Undercover Boss

Undercover Boss: Yankee Candle The episode of Undercover Boss over Yankee Candle touched on a few very important aspect of being a productive leader. The episode followed Yankee Candles CEO and President Harlan Kent as he posed as â€Å"Dan Johnson† while he spent the day being trained at different Yankee Candle jobs. Harlan Kent showed many qualities that an exceptional leader should posses. In a leadership analysis I will touch on the leadership qualities showed in this episode, as well as cover some mistakes that leaders commonly make and how they can be overcome.The most defining quality that Harlan showed through the episode is his extraordinary passion for all aspects of the Yankee Candle Business. Passion is extremely important for a leader to express because it not only is what drives the leader but also shows his followers an example of the commitment that they should have for their jobs. The second quality that was shown has to do with the way in which Harlan treated his employees. He showed the ability to put job titles aside and treat everyone equal. He listened to what his employees has to say and showed support to them as people.This is important as a leader because it shows followers that they are not only important to the organization but are recognized as the people they are and not only by their job description. One last quality that I saw Harlan showed in this episode was his ability to be film with his employees and make them understand what is expected of them. He did this with his final encounter with the employee Blaze. The important part of this encounter was that he was able to be firm with Blaze but then offer a resolution and support.This leadership quality instills respect in the employee for the leader and can increase the level of trust between the two. Leadership is not easy and there are many mistakes that will. One of these mistakes is for a leader to under inform an employee. This can be can caused for a number of reason s but it was shown in this episode a few times while Harlan was going through the orientation process. Employees would give Harlan a task to do with a small amount of instruction and then move on to their own job. Harlan would then struggle and employee would be disappointed in his work.I feel like this was a mistake by the employees because they should have recognized the lack of skill or direction that Harlan had and then worked with him until he was fully able to accomplish the task. Other mistakes that are commonly made by leaders have to do with the idea that they are above their followers. If leader asks their followers to arrive on time to a meeting and they themselves are late than their followers may believe being late or absent is acceptable. If a leader makes an excuse for something than a follow feels they can now make an excuses.There are many examples of this type of behavior that a leader can make. Leaders who make mistakes like these need to come to the understanding that leading doesn’t mean you are in charge. It means you are the leader and you should set the example. The best way a leader can recover from mistakes like these are to be clear and thero in all aspects of leadership. Secondly, If they make a mistake, recognize the mistake and then learn from it because everyone can recognize their mistakes but it takes a good leader to be able to learn from their mistakes.This analysis covered the leadership qualities shown by Yankee Candles CEO Harlan Kent is the episode of Undercover Boss as well as some of the mistakes leaders commonly make and how they can overcome these mistakes. The most important part to take from this analysis is that a great leader possess a passion for their job and needs to be able to listen and respect their followers. If a leader makes a mistake they need first recognize they made a mistake and than learn from the mistake to better themselves and the team.

Is Experience the Best Teacher? Essay

My whole life I’ve been told practice makes perfect. Whether it’s in the tennis court or in math class, the more you practice something, the better you become at it. In the last few years I’ve found out that practicing and doing is not the same thing. Harry Callahan once said, _†experience is the best teacher†_ and without a doubt it is. You can sit five hours taking a business class or 10 hours in a tennis practice but until you go out to the real world and start doing business with other people or play a real tennis tournament you wont _really_ LEARN. When experiencing things we all make mistakes and making mistakes, in the broad scheme of things, is good as long as we learn from them. Through the different experiences I’ve had through tennis, my musical adventures and my business deals, I’ve learned from my errors, picked myself up from the ground, and ultimately grown as a human being. On August 10, 2000 I stepped on to the tennis court for my first tennis lessons. I had previously tried to play the sport but this day I was determined to start a journey in which I could master it. After my first real tennis year, I improved at an incredible pace, and went a summer to the world-renowned Nick Bolletierri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida. At merely 11 years old, I found myself without my family and in an unknown place, but that didn’t stop me from doing what I most loved, playing tennis. After that summer I fell in love with that sport and went the next two summers to Saddlebrook Tennis Academy in Tampa Bay Florida, where I polished my skills and started to play a few serious tournaments. The first tournaments that I played made me realize that no matter how much I had practiced in the tennis court, this was not practice, and at the beginning, my lack of tournament experience, hindered my ability to perform at my utmost level. In the few tournaments that I played in Florida and the dozens of tournaments I have played here, I have learned that practicing something  and doing it were two different things. The more I made mistakes and the more I was about to win a game, but then lost, were part of an experience which through time made me a better player. Everyone likes music, and everyone enjoys it, but there are some of us that absorb music and make it part of our everyday life. I have always been a huge music fan and in 2003 I decided to buy a guitar. Unlike my friends who â€Å"heard† music, I listened to it and analyzed it, taking it seriously and making it part of my life. After playing guitar for several months alone in my room I formed a band with a few friends of mine, who at the time, shared the same musical taste as me. We had a lot of trouble at the beginning adjusting, because despite the fact that we each knew had to play our instrument, playing all together was clearly not the same. After a few months of cleaning up the sound of our band, we decided to go ahead and play in front of a crowd so we signed up for the Annual School Talent Show. We were so proud and confident of ourselves that we announced it to all of our friends and made a big deal about. On May 22, 2004, a day before my fourteenth birthday, we stepped onto the stage, in front of our whole school, and started to play â€Å"Seven Nations Army† by the White Stripes, the only song we practiced for the past two months. Amid the performance we were all looking at each other realizing that everything was sounding filthy and disorganized. As we were playing we saw the faces of our friends in the crowd, who tried disguising the fact that we had played terribly. After that talent show, and several other terrible self-humiliating performances, we decided that we had enough embarrassment and we had to improve as a band. After several months of intense practicing, and the previous shameful experiences we had gone through, we started to become better and better. A year and a half after the dreadful talent show performance we found ourselves playing in front of hundreds of people, and getting paid to do what we loved the most. Months later I stepped onto another musical journey but this time in the Motion Picture field. I started to make a movie with a couple of friends that ended up receiving massive national attention. The movie started out as a project just for us to enjoy but as the Musical Director and Executive Producer, I knew we had something good in our hands and decided to make the most out of it. Eight months later it was viewed  across all the movie theaters in the capital and all the Movie Rentals in the country. The day after it was released in the movie theaters, we did over 4 newspaper interviews, over 5 live television interviews and we were reading on all major newspapers the headline â€Å"Dominican Boys Make National Movie.† After the success of the movie and my very acclaimed role as Musical Director, we received a contract from one of the biggest businessman in the Dominican Republic, to direct and produce his next upcoming movie. As of know we have just started to film that movie, but if it weren’t for all the times I humiliated myself on stage, or all the times I had to continue playing in front of people who were tired of listening and just wished for us to st op, If it weren’t for all those experiences, I wouldn’t be where I am know. Being the independent person that I am, I do not like to ask for a lot of favors or gifts. Since I was a child, my father has taught me many vital lessons and one of them is that nothing is free and money is hard to get but easy to spend. After not being able to have many of the toys that I craved as a child, I was left with this notion in my head that I had to produce money since I was young in order to have what I want and not having to ask for it. At 15 I took action and talked to one of my best friends and current business partner about the possibilities of making t-shirts and selling it among my friends. After a few months we hired a man, who has made t-shirts for a living for over a decade, and paid him to make about one-hundred t-shirts and sold them all in a period of a month. We made a good profit and decided to take our business further. After months asking for a valuable meeting in Plaza Lama, the biggest department store in the Dominican Republic, I finally received it an d after almost two hours of heavy persuasion my partner and I finally landed a contract of over 1200 t-shirts to sell in their main store. We immediately went to talk to our t-shirt manufacturer and after being to negotiate with him the prices, in order to receive a reasonable amount of profit, we got to an agreement. He was not as responsible as he seemed and took more time than promised, but we were fine since the t-shirts sold perfectly in Plaza Lama and we were just in time to receive a new contract. As we were sitting in Plaza Lama in a meeting with the manager of the clothing department, we received news that our  manufacturer was manufacturing more of our t-shirts and selling them to another department store without permission making himself a fortune and not giving us our equal pay. After a profound exchange of words with our manufacturer, we decided to part ways and take control of our own future by manufacturing our own shirts, due to the fact that we had received a new contract for over 3,200 t-shirts to sell at all their national stores. Being inspired by an â€Å"outsourcing† lesson in my economics class I talked to my partner about the possibilities of producing the shirts outside of the capital, where labor and production was cheaper, in order to increase profits. We did just that and in 6 weeks we produced all the t-shirts at half the price than before. We had to work harder since we were the ones organizing and transporting them. After a lot of hard work and effort, those t-shirts were all sold, we were paid and we realized that our companies’ profit had increased over 600% from the past set of t-shirts. Now we find ourselves selling over 3000 t-shirts a month, earning a solid amount of money, and starting to build a webpage to offer our t-shirts to anyone interested in the Caribbean. Learning from our mistakes in the past, and learning not to put too much trust on anyone, made us grow as business man and most importantly learn that money, unlike many people of my age do not know, is very hard to e arn and very easy to spend. The experiences I have been through in life, have taught me lessons more valuable than any other teacher has been able to teach me in a classroom. When you go out and experience things and make mistakes, you learn from your errors, overcome those depressing moments and ultimately become a better human being.

Example of an Ethnolect Based Essay

The speech of an individual is a linguistic map of their identity and an indication of how they would like to be perceived. Migrants who come to Australia already possess the linguistic structures of their mother tongue, and these will affect the way they speak English, forming an ethnolect. Consequently, a person’s language is a clear indicator of their past ethnic origins, and the English they choose to speak will also indicate how they would like others to perceive them. This latter is true for everyone, as we all vary our language according to context. Bill is a young Chinese student who has come to Australia two years ago from China to further his education. His lexical field is wide and varied, he is able to use complex syntactic structures and his accent and prosodic features show a good familiarity with standard Australian English. However, it is still possible to find linguistic features which demonstrates that he is from a Chinese background, that he is male, that he has travelled, can appreciate humour, and that he would like to be perceived as an educated person with further academic goals. The phonological features of a person’s speech are the most obvious signposts to his or her origins or mother tongue. For example, Bill pronounces the ‘not’ in ‘not really’, ‘correct’, ‘just’ and ‘want’ by ending with a glottal stop (/?/), rather than the voiceless consonant (/t/). This occurs as final consonants are much less frequent in Mandarin than in English and thus they are normally dropped or replaced by a glottal stop. This could give linguists a clue on his origins or mother tongue. Bill also values the Australian accent, but there are also traces of American English in his speech, notably his pronunciation of ‘currently’, with the sound ‘ker’ (American) rather than ‘kar’ (Australian). This shows the subtle ways that every experience can affect a person’s identity as Bill has stayed in America for a short period of time, making his English slightly different from another Chinese student that has not had that experience. Local idioms and foreign borrowed words are also used in a non standard way by Bill. An example would be the way he pronounces ‘gourmet’, by analogy; he assumes that all letters are pronounced in English. However, since this word is of French origin, its final‘t’ should not be pronounced. Through the way a subject speaks, we could pinpoint his ethnic group. Although Bill has a wide and varied lexical field, he does not use many idiomatic Australian expressions. This could mean that he is either still a newcomer and has not become familiar with colloquial language, or he may not value these expressions (such as Aussie, veggie, mate†¦etc) as he might view them as low status words. This could show that he wants to be perceived as an educated, cultured person, instead of a rough Aussie. Even though English is not the subject’s mother tongue, he still has a fairy large lexicon, using lexemes such as â€Å"lucrative†, â€Å"environment† and â€Å"gourmet†, this could show that he has been exposed to English even before he migrated to Australia. Bill also uses the word â€Å"reckon† and â€Å"heaps† which shows that he has tried to fit into his peer group and that he has a good grasp of the type of language used by the people around him. A subject’s syntactic structures are another indication of his ethnic origins. The use of modal verbs is sometimes difficult for Chinese learners as there aren’t any tenses in Mandarin, and this is evident in Bill’s speech. For example, in his sentence ‘Basically, I can choose from a lot of country’/ The lack of plural is evident here ( country/countries), but also the verb ‘can’ is used in a non-standard way, it is used in its base form rather than the more accepted past tense, as in ‘I could choose from a lot of countries’. Leaving verbs in their base form is a feature of many Mandarin speakers, as in Mandarin, tenses are indicated by other means†¦. Another syntactic feature is the plural, which is sometimes not formed as shown before. For example, ‘my family member’, ‘at those stage’, ‘a lot of country’ and ‘different background’. Such non-standard usage also pinpoints Bill’s identity as a Chinese speaker as there are no plurals for nouns in Mandarin. Bill’s word order too is sometimes non standard, especially when expressing more complex ideas. For example, ‘aging population faces in Japan’ rather than ‘Japan too faces an aging population’. All these syntactic features contribute to his identity as a young Chinese student still in the process of mastering the English language. A subject’s attitude can also show what kind of speaker he or she would like to be perceived. For example, Bill states that he prefers the Australian accent over the Singaporean accent. This would show that he puts a high value on the Australian English and would like to be perceived as a English speaker From this, it can be seen that many features contribute to a person’s ethnolect, and from it we can deduce the subject’s identity and the way he or she wants to be perceived. Furthermore, migrants who come to Australia know that they must learn English, as ‘Nothing unites a country more than its common language. ‘(John Howard). However, each migrant, such as Bill, brings his own variation of English which is linked to his first mother tongue (in this case Mandarin). In this way, each person contributes to the rich tapestry of sounds, words and syntactic structures which make up Australia's history, culture and identity. ‘

Comparison of Boston and Oxford Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Comparison of Boston and Oxford - Essay Example The city of Boston, on the other hand, has what could be described as a continental climate, such as is quite common in New England. Summers are typically hot and humid, while winters are cold, windy and snowy. Prevailing wind patterns that blow offshore affect Boston, minimizing the influence of the Atlantic Ocean. Boston is surrounded by the "Greater Boston" region, and bordered by the cities and towns of Winthrop, Revere, Chelsea, Everett, Somerville, Cambridge, Watertown, Newton, Brookline, Needham, Dedham, Canton, Milton, and Quincy. The River Charles forms the boundary between Boston city, Watertown, Cambridge and neighboring Charlestown. The Boston Harbor lies eastward of the city, with the city's Harbor Islands National Recreational Area. Another river, the Neponset River separates Boston's southern neighborhoods from the town of Milton and Quincy city. Also, "The Mystic River separates Charlestown from Chelsea and Everett, while Chelsea Creek and Boston Harbor separate East Boston from Boston proper."   There are quite a number of colleges and universities in both cities, and it would probably be a difficult and close choice when deciding which of these cities one  should go to school in.  The environment of both cities is conducive for learning, and they are both home to two of the best universities in the world, Boston University and Oxford University.

Conceptual Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Conceptual Art - Essay Example Conceptual art is perhaps one of the artistic movements surrounded by many debates and controversies since it seems to provoke powerful emotions and reactions in audiences. That is, although a good number of audiences agree that conceptual art is not only refreshing but also relevant to modern times, others find it rather repugnant and shocking kind of art. In fact, others feel that conceptual art is not art at all. Thus, conceptual art could be described as something loved and hated in equal measure. That conceptual art is controversial and divisive is not accidental as it seeks to challenge and probe audiences to take a keen and analytical look at art in general and prompts them to question hitherto unchallenged assumptions about what qualifies as art and the roles of art and artists. Therefore, there are a number of hurdles that philosophers of conceptual art have to encounter and contend with in their work. First, conceptual art philosopher need to isolate the art/object under ex amination or categorization. This activity becomes quite challenging given that the definition and boundary of conceptual and other types of art is not quite clear. Generally, conceptual art refers to the artistic movement that appeared in the period between 1966 and 1972, practiced and spread by artists such as Joseph Kosuth, Robert Morris, Joseph Beuys and Mel Ramsden. A critical feature of this period’s art is its absorption and application of the lessons learnt from earlier 20th century art movements such as the Fluxus group., Abstract Expressionism, Dadaism, Surrealism, and Suprematism. The other unique feature of conceptual art is that it attempts to overcome the notion that art is only about aesthetic value, emphasizing that art only valued for its beauty but not to make people think is redundant (Corris 78). Unlike conceptual art, instead of promoting reflection and conception, earlier artistic movements only used art to promote consumerism on the basis of the beauty of art and the skills of the artists. Conceptual artists thus denounce these specific and restricted views of art, Instead, they promote a revisionary understanding of works of art, artists, and artistic experiences. From a philosophical viewpoint, it would be rather narrow to restrict the definition of conceptual art to the 1960s and the 1970s. Thus, any inquiry into conceptual art should not only cover artworks created in this mentioned period since the spirit and intentions with which conceptual art was produced in the 1960s and 1970s continues even in current times

Sourcing Process Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sourcing Process Summary - Essay Example In this paper, we evaluate the steps involved in sourcing processes. Furthermore, identify the opportunities and challenges for insourcing versus outsourcing of parts/components domestically and overseas. In conclusion discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of global versus domestic sourcing done. The flowchart having sourcing process steps provided in the appendix 7. Invoice to Payment: Attain of invoices physically or via electronic communications. Process invoices and credit slips, comprising matching invoices with buy orders and securing authentications. In addition, pay suppliers invoices and handle statement of account (Ericsson.com, n.d). Manage category: Analyze the grouping and supplier market condition. Categorize the supplier in accordance with the supplier’s compliance with standard criteria, explicit criteria, and performance (Ericsson.com, n.d). In sourcing, repatriation is challenging same as the timing and coordination that maintain persistence of service, especially with a resource supplier that is losing its industry. A frequent reason insourcing continuity fails is due to under-approximation of the operational variances. Insourcing challenge is that some industries have shifted several operational responsibilities to organizations outside (outsourcing) a country’s boundaries. Outsourcing overseas denies the mother country opportunities to maximize on profit generation and jobs. Insourcing happens when foreign-headquartered corporations institute operations within the country by creating several subsidiaries that provide jobs opportunities (Sarlak, 2010). The nation has the opportunity to stabilize economically due to insourcing. Insourcing domestically creates more opportunity for a country economic growth. Outsourcing challenges such as â€Å"Shirking† happens when a seller intentionally underperforms while demanding full payment.

The Fight for Protecting Women Rights in 1700-1877 Research Paper - 1

The Fight for Protecting Women Rights in 1700-1877 - Research Paper Example Feminism, in the modern socio-political and philosophical domain, has been provided with special attention from every discipline of sociological studies. However, there is no denying that in order to evaluate the position of feminism as a poignant socio-political and philosophical discipline it is also important to acknowledge the history of women activism as well as the gradual process of development of the movement that was gradually germinating since late 16th century. Compared to the recent situation of women in civilized world they were tremendously challenged and consequently oppressed in the context of â€Å"expressing themselves in a patriarchal system that generally refused to grant merit to women's views.†1 One of the greatest feminist thinkers of all time, Simone de Beauvoir, in her essay â€Å"The Second Sex,† while attempted to evaluate the position of women in the traditional patriarchal system said that a woman in terms of patriarchal judgment is nothing but a womb, a mere organism for child production2. She also has specified that every time women have proved their existence as equal to their male counterparts in terms of merit and capacity of accomplishment the same system has declared that â€Å"they are not women, although they are equipped with a uterus like the rest.†3 It is clear from these observations that women in hands of the traditional social patriarchy are considered as mere instruments of sensuality, objects of attaining physical pleasure, an organic manifestation of sensuality and above all they are regarded as organisms without individual identity and human entity. The patriarchy has always denied acknowledging the humane attributes of a woman. The male-dominated social system always faced difficulty to share its monopolistic position with female counterparts and by denying humane attributes or entity of women they actually aimed at oppressing women for its selfish  benefits.

New American Vision Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

New American Vision - Essay Example For many modern day individuals, those of whom will have grown accustomed to the present state of the market and the working world, it can become quite easy to forget the earlier days of how things such as cars and utilitarian items, would have been produced. A classic example of the evolution of production, would have been the assembly line perfected by automaker Henry Ford. Due to his creative thinking, American consumers were able to possess the opportunity to have an automobile at the fraction of the time it would have taken prior. In this case, "The Industrial Revolution was a transformation of human life circumstances that occurred in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries (roughly 1760 to 1840) in Britain, the United States, and Western Europe due in large measure to advances in the technologies of industry," ("Industrial Revolution", p.1). It would be this revolution, that would lead to changes in production measures that would result in a shift in the modern work force. Where previously the workforce had been predominately individuals themselves, it would now become a scenario in which machines would be able to alleviate a level of the strain, so that it would be a mixture of man and machine. American families would be impacted by such changes in the workforce. Mainly in such areas as, the ability for the heads of the household to be at home more, rather than spending the vast majority of their time at work. This would give way to the stronger sense of the modern American family. The family that would be able to eat meals together and also interact with each other on levels previously not had, had it not been for the adjustments made to the workplace in conjunction with the boom of the technological advancement age. From a business standpoint, it would enable business owners to lower wage costs by having fewer employees on the floor at the same time. Such cost savings would in turn, be able to be transferred to the customers of their products, in the form of decreases in the cost of products purchased. Further assessing the automotive aspect of the revolution, "For American automobile workers, one relatively constant feature of their daily factory lives was this simplified, monotonous, and degraded work. Although work tasks, work situations, and work routines varied considerably from automobile firm to automobile firm and from one shop or department to another, the work tasks of assembly line workers were the simplest, most boring, and most degrading," (Meyer, p.1). For those individuals that sought to achieve the basic needs of life as they saw them, the advancements in the production line, courtesy of the increases in industrialization, would seem as a saving graces of sorts. The opportunity to have work environments that were simple. Many who were a part of the workforce, worked in factories that resided in their respective towns. " As in Britain, the United States originally used water power to run its factories, with the consequence that industrialization was essentially limited to New England and the rest of the Northeastern United States, where fast-moving rivers were located," ("Industrial Revolution", p.19). With such limited presence in the modern world, the ability of transferring created goods to a broader grouping of people, would prove to be quite difficult. The vision of a modern America, would be hindered in that, at this point, only a

Abraham Lincoln Memorial Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Abraham Lincoln Memorial - Essay Example The area between the Capitol building and the Potomac river was chosen as the site for the construction as many of Sir Lincoln’s aides wanted the memorial to be built in a serene and distinguished location (Abraham Lincoln Memorial). The memorial, built with inspiration drawn from Greek temples, is 190 feet long, 119 feet wide with a height of almost 100 feet. The memorial is surrounded by 38 fluted Doric columns out of which 36 columns represented the 36 Union states that were present at the time of Lincoln’s death and two in-antis columns were present at the entrance (Lincoln Memorial). The stones used in the building were brought from various states with white Colorado marble used for the exterior, limestone from Indiana being used for the interior walls, pink marble from Tennessee used for the flooring, and marbles from Alabama used for the ceiling (Abraham Lincoln Memorial). The central hall located between the north and south chambers of the memorial houses the st atue of Lincoln in a seated position and was sculpted under the supervision of Daniel Chester French who was a leading American sculptor. (Abraham Lincoln Memorial; Lincoln Memorial) The height of the statue is 19 feet, though the original plan was for only 10 feet, and it weighs 175 tons (Lincoln Memorial).

To what extent did the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 signify a change Essay

To what extent did the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 signify a change in the way that force is used in international relations - Essay Example An urge to conduct an investigation in Iraq emerged when the Iraq government attacked US in the year in 2001. The US government felt vulnerable, especially after this attack that is believed to have been an operation of Al-Qaeda, one of the rogue groups in Iraq. The US government felt vulnerable and feared that the Iraq government would use the weapons of mass destruction against the US government. Another fear was that with these weapons available in Iraq, the Al-Qaeda group would access them and conduct a more severe attack than one of 2001. Thus, the US felt the need to launch an effective operation to inspect and disarm the Iraq government of any weapons of mass destruction that they could be holding. Although many felt that the rumour on the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was a mere speculation, the UN team engaged a powerful gear to unravel the truth of the matter. In 2002, the plan of inspection was underway and there was light that the Iraq government would comply with the inspection plan. On the other hand, the US government felt that this process was slow and that there was a need to hasten the process to avoid the looming threat that the weapons would be used against the US. In essence, they felt that the UN and the international bodies were slow in neutralizing a threat that would have dire consequences on US. However, the international body insisted that it was important to give Iraq sometime to comply with the demands of the inspection as there was still hope that the process would succeed. Even a number of the US allies accepted that this was not a time of war as there was no any evidence that there was any destructive weapon. Despite the efforts of many countries and international bodies to stop US from engaging Iraq in a war, the US government declared a war in the country and organized their troops

Pepsi-Cola Public Relations Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Pepsi-Cola Public Relations - Case Study Example PR for these largely undifferentiated brands accounts for their market share dominance. PR often has an important role in sustaining brand equity. Long-lived campaigns that presented PepsiCo as the soft drink for the young and those who aspired to be young have helped sustain these brands' position and market share. Moreover, consistently advertising a brand's position serves as a barrier to competitive entry. Relates to what consumers believe about a brand and the category in which it holds membership (Chitty et al 2005). The other type of insight pertains to how consumers use advertising information to make brand decisions. This insight is the basis for planning the advertising function: identifying a target and developing a brand position. In turn, targeting and positioning guide the design of creative and media strategies (Brassington and Pettitt 2003). Three different publics involved in the case are the government, the consumers and competitors. FDA examined all reported cases but "could see any rational reason for the allergen incidents being reported" (There is a Syringer in my Pepsi Can p. 326). The most problem was general public and potential consumers. Negative publicity influenced its brand image and sales volumes. PR may be able to change these beliefs, but it is generally a slow process. PR An of brand linkage is even more likely when a brand does not have a strong point of differentiation from its competition. In this situation, the point of difference becomes an understanding of target consumers and their goals rather than some brand benefit. When several competitors use this same approach the linkage between brand and message is weakened. One motivation factor is the discrepancy between the position advocated in a message and people's current beliefs. Precision is needed in using this motivational device (Chitty et al 2005).If a communication argues for a position that people currently hold, persuasion will be minimal. At most, this approach will reinforce individuals' current beliefs. If a communication is highly discrepant, it is likely to evoke counterarguments and thus have limited influence. The implication is that messages of moderate discrepancy are maximally persuasive. From everyday experience, it might be expected that threat would be an effective means of motivating message elaboration (Brassington and Pettitt 2003). One of the tools used by PepsiCo is "All of evidence" campaign. Thus, it "was lost on the news media" (There is a Syringer in my Pepsi Can p. 326). The main problem is that consumers make purchase decisions based on what they know about a brand, rather than on what they remember from an ad. Whereas explicit ad recall reflects what people can remember about information stated in an ad, advertisers are interested in what people know about their brand. Implicit measures of memory are useful in this regard. Implicit measures solicit what people know without making reference to the origins of their knowledge. For example, brand recall is an implicit measure because people are asked to tell what they know about a brand. The impact of exposure on brand recall is a more appropriate measure of the learning prompted by PR than is ad recall because brand recall is a reflection of what people know rather than what they can remember (Chitty et al 20

Equivalence in Translation Essay Example for Free

Equivalence in Translation Essay Professionally, however, the term translation is | |confined to the written, and the term interpretation to the spoken (Newmark, 1991: 35). If confined to a written language, translation is a | |cover term with three distinguishable meanings: 1) translating, the process (to translate; the activity rather than the tangible object), 2)| |a translation: the product of the process of translating (e. g. the translated text), and 3) translation: the abstract concept which | |encompasses both the process of translating and the product of that process Bell (1991: 13). The term translation used and discussed | |throughout this paper is confined to the written language, and refers to both the product and process of translating. | | | |The definitions of translation suggested above imply that producing the same meaning or message in the target language text as intended by | |the original author is the main objective of a translator. This notion of sameness is often understood as an equivalence relation between | |the source and target texts. This equivalence relation is generally considered the most salient feature of a quality translation. | | | |2. Problems of Equivalence | | | |The principle that a translation should have an equivalence relation with the source language text is problematic. There are three main | |reasons why an exact equivalence or effect is difficult to achieve. Firstly, it is impossible for a text to have constant interpretations | |even for the same person on two occasions (Hervey, Higgins and Haywood (1995: 14). According to these translation scholars: | | | |before one could objectively assess textual effects, one would need to have recourse to a fairly detailed and exact theory of psychological | |effect, a theory capable, among other things, of giving an account of the aesthetic sensations that are often paramount in response to a | |text (Hervey, Higgins and Haywood (1995: 14). | | | |Secondly, translation is a matter of subjective interpretation of translators of the source language text. Thus, producing an objective | |effect on the target text readers, which is the same as that on the source text readers is an unrealistic expectation. Thirdly, it may not | |be possible for translators to determine how audiences responded to the source text when it was first produced (ibid, p. 14). Miao (2000) | |gives a specific example of the impossibility of the equivalence relation: | | | |If an original was written centuries ago and the language of the original is difficult to comprehend for modern readers, then a simplified | |translation may well have greater impact on its readers that the original had on the readers in the source culture. No translator would | |hinder the readers comprehension by using absolute expressions in order to achieve equivalent effect (Miao, 2000: 202) | | | |Because the target text can never be equivalent to the source text at all levels, researchers have distinguished different types of | |equivalence (Lauscher, 2000: 151). Nida (1964) suggests formal and dynamic or functional equivalence. Formal equivalence focuses attention | |on the message itself, in both form and content. It requires that the message in the target language should match as closely as possible the| |different elements in the source language (p.159). Dynamic equivalence is based on the principle of equivalent effect, where the | |relationship between the receptor and message should be substantially the same as that which existed between the original receptors and the | |message (p. 159). Newmark (1981) makes a distinction between communicative and semantic translation. Like Nidas dynamic equivalence, | |communicative translation also tries to create the effect on the target text reader which is the same as that received by readers of the | |source language text. Koller (1997) proposes denotative, connotative, pragmatic, textual, formal and aesthetic equivalence. Munday (2001) | |describes these five different types of equivalence as follows: | |1. Denotative equivalence is related to equivalence of the extralinguistic content of a text. | |2. Connotative equivalence is related to the lexical choices, especially between near-synonyms. | |3. Text-normative equivalence is related to text types, with texts behaving in different ways. | |4. Pragmatic equivalence, or communicative equivalence, is oriented towards the receiver of the text or message. | |5. Formal equivalence is related to the form and aesthetics of the text, includes word plays and the individual stylistic features of the | |source text (p. 47). | | | |Baker (1992) classifies various problems of equivalence in translation and suggests some strategies to deal with them. Adopting a bottom-up | |approach, she begins with simple words and phrases and continues with grammatical, textual and pragmatic equivalences. | | | |3. Strategies to solve problems of equivalence | | | |As has been mentioned above, problems of equivalence occur at various levels, ranging from word to textual level. The equivalence problems | |emerge due to semantic, socio-cultural, and grammatical differences between the source language and the target language. These three areas | |of equivalence problems are intertwined with one another. The meaning(s) that a word refers to are culturally bound, and in most cases the | |meaning(s) of a word can only be understood through its context of use. | | | |Due to semantic, socio-cultural, grammatical differences between the source language and the target language, loss and addition of | |information in translation cannot be avoided. Basnett-McGuire (1991) states that once the principle is accepted that sameness cannot exist | |between the two languages, it is possible to approach the question of loss and gain in the translation process (p. 30). Bell (1991: 6) | |suggests a similar point that something is always lost or, one might suggest, gained in the process, and according to Nida (1975), all | |types of translation involve 1) loss of information, 2) addition of information, and /or 3) skewing of information (p. 27). To conform to | |the stylistic demands and grammatical conventions of the target language, structural adjustment in translation is inevitably needed. These | |possibilities are expanded below. | | | |3. 1 Addition of information | | | |Information which is not present in the source language text may be added to the target language text. According to Newmark (1988: 91), | |information added to the translation is normally cultural (accounting for the differences between SL and TL culture), technical (relating to| |the topic), or linguistic (explaining wayward use of words). The additional information may be put in the text (i. e. by putting it in | |brackets) or out of the text (i.e. by using a footnote or annotation). Such additional information is regarded as an extra explanation of | |culture-specific concepts (Baker, 1992) and is obligatory specification for comprehension purposes. Native speakers of Batak Tapanuli | |language (the native language of Batak community in North Sumatra), for example, have the word marhusip which literally means to whisper. | |If the word marhusip is used in the context of discussing marriage within the community in question, its meaning is more than to whisper. | |It refers specifically to a situation where family members of the bride meet family members of the groom to talk about the dowry. In the | |meeting, family members of the bride whisper with one another while deciding the amount of dowry they ask from the groom. Family members of | |the groom also do they same thing while deciding whether to accept or reject it. In this context, the word marhusip may be translated into | |to whisper, but additional information to clarify the meaning of marhusip is needed to help target readers understand its underlying | |concept. | | | |Addition of information for specification purposes is also required if ambiguity occurs in the receptor language formation and if the fact | |that greater specificity may be required so as to avoid misleading reference (Nida, 1964: 227). It would be misleading, for example, if the| |word men in Tannen is an apologist for men is translated into para pria in Indonesian. The reason is that it does not actually refer to men | |in general but to American men in particular, who became the focus of Tannens study on male-female interactions. It can be argued that | |translators should add the word Amerika to the Indonesian version to avoid ambiguity or to avoid a misleading interpretation of the outcomes| |of the study by Indonesian readers (Nababan, 2003). | | | |Amplification from implicit to explicit status is another factor that requires additions. In relation to this, Nida (1964) states that | |important semantic elements carried implicitly in the source language may require explicit identification in the receptor language (p. | |227). In a given context, the meaning of the sentence, This rule is to round to the nearest even number, is implicitly stated and can easily| |be understood by readers of the original text (See Nababan, 1989 and 1999) If translated into Indonesian, an addition of information of | |suatu angka yang berada pada dua batas kategori (a number lying between two categories) and alteration of word class (the active verb | |membulatkan into the passive verb dibulatkan) are required to achieve grammaticality and produce an explicit meaning for Indonesian readers. | |It is by convention the Indonesian transitive verb membulatkan, as the equivalence of to round, needs an object. In such case, that sentence| |should be rendered into: | | | |Target sentence: | |Menurut aturan pembulatan ini, suatu angka yang berada pada batas dua kategori dibulatkan ke angka genap terdekat. | | | |Back-translation: | |According to the rule, a number lying between two categories is rounded to the nearest even number. | | | |Addition of information may also be required due to the shift of voice and the alteration of word classes to avoid misinterpretation (Nida, | |1964: 227). The word cut in I cut my finger is an active voice. If translated into Indonesian, the word class should be changed into a | |passive one, tersayat (was cut) and the addition of oleh pisau (with knife) is needed if a native speaker of Indonesian means that he or she| |did it by accident. There are also cases where two languages use a different class of words and a different level of utterances to denote | |the same meaning. The adjective adjustable in I have an adjustable chair is changed or translated into an adjective clause yang dapat | |disetel (which can be adjusted) in which the addition of yang (which) is obligatory to achieve grammaticality. | | | |3. 2 Deletion of information | | | |Baker (1992: 40) refers to deletion as omission of a lexical item due to grammatical or semantic patterns of the receptor language (Baker,| |1992: 40). She states further that | | | |this strategy may sound rather drastic, but in fact it does no harm to omit translating a word or expression in some contexts. If the | |meaning conveyed by a particular item or expression is not vital enough to the development of the text to justify distracting the reader | |with lengthy explanations, translators can and often do simply omit translating the word or expression in question (Baker, 1992: 40). | | | |There are cases where omission is required to avoid redundancy and awkwardness (Nida, 1964: 228) and this strategy is particularly applied | |if the source language tends be a redundant language. The category of plural in English is both morphologically conditioned (e.g. | |child/children, mouse/mice), and phonologically conditioned (e. g. book/books, box/boxes, pen/pens). In some circumstances, a plural noun is | |also preceded by a determiner showing plurality (some books, three pens). If the double expression of such category is reflected in | |Indonesian, redundancy will occur. It is by convention that the category of plural in Indonesian is lexically formed by repetition of the | |noun buku-buku (book-book) or by adding a noun quantifier such as beberapa (some) or tiga (three). Once a given noun is in the plural form, | |the quantifier has to be deleted. On the other hand, once there exists a quantifier denoting plurality, the noun in question should be in | |the singular form or the repetition of the noun should be avoided. | | | |As implicitly stated by Baker (1992: 40) above, deletion may also refer to pieces of content rather than restructuring for grammatical | |purposes. Such a deletion of expressions or information is debatable in relation to the translation of academic texts, however. Anyone who | |writes an academic text, for example, will not include unimportant information in his or her writing. Similarly, anyone who reads such a | |text should consider that all information in the text is important. Translators are not an exception; they should read the text as the | |original reader or a non-translator reader reads it. That is to say that this notion of information deletion should not be used as an | |excuse to hide the inability of translators to understand and transfer message of the original text. | | | |3. 3. Structural adjustment | | | |Structural adjustment is another important strategy for achieving equivalence. Structural adjustment which is also called shift (see | |Catford, 1965) or transposition (see Vinay and Darbellnet, 1977) or alteration (see Newmark, 1988) refers to a change in the grammar from SL| |to TL (Newmark, 1988: 85). Similarly, Bell (1991: 6) states that to shift from one language to another is, by definition, to alter the | |forms. The alteration of form may mean changes of categories, word classes, and word orders. Structural adjustment, according to Nida (1964:| |226), has various purposes, including: 1) to permit adjustment of the form of the message to the requirements of structure of the receptor | |language, 2) to produce semantically equivalent structures, 3) to provide equivalent stylistic appropriateness, and 4) to carry an | |equivalent communication load. | | | |Newmark (1988: 85-87) divides the shift of forms into four types. One type of shift is the change from singular to plural or in the position| |of adjective. The position of an adjective in English, for example, may occur before a noun (i.e. a difficult text) or before and after a | |noun (i. e. a difficult text available in the library). An adjective in Indonesian always comes before a noun. Therefore, a difficult text | |and a difficult text available in the library should be translated into sebuah teks sulit (a difficult text) and sebuah teks sulit yang | |tersedia di perpustakaan itu (a difficult text which is available in the library or a difficult text available in the library) respectively. | |A second type of shift is required when a SL grammatical structure does not exist in the TL. In English, for example, cohesive devices such | |as however and nevertheless may be put at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence. In Indonesian, such cohesive devices always occur at| |the beginning of a sentence. The third type of shift is the one where literal translation is grammatically possible but may not accord with | |natural usage in the TL. The English sentence The man to whom she is talking on the phone lives in Jakarta can be translated literally into | |Laki-laki kepada siapa dia sedang berbicara di telepon tinggal di Jakarta. This literal translation is accurate in content but doesnt sound| |Indonesian . To conform to natural usage in Indonesian, the structure of the sentence should be adjusted into Laki-laki yang sedang | |berbicara dengannya di telpon tinggal di Jakarta (The man who is talking to her on the phone lives in Jakarta). The fourth type of | |transposition is the replacement of a virtual lexical gap by a grammatical structure (see Newmark, 1988: 87). | |In addition to the types of alteration described above, alterations of word classes (i. e. shifts from one class of words to another or from | |word level to phrase or clause level) are also required due to grammatical differences between the source and target languages. The | |preposition with in I am married with three young girls is changed into a conjunction dan (and), and the verb mempunyai needs to be added in| |Indonesian. The prepositional phrase in red in The woman in red is my wife is altered into an adjective clause yang berbaju merah (who wears| |the red clothes). | | | | | |References | | | |Baker, M. 1992. In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation. London: Sage Publication. | |Bell, R. T. 1991. Translation and Translating: Theory and Practice. London: Longman. | |Bassnett-McGuire, S. 1991. Translation Studies. New York: Methuen Co.Ltd. | |Catford, J. C. 1965. A Linguistic Theory of Translation. London: Longman. | |Hervey, S. , Higgins, I. , and Haywood, L. M. 1995. Thinking Spanish Translation: A Course in Translation Method: Spanish into English. | | London; New York: Routledge. | |Koller, W. 1995. â€Å"The concept of equivalence and the object of translation studies†. Target, 7 (2), 191-222. | |Miao, J. 2000. â€Å"The limitations of equivalent effect†. Perspectives: Studies in Translatology, Vol. 8. No. 3, 197-205. | |Munday, J. 2001. Introducing Translation Studies. London; New York: Routledge. | |Nababan, M. R. 2003. â€Å"Translation Processes, Practices and Products of Professional Indonesian Translators. Unpublished Ph. D. Thesis. Schools| |of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. | |_________. 1999. Teori Menerjemah Bahasa Inggris. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar. | |_________. 1989. â€Å"Analisis terjemahan buku Research Methods and Analysis: Searching for Relationship karya Michael H. Walizer dan Paul, W. | |Wienir ke dalam bahasa Indonesia oleh Sadiman dan Hutagaol†. Unpublished Thesis. Surakarta: Universitas Sebelas Maret. | |Newmark, P. 1991. About Translation. Great Britain: Longdunn Press, Ltd. | |__________. 1988. A Textbook of Translation. New York: Prentice-Hall International. | |__________. 1981. Approaches to Translation. Oxford: Pergamon Press | |Nida, E. 1975. Language Structure and Translation. Standford, California: Standford University Press. | |______. 1964. Towards a Science of Translating. Leiden: Brill. | |Vinay, J. P. and Darbelnet, J. 1965. Stylistique Comparee du Francois et de L’angalis. Paris: Didier. | http://www. proz. com/translation-articles/articles/2071/1/EQUIVALENCE-IN-TRANSLATION%3ASOME-PROBLEM-SOLVING-STRATEGIES

Swot Long Pest Analysis Of Mcdonalds

Swot Long Pest Analysis Of Mcdonalds One strength for McDonalds is that it has a wide product range. Some examples of the products they have are, beef chicken and fish burgers, wraps, salads, deli sandwiches and chicken nuggets. This is a good thing as it means that they can target lots of people if they have something to suit everyones needs which will gain them more customers. Another strength for McDonalds is that it is the market leader in the fast food market. It is by far the largest fast food chain worldwide bringing in more customers than any other company and also having the most restaurants. This is a strength as it means they have control over the market and take more risks. It is easier for McDonalds to move into new markets as they have the money and facilities to do this which another fast food company may not be able to do it they arent as well established. (Scribd, 2008) 2.2 Weaknesses With McDonalds being the worlds largest chain of quick service restaurants it is the one everyone firstly thinks of when it comes to fast food. This can be seen as a weakness as currently the government are trying to lower obesity levels and to do this they are attempting to make people eat healthier. With McDonalds having their unhealthy image this can put people off as they trying to convince people to avoid places like this. 2.3 Opportunities One opportunity for McDonalds is the ageing population. This is an opportunity as it means they can change their restaurants to fit in with the eating habits of older people. They could do this by making their restaurants more like cafes which will encourage older to people to come to McDonalds if they dont see it as a fast food place anymore. This can be done by having healthier products available such as sandwiches and they can also provide a wider variety of hot drinks and more cakes and muffins. Another opportunity is peoples changing lifestyles. People are currently more time poor than they used to be and have busier lifestyles. This is a good thing for McDonalds as people are more likely to buy fast food if they are busy as they may not have time to cook meals for themselves and their families. Also there are now more single person families in the UK, this is an opportunity for McDonalds as people who are single may not want to cook for just themselves or may find it cheaper to buy fast food. They are also less likely to go out for meals as it may be seen as socially unacceptable to eat alone in a restaurant and might have fast food instead. (Mintel, Chicken Burger Market Internal Market Environment, 2008) 2.4 Threats Currently the market is becoming saturated with more and more competitors entering the market every year, this is causing slowing growth as people are turning to the new alternatives which is a major threat to McDonalds. Also there is government intervention as they are trying to stop people eating so much fast food. The government have intervened with the advertising campaign as they now have to have healthy images for the happy meals by advertising the options of fruit and vegetables and juice instead of fizzy drinks and fries. Although this does make it more likely for people to buy happy meals people could still however be put off. Another threat would be the prices of raw ingredients as these are rising at the moment. If they go up too much this could result in McDonalds raising the prices but at the moment it is just lowering profit. (JapanToday, 2009) 3.0 Porters Generic Competitive Strategies http://www.icsrpa.org.ge/images/stories/genericstrategies.jpg http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newSTR_82.htm In order for McDonalds to operate successfully in the fast food industry where there is substantial competition from other brands they need to identify a competitive strategy. This can be achieved through cost factors or differentiation. Getting this right could lead to above average or even superior profits. The first section of Porters strategy is cost leadership, this is best suited to a business which serves a mass market like McDonalds. To reach maximum efficiency you need to supply standard products to many consumers. This is much like McDonalds who are the worlds largest fast food chain, although their approach to marketing in the past has been targeting children with happy meals, their best selling product. In more recent years their adverts have included pulling factors for both children and adults alike. As well as this massive advertising budget they have a limited yet carefully designed menu. Perfect for mass market production, it enables them to make just a select number of meals with timely precision. And to attract the number of sales they require they put lots effort into providing meals that any of their customers could choose from. The menu is updated quite often and alterations are made to make sure theres a good range. There are different options like beef burgers, chi cken burgers, deli sandwiches to grasp the mass market. The key being that whatever you taste, beliefs or religion there should be a product suited to you. Its also convenient being located in city centres, shopping areas and road convergences. A large benefit of McDonalds over independents is you know what to expect every time you go as the ingredients and cooking methods are generalised. Porter says that its difficult for any competitor serving the mass market with standard products to charge above average prices, as competitive rivalry is too fierce. But what the theory doesnt consider is the added perceived value of the brand. Theres no recognition that McDonalds stands out from the other competitors based on its reputation. This is the major reason behind their aggressive growth and mass market performance. Twinned with their successful franchise based business model, without which they couldnt achieve such good geographical coverage or as competitive economies of scales. So aside from selling some cost leading products theyre also able to attract people into buying more premium meals, for instance the chicken legend meal in 2008. The most expensive set meal theyve ever sold. This moves McDonalds slightly away from cost leadership, although their target will always reside with the broadest categories, some product differentiation is happening. In Porters Strategy he defines differentiation it by saying an organisation is differentiating when theyre still able to serve a broad target market, but by providing a service which is different or better due to its added value. The customer needs to be prepared to pay extra for additional features or quality. This allows for a higher or premium price to be charged, giving rise to superior profits. I suppose this is the aim of McDonalds to be able to build on their cost leading success, generate revenue from superior hamburgers where people are willing to pay for it. These ideas are emulated by other competitors in the fast food sector. Burger king have low cost and ever more expensive meal options, topping the five pounds mark. As do Subway with their different filling choices, six inch sandwiches cost from  £2.49 and you can pay over  £5 for a foot long meal. Traditionally this would seem expensive for a sandwich, drink and snack. The big issue with this currently is that differentiated products dont perform well when theres economic downturn. This is best demonstrated by Marks and Spencers in the second quarter of 2008 their food sales fell by around five percent, while at the same time Aldi and Lidl experienced an increase in market share. Showing that consumers where less willing to pay for perceived added value, even MS customers who are typically brand loyal. McDonalds in my opinion would suffer badly under these circumstance should they go further down the differentiation route. The reason being the products would most likely dive in number of sales while demand for the usual set of value options would benefit. The other side of Porters competitive strategy is the narrow scope. Meaning the business doesnt serve the mass market but a small number of customers instead. Cost focused strategy is taken up by organisations following a narrow target market, and where customers are very price sensitive. For the business to make profits there are two important factors, firstly costs must be kept to a minimum and price set at achievable rates. This type of strategy direction isnt commonplace in what we think of as the main fast food sector. But when considering the entirety of small takeaway businesses in the UK, most of them are in-fact forced to take this strategic route. As barriers to entry by the big franchises like McDonalds restrict them from winning more custom. Coupled with tight margin and this is almost impossible. Differentiation focused strategy on the other hand looks to serve that narrow band of customers, but instead of being run on tight margins businesses change and alter their products or service so that consumers are prepared to spend a great deal of money. This is also known as niche marketing. When it works well the business can match or even exceed profits made by broad differentiated firms, despite not having the mass market customers. Whether this is possible in the fast food sector is doubtful, the simple nature of the products is based around convenience and value. So for someone to start selling to a limited number of people for an inflated price seems unlikely. It would just be too difficult without a quality reputation and a large budget for promoting yourself. Porters idea of differentiation focused strategy is one which McDonalds could never take up as the concept of applying it to fast food is flawed, making it very unprofitable for any business to undertake. (Capon, 2009) 4.0 Strategic Fit In recent years McDonalds has seen a dramatic change in its external environment with more competition, changing demands from consumers, advances in technology and changing view from governments around the world. McDonalds strategy is to produce good quality food at a low price for the consumer. In recent years McDonalds has seen a rise in competition which has effected its market share within the fast food market. The likes of Burger King and KFC have grown dramatically over recent years and McDonalds have had to develop internally to counter the growth of their competitors. An example of this would be McDonalds broadening its food menu. McDonalds have attempted in recent years to move away from the traditional image that McDonalds serves only unhealthy fast food by creating healthy options on their menu. This was an internal change within the company as nowadays McDonalds tries to emphasise where their ingredients come from and the new healthy options. Another influence that made M cDonalds consider its image and what products it sold was the changing demands from consumers for healthy products. Government campaigns and the media in general gave consumers more awareness of the risks of eating unhealthy. This made McDonalds respond with more salads, fruit, and lower calorie items. Another way McDonalds could adapt their strategy involving healthy eating/drinking is by creating more healthy drinks for consumers. Currently McDonalds only sells orange juice as an alternative to fizzy drinks they could expand their range of drinks involving carbonated waters or other fruit based drinks which give consumers a healthier option. Another issue in the external environment that will effect McDonalds strategic fit is the economy. Currently consumers around the world do not have as much disposable income to spend on treats such as fast food takeaways. In recent years McDonalds prices have increased meaning many consumers are moving to lower priced takeaways. An example of this was in 2009 where McDonalds increased the price for children happy meals a standard Happy Meal increased by 16.5 per cent, from $4.25 to $4.95. This increase may be due to McDonalds growing use of local ingredients or the currently refurbishment programme throughout its stores around the world. To improve the companies strategic fit in this area it suggests that McDonalds tries to create more lower end products which are cheaper for consumers. As consumers have less disposable income they will be less willing to spend nearly  £5 on a meal when they can still not guarantee a good quality of product. 5.0 New Product or Service From carrying out our SWOT analysis we identified some opportunities for McDonalds to take advantage of. These were the ageing population within the UK and consumers changing lifestyles and demands. From these we have identified a new direction that McDonalds can expand into. We have looked at McDonalds main competitors and found that many do not operate a delivery service. We feel this is an opportunity for McDonalds to differentiate from their competition. We have chosen delivery service mainly because of peoples changing lifestyles and the fact that most people no longer have time to cook meals. We believe that the delivery service would be popular with many McDonalds consumers with the main target being students. This is because we feel that students would rather pay extra for their meals if they dont have to go out and purchase it themselves. Most students live in central locations and are unlikely to have cars meaning the only way to get to McDonalds is by walking which may be inconvenient. The delivery service will operate through the day and evening making it a substitute to an independent typical takeaway. Appendix 1 Porters Five Forces Porter agues that five basic forces drive competition in an industry, competitive rivalry, threat of new entrant, threat of substitute products or services, bargaining power of buyers and bargaining power of suppliers. Industry Competitors McDonalds is the number one fast food company in the UK in terms of foodservice sales, with a 12% share of the total sector in 2008. Amongst chained fast food brands, McDonalds held an impressive 27% of foodservice sales in 2008, although it must be noted that its share of fast food sales amongst chained operators was down by one percentage point from 2007. This fall is due to the expanding competitive environment in which it operates, you may think of McDonalds as being a monopoly business and with around 31,000 restaurants in 116 countries and this is right in one sense. McDonalds strong brand presence and efficient operating service has allowed them to expand rapidly, opening up in developing countries worldwide. But now other businesses such as Nandos, KFC and Subway are growing in strength. There are many driving forces behind this from a greater demand for choice, healthy options, and the expansion of franchise business models (KFC, Subway). KFC, the number two fast food brand by sales and number four in terms of outlets, saw marginal growth in its share of foodservice sales in 2008. KFC accounted for 14% of sales amongst chained fast food brands and 6% of total fast food, unchanged from 2007. Burger King was the number three fast food company in sales terms, with a 4% share of the total sector, down from 2007. Expansion plans of KFC, particularly in the parts of the country where it is under-represented, such as the North and Wales, have been seen by some as a move for more dominance. Threat of New Entrants The major barriers in which a firm looking to enter the market faces are the economies of scale and the access of the distribution. In order for a firm to enjoy success in the industry, they must spend a large amount of capital on advertising and marketing. The industry is very competitive because firms are always attempting to steal customers from each other. Its also very price focused, without a monopoly on the competition you would find it difficult to survive without alternative low cost products. However the McDonalds franchise model has made it easier to enter the market, for example Subway has built their strategic plan around franchise options. Because fast food is a global business, theres a threat that new entrants in foreign countries could gain market share and power. Especially where McDonalds finds it difficult to adapt to cultural customs e.g. India. This growth could transfer oversees into McDonalds home markets like the UK Germany and the USA. When every aspect is considered though, its going to be difficult for new entrants to achieve substantial market share in such a dominated industry. Threat of Substitute Products or Services Theres a wide range of products which could be considered alternatives to eating in McDonalds, such as purchasing a burger from the local store and taking it home to warm up, this is a cheaper alternative but is more time and effort consuming, therefore not a convenience like McDonalds. However, according to MINTEL the UK ready to cook food market went up from  £504m in 07 to  £530m in 2008. By 2013 its estimated to be worth  £728m a 37% increase over last years figure. And sales of the chilled meat burger brand Rustlers reflect this, last year sales increased by 57.9% to  £30m. Alternatively you could go to one of the popular in store cafes, like at Debenhams, BHS or even an independent cafà ©. Burger restaurants, like Fine Burger Co and Gourmet Burger Kitchen offer the same products but use better quality as there USP. There are also a number of upper-class restaurants like Cafà © Rouge and Pret A Manger who could take business away from McDonalds by appealing to people on lunch breaks from the office. Pubs and Gastro pubs also compete, offering deals such as two meals for the price of one, it isnt difficult to find a burger and chips for under  £5. Or in the high street theres businesses like Greggs and Ainsleys who do take out food but arent classified as restaurants, theyre cheaper and a strong alternative during the economic downturn. Because people are becoming more health conscious, theres likely to be some switch over from what people perceive as fast food to healthier options. We believe this is the main threat to McDonalds, as its campaign for healthier products has come under lots of criticism, uptake of these ranges hasnt been as good as McDonalds hoped and this could play into the hands of other business using basic ingredients as their selling point. Bargaining Power of Suppliers Because McDonalds is such a large competitor in the market, suppliers will be keen to win their custom. This also means that they control and influence heavily on what price they pay for goods. Such strong dominance means that suppliers will have little bargaining power over the price they get, only regulations and free trade agreements will ultimately protect them. McDonalds have gone a step further than bargaining with suppliers, theyve taken over a number of them and switched to their own supply in many cases. This is called backwards vertical integration, something which large businesses do to reduce costs, guarantee a good supply and ensure to quality of products from their farms. An example of this is supplies such as beef, milk, flour, sugar and yeast to be used in its products. McDonalds has also formed strategic alliances with companies such as Walmart, Disney and Coca-Cola which lead towards balanced vertical integration, whereby they also begi n to control other outlets for their products as well as suppliers. The limited bargaining power suppliers may have is from the growth of other brands, whereby they can attempt to switch customers. However I believe this is weak as each brand will have individual suppliers and the more powerful they get the more bargaining power they will have. Bargaining Power of Buyers Bargaining power isnt measured by the number of people complaining in store, its most evident by the shift in consumer spending from one type of product to another. As fast food chains and other substitutes are so easily accessed, and theres relatively no switching costs, the individual consumer can simply go elsewhere to spend their money. McDonalds may notice this change in footfall but unless there are vast numbers, individual people still have little persuasion or power to negotiate over the price they pay for their lunch. However, if individual consumers choose to act in unison they may be able to excise power. An example of this is, in the mid-1990s when the health scare over British beef erupted, McDonalds faced the prospect of large numbers of its consumers acting together and refusing to buy their hamburgers. Therefore it switched from suppliers of British beef to supply of Dutch beef. An emerging issue is the pressure on fast food prices, as value for money becomes a key tr end this will become more important consideration for customers. One pound menus will become more popular as consumers impacted on by the recession looking for a cheaper option, this will push down the average transaction spend. Also Meal deals have become very common place in the fast food sector, with all the big brands offering them. Appendix 2 LoNGPEST Analysis Local Political The first political issue at a local level that will affect McDonalds is local government legislation. McDonalds need to make sure they adhere to employment legislation such as the Minimum Wage, Working Time Directive and Working conditions legislation. McDonalds needs to make sure it cooperates with all the employment legislation as McDonalds is a global company a negative story about their employment methods such as paying below minimum wage could seriously affect their reputation at a local level. At a local Level McDonalds also need to have an understanding of the Waste Management regulations that will involve their restaurants. McDonalds will need to make sure they deposit their waste material in the right way and dont cause any contamination of the local environment. This could lead to fines or a worse public image to the local population around the restaurant. Another political issue that will influence McDonalds is trade unions in the local area. If employees are unhappy about pay or hours of work then they will go to their local trade union leader to complain about the current working situation. This could influence McDonalds as they will need to make sure they have the right amount of employee interaction in their store to keep all employees happy. At present McDonalds do not directly work with certain unions on all issues regarding McDonalds. Local Economic The local economy will also be an issue to McDonalds. For example if the local economy is performing well then the customer base for products and service will be large and profitable. However wages will be high and employees will be in short supply in the local population. Currently regions are in a depressed state where there is smaller opportunities for selling products and services with people having less disposable income. During the recession the local populations disposable income was severely reduced with a lack in confidence to buy services and consumers more willing to save money than spend. As MacDonalds is seen by most people as a treat they are more likely to cut back on purchasing the product and look at other options. The final economic issue which may affect McDonalds locally is the rate of unemployment in the local area. This issue could influence McDonalds as high unemployment levels in the local area could expand the range of employees for work but could mean more workers without the required skills to work in the McDonalds stores. This could increase the amount of money McDonalds have to spend on training their staff. Local Social The first socio Cultural issue at a local level is the local community around McDonalds store. McDonalds will have a direct influence of the quality of life within the local community. If a Macdonalds is created in a small town it may increase traffic volume which will have an affect on the quality of life for the population. An increase in traffic volume could be a benefit to other shops but it could also be a disadvantage with a higher risk of pollution and higher risk of accidents. Also a McDonalds store opening in a small town or village may lead to local suppliers of fast food been but out of business such as fast food takeaways, chip and fish shops which may have been around a long time within the village. This could give McDonalds a bad public image in the community if they are putting other providers out of business. The second socio Cultural issue at local level is Social Change within the local area. As fast food companies have become more under pressure from the local and national media their has become a growing trend for people to look for more healthy options. This will be an influence for McDonalds as they will need to start expanding their range of healthy goods to attract the new consumer demands. McDonalds have already began to implement new salad options to their product range to attract new consumers who are interested in healthy products. McDonalds are also trying to provide information about where their suppliers are based for their ingredients. Many consumers of McDonalds are now wanting to know how chicken products are farmed for McDonalds so the company is trying to provide information to consumers. On the McDonalds website the company goes into detail regarding the source of their ingredients. McDonalds have had to provide this information as recently there has been many high pr ofile TV programmes that have questioned how McDonalds farm their chickens for their products. (Mintel, Chicken Burger Bars Strengths and Weaknesses, 2008) National Political One political issue which may affect McDonalds is advertising laws. The government and the advertising standards authority have put pressure on fast food companies such as McDonalds to stop aiming their advertisements at children and young people and are no longer allowed to advertise at certain times of the day when children may be watching. This is to try to combat the problem of increasing obesity in the UK and by stopping children from seeing adverts for things like happy meals etc. they are less likely to want them. (Mintel, Chicken Burger Bars Issues in the Market, 2008) Another political issue which may affect McDonalds is minimum wage. The government controls the minimum amount which companies have to pay their staff. If the minimum wage was to be increased by the government then it would mean an increase in costs for McDonalds. With them being a global brand it is very important that they comply to these rules as they dont want to end up with a bad reputation for not paying their staff fairly. National Economic One economic issue which may affect McDonalds is exchange rates. The British pound is currently very weak compared to other countries. This is a bad thing for McDonalds as it means any money which is made in the UK will be worth less when it is exchanged into another currency which will mean lower revenues for the company. Another economic issue which may affect McDonalds is the current economic situation. With the UK being in a recession people now have less disposable income and therefore are more likely to send their money on necessities rather than luxury products. McDonalds could be seen as a luxury product as although food is a necessity there are cheaper alternatives for people to buy rather than fast food. However from research we have found it would suggest that the fast food market hasnt been affected by the recession. This could be due to the fact that although there are cheaper options it is still not a very expensive thing to buy so people are willing to buy it. Also with it being a convenience food people who dont have time to cook are still going to be buying it. National Social One social issue which could affect McDonalds is that there is an increasing amount of single person families. This is a positive thing for McDonalds as a chicken or a burger meal is a lot more convenient compared to cooking a meal for one. Also people are more likely to get food from a fast food outlet than to go to a restaurant as sitting alone in a restaurant could be seen as intimidating for people. (Mintel, 2008) Another social issue which may affect McDonalds is that people are now starting to eat more healthily. People are now a lot more concerned with there health due to the government making people aware of the dangers of not eating healthily. There are now more healthier options available for people who are wanting something quick and convenient such as the Boots Meal deal which is the same price as a McDonalds and still tastes as good but is a lot better for their health. Global Political One political issue which may affect McDonalds is alliances and agreements. When McDonalds expands to other countries it has to be made sure that the two or more countries regulate the conduct of international trade and commerce. It was easy for McDonalds to trade with The UK and US are an alliance because of their history, in the 1980s the close friendship between Margaret Thatcher and the US republican president Ronald Reagan. This was not however the case for all countries as for a country such as India for example McDonalds had to think about the different laws that they would have to abide as they have religious laws. They also have trading laws as most of the country are vegetarian they may have to have certain staff who do not touch the meat as they are against it. Another political issue which may affect McDonalds is Health and Safety. In all countries there are Health and Safety laws for within the workplace. It is important that McDonalds abide by these rules not just purely for health and safety but also to keep up their reputation. Also with it being a food market it is even more important. There are the general health and safety acts that apply to all companies as workers have the right to work in an environment where health is not a risk and the odds are you wont get hurt or ill through work. Managers would therefore have to firstly look at what decide what can harm you in your job and work out the precautions to stop it by doing risk assessment. Also they should give employees health and safety training that is required to do the job free of charge before the employee starts work. Also any uniform and protective clothing should be provided for example hair nets and gloves for hygiene reasons. Global Economic One economic issue which may affect McDonalds is the exchange rate, import and export tax. Both the exchange rate and the import and export tax has a major effect on the company as it can hugely affect profits depending on whether the pound is strong or weak or whether the tax is high or low. Another issue is labour cost, levels of disposable income and income distribution. When expanding globally it was important for McDonalds to look at the difference in the other countries economy when regarding to the labour cost, levels of disposable income and income distribution. As for some countries the labour cost could either be a lot cheaper or a lot more expensive which is important for McDonalds to know as this affects profits. Also the levels of disposable income and the income distribution in the area McDonalds planned to place the outlets as if they were placing it somewhere where the disposable income was r

Marketing Communication Comparison of Shoe Companies

Marketing Communication Comparison of Shoe Companies Introduction: This report is presented with the aim of facilitating a comparative analysis of the marketing communication strategies and mix adopted by the athletic shoe brands Adidas and New Balance. This research entails a high magnitude of relevance as the two brands i.e Adidas and New Balance are operating simultaneously in the international market which is defined as being competitive. For illustrative purposes: Competitors of the Shoe Brands: Adidas New Balance Nike Puma New Balance Reebok Asics Woodlands Red Tape NIKE, Inc. Adidas-Salomon AG Ariat International AZ3 DC Shoes Fechheimer Brothers Company OshKosh BGosh Saucony Woolrich Combating completion as such is required for substance and growth.. Organizations such as Adidas, New Balance and many more are in continuity into market research to cater to consumers whose tastes and fashions are changing in rapidity necessitating variation in products by modifications, modes of advertising, sales and promotional approaches and appealing pricing strategy to attract consumers who are not only quality conscious but price conscious. To render an in-depth analysis, I propose the following: Primary Research: Consumer Poll Secondary Research: Books, Journals, Websites Analysis of Compiled data Primary and Secondary Research data employing the following business tools: S.W.O.T Analysis Marketing Mix Market and Literature Review: Origin: New Balance Shoes: New Balance Athletic Shoe was created by an orthopaedic shoe manufacturer in 1906. The individual who is credited for the birth of this reputed shoe brand is William Riley and the organization came to be known as the New Balance Arch Company. In the 1900s, New Balance Arch manufactured custom-made arch supports to rectify orthopaedic foot problems and help in relief of pain. In the year 1930, the very first handmade running spike was created by New Balance Arch. Paul Kidd acquired new Balance Arch in 1956. The Organization manufactured first running shoe employing a rippled rubber sole, which was produced with a multitude of widths in 1961. James S Davis, in 1972 bought New Balance and then it was christened as New Balance Athletic Shoe. New Balance Athletic Shoe bought the rights from Iron Age of the Dunham brand names. In 2000 the organization created the RC1001, which happened to be the primary shoe to present the N-ergy SC. System comprised of a technological superiority in the New Balance bringing about high-performance suspension system. New Balance Athletic Shoe also gained successfully the rights to the PF Flyers brand in the year 2000. New Balance Athletic Shoe commenced its first width centralized concept unit at Harrods with a merger with Sweatshop in 2001. The organization signed on the dotted line a license agreement along with the Franco Apparel Group for sale of kids apparel in 2003. It also opened its stores in Santa Barbara and Ontario in the same year. In 2003 New Balance Athletic Shoe stepped with intent to diversify into the market of China. In 2004, New Balance Athletic Shoe entered into agreement alongside New Era Cap to add in their product line performance headwear in its product line categories, a business agreement with Eyewear Designs to initiate sales of highly innovative performance sun wear and eyewear, and a mutually beneficial agreement with Moretz Sports to produce high quality performance socks. New Balance Athletic Shoe successfully acquired Warrior Lacrosse in Warren, Michigan in 2004 and also commenced its concept outlet in US and Canada at the same year. A totally-new comfort performance Shoe brand, Aravon, was by this organisation introduced at retail outlets in 2004. In 2005, Innovative Hockey was bought by the organization to function as a new section named Warrior Hockey. In August 2006, New Balance Athletic Shoe bought Brine, a reputed industry world leader in soccer, lacrosse, field hockey and volleyball, based in Milford, Massachusetts. Adidas: Adolf Dassler, a German National residing in a relatively unknown German Village created Adidas, the phenomenon in athletic shoe brand who named the shoe by utilising his nickname Adi and adding it on to the first syllable of his last name. In the very beginning Adidas hired reputed athletics to promote their product line. Jesse Owens, in the Olympic Games of 1936 wore Adidas shoes while performing at the games and later on as the brand gained popularity many sports personalities commenced sponsoring the brand. Towards the end of Seventies, Adidas gained phenomenal popularity and was dominating the global market in sportswear. Kaka, Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham and many celebrity soccer players such as e are being sponsored by Adidas. For nearly eight decades Adidas has been very much an integral part of the sports world providing state-of-the-art sports footwear, accessories and apparel. Currently, the organization takes pride in holding a global position in the sports goods sector. Adidas products especially shoes are available in almost every nation of the world proving the fact that the organization has carved a distinctive niche for itself. Adidas has emerged into a large multinational corporation. It possesses a distinctive logo and the catchy advertising slogan Impossible is Nothing further cement the brand image and popularity. The business organization with intent to have sustenance of the image it has created in the minds of the global consumers allocates huge sums in advertising and promotion of the brand. The brand employs sports stars to project its corporate philosophy of passion, grit, determination and perseverance through its Impossible is Nothing Campaign especially at the current recessional phase which is predominant in the current economic world scenario. (Borderick 2005) Methodology: Primary Research: Initially primary research method was employed. Consumers were interviewed about the two brands i.e. Adidas and New Balance Shoes. Data was compiled and a theoretical approach was devised to compare the brands. The questionnaire utilized had 10 vital questions which helped in gaining required responses for the analysis Secondary Research: While the function was carried out for the secondary research, books and websites and learning modules were referred to. On the basis on the primary and secondary research data compilation, analysis was carried out and inferences drawn. Analysis and Discussion: http://www.wikinvest.com/images/thumb/e/e7/Footwear_market_shares.PNG/400px-Footwear_market_shares.PNGPie Chart The above figure statically indicates the fact that New Balance has a large share in comparison to Adidas. Nike stands at 6% while Adidas at 16% which is almost half of Nike. Marketing Mix: http://www.soopertutorials.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/4ps.gif New Balance Adidas Product New Balance Athletic Shoe has created the RC1001, which stands out to be the first shoe to feature the N-ergy SC System, a technological strategy innovation in the high-performance suspension shoes The shoes are known to offer comfort and style and are light in weight. They have great value for money. The grip which the sole provides is on account of good design and is useful especially in hiking. They go with ease on the legs and prevent any kind of twist or sprain. Price Commences from a pricing range of USD 59 The basic pricing range is USD 65 onwards Place New Balance Athletic Shoe are marketed in more than 120 countries on six continents. New Balance is in possession of wholly-owned subsidiaries in the Sweden, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, UK, France, Germany, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada, South Africa, and Brazil. Adidas is sold in all the developed and developing economies of the world. Adidas follow one level channel or an indirect channel to make their product reach out to the final consumer. The products are manufactured by the producer and it then reaches the retailer who in turn sells it to the final consumer. Promotion The company fails to have endorsements in huge sporting events, retarding its ability to gain international brand-recognition. Adidas now just does not advertise innovatively but makes the much required impact with executions which are brilliant. Television and other forms of advertising are in regularity employed and the organization successfully conveys their characteristics of innovation and technology coupled with huge success stories with personalities such as Emil Zatopek and Mohammad Ali to name a few. S.W.O.T Analysis: (Kotler 2001) A S.W.O.T Analysis in context of a business organization assists us in comprehending the strengths of the organization, the weaknesses it possesses, the opportunities the organization could explore and the threats which could harm its growth and existence. New Balance Shoes: Strengths Innovations New Balance Athletic Shoe focuses on continuous research and development work. New Balance Athletic Shoe has brought into various new products over the years. The business house was the first to produce handmade running spikes. It also created the first running shoe having a rippled rubber sole that was produced in multiple widths. The firms continuous innovations have helped it to remain competitive and improve market share. Global reach The firm possesses a number of licensees, joint ventures and distributors all over the world. International operations help the brand to use advantage of a range of market opportunities while refraining from overexposure to any specific market. Unique approach to athletic products The Companys aim is to provide the elite and daily athlete with footwear, apparel and accessories that assure superior performance, fit, quality and comfort. Understanding that the size of feet varies among people, New Balance sells shoes in up to six different widths from a narrow 2A to an expansive 6E.The company has created 18 different foot models (lasts) to design its footwear around. Each last takes into account the users i.e. men, women and kids and the use. All in all, they create a complete fit and size profile to design a superior shoe called 360 Fit. This new approach provides the organization a competitive better advantage. Weaknesses Lacking celebrity endorsements New Balance Athletic Shoe has focused on an Endorsed by no one belief or philosophy. The company fails to undertake celebrity endorsements like its competitors Nike, Adidas and Reebok. Its brand building process are hence at a position which is disadvantaged resulting in brand unawareness up to some extent by this. Opportunities Growth in the fitness equipment market The fitness equipment market in the US and UK is expected to grow at steady rate in the near future. Fitness equipment manufacturers have now started to offer high quality equipment at lower prices. This has helped increase the penetration of these products in the home fitness market, as opposed to the earlier trend, when such products were only found in fitness and training clubs. Treadmills, elliptical machines and other types of equipment that are used for cardiovascular workout are now available to consumers at reasonable rates. This is increasing the demand for such products and New Balance is well positioned in this market through its home exercise equipment product range. Threats Rising raw material costs The principal materials used in manufacturing footwear products are natural and synthetic rubber, plastic compounds, foam cushioning materials, nylon, leather, canvas, and polyurethane films used to make Air-Sole cushioning components. As a result of rising oil prices, the prices of synthetic rubber and plastic based products has increased. Rising oil prices will further increase the prices for petroleum based products. Increasing raw material costs would increase the companys production costs and may affect its profitability. Intense competition The business is subjected to high competition with many large companies such as Nike, Adidas and Reebok. The market launch of technologically better and improved products by competitors such as Adidas and Reebok, could lead to decline in the firms market share. Further, these competitors have greater resources and strong brand names. The competition from these big brands is very high and propels the company to invest large amounts in marketing and brand maintenance strategies. Adidas: Strength: The prime strength of the organization is its 8 decades of existence in the global market. The employment of high end technology in the production process improves quality, precision and durability which are the most desired aspects by athletes. The organization has the largest international portfolio of celebrity sports ambassadors. The business as a part of promotion sponsors football teams and has a high consumer brand loyalty mainly in U.S.A and India. Statistics and surveys indicate that Adidas has the maximum level of popularity and brand image in India. Adidas possesses the largest international portfolio of sports ambassadors. The organization in continuity sponsors football teams and has a high fan following particularly in U.S.A and India. Statistics and surveys reveal that Adidas has the maximum level of popularity and brand image in India. Weakness: The pricing strategy of Adidas for all its products including athletic footwear lacks flexibility and is highly rigid and this proves to be a weakness in a general price conscious economy. Adidas is hovered over with a close competitor in the form of Nike, Puma and many more in the global market. The Indian subcontinent, which in now identified as a potentially growing market with high potential of revenue, the brand has not been showing good revenue results. In a global price conscious economy, the high level of rigidity in pricing poses a weakness. Adidas is plagued with a close competitor in the form of Nike in the global market. The Indian subcontinent, which in now recognized as an emerging market with high potential of revenue, the brand has not performed well. Opportunities: Adidas should avail the opportunity to explore new world markets in the global arena. Health consciousness among the people in general is creating a good need for athletic shoes which should be skillfully tapped by Adidas. Creative advertising employed in continuity could open up opportunities of market growth and sustenance. The brand has tremendous opportunity to explore new avenues and markets in the global market. Health consciousness among the world populace in general is creating a good demand for athletic shoes Effective advertising employed in continuity could present the opportunity of market growth and sustenance. Threats: Statistics show that Reebok, a competitor of Adidas has a good market share and employs a higher sum for market communication strategies. This presents a threat which is growing for Adidas. New entrant brands such as GAP, CAT prove to be a threat as they are eating in on the market share of Adidas which it has created over a period of time Statistic reveals that Nike, a competitor of Adidas has a large market share and allocates a much larger sum for market communication strategies. This proves to be a threat which is growing for Adidas. Relatively new brands such as GAP, CAT prove to be a threat as they are cutting in on the market share of Adidas. Conclusion: Statistics state that Adidas rules over New Balance shoes in the Global Market. Without an element of doubt both the brands fulfill the quality criteria. Their marketing approach differs creating a certain amount of limitations especially in the case of New Balance Shoes. Adidas is undoubtedly performing better and will continue to do so Recommendations: It is recommended that New Balance Shoes commence celebrity endorsement for their product and even sponsor sports events like Adidas does. The excessive competition creates this need. With a change in the promotional activities the company might not improve market share. Adidas has to focus on moving ahead of Nike which is the only close serious competitor dominating the market.