Australia Politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Australia Politics - Essay Example As a response to a process through which 'politics' itself is being redefined, cynicism has greater than before and the proportion of casual or swinging voters has augmented from around 5 per cent before 1972 to about 30 per cent in the premature 1990s (During, S. 2002, pp. 339-53). In other words, traditional allegiances and processes of political identification have been dissolving since the mid 1970s. The 'Australian Settlement' can be sight as embodying a political settlement, as well as financial and educational settlements. This political settlement took the form of the two-party system that came into being subsequent the fusion among the Free Traders and the Protectionists to generate a solitary liberal party in 1909. The fusion brought into being a simple Labor-non-Labor separation in Australian politics a split that was to characterise the nature of politics for the whole of the era of Modern Australia. Moreover, it was the 'Australian Settlement', which defined what politics was to be about in Modern Australia. As Ian Marsh has put it, the 'two party arrangement crystallised this pattern of politics and restricted the scope of government to the idea of Australia which was tacitly decided in the 1909 settlement'. It is worth recalling that at the time of the creation of the two-party system Australia possessed only limited cultural diversity. Most of the Australian population, except for a small elite, was educated to a primary level, which is not surprising given that the majority of them were employed in manual or semi-skilled occupations. The employment opportunities for women were equally restricted (Robert Murray, pp. 23). The politics created and definite by the two-party system reproduce the realities of Australian life, and the division among labour and capital was at the centre of that realism. It was likely for both parties to follow a national attention, as defined by the 'Australian Settlement', even as they differ over the precise form of that national interest (Fowler, H. and Wainwright, M. 2001, pp 337-339). Aim Our aim has been to show how literacy debates are fundamentally a contest of social visions and ideologies. The documentary history is about how community debates over literacy and teaching have been used to endorse dissimilar versions of suitable behaviour, and dissimilar visions of the ideal literate student and inhabitant. It effort For a succinct Australian account of this compass reading to past work, see Tyler and Johnson (1991). to explain the varied and rival images of the literate and uneducated, and of the causes and penalty of literacy and illiteracy, and offer an account of how and why literacy' came to matter in Australian educational and political Life. We will now talk about some of the insinuation and findings from the research, and propose how it continues to notify our labor on literacy formations and instructive politics. Scope No doubt, Australia's place in global trade turn out to be more shaky in the last quarter of the twentieth century. By the 1980s Australia was considerably less spirited in world terms, not capable to sell abroad goods and services in the quantities and at the prices wanted to sustain customary prosperity. Australia's exports grow year by year but not as fast or as gainfully as those of many additional countries, and its share of earth trade fell between 1953 and

Strategic Management Analysis Of Telecom Industry Commerce Essay

Strategic Management Analysis Of Telecom Industry Commerce Essay Purpose The paper aims to emphasize a positive change toward the strategic management and decision making. It brings out a few lacking that are important to know for the industry. Design/methodology/approach The paper opted for an exploratory study including interviews and group discussion with employees representing middle and senior management. Data is increased by applying the analytical tools, the descriptions of internal processes, and organizational structures, magazine articles and the web. Findings The paper provides practical understandings about the strategic management analysis and organizational structure. Practical implications The paper includes detailed analysis of the various factors that need to be catered for. That includes SWOT analysis of the organization and deep study of structuring of organization. Originality/value The paper fulfills the need of exploring the strategic management and organizational structure study. Keywords: Strategic Management, Organizational Structure. Introduction Telecom industry is the collection of all industries and companies providing phone service, data or entertainment to consumers and businesses. It is the fastest growing industry in Pakistan and with highest per year growth rate in tele-density Worldwide (Atta 2008b, P.1 of 1) it has become a backbone in Pakistans economy. Telecom industry provides many employment and investment opportunities due to high revenues generated via large number of telephony subscribers. Along with opportunities, this industry also provides vast facilities to communicate and connect globally in a better, reliable and modern manner. Background: Telecommunication services in Pakistan were started in 1947 when Posts Telegraph Department was created. As an extension, Pakistan Telephone Telegraph Department was established in 1962 to provide fixed telephone services. Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation (PTC) started under PTC Act 1991. This overlapped with the Governments competitive policy and encouraged the participation of the private sector, resulting in award of licenses for card-operated pay phones, cellular companies, paging and, lately, data communication services. Pursuing a progressive policy, the Government announced its plans to privatize PTCL in 1991. In Pakistan, the Pakistan Mobile communications Ltd (Mobilink) started its operations in 1994. Mobilink (subsidiary of the Orascom Telecom Holding) with more than 31.6 million subscribers is Pakistans leading cellular and Blackberry service provider. Other major competitors are Telenor 23.4 million, and Warid (Abu Dhabi Group) 16.38 million, Ufone 18.93 million and Zong (China Mobile Company) 6.76 million. By April 2010, there were 97.6 million mobile phone subscribers in Pakistan. PTCL launched its mobile and data services firms in 2001 i.e. Ufone and PakNet respectively. In 2006, Government of Pakistan decided to privatize 26 % of PTCL. Etisalat, with a large margin in the bet was able to get the shares. Purpose: The purpose of this report is to understand the organizational structure and strategic management process by utilizing analytical tools- SWOT analysis. Improvements in strategic management process and decision-making will be suggested. Aims and Objectives: Conduct interviews and discussions with middle and senior level management personnel from the telecom industry Conduct SWOT analysis over feedback received from the interviews and discussions Study the organizational structure of Telenor and Ufone Reach out mobile subscribers to get feedback and to help define QoS targets and KPIs Provide suggestions about improvement in strategic management process and decision making Scope: Survey: Design questionnaires and conduct interviews with middle and senior level management Data Analysis Tools: Strength Weaknesses Opportunities Threat (SWOT) Organizational Structure: Vertical Differentiation (Hierarchical Levels, Span of Control, Integrating Mechanisms, Centralization and Decentralization, Standardization and Mutual Adjustment and Professionalism) Research Methodology Document/Literature reviews: The first method we adopted in the implementation of our research methodology was reviewing work already done in the field closely resembling our analysis. This was done on the basis of multiple documents most notably of other telecommunication companies and analysis done on the basis of different circumstances factoring in the companys strategic management and decision making process. Mixture of Quantitative and Qualitative Survey: The purpose of qualitative analysis is to get a complete detailed description whereas in quantitative analysis we classify features, count them, and even construct more complex statistical models in an attempt to explain what is observed. Qualitative analysis allows for fine distinctions to be drawn because it is not necessary to shoehorn the data into a finite number of classifications. It is also used to investigate the  why  and  how  of  decision making, not just  what,  where,  when. This also justifies the reasoning behind getting smaller but focused  samples rather than getting larger samples. Quantitative analysis basically leads to the systematic empirical investigation of social phenomena via statistical, mathematical or computational techniques. Its main objective  is to develop and employ  mathematical models,  theories and/or  hypotheses  pertaining to phenomena. In easier terms it basically means that quantitative researcher asks a specific, narrow question and collects numerical data from participants to answer the question. Official Perception surveys: These surveys will be qualitative surveys conducted on the basis of information gathered by senior officials from managerial level employees in the telecommunication industry. These surveys will be in the form of descriptive questions and will be used to analyze different factors involved in the companys decision making process. This analysis will be done in the form of Key Informant Interviews and will be held taking into account a senior officials own analysis of the companys strong and weak points. Customer Satisfaction Surveys: These surveys will be quantitative surveys distributed amongst people in the form of questionnaires. This will be done in the form of Random Selection Surveys hence to cover major portion of our required research. Literature Review Strategic Management Process: Strategic management process defines the strategies of the organizations. It is the process by which managers choose a set of strategies for the organization that will assist it to achieve better performance and QoS targets. Strategic management is an ongoing process that has three main stages namely: strategic formulation, strategic implementation and evaluation. Organizations use strategic analysis tools for the strategic management process Organizational Structure: Organizational structure determines hierarchy and the reporting structure in an organization. These may be classified into different types based on a variety of things mainly scale of the organization and the scope of its operations. Traditional structure organizations are based on functional division and departments, various types of structures under these structures are Line Structure (Used in Small Organizations), Line and Staff Structure (Used in Large Organizations), and Functional Structure (Division based on the functions a person perform). Divisional structured organizations are based on functional division and departments they have. These may be classified as Product Structure, Market Structure and Geographic Structure. Some other kinds of organizational structures are Matrix Structure, Network Structure and Team Structure.. Literature review has been conducted for this research article to understand the concepts underlying strategic management process and the organizational structure. This will help to carry out the required work of survey, SWOT analysis, and for making the suggestions based on the conducted research. Results Strategic Management Process Strategic management involves managers from all levels of the organization to formulate and implement strategies to provide superior fit between organization and its environment to achieve set goals of the organization. This involves action and decision-making. Three stages of strategic management process are strategic planning, implementation and evaluation. The nine steps encompassing these three stages are Assessment, Strategy, Objectives, Strategic Maps, Performance Measures, Initiatives, Automation, Cascade and Evaluation. The process can be described by the flow chart presented in figure 1 below: Figure : Strategic Management Process Strategic Management Process is accompanied with SWOT analysis, which provides data to formulate and implement strategies and changes to achieve the target goals and QoS. SWOT analysis helps to examine internal (strength and weaknesses) and external (opportunities and threats) elements of a business. SWOT analysis can help the management team in a business to discover: What the organization does better than the competitors do? What competitors do superior than the organization? Whether the business is making most of the available opportunities? How a business should react to changes in its external environment? SWOT analysis for Telenor Pakistan and Ufone Pakistan has been conducted as case study. SWOT Analysis of Telenor Pakistan Telenor Pakistan is a possession of the Telenor group, an international service provider in terms of voice, data plans and communication services across Europe and Asia. It is amongst the largest mobile service operators in the world over 179 million mobile subscribers (2010). Telenor Pakistan has recently reached the landmark of 30 million subscribers in Pakistan. It is now second in terms of market share in Pakistan after Mobilink. Case study of SWOT analysis for Telenor Pakistan has been discussed as follows: Strengths: Telenor introduced the concept of Mobile TV for the very first time in Pakistan Telenor provides desirable packages for every market sector like djuice for youth and price conscious class and persona for upper and elite class State of art technology like the latest underground fiber optical network Telenor Pakistan stands at number 2 in terms of market share and coverage after Mobilink Telenor Pakistan introduced the concept of free international roaming during Hajj program Telenor operate with more than 30 million subscribers all over the Pakistan Weaknesses: There is no institute in Pakistan that provides formal education in the fields of networking and other core technical capabilities so Telenor needs to have a major chunk of their personnel trained from institutions outside of Pakistan The customer service centers are not coming up to national and international standards as most of the customers calls go unattended because of the poor call center performance The postpaid connection provided by Telenor Pakistan is comparatively expensive compared to other competitors like Warid Telecom and Ufone Pakistan Due to the buffering problem, Telenor mobile TV has poor visual quality Franchise distribution system is not up-to standards- This stands as the common problem for all mobile services operators. Record keeping is also an associated problem Opportunities: Participation within the growing Telecom industry and extension of coverage area Attract more subscribers and increase market share Product line and packages expansion focusing at various age groups and social classes Cost discount strategies Product innovation and attraction To become customer size specialist Threats: Monopoly of PTA and inclination towards state owned telecom service providers At any time PTA can modify the services of telecom sector Cutthroat competition operating in kinked demand oligopoly Implementation of WTO policies will result in open competitive pricing in services sector exclusively in telecom There is an imbalance between prices of inputs outputs SWOT Analysis of Ufone Pakistan Ufone is a Pakistani GSM cellular service provider, a subsidiary of Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited. Its operations started from Islamabad on January 29 2001. Ufone has progressed and attracted customers and expanded its coverage area by adding new cities and highways/motorways. After the privatization of PTCL, 26% shares of Ufone were sold to Etisalat. Around $65 million rupees have been invested by Ufone to setup its up-to-date technical infrastructure to provide fast data services and high quality voice. On its establishment, Ufone cater most importantly for the middle class, by announcing low rates and different packages with Urdu names like Jazba etc. Ufone has extended its customer support in a very planned and appropriate manner with a strategic network of dealers and outlets for people. Strengths Ufone is host to value added services and data connectivity Ufone offers the most reasonable prices for its users Ufone represents as the subsidiary of PTCL Prepaid roaming in Pakistan was first launched by Ufone along with the Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) and GPRS services Ufones Prepaid packages are now considered to be one of the most favorite packages by the youth market GPRS Roaming facility is available across 85 countries with more than 115 Live Operators Ufone has got the best e-marketing department in competition to the other mobile operators Weaknesses Ufones biggest weakness is that it cannot meet the demands of its customers Centralized structure of the organization has failed to provide proper direction over instruction and policies Ufone is not close to expected profitability It is a subsidiary of PTCL so it is dependent on PTCL and government for policies The franchise network of Ufone is not able to meet the demand of increasing number of mobile subscribers Ufone has not provided innovative services to its subscribers compared to other operators Its coverage in South region is quite good but in north its coverage is poor Ufone got some internal problems after its privatization to Etisalat when some employees became unhappy with the pay scale Opportunities Ufone has enormous ability to expand globally, but since it is a government owned organization, the economic situation in Pakistan does not permit this With the precise marketing strategy and planning they can gain much more subscribers market The demand for value added services in increasing with development in the IT Telecom sector, Ufone should come up with improvements in its value added services in order to gain leading edge in the market Ufone kiosk can be launched to enable services like ATM machines for Ufone customers Ufone should expand their Franchise network in remote areas to provide competition to Mobilink and Telenor which are constantly increasing their franchise network Ufone should expand its network coverage to the Northern areas of the country as well with the reason that in those parts of the country not too many companies are giving services and if Ufone gets success in providing its services there then it will definitely attract a huge chunk of people and its number of subscribers can increase Threats Government interference in terms of taxes PTCL should provide more financial support to Ufone to enhance profitability of its subsidiary company Being a responsibility, Ufone is supposed to provide good pension benefits to its employees, which sometimes appears like a great idea, but they are now facing problems as large amount of people are beginning to collect Ufone, like many large companies with quality employees healthcare welfares, is suffering from a large financial hit Some pressure groups are objecting on the towers that are installed in domestic areas. According to their point of view it is not good for health for the people who are directly exposed to the radiations caused by the towers Pakistan is experiencing serious problems regarding the economy now days which will ultimately also affect Ufone. The current downturn in market is not beneficial for any sort of business may that be telecommunication Organizational Structure Organizational structure defines the reporting and hierarchical structure in an organization. Literature review presents an explanation about the organization structure and the different types of it. Case studies of Organization structure for Telenor and Ufone Pakistan will be presented here. Organization Structure of Telenor Pakistan: The organizational structure of Telenor Pakistan is functional structure. The key features are listed as follows: There are eight departments, Finance, Customer Services, Commercial, Technical, Information Technology, Human Resources, Administration and Legal Affairs, each supervised by a Senior Executive Vice President or Executive Vice President. Each of these departments follow a flat structure to boost mutual processes and co-operations between lower staff and managers Each department has several sections and a manager is in-charge of each section. He controls the overall operations of that section Responsibility of each executive in charge includes all the services that are related to him Wide span of control in entire organization makes it convenient for the lower staff to reach top managers and boost coordination between them The categorized stages of organizational chart of Telenor Pakistan is shown in figure 2 below, the complete organizational structure has been attached as appendix A: Figure : Categorized Stages of Organizational Structure of Telenor Pakistan There are seven categorized levels. Tasks and duties of each person is evidently defined at the time of joining the organization. Duties can be changed later, but staff has good knowledge about their job responsibilities from the time they join the organization. There is no communication or motivational issues because of the layered structure and the open culture prevailing at each stage. There are no examples of de-motivation however in certain areas like Customer Relationship Department or Customer Service Centre different customer queries and objections can raise frustration levels when qualities of service targets are not being met. Managers in these sectors interfere to solve problems. On every occasion an employee has an idea, he/she is stimulated to approach the management or people at higher level of hierarchy and share it with them. Boxes are also situated at various places where personnel leave their ideas, suggestions and concerns. To stay anonymous is their legal right. The Communications Department tries to reach to certain decisions if the ideas can be executed and then debates them with the employees concerned. There is also a formal platform at the group level known as SEED where innovation is encouraged and new ideas about revenue concepts and cost effectiveness can be discussed. Employees are welcome to contribute and submit their innovating ideas. If the ideas that are shared are feasible then they are executed in the organization. Employees are then rewarded accordingly for their helpful contributions. Organization Structure of Ufone Pakistan The departmental and organizational structure for Ufone Pakistan has been shown in figure 3 below: Board of Directors CEO Project Director Marketing Sales Finance Information System Customer Care Engineering Quality Assurance Information technology HR Admin Figure : Organizational Chart of Ufone Pakistan The organizational structure of Ufone Pakistan is hybrid in nature where there is a formal control on every employee in the organization. The chain of command is decentralized and each personnel in the organization have his/her own tasks and responsibilities, which he/she has to fulfill. The key characteristics of the Organizational Structure are as follows: Ufone has a lean or horizontal structure The company has a decentralized structure making the flow of information easy and simple Ufone has different departments where every department has its head and all heads are interconnected Concept of departmentalization remains constantly in practice at Ufone Different departments work within their functional divisions to contribute towards the success of the business and to attain the set targets Ufone has 83 sub-departments that are working efficiently. All interact with each other towards the smooth running of the organization The organizational structure of Ufone consist of of Board of Directors who are reported by the Chief Executive Officer CEO is a great supervision to the eight major departments of the company. These are Finance, Marketing, IT, Engineering, Strategic Planning, Human Resource, and Sales Departments Discussion and Reflective Comments Case studies for strategic management process and organizational structure has been discussed for Ufone and Telenor. A comparison between these two organizations has been made because these two organizations had remained in close competition to each other in terms of subscribers market. Recent reports have shown that Telenor Pakistan has passed the landmark of 30 million subscriber base having a market share of 26%. It has shown consistent growth due to the technological development and efficient strategic management process. On the contrary, Ufones market share in terms of subscribers has shown decline, which is now 19%. The major factor for this is the policy making at executive and senior managerial levels. Policy making for Ufone is generally done by officials representing the government as Ufone is a subsidiary of government owned Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited. Besides this, at the time of privatization of PTCL, it was anticipated that PTCL and Ufone would be turne d into large profit and efficient organizations, but Etisalat group could not bring about many changes towards the operational and strategic management process. Telenors subscribers base, technological growth, marketing and network coverage has surpassed those of Ufone with a significant margin and today Telenor is presenting close competition to Mobilink, which is considered as a mature organization in Pakistans Telecom Industry. An important distinction between Mobilink and Telenor is the post-paid connection base, which is normally defined by business and corporate users. Telenor lags behind Mobilink in terms of post-paid subscribers by a huge margin reason being that Telenors postpaid connection is expensive and provides much lesser value added services compared to Mobilink. In the discussion about organizational structure, a point worth noting is that Telenor has a functional structure where each department has a set of functions well defined. However, a Hybrid structure combining both functional and horizontal structure is recommended as it can provide enhancement in coordination and communication between cross-functional teams and can also provide improved customer service. Besides this, the structure should be defined such that it is able to accommodate any changes that might seem appropriate. These changes can be easily accommodated in horizontal structure. Since Telenor is a part of Global Telenor Group, employee exchange program should be introduced at middle and senior level management in order to share the level of managerial and technical skills and expertise. Besides this, stock option could also be provided as a motivation to the employees.

Housing Problem :: essays research papers

Many economists argue that market solutions are more efficient than government agencies in providing services even when it comes to â€Å"merit goods†. In the discussion of housing problem, I would disagree with the economist’s view. Housing is a very complicate issue that I believe it will work the best by the cooperation of market and government agencies. The Canadian government has worked for many years on the housing issue, but does not seem to have any adequate solutions to solve the problem. The housing market, unlike other industry, has a dominant feature of inelastic short-run supply. This characteristic of the housing market has made a great obstacle in coping with the problem. In fact, we may look at other countries’ experiences and learn how to deal with the problem effectively. Canadian government’s housing policy is based on the idea that everyone is entitled to decent and affordable housing. Housing is a necessity and everyone needs a place t o live. It is for this reason that government set its goal to ensure everyone is living in housing of adequate quality at a price they can afford. However, the government has turned into wrong definition of decency and affordability. Firstly, decency is subjective according to different cultures. I think that the Canadian government is setting a very high value on living environment, and such a high standard may cause more difficulties in solving the problem. Secondly, Canadian government has continuously reduced its standard in defining affordability. It was consider affordable if housing cost no more than 20% of your income. Nevertheless, the standard has been reduced to no more than 40% until recently. Such dramatic change of the figure has made the goal become ambiguous. Practically, the government has tried many methods in dealing with the housing problem. Housing code enforcement is a method that tries to regulate minimal conditions for rental housing. However, this method doe s not seem to work because it brings additional costs to the tenant. On the other hand, the government tries to help people become homeowner by benefits in kind, such as imposing tax exemption on first home down payment and low interest rate on mortgages. However, the method does not really aim at helping the poor. Moreover, the government tries to increase the supply of housing by building new shelters and buying existing apartments. Yet, none of these work efficiently. The reason that building new shelters does not work is because most of these new housing projects are expensive and time consuming.

Maruti 800 Car

There are many cars on the market that are exciting with respect to power(Accord), interior design(Octavia, Benz), overall execution(again Accord) & the vitality in the segment they play in (New City) [pic][pic][pic][pic] but no other car is as close to what ALTO is in the entry level segment. Santro & Indica do have a strong hold on the upper level where Alto plays (Alto 1. 1) but with respect to the range that Alto has from mid 2 to low 4 lac it is the only choice. August 05 Alto is being launched with better styling (clear head-tail lamps), changed nose and a few more vibrant colors to make matters interesting. The seat fabric have received an upgrade. Although Swift continues to take limelight, guess Alto is serving Maruti and entry level buyers just fine. I wish they again launch it with the 1. 1 liter engine. Given that Alto has longer wheelbase and (more) modern chassis than Zen it would kill Zen’s sales if launched with 1. 1 liter engine. June 04: For the first time ever a model (Alto) outscored 800 on the sales chart. This is due to Maruti positioning Alto as entry level car & in order to phase out 800 & also they slashed entry level price by 25,000 (without AC) at 2,34,000. Recently I had a test ride of a used Alto 1. without power steering. The car was in a good condition. I really liked the power of 1. 1 engine. With 4 passengers it was pulling very well. The transmission was typical Maruti/Suzuki, a little rough but spot-on. As I am used to Palio’s butter smooth gears I found the gears in Alto a little crude but accurate & easy to locate specially from 2nd to 3rd, it is easy to find it. Although I have heard a few complaints from some owners about Grinding noises from transmission. So better watch-out for that. The AC was good enough but left me for wanting as it was VERY hot. Also with AC on the acceleration suffered a bit. Can’t blame as I had 4 full grown adults with me! 🙂 Overall I was very satisfied but when finally we sat for negotiations the Doctor was asking a little too much than I thought a used Alto should cost. This led to me test drive of the new Alto (800), at 2,60 it was very close to the used 1. 1! The test drive without AC was very good but with AC full blown the acceleration did suffer significantly. So I tried shutting off AC when I was speeding & then started it when cruising, it worked just fine. I thought I can manage with this power by effectively shutting off AC when I needed to Pass & on inclines (valleys etc). The interior was a bit lacking compared to Palio & also Santro but at this price point it did meet my expectations. It is only a matter of getting used to. I didn’t like the shifter coming out of teh floor as opposed to much better treatment in Palio/Santro. Here in Alto it seem to come out of the floor! 🙂 But not a point that would affect my decision. The interior room is satisfactory if not significant. 4 Adults can fit in for trips of say 3/4 hrs with some halts. The seats themselves are good & I found a very comfortable seating position except some room for my legs as I am 6’ 1’ with the legs of same length as of my 6’ 3’ friend! ) The fuel economy I was told as phenomenal with at least 14 in city & 17-18 on the highways! That was MUCh better than 10/14 of my Palio. As this car is for my father I thought he would get a little better than what I can extract! Driving style you know! 🙂 I was a bit concerned about the tire size & t hought for a longer trips bigger tires would be preferable but it would affect the fuel economy I guess. You can’t have all!! The styling is conservative but tasteful for the common man who thinks that car is an extension of their personality. The fashion seekers should shop elsewhere. Both front & rear styling is interesting enough but at the same time toned down to take out the last drop of boldness.. The car looks much better with body colored bumpers than the ugly black ones! They look like an accessory externally attached than the integral part of the car! Only black car looks ok with those bumpers. Anyways, who buys a black color car in a counry of hot summer! 🙂 (There are quite a few mind you! ) I am almost set on Alto 800. I compared it with all the competition & it bits the competition when you factor in the price & daily running costs (fuel/maintenance) & have decided to go for Alto 800 Lxi. I think it is worth to pay for the extra features for some price. At the same time I didn’t think it was a good idea to spend more than 4 lac for 1. 1 as I thought the level of interior materials & overall comfort would be more justified in Santro/Indica/Palio for a little more cash. Fuel economy is again where Alto 1. 1 would do better than most though. The color availability is again ok for this price range. I would love to see more colors coming out soon to keep interest in the product. I would recommend Alto to anyone planning to buy a entry level car. It is a must to have a loot at this car before buying any other car you like. This is the perfect as far as the segment it plays in goes. MARUTI UDYOG LIMITED – Managing competition successfully Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) was established in Feb 1981 through an Act of Parliament, to meet the growing demand of a personal mode of transport caused by the lack of an efficient public transport system. It was established with the objectives of – modernizing the Indian automobile industry, producing fuel efficient vehicles to conserve scarce resources and producing indigenous utility cars for the growing needs of the Indian population. A license and a Joint Venture agreement were signed with the Suzuki Motor Company of Japan in Oct 1983, by which Suzuki acquired 26% of the equity and agreed to provide the latest technology as well as Japanese management practices. Suzuki was preferred for the joint venture because of its track record in manufacturing and selling small cars all over the world. There was an option in the agreement to raise Suzuki’s equity to 40%, which it exercised in 1987. Five years later, in 1992, Suzuki further increased its equity to 50% turning Maruti into a non-government ganization managed on the lines of Japanese management practices. Maruti created history by going into production in a record 13 months. Maruti is the highest volume car manufacturer in Asia, outside Japan and Korea, having produced over 5 million vehicles by May 2005. Maruti is one of the most successful automobile joint ventures, and has made profits every year since inception till 2000-01. In 2000-01, although Maruti generated operating profits on an income of Rs 92. 5 billion, high depreciation on new model launches resulted in a book loss. COMPANY HISTORY AND BACKGROUND The Evolution Maruti’s history of evolution can be examined in four phases: two phases during pre-liberalization period (1983-86, 1986-1992) and two phases during post-liberalization period (1992-97, 1997-2002), followed by the full privatization of Maruti in June 2003 with the launch of an initial public offering (IPO). The first phase†¦ Hindustan Construction Co. Ltd. Hincon House, LBS Marg, Vikhroli (W) Mumbai – 400083 email: [email  protected] com Tel: +91 22 25775959 Fax: +91 22 25775732 Hindustan Construction Co. Ltd. 706-707, 7th Floor Surya Kiran, 19, KG Marg New Delhi – 110001 Tel: +91 11 23358717, 23358727 Fax: +91 11 23358837

Confucian Philosophy in the Han Dynasty Essay

This paper will evaluate a brief evaluation of the rise of the Han Dynasty and how Confucian corresponds with it. With included references to authors, Tanner, Liang, Dubs, and Wang, will supply knowledge regarding to Sima Qian’s historical points, incorporation of Confucian principles within the Han Dynasty and the emperor, and within the social lives and families. I will highlight some of the major points of beneficial factors to Confucian thought as well as a brief opinion on how it isn’t always good to base a society of false claims regarding to divinity and how the society originated. However, I hope to make clear a better understanding on why and how the Chinese people in general came to be in current day China. â€Å"Before the founding of the Han dynasty, thinkers of every stripe cited the Five Classics to legitimate their ideas, but the transmission of the Zhou’s cultural heritage was not clearly documented until Sima Qian (second century B. C. E. ) traced the study of the Five Classics back to Confucius. Sima Qian finished an essay called â€Å"The Collective Biographies of Confucians,† which â€Å"summarizes classical learning from the beginning of the Western Han to the end of the reign of Emperor Wu. † He is considered the first great exemplar of the Chinese historical tradition; however, before he was able to finish his works and had angered the emperor, he took the option of being castrated over controversial writings about a general that had been defeated and surrendered to the Xiongnu, to finish his writings. Sima Qian was a man dedicated to his work for which he chose castration over having to commit suicide. â€Å"The style of Sima Qian’s work was didactic, its purpose to communicate the moral lessons of the past. ’ â€Å"In both its organization and its approach to history, the ‘Records of the Grand Historian’ served as a model for all subsequent officially sanctioned Chinese historical writing. † Ban Gu eventually took up Sima Qian’s work in 90 B. C. , although he was imprisoned at first for his unauthorized history of the Han emperor, but was freed later due to the emperor’s liking of his work. Regardless whether the historical contexts of both Ban Gu and Sima Qian, it shows that the histories were often dishonest due to the preferences of the elite, but as Ban Gu was pardoned, there might be more truth to what the Han’s historical past entails. â€Å"It was during the former Han period that Confucianism developed from being the teaching of a few pedants in a semi-retirement, at the end of the Chou period, to become the official philosophy of the government, which had to be adopted by anyone who hoped to enter public life. Although it was a gradual process, early Han emperors embraced Confucianism by incorporating its teachings in education and establishing a Confucian Imperial University, which ultimately distributed literati among offices in the government. As this concept became bigger and more popular among the elite, the development of the examination became prominent as there was a high importance of literary ability and Confucian training, to be able to obtai n a position within a government entity. It was believed that with all of the claimed advantages of Confucianism, â€Å"unifying the country intellectually by making one system of thought current among all educated men led to the elevation of Confucianism. † In 141 B. C. , Tung Chung-shu, advocated a principle to Emperor Wu that all non-Confucian philosophies should be destroyed with intellectual unification of the country—Emperor Wu did act upon this by proscribing Legalism and elevating Confucians to be his highest officials. With the rise of Confucianism in the Han Dynasty, it not only effected the elites’ primary preferences for what should be within the government body, but it also effected the view of the emperor himself. The conception of the central government of the Han Dynasty from a Confucian perspective was that the ruler must be a man, be of noble origin, ordained by Heaven, having great wisdom and virtue, and must be a ruler that is â€Å"all-under-Heaven. † To strengthen the claim to the throne, â€Å"all the rulers of China before Liu Pang were believed to have been of divine origin. â€Å"However, the living Han ruler, like the rulers of other dynasties, was not regarded as a god, nor was any worship instituted for him. † It was common practice, as in all histories, to have a greater social distance between those who command and those who obey, often times through rituals and ceremonies. The Confucian scholars introduced ceremonies in 201 B. C. which was considered necessary for a new ruler to elevate to an â€Å"unapproachable position. † This of course resulted in the emperor or ruler to be catapulted into the highest authority. Much like in other empires, that due to this common practice of using divinity as the main aspect of the throne, that anyone who goes against, protests, or is considered disrespectful, most often paid the price through draconian laws and usually sentenced to death. The morality of Confucian belief as it was incorporated into the social lives of the common people, also included what the roles should be within the family. Ban Zhao (48? -116? CE), historian Ban Gu’s sister, was famous for her writings on the expected roles of women in Han society. Ban Zhao believed that it was the husband’s duty to control while the wife serves him, but at the same time the wife would be allowed to be educated and literate. Ban Zhao further mentions that the husband and wife must play their roles, but men have the ultimate responsibility to control and to have authority. She further continues, â€Å"If women are to understand and perform their expected roles, then they must learn to read so that they can learn from the same ritual texts as men do. † This all of course is stemming and adding to the Confucian ideology. Perhaps, even though she was a remarkable matriarchal woman, she believed that this ideology is a cornerstone for maintaining a strong and healthy nuclear family environment. In conclusion, it is very apparent that Confucian ideology was the main stronghold for both the Eastern and Western Han Dynasty. Confucianism, with Sima Qian, Ban Gu, Ban Zhao, and a collaboration of other historians, had a major influence on how the elitists, the government, and the common people, were to go about their daily lives and follow what was considered a respectable social order at that time. The ideology of Confucianism built a halo around the emperor to catapult him to a position of higher order, causing the people to look up to him rather than revolt against him for being in a position undeserving. As with many empires, which all rise and fall at some point, the elitists and the emperor always has a philosophical tale which tries to explain where its origins came from, sometimes referring the emperor as a god himself. In essence, there is usually no ground proof what the true history was, mostly due to the perversion of some historians’ ideology relating to their religious affiliations. Perhaps too, with fear of draconian laws and punishment, especially with low self-esteem and high-ego type of authority, that history in itself will only boil down to â€Å"his story. † Regardless, despite whether or not the histories of Confucianism and the Han Dynasty are valid, there is strong evidence that the Confucian principles still exist today as we see in the current-day Chinese culture regarding to the social lives and families of many.

Business Strategy And Economics The WritePass Journal

Business Strategy And Economics Abstract Business Strategy And Economics ). Emphasis is put on attracting customers away from recognised or established products and services. Substantial disruption takes place as a direct result of this process, as the newly introduced products and services have the power to change the existing market on a permanent basis (Maldonado, 2014). The theory of disruptive innovation is valid because of the focus it maintains on the capacity of companies to refocus on technology advancements to optimise their performance. An example of the theory on disruptive innovation in practice can be found in the business operations of Ryanair. In the 1990s, leading airline European companies in the industry decided that the opportunities arising from the implementation of a low-cost strategy do not present a substantial threat to their market (Paton, 2013). Yet, newcomers in the European airline industry, such as EasyJet, applied the example of Ryanair’s point-to-point strategy. A direct outcome of this initiative was the creation of a low-cost niche market, which led to significant shifts in market behaviour as well as technology utilisation (Maldonado, 2014). It can be suggested that such niche of customers have realised the importance of Ryanair’s strategy even though they have not been identified as regular flyers. In addition, the low-cost and no frills strategy soon started to attract a considerable number of business travellers, who demonstrated a rapid switch from high-cost airline compani es to low-cost airlines (Christensen et al., 2008). This has been done with the assumption that low-cost airlines have significantly improved their service as a result of the implementation of disruptive innovation principles (Habtay, 2012). Such aspect demonstrates the validity of the theory considering its successful application to expanding companies’ growth in new markets. Ryanair has succeeded in the creation of a new market of budget travellers, which represents an example of the theory on disruptive innovation. The basic of such success was to offer routes to customers that no other airline did at rather competitive, affordable prices. The main aspect of disruptive innovation is to refocus technology use (Paton, 2013). This has helped the airline to maintain a close contact with its customers through optimisation of the internet use, commitment to quality, and safety maintenance and adequately focused criteria for growth. Ryanair has achieved its objective to reduce its operation cost through maximising its use of technical advances, as it introduced the options of booking of tickets and issuing of boarding cards online (Schmidt and Druehl, 2008). This airline company has provided a relevant example of how its operational teams and processes are brought together to deliver innovation in specific target niches. It has been assumed that the innovation introduced by Ryanair is desired by the target niche market (Habtay, 2012). Therefore, it can be argued that innovation levels should be maintained in balance in order to achieve the company’s initially presented goals for growth and expansion. As illustrated in Professor Clayton’s theory on disruptive innovation, an emergent strategy that organisations should adopt should be based on essential principles. Initially, companies that consider the option of disruptive innovation should incorporate elements of learning into their strategy plan (Paton, 2013). Furthermore, organisations should be focused on finding relevant information that can guarantee that they move in the right direction, similarly to what Ryanair did in the European airline industry through its adherence to the disruptive innovation model (Schmidt and Druehl, 2008). As a result, this type of innovation can produce long-term catalytic change, as illustrated in the example of Ryanair. The way in which a new technology addresses the demands presented in an existing customer segment is an important condition for success. Existing customers have been found powerful to affect an organisation’s resource allocation process (Christensen et al., 2008). The basic idea behind the application of disruptive innovation in practice is to introduce new functions or attributes, as Ryanair introduced a low-cost strategy and flexible fares to its customers (Petrick and Martinelli, 2012). A significant assumption can be provided in relation to new market disruptive innovation in the sense that it is more likely to prosper among customers that companies have not been addressed previously. As implied in The Innovator’s Dilemma, Professor Clayton’s theory of disruptive innovation illustrates both the strengths and weaknesses of using financial ratios to measure business performance in both the short-term and long-term (Christensen, 1997). The strengths associated with using these ratios refer to the capacity of companies to use specific financial information to advance their business operations. Weaknesses of these ratios include improperly maintained focus or irrelevant or inaccurate financial details. The most important ratios with regards to Professor Clayton’s theory are the following profitability ratios: Return on Capital Employed (ROCE); Current Ratio and Acid Test Ratio (Christensen et al., 2008). The ratio of RONA presents a comparison of net income with the specific net assets. The ratio of ROCE provides significant information about the returns that an organisation achieves from the capital it employed. In the case of Ryanair, the company’s ROCE ratio indicated a significant increase from 6.86% in 2011 to more than 10% in 2013 before tax (Paton, 2013). The formula for calculating the current ratio is to divide current assets and current liabilities. Therefore, Ryanair’s current ratio in 2013 is 1.97:1. Acid test ratio is obtained through subtracting current assets and inventory and the result is divided with current liabilities (Habtay, 2012). The acid test ratio in 2013 is 1.97:1. These ratios indicate that the company performs well in its niche target market as a result of the introduction of disruptive innovation. Plan Professor Clayton’s teaching provides fundamental business ideas that can help individuals move forward to a sustainable and successful future, as human beings. His concepts reinforce the potential of professionals in the business world to bring about a substantial change that can alter positively their lives (Christensen et al., 2008). When human beings are confronted with new technological innovations, they tend to explore the numerous opportunities associated with such technology advancements that can help them become more successful in their operations. Sustainability emerges as an essential dimension in Clayton’s teaching on disruptive innovation (Petrick and Martinelli, 2012). By finding new markets for new technologies, individuals can help companies move in the right direction through adhering to the model of disruptive innovation (Christensen et al., 2008). Technology is the key to a sustainable and successful future for human beings considering the emphasis on improvement in product performance. There has been always a drive to seek improvement of products and services in any market segment. Clayton’s teaching motivates individuals to restructure their thinking and present distinct inferences regarding the application of disruptive innovation models in practice (Chandra and Yang, 2011). In fact, the model suggested by the professor indicates a proven path to achieving a sustainable and successful future based on the concept of disruptive innovation. The ability of human beings to innovate is leading in the contemporary business world, which is oriented towards long-term success. Clayton’s ideas are focused on presenting a realistic framework according to which sustainable is achievable as well as new innovations address current needs and expectations identified in different markets (Christensen et al., 2008). As Clayton a rgued, market leaders are responsible for embracing such innovations and exploit the numerous advantages of technologies. As a result, this would contribute to the emergence of a high level of sustainability in the dynamic business environment (Maldonado, 2014). The model introduced by Professor Clayton provides managers with an opportunity to offer relevant insights into the most appropriate way of utilising disruptive technologies. The professor presents his arguments in a clear, consistent manner, which helps individuals understand the specificity and applicability of his theory (Christensen, 1997). The emergence of particular value networks is in line with the basic idea to refocus on technology through the distinct model of disruptive innovation (Petrick and Martinelli, 2012). Moreover, Professor Clayton emphasises the necessity to discuss different managerial decisions, which contribute to enhanced sustainability in the business world. Moving to a sustainable and successful future may be challenging for human beings, but they can make a sense of all activities pertaining to disruptive innovation and apply them in practice. This can help individuals realise the potential and practicalities of the ideas shared by Professor Clayton (Habtay, 2012). Emphasis on the learning cycle shows that both individuals and companies can embrace the concept of change, which may contribute to expanding sustainability not only in the organisational context but also in society (Christensen et al., 2008). The professor’s teaching is intended to clarify any misunderstanding related to business performance in the contemporary world. His ideas suggest that sustainability and business success are attainable through the simple realisation of companies’ potential (Christensen, 1997). In addition, the development of new capabilities as related to specific organisational boundaries may be a relevant solution to overcome problems i n a company’s performance. Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This paper discussed Professor Clayton Christensen’s theory on disruptive innovation, which has been recognised as a significant tool in driving the growth of many organisations (Christensen et al., 2008). The paper also provided arguments pertaining to the successful implementation of the theory in practice. Ryanair was referred to as an example of company, which adheres to the model of disruptive innovation (Paton, 2013). It has been concluded that Ryanair’s low-cost strategy has brought substantial success to the company. Moreover, the paper discussed details on how the professor’s teaching is inspiring for human beings in the process of moving forward to a sustainable and successful future. References Chandra, Y. and Yang, S. (2011). ‘Managing Disruptive Innovation’. Journal of General Management, vol. 37(2), pp.23-50. Christensen, C., Johnson, C. W. and Horn, M. B. (2008). Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns. New York: McGraw-Hill. Christensen, C. (1997). The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press. Cortez, N. (2014). ‘Regulating Disruptive Innovation’. Berkeley Technology Law Journal, vol. 29(1), pp.175-228. Govindarajan, V., Kopalle, P. K. and Danneels, E. (2011). ‘The Effects of Mainstream and Emerging Customer Orientations on Radical and Disruptive Innovations’. Journal of Product Innovation Management, (1), pp.121-132. Habtay, S. R. (2012). ‘A Firm-Level Analysis on the Relative Difference between Technology-Driven and Market-Driven Disruptive Business Model Innovations’. Creativity Innovation Management, vol. 21(3), pp.290-303. Jang, S. W. (2013). ‘Seven Disruptive Innovations for Future Industries’. SERI Quarterly, vol. 6(3), pp.94-98. Maldonado, E. R. (2014). ‘How to Identify Disruptive New Businesses’. Global Conference on Business Finance Proceedings, vol. 9(1), pp.510-520. Paton, M. (2013). Ryanair Profits Soar 21% [online]. The Motley Fool. Available at: fool.com/investing/general/2013/01/28/ryanair-profits-soars.aspx [Accessed: 14 August 2014]. Petrick, I. J. and Martinelli, R. (2012). ‘Driving Disruptive Innovation’. Research Technology Management, vol. 55(6), pp.49-57. Schmidt, G. M. and Druehl, C. T. (2008). ‘When Is a Disruptive Innovation Disruptive?’ Journal of Product Innovation Management, vol. 25(4), pp.347-369.

How to Increase the Word Count in an Academic Paper

How to Increase the Word Count in an Academic Paper How to Increase the Word Count in an Academic Paper We’re sometimes asked to help increase the word count in college papers. But that is well outside a proofreading remit! Everything in your writing should be your own work (and you should clearly quote and cite anything you have borrowed from elsewhere). Otherwise it would count as plagiarism. However, we can offer some advice on boosting your word count. First, though, we’ll take a quick look at one thing you should never do when your document is feeling a little skinny. How NOT to Increase the Word Count The first thing most people do when stretching to meet the word count is add padding words. This means inserting unnecessary modifiers and clauses to artificially boost the word count. However, this will make your work harder to read. For example, you might begin with a sentence like this: The Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. But after the Padding Word Fairy has visited, it could end up looking more like this: The historic Declaration of Independence, which is a very significant document in American history, was eventually signed in the seminal year of 1776. However, none of additions here provide extra information or insight on the topic: e.g., saying that the Declaration of Independence is â€Å"very significant† is not helpful unless we also explain how it is significant. And since clarity and concision are key in academic writing, this version is worse than the original! But what can you do instead? We have a few suggestions below. Hitting the Word Count the Right Way Even if your main objective is increasing the word count, anything you add to a paper should enhance your argument. There are three main ways to do this: Explain your arguments in more depth Add examples or quotations to illustrate your point Compare and contrast two ideas In all of these cases, the idea is to use whatever you add to demonstrate your understanding of the subject matter. For instance, we could expand the example above to say: The Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. According to Belz (2004), this action â€Å"asserted the natural right of revolution as a principle of American nationality† (p.68). Here, the quote gives a specific consequence of the signing. Quoting someone also shows that you’ve done extra research, especially if it isn’t from one of the texts on your reading list! This extra sentence only adds 19 words (including the citation). But if you can do this throughout your document, it will increase the word count while also making your work much stronger.

How to Tell Your Parents You Want to Drop Out of College

How to Tell Your Parents You Want to Drop Out of College If you are considering dropping out of college, you likely have a good reason: personal, financial,  academic, or a combination of factors. Even though the benefits of dropping out may be clear to you, your parents may have some concerns, and talking to them about dropping out may not be easy. So where can you begin? What should you say? Be Honest Dropping out of college is a big deal, and your parents know this. Even if they suspected that this conversation was coming, they probably arent going to be too pleased about it. Consequently, you owe it to them- and yourself- to be honest about the main reasons driving your decision. Are you failing your classes? Not connecting socially with others? Feeling lost academically? Is the financial obligation too much to bear? If you expect to have an honest, adult conversation about dropping out, youll need to contribute your own honesty and maturity as well. Be Specific General statements, like I just dont like it, I dont want to be there, and I just want to come home, may be accurate, but theyre vague and therefore not very helpful. Additionally, your parents may not know how to respond to these kinds of general statements other than to tell you to get back to class. If, however, youre more specific- I need some time off from school to figure out what I want to study, I need a break right now academically and intellectually, Im concerned about how much this is costing- both you and your parents can have a constructive conversation about your concerns. Explain What Dropping Out Will Accomplish Dropping out has such a heavy feel to it because it is a very serious choice. To assuage their concerns, discuss with your parents what dropping out will accomplish. True, youll leave your current situation, but then what? While withdrawing from your current college or university might be appealing, it should be only one step in a longer, carefully thought-out process. What will you do instead? Will you work? Travel? Aim to re-enroll in a semester or two? The conversation should not just be about leaving college; it should also include what youre planning to do next. Be Aware of the Consequences Your parents will likely have a lot of questions for you about whats going to happen if you drop out. What are the financial consequences going to be? When will you have to start paying back your student loans, or can you put them on deferment? What will happen to the loan and grant money youve already accepted for this term? What about your lost credits? Can you re-enroll at your institution at a later time, or will you have to reapply for admission? What obligations will you still have for your living arrangements? While your heart and mind might be set on dropping out and leaving your current situation, your parents can be great resources for helping you keep your focus on whats most important. The key, however, is to fully engage and work in partnership with them to make the transition as painless as possible for everyone involved.

Research Methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 4

Research Methods - Essay Example e of the best methods should be made with special seriousness otherwise incorrect and irrelevant research techniques may bring the study to invalid and erroneous findings (Freeman, Robinson & Woodley 2004). In its widest meaning, the word â€Å"method† can be interpreted as a way to something and represents more an artificial than existed in nature the system of rules and operations (Kothari 2006). Basically, research methods are implemented to gather the full data base with the help of which a researcher is able to make appropriate conclusions and elaborate further recommendations on how to benefit from favorable consequences or eliminate the negative influence. According to Walliman (2011, p. 7), research methods are all â€Å"about advancing the frontiers of knowledge†. The usage of various research methods for one study increases the accuracy of the findings and helps to view the problem from the different aspects. The bright example of research combination is the study of Luthans and Sommer, who based their results on both qualitative and quantitative methods. The article emphasizes how seriously the market conditions have been changed compared to previous periods of production relationships. Hence, the favorable results of each company’s performance are influenced by management’s policy aimed at the improvement of product characteristics, raise of product quality, decrease of total costs, increase of productivity and superiority over competitors (Luthans & Sommer 2005). It is important to persuade the target consumers that offered brand is better than the rest of analogues and it is considered that such scheme can be achieved only with the help of strong knowledge base of the company’s personnel, effective training programs, professional skills of senior managers and attractive motivational factors. The study provides extensive demonstration on how relevant management of human resources correlates with company’s financial results. The main purpose of

What are the purposes of art museums and galleries Essay

What are the purposes of art museums and galleries - Essay Example But could these arguments stand the test of critical intellectual and empirical analysis Could they be substantiated incontestably with living evidence, so that these views on the purpose of the institutions come across as a cogent piece of intellectual submission This paper will critically examine a number of arguments in support of the views, for logic of presentation, relevance of structural methodology and cogency of content. Khalil Gibran, a Lebanese artist & poet in US, once said 'To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to'. This statement, with its allusion to 'aspiration', offers a significant point of departure for this exposition. Aspiration is evidenced in current attempts, in current efforts towards the realisation of a purpose. Therefore, the appreciation of the purposes of art museums and galleries lies in the discovery of the aspiration of those who set them up and conscientiously maintain them. This simple deduction will be used as a fundamental yardstick for estimating the validity of the various arguments. The arguments of the chosen authors will be represented with excerpts from their works, which capture the long and short of their arguments and submissions. These excerpts will be enlarged upon very briefly and then examined for validity. The term 'museum' dates back to the Greek origin of the institution as the abode of the muses, a place of learning and inspiration. It is defined in the American Heritage Dictionary as: 'A building, place, or institution devoted to the acquisition, conservation, study, exhibition, and educational interpretation of objects having scientific, historical, or artistic value', (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000). In their A Sense of Place, a work of advocacy, Peter Davies and Tony Knipe (1984) subscribe to an opinion embodied in this excerpt : ' Lets not each beauty everywhere be spied, When half the skill is decently to hide, He gains all points who pleasingly confounds, surprises, varies and conceals the bounds' The advice "not to spy each beauty everywhere, 'when half the skill is decently to hide'" suggests that easily appreciated objects of artistic beauty do not hold as much attraction as those whose artistry is 'decently' hidden, that is, complex. Thus, art galleries, which generally hold attractions for frequenters, contain artistic collections whose intents and purposes need closer (not to be 'spied') examination and special explanations, for their full understanding and appreciation.Consequently, close examination of artistic works of art for their enjoyments and appreciation, is presented by these authors as the purpose for which art galleries and museums are set up. The complicated artistry of the collections is to challenge- 'pleasingly' confound- the visitors, stimulate their imagination and increase their appreciation of beauty. The validity of this submission is, however, yet to be seen, for no empirical evidence lies in this excerpt. From the work of another pair of authors on the origins of museums, we find this excerpt: 'The opening of the New World and the opening up of contacts with Africa, South-East Asia and the Far East revolutionized the way which people saw the world and their own place in it' (Oliver Impey and Arthur MacGregor, Origins of Museums (1985), p.2). Further reading of this work reveals that the stir created by the opening up of Africa, South-East Asia and the Far East to the New World gave birth to the very beginnings of museums as we know them. Interestingly, many of them were filled with

Classification of My Classmates Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Classification of My Classmates - Essay Example The students in the category sometimes may drop out of school and rarely make it official. However, there is also a group that consistently attends classes but do not attain good scores. This group fails because they do not put attention to what is being taught or do not revise their work or do their assignments seriously. The question we might ask, are underachievers naturally possessing low achievement capacity? To me, it is a big no. This is because to enter in college there are minimum qualifications that must be attained, you cannot attain this score if you do not have the potential to succeed. Underachievement result from misplaced priorities or being in the wrong course. Some students end up in courses that they do not like because of pressures from parents or relatives. This group feels demoralized because imagine Engineer seating in a medicine class! To him, everything that is taught here makes no sense to him. This makes him lose motivation and determination. There are also those whose priorities are misplaced; they take more time in entertainment and very minimal time in academic work. Most of their time is spent either in bars drinking or traveling to pay a visit to family and friends. I can say most of these colleagues are gifted underachievers that Kim (234) is talking about. The second category is that of average achievers. Students in this category are just determined to complete their courses and get out of college. Mostly, they study because of examinations and tests. They attend lessons not because they like but because they know their success is tied to the content of lectures. If an opportunity avails itself they do not attend lectures. Those in this category do not struggle to get very high marks but just struggle to get average marks. This is the group lecturers target when motivating students to strive to get high scores. They always hand in their assignments just in time.        Ã‚  

Whether Gill Can Claim the Flat Under Implied Trust Essay

Whether Gill Can Claim the Flat Under Implied Trust - Essay Example The remedy to these issues lies in the law of Property. The law provides for rights over property. Those rights are legal and equitable rights. Trust creates equitable rights. Common law recognizes legal rights. Equitable rights are also enforceable in common law but they are enforceable in personam, i.e. they are enforceable against only a particular person i.e. particular trustee. Whereas legal rights on the property are rights in rem, which are enforceable against anyone. The statute classifies the interest in the property as commercial and family interest. The commercial interest in property is derived generally by buying and selling of the property, such transaction is registered under the law thereby creates legal right over the property. The family interest is the equitable interest like life interest in the property such interest is created by family settlements or formal testimonies like will. The Law of Property Act, 1925 provides for Co-ownership. When two or more persons hold interests in a property their ownership over the property is said to be co-ownership and each of them is called tenants. The term tenant used in this statute differs from that used in the lease. Under the co-ownership, each tenant has the right to live on or share in the property during his or her lifetime. This co-ownership is of two types - Joint Tenancy and Tenancy in common. In case of death of any of co-owners his/her interest is devolved to the surviving tenant. In joint tenancy, the ownership of the property is retained upon all tenants as single ownership. They are not entitled to devolve their share in the property by will but the law permits to dispose of it during a lifetime.

Biographyinterview of Lesbian or bisexual or queer woman, or Essay

Biographyinterview of Lesbian or bisexual or queer woman, or trasgender individual - Essay Example I have recently shifted to Holland for pursuing my postgraduate diploma in women empowerment at Mastricht University Holland. Aisha. Up to the age of 16 years I did not know much about my sexuality. My mother had told me only one story about my sexuality. When I was just a few months old my father wanted to have my circumcision. Aisha. Yes. But in Africa some families go for the female circumcisions also. They want to curb the sexual desire of girls by doing that. I don't clearly remember how was I saved from the circumcision. But I really hated that idea. Aisha. My mother put me in a female hostel during my late two years i.e. 1983-1984 in high school. I had to live with a single senior girl Sumaira who stated sharing bed with me. She took a lot care about me and I felt she fell in love with me. I became found of her in a few days. I remember after week or so we used to rush in the evening for bed and locked our room from inside. First time she unclothed herself before and took me in her arms. This was an unusual and fascinating experience for me. She kissed me and pampered me all over my body. I felt my self in havens. It took me only minutes to unclothe myself and did every thing for her, she asked me. I clearly remember my first experience with sex when I slept so deep that next morning I was very fresh and happy. Only a women knows, I believe, what a sex of a woman is. Then this thing became a regular habit till she left for another college and left me thirsty for a while. But within a month I came to know that there were a few o ther who used to enjoy this in groups, I joined them. X. Then what happened to you after high school Aisha. I joined the university and I always asked my self-different question on my sexuality. Why is homosexuality considered so bad in our society Why does our society reject it at the outset And why social stigmas attached with it X. How and what did you find the answers Aisha. I joined a counseling class in gender studies. Our teacher who was a Nigerian scholar was herself a divorcee and a staunch liberal feminist. She explained that the men dominate heterosexual society. Man is inherently cruel and macho. He always looks at the woman as a commodity and considers woman as an object of enjoyment. So the homosexual women live within themselves. They don't need man either. The social stigmas associated with lesbianism, are all man made. They need to defend their arena of enjoyment. Women need to be empowered at every level. Woman needs to be emancipated in society. X. Then why and how you decided to lesbianism as a choice for sex. Aisha. Linda, an elegant blond, blued eyed Dutch girl met with me at a seminar. We had some chat at sex issues. I don't know. Really I don't know. But she changed my life. I am sure, we too humans were seeking each other from havens. I fell in love with her. She romanticized this relation. This is all because of her. I did my master from Holland. I joined Oxfam. I am feminist. Today we live together. I am proud of her. She told me the real love in my life. X. What are

Monitoring of users Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Monitoring of users - Essay Example lantic have set up monitoring policy that ensures that their systems are protected and they can detect attributes of managed resources that are not operating within the specified parameters. Therefore, this paper shall seek to explain some of the rules of monitoring users of monitors executed by College of North Atlantic. First and foremost, College of North Atlantic’s monitoring policy asserts that it is mandatory for everyone using electronic system that belongs to the institution to comply with the agreements and guidelines stipulated in the policy. All the institution’s employees, contractors, subcontractors, students and volunteers must abide by the provisions of the procedures, policies and Acceptable Use Agreement that govern usage of the institutions electronic information systems (College of North Atlantic). The monitoring policy also stresses the importance of this by having administrative and academic managers responsible for ensuring that the policy is complied with. In doing this, College of North Atlantic will ensure that the monitoring policy is followed to the latter. The software policy enforced by College of North Atlantic plays an integral in ensuring that the institution’s computers and software are not destroyed. For example, the monitoring policy states that all software installed in the system in any department, the original set of software must be kept in an accessible and safe place in the corresponding department. Additionally, if software was installed and a license document was acquired, then the license document must also be stored in the respective department in an accessible and secure place. In order to ensure that this policy is followed to the latter, then the institution has ensured that the administrative and academic managers of the respective departments are responsible for the software licenses acquired in their departments (College of North Atlantic). Employees of College of North Atlantic are not allowed to install

Biographyinterview of Lesbian or bisexual or queer woman, or Essay

Biographyinterview of Lesbian or bisexual or queer woman, or trasgender individual - Essay Example I have recently shifted to Holland for pursuing my postgraduate diploma in women empowerment at Mastricht University Holland. Aisha. Up to the age of 16 years I did not know much about my sexuality. My mother had told me only one story about my sexuality. When I was just a few months old my father wanted to have my circumcision. Aisha. Yes. But in Africa some families go for the female circumcisions also. They want to curb the sexual desire of girls by doing that. I don't clearly remember how was I saved from the circumcision. But I really hated that idea. Aisha. My mother put me in a female hostel during my late two years i.e. 1983-1984 in high school. I had to live with a single senior girl Sumaira who stated sharing bed with me. She took a lot care about me and I felt she fell in love with me. I became found of her in a few days. I remember after week or so we used to rush in the evening for bed and locked our room from inside. First time she unclothed herself before and took me in her arms. This was an unusual and fascinating experience for me. She kissed me and pampered me all over my body. I felt my self in havens. It took me only minutes to unclothe myself and did every thing for her, she asked me. I clearly remember my first experience with sex when I slept so deep that next morning I was very fresh and happy. Only a women knows, I believe, what a sex of a woman is. Then this thing became a regular habit till she left for another college and left me thirsty for a while. But within a month I came to know that there were a few o ther who used to enjoy this in groups, I joined them. X. Then what happened to you after high school Aisha. I joined the university and I always asked my self-different question on my sexuality. Why is homosexuality considered so bad in our society Why does our society reject it at the outset And why social stigmas attached with it X. How and what did you find the answers Aisha. I joined a counseling class in gender studies. Our teacher who was a Nigerian scholar was herself a divorcee and a staunch liberal feminist. She explained that the men dominate heterosexual society. Man is inherently cruel and macho. He always looks at the woman as a commodity and considers woman as an object of enjoyment. So the homosexual women live within themselves. They don't need man either. The social stigmas associated with lesbianism, are all man made. They need to defend their arena of enjoyment. Women need to be empowered at every level. Woman needs to be emancipated in society. X. Then why and how you decided to lesbianism as a choice for sex. Aisha. Linda, an elegant blond, blued eyed Dutch girl met with me at a seminar. We had some chat at sex issues. I don't know. Really I don't know. But she changed my life. I am sure, we too humans were seeking each other from havens. I fell in love with her. She romanticized this relation. This is all because of her. I did my master from Holland. I joined Oxfam. I am feminist. Today we live together. I am proud of her. She told me the real love in my life. X. What are

Marketing Plan Sex Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Marketing Plan Sex - Essay Example 6.2 Profitability Statement for Three Years 18 6.3 Break Even Point 19 7.0 Controls 20 7.1 Implementation 20 7.2 Marketing Organization 20 7.3 Contingency Planning 21 Reference 22 MARKETING PLAN 1.0 Executive Summary: Aging boomers want all the comforts and privileges of growing old without giving up any of the pleasures of and peccadilloes of youth - including their Harleys, an icon of youthful rebellion. The mature population is even changing the way the products are paid for; Chicago based Chase Bank issues a Kiss Platinum Visa Credit card. And the market place that wants their estimated US $ 1 trillion disposable income purchasing power is eager to help them do so. Apart from this class of customers there are other people who are deprived of the worldly pleasures because of their physical conditions caused by obesity and weight problems. Obviously this class of consumers also have a considerable disposable income and they would not hesitate to spend money to increase the sexual pleasures that they derive by using any aids which prove worthy of the price. Considering these rare psychological phenomena Cupid's...Obviously this class of consumers also have a considerable disposable income and the y would not hesitate to spend money to increase the sexual pleasures that they derive by using any aids which prove worthy of the price. Considering these rare psychological phenomena Cupid's Arrow Inc have come out with their new product 'Easy Rider' which increases the sexual pleasure by an aid which adjusts the physical position of the female partner during the sexual act. This product is complementary to other personal care products that are being dealt with by Cupid's Arrow Inc. and since the company is already having its network of distributors it would well within the control of the company to introduce this product into the market in a short span of time and achieve the targeted market share of 20 percent in the estimated $ 1 billion of the sex aid products market share in the country of United States in the first year of its introduction. The company expects to achieve a turnover of $ 50 million by selling close to 1 million products to the niche market. Cupid's Arrow Inc. is known for its health care products of a world class and has earned the continued support of the elite class consumers for their wide range of products covering the aristocratic lifestyle of the consumers.

Understanding Health Food Drink Consumers

Understanding Health Food Drink Consumers Health Food Drinks I. Problem definition 1.1 Background India, the worlds largest malt-based drinks market, accounts for 22% of the worlds retail volume sales. These drinks are traditionally consumed as milk substitutes and marketed as a nutritious drink, mainly consumed by the old, the young and the sick. The Health food drinks category consists of white drinks and brown drinks. South and East India are large markets for these drinks, accounting for the largest proportion of all India sales. The total market is placed at about 90,000 ton and is estimated to be growing at about 4%. These Malt beverages, though, are still an urban phenomenon. White drinks account for almost two-thirds of the market. GSK Consumer Healthcare is the market leader in the white malt beverages category with a 60.7% overall market share. Heinzs Complan comes in second (in this segment, third overall) with a market share of 12-13%. Market leader GSK also owns other brands such as Boost, Maltova and Viva. Currently, brown drinks (which are cocoa-based) continue to grow at the expense of white drinks like Horlicks and Complan. The share of brown drinks has increased from about 32% to 35% over the last five years. Cadburys Bournvita is the leader in the brown drink segment with a market share of around 15%. Other significant players are Nestlà ©s Milo and GCMMFs Nutramul. 1.2 Problem Statement The project had been undertaken with an objective to understand the customer behaviour in the â€Å"Health Food Drink (HFD)† product category. The objective of the study also included identifying the determinant purchase factors, the customer segments and the sources of information they rely on. The existing positioning of prominent brands and the perceptions among different segments were also covered under the study. The brand loyalty and switching were also studied. The brand personality was also studied as a part of the project. II. Literature review Nutrition In India After 4 years of age, a childs energy needs per kilogram of bodyweight are decreasing but the actual amount of energy (calories) required increases, as the child gets older. From 5 years to adolescence, there is a period of slow but steady growth. Dietary intakes of some children may be less than recommended for iron, calcium, vitamins A and D and vitamin C, although in most cases -as long as the energy and protein intakes are adequate and a variety of foods, including fruit and vegetables, are eaten- deficiencies are unlikely. Regular meals and healthy snacks that include carbohydrate -rich foods, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, lean meats, fish, poultry, eggs, legumes and nuts should contribute to proper growth and development without supplying excessive energy to the diet. Children need to drink plenty of fluids, especially if it is hot or they are physically active. Water is obviously a good source of liquid and supplies fluid without calories. Variety is important in childrens diets and other sources of fluid such as milk and milk drinks, fruit juices can also be chosen to provide needed fluids. In India, each State is practically equivalent to a country with its specific socio-economic level, different ethnic groups, food habits, health infrastructures and communication facilities. Thus, the nutritional status of the population shows significant variation between states since it results from a varying combination of factors. In the last 20 years, there has been an improvement in the nutritional status of the Indian population. This improvement results from not only changes in food intake but also socio-economic factors, increased availability of potable water, lower morbidity and improvement of health facilities. In children under five years of age, the marked improvement in nutritional status is shown by the reduction of the prevalence of underweight from 63%, in the 1975-79 period to 53% in the 1988-90 period. The under-five mortality rate (U5MR), an important indicator of the socio-economic development, and health and nutritional status of a society, declined from 282% in 1962 to 115†° in 1994. However, a multitude of infectious diseases such as respiratory and intestinal infections as well as malaria remain the main cause of death in children under five, with malnutrition being an aggravating factor. Measles, tetanus, typhoid and hepatitis are also frequent causes of death during infancy and childhood. In the last 20 years, there have been no significant changes in patterns of dietary intake. Cereals remain the staple food in India providing most of the energy intake. Since the seventies the consumption of foods like pulses, roots and tubers has fallen, while those of other foods like sugar, jaggery (unrefined brown sugar), fats and oils and green leafy vegetables have slightly increased. The average Indian diet remains largely deficient in green leafy vegetables, meat, and fish, milk and milk products. Moreover, it also remains deficient in some micronutrients such as vitamin A, iodine and iron. Adolescents who are undergoing rapid growth and development are one of the nutritionally vulnerable groups who have not received the attention they deserve. In under-nourished children rapid growth during adolescence may increase the severity of under-nutrition. Early marriage and pregnancy will perpetuate both maternal and child under-nutrition. At the other end of spectrum among the affluent segment of population, adolescent obesity is increasingly becoming a problem. Pre-school children constitute the most nutritionally vulnerable segment of the population and their nutritional status is considered to be a sensitive indicator of community health and nutrition. Over the last two decades there has been some improvement in energy intake and substantial reduction in moderate and severe under- nutrition in pre- school children India has enormous under-nutrition and over-nutrition problems Asia has the largest number of malnourished children in the world. The Double Burden of Malnutrition in Asia was inspired by the massive challenge that this situation currently poses for Asia. It describes the main driving forces behind the groundswell of under-nutrition, while shedding light on the emerging double burden of co-existing underweight and overweight, and the linkages between these two different forms of malnutrition. There are two types of nutritional problems one is under-nutrition and another is over-nutrition. Emphasis should be given not only to food but also to care and health, the reason being that even if children in the age group of 0-2 years are able to get food, they may have mothers who do not have enough time to pay attention to their children. Similarly, if there is no health-guaranteeing environment, and children suffer from diarrhoeal diseases, no amount of food will help prevent malnutrition. Over-nutrition, on the other hand, means either too many calories or the wrong types of calories such as saturated fats or highly processed sugar that lead to obesity, vascular diseases, etc. Many developing countries have under-nutrition and those in Europe and North America have over- nutrition problems. There is this in-between category with countries like India that still have an enormous amount of under-nutrition and significant over-nutrition problems. In India, for instance, around 50 per cent of its children under the age of five are undernourished or malnourished. But in urban areas, the over-nutrition problem is shooting up, thanks to the change in lifestyle and food habits. As a result, health systems are under huge stress. When there is malnutrition, there is a higher level of lower birth rate. One in three babies born in India weigh significantly low because their mothers are undernourished. Some low-weight babies die and some survive and those who survive adapt to malnutrition and scarcity. That is, the biological adaptation is programmed to maximize every calorie the body gets. This adaptation that helped a malnourished baby survive suddenly turns out to be a mal-adaptation when the baby becomes an adult. The adult, who was malnourished in the past, gains extra weight even when he takes only normal amount of food because of the biological adaptation. Brand Loyalty Selling to brand loyal[1] customers is far less costly than converting new customers (Reichheld 1996, Rosenberg and Czepiel 1983)[i]. In addition, brand loyalty provides firms with tremendous competitive weapons. Brand loyal consumers are less price sensitive (Krishnamurthi and Raj 1991)[ii]. A strong consumer franchise gives manufacturers leverage with retailers (Aaker 1991) 1. And, loyalty reduces the sensitivity of consumers to marketplace offerings, which gives the firm time to respond to competitive moves (Aaker 1991) 1. In general, brand loyalty is a reflection of brand equity, which for many businesses is the largest single asset. Perhaps the most cited conceptual definition of brand loyalty comes from Jacoby and Chestnut (1978, p. 80)[iii]: â€Å"The biased, behavioral response, expressed over time, by some decision-making unit, with respect to one or more alternative brands out of a set of such brands, and is a function of psychological (decision-making, evaluative) processes.† Consistent with this definition are two broad categories of operational definitions. The first stresses the â€Å"behavioral response, expressed over time†Ã¢â‚¬â€typically a series of purchases. As Day (1979) observed[iv], however, the major limitation of behavioral measures is the failure to identify motive and the resulting confusion between brand loyalty and other forms of repeat buying. The major alternative operational definition is based on consumer attitudes, preferences, and purchase intentions. These measures stress the cognitive â€Å"bias,† and the â€Å"psychological (decision-making evaluative) proc esses† underlying loyalty. Health Related Expenses KSA TECHNOPAK has conceived an innovative product called Health Outlook 2003, which provides strategic insights to consumer shopping and buying behavior. Apart from the consumer insights, complete health profiling is also done for providing derived disease incidence and prevalence in the country. This Pan Indian research model provides large research depths by covering about 10,000 households across cities like Chandigarh, Delhi, Jaipur, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Calcutta, Patna, Bangalore, Chennai, Cochin, Hyderabad, Madurai, Ahmedabad, Indore, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune and Surat. The rich respondent profile includes SEC A, B and C giving a good coverage for demographic types. Health Outlook shows that health enjoys about 9.4 per cent share of the wallet of Indian consumer and is on the rise for the last three years. This spend includes health supplements, health drinks, doctors and consultants fees, medicines, medical insurance, regular check ups etc. About 91 per cent of this was out-of-pocket expense and only 9 per cent came from employers and insurance. Analysis of the consumers drug purchase behaviour shows that 59 per cent use old prescriptions and 29 per cent use over-the-counter drugs, meaning 88 cent of the consumers indulged in self-medication. Consumer attitudes to health drinks are mainly influenced by quality attributes. Ethical factors are important in some cases, but they may be overstated. The relationships between consumers awareness of health drink, price and perceived quality of food were investigated by tests involving series of consumer panels and sensory evaluation. Sensory responses were also matched to instrumental analysis data. Results indicated that overall there was no relation between panelists views about health drinks and their sensory perceptions. Eighty percent of the panelists felt that organic products were too expensive, but would buy them if they were cheaper. However the study showed that most of the people would not be likely to change their preference once they had made a product choice based upon sensory attributes. This has important implications, indicating that not only price, but also sensory quality of health drink must be considered in order to maintain repeated purchases by most consume rs. It is widely accepted that consumer acceptance of drinks is mainly determined by their sensory perception, while choice is strongly influenced by the perceived value for money. Ethical factors are important in some cases, but they may be overstated. Although comparisons between organic and conventional drinks have been reported for a range of attributes, measures of the quality of health drinks as perceived by consumers using objective sensory evaluation methods, or the relevance of any preconceptions in perception have not been studied. This study aimed to investigate the relationship of objective quality measurements including sensory attributes and consumer perception of organically and conventionally produced health drink products. About two thirds of the consumers that participated in the survey believed that health drink is good for the environment, and 55% thought that it is healthier. However there was some confusion relating to the use of pesticides and chemicals in that. Few consumers distinguished health drinks by appearance or taste. Buyers of health drinks were more likely to indicate that the appearance and taste are better, but environmental protection was still the dominant perceived benefit. Buyers who believe that health drink is better also think that it is expensive (p II. Approach to the problem Objective or theoretical framework The objective of this research is to identify the factors that influence a person into making a decision to buy a certain brand of malt-based health drink. As mentioned in the Literature Review, according to industry analysts, this category has grown only on promotions and for now, except for promotions, nothing seems to be working. Therefore, ideally, this research should be able to bring to the fore, certain other factors that could lead to a growth of this segment. At the very least, the research should corroborate the existing assumptions regarding the influencing factors. It should be in a position to verify that the steps various players are taking to stimulate volumes are in the right direction, and would eventually lead to an increase in market share. Research Questions I. What are the different â€Å"Customer Segments† depending upon the preferences? II. What is the perception of people towards the leading brands of Health Food Drinks? III. What are different factors that influence the customer when He/She buys a Health Food Drink? IV. Who are the major Influencers in the purchase decision of Health Food Drinks? Identification of information needed After fixing the objective, we started an extensive reading on the topic. The very first question we needed to clear in our mind was: â€Å"What does Health Food Drinks mean?† Therefore we narrowed down to the malt-based Health drinks like Bournvita and Horlicks. The subsequent readings helped us understand the consumer patterns and perceived needs of the consumers from a health drink. Depending upon that, we listed down several factors that can influence a consumer in buying or not buying a health drink. The study on â€Å"Consumer Behaviour† throws light on the prevalent consumer purchase influencers like Price, Nourishment, Palatability, and Packaging which are included in the purchase influence factors in the questionnaire The Literature on â€Å"Indian Nourishment† shows that the Indian consumer is getting more and more health conscious and thus there is huge potential for the health drinks in the Indian market. Nowadays there can be a number of sources that influence a family in buying a Health Drink. These sources can be promotions, Doctors Advice, Peer Group talks ( word of mouth) and choice of the children themselves. Since the malt-based health-drink segment is broadly divided into 2 categories brown (cocoa-based) and white, therefore it was decided to study the leading brands available in both these categories. We visited retail outlets in different parts of South Delhi to determine the most popular brands. We have assumed that brands that are most visible and widely available are the most popular, as retailers would stock only those brands that invoke maximum sales All identified factors were discussed and screened by the research team. In this process, factors that did not convey much, did not sound authentic or did not differ much from other factors were eliminated. III. Research Design The methodology followed for analyzing the consumer behavior of health food drink customers. 3.1 Preliminary Investigation This phase involved preliminary investigation of the various factors which could possibly affect the consumers perception about the various brands and in turn influence the purchase decisions of the consumer. We primarily used three methods to identify the various factors. The Secondary data gathered was analyzed to understand the current scenario of the Health drinks segment. The analysis of the secondary data also helped us find different attributes which affect the health drinks segment. 3.2 Collection of Quantitative data Measurement and Scaling Procedures: Non-Comparative Rating scale is used in which respondents evaluate only one object at a time, and for this reason noncomparative scales are often referred to as monadic scales. Noncomparative techniques consist of continuous and itemized rating scales. We have used continuous rating scale in order to rate the choices for purchase considerations and the sources of purchase decisions. Questionnaire Design: This phase involved the design of the questionnaire on the basis of the potential factors identified as influencing the customer behavior. Research problems were listed and then the information needed was identified. The questions were then prepared in order to fulfill the information requirements as identified earlier. Survey: Different Survey methods were used for collection of data. The principle method used was Personal Interviewing of the respondents. In-Home interviews were conducted by us at various locations in Delhi. We also did Mall Intercept at popular markets like Sarojini Nagar and Malviya Nagar. Due to the shortage of time, we conducted a few telephonic interviews to maintain diversity in data. 3.3 Sampling Process Target Population: The target population is the collection of elements or objects that process the information sought by the researcher and about which inferences are to be made. Our target population involves the users, deciders and buyers of health food drinks. The users include the old and the young population. The deciders and the buyers mostly include the house wives who buy the product from the market. Sample Size: It denotes the number of elements to be included in the study. Due to time constraints the sample size chosen is very small. Sampling Technique: A mixture of quota and stratified method was used for sampling, with care being taken to get responses from customers of different age groups and different family sizes. iv. Fieldwork The survey was conducted keeping in mind the users and deciders of the health drinks. The survey was conducted in the Paschim Vihar and Ranibagh Areas of Delhi. We made several trips to the local market (Sarojini Nagar and Malviya Nagar) and the nearby households to gather information from relevant people. V. Data Interpretation and Analysis 5.1 Data Analysis Plan This chapter shows how the information needed to answer the three key research questions have been extracted via the questionnaire. Q1 explicitly asked the respondents if a health drink is used in the family or by them. The questionnaire was not administered to the respondents that answered NO to this question. Such respondents have not been included in the sample size of 60 that has been mentioned. Q2 to Q6 of the questionnaire are used to get the general details about the respondent (age, educational qualification, annual income, family size and number of children in the family. Q4 explicitly asked the respondents about the size of the family and Q6 asked about the number of children in the respondents family. Q7 explicitly asks the brand preference of the respondent about the health drink. Q8 asks the respondents to rate the importance of the following purchase considerations on a scale of 1(Very unimportant) to 5 (Very Important): a) Nourishment b) Colour c) Palatability d) Economy e) Shelf-presence f) Packaging g) Brand Image h) Promotions These attributes were decided after a thorough secondary data analysis. However some of these attributes might have similar effect on the consumer preference. Therefore we conduct a factor analysis to find out the factors to which one or more of the above variables belong. Q9 asks the respondents to rate the Sources of Information influencing the Purchase Decision. The following sources were considered: a) Advertisement b) Children c) Doctor d) Family e) Past experience f) Retailer g) Word of mouth The respondents were asked to rank the factors in order of importance. Q10 ask the respondents to score each of the brands on the various product attributes on a scale of 1 5. Five major selling brands were tested on the various product attributes mentioned. The brands included in the test were: a) Boost b) Bournvita c) Complan d) Horlicks e) Milo Q11 and Q12 are used to determine the brand loyalty of the respondent towards the health drink, thus asking the switching pattern of the users. Q13 in the Questionnaire attempts to find the Brand Personality by asking customers the perceived traits of each of the leading brands of health drinks available in the market today. It is very important to realize that these are not the attributes that the drink claims to possess, via its advertisements and other promotional activities. For e.g. Boost in its campaign claims that â€Å"Boost is the secret of my energy†, but rather the attributes the customer feels that the drink possesses. Therefore, if respondents identify spiritedness with Boost it would imply that Boost is successful in its marketing strategy. The responses to this question would also be important to other players in this segment, as they would realize that their promotions are not being effective and hence this would encourage them to redirect their marketing efforts. Apart from spiritedness, the other important traits have been identified as Modesty, Honesty, Cheerfulness, Boldness, Spiritedness, Reliabil ity, Sophistication, Toughness, and Ruggedness. 5.2 Methodology Questionnaire Checking/Editing: The questionnaire is checked for completion and interviewing quality. Editing is the review of the questionnaire with the objective of increasing accuracy and precision. Collation of Data: The data is collated in the excel sheet and prepared for statistical analysis. An SPSS view of the data was also taken for further analysis. Choice of Statistical Analysis Techniques: T-statistic: A t-test was conducted on the results of the survey in order to compare the means of the ranks for the factors or sources of information to find out the most important influencing the purchasing decision. T-test was also conducted on the various product attributes for different brands. Anova: It is carried to study the variance of the factors or product attributes that influence the most among the various demographic groups by conducting the one way Anova test on the scores of these 8 factors. Factor Analysis: The various variables that denote the product attributes that determine the purchasing decision can be actually factored using factor analysis. This factoring of the variables helps in easily studying the consumer behaviour. Cluster Analysis: The set of respondents was segmented on the basis of the demographic information namely ‘age-group, ‘income-group, ‘education, ‘family size etc using cluster analysis so as to identify the distinct clusters depending upon these demographic factors. Multi Dimensional Scaling: This analysis was performed on the overall samples as well as on the 2 segments individually so as to gauge the difference in their perceptions. The selection process depends on the fact that it is conducted on the aggregate level data, i.e. that on the two clusters formed after cluster analysis. This is due to the fact that all market strategies are typically formulated at the segment or aggregate level. 5.3 Analysis and Interpretation Sources of Information influencing the Purchase Decision h) Advertisement i) Children j) Doctor k) Family l) Past experience m) Retailer n) Word of mouth The respondents were asked to rank the factors in order of importance. A t-test was conducted on the results of the survey in order to compare the means of the ranks for the factors. The results of the test are as shown in the Exhibit 1. We can say from the results that there is a significant difference between the ranks of the factors with a 95% confidence. The two most important factors that emerge out of the tests overall are the â€Å"Family doctor† and the influence of the â€Å"Family†. This finding is an important implication for product placement. We can say that the health food drinks should appeal to the complete family rather than only a particular age group. Doctors can also be an important influencer or opinion leader and hence should be targeted in the product promotions. Some products have been promoting their products using comparative advertisements including testifications by the doctors. A second test can be conducted in the same manner taking only the cases where the people are having kids in the family. The results are shown in the Exhibit 2. We observe that the two most important factors differ from the first scenario. The two most important factors that emerge out of the test are â€Å"Family Doctor† and â€Å"Advertisement†. Thus it can be concluded that advertisements have an important influence on the families having kids or in turn the kids. This can be easily observed from the large number of advertisements directed towards the well being of kids. Product Attributes Influencing the Purchase Decision The following product attributes were identified as influencing the purchase decisions of the customers: a) Nourishment b) Colour c) Palatability d) Economy e) Shelf-presence f) Packaging g) Brand Image h) Promotions The respondents were asked to score the importance of the factors on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the most important. A t-test was conducted on the scores of the factors in order to find the most important factors. The t-test shows there is a significant difference between the scores of the various factors with a 95% confidence. The results of the test are shown in Exhibit 3. We observe from the results that the two most important product attributes in making a purchase decision are the â€Å"Palatability† and the â€Å"Nourishment† perception in the minds of the customers. These factors turn out to be the same irrespective of whether there are children in the family or not. We then study the variance of these factors among various demographic groups by conducting the one way Anova test on the scores of these 8 factors. We studied the variance of the mean scores of these attributes among the various groups differentiated by the following factors:- a) Income b) Education c) Age d) Family size The results of the Anova tests which were conducted on the data are as shown in the Exhibits 4-7. We observe that there are no significant differences in the scores of the product attributes in different groups as classified by â€Å"Income†, â€Å"Education† and â€Å"Family size† within a 95% confidence interval. However there is a significant different on the â€Å"Nourishment† and â€Å"Economy† product attributes of health food drinks. As is observed from the mean scores, the â€Å"Nourishment† aspect becomes particularly important for people above the age of 60. It is also important for people who are young in age i.e. less than 20. However it does not seem to be very significant for people in the age group 33- 45. The factor analysis of these attributes is done in the following section. Factor Analysis of Purchase Considerations The factor analysis of the 8 product attributes yields the following 3 factors: Factor I: Promotion, Shelf-Presence, Packaging Economy Factor II: Palatability, Brand Factor III: Nourishment, Colour (For the output of factor analysis, refer to exhibit 8.) As factor I encompass the accessibility and affordability of the product, it can be termed as ‘Purchase Feasibility. As factor II encompass the palatability and brand value of the product, it can be termed as ‘Likeability. As factor III encompass the nutritional value and colour, an indicator of quality, of the product, it can be termed as ‘Utility. Customer Segmentation The set of respondents was segmented on the basis of the demographic information namely ‘age-group, ‘income-group, ‘education, ‘family size etc. The cluster analysis on these demographic variables yields the following 2 clusters: * Cluster 1: The members are almost uniformly distributed across all age segments except under-20 in which no member lies. However, the family size is large than 3 for all the members and a majority of members having 1-2 child in the family. The cluster size is 27 respondents. * Cluster 2: All the members in this cluster are less than the age of 32 yrs, with the majority being less than 20 yrs. Around 90% of the members were either single or couple thus suggesting that the members were either students, or bachelor/newly-married young working professionals. The cluster size is 30 respondents. * As the consumption in cluster 2 would be lower than the large families comprising kids older persons because of less health concerns and preference for alternative beverages, the price sensitivity of cluster 2 would be low while cluster 1 is concerned about economy. (For output of cluster analysis, refer to Exhibit 9). Thus, cluster 1 could be termed as ‘value-seekers while cluster 2 could be termed as ‘quality-seekers. Different Brands on Product Attributes Five major selling brands were tested on the various product attributes mentioned. The brands included in the test were: f) Boost g) Bournvita h) Complan i) Horlicks j) Milo The respondents were asked to score each of the brands on the various product attributes on a scale of 1 5. T-test was conducted on the various product attributes for different brands. The results have been shown in Exhibit 11. The number of respondents who were consuming the various brands is as shown in the pie chart. As we can observe from the graph, Bournvita is found to be the leading brand closely followed by Horlicks, while the other brands do not have a large taking from our survey. The results of the various brands on different attributes are as follows: a) Nourishment: Horlicks scores well above all the b Understanding Health Food Drink Consumers Understanding Health Food Drink Consumers Health Food Drinks I. Problem definition 1.1 Background India, the worlds largest malt-based drinks market, accounts for 22% of the worlds retail volume sales. These drinks are traditionally consumed as milk substitutes and marketed as a nutritious drink, mainly consumed by the old, the young and the sick. The Health food drinks category consists of white drinks and brown drinks. South and East India are large markets for these drinks, accounting for the largest proportion of all India sales. The total market is placed at about 90,000 ton and is estimated to be growing at about 4%. These Malt beverages, though, are still an urban phenomenon. White drinks account for almost two-thirds of the market. GSK Consumer Healthcare is the market leader in the white malt beverages category with a 60.7% overall market share. Heinzs Complan comes in second (in this segment, third overall) with a market share of 12-13%. Market leader GSK also owns other brands such as Boost, Maltova and Viva. Currently, brown drinks (which are cocoa-based) continue to grow at the expense of white drinks like Horlicks and Complan. The share of brown drinks has increased from about 32% to 35% over the last five years. Cadburys Bournvita is the leader in the brown drink segment with a market share of around 15%. Other significant players are Nestlà ©s Milo and GCMMFs Nutramul. 1.2 Problem Statement The project had been undertaken with an objective to understand the customer behaviour in the â€Å"Health Food Drink (HFD)† product category. The objective of the study also included identifying the determinant purchase factors, the customer segments and the sources of information they rely on. The existing positioning of prominent brands and the perceptions among different segments were also covered under the study. The brand loyalty and switching were also studied. The brand personality was also studied as a part of the project. II. Literature review Nutrition In India After 4 years of age, a childs energy needs per kilogram of bodyweight are decreasing but the actual amount of energy (calories) required increases, as the child gets older. From 5 years to adolescence, there is a period of slow but steady growth. Dietary intakes of some children may be less than recommended for iron, calcium, vitamins A and D and vitamin C, although in most cases -as long as the energy and protein intakes are adequate and a variety of foods, including fruit and vegetables, are eaten- deficiencies are unlikely. Regular meals and healthy snacks that include carbohydrate -rich foods, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, lean meats, fish, poultry, eggs, legumes and nuts should contribute to proper growth and development without supplying excessive energy to the diet. Children need to drink plenty of fluids, especially if it is hot or they are physically active. Water is obviously a good source of liquid and supplies fluid without calories. Variety is important in childrens diets and other sources of fluid such as milk and milk drinks, fruit juices can also be chosen to provide needed fluids. In India, each State is practically equivalent to a country with its specific socio-economic level, different ethnic groups, food habits, health infrastructures and communication facilities. Thus, the nutritional status of the population shows significant variation between states since it results from a varying combination of factors. In the last 20 years, there has been an improvement in the nutritional status of the Indian population. This improvement results from not only changes in food intake but also socio-economic factors, increased availability of potable water, lower morbidity and improvement of health facilities. In children under five years of age, the marked improvement in nutritional status is shown by the reduction of the prevalence of underweight from 63%, in the 1975-79 period to 53% in the 1988-90 period. The under-five mortality rate (U5MR), an important indicator of the socio-economic development, and health and nutritional status of a society, declined from 282% in 1962 to 115†° in 1994. However, a multitude of infectious diseases such as respiratory and intestinal infections as well as malaria remain the main cause of death in children under five, with malnutrition being an aggravating factor. Measles, tetanus, typhoid and hepatitis are also frequent causes of death during infancy and childhood. In the last 20 years, there have been no significant changes in patterns of dietary intake. Cereals remain the staple food in India providing most of the energy intake. Since the seventies the consumption of foods like pulses, roots and tubers has fallen, while those of other foods like sugar, jaggery (unrefined brown sugar), fats and oils and green leafy vegetables have slightly increased. The average Indian diet remains largely deficient in green leafy vegetables, meat, and fish, milk and milk products. Moreover, it also remains deficient in some micronutrients such as vitamin A, iodine and iron. Adolescents who are undergoing rapid growth and development are one of the nutritionally vulnerable groups who have not received the attention they deserve. In under-nourished children rapid growth during adolescence may increase the severity of under-nutrition. Early marriage and pregnancy will perpetuate both maternal and child under-nutrition. At the other end of spectrum among the affluent segment of population, adolescent obesity is increasingly becoming a problem. Pre-school children constitute the most nutritionally vulnerable segment of the population and their nutritional status is considered to be a sensitive indicator of community health and nutrition. Over the last two decades there has been some improvement in energy intake and substantial reduction in moderate and severe under- nutrition in pre- school children India has enormous under-nutrition and over-nutrition problems Asia has the largest number of malnourished children in the world. The Double Burden of Malnutrition in Asia was inspired by the massive challenge that this situation currently poses for Asia. It describes the main driving forces behind the groundswell of under-nutrition, while shedding light on the emerging double burden of co-existing underweight and overweight, and the linkages between these two different forms of malnutrition. There are two types of nutritional problems one is under-nutrition and another is over-nutrition. Emphasis should be given not only to food but also to care and health, the reason being that even if children in the age group of 0-2 years are able to get food, they may have mothers who do not have enough time to pay attention to their children. Similarly, if there is no health-guaranteeing environment, and children suffer from diarrhoeal diseases, no amount of food will help prevent malnutrition. Over-nutrition, on the other hand, means either too many calories or the wrong types of calories such as saturated fats or highly processed sugar that lead to obesity, vascular diseases, etc. Many developing countries have under-nutrition and those in Europe and North America have over- nutrition problems. There is this in-between category with countries like India that still have an enormous amount of under-nutrition and significant over-nutrition problems. In India, for instance, around 50 per cent of its children under the age of five are undernourished or malnourished. But in urban areas, the over-nutrition problem is shooting up, thanks to the change in lifestyle and food habits. As a result, health systems are under huge stress. When there is malnutrition, there is a higher level of lower birth rate. One in three babies born in India weigh significantly low because their mothers are undernourished. Some low-weight babies die and some survive and those who survive adapt to malnutrition and scarcity. That is, the biological adaptation is programmed to maximize every calorie the body gets. This adaptation that helped a malnourished baby survive suddenly turns out to be a mal-adaptation when the baby becomes an adult. The adult, who was malnourished in the past, gains extra weight even when he takes only normal amount of food because of the biological adaptation. Brand Loyalty Selling to brand loyal[1] customers is far less costly than converting new customers (Reichheld 1996, Rosenberg and Czepiel 1983)[i]. In addition, brand loyalty provides firms with tremendous competitive weapons. Brand loyal consumers are less price sensitive (Krishnamurthi and Raj 1991)[ii]. A strong consumer franchise gives manufacturers leverage with retailers (Aaker 1991) 1. And, loyalty reduces the sensitivity of consumers to marketplace offerings, which gives the firm time to respond to competitive moves (Aaker 1991) 1. In general, brand loyalty is a reflection of brand equity, which for many businesses is the largest single asset. Perhaps the most cited conceptual definition of brand loyalty comes from Jacoby and Chestnut (1978, p. 80)[iii]: â€Å"The biased, behavioral response, expressed over time, by some decision-making unit, with respect to one or more alternative brands out of a set of such brands, and is a function of psychological (decision-making, evaluative) processes.† Consistent with this definition are two broad categories of operational definitions. The first stresses the â€Å"behavioral response, expressed over time†Ã¢â‚¬â€typically a series of purchases. As Day (1979) observed[iv], however, the major limitation of behavioral measures is the failure to identify motive and the resulting confusion between brand loyalty and other forms of repeat buying. The major alternative operational definition is based on consumer attitudes, preferences, and purchase intentions. These measures stress the cognitive â€Å"bias,† and the â€Å"psychological (decision-making evaluative) proc esses† underlying loyalty. Health Related Expenses KSA TECHNOPAK has conceived an innovative product called Health Outlook 2003, which provides strategic insights to consumer shopping and buying behavior. Apart from the consumer insights, complete health profiling is also done for providing derived disease incidence and prevalence in the country. This Pan Indian research model provides large research depths by covering about 10,000 households across cities like Chandigarh, Delhi, Jaipur, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Calcutta, Patna, Bangalore, Chennai, Cochin, Hyderabad, Madurai, Ahmedabad, Indore, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune and Surat. The rich respondent profile includes SEC A, B and C giving a good coverage for demographic types. Health Outlook shows that health enjoys about 9.4 per cent share of the wallet of Indian consumer and is on the rise for the last three years. This spend includes health supplements, health drinks, doctors and consultants fees, medicines, medical insurance, regular check ups etc. About 91 per cent of this was out-of-pocket expense and only 9 per cent came from employers and insurance. Analysis of the consumers drug purchase behaviour shows that 59 per cent use old prescriptions and 29 per cent use over-the-counter drugs, meaning 88 cent of the consumers indulged in self-medication. Consumer attitudes to health drinks are mainly influenced by quality attributes. Ethical factors are important in some cases, but they may be overstated. The relationships between consumers awareness of health drink, price and perceived quality of food were investigated by tests involving series of consumer panels and sensory evaluation. Sensory responses were also matched to instrumental analysis data. Results indicated that overall there was no relation between panelists views about health drinks and their sensory perceptions. Eighty percent of the panelists felt that organic products were too expensive, but would buy them if they were cheaper. However the study showed that most of the people would not be likely to change their preference once they had made a product choice based upon sensory attributes. This has important implications, indicating that not only price, but also sensory quality of health drink must be considered in order to maintain repeated purchases by most consume rs. It is widely accepted that consumer acceptance of drinks is mainly determined by their sensory perception, while choice is strongly influenced by the perceived value for money. Ethical factors are important in some cases, but they may be overstated. Although comparisons between organic and conventional drinks have been reported for a range of attributes, measures of the quality of health drinks as perceived by consumers using objective sensory evaluation methods, or the relevance of any preconceptions in perception have not been studied. This study aimed to investigate the relationship of objective quality measurements including sensory attributes and consumer perception of organically and conventionally produced health drink products. About two thirds of the consumers that participated in the survey believed that health drink is good for the environment, and 55% thought that it is healthier. However there was some confusion relating to the use of pesticides and chemicals in that. Few consumers distinguished health drinks by appearance or taste. Buyers of health drinks were more likely to indicate that the appearance and taste are better, but environmental protection was still the dominant perceived benefit. Buyers who believe that health drink is better also think that it is expensive (p II. Approach to the problem Objective or theoretical framework The objective of this research is to identify the factors that influence a person into making a decision to buy a certain brand of malt-based health drink. As mentioned in the Literature Review, according to industry analysts, this category has grown only on promotions and for now, except for promotions, nothing seems to be working. Therefore, ideally, this research should be able to bring to the fore, certain other factors that could lead to a growth of this segment. At the very least, the research should corroborate the existing assumptions regarding the influencing factors. It should be in a position to verify that the steps various players are taking to stimulate volumes are in the right direction, and would eventually lead to an increase in market share. Research Questions I. What are the different â€Å"Customer Segments† depending upon the preferences? II. What is the perception of people towards the leading brands of Health Food Drinks? III. What are different factors that influence the customer when He/She buys a Health Food Drink? IV. Who are the major Influencers in the purchase decision of Health Food Drinks? Identification of information needed After fixing the objective, we started an extensive reading on the topic. The very first question we needed to clear in our mind was: â€Å"What does Health Food Drinks mean?† Therefore we narrowed down to the malt-based Health drinks like Bournvita and Horlicks. The subsequent readings helped us understand the consumer patterns and perceived needs of the consumers from a health drink. Depending upon that, we listed down several factors that can influence a consumer in buying or not buying a health drink. The study on â€Å"Consumer Behaviour† throws light on the prevalent consumer purchase influencers like Price, Nourishment, Palatability, and Packaging which are included in the purchase influence factors in the questionnaire The Literature on â€Å"Indian Nourishment† shows that the Indian consumer is getting more and more health conscious and thus there is huge potential for the health drinks in the Indian market. Nowadays there can be a number of sources that influence a family in buying a Health Drink. These sources can be promotions, Doctors Advice, Peer Group talks ( word of mouth) and choice of the children themselves. Since the malt-based health-drink segment is broadly divided into 2 categories brown (cocoa-based) and white, therefore it was decided to study the leading brands available in both these categories. We visited retail outlets in different parts of South Delhi to determine the most popular brands. We have assumed that brands that are most visible and widely available are the most popular, as retailers would stock only those brands that invoke maximum sales All identified factors were discussed and screened by the research team. In this process, factors that did not convey much, did not sound authentic or did not differ much from other factors were eliminated. III. Research Design The methodology followed for analyzing the consumer behavior of health food drink customers. 3.1 Preliminary Investigation This phase involved preliminary investigation of the various factors which could possibly affect the consumers perception about the various brands and in turn influence the purchase decisions of the consumer. We primarily used three methods to identify the various factors. The Secondary data gathered was analyzed to understand the current scenario of the Health drinks segment. The analysis of the secondary data also helped us find different attributes which affect the health drinks segment. 3.2 Collection of Quantitative data Measurement and Scaling Procedures: Non-Comparative Rating scale is used in which respondents evaluate only one object at a time, and for this reason noncomparative scales are often referred to as monadic scales. Noncomparative techniques consist of continuous and itemized rating scales. We have used continuous rating scale in order to rate the choices for purchase considerations and the sources of purchase decisions. Questionnaire Design: This phase involved the design of the questionnaire on the basis of the potential factors identified as influencing the customer behavior. Research problems were listed and then the information needed was identified. The questions were then prepared in order to fulfill the information requirements as identified earlier. Survey: Different Survey methods were used for collection of data. The principle method used was Personal Interviewing of the respondents. In-Home interviews were conducted by us at various locations in Delhi. We also did Mall Intercept at popular markets like Sarojini Nagar and Malviya Nagar. Due to the shortage of time, we conducted a few telephonic interviews to maintain diversity in data. 3.3 Sampling Process Target Population: The target population is the collection of elements or objects that process the information sought by the researcher and about which inferences are to be made. Our target population involves the users, deciders and buyers of health food drinks. The users include the old and the young population. The deciders and the buyers mostly include the house wives who buy the product from the market. Sample Size: It denotes the number of elements to be included in the study. Due to time constraints the sample size chosen is very small. Sampling Technique: A mixture of quota and stratified method was used for sampling, with care being taken to get responses from customers of different age groups and different family sizes. iv. Fieldwork The survey was conducted keeping in mind the users and deciders of the health drinks. The survey was conducted in the Paschim Vihar and Ranibagh Areas of Delhi. We made several trips to the local market (Sarojini Nagar and Malviya Nagar) and the nearby households to gather information from relevant people. V. Data Interpretation and Analysis 5.1 Data Analysis Plan This chapter shows how the information needed to answer the three key research questions have been extracted via the questionnaire. Q1 explicitly asked the respondents if a health drink is used in the family or by them. The questionnaire was not administered to the respondents that answered NO to this question. Such respondents have not been included in the sample size of 60 that has been mentioned. Q2 to Q6 of the questionnaire are used to get the general details about the respondent (age, educational qualification, annual income, family size and number of children in the family. Q4 explicitly asked the respondents about the size of the family and Q6 asked about the number of children in the respondents family. Q7 explicitly asks the brand preference of the respondent about the health drink. Q8 asks the respondents to rate the importance of the following purchase considerations on a scale of 1(Very unimportant) to 5 (Very Important): a) Nourishment b) Colour c) Palatability d) Economy e) Shelf-presence f) Packaging g) Brand Image h) Promotions These attributes were decided after a thorough secondary data analysis. However some of these attributes might have similar effect on the consumer preference. Therefore we conduct a factor analysis to find out the factors to which one or more of the above variables belong. Q9 asks the respondents to rate the Sources of Information influencing the Purchase Decision. The following sources were considered: a) Advertisement b) Children c) Doctor d) Family e) Past experience f) Retailer g) Word of mouth The respondents were asked to rank the factors in order of importance. Q10 ask the respondents to score each of the brands on the various product attributes on a scale of 1 5. Five major selling brands were tested on the various product attributes mentioned. The brands included in the test were: a) Boost b) Bournvita c) Complan d) Horlicks e) Milo Q11 and Q12 are used to determine the brand loyalty of the respondent towards the health drink, thus asking the switching pattern of the users. Q13 in the Questionnaire attempts to find the Brand Personality by asking customers the perceived traits of each of the leading brands of health drinks available in the market today. It is very important to realize that these are not the attributes that the drink claims to possess, via its advertisements and other promotional activities. For e.g. Boost in its campaign claims that â€Å"Boost is the secret of my energy†, but rather the attributes the customer feels that the drink possesses. Therefore, if respondents identify spiritedness with Boost it would imply that Boost is successful in its marketing strategy. The responses to this question would also be important to other players in this segment, as they would realize that their promotions are not being effective and hence this would encourage them to redirect their marketing efforts. Apart from spiritedness, the other important traits have been identified as Modesty, Honesty, Cheerfulness, Boldness, Spiritedness, Reliabil ity, Sophistication, Toughness, and Ruggedness. 5.2 Methodology Questionnaire Checking/Editing: The questionnaire is checked for completion and interviewing quality. Editing is the review of the questionnaire with the objective of increasing accuracy and precision. Collation of Data: The data is collated in the excel sheet and prepared for statistical analysis. An SPSS view of the data was also taken for further analysis. Choice of Statistical Analysis Techniques: T-statistic: A t-test was conducted on the results of the survey in order to compare the means of the ranks for the factors or sources of information to find out the most important influencing the purchasing decision. T-test was also conducted on the various product attributes for different brands. Anova: It is carried to study the variance of the factors or product attributes that influence the most among the various demographic groups by conducting the one way Anova test on the scores of these 8 factors. Factor Analysis: The various variables that denote the product attributes that determine the purchasing decision can be actually factored using factor analysis. This factoring of the variables helps in easily studying the consumer behaviour. Cluster Analysis: The set of respondents was segmented on the basis of the demographic information namely ‘age-group, ‘income-group, ‘education, ‘family size etc using cluster analysis so as to identify the distinct clusters depending upon these demographic factors. Multi Dimensional Scaling: This analysis was performed on the overall samples as well as on the 2 segments individually so as to gauge the difference in their perceptions. The selection process depends on the fact that it is conducted on the aggregate level data, i.e. that on the two clusters formed after cluster analysis. This is due to the fact that all market strategies are typically formulated at the segment or aggregate level. 5.3 Analysis and Interpretation Sources of Information influencing the Purchase Decision h) Advertisement i) Children j) Doctor k) Family l) Past experience m) Retailer n) Word of mouth The respondents were asked to rank the factors in order of importance. A t-test was conducted on the results of the survey in order to compare the means of the ranks for the factors. The results of the test are as shown in the Exhibit 1. We can say from the results that there is a significant difference between the ranks of the factors with a 95% confidence. The two most important factors that emerge out of the tests overall are the â€Å"Family doctor† and the influence of the â€Å"Family†. This finding is an important implication for product placement. We can say that the health food drinks should appeal to the complete family rather than only a particular age group. Doctors can also be an important influencer or opinion leader and hence should be targeted in the product promotions. Some products have been promoting their products using comparative advertisements including testifications by the doctors. A second test can be conducted in the same manner taking only the cases where the people are having kids in the family. The results are shown in the Exhibit 2. We observe that the two most important factors differ from the first scenario. The two most important factors that emerge out of the test are â€Å"Family Doctor† and â€Å"Advertisement†. Thus it can be concluded that advertisements have an important influence on the families having kids or in turn the kids. This can be easily observed from the large number of advertisements directed towards the well being of kids. Product Attributes Influencing the Purchase Decision The following product attributes were identified as influencing the purchase decisions of the customers: a) Nourishment b) Colour c) Palatability d) Economy e) Shelf-presence f) Packaging g) Brand Image h) Promotions The respondents were asked to score the importance of the factors on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the most important. A t-test was conducted on the scores of the factors in order to find the most important factors. The t-test shows there is a significant difference between the scores of the various factors with a 95% confidence. The results of the test are shown in Exhibit 3. We observe from the results that the two most important product attributes in making a purchase decision are the â€Å"Palatability† and the â€Å"Nourishment† perception in the minds of the customers. These factors turn out to be the same irrespective of whether there are children in the family or not. We then study the variance of these factors among various demographic groups by conducting the one way Anova test on the scores of these 8 factors. We studied the variance of the mean scores of these attributes among the various groups differentiated by the following factors:- a) Income b) Education c) Age d) Family size The results of the Anova tests which were conducted on the data are as shown in the Exhibits 4-7. We observe that there are no significant differences in the scores of the product attributes in different groups as classified by â€Å"Income†, â€Å"Education† and â€Å"Family size† within a 95% confidence interval. However there is a significant different on the â€Å"Nourishment† and â€Å"Economy† product attributes of health food drinks. As is observed from the mean scores, the â€Å"Nourishment† aspect becomes particularly important for people above the age of 60. It is also important for people who are young in age i.e. less than 20. However it does not seem to be very significant for people in the age group 33- 45. The factor analysis of these attributes is done in the following section. Factor Analysis of Purchase Considerations The factor analysis of the 8 product attributes yields the following 3 factors: Factor I: Promotion, Shelf-Presence, Packaging Economy Factor II: Palatability, Brand Factor III: Nourishment, Colour (For the output of factor analysis, refer to exhibit 8.) As factor I encompass the accessibility and affordability of the product, it can be termed as ‘Purchase Feasibility. As factor II encompass the palatability and brand value of the product, it can be termed as ‘Likeability. As factor III encompass the nutritional value and colour, an indicator of quality, of the product, it can be termed as ‘Utility. Customer Segmentation The set of respondents was segmented on the basis of the demographic information namely ‘age-group, ‘income-group, ‘education, ‘family size etc. The cluster analysis on these demographic variables yields the following 2 clusters: * Cluster 1: The members are almost uniformly distributed across all age segments except under-20 in which no member lies. However, the family size is large than 3 for all the members and a majority of members having 1-2 child in the family. The cluster size is 27 respondents. * Cluster 2: All the members in this cluster are less than the age of 32 yrs, with the majority being less than 20 yrs. Around 90% of the members were either single or couple thus suggesting that the members were either students, or bachelor/newly-married young working professionals. The cluster size is 30 respondents. * As the consumption in cluster 2 would be lower than the large families comprising kids older persons because of less health concerns and preference for alternative beverages, the price sensitivity of cluster 2 would be low while cluster 1 is concerned about economy. (For output of cluster analysis, refer to Exhibit 9). Thus, cluster 1 could be termed as ‘value-seekers while cluster 2 could be termed as ‘quality-seekers. Different Brands on Product Attributes Five major selling brands were tested on the various product attributes mentioned. The brands included in the test were: f) Boost g) Bournvita h) Complan i) Horlicks j) Milo The respondents were asked to score each of the brands on the various product attributes on a scale of 1 5. T-test was conducted on the various product attributes for different brands. The results have been shown in Exhibit 11. The number of respondents who were consuming the various brands is as shown in the pie chart. As we can observe from the graph, Bournvita is found to be the leading brand closely followed by Horlicks, while the other brands do not have a large taking from our survey. The results of the various brands on different attributes are as follows: a) Nourishment: Horlicks scores well above all the b