Zara case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Zara case study - Essay Example erstanding the competitive environment is one of the most useful tools which help in determining the importance of activities taking place in organisation (Mclvor, 2005, p.122). Every organisation makes use of the competitive force to determine the activities. The competitive force also termed as Porters five forces constitute of bargaining power of suppliers, customers, threat of substitutes, threat of new entrant and rivalry among firms (Henry, 2008, p. 80). Bargaining power of supplier: The apparel industry usually has their own suppliers and as result they do not have to depend on external suppliers. In addition there are lot many suppliers available in the apparel industry making the bargaining power low. Also it is not possible for a given supplier to dominate the apparel industry which tends to negatively affect the suppliers power (Data Monitor, 2010, p.16). In case of Zara, the brand gets about 50% of its raw materials from Inditex group and so it does not depend heavily on the external suppliers. Zara however reduces the supplier’s power by working together with the vendors and implementing in the process to make the manufacturing process effective and cost cutting. Therefore maintaining good relationship with its vendors has also helped Zara to lower the power and tilt the games in favour of Zara. Bargaining power of Buyer: buyers are the individual consumers and his fact weakens the negotiation power of the buyer. Retailers differentiate themselves through different style and offers which is being offered by each brands. However in cases where the retailers cannot go for forward integration and as a result the retailers are obliged to offer the consumers with what they demands, strengthening the power of buyers. But in overall case the power remains from moderate to high (Data Monitor, 2010, p.15). The buyer’s power for Zara can be said to be moderate as the consumers are ready to pay a high price for its products. Threat of Substitutes: Garments

Tourism industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Tourism industry - Essay Example It has also helped in better cultural understanding through the interchange of ideas between host and guest communities. Though mass tourism provides different economic and social benefits, it is also associated with different negative impacts on social, economic as well as environment aspects of a community. Tourism can be sustainable only if it is managed carefully (United Nations Environment Programme, 2014; Mirbabayev, n.d.). Taking into concern the various impacts of the mass tourism on environment and economy, there has been an idea of imposing taxes on mass tourism in additional to the already high taxes on various tourism requirements such as hotels, flight charges and other rentals. This idea may help in eliminating certain tourism related issues but it fails to realise the impact that it can cause to the tourism industry. In fact, tourism taxes in some countries have become an easy and a trendy fashion for governments to collect revenue from visitors in order to cover the government expenses. The tourism industry is taxed by methods of direct taxation to the tourists or units associated or involved in tourism (Gooroochurn & Sinclair, 2003; Rinaldi, n.d.). Such hikes in taxes not only force the tourists to go to other cheaper destinations but also have a serious effect on the local residents. For example, the Hawaiian Tourism industry experienced fall in tourism in 2007 owing to effects of various direct along with indirect tax hikes, which affected more than 75% of jobs in the state. The tourist shifted elsewhere taking their spending with them and the taxpayers were left with budget deficit owing to that the state economy was also weakened (Nothdurft, 2009). Similar example can be taken from fact that Caribbean Tourism was impacted negatively due the government aviation taxes in tourism (Caribbean journal, 2013) Tourism taxes are also being levied in the local level, which is creating more tax

The Reason for Choosing Pharmacy as a Profession Essay Example for Free

The Reason for Choosing Pharmacy as a Profession Essay I belong to a family of traditional physicians in Hong Kong. As the eldest son in my family, it is certain that I will inherit this traditional medical practice. Our neighborhood has very few medical facilities available and consequently, there has always been a steady stream of ailing persons, visiting our clinic. Right from a very early age, I have been actively involved with this process and in this manner I developed not only interest in treating patients, but I also acquired quite a bit of knowledge regarding the traditional medicines used to cure the various ailments that people undergo. In addition, I developed a great deal of interest in lending a patient and sympathetic ear to patients. In school, I developed tremendous interest in science and discovered my innate scientific bent of mind. Gradually, I developed proficiency in the basics of pharmacology and with this expertise, realization dawned on me that I could achieve much more than merely continuing in the footsteps of my father. My surmise was that a more detailed and in depth study, into this fascinating subject would help me to isolate the specific ingredients in the herbs, used in traditional medicine, which were instrumental in effecting the cure. Such identification of the critical components in traditional medicines would enable me to enhance the healing capacity of these medicines.   Ã‚  In order to increase my knowledge, in this context, I became a member of the Medical Student Science Association of Hong Kong. I was in the habit of experimenting with the extraction and identification of the different compounds present in drugs, which had curative properties. In one such experiment, I was successful in isolating eucalyptol, which is chiefly employed as an expectorant in medicine, from the eucalyptus tree. Since my twin objectives are to develop medicines and to help people who are suffering from various diseases, pharmacy is the suitable field of study to embark upon. This burning desire to become a pharmacist was further fuelled by my experiences in the US. In that country, I had the good fortune to closely observe pharmacists at work, while working with them. They are very patient and competent, while listening to the problems of patients and replying them. Their enthusiasm and professionalism are legendary and this served to motivate me to follow in their footsteps. I have been very active in the Texas Southern Universitys Pre-health Professionals Club. In this highly inspiring place, I understood the value and effect of empathizing with the difficulties being faced by patients. Moreover, I realized the value of professionalism. The College of Pharmacy and Health Science of the Texas Southern University is veritably one of its kind in the US. Its primary objective is to provide excellent skills and competence, in the process of creating some of the best health care professionals in the nation. There is great emphasis on conducting research into new drugs and procedures. It would indeed be a great honor to complete the graduate program in pharmaceutical sciences (Pharmacy Health Sciences, 2006). The combination of my passionate love for pharmacy and the outstanding teaching of the College of Pharmacy and Health Science of the Texas Southern University would help me to provide much better help to patients. References Pharmacy Health Sciences. (2006, August 9). Retrieved January 20, 2008, from Texas Southern University: http://www.tsu.edu/academics/pharmacy/index.asp

Consumer Reactions Towards Product Placement In Movies Media Essay

Consumer Reactions Towards Product Placement In Movies Media Essay A review of trade and popular press over the past few years quickly reveals the interest in and growth of the product placement industry. Product placement is one of todays hottest new media, and it is getting increasing attention from advertisers, media planners, and research firms attempting to assess its effectiveness and value. It is getting increasingly popular and rapidly becoming a serious marketing discipline worldwide. Most major movie releases today contain product placements. It is a multimillion-dollar business with every frame in a movie having an opportunity for branding. From cars and cell phones, to mouth fresheners and branded tea-our heroes and heroines are the ultimate consumers. According to the PQ Media Global Product Placement Forecast Series 2006-2010 Country-by-Country Analysis, global paid product placement grew 37.2 per cent to $3.36 billion in 2006 and is forecast to grow 30.3 per cent to $4.38 billion in 2007, with growth accelerating in China, India and Australia (What Every Global 2006). Meeta Vora Munshi, Faculty (Marketing), Som-Lalit Institute of Management Studies (SLIMS), Opposite St Xaviers College, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad à ¢-  Phone: 9825071663 à ¢-  email: [emailprotected] Dr Sarla Achuthan, Director, B K School of Business Management, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad à ¢-  Phone: 26304811. Product Placement In Movies Product placements have played a role in motion pictures for many decades and can be found in Hollywood movies dating from the late 1940s and early 1950s (The Economist 1991). Movie legend Joan Crawford drank Jack Daniels whiskey in the 1948 movie Mildred Pierce (Nebenzahl and Secunda, 1993). In the 1950 movie Destination Moon, four space travellers rocketed to the moon drinking Coke and wearing Lee jeans (Vollmers and Mizerski, 1994). And Bollywood is not far behind. The earliest reference of product placement in Hindi movies comes in the 1940 classic Chalti ka Naam Gadi with Coca Cola. In 1967 movie An Evening in Paris, Sharmila Tagore was seen sipping delicately from a 200 ml bottle of Coke, struggling to make sure the logo was visible. Rajdoot motorbike was seen in Bobby way back in 1973. A few more recent and popular examples of product placements in Bollywood are Strohs beer in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge; ICICI Bank, Ford Ikon, Archies Cards, Tide detergent and Tata Tea in Baghban; and Times of India in Hum Tum. The practice of using branded props in movies started as a casual process. Branded items were simply donated, loaned, or purchased for particular movie scenes to enhance their artistic qualities (Spillman, 1989). But things changed with the 1982 movie ET-The Extraterrestrial, in which the alien creature was lured from its hiding place with Reeses Pieces candy. The Pieces candy sales increased by 65 per cent just 3 months after the movies release (Buss 1998, Farhi 1998, Reed 1989). It was since then that marketers began actively seeking their own product placements, fully understanding its commercial impact (Caro, 1996). LITERATURE REVIEW Several studies have investigated the attitudes and perceptions of viewers regarding the practice of product placement. These studies were efforts at determining whether moviegoers find the practice objectionable, given the stealth and deceptive nature of the product placement, as claimed by some consumer groups. Interestingly, these studies found that, in general, the majority of people in the United States dont object to the practice of product placement (Gupta and Gould, 1997; Nebenzahl and Secunda, 1993; Ong and Meri, 1994). Placements are seen as adding realism to scenes, are preferred to fictitious brands and are understood to be more and more a necessary component to cost containment in the making of programmes and movies (DeLorme and Reid, 1999; Gupta and Gould, 1997). Most consumers considered product placement as a less obtrusive form of marketing communication than other advertising forms in the movie theatre, even though some of them criticized product placement as a deceptive communication strategy (Nebenzahl and Secunda, 1993). Not many similar consumer studies in India were found, though a study carried out among students in India did find positive attitude towards product placement (Panda, 2004). RATIONALE OF THE STUDY Since the beginning of televised programming, advertisers in India have shelled out big bucks to promote their products on TV. The 30-second TV ad spot had been the sole reigning champion for a very long time, but no longer so today. Although the number of television channels has increased in the last decade from under 50 to over 200 today, the number of advertisers has grown much more rapidly (Surapaneni, 2006). Moreover, the bulk of advertising is limited to few popular TV channels. This has resulted in tremendous advertising clutter. Also, it has been noticed that TRPs of ad breaks have declined with channel zapping. And with marketers demanding more bang for their advertising buck, agencies were prompted to come up with innovative solutions. An association with Bollywood gives them an opportunity to look beyond the 30-second television commercial. For advertisers, the product placements provide clutter free noticeability (and possible sales!) from the huge number of Bollywood viewers in the captive atmosphere of theatres, on TV during film telecasts and at homes through DVD/VCDs. For filmmakers, the placement of appropriate brands in their films offers a legitimate and profitable source of revenue, over and above making the films more realistic. Obviously, its a win-win script for advertisers and filmmakers. The penetration and popularity of films in India can never be doubted. The Indian film industry is one of the largest in the world, producing 1041 films annually. And Bollywood, the Hindi film industry, commands a huge 40 per cent share of the Indian film market (Media and Entertainment, 2007). The output of Bollywood is phenomenal. In 2006, the $3.5 billion industry produced 152 films. With a growing international market, Bollywood ticket sales are close to $4 billion every year (Bollywood-A Foretaste, 2007). The trend of product placements in Bollywood is increasing and advertisers are expecting mileage from this means of communication. This justifies the need to study the viewers reactions towards this practice in general. It could be helpful to marketers using this means of communication in understanding their target consumers. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE The research objective of this study is to understand the viewers reactions towards the current practice of product placement in Bollywood. The main objective is translated into the following seven questions representing different aspects of viewers reactions: Do the product placements make the scene in a movie more realistic? Are the product placements a source of information about latest products? Should undue focus to place product be avoided? Do product placements cause irritation/distraction? Are product placements overused these days? Are product placements a means of money making for film makers? METHODOLOGY For this study a total of 121 respondents were surveyed in the city of Ahmedabad. The sampling method was convenient sampling, with care taken to include approximately equal number of respondents across demographic variables of gender and age. Considering persons below 16 years as children, only people of 16 or above were surveyed. Each respondents frequency of watching Hindi movies per month (irrespective of whether at home or theatre, on satellite TV or VCD/DVD) was also noted. The persons who mentioned watching less than 1 movie per month on an average were considered underexposed to the medium of movies and hence not included in the sample. The survey tool was a structured questionnaire consisting of a short initial description of the product placement practice to familiarize the respondents with the topic. The questionnaire was divided in two parts. In the first part, respondents were required to give personal details resulting in 3 variables, namely, gender, age and approximate frequency (of watching Hindi movies per month). The second part contained 7 items/statements which were based on product placements in general and not for any specific movie. These statements measured viewers reactions as per the questions discussed above. The variables generated by the second part of the questionnaire are as follows: Variables Questions REALISTIC makes the scene in a movie more realistic INFORMATION is a source of information about latest products SUBTLE should not be given undue focus in the scene DISTRACT causes irritation/distraction OVERUSED is overused these days MONEY is a means of money making for film makers BAN should be banned Thus a total of 10 variables, 3 based on personal details and 7 based on reactions were generated by the questionnaire. PRELIMINARY FINDINGS Out of a total of 121 respondents surveyed, 64 (ie, 53 per cent) were males and 57 (ie, 47 per cent) were females. Their age ranged from 16 years to 76 years. The approximate number of Hindi movies watched ranged from 1 movie per month to 30 movies per month. Charts indicating the profile of respondents based on personal detail variables are provided below. The response in terms of percentage of the respondents is summarized below. Variable Agree/Strongly agree Disagree/Strongly disagree Neutral REALISTIC 23% 48% 29% INFORMATION 71% 12% 17% SUBTLE 64% 18% 18% DISTRACT 21% 52% 27% OVERUSED 64% 12% 24% MONEY 85% 4% 11% BAN 21% 47% 32% A first hand glance at the above table shows that a huge 85 per cent of respondents thought product placements was a money making means for film makers and a large majority also thought placements were a good way of knowing about ongoing products. More than half of the respondents thought product placements were overused in movies these days and that they should be subtle and not overbearing. Close to half the respondents did not think scenes got more realistic with product placements. But again around half the respondents also thought product placements did not distract them and should not be banned. The process of deriving detailed results is underway. It is proposed to report difference in reactions of respondents across gender, age and movie watching habits as also correlations between the reaction variables using various statistical analysis tools of the SPSS package. CONCLUSION Though this study is limited only to Ahmedabad city and a limited sample size, the results may not be conclusive but indicative enough for marketers using this means of communication. From the preliminary results it can be said that people do have positive reactions towards the product placement practice if done subtly. So creativity and innovation can actually make this form of advertising quite paying.

Comparing the Work of Arundhati Roy and Seamus Heaney :: Comparison Compare Contrast Essays

Comparing the Work of Arundhati Roy and Seamus Heaney Arundhati Roy writes a provocative story of growing up in India in his book entitled, The God of Small Things. The novel is placed in two different time periods about 23 years apart and moves smoothly from one time period to another. Roy’s predominate story is of Estha and Rahel who are â€Å"two-egg twins†¦born from separate but simultaneously fertilized eggs† (Roy 4), but along with their story are several other stories that spotlight members of immediate Ipe family members and persons living nearby. Woven into Roy’s novel are his views of life in India. Also examined here is Seamus Heaney’s book of selected poems, Opened Ground. The poet laureate of Ireland portrays in his writings his views Ireland, from his life as a child to the troubles Northern Ireland has faced because of England in the last century. These two countries are different in cultures and traditions and are located at opposite ends of the global yardstick. But common to both are pr oblems of unrest; in India those associated with English influence and domination; in Northern Ireland problems concerning English sympathizers and those opposed to English rule. These similarities and differences will be examined here. Roy begins by speaking in the present time focusing on Rahel return to India after a long absence. The author includes a careful description of the desolateness that currently envelopes the once active house, a house filled with activity but little happiness. After Ammu, the twin’s mother, is divorced, she returns to the house and fills it with her young and active twins. Rahel and Estha lived guarded lives as children, finding happiness for the most part only in their relationship with a neighbor of a lesser class, Velutha, a carpenter who became involved romantically with Ammu. Eventually, Estha was separated from his twin and sent to live with his father. In years past, her grandmother, Mammachi, spent unnamed hours on the front veranda, fleeing from her brutal husband, the Reverend Ipe and playing her violin. When Sophie Mol, Chacko’s daughter arrives from England for a visit, she is received on the veranda and served cake. And the property near the house also once held a factory of Mammachi’s named â€Å"Paradise Pickles and Preserves† and employed several people. The house held a bustle of activity. But when Rahel returns, all the activity that occurs outside involves rodents running in overgrown gardens and frogs swimming in scummy ponds.

Relation Between Law And Morality :: essays research papers

Factors Affecting Life In The Fourteenth Century   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  By all accounts, humanity was faring pretty well in the period from the eleventh century to the thirteenth. The population was steadily increasing due to better farming methods that better feed the people in Europe at this time. Significant social and political changes proved to be making life more stable, and there were many advances being made in the intellectual community. This stability, however, was upset by some of the most sever calamities ever to affect modern society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Things began going downhill during the early thirteen hundreds, when Europe encountered what was latter termed to be a, â€Å"little ice-age.† This very subtle shift in economic patterns was enough to cause rampant malnutrition and even starvation in some heavy hit areas. Things were so bad that historians now believe that the famine may be responsible for a nearly ten percent drop in population in during the first half of that century. Although this is a staggering figure in itself, it is widely believed that it also had a hand in further reducing the population via the most terrible epidemic know to man; the Black Death, or the bubonic plague.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Black Death was the most lethal outbreak in recorded history. While different sources have conflicting figures, it is widely believed that the Plague wiped out up to fifty percent of the entire population. The plague itself was probably brought to Europe from Asia through trade ships or caravans, where it was spread through flees that lived on rats that co-existed in the cities and other urban areas. Lacking present day knowledge about bacteria and biology in general, the seemingly arbitrary spread of the Black Death completely baffled the early European, who attributed it to all sorts of things, such as Jews or the wrath of a vengeful God. The unfathomable amount of death had very negative effects on almost every human institution, such as the religious establishment and normal social behavior. It must have a terrifying era to live in, and is a situation that hasn’t been duplicated in nearly 700.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Probably owing partially to the examples already given, war and general social unrest were another evil that beset an already bewildered people. The most brutal and protracted single example would have to be the Hundred Years War between England and France. It was touched of 1337 when Philip VI, the king of France, forcefully seized the province of Gascony from the English.

Law and the legal system Essay

1. Law and the legal system are based on ideas from centuries past, but both are still constantly evolving to meet the needs of today’s world. What do you think will be the next amendment added to the US Constitution? Why? I think the next amendment will be the legalization of same sex marriage as it seems that more and more states are legalizing it. 2. The Constitution protects free speech, free press, free assembly, and freedom of religion. Additionally, the Supreme Court has upheld protection for freedom of expression. How has this culture of freedom led to the society we have today? It led us to be more controversial and voice our opinion more then other cultures around the world. In my opinion people are more caring and more likely to do acts of kindness in America then places like Russia. 3. What is an issue involving the legal system that is currently getting a lot of attention in your state? What is your opinion on the issue? An issue that is getting a lot of attention is the legalization of medical marijuana. I think it should be legalized as it shows signs of being a treatment for people who have cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, pain, glaucoma, epilepsy, and other conditions. 4. Have your opinions on the legal system, the government, or law in general changed since you started taking this course? Why or why not? My opinion has not really changed, but I do understand a lot of it on a deeper level now.