Marketing Strategy for Apple Ipod

Executive Summary The focus of this report is on the Apple iPod that has created increasing demands in various outlets. The iPod allows consumers to download their favourite music but also books, movies and now even allows one to surf the internet. In this reports you find an extensive analysis on how Apple has became such a huge company within its market and will show us how the popularity of the iPod has seemingly helped Apple to be become one of the most well known brands worldwide. In order to do this, the main areas of discussion I am going to focus upon are the company itself. I will look at the firms’ internal and external Marketing environment in order to provide an insight in what position the firm is in. Furthermore, I will look at the competition they are facing and what affect this have upon their marketing strategy. I will also provide recommendations will be provided on how Apple can strengthen their position in the market. Introduction Established in April 1976, Apple, develops, sells, and supports a series of personal computers, portable media players, mobile phones, computer software, and computer hardware and hardware accessories. Rather than releasing multiples of little products to try and win over consumers through market saturation, Apple releases higher end, high quality, and user friendly products. They believe in bringing in simplicity and innovation to the mass market and for that reason have been extremely successful. As of September 2007, the company operates about 200 retail stores in five countries and an online store where hardware and software products are sold. Its products include the Macintosh line of desktop and notebook computers, the Mac OS X operating system, the iPod music player and a portfolio of software and peripheral products for education, creative, consumer and business customers. [1] Apple introduced its first iPod portable digital music player. The product has proven unbelievably successful; over 100 million units have been sold in the six years since its introduction. In 2003, Apple's iTunes Store was introduced, offering online music downloads in integration with the iPod. The service quickly became the market leader in online music services, with over 3 billion downloads by August 2007. Steve Jobs announced that iTunes had reached 4 billion downloads during his keynote address at the 2008 Macworld Conference & Expo. [2] Apple is recognized as an unparallel in computer designing and compatibility. The sleek and state of the art design of the Apple’s products snatch away the consumers mind quite easily than the rest. The Apple iPod The iPod is the fastest selling music player in history. Apple has sold over 100 million iPods since the player’s introduction in October 2001, [2] although sales have said to have started slowing; the company currently enjoys a Microsoft-like domination of the MP3 player market. From the early iPods to the new iPod touch, it has gone through a significant change and has opened the user’s world from the palm of their hands. In January Apple reported the best quarter revenue and earnings in Apple's history so far. Apple posted record revenue of $9. 6 billion and record net quarterly profit of $1. 8 billion. 42% of Apple's revenue for the First fiscal quarter of 2008 came from iPod sales. [3] Another interesting statistic for this is that 40% of last quarter's iPod sales went to first-time buyers, and just shows that the music player market is far from saturated as some have stated. [4] This iconic product is considered by many to be a must have item. â€Å"The iPod is to music players what Kleenex is to tissue or Xerox is to copiers. †[5] The Marketing Environment Apple operate on a global level with 200 stores in 5 countries. Nowadays Apple is more commonly know for the iPod. The iPod has dominated digital music player sales in the United States and United Kingdom with many companies struggling to find a product to challenge the iPod. Due to the ever-changing market, businesses like Apple need to monitor the ever-changing business environment and make sure they are going in the right direction. A business can then only plan where it is going if it knows where it is starting from. Finding out where a business is at the moment involves looking at its micro and macro environment. Micro-Environment Porter’s Five Forces The microenvironment consists of those factors that affect the firm directly. This model helps to contrast the micro environment of a firm. (Refer to Appendix A) What we know is that competition in the market is very intense A wrong move could have a harmful affect with your competitors moving ahead of you due to the intensity of the competition in the market. In relation to that, customers are in a strong position as they have more bargaining power and due to the fact there are many substitutes. With the Microsoft Zune 8 it makes it really difficult for new consumers to make a decision between the two. Often customers will pay due to the iPod reputation and its important Apple keep this high. Macro-environment Pest analysis To further analyse the external marketing environment, the macro environment we conduct a PEST analysis. Such external factors usually are beyond the firm's control and sometimes present themselves as threats. PEST is the abbreviation for political, economic, social and technological. (Refer to Appendix B for full PEST analysis) The Competition In the PC market Apple face intense competition form the likes of Dell, Toshiba and HP. Whilst in operating system, Microsoft are the biggest rivals. In both these Apple do not have a great hold. However in the Mp3 market, which is more relevant, Apple have dominated the Market since the release of the iPod. With the competition current coming from SanDisk and Samsung. [12] Its safe to say that although Apple is diversified more than most of its competitors, their differentiation is a biggest strength because they spend so much on R, which is what seperates them from their competition. SWOT Analysis A summary of Apples SWOT analysis is that Apple are in a very strong position because it has a powerful brand name and is recognised globally, coupled with its huge fan base of consumers gives them many strengths within the market. The fact that they are so popular in the mp3 market gets them a lot of attention within the media. Only Microsoft due to being Apples biggest competitor will get a large amount of media coverage. The iPod itself in terms of ease of use and innovative technology means that it is very difficult to match. Only the Microsoft Zune 8 can compare to the design and usability. Although may have been released to late in order to make real challenge against the iPod. For Apple to overcome the potential threats, they must continue to be inventive and explore opportunities globally. R + D and product innovation are of the utmost importance. Apple must continue to improve and be innovative to remain market leaders, otherwise other companies may capitalise on any kind of drop in standards. Although one of the largest digital music sellers in the world, iTunes face a bit of competition from Amazon as well as Myspace, Apple have a target on their backs and only takes a company with good resources to challenge them. for full SWOT analysis refer to Appendix C) Marketing Objectives Due to Apples secretive attitude, finding real evidence of real goals is difficult. What we can deduce however is that although iPod sales are starting to slow they still want to maintain high turnover and profit. That’s the major objective of any of its competitors. Also from resea rch over various sources Apple are aiming hoping to: †¢ Improve brand awareness †¢ Improve sales with the iPod touch. †¢ Improve position in the mobile phone market, with the help of the SDK for the i-phone (Aiming to sell 10 million iphones this year Improving sales of the iPhone and the touch, as they are the ‘in’ products which everybody wants, would help them gain a enormous amount of revenue and help spread the brand. Marketing stratergy I think Apples main stratergy is there appeal to their customers. What you find in general with many of their products more btter looking than the competitions. One thing we can see is Apple building on the popularity of the iPod. It appeals to the Mass market. Now appeal less as a computer company and more of a electronics company and seem more user-friendly. Apple have a differentiation stratergy. Apple products are known to have a unique appeal, with its sleek designs a userbility. Due to this it gets a lot of attention from consumers and the media. Without much advertising or marketing on their part. They give something new and unique to talk about which everybody gets pulled in to. With the iPod there not only selling a mp3 player, there selling a social chic. Everybody has one and everybody wants one. Target Market Target market †¢ Apple Ipod focused particularly at those between the age of 12-25, consistent with their advertising. Bright colours and and a man dancing. It will appeal to both males and females †¢ People who have a passion or interest in music and/or literature †¢ Technology enthusiasts The iPod appeals to the mass market, everyone is a potential customer. Young or old. They have music, literature and podcasts all avaiable for the iPod owners. The simplicity and sleek design is what attracts people. Although the latest ones (the touch) are exp ensive, and may be aimed at higher and older earners. Marketing mix The marketing mix consists of four elements: Products, Price, Place and Promotion, better known as the 4p’s. The marketing mix can only be made when the target customer is known, which I have done above. |Product |Price | | | | |This product allows consumer’s to download not only their |When initially launched into the mp3 market, Apple utilised pricing | |favourite music but also books and photos. Nowadays with the|strategies in the form of psychological and skimming prices. Most of | |latest versions of the iPod you can watch videos and surf on|the websites have the iPod touch at ‘? 199. 00. ’ This makes consumers | |the internet with one small device. Apple have introduced |think it is much cheaper than ‘? 200. 00’ but in reality it is only a | |updated versions of the iPod starting from the first iPod in|pound less. The high price is on the basis of the companies | |2001 to the iPod touch (refer to appendix D). These are |popularity, and the unique design of the ‘touch’. It will also attract| |extension stratergies to increase the product life cycle of |an image of quality with their products. | |the iPod. | | | |[pic] | |The fact that the is product differentiated making it unique| | |will make product both functional and desirable to potential| | |consumers. | | | | |Promotion |Place | | | | |By promoting the iPod it will satisfy the needs of the |Apple has many distribution channels, from their online Apple Store, | |customers. Consumers will gain better understanding of the |to their retail stores and many resellers around the world. Indirect | |product and how it works. All in all advertising and |distribution where third parties are involved in the sales process are| |promotions will bring more awareness to their products and |also used. These resellers will sell to the smaller firms who cannot | |potentially more sales. |aford to buy directly from Apple. | |Apple's promotion strategy, was the surprise element that it| | |attached just before they released the iPod. There was a |The iPod is available to purchase at most major stores within the UK. | |heavy speculation and curiosity regarding the product and |From specialist electronic stores to supermarkets. Stores from Apple | |everyone was watching out for it. It allowed fans and |retailers to Tesco sell the iPod. They are also available all over the| |enthusiastic tech and entertainment media to spread the word|internet from places like Amazon to ebay. A countless amount of | |of the gadget even before its release. Just when iPod was |retailers will stock the iPod such is its popularity | |launched Apple advertised extensively for the iPod, this is | | |where the infamous commercial showing a man listening to the| | |songs on his iPod and dancing. A similar stratergy has been | | |used throught the release as with increasing the popularity | | |of iTunes. | Evaluation of the Apple Strategies The overall position of Apple is profitable as sales have increased over the last years. Sales of the iPod have been increasing since it had been released. Although sales for this quarter have been said to be slow. [pic] Source: wikipedia[2] This has been reflected in their strategies to expand through the introduction of newer more innovative designs and this is why they are market leaders in the mp3 market. Apple has a lot of few different range ranges of iPod products, like the shuffle, the nano, the video and touch. All of which have different prices. This is a good strategy as it appeals to a wide mass market. The fact that Apple append very little on Advertising on their products compared to many of its firms, is down to the general buzz and interest of their products. There teasing with products entices the media and technology enthusiast tin wanting more. However this may not always be the case, for apple to consider more advertising may be important. The differentiation approach sets Apple apart from its competitors however Microsoft is challenging Apple. They have the money and resources to match. It would be fairly foolish to think that Apple is too strong in the market. They need to continue to invest a lot of money in R+D. With products like the iPhone and the Touch it can be said they are going in the right direction, in achieving innovative, unique designs. I also think Apple have a huge opportunity in supporting the whole education system. It has the money and resources to do this. Possibly negotiating contracts with schools and universities, for pod casts even computers could put Apple in a challenging position in the computer market. Having agreements with universities, and schools can increase there popularity and awareness. Conclusion â€Å"Apple has nearly 250 stores worldwide and now derives 20 per cent of its revenue from them. And those numbers are growing. In the quarter to the end of September 2007, for example, Apple reported that its retail stores accounted for $1. 25bn of the company's $6. 2bn revenues – a 42 per cent increase over 2006. †[14] Since the release of the iPod, about half of Apple's revenues come from music and iPods. Interest in the iPod and iPhone has made other apples products popular, like the Mac whose sales have increased. Apple has demonstrated how to create real, breathtaking growth by dreaming up products so original and imaginative that they have taken industries by storm. To maintain control in the mp3 player market, they need to maintain their quality and strategic marketing plans if they want to keep ahead. Apple leads the industry in innovation and many other things like design features. Sony, Microsoft, Creative are all right behind Apple. The battle of the MP3 players will surely be an excellent example of competition that breeds better products, with Apple taking the first step with the iPod Touch and iPhone. The iPod was ground-breaking technology that was absorbed by mainstream culture, and now has become the epitome of portable audio. Companies such as Apple will need to be self-motivated if they are to stay ahead of the game. Differentiation and innovation is the key in maintaining their dominance. Apple has a high competitive advantage because of its excellent product image. They use simplicity and lustrous designs to appeal to customers. The electronic market gets connected more and more with the entertainment market. With already the market leader in the digital sales market, it would not be surprising to see Apple move in to TV. Appendices Appendix A [pic] Source: Corporate Stratergy finntrack. com[8] (Rivalry Calling the level competiton in the mp3 industry as intense is an understatement. The this case we have the like of Sony, Samsung and Creative, with many more in the whole market. Apple commands 70 percent of the MP3 player market. 10] However with concerns of the MP3 market being saturated, its puts more pressure on businesses to succeed. With the innovative designs like the iPod touch and the iPhone it shows why apple are leading the market. (Threat of Substitutes Countless substitute products are available for the iPod whether they are actually better or even appeal more is a different matter, but the threat is still very high. The more diffe rentiation th less like a switch to a substitute will occur. To date no company have come close to meet the popularity of the Apple products. Reason being the innovative designs and ease of use have convinced most customers to stick with Apple. Higher prices need to be justified by the differentiation of the product. Substitutes such as the Sony NW-(A806), Microsoft Zune 8 and many others, can still attract many customers but with imaginative designs like the iPod Touch leaves many companies playing catch up. (Threats of new entrants Although it is possible, its unlikely. Start up costs would be very high so little chance new entrants would enter a very competitive market unless they have a very differentiated and innovative product. Existing firms have established themselves in the market and have created strong brand awareness. (Bargaining Power of Customers The bargaining power of customers is high due to the fact it is easy to switch to a substitute where quality or price, even both is better elsewhere. With so many substitutes of similar quality, its down to the business to make their products more appealing. Apple have done this with their strong vision to build innovative, unique products and have made their products easy to use. (Bargaining Power of suppliers Suppliers don’t have much power over larger corporations like Apple. With the booming chinese economy, Apple can change suppliers without any major consequences, if they are in disagreement over price and quality. However Apple have built a strong relationship with their suppliers, with strict procedures and this in turn helps Apple achieve it targets. â€Å"Our business environment is competitive and fast-paced. Our suppliers must understand this dynamic and be agile and flexible in responding to changing business conditions. †[11] Appendix B Political: | |Governments with stricter laws on copyright | |An anti-american agenda may be brought against them. Some people may choose not to use american products | |Economical: | |Inflation currently has increased in UK and the US and may affect current sales of ipods which have already slowed. |Global economy in a down turn | |The exchange rate will also affect Apple as they are importing or exporting goods within the int ernational market. | |Social: | |Again Anti-american agenda may cause potential customers to but from another company. | |A generally aging british population, so many may be put off by the technology | |As much as it is a iPod culture, it can go away as quickly as it came. People may find something else which is better and| |more value for money. | |Technological: | |Many substitutes available from iRiver, Samsung and sony | |Competition moving away from copy protection on songs. Such as amazon. | |Peer-to-peer file sharing applications like Limewire and Kazaa are still extremely popular. Although this is a problem | |with the music industry on a whole. This still however affects iTunes. | Appendix C Strengths: †¢ The products itself appeals to both males and females †¢ All the iPods starting from the very first have a great reputation amongst it customers for its userability. †¢ Great technology underpinnings that allow the creation of powerful products. Allows them to attract a huge customer base due to their innovation and technology †¢ Very user focused and always committed to a superb user experience, in all their products †¢ Limited edition ranges, increases product life cycle. Limited editions ranging from U2 to BMW Weaknesses: †¢ High prices may push potential customers to competitors with substitutes at a better price. †¢ Technology is changing at a faster rate than ever. For Apple to remain profitable, they must invest huge amount of money in their R&D to remain competitive. †¢ Questions over reliability of the iPod [2] Oppurtunities: †¢ iPod was is revolutionary technology that has become part of mainstream culture, Apple can capitalize on that †¢ To develop themselves in to other markets due to the reputation they earned from the iPod. New designs may be available to boost sales and extend the product life cycle e. g. the iPod touch. †¢ iPods have also gained popularity for use in education. Apple offers more information on educational uses for iPods on their website. [13] Threats: †¢ Very high level of competition, a lot of substitutes, possibly offering cheaper prices i. e. iRiver †¢ Cheap fakes being made of the iPod and the iPod shuffle †¢ Concerns of market being extremely saturated. †¢ Competition, with the like of Amazon in digital sales [7] Appendix D [pic] Sources: Wikipedia [2] and Mactracker Apple Inc. Model database References: 1. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Apple_Computer 2. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ipod 3. Apple Reports First Quarter Results(January 2008), [Accessed date: 14th March 2008]-http://www. apple. com/pr/library/2008/01/22results. html 4. Tim Conneally, (February 2008) Nearly 3% of America became iPod converts over the holiday, [Accessed date: 14th March 2008]- http://www. betanews. com/article/Nearly_3_of_America_became_iPod_converts_over_the_holiday/1204309531 5. Betsy Morris, (March 2008 ) What makes Apple golden, [Accessed date: 9th March 2008] – http://money. cnn. com/2008/02/29/news/companies/amac_apple. fortune/ 6. Q/A with apple employees and analysts(January 2008): Reading the runes for Apple [Accessed date: 5th March 2008]-http://www. guardian. co. uk/technology/2008/jan/10/apple. steve. jobs#swot 7. Jefferson Graham, (March 2008), Amazon takes on Apple with copy-protection-free music [Accessed date: 20th March 2008]- http://www. usatoday. com/money/media/2008-03-25-sony-music service_N. tm 8. Corporate strategy [Accessed date: 25th March 2008] -www. finntrack. com/corporate_strat. htm- 9. http://www. tutor2u. net/business/strategy/porter_five_forces. htm [Accessed date: 25th March 2008]- 10. Leander Kahney, (March 2008)How Apple Got Everything Right By Doing Everything Wrong [Accessed date: 27th March 2008]-http://www. wired. com/techbiz/it/magazine/16-04/bz_apple 11. Apple and Procurement [Accessed date: 29th March 2008]- htt p://www. apple. com/procurement/ 12. Jeremy Horwitz(August 2006) iPod maintains 75. % share of U. S. MP3 player market [Accessed date: 31st March 2008] http://www. ilounge. com/index. php/news/comments/ipod-maintains-756-share-of-us-digital-music-player-market 13. iTunes U and mobile learning[Accessed date: 2nd April 2008] http://www. apple. com/education/itunesu_mobilelearning/ipod. html 14. John Naughton(March 2008) Core values that turned Apple into the best store in town [Accessed date: 4th April 2008] http://www. guardian. co. uk/media/2008/mar/30/marketingandpr. apple Bibliography

Children literacy Essay

The purpose of this story is to improve children literacy. This story helps children to learn different animal names and different things. User can listen and read to story as well. Audience: The audience of this story are children age 4 – 7 and this story will help them to learn names of different things and animals and will improve their grammar. I found that by reading the story and it also has been mentioned on the website. The purpose of final product is to provide entertainment so I will need to include this feature however I will make sure that the text on my animation is appropriate and simple so that the audience can understand it easily. Techniques used: This animation has used a number of techniques to make it professional and attractive which eventually makes it successful. The animation has used buttons to navigate from scene to other by clicking the â€Å"story bear† or â€Å"next†. Users can start the story again if by clicking â€Å"back to the start†. This buttons are very useful as it allows the user to skip the scene or start the story again if they have missed any scene. I will also make that I use buttons on my animation so that user have some flexibility and can navigate easily. These features will make my animation professional and suitable for my audience. At the start of the animation there are two options to watch the story with sound or without sound. This is the technique used by most professional websites, it helps user to understand the story more easily and make the animation suitable for its purpose. This animation asks user to click on different things, when user click on an object the next scene can be watch. This means this animation has used different objects on different scenes as a button. I will use this technique on my animation as it will allow user to interact with the animation which will keep the user interested in the animation. This technique also makes the animation very professional which is a positive aspect about this animation. The object to click on An effect has been added to some objects so when a user is going to click on it and pointer is on it. The appearance of the object will change; a white border will surround this object. This technique will help users to show that this is the right object to click on to watch next scene. This technique is shown on the above screen shot. In this animation the objects has been used as buttons to make it interactive I will use this technique in my animation. I will also use objects or characters as buttons, which will allow users to watch next scene. I will use buttons on my animation and add effect so that the appearance of these buttons can be change when the pointer is on it. This technique will make my animation more eye-catching and aesthetic. The zoom in and out technique has been used several times in this animation. This technique helps user to see the close of the objects which will help them to understand the story. This is a very useful technique as it clearly shows what is happening in the story. I will use this technique where it is important. This will help me to meet the professional standard. This animation has used clouds and question mark to show that the characters are thinking. The face expression also shows that the characters are thinking because of the eye movement and hands position. Below the screen shots shows the two different characters of the story thinking. This animation is very professional because it shows the face expressions. The face of the Micky becomes red when he is angry. Below the screen shots are showing two different emotions. This is a high quality technique as this makes the story interesting and realistic. I will use this technique in my animation; I will show the facial expression of my characters to make my animation attractive to its audience and professional. This animation used a lot of motion tweens to show the movements. The legs of the characters move forward to show the walking effects, hands move to show that they are talking and thinking. At the start of the story the leaves are falling down. The bird’s beak is moving to show the talking effect, the eye balls of almost all characters are moving and the story bear is moving his one foot while thinking. This is a positive aspect on this animation as it makes the animation more interesting and realistic. I will definitely use motion tweens in my animation to show the characters walking and playing and to show the movements of objects. This will help me to create a realistic and appealing final product. Navigation and interaction: This animation is users friendly as its navigation is very effective. To watch the next scene users have to click â€Å"next† or â€Å"story bear† button, this button will also helps user to skip scene. There is another button â€Å"start the story again† which allow user to watch the story again. This gives the user some flexibility. This animation interacts with the users a lot as user have to click the button to watch the next scene and it also asks user to click on different objects. This animation allow user to get involve in the story which will keep their interest till the end. Strengths: Techniques: There are number of good points about this story. These strengths make the animation suitable for its purpose and audience. First of all the animation has used range of techniques. Such as motion tweens, zoom in, face expressions and user interaction. These techniques made the story interesting and professional. This animation also uses clouds to show what the characters are thinking. I will be using some of these techniques to ensure that my product is to the best possible standard. Another good point about this animation is that the scenes flow in a sequence which makes it suitable for its audience, as it is very easy for its audience to understand what is going in the story. I will make sure that the sequence of scenes of my animation is easy to understand and appropriate for my target audience so that they can enjoy the story. Characters and objects: This animation has got six different characters and used a lot of objects. The number of characters are appropriate as they not too much which makes the animation crowdy and audience would not be able to understand what’s happening in the story or there not very few characters which makes the story boring. I will also make sure that the number of characters in my animation is appropriate so that my animation is not boring or crowded. This will make my animation suitable for its audience. Sound and text: The story has an option which allow user to listen to the story as well as reading. This is a good point of this animation because it makes the animation suitable for the purpose it has made for by improving their listening skills. The text of this animation is appropriate for its audience and help to keep the user’s interest till the end. I will include sound and text on my animation so that the users can understand the story easily by listening or reading it. This will give users some flexibility. I will also include some other sounds for example sound of a ball kick to make my animation vibrant and professional.

Progress of Spirit over Time Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Progress of Spirit over Time - Assignment Example For more details, you can visit the official website: http://www.pacificstandardtime.org/exhibitions. It feels good to stay on top of what's happening in â€Å"P.S.T.: Art in L.A.† because there are absolutely several interesting and highly educational exhibits that are truly worth visiting, and even traveling for. I was glad to be able to go visit a couple of exhibits prior to them closing. Some of the exhibits that really stuck in my mind are those entitled â€Å"Under the Big Black Sun† and â€Å"Doin' It in Public.† I like â€Å"Doin' It in Public† because of the feminist theme that comprises every piece of art work in the exhibit. It served as an eye-opener for me because it truly showcased how undermined female artists were before the recent changes in the art scene. It is nice to know that while art works such as Lili Lakich's â€Å"Vacancy/No Vacancy† may have raised eyebrows during that era, it is still one of the those pieces that paved th e way for feminist art to be highly-acclaimed nowadays. Lili Lakich’s Vacancy/No Vacancy, 1972, shown in the â€Å"Doin’ It in Public: Feminism and Art at the Woman’s Building† exhibition at Otis College of Art and Design. An important thing I noticed is that almost all the exhibits showcased in â€Å"Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. ... All I saw in them were individual crafts by artistic people whom I consider as inspiration in my art life. However, as I look back to my previous posts to blogs, and my previous personal write-up, I discovered I had been getting more and more into the collective meaning of the entire L.A. Art Scene. I got more in tune with the culture and the history that shaped the entire art world in L.A., and began to see the vast difference from other art scenes in other places. Before, I have always appreciated non-conformity because for me, going against the norm is an art itself. However, as I experienced the different art exhibits showcasing a deeper meaning of what it is to be radical, I realized non-conformity comes from something deeper than deviating from the

Wholesale Medical Marijuana Distribution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Wholesale Medical Marijuana Distribution - Essay Example The farm produces the marijuana and sells it to retail stores in Denver and Colorado. The farm processes its product to improve its quality before selling it to producers. The company aims at the production of high quality marijuana that satisfies the target market demands. The targets of the business include the adult recreational marijuana users and the medical institutions that require marijuana (Hutchison, 2014). The company aims at satisfaction of customers and improved quality in the marijuana medical products. The mission statement of the business is the selling of high-quality marijuana to the market and foster customer satisfaction. This through customer valuation and enhancing accountability in the delivery of the product. The priority of the company are the customers, rather than the company. The marketing goals are to deliver the medical marijuana at all medical institutions in Colorado and Denver by the end of the year. The goal is also to provide customer satisfaction through the evaluation of the customer demands in different business settings (Beesley, 2013). Another goal is to ensure that the potential customer is informed about the business and its value in the medical field. The company is among the few that have been allowed to deliver marijuana on a wholesale scale in Colorado and Denver. The online market has been incorporated into the company to ensure easy access to the product. The medical market has also revolutionised and has a high demand of marijuana. Beesley, C. (2013). Sole Proprietorship – Is this Popular Business Structure Right for You? The U.S Small Business Administration. http://www.sba.gov/blogs/sole-proprietorship-popular-business-structure-right-you Hutchison, B. (17th January, 2014). Medical Marijuana Production in Canada set for Dramatic Change. National Post. Accessed 31st August 2014. http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/01/17/medical-marijuana-production-in-canada-set-for-dramatic-change/ Krizman, R. (2009).

Sales and Distribution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 27

Sales and Distribution - Essay Example The customer creation process also reveals how the SAP system handles the creation of unique customer IDs for new customers. The deep integration of customer data becomes evident as one goes through the process. For instance, the processing of a sales order from a customer involves linking back to a customer quotation that also includes discount data. Entering the quotation number in the system results in the quotation data populating the fields in the sales order screen. It thus becomes apparent that the entire order to cash cycle builds step to step as one proceeds through it. This gives the user an intuitive feel too for how the data is built at the back, and how the data is then re-used and made the basis for subsequent steps. It then also becomes apparent that getting the data right at every step of the process is crucial, because subsequent steps, in this case, the creation of a sales order, relies on accurate data from the quotation step in SAP that preceded it. Moreover, the process also involves integration with the inventory database and this is understood in the following step involving checking the status of the stock. This gives the user an idea of the level of integration of the data on inventories, production and other aspects of the supply chain further up and away from the perspective of processing an order. The cash to order process steps relies on the successful completion of previous steps, moreover, and the SAP system tracks successful completion. The successful delivery then is a prerequisite to the instigation of a successful billing procedure all the way to the creation of the invoice. Moreover, the integration of the data sets is evident in the way a user can track the accounting implications of an order after the creation of an invoice, and the posting of the receipt of payment.

Human Resource Management And Why It Is Critical In Employment Law Essay

Human Resource Management And Why It Is Critical In Employment Law - Essay Example As such, the statute provides that an employee is entitled to a notice period, prior to dismissal. Such notice period is established on the basis of the length of service of the employee (National Employment Rights Authority, 2012). Application An employee has been defined at section 230(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, as an individual who works under a contract of employment. The Employment Act 2002 (Dispute Resolution) Regulations 2004 require employers to implement procedures for grievance and disciplinary actions. These statutory procedures have to be commenced in the first instance. This is essential for submitting employment issues before the employment tribunal. A dismissal will be deemed to be unfair, if the employer fails to adopt these procedures (Pothecary Witham Weld, 2012). Furthermore, the employer would be held liable by the court. Employees should have completed a one year of continuous service with the same company to avail the protection of dismissal rights. T his applies only to those employees who were appointed before 6 April 2012. The corresponding period is two years for employees appointed after this date. In our problem, Janice had worked for two years with the same company. Hence, she should have been provided with a dismissal notice, which was not done by the company. Consequently, the dismissal procedures conducted by the company cannot be deemed as fair. Furthermore, in instances, wherein the employer dismisses an employee via procedures that are unfair, the dismissal will be deemed to be unfair, regardless of the issues involved (emplaw, 2012). Although, Kelsey had not completed a year’s period of employment with the company, she can file a claim of wrongful dismissal against the company for not following fair procedures in her dismissal. In general, the circumstances of a particular case, will determine the action that is justified or reasonable, whenever there is a need for formal action. As such, the employment tribu nals will take into account, the size and resources of an employer, at the time of deciding on cases (Code of Practice 1 ACAS Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures, 2009). Under no circumstances, disciplinary or grievance issues should be dealt with in an unfair manner. Moreover, the ACAS has strongly recommended a thorough investigation of allegations by employers. Prior to a disciplinary hearing, particulars of the allegations have to be provided to the employee. In addition, the employee should be provided with an opportunity to explain what had transpired, and to draw attention to any extenuating circumstances (Birkinshaw & Fairclough, 2001). In our problem, Janice and Kelsey were suspected of having stolen a harddisk drive, since it was located in their jointly held locker. They were immediately suspended by the Warehouse Manager, and after two days a disciplinary meeting was conducted and they were dismissed. It is incumbent upon an employer to adhere to a fair process, while addressing a disciplinary or grievance issue. This holds good, even if the employee in question admits to the offense, as also to instances of gross misconduct. In general,

Stability analysis using GUI in MATLAB (Electronic Engineering) Essay

Stability analysis using GUI in MATLAB (Electronic Engineering) Project Proposal - Essay Example Initially it is essential to examine the theoretical basis for the concept of stability in order to identify the various conditions which characterize a stable system. After determining the stability conditions, the Graphical User Interface Development Environment (GUIDE) module of MATLAB will be studied to examine the process of developing a Graphical User Interface for a MATLAB application which determines the stability of a given system. The BIBO (Bounded Input Bounded Output) concept of stability states that if a bounded input to the system produces a bounded output, then the system is stable (Ogata. K. 1997). It is important to determine the physical significance of stability both in the time domain and in the frequency domain. In the time domain, for continuous functions to be BIBO stable, an integral of their impulse response should exist. Similarly for discrete functions in the time domain, we should be able to sum up the impulse responses of the discrete function (Ogata. K. 1995). To determine stability in the frequency domain, we consider the Laplace transform (used for converting continous functions from time domain to frequency domain and vice versa) for the continous signals and Z transform (used for converting discrete functions from time domain to frequency domain and vice versa) for the discrete signals. If the region of convergence of the Laplace transform includes the imaginary axis, then the system i s stable (Ogata. K. 1995). The physical significance of this statement is that all poles of the system should on the left of the origin (as we are dealing only with causal systems). If the region of convergence Z transform includes the unit circle then the system is stable. A system is stable if and only if all its poles are lying within the unit circle. The transfer function is an illustration of the relationship between the input to a system and the output of the system (Ogata. K. 1997). It accurately represents a system which is time invariant

Business Ethics and Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business Ethics and Law - Essay Example Basically, the interests of stakeholders are to increase their benefits from the organizations. To achieve this goal, business has to incur cost and this will reduce the earnings of investors. Therefore, in most cases managers compromise the interests of stakeholders in order to increase the income of the shareholders. Question one Business owners invest their resources in businesses and appoint directors to run those businesses on their behalf. This is because in most cases the owners of the capital lack expertise to run those businesses by their own, or they have other things to attend to hence they are left with no time to manage their own businesses (Adam, 2009). Sometimes even where they are present the businesses are may be too enormous for them to run on their own. The directors are given authority to mobilize the resources of the investors in a way that will maximize returns for the investors. Therefore, managers have a duty to ensure that their activities are focused on incr easing the returns for investors. However, they also have to ensure that the company’s stakeholders are considered when making decisions for the company (Cameron, Seher, & Crawley, 2010). These stakeholders include government, the community, consumers, suppliers and even the business rivals. These stakeholders are very crucial in any situation because their individual decisions will influence the position of the business. The argument of Joseph Johnston is that organizations are established to serve the needs of both stakeholders and the shareholders (Wettstein, 2009). According to stakeholder’s theory, in case of any clash of significance between the shareholders and investors, the managers should compromise the investor’s benefit for the sake of stakeholders. The investors concern is to reap the best form their investments. The clients concern in the business is to have a constant supply of superior products at affordable prices (Ananymous, nd). The public wan t to ensure that the organization is not oppressing people. The employees want to get the best pay from the organization. Different stakeholders have different concerns in the organization (Bebchuk & Fried, 2004). In actual sense, I believe stakeholder’s theory does not work because of inconsistency of interests among the parties concerned (Cameron, Seher, & Crawley, 2010). Managers are in control of the organizations and they are responsible for setting strategies and meansto achieve them. Since the interest of the investors is to create more wealth their desire is to invest in ventures which guarantee them greater returns. However, in most cases ventures that have higher returns are prone to perils (Bomann-Larsen & Wiggen, 2005, p. 76). Therefore, managers generally do not like risking and desire to safeguard their jobs. As a result, the managers invest shareholders resources to less risky ventures despite their decreased returns to ensure that their jobs are stable. On the other hand, stakeholders such as clients will desire superior products at affordable prices. Producing superior commodities requires extra resources which results to increase in prices for the commodities. Since managers also want to ensure that their employers have vast returns, most of the time they charge higher prices for inferior products (Cameron, Seher,

Tell how stepping outside of your comfort zone taken you on an Essay

Tell how stepping outside of your comfort zone taken you on an unexpected path to change your life. Also tell about a childhood event that you feel has most sh - Essay Example Many of the men and women involved in these construction efforts are community volunteers. Several years ago, my long-time acquaintance, "Thomas" suggested that we volunteer for a specific project, which involved a rapid construction of a two-bedroom dwelling. My initial response to his request was quite negative, offering an argument that such an activity is only suited for skilled laborers. After an extended period of disagreement, I finally relented and allowed Thomas to sign us up as contributors to the project as one-day only volunteers. Thomas and I showed up for "duty" on the final day of construction, when the kitchen flooring, cabinetry, and other finishing touches were being accomplished. We were each assigned a partner and given multiple tasks to perform. Throughout the course of this extremely arduous day, I learned valuable skills such as how to install countertops and how to lay ceramic tile. I realized the importance of do-it-yourself knowledge as it provides a broader set of skills which can be applied to everyday living. However, my learning consisted of much more than just a fundamental knowledge of home improvement. On that day, the future owner of the home came to inspect the property with her two small children. Armed with cookies, tears, and excessive gratitude, this woman made an effort to embrace the entire volunteer staff and express that the home would take her life from destitution to an opportunity for hope and a future for her children. I realized instantly that my minimal volunteer efforts had made a tremendous impact in the life of a hardened family. In one day, I learned the long-term value of compassion and community relations. This ties in with an event which I experienced as a child that fundamentally changed my viewpoint about caring. My long-time friend, "Jessica", had invited me over for our usual playtime. On this particular