Analyze the different Operational Management (OM) perspective of Walmart Essay

Analyze the different Operational Management (OM) perspective of Walmart. Identify the following by writing a paper (with paragraphs, including an introductory, body, and concluding section): 1) The organization’s name and main line of business, 2) A specific type of operations process that takes place there (either service or product), 3) Describe the nature of the operations given your newfound understanding of operations management and productivity. 4) You may identify the strategy or global strategy of that organization. Turn in your one to two page paper by the Module due date. Walmart Stores, Inc. or Walmart is an American public corporation that runs a chain of large, discount department stores. It is the world’s largest public corporation by revenue, Founded by Sam Walton in 1962, it was incorporated on October 31, 1969, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. It is the largest private employer in the world and the fourth largest utility or commercial employer. Walmart is the largest grocery retailer in the United States, with an estimated 20% of the retail grocery and consumables business. It also owns and operates the North American company, Sam’s club. The operations that take place in Walmart are specifically related to products. Walmart has a systematic approach to conducting its operations. It is able to understand the issues and problems to be studied, measures of performances to be established and uses scientific and analytical tools to develop effective and efficient solutions to the problems at hand. Irrespective of the nature of organization and the activities it performs every organization needs to incorporate marketing finance and human resources activities to its operations. This operation process is the conversion process. These four forms the basic functions of any organisation.and are mutually interactive.oerations come at the core of every organizational activity and bind the functional areas together. Productivity and efficiency of work is determined by an efficient system of operations. Hence operations forms are very important process of work flow and .corporate level strategies must first be made and then translated into operational strategies. Operation management functions encompass product  design and development, process design, location and layout of facilities, capacity planning, forecasting, production planning and control, supply chain management, maintenance management and continued improvement in operations. The strategy of Walmart is to extend its products to every possible household and make every product available to the common man through its wide network of stores all over the USA.the strategy is also to provide empowerment and work to as many people as it can and make the supply chain management a very safe and profitable process. it gets its groceries from unknown and untapped resources thereby making it a virtual assembly house of varied manufactured products. Project 2 Consider Wal-Mart. Integrate the concepts and operations management principles that you’ve been studying in this module and turn in your one to two page paper addressing the following questions: How project management influence other departments and functions of this organization (i.e., marketing, finance, accounting, human resources, etc.)? What are the difficulties or limitations for implementing PERT and CRM in the organization? Operations are a key functional area in an organization. Irrespective of the activities and the type of business every organization has few important activities to perform. This encompasses operations, marketing, finance and human resources management. Operations pertain to managing the conversion process in an organization. The marketing function is concerned with understanding the requirements of the customers cresting a demand for the products and services and satisfying the customer requirements by delivering the right product and services to the customers at the right time. In order to perform the various activities pertaining to operations and marketing finance is needed for tapping the market for funds and managing the working capital. These activities constitute the finance function. Every organization employs a number of people with varied skills background and work requirements. Managing the workforce and addressing a host of issues related to them is called human resources management.hrence these four form the basic functions of any organization The basic functions of an organization. The four functions have mutual interactions between them. The decisions  taken in each of these functional areas could form an important input in another functional area. Typically, organizations begin their yearly plan with the marketing function of estimating next year’s sales. This input forms the basis for production planning, procurement planning and all these lead to certain estimate of the funds required. This forms an important input for the finance function.wjhile planning has such a sequence of information flows and interactions at the time of executions interactions are even more. The HRM function influences the productive capacity of manpower available in real time the actual production of gods influences the marketing activity to be undertaken and the quantum and timing of funds available from sales. Hence project management influences every department in an organization. It is difficult to implement PERT because it is a product industry and as such Pert is normally suited to a service industry of where there are many projects taking off Walmart being primarily a goods industry does not require PERT. Customer Relationship management is a though study by the organization of the customer behavior and relationship. Walmart’s customer base is so huge that it seems impossible to maintain a CRM of that size. Furthermore the customer is from varied backgrounds and Walmart will not have any use for this. It becomes very expensive to initialize something like this for the size of Walmart. Project 3 At the Hard Rock Cafe, like many organizations, project management is a key planning tool. With Hard Rock’s constant growth in hotels and cafes, remodeling of existing cafes, scheduling for Hard Rock Live concert and event venues, and planning the annual Rockfest, managers rely on project management techniques and software to maintain schedule and budget performance. â€Å"Without Microsoft Project,† says Hard Rock Vice-President Chris Tomasso, â€Å"there is no way to keep so many people on the same page.† Tomasso is in charge of the Rockfest event, which is attended by well over 100,000 enthusiastic fans. The challenge is pulling it off within a tight 9-month planning horizon. As the event approaches, Tomasso devotes greater energy to its activities. For the first 3 months, Tomasso updates his MS Project charts monthly. Then at the 6-month mark, he updates his progress weekly. At the 9- month mark, he checks and corrects his schedule twice a  week. Early in the project management process, Tomasso identifies 10 major tasks (called level 2 activities in a work breakdown structure, or WBS):†  talent booking, ticketing, marketing/PR, online promotion, television, show production, travel, sponsorships, operations, and merchandising. Using a WBS, each of these is further divided into a series of subtasks. The following table identifies 26 of the major activities and subactivities, their immediate predecessors, and time estimates. Tomasso enters all of these into the MS Project software. Tomasso alters the MS Project document and the time line as the project progresses. â€Å"It’s okay to change it as long as you keep on track,† he states. The day of the rock concert itself is not the end of the project planning. â€Å"It’s nothing but surprises. A band not being able to get to the venue because of traffic jams is a surprise, but an ‘anticipated’ surprise. We had a helicopter on stand-by ready to fly the band in,† says Tomasso. On completion of Rockfest in July, Tomasso and his team have a 3-month reprieve before starting the project planning process again. Please turn in a paper of one to two pages (page counting does not include cover and reference list) discussing the following questions, The critical path is A-D-E-F-G-O The project completion time is 34 weeks. 2. Identify some major challenges a project manager faces in events such as this one. To plan thoroughly all aspects of the project, soliciting the active involvement of all functional areas involved, in order to obtain and maintain a realistic plan that satisfies their commitment for performance. To control the organization of manpower needed by the project To control the basic technical definition of the project, ensuring that â€Å"technical† versus â€Å"cost† trade-offs determine the specific areas where optimisation is necessary. To lead the people and organizations assigned to the project at any given point in time. Strong positive leadership must be exercised in order to keep the many disparate elements moving in the same direction in a co-operative. To monitor performance, costs and efficiency of all elements of the project and the project as a whole, exercising judgement and leadership in determining the causes of problems and facilitating solutions To complete the project on schedule and within costs, these being the overall standard by which performance of the project manager is evaluated. Project 4 Global firms like Regal Marine know that the basis for an organization’s existence is the good or service it provides society. Great products are the keys to success. With hundreds of competitors in the boat business, Regal Marine must work to differentiate itself from the flock. Regal continuously introduces innovative, high-quality new boats. Its differentiation strategy is currently reflected in a product line consisting of 22 models. But why must Regal Marine constantly worry about designing new boats? The answer is that every product has a life cycle. Products are born. They live and they die. As Figure 5.1 shows, a product’s life cycle can be divided into four phases: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. Figure 5.2 shows the four life cycle stages and the relationship of product sales, costs, and profit over the life cycle of a product. When Regal is developing a new model boat, it typically has a negative cash flow. If the boat is successful, those losses may be recovered and yield a profit prior to its decline. The life cycle for a successful Regal boat is three to five years. To maintain this stream of innovative new products, Regal constantly seeks design input from customers, dealers, and consultants. Design ideas rapidly find themselves in Regal’s styling studio, where Computer Aided Design (CAD) technology speeds the development process. A Regal design engineer can start with a rough sketch or even just an idea and use the graphic display power of CAD as a drafting board to construct the geometry of the new boat. The CAD system helps the designer determine engineering data such as the strength, dimensions, or weight. It also allows the designer to be sure all parts will fit together. Existing boat designs are always evolving as the company tries to stay stylish and competitive. Moreover, with life cycles so short, a steady stream of new products is required. A few years ago, the new product was the 3-passenger $11,000 Rush, a small, but powerful boat capable of pulling a water-skier. The next year, it was a 20-foot inboard-outboard performance boat with so many innovations that it won prize after prize in the industry. Then it was a redesigned 42-foot Commodore that sleeps six in luxury staterooms. With all these models and innovations, Regal designers  and production personnel are under pressure to respond quickly. By getting key suppliers on board early and urging them to participate at the design stage, Regal improves both innovations and quality while speeding product development. Regal finds that the sooner it brings suppliers on board, the faster it can bring new boats to the market. The first stage in actual production is the creation of the â€Å"plug,† a foam-based carving used to make the molds for fiberglass hulls and decks. Specifications from the CAD system drive the carving process. Once the plug is carved, the permanent molds for each new hull and deck design are formed. Molds take about 4-8 weeks to make and are all handmade. Similar mold s are made for many of the other features in Regal boats–from galley and stateroom components to lavatories and steps. Finished molds can be joined and used to make thousands of boats. Please turn in a paper of one to two pages (page counting does not include cover and reference list) discussing the following questions, 1. How does the concept of product life cycle apply to Regal Marine products? 2. What strategy does Regal use to stay competitive? 3. What kind of benefits are Regal achieving by using CAD technology rather than traditional drafting techniques? Project 4 The product life cycle that applies to regal marine products is new boats every three to five years. To be competitive every boat that is manufactured has four stages .the introduction and the design conceptualization is the most important stage. Once the design has been conceptualized it becomes easy to transfer the design into an acceptable model through the CAD models. Then it is introduced into the market’. The innovations and the new design boats help the market and it grows fast that the entire market is full of the new design boats from regal marines. This is the maturity stage of the boat life cycle. Every boat lover has a new boat design of regal marines and then the stagnation starts and the sales of boat decline gradually at first and then very quickly. this is a sure sign that the life cycle of the new design is coming to an end and obsoletion has set in .if this is not tackled then the firm will be incurring losses on more production. So this is an  indication t hat regal marines have to start looking for another new design to replace the one that in just going out of vogue. Regal marines’ competitive strategy is right from the customers themselves. Every design and thought that goes into making boats comes from the customers themselves. The customer’s suppliers and designers are all together in the studio of the regal marines while designing a new boat of enhancing features of existing models. This allows for regal marines to feel the pulse of the market and also help in setting in trends and innovations. Since every product is manufactured and customized as per customer design and style this helps regal marines to bring in the right edge to the sale and product and allows it to stay competitive. The brand of Boats from regal marines sells because there is always something new to every boat that is introduced in the market. Regal marine’s product development cell has a good combination of suppliers too. It uses the suppliers input in the design stage by urging them to participate in the design drafting process. This helps in speedin g up the initial design process. While competitors lose out on time regal marines is able to capitalize on time. Regal finds that the sooner it brings suppliers on board, the faster it can bring new boats to the market this competitive strategy also allows for competitive pricing with enhanced features. This is the gaining advantage that regal marines have. The traditional drafting method needs precision and perfection and usually takes some days to design. The prototype of the design cannot be seen unless the drawing is fully complete. This is not so in the case of Cad. if a few necessary dimensions are given and the shape chosen the CAD design engineers can bring out hundreds of designs of the prototype and improving upon the concept as the design proceeds. This is the greatest advantage of CAD designing. Improvements can go along simultaneously. This is not only faster but innovative too. The errors that arise out of human calculations and design lengths can be avoided though computer designing. The parts of the design can be fitted redesigned and reengineered based of specifications and new inputs. This allows for innovations and new concepts. The CAD also gives suggestions for new designs which can be improved upon. Styles and engineering models can be used to stay ahead of others. This is the greatest advantage of The CAD over tra ditional patterns of design. The CAD allows regal marine engineers to be constantly under pressure to bring in  innovations in boat design and models. This also has led to improving the efficiency of Regal marine product service lines. Project 5 Consider Wal-Mart. Integrate the concepts and operations management principles that you’ve been studying in this module and turn in your one to two page paper addressing the following questions: 1) How product design is applied in decision-making of that organization? 2) Can you describe a Product Life Cycles in the organization? 3) How different Issues for Product Development are applied in the organization? Project 5 Walmart a premier Grocery store and the largest chain store in the USA has been constantly striving to improve its product design. In the design of a consumer product not only is the manufactured cost of interest, but also the quality of the product delivered and how well the product meets customer expectations is studied. Walmart has been able to sustain this competitive advantage by staying ahead of others in designing delivering products in new fashion Walmart product can be distinguished just by design and packaging. Products sold by Walmart have measurable and non measurable attributes too hence both these have to consider while preparing a design plan for its products. Cost is a very important attribute of product design. a key decision making process is the constitution of cost. Walmart has been tagged as the cost price sop or a friendly shop. Having scored on this advantage Walmart needs to design its product and decide on the most important factor of cost. Many of the decisions regarding cost and quality are made in the preliminary design stage where the design engineers and the cost engineers sit together to make a workable proposition keeping the corporate strategy in mind. Hence these two put together deliver a product that can be afford by a maximum number of people. Since the consumer market is a fast changing one no product design can be kept constant for long. there is great uncertainty regarding this hence this decision of whether to stick to same design or keeping changing the design as per consumer preferences is a decision that has to be taken promptly so that products can have the delivery value. Too much newness and change may also lead to undesirable results sometimes. Where there is a degree of uncertainty in design  performance levels, customer preferences, and even in the goals for the design itself have to change immediately so that the product reaches the shelves with the newness that is anticipated from every Walmart store. The Walmart’s products are fast-moving consumer goods and durables and groceries which have short shelf lives. The product life cycles of products at Walmart are varying from 2 months to 2 years. That is why it is called a FMCG sector. Even before a product has been introduced it become out of fashion and obsolete. Such products life cycle is very short and these products will not be able to bring in that competitive advantage to Walmart. Most of the products that Walmart deals have short PLCs. even before the growth rate starts the decline set in. this call for continuous product improvement and great innovations in product life cycle management. Every product here has a tangible attribute and consumers want that attribute in every new product line. This is a challenge that Walmart has been continually striving for. Walmart’s issues of product development are many and are challenging to the very existence of this chain stores. The issues are generated not only from managing the wide variety of products but continually striving for error generating highest customer satisfaction. The watchword of product development is innovation. The market place is so crowded that unless Walmart caters to this it cannot sustain in the market. It keeps innovation as the watchword every customer need has to be met and new initiatives have to be optimized to meet the needs of the ever changing consumer market. This is critical to the success of any product development agenda. An ideal marketing mix should be approached by the organization so that product development is optimized. This would help in sustaining the advantage of product development issues. Project 6 The Arnold Palmer Hospital (APH) in Orlando, Florida, is one of the busiest and most respected hospitals for the medical treatment of children and women in the U.S. Since its opening on golfing legend Arnold Palmer’s birthday September 10, 1989, more than 1.5 million children and women have passed through its doors. It is the fourth busiest labor and delivery hospital in the U.S. and the largest neonatal intensive care unit in the Southeast. And APH ranks fifth out of 5,000 hospitals nationwide in patient satisfaction.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Part of the reason for APH’s success,† says Executive Director Kathy Swanson, â€Å"is our continuous improvement process. Our goal is 100% patient satisfaction. But getting there means constantly examining and reexamining everything we do, from patient flow, to cleanliness, to layout space, to colors on the walls, to speed of medication delivery from the pharmacy to a patient. Continuous improvement is a huge and never-ending task.† One of the tools the hospital uses consistently is the process flowchart. Staffer Diane Bowles, who carries the â€Å"Clinical Practice Improvement Consultant,† charts scores of processes. Bowles’s flowcharts help study ways to improve the turnaround of a vacated room (especially important in a hospital that has operated at 130% of capacity for years), speed up the admission process, and deliver warm meals warm. Lately, APH has been examining the flow of maternity patients (and their paperwork) from the moment they enter the hospital until they are discharged, hopefully with their healthy baby a day or two later. The flow of maternity patients follows these steps: 1. Enter APH’s Labor & Delivery check-in desk entrance. 2. If the baby is born en route or if birth is imminent, the mother and baby are taken by elevator and registered and admitted directly at bedside. They are then taken to a Labor & Delivery Triage room on the 8th floor for an exam. If there are no complications, the mother and baby go to step 6. 3. If the baby is not yet born, the front desk asks if the mother is preregistered. (Most do preregister at the 28–30-week pregnancy mark). If she is not, she goes to the registration office on the first floor. 4. The pregnant woman is taken to Labor & Delivery Triage on the 8th floor for assessment. If she is ready to deliver, she is taken to a Labor & Delivery (L&D) room on the 2nd floor until the baby is born. If she is not ready, she goes to step 5. 5. Pregnant women not ready to deliver (i.e., no contractions or false alarm) are either sent home to return on a later date and reenter the system at that time, or if contractions are not yet close enough, they are sent to walk around the hospital grounds (to encourage progress) and then return to Labor & Delivery Triage at a prescribed time. 6. When the baby is born, if there are no complications, after 2 hours the mother and baby are transferred to a â€Å"mother-baby care unit† room on floors 3, 4, or 5 for an average of 40–44 hours. 7. If there are complications with the mother, she goes to an operating room and/or intensive care unit. From there, she goes back to a mother–baby care room upon stabilization — or is discharged at another time if not stabilized. Complications for the baby may result in a stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) before transfer to the baby nursery near the mother’s room. If the baby cannot be stabilized for discharge with the mother, the baby is discharged later. 8. Mother and/or baby, when ready, are discharged and taken by wheelchair to the discharge exit for pickup to travel home. Please turn in a paper of one to two pages (page counting does not include cover and reference list) discussing the following questions, 1. As Diane’s new assistant, you need to flowchart this process. Explain how the process might be improved once you have completed the chart. 2. If a mother is scheduled for a Caesarean-section birth (i.e., the baby is removed from the womb surgically), how would this flowchart change? 3. If all mothers were electronically (or manually) preregistered, how would the flowchart change? Redraw the chart to show your changes. 4. Describe in detail a process that the hospital could analyze, besides the ones mentioned in this case. Project 6 Staffer Diane Bowles is the â€Å"Clinical Practice Improvement Consultant,† who charts scores of processes. Her inputs are very important for efficient room processes and admission processes. As Diane’s assistant I would first acquaint myself with the flow of Diana’s flowchart. I would take a few days to study the various inputs and the process flows. Once this is done then I could suggest improvements if any. I feel that there is only place where  there is a scope for improvement. This would also help in getting the rooms vacated on time without the prospect of waiting for rooms to be vacated. I would not initiate any changes because the flow chart of processes has been very successful and critical to the 130% capacity of the operational levels of the hospitals’ only would like to improve upon the levels of floors of the various units. The process as such is maintained very well but the floors on which facilities for labor wards for operations and normal delivery are scattered and in case of any emergency the patient has to be shifted many times up and down. This not only wastes critical time but also man power. I suggest that the seventh and the eight floors be exclusively used as labor wards and operation theaters and the rest of th4 floors be used in any order convenient for doctors’ nurses and other therapists. A mother who is expected to be operated upon needs to jump from process 1 to 7 without any intervening steps. the process 7 would become step 2 as the mother has already registered and ready for the cesarean .then step 6 could be followed the mother and child sent to the ante natal care and then step 8 .in process flow chart for a mother who is to be operated upon. she need not go through any other step as it is not required. Pre-registration should become mandatory fro all expectant mothers. Then the order of the flowchart would change with step 3 becoming step 1 and step 322 and others following each other. There should be no instant admission process .since all mothers are treated only by this hospital doctors pre-registration must become compulsory. That way the no of patients and mothers to be admitted for delivery on any particular day can be assessed and particularly over crowded seasons can be studied and staff arranged for emergencies. A process for a hospital specializing in obstetrics and child birth could be as follows: 1. Expectant mothers to pre register with the hospital either manually of electronically in the 30th week of pregnancy. 2. The registration number to be produced during time of admission with doctor’s diagnosis. 3,. If the mother is due for a cesarean, admission should take place before 6 hours and the mother should be taken to floor 7 for preoperative care and then proceed to step 6 4. If the mother is due for normal delivery and the birth of the child can happen any time, the mother and baby are taken by elevator and registered and admitted directly at bedside. They are then taken to a Labor & Delivery Triage room on the 8th floor for an exam. If there are no  complications, the mother and baby go to step 6. 5. If the mother has still some more time for delivery she is asked to go around the hospital till the contractions start and then goes to step 6. 6. The mother is taken to the labor ward and after successful child birth she goes to the mother and child ward and then to step 7 7. After observation and mother and child found healthy they are discharged and then to step 9 8. if the mother is found healthy and the child is found not fit enough to be discharged the child is taken to the natal care centre and the mother goes to step 9. 9. The mother and baby discharged with dates vie fro the next check up with post natal care dates. . Project 7 Consider Walmart. Integrate the concepts and operations management principles that you’ve been studying in this module and turn in your one to two page paper addressing the following questions : 1) What process strategy (form the four process strategies) is applied in that organization? 2) Where is the headquarter (or distribution center) of the organization? Are there any benefits locating there? If you could choose, where would you choose? Project 7 The process strategy is also called the job shop process. The process focus at Walmart is basically strategized around the low volume low variety type. The goods that are sold in Walmart are a large variety of goods with small quantities on the shelf. If one goes through the Walmart shelves it is noticeable that there are hundreds of varieties of goods of all types and brands but one can never buy in bulk just because Walmart does not stock them in bulk. It is not categorized as a bulk store but a retail chain store. The facilities of each department starting from the procurement to delivery are all specific processes and are organized around specific activities. Every activity is done in a specialized way by the department and process concerned. There is heavy centralization of process leading to  high execution times and perfection in operations. The procurement department is centralized with a specialists working on processes and jobs. The store stocks goods according to the eve r changing demands of the customers so the product range at Walmart is highly flexible. The stores allows for product flexibility. Since majority of the work of disbursement and product stocking is done manually the store incurs heavy cost on distribution. Except for billing and inventory every other activity is manually done. This leads not only to heavy man power requirement but also lot of human errors that cannot be avoided. This makes way for repetitions and sometimes high levels of inefficiencies. Because of the high manual work the sophisticated machines are seldom used and are all put in cold storage. To show that the store is organized around the latest technology the machines have been ordered and put in place but they are neither used nor automated. This calls for idle cost. Another main characteristic of the Walmart chain stores are the varying product flows making planning and scheduling a challenge. It is very difficult to estimate in advance the flow of a product during a week in advance. this calls for either over stocking a product or non availability o f the product hence the floor manager‘s job of stocking the right quantity during the time of demand becomes a challenge. This is the most difficult part of the process flow in Walmart. The work processes are very unique in the sense that one cannot apply any strategy of operations management and organization behavior here. The assembly process is also a challenge for every department of Walmart. The Walmart chain stores are headquartered at Bentonville, Benton County, Arkansas, 72716. The reason for having the headquarters there is quite obvious because it was here that Sam Walton opened the company’s first discount store in 1962.the original store is now a tourist spot. This small town has not only a big store but all offices of Walmart including the corporate office here. There could be no benefits here except having a sentimental value to having the head office near the original store. Since theses are the corporate offices and do not actually carry out operations of sully chain and procurement it does not matter. This headquarters is management office as all other Walmart stores operate on their own through centralized market pool. Hence procurement and distribution is done through the local stores but decisions regarding corporate policies are excused from the headquarters. I would choose the same. References: dedeksoncenter.net/Classweb/MSIS_301/MSIS301_Slides/OperationsMGT_hr8_ppt07.ppt – http://walmartstores.com/ P

Alcoholic Beverage and Energy Drink Essay

The main objective of Hector Beverage Pvt ltd is to capture the market and positioned the brand in the mind of the customer. The main targeted customers are college students,sports person. Since the beverage segment is a diversified segment . The competition is high and there are many more supreme brands and it is difficult for a new brand to capture the market. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT No task whatever big or small can be completed without proper guidance and encouragement. It gives us a great pleasure to our deep sense of gratitude and reverence to every person who created a congenial atmosphere for successful completion of this project. In doing this project, I have been extremely privileged to receive support from a large number of knowledgeable people. I am deeply indebted to Mr Neeraj Kakkar (CEO), Mr James Paul Nattal (CFO), Mr Suhas Misra (COO), Miss Ujwala Mishra (HR EXECUTIVE ) Mr Gaurav Sharma (Area manager) for giving me the opportunity to undergo my project in their esteemed organization and for giving their timely suggestions & valuable guidance. I would like to express our gratitude and profound thanks to Mr Pravat Shrivastsv (Senior coordinator), Miss Shilpa Puri (Faculty), International Management Center, New Delhi for his valuable sustained, guidance, invaluable suggestions and constant encouragement without which it would not have been possible for us to complete this project. TABLE OF CONTENTS Topic| Page no. | Cover page| | Title page| | Certificate| | Acknowledgement| | Preface| | List of figures| | List of Tables| | Executive Summary| 7| Introduction of Report| 9| Company Profile| 11| Literature Review| 18| Objectives| 19| Research Methodology| 20| Findings & AnalysisConclusion| 3435| Recommendations| 36| Limitations| 37| Biblography| 38| Annexture| 39| | | LISTS OF FIGURES: List of Figures| List of Tables| Page No| Figure 1:Pie graph for gender | Table 1| 22| Figure 2:Bar graph for coming across an energy drink| Table 2| 23| Figure3:Bar graph for regular curstomer| Table 3| 24| Figure4: Bar chart for tasting energy drink| Table 4| 25| Figure 5: Bar chart for tasting Tzinga| Table 5| 26| Figure 6: Bar chart for new awareness about Tzinga| Table 6| 27| Figure7: Bar chart for rating Tzinga flaviur| Table 7| 28| Figure8: Bar chart for tzinga providing advantage| Table 8| 29| Figure9: Bar chart of tzinga in any other flavour| Table 9| 30| Figure10:Bar chart for rating Tzinga accordance to price| Table 10| 31| Figure 11:Bar chart for comparision of Tzinga to other drinks| Table11| 32| | | |. | | | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Hector Beverages brings new experience to the Indian consumer. The company have used some natuaral herbs which is good for human health that emerges from scientific observation/ analysis of nature and creates tasty beverages, associating with leading companies and personalities. Cases in point is the first launch:Tzinga, lemon and mint flavor with natural herbs Gaurana and Zingsing. This product has a delicious taste of lemon mint with natural herbs Isolate with . Natural herbs are used to susstitute the amount of caffeine which is injurious to health . Its unique taste mekes it different than any other energy drink. And it has low amount of calories lowest calories. It is perfect for hard working days. They have these extremely meaningful products which are going to give them a competitive advantage over other products. INTRODUCTION The present world is fast moving world people are very busy and do not have time to take proper meal and consume mostly junk food which are high in calorie content and bad for health. it results in many different problem. Due to high intake of junk foods and low consumption of high nutrient value food people are suffering from more and more alments. in order to stay healthy and fit ,people should take proper nutritional content food. So Hector Beverage have launched new energy drink which has completely new flavor like lemon and mint which is completely drink from other enrgy drink. Hector is mainly targeting college students and office employees. So Hector is conducting many promotional activities to create an awareness So the main objective of Hector Beverage is to Create brand awareness for Tzinga. INTRODUCTION OF PROJECT Beverage industry is one of the fast growing industries in India . it can be divided into two sections i. e. carbonated and non-carbonated. the carbonated drinks that can be further classified into cola, lemon orange, mango and apple segments. Marketing includes all the activities like promotion, distribution, advertising etc. To fulfill all the segments of consumers. Marketing is also to convert social needs into profitable opportunities. So this topic provides all the essentials to theoretical knowledge with practical knowledge and to inculcate the efficiency. It is also requirement for the company to improve their service and product quality for achieving their ultimate goal. Beverages can be classified into 2 types ALCHOHOLIC BEVERAGE An alcoholic beverage is a drink containingethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers wines, and spirits. Alcohol is a psychoactive drug that has a depressanteffect. A high blood alcohol content is usually considered to be legal drunkenness because it reduces attentionand slows reaction speed. Alcohol can be addictive, and the state of addictionto alcohol is known as alcoholism. The production and consumption of alcohol occurs in most cultures of the world, from hunter-gatherer peoples to nation-states. Alcoholic beverages are often an important part of social events in these cultures. In many cultures, drinkingplays a significant role in social interaction — mainly because of alcohol’s neurological effects. NONALCHOLIC BEVERAGE A non-alcoholic beverage is a beveragethat contains less than 0. 5% alcohol by volume. Non-alcoholic versions of somealcoholic beverages, such as non-alcoholic beer (â€Å"near beer†) and cocktails(â€Å"mocktails†), are widely available where alcoholic beverages are sold.alcoholic wine undergo an alcohol-removal process that may leave a small amount of alcohol. Because of this, some states have legal restrictions on non-alcoholic beer and wine. | ORGANIZATION PROFILE HECTOR BEVERAGES The beverage offerings in the developed world are so much better than those in the developing world. Beverages in the US and Europe are an important delivery mechanism for nutrients (macro, like protein and micro- vitamins and minerals) while in the developing countries they are little more than (as we have noted) sweetened fizzy water. Hector Beverage Pvt Ltd. is here to bridge the gap, to challenge the beverage majors and their attempts to maintain the status quo which they have been doing for all the years they have been in business. The beverage game is bound to change, for the better and Hector intends to be the people doing it Hector is a beverage company with a twist. Now that does not really mean that Hectors products have a dash of lemon (some of them, in the future mayindeed but that’s well besides the point). The twist is that Hectors beverages are meaningful. Hector beverages believes, and believe with a lot of intensity, that beverages have to be more than fizzy, sweetened/ flavored water. Worldwide beverages contribute a lot to the consumer’s health- delivering macro- nutrients (protein) and micro (vitamins and minerals) and there is no reason why that should not be the case in the developing world. Well, no reason apart from the fact that the beverage giants have a vested interest in sustaining the status quo as that keeps cost down. Hector beverages is the new kid on the block that aims to take on the beverage majors by offering real value to the consumer- thats it, so simple- just healthy, tasty drinks, no celebrities, no Santa Claus, no bells, no whistles. Hector associates itself with this story. As it is a very small player, new one also, in an industry which is so dominated by major players like Coke and Pepsi, it still believes that it will survive and win customers. Hector knows of what are the fundamental shortcomings of the existing beverage players- their inertia, and smugness and their commitment to status quo. So, Hector Beverages think that this Hector Vs Achilles will also be a contest of historic proportions, albeit with a significantly different outcome MISSION Hectors mission statement is as follows: 3 our mission is to serve people by Quality, Healthy and tasty protein drink. VISION Hectors vision is to capture Delhi and NCR market by providing quality, healthy and tasty protein drink at a suitable price to keep people healthy and fit. VALUES We thought about this and decided to have this section not because every company seems to have something reasonably rich to say on its values. We realized that this is the beginning of differentiation and our values to us are just some of the fundamental things that excite us. As some poet, forgotten cruelly by literature must have aptly noted: â€Å"with more self-serving nonsense we will not bore further thee but, instead, just spread out for your reading pleasure our values three†. 1. Audacity: For obvious reasons. a new business is anyway tough. The fact that we would be taking on the Beverage Behemoths makes it even more exciting. We love thinking big and are in it because we want to ask the big boys to â€Å"bring it on† 2. Rooting for the underdog: The underdog can’t but try harder. As the bona-fide underdog in the beverage market we have a vested interest in rooting for the underdog. 3. Integrity: All irreverence aside, we are committed to the greater common good and unwaveringly so. COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS The firm has started its operation to fulfill the need of the market segment that still have not been fulfilling properly. Hector Beverages brings healthy, tasty beverages to the Indian consumer. The company strives to bring the best for human health that emerges from scientific observation/ analysis of nature and creates tasty beverages,associatingwithleadingcompaniesandpersonalities. Cases in point are the first two launches: Frissia (TM) Chocolate Protein Drink and Frissia(TM) Vanilla Protein Drink. These products are a delicious blend of Soy Protein Isolate with natural identical chocolate or vanilla flavor for really busy people. Soy’s benefits for health are well recorded but a significant barrier to adoption has been its bitter after taste that we have taken care of in this blend. Its as good as any chocolate/ vanilla stuff that the consumer may consider. And, at the lowest calories/ gram of complete protein its perfect for work-days spent in meetings and working on laptops/ blackberries. Hector also brings about a genuinely new approach to market- dropping political correctness for an honest communication with consumers in all interactions. In short, we have these extremely meaningful products and are going to talk quite straight to our consumers. These are exciting times for Hector- do get in touch if you find all this interesting and want to be a part of Hector, in any capacity. Hector Beverages, a pioneer in the Indian Functional Beverages industry, recently announced the launch of their newest product – Tzinga Energy Drink. Tzinga is made with a powerful blend of ingredients to avoid those energy slumps we know all too well, and keep mind and body performing at their best. * Unlike existing energy drinks, Tzinga tastes great and is availalable for the very reasonable MRP of Rs 20. * Tzinga comes in a case with 12 pieces * Tzinga will be available at 2,000 stores around Delhi NCR starting April 7th, and is scheduled to launch in Bangalore by the end of April. INGREDIANTS * Tzinga consists of lemon and mint. * Also certain natural herbs like GUARANA and GYNSING (which are South American herbs) NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION(per 100ml): Water, sugar , lemon juice concentrate| 0. 75%| Caffeine| 0. 03%| Energy| 44kcal| Carbohydrate| 11g| Protein| 0g| Fat| 0g| 1. TARGET MARKET * Above 18 years * College students * Office employes * Sports person * Fitness freaks person RECOMMENDATIONS * Not applicable for Children below 18 * Also not applicable for pregnant women and lactating women * Not recommended for diabetic patients * Not more than 2 packs should be consumed in a day FOUNDER MEMBERS CEO PROFILE: Mr Neeraj Kakkar- His corporate career started after he completed his MBA from MDI, Gurgaon in 1998. He worked with Union Carbide and later Wipro before joining. Coke in 2001. He had an amazing run with Coke- the kind that becomes a part of Corporate Folklore, with the high point being his time in Bangalore when he seemed to have settled the much-touted Cola battle conclusively. In 2008, he headed to Wharton to do a second MBA and is now in the thick of the action as CEO of Hector Beverages Private Limited, India CFO PROFILE: Mr James Paul Nattal- James, Wharton alumni with Hector. After his Chemical Engineering from Brigham University, he worked with Dow Chemicals for six years and is what many call a packaging geek- so for him the form is the substance, the medium is the content. His packaging expertise ensures that when you buy our products, most of your money is not going to the packaging, as it does in the case of all other beverage companies. He is responsible for having created a number of food and beverage packaging concepts across the United States and Europe and heads the product development function for us. COO PROFILE: Mr Suhas Misra Suhas did his MBA from IIM Calcutta (Class of 2003) and joined Coke from campus. He had the kind of start that, again, Corporate Folklore, would describe as sensational- with astronomical growth rates being registered in rural Rajasthan. In 2005 he moved to Nokia, before, in 2006, starting ChannelPlay- India’s first integrated Sales Process Outsourcing company (www. channelplay. biz) and now is the COO of Hector Beverages Private Limited. Competators- Since the Beverage industry is a big diversified segment. There are many potential strong competators in this segment. Various beverage like milk, tea, coffee, beer, whisky, protein drink, energy drinks, soft drinks etc are all competitors for each other Tzinga with its unique flavor can create a niche in the market. Tzinga is the only energy drink which have used natural herbs. but the real competator of Tzinga is Red Bull . Redbull have been dominating the energy drink market since 6 yrs. To name a few potential competitors, the leading beverage manufacturing companies in India are Coca-cola, Pepsi-co, UB group, Hindustan Unilever Limited, Tata tea, Dabur foods, , Nestle India, Sula wines, CCD, LITERATURE REVIEW A traditional definition of a brand was: â€Å"the name, associated with one or more items in the product line, that is used to identify the source of character of the item(s)† (Kotler 2000, p.396). The American Marketing Association (AMA) definition of a brand is â€Å"a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors† (p. 404). Within this view, as Keller (2003a) says, â€Å"technically speaking, then, whenever a marketer creates a new name, logo, or symbol for a new product, he or she has created a brand† (p. 3). He recognizes, however, that brands today are much more than that. As can be seen, according to these definitions brands had a simple and clear functions identifiers. Before the shift in focus towards brands and the brand building process, brands were just another step in the whole process of marketing to sell products. â€Å"For a long time, the brand has been treated in an off- hand fashion as a part of the product† (Urde 1999, p. 119). Kotler (2000) mentions branding as â€Å"a major issue in product strategy† (p. 404). As the brand was only part of the product, the communication strategy worked towards exposing the brand and creating brand image. Aaker and Joachimsthaler (2000) mention that within the traditional branding model the goal was to build brand image ; a tactical element that drives short-term results. Kapferer (1997) mentioned that â€Å"the brand is a sign -therefore external- whose function is to disclose the hidden qualities of the product which are inaccessible to contact† (p. 28). The brand served to identify a product and to distinguish it from the competition. â€Å"The challenge today is to create a strong and distinctive image† (Kohli and Thakor 1997, p. 208). Concerning the brand management process as related to the function of a brand as an identifier, Aaker and Joachmisthaler (2000) discuss the traditional branding model where a brand management team was responsible for creating and coordinating the brand’s management program. In this situation, the brand manager was not high in the company’s hierarchy; his focus was the short-term financial results of single brands and single products in single markets. The basic objective was the coordination with the manufacturing and sales departments in order to solve any problem concerning sales and market share. With this strategy the responsibility of the brand was solely the concern of the marketing department (Davis 2002). In general, most companies thought that focusing on the latest and greatest advertising campaign meant focusing on the brand (Davis and Dunn 2002). The model itself was tactical and reactive rather than strategic and visionary (Aaker and Joachimsthaler 2000). The brand was always referred to as a series of tactics and never like strategy (Davis and Dunn 2002). OBJECTIVES * Maintaining positive, strong growth each year not withstanding seasonal sales pattern. * Achieve a comprehensive output in market penetration. * Increase customer satisfaction simultaneously. * A double to triple digit growth for the first five years. * Maintain a significant research and development budget to enhance future. * Product developments. * To take in fresh minds as interns and permanent recruits to lead the organization to a greater development path. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Descriptive strategy is used since we have to collect the primary imformation from Tzinga customer. A descriptive research intends to present facts concerning the nature and status of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study. Sample Design a). Sample Unit A business organization whether it is a mall, college canteen, shops is considered as one entity and would be considered as a 1 sample unit. b)Sample Size- A survey was conducted where sampling and sales were taking place. A sample size of 100 is taken. c)Sampling Technique- Sampling technique here used is non-probability simple random sampling. We considered it as area sampling since the research is focus onto a particular area. We will be using the NON – COMPARATIVE scaling technique and will be using the LIKERT scale in which 5options will be given ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. d)Sampling Area –. The area which was taken was South Delhi where I focused on shops and college. Data Collection a)Sources – Primary data collection method is used as data was collected directly from responded through questionnaire. questionaire were both open and closed . And ranking method is used to measure the degree of agreement and disagreement. b)Tools- Various statistical tools like pie-chart, is used to represent the data and interpret them DATA ANALYSIS Q1. . Gender a) Male b) Female | | Frequency| Percent| Valid| Male| 48| 60. 0| | Female| 32| 40. 0| | Total| 80| 100. 0| FIGURE 1 Analysis-This shows that male samples are more than female sample. Q2. Did you taste any energy drink before? (a) Yes (b) No Table 2Gender * Did you tatse Tzinga before? Crosstabulation| Count| | | Did you tatse Tzinga before? | Total| | | YES| NO| | Gender| Male| 23| 25| 48| | Female| 14| 18| 32| Total| 37| 43| 80| Figure 2 Analysis-This was a comparative study done between male and female. Out of total 48 samples of male 23 have tasted tzinga and 25 have not tasted it. also in the case of female out of 32 ,14 have tasted Tzinga and 18 have not tasted Tzinga. Q3. Where did you come across an energy drink? (a)Television (b)Newspaper (c)Magazine (d)Promotion event | Table 3|. | | Where did you come across an energy drink| Total| | | Television| Newspaper| Magazine| Promotional Event| | Gender| Male| 24| 3| 3| 18| 48| | Female| 19| 2| 0| 11| 32| Total| 43| 5| 3| 29| 80| Figure 3 Analysis-Again in the case of 48 respondent ,24 male responded have come to notice about energy drink through television,3 through newspaper,3magazine,18 through promotional event Q4. Which energy drink did you taste ? (a)Red bull (b)XXX (c) Clould 9 (d)Barn Table 4Gender * Which energy drink do you taste Crosstabulation| Count| | | Which energy drink do you taste| Total| | | Red Bull| XXX| Cloud 9| Barn| |. Gender| Male| 24| 10| 8| 6| 48| | Female| 11| 9| 9| 3| 32| Total| 35| 19| 17| 9| 80| Figure 4 ANALYSIS Out of 48 males 24 have take Redbull,10xxx,8 clould9barn. And in the case of female side 11 have taken Red bull,9xxx9 clould 9 nad 3 barn. Q5. Are you a regular consumer of energy drink? (a)yes (b)no Table 5 Gender * Are you a regular consumer of energy drink? Crosstabulation| Count| | | Are you a regular consumer of energy drink? | Total| | | YES| NO| | Gender| Male| 16| 32| 48| | Female| 11| 21| 32| Total| 27| 53| 80| Figure 5 ANALYSIS Out of 48 males,16 are regular consumer of energy drink and 32 are not regular consumer. And in the case of female out of 32 ,11 are regular consumer and 21 are not regular consumer. Q6. Have you tasted tzinga, the new launch ever? (a)yes (b)no Table 6 Gender * Have you tasted Tzinga the new launch ever Crosstabulation| Count| | | Have you tasted Tzinga the new launch ever| Total| | | YES| NO| | Gender| Male| 17| 31| 48| | Female| 12| 20| 32| Total| 29| 51| 80| Figure 6 ANALYSIS Out of 48 responded 17 have tasted tzinga before and 31 have not heard about Tzinga. And out of 32 females 12 have tasted Tzinga before and 20 have not. Q7. When did you first hear about tzinga? (a)promotion (b)friend (c)salesman Table 7 Gender * When did you first hear about Tzinga Crosstabulation| Count| | | When did you first hear about Tzinga| Total| | | Promotion| Friend| Salesman| | Gender| Male| 30| 13| 5| 48| | Female| 18| 13| 1| 32| Total| 48| 26| 6| 80| Figure 7 ANALYSIS Out of 48 male responded,30 have heard about Tzinga thrugh promotion activities,13 through friend and 5 through salesmamAnd in the case of 32 female responded 18 have heard about Tzinga though promotion 13 through friend. Q8. How much would you rate the flavour of Tzinga? (a). Excellent (b). Good (c). Average (d). Poor (e). Very poor. Table 8Gender * How much do you rate the flavour of Tzinga Crosstabulation| | | | How much do you rate the flavour of Tzinga| Total| | | Excellent| Good| Average| | Gender| Male| 3| 32| 13| 48| | Female| 3| 23| 6| 32| Total| 6| 55| 19| 80| Figure 8 ANALYSIS Out of 48 male responded,3 of them think that the flavor of Tzinga is excellent ,and 32 of them rate Tzinga as good ,and 13 of them average. In the case of female responded 6 of them think that it is excellenet ,23 are good and 6 average. 9. Would you say the design of the product Tzinga provides it an advantage when it comes to catching the eye of the customer? If Yes –How well? (a) Excellent (b) Good (c) Average | | Table 9| | | | would you say the design of the product catch the eye of the customer| Total| | | Excellent| Good| Average| | Gender| Male| 2| 30| 16| 48| | Female| 2| 24| 6| 32| Total| 4| 54| 22| 80| Figure 9 ANALYSIS Out of 48 male responded 2 think that the design is excellent,30 think that it is good 16 think that it is average in the case of emale respondent 2 think that it is excellent,24 think that it is good and 6 think that it is average. Q10. How much would you rate the value aspect accordance to its price? (a) Excellent (b) Good (c) Average (d) Poor (e) Very poor Table 10 Gender * Value of the aspect according to price Crosstabulation| Count| | | Value of the aspect according to price| Total| | | Excellent| Good| Average| | Gender| Male| 4| 39| 5| 48| | Female| 4| 21| 7| 32| Total| 8| 60| 12| 80| Figure 10 ANALYSIS Out of 48 male responded think that it ha excellent quality accordance to its price,39 think that it is good according to its priceand 5 that it is average according to its price. IN the case of females 4 think that it is excellent ,21 think that it is good and 7 think that it is average. Q11. How would you rate tzinga in comparision to other energy drinks? (a). Excellent (b). Good (c). Acverage. (d). Poor (e). Very poor Table 11 Gender * Rate Tzinga with respect to other energy drinks Crosstabulation| Count| | | Rate Tzinga with respect to other energy drinks| Total| | | Excellent| Good| Average| | Gender| Male| 2| 26| 20| 48| | Female| 2| 9| 21| 32| Total| 4| 35| 41| 80| Figure 11 ANALYSIS According to the samples 2 people think that Tzinga is excellent ,26 think that it is good and 20 are average. And in the female segment 2 think that it is excellent ,9 think that it is good and 21 think that it is average. FINDINGS From the following project we can draw inference that Tzinga is new to the marketand is being liked by the people . People prefer this drink due to its unique flavor and intensity. Thought people are not that much aware of the product male are more exposed towards the product and have showed positive response towards it. CONCLUSION * The Tzinga is more liked by the youngsters of age group (21-25). * Tzinga is liked by the customers basically its design , price and taste. * The promotional activity is not liked by the customers. So they are not attracted too much towards this new brand. * The opinion does not vary as per the Genders of the customers. * The variation of taste and price will affect the preference of Tzinga. * The opinion of Tzinga is same for all age groups of people basically about the promotional activities. RECOMMENDATION * Television advertisement and promotional activities must be put up. * The distribution channel should be made strong. * Different diversified flavor must be introduced in the market. * Tzinga should be introduced in other parts of Indian Market. LIMITATIONS 1. The should be different flavours ,the lemon taste are not liked by many people. 2. Due to strong brand positioning by Red bull,it will take time for Tzinga to get established. 3. The availability of Tzinga is limited,it is not available in every store . 4. As zinger is a new brand,it suffers from identity crises BIBLIOGRAPHY: 1. Malhotra, Naresh K. Marketing research and applied orientation, (2010), Prentice Hall, New Delhi, Vol. 5, pp. 613-623, pp. 468. 2. Kotler, Philip and Armstrong, Gary, Principles of marketing, Pearson Publication. REFERENCES: * http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Promotion_(marketing) * http://hectorbeverages. com/about_us * http://hectorbeverages. com/hectors_values * http://hectorbeverages. com/home * http://hectorbeverages. com/homers_hector * http://www. adams-graphic-design-advertising-agency. com/point-of-purchase. html * http://www.aistriss. jp/old/lca/ci/activity/project/sc/report/030319_document/S2-1-Mont. pdf * http://www. eurelectric. org/Download/Download. aspx? DocumentID=2965 ANNEXTURE QUESTIONAIRE Name- Phone number- 1. Gender a)Male b)Female 2. Did you taste any energy drink before? (a)yes (b)no 3. Where did you come across an energy drink? (a)Television (b)Newspaper (c)Magazine (d)Promotion event 4. Which energy drink did you taste ? (a)Red bull (b)XXX (c) Clould 9 (d)Barn 5. Are you a regular consumer of energy drink? (a)yes (b)no 6. Have you tasted tzinga, the new launch ever? (a)yes (b)no 7. When did you first hear about tzinga? (a)promotion (b)friend (c)salesman 8. How much would you rate the flavour of Tzinga? (a) Excellent (b) Good (c) Average (d) Poor (e) Very poor 9. Would you say the design of the product Tzinga provides it an advantage when it comes to catching the eye of the customer? If Yes –How well? (a) Excellent (b) Good (c) Average (d) Poor (e) Very poor 10. How much would you rate the value aspect accordance to its price? (a) Excellent (b) Good (c) Average (d) Poor (e) Very poor 11. How would you rate tzinga in comparison to other energy drinks? (a) Excellent (b) Good (c) Average (d) Poor (e) Very poor.

Mark Prior

Luck has had little to do with Mark Prior’s success as a ballplayer. It was his dedication and  talent that landed Prior in the major leagues and perhaps a lack of luck that attributed to the right-  handed pitcher being sidelined during the peak of his career. But at age 26, Prior is optimistic of  a comeback. When Prior debuted with the Chicago Cubs on May 22, 2002, he was nothing short of  impressive which should have been expected considering he was the second overall pick in the  draft. His record earned him all-star status as he was chosen to play in the 2003 All-Star game in  only his first full season in the major leagues. Prior’s pitching technique seemed flawless and was considered a combination of the styles of  Greg Maddox and Roger Clemens. His first full season with the Chicago Cubs ranked him third  in the National League’s Cy Young Award voting with a record of 18 wins and only six losses.  Prior became well known for his 90-plus mph fastball, curveball, slurveball and changeup. But freak accidents and injuries began to disrupt his career in the making. Numerous stints on  the disabled list and now an entire season on hold to recuperate from shoulder surgery have  many questioning the future of the once valued Cubs pitcher. Born September 7, 1980, Prior attended University of San Diego High School where he  excelled on the ball field. As a 1998 graduate, he had a 0.93 earned run average. Prior was then  drafted by the New York Yankees in the amateur draft but a contract was never negotiated and  signed. He began his college education at Vanderbilt University, the same school his father attended.  During his sophomore year, Prior transferred to the University of Southern California (USC).  There he was honored as one of the best collegiate athletes in the country. Prior pitched for USC for two seasons and earned numerous awards including seven national  Player of the Year awards. As a junior, his record was 15-1 with six complete games and three  shutouts. His ERA was 1.69. He earned the prestigious Golden Spikes Award. He also led the  team to the 2000 College World Series. Prior entered the draft again and this time he was chosen as the second pick overall in the  draft. As he concentrated on his baseball career and the hope of one day being called up to play  for the Chicago Cubs, Prior continued his college education on a part-time basis and eventually  earned a business degree in 2004 from the USC Marshall School of Business.  In 2003, his first full season as a pitcher for the Cubs, his talent was obvious as he tallied an  18-6 win-lose record despite missing three starts due to an injury. Prior was injured when he  collided on the field with the Atlanta Braves second baseman Marcus Giles. Both Prior and Giles  were scheduled to play in the 2003 All-Star Game but missed due to their injuries.  Prior was voted Player of the Month in August and September. He went on to earn a 10-1  record as the Cubs made their way into the playoffs. That led to the infamous fan interference  incident in which Steve Bartman caught a fly ball hit into the stands that could have easily been  caught by the Cubs outfielder. The Cubs ended up losing the game and Prior suffered through the  loss. In 2004, Prior missed the first two months of the season with an Achilles tendon injury.  Although rumors surfaced that Prior needed reconstructive elbow surgery, he returned to the  mound with a less than stellar performance with six wins and four losses and an ERA of 4.02.  Again in 2005, Prior started the season on the disabled list. He returned and was pitching up  to par until May 27th when another misfortune came his way. Prior was pitching to Brad Hawpe, an old rival from LSU who hit a three-run homerun off  Prior in the College World Series. As they faced off in the major leagues, Hawpe drilled a pitch  and sent a 117 mph line drive back to Prior, hitting him in the right elbow and putting him on the  disabled list with a compression fracture. Prior finished the season 11-7 in 27 starts.  During spring training the following year, Prior began to feel a stiffness in his throwing  shoulder. He was put on a slow pitch program and sent for tests that revealed he had a strained  shoulder. He was put on the disabled list for 15 days in March missing the start of the 2006  season. When he returned, he gave up six runs to the Detroit Tigers in the first inning. He went  on to earn a devastating 0-4 record with a 7.71 ERA and was once again put on the disabled list  after straining his left oblique during batting practice. He returned to the minor leagues and three  games later, Prior earned his first win of the year against the Pittsburgh Pirates. By August of 2006, he was back on the disabled list with tendonitis for the remainder of the  season. His record was 1-6 and ERA was a high 7.21.During the off-season, he complained of a loose shoulder and when conditioning did not  improve the situation, Prior sought medical treatment and discovered he would need arthroscopic  surgery on his right shoulder. In April, Prior underwent surgery and it was successful but put an early end to the 2007  season before it even began for him. Because of his age, doctors see no reason Prior cannot  return to pitching in 2007. RESOURCES MLB Advanced Media, LP (2001-2007) Chicago Cubs. Retrieved May 8, 2007 from http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=407578      

Review of an academic research paper Literature

Of an academic research paper - Literature review Example The objectives and process behind developing effective simulation model have practical approach. The process is emphasizing not only on the participant personality but also on the designers personality which will help in model development. The author has explained the effectiveness of simulation in light of internal, external and educational validity. The subject most emphasized upon in this article is â€Å"educational validity† and the factors that influence its effectiveness. These factors are (a) simulation design, which emphasizes that simulation should be an accurate representative of the real world; and (b) implementation of simulation, which involves the involvement of participants (Stainton, Johnson & Borodzicz, 2010, p.707). The algorithmic validity and inaccurate representative of real world are the concerned issues. Although the simulation model is excellent, but if it cannot link up with real world scenarios, then such models are useless. Moreover, participants of the simulation should be self-motivated. The participant’s motivation can be assessed by the different motivation theories. So participant’s level of motivation is considered to be the moderating factor, which can increase the learning process. Along with participants, designer’s attribute carry an equivalent weight, while assessing simulation model for its learning effectiveness. Firstly, the designer of the model should be having respective expertise for which the simulation model is being made. Furthermore, designer should be unbiased while constructing the model. The research methodology framework for educational validity assessment has provided guidelines regarding problems that arise while building, implementing, and analyzing the simulation model. It includes formulation objectives, propositions, research designs, and instruments, which will then be analyzed; whether or not these instruments are good predictors of

Legal Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Legal Theory - Essay Example This discussion chronicles the rationale for the implementation of Britain's seatbelt and crash helmet legislation, the laws' actual effects in contrast to what was intended as well as the theories as to why they are essentially ineffective. There has been no legislation that has put legal restrictions on individuals whose actions hurt no one other than themselves which many, including myself, consider wrong. This opinion extends to other issues such as drug possession, prostitution, bigamy, etc. In other countries, laws preventing gambling and gay marriage fall into this category as well. There is, of course, a line drawn within this opinion regarding laws that include children. Consensual adults, however, should be free to choose how to live their lives as they please if it does not interfere with the personal welfare or property of others. But the issue of seatbelts and wearing of helmet should be taken seriously and for this case an act of made on the same. This is because the state has full responsibility to safeguard against the life of people and if this becomes law, hence they protect the life its people. Individuals themselves ought to aware that it is morally upright for them to use seatbelt and helmets, not b ecause is a law or not but because there are benefits associated with this act. Even though one has a right to reason and make a free decision of his/her own choice, one should make a concrete decision that benefit him. Wearing seat belts and/or helmets are reported to save lives but this in itself is of much controversy as will be discussed further. Seatbelt and crash helmet laws, though enacted with the intention of saving lives, are a controversial issue based on the ideology of individual liberty. Some would argue that along with the privilege to operate a vehicle, a responsibility to obey all rules set forth by lawmakers necessarily follows and that helmet and seat belt laws are not considered victimless. This discussion chronicles the rationale for the implementation of Britain's seatbelt and crash helmet legislation, the laws' actual effects in contrast to what was intended as well as the theories as to why they are essentially ineffective. Seatbelt legislation has had an unintended impact for those persons not riding in automobiles such as motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians. For example, Britain's seatbelt laws coincided with an average increase of 135 pedestrian and 40 cyclist deaths per year. A study for the UK Department of Transport commissioned in 1981, the 'Isles Report,' examined the consequences of seatbelt laws in eight European countries.1 This study used two countries, Italy and the UK, both of which did not have seatbelt laws at that time, as control models. The study discovered that the most significant effect of these laws was a marked increase in deaths by those outside the car, a finding that was unanticipated. The study predicted that if the UK were to enact compulsory seat belt legislation, deaths incurred by those

ITM301 CA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

ITM301 CA - Essay Example Following is the list and brief description of important strategies that a company should follow in order to ensure that its IT users get adequate technical support: 1. Consolidation of the help-function: It is a good strategy to keep your help-desk system consolidated in one geographical location in order to eliminate the misunderstandings over â€Å"who to call† and to decrease the requests of support staff from direct approaches. A consolidated help desk boosts improved communication between IT specialists that were previously working in distinct groups. It also helps in developing economies of scale in terms of equipment and data sharing. 2. Use of help-desk software or IT tools: There are a number of software packages (over 200 in the market) available that have customizable solutions for creating knowledge bases, expert systems, problem management and change management. Also, these IT tools are now supported with databases of problems already configured in the set-up CD- ROMs, which can be easily integrated into help-desk software. Examples of such help-desk software include LiveTime Support, WonderDesk SQL, Numara Footprints, IncidentMonitorâ„ ¢, Simple Help Desk etc. ... 3. Develop standard procedures for help-call cycle and communication: In order to have a good and competent technical support system, it is important that the organization defines standards both internally in terms of procedures and training of help desk staff via ISO 9000; and externally via the establishment of service-level agreements. 4. Performance Management: The performance of help-desk personnel should be measured and analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative data such as Call statistics (Call volume, call capture, call length, waiting times, resolution times, number of calls closed), Customer Feedback (by user surveys or random follow-up calls), Mystery caller (Tester questions posed anonymously and evaluated) and Benchmarking (by a consultancy company). 5. Encouraging Professionalism: To gauge and improve professionalism amongst the help-desk staff, it is important that they understand the need and value of their work. They should more than just â€Å"technical peop le† and be treated as any other employee of the company. Hence, the organization should invest in proper training, certification or national vocational qualification developed specifically for support staff. 6. Outsourcing: In cases of large multi-national corporations, it is often times cost-effective to outsource the help-desk division to another geography. The experience of some cases shows that, while there may be advantages to outsourcing, such a strategy must be used upon proper consideration and with care. Yes, the help desk or technical support personnel is a relevant case of socio-technical system where the usual scenario of work between the client (technology user), the help-desk personnel (IT user/problem solver) and

The response of Daughter from Danang Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The response of Daughter from Danang - Essay Example Family reunion which we observe impresses by spontaneity and immediacy. ‘The actors’ are so much involved in the process that they create excitement which can be rarely produced by professional actors. It’s no wonder that the film won the Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. The story of Heidi impresses with the pain and despair of the children torn between two cultures. Heidi feels herself miserable as he tries to find love and understanding among her birth family but what she finds is disillusionment. This disillusionment comes from the lack of understanding people who grew up in entirely different world with its own customs and visions. When Heidi’s dream to meet her family comes true, she is embarrassed and is not sure what to do. After the family reunion Heidi is greatly disappointed. We come to realize the existence of the gap which now separates Heidi and her family - the cultural gap. We see from the first scenes of meeting the emotional burden which Heidi comes to experience. While her mother is on the emotional high, Heidi is more bewildered, embarrassed and uncertain. She feels startled and tense. She sees the life with her family in another light, different from that before the reunion. Life of poverty and misery, hard toil of her mother to support other children – that’s what she sees in the real life of her family. The cultural gap which separates Americanized Heidi and her family is evident in many life situation. The tension from cultural shock comes to a climax and Heidi feels that she wants to go home as soon as possible. At the farewell party when Heidi’s brother comes to talk about financial issues directly, she feels completely disconnected from the Vietnamese family. She perceives money issue in the American way – it’s not better talked about. What Heidi expected is unconditioned love and care. Heidi is not aware of the family relations and

Connectionist modeling theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Connectionist modeling theory - Essay Example Connectionist theory has also been used to explain language. Connectionist theory is basically the process of seeing a connection between the input (perception) and the output (language) (McMurray 2000). The mental processes as explained above are a large part of the processes. Connectionist theory tries to understand how the brain or the neural network makes connections between the input and the output. Basically, it is connection the perceived data with the ideas that come out as output. Connectionist theory comes up with formulas that try to explain the process in creation of words, starting from the understanding of the stimulus, Linguistics has tried to come up with theories to understand language development. But it has largely ignored mental processes. Language is also connected to mental processes. What one thinks, that becomes language. Connectionist theory tries to explain how this process happens. Connections are made between the stimuli and the output. This evolves to how the mind reacts to word as well as objects. It also goes to how the various networks within the brain cause the connections to change – yet another part of the theory. Connectionist theory is thus very interesting in helping linguists map the mental processes in creating ideas. My proposed paper will study the connectionist theory and how it benefits in the study of linguistics. Aside from looking at the basic principles of connectionist theory, the proposed study will look for the most common patterns about how ideas become words using the connectionist perspective. Smith and Samuelson (2003) studied the dissimilarity between the two emergentist theories, connectionism and dynamic systems theory. Both the theories differ in the manner they study development. The authors in the study assert the differences between connectionist and dynamic systems approaches in terms of the basic elements of the paradigms, what they

The future of computer logic and programming with Python Essay

The future of computer logic and programming with Python - Essay Example At the present, it is being widely used for the development of different application software and programs. In view of the fact that this programming language offers some of the simplest design principles hence it allows programmers to easily develop and interpret their programs. This programming language was created by Guido van Rossum and this development was supported and encouraged by various other programming paradigms such as by ABC, Haskell, Java, LIST programming, Icon and Perl programming languages. Though, python is a smallest programming language framework, however it is a complete, well-developed, multi-platform and high level programming language. The most amazing characteristic that distinguishes python from other programming languages is that it does not require from the programmers to insert or take care of any kind of semicolons and brackets while writing source code. Normally, in python, programs are written using an indentation technique (Bodnar, 2010). At the pres ent, python programming language is available in two versions: 2.x and 3.x. In this scenario, Python version 3.x is an advanced version of python, which has addressed all the regressive compatibility issues that programmers experienced with previous versions. In fact, the basic purpose of developing this version was to address different design defects of this language and improve the capabilities of the language (Bodnar, 2010). At the present, python programming language is available in two versions: 2.x and 3.x.

Melanin-Based Racial Prejudice Essay Example for Free

Melanin-Based Racial Prejudice Essay Do you think humans are born to be judgmental? We usually make judgments based on what we see first, and most of the time an important factor is skin color. Social racism is known as the discrimination or intolerance of people of other races or skin colors. Racism occurs in many ways; however, it is not always obvious. Where did this type of behavior begin? Racial prejudice has many causes and effects from and on society that are inevitable. There are many ideas thrown around as to how racism began, though the truth lies in the historical facts. From slavery, to imperialism, to wars, we have always felt superior towards others with different skin colors and races. â€Å"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.† (Mandela, 1994). Racism has been a part of history for as long as humans existed and has been enhanced by early capitalism’s use of slaves for plantations and colonies. Back then, the colonists and imperialists used it as a way to show domination, but it resulted in dividing the modern world. A main factor of this division is that people who believe in stereotypes detest any communication with other races, causing a defense mechanism against them, and finally creating tension and animosity. History is proof that colored people have been treated unfairly and tortured over centuries. â€Å"Black† has always been perceived as negative. Black cats are told to be a sign of omen, black clothes are worn to funerals, and hell is pictured as a deadly place filled with darkness; these have all caused misinterpretation and created a wrong impression in people’s minds. Last, but unfortunately not least, pictures from The Holocaust -a genocide where about six million Jews were killed by the Nazis under the command of Germany’s Adolf Hitler- still haunt us (Mukherjee, 2014). Just as kids grow up imitating their parents, upcoming generations will grow up to be racists in a society where each individual thinks they are superior to everyone else if they have lighter skin. It is a never ending cycle that will most probably end in bullying. Children who grow up watching discrimination happen everywhere around them will end up feeling a need to bully classmates of othe r races. Racial discrimination has had several effects on society and employment. Studies have shown that  people with darker skin colors usually have trouble achieving ordinary goals like a job that pays well, a house in a nice neighborhood, and all the basic necessities. Why should a person with a darker skin tone suffer to obtain these essential rights and needs? The unemployment rate for African Americans in 1995 was 10.1 percent compared to 4.7 percent for white Americans (Berry, 1995). It is widely known that colored people face higher rejection rates when applying for jobs and are usually put second to whites with similar credit characteristics and also get paid less (Ross Yinger, 1999). In addition, racism is associated with poor mental health. Studies show that the victims of bullying based on their skin color are at a greater risk of developing a range of psychological and mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. These conditions can contribute to more serious mental disorders. Therefore, eliminating racial prejudice is vital to improving mental health and emotional stability. Even though all that is happening, proper awareness is still not being taken into consideration. Racial discrimination is often practiced subconciounsly because societies from all around the world have successfully managed to mind wash generation a fter generation. In movies, for example, people do not realize that the African Americans usually die first. In crime scenes, they are usually the criminal. As a result of this, children are unintentionally forced to believe that dark skinned people are bad. Statistics show that majority of the public believe that African Americans are not accurately portrayed in movies. The use of offensive words regarding the Natives has become very common, as well, especially in modern rap songs. Rappers include offensive and extremely racist words in their lyrics. Another example is advertisements, and how they stress on promoting whitening beauty creams. The racism in this is not obvious, but it is obscene for the people who are not fair skinned. Finally, as a cause of predictable racism, an innocent African American man named Michael Brown was shot fatally by a police officer earlier in August this year. The protesting citizens of Ferguson remain at unrest until this very day due to the injustice that had occurred. In a nutshell, social racism has had many causes and effects throughout the years due to the growing complexity of the world around us. Racial prejudice is surely not a biological characteristic. In other words, humans do not  differentiate between races because of their genetic makeup. In an ideal world, racism would be eliminated and justice would take over. To cut a long story short, why should the amount of melanin is someone’s skin define them? Resources Mandela, N. (1994). Long walk to freedom: The autobiography of Nelson Mandela. Boston: Little, Brown. Mukherjee, R. (2014, June 18). Top 10 Reasons why Racism Still Exists List Crux. Retrieved October 1, 2014, from http://listcrux.com/top-10-reasons-why-racism-

Strategic business management planning

Strategic business management planning Introduction In this assignment I will be aiming to access, in a critical manner, the classic and contemporary models, concepts and tools in business strategy and planning. I will also be evaluating the methods used by organisations to identify their goals and values. I will be doing the above two in reference to the British bakery chain Greggs plc. 1) Manning (1988:27) made a set of assumptions about the contemporary concept and ideas of strategy, and in relation to Greggs plc they are: The strategy Greggs develops must be designed in order to allow the organisation to deal with an uncertain future. The strategy developed designs a restructuring process instead of a plan per se. The rules of competition with other bakery must be inherent in the strategy. Inspiration and imagination of Greggs allow better performance for them. Synthesis is the most important skill for Greggs. All discussions in the Greggs board room are followed by measurements, which in turn is managed. ‘Transformational is an executive management tactic. This involves combining Greggs organisational strategy and target with their initiatives for the employees, process and technology. This tactic helps in supporting the business strategy and achieving the long-term goals. This tactic is achieved by combining different areas of people, process and technology, and trying to achieve specific targets together; this involves changing appearance, shape and form, and also through new technology, business models and management practices. Incremental is a gradual increase by a certain (or fixed) amount. E.g. Greggs experienced the opposite of incremental (a decrement) as it had a gradual decrease in its profit margins from 2009 to 2010, and then continuing to 2011. However, they also had an increment as sales increased on a fixed percentage of 2.1% year on year. 2) Greggs uses various methods, as shown above, to achieve their targets. As a modern day organisations, it is fair to evaluate the success of those methods for Greggs. The strategy Greggs developed a few years back has surely failed to ensure it was designed for an uncertain future. This is evidenced by their fall in profits from  £52 million to  £48 million; they were not able to prepare for a future they were not sure of and thus had to face consequences. On the other hand, if Greggs initial strategy was to increase sales then they have indeed succeeded as they have experienced increases in sales of 2.1%. But, even so Greggs can still be taken to be a failure as it failed to increase profit. Therefore we can conclude the success of their strategies depends on exactly what they were, but either way Greggs have faltered. Transformational is visibly used by Greggs. This is evidenced by their use of newsletters to increase communication between employees; this will allow staff, starting from those in the lowest level to those in the most influential position, to be aware of the organisations target, as well as staying updated on any happenings around any other departments. This in turn will aid in motivating and inspiring staff to work harder together towards the common target. 3) The main differences between prescriptive and emergent theories in relation to Greggs plc are: Prescriptive approach, as used by Greggs, will be systematic and based upon pre analysis of future happenings in the bakery industry. But, emergent, in contradiction to that is, unplanned and develops over time as Greggs continually keeps adjusting to the changing business environment in the bakery market. In prescriptive, the executives of Greggs set the objectives, and design the organisation strategy. But, in the emergent approach, managers at any level (e.g. managers of local branches) are capable of having an input in setting the objective or strategy. The prescriptive approach supports analysis of the situation in the bakery market as a strong base for competitive advantage. But, the emergent approach supports Greggs expert knowledge as the basis for competitive advantage. The logical and analytical approach of the prescriptive allows Greggs to predict and revise their strategies in order to take advantage of any new opportunities that may come up. One example of this approach (in relation to another company) is when EasyJet correctly predicted and lowered their cost in order to gain an advantage in the cost-conscious European market. Whereas, the emergent approach allows a more creative and responsive strategy which can be well suited for a hyper-competitive and unpredictable business environment (as that in the food market). Examples of organisations (other than Greggs) that dont tie themselves to pre-designed objectives and strategies include big names such as Microsoft and Apple In todays organisations, like Greggs, the emergent approach would have a bigger relevance. The reason being the prescriptive model doesnt allow the contemporary style of allowing employees at the lower levels to make contributions to the decision made. As a result of such an approach employees become less motivated. 4) There are three types of goals. They act together to form the overall organisation goal. The three goals in relation to Greggs plc are: Strategic Goal (the targeted position Greggs intends to be in the future), Tactical Goal (the targets set for the most important departments within Greggs), and Organisational Goal (specific results expected from a certain department, groups or individuals). Goals help in designing the actions to be taken, and works best when clear choices exist regarding the future. But, in may not work properly if Greggs restructures at a fast rate. Every organisation has its own values, including Greggs. This values shape the Greggs culture and working environment. It helps in setting goals in line with the culture, and in increasing performance in key areas such as quality and customer service. Peter Druckers Eight Content Areas in Developing Goals are: Marketing Innovation Productivity Physical and financial resources Profitability Managerial   performance and development Worker performance and attitude Public responsibility One of the most important problems with goal and value setting is the failure of Greggs to think strategically. A common problem that occurs is that planners (i.e. the executives at Greggs) confuse organisational efficiency with organisational effectiveness. In doing so, they only look at internal matters and how to make things slightly better than they currently are. Ultimately, they end up without having solved potential threats, and without using their strengths to gain advantage. Steps to a progressive strategic thinking (in other words settings goals and values) are: Select the strategies that Greggs wants to implement. Strategies must focus with the restructuring of Greggs, as this aids in directing and sustaining changes. Strategies must be designed in order to allow adaptation to unexpected results. Use brainstorming techniques to allow fellow planners to contribute. While developing the strategy the planners (the executives at Greggs plc) must think whether it will allow a change in the organisation, as well as it was whether it was actually a strategic activity. Reconsider strategies that have failed in the past. Make sure to avoid conflicting strategies. Also, Greggs must take the following into considerations to ensure their strategies, targets and values are truly effective and dont contradict each other: The most important issues always present the most complicating problems. Therefore it is advisable to concentrate more on such matters. Continually question every idea to ensure clarity. Each of the strategies must be associated with currently running programs. 5) Stakeholders in Greggs plc have different interest, some of which are conflicting and some of which are in agreement. Examples of agreement include high profits (which leads to high dividends and job security), interest in growth and prosperity, etc. Examples of conflict include wage rises (which results in a decrease in dividends), growth of the organisation at the expense of short term profit and local community, etc. It cannot be taken that stakeholders have equality in terms of power and influence. Stakeholders can exert influence by disrupting and causing uncertainty in Greggs plans. However, Governments, community groups and managers can also exert influence; government can indirectly through the use of taxation, community groups through protests and violence, and managers as they make decisions and therefore hold extensive power. In conclusion, even though stakeholders on paper have greater influence and power, other individuals or groups can exert influence through indirect means and methods. However, if conflict or disagreement exists between stakeholders, than proportionality in the ownership of the company comes into effect, as those with the largest share are the most influence. 7) Strategic intent is the reason behind the existence of any organisation like Greggs. It forms a clear path to achieve the vision of the company. It helps to prioritise and concentrate on the important issues. The means of strategic intent are the following: A properly designed strategic intent allows development of strategies and setting of targets. Inspiring people by making targets a valuable asset. Encouraging participation and contribution. Careful direction of resources. Emphasises on building new resources. Strategic intent has certainly been used by Greggs in restricting their organisation. They have ensured participation, efficiency of resources and have developed a well thought strategy. This is clearly visible as their number of sales as increased in the past years. In conclusion, strategic intent is indeed a successful theory as seen by the success of Greggs due to their implementation of it. Mission statement states the importance behind the existence of Greggs. It explains the basic expectations, and the primary values of the company. The statement should be brief, to-the-point and easy to understand. Also, it should showcase the uniqueness of the organisation. Vision statement is how the organisation wishes to be in the future, in other words its future position. 8) Mission intent is a description of the role the organisation plays in serving their stakeholders.It provides a framework upon which strategies are formulated. The means of mission intent are the following: Produce a mission statement that is feasible and clear. A statement which is inspiring and credible. A statement which is unique and analytical. Greggs mission statement is â€Å"Making a difference to the lives of people in need in the heart of Greggs local communities.† It is a well-structured mission statement because it is feasible and very clear (to help the local communities), it is inspiring (helping others is always a motivating cause) and analytical (because it looks carefully at the specific needs of the community). And it certainly seemed to have succeeded as Greggs successfully raised money in aid of the local community, as well as ensuring to provide environmental friendly packaging for its products. In conclusion, the mission intent is an effective tool in creating a friendly and comfortable atmosphere and environment. It increases organisation profile and allows successful growth. Vision statement is a statement identifying what the organisation intends to be in providing its services and products. A well planned statement should be clear, realistic and should harmonize with the organisations culture and values. Greggs vision is â€Å"Our vision is to be Europes finest bakery-related retailer. Our purpose is the growth and development of a thriving business, operating with integrity, for the benefit and enjoyment of our people, customers, shareholders and the wider community.†It is a perfect vision statement as it is clear (grow into Europes finest bakery), realistic (it can almost be achieve as it continues to grow across Europe) and harmonize with the organisations culture and values (of support for the community). The fact Greggs clear vision has allowed it to become one of Europes biggest and fastest growing bakery shop, proves that vision intent is indeed an effective method. Objectives are targets that the organisation aims for in a certain time. The theory of objectives suggests they are: They are the basics of any plan. Policies are designed in order to achieve objectives. Setting objective is the responsibility the executives. It is common to have a set of objectives, rather than one single. Objectives are set in the short term, as well as long term. Objectives must be set in order to ensure they can be adjusted in the future if needed. The objectives must be feasible, realistic and operational. Greggs objective of being a ‘customer-focused business has certainly been a success, as seen from their increased sales and their growth. This proves that setting objective is indeed effective as it allows an organisation to meet their target in an organised manner. Conclusion: In conclusion, businesses now-a-days use all forms of models, concepts and tools, regardless of whether their classic or contemporary, to develop their strategy and plans, and do so in a successful manner so that the strategies and plans are both compatible for both the present and future situations that the Greggs might find themselves in. Also, the methods used by organisations like Greggs to identify their goals and values, are certainly effective and aids in developing and furthering growth for the company.