver the core product. Consumers will buy the coke product because of the high standards and high quality of the Coca Cola products. The augmented product is the extra consumer benefits and services provided to customers. Since soft drinks are a consumable good, the augmented level is very limited. But Coca Cola do offer a help line and complaint phone service for customers who are not satisfied with the product or wish to give feedback on the products.

Positioning

Once a business has decided which segments of the market it will compete in, developed a clear picture of its target market and defined its product, the positioning strategy can be developed. Positioning is the process of creating, the image the product holds in the mind of consumers, relative to competing products. Coca Cola and Franklins both make soft drinks, although Franklins may try to compete they will still be seen as down market from Coca Cola. Positioning helps customers understand what is unique about the products when compared with the competition. Coca Cola plan to further create positions that will give their products the greatest advantage in their target markets. Coca Cola has been positioned based on the process of positioning by direct comparison and have positioned their products to benefit their target market. Most people create an image of a product by comparing it to another product, thus evident through the famous battles between Coca-Cola and Pepsi products.

Branding

It is often hard to say exactly why we buy one company’s product over another. Companies such as Nike and Adidas spend large amounts of money trying to win consumers away from their competitors who make products that are very similar. The popularity of the brand is often the deciding factor. Over the time Coca Cola has spent millions of dollars developing and promoting their brand name, resulting in world wide recognition. 'Coca-Cola' is the most recognised trademark, recognised by 94% of the world's population and is the most widely recognised word after "OK". Coca Cola’s red and white colours and special writing are all examples of world-wide trademarks.
There are a number of branding strategies: Generic brand strategy, Individual brand strategy, Family brand strategy, Manufacturer’s brand strategy, Private brand strategy and Hybrid brand strategy. Coca Cola utilizes the Individual brand strategy as Coca Cola’s major products are given their own brand names e.g Fanta, Sprite, Coca Cola etc although they maybe presented as different lines they operate under the name of Coca Cola.

Packaging

Packaging, which is not as highly perceived by businesses, is still an important factor to examine in the marketing mix. Packaging protects the product during transportation, while it sits in the shelf and during use by consumers, it promotes the product and distinguishes it from the competition. Packaging can allow the business to design promotional schemes, which can generate extra revenue and advertisements. Coca-Cola has benefited from packaging the product with incentives and endorsements on the labelling as a promotional strategy to increase it’s volume of sales and revenue.

Price:

Price is a very important part of the marketing mix as it can effect both the supply and demand for Coca Cola. The price of Coca Cola’s products is one of the most important factors in a customer’s decision to buy. Price will often be the difference that will push a customer to buy our product over another, as long as most things are fairly similar. For this reason pricing policies need to be designed with consumers and external influences in mind, in order to effectively achieve a stable balance between sales and covering the production costs.
Price strategies are important to Coca Cola because the price determines the amount of sales and profit per unit sold. Businesses have to set a price that is attractive to their customers and provides the business with a good level of profit. Long before a sale was ever made Coca Cola had developed a forecast of consumer demand at different prices which inevitably determined whether or not the product came on the market, as well as the allocation of adequate money and resources to produce, promote and distribute the product.

Pricing Strategies And Tactics

The pricing Strategy a business will use will have to focus on achieving the marketing plan’s objectives and support the positioning of the product, and take external factors such as economic conditions and competitors in to account. There are 5 strategies available to business: Market skimming pricing, Penetration pricing, Loss leaders, Price Points and Discounts. Over the years Coca Cola has used Penetration Pricing as a way of grabbing a foothold in the market and won a market share. It’s product penetrated the marketplace. Once customer loyalty is established as seen with Coca Cola it is then able to slowly raise the price of its product. There has been a fierce pricing rivalry between Coca Cola and Pepsi products as each company competes for customer recognition and satisfaction. Till now it appears as if Coke has come up on top, although in order to gain long term profits Coke had to sacrifise short term profits where in some cases it either went under of just broke even, but as seen it has been all for the best.

Pricing Methods

Good pricing decisions are based on an analysis of what target customers expect to pay, and what they perceive as good quality. If the price is too high, consumers will spend their money on other goods and services. If the price is too low, the firm can lose money and go out of business.
Pricing methods include: Cost based Pricing, Market based pricing and Competition based Pricing. Over the years Coca has lost ground here in it’s pricing but has regained it’s strength as it employed the Competition-based pricing method which allowed it to compete more effectively in the soft drink market. Leader follower pricing occurs when there is one quite powerful business in the market which is thought to be the market leader. The business will tend to have a larger market share, loyal customers and some technological edge, thus the case currently with Coke, it was first the follower but through effective management has now become the leader of the market and is working towards achieving the marketing objectives of the Coca Cola. Survival in the market place, own 60 % of market share by 2007, increase further awareness of product and a return on 20% on capital employed for August 2007.

Promotion:

In today’s competitive environment , having the right product at the right place in the right place at the right time may still not be enough to be successful. Effective communication with the target market is essential for the success of the product and business. Promotion is the p of the marketing mix designed to inform the marketplace about who you are, how good your product is and where they can buy it. Promotion is also used to persuade the customers to try a new product, or buy more of an old product.
The promotional mix is the combination of personal selling, advertising, sales promotion and public relations that it uses in its marketing plan. Above the line promotions refers to mainstream media:Advertising through common media such as television, radio, transport, and billboards and in newspapers and magazines. Because most of the target is most likely to be exposed to media such as television, radio and magazines, Coca Cola has used this as the main form of promotion for extensive range of products. Although advertising is usually very expensive, it is the most effective way of reminding and exposing potential customers to Coca Cola Products. Coca Cola also utilizes below the line promotions such as contests, coupons, and free samples. These activities are an effective way of getting people to give your product a go.

Place and Distribution:

The place P of the marketing mix refers to distribution of the product- the ways of getting the product to the market.The distribution of products starts with the producer and ends with the consumer.
One key element of the “Place/Distribution” aspect is the respective distribution channels that Coca Cola has elected to transport and sell its product.

Selecting the most appropriate distribution channel is important, as the choice will determine sales levels and costs. The choice for a distribution channel for any business depends on numerous factors, these include:
• How far away the customers are;
• The type of product being transported;
• The lead times required; and;
• The costs associated with transport;
There are four types of distribution strategies that Coca Cola could have chosen from, these are: intensive, selective, exclusive and direct distribution. It is apparent from the popularity of the Coca Cola’s product on the market that the business in the past used the method of intensive distribution as the product is available at every possible outlet. From supermarkets to service stations to your local corner shop, anywhere you go you will find the Coca Cola products.

Physical Distribution Issues

Coca Cola needs to consider a number of issues relating to the physical distribution of its soft drink products. The five components of physical distribution are, order processing, warehousing, materials handling, inventory control, transportation. Coca Cola must further try to balance their operations with more efficient distribution channels.

Order Processing- Coca Cola cannot delay their processes for consumer deliveries (i.e. delivery to selling centers), as this is inefficient business functioning and is portrays a flawed image of the product and overall business.
Warehousing and inventory control- warehousing of Coca Cola products is necessary. Inventory control is another important aspect of distribution as inventory makes up a large percentage of businesses assets. Choosing the correct and desired inventory measure that Jackson’s sees as most effective is vital. Jackson’s must remember though that there are factors involved with inventory control that can hinder the products sales and customer perceptions (hazards, distribution from storage facilities, etc…).
Materials handling- this deals with physically handling the product and using machinery such as forklifts and conveyor belts. When holding products, then Coca Cola has benefited from purchasing or renting respective machinery.
Transportation- transporting Coca Cola products is the one most important components of physical distribution. Electing either to transport the sports drink by air, rail, road or water depends on the market (i.e. global, or domestic?) and depends on the associated costs. The most beneficial transportation method for Coca Cola would be ROAD if the product were moved around from storage to the cost centers.

Implementing, Monitoring And Controlling

Financial Forecasts

Financial forecasts are predictions of future events relating strictly to expected costs and revenue costs for future years. There are five major marketing expenditures, which include research costs, product development costs, product costs, promotion costs and distribution costs.

Sales force composite is the most logical method in forecasting revenue. This involves estimates from individual salespeople to sell to work out a total for the whole business. Once these costs and revenues are forecasted, management can then decide which combination of marketing mix strategies will deliver the most sales revenue at the lowest cost.

Implementing

Implementation is the process of turning plans into actions, and involves all the activities that put the marketing plan to work. Successful implementation depends on how well the business blends its people, organisational structure and company culture into a cohesive program that supports the marketing plan.

For its further success, Coca Cola must impose several key changes. Production needs to be on time and meet the quota demanded from wholesalers. It must also be efficient so as not to build inventory stocks and inventory prices. The marketing needs to be motivated and knowledgeable about the product. The forms of promotion such as advertising must be attracting and enticing to the target market to get the greatest amount of exposure possible for the product. This will ensure the success of the product in the stores. Distribution of the product must be efficient. This problem has already been taken care of with convenient transport routes to commercial areas and transport already being arranged.

Monitoring And Controlling

Monitoring and controlling allows the business to check for variance in the budget and actual. This is important because it allows Coca Cola to take the necessary actions to meet the marketing objectives. There are three tools Coca Cola should use to monitor the marketing plan. They are the following:

i. Sales Analysis
The sales analysis breaks down total business sales by market segments to identify strengths and weaknesses in the different areas of sales. Sellers of Coca Cola products vary from major retail supermarkets to small corner stores. This gives the its products maximum exposure to customers at their convenience.

ii. Market Share Analysis
Market share analysis compares Coca Cola’s business sales performance with that of its competitors. Coca Cola looks to increase its market share by over 60%. With the changes Coca Cola is currently undergoing, they aim to regain an iron fist control of the market. Target market various age groups and lifestyles from high school students too universities, and male or female.

Marketing Profitability Analysis
This analysis looks at the cost side of marketing and the profitability of products, sales territories, market segments and sales people. There are three ratios to monitor marketing profitability; they are market research to sales, advertising to sales and sales representatives to sales. The results of these three tools can help Coca Cola determine any emerging trends, such as the need for a different product. Comparing these results with actual results gives the business an idea on when to change.

Market Research

When attempting to implement a new Marketing plan a business must address its target market and conduct the relevant information to insure the new marketing plan both differs from the old and is better for the business. When conducting market research a business must first define the problem and then gather the appropriate information to solve the problem. There are 3 types of information a business can gather to solve its problems.
->Exploratory Research which clarifies the problem an d searches for ways to address it.
->Descriptive Research is used to measure and describe things like the market potential for a product and characteristics of the target market.
->Casual Research is used to test a hypothesis about a cause and effect relationship.
Coca Cola through its market research has addressed all three types of research to define the problem raised by shareholders and gathered information to serve their needs.

Factors Influencing Consumer Choice

When making decisions on products a business must look at factors that influence consumer choice such as psychological factors, Sociocultural factors, Economic factors and Government Factors.
Psychological Factors: such as motivation, perception, lifestyle, personality and self concept, learning , and attitudes influence the consumers behaviour towards a product and Coca Cola has addressed this issue by introducing Diet Coke to satisfy different lifestyles.
Sociocultural factors: such as culture, subculture, socio-economic status, family and reference groups influence the consumers behaviour towards a product.
Economic factors: such as Disposable income and discretionary income. Coca Cola has addressed this side of the influence by maintaining a low price on the price of its products.
Government Factors: such as new regulations, inflation, interest rates all influence consumer spending and choice.

Google "Search Engine"

Posted on 08.30 No Comments
Label: Business, Google Company

What makes it so great?

Back in our No. 1 spot, Google continued to mint millionaires as the stock cracked $700. The company gives stock options to 99% of employees. Headquarters: Mountain View, CA. 2006 revenue ($ millions): 10,605.

Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.

As a first step to fulfilling that mission, Google's founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin developed a new approach to online search that took root in a Stanford University dorm room and quickly spread to information seekers around the globe. Google is now widely recognized as the world's largest search engine -- an easy-to-use free service that usually returns relevant results in a fraction of a second.

When you visit www.google.com or one of the dozens of other Google domains, you'll be able to find information in many different languages; check stock quotes, maps, and news headlines; lookup phonebook listings for every city in the United States; search billions of images and peruse the world's largest archive of Usenet messages -- more than 1 billion posts dating back to 1981.

We also provide ways to access all this information without making a special trip to the Google homepage. The Google Toolbar enables you to conduct a Google search from anywhere on the web. And for those times when you're away from your PC altogether, Google can be used from a number of wireless platforms including WAP and i-mode phones.

Google's utility and ease of use have made it one of the world's best known brands almost entirely through word of mouth from satisfied users. As a business, Google generates revenue by providing advertisers with the opportunity to deliver measurable, cost-effective online advertising that is relevant to the information displayed on any given page. This makes the advertising useful to you as well as to the advertiser placing it. We believe you should know when someone has paid to put a message in front of you, so we always distinguish ads from the search results or other content on a page. We don't sell placement in the search results themselves, or allow people to pay for a higher ranking there.

Thousands of advertisers use our Google AdWords program to promote their products and services on the web with targeted advertising, and we believe AdWords is the largest program of its kind. In addition, thousands of web site managers take advantage of our Google AdSense program to deliver ads relevant to the content on their sites, improving their ability to generate revenue and enhancing the experience for their users.

To learn more about Google, click on the link at the left for the area that most interests you. Or type what you want to find into our search box and hit enter. Once you do, you'll be on your way to understanding why others say, "Google is the closest thing the Web has to an ultimate answer machine."

What's a Google?

"Googol" is the mathematical term for a 1 followed by 100 zeros. The term was coined by Milton Sirotta, nephew of American mathematician Edward Kasner, and was popularized in the book, "Mathematics and the Imagination" by Kasner and James Newman. Google's play on the term reflects the company's mission to organize the immense amount of information available on the web.

Business Overview

As with its technology, Google has chosen to ignore conventional wisdom in designing its business. The company started with seed money from angel investors and brought together two competing venture capital firms to fund its first equity round. While the dotcom boom exploded around it and competitors spent millions on marketing campaigns to "build brand," Google focused instead on quietly building a better search engine.

The word quickly spread from one satisfied user to another. With superior search technology and a high volume of traffic at its Google.com site, Google's managers identified two initial opportunities for generating revenue: search services and advertising.

Google grows and business blooms

Over time, these two business lines evolved into complementary networks. Google AdWords advertisers create ads to drive qualified traffic to their sites and generate leads. Google publishing partners deliver those ads targeted to relevant search results powered by Google AdSense. With AdSense, the publisher shares in the revenue generated when readers click on the ads.

For sites wishing to have more control over their intranet or site searches, Google developed the Google Search Appliance, a scalable and secure appliance that delivers accurate search results across any number of documents.

Google continues to think about ways in which technology can improve upon existing ways of doing business. New areas are explored, ideas prototyped and budding services nurtured to make them more useful to advertisers and publishers. However, no matter how distant Google's business model grows from its origins, the root remains providing useful and relevant information to those who are the most important part of the ecosystem – the millions of individuals around the world who rely on Google search to provide the answers they are seeking.

According to : http://smartstrategicmanagement.blogspot.com
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PT. Pertamina Company

Posted on 12.29 No Comments
Label: BUMN, Industry

Vision : To be a world class national oil company

Mission : To carry out integrated core business in oil, gas, and biofuel based on sound commercial principles

PERTAMINA is a State Owned oil & gas company (National Oil Company), established on December 10, 1957 under the name PT PERMINA. In 1961 the company changed its name to PN PERMINA and after the merger with PN PERTAMIN in 1968 it became PN PERTAMINA. With the enactment of Law 8 of 1971 the company became PERTAMINA. This name persisted until after PERTAMINA changed its legal status to PT PERTAMINA (PERSERO) on October 9, 2003.

PERTAMINA’s scope of business incorporates the upstream and downstream sectors. The upstream sector covers oil, gas and geothermal energy exploration and production both domestically and overseas. The foregoing is pursued through own operations and through partnerships in the form of joint operations with JOBs (Joint Operating Bodies), TACs (Technical Assistance Contracts) and JOCs (Joint Operating Contracts), whereas the downstream sector includes processing, marketing, trading and shipping. Commodities produced range from Fuel (BBM) and Non Fuel (Non BBM), LPG, LNG, petrochemicals to Lube Base oil.

With the enactment of the Law of the Republic of Indonesia No. 22 of 2001 on November 23, 2001 relating to Oil and Gas, Law No. 8 of 1971 relating to the State Oil and Gas Mining Company was declared void. In accordance with the provisions of Law No. 22 of 2001, PERTAMINA was transformed into a Public Liability Company (Persero) designated PT. PERTAMINA (PERSERO) under Government Regulation No. 31 of 2003. All existing PERTAMINA provisions including its structural organization, employment guidelines and procedures as well as other matters associated with its duties and responsibilities, unless such matters are in contravention of the said Government Regulation, are declared to continue in force until the Company provides otherwise.

PT PERTAMINA (PERSERO) was established under Notarial Deed of Lanny Janis Ishak, SH No. 20 of September 17, 2003, and ratified by the Minister for Law & Human Rights under Decision No. C-24026 HT.01.01 on October 9, 2003. The above proceeded in accordance with the provisions set forth in Law No. 1 of 1995 relating to Limited Liability Companies, Government Regulation No. 12 of 1998 relating to Public Companies (Persero), and Government Regulation No. 45 of 2001 relating to Amendment to Government Regulation No. 12 of 1998.

Consistent with its deed of establishment, the objective of the PERSERO is to engage in oil and gas exploitation, domestically and overseas, as well as in other exploitation associated with or supporting oil and gas operations.

The objective of the Public Company is to:
Exploit profits based on the principle of effective and efficient PERSERO management.
Contribute toward improvement of economic conditions for the welfare and prosperity of the people.

In order to achieve the above aims and purposes, the Public Company engages in the following:
Oil and gas exploitation and the processed products and derivatives thereof.
Geothermal energy exploitation existing at the time the PERSERO was established, including Geothermal Power Plants (PLTP) in the final stages of negotiations and which the Perseroan has managed to gain possession of.
Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) exploitation and and other products generated by LNG refineries.
Other exploitation associated with or in support of the undertakings referred to in points above.

Coorporate Values

Clean

Professionally managed, avoid conflict of interest, never tolerate bribery, respect trust and integrity based on Good Corporate Governance principles

Competitive

Able to Competeboth regionally and internationally, support growth through investment, build cost effective and performance oriented culture.

Confident

Involve in national economic development as a pioneer in State owned Enterprises' reformation, and build national pride.

Customer Focused

Focus on customers and commit to give the best service to customers

Commercial

Create added values based on commercial oriented and make decisions based on fair business principles.

Capable

Managed by professional, skilled, and high quality leaders and workers, committed to build research and development capability.

Pertamina Transformation Agenda

Paradigm change on management and guman resources.
Activities transformation in upstream sector as the main profit generator.
Activities transformation in downstream sector as the front line to interact with customers
Corporate restructurization transformation on Finance, Human Resource, Legal, IT and General Administration including Asset Management.

The object of the transformation are:

To Create corporate management as:
Confident
Clean
Customer-focused
Competitive and efficient

To be a role model company in Indonesia.

Achieved targets with continous improvement since July to December 31, 2006:

Phase I of Breakthrough Projects in 100 days has generated income of + USD 15 million.
The potencial cost reduction of Rp. 2 trillion in supply chain through the improvement on field distribution efficiency .
5 gas station have met the standards of "Pertamina Way".
The roll out of gas stations quality and quantity assurance.
The cooperation with world-class oil & gas companies.

The resume of Breakthrough Projects Phase I:

Pondok Tengah Exploitation has generated income of USD 11 to 11.5 million* Less critical depots.
LSWR processing to RCC/FC has generated income of USD 2.5 to 2.8 million.
Transportation loss control has saved Rp. 3 - 3.5 trillion.

Source : www.pertamina.com