Creating a New Brand in a Competitive Environment

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this document is to show how the marketing has changed to adapt to the modern world, and international companies work to offer the best services and product, competing with other firms. Some Marketing tools have varied depending on the approach; this is why some companies prefer to use a disparity of elements to attract customers and retain them, offering some added value. In the research it is possible to find different theories applied to real examples, and taking companies such as Diageo, Louis Vuitton Moet Hennesy (LVMH), and SABMiller like an example, to introduce a new product in an unexplored segment.Beginning with a short background explaining how the main company works, their star product and direct and indirect competitors. Also, it has discussed about the challenges that this companies have been facing and how they solve these issues, implementing some strategies. The Swot will be explained more in detail, which is important to know the int ernal and external forces, are influence the company stability. The differentiation is also important, because this gives to the company uniqueness, originality and authenticity part that consumers see it like added value.After an intensive study, the recommendations to launch a successful product are made to implement in a new market, avoiding imitations and confusion in customers, due to the huge range of competitions in the same sector. Diageo is always caring about their customers; they support campaigns to avoid underage drinkers. INDEX Page Introduction3 1. Case Background 4 2. Key Findings 5 2. 1. What is the real challenge that Guinness faces at the market? 5 2. 2. More than a want 5 2. 3. A big competition5 2. 4. Marketing Channels 6 2. 5. Finding main challenges in the competition6 . 6. Segmenting Markets7 2. 7. SWOT7 2. 8. Designing a marketing plan8 2. 8. 1. Opportunities in the UK market 8 2. 8. 2. Target Market 9 2. 8. 3. The New 4 P’s 9 2. 9. Creating Brand val ue 10 2. 10. Branding 11 2. 11. Differentiation strategies 11 Recommendations 12 Conclusions 13 Appendix Bibliography INTRODUCTION The main purpose of this assignment, it is to explore different marketing approaches in current markets, apply a disparity of theories studied at class and expose perspectives from both sides in the market, consumers-companies.In general, this project will focus in how to launch a product in a competitive market, where the beer will be the main competitor. Introducing companies such as Diageo, which has a short trajectory but its brands a long heritage history, Louis Vuitton Moet and Hennesy is recognizing for their luxury products; and SABMiller, the variety is the strong part. 1. CASE BACKGROUND Diageo is one of the market leaders in premium beverages companies; they provide a huge range of alcoholic drinks, for example, spirits, beers and wines.They include brands such as Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, J&B and among many other. Besides this, it is possi ble to find this company in roughly 180 markets, employing more than 25. 000 people with 80 offices. Its company structures and orientation is classified in Geographic, this is why Diageo desires sell the right product to the right customer, and therefore certain products are selling according to the demand of each country. In UK, Guinness is the most popular beer in Bars and Pubs, and it is not only its taste, is also the way to communicate the correct message, which I will discuss in more detail.Apart from this, it has been rated one the top tasting beers around Great Britain. Additionally, having a long heritage makes this brand stronger and trustworthy for drinking people. However, positioned companies, like Louis Vuitton Moet Hennesy (LVMH) and SABMiller, do not facilitate its distribution and selling, so to differentiate each company has worked in the strategic marketing plans, taking into account that LVMH is the indirect competitor in the alcoholic beverages market. 2. KEY F INDINGS 3. 1. What is the real challenge that Guinness faces at the market?A long heritage brand could be difficult to revitalize in a modern and competitive market, due to a huge range of brands trying to imitate the taste and the shape, but how does Guinness keep being recognized by people all of ages without losing their well-know brand and their main features? This question is one of the big challenges that Diageo currently faces. 3. 2. More than a want Historically, beers have been the drinks for people who want to enjoy and celebrate any moment, making them special and unforgettable, and these facts make beer more than a want, a demand which is covered for a lot of companies around the world.Nowadays, the Guinness Brand has become more popular and desirable for everyone, because Diageo just do not want to reflect a beer, but also an entire history of a community that has grown with it. 3. 3. A big competition In this days and age, the competition in this sector has increased, which make more difficult the inclusion of new product. There are more than 40. 000 companies’ worldwide, offering different alcoholic beverages, new contrast, and new messages. According to Euromonitor International (2011), in the UK despite of crises, unemployment and economic downturn, Guinness is still the most popular beer.Nevertheless, in this industry firms such as LVMH and SABMiller, keep doing very well and creating a diverse way to differentiate from the competition. 3. 4. Marketing channels in Guinness compared with SABMiller and LVMH Guinness SABMiller LVMH| Communication | Distribution | Service | As it has been mentioned in the previous table the different method to keep in touch with their consumers and, even better, attracting new ones, is the only way to differentiate between the competitions.Guinness’ authenticity and originality tries to parley the moment drinking beer, into joining these special moments into all their history. However, while Diageo tries to keep in the traditional way, SABMiller is gaining the younger market and LVMH is taking advantage of the weakness in Diageo, and forgetting that luxury wines and spirits are a strong part of their competition. 3. 5. Finding Main Challenges in the Competition As a Global Firm, the role of SABMiller has some challenges that still face nowadays. Their main issue is competing with local brands and the inclusion of new global brands.As a result they always keep practicing their main strategies, in which Nick Fell (2011), SABMiller’s Marketing Director, mention that â€Å"we believe is key to sustaining our competitive edge. Our ability to nurture and grow brands that consumers want is one of our most important business assets†. Meanwhile, LVMH is a luxury brand company which always wants to offer the best quality in a high price. Despite the financial crisis in the last years in Europe, LVMH has grown in the previous years (Lucy Shaw, 2012), this appears to show th at the strategies to keep the high prices in the offering luxury products, have worked.Beyond price and luxury products, brand trust is also important (Kapferer, 2012), because it provides more certainty. They are taking advantage of their brand creating value for consumers. Nevertheless, at the same time, LVMH are forgetting a big part of the market; the youngster. Due to high prices and long heritage history, the products just have covered a small part of the market; as a result Louis Vuitton Moet and Hennesy are making the same mistakes that Guinness made. Taking into account the previous examples, the diffusion of innovation theory (Rogers, 1962, cited in Kotler & Keller, 2011, p. 84) describes five types of consumers, 1) Innovators, 2) Early adopters, 3) Early majority, 4) Late majority, and 5) Laggards, the last category just refers to 16% of people who still buy the same product for a long time, and they believe and trust in the brand; consequently, these companies are coveri ng roughly less than 20% of the market. 3. 6. Segmenting Markets Regarding market segmentation each company and brand identifies a group of customer with similar needs or wants to satisfy. All different companies have different approaches, taking SABMiller for example, which is segmented geographically depending on the country region.In that way they can operate closer to their customers, develop some programs or activities to compete with local stores and concentrate in reacting in any variations of their business competitor. Either way, the grassroots marketing(REF) is a good strategy to implement, when it has been considering including a large part of the market. In addition, it is important to mention that the aforementioned company has an approach in business to business, which it also works as a channel distribution.As well as SABMiller, Diageo uses the same global segmentation strategy in local markets, but simultaneously splitting the market demographically in accordance wit h gender and age. In this case, Guinness has been segmented by age and behavior, which belongs to age group in 20 to 35, and people who want to enjoy a moment, taking some time, and relax without worries. Having discussed SABMiller and Guinness segmentation strategies, it could expose the LVMH segmentation strategies. Spirits and wines sold by LVMH have been segmented demographically, which includes income and social status, people who want to feel sophisticated in a luxury market. . 7. SWOT (Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) Strengths * Strong structural companies, powerful brand extensions and long heritage history. Diageo has all the variables to succeed in a market where it already has launched some products. It also has a long history with brands such as Guinness, Johnnie Walker or Buchannan. Even when the company is relatively new, it has more than 80 offices around the world, this would indicate huge market knowledge. Weaknesses * Venture in a completely new segm ent. This could be a huge growth opportunity but, if it the new brand fails, the reputation of the other brands can be affected.Opportunities * Low competitions in a new market. The UK is famous for its beer, some whiskeys and cider, but all of them focus on men, regardless the female of what wants and demands are. The growth of women markets is a chance to venture in a new segment. Threats * Big companies and big brands. The hard competition in well-known brands and the ease of imitations can become a threat to the beer product in the UK. Coupled with this, is the entry of this substitute’s products (Porter, 1985, cited in Ranchhod and Gurau, 2007), like cider (Bulmers, SABMiller) or wines (LVMH), which are located in the top percentage of drinks aimed towards women. . 8. Designing a Marketing Plan As said by Kotler and Keller (2011), a marketing plan has two levels: Strategic and tactical, which include target market, value proposition and product strategy respectively. 3. 9. 1. Opportunities in the UK market According to Alcohol Concern (2008), approximately 90% of British women drink at least once per week, while men drink 21 units of alcohol per week, women drink 14 units. These facts make the female segment a strong one, to penetrate this forgotten sector.So, due to this huge demand in the alcoholic beverage market and thinking in the female sector, Diageo has taken the initiative to launch a special product for women and their wants and demands. Besides, studying this segment, it has found that the competition offering beer for women is really low. In the graph below, it shows the amount in units drinking of each gender: Fig 1. Office for National Statistics (2005) Units per week [Medium] [Online] Available at http://www. alcoholconcern. org. uk/assets/files/Publications/Women%20factsheet. df (Accessed: 22 February 2013) Following this short but essential research, it is promising to say that the women are an unexplored market, where companies li ke Diageo have a great opportunity to venture in this segment. 3. 9. 2. Target Market Diageo brands have a long heritage history with strengths make easy to get into unknown segment, and consequently reaching a position in the alcoholic drinks market. Diageo realizes this area of the market occupied by women market is an ideal segment to launch a product, which caters to their wants and demands.This product is addressed to young professional women, who just want to enjoy life in any given moment, regardless of worries. So, FEM-Ale is targeted to young women, who are aged between 21 to 35 years old, and women just want to relax after a long hard day at work. To be more specific, it will target the market according to the income of women, the hourly pay rates are between 6 and 10 pounds per week (BBC, 2012). 3. 9. 3. The New 4 P’s (Marketing Mix) It has been mentioned that the old marketing has changed, and not all the tools are still used to develop attracting strategies.This is because of people behavioral change and also the world has been affected by some forces such as globalization, consumerism and commercial agreement involving governments. One of the first authors that mention the marketing-mix tools was McCarthy (1960), who determined different activities of marketing: Product, price, place and promotion. However, in this contemporary world it is necessary to look at some changes as to the effectiveness of this tool, which encompasses market communications, value and other variables that make the outcome more productive.Trying to adapt the modern world to traditional tools, authors like Piercy (2012) and Kotler and Keller (2011) have tried to establish the new four Ps. Kotler believed that the new 4 elements of the marketing mix should be: people, processes, programs and performance, taking into account that these components are more closely identifiable to the real needs in a company. Meanwhile, Piercy highlighted that the tools do not need to c hange at all but give them a different approach, for instance: the roduct and pricing policies ought to be focused in value offering, while place and promotion should be used like marketing tools. To describe the strategies used by Fem-Ale, Piercy is the author chosen to explain each one. The Value Offering To begin with Product Policy, there are a lot of variables that can affect the offering by the brand and they will be described as part of the product strategy: * Brand name: the name of the beer, want to show the rude side of boys but the female and delicacy of girls, Fem-Ale. Product variety: currently Diageo has a lot of brands that could be used by them to show the same reliability and trustfulness, for instance, at the beginning the beer will be an original sweet flavor and depending on the product placement will launch a disparity of flavors and varieties. Comparing the product diversity with SABMiller, the direct competitor, they have more than 80 options and flavors, whic h some of them are targeted at women, such as Redd’s beer, a brand which was launched successfully in Colombia and the UK (Fernandez, 2008), without success; with only the Colombian market showing success. Design and packaging: Kotler (2011) has mentioned packaging like the fifth P. It is really important because is the first contact with the customer; it is a moment of truth, in which the marketer may know if this product strategy works. The beer will come in two different packages: a can and bottle, with a pink-black color label, which describes the name, because in line with Madden, Hewwet, and Roth (2000, cited in Dibb, 2006), colors are a good strategy to attract consumers and communicate what they truly expect, do not attract teenagers market to confuse them, due to the huge problem that the UK have with underage drinkers.Establish pricing strategies is also important, because this is where the company can expect to gain a good profit. Fem-ale beer is a product for any women with a special flavor and taste tailor to their specifications, Fem-ale beer is also aimed towards any women who want to relax. That is why Diageo should keep the same price as other brand extension in the same sector. This would be a competitive price. Marketing tools Places or Distributions are all the channels to sell, deliver and offer the product. Initially, Fem-Ale would start offering some samples in pubs and retail stores.At the beginning, the coverage will be small towns close to London, because it is an easy way to introduce a new product, where people are more flexible and depending on people’s acceptance, it will be introduced to other towns. The last elements are promotional strategies or marketing communications. These are a method to introduce the product to the consumers, inviting them to try the innovations, attracting through services and promotions, and retaining loyalty customer offering some value. Within marketing communications strategies will be a web-site, describing recipes of dishes or cocktails that could accompany the new brew.As well as this some events and concerts would be sponsor by FEM-ale, a big campaign showing why this beer will satisfy the women’s wants, and using Guinness’ well-known brand, to incite trust and confidence to people who are already committed to the long heritage history of Guinness, and by means of co-branding (REF) like a promotional strategy. 3. 9. Creating Brand value It is good to show that not just young women may be sexy, self-sufficient and do not depend on anyone else to be happy, because Diageo just want to show that there is no discrimination between genders, and in this modern world women need a place to shine.This approach will be focused to make women feel strong and they just have the entire world in them hands. Diageo is creating an approach totally different from traditional beers, and giving support to the female side. (REF) 3. 10. Branding 3. 11. Differentiated s trategies: POP and POD On the other hand, SABMiller are using the dual adaption strategy (Keegan, 2005), in which communications as well as product has to be adapted to the local markets facts, including packaging, colors, name and taste. In this case, they are sure that their customers are satisfied with the cultural facts of each country. . 12. Supporting campaigns to avoid underage drinkers RECOMMENDATIONS Nowadays, the world has changed and consequently people minds have changed as well. The consumerism, globalization, big competitions in markets, crises downturn, and among many other reasons, they are some forces that affect(REF) people choice at the moment to buy a product and make people desire more goods with more specific requirements. Not all is about low prices, good quality, offers a good service, but communicating the correct message to the right consumers it is the easy way to create a product-customer connection.CONCLUSIONES Bibliography Pag 82 Market-led Author Nigel F. Piercy The New strategic Brand Management http://www. guinness-storehouse. com/en/Inside. aspx http://www. guinness. com/en-row/arthurs-day/default. html http://www. thegatheringireland. com/I-Love-Ireland/I-Love-Ireland-Blog/September-2012/Arthur-Guinness-the-man-behind-the-brew. aspx http://www. fastcompany. com/44736/brand-marketing-guinness http://www. marketingmagazine. co. uk/news/1152779/Guinness-launches-cloud-TV-campaign/ http://www. marketingmagazine. o. uk/news/1145962/Guinness-celebrates-Arthurs-Day-global-ad/ http://www. marketingmagazine. co. uk/news/1152357/Guinness-takes-skies-social-media-driven-campaign/ http://www. marketingmagazine. co. uk/news/rss/1156974/Q-A-Guinness-global-strategy-communications-director-Grainne-Wafer/ http://www. dailymail. co. uk/sciencetech/article-1363835/Why-Guinness-tastes-better-Ireland-world. html http://library. bcu. ac. uk/learner/writingguides/1. 02%20Reports. htm http://www. guinness. com/en-gb/theads. html

Philosophy 110: Seth Bordner’s Article “Berkeley’s ‘Defense’ of ‘Commonsense’ Essay

As Seth Bordner states â€Å"Berkeley is either foolishly optimistic or knowingly dissembling, but (nearly) everyone agrees his is no defense of commonsense†. (Bordner, â€Å"Berkeley’s ‘Defense’ of ‘Commonsense’. â€Å") An appropriate starting point for Bordner’s article â€Å"Berkeley’s ‘Defense’ of ‘Commonsense’,† Bordner is an Assistant Professor who specializes in the history of modern philosophy, especially the British Empiricists. He received his Ph. D. from the University of North Carolina and has based a large portion of his work on Berkeley theories. What Bordnar so valiantly attempts, is to give the reader a better understanding Berkeley. To help one comprehend exactly what his stance was, or what he was trying to accomplish with his defense of commonsense and also he goes about defending it. At the end of the article one might have a little bit more clarity into the highly criticized and complex theories of Berkeley. Bordner also gives us the criteria as to which we will better understand Berkeley’s theories. Thus clearing up any misinterpretation or misunderstanding of Berkeley’s work. He later goes on to explain the validity or lack thereof of his critics. Berkeley’s theory definitely has many critics, and Bordner gives us a look into all of them. John Locke, who believed in Materialism and was an opponent of Berkeley’s Idealism, Jonathon Bennet, who would refer to Berkeley’s work towards commonsense objects as, disrespectful. Bordner dwells into George Pappas’s Propositional account, as well as John Russel Roberts Religious Image, and their explanation of how far off Berkeley is with his defense of commonsense. Berkeley’s opponents were labeled as atheists, skeptics, and of the â€Å"learned† component in society. The sort of, for lack of a better term, free thinker types who would galvanize the world which Berkeley worked so tirelessly to protect. Bordner goes deep into the opposition which Locke provided against Berkeley’s theories. Locke was supporter of Materialism. He believed that we naturally recognize the qualities of bodies that materialize to our senses with the real qualities of the bodies themselves that appear. We attribute to these real qualities the same existence we attribute to the bodies themselves. An existence different from the external to and independent of the existence of our opinion of them, an existence that shall continue even when no perceptions of them exist. Contrary to this, Berkeley was a strong proponent of Idealism. He was of the stance that one should trust their senses, that things we feel and see are real and that what we perceive to exist really does exist. Locke represents the â€Å"Learned† part of society which Berkeley openly detests. As Bordner states â€Å"Materialist philosophers are, as it were, vectors of a dangerous intellectual disease. † (Bordner, â€Å"Berkeley’s ‘Defense’ of ‘Commonsense’.†). It was these types that would discount commonsense as merely an afterthought to the established views of philosophical principles. It was Berkeley’s fear that if the Materialistic ideas of Locke became widely accepted, that the â€Å"Vulgar† or majority would become jeopardized. That the common folk, those who do not have the wherewithal to question the legitimacy of Locke’s theories and that they would widely accept it as the truth. Berkeley fears were that eventually if the vulgar would become skeptics, which would lead to the questioning of religious beliefs, or worse atheism amongst the masses. So as an educated man, Berkeley’s response when met with a stance of which he could not agree with, he would flat out reject it. â€Å"I agree with you. Material substance was no more than a hypothesis and a false groundless one too. I will no longer spend my breath in defense of it. † (Berkeley). Berkeley continuously favors the Vulgar throughout his defense. They represented the know nothing type, who rarely if ever thought outside the box. The common man who lives in a world less complicated. They are less of a threat, the uneducated, and the ones who would not doubt his theories or become unstable. According to Berkeley, he would have us believe that it was the vulgar were privileged group in society. He consistently sides with the vulgar throughout his defense, paints them as immature fools who are at an advantage when compared to the learned. The sort of people who could not see beyond what is right in front of them, without having the competence to seek a deeper truth. They lived in a simpler world, a world in which Berkeley’s commonsense argument was able to thrive if widely acknowledged as truth amongst the masses. Berkeley also believed that the language used by the common man was simpler. That it was developed â€Å"by and for the use of the vulgar. † (Berkeley). He frequently makes reference to the vulgar as naive to the real world, that they have no capability of being of sound mind nor do they possess the skill set to question what the learned portion of society might. They show lack of interest in speculation, because as he says â€Å"to them nothing that’s familiar appears unaccountable or difficult to comprehend. They complain not of any want of evidence in their senses, and are out of all danger of becoming skeptics. † (Berkeley, Introduction to the Principles, Works 2:25. ) When applied to a modern day situation, Locke and Berkeley would represent the powers that be. This could be in the form of political party alliances, corporate interests, or perhaps religious ties. What Berkeley saw in the Vulgar was a chance to control the majority, or the masses. It’s his goal to grab our attention and make us believe in what he is selling, campaigning on, believes in and so forth. As consumers, lost souls, or right/left wing types we will follow in accordance to what we can attach ourselves to. That we are too simple to make just and strong decisions based on our own aptitude. So by gaining our allegiance Berkeley could control us with fear and unwillingness to question his unmatched intelligence. This is what Locke represents to him. Locke brought unrest to his world. The idea of chaos amid the masses did not sit well with Berkeley. Locke did not deem the theory that â€Å"the vulgar naturally and unreflectively believe that the perceived world is the real world. † (Bordner) to be absolute. Berkeley’s theories could be characterized as monotheist. Sure, at the time of his writing his defense of commonsense there would have been a few detractors with regards to this. But when applied to a modern world, that would not be the case. The multitude of religions and belief systems would conjure up a different sort of debate. Roberts’s critique, although flawed by Bordner’s accounts, does bring into account the basis of religion. He acknowledges that those in agreement with Berkeley would knowingly acknowledge a presence of higher spirit, and/or God. When one becomes more familiar reading about Berkeley, you would become more aware of his agenda and reasoning for writing his defense. Berkeley would have a much more difficult time engaging the modern world, a world which is free of religious constraint and open to a more globalized view of religion. Berkeley was of the thought that God was needed to cause our sensations. That without him, one could not embark truly into the idea of commonsense. Berkeley himself was commonly known at the time as Bishop Berkeley. He wished to always include God in his discussions and one would also have to be of the same mindset to wholeheartedly accept his argument of commonsense. Obviously, thus lending to the idea of why Berkeley was in such opposition of scientific views and reasoning. The learned part of society was of sound mind and in a position to undermine such thoughtlessness as the commonsense theory. It’s as though he was working as a missionary, approaching the common man with his crude suggestions of commonsense and that the belief in God will guide one to enlightenment. Berkeley seems to be ignorant to the world around him. With a Eurocentric Holistic perspective he sought out those who opposed him or questioned God. And as a member of the clergy it is undoubtedly safe to say that his view of the world was swayed in the interest of the church. Thus not reflective of someone the philosophical community would openly accept as representing truisms nor worthy of non-speculative minds. By attacking the learned or educated in his world he was openly inviting skepticism from the established minds within the world of philosophy. His out of nowhere thinking and drastic change in theoretical analogy was bound to have enemies. Berkeley would go on to openly contradict himself in further writings, in letters to Percival and his dialogues that would later surface, creating even more questions about his thought process when writing his defense. He himself creates doubt about his true intent and how strongly he believes in his own defense. In closing it might be said that Bordner did a commendable job in his attempt to help the reader understand and grasp the concepts of Berkeley’s Defense of Commonsense. But what he did not do and what many still fail to do is have a true understanding of intent. Berkeley was obviously an intelligent man, but ones whose interests were swayed by both religion and obvious personal gratitude. One may never know truly if he was a believer in his own theories or if they were mere propaganda, established to control the masses and to settle unrest. Nonetheless his theories and work were groundbreaking, well thought out, and persuasive. And to this day create intriguing discussions amongst both the educated and the vulgar alike. Works Cited Berkeley. (n. d. ): Dialogues 2:182. —. â€Å"Dialogues 2:229. † (n. d. ). —. â€Å"Introduction to the Principles, Works 2:25. † (n. d. ). Bordner. (n. d. ): 322. —. â€Å"†Berkeley’s ‘Defense’ of ‘Commonsense’. â€Å". † Journal of the History of Philosophy (2011): 321.

Phylogenic Evidence of Tarsiers as Anthropoids Essay

Phylogenic Evidence of Tarsiers as Anthropoids - Essay Example However a number of shared and less similar characters make definitive decision about direct ancestors of present day tarsiers almost impossible. There have been considerable debate and research over the tarsiers' relation to prosimians and anthropoids. A number of anatomic and molecular biological studies in recent times have shown a number of derived traits in tarsiers similar to anthropoids. Pocock in 1918 was the first to suggest an anthropoid connection to tarsiers based on its numerous shared derived traits or morphological synapomorphies and allocating it to the sub-order Haplorhini. Based on the data from Gursky (1999) tarsiers share conspicuous haplorhine traits such as a dry rhinarium, haemochorial placentation, reduced olfactory bulbs, promontory artery, fovea centralis and a flexible upper lip. However there are inconsistent views on these traits being purely anthropoidean as it is also argued that the traits have been attained due to homoplasy because of its nocturnal tropical niche over long time periods (Barrett and Dunbar, 2000). The visual system of tarsiers show high ganglion cell densities, high orbital convergence, retinal fovea, postorbital septum and lack tapetum lucedum which shows a stem lineage leading to a tarsier-anthropoid clade (Ross, 2000). Studies have implicated tarsiers to be derived from diurnal ancestors as in haplorhine primates, primarily due to the fact that they have lost the reflecting layer in the eye tapetum lucidum that maximizes its light gathering capacity. Comparison of the average measurement of eye and cornea diameter and ratio of these measurements in relation to the average body weight among primate specimens were considered by Jason Cowan in his attempt to solve the phylogenetic enigma. The eye and cornea diameter averages were closest to the anthropoidean relative Aotus. However the average eye diameter with respect to the average body length showed a prosimian connection. However it could be adaptations for nocturnal habitation and specific dietary reliance that require high visual acuity (Cowan, 2006). A diet reconstruction through character optimization shows a fruit and insect diet for the haplorhine stem lineage and visual predation on insects an adaptation of this (Ross, 1996). Another plausible scenario is that of a nocturnal tarsier like ancestry to anthropoids which occurred when a lineage diverged to adopt diurnality (Cartmill, 1980). Auditory System Tarsiers and anthropoids share an unusual feature in the petrous temporal bone which is the anterior accessory cavity. The cavity arises from the bony auditory tube as a pneumatic diverticulum ontogenetically and invades the developing petrosal plate it into a medial and lateral lamella that forms wall of the auditory bulla and tympanic cavity respectively (Cartmill&Kay, 1978, MacPhee & Cartmill 1986). The two chambers in the middle ear augment sensitivity to low and high frequency sound (Lomabard and Hetherington, 1993) that aid small nocturnal primates in visual predation. Brain components Analysis of brain components of tarsiers by comparing it with both anthropoid primates and prosimians showed a clear anthropoid connection in the work done by Joffe and Dunbar (1998). An increase in size of the visual brain components as a result of encephelization

Business report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Business report - Essay Example The women worked in two batches of five, one in the morning shift and the other in the afternoon shift. Each person had allocated duties but they helped each other out when required. The workers had great coordination between them and the cafeteria had a good reputation. The dormitory was subsequently purchased by the State University and enlarged to accommodate 300 persons. The cafeteria was also enlarged accordingly and new modern equipment was installed. Ten additional women were employed who were all placed in the afternoon shift; the older ones were retained and all placed in the morning shift. Besides now six students worked exclusively on the new dishwasher. However in the morning shift an addition was a new woman who was comparatively younger and amateur and tried to over intervene in matters not related to her. A supervisor was also installed to fix menu of the day. All supplies were ordered centrally by the Dormitory Director. The result was dissention among the morning shift first due to the additional person who was disliked for her ways; secondly because of alleged inferior supplies; and lastly because they now had to cook larger portions with new unfamiliar but modern equipment. The result was comparatively inferior, although still adequate food, but often falling short of requirements. It was decided by the Director that a change in strategy was required from the next semester. This report will attempt to inform the management on the requirement and methods of change to affect a smooth transition and lay down the guidelines for both the leadership and the workers with appropriate academic references for support. 3 Strategies Environments have a great impact on companies. In the face of increased pressure, competition, and a continually challenging working environment the decision for new strategies is not really a choice but an essential requirement. Service Organizations need to be cost effective to be able to be useful. This is a continuing exercise which calls for changes. In current thinking organizations are socially constructed systems that share values and meanings (Burrell & Morgan, 1979; Pfeffer, 1981; Weick, 1969), and the mission of the management is to promote and develop these shared meanings in order to achieve their objectives of fitting the organization in its environment. It is this fitting act that is strategy. However to remain fit is a constant challenge and change is

Comparing and contrasting Odyssey by Homer to movie O'Brother, Where Essay

Comparing and contrasting Odyssey by Homer to movie O'Brother, Where Art Thou - Essay Example works of art, several characters in the film have names similar to the characters in Homer’s work and the protagonist in the film, Ulysses Everett McGill, shares his name with the protagonist in Odyssey, i.e. the Latin form of the Greek name Odysseus which is Ulysses. Similarly, Odysseus and Ulysses Everett McGill both seem to have several enemies and few friends in these stories and an analysis of these characters in relation to the protagonists can help one in realizing the ultimate relationship between the film and the ancient epic poem. Thus, Athena is Odysseus’ friend and Poseidon, his enemy, while God is Ulysses’ friend in the film and the man with the dark glasses and dog (i.e. policeman) is his enemy. This paper undertakes a reflective analysis of why each one either helps or hinders Odysseus or Everett, what methods each person uses to accomplish his or her purposes and the overall efficacy with which these persons either oppose or aid Odysseus and Evere tt. A profound character analysis of Homer’s Odyssey confirms that Athena  , the daughter of Zeus and goddess of wisdom, has one of the most helpful friends of the protagonist Odysseus and she assists him with divine powers all the way through the epic. Thus, a careful reader of the epic realizes that Athena  implements significant methods to assist her friend and she is the one who raises her voice for Odysseus in the councils of the gods on Mount Olympus. In one of the most noticeable strategies to assist her friend, Athena  frequently accompanies Odysseus in disguise as Mentor, an old friend. The major reason for why she helps Odysseus is that she is fascinated by the brave and wily character of Odysseus. â€Å"As goddess of wisdom and battle, Athena naturally has a soft spot for the brave and wily Odysseus. She helps him out of many tough situations, including his shipwreck in Book 5 and the mismatched battle of Book 22. She does not merely impart sense and safety to h er passive charge, however.

Supply Chain Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 3

Supply Chain Management - Essay Example Zara contributes a total of 2/3rd  of the total Inditex Group. With a turnover of more than $150 million, the success mantra for Zara is to offer the best quality at shortest time span possible and cheapest prices. 2.0 Supply Chain management at Zara With a rapid change in the market conditions, like every other sector, the fashion industry has been under immense pressure to efficiently manage its supply chains. It has become important for the companies to increase their capacities and better manage its operations in order to save costs and also remain competitive. Supply Chain Management has a very important role to play in the success of Zara fashions. The creation of the final product a d its final delivery to the customer involved the art and technology of Supply Chain Management (SCM) working to streamline the operational functions and styles of doing work. The Zara managers have clearly defined the role of SCM as a blend of a variety of procedures that begin from the prelimin ary stage of the product till the completed utilization of the same creation by the customer. It is a procedure which entails the development, execution, of these plans, and scheming of the product construct with the purpose of providing absolute fulfillment to the customer with regards to the quality of the product, (Abernathy, Dunlop, Hammond, and Weil, 2000/1). Subsequently, by the application of better management capabilities, Zara supply chain fashion has achieved the following: Greater operational flexibility Ability to expand geographically Focus on core competencies Ease of achieving economies of scale Sourcing Strategies of Zara and its Supply chain configuration As compared to its competitors, the fashion brand – Zara follows quite a different business strategy with regards to the sourcing and its chain structure. Unlike most of its competitors, Zara has not resorted to or given the slightest inclination towards outsourcing. Normally, most of the major fashion brand s, have outsourced more than 90% of the operations to cheaper economies like India and China. More than 80% of the material is manufactured at the in-house facilities controlled by Zara in Europe. Although the cost of manufacture is 20% higher in Europe than in Asia, Zara still possesses a competitive advantage over its competitors with relation to its operations. With the help of its business and strategic partners based in Europe, the company easily has a product throughput time of 3-4 weeks from the initial conception phase to the final distribution to stores. In order to achieve this time target of 3-4 weeks, as compared to 3-4 months by its competitors, Zara designs and cuts the cloth at its in-house design centers and colors the fabric in just four colors to keep the costs low. The process of dying and design printing is kept waiting till the fabric finally enters the manufacturing phase, thereby minimizing the waste and inventories. This allows Zara to adapt to the latest mar ket trends and customer requirements in minimal time. On the other hand, the competitors of Zara, who outsource their work to Asia, are not able to take advantage of this aspect – they are not able to offer flexibility to change orders as per ; attests trends and fashion requirements. The orders with these competitors are placed for the whole season in bulk and are kept as inventories in distribution facilities for much larger periods of time as compared to Zara.

Issue paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Issue paper - Essay Example The culture of any country is a conglomerate of many societies, which are unique and special to them. However, the values are not measured on individual differences but the differences on the society. Such differences are known as group level constructs (Hofstede 16). While applying this knowledge, anyone has to consider several factors, which always accompany culture. Examples of these factors include the national wealth, national history and heritage, the different individuals who live in the country as well as any coincidental events. While applying this method, a great level of care has to be taken into consideration in order to predict the future with more accuracy. According to Geer, culture is the collection of programmes of the mind, which differentiates followers of one group or class of individuals from another (Hofstede 16). A research was conducted in sixty-two countries, which sought to identify the most common cultures among the people in the world. The results conclude d by identifying nine similar cultures in most part of the world (Evan and Gordon Web). This therefore formed a benchmark for measuring independent variables. The variables were later noted to contribute to the differences between countries, which affect culture, and performance of my team (Ward Web). Being in South Korea, my country embraces deep religious practices among its citizens. Majority of the population in the country comprises of Buddhists, Christians, Confucians, Shamanist, and many other traditional religious groupings. Religion in this country will form a basis for the formation of work teams. Moreover, religion will form a moral code for human relations. I have also realized that Koreans are very respectful of an individual’s choice while the culture of impudence is highly discouraged. People in the groups will tend to avoid bad behaviors since it will discourage other group members from participating. I have also learnt that South Koreans have strict rules on decency and etiquette, whereby they tend to follow seniority in age and the hierarchical ranks (Asia Pulse Web). Individual collectivism is another cultural difference among nations, which impacts on the performance of teams. Individual collectivism is described as the value in which individuals and different groups give to themselves. Independent people are more concerned with achieving self-actualization and career success rather than dependent people who like to see themselves in successful teams. Cohesion among group members is of great concern than the individualism in the group. Therefore, I would consider that an individual has to prioritize group work rather than individual goals (Asia News Monitor Web). Gender concern is another issue that tends to affect the performance of group members. Different nations have different views and policies regarding the relationship of men and women in different work areas. In South Korea, masculinity defines responsibilities based on gende r in the society. In high masculinity communities, there are higher salaried jobs and ranks that are meant for women whereas in low masculinity organizations, women get recognition, which is more equitable in terms of positions and power. In South Korea, people prefer to have man in power as compared to women. Moreover, people prefer to have men in professional career growth than women. This role has made South Korea a high masculinity

NTSB Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

NTSB - Essay Example The transport industry involves key players in the process of carrying out an investigation because of the knowledge they hold on specific issues. The central research process, however, is the responsibility of the National Transportation Safety Board. The party process is the involvement of other parties in the investigation process. Some of the agencies in the party process include the Federal Railroad Administration, the United States Coast Guard, and the Federal Highway Administration. The process aids the National Transportation Safety Board gather the required background data used in creating a report to the Board Members appointed by the President. The members of the board are the only five people given the mandate to determine the cause of an accident conclusively. An independent relationship between the parties limits the agencies in the party process (Mintzer 2012). The parties involved in causing an accident are not involved in the investigation to enhance the credibility of the process. The party process ensures that the research process is done in an effective way exhausting all the probabilities of the cause of the accident. The party process also assists the National Transportation Safety Board in the investigation of accidents by providing the necessary resources like skilled labor and technologic al tools to conduct the

United States View on the Cold War Research Paper

United States View on the Cold War - Research Paper Example However, the war reflected a competition between two superpowers that were the America and Soviet Union. This paper illustrates various view of the America concerning the occurrence of the cold war. Causes of the Cold War The United States saw the Cold War as a war between itself and the Soviet Union3. Moreover, the American saw the war as a global confrontation between itself and the Soviet Union. According to the Americans, the war occurred because of having different views regarding a number of world issues with the Soviet Union. Moreover, the Americans viewed the cause of the war to be various political differences that existed between the country and the Soviet Union. The other possible factor that contributed to the development of the Cold War was the Americans fear that the communists might attack them. This contributed to the Americas want to show that it could not be defeated by any other nation in the whole world. The other significant issue that led Americans to engage in the war was the bad blood between Truman and Stalin. However, other issues contributed to the development of the Cold War were those from the side of the communists. For example, the Russians feared that the American would cause a great trouble if it managed to release the atomic bomb. Another major factor that contributed to the development of the war was that the Russians disliked the concept of capitalism4. How the Cold War reflected Americans in the world Most of the countries that were involved and those that were not involved in the cold viewed America as one of the biggest enemy of Soviet Union. The rivalry between the two powers existed from as early as 1917. At first, both of the two powers were fighting against the Axis powers. Some of the Axis powers that were great enemies of America during the cold war include Germany and Japan. However, even though the two nations were fighting together, their relationship was tense. This means that they did not believe in one another on various issues concerning the war. This is because the Americans saw the Soviet Union as a major threat regarding to how they wished various issues would go concerning the war. The Americas started to mistrust the Soviet Union when it managed to gain control of the Eastern Europe. The Soviet Union on the other hand, started to view the American as a threat especially when it managed to make a move on the development of the atomic weapon. It is believed that one of presidents who contributed to the occurrence of the strong relationship was Woodrow Wilson. Under the leadership of Wilson, America had dedicated itself to maintain democracy. Wilson also managed to promote the country in enacting the free enterprise system. However, the communists were emphasizing on the issue of the excellent revolution. With the world class, the communists believed that most of the countries under its leadership would bring socialization in f uture. Through the contribution of Wilson in trying to promote democracy, many parts in the world viewed America as peaceful although there were others with different views. However, even with the contribution of Wilson to promote democracy, he did not succeed. Even the Soviet Union did not succeed in its contribution of promoting peace. Damage of America’s Reputation America damaged its reputation after engaging on the war against Vietnam. Most of the countries in the world viewed that America had not made the right decision on engaging

Character analysis with Character questionnaire (FRANK COSTELLO in THE Essay

Character analysis with Character questionnaire (FRANK COSTELLO in THE DEPARTED(2006)) - Essay Example He will not hesitate to kill his people no matter how many are they if they double cross him or if they become a snitch of the police. He narrated that there was a time he killed everybody because they are putting his business in danger by conniving with the police. Frank Costello is a â€Å"smart guy† which means he got his education in the streets rather in the university. He is a street smart guy rather than a â€Å"book smart† guy. The way he quizzes Billy shows his experience in the street such as when he asked if â€Å"William† is trying to tell him something when Bill shows resistance with how he quizzes him. Instead however of being threatened, he liked the guy which also shows that Frank likes strong people to be around him. Frank Costello’s childhood and background is not clear in the script but it can be inferred that he grew up in the streets and did not only survive but also prevailed to become the leader of a syndicate Frank Costello is already an experienced man. In the line 106 where he said â€Å"Tell the truth, I dont need pussy any more,but I still like it† is really a figure of speech that he had been through it all and is no longer motivated by beautiful women and money. It is also an indication that Frank Costello is an accomplished man and had all the women and money that anyone could desire. With regard to money, he already had it early in life when he had the â€Å"milk money† of Archie in the third grade. Having all those experiences, Frank Costello is already careful about the business. He knows what snitches can do to him and the business and is doing everything he could to identify and weed them out. He is already old and do not want to spend retirement in jail. This explains why he took the time to quiz Bill in the bar and how serious he is in dealing with traitors. The way Frank Costello quizzes Bill showed his acumen in dealing with people as well as in extracting information

Accounting fraud Essay Example for Free

Accounting fraud Essay Accounting fraud can be defined as knowingly falsifying accounting records in order to increase sales revenue and net income. Accounting fraud is committed in corporations by means of showing false information, using funds for illegal purposes or inflate expenses, overstating revenues, understating expenses or overstating the value of corporate assets. All these activities are entirely unethical. Behaving ethically depends on the capability to recongnize the ethical issues and to believe on their existence. This ability to respond ethically at workplace related more to attributes of corporate culture than to attributes of individual employee Individuals often fail to realise their moral obligations at work and by being subject to world’s temptation fails to tread on their set ethical standards and behave unethically. People especially of todays generation are so much engrossed in their own different criterias of their lives that they almost forget to confine themselves to ethical boundaries that is why ethical decisions are always difficult to make and its foundation is based on several factors however if we talk about the decision by considering moral philosophies of a person; that depends on whether the person is making a work-related decision or personal-life decision. See more: Basic Economic problem of Scarcity Essay A person in the business sector might view of the problem by thinking differently beacause of the outside force and under the work pressure. However, the same decision might be unacceptable to him outside the work. The second reason of people changing moral philosophies could be the corporate culture where they work. Rules and personalities of a business culture person eventually effects on the person and exerts pressure to conform to the firm’s culture. Edward Hall (1959), described culture as a silent language, and defines it as â€Å"that part of man’s behavior which he takes for granted, the part he doesn’t think about, since he assumes it is universal or regards it as idiosyncratic.† Geert Hofstede (1993) defined it as â€Å"the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes one group or category of people from another.† (P.489) A culture followed in corporate or on industrial level is known as Meso- culture and every organisation has t heir own set agendas regarding ethics because work ethics plays a pivotal role at work place to rein employees to behave ethically and keeping into account the ethical dimensions. In most of the organizations, there are set rules and policies specifically formulated to make ethical environment. Every  organization has a culture which mainly comes from the side of upper management and the rest of the employees follows the set trends and culture of their own corporate sectors. The culture of the organization varies from organization to organization because of the different perceptions of the chief executive officers (CEO) and the Board of Directors (BOD). Individuals in practical lives tend to take decisions according to their own moral values and set standards however, in business it changes and is quite the other way round. People get pressurised often and take decisions whatever is percieved as right or wrong in their surroundings and also choose on producing the greatest benefits with least harm. Individuals cannot simply enforce their personal perspective, though they are responsible for their actions but the idea of middle- management or entry level employee to have the freedom to take decision on their own at the work place is unrealistic.For example, if an employee can attract more customers by giving bribe to someone in the business, his decision would rely on whether complying with company policy or requirements is an important motivation to the individual or not. So for that purpose, according to Drake and Drake (1988), â€Å" there is a necessity for the development of training programmes to implement corporate values. These programmes must explain the ethical and legal principles to the employees and show practical examples which can be used as a guidance.† (p.111) Thus, the set principles and policies regarding work ethics in an organization and in addition to that the training programs can guide, govern or direct the employees to follow ethics and helps in institutionalizing organizations. According to ethics consultant David Gebler, â€Å" Most unethical behaviour is not done for personal gain, it’s done to meet performance goals†. Mostly people are of the view that individual moral philosophies plays main role for the ethical behaviour in business. Although moral philosophies learned through family, religion and education are important but it is only one factor which helps in decision making; it is not sufficient to prevent ethical misconduct especially in the business sector. Studies show that the reward for meeting performances and the corporate culture are the main drive rs in ethical decision making because the companies have a life of their own and the individuals working in the company are transcended by its corporate culture and with the passage of time, these patterened activities become instituionalized within the  organization. Peer influence also effects to some extent in the decision making; employees can be lulled by each other in making unethical decisions or when facing with ethical dilemmas nonetheless, everything still surrounds around the corporate culture and its strict policies for the ethical behaviour because when the policies will be strict, every employee would strive hard for the performance goal. If I fit myself in a situation where I can easily inflate my account on company’s expenses, I would be swayed by the company’s culture. I might not even think of committing any fraud or inflate the expense on company’s account, if the company is strict in its policies. But at times, it also depends on an individual moral values of a person in taking decision which is transmitted normally from families. According to my vantage point, individual moral development for taking a decision is a secondary factor; what drives first instantly to the person to behave ethically is the corpo rate culture since a company cannot rely on every individual to behave ethically on their own. They cant just stand in front of people and say they want them to have a good attitude and be excited, says Pecos River president Elizabeth Wilson. Taking decision in practical life and in work life differs. People in their work lives are driven by some targets and goals which are triggered in them by the organisation where they work and that effects on their performance. Similarly, when they take decision in their work lives , they are not driven by their own values, the company’s formulated culture effects their decision making. Nevertheless, if a person takes any decision without any concern or reflecting on the ethical dimensions; these sort of misbehaviours are referred to as â€Å"unethical business practices† (eg Garrett et al.,1989; Giacalone and Jurkiewicz, 2003 ; King, 1986).According to Murphy (1989), â€Å"Ethics should be followed in corporate sectors in the form of corporate creed and ethical code. The former establishes the organisational ethical values whereas the latter is a specific set of guidelines which must be developed in all functional areas of the firm.† To conclude, business ethics plays a pivotal role in developing a corporate culture. Although, all the implementation of principles and ethics is a bit difficult procedure but it impacts on the employees in the organisation in higher degree and rein them from involving in unethical activities. â€Å"It is obvious that in principle individuals are more ethical if a corporation has a written, formal code and  less ethical otherwise.† (Vitell et al.,1993,p.336). Hence, according to Vitell, the idea of a formal written code for ethics works well in corporate sector. In addition, moral values of an individual which are mainly effected by religion, personal cognitive approach, family, beliefs, education et cetera also plays an important role in preventing the employees in taking any unethical decision, however, it is only a secondary factor for an employee has a performance goal in his mind while working and the decision forms according to a corporate culture and the ethics followed in organizations since a company cannot rely on individuals individually to have e thical standards and beliefs. For that purpose , there is a necessity of a corporate culture which work as the main driver to act ethically in a work- place and in situations related to corporate sector. REFERENCES: Arunchand, C H; Ramanathan, Hareesh N. Organizational Culture and Employee Morale: A Public Sector Enterprise Experience, Journal of Strategic Human Resource Management2.1 (2013): 1-8. Mickalowski, Kyle; Mickelson, Mark; Keltgen, Jaciel. â€Å" Apple’s Iphone Launch: A Case Study In Effective Marketing The Business Review, Cambridge9.2(Summer 2008). Retrieved from Proquest Database, viewed 29 September,14 Caulkin, S.: 2002, Good Thinking, Bad Practice, The Observer (7th April), 11 Claver, Enrique; Llopis, Juan; Gasco, Jose L. International Journal of Value Based Management15.2 (2002): 151-163 Drake, B. H.and E. Drake, (1988), â€Å"Ethical and legal aspects of managing corporate culture† California management review 30 (2), 107- 123 Fritzche, D. J.: 1995, Personal Values: Potential Keys to Ethical Decision Making, Journal of Business Ethics 14(11), 909–922. Retrieved from Proquest Database, viewed 5 May,14 Garrett D. E., J. L., Bradford.,R. A. Meyers., J, Becker :1989 Issues Management and Organizational accounts: An analysis of Corporate responses to Accusations of Unethical Business Practices, Journal of Business Ethics 8 (7), 507- 520, Retrieved from Proquest Database, viewed 6 May,14 Geert, H., Bond, M. H., Luk, C. L. (1993). Individual Perceptions of Organizational Cultures. Organization Studies, 14(4), pp. 483-503. Retrieved from Proquest Database, viewed 11 may,14 Hall, E.T. (1959). The Silent Language, New York: Doubleday Lincoln, D., M. M. Pressey and T. Little: 1982, Ethical Beliefs and Personal Values of Top Level Executives, Journal of Business Research (10), 475–487 Murphy Herta A., Effective Business Communication (7th Edition), Herbert W. Hildebrandt , Mc Graw- Hill. Nakano, Chiaki. Asian Business Management, suppl. Special Issue: Japanese Business Society in a Global Age6.2 (Jun 2007): 163-178. The Significance and limitations of Corporate Governance from the perspective of Business Ethics: Towards the Creation of an Ethical Organizational Culture, Retrieved from Proquest Database, viewed on 10 May, 14. Vitell, S. J., et al, (1993), ‘Marketing Norms: The influence of personal moral philosophies and organizational ethical culture’ Journal of the academy of marketing science 21 (4), 331-337, Retrieved from Proquest Database, Viewed on 12 May,14. Yallapragada, RamMohan R.; Roe, C. William; Toma, Alfred G.: Accounting fraud and white collar crimes in the US, Journal of Business Case Studies8.2 (2012): 187. Retrieved from Proquest Database, Viewed on 7 May,14.

Effect of Cultural Differences in Global Marketplace

Effect of Cultural Differences in Global Marketplace Abstract This paper proposes a study on the threat the new entrants in global markets encounter mainly about the trouble arising from cross-cultural differences. This proposal investigates some of the applicable background work on the topic and sets some of the aims, objectives and research methodology that help for the better understanding of the topic. The main emphasis in this research is focus on the cross-cultural threats most businesses face during their plans to enter into the international markets. The expanding of business operations into external markets is very important in this competitive world. But this expansion into international markets is associated with high degree of risk. This research considers two countries Europe, Middle East and North America and the mode of internationalization are the Export business. Background: Business who enter new markets face many problems and this threats faced by new entrants is faced from many years. This is extensively considered in the literature but unlike nuances from this topic can be analysed. If there is risk connected to the reality that a business enters a new international market, huge levels of uncertainty could be associated when business go into new markets in different countries, this due to the existence of cultural aspects may weaken the achievement of the new business. In a situation in which Globalisation plays a most important role in home economies, the focus of going into new international markets is an additional and more pertinent. Apart from this in some of the industries the national market is not sufficient to cover up every aspect of the production of the business, and consequently, there is a need for such business to enter into new markets, for example, find the financial support for growth and development. Thus, the entry in international markets in this perspective may not be a choice but relatively it is an obligation. Business decisions are extremely surrounded in a sociological framework where culture plays an important role. To that degree, the significant threat of entering international markets can be differences in the culture that may weaken the progression of entering the new market of the achievement of the international project. For every business to decision of entering into a new international market requires huge resources, more often than not there are resources that require to be assigned to the decision of global entry, and that managers need to execute to the procedure of entry. But large investments into the new ventures in international markets does not in reality give success to the firm, the crucial lies only if the business enters the new markets before its competitors as these cultural aspects of the new markets can hinder performance in the beginning and to understand the culture, manage peoples preferences and to be successful requires a long-term process (Mascarenhas 1998). Moreover, the study also demonstrates that new entrants typically require placing smaller amount of capital in the procedure of entering the new market, and consequently this plan can be pursued by business with few resources if they are initial entrants. There are quite a lot of patterns that business can choose when entering in new trade places, and the pattern or the procedure the business adopt during entry may describes the success of the decision. In addition to this the pattern of entry also has an significant impact on the consequence of the new project. This framework identifies three underlying constructs that influence the entry mode decision. These constructs are linked to considerations that have been previously discussed in the literature. It is argued that a businesss choice of entry mode depends on the strategic relationship the business envisages between operations in different countries. A particular entry decision cannot be viewed in isolation. It must be considered in relation to the overall strategic posture of the business. Further, the paper argues that different variables often suggest different entry modes, and that resolving these differences involves accepting trade-offs. Hill et al. (2006: p. 117) Different types of entry refer to the procedure the business decides to enter the market. There are different types of expanding its business globally like Export its good to the new markets international also is a form of international business, these Exports may be Direct or Indirect, business can even start its global business through Contracts like licensing and franchising; and Foreign Direct Investment this includes funding of business in other countries either as a whole or a part of the business (Armstrong and Sweeney 1994). There is also a significant feature that the business needs when going globally, learning. The importance of organizational learning for a companys survival and effective performance has been emphasized in the literature (Barkema and Vermeulen, 1998; Barlett and Ghoshal, 1987a, 1987b; Hitt, Hoskisson and Ireland, 1994; Huber, 1991). According to Zahra et al. (2000) New ventures competing in international markets, for instance, draw from multiple knowledge bases in their different business operations and learn new skills that augment current capabilities. This viewpoint serves to emphasize the reality that later the primary experiences in terms of new ventures in international markets, helps gives the business an opportunity to learn, and with the help of this knowledge which the business gains in the process of learning can help them to be confident and which in turn helps them to reduce the level of risk associated with international business. Yet, a key problem the new entrants fac e is the distance of culture among the countries. Within each of the management disciplines there is a Significant literature which assumes that each nation has a distinctive, influential, and describable culture it shapes everything' (Hickson and Pugh, 1995: 90) A very important aspect of the process of internationalization is the distance between certain cultures. This issue is very central to the international Business literature, as it can be conbusinessed by Sousa and Bradley (2006: p. 49) Cultural distance and psychic distance are two factors that are widely used in the international business literature. A large number of studies use both concepts interchangeably with no clear distinction between them. The authors propose a new model to assess cultural distance and psychic distance separately. Through the use of survey data of more than 300 managers, this article shows that both concepts are conceptually different and that psychic distance is determined by cultural distance and the individual values of the managers. Hofstede is a pioneer in explaining the cultural distances among the countries with his work cultural consequences in 1984. He worked on the employees of IBM in different countries and identified four cultural dimensions, even though the scope of his research is limited as there no IBM offices in some countries, but his work is widely accepted in the study of national cultural differences among countries . The existence of cultural problems can be to some extent eliminated by adopting a evolutionary process by business during the process of entry into international markets. Hashai and Almor (2004: p. 465) demonstrate this gradual process of entering the market that can be used as an argument in favour of the actual difficulties in entering international markets, since three levels of entry are referred. Results show [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] the following internationalization sequence over time: (1) exports are employed initially in order to serve customers in psychically close international markets; (2) subsequently, greenfield marketing subsidiaries are established in these markets; (3) finally, businesss engage in mergers and acquisitions, create subsidiaries that incorporate several value-adding activities and penetrate psychically distant international markets. Hofstede (1989), states that the main risk in internationalization is: signifying that in spite of the existence of a few cultural gaps, which may not be very troublesome or are even opposite, differences among two cultures in terms of uncertainty avoidance can turn into a possible foundation of problems for business who are looking for international markets due to the linked gap in acceptance of the level of risk, formalization, and the approximating. This viewpoint is very significant, and it can be linked with the resource- based viewpoint. In order to spend in global markets, business requires also investing in their information and adjustment to the host countries culture. However, as a consequence of the internationalisation process, business are expected to obtain awareness regarding global sites, organizational features and other country specific information (Barkema et al., 1996) as there should be more open to communication with fresh cultures. Ultimately, as an instance of threats of entry into international markets, there are five factors which are identified with the export of goods among the countries. From the analysis of the prior experiential literature, five common export threats have been identified. The prior among them are the non-exporting business tends to recognize obstacles in a different way from export trade. They put additional importance on factors inhibiting the commencement of export actions, while exporting trade stress operational, practical and market associated troubles. Next, the character, as well as the level complexity of export impediments varies not only among export stages, but also between businesses at the equal stage of export growth process. Next, the outside environmental aspects widespread in every nation mainly control perceived export problems. Next, industry-specific aspects are often accountable for variations in the supposed level of export threats across industry. Lastly, the level of the industry frequently determines the characteristics and pressure on export threats, with minor business feeling their inhibiting impact more powerfully. Smit h et al. (2006: p. 54-55) Aims The main aim of this piece of research is to find out the processes which national business adapt while entering into new international markets and to calculate the degree of which cross-cultural characteristics of the host country can contribute to the decision making. Therefore, in this research it will be required to find a connection between the cultural distance of the two countries and the power of their global business. In other expression, one can aim to study whether: are the firms more expected to invest in nations that are culturally closer? As a result, the intention of this research is to estimate the degree to which the cultural distance plays an significant part on the choice of participating in the economy of a certain country. To that extent, this research is evaluating, finally, if the cultural closeness of certain countries is a feature of magnetism by business for a venture. In order to find out the part of cultural closeness, one will calculate the cultural threats business encounter in going into global markets. The centre of this research is businesses who are the first time entrants into the new international markets. For that motive the problem of cultural distance is understood so closely. This is also based that business going into new markets with a little experience in global ventures are less affected by the risk when entering into a new global market. The basic theory in this research is that cultural distance plays a significant role for the first time entrants when compared to other business. In order to believe in this objective, a viewpoint on the resources that are necessary to enter a global venture will be the base for the explanations sought after. The main hypothesis is that, venturing into new markets where there is a high degree of cultural distance embodies high degree of risk and, consequently, huge investments is required to understand and bridge a gap between these cultural distance among countries. Research Methods: Data As the main focus of the research is to find out the relation between the cultural differences among nations and course of internationalisation of the company, different sources of statistics and information will be used. In order to know the relation we need to under the cultural differences among the countries, as this will enable the research with better understand of the concept. To get this information, Hofstede (1984) work is used to get the information on cultural distance. The model developed by Hofstede (2001) provides a set of variables that permit the relationship of cultures with respect to various business approaches. The study of cultural consequences of Hofstede is performed using data gathered from IBM workforce in different countries around the world. In spite of being a good method for understanding the cultural distance among countries, the model itself has some draw backs, as the staff of IBM are not only influenced by the national cultural but also are influenced by the organizational culture and hence this study may not reveal the pure information on the national culture, as the employees are also inclined by IBM policies and procedures. But however the framework depicts the cultural difference among the countries in five dimensions: They are The first among them is the power distance: this depicts the distance between individual of different ranks. The next is Individualism this reflects the extent to which an individual relies on a group or collective approach to issues, or the extent to which the individuals takes individuals initiative to solve problems. Uncertainty avoidance, which reflects on peoples attitudes on ambiguity in a society or country. The third is Masculinity, the gender differences, in more masculinity, results in assertiveness, competitiveness and need to achieve results; low masculinity suggests co-operation and more caring approaches. Lastly, the fifth dimension which is the result of the work of Hofstede, with the Chinese cultural connection group (1987) which resulted in another dimension called the Long term orientation, more Asian culture prefer long term bond and oppose short term contracts. The subsequent resource of information is associated with the exports. Information will be collected from the World Trade Organization (2008) and contain data about the selected countries for the research, North America, Middle East and Europe. Ultimately, the information required is different sources of information about the flows of foreign direct investment among each pair of groups of countries. The data for this dataset will be gathered for each pair of countries in isolation and thus different sources will be used. To understand the proximity of the relationship among the pair of countries can be understood from the information gathered about the cultural distance with the help of Hofstede framework. This understanding of the closeness of the culture will help to answer the question whether business are only ready to trade with those countries which are narrow in terms of cultural distance. The methods used for analysing are: In order to assess the level to which the aspect of cultural distance plays a significant part on the business decision on the new ventures with certain nation, can be analyzed with the help of analysis of the pair of countries from the selected parts of the world. This examination will integrate assess of the comparative distance of the two countries, and an evaluation of the relative influence of the exports and of Foreign Direct Investment in the total exports and Foreign Direct Investment of each country. The information will provide a chance to spotlight on the connection between the cultural distance and the actual international link of business in the two groups of countries, with numerical techniques. This examination will be complimented with relative details of the culture of the both the countries. 5. Expected Outcome It is expected that countries with similarities in terms of culture verify higher levels of international trade, not only in terms of exports, but also in what regards to international trade. The theory on the resources applied in the participation of a new joint venture can also provide a contribution in this respect. Countries with higher similarities may embody a lower risk of investment and therefore, businesss will be seeking to invest firstly in countries in which they know what to expect. However, it is also certain that after having invested in a number of countries to which cultural similarities are found, a business may be seeking to expand to other countries, culturally more distant. This may be due to two reasons: the first one is related to the need of expansion, and once all countries to which cultural proximity is found already have the presence of the business; the second one is related to the international experience and the confidence of investment the business has gained in the countries it has invested previously, and is now ready to take a step further and to operate at a higher risk.

Strategic Objectives Of Grameenphone Telecom Ltd Marketing Essay

Strategic Objectives Of Grameenphone Telecom Ltd Marketing Essay This report is meant to focus primarily on strategic objectives of GRAMEENPHONE TELECOM LTD, BANGLADESH and also endeavours to evaluate the quality and standards of this chosen company. GRAMEENPHONE TELECOM LTD is one of the leading telecommunication companies in Bangladesh which occupies the top position among its competitors through providing impenetrable network coverage all over the country. The main goal of this report is to conduct a quality audit and identify the quality gaps and to take effective measures to fill those quality gaps of GRAMEENPHONE TELECOM LTD. background of company GrameenPhone is now one of the leading telecommunication service providers in Bangladesh with more than 23 million subscribers as of  December 2009. In November 28, 1996 GrameenPhone was offered a cellular license in Bangladesh by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications with a view to covering the whole country with a good quality network. And with a great surprise after almost 10 years of its operation, GrameenPhone has over 10 million subscribers. Presently, there are about 50 million telephone users in the country, of which, a little over one million are fixed-phone users and the rest mobile phone subscribers. Starting its operations on March 26, 1997, the Independence Day of Bangladesh, GrameenPhone has come a long way. It is a joint venture enterprise between Telenor (55.8%), the largest telecommunications service provider in Norway with mobile phone operations in 12 other countries, and Grameen Telecom Corporation (34.2% ), a non-profit sister concern of the internationally acclaimed micro-credit pioneer Grameen Bank. The other 10% shares belong to 10%to general retail and institutional investors. Over the years, GrameenPhone has always been a pioneer in introducing new products and services in the local market. GP was the first company to introduce GSM technology in Bangladesh when it launched its services in March 1997.The technological know-how and managerial expertise of Telenor has been instrumental in setting up such an international standard mobile phone operation in Bangladesh. Being one of the pioneers in developing the GSM service in Europe, Telenor has also helped to transfer this knowledge to the local employees over the years. Evaluating GrameenPhones strategic objectives Grameenphoness basic strategy is coverage of both urban and rural areas. In contrast to the island strategy followed by companies, which involves connecting isolated islands of urban coverage through transmission links, Grameenphone builds continuous coverage, cell after cell. While the intensity of coverage may vary from area to area depending on market conditions, the basic strategy of cell-to-cell coverage is applied throughout Grameenphones network. New manufacturing technologies are developing rapidly, resulting in new products/services, innovations and improvements in the manufacturing process, thus, requiring a proactive approach by organizations. To be proactive, organizations require innovative methods of performance measurement, to assess their progress towards achieving organizational mission, vision and strategic objectives. (Godwill Tapisi Mukonje, Performance measurement, pp. 72. MAM/, 2009.) 2.1 Maintaining quality network Over the years, the network division of Grameenphone has been ensuring the best-in-class GSM cellular mobile network for the customers in Bangladesh. Ensuring customer satisfaction through enhanced coverage, expanded capacity and improved quality and performance of the network continued to be the primary focus of the networks division. The GP network now covers over 98 percent of the population and over 87 percent of the land area with the remaining areas mostly falling under the Sundarbans and the Chittagong Hill Tract areas where mobile phone coverage is not allowed. The company invested more than BDT 35.8 billion in 2007 primarily to further expand the coverage and increase the capacity of its network. Radio Access Rollout: Base Stations 2.2 Corporate strategy: Grameenphone believes Development is a journey, not a destination, work is not just about ensuring connectivity; it is about connecting with people and building relationships, based on trust, with our subscribers, business partners, employees, shareholders, as well as the wider community. The company also believes that good development is a good business. While GP maintains business focus, taking the nation forward remains top priority. Thus relationship with Bangladesh is built on a partnership which strives to achieve common economic and social goals. Corporate social responsibility, as the company sees, it is a complementary combination of ethical and responsible corporate behavior, as well as a commitment towards generating greater good for the society by addressing the development needs of the country. The core strategy of GP in this area is to be Bangladeshs partner in developing the country, particularly in its promise, as a United Nations Millennium Declaration signatory, to meet the eight targets known as the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. GP has consolidated its social investment initiatives in four core areas related to the Millennium Development Goals: Poverty alleviation GP takes pride in developing the countrys infrastructure, in the urban areas. The company is of the view that eradication of poverty can be uprooted if illiteracy is removed from the country. GP regards Grameen Bank as a compatriot of its development work. Healthcare In healthcare sector GP has set a glowing example for others to follow providing immense healthcare facility even in the remote areas with the help of Tele Prescription and mobile clinic service to the people coastal areas. Empowerment GP has created more than 150,000 jobs in its premises and another 100,000 are related with GP as vendors, card retailers, marketing officers and so on. Education GP does come forward with initiatives to encourage the learners by holding various educational competitions such as drawing, essay writing, story composition and so on. It also gives scholarships to the meritorious students. 2.3 Vision and Mission Statement of GrameenPhone Vision: Vision is what an organization wants to do. The vision of Grameenphone Ltd is we are here to help. The company exists to help the customers get the full benefit of communications services in their daily lives. We want to make it easy for customers to get what they want, when they want it. To be a leading provider of telecommunication services all over Bangladesh with satisfied customers, shareholder, and enthusiastic employees Mission: Mission is end results of an organization where it wants to reach. Grameenphones mission is to bring digital revolution in Bangladesh by covering the whole country with network and to build up strong communication network even in the far remotest corner of the country. The quality audit The word Quality is comparative and it varies person to person. Quality is defined by a customer according to his demand. If someone is looking for some specifications in a certain items and the items conform to his expectation then the customer will be pleased to say the items maintain quality or good quality if he is very pleased. Quality dimensions Value Grameenphones manifesto is to add value to customers practical use making things simple and easy to understand. The company never forgets to try its customers lives easier. GP is focuses on creativity. So it brings energy and imagination to the work and wants to be partner in development and is passionate about its business, customers and country. The company understands what it should do and how to put things right. Over all GP acknowledges and respects local culture and comes forward with an open, helpful and friendly attitude. Fitness for use Grameenphone offers an increasing number of services for the customer varying from teenage group to aged people featuring according to their needs and very friendly staffs for the people of all classes. It takes pride because of the companys largest and smoothest network services to anywhere in the country and out of the country. So there should not be any mark of question for its fitness in comparison any other existing telecom companies in the region. Conformance to specification The company promises to provide the best services even in the remote corner of the country. Its slogan is to stay close how far the distance could be. GP works like a bridge to connect and facilitates to broaden the scope of communication. And the services GP provides conforms to the charges that customers pay for. Meeting or exceeding customers expectation GP is determined to meet the expectation of the customers and at times its lucrative offers exceedingly please the users. GP feels that to make the country more advanced there is no alternative to using internet. For this purpose GP has initiated some specialised Internet SIMs in market which enable the users to be connected through wireless network. Conformance to requirements GP services always conform to the requirements of the customers. Besides network services it comes forward with many initiatives to better the condition of society and it voluntarily serves the coastal inhabitants with free cautionary warning for coming dangers. GPs promise is to keep the whole country connected with very strong network web so that decentralisation can be done easily. Quality audit Conducting Quality Audit To conduct a quality audit certain methodologies have been adapted. In the first place data has been collected from different sources such as surveying 50 customers in terms of satisfaction on some factors and their answers have been analysed through minute observations. The results of the survey are given below: Appendix 1 Vertical axis shows 60 customers The survey was conducted among 60 users from city, suburban areas and urban areas. The above chart shows that out of 60 GP users 35 from city, 46 from suburban areas and 56 from urban areas having problem with call drops during calling. 2 from city, 5 from suburban areas and 6 from urban areas are complaining of overcharging instead of due call rate. And complicated tariff has created problemS among 12 in city, 17 in suburban areas and 28 in urban areas. 22 users from city, 27 from suburban areas and 38 from urban areas are dissatisfied with GPs poor network. But there is slight accusation for no network survey which says only o in city, 1 in suburban areas and 2 from urban areas. HAPPY, VERY HAPPY AND NOT HAPPY survey has also been conducted among 1000 users. The report is depicted below: HAPPY 20% VERY HAPPY 75% NOT HAPPY 15% Fishbone Diagram People Materials Management Marketing Hiring Network Tower standards Franchise Training Transports Vendor Devices Sponsorship Quality Improvement Maintenance Installation Introducing Design workloads freedom to work Specifications Capability secured Measurements Environment Equipment This fishbone diagram conspicuously illustrates the areas where to focus on to improve quality of this company. All the sectors need to be treated with equal importance. And in some case drastic measures have to take to further its improvement. An interview with the GP staffs has been very successful. The interview is carried through certain questions whether the staffs are happy or not happy giving answers YES/NO After completing the interview process it was analyzed and reviewed in 5 points covering the whole idea to identify the quality gaps. These gaps need to be filled up to ensure the standard quality of service/ product of GP Ltd. The outcomes of the staff interview have shown in the table given below: Sl Identified Issues Yes No 1 Good Wages and remunerations 85 15 2 Want more autocracy 87 13 3 Poor management 21 79 4 Poor internal communication facility 27 83 5 Environment in the work place needs improvement 65 35 The above table 1 to 5 is considered as to be the intensity of quality gaps in Grameenphone Ltd. The issues have to be taken seriously to improve the internal service quality of the company. The answer YES is showing things are ok and NO identifies immediate action plan to fill these gaps. Environmental (internal) analysis: Swot analysis of GrameenPhone Ltd Strength Reporting In comparison with other existing network companies in Bangladesh it can be agreed upon that GrameenPhone Bangladesh is in a good position to compete it business rivals if the company steadily maintain the strategy it has. But in near future BanglaLink Telecommunication may be hard competitor as the company is growing fast and trying to bridge the gaps that the GP has. So GP is supposed to lose its position within 5 years time. GPs business growth has reached a place from where rate of growth can be achieved between 15% 20% with 22 million customers. On the other hand BanglaLink telecom ltd goes on with 25%-30% having 15 million users. The result of quality audit/quality gaps Financial audit Balance sheet of year 2007 and 2006 in 000 BDT Assets: 2007 2006 Non-current assets: Property, plant and equipment, net Intangible assets Other non-current assets Current assets Total assets 80,318,190 1,275,733 16,064 81,609,987 6,815,054 88,461,041 55,413,498 888,407 12,560 56,314,465 10,442,193 66,756,658 Equity and liabilities: Shareholders equity Share capital Reserves Retained earnings 2,430,350 2,169,803 21,510,954 26,111,107 2,430,350 2,169,803 19,909,324 24,509,477 Non-current liabilities: Loans and borrowings, net of current portion Finance lease obligations, net of current portion Deferred tax liability Other non-current liabilities Current liabilities Total equity and liabilities 3,367,620 5,315,559 16,510,153 711,946 25,905,278 34,444,656 88,461,041 2,448,452 4,229,277 11,097,313 904,567 18,669,609 23,567,572 66,756,658 Key financial ratios: Net profit of turnover 6% 16% Return on total assets (ROTA) 18% 27% Earning per share (EPS) 54.14 132.41 Dividend per share (DPS) 26.66 25.80 Dividend payout ratio 49% 19% Slow progress in network setup GrameenPhone has been quite innovative but it made slow progress. 189 additional connections were made during this year, making a total of 221 village phones by the end of 1998. The deployment of Village Phones has also been lower than expected, mainly due to the poor coverage in rural areas. This was due to a reduction in projected investments. 1998 has, however, been a valuable year for testing out the Village Phone concept. The experiences gained during the year show in almost all respects that the Village Phone concept is a feasible business proposition. Several studies have been undertaken, and the general conclusion is that it is a viable and profitable business for the village phone operators, who on average earned a net daily profit of US$2, more than double the per capita income in Bangladesh. (GrameenPhone websites) Operational performance interconnection problem persists The drop call, overcharging, complicated tariff, poor network and no network in Appendix 1 are found in a survey that shows problems are still persistent in the services. Financial results for the year 1998 The Company has made a negative net result of BDT 641.511 million (US$13.092 million) during the year 1998 compared to BDT 354.239 million (US$ 7.229 million) for the nine months ended December 1997. The main reasons behind this unsatisfactory financial performance are due to the non achievement of the projected sales volume due to the stoppage of sales with PSTN connections after July 1998. Another reason was the competitive market. On the other hand, due to heavy congestion in the network and limited PSTN channels, GrameenPhone had to offer a number of concessions on all of the existing packages. All of the above reasons plus lost revenue in calls and airtime resulted in a loss. The variable costs were also unfavourable because BTTB did not accept the basic principle of Senders keep all in sharing the revenues. The fixed or periodic costs were more or less in line with the budget and were on the lower side. The interest costs, on the other hand, were higher compared to institutional financing. The cash flow situation became acute when GrameenPhone was unable to draw from the IFC/CDC/ADB credit line. Even the NORAD loan was at stake just before draw down and was solved by a guarantee from Telenor AS. However, we were not able to draw down Norwegian Kroner (NOK) 15.0 million in 1998 due to amendments required in the operating license. (GrameenPhone website) Recommendations Conducting quality audit on GrameenPhone Telecom, these following recommendations have been made to remain market leader in the days to come. Existing market and its products frequently compels an organization to develop new products and in doing so the company can hold it current position and make forward steps to remain dominant in the market. GrameenPhone is suggested to consolidate its position by protecting the market share it has and maintaining the quality of existing products sold within existing market sectors and can derive benefit in doing so. GP also can lower its tariff cutting the cost on advertisements which may create more customers. Thus, GP has to consolidate to protect and strengthen its present position. Market penetration is a vital tool to exploit the market and include more consumers for long. It can be achieved by penetrating the new market with new products. In static market opportunities are more for the small competitors like City Cell, Aktel, Tele Talk to succeed with small but effective packages. Consequently GP will lose large market share. Withdrawal of some products that are causing adverse effect on business will be a wise decision. GP needs to hold, harvest or build existing services withdrawing some complicated tariff. Making franchise for certain products or selling some of the shares to the locals can also be good strategy. Extending the existing product range to develop a completely new product range is a good strategy to adapt. As a developing country Bangladesh has got huge demand for internet. People are more aware of new technologies now and are willing to be connected with modern communication technology. So GP can initiate Wireless Broadband for the first time which is expected to stir the whole market. Expanding into new geographic market is a classic form of market development which can be quite handy for GP. To face the challenges of globalization and to operate in market across the world GrameenPhone can make a big stride towards progress and expansion. GP can also diversify its marketing policy and products ranging different services and products such as iPhones with free minutes and unlimited internet which is going to change customers taste into different one. GrameenPhone added 11,000 new subscriptions in 1998. This was less than its target. By the year-end, the total number of subscribers was close to 31,000, far ahead of the three other mobile operators. The problem of not having enough interconnection capacity to the PSTN led to congestion on the call route between the GrameenPhone and PSTN networks. Existing subscribers complained, which reduced sales to a minimum. In July, sales of new ubscriptions with access to the PSTN were stopped altogether. At the same time, GrameenPhone started selling subscriptions without access to the PSTN, but with access to all other mobile operators. Sales of these new subscriptions, however, made very slow progress. With some new interconnection channels to the PSTN in Dhaka, and opening of the network in Chittagong with PSTN access, sales started to pick up again.Much effort went into planning new marketing initiatives. The focus was shifted from big corporations to small and medium sized enterprises. More sales points were established, and a new distribution strategy was underway. These activities led to positive results, and by November, the sales started to pick up quickly. Towards the end of the year, the sales of mobile-to-mobile subscriptions, now named GP-GP, showed quite positive results. Implementation There was no scope for short-term solutions. Down time on base stations was very low and created almost no traffic disturbances. On-call duties were established for all critical areas and a demanding system for round the clock fault handling and repairs was introduced. Conclusion GP is proud of Good owner structure, availability of backbone network( optical fiber), financial soundness, present market leader, brand name/ GrameenPhone image, skilled human resource, largest geographical coverage, eligible human resource and infrastructure installation all over the country through Bangladesh railway and grameen bank, access to the widest rural distribution network through grameen bank, high ethical standard. An excuse not to solve problems because of mixture of different cultures, different departments not working together, poor interconnection with BTTB, not good enough public relation, sometimes a tendency to be arrogant, complicated high pricing structure, billing system cant handle sophisticated billing, net work problem, line disconnections without any information, no long term distribution/channel strategy. Economic growth of Bangladesh, new and better interconnection agreement, huge need for telecom services, increased intentional activities in Bangladesh, declining prices for the handsets and SIM cards, future privatisation of the fixed network, new international gateway, demand for the inter-city communication, growth in other operator will give more connection. More rigid government regulation, more influence of competitors on the fixed net work, change of government might lead to competitors, devaluation of currency, sabotage of installation, political instability, non-co-operation of government and fixed PSTN (public service telephone network), risk of fire in the GPs installations, price war, non availability of funds, BTTB has limited capacity for interconnection, high call charge. The results of the year have been given in terms of sales and income. However, the network operations have been expanded, although investments had to be reduced due to a lack of funds. The financial situation has been very tight. In spite of these difficulties, GrameenPhones number of subscribers has gradually grown to exceed 35,000, and its market position, as the leader of the cellular operators, has been consolidated. It is with renewed optimism that the company faces the next year. After the end of 1998, the license agreement was suitably amended and the license was issued in the name of GrameenPhone Ltd. The company now has the option of pledging its assets to secure loan finances. The report satisfied that by the end of March 1999, the company achieved the targeted number of 35,000 subscriptions. These two events remove the main barriers for securing the much needed institutional financing within May 1999. Other good news is the recommitment by NORAD to provide NOK 15.0 million for the 1999 budget of GrameenPhone.