Case Study: Audit Processes of a Computer Company

Case Study: Audit Processes of a Computer Company Introduction Internal auditing is a consulting activity on a company that is independent. It aims at helping a company/ form evaluate its managerial system, identify issues in the firm and control the process of governance. Therefore an internal audit helps in supporting the board in their duties of completing important businesses in the company. The main issues faced by the auditor is whether research and development costs expensed in establishing technological feasibility were properly expensed or capitalized when appropriate. A good audit plan when implemented improves business performances and increases sales in a company. Definitions An internal audit is a tool used in firms to evaluate how effective its management system is and its quality. An internal auditor is any person who is qualified enough to have a responsibility of performing the audit process Nonconformance is the situation where the practice of a company is in disagreement with the standard practices KCN Analysis of the Audit Strategies Section Purpose Audit Strategy OBJECTIVES OF THE ENGAGEMENT This lists the services to be provided by the audit firm to KCN. The aim of this process is to define Keyton Computers Networks Inks internal audit for the purpose of evaluating the companys effectiveness.This is the audit of KCNs financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2015, and the issuance of a letter of engagement. BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY CONDITIONS To evaluate KCNs business and the industry it operates in KCN sells and services micro-computers, networking hardware and software to different businesses. PLANNING MEETINGS Shows the meetings that have been made with the clients and CPA team One meeting so far held with client and one with engagement team OWNERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT Shows/ indicates who owns and manages the company. Owners: Terry Keystone, Mark Keystone, John Keystone, Keith Young, and Rita Young. Managers: Terry and Mark Keystone OBJECTIVES, STRATEGIES AND BUSINESS RISKS This establishes clients goals, how they planned to achieve it, and the commensurate risks, and how they planned to overcome these risks. The main aim is to increase revenues 110% and increase net income to112% for each of the next 3 years.   To achieve this there will be need to: (1) advertise aggressively, sell to customers with higher risk profiles, and to develop new software.    The primary risks involved are not being able to produce the desired results and exceeding increased sales with credit losses. Another possible risk is not producing products in the software development. MEASUREMENT AND REVIEW OF FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE These are the ways used for performance evaluation. The procedures include inventory and receivables turnover, aging of accounts receivable, and the total inventory balance. PROCEDURES TO ATTAIN AN UNDERSTANDING OF CLIENT AND CLIENTS OPERATING ENVIRONMENT This tells the procedures to be done so the auditors can understand the client and the clients environment. For this audit strategy, the auditor needs to 1) review the prior years audit, 2) make inquiries from management, 3) analyze KCNs minutes of its board of directors meetings, 4) evaluate performance reports, 5) analyze company website, 6) appraise industry reports, and 7) assess business newspapers including the Wall Street Journal. AUDIT APPROACH This defines the general plan to be taken. Just like last years audit, the accountants assigned to KCNs audit have to make a plan about the companys tests of controls to gauge whether its control risks are below the maximum for the identified assertions. SIGNIFICANT RISKS Primary risks identified by the auditors. The primary risks involved are not being able to produce the desired results and exceeding increased sales with credit losses. Another possible risk is not producing products in the software development, and analysis of the quarterly results showed significant bonuses awarded to officers. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING AND AUDITING MATTERS This are matters of concern in accounting and auditing Two primary concerns exist: whether accounting for extended warranties is done properly and cost of software. PLANNING MATERIALITY The auditor computes the materiality threshold. Review of sales, total assets, and pretax net income, to plan for materiality, $70,000 was established as the measure. SCHEDULING AND STAFFING PLAN This is the audits schedule. It also identifies the human resources assigned to the engagement. This includes the target dates for each major section of the audit starting from the interim audit work up to the updating of the management letter.The firm budgeted 118 hours for the engagement. KCN Risks RiskImplications and Response The primary risks involved are not being able to produce the desired results and exceeding increased sales with credit lossesthrough the extension of credits to high risk customers This increases the risk of bad debt expense misstatement and the corresponding allowance. The auditors can revise their estimates on the value of an account, and ignore the procedures previously done. Bonuses for the clients officers There could be an increase in the risk of quarterly results misstatement to extract the maximum bonus for officers.Also this motivates the officers to work more for more bonuses. The auditors may respond by reducing the number of the staff as long as they can handle their duties, to reduce number of people receiving bonuses. KCN Capitalization of Software Development Costs For KCN, the auditor has to determine whether research and development costs including those expended to establish technological feasibility have been properly booked as expenses or capitalized wherever appropriate.The audit firm will then identify the point of feasibility for the software product.The primary risks involved are not being able to produce the desired results and exceeding increased sales with credit losses by selling to high risk customers. The implication of this factor is that it creates a chance for misstatement of bad debt expense and the allowance for bad debts. Moreover, auditors will either increase or decrease their evaluation of the worthiness of the accounts receivable and avoid relying on previously done procedures. KCN Ratio Analysis Keystone Computers Networks, Inc. Analytical Review of Financial Ratios For the Period Ended December 31, 20X5 Details of Computations of 2005 ratios Ratio analysis may be difficult when there are no major changes in ratios.   However, the following might be considered: Number of Sales in Accounts per day Changes in credit policy and customer mix Improved economic conditions Exaggerations of sales Understatement of purchases Turnover of Inventory Change in the policy of the inventory exaggeration of inventory Understatement of the commodities bought by the company As KCN competes with companies that are much larger than itself and some even older in the computer and software business, the economic pressure is a lot. Whether bor not the company succeeds depends on how it handles the competition, for example, being able to attain and maintain a qualified market. This may increase its growth in the software sector by up to 6%. Conclusion The audit process is an important part of a company. Using the ratios and factors above, the Keyton company auditing process was carried out.   The increased profitability level resulted to a number of ratios with significant changes.As mentioned in the first part of this discussion paper, the auditor needs to determine whether research and development costs are properly expenses or capitalized when appropriate. The auditors determined that accounting for research and development was followed and all it needs to do is to identify when the software product became technologically feasible. As stated above, implementing these policies from the auditors reports will increase the sales for example, up to 6% in software alone. This supports our thesis statement. References Chesler, L. (1981). Baseline audit plan. Santa Monica, Calif. Kagermann, H. (2008). Internal audit handbook: Management with the SAP-Audit Roadmap. Berlin: Springer. Pickett, K. H. S. (2006). Audit planning: A risk-based approach. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley. Why did the Compromise Fall in 1860? Why did the Compromise Fall in 1860? During the beginning of the nineteenth century, the relationship between North and South deteriorated over the issue of territorial expansion. In 1850, the issue of slavery was slowly dividing the North and South sections of the United States; both factions were of similar origins and had a myriad of common bonds. Frantic efforts at compromise were launched such as the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 and The Missouri Compromise of 1820. However, the sectional rift only increased with the Brooks-Sumner incident and any chances of compromise were terminated with the Supreme Court decision of the Dred Scott case in 1859. The two powerful parties of the Second American Party System, the Democrats and the Whigs, were dumbfounded and could not find a solution to the slave question, which ultimately lead to their destruction. From their remains rose two new political parties, the Republican Party and a southern party devoted to the defense of slavery. Their battle in the election of 1860 would decide the future and fate of the United States. By 1860 all attempts at compromise had failed, and within a year the nation was in the midst of a bloody Civil War that would cost over 600,000 American lives and divided many families in the process. The types of economies that developed in the three regions of the United States in the first half of the nineteenth century had a powerful impact on political goals and decisions. The South grew important cash crops such as cotton, tobacco, sugar, and rice. The North was far more industrialized than the South or even the West, having shifted from mercantile capitalism. At the same time the West shifted from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture and produced more foodstuffs, such as corn and wheat, than the other two regions. The North came to rely more and more on western foodstuffs and in return, westerners became consumers of northern industrial and commercial products. By the 1850s the North and West were economically joined, and the Norths economy was rapidly evolving into a modern-day industrial and commercial system. In the South, cash crops such as rice and tobacco were grown extensively. Yet no commodity was more important to the South than cotton. One southern politi cal leader was so certain that the rest of the nation depended on the Souths cotton production that he declared, Cotton is King! Cotton was one of the most important commodities in the world in the nineteenth century; many factories in the Northern states as well as European countries such as Great Britain and France needed cotton for their important and prosperous textile industries. Yet this was all done on the backs of abused slaves who worked tirelessly night and day to pick the cotton of their masters plantations. In the early 1800s Northerners were content to allow slavery to reside in Southern states. Only when Southern leaders sought to expand slavery did many Northerners become concerned. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was an attempt to maintain the balance in the Senate between slave and Free states. Senator Henry Clay, known as the Great Compromiser, worked out a compromise in which Maine would enter the Union as a free state while Missouri would be admitted into the Union as the northernmost slave state. As a result of the compromise, slavery was then prohibited north of the 36 °30 parallel making a clear distinction between the northern and southern states. This boundary would then later be challenged by events such as the Dred Scott case, yet it marvelously managed to avert war for forty years, and thus set it aside for a later generation to fight, but the damage to American nationalism helped to erode the so-called Era of Good Feelings in which the popular James Monroe presided as president. During 1828, Congress passed a tariff that protected Northern industries but had the unwanted consequence of driving up domestic prices. This, while beneficial to the growing industry in the North, greatly crippled the South who suffered as their economy largely depended on the import and export of domestic goods. As a result, this new bill outraged Southerners who began calling it the Tariff of Abominations. South Carolina spearheaded Southern concerns by citing the doctrine of nullification, which allowed individual states to nullify proclamations of the federal government that would be found to be unconstitutional or inhibit the states rights. The issue of nullification was taken up in the Senate in the famous Webster-Hayne debate in which Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, the Senates leading orator, responded by challenging the Souths apparent willingness to subvert the Union for regional economic gain. In doing so, he broadened the debate beyond land, tariffs, and slavery to a co nsideration of the very nature of the federal republic. In 1832 Congress modified the tariff of 1828 by retaining high duties on some goods, but lowering others to rates held before the treaty. A South Carolina convention, under the leadership of current vice-president John Calhoun, later that year adopted an Ordinance of Nullification, voiding the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 in the state. The claim was that because the South tended to export food and import manufactured goods these tariffs were abusive and unfair; this new Ordinance supported free trade and generally opposed protective tariffs. The South Carolina state legislature funded a volunteer army and threatened secession if the federal government tried to force the state to comply with the tariffs. President Jackson, though an advocate of states rights, responded forcefully and threatened to invade South Carolina if its leaders refused to participate in the collection of tariff duties. To the ambitious malcontents in South Car olina, he proclaimed emphatically, the laws of the United States must be executed. . . . The Union will be preserved and treason and rebellion promptly put down. Jacksons proclamation stimulated an outburst of patriotism all over the country, isolating South Carolina from the rest of the Union. President Andrew Jackson asked Congress to grant him the authority to use military force to collect tax revenues and to subdue South Carolina. Congress complied by passing the Force Bill of 1833; the bill gave the President the authority to close ports or harbors at his will. This in turn would require opponents to the tariff to travel a distance to carry out any threats or insurrection against federal facilities. Hostile acts against government facilities or personnel would then be considered pre-meditated and blatant. Fortunately, however, the president never had to resort to military action. The crisis was averted when Congress passed a bill that reduced the productive tariff the following year. These events were dubbed the Nullification Crisis and the Compromise of 1833. Though war was averted, South Carolina now became the hotbed of southern dissent. The crisis of 1850 may never have occurred if a more common resource was discovered in California. But since gold was so rare, and therefore very valuable, Californias population skyrocketed. By 1850 over 100,000 hoping-to-strike-it-rich settlers, also known as forty-niners, flocked to California in hopes of attaining vast wealth in the gold that was said to be so abundant there. Without waiting for federal approval, the inhabitants of California called a convention, framed a constitution that prohibited slavery, and applied to Congress for admission as a state without first becoming a territory, this was made possible due to the vast influx of people who had emigrated there from the east of the United States as well as those who had immigrated from other countries. California had become very populous. The questions of whether California should be admitted as a free state and slavery should be allowed in New Mexico and Utah, two other territories asking to be allowed into the Union a t the time, generated a great deal of controversy both within Congress and throughout the nation. President Taylor supported Californias admission. Though the slaveholding president supported the proposal, other slaveholders throughout the country did not follow suit. Many southerners quickly threatened that they would secede from the Union if California was admitted as a free state. The Great Compromiser Henry Clay then once again stepped into the fray and proposed a compromise to this problem; this would be known as the Compromise of 1850. The compromise itself was more a series of bills than an actual compromise, these bills included among other things, that California would enter the Union as a free state; a more stringent Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 was guaranteed to be rigidly enforced. The law itself was already present, but it was rarely followed due to it being so poorly enforced as well as fierce opposition from Northerners who refused to hand in runaway slaves to the ever unpopular slave hunters; a settlement of the boundary between Texas and New Mexico; an indemnity to be paid to Texas for the relinquishment of its claims to a large portion of New Mexico; the slave trade would be banned in Washington D.C. (District of Columbia) though the ownership of slaves would not be abolished in the capital. This idea arose mainly because in this time period many European nations, with which the United States of America did business with, had already abolished slavery throughout their country, and it would leave an unfavorable impression on a foreign diplomat to see slaves which were no longer allowed in their own country, still present in another with whom they were considering associating themselves with ; the Mexican Cession, or the land taken from Mexico as a result of Americas victory in the Mexican-American War, would be divided into two new territories, New Mexico and Utah. Both territories would determine the status of slavery in their areas by popular sovereignty. Popular sovereignty was a system that would determine whether the state or territory would be free or would allow slavery by mean of holding local elections in said state or territory, Democrats would advocate popular sovereignty during the election of 1860. The compromise was made official with the signing of President Millard Fillmore. This passage by Congress delayed the onset of the Civil War for more than eleven years. The Bleeding Kansas period came about due to the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Democrat and Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas introduced the Kansas-Nebraska Act to further the construction of a Transcontinental Railroad to Chicago despite being warned by Frederick Douglass that the bill was an open invitation to a fierce and bitter strife. For the Bill to pass he needed the votes of southern Democrats, who were unwilling to support him unless the new Territories needed to accomplish it were open to slavery. Douglas thought that by proposing that the status of slavery in the new territories be governed by the principle of popular sovereignty, he would satisfy both pro and anti slavery factions. However, his bill in effect, repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which barred slavery north of latitude 36à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ° 30. This brought as consequence that the Southern Whigs voted with southern Democrats in favor of the measure, and the northern Whigs rejected it, creating an irreconcilable spl it that left Whigs unable to field a presidential candidate in 1856. In the congressional elections of 1854, the southern Democrats became the dominant voice both in congress and within the party due to the split with the northern Democrats. The Cotton Whigs, who had economic ties with southern slave owners, were convinced that the bill would encourage antislavery feelings in the north. They urged southern politicians to vote against the bill, but were utterly ignored. This convinced them that compromise with the South was impossible and the nation watched horrified as the residents of Kansas slaughtered each other in pursuit of sectional goals that increasingly seemed to represent the divisions of the country. Since popular sovereignty would decide Kansass fate, it seemed that the majority of Kansas antislavery farmers would align Kansas with the Free states. Proslavery sympathizers in neighboring Missouri were not about to stand by while their neighbor cast its lot with the free s tates on account of its land being fertile and perfect for growing and farming cotton, the white gold of the South. Soon, border ruffians crossed into Kansas with the intention of making it a slave state. Border ruffians terrorized Kansas and intimidated others to vote proslavery with vicious threats and cast fraud ballots during elections to help elect their candidates into office. In response, Northern opponents of slavery like the New England Emigrant Society began sending supporters to Kansas. Fighting soon erupted as advocates of slavery created a government in Lecompton, Kansas and their opponents established an antislavery government in Topeka. Shortly thereafter, proslavery forces massacred citizens of the antislavery town of Lawrence. In retaliation, a violent abolitionist named John Brown organized his own massacre of five suspected proslavery advocates at Pottawatomie Creek in 1856. The Democratic President Pierces decision to remain aloof from the events in Kansas furthe r damaged what was left of his partys cohesion. In the ensuing months it seemed as if Kansas would enter as a free state, but a new problem arose; enter President James Buchanan. The newly elected President Buchanan accepted the proslavery Lecompton Constitution, which would admit Kansas as a slave state. Certain democrats then agreed to unite with the young Republican Party in 1858 to oppose the Lecompton Constitution, their efforts were not in vain and Kansas was ultimately accepted into the Union as a free state. The election of 1856 attracted one of the highest voter turnouts in American history. Ordinary citizens were sharing the politicians concerns about the growing sectional rifts in the nation. The northern turnout also showed that the threat posed by expansion of slavery was greater than that posed by new immigrants. In 1856 the people of the United States heard about the looting and burning in Kansas, about John Browns massacre at Pottawatomie, and about the Sumner-Brooks incident on the senate floor, ostensibly causing the unprecedented voters outpour. In the latter incident, Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts suffered permanent injuries from an attack by Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina. Using abusive and accusatory language in his The Crime Against Kansas speech, Sumner had singled out for ridicule Senator Andrew Butler of South Carolina. Sumners rude and personal attack suggested that the senator was drooling. South Carolina, Sumner cried, had sent to the Senate a Don Quixote who had chosen a mistress who, though polluted in the sight of the world, is chaste in his sight- I mean the harlot, Slavery. Talk of sexual connection between white Southerners and slaves was always explosive. Senator Butlers nephew, Preston Brooks, did not bother to challenge Sumner to a duel. Brooks said that the Yankee would never give satisfaction and would therefore refuse or flee from the challenge. Instead, Brooks strode into the Senate chamber and, finding the Massachusetts lawmaker alone, brutally beat Sumner with his cane, nearly ending his life. In Brooks mind, he was simply avenging an intolerable affront to his uncles honor. Each man found his action perfectly justifiable and the action of the other outrageous. So far had the behavioral codes of the North and the South diverged, and their attitudes were mirrored by their respective sections. The nation lay as divided as the senators. President-elect James Buchanans support for a pro-southern decision by the Supreme Court further aggravated sectional differences. In Dred Scott vs. Sandford, a southern-dominated Supreme attempted, in vain, to solve the political controversy over slavery. Scott, a slave, had been taken by his owner to Illinois, a Free State, and Wisconsin Territory north of the Missouri Compromise line. During that time, Scott married another slave and had a daughter who was born in free territory, then returned to Missouri, a slave state. Once in Missouri Scott sued for his freedom and that of his wife and daughter on the grounds that residence in free lands had made them free. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional asserting that the federal government had no right to interfere with the free movement of property throughout the territories. Taney dismissed the Dred Scott case on the grounds that only citizens could bring suits before federal courts and that b lack people were not citizens. The five southern members of the Supreme Court concurred with the decision along with one Northerner, Robert Grier. President-elect Buchanan had pressured Justice Grier into supporting the majority. Clearly as a sectional decision, Southerners expressed satisfaction and support for the Court, Northerners disagreed. They found themselves questioning the power of the Supreme Court to establish the law of the land. The racist attitude of the Supreme Court was a bitter blow to the free blacks in the North. The South was overjoyed with the Courts ruling. The North was outraged; Northern Democrats like Senator Steven Douglas of Illinois found it increasingly difficult to reconcile their support of popular sovereignty in the Dred Scott decision. Under Douglass definition of popular sovereignty, it was always the white majority that would make decisions about black mens freedom. Lincoln responded to this definition by stating that for a man to rule another man without his consent was tyranny. Lincoln succeeded in pressing Douglas on the issue of slavery in the territories after Chief Justice Taneys Dred Scott decision. Lincoln used this opportunity to attack Douglass popular sovereignty idea. For how could the people of a territory vote against slavery, if Chief Justice Taney said that every American had a right to carry his property with him? In response, Douglas introduced his Freeport Doctrine. The doctrine was dubbed after the Illinois town where Lincoln and Douglas had met for one of their debates. The doctrine said slavery could not exist without friendly legislation to support it. Anti-slavery voters could simply refuse to pass such laws and slavery would effectively be kept out of the territory. Douglas concluded then that popular sovereignty was entirely consistent with Chief Justice Taneys ruling. However, the Freeport Doctrine alienated many Southern Democrats. Douglas had actually stated the essence of the doctrine previous t o the debate at Freeport, but its prominent public assertion at Freeport contributed, along with other political disputes, to antagonizing those in the Southern United States who were demanding ever-increasing protections for slavery, and who subsequently insisted on the repudiation of the Freeport Doctrine in order to block Douglas presidential bid in 1860. Containing slavery became important to Northerners, who believed that as slavery expanded, Northern industrial capitalism would become limited. To fight this fear a new political party emerged in the 1850s, the Republicans, whose political goals were free labor, free soil, free men. The industrial capitalists, owners of the Norths factories and workshops had the most to gain by containing the spread of slavery and expanding capitalism. For example, as capitalism expanded, they hoped to expand the labor pool, by supporting a loose immigration policy, which in turn would drive down the wages that they would have to pay for workers. Just as the planters dominated the South, the industrial capitalists profoundly influenced the Norths political, economic and cultural system. In addition, their political and economic objectives often clashed with those of the Souths planter class. In the South, militant political leaders, referred to as fire-eaters due to their adamant nature to raise cont roversial disputes, especially with their northern counterparts. These fire-eaters chafed at the notion of containing slavery, let alone abolishing it entirely, naturally bringing about disputes between the two. These clashes were mostly due to slavery as the industrial capitalists wanted to expand the white labor pool and southern plantation owners wanted to keep their slave force. Though compromises such as the Missouri Compromise, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the myriad of bills proposed by Henry Clay in the Compromise of 1850, it helped to divert attention from the topic and to try and appease both sides, but conflict was inevitable. As discussed earlier, both the North and the South consisted of entirely different ideals and culture by the nineteenth century. These divisions were brought to light in both the violence of the Brooks-Sumner incident and the racist decision of the South-dominated Supreme Court during the Dred Scott case. By the time Abraham Lincoln, the sixteen pre sident of the United States of America, took office the southern had already seceded from the Union. There was no longer room for compromise, Lincoln was given two options; to allow the Union to crumble or fight to preserve it. They thought themselves to be to economically powerful, politically influential, and the North and the rest of Europe too dependent on their White Gold for slavery to be abolished. They were wrong.

Branding in FMCG Goods in Changing Economic Conditions

Branding in FMCG Goods in Changing Economic Conditions An energetic person in field of marketing with knowledge base of B.E mechanical Post graduate Diploma in Business management played a very important role for my thesis. He has an experience of more than tow years in Sales and Marketing, at Excell elevators and currently working at IIPM Ahmedabad, as a Senior Research Associate. Perfection and proper direction are his two keys to achievement for any work. Without his best guidance for this thesis, it would have been possible to complete this thesis. Sir, also helped me out in solving my queries related to the thesis. His immense knowledge in marketing field has helped me to a great extent to complete my thesis. His humble approach towards every students, gives a great encouragement to work with him. As a thesis guide he helped me out in every possible way he could. I specially thank him for taking out his precious time for helping me out in completing my thesis. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: Research always start with a question or a problem. Its purpose is to question through the application of the scientific method. Its a systematic and intensive study directed towards a more completed knowledge of the subject studied.  · Primary Research: 1. Interaction with customers by filling up questionnaires 2. Interview with Marketing manager 3. Total sample size which is taken into consideration for research is 100 respondents  · Secondary Research: 1. Books 2. Internet 3. Articles and Magazines 4. Project Reports and News paper PREFACE Branding strategy : Every organization has a brand, whether they have consciously developed or not. A brand is an expectation or a promise of experience. Whether that expectation is trusting, authoritative, innovative, brands are the short hand for describing the way a business, organization, product, services, or a person relates to its stake holders. The way to build a strong to put their customers and their needs at the center of the every decision the organization makes. Overtime the customer centric action creates the differentiation in the marketplace and build an emotional connection with the customers. The process of managing brand as assets begins with the understanding the brand from the customers point of view. What image, reputation, perception does each customer and stake holder maintain that can be capitalized or corrected. Managing brand as assets also requires a considerable effort to measure and quantify the impact of the brand on customer, their decision, and the companies financial performance. BRAND STRATEGY: Brand strategy is the plan for the company how it is going to create the value for the customers by building its brands strength and addressing its weakness. Brand strategies manifest product innovation, graphic design, store layout, customer service and many other components of the brand experience. The strategy provides the foundation for development of brand building program and typically includes brand objective, consistent brand name and identity systems, target audience and positioning, key communication messages and prioritization of brand touch points. The recent global slow down as sent everyone in a tizzy. From financial institution to manufacturing industries, everyone has faced the heat of the slowdown. In this scenario I have taken up the matter of the Branding Strategy which is being applied in the FMCG sector. What kind of changes were applied or not and what were the strategies brought in to tackle the slowdown is the matter of study. Different companies have tried to tackle the situation by bringing in new changes in their branding strategy. Some organization may not have required to change their strategies in the market. It may be because of their strong market presence, brand loyalty or strong financial performance. Here some cases of the companies and their brand will be studied thoroughly. It will be seen that what kind of changes were made or no changes were made in the marketing strategy LITERATURE REVIEW A Brand is not a by-product, an ad-campaign, a logo, a spokesperson or a slogan. It is the differentiating identity and the most important reason for customers, employees, stake holders to do the business with you. In a real sense its a firms most important asset. The new era has come, where innovation is the only way to stay in the market. Whether be it a product, an ad-campaign or marketing strategy innovation is the tool to survive. But the recent recession gives us a thought, should the Branding strategy that is being applied remain the same? The answer can be found looking at different cases. It may be necessary to look after the branding strategy to be applied in a different manner even if the current branding strategy is alright and doing good to fetch the business in the market. Because sticking to the old branding strategy may not always be a big hit. As earlier said innovation is very much important. INTRODUCTION: Recession Marketing Success Requires Boldness Over the years hundreds of studies have been conducted to prove companies should maintain advertising during a recession. In the 1920s advertising executive Roland S. Vaile tracked 200 companies through the recession of 1923. He reported in the April 1927 issue of the Harvard Business Review that the biggest sales increases throughout the period were rung up by companies that advertised the most. After World War II, Buchen Advertising, Inc. decided to plot the sales of a large number of advertisers through successive recessions. In 1947, it began measuring the annual advertising expenditures of each company. When they correlated the s with sales and profit trends before, during and after the recessions of 1949, 1954, 1958 and 1961, they found that almost without exception sales and profits dropped off at companies that cut back on advertising The conclusion of six more recession studies by the group present formidable evidence that cutting advertising in times of economic downturns can result in both immediate and long-term negative effects on sales and profit levels. Meldrum Fewsmiths former Senior VP, J. Welsey Rosberg reports â€Å" I have yet to see any study that proves apprehension is the route to success. Studies consistently have proven that companies that have the intelligence and guts to maintain or enlarge their overall marketing and advertising efforts in times of business downturns will get the edge on their hesitant competitors. Their studies also discovered that after the recessions ended, those companies continued to insulate behind the ones that had maintained their advertising budgets. In 1979 another study by ABP/Meldrum Fewsmith, covering the recession of 1974-75 and post-recession years, showed similar findings. They found that â€Å"companies which did not slash advertising expenditures during the recession years (1974-1975), experienced higher sales and net income during those two years and the two years following than companies which cut ad budgets in either or both recession years.† In an economic downturn, there may be a inclination to give up on new thoughts and thinking, and just hunker down, until the worst is over. But, what if this is really our chance to observe new possibilities? If freaking out doesnt make your numbers improve (and at this point you can lead a consumer to your product, but you cant make her buy), what might happen when you use that brainwave space to identify and integrate consumer trends you never actually noticed before? Possibly amazing things. Take Reena Janas quick hit Businessweek article and video with David Rockwell, architect/branding expert/set designer, as an example. He commented on hotel design, which has been on my mind a bit lately too. One of Rockwells thoughts: what about holding cooking classes in hotel kitchens? Such design thinking is worth a little hotelier attention these days, given the convergence of trends in staying home, cooking more, and being with family. What else, physical space or otherwise, is primed for such â€Å"transformability,† as Rockwell called it? Cooking classes in a hotel kitchen could serve consumers and add value on so many levels but without this â€Å"what now† sense of doom we feel, such ideas might never surface. Given extreme limitations, creative thinking is forced to be that much more bold, even as the solutions become more streamlined. Heres another example of transformability, in my mind: Consider how Subaru is handling the current â€Å"discount† season, with their â€Å"Share The Love† philanthropic campaign. Rather than promoting money-back at loan signing or one of the other classic year-end strategies for a car dealer, they kept within the tight parameters, learned more about their consumers and thought quite in a different way. What their research found was that a generous donation would very much resound with the types of people whod be considering a Subaru buy right about now. Inspiring customers into a car purchase during a downturn, and doing good at the same time? Wow. A tried and true, established auto industry tradition turned on its ear transformed! Without an extreme impetus to fill a void of ideas in a difficult consumer environment, such a concept might never have surfaced. If design thinking and transformability emerges only when long-established industries with entrenched business practices and ethnicity get hit this hard maybe we have something to be thankful for after all? This overwhelming bad may have opened a few more of us up to a very clever, possibly unusual and thereby all the more noticeable leveraging of consumer development. Theres a great deal of pluck and drag about the loss of fizz at Pepsi and questionably at Coke, as well. Both companies face declining sales of their flagship brands and have used to greater or lesser success predictable ways to mask the elementary issue: Fewer people are buying less and less of these iconic brands. conservative wisdom says do two things at once: Buy up more trendy beverages, like waters, sports and energy drinks; and work really, really hard to strengthen the base brands. So, Pepsi hires Peter Arnell (of Tropicana Disaster fame), fires its long-time ad agency and creates a proposal that calls for marketing its wares at the real me. According to BusinessWeek, the challenge was to make Pepsi as culturally relevant as the iPod. Good luck with that, Peter. The temptation of course is honest: Wouldnt it be great if brown, sugary water could be as cool as the latest touch screen gadget? Gosh, it would be great. However, its not going to happen. So rather than sending marketing execs on cool hunts for design inspiration, heres a more daunting trek: Take a look at what other brands have done, what Coke and Pepsi have to do to each other. Grow share in a declining market. It would be so great to imagine that theres something to be done with either of these brands that could forge an entirely new category of experience and therefore consumer behaviors the way the iPod has. But the truth is theyd learn much more by taking a commuter flight to Winston-Salem, N.C. Its so very transgressive to even suggest it, but the only people who have spent time trying to wrestle for share in declining markets are the tobacco brands. (a) FMCG SECTOR (i) Global Perspective: The FMCG industry, or alternatively named CPG, abbreviation for Consumer Packaged Goods, deals mainly with the production, distribution as well as marketing of packaged goods for all consumers. The Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) has to do with those consumables which are regularly being consumed. Among the first activities of the FMCG industry there is selling, marketing, financing, purchasing, and so on. Recently this industry has also launched in operations, supply chain, production, general management, etc. The wide range of consumable goods provided by the FMCG industry turns over a large amount of money, while competition among FMCG manufacturing is become more and more fierce. Investors are putting more and more into the FMCG industry, especially in India, where the FMCG industry is the fourth largest sector, having a total market size of more than US$13.1 billion, and still estimated to double by 2010. In New Zealand as well, the FMCG industry accounts for 5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Some common FMCG product include food and dairy products, glassware, paper products, pharmaceuticals, electronics, plastic goods, printing goods, household products, photography, drinks etc, so here coffee, tea, greeting cards, gifts, detergents, soaps etc are all included. The factors that made the FMCG industry a highly competitive one are low operational cost, solid distribution networks, and emergence of new FMCG companies. In addition, the growth of the worlds population is another responsible factor for the huge success of this particular industry. Some of the leading FMCG companies all over the world are Sara Lee, Nestlà ©, Unilever, Procter Gamble, Coca-Cola, Carlsberg, Kleenex, General Mills, Mars etc. Not only does it provide the necessary goods for day to day life, but the FMCG industry has also created tremendous job opportunities and careers. It is a stable, varied, and highly profitable industry, and the jobs it provide range from sales, supply chain, finance, marketing, operations, human resources, development, general management, and so on. Recruitment has also grown together with the growth in the FMCG sector: * The working force within FMCG manufacturing in the UK accounts for 14% of the total workforce in UK; * Sales in the FMCG industry accounted for  £14.5 billion in 2000, spent on non-food UK products alone, in grocery retail sectors in UK; * In 2000 the non-food FMCG market in UK, raised to  £110 billon. Including sectors such as Food, Drink and Pharmaceutical the output registered by FMCG accounts for 19% of the UKs GDP i. Indian Perspective: The Indian FMCG sector is the fourth largest sector in the economy with a total market size in excess of dollar 13.1 billion. It has a strong MNC, presence and is characterized by a well established distribution network, intense competition between the organized and unorganized asegments and low operational cost. Availability of key raw materials, cheaper labor costs and presence across the entire value chain gives India a competitive advantage. The FMCG market is set to treble from $11.6 billion in 2003 to $ 33.4 billion in 2015. Penetration level as per capita consumption in most product categories like jams, toothpaste, skin care, hair wash etc in India is low indicating the untapped market potential. Burgeoning Indian population, particularly the middle class and the rural segments, presents an opportunity to makers of branded products to converts consumers to branded products. Growth is also likely to come from consumer upgrading in the matured product cat egories. With 200 million people expected to shift to processed and packaged food by 2010, India needs around $28 billion of investment in the food processing industry India has enacted policies aimed at attaining international competitiveness through lifting of the quantitative restrictions, reduced excise duties, automatic foreign investment and food laws resulting in an environment that fosters growth. Cent per cent export oriented units can be set up by government approval and use of foreign brand names is now freely permitted. Automatic investment approval including foreign technology agreements within specified norms, up to 100 per cent foreign equity or 100 per cent for NRI and overseas corporate bodies investment, is allowed for most the food processing sector except malted food, alcoholic beverages and those reserved for small scale industries. 24% foreign equity is permitted in the small scale sector. Temprorary approvals for imports for test marketing can also be obtained from the Director General of foreign Trade. The evolution of a more liberal FDI policy environment in India is clearly supported by the successful operation of some of the global majors like PepsiCo in India. The Indian government has abolished licensing for almost all food and agro-processing industries except for some items like alcohol, cane sugar, hydrogenated animal fats and oils etc. and items reserved for the exclusive manufacture in the SSI sector Quantitative restrictions were removed in 2001 and Union Budget 2004-05 further identified 85 items that would be taken out of the reserved list. This has resulted in a boom in the FMCG market through market expansion and greater product opportunities. TRENDS AND PLAYERS The Indian FMCG sector is the fourth largest sector in the economy and creates employment for three million people in downstream activities. Within the FMCG sector, the Indian food processing industry represented 6.3% of GDP and accounted for 13 per cent of the countrys exports in 2003-04. A distinct feature of the FMCG industry is the presence of most global players through their subsidiaries (HLL, PG, NESTLE) which ensures new product launches in the Indian market from the parents portfolio. Demand for FMCG products is set to boom by almost 60 per cent by 2010 and more than 100 per cent by 2015. This will be driven by the rise in share of middle class from 67% in 2003 to 88 percent in 2015 The boom in various consumer categories, further, indicates a latent demand for various product segments. For example, the upper end of very rich and a part of the consuming class indicate a small but rapidly growing segment for branded products. The middle segment, on the other hand, indicates a large market for the mass end products. The BRICs report indicates that Indias per capita disposable income, currently at $556 per annum will rise to $1150 by 2015-another FMCG demand driver. Spurt in the industrial and services sector growth is also likely to boos the urban consumption demand. HOUSEHOLD CARE The size of the fabric wash market is estimated to be $ 1 billion, household cleaners to be $ 239 million and the production of synthetic detergents at 2.6 million tones. The demand for detergents has been growing at an annual growth rate of 10 to 11 per cent during the past five years. The urban market prefers washing powder and detergents to bars. The regional and small un-organized players account for a major share of the total volume of the detergent market. PERSONAL CARE: The size of the personal wash products is estimated at $989 million: hair care products at $831 million and oral care products at $537 million. While the overall personal wash market is growing at one per cent, the premium and middle end soaps are growing at 10 per cent. The leading players in this market are HUL, NIRMA, Godrej and Reckitt Colman. The oral care market, especially toothpastes, remains under penetrated in with penetration below 45 per cent. The industry is very competitive both for organized and smaller regional players The Indian skin care and cosmetics market is valued at $274 million dominated by HUL, Colgate Palmolive, Gillete India and Godrej Soaps. The coconut oil market accounts for 7 per cent share in the hair oil market. In the branded coconut hair oil market, Marico and Dabur are the leading players. The market for branded coconut oil is valued at approximately $174 million FOOD AND BEVERAGES The size of the Indian food processing industry is around $65.6 billion, including $ 20.6 billion of value added products. Of this, the health beverage industry is valued at $ 230 million: bread and biscuits at $1.7 billion: chocolates at $73 million and ice creams at $188 million The size of the semi processed ready to eat food segment is over $1.1 billion. Large biscuits and confectionery units, soya processing units and starch glucose sorbitol producing units have also come up, cater to domestic and international markets. The three larges consumed categories of packaged foods are packd tea, biscuits and soft drinks. The Indian beverage industry faces over supply in segments like coffee and tea. However, more than half of this is available in unpacked or loose for. Indian hot beverage market is a tea dominant market. Consumer s in different parts of the coutry have erogenous taste. Dust tea is popular in southern India, while loose tea is preferred in western India. The urban rural split of the tea market was 51:49 in 2000. Coffee is largely consumed in southern states. The size of the toatla packaged coffee market is 19600 tonnes or $87 million. The total soft drink market is estimated at 284 million crates a year or $1 billion. The market is highly seasonal in nature with consumption varying from 25 million crates per month during peak season to 15 million during offseason. The market is predominantly urban with 25 per cent contribution from rural areas. Coca cola and Pepsi dominate the Indian soft drinks market. Mineral water market in India is a 65 million crates ($50 million) industry. On an average, the monthly consumption is estimated at 4.9 million crates, which increases to 5.2 million during peak season. RURAL MARKETS : SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL By the early nineties FMCG MARKETERS HAD D OUT TWO THINGS 1) Rural markets are vital for survival since the urban markets were getting saturated. 2) Rural markets are extremely price sensitive Thus, a number of companies followed the strategy of launching a wide range of package sized and prices to suit the purchasing preferences of Indias varied consumer segments. Hindustan Unilever a subsidiary of Unilever, coined the term nano marketing in the early nineties, when it introduced its products n small sachets. Small sachets were introduced in almost all the FMCG segments from oil, shampoo, and detergents to beverages Cola major, coke brought down the average price of its products from around twenty cents to ten cents bridging the gap between soft drinks and other local options like tea, butter milk or lemon juice. It also doubled the number of outlets in rural areas from 80,000 during 2005 to 160000 the next year almost doubling its market penetration from 13 per cent to 25 percent. This along with greater marketing, led to the rural market accounting for 80 per cent of new coke drinkers and 30 per cent of its total volumes. GLOBAL BRANDING: I. Introduction In this day and age, consumers automatically recount a product to the name of a particular brand. More specially, the status of the said brand tends to trigger signals of whether a product is cost-effective, superior in quality, or even connect to a particular social status. Numerous studies have maintained that brands have become powerful tools in modern marketing. It has become one of the major factors that consumers consider in their purchasing decisions. Any commercial organization knows this as a fact. That is why they are inclined to place their attention to brands and the demands of the consumers. It has become an requisite component of the marketing operations of the modern organization. For existing multinational companies, having a global brand name has been massively helpful in expanding their operations the world over. Presenting their products and services as the top alternative in the market nowadays is not enough to ensure the success. In this era where the consumer is independent, every company needs to build a brand that will be universally familiar in any market. Companies seek to establish a global brand with the ends of acquiring a bigger market share and a better position in the market. Though it is a common belief that having a global brand name equate to success in terms of business, there are still existing issues that comes with it. This paper will be considering the minutiae of establishing a global brand name. Similarly, the key reasons why this is being considered by most, if not all, companies will be taken into account along with the other alternatives that these companies have in marketing a global product. II. Marketing Under a Global Brand Name The term â€Å"global brand† is often interchanged with the term â€Å"global product.† However, there are studies that pointed out that the two are completely different terms. Basically, a global product connotes merchandise sold all over the world that share standardized attributes. This means that these products have a propensity to have a uniform set of characteristics and normally take on common brand names. On the other hand, a global brand tends to characterize the identity and image close to a specific product. More importantly, it is the blend of both tangible and intangible attributes that constitute a global brand. Recent studies of global branding designate that the said concept is subject to the view of the individual consumer. More specifically, the more recent views of international branding strategy tend to reflect the demands of the consumers. As puts it, these global brands are subjected to the global culture. In its simplest terms, global culture pertains to a set of consumer tastes and values. These tastes and values do not necessarily share the same standards and often show conflict with one another. Thus, global brands have to take on a certain level of flexibility in their operations. In its face value, this seems quite a daunting task for any company. However, this does not stop them from seeking to establish a global brand name and take on in global branding strategies. Why? The reason is that despite these complex concerns of the consumers, these brands have become embedded in their consciousness. The bottom-line is that, despite their best efforts, consumers cannot ignore global brands. The following parts will discuss the other advantages that companies enjoy in operating a global brand. A. Creation of Demand on Other Countries One of the advantages of having a global brand is the possibility of demand spillovers. This means that the marketing efforts held in a particular country could essentially multiply out to markets of other countries. Basically, the image of the global brands encapsulates this advantage. The concept of brand popularity and the country of starting point often establish this type of demand spillover. Share this suggestion of demand of global brands. Mainly, they call this element of global brands as the â€Å"global myth.† Simply put, demand of global brands tends to provide the consumers a feeling of having a â€Å"global identity† or having a feeling of being a â€Å"citizen of the world.† Studies on the effect of brand popularity on the company maintained that it has major implications on its market share. In the study of they pointed out that the company acquires benefits from brand popularity. One benefit is that having brand popularity provides the consumers more confidence in their purchasing decisions with particular reference to giving the implied assurance that a popular brand is better than the alternative. Another benefit of brand popularity is the association of assessment to the product. Coined this dimension of global brands as â€Å"quality signals.† Thus, issues of price of the product with a global brand are often regarded as â€Å"reasonable† because of its perceived high value among consumers. B. Strategic Appeal Another perceived reason why organizations seek to establish a global brand is because of its strategic appeal. Indicated in their study that global brands tend to have more opportunities than their equivalent in the local markets. This is supported by the earlier studies on the markets in the US, Japan, and EU.Noted that global brands offers companies an efficient way of exhausting its resources. More specifically, maintaining global brands tend to offer the possibility of lower costs and having the highest quality product. Aside from the earlier fact pointed out on the demand spillover, a consequent outcome of that phenomenon would be the demand for standardized products. This means that modifications to meet the local demands are significantly lessened as the demand replicate greater value with the unaltered global brands. In this regard, time and resources in the amendment processes is taken away which equates to cost reductions and further profit for the company. On the whole, the creation of global brands creates a much greater economies of scale and scope for companies. III. Brand Management in the Global Setting Recent marketing initiatives in the global setting have acknowledged the importance of bands in dealing with the dynamic business environment. Recent studies maintained that it is important for companies to treat their brand management initiatives as they treat their strategic management processes. ( 2001, 75) This means that the battle of brands in both their local and domestic counterparts have intensified throughout the years. This increase in the demands on the part of the organizations has given them the responsibility of making their brand management more systematic, scientific and a continuous process. The study of (2001, 75) basically maintained that companies should bake sure that their brand will be remembered constantly. Be it through logos or taste, the consumer has to readily recognize the brand right away. This is where brand management comes in to the picture. There are studies that maintain initially what their brand intends to represent. In doing so, the company is able to find a way to position its brand with reference to the other players in the market. ( 2001, 75) This is seen in the case of global brands like Nike and Coca-Cola. In the case of Nike, they have decided to package themselves as a brand associated with winning. On the other hand, the Coca-Cola brand tends to place value on their universal taste. ( 2003, 198) A case study of Procter Gamble maintained that a use of a brand portfolio would be able to help a company in managing its brand in the global setting. (2003) With such a tool at their disposal, PG is able to make sound decisions with regards to their brand management initiatives. In doing so, PG are able to position their products properly with reference to the other players like Unilever, Kimberly-Clark and Colgate-Palmolive. Studies pertaining to branding strategies and theories point out two important components organizations should consider in their brand management initiatives. These are brand equity and brand value. A. Value Creation in Branding Brand value is the perceived worth of the consumers on the brand. The most notable form of value creation in brands is through advertising. (2003, 53) There are three known approaches in the creation of value in brands: decoration, gluing, and mascot approach. The decoration approach basically shows a branding strategy displaying differentiation by connecting the brand to completely different cues presented by the other players in the market. ( 1999, 51) The gluing strategy of value creation associates their product to certain emotional cues of the consumer. These are seen in advertisements that attempt to stir the emotion of the possible buyers. (1992, 10) The mascot approach on the other hand indicates the use of a human-like entity that is believed to be able to establish a connection to the potential buyers. The use of charismatic non-human characters (Pillsbury Dough Boy) tends to reflect this type of value creation approach in branding. ( 2004, 188) Basically, these approaches of value creation tend to be influential for the buying decisions of the consumers. In the same regard, the use of brands could also be a way towards building this value to the company. B. Using Brand Equity The term brand equity denotes the net revenue of the brand which it is expected Branding in FMCG Goods in Changing Economic Conditions Branding in FMCG Goods in Changing Economic Conditions An energetic person in field of marketing with knowledge base of B.E mechanical Post graduate Diploma in Business management played a very important role for my thesis. He has an experience of more than tow years in Sales and Marketing, at Excell elevators and currently working at IIPM Ahmedabad, as a Senior Research Associate. Perfection and proper direction are his two keys to achievement for any work. Without his best guidance for this thesis, it would have been possible to complete this thesis. Sir, also helped me out in solving my queries related to the thesis. His immense knowledge in marketing field has helped me to a great extent to complete my thesis. His humble approach towards every students, gives a great encouragement to work with him. As a thesis guide he helped me out in every possible way he could. I specially thank him for taking out his precious time for helping me out in completing my thesis. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: Research always start with a question or a problem. Its purpose is to question through the application of the scientific method. Its a systematic and intensive study directed towards a more completed knowledge of the subject studied.  · Primary Research: 1. Interaction with customers by filling up questionnaires 2. Interview with Marketing manager 3. Total sample size which is taken into consideration for research is 100 respondents  · Secondary Research: 1. Books 2. Internet 3. Articles and Magazines 4. Project Reports and News paper PREFACE Branding strategy : Every organization has a brand, whether they have consciously developed or not. A brand is an expectation or a promise of experience. Whether that expectation is trusting, authoritative, innovative, brands are the short hand for describing the way a business, organization, product, services, or a person relates to its stake holders. The way to build a strong to put their customers and their needs at the center of the every decision the organization makes. Overtime the customer centric action creates the differentiation in the marketplace and build an emotional connection with the customers. The process of managing brand as assets begins with the understanding the brand from the customers point of view. What image, reputation, perception does each customer and stake holder maintain that can be capitalized or corrected. Managing brand as assets also requires a considerable effort to measure and quantify the impact of the brand on customer, their decision, and the companies financial performance. BRAND STRATEGY: Brand strategy is the plan for the company how it is going to create the value for the customers by building its brands strength and addressing its weakness. Brand strategies manifest product innovation, graphic design, store layout, customer service and many other components of the brand experience. The strategy provides the foundation for development of brand building program and typically includes brand objective, consistent brand name and identity systems, target audience and positioning, key communication messages and prioritization of brand touch points. The recent global slow down as sent everyone in a tizzy. From financial institution to manufacturing industries, everyone has faced the heat of the slowdown. In this scenario I have taken up the matter of the Branding Strategy which is being applied in the FMCG sector. What kind of changes were applied or not and what were the strategies brought in to tackle the slowdown is the matter of study. Different companies have tried to tackle the situation by bringing in new changes in their branding strategy. Some organization may not have required to change their strategies in the market. It may be because of their strong market presence, brand loyalty or strong financial performance. Here some cases of the companies and their brand will be studied thoroughly. It will be seen that what kind of changes were made or no changes were made in the marketing strategy LITERATURE REVIEW A Brand is not a by-product, an ad-campaign, a logo, a spokesperson or a slogan. It is the differentiating identity and the most important reason for customers, employees, stake holders to do the business with you. In a real sense its a firms most important asset. The new era has come, where innovation is the only way to stay in the market. Whether be it a product, an ad-campaign or marketing strategy innovation is the tool to survive. But the recent recession gives us a thought, should the Branding strategy that is being applied remain the same? The answer can be found looking at different cases. It may be necessary to look after the branding strategy to be applied in a different manner even if the current branding strategy is alright and doing good to fetch the business in the market. Because sticking to the old branding strategy may not always be a big hit. As earlier said innovation is very much important. INTRODUCTION: Recession Marketing Success Requires Boldness Over the years hundreds of studies have been conducted to prove companies should maintain advertising during a recession. In the 1920s advertising executive Roland S. Vaile tracked 200 companies through the recession of 1923. He reported in the April 1927 issue of the Harvard Business Review that the biggest sales increases throughout the period were rung up by companies that advertised the most. After World War II, Buchen Advertising, Inc. decided to plot the sales of a large number of advertisers through successive recessions. In 1947, it began measuring the annual advertising expenditures of each company. When they correlated the s with sales and profit trends before, during and after the recessions of 1949, 1954, 1958 and 1961, they found that almost without exception sales and profits dropped off at companies that cut back on advertising The conclusion of six more recession studies by the group present formidable evidence that cutting advertising in times of economic downturns can result in both immediate and long-term negative effects on sales and profit levels. Meldrum Fewsmiths former Senior VP, J. Welsey Rosberg reports â€Å" I have yet to see any study that proves apprehension is the route to success. Studies consistently have proven that companies that have the intelligence and guts to maintain or enlarge their overall marketing and advertising efforts in times of business downturns will get the edge on their hesitant competitors. Their studies also discovered that after the recessions ended, those companies continued to insulate behind the ones that had maintained their advertising budgets. In 1979 another study by ABP/Meldrum Fewsmith, covering the recession of 1974-75 and post-recession years, showed similar findings. They found that â€Å"companies which did not slash advertising expenditures during the recession years (1974-1975), experienced higher sales and net income during those two years and the two years following than companies which cut ad budgets in either or both recession years.† In an economic downturn, there may be a inclination to give up on new thoughts and thinking, and just hunker down, until the worst is over. But, what if this is really our chance to observe new possibilities? If freaking out doesnt make your numbers improve (and at this point you can lead a consumer to your product, but you cant make her buy), what might happen when you use that brainwave space to identify and integrate consumer trends you never actually noticed before? Possibly amazing things. Take Reena Janas quick hit Businessweek article and video with David Rockwell, architect/branding expert/set designer, as an example. He commented on hotel design, which has been on my mind a bit lately too. One of Rockwells thoughts: what about holding cooking classes in hotel kitchens? Such design thinking is worth a little hotelier attention these days, given the convergence of trends in staying home, cooking more, and being with family. What else, physical space or otherwise, is primed for such â€Å"transformability,† as Rockwell called it? Cooking classes in a hotel kitchen could serve consumers and add value on so many levels but without this â€Å"what now† sense of doom we feel, such ideas might never surface. Given extreme limitations, creative thinking is forced to be that much more bold, even as the solutions become more streamlined. Heres another example of transformability, in my mind: Consider how Subaru is handling the current â€Å"discount† season, with their â€Å"Share The Love† philanthropic campaign. Rather than promoting money-back at loan signing or one of the other classic year-end strategies for a car dealer, they kept within the tight parameters, learned more about their consumers and thought quite in a different way. What their research found was that a generous donation would very much resound with the types of people whod be considering a Subaru buy right about now. Inspiring customers into a car purchase during a downturn, and doing good at the same time? Wow. A tried and true, established auto industry tradition turned on its ear transformed! Without an extreme impetus to fill a void of ideas in a difficult consumer environment, such a concept might never have surfaced. If design thinking and transformability emerges only when long-established industries with entrenched business practices and ethnicity get hit this hard maybe we have something to be thankful for after all? This overwhelming bad may have opened a few more of us up to a very clever, possibly unusual and thereby all the more noticeable leveraging of consumer development. Theres a great deal of pluck and drag about the loss of fizz at Pepsi and questionably at Coke, as well. Both companies face declining sales of their flagship brands and have used to greater or lesser success predictable ways to mask the elementary issue: Fewer people are buying less and less of these iconic brands. conservative wisdom says do two things at once: Buy up more trendy beverages, like waters, sports and energy drinks; and work really, really hard to strengthen the base brands. So, Pepsi hires Peter Arnell (of Tropicana Disaster fame), fires its long-time ad agency and creates a proposal that calls for marketing its wares at the real me. According to BusinessWeek, the challenge was to make Pepsi as culturally relevant as the iPod. Good luck with that, Peter. The temptation of course is honest: Wouldnt it be great if brown, sugary water could be as cool as the latest touch screen gadget? Gosh, it would be great. However, its not going to happen. So rather than sending marketing execs on cool hunts for design inspiration, heres a more daunting trek: Take a look at what other brands have done, what Coke and Pepsi have to do to each other. Grow share in a declining market. It would be so great to imagine that theres something to be done with either of these brands that could forge an entirely new category of experience and therefore consumer behaviors the way the iPod has. But the truth is theyd learn much more by taking a commuter flight to Winston-Salem, N.C. Its so very transgressive to even suggest it, but the only people who have spent time trying to wrestle for share in declining markets are the tobacco brands. (a) FMCG SECTOR (i) Global Perspective: The FMCG industry, or alternatively named CPG, abbreviation for Consumer Packaged Goods, deals mainly with the production, distribution as well as marketing of packaged goods for all consumers. The Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) has to do with those consumables which are regularly being consumed. Among the first activities of the FMCG industry there is selling, marketing, financing, purchasing, and so on. Recently this industry has also launched in operations, supply chain, production, general management, etc. The wide range of consumable goods provided by the FMCG industry turns over a large amount of money, while competition among FMCG manufacturing is become more and more fierce. Investors are putting more and more into the FMCG industry, especially in India, where the FMCG industry is the fourth largest sector, having a total market size of more than US$13.1 billion, and still estimated to double by 2010. In New Zealand as well, the FMCG industry accounts for 5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Some common FMCG product include food and dairy products, glassware, paper products, pharmaceuticals, electronics, plastic goods, printing goods, household products, photography, drinks etc, so here coffee, tea, greeting cards, gifts, detergents, soaps etc are all included. The factors that made the FMCG industry a highly competitive one are low operational cost, solid distribution networks, and emergence of new FMCG companies. In addition, the growth of the worlds population is another responsible factor for the huge success of this particular industry. Some of the leading FMCG companies all over the world are Sara Lee, Nestlà ©, Unilever, Procter Gamble, Coca-Cola, Carlsberg, Kleenex, General Mills, Mars etc. Not only does it provide the necessary goods for day to day life, but the FMCG industry has also created tremendous job opportunities and careers. It is a stable, varied, and highly profitable industry, and the jobs it provide range from sales, supply chain, finance, marketing, operations, human resources, development, general management, and so on. Recruitment has also grown together with the growth in the FMCG sector: * The working force within FMCG manufacturing in the UK accounts for 14% of the total workforce in UK; * Sales in the FMCG industry accounted for  £14.5 billion in 2000, spent on non-food UK products alone, in grocery retail sectors in UK; * In 2000 the non-food FMCG market in UK, raised to  £110 billon. Including sectors such as Food, Drink and Pharmaceutical the output registered by FMCG accounts for 19% of the UKs GDP i. Indian Perspective: The Indian FMCG sector is the fourth largest sector in the economy with a total market size in excess of dollar 13.1 billion. It has a strong MNC, presence and is characterized by a well established distribution network, intense competition between the organized and unorganized asegments and low operational cost. Availability of key raw materials, cheaper labor costs and presence across the entire value chain gives India a competitive advantage. The FMCG market is set to treble from $11.6 billion in 2003 to $ 33.4 billion in 2015. Penetration level as per capita consumption in most product categories like jams, toothpaste, skin care, hair wash etc in India is low indicating the untapped market potential. Burgeoning Indian population, particularly the middle class and the rural segments, presents an opportunity to makers of branded products to converts consumers to branded products. Growth is also likely to come from consumer upgrading in the matured product cat egories. With 200 million people expected to shift to processed and packaged food by 2010, India needs around $28 billion of investment in the food processing industry India has enacted policies aimed at attaining international competitiveness through lifting of the quantitative restrictions, reduced excise duties, automatic foreign investment and food laws resulting in an environment that fosters growth. Cent per cent export oriented units can be set up by government approval and use of foreign brand names is now freely permitted. Automatic investment approval including foreign technology agreements within specified norms, up to 100 per cent foreign equity or 100 per cent for NRI and overseas corporate bodies investment, is allowed for most the food processing sector except malted food, alcoholic beverages and those reserved for small scale industries. 24% foreign equity is permitted in the small scale sector. Temprorary approvals for imports for test marketing can also be obtained from the Director General of foreign Trade. The evolution of a more liberal FDI policy environment in India is clearly supported by the successful operation of some of the global majors like PepsiCo in India. The Indian government has abolished licensing for almost all food and agro-processing industries except for some items like alcohol, cane sugar, hydrogenated animal fats and oils etc. and items reserved for the exclusive manufacture in the SSI sector Quantitative restrictions were removed in 2001 and Union Budget 2004-05 further identified 85 items that would be taken out of the reserved list. This has resulted in a boom in the FMCG market through market expansion and greater product opportunities. TRENDS AND PLAYERS The Indian FMCG sector is the fourth largest sector in the economy and creates employment for three million people in downstream activities. Within the FMCG sector, the Indian food processing industry represented 6.3% of GDP and accounted for 13 per cent of the countrys exports in 2003-04. A distinct feature of the FMCG industry is the presence of most global players through their subsidiaries (HLL, PG, NESTLE) which ensures new product launches in the Indian market from the parents portfolio. Demand for FMCG products is set to boom by almost 60 per cent by 2010 and more than 100 per cent by 2015. This will be driven by the rise in share of middle class from 67% in 2003 to 88 percent in 2015 The boom in various consumer categories, further, indicates a latent demand for various product segments. For example, the upper end of very rich and a part of the consuming class indicate a small but rapidly growing segment for branded products. The middle segment, on the other hand, indicates a large market for the mass end products. The BRICs report indicates that Indias per capita disposable income, currently at $556 per annum will rise to $1150 by 2015-another FMCG demand driver. Spurt in the industrial and services sector growth is also likely to boos the urban consumption demand. HOUSEHOLD CARE The size of the fabric wash market is estimated to be $ 1 billion, household cleaners to be $ 239 million and the production of synthetic detergents at 2.6 million tones. The demand for detergents has been growing at an annual growth rate of 10 to 11 per cent during the past five years. The urban market prefers washing powder and detergents to bars. The regional and small un-organized players account for a major share of the total volume of the detergent market. PERSONAL CARE: The size of the personal wash products is estimated at $989 million: hair care products at $831 million and oral care products at $537 million. While the overall personal wash market is growing at one per cent, the premium and middle end soaps are growing at 10 per cent. The leading players in this market are HUL, NIRMA, Godrej and Reckitt Colman. The oral care market, especially toothpastes, remains under penetrated in with penetration below 45 per cent. The industry is very competitive both for organized and smaller regional players The Indian skin care and cosmetics market is valued at $274 million dominated by HUL, Colgate Palmolive, Gillete India and Godrej Soaps. The coconut oil market accounts for 7 per cent share in the hair oil market. In the branded coconut hair oil market, Marico and Dabur are the leading players. The market for branded coconut oil is valued at approximately $174 million FOOD AND BEVERAGES The size of the Indian food processing industry is around $65.6 billion, including $ 20.6 billion of value added products. Of this, the health beverage industry is valued at $ 230 million: bread and biscuits at $1.7 billion: chocolates at $73 million and ice creams at $188 million The size of the semi processed ready to eat food segment is over $1.1 billion. Large biscuits and confectionery units, soya processing units and starch glucose sorbitol producing units have also come up, cater to domestic and international markets. The three larges consumed categories of packaged foods are packd tea, biscuits and soft drinks. The Indian beverage industry faces over supply in segments like coffee and tea. However, more than half of this is available in unpacked or loose for. Indian hot beverage market is a tea dominant market. Consumer s in different parts of the coutry have erogenous taste. Dust tea is popular in southern India, while loose tea is preferred in western India. The urban rural split of the tea market was 51:49 in 2000. Coffee is largely consumed in southern states. The size of the toatla packaged coffee market is 19600 tonnes or $87 million. The total soft drink market is estimated at 284 million crates a year or $1 billion. The market is highly seasonal in nature with consumption varying from 25 million crates per month during peak season to 15 million during offseason. The market is predominantly urban with 25 per cent contribution from rural areas. Coca cola and Pepsi dominate the Indian soft drinks market. Mineral water market in India is a 65 million crates ($50 million) industry. On an average, the monthly consumption is estimated at 4.9 million crates, which increases to 5.2 million during peak season. RURAL MARKETS : SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL By the early nineties FMCG MARKETERS HAD D OUT TWO THINGS 1) Rural markets are vital for survival since the urban markets were getting saturated. 2) Rural markets are extremely price sensitive Thus, a number of companies followed the strategy of launching a wide range of package sized and prices to suit the purchasing preferences of Indias varied consumer segments. Hindustan Unilever a subsidiary of Unilever, coined the term nano marketing in the early nineties, when it introduced its products n small sachets. Small sachets were introduced in almost all the FMCG segments from oil, shampoo, and detergents to beverages Cola major, coke brought down the average price of its products from around twenty cents to ten cents bridging the gap between soft drinks and other local options like tea, butter milk or lemon juice. It also doubled the number of outlets in rural areas from 80,000 during 2005 to 160000 the next year almost doubling its market penetration from 13 per cent to 25 percent. This along with greater marketing, led to the rural market accounting for 80 per cent of new coke drinkers and 30 per cent of its total volumes. GLOBAL BRANDING: I. Introduction In this day and age, consumers automatically recount a product to the name of a particular brand. More specially, the status of the said brand tends to trigger signals of whether a product is cost-effective, superior in quality, or even connect to a particular social status. Numerous studies have maintained that brands have become powerful tools in modern marketing. It has become one of the major factors that consumers consider in their purchasing decisions. Any commercial organization knows this as a fact. That is why they are inclined to place their attention to brands and the demands of the consumers. It has become an requisite component of the marketing operations of the modern organization. For existing multinational companies, having a global brand name has been massively helpful in expanding their operations the world over. Presenting their products and services as the top alternative in the market nowadays is not enough to ensure the success. In this era where the consumer is independent, every company needs to build a brand that will be universally familiar in any market. Companies seek to establish a global brand with the ends of acquiring a bigger market share and a better position in the market. Though it is a common belief that having a global brand name equate to success in terms of business, there are still existing issues that comes with it. This paper will be considering the minutiae of establishing a global brand name. Similarly, the key reasons why this is being considered by most, if not all, companies will be taken into account along with the other alternatives that these companies have in marketing a global product. II. Marketing Under a Global Brand Name The term â€Å"global brand† is often interchanged with the term â€Å"global product.† However, there are studies that pointed out that the two are completely different terms. Basically, a global product connotes merchandise sold all over the world that share standardized attributes. This means that these products have a propensity to have a uniform set of characteristics and normally take on common brand names. On the other hand, a global brand tends to characterize the identity and image close to a specific product. More importantly, it is the blend of both tangible and intangible attributes that constitute a global brand. Recent studies of global branding designate that the said concept is subject to the view of the individual consumer. More specifically, the more recent views of international branding strategy tend to reflect the demands of the consumers. As puts it, these global brands are subjected to the global culture. In its simplest terms, global culture pertains to a set of consumer tastes and values. These tastes and values do not necessarily share the same standards and often show conflict with one another. Thus, global brands have to take on a certain level of flexibility in their operations. In its face value, this seems quite a daunting task for any company. However, this does not stop them from seeking to establish a global brand name and take on in global branding strategies. Why? The reason is that despite these complex concerns of the consumers, these brands have become embedded in their consciousness. The bottom-line is that, despite their best efforts, consumers cannot ignore global brands. The following parts will discuss the other advantages that companies enjoy in operating a global brand. A. Creation of Demand on Other Countries One of the advantages of having a global brand is the possibility of demand spillovers. This means that the marketing efforts held in a particular country could essentially multiply out to markets of other countries. Basically, the image of the global brands encapsulates this advantage. The concept of brand popularity and the country of starting point often establish this type of demand spillover. Share this suggestion of demand of global brands. Mainly, they call this element of global brands as the â€Å"global myth.† Simply put, demand of global brands tends to provide the consumers a feeling of having a â€Å"global identity† or having a feeling of being a â€Å"citizen of the world.† Studies on the effect of brand popularity on the company maintained that it has major implications on its market share. In the study of they pointed out that the company acquires benefits from brand popularity. One benefit is that having brand popularity provides the consumers more confidence in their purchasing decisions with particular reference to giving the implied assurance that a popular brand is better than the alternative. Another benefit of brand popularity is the association of assessment to the product. Coined this dimension of global brands as â€Å"quality signals.† Thus, issues of price of the product with a global brand are often regarded as â€Å"reasonable† because of its perceived high value among consumers. B. Strategic Appeal Another perceived reason why organizations seek to establish a global brand is because of its strategic appeal. Indicated in their study that global brands tend to have more opportunities than their equivalent in the local markets. This is supported by the earlier studies on the markets in the US, Japan, and EU.Noted that global brands offers companies an efficient way of exhausting its resources. More specifically, maintaining global brands tend to offer the possibility of lower costs and having the highest quality product. Aside from the earlier fact pointed out on the demand spillover, a consequent outcome of that phenomenon would be the demand for standardized products. This means that modifications to meet the local demands are significantly lessened as the demand replicate greater value with the unaltered global brands. In this regard, time and resources in the amendment processes is taken away which equates to cost reductions and further profit for the company. On the whole, the creation of global brands creates a much greater economies of scale and scope for companies. III. Brand Management in the Global Setting Recent marketing initiatives in the global setting have acknowledged the importance of bands in dealing with the dynamic business environment. Recent studies maintained that it is important for companies to treat their brand management initiatives as they treat their strategic management processes. ( 2001, 75) This means that the battle of brands in both their local and domestic counterparts have intensified throughout the years. This increase in the demands on the part of the organizations has given them the responsibility of making their brand management more systematic, scientific and a continuous process. The study of (2001, 75) basically maintained that companies should bake sure that their brand will be remembered constantly. Be it through logos or taste, the consumer has to readily recognize the brand right away. This is where brand management comes in to the picture. There are studies that maintain initially what their brand intends to represent. In doing so, the company is able to find a way to position its brand with reference to the other players in the market. ( 2001, 75) This is seen in the case of global brands like Nike and Coca-Cola. In the case of Nike, they have decided to package themselves as a brand associated with winning. On the other hand, the Coca-Cola brand tends to place value on their universal taste. ( 2003, 198) A case study of Procter Gamble maintained that a use of a brand portfolio would be able to help a company in managing its brand in the global setting. (2003) With such a tool at their disposal, PG is able to make sound decisions with regards to their brand management initiatives. In doing so, PG are able to position their products properly with reference to the other players like Unilever, Kimberly-Clark and Colgate-Palmolive. Studies pertaining to branding strategies and theories point out two important components organizations should consider in their brand management initiatives. These are brand equity and brand value. A. Value Creation in Branding Brand value is the perceived worth of the consumers on the brand. The most notable form of value creation in brands is through advertising. (2003, 53) There are three known approaches in the creation of value in brands: decoration, gluing, and mascot approach. The decoration approach basically shows a branding strategy displaying differentiation by connecting the brand to completely different cues presented by the other players in the market. ( 1999, 51) The gluing strategy of value creation associates their product to certain emotional cues of the consumer. These are seen in advertisements that attempt to stir the emotion of the possible buyers. (1992, 10) The mascot approach on the other hand indicates the use of a human-like entity that is believed to be able to establish a connection to the potential buyers. The use of charismatic non-human characters (Pillsbury Dough Boy) tends to reflect this type of value creation approach in branding. ( 2004, 188) Basically, these approaches of value creation tend to be influential for the buying decisions of the consumers. In the same regard, the use of brands could also be a way towards building this value to the company. B. Using Brand Equity The term brand equity denotes the net revenue of the brand which it is expected

Jihad, Pakistan and India :: Politics Political Essays

Jihad, Pakistan and India Every person is entitled to his or her own opinion. Whether it is complimenting a new outfit or distrusting a society, people may think whatever they like. In the article â€Å"Jihadis† by Pankaj Mishra, different views on society are taken. From the opinions of Pakistani relationships with Indians, or the different outlooks on the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, this article provides a detailed description of a person born in India but decided to change his life. The narrator, Mishra, is first introduced shortly after a brief setting of the Middle East before the tragic events of September 11, 2002. Described as being from India, he is now a London reporter writing various articles for English and American magazines. Through his encounters the reader receives an inside view on Middle Eastern life and history. Beginning with Pakistan’s governmental history, a foundation is set describing various ruling powers such as General Zia-ul-haq’s military takeover from Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1977 and the final Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in the 1990’s. The cruelty inflicted by these harsh takeovers is apparent by descriptions of â€Å"shutting down schools, smashing TVs, and VCRs, and tearing up photographs† (Mishra 103). Different reasons for supporting and joining the Taliban and other organizations are also explored. For example, a young man named Rahmat, felt he had no other choice but to join the Taliban in taking over Afghanistan after his father’s business was in ruins and his brother was in jail. After all the warnings, the Taliban offered him what he could not offer himself at that time: food and shelter. Trying to get an insider’s view on Taliban life, Mishra is escorted by Jamal, a befriended assassin.

An Analysis of Russos Empire Falls :: Empire Falls Essays

An Analysis of Russo's Empire Falls The characters in Empire Falls go through many changes throughout the novel. By the end of the novel Miles is changed drastically. He begins the novel as a slow moving, trusting, somewhat depressed individual. By the end of the novel, Miles has achieved an epiphany. No longer letting the world step on his dreams, Miles goes after with a roar the dreams and desires that have lain dormant for twenty years. His ex-wife, Janine, also comes to realize that the dreams she thought she had are not necessarily what she wants after all. Janine comes to accept herself for Janine, instead of flailing around wildly trying to find herself in outward appearances. Tick has learned a lesson that we all come to at some point in our lives, that people are not always good and there is danger in the world. Charlie Mayne tells Miles that "There are things that grown-ups intend and want to do, but somehow just can’t." (p. 472). In all of Empire Falls, this theme is echoed. There are dreams denied or put on hold. There are characters desperately trying to do what they think is right but failing miserably. The entire town is moving in slow motion toward their own individual explosions. The novel itself meanders along, like the Knox River. Russo says in the Preface, "What water wanted to do was flow downhill by the straightest possible route. Meandering was what happened when a river’s best intentions were somehow thwarted." This is what the population of Empire Fall’s has been doing for twenty years meandering. To emphasize this theme, Russo himself meanders, oftentimes leaving the reader wondering when something dramatic would happen. In life, this is what so many people do also. People are always waiting for something to happen, always hoping that their waiting is the right thing to do and everything will come out right in the end. But all this attitude does is cause a build up that explodes when the dam bursts, as can be seen in the events that unfold in the last chapters of the novel. Russo won the Pulitzer Prize for his novel, Empire Falls. The paragraph above emphasizes the main reason that I find for the novel being such a success. The manner in which Russo is able to actually weave this concept of ‘waiting’ into his story by creating a feeling of time moving slowly, of anticipation.

The Tempest: Allegorical to the Bible Essay examples -- English Litera

The Tempest: Allegorical to the Bible The Tempest is not a pure fantasy tale, but a purposeful allegory. The characters in the play are all representative of characters found in the bible. The first, and perhaps most persuasive, arguement would be Prospero symbolizing God. Prospero is seen to be a representative of God for several reasons. First, he is obviously in control of the actions and has an omnipotent quality. This has been demonstrated by several scenes throughout the play. Consider the power that Prospero possesses, as shown in the Epilogue at the closing of the play: I have bedimmed The mooontide sun, called forth the mutinous winds, And 'twixt the green sea and the azured vault Set roaring war. . . . The strong-based promontory Have I made shake, and by the spurs plucked up The pine and cedar. Graves, at my command, Have waked their sleepers, oped and let them forth By my so potent art (V. i. 41-4, 46-50). These are obviously superhuman works. In fact, Prospero claims quite definitely that he possesses the power of mighty Zeus himself, for not only does he say that he can make lightning, but he declares that he has actually used the god's own thunderbolt (Still 6): To the dread rattling thunder Have I given fire, and rifted Jove's stout oak With his own bolt. Having already established that Prospero is the possessor of superhuman power, why would Shakespeare include this information except solely for alligorical purposes (Still 7)? This information serves no purpose except to establish Prospero as a god. Prospero is also seen in the play performing several roles that Christianity traditionally assign to God: that of the Omnipotent Judge and the Savior of Man. Prospero is revealed to be the Omnipotent Judge through a speech given by Ariel (Still 7): . . . . I and my fellows Are ministers of Fate. . . . The powers, delaying, not forgetting, have Incensed the seas and shores, yea, all the creatures Against your peace. . . and do pronounce by me Lingering perdition, worse than any death Can be at one, shall step by step attend You and your ways; whose wraths to guard you from, Which here, in the most desolate isle, else falls Upon your heads, is nothing, but heart's sorrow, And a clear life ensuing. Shakespeare tells us, through Ariel, that Prospero can pass sentance of lingering perdition, but whose mercy can be ga... ...he exile from the garden of Eden story in the Bible. Both involve two characters who are tempted with great power and knowlege by an evil being--Satan. Both are successfully tempted by the evil foce; both eventually suffer for their choices. "The Tempest", by William Shakespeare, is a very interesting and entertaining story when viewed by its face value. However, when one analyzes the characters, settings, and situations, one realizes the deeper meaning intended by Shakespeare in composing the drama. Through his creation of the island microcosm, which is ruled by Prospero and undermined by Caliban, the Bard creates a masterful work which glorifies a merciful God, who will forgive sins through repentance. In "The Tempest", Shakespeare creates a story that is valuable for more than just entertainment purposes--he creates a work of art. Works Cited Still, Colin. Shakespeare's Mystery Play: A Study of "The Tempest". Cecil Palmer, 1921. Knight, Wilson G. The Crown of Life: Essays in Interpretation of Shakespeare's Final Plays. Barnes & Noble, Inc., 1947. Leech, Clifford. Shakespeare's Tragedies and Other Studies in Seventeenth Century Drama. Chatto and Windus, 1950.

Financial Forecasting CheckPoint Essay

The reason type of companies such as brand new companies, family-owned companies, and long-standing companies would need a financial forecast is to develop projected financial statements; a series of pro forma. The information developed by a series of pro forma provide a sort of estimate on inventory, payables, receivables as well as what would be required for profit and borrowing. A projected financial statement provides a kind of advantage in any of the companies listed above as it gives the firm an insight on operations. A pro forma would help guide companies in deciding how to best operate and succeed. When starting a brand new company a financial forecast is essential. A financial forecast would help a brand new company decide on how much inventory would be needed, cost of start up and production, and how much capital is needed. Obtaining a financial forecast would also help guide a brand new company on how much profit the company can make, whether a bank loan would be needed to start up and how many individuals can be hired. Family-owned companies need financial forecast just as much as a brand new company. A family-owned company would need a financial forecast for obtaining information from the simplest of things like how much inventory is in stock, profit sharing, expected expenses and profit for the future. A family-owned company would need a financial forecast to also make good decisions on continuing a successful business, which department needs revamped or tweaked. It is essential for a family-owned company to obtain a financial forecast to also estimate whether sales income would be enough to cover expenses and whether cutbacks need to be made.

Endangered Species

I have selected endangered species as my topic because no matter what we do or where we go, everything around us is affected by any changes that we make in the surrounding environment. One of the articles that I have selected covers multiple attacks that have been made by gray wolves killing huge quantity of valuable cattle and other livestock and whether or not they should be removed for the endangered species list. The other defines and talks about endangered species themselves and the reason that the endangered species list was created in the first place.Endangered Species Author: Current EventsTitle: Man versus WildDocument type: Article (Informational)Primary audience: Educational| Author: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Title: Endangered speciesDocument type: Encyclopedia (Informational)Primary audience: Educational| | | In a search that I did in the AIU library, I can across an article from an informational magazine called† Current Events†. This is an informational article where the primary audience is teachers and students. They talk about a particular animal that is currently on the endangered species list called the gray wolf.According to the article, â€Å"In 2008, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) suggested that the gray wolf population had recovered to the point at which it no longer needed to be listed in some states† (Current Events, 9/27/2010). But according to the article, some wildlife protection groups took action to put an end to the proposal. The gray wolf was first put on the endangered species list by the USFWS in 1974. But according to estimates given by experts that the magazine collected the research from, â€Å"There are 1,700 gray wolves in Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming.I came up with the thesis statement of â€Å"No matter what we do or where we go, everything around us is affected by any changes that we make in the surrounding environment†. In Michigan, Minnesota, and W isconsin, there are about 4,000, and gray wolves have been spotted in Colorado, Utah, and as far east as New England† (Current Events, 9/27/2010). Now the USFWS is making its’ fourth attempt to remove the gray wolf from the list in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan but Michigan and Wisconsin are both asking to decrease the wolf population by ten percent annually from the government.And a U. S. representative from Texas is proposing to ban the gray wolf from being listed as endangered or threatened in any state from the Endangered Species Act. But quite a few wildlife protection organizations oppose any change in the status and still say a wolf recovery plan is still needed even though there are reports of losses in Montana and Idaho. One case where a Montana rancher lost â€Å"at least three calves, valued at $2,400, to the Horse Creek wolf pack before wildlife officials took action† (Current Events, 9/27/2010).The McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Science and Technology defines an endangered species as â€Å"A species that is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. â€Å"Threatened species† is a related term, referring to a species likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future. The main factors that cause species to become endangered are habitat destruction, invasive species, pollution, and overexploitation† (McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Science and Technology (2004). â€Å"The evidence of a recovery for the gray wolf is as plain as day,† says U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont. ), who supports Edwards's proposal. â€Å"Yet Montana †¦ wildlife managers have their hands tied when it comes to managing the predator. † (Current Events, 9/27/2010). Currently gray wolves are still on the endangered species list and can only be killed with the governments permission or by an authorized government agent as they deem necessary, but quite a few wildlife officia ls feel that the wolf population is stable however and are ready to â€Å"pull the trigger when packs pose problems† and believe that â€Å"part of having wolves is having o kill wolves,† Mark Collinge, director for Wildlife Services in Idaho, told The Associated Press (Current Events, 9/27/2010). Some wildlife advocates say that man will always come out as top dog in the battle of humans versus wolf and that human activity, hunting, and trapping put the gray wolf on the endangered species list in the first place. And there is the possibility of the wolves becoming endangered again if they were to be removed from the list. And some wildlife advocates still don’t agree that their population is large enough to recover from harsh winters and disease if humans are a threat as well.And simply reintroducing a certain number of wolves back into a particular region may not be enough according to Humane Society of the United States (Current Events, 9/27/2010). So in conc lusion, both the USFWS and wildlife protection groups will have to at some point come together at look at what is best for both the gray wolf and also what is best for the people that have to live in the regions that are populated by the gray wolf and come to a joint decision about the final action to be take in order to keep both parties out of harm’s way.This article agrees with my thesis statement of â€Å"because no matter what we do or where we go, everything around us is affected by any changes that we make in the surrounding environment† because it is giving both sides of the story that is presented and giving insight as to why each side is taking the actions that have been said and giving reference points on those actions instead of just saying something to say it and not having anything to represent their case on the subject.