Research Methods in Health Science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Research Methods in Health Science - Essay Example Ethical principles used in the scientific researches, different approaches to the issues of reality, truth and knowledge and many other aspects of researches would be easily interpreted from the perspective of philosophical considerations (Patterson, 2000; Scanlan, 1986). The main challenge in discussion about research methods applied in health science researches is differentiation between quantitative and qualitative research methodologies (Grinnell & Unrau, 2005). It is a wrong claim that quantitative researches are based on empirical data collection and qualitative researches are based on subjective approach implementation. Nevertheless, this supposition is wrong, because empirical data collection is relevant to both quantitative and qualitative researchers. The main distinction between these two methodologies lies in the following terms: quantitative research methodologies imply inductive inference and qualitative researches are focused more on a research question. ... The main goal of the authors was to consider â€Å"a correlation between clinical features and MRI findings in lumbar disc prolapse in order to define the significance of further treatment development† (Janardhana, Rao & Kamath, 2010). The main clinical features studied among patients were the following: pain distribution, neurological signs, and symptoms in lumbar disc prolapse (Janardhana, Rao & Kamath, 2010). Therefore, the authors were focused on patients’ clinical features, such as lower limb radiculopathy and the outpatient department of orthopedics were included in the study. The authors chose quantitative approach to the current health study. This fact can be proven by the fact that a focus group consisted of 119 patients, 59 males and 64 females. The mean age (44.83 years) of patients and a range of female/male age groups indicated in the results section of the study refers to the main features of quantitative research (Moore, 2008). Moreover, in the section of â€Å"Materials and Methods† it was noted that Kappa coefficient was implemented for assessment of intra- and interobserver variations. Furthermore, implementation of statistical tests (Kappa and Logistic regression analysis) confirms the nature of quantitative research. A correlation between research question and a chosen approach It is relevant to notice that in previous studies in this field, MRI findings were rarely correlated with clinical level and MRI level. A high percentage of cases when the L4-5 disc prolapse was not only responsible for L5 radiculopathy in 67 (94.36%) cases imply that there is a â€Å"good correlation between the clinical level and MRI level† (Janardhana, Rao & Kamath, 2010). Moreover, a

Class Scheduling System Essay Example for Free

Class Scheduling System Essay College and university campuses frequently struggle with the task of getting academic classes and the wide variety of non-academic meetings and events that they host into the appropriate rooms. Ensuring the availability of the necessary services and resources can also be difficult. How Class Schedule Maker Software Can Help You A class schedule maker will go a long way in making life easier for students as this automates the process of scheduling classes to some extent. It is a useful tool that will save a lot of time. College days are tough as students have to juggle time between studies and part-time jobs to keep them afloat meanwhile and some students also have to participate in sports and athletics. And classes are only available at certain times and students have to wrap their schedule around these. A tool that will help with scheduling will be really helpful for students and teachers alike. College teachers have some of the best and most respected jobs. But enriching the intellect of young minds takes a lot of responsibility as the competence of the teacher plays a part in deciding to what extent the student will excel in that subject. And for this teachers have to spend a lot of time preparing proper study material. And if you put yourself in the academician’s shoes, you will see that this is quite difficult. Plus, there is the added responsibility of scheduling classes. This would be unnecessary added stress to the teachers and an electronic aid to help them will prove to be really helpful. A graphic representation of data is always useful and this is one of the benefits of a class schedule maker. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and nowhere is this truer than in the case of pie charts and bar graphs which say a lot in a very few words. By creating customized graphic layouts, you can easily view schedules at a glance and manage your time accordingly. Instead of wasting time scheduling the studies, teachers can now focus on the actual studies and this results in increased productivity gains for both students and teachers who can now utilize their time more efficiently. A Genetic Algorithm Based University Timetabling System The annual construction of an Exam Timetable is a common problem for all institutions of higher education. Quite often it is done by hand or with the limited help of a simple administration system and usually involves taking the previous year’s timetable and modifying it so it will work for the new year. Many British institutions are now introducing the concept of the modular degree. This gives the students much greater flexibility in what courses they take as well as giving a much greater choice. For the timetable, this, and the recent growth in student numbers, means that the timetable will be more constrained than ever. It is no longer good enough to use the previous year’s timetable. Every year a new timetable must be produced to take account of staff, student and course changes causing a necessarily large amount of administrative work. COMPLETE CAMPUS SCHEDULING With EMS Campus, all the functionality necessary for handling the many facets of campus-wide space management – academic scheduling, event management, meeting scheduling, resource tracking – is seamlessly integrated into one â€Å"complete campus scheduling† product. For the academic departments and registrars working to ensure that every class meets in a location and at a time that is acceptable to professors and students, the system provides automatic room assignment within user-supplied parameters, integration with your SIS/ERP software and efficient online collaboration tools. It also simplifies final exam scheduling. Meeting and event staff have access to a powerful array of tools for booking single- or multi-day events, reserving the services and resources required for those events, producing operational and statistical reports, and tracking financial transactions. For those tasked with publishing a web calendar for the campus, the Virtual EMS component of the system makes it simple. ACADEMIC SCHEDULING SOFTWARE VS TIMETABLING SOFTWARE Unlike timetabling software or timetable software, which is typically used to create a class schedule from scratch each semester, academic scheduling software allows you to roll existing schedules forward and modify them, making the scheduling process more efficient. Simple data entry It is quick and easy to enter all subjects, classes, classrooms, teachers and their contracts. The application also enables creating all specific divisions of classes into groups. It is possible to unite more classes into one lesson or to have more teachers for one lesson. Automatic generating In few minutes, the program generates a complete timetable that fulfills all your requirements. The program follows all psycho hygienic and organizational requirements such as: * The minimization of gaps in teachers schedules the limitation of maximal number of gaps in teachers schedules, as well as the limitation of days, when teachers teach. * A class of a subject has to be distributed equably in the entire week. * Verification of succession of entire and divided classes. * Placing lessons into allowed classrooms. * And many more Verification of the timetable The program verifies the data entered and helps you remove standard entry errors. It also verifies, whether the created timetable fulfills all conditions. You can make changes to the timetable, and the program notifies you, in case of illegal changes. Complete print You can print your timetable. The program automatically creates timetables for each class, teacher or classroom. It creates summary timetables of classes, teachers or classrooms for the entire school. Once printed it helps you easily assign substituting teachers when necessary. You can specify which classes, teachers or classrooms you want to print in each summary timetable.

America Underclass Essay -- essays research papers fc

It is believed that there is a tension between social classes in America. Typically, people of lower classes choose to imitate those of higher social status. As a result, advertisers have a tendency to take advantage of this tension in order to profit from people of the lower and middle classes. In â€Å"The American Upper Class,† G. William Domhoff says that â€Å"exhibiting high social status†¦ is a way of exercising power† (Domhoff p.34),† which is something important to all social classes. According to Judi Puritz Cook, author of â€Å"Consumer Culture†¦Sales Discourse,† advertisements in print as well as in visual media seem to create â€Å"the promise of status mobility through consumption (Cook p.373).† In the article, Puritz explains how television programs on channels such as the Home Shopping Network are examples of how the media exploits the anxiety caused by social standing. It is believed that American people in the lower and middle classes have needs for status mobility. For example, when browsing through a fashion magazine, one can find numerous sections that are dedicated to creating ways to look like the featured model or actress for half the price. The intention of the article, in most cases, is to give others the impression that you are of high social status. In addition, advertisers often use people in the entertainment business to model their products so that the viewer may purchase the product. For example, when mimicking the purchases of hotel heiress, Paris Hilton one may believe, â€Å"If I buy this, I’ll look cool just like Paris Hilton!† The fact that this method is usually successful is a product of the anxiety felt by lower and middle class families. For those reasons, it is likely that Domhoff’s statement that the upper class â€Å"creates respect, envy, and deference in others,† is true. It seems that many o f America’s lower and middle class families would like to create those same feelings of respect and envy in others. When flipping through Vogue, a well-known high fashion magazine, one can see that almost all the advertisement scream wealth and status. The magazine’s beautiful models as well as its expensive brands are major characteristics of the famous magazine. Members of the middle class skim through the magazine thinking, â€Å"Wow, if only I could look like this!† In Gregory Mantsios’ article â€Å"Class in America,† he says, â€Å"We are, on occasion, presented... ...consciously imitate† (Domhoff p.166). Various advertisers use the desperate need of people of the lower and middle classes to appear â€Å"rich† as a weapon. Domhoff’s statement is an explanation of why many people choose to emulate people of high social status. According to Domhoff, showing signs of high social status is one of the many reasons that the upper class generates feelings of envy and deference in those of lower social status. This seems to be the reason for the craze involving the imitation of celebrities as well as the wealthy. It is also believed that the lower classes attempt to look as much like the people in higher classes because of the feeling of significance that comes with the expensive clothes etc. As a result, advertisers use the tension between social classes to sell the idea of luxurious style. Works Cited Cook, Judi Puritz. â€Å"Consumer Culture †¦Ã¢â‚¬  Mass Communication and Society 3.4 (2000): 373-392. Domhoff, G. William. â€Å"The American Upper Class.† Great Divides: readings in social   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  inequality in the United States 2nd edition (2001): 159-167. Mantsios, Gregory. â€Å"Class in America: myths and realities.† Privilege (2003) 33-47.

Sunsilk in Bangladesh

Marketing Plan Of SUNSILK SUNSILK Prepared for: Asif Mahfuz Adjunct Faculty of School Of Business University Of Liberal Arts Bangladesh Username: Sabrin Trisha Password: ZX7Yoxd05bpP Prepared By: Student’s Name| Student’s Id| Sabrina Haque| 102011026| Course Name : Principles of Marketing Course Code : BUS 206 Section : 04 Submission Date : 30 May, 2012 Spring 2012 Letter of Transmittal 5 May, 2012 Mr. Asif Mahfuz Adjunct Faculty of School Of Business University Of Liberal Arts BangladeshHouse # 56, Road # 4/A (Satmosjid Road) Dhanmondi R/A, Dhaka-1205 Bangladesh. Dear Sir; Subject: Submission of the Final Report on â€Å"Sunsilk(hair care consumer product†. We are very glad to submit the report on â€Å"Sunsilk† that you have assigned. This is our report where we have tried to find out the key factors that you assigned upon us. This report extends our knowledge and will help us in the future. Thank you very much for giving us such kind of opportunity to e nrich our knowledge and skills under your observation.We would like to thank you for your valuable guidance in every problem we had and the precious time that you gave us. We will be available for any further clarifications required. Sincerely, Student’s Name| Student’s Id| Signature| Sabrina Haque| 102011026| | Farhana Rahman| 102011009| | Farhan Tanvir| 102011014| | Sharmin Sultana| 102011008| | Table of contents Sl. No| Title| Page No| | Executive Summary| | 1| Background of Sunsilk a) History b) Milestone| 78| 2| Company Analysis of Sunsilk| 10| 3| Mission of Sunsilk| 11| | Vision of Sunsilk| 11| 5| Goal of Sunsilk| 11| 6| Segmentation | 11| 7| 4p’s of Sunsilk a) Product b) Price c) Promotion i. Media plan for Sunsilk ii. Creating an advertise for Sunsilk d) Place | 121415161720| 8| Market Scenario of Sunsilk a) Target Market b) Market Share c) Mind Share d) Heart Share| 21212222| 9| Competitive Strategies of Sunsilk a) Defining a Strategic Objective b) Expa nding the Total Market— i. New Customer ii. More Usage iii. Regular Customer c) Choosing General Strategy— i.Flank Attack ii. Frontal Attack iii. Bypass Attack| 232324| 10| Competitive Rivalry Positions of Sunsilk a) Availability of Many/Equally Balance Comp Competitors b) Industrial Growth Declines— i. Industrial Stage ii. Growth Stage Maturity iii. Stage Decline Stage c) BCG Marketing of Sunsilk d) High Fixed Cost & Storage Cost of Sunsilk e) Low Switching Cost of Sunsilk| 2525262727| 11| Threat of Substitution Product of Sunsilk a) Buyer’s Low Switching Cost b) Substitute Product’s Price is Lower c)Substitution Product’s Quality &Performance is Greater/Equal to Existence Product| 282828| 12| THE POWER OF BUYERS a) Buyers are Larger and Few in Number b) Buyers purchase a large portion of Industry’s total output c) Buyers switching costs low d) Buyers can pose threat to integrate backward into the Seller’s Industry| 29303030| 13| THE POWER OF SUPPLIERS a) Suppliers are large and few in number b) Suitable Substitution Products Are Not Available c) Individual Buyers Are Not Large Customers of Suppliers d) Suppliers Goods Are Critical to Buyer’s Success e) Supplier’s Products Create High Switching Cost f) Suppliers Can Pose Threat to Forward Integration to Buyer’s Industry| 313132323232| 14| SWOT Analysis a) Strength, b) Weakness, c) Opportunities, d) Threats. | 33333333| 15| Recommendations| 35| 16| Conclusion| 36| 17| Annexure| 37| EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Sunsilk Shampoo’s are under the flag of Unilever is a very famous international product. Sunsilk was launched in the UK in 1954 & by 1959 it was available in 18 different countries worldwide. Sunsilk is the largest beauty shampoo brand in the Bangladesh. Currently, Sunsilk products are available in over 50 countries throughout Asia, Middle East, North Africa and Latin America, where is known as Sedal.This executive summery describes the history, company analysis, mission, vision, 4p’s of Sunsilk shampoo such as- variety in consumer products, price, distribution objectives, Competitive Strategies of Sunsilk, Competitive rivalry position of Sunsilk, B. C. G Marketing of Sunsilk, Threat of substitute’s products. Mind share, Market share and Heart share are also included here, which helps to understand about consumer perception about the Sunsilk product. What competitive strategies Sunsilk follows is also included in this report. The Power of Buyer & Power of Supplies to Sunsilk is not a threat to Sunsilk shampoo. Marketing programs and promotional activities are clearly and briefly covered in this report. Finally, in the end recommendations are given that what strategy should Sunsilk follow to meet the strategies and market share of their competitors. 1. Background of SunsilkSunsilk Shampoo’s are under the flag of Unilever is a very famous international product. Sunsilk is the largest beauty shampoo brand in the Bangladesh. Positioned as the ‘Hair Expert' by 1959, it was available in eighteen different countries worldwide. Currently, Sunsilk products are available in over 50 countries throughout Asia, The Middle East, North Africa and Latin America, where is known as Sedal. 1. a) History Sunsilk was launched in the UK in 1954, and by 1959 it was available in 18 different countries worldwide. At the time, Sunsilk had an advantage over other shampoos in the market as it only needed one application, and so meant washing less natural oils from the hair. In 1956, Sunsilk cream shampoo for dry hair was launched. * In 1958, a new transparent polythene tube for the liquid shampoo was introduced as an alternative large size pack to the bottle. Sunsilk was also available in such tubes. * In 1959, it was available in eighteen countries worldwide. * In 1960, Sunsilk Tonic shampoo was launched, containing skin healing ingredient * Allenton – designed to help keep the sc alp free from infection. * In 1961, Sunsilk Liquid shampoo was re-launched to Sunsilk Beauty, because ‘Liquid’ in the name, originally used to distinguish the product from powdered shampoos had become meaningless as the majority of shampoos were now in liquid form. In 1962, Sunsilk was marketed as a range of shampoos for different hair types. Sunsilk significantly improved product formula and launched new variants in 1966: the first major shampoo to contain oliv oil, which acted as conditioner to make hair soft and manageable; shampoo for dull hair, which restored hair’s natural shine; lemon shampoo for greasy hair with deep cleansing ingredients. * Sunsilk hair spray was first launched in 1964 to enter an expanding hair-spray market, but in 1966 a new product formula was developed which gave hold, even in damp weather whilst still caring for hair. The hair spray contained a French perfume and could easily be removed by brushing or shampooing it out. In 1969, all Sunsilk shampoo was re-packaged in new PVC bottles, which were larger than traditional glass bottles for the same price. * Sunsilk conditioner was launched in 1971 with three variants for dry, normal and greasy hair. In 1973, Sunsilk launched an aerosol dispensed setting lotion. An economy size shampoo bottle was introduced for Sunsilk in 1974. * In 1975, Sunsilk became the biggest name in hair care with 1,000,000 packs being sold every week. * In 1980, the whole Sunsilk range was re-launched, with improved formulations and packaging design to bring the brand into the 1980s. * In 1985, Sunsilk styling mousse was launched and 2 years later a conditioning mousse followed. In 1989, Sunsilk introduced with three variants related to hair type endorsement of a hair stylist was the first step in building the image of brand as health care expert. * In 2000, to strengthen the brand UPL decided to prelaunch Sunsilk premium range consisting of four variants in January. * In 2001, Sunsilk move d into the hair colourant market for Asian-type dark hair, offering a range of seven permanent colors from natural black to copper with purple, red and gold tints. * In 2003, Sunsilk launched a new range of shampoos and conditioners, which were developed to meet women’s hair needs and reflect the way women, think about their hair.The fake institute (a trademark by Sedal) â€Å"Elida Hair Institute† developed the products in response to market research. Each product contained a unique formulation of ingredients, combining the best from natural and scientific worlds to help combat common hair problems. 1. b) Milestone Sunsilk starts working as consumer product from 1954 in Uk and now it is an international product. In these days Sunsilk did some special achievements which smoothed its way. Such as – Years| Activities | 1954| Sunsilk first launched in the UK. | 1955| First advertisement of Sunsilk appeared on TV. | 1959| Available in 18 countries worldwide. | 1964| Launch of Sunsilk hair spray. | 1968| Sunsilk shampoo re-packaged in PVC bottles. | 1971| Launch of Sunsilk conditioner. | 975| Sunsilk became the biggest name in hair care. | 1989| Introduced 3 variants related to hair type endorsement| 2000| Prelaunch Sunsilk premium range consisting of four variants| 2003| Sunsilk glossy magazine launched in Argentina| 2008| Social networking site Gang of Girls was introduced in India. | 2. Company Analysis of Sunsilk Name | Sunsilk Shampoo| Logo| | Category | Consumer Product | First Launched In| 1954| First Launched At| United Kingdom| Produced By| Unilever Group| Main Theme Of This Product | It knows you, and hence knows exactly what your hair needs| Total Hair Expert | 7| Available In | 50 countries throughout Asia. | Sector | FMCG|USP | Popular hair care brand having product for all types of hair| Tagline/ Slogan | For Expert – Touched Hair; Life Can’t Wait; All you need is Sunsilk| Segment | Personal Hair Care Shampoo availab le in multiple variants| Target Group| Girls in the age group from 16 to 40| Positioning | The Sunsilk hair care range provides a complete hair care solution and functions as a 3-step combination of cleansing, nourishing and manageability| 3. Mission Of Sunsilk Sunsilk’s mission is to add vitality to life. We meet everyday needs for personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life. 4. Vision Of Sunsilk To earn the love and respect of India, by making a real difference to every consumer is the xision of Sunsilk 5. Goal Of SunsilkSunsilk was launched in the UK in 1954. It was available in eighteen different countries worldwide. Currently, Sunsilk products are available in over 50 countries throughout Asia, The Middle East, North Africa and Latin America. Sunsilk’s goal is to be the number one shampoo of the whole consumer product market as soon as possible. 6. Segmentation | Child| Female| Male| High Price| Johnson| Fiama D WillsDo ve, Loreal | Revlon,Loreal| Low Price| Meril| Clear,Head & Shoulder| Sunsilk,Clinic Plus| 7. 4p’s of Sunsilk 7. a) Product Currently, the range consists of: * Yellow Sunsilk with Bio Proteins from Vegetable Extracts: Normal hair needs wholesome nourishment.New Sunsilk with Bio Protein extracted from Vegetable milk has nutrients that deeply penetrate each hair strand, to nourish it leaving hair strong and beautiful. * Black Sunsilk with Melanin from Plant Extracts: Dull hair needs a rich black shine. New Sunsilk with Melanin extracted from plants serves this purpose very effectively. It helps in the growth and retention of the black color of hair, giving it a rich black shine. * Green Sunsilk with Fruitamins Vitamins from fruit Extracts: Thin and limp hair needs extra body and volume. New sunsilk with Fruitamins has natural extracts from fruit that contains Vitamins. These vitamins help in giving extra body, shine and amazing manageability to the thinning and lifeless hair. Pi nk Sunsilk with yoghurt proteins : Dry hair needs wholesome conditioning, extra shine and style. New Sunsilk with yoghurt proteins makes the dry hair full of life. Its especial ingredients moisturize each hair right to its tips leaving it shiny and beautiful. * Orange Sunsilk with active nutrients from Citrus Extracts: The advanced formula of orange Sunsilk is the result of the latest research. This shampoo is especially designed for oily hair type that looks flat and greasy due to the excess of moisture. New sunsilk with active ingredients from citrus extracts cleans the excess oil off hair while its nutrients deeply penetrate each hair strand to nourish it.Buying Rate of Consumers of Sunsilk Shampoo 7. b) Price UNILEVER claims to practice value-based pricing in which the customers’ perception of the product’s price provides a starting point for developing the marketing mix of the product. The research department determines this price usually by using focus groups. Th e price of Sunsilk shampoo sachets shows how the price also reflects a concern to make the purchase more convenient, since the rupee is denoted in this value. A present market price example of Sunsilk and Dove shampoo can easily show this – Sunsilk| Cost| **| Dove| Cost| 200ml| 140/=| **| 200ml| 170/=| 700ml| 500/=| **| 700ml| 600/=|Mini pack| 2/=| **| Mini pack| 3/=| So as per the market segmentation of shampoo in Bangladesh, Sunsilk (Unilever) provides same quantity of shampoo like other brands but comparatively in low price 7. c) Promotion There a number of ways to advertise both local and global brands in the market. Some of the very common means through which advertisement is done include: * Electronic Media: Electronic Media has been the major factor in determining the global success of Sunsilk. In today’s world where an average middle class individual has access to 30 to 40 channels through the cable minimum, has the ability to view different types of advertisem ent just flipping the channels.Thus the consumer of today is so well posted on the fact that whenever a new product is launched, is it in the United Kingdom or in the United States, a consumer living in Asia would be well aware of the features of the products and he would know who the company is targeting. * Print Media: Print Media advertisement is one of the common ways of advertising. The print media including the magazines, newspapers and brochures are relied upon a lot. In print media, the importance of placing the advertisement plays an imperative part in increasing the sales of the product. * Billboards: Billboards have become one of the most influencing ways to advertise in our world. Everyone can see a whole advertisement like you watch on your own televisions or the type of moving and animated type of advertisements that you can see on the billboards happen to be very much in fashion.Sunsilk also has nearly all of its products on the billboards when either it’s laun ching a new ad, coming up with price promotions or re launching any product. These ads seem to be appearing all the time, which is really good for the company, as they are easily attracting the customers in every possible manner. * Giving out free Samples: When the new Sunsilk Black was introduced, what the company did was, to create awareness amongst the youth they went to schools and colleges and distributed free samples of the products and gave out little brochures which told the qualities that the product had and the proper method of getting a black and shiny hair look. 7. c. i) Media plan of Sunsilk January| February| March| April| May| June| July| August, September, October| November| December| Electronic Media| * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | Print Media (weekly once)| * | * | * | * | * | * | * | | * | * | Billboards| | * | * | | | * | * | | * | * | Giving out free Samples| * | | | | * | | | * | | | Concert| | * | | * | | | | | | * | 7. c. ii) Creating an advertise fo r Sunsilk To create an advertisement is to make people (consumer) informed about a new product. Sometime products which are in market also use advertising to make selling rate high. Creating advertise for Sunsilk has to go through some certain steps to make a fruitful consequence. Such as – Select Objective (depends on product’s life cycle) Initiative or Persuasive or ReminderBudget Slogan Message Emotional / Funny /Rational Appeal / Romance / Entertainment / Fear / Humor Strategy Evaluate Media Reach, Frequency & Impact Alternatives Choosing Among Media Choosing Specific Media Select Specific Time * Step 1 : Select Objective In Selecting Objective steps Sunsilk stay in the ‘Maturity Stage’ of Product Life Cycle which required specific advertising objective ‘Low Persuasive’ Sunsilk Sales & Profit) (Initiative) (High (Low Persuasive) Persuasive) (Reminder) (Time) Product Product Product Product Product Develop Introduction Growth Maturity Decline ‘Low Persuasive’ objective works on – i. Building brand preference, ii. Encouraging switching to Sunsilk brand, iii. Changing customer’s perception of product value, iv. Persuading customers to purchase quick, v.Convince customers to tell others about Sunsilk specially. * Step 2 : Budget Product’s company has to finance a budget. As an international consumer product producing organization under UNILEVER Sunsilk has ability to maintain a high rated budget plan. * Step 3 : Strategy The most critical step of advertising is ‘Strategy’. It contains 2 particular part. Such as – a) Message b) Media a) Message: message contains 2 part called Slogan & Appeal. Slogan – ‘Next Generation’s Shampoo’ Appeal – Sunsilk is a consumer product for hair which has deep emotional & romantic impact on human being. So to create advertise, emotional appeal can be chosen. ) Media : Reach, Frequency & Impact Choosi ng Among Media Choosing Specific Media Select Specific Time Reach, Frequency & Impact – Reach means how much people see the advertise total ; Frquency means how much people see the advertise at one time & Impact is the concequence of the advertisement, which is counted by TRP( Target Rating Program). Choosing Among Media – Media is the via to which advertise will be publish. For Sunsilk advertise media, T. V is the perfact media in case of Bangladesh. Choosing Specific Media – Sunsilk is an advertise for women, who aged 16 to 40. So have to choose those T. V channels which are regular to them.In Bangladesh ntv, Channel i, ETV,Bangla Vision, Channel 1, Machranga t. v, my t. v etc are prefarable for urban area & BTV must be prefarable for rural area. Select Specific Time – Select specific time refers to select that time when the specific audience remains infront of T. V. women generally watch T. V after 3pm to 9. 30pm for movie & daily serials. So Sunsilkâ €™s advertise will telecest in this time mainly. * Step 4 : Evaluate Alternative This step to judge the quality of new advertises. If a positive result come, only then advertise will be telecast. 7. d) Place Distribution Objective: â€Å"To reach as many towns and villages as we can†UNILEVER has 150 distributors whose function is to sell to wholesalers directly. There are different distributors for different areas. They are carefully selected and their performance is constantly evaluated. * Wholesaler, * Merchant, * Broker, * RETAILERS Sunsilk goes to these stages such as- Wholesaler, Merchant, Broker & Retailers through wholesalers. Then they sell Sunsilk products to final customers as consumer product in retail price. Producer (Sunsilk) OR Producer (Sunsilk) (Sell) (Sell) Merchant (value add) Merchant (value add)Wholesaler Wholesaler Brokers (works for commission) Wholesaler Retailer Wholesaler Wholesaler Retailer Wholesaler Retailer Retailer 8. Market Scenario of Suns ilk 8. a) Target Market The main target market of Sunsilk is females between the ages group 16-40 belonging to the lower and middle income classes. But in their promotional activities, they cover the whole market irrespective of these classes. Sunsilk target its market on the basis of consumer buying behavior, income level, and purchasing power of people.For which quantity of the product can be changed according to the income and purchasing power of the consumers as in case of Sunsilk 120ml and 5ml packs are also available to target low income groups. 8. b) Market Share Sunsilk as a market competitor, they are steadily gaining market share. At present market situation is that Sunsilk owns 38% of the total market share. 8. c) Mind Share Too buy shampoo rational consumers firstly think about Sunsilk due to the promotional strategies of Sunsilk. So that Sunsilk rapidly increase their mind share. Figure: Mind Share 8. d) Heart Share Due to reach product and marketing attributes & featur es Sunsilk’s mind share in total competitive market is higher than any other brand. Consumer would like to choose Sunsilk as their first choice. Figure: Heart Share 9.Competitive Strategies of Sunsilk 9. a) Defining the strategic objective: The Sunsilk Shampoo aims at fulfilling the needs of its target market by offering a high quality, assessment of the concept in terms of its acceptability, credibility and perceived benefits, that it offers a healthy choice shampoo alternative to the targeted consumer. The theme of the product shall be anchored around the motto. 9. b) Expanding the Total Market: Sunsilk is very sensitive to increase its market. It’s sometime very challenging for a firm to expand its total market. Sunsilk basically wishes to increase new customer and more usage. 9. b. i) New customersSunsilk is trying to attract buyers who are unaware of the product or who are resisting it because lack of such features. Sunsilk is using market penetration strategy, ne w market segment strategy and geographical expansion strategy for searching new consumers. Very attractive advertising and other propositional activities perform a vital role in this case. 9. b. ii) More usage: Sunsilk recently increase the amount, level and frequency of consumption. It also improves packaging and redesigns the product. It offers larger package sizes and makes the product more available. They emphasize more on marketing program, which inform the consumer about the brand and it frequently develops the product which also spurs new uses. 9. b. iii) Regular Customers:Sunsilk knows that to continue regular customers is more important than to create new customers. So to hold regular customers, Sunsilk is always careful and makes a standard scale of own product. Sunsilk tried hard to situates or if possible as soon as possible increase the standard scale foe regular customers. 9. c) Choosing General Strategy: 9. c. i) Flank Attack: Sunsilk can follow segmental strategy. In market Head & shoulders targeting mainly high and middle class people but big portion in lower class consumer could not adopt their product. So, Sunslik targeting the lower class, who have lower income and launch new product at a lower price. 9. c. i) Frontal Attack: Sunsilk can launch new shampoo combining conditioner, anti-dandruff, and shinning in a one product as follow as Head & Shoulders. 9. C. iii) Bypass Attack: Sunsilk can introduce anti-dandruff shampoo and provide an extra conditioner in a package. 10. Competitive rivalry position of Sunsilk 10. a) Availability of Many/Equally Balance Competitors Sunsilk is no one most important rival of other brands such as, Dove , Head & Shoulder , Clinic All Clear , Pantine , Herbal Essences even Neutregena . But as because Sunsilk has a separate market , these other brands are not able that much to change Sunsilk ‘s market price . EvenSunsilk is a great threat for them. Rate of Sunsilk Users 10. b) Industry growth declines Duri ng the production cycle, a product has to face these following stages: I. Introduction Stage II. Growth Stage III. Maturity Stage IV. Decline Stage Sunsilk has passed its introduction & growth stages successfully, now it is in its maturity stage. As we know that the maturity stage is the most competitive stage in production cycle. Sunsilk has to face a huge challenge in this stage . In maturity stage occasionally the industry growth slows down but sunsilk is able to hold its maturity stage by promoting new versions, new brand ambassador . new advertisement ,new offers etc .Such as , a 200ml Black shine Sunsilk ‘s market price is 140Tk. where as the same amount of (200ml ) Dove shampoo ‘s market price is 170TK. Customers are more biased to buy Sunsilk Black Shine rather than Dove ,though Sunsilk has reached its maturity stage . Maturity Stage of Sunsilk Is The Price Worth? (Market Price Of Sunsilk) . Production Cycle 10. c) BCG Marketing | Low Market Growth| High Market G rowth| HighMarket Share| | | LowMarketShare| | | 10. d) High Fixed Cost & Storage Cost of Sunsilk Sunsilk has 47 years business throughout the world, so it’s fixed cost isn’t too high as well as it’s storage cost is not that much high .And as we know that storage cost is one kind of fixed cost , so it is a advantage or positive power for Sunsilk , because other brands has a high storage cost & fixed cost because they don’t have that much long duration of business life like Sunsilk. 10. e) Low Switching Cost of Sunsilk Sunsilk can be differentiating easily from other brands, because it has separate fragrance, separate color, most of all it has separate position in market as a well known shampoo. Sunsilk’s switching cost is also very high there is no chance to increase its competitive rivalry by lacking of differentiation opportunities or low switching cost. 11. Threat of Substitution Product of SunsilkThe threat of substitute products is the extent to which alternative products or services may supplant or diminish the need for existing products or services. 11. a) Buyer’s Low Switching Cost As we know that 200ml Sunsilk shampoo’s market price is 140Tk, where as Dove 200ml‘s price is 170 TK . So , we can see that buyers find Sunsilk more cheaper than Dove and other brands. Actually Sunsilk is a threat of substitute products to other brands. Sunsilk| Cost| **| Dove| Cost| 200ml| 140/=| **| 200ml| 170/=| 700ml| 500/=| **| 700ml| 600/=| Mini pack| 2/=| **| Mini pack| 3/=| 11. b) Substitute Product’s Price is Lower This problem occurs if the other branded shampoo has cheaper market price than Sunsilk.So buyers are getting more attraction to buy other brands rather than Sunsilk shampoo in market. 11. c) Substitution Product’s Quality & Performance is Greater / Equal to Existence Product It will be a threat for Sunsilk if other brands will have better quality than Sunsilk. To avoid this threat Sunsil k often offers new innovation on its production policy. Such as, Sunsilk made a deal with 7 famous hair experts of the world . This was a great attraction to the buyers. Buyers have found that no other brands offered such an excellent opportunity to beautify their hair condition. So a huge number of buyers continued to use Sunsilk & shift from other brands to Sunsilk. 12. THE POWER OF BUYERSThe power of buyers is the extent to which buyers of any product or services in an industry have the ability to influence the suppliers of that product or services. The bargaining position of buyers changes with time and a company’s (and industry's) competitive strategy. The buyer's power is significant for Sunsilk because when the power of buyers increase, buyers can force prices down, demand higher quality products or services and in essence, play competitors against one another, all resulting in potential loss of industry profits. Buyers exercise more power when – 12. a) Buyers a re larger and few in number In case of ‘Sunsilk product’ the buyers are larger and few in number mean the number of buyers is few but they purchase in a huge numbers. This situation does not occur normally.Because buyers (consumer) of Sunsilk are not few and do not buy in large amount. Buyers are large in number and they buy in small amount for them. This is an advantage for Sunsilk product and a disadvantage for buyers. 12. b) Buyers Purchase a Large Portion of an Industry’s Total Output In this situation buyer buy a large portion of the whole output of the industry. It automatically makes the buyer powerful. Here the buyers mean the shopkeepers who bought in a large amount for sell from Sunsilk. They can force prices down, demand higher quality products or services, in essence play competitors against one another, all resulting in potential loss of industry profits.But in case of Sunsilk there is no chance to happen this situation because Sunsilk has a lot of b uyers who purchase in huge volume. This is an advantage for Sunsilk. 12. C) Buyers switching costs low When other competitive product’s costs lower than Sunsilk, it is easy to switch to another product. But it cannot happen because Sunsilk gives the best quality shampoo in fewer prices at the same amount. For example here we compare dove shampoo’s price with Sunsilk shampoo. 12. d) Buyers can pose threat to integrate backward into Seller’s Industry Buyers can pose threat to integrate backward into the seller’s industry if buyers worked as a group.Group of buyers can act threat to integrate backward into the industry. Sunsilk has individual buyers, so there is no chance to face any threat from buyers for Sunsilk and it is also an advantage for this industry which is a disadvantage to its buyers. At last it is to analyze that Sunsilk is a large and famous industry and for these qualifications and financial capability Sunsilk can overcome the power of buyers . 13. THE POWER OF SUPPLIERS 13. a) Suppliers are large and few in number It means the number of suppliers is few but they supply in a huge numbers. When this situation occurred suppliers must increase their demand against the buyer (industry), so the industry faces lose at large.But it is not possible with Sunsilk because as a large industry Sunsilk keeps the number of suppliers many and they supply in small amount. So there is no way to exercise more power to suppliers of Sunsilk. It is an advantage to Sunsilk and a disadvantage to suppliers. 13. b) Suitable Substitution Products Are Not Available Suitable substitution products are not available described the situation when there are lack of substitution products. Sunsilk use many ingredients in making, so when this situation occurs Sunsilk must switch to another substitution. Such as Sunsilk use ‘chemical essence’ for smell and this ingredient is available all time because any supplier can supply it.Or if the lack of substitution product happens anyhow, Sunsilk switch to other chemical essence or something else which can fulfill Sunsilk product’s requirement. So Sunsilk never give chance to become the suppliers powerful 13. c) Individual Buyers Are Not Large Customers of Suppliers When any producer purchases ingredients from suppliers, he becomes a buyer of those suppliers and if the buyer purchase at low volume he does not get any advantage from suppliers. In case of Sunsilk, it needs huge volume of ingredients from suppliers as buyer. So there is no way to be ignored by suppliers when the buyer is the famous & large Sunsilk. 13. d) Suppliers Goods Are Critical to Buyer’s SuccessThe main ingredient supplier of any product is called critical supplier of that product. For assumption we take the Sunsilk Co-Creation Stunning Black Shine Shampoo, which use many chamials as main ingredient such asS204, sodium loreth sulphet, carbomied, panthalon etc and it is easy to get that ingredien t’s supply and also supplier. So critical supplier’s good cannot create any harm to Sunsilk. 13. e) Supplier’s Products Create High Switching Cost Supplier’s products create high switching cost means industry needs to pay more if wants to switch to another supplier. In case of sunsilk this problem does not occur. There is a lot of suppliers for supplier’s product of Sunsilk because of being a large and famous industry.So there is no chance of high switching cost of supplier’s product. 13. f) Suppliers Can Pose Threat to Forward Integration to Buyer’s Industry Suppliers can pose threat to integrate to the buyer’s industry if suppliers worked as a group. Group of suppliers can act threat to integrate to the buyer’s industry. Sunsilk has individual suppliers, so there is no chance to face any threat from suppliers for Sunsilk and it is also an advantage for this industry which is a disadvantage to its suppliers. At last it is to analyze that Sunsilk is a large and famous industry and for these qualifications and financial capability Sunsilk can overcome the power of suppliers. 14. SWOT AnalysisSWOT analysis is the easiest way to find out the Strengths, Weakness, and Opportunities & Threats of any industry. As an international company Sunsilk has also those. This analysis identified the ‘Strengths’ to fill the ‘Weakness’ of industry. to make the proper use of ‘Opportunity’ and create consciousness for the ‘Threats’ in industry. SWOT analysis of Sunsilk is – 14. a) STRENGTHES * UNILEVERs Limited is one of the largest organizations in India. * Company has advanced technology and well skilled professionals. * The New Sunsilk Shampoo is a high quality product in terms of hair protection. * The target market is educated, professionals and belongs to premium and middle class. Company totally owned, systematic distribution network, transparent communi cation system. * Participative management style * Very good distribution network all over India, in all major and small cities. 14. b) WEAKNESSES * Competitor has strong promotional activities. * Customers are offered better alternatives by the competition. * Advertisement flaws- * Devaluation of product * Product’s quality loses its values * Poor promotion of free samples * No unique identification of product 14. c) OPPORTUNITIES * Population expanding at a rapid rate. * Consumers are becoming more quality conscious * Current capacity utilization is 80%, which can be further broadened with the increase in demand. Customer base is increasing with effective marketing. * Baby shampoo is another area where HINDUSTAN UNILEVERs can make huge gains. * Shampoo plus conditioner and anti-dandruff shampoos are another area where UNILEVER can earn huge profits. * Rural areas are a large prospective market where they can introduce Sunsilk. 14. d) THREATS * Political and Economic factors. * Partial Government policies. * High rate of competition. * Local and Foreign competition. 15. RECOMMENDATIONS 1. The Sunsilk is a global company and each country has own culture, so Sunsilk should drive according to local preferences and needs because it is really necessary in today economic crisis to capture huge market share.Sunsilk can arise and ensure social responsibility in the society, so they would establish themselves in customer mind and customer would be loyal about Sunsilk. To ensure social responsibility and highlighting benefits they provide Sunsilk can raise their revenue. Sunsilk must focus on social responsibility, to maintain image among customers, mainly advertisement covers huge expenses of Sunsilk, but we recommend them to cut their advertisement expenditures, in the economic crisis and should more focus on social responsibility. To ensure social responsibility and highlighting benefits they provide Sunsilk can raise their revenue. Figure: Sales revenue and s ocial responsibility 2. People are familiar with Sunsilk, however they are not interested in whether it is a unilever product or not.Through extensive marketing methods unilever should make people aware of the fact that it is a Unilever Product and not just any product so that the brand loyalty increases and people purchase its product due to its brand name and not just the product name. 16. Conclusion Sunsilk has huge potential of rural market 72% of total population but not yet develop a successful strategy to penetrate this market. The success of Sunsilk emulated which captured the rural market by two strategies- Develop strong distribution structure and Adopting packaging and pricing. Sunsilk increase buying of raw material so that it does not have to suffer devolution and continuously increase in tariff rates.They introduced a smaller 100mi pack of Sunsilk in order to capture lower income segment. Sunsilk enter into web marketing. They should increase frequencies of advertising by electronic and print media. They should introduce 2 in 1 shampoo plus conditioner which demand huge potential market. Finally, taking everything in account we can say that if Sunsilk emphasize more on social responsibility and create more attractive marketing programs, they can grab huge number of customers. 17. Annexure * www. unilever. com * www. unilever. com. pk * www. millwardbrown. com * www. google. com * www. wikipedia. com * www. ac. com * Unilever financial statement 2007-08 * www. scribd. com * www. slideshare. net

North Country Auto, Inc Essay

Each of the departments of North Country Auto, Inc. namely, the new cars sales and used cars sales, service, parts, body shop and oil change â€Å"operated as part of one business† before George Liddy bought into the dealership. The Department Managers were paid salaries and a year-end bonus. However, feeling that this system would not motivate employees, he devised a system wherein he could track effectively the departmental performance. For this, he developed a system for so that each department will be treated as decentralized profit centers. This new system requires that cost be broken down per department. Also, the bonuses per each department head will be based on departmental gross profits. So far as the outcome of the new system is concerned, a recent new car purchase sparked friction and disagreements among division heads on the matter of setting of transfer prices and allocation of costs and profits. It was important that as one department aims to maximize profit, it does not negatively affect other departments. Issues that needed to be resolved include setting of transfer prices between departments, formalizing intercompany transactions, the divisional structure (use of profit or cost center), and the proper allocation of company profits among departments. Problem The different departments of North Country Auto, Inc. must choose between three pricing systems: base on market price, full retail better than others, and based on book value. Also, the company must decide whether they should continue treating each department independently in order to gain huge profits considering that the manager’s incentives are determined upon the department’s earnings. Point of View In this case, we take the point of view of George Liddy, owner of North Country Auto, Inc. Analysis In examining the issues faced by the company, the car purchase discussed in the interdepartmental meeting is used as illustration. †¢ Company’s current operation Comparison: -retail full price considered (new car sold for $5200 without any repairs) -book value considered (used car sold for $5200) Revenue Costs Profit new car (full retail price) $14,150 , $11,4 , 20 , $2,7, 30, used car (book value) , 5200, 4800 , 400 †¢ Price-transfer shown by profits guide book value at wholesale and assumed market Price $3,500 , retail price 5200 , trade in allowance 4800 The trade in allowance of $4800 is the value that is essentially believed by the new and used car sales force believes that the car can be sold. Considering the market price of $3500, the calculated profit is $1700. But, it should be recognized that this profit is at the expense of the $1300 profit from the initial transaction. This is due to the difference between the car’s trade value ($4800) and the market price ($3500). With this, the used car manager must receive the credit or consequences for the profit or loss. This is due to the fact that the used car managers are the appropriate ones to receive incentives in selling the used cars. On the other hand, the new car managers are the ones to receive the incentives in increasing the trade-in value of the cars above the market value. This in turn, makes it easier for people to buy new cars. The illustration above brings up the issue of having the used car manager receive incentives because of the car’s value determined by the new car manager Explanation on $59000 loss on wholesaling of used cars The loss may have occurred because new car owners are pushing for trade-in car values above market valuations on their used cars. For example, if new cars are sold for $4800 and used cars for $3500, the used car group would have a difficult time making a profit. This is because they may have sold the car for $5200 (as shown in the example above). Most of the time, it will be hard for the used car department to sell the used cars above its book value of $3500. Thus, the used car division may incur loss since they are using cost for the used cars that is too high. Recommendations Incentives should be based on company profits. A better system should be established such that managers of the two departments are given incentives based not on the gross profits of their respective departments but on the  profits of the company as a whole. This would help ensure that conflicts of the two departments will be lessened and that the two departments will no longer compete but will work together to enrich the value of the firm. In order to be more profitable, the firm could use blue book values for the trade-in value and use that as the cost to the used car division. However, if it is better for the firm to provide added incentive to customers to trade in their cars, the firm could allow for higher trade-in values but responsibility for those added costs should reside in the new sales division. Regarding the issue of costs, whether it should be at wholesale or retail, it should be considered that North Country is a company offering more on services. The cost of service of making the cars sellable differs minimally from the market price. And these service costs should be added to the cost of used cars in wholesale. The profit on repairs must be akin to competitor’s values as well as to the industry. QUESTION and ANSWERS 1. Using the data in the transaction, compute the profitability of this one transaction to the new, used, parts, and service departments. Assume a sales commission of $250 for this trade-in on a selling price of $5000. (note : use the following allocations [new,$385; used,$665; parts,$32; service,$114] for overhead expense while computing the profitability of this one transaction. These overhead allocations are also shown as Note 13 in Exhibit 3.) Using the data in the transaction , compute the profitability of this one transaction to the new, used, parts and service departments. Assume a sales commission of $250 for the trade in on a selling price of $5000 2. How should the transfer – pricing system operate for each department (market price, full retail, full cost, variable cost)? The transfer pricing system should be operated at full retail . But at the same time care should be taken that the retail transfer price of the repairs should not encourage the used car sales manager to avoid the possibility of losses in her department by wholesaling trade in cars that  could be resold at a profit for the dealership. This cud hurt the dealership by making its deals less attractive for new car customers. Hence while maximizing profits in one’s department it should not affect the other departments negatively. 3. If it were found one week later that the trade-in could be wholesaled for only $3000, which manager should take the loss? If the used car is sold at auction for $3,000 after the trade-in value was set at $4,800, the company should note a loss of $1,800. However, if the new car salesman only gives $3,500 of value to the new customer based on the Blue Book value, then the loss reflected on the income statement and balance sheet should only be $500. In the case of the $1800 loss, responsibility should fall on both the new car salesman and the used car salesman. The new car salesman is at fault for giving the customer $4,800 in value when the car was only worth $3,500. The used car salesman is responsible for the additional loss of $500 for being unable to receive market value for the car. If the used car had a trade-in value at Blue Book of $3,500, then the used car salesman alone would be responsible for the loss of $500 in this transaction. 4. North Country incurred a year-to-date loss about $59.000 before allocation of fixed cost on the wholesaling of used cars (see note 2 in Exhibit 3). Wholesaling of used cars is the theoretically supposed to be a break-even operation. Where do you think the problem lies? It is possible that this loss occurred because new car owners were giving customers looking to trade-in existing cars above market valuations on their used cars. If new owners were providing credit for $4,800 for a used car that is worth $3,500, the used car group would have a difficult time making a profit. While there would be times (like the example above) where they could sell the car for $5,200 and still make a profit despite the inflated prices, most of the time they will have difficulty selling the used car above its Blue Book value of $3,500. Therefore, the used car division may be operating at a loss because the cost they are using for the used cars is too high. 5. Should profit centers be evaluated on gross profit or â€Å"full cost: profit? Incentives should be based on company profits. A better system should be established such that managers of the two departments are given incentives based not on the gross profits of their respective departments but on the profits of the company as a whole. This would help ensure that conflicts of the two departments will be lessened and that the two departments will no longer compete but will work together to enrich the value of the firm. 6. What advice do you have for the owners? The owners of the business should make sure the managers of their various groups are properly incented to do what is most profitable for the firm as a whole. Probably, the firm should use blue book values for the trade-in value and use that as the cost to the used car division. However, if it is better for the firm to provide added incentive to customers to trade in their cars, the firm could allow for higher trade-in values but responsibility for those added costs should reside in the new sales division. On the other hand, if a case can be made that the used cars are worth more to this organization than to the market as a whole because they have an ability to consistently sell used cars above blue book value or because the service organization can increase those used cars more than other organizations can at similar cost, the additional costs of allowing trade-ins above Blue Book value might be appropriately split between both the new car and used car divisions.