Literary Exploration on of Mice and Men

Literary Exploration In life we are part of many roles that create dangers we face that may lie beyond our understanding. Even though these roles are hard to understand, they can give meaning to our life. In John's Steinbeck â€Å"Of Mice and Men,† we see these men's day to day lives, the main character; George takes care of his friend Lennie who has difficulties understanding the rules of the world we live in. Through the story there are many ups and downs mostly involving Lennie, who is trying to see through the eyes of George and to do and be as George is.For this reason George is constantly trying to think of what is best for Lennie. Through all of this they face even more dangers and still try to find a way to raise money for a farm to call their own. George and Lennie show how the dangers we face can affect our lives for the better while everything fails around them. Danger is important in our lives, because it gives us the drive to go through day to day lives. Often whe n struggling with dangers we find hope and we look to the outside world for assurance and escape from our worries or pain.George and Lennie find dangers from the very start of the novel because of they are forced to run from one of many problems Lennie causes. In the novel Steinbeck gives Lennie a purpose of taking care of the â€Å"rabbits† and in doing this it shows Lennie that to him his purpose in life is to take care of the â€Å"Rabbits. † In the novel a quote that show that the dangers they ran from at the very beginning are far behind them, â€Å"Guys like us, that work on ranches ,are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no families. They don't belong no place†¦We're gonna have a little house an' a couple of acres an' a cow and some pigs and live off the fatta the land†¦ We'll have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch and chickens†¦Ã¢â‚¬  this quote shows how George and Lennie strive to have a better life. Even though George knows tha t these dreams will never come true, â€Å"let’s have different color rabbits, George†¦ Red and blue and green rabbits†¦ sure fluffy ones. † As you begin to read on in the novel, it almost seems as if, their hopes and dreams are starting to come true. â€Å"you know a place like that? †Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Maybe we could do her right now? †¦Ã¢â‚¬ In one month. †Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ But then Lennie unknowingly is killing everything he touches and the dangers they ran from are coming back just as before , â€Å"Why he’s dead. † She cried â€Å"I was just playing with him†¦ and he was gonna make like he was gonna bite me†¦an’ I made like I was gonna smack him†¦ an’†¦an’ I done it. An’ then he was dead. † And because of this and Curly’s wife George is faced with a big decision. George must learn that Lennie is dangerous to others that are around him because he does not know his own streng th, and that him and Lennie cannot keep running forever.However, hope can be taken as well, which is shown in the novel by a stable buck named Crooks. â€Å"A guy sets alone out here at night, maybe readin’ books or thinkin’ or stuff like that. Sometimes he gets thinkin’, an’ he got nothing to tell him what’s so an’ what ain’t so. Maybe if he sees somethin’, he don’t know whether it’s right or not. He can’t turn to some other guy and ask him if he sees it too. He can’t tell. He got nothing to measure by. I seen things out here. I wasn’t drunk. I don’t know if I was asleep. If some guy was with me, he could tell me I was asleep, an’ then it would be all right.But I jus’ don’t know. † Crooks speaks these words to Lennie, on the night that Lennie visits Crooks in his room. The old stable-hand admits to the very loneliness that George described in the novel. As a black man with a physical handicap, Crooks is forced to live in the barn whitch is on the ranch life. He is not even allowed to enter the white men’s bunkhouse, or join them in a game of cards. His bitterness usually comes out through his bitter, caustic wit, but in this passage he displays a sad, touching side. Crooks’s desire for a friend by whom to â€Å"measure† something.Because these men feel such loneliness, it is not surprising that the promise of a farm of their own and a life filled with strong, brotherly bonds. â€Å"I seen hundreds of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an’ that same damn thing in their heads . . . every damn one of ’em’s got a little piece of land in his head. An’ never a God damn one of ’em ever gets it. Just like heaven. Ever’body wants a little piece of lan’. I read plenty of books out here. Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody g ets no land. In this passage , after Lennie shares with Crooks his plan to buy a farm with George and raise rabbits, Crooks tries to deflate Lennie’s hopes which creates dangers that may lie beyond our understanding. He relates that â€Å"hundreds† of men have passed through the ranch, all of them with dreams like Lennie’s. Not one of them, he emphasizes with bitterness, ever succeeds to make that dream come true. Crooks shows a sense of reality, telling again of Lennie’s childlikeness , and that the dream of a farm is, after all, only a dream.This moment show’s off Crook’s character, and how a lifetime of loneliness and cruelty can lead to bitterness. It also furthers Steinbeck’s disturbing thought’s that those who have strength and power in the world are not the only ones responsible for cruelty. As Crooks shows, even though he was hurt by others, he seeked out Lennie and attacked him because he is even weaker than Crooks is. Sometimes in life we have difficulty in decisions that makes us question our morals even deeper our character. Curley’s wife enters the barn and try’s to console Lennie. What you got covered up there? † She admits that the life with Curley is a disappointment, and wishes that she had followed her dream of becoming a movie star â€Å"Coulda been in the movies, an’ had nice clothes-all them nice clothes like they wear. An’ I coulda sat in them big hotels, an’ had pitchers took of me†. Lennie tells her that he loves petting soft things, and she offers to let him feel her hair. When he grabs too tightly, she cries out. Lennie becomes sacred and tried to silence her, he unknowingly breaks her neck.Lennie flees back to a pool of the Salinas River that George has told Lennie of the meeting place that should either of them get into trouble they are to meet. As Candy discover what has happened and gather together a lynch party, George joins Le nnie. Much to Lennie’s surprise, George is not mad at him for doing â€Å"a bad thing. † George begins to tell Lennie the story of the farm they will have together. As he describes the rabbits that Lennie will tend, the sound of the approaching men grows louder. George shoots Lennie in the back of the head.When the other men arrive, George lets them believe that Lennie had the gun, and George wrestled it away from him and shot him. Only Slim understands what has really happened, that George has killed his friend out of mercy â€Å"Goerge raised the gun and listened to the voices†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ â€Å"le’s do it now. Le’s get that place now. † Slim consolingly leads him away, and the other men, completely puzzled, watch them leave. Lennie is an illustration of how, as we go through life, every human’s personality will be given its test however, it is up to the person to either grow from the knowledge or be crushed as a result.

Young Goodman Brown: Nathaniel Hawthorne

â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† was written in year of 1835 by Nathaniel Hawthorne, who is identified for being one of literature's most fascinating interpreters of seventeenth-century Puritan culture. A literary device is a method that creates a definite influence in writing. Literary devices are found all throughout Young Goodman Brown, such as theme, motif, and symbol. There are many different themes shown throughout the story of Young Goodman Brown. From the moment he enters the enigmatic forest, Young Goodman Brown expresses his fear of being there, and to him it is a place where nothing upright is probable.Young Goodman Brown, similar to other Puritans, relates the forest with wild Indians and thinks he sees them hiding behind the trees. Young Goodman Brown has strong faith that evil could definitely exist in the woods. â€Å"Evil is the nature of mankind. Evil must be your only happiness† (Hurley 1). Young Goodman Brown ultimately sees evil in himself, just as he had predicted. He believes of it as a matter of corruption that is not the tradition of his family and friends. They would certainly not have strolled in the forest by choice, and Young Goodman Brown is distraught when evil insists otherwise.He is humiliated to be seen walking in the woods and hides when the minister and Deacon pass by. The woods are considered evil, scary, and gloomy, and Young Goodman Brown is at ease in the woods when he has given in to the devil. One of the motifs in the story of Young Goodman Brown is female purity. When Young Goodman Brown leaves Faith at the opening of the story, he promises that after this evening of devilish activities, he will grasp onto her skirts and soar to paradise.From the time and setting of this story, the idea was that a man’s wife or mother will convert him and prepare the work of true spiritual faith for the entire family was a popular one. Young Goodman Brown adheres to the impression of Faith’s purity during the cour se of his trials in the woods, blasphemy that as long as Faith rests holy, he can find it in himself to fight the devil. When Young Goodman Brown discovers that Faith is present at the service, it alters every one of his thoughts about what is moral or immoral in the universe, losing his power and capability to fight (Baym 1).Female purity was an influential idea in Puritan New England, and men trusted on women’s faith to sustain on their own. When Faith’s purity is demolished in the eyes of Goodman Brown, he fails to fight evil and use his faith. One of the main symbols in this story is the pink ribbons that Faith places in her cap that signifies her purity. The color pink is linked with virtue, and ribbons are known as a modest and innocent embellishment. Hawthorne references Faith’s pink ribbons numerous times at the opening of the story, instilling her personality with youth and cheerfulness (Xian-Chun 2).He reestablishes the ribbons when Young Goodman Brown is in the woods, contemplating with his uncertainties about the morals of people he is acquainted with. When the pink ribbon flies downward from the clouds, Young Goodman Brown distinguishes it as a symbol that Faith has absolutely dropped into the territory of evil; she has no mark of her purity or innocence (Xian-Chun 1). The color white also represents the idea of goodness and purity, while red represents twistedness and tainted ideas.In the conclusion of the story, Faith meets Young Goodman Brown as he proceeds from the woods; she is wearing her pink ribbons yet again, signifying her return to the image of innocence she displayed at the opening of the story and casting away the uncertainties on the truth of Young Goodman Brown’s ventures (Xian-Chun 1). Williamson begins by stating, â€Å"Hawthorne's definition of a good author, he advises that Hawthorne deemed the best writers as those with a little devil in them† (Williamson 1).Williamson proposes that in â€Å" Young Goodman Brown† there is a joining among the novelist and the evil spirit and the novelist/narrator is truly a follower of the evil spirit festivity (Williamson 1). He also composes that Brown really meets with the three evil spirits: the old man, Goody Cloyse, and the narrator. The narrator is the evil spirit in the story that he has the capability to make Brown and the person who reads identify evil abilities of the other characters (Williamson 1). Walter Shear shares that as Young Goodman Brown leaves Faith, he becomes an individual psychologically.His retreat from his wife is not merely a representative loss of faith, but it is also his leaving behind conservative faith. In the woods, Brown's belief is lacking; therefore the familiar woods are frightening (Shear 1). He must struggle with the individuals in the woods in demand to keep his ethics and beliefs. It is him contrary to humanity and he is deceived by that very civilization. At the end, Young Goodman Brown dep arts the fantasy and proceeds to usual culture (Shear 1). He is more conscious of himself and of his connection with other participants of the culture. Shear states that Brown exemplifies the unbalanced Puritanism s it declines in its spiritual belief and becomes slightly deceitful. Brown's disgust of his wife and community signifies his own necessity to psychologically limit his motives for leading in the forest (Shear 1). Young Goodman Brown is entirely devastated and overwhelmed when he wakes from his nightmare. As he walked the streets of Salem he was not capable to isolate his vision from actuality. He is incapable to handle the findings that the possible for wicked exist in everyone. The rest of his lifetime is demolished because of his helplessness to express this reality and be aware of it.The vision, has established the seed of uncertainty in Young Goodman Brown's mind, which subsequently takes him off from his related gentleman and leaves him unaccompanied and unhappy. The reality is that Young Goodman Brown loathes these individuals because he understands that identical traits in himself. Like the individuals in his vision, he questions his personal belief. However, he plants his personal worries onto those nearby him. The vision is a demonstration of all of the anxieties he has about himself and the selections he has made throughout his lifetime.He is too full of pride to recognize his personal mistakes. His time finishes unaccompanied and depressed because he was not once capable to gaze at himself and understand that what he understood were everyone else's mistakes were his as well. He is entirely secluded from his culture. The literary devices deployed by Hawthorne throughout â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† give the piece an effectiveness and life that it would not have otherwise. The devices of theme, motif, and symbolism are heavily used and extremely effective throughout the entire piece, making it understandable, relatable, and enjoyable for the reader.

Inventions Are Not Just Scientific Advancement but Also Cultural Practices

Technological inventions are not just scientific advancement but also cultural practices The paper is to explain Hugh Mackay’s arguments regarding how technology is always â€Å"cultural through and through†. In relation to his conceptions, cassette-based Walkman, Discman and iPod are used as examples to illustrate how technological inventions are not just scientific advancement but also cultural practices. In the book Consumption and Everyday Life published in 1997, Hugh Mackay argued that â€Å"technology is cultural through and through†, stating that every technological artifacts is totally related with and influenced by culture.The argument can be analyzed in more details by applying the case of portable music players (PMPs) to the Circuit of Culture. The Circuit consists of five major cultural processes, which are production, regulation, representation and consumption and identity of certain artifacts. The Circuit can start at any point, and one must go thro ugh every process when studying each case completely. As all parts are connected with each other, it may appear again in other parts (Martin, 2003). To begin with, the process of production is organized culturally. In the past, Sony did not intend to do market research until the Walkman is introduced.Now every companies recognize the importance of market research (will be discussed later). Besides, Sony designers enjoy great functional and occupational status that motivate their work (du Gay, P. , 1997, p. 58-59, 62-63). As the Walkman and hence Sony becomes so successful, designers and programmers in technological artifacts producers like Microsoft and Apple are highly valued. Similarly, one of the reasons that why iPod becomes popular is that Apple performs excellent market researches and provides a comfortable working environment for its designers.Representation of PMPs refers to how they are imaged and defined. Since the Walkman was initially designed for young music-listeners, its advertisements often focus on the technical qualities of the Walkman: small but with high sound quality, which is unbelievable at that time (du Gay, P. , 1997, p. 26). But then the market research shows that not only youngsters but also those who participate in outdoor activities consume the Walkman. Therefore Sony started to customize the Walkman to satisfy different markets in Japan and all over the world.For example, solar-powered, water proof and other special designs for outdoor activities are then developed for hikers and divers (du Gay, P. , 1997, p. 65-68). This not only shows that how advertising can shape a product and open new market, but also how important market research is: knowing what consumers want is the key to produce a popular product. Furthermore, although the Walkman was originally decided for portable music, but as times goes and technology advances, different consumers now use PMPs for different purposes.For example, most teenagers may use it to listen to their own music. For clergies and pious believers, they may be used to listen to the scripture or sermon. For hardworking learners, they may keep learning when they are travelling by listening to â€Å"talking-books†. Sometimes even museum or gallery visitors help themselves to focus on their trip or enhance their imagination by listening to some â€Å"scenery music†. In fact, how PMPs were consumed can show its identity. PMPs associate different people and groups with the environment differently.According to Sony’s own market research into the Walkman usage, it can be divided to two parts, namely â€Å"escape† and â€Å"enhancement†. The former one refers to the most common usage: listening to music or talking-books by PMPs while travelling, which usually provide an opportunity for one to enjoy his or her â€Å"small world†, but disconnect one from the surrounding â€Å"background music† and hence the society temporarily. The latter one refers to using PMPs to focus on one’s work or just relax, which actually help one to strengthen one’s connection to the environment or the productivity in workplace (du Gay, P. 1997, p. 92-94). While radio and television encouraging home-based consumption, PMPs has introduced a new culture of consumption and the way of listening to music: â€Å"private listening at public place†, which has blurred the difference of public and private place. In the past, it was widely accepted that â€Å"public place† refer to space shared by everyone in the community, while â€Å"private place† refer to space owned by particular person or group, say, one’s home (du Gay, P. , 1997, p. 113-114). But now, everyone with a PMP can enjoy his or her own music or channels in public place.If one plays his or her PMSs too loudly, it may disturb the one around him or her. Therefore, in some place, for example the London Underground, there exist regulations limiti ng the maximum volume of PMPs (du Gay, P. , 1997, p. 117). And in Hong Kong, there are several â€Å"quite carriages† in former KCR discouraging people from making noise in the carriages. Apart from the Circuit of Culture, the transformation from cassette-based Walkman and the Discman to iPod (and smart phone) is cultural, too.Firstly, the size of PMPs is getting smaller so that it is easier to carry in today’s busy and crowded cities. Secondly, the mode of playing and selecting music has changed, too. Using the Walkman and the Discman, one could only forward or backward the content linearly, or else one may need to make his or her own cassette or CD. But nowadays one may set up his or her own playlist by using iTunes to combine one’s favourite songs from different albums easily instead of bringing portable hardware like cassettes and CDs out.Last but not least, iPod has much more functions than the Walkman and the Discman, such as photo viewer, calendar, stopwa tch and many games. All these changes are responding the modern culture: advocating for convenience, freedom and individualism. To conclude, the production of a product is closely related with its consumption, and market research is the bridge between the two that helps customize the identity of the product and hence helps the company to represent it by advertisement.The invention of PMPs has developed a new culture of listening to music, which is a reflection of our modern culture but for the good of the community, its usage needs to be regulated so as to protect the right of every users and non-users nearby. Finally, it shows us that these technological inventions are not just scientific advancement but also about cultural practices all the time. Reference: du Gay, P. , Hall, S. , James, N. , Mackay, H. and Negus, K. 1997: Doing Cultural Studies: The Story of the Sony Walkman, London: Sage Martin, F. (ed. ) 2003: Interpreting Everyday Culture, London: Arnold. 176-178

Struggles inside the queer community and related struggles in a larger Essay

Struggles inside the queer community and related struggles in a larger society - Essay Example This "misunderstanding ourselves" is necessary to really know what we think of ourselves rather assuming what we are compelled to think by the community. This urge to know ourselves lead to struggle within and resultantly in the community we are living in. The feeling of being "furthest from oneself" leads a person to new grounds which are taboo for the community. Homosexuality is one of such grounds. "Attitudes toward homosexuality are generally in flux, partially as a result of increased political activism and efforts by homosexuals to be seen not as aberrant personalities but as differing from "normal" individuals only in their sexual orientation." (Encyclopedia Britanica, 2007) Still the comfort with which queers would like to move in most of the societies is a far fetched dream. When a queer is subjected to opposition from the community he balks under the pressure and either forfeit his inner desires or tailor them accordingly. Myers compare this with Foucault's concept of reverse discourse and says "the regulation of homosexuality has provoked unanticipated responses and counter representations, unforeseen pictures of difference and self conscious staging of deviance" (Myer 10) Therefore, queers are depicted as someone "different" and due to such an identity most of them tried to deviate from their inner call and join back in the main stream of community.

Design, Technology and Literacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Design, Technology and Literacy - Essay Example As Fritz and King (1994) suggested, art forms such as visual art, media, movement, music, drama and literature provided powerful ways of capturing and conveying individual as well as collective experience. By understanding how arts reflect, challenge and shape values and beliefs of a society and their variation over time and cultures make learners appreciate and enjoy an enhancing personal and social experience (Fritz & King, 1994). This essay and activity shall explore my ability to create design out of various contexts: through inspiration of classic children stories, food and nutrition for children, and graphic communication using symbols. It will be coupled with the actual products and its development process as explained in this essay. Our environment is everybody else's business. Each of us must do our part, and the more we can do for our environment, the better. In design, use of so-called environmentally-friendly materials has become a necessity among corporations and firms as global regulations in trade and production dictate how firms conduct business. This may be said about the issuance of environment certificates, from production, use of raw materials, packaging, transportation as well as marketing. This helps keep our environment competitive with the daily tear and wear, pollution, and other ways that degenerate our sustainable ecosystem. It has been widely acknowledge that every new design contains new materials that complicate recycling operations so that certificate and regulations ensure that companies take back and recycle, products as well as packaging. The producer's role extends towards the users and post-users phases (Lindhquist and Lifset, 1997). The extended product responsibility (EPR) serves as a tool for the reduction of the amount of waste that originates from discarded products (Hart, 1997) while EPR refers to policy designed for integrating the environmental costs throughout the products' lifecycle now incorporated in legislation of about 40 industrialised countries (Wilck, 1997) adopted by a score of industrial branches involved in products for packaging. Mostly, packaging is made to be re-used after consumer has opened the package and start using the product. Recyclable packaging consists mainly of environmentally safe products such as cardboard, corrugated board, and also recycled variations of pap ers. In this activity incorporating design and recycling, raw materials are used packaging, particularly boxes. The following diagram constitutes the Aggregated Linear Product Process Chain: Source: Lambert et al, 2003 In consideration of this process, it is clearly understood that manufacturing includes the environment-conscious design embracing design, synthesis, processing, and use of products either in continuous or discrete industries (Zhang et al, 1997). Integrating Technology from Fairy Tales Fairy tales has primary themes to provide and integrate with technology. The application and development of technology programs will have an important role in generating ideas, integrating theory and practice, and

Current status of network management tools Assignment

Current status of network management tools - Assignment Example Essentially, it is important to have a network that is reliable in any organization in order to ensure continuous communication and connectivity. This can only be achieved by choosing the best and cost effective network management tools. Bandwidth monitor which is a tool that is used to provide a graphical representation of the real time traffic in a router or a switch. It is an exemplary tool for identification of bottlenecks that are related to the bandwidth within the network. It is used to monitor the percentage utilization of all the interfaces in the device and the average bandwidth per Second (Edward, 1994). Switch Port mapper which is a tool that is used by network engineers to identify the switch port to which a device is connected. This eliminates the need to manually trace the network cables. The tool basically discovers the devices that are plugged into each port of any particular switch in the network. It helps the system and network engineers to identify IP and MAC status and determine availability of ports. Since the tool operates on a real time discovery, it is also possible to view the operational status of each port (Sugauchi, Morisada, Hirata, Miyazaki, & Sato, 2002). The essay will technically discuss the IP Address Manager (IPAM) tool. This tool helps the network engineers to identify the availability of a network IP address in an enterprise network. The tool periodically scans a subnet and determines the IP address availability in that particular subnet. One can then determine whether a particular IP address is available or not. The tool is advantageous since it allows scanning of multiple subnets and helps to scan the entire network and get the status of IP addresses (Microsoft, 2014). This feature helps to identify whether the IP address belongs to a computer that is in an Active Directory. The feature is also used to view details of computer objects in an Active directory and subsequently synchronize

Common Theme Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Common Theme - Essay Example The socially relevant message that most of the works of Margaret Atwood contains is quite evident. An urge for change is always on demand in all her literary masterpieces. The poems she has written are no exception. In most of her poetic works a theme of ‘call for change’ is well reflected. This in broader terms is the message of ‘renovation’. Different socially relevant scenarios have been both directly and indirectly depicted in the works of Margaret Atwood. All of those works, towards their end has concluded with a call for change or even an indication towards the possibility of a positive situation. The objective of this essay is to critically analyze different poems of Margaret Atwood and to explain the ways in which they have dealt with the theme ‘renovation’. Three different poems were considered for the review. They included ‘The Sad Child’, ‘Bored’, and ‘More and More. The trial of the author to reflect a message on the need for renovation is being highlighted in the essay. It is quite evident that the role of the poet as a social activist has highly influenced the writing style and the plots of the poems. She being a feminist and her urge to see a social renovation has well been reflected as a gist of the poems which are being analyzed. Though the subjects of social interest have been wide and vivid, the common factor in all of them is the need for change. ‘The Sad Child’ has within it a solid message for the generations to come. It demands children to change and to be happy so that the world of tomorrow is happy along with them. In the initial lines of the poem, the poet has well created a background, explaining the sadness that the childhood bears. Interestingly, the context of sadness of children has been plotted by the author in such a way to be globally relevant. When someone from an underdeveloped nation reads this, he or she would relate this sadness to the one because of

Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Contracts Essay

Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Contracts - Essay Example The origin of concession was from the E&P of the petroleum in the developing petroleum mining countries by the international oil companies. It dates back to the late 19th Century when most of oil producing countries were under the European power political control. The Indonesian GOE and a foreign oil company were the first to form a Production sharing company in 1966 that was under the foreign company’s people’s empathy together with the countries aiming to control the natural resources within Indonesia. In between 1958 and 1961, Service contract was introduced for the first time in Argentina by the Argentinian government. The service contract introduced was in three types that included financial exploration, drilling, and development in the aim of achieving the most advanced technology. A third type of contract that is the joint venture was for the first time introduced in the Italian GOE, Iranian GOE, and Egypt. It was meant to participate in the Managerial decision. The ownership of petroleum is granted by the concession agreement.

Marketing Law Team Meeting Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Marketing Law Team Meeting - Research Proposal Example It will be an uphill task to satisfactorily answer their queries. We are about to get our produce manufactured from China. The goods that we get manufactured from China and pass off as our own raises legal issues that do not act in our favor. The consumer buys the product in the belief that it is manufactured by us. In the event there is a mismatch in the outcome of the use of the product, we could face charges of misleading the consumer. Other than this, it could also land us on charges of false representation. We could also face intent to defraud. I am aware that we are outsourcing the manufacture due to labor cost constraints. There may be others who are already manufacturing their goods from China. However, let us take a long term view. We want to survive in this business. Let us scout for more competitive destinations. We need not make cost the determining factor. We may have to make the consumer pay more. Nonetheless, the consumer will even buy it. I am not trying to tar whole China with one brush. I am not saying that the Chinese only produce inferior goods. However, the track record of that country will keep us on our toes. We will have to have the goods checked for any compromise on quality before packaging them. We will have to have a system in place whereby the goods are always checked before they are packaged. This exercise will add to our costs and we will have to ensure that it is in place for all the time we continue to receive goods from China. There isn't any possibility of the situation changing in China in the foreseeable future. The Australian customer wants the best quality. We have to make sure that the product we offer is the best and has the potential to be among the top manufacturing competitors. We have to contend not only with individual cases, but also a whole lot of groups. When a flaw is noticed in the product it will lead the consumer to the retailer and then to the company. It will not be possible to square up to the customer. The word will spread. The cost for reparation will be enormous. Let us be more pragmatic in our approach. Let us be more competitive. We will consider other destinations. Let not the cost factor limit our choice to China alone. There are others in better situation where the cost may be more but we may not have to preoccupy ourselves in matters regarding quality. Litigation in China The social and economic conditions in China are changing very fast. Public Interest Litigations (PILs) are filed in courts for social injustices. There are non-government organizations that take up issues to deal with human rights, racial or sexual abuses. However, there is silence on issues concerning economic offences. It is not very clear how far we could get on issues of economy. The system moves very slowly and it rarely favors the litigant. The outcome of many cases is unknown (Public Interest Litigation in China). Conclusion It is good to see the end from the beginning. As of now, we are not in a position to do business with China. In our line of business, we cannot compromise on quality. The product we are offering must be near perfect. We must face our consumers. Our consumers are demanding. They are asking for the best. The legal implications are clear. We cannot hide from the law. Our business requires us

Sources and Classifications of Law in the United Kingdom Essay

Sources and Classifications of Law in the United Kingdom - Essay Example   Legislation refers to the law, which is made by a body specially constituted for that purpose. The legislation is classified into primary and secondary legislations. Legislation in the UK derives from various sources. The Supreme legislation body for the United Kingdom is the Parliament of the UK of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, British Overseas territories and British Crown dependencies; the parliament is also referred to as the Westminster.   Each of the three major jurisdictions of the United Kingdom: Northern Ireland, English and Wales, and Scotland has its laws and legislative systems. The Westminster possesses legislative supremacy; therefore, it has ultimate power over all other political powers in the United Kingdom and its territories. Legislation in the United Kingdom takes the form of Acts or Statutory Instruments. The Acts are passed directly by Parliament while the government minister or the Queen-in-council makes Statutory Instruments under the authority of Parliament.   Primary legislation constitutes the law made by the legislative branch of the government. The primary legislation takes the form of Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom. In primary legislation, the parliament is the law making body; this is because Parliament derives its law making powers directly from the Constitution.  Ã‚   Secondary legislation in the United Kingdom must receive the authorization from the primary legislation in order to ensure conformance to boundaries laid down by primary legislation.   Ã‚  

Visionary Mr Mineka Wickramasingh Essay Example for Free

Visionary Mr Mineka Wickramasingh Essay Brief background on CBL (Munchee) It was the visionary Mr Mineka Wickramasingha in 1960 who wanted to expand his family business from the chocolate market. It was at the same time that CARE looked at sources of nourishment for the poverty stricken. It was a substitute of a biscuit that Mr Wickramasinghe proposed looking to expand on those lines. At that time the market leaders were Maliban. They were the ones who were awarded the contract. Due to lack of space, CBL was first launched at Dehiwela in his own premises to produce a high protein biscuits for schools. From this footing Munchee, has marched forward to capture 80% of the market of the local market. For over 40 years the brand has developed a certain nostalgia that is irreplaceable by any other brand. The taste is enjoyed young and old alike. There vision is to become the number one biscuit in Asia. Product portfolio CBL now produces various food items which have become house hold names in Sri Lanka. CBL expansion is not only with biscuits to which consumers are more familiar, they also have chocolates under brand name ‘Ritzbury’ since 1990s. The other brands are Tiara and Lanka Soy. There are numerous subcategories under each product. There are jellies, soya base products, cereal products, herbal porridges, soups and much more. Sub Categories under the Munchee brand Sweet biscuitsCrackers Puffs Savory Biscuits Cream Biscuits Marie Cookies Assorted HerbalWafers These are premium and hand-moulded chocolates. They come in boxes and slabs. Can be as a coated biscuits or wafers or beans or candy bars. It is in different flavours, type, and size. Sub Categories Chocolate Coated Biscuits Chocolate Slabs Miniature Caterers RangeChocolate Coated Beans Chocolate Coated Balls Chocolate Coated Candy Bars Specialty ChocolatesChocolate Coated Wafers Soft sponge cake made to perfect texture and taste Layer Cake Portion Cake Butter Sponge Cake Swiss Roll Company performance Ceylon Biscuits is of undisputable quality. CBL has shown a growth both in sales and profit for the last 5 years. Revenue had doubled from Rs.1.9 to Rs 5,2 Billion by 2005. Group turnover grew by 48% that same year. Net profit that year was Rs.533 Mio. This was the highest recorded profit for this company. CBL profit gradually grew, as it caught on to an international market. By 2011 sales revenue has grown by 25% in comparison to 2010. The overall profit margin was around 9% for the recently past five years. If ever the company saw a small decline it was due to industrial unrest. This biscuit is spread over 95,000 retail outlets all around Sri Lanka. CBL exports to 36 international destinations. It has been able to spread it’s fame in South Asia as well. Some of the countries of export are USA, Canada, Australia, UK, Hong Kong, China, India, Maldives and even the Middle East countries. The annual export revenue is about US $ 4 to 5 million. CBL has many awards for its entrepr eneurship. These awards are Exports in the Gold Category, Product Brand of the Year for four consecutive years, Anugu International Food Fair award. The daily production is around 150 tons. The annual production is around 45,000 tons. The company’s labor force is about 3,500. Company sustainability relies on strict norms on quality, texture and taste. For this it uses the latest technology, innovative marketing, research and development. The three C analysis There are three phases that need to be carefully scrutinized in order get a total overview of the product. Customer analysis Of the main brand Munchee, the customer analysis will be done on a sub category -Marie widely known as â€Å"Tikiri Marie –or Munchee Tikiri Marie. It is a small sized biscuit. The market segment chosen were children. Presently it is packed in a ‘keep fresh pack’ sold at a economical price. The advertisement that was done on a range of media was presented in the most attractive way, backed by lyrics that set a smile on the lips of any child. It was later that Maliban put a Marie range into the market. But by then Munchee Tikiri Marie had taken the market by storm. Competitor analysis There has been great potential for a children’s biscuit in the market. CBL had limited resources, especially in production technology which restricted revenue. It was the consumer preference that motivated CBL to keep producing the Marie Biscuit. At one point in time 50% of the production was Marie. Yet, the company was unable to raise profits. Maliban held strong to its position. No advertising, trade promotions or merchandising was able take over the market share that Maliban held. Maliban Marie has an unique flavor that was unmatchable. Volume market share (Total Biscuit Market-February 2005) Communication analysis This is a (B2C) nature of business. The company has used campaigns such as Tikiri Marie scholarship program.-Munchee Tikiri Shishyadara. Expansion programs worth Rs. 500 million Rs. 300 million for state of the art plant. It was known as Plant 6 from Italy. CBL went to war using all types of media from TV, newspaper, radio, magazines, even websites to introduce a new Marie. There was a series of advertisement for Tikiri Marie- from ‘Kohomada Tikiri Mole’ to the first day in school. All campaigns had been embarked under their corporate moto-‘A crowning success’. This was CBL communication approach of tacking Maliban. Target market for Munchee Tikiri Marie The brand â€Å"Munchee† has not only spread over domestic market but also the export market. Munchee is now exported to over 36 countries. Munchee can be seen in Gourmet Shops in Australia, supermarket like Wal-Mart, K-mart worldwide in countries like UK, Germany , Italy , Middle-East , Canada and Japan. South East Asian region is spread over 11 countries. When Munchee is target marketed in this area, it must be the same target market as of the other South Asian countries. It is the high quality, texture and taste that captivate any child in any country. Because of this CBL must ensure that they do not loose the perception of ‘a biscuit for children.’ As it is not being partnered by any company as it was in UK the brand name can prevail. Here CBL needs to position its product, thus no private label will be needed either like NTUC of Singapore and Supreme brand in China. Segment for Marie Geographical segmentation-South Asia, Europe, America, UK Demographical Segmentation Age, taste, texture, income Behavioral segment- instant, nutritious Product positioning of Marie Brand Identity vs. Competition (Source- AC Neilson) Premium quality, Innovative and value for money brand available at arms length of desire. Scope of this Integrated Marketing Communications Plan It looks in to objectives, strategies, and tools in communication used to successfully bring about integrated marketing. The plan will discuss ways to launch a program to communicate product. Marketing objective Increase the sale of Munchee Buiscuits. CBL is looking to increase sales by 5% within the next two years. With this to increase the market share by 5% at the end of the second year. Increase the company profile while enhancing the product among the target market. Munchee also wishes to strengthen Brand image among South East Asian countries as a healthy, nutritious biscuit. Communication Objective Awareness program to reach 20% of target market through television, newspaper advertising and web promotions. At least 5% the target market must purchase the product. Issues and Challenges The target market may have other preferences in biscuits. This entirely depends on texture, flavor, taste, shape and size. Thus the promotions/advertising will have to be attractive, creative and innovative in order to reach the hearts and minds of South East Asian Children. Situational analysis Current problem facing product * The target audience may not be reached. * They may prefer other biscuits. * Difficult to build brand loyalty in the food industry. Identifying target * The target market is chosen taking taste and nutrition in to consideration. * Targeting people who looks for low price but has to be of quality. Selecting a Market to Target South East Asia Geographic segmentation Children of the age 1-16 , Middle class Demographic segmentation Target market Instant, nutritious Behavioral segmentation The target market that has been chosen is of the geographical location of South East Asia region among a demographic target of children between the ages of 1-16. In modern South East Asia food in freely available for purchases for people who are one the move. This biscuit provides nutrients that are good for children and is an easy snack in a keep fresh pack. It is instant food for hungry youngsters. Positioning through Marketing Strategies * Introductory price * Chance to taste Competition Product Comparison There are companies like DIMOs that offer discounts to Government servants but no company has offered it to Bankers. AMW is the first to get into this program. Barriers to Entry * The awareness in low. * Banks have tied with other automobile companies, on a separate basis for their leasing requirements and the staff gets their vehicles also leased through those companies. * Buyers may go for second hand as the economic situations are tough. Competitor Differentiation | Chery QQ| Micro Panda| Features | Small hatch back with comfortable interior, Three Cylinder DOHCMPI 12V Petrol 812 CC engine Chery is imported from China and marketed in Sri Lanka by David Peiris Motor Company| Micro car, Volvo tech, 1300 cc engine. Made in Sri Lanka. Comes with and without air bag.| Target Market| Working professionals| Working professionals| Strengths | Low price, Brand backing | Made in Sri Lanka| Weakness | Small range of customers, No discount| Small range of customersNo discount| Consumer Behaviour – problems faced in addressing communication message There is nothing extraordinarily attractive about the AMW Maruti. But the interior is appealing. It is economical on the fuel. There is a one year warranty on the car. These are some of the aspects in regards to the car that a consumer will look at. Then the consumer is going to look at the company that selling the car. Associated Motor Ways Ltd is one of the oldest automobile conglomerates in Sri Lanka. They are the sole distributors of Suzuki vehicles in Sri Lanka and are affiliated with several brand names in the motor industry such as Nissan, Yamaha, and Goodyear. Addressing the problems with the vehicle such as no extra ordinary beauty about the vehicle or that there is fume emission from the vehicles which is hazardous to the external environment, what AMW concentrates on is the interior of the car and how economical it is. The Maruti is good on fuel. The size makes it easy to handle. This car is val ue for money. Branding Bankers are likely for a discount program where the vehicles are leased giving a bank loan. Maruti is likely to stay in the minds of the buyer due to features of the vehicle, the interior and the engine capacity in relation to the other brands of this same model which where given under competitor analysis. The Maruti is a more durable and dependable brand. Position statement This promotion is available only for bankers that are permanent in their jobs and the loan facilities are available. Any other financing will not be permitted. The discount is available for all colours of Maruti. Promotion The promotion is done within Colombo and its near suburbs. For this promotion 50% of the budgeted funds are allocated. This was first circulated to family and friends, for the word of mouth is the cheapest and the best way of promoting a discount program. Gradually as the awareness starts to increase it will be circulated among banks, first on a personal basis to call whose contacts can be acquired. Then the leasing managers or the staff managers in charge of staff leasing will be approached. Depending on the geographical location, banks will be approached in regards to the promotion. Once the approval has been obtained by the management, posters will distribute to main branches. These are known as power position advertising. The dealership logo will be indicated in the poster. A list of the eligible staff members will be collected and a web based mailer will be sent out to them. Permission will be acquired to post the promotion on an intranet facility that is accessible only to the relevant bankers of the targeted bank. A car may be sent out to the main branch for display. Once the initial promotions have been done in and around the main branches where web may not be the best promotional attribute a news paper advertisement will be posted. The news paper will carry a pictureous depictation of the car with a Brand Ambassador. The Brand Ambassador can be a cricketer or any other sportsman who is working in a bank indicating that this is the best leasing offer ever. These adds will have to run every often and it must be made sure that the adds are not too small to see. It may be preferable to advertise in a Sinhalese paper when thinking of promoting the discount program among the suburbs. There has to be creativity, innovation and an even flow for an advertisement to catch the eyes of the reader. A Saturday or Sunday paper is preferable as people have more time than on a weekday to read the paper. Television can be used as last resort. This is expensive but can be the most influential method of advertising. This is a sure a way of information gathering for viewers. The television adds usually have a lasting impression on the viewer. This is a sure way of assuring results for IMC. There are many highly watched channels of those the cheapest but the most effective can be used. The TV add can play between programs. The programs after which the add will be aired will have to be carefully chosen. It will need to depend on viewer’s discretion. The advertisement can go on for a period of 6 months at least. The web based marketing is another method by which advisement can be done. This is the most modern method. Some of the websites frequently visited by banke rs are Facebook, ESPN, Google, YouTube, Digg.com, Myspace, and Perezhilton.com. The most popular of them all is Facebook, Google, and Youtube. All these websites focus on online advertisements. Websites like Facebook taps a large audience. This not only enables promoting to bankers but also lets others know the car sale. This is a good way to get other companies to tie up with the dealership of AMW. Communication Tactical Calendar | Jan| Feb| Mar| Apr| May| Jun| Jul| Aug| Sep| Oct| Nov| Dec| Poster| | | | | | | | | | | | | News paper| | | | | | | | | | | | | TV| | | | | | | | | | | | | Web| | | | | | | | | | | | | Display| | | | | | | | | | | | | Budget The largest potion that is 50% of the budget is for promotion. Of the 50% promotional budget 30% will be allocated for television commercials, the remainder 20% for news paper, posters, display and web. The remainder 50% will be allocated for Brand Ambassador and miscellaneous expenses. The total allocation for the budget is Rs. 2,000,000/- Measurement system Implementation Controls Monitoring, review and control will be done by the dealership company with the collaboration with the bank that is leasing the vehicle. The review to be done on a monthly basis. Progress against targets to be analyzed. For this a marketing plan has to be drawn out. A target market needs to be chosen and a pilot project done before, the discount program is advertised. Once the dealership feels that this can be a successfully implemented then monitoring has to be undertaken. This has to be done carefully. Gap analysis done on a regular basis. Correction actions need to be taken if there is no progress within the first three months of advertising. Dealership may go back to the drawing board and redo the marketing plan again. Quality Assurance Around this time the company was receiving a number of complaints regarding its biscuits breakages, poor taste, quality etc. Rather than ignore the issue, CBL decided to place an emphasis on investigating the cause of the complaints, and took corrective action, including formula changes, to reduce the high number of returns at the time. Setting up better procedures for packing, product handling and transportation, the company prepared for its future growth. It conducted daily taste tests of its own products and organized regular taste panels to compare its products with those of its competitors. It also methodically documented the specifications of all products being manufactured knowledge that had previously been passed on through practice and word of mouth. As the demands on the Quality Assurance department began to rise, the company decided in 1996 to seek ISO certification Today, quality assurance remains an area of particular pride for Munchee. The department plays a critical role in product testing and development of production process controls and systems. High hygiene standards for toilet habits and hair, together with regular swab tests of employees are strictly enforced. Every shipment of incoming materials is tested for quality and those that fail are rejected. Following a complaint, products are collected from customers and subject to laboratory analysis. In 2004, CBL received HACCP certification for food safety together with SLS certification for its biscuits23.. With these in hand CBL became the only confectionary company in Sri Lanka to acquire all relevant quality certifications for its line of business i.e. SLS, ISO 9001:2000, ISO 1400124 and HACCP. Product Development Product development also became an area of increased focus. While CBL had begun operations with a line of distinctive biscuits, along with some generics. However, in the recent years the push for higher turnover had resulted in innovation playing a secondary role. Some of the biscuits that had made Munchee distinctive, were neglected in favor of more mass consumer products. CBL began formulations and potential improvements to flavor and quality. The company also began to actively investigate and keep up with new technologies and machinery by participating regularly at trade exhibitions and through membership in industry associations. Distribution Around this time CBL took the decision to rethink its methods of distribution and undertook to overhaul its sales and distribution efforts in favor of a much bolder plan. Up to this point the company had depended almost completely on wholesalers to sell its products as a hassle free means of managing its distribution efforts. As a result, while CBL had the logistic and cost advantages of maintaining a lean sales team, the company suffered due to its dependence on the enthusiasm of its wholesalers to push its products. CBL decided to bite the bullet and invest heavily in its sales force. It expanded its distribution reach, increasing its number of distributors, changed the demarcation of sales regions into much smaller areas for more intensive sales efforts and recruited the regional and senior sales personnel required to cope with this new direction. 5.4.4 Customer Intimacy With the changes to its sales force, CBL was forced to face up to the fact that it was very removed from its consumers. The company recognized that it had been paralleling the moves and decisions made by Maliban rather than acting on real consumer insights. CBLs focus had been very much product centric concentrated on improvement of its formulation and production technology. It developed its products in isolation and once developed attempted to market them. Little attention had been paid to market research, even on an informal basis. Moreover, CBL began to understand that its customer was a new, youthful generation whose tastes and style were very different from the consumer of the previous ten years. Beginning in 1996, the Board itself acknowledged this changed attitude by beginning to go to the field on a regular basis to a top down attempt to gauge market perceptions and trends. The newly developed sales force provided feedback from consumers and distributors and the company took the further step of setting up a separate subsidiary to plan its marketing activities and to become more responsive to market needs an gaps. The holding company became primarily responsible for improving product quality and procedures. 5.4.5 Image Building CBL also recognized that in order to grow it had to become a better known name as a company. Partly as a result of its multiple brand names, CBL itself was relatively unknown as a corporate entity. Embarking on a campaign to raise the profile of the company, CBL engaged the services of a consultant, and set out to gain greater corporate recognition for itself among both consumers and the business community. The publics lack of knowledge of the breadth of the companys activities was hindering its activities as a holding company, particularly for purposes such as tapping the capital market. With the help of its consultant, CBL set about establishing a public image for itself. This was done primarily through the print media. Every week or so, an article regarding the company and its various corporate activities and Latest initiatives, including its export plans and CSR, appeared in the newspapers. Competitiveness Behaviour The Biscuit Wars Around 1995, CBL had hit a wall in terms of increasing its turnover. Limited by its existing production technology and consumer tastes, t its highest growth opportunity lay in the Marie biscuit market. While CBLs Marie25 biscuits now made up 50% of total production, the company was unable to meaningfully increase its sales and market share of the Marie category. It had attempted a variety of marketing activities including extensive advertising, merchandising and trade promotions, but was still not able to take sufficient market share away from Maliban. The Munchee Marie biscuit was at this time essentially a knockoff of Malibans Marie and used very similar packaging. However, despite much effort and testing, eBL was not able to exactly reproduce the Maliban Marie flavor. Although market share was a (then) respectable 10% and despite fervent urgings from its own sales team to the contrary to be more like Maliban, CBL decided that the time had come to change tactics and be different in order to try to break through the turnover barrier. The Tikiri Marie Campaign Munchee hit on the winning concept of launching its own Marie as Tikiri Marie – a petit sized Marie biscuit using an aggressive campaign entitled Tikiri Mole†, to bring the little biscuit to the attention of consumers. The campaign targeted children with the use of attractive advertising and proved a real turning point in Munchees growth and image. The biscuit was so successful that the smaller sized Tikiri Marie became the number one Marie biscuit in the Sri Lankan market, with a phenomenal 50 per cent of Marie market share and eventually forced the giant Maliban to acknowledge Munchee as a significant market player by playing copy cat and resizing its own Marie. 7 Part of Munchees success with Tikiri Marie stemmed from Malibans complacency and its failure to react to this attack on the Marie category. The Tikiri Marie campaign brought into effect other changes at CBL such as the introduction of Munchees keep fresh pack, which ensured better product freshness. Followin g its success with Tikiri Marie CBL expanded the use of the fresh pack to the entire Munchee biscuit range. The company also commenced a Tikiri Marie scholarship program for school children in 1997 entitled Munchee Tikiri Shishyadara which it continues to this day. Now in its eighth year, the program provides 120 deserving children with scholarships of Rs. 1000 per month for one year with fresh applicants being selected annually. By 1998, the cumulative effect of the changes made through the 1990s, resulted in CBL achieving a 30% market share of the biscuit market (up from 20% at the start of the 1990s) and topping the Rs. 1 billion turnover mark. This was a major milestone for CBL, both internally and externally. The company was becoming better known, both to consumers for its brands and quality products and to the industry for its investments in good technology. CBL reinforced this reputation by committing to a Rs. 500 million expansion program Rs. 300 million of which was spent on a large state of the art plant from Italy. Plant 6 as it was known, was CBLs largest capacity plant thus far with five lines that could handle both hard and fermented dough. This action by CBL sent a strong message, to its staff and associates, about CBLs optimism and confidence in the companys future growth commercialization of this new plant, CBL planned to introduce a new range of biscuits to tackle Maliban head-on. 6.1.2 The Lemon Puff Battle CBLs next strategic attack on Maliban came in 2001 with its Lemon Puff. The Munchee Lemon Puff had a solid 30% market share but as was the case with Marie, failed at growing sales further as a me too product. CBL decided to re-Launch Lemon Puff, by promoting it as a sandwich biscuit with a higher quantity of lemon cream. The campaign was heralded by an intensive television campaign directed at capturing the attention of a new market. What the company did not reveal in its advertising was that the cracker itself had been vastly improved, through a new formula and upgraded technology. It was in fact a noticeably better overall sandwich biscuit than Malibans Lemon Puff rather than just being a look alike with more cream. Going against the advice of its advertising company, Munchee replaced the traditional yellow packaging, synonymous with the Lemon Puff category, with a white wrapper. The superior moisture and odour barriers of the new metalized wrapper combined with the new pillow pack technology, which used only two seals to achieve increased air-tightness, better preserved the crispness and freshness of the sandwich biscuit. This had been a problem that had plagued both companies puffs for decades. Consumers who tasted the Munchee Lemon Puff for its extra cream (not enough cream was a complaint associated with both Lemon Puffs for years) were pleasantly surprised and rapidly switched loyalty to the Munchee Lemon Puffs. Thus Munchee demonstrated that it was in touch with tastes of its consumers and used their feedback to improve its biscuits. The impact of the product changes were felt immediately. Munchees market share in puffs went up from 30% to over 50% within a mere four months following this relaunch, and grew the entire puff category from 12 to 16%. As a result, Malibans share of Lemon Puff which had been a staggering 70% plummeted to 29%. By now Munchee had 45% of the local biscuit market and was vying with Maliban for market leadership. CBLs next big ch allenge was clear take on Maliban in the cream cracker market. Despite Munchees success at growing its sales, Maliban still had nearly 75% of the lucrative cracker market while Munchee was at a meager 23%. The Maliban cream cracker was well accepted and entrenched in the market. CBL had to find a way of breaking through with an innovative cream cracker to take on this market. 6.1.3 The Cream Cracker Assault The following year, in 2002, CBL re-Iaunched its cracker as a Super Cream Cracker, enriched with vitamins in a bold campaign, with live broadcast of two music shows held simultaneously in Colombo and Anuradhapura before massive crowds As they had done with the Lemon Puff, CBL used a new metalized pillow-pack with a contemporary look to break away from the traditional solid red Maliban packaging synonymous s with cream cracker and re-formulated the cracker to deliver a crisper and tastier product. The Munchee strategy of delivering a superior quality product that convinced consumers to switch brands proved a success and the results were phenomenal. Cracker sales grew, expanding its own market not merely taking over competitor share. Growth in sales nearly tripled and Munchees market share in cream cracker immediately doubled to 40%, reaching 50% the foHowing year. Today, of the total cream cracker category, which makes up 20% of the total domestic biscuit market, Munchee owns a 60% sh are. Super Cream Cracker accounts for 30% of the companys turnover, with a profit margin of over 25%. Munchee continues to fight aggressively for market share. Its most recent marketing campaign entitled Podi Badaginne† targets the large 500 gm pack market, previously serviced by loose crackers. The focus is to use the cracker as a substitute for a full meal for chummary factory workers who are already provided with two meals from their work place. The company has again demonstrated its knowledge of customer needs and changing trends and lifestyles in Sri Lanka as the record 128% growth of this heavy use pack from 2004 to 2005 shows. Business Expansion Beginning from the 1990s, CBL began looking at other areas in the food and confectionary industry to expand its businesses activities. 6.2.1 Ritzbury One of the first areas CBL explored was one naturally complementary to its existing line of business: chocolate. At one time, the company had produced chocolate for Nestle and had some exposure to Nestles chocolate operations. Launched in 1991, Ritzbury chocolates began with chocolate coated (enrobed) biscuits. The company went through much teething pain in developing the right quality chocolate for its use. It struggled to develop a workable formulation one that tasted good while withstanding the melting and rancidity caused by the tropical Sri Lankan weather. Ritzbury gradually developed its market by first growing its range of coated biscuits, then expanding to chocolate candies and hand made chocolates, and only recently moving into the traditional slabs the largest market category. The companys strategy is to provide innovative eye-catching products to its consumers and thus differentiate from its competition. Ritzburys first entry was Chunky Choc (chocolate covered biscuits sandwich with butterscotch cream filling), followed by Chit Chat (chocolate coated wafer with hazelnut cream) and Chocolate Fingers (chocolate coated finger biscuit). Another innovation for Sri Lanka was Pebbles (brightly colore d, sugar coated chocolate candies). The Ritzbury range includes Nik Nak, (chocolate coated vanilla cream wafer), Go Nuts (colored chocolate coated peanuts), Choosy (liquid chocolate stick) and Choco-La individual nuggets. Although it started out originally as a poor number four, Ritzbury recently beat Kandos (Ceylon Chocolates) to the number two spot in the chocolate market. However, at 21 % vs. 42% Ritzbury has only half the market share of market leader Edna and a long way to go to become number one. Further, Edna has itself shown to be very aggressive and quick in bringing out innovative products to the chocolate market. Ritzbury for its part, offers over 60 differentiated items, at the full range of price points and with a dedicated sales force certainly provides its consumers affordability and access. Despite being a small local brand, it offers consumers a complete range of chocolates and chocolate coated products and for other products frequently provides comparable alternati ves to more expensive imported products. Examples are Pebbles as an alternative to Smarties, Chit Chat to Kit Kat and Go Nuts to MMs. Yet, apart from the hand molded specialty chocolates and coated biscuits products, the company has yet to fully convince local consumers that the quality of its slab range is on par with that of imports or Kandos. By 1997, following its first biscuit war and having grown its market share in the biscuit market to a respectable 30%, CBL began to focus on sales of Ritzbury. One hindrance to improving growth CBL realized was the then single chain of distribution it used for both biscuits and chocolates. In practical terms what this implied was that once a retailer had gone through purchases of the more established Munchee list of biscuits they would have little money left for Ritzbury chocolates. Ritzbury sales were materially affected and it became evident that an alternative would have to be sought out. One option was to increase the breadth of the CBL range in order to afford to maintain a second line of distribution. 6.2.2 Pancho Snacks With this in mind, CBL decided to enter the snack food market in 1998 under Ritzbury. Named Pancho, this snack range was made up primarily of extruded snacks. However, despite the companys sustained efforts with Pancho and the separate sales force, the impulse buy snack market proved a disappointing arena for CBL. Despite the introduction of two products under a new line named Catch Me together with a re-Launch of Pancho in 2000, the company found that it could only succeed in this market with a near continuous stream of promotions. Although CBL persevered in snack foods for nearly five years, it was eventually forced to close up this operation and admit failure. With the aim of an expansion of its range still in mind, CBL next entered a completely unfamiliar food market. In 2000 due to its own financial difficulties, Yanik Incorporated, an investment bank, was selling its 79% stake in Soy Foods (Lanka) Limited, a public listed company manufacturing textured vegetable protein (TVP) n uggets. Soy Foods was a loss making number four player in the market but had pioneered a number of soy products under the brand Lanka Soy. CBL seized this opportunity to expand its range, encouraged by its present Managing Director who had experience in the soya area. CBL purchased the stake in Soy Foods at Rs.9/share and took over operations in September 2000; by 2002 the company had been successfully turned around and had become a viable entity. This was the success story that CBL had been searching for. The Soy Foods line allowed CBL to maintain a dual distribution network, one for its biscuits and another for chocolates and soy. The effects of this isolation of chocolate sales from biscuits were immediate and notable. By 2002 Ritzbury had made impressive inroads into its competition and grown market share to over 15%. 6.2.3 Lanka Soy In 2000 when CBL bought over management of Soy Foods (Lanka) Ltd. from Yanik it was a loss making company. Despite being the pioneer in the local soy market, Lanka Soy was at the time selling only 50% of the volumes of the market leader Raigam, with a 15% market share. The companys growth was stagnating in a rapidly growing market, and many smaller competitors were cashing on its market with lookalike products. The ambitious strategy set out for a turnaround of the company was to aim to make it not merely profitable but the market leader. CBL decided that not only was it necessary to grow Lanka Soys market share, through a fresh look and product, it was going to grow the total product market through a change in positioning. Thinking very innovatively, the company decided what was needed was to position soya not just as a vegetarian food, but as a more economical substitute for the protein content of a main meal. Touting advantages such as convenience, price and the lack of freezer requirements together with newly introduced catchy features such as interesting shapes and flavors, a whole range of new branded soy products were launched under the Lanka Soy umbrella. Given that at the time, chicken flavored soya was the most popular soya product the company decided it would introduce interesting flavors to accompany new presentation efforts. In order to take the competition head on, it improved the taste of its traditional range, while also increasing its product range. It developed not one but a range of chicken flavors, under the brand Chikosoy, consisting of tandoori, masala, roast and chilli chicken flavors. For the traditional vegetarian market, it introduced the Vegesoy range a further four flavors of mushroom, hot and spicy, Chinese chop suey and Indian rasam. But its piece de resistance was a completely new entrant Malusoy. This range of not merely fish but also seafood flavors truly tapped into a very strong local preference for seafood. Malusoy comprised spratts, devilled prawns, cuttlefish and ambul thiyal flavors. Packaging for the four new sub brands was done using a range of appealing eye-catching colors, with a unique logo designed for each. Advertising again interestingly was carried out individually on a sub brand basis. For example, Malusoy used a two column poster conveying the advantages over canned fish. The company also took the extra step of providing a sauce sachet to provide a one step cooking process. Emphasis was placed to introduce the cooked product to consumers by way of cookery demonstrations and street promotions. In particular, Malusoy was aimed at areas with little coastal access. Sales efforts were overhauled, re-demarcating a network to reach 35,000 outlets with designated representatives for supermarkets, catering and restaurant sectors. The results were strong. By early 2002 Lanka Soys market share had jumped to 25% hitting 30% and market leadership a year later. Malusoy to eBLs surprise turned out to be Lanka Soys front runner in sales. The strategy to offer consumers, as a household, their daily main dish at a price less than half the price of canned or fresh sea food was highly successful. Within 24 months Malusoy sales exceeded 500,000 packets a month, making up over 14% of the total soy market. Due to the sudden launch of many interesting products at the same time Lankasoy established itself as trend setter and frontrunner of the soya product market. 6.2.4 Tiara Cakes eBLs next expansion was within the local confectionary business -the lucrative Rs. 4 billion plus local cake market. eBLs main biscuit and chocolate operations had traditionally taken place at its home factory located along with its head office in Pannipitiya. However in 2002, the company invested Rs. 1.5 billion to set up eBL Foods International (eBL Foods), a Board of Investment (BOI) approved company in Rannala, about one hour away. Awarded a 10 year tax holiday, eBL Foods has a mandate to manufacture bakery products and chocolates the former includes a new line of cakes under the brand name Tiara. The new venture commenced operations in September 2004 with a new line of portion cakes individually wrapped sponge layer cakes, marketed under the Tiara sub brand Okay, The product line also includes swiss rolls. CBL Foods boasts a state of the art plant intended primarily for cakes and a Clean Room,,33 to guarantee freshness for a shelf life of up to eight months. Due to production constraints faced elsewhere however the 110,000 square foot modern facility also includes manufacturing and packing for chocolates, wafers and biscuits the latter including both hard and soft dough. CBL expects that its group tax slab will come down to 32.5% as a result of CBL Foods tax advantaged status and the shifting of these manufacturing of chocolates, wafers and biscuits, which previously came under Ceylon Biscuits tax slab. The company uses a formula to determine profit and is taxed at the preferential rate of 15% on its export. 6.2.5 Other Snacks In 2004, CBL invested Rs. 50 million to acquire a 60% stake in Cecil Food (Pvt) Limited (Cecil Food) an organic manufacturer of dehydrated fruit products, fruit juices, desiccated coconut and cashews primarily for the export market. Though the company had been in existence for 10 years and exported to 20 countries, it was facing financial difficulties. CBL brought to Cecil Foods the financial strength and management experience that it needed, while the founder retained a 25% stake. CBLs main interest in Cecil Food was its exposure to rural agriculture and its export and local market potential. The company presently exports to countries including the US, UK, Germany, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, Malta, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain. Armed with CBLs financial backing the company has overcome its working capital needs. CBLs infusion of capital has enabled the purchase of new equipment and is now looking at expanding sales to tap the local market. Cecil Foods also has a 100% o wned subsidiary Cecil Fruit Canneries which concentrates on natural fruit juices for both the domestic and export markets. CBL intends to launch this range to the domestic market by introducing a line of fruit juices in novelty pouches. Export Markets CBL has also set its sights on growing its revenues through tapping sales in overseas markets. Although CBL had been exporting biscuits from inception, around 1997, the company began to export regular container loads to the United States, Canada, Australia and India, while also investigating at lucrative export markets such as the Middle East. India became a particular focus, with the company beginning its own marketing effort there. By 2000 CBL was also exporting to the US, Canada, Australia, UK, Sweden, the Middle East, Hong Kong, Mauritius, Fiji Islands and the Maldives. Although the export sector took a long time to stabilize, export orders now go out to 36 countries, exceeding Rs. 110 million in value (USD$ 1 million) in 2004/5. Exports to the UK, Middle East and Canada are mainly to the so called ethnic markets catering to the Sri Lankan diaspora, but in other countries demand is slowly establishing into in the established biscuit market through chain distributors. While most e xports are under private labels that it, outsourcing for foreign biscuit companies CBL has managed in some instances to establish its own brand. This is particularly the case in Australia where the company has taken the additional step, as it did in India, of setting up its own marketing effort by establishing a company representative as market manager. Australia is now the main export market for CBL, having overtaken the United States. CBL also enjoyed some recent success making inroads into western Africa. 6.3.1 Entry into India There are four accepted methods for a company to enter a foreign market: exports, licensing, joint ventures and direct investment, which often represent an evolution in the degree of interest the company develops once it is present in the market. Beginning with straightforward exports from the mid 1990s and early exports of containers to India in 1999 CBL took the next step in developing the Indian market by investing Indian Rupees 3.6 crores (36 million) to purchase Parrys Confectionary based in Pondicherry, about an hour from Chennai. Setting up a 100% owned subsidiary Ritzbury India, CBL began manufacturing operations for the first time outside Sri Lanka. The acquisition provided CBL with a six line 350 ton a month manufacturing plant. The company entered the Indian market with the Munchee and Ritzbury brands, for distribution in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. While the chocolates were manufactured in Sri Lanka, most of the Munchee range was baked in India. CBL produced nine varieties of biscuits including Marie, Glucose biscuits and several creams at the Pondicherry plant. This manufacturing base in India proved to be both a blessing and a distress to CBL. On the one hand, it became a strong negotiating tool for CBL at a time of labour unrest. CBL was able to take a tough stance, threatening closure and the moving of its entire manufacturing operations to its base in India. However, on the other hand, distribution arrangements provided by Parrys proved to be less than satisfactory. The company began a losing battle in trying to distribute its products. Revenues were far below expectations and Ritzbury India further faced a number of detrimental tariffs in South India. Despite a Free Trade Agreement with India, and a reduction of duty to 3%, the state sales tax in Tamil Nadu was increased by 8% for imported goods effectively nullifying any duty concessions. Following a second acquisition in India, CBL decided to completely dispose of its Chennai operations at a loss , dissolving Ritzbury India. In 2003 CBL heard about the sale through court auction of Bakemans, once the third largest biscuit manufacturer in India with a market share high of 13% of the total Indian market. Outbidding its Indian competition in July 2004 CBL successfully acquired the assets of Bake mans at a cost ofRs .. 300 million. Along with the premises the company also gained six biscuit lines from the acquisition, two of which it chose to bring to Sri Lanka for installation at CBL foods to allay its present capacity constraints. Based in Patiala in the state of Punjab, CBL set up CBL India with plans to commence commercial production in the near future, using one biscuit line. Having recruited Bakemans former CEO, who had been directly involved in the companys rise to its one time number three position, CBL has ambitious plans for India and its manufacturing operations there in the future. Tentatively speaking of a Munchee-Bakemans brand name, CBL aspires to become number three in India within two years of operations and have the same type of success at retail that Dilmah has achieved in India CBLs challenge in India is to find a mass consume r line of biscuits similar to Marie and Cream Cracker in Sri Lanka. Glucose biscuits are an area that the company will have to examine, given their present popularity in India, but to compete with established players such as Parle-G and Britannia, CBL will need both a reliable distribution network and an attractive proposition for the Indian consumers to give it a try. The use of the Bakeman name, which would certainly aid the latter, is presently an issue. If CBL is able to use the Bakeman brand name in some form it will cut down market establishment time considerably. CBLs strength is that it has the innovation to develop a product to suit this market and it has proved in Sri Lanka that it has the quality and taste to convince consumers to switch to its brand. What remains to be seen is whether it will have sufficient insight into the Indian market to correctly select what that winning product and distribution strategy should be. Other Indian Ventures In 2004 CBL entered into an agreement with Ferrero of Italy to distribute and undertake manufacturing on Ferreros behalf. Ferrero is the world renowned producer of Nutella, Tic Tac and Ferrero Rocher and Mon Cherie brands of chocolate and another family owned business. Presently the agreement entails the manufacture of boxes for Tic Tac, Ferreros signature mini mint, intended to be extended to the manufacture or finishing of the mint pill also. CBL distributes Ferrero Rochers foil wrapped boxed chocolates, Nutella and Tic Tac for Ferrero in Sri Lanka and India. Manufacturing commenced in August 2005, packing pills imported from Australia into the boxes. Distribution is intended for Sri Lanka, Africa, India and Pakistan. The linkup with Ferrero is another example of CBLs chairmans dynamic personality and relationship building skills. Following initial contact in India, CBLs directors visited Ferreros head quarters in Alba, Italy, which Ferrero reciprocated with a visit to Sri Lanka. The company has expressed an interest in using Sri Lanka as a base for South Asian activities, moving its present activities from India, convinced of CBLsabilities as a business partner. CBL in turn hopes the association will expand its knowledge base through contact with the 60 year old Italian family business. Business Unit Contribution Biscuits Turnover from Munchee biscuits, the biggest contributor to group turnover, grew 30% in the financial year 2004/5 and early results for 2005 show this trend continuing. Past years sales have grown at a similar overall pace, although specific products have shown even higher growth rates at times of changes and innovation. Profit margins on biscuits range from 20-25% with products such as Super Cream Cracker, Tiffin and Chocolate Puff being the most profitable. Biscuit sales are presently constrained primarily by production capability, with demand strong and the company intending to increase its production lines in 2005/6. To try to keep up with demand, CBL has brought down two lines already from its recent acquisition in India and plans to import a new 2 ton per hour machine from Italy, expected to be installed in early 2006. Group Performance While CBLs overall growth has been strong over the past five years with revenues more than doubling from Rs. 1.9 to Rs. 5.2 billion over the period, profit increases have been even higher due to various tax benefits. In 2005 CBLs group turnover grew 48% to Rs. 5.2 billion and net profit after tax grew 63% to Rs. 533 million, the highest ever in the companys 36 year history. Sales surpassed the previous year across all areas of biscuits, chocolates, Soya and exports. The tremendous bottom line growth clearly indicates the contribution accrued from CBL Foods tax advantaged status. In comparison the 2004 figures were 11% top line and 23% bottom line growth. On average, overall profit margin has been near 9% over the five year period. This is taking into account FlY 200112 which differs due to both the industrial unrest that CBL faced for two months of that financial year as well as the exhaustion of the tax benefits afforded by the 1988 Investment Tax Allowance. The companys latest earning per share figure (EPS) is an astonishing Rs. 53.12 and more impressively has grown from Rs. 36.75 in 2003. This EPS figure reflects the extraordinary growth that CBL has experienced over the last 10 years. EPS in the late 1990s was actually in the Rs. 3000 range on the companys original ordinary share capital of Rs. 390,000 (made up of 39,000 Rs. 10 shares). Path Forward Ceylon Biscuits faced with production capacity constraints for its biscuits, as demand has grown well beyond forecasts. It has adopted the following three pronged approach to increase capacity: a) bringing down two biscuit lines from India from its Bakemans operation for immediate capacity expansion, b) importing a brand new large capacity plant from Italy and c) future capacity expansion of its Indian manufacturing operations. CBLs future growth will come from increasing exports of its established products and diversifying by leveraging its domestic logistics and distribution capabilities to market its other products. The company is also increasingly open to looking at new opportunities, an example being manufacturing for Italian chocolate maker Ferrero. The companys core competencies for the future will be investment in technology, financial strength, sales and marketing competency and focused management. Key challenges will be dealing with its production restrictions and becoming able to compete on a global basis by 2007. CBLs greatest test will be when the Indo Lanka FTA final phase permits Indian biscuits to be imported duty free beginning 2007. CBL intends to examine becoming listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange over the next few years. Since the desire for listing does not seem to be driven by financial needs only, it is still unclear what CBL will gain from this step. The company wishes to formalize its procedures in order to firm up its financial transparency and professionalize its organization structure and operations to ensure future continuity and success. There is a sentiment that going public will enforce the discipline required to ensure this. CBL is well poised with a business model to ensure ongoing value creation. It has spent time building strong brands that have future earnings potential. The brands have proven their competencies in that they have been replicated across new markets with success. However there are some concerns that need to be explored. Managing export markets Export marketing could be more aggressive the model adopted by Munchee for Australia of establishing a marketing office seems the proven route to establish and develop key markets. We see some amazing possibilities for synergies for CBL in inviting someone of the caliber of Merrill 1. Fernando Chairman Dilmah to its board, perhaps even offering Dilmah some equity in an export division or forming a separate export company, who could help with establishing relationships with some of Dilmahs retailers and distributors in Australia. One way or another, the use of a different model to fast track export market expansion is advisable. 5. Managing Indian market entry This is the second greatest challenge facing the company. India is an amazingly dissimilar market to Sri Lanka despite certain cultural similarities. It is fragmented with over 15 million retail entities, the largest number in the world. The organized retail sector in India is only 3%. However, over 51 % of its population is under 25 years of age and the fastest growing sector is the retail high-end supermarkets -expected to grow over three fold in the next five years (from US$8 billion to US$25 billion). Beginning with three malls in 2003, India had 25 by 2005 and is building 200 more. The pace of change is phenomenal. It makes sense to enter this high-end retail Focus on core competencieslRefocus on Sales and Marketing CBLs passion for quality, capacity to build brands and technological and production innovativeness are great competencies to be retained. Skills like marketing and sales are always unstable. Such skills are in demand, pressures are great and often new challenges are looked for in different cycles of growth. No proper product management system or category management is in place. It is important to have some depth to the marketing department. And while CBLs success speaks volumes for the capabilities of its current Director of marketing there is a need for a diversity of approaches and opinions so that marketing efforts do not grow stale. Key mid level appointments need to be made. Customer intimacy! Product leadership / Managing brand TOM In spite of CBL making all the right moves, and succeeding in achieving higher scores than Maliban in most of the consumer research categories (see chart below), Munchee is still behind in brand Top-Of-Mind (TOM) recall. This is despite Munchee having strong market noise levels in share of voice and especially with the competition making so many mistakes. Part of the gap between Munchee and Maliban in top of mind recall can be explained by the long history of Maliban as a market leader, and that it was the dominant player for a very long time. Part of the gap between Munchee and Maliban in top of mind recall can be explained by the long history of Maliban as a market leader, and that it was the dominant player for a very long time.

A Christmas Carol Essay Example for Free

A Christmas Carol Essay As proved by in Scrooges words and character the Ghost of Christmas Past has had a positive impact on the transformation in his character. The Ghost of Christmas Present shows Scrooge another view of Christmas, a view in which Scrooge had never encountered before in the past or present, a view into a poor familys house in this case his clerk Bob Cratchits house. They watched as they dined and then sit round the fire. Scrooge asked if Tiny Tim will live which indicates to the reader that he has a slight feeling of remorse as he is partly to blame for paying such a low wage. The Ghost says that if the future is unaltered he will die however then uses Scrooges own words against him saying if he be like to die, he had better do it and decrease the surplus population. Hearing these words he hung his head with guilt. He had learnt a lot from that visit and had come to his senses about the poor realizing that they lived every day going hungry, wearing rags, some were ill but couldnt afford treatment. The theme explored during this scene was guilt. The Ghost then takes him to his nephews house where a Christmas party is underway. When they played music all the things that the ghost had shown him, came upon his mind and he gradually softened. Through that if he could have listened to it often, years ago, he might have cultivated the kindness of life for his own happiness with his own hands. This shows that his past experiences with the Ghosts have had a great impact on his character as the sound of music softened and brought kindness to his heart realizing his past mistakes. He reacts in a very different manner compared to his own when everybody starts singing and dancing, he joins in without a care in the world singing and dancing, joining in with the fun. However being in a shadow he couldnt be seen or heard. The Phantom then shows Scrooge two children both wretched, frightful, hideous, miserable ragged where devils lurked from his robe. They were the children of man symbolizing mans Ignorance and Want. Scrooge was told to beware before it vanished. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come has been made the most the most frightening of all described as a phantom moving silently concealing his face and form in a deep black garment. They first went and overheard a conversation between a group of businessmen. They were talking about Scrooges death. They commented on his legacy, however concluded that he left it to his company. They talked about his funeral, not caring at all. One queried whether they should make up a party and volunteer; another replied I dont mind going if a lunch is provided. This shows that Scrooge was a very uncared for person. Scrooge understands that if he changes he could change the course of his future. He tells the spirit that he will change and honor Christmas in all his heart. In the last chapter Scrooge was overcome with joy when he realizes its Christmas day. He tells a passing boy to buy the prize turkey and send it to Bob Cratchits. He went out wishing everyone a Merry Christmas as they went by. He sees the charity workers and tells them to come back later where they will receive payment. He went to his nephews house and joined in the party sharing happiness and joy. The next day he got in early catching his clerk coming in late. Bob thought he was going to get fired; instead Scrooge raised his salary and promised to help his struggling family. From this it shows Scrooge was able to redeem himself in every possible way in contrast to the past. From there on Scrooge kept Christmas in his heart and was a changed man. In conclusion the moral in which Dickens is trying to elicit in his readers is in my opinion that It is never too late to change your ways. You should be kind to yourself and others. Sharing Christian values in every possible way. Dickens shows the differences in society between the rich and the poor and how we should help others to benefit all. Especially highlighting the views and opinions of the poor and how they feel because many people arent aware of these factors.

Definition Of Change Management As An Organizational Capability Management Essay

Definition Of Change Management As An Organizational Capability Management Essay Able and How, an international management consultancy firm, specialises in helping clients solve their communications, change and people issues. The project saw the light when the group was working on a growth strategy for Rio Tinto . It was then that the group made a recommendation that said that the massive organization needs to have a capability to manage change and adapt itself to the volatile business environments in order to grow by 100% in the next 3 years!!! Problem Definition The tinkering over the recommendations lead the group to question, whether they can create a definition of change management as an organizational capability? If yes, whether there are any reliable and credible ways of assessing and benchmarking the same? The long term goal of the group is to create a sort of ranking system that would rate organizations on their ability to manage change or adapt itself successfully to the changing environments. Search for the Solution It was the combination of challenge, vagueness of the idea and the knowledge of the expertise at Cass, which lead to Able and How coming to Cass and specifically to Veronica Hope Hailey to help with project. Literature Review: The rapid changes in the business ecosystem create pressure on organizations to implement change initiatives to meet the demands of the stakeholders. Of late, the frequency and magnitude of change has increased. If anything one was to look at as a indicator of this, it would be the Fortune 1000 list of companies. The list shows that between 1973 and 1983, 35% of the companies in the top 20 were new, and this has increased to 60% when we compare the figures for years between 1993 and 2003. This indicates that increasingly more businesses are dealing with / managing changes in their organizations to stay ahead. At this point, one pertinent question that comes to our mind is what is change management? Change management, as defined in the Business and Management dictionary, is the coordination of a structured period of transition from situation A to situation B in order to achieve lasting change within an organization. Change management can be of varying scope, from continuous improvement, which involves small ongoing changes to existing processes, to radical and substantial change involving organizational strategy. Change management can be reactive or proactive. It can be instigated in reaction to something in an organizations external environment, for example, in the realms of economics, politics, legislation, or competition, or in reaction to something within the structures, processes, people, and events of the organizations internal environment. As a proactive measure, an organization might undergo change in anticipation of say, unfavourable economic conditions in the future. (Bloomsbury Business Library Business Management Dictionary 2007) Change management is a well-known and respected means to deal with budget cuts, volatile requirements, and other non stationary core reasons for project failures. The definition of change management includes at least four basic aspects: (1) the task of managing change, (2) an area of professional practice, (3) a body of knowledge, and (4) a control mechanism. Change can either be programmatic and planned or can be emergent, driven by unforeseen external events (Carl and et al, 2010). Boomer suggests that both academics and practitioners see change management capability as a strategic advantage and view change as a control mechanism, which typically results from standards, policies and processes. He goes further to define that as a body of knowledge, change management consists of methods, tools and techniques (Boomer 2008) to successfully manage the transition from one state to another. A lot of research work has taken place in this area, especially in the academic world. If one were to search for change management, in the past 20 years, in the business source complete, one could find that there are 2515 results in the category of academic journals out of a total of 4309. Moreover, the importance of the industry can be highlighted by the presence of the number of consulting firms with sophisticated tools and techniques to help clients manage change. However, even recent studies show that approximately 70% of all planned organizational change initiatives fail (Eaton, 2010). This leaves us wondering why The study done by Beer and Eisenstat in 2000, does talk about the top 6 silent killers of a change initaitive. They are Top-down or laissez-faire senior management style Unclear strategy and conflicting priorities An ineffective senior management team Poor vertical communication Poor coordination across functions, businesses or borders Inadequate down-the-line leadership skills and development (Beer and Eisenstat, 2000). A lot has been talked about in the academic literature and in practioners world of the prescriptive way to overcome these issues, however, not much has been done to identify the causal effect of these and the failures of change initiatives thereafter. As identified by Pellettiere, one of the main causes for these failures is the lack of a thorough diagnostic investigation in an organizations readiness and risk for a planned change. By a thorough diagnostic investigation, he intends to include both an external as well as an internal analysis using some form of an assessment to determine the need to change as well as an organizations readiness and risk involved in a planned change. He did identify that organizations have a tendency not to conduct a thorough internal analysis but rather have a propensity to initiate quick-fix solutions, sometimes ignoring the context, when implementing a change initiative (Pellettiere, 2006). As such, there have been numerous efforts to develop a scale to assess an enterprises managerial or organizational capabilities to change. Before we go an talk about a metric, let us try to define an organizations capacity for change. Organizations Capacity to Change When an organization undergoes a change, new organizational solutions have to be decided upon; product programs must be modified; positions must be reallocated; routines and policies must be revised; employees training programs need to be planned and implemented; and so on (Meyer Stensaker 2006). This requires a lot of effort. As such, as highlighted by Meyer and Stensaker (2006), organizations that have a capacity for creating multiple change processes in order to create sustainable change must not only have the ability (resources and capabilities) to change the organization successfully, they must also have capability to maintain daily operations and implement subsequent change processes. They defined change capacity as the allocation and development of change and operational capabilities that sustains long term performance (Meyer Stensaker 2006). An organizations capability in managing change should ensure that change should happen without destroying the well-functioning aspects in an organization or adversely affecting subsequent changes. This requires both capabilities to change in the short and long term as well as capabilities to maintain daily operations (Meyer Stensaker 2006). Gtaetz and Smith define it as a firms ability in initiating, managing and implementing critical changes in organizational structures and development processes (Graetz and Smith, 2005; Self et al., 2007). These refer to a firms ability to launch and implement large scale changes to develop organisational capabilities for rapid adaptation, flexibility and innovation (Graetz and Smith, 2005; Yanni Yan, Ding Mak 2009). This definition of change capability does give us an impression that the capability is a static advantage. It can be set in place by having the right processes and structures. If it is so prescriptive then why does it happen that there are organizations that are better off at changing because of some unknown factors. The answer to this was found in the extension of the RBV and the intersection of the same with change management capability. Savory (2006) attempted at extending the RBV concept and distinguished the terms resource, competence and capability. He defined resources as factors that are owned and controlled by the organization or available through alliances and other external relationships whereas competence is the ability to use the resources to an acceptable level of performance towards a desirable purpose. Further, he defined capabilities as the ability to operate a specific configuration of an organizations set of resources and dynamic capabilities as the ability to reconfigure both the use and coordination of a specific configuration and the development of new configurations of resources, according to changes in the organizations environment and strategic direction (Butler, 2009). Dynamic Capability We know the key ingredients of a successful planned change comprise of leadership, visioning, teamwork and communication, but in dynamic environments on the other hand, change can hardly be planned ex ante in a detailed and distinct manner. The most severe disadvantages of planned change can be seen by large losses in the short-term, a high probability of a relapse, issues coming up as an result of limited foresight, unadjusted takeover of best practice from a different context, ignorance of key contingencies, a possible implementation lag that makes change already outdated before completion and a lack of suitability for large-scale change matters (Weick, 2000; Burnes, 2004). One especially severe drawback for hypercompetitive environments is that planned change represses innovative behaviour and, thus, rejects the important innovators, innovations and adaptive processes for this context (Weick, 2000; Biedenbach SÃ ¶derholm 2008). These drawbacks have encouraged us to think of the proactive, emergent change. Such an approach supports experimentation, is sensitive to local contingencies, open to shortened and tightened feedback loops from results to action, is comprehensible and managable. However, also within emergent change there are some drawbacks such as due to its incremental nature the speed of change which is slow, outcomes might be too small and, thus, more appropriate for exploiting opportunities than countering threats. Weick (2000) suggests that such an emergent change, in general, is most suited for operational level change than a major strategic change, which however can be built up incrementally through smaller emerging changes. Moreover it is because of the diffuse and less focused character of emergent change that it is less likely to deliver a transformational shift (Weick, 2000; Biedenbach SÃ ¶derholm 2008). When we talk about organizational change capacity, it cannot be an activity performed in order to improve operations or products once the change has been implemented. Instead, it is an inherent and continuous ingredient of the firms activities that need to be incorporated as a capacity of regular operations. Organizational change is thus upgraded from being a one-off and unique activity, to a strategic capability of the successful companies in hypercompetitive or turbulent environments (Nadler and Tushman, 1999; Meyer and Stensaker, 2006; Biedenbach SÃ ¶derholm 2008). Flexibility and creativity, as per rhe Mckinsey Quarterly (april 2009), are very important for a successful organizational change. These all lead us to think that there exists some kind of dynamic capabilities in an organization that would enable it to proactively change to the external environment. Teece et al. (1997) define dynamic capabilities as firms ability to integrate, build, and reconfigure internal and external competences to address rapidly changing environments. In other words, independent of the line of business, technology applied or markets served, dynamic capabilities point to the ability to constantly change in order to respond to environmental changes, to overtake competitors and to maintain competitive advantages (Biedenbach SÃ ¶derholm 2008). The dynamic capability is an extension of the static resource based view, which fails to explain firms competitive advantage in changing environments (e.g., Priem Butler, 2001). As a result, Teece and colleagues proposed the dynamic capabilities framework to fill that gap. Teece et al. (1997). It seems that the concept dynamic capabilities was the one most suited for developing a theory on organizational capacity to change because of the focus of the theory on the organizational processes that enable growth and adaptation in changing environments (Eisenhardt and Martin, 2000; Teece et al., 1997). Moreover, such capabilities are grounded in organizational learning and managerial capabilities, the former, because organizational learning both leads to dynamic capabilities and is a dynamic capability (Zollo and Winter, 2002) and the latter as managers play crucial roles in developing organizational capabilities (Teece et al., 1997). The dynamic capabilities have actually taken up a strategic stage and subjugated the operational capabilities as zerolevel capabilities, being the how we earn a living now capabilities (Winter, 2003; Dixon, Meyer Day, 2010). Organization Capability for Change When we talk of a construct that would enable us to measure an organizations capacity to proactively change, one is lured to think of 3 antecedents, viz. organizational ambidexterity, environmental uncertainty and relative performance. Ambidexterity, which means doing 2 things at the same time, when extended to an organizational context, refers to the ability of organizations to achieve alignment in their current operations while also adapting effectively to changing environmental demands (Gibson and Birkinshaw, 2004). As conceptualized by Ghoshal and Bartlett (1994) ambidexterity builds on the 4 interdependent attributes, which are discipline, stretch, support, and trust. Discipline encourages individuals to voluntarily strive to meet all expectations generated by their explicit or implicit commitments. Stretch tempts members to voluntarily strive for more, rather than less, ambitious objectives. Support refers to the collective action of members to lend assistance and countenance to others. Finally, trust induces members to rely on the commitments of each other (Gibson and Birkinshaw, 2004). They argued that an organization needs to foster discipline and stretch to encourage individuals to push for ambitious goals, but it also needs support and trust to ensure that this happens within a cooperative environment. In terms of the yin and yang of continuous self-renewal (Ghoshal Bartlett, 1997): a balance between a pair of hard elements (discipline and stretch) and a pair of soft elements (support and trust) (Gibson and Birkinshaw, 2004). To understand the meaning of environmental uncertainty, another antecedent to the change capability, we need take each word at a time. Uncertainty, which is defined as an individuals perceived inability to predict something accurately because he/she perceives himself/herself to be lacking sufficient information to predict accurately or because he/she feels unable to discriminate between relevant data and irrelevant data (Gifford, Bobbitt, Slocum, 1979). The word environmental when attached to the term uncertainty, suggests that the source of the uncertainty is the organizations external environment. This uncertainty stems from the components of the environment (e,g, suppliers, competitors, government, distributors, consumers, etc) in which a company operates. Milliken (1987) said that the decision makers need to not only understand the particular source of environmental uncertainty, but also understand the type of environmental uncertainty. While specifying the source of uncertainty he refers to the domain of the environment which the decision maker is uncertain about (eg. competitors or suppliers). The type of uncertainty focuses on delineating the nature of the uncertainty being experienced. This could of 3 types, State uncertainty, Effect Uncertainty and Response uncertainty. State uncertainty refers to the inability in understanding how components of the environment might be changing. Effect uncertainty is defined as an inability to predict the nature of the impact of a future state of the environment on the organization. Response uncertaintys definition acknowledges the lack of knowledge of response options and/or the inability to predict the likely consequences of a response choice (Milliken, 1987). One of the reasons to construct a scale to measure an organizations capacity to change is to help the firm gain a competitive edge. This would mean superior performance. A firms performance depends on its strategy, but as per Bourgeois, (1980) the lack of consensus on means is more troublesome than disagreement on ends (final strategy). Also, a firms performance is affected by its organizational structures (centralised or decentralised), adaptive entities and decision problems (decomposable or non -decomposable) (Siggelkow and Levinthal, 2003). Based on the aforementioned 3 concepts, a new dynamic capability called organizational capacity for change (hereinafter referred to as OCC) was developed by Judge and Elenkov (2005). They conceptualize OCC as a dynamic organizational capability that allows the enterprise to adapt old capabilities to new threats and opportunities, as well as create new capabilities. More specifically, it is defined as the dynamic resource bundle comprised of effective human capital at varying levels of a business unit, with cultural predispositions toward innovation and accountability, and organizational systems that facilitate organizational change and transformation (Judge et al., 2009). OCC is defined as a meta-capability that enables an enterprise to regain or remain competitive with other enterprises through effective leadership, adaptive cultures, resilient employees, and an organizational infrastructure conducive to change. As suggested, it is different from Cohen and Leventhals (1990) absorptive capacity. Absorptive capacity focuses exclusively on organizational routines and processes while OCC focuses not only on the organizational routines and processes but also takes into account leadership talent and employee attitudes (Zahra and George 2002; Judge et al., 2009). Another construct that comes close to the OCC is the organizational readiness for change (Armenakis, Harris and Mossholder 1993),as both constructs deal with the organizations receptivity to change and organizational resilience. However, organizational readiness for change is focused exclusively on employee attitudes toward change, while OCC examines employee attitudes, leadership capabilities, and organizational infrastructure for bringing about change. In essence, OCC presents a comprehensive and as such, OCC is a bigger and more encompassing concept than absorptive capacity or organizational readiness for change (Judge et al., 2009). Having defined the Organization Capacity for Change, lets see how this has been developed as a construct in the organizational sciences that can be used by executives to prepare for and enhance their organizational change process, or for scholars to study the organizational change process. Building Blocks of the OCC Construct The construct was developed by an inductive process of assessing the works of several academics and practitioners in the area of organizational change over a period of 20 years. The construct has defined eight distinct but inter-related dimensions relating to the issues of human capabilities, formal organizational systems/processes and informal organizational culture (Judge and Douglas, 2009)*. [An earlier version of this paper was accepted for the 2006 Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings for the Organization Development and Change Division.] [Insert the pic here] Sl. No. Dimension of OCC What does it mean? Referred Work 1 Trustworthy leadership Ability of senior executives to earn the trust of the rest of the organization and to show organizational members the way to meet its collective goals (Barney and Hansen, 1994) 2 Trusting followers Ability of the non-executive employees to constructively dissent with and/or willingly follow a new path advocated by its senior executives (Kelley, 1992) 3 Capable champions An ability of an organization to attract, retain, and empower change leaders to evolve and emerge (Kanter, 1983) 4 Involved mid-management The ability of middle managers to effectively link senior executives with the rest of the organization (Floyd and Wooldridge, 1996) 5 Innovative culture The ability of the organization to establish norms of innovation and encourage innovative activity (Kotter and Heskett, 1992) 6 Accountable culture Ability of the organization to carefully steward resources and successfully meet pre-determined deadlines (Ulrich et al., 1999) 7 Effective communication The ability of the organization to communicate vertically, horizontally, and with customers (Oshry, 1996) 8 Systems thinking The ability of the organization to focus on root causes and recognize the interdependencies within and outside the organizational boundaries (Kilmann, 1991) Not only have Judge and Douglas (2009) designed the construct, interestingly they have found significantly positive relationship between OCC and financial performance of companies. This co-relation lends support to the contention that OCC is a strategically important organizational capability, and that it may be a source of competitive advantage. This capability assumes all the more importance when the perceived environment uncertainty is high (Judge and Douglas, 2009). Judge and Douglas (2009) have attempted to make OCC construct as robust and relevant as possible by refining it while surveying 3,725 employees within 161 organizational units in a wide variety of industries during the period of 1999-2005. While they do intend to help leaders in one of the most difficult aspects of leading organizational change initiatives, which is the ability to diagnose and develop the organizations capacity for change (Bossidy and Charan, 2002), their study is not void of shortcomings. Neither does it take into account the size of the change nor does it measure the effects of the specific nature of the environment changes. The study is not free of regional bias, as all the findings are validated in a North American context. Moreover the construct has references to studies that are out-dated, the oldest one done in 1983. A lot of research has been taken place in each of the dimensions in the recent years. It will be worth exploring / expanding the ideas of the construct in the light of latest works. New findings Trustworthy Leadership: The construct talks about trustworthy leadership, but it will be worth understanding what attributes make leadership trustworthy. Ingenhoff and Sommer (2010) identified the 4 different dimensions that influence the degree of overall of trust, namely ability, integrity, benevolence, and information quality. They also identified trust as being significantly important for a companys ongoing success, as it strengthens the long-term relationship between stakeholders and the company (Ingenhoff and Sommer, 2010). Trust, which is correlated with greater information sharing, has been identified to reduce transaction costs. It is unique as a governance mechanism and also creates value in the exchange relationship (Dyer and Chu, 2003). Croonen, 2010, through his studies strengthened the findings of Brockner and Siegel, 1996; Krishnan et al. 2006; Mishra and Spreitzer, 1998 who have considered fairness as an important element of trust and says that it should be shown more often. Trusting followers: When subordinates trust their managers, they are willing to provide benefits in the form of extra effort toward job performance and OCB and should have more favourable attitudes toward the exchange relationship and be more willing to maintain it (Dirks Ferrin, 2002; Konovsky Pugh, 1994; Mayer Gavin, 2005). Every leaders top priority should be to establish trusting relationships in order to drive productive working environments, as a study by the Institute for Organizational Performance has revealed that trust alone predicts 46% of the difference between low and high performers (Mercurio, 2005). For this, it is not only sufficient for senior managers to be able to demonstrate that they are trustworthy, but also they have to trust their subordinates. Such trust-building practices involve exchange of information and the empowerment of employees (Cummings, 1983; Deluga, 1994; Folger Konovsky, 1989; Whitener, 1997). This does puts the manager in a more vulnerable position and organizations should help managers learn to use these procedures wisely (Brower et.al, 2009). It has been identified that effective followers play significant roles in fostering leadership and organizational effectiveness. Trusting followers leads to very effective employees, but requires the leaders put forth leadership over their specific area of work and requires honest upward communication. Such followers need to be dependent, loyal and co-operative (Agho, 2009). Capable Champions When we talk of capable champions, what skills and abilities are we referring to? In his book, The Change of Champions Field guide: Strategies and Tools for Leading Change in the New Era, Ulrich says that the winners in turbulent times will be the ones who are good at understanding the environmental and technological contingencies and leveraging them to the advantage of the organizational performance and excellence. It has been found that good change managers are very good at envisioning. They can see the future they want to create, the short and long-term wins they want to achieve. They are completely aware of the dynamics involved in developing adaptability, team-learning and responsiveness within the organization to achieve the desired win (Khan, 2006). We all know that change in an organization takes in 3 phases and each phase requires specialized skills. The table below gives a summary of same and has been adapted from the study done by Warrick, 2009 and the book Exploring Strategic Change by Veronica Hope Hailey and Julia Balogun (2008). [Refer to book by Veronica .. ] Stage of Change Role played by the Change Champion Skills Needed Mobilise Initiating Developing a change mindset Providing visionary leadership Involving key stakeholders and building commitment Well informed and cognizant of the issues and opportunities and knows how to get things done Move Facilitating Working with teams Working with people Networking and getting the right people together Sustain Implementing Planning and managing the change process Making things happen Motivating people Developing feedback mechanism to evaluate and monitor progress Persevering until the change succeeds (Warrick, 2009) For a successful change, change champions are required to create a creative culture, manage diversity, empower employees, maintaining organizational integrity, establish a just and fair reward system, create an environment of trust and inclusion that will really empower leaders and proponents of change to deal with any change process. Some additional skills are the use of appreciative enquiry, intuition and creativity (Khan, 2006; Warrick 2009). Involved Mid Management When we talk about line managers, researchers say that they can be of 2 types, the realists and the humanists. Realists are goal orientated and focus on getting things done, which includes things like developing a plan and a budget for the work and ensuring that the deadlines will be hit. On the other hand humanists, as the name suggests, focus on the people aspects-for example, making sure everybody understands and is committed to the plan, and figuring out how to handle any resistance to the plan (Axelrod, 2007). Axelrod (2007) further suggests that to get things done in an organization, one needs to bring together both the perspectives in his / her thought process and make it an all encompassing approach by moving beyond the usual suspects to include people who care about or stand to be affected by the initiative, people with relevant knowledge and expertise, and people whose authority is touched by the work. All change efforts need some element of fresh thinking and ways to overcome resistance. It has been found that innovative solutions can be obtained by including people with diverse points of view. Also, by bringing resisters, detractors, and other troublemakers onboard, one can reduce the resistance as it reduces the chance of stirring up trouble and distrust from the outside and might even convert the detractor to an instrumental team member (Axelrod, 2007). Axelrod has suggested some steps, for an involved middle management in a change effort. They are Keep the vision for the project front and center. Remind people whats going to be different as a result of your collective efforts. Give them regular progress reports about whats been achieved so far. Listen and value to the subordinates inputs. Communicate and celebrate the closure is very important too. (Axelrod, 2007). Innovative Culture Change is intended, amongst other reasons, to foster innovation and as suggested by Judge et.al. (2009), it also is one of the pillars that supports and organizations capacity to change. How do we foster innovation in an organization? The answer lay in leaders ability in fostering and developing innovation among their followers by having a vision and mission that encourage ideas from their workforce and actively seeks input from all departments and across all levels. It means giving followers the freedom to make decisions. This act enables employees to try out new ideas in a conducive environment and challenge themselves with a new way of thinking. With the ability to add to the work process, employees will begin interacting in a way that supports innovative ideas and influences the future of the business. It has been prescribed that with proper leadership training, accountability, and daily communication about leaderships responsibilities to foster creativity and trust, mid-level managers can rise to the standards necessary to inspire innovation and grow the next generation of innovative leaders (Agin and Gibson, 2010). When we talk about a culture, what would attributes would define an innovative culture? Daniels, 2010, discovered that innovative workplaces share six cultural characteristics. They are Dimension Meaning Context rich Information feed innovation. It would lead to a culture which ensures free-flowing communication so that innovators can draw on a rich background and perspective. Customer close Key to innovation lies at