Jones Blair Case Study Essay Example for Free

Jones Blair Case Study Essay Jones †¢ Blair is a company that produces and sells architectural paint it also sell paint sundries which include paintbrushes and rollers. It caters to over 50 countries which are divided into two sectors the DFW area and the non-DFW area. Of the two the DFW area has been proven to be the most successful area for the company. In 1999 the company made 80 million in sales and 60% of this was contributed by the DFW area. There are two segments within the company’s main sales attributes and these are between the do it yourself market and the professional market. With regards to the professional market in the DFW area this accounted for 70% of sales In the non-DFW area 70% of sales were made through the do-it-yourself market. During a meeting the company discussed the problem of where and how to carry out marketing efforts. They were left with four options: 1) Cut the price by 20%. 2) Hire one additional sales rep. 3) Spend additional $350,000 on advertising. 4) Stay the same. A detailed look into each option. 1) Cut the price by 20%. The shopper research programme indicated that dealers will back off the brand when the customer appears price sensitive. By cutting the price by 20% this will allow the company to be on par with national brands. The current contribution margin for the company is 35% if the price was to be cut by 20% then the new contribution margin would be reduced to: 35% 20% = 15% with the current sale volume being $12 million and a price cut of 20% the sales would have to increase significantly for the price cut to be effective. According to Barrett â€Å"we are now the highest price paint in our service area† the fact that the company still has increasing sales despite being the highest cost brand of all the competitors this shows that the company is being perceived as giving high quality goods where people don’t mind about paying extra for their brand. If the company was to cut the price by 20% this may leave doubts in peoples minds about whether or not the brand is actually as high quality as they had thought. The fact that they can get away with charging a higher price for their brand they should stick with it. 2) Hire one additional sales rep. Currently the company has 8 sales reps which are responsible for the following tasks: Monitoring inventories. Taking orders. Assisting in store display. Coordinating cooperative advertising programmes. A survey indicated that the sales reps were very well liked, helpful, professional and knowledgeable with regards to paint. These reps are paid a salary and also a 1% commission. The cost of hiring an additional sales rep would be $60,000 a year, this is excluding commission. The vice president feels that the current sales reps aren’t aggressive enough and the fact that only 5 new accounts were made in the last 5 years something needs to be done. Only 16% of the accounts come from the non-DFW area so maybe a focus needs to be placed onto this area. If this was to be done, an additional sales rep be assigned to the non-DFW area this could lead to a significant increase in sales. 3) Spend additional $350,000 on advertising. The vice president of advertising believes that there is a need for an awareness level of 30% among do-it-yourselfers to affect their sales. An emphasis on television coverage will reach non-DFW consumers in 15 countries. Research shows that ads affect the buying process Since most consumers consider the store before the actual brand maybe the advertising should be focused more-so on corporate ads rather than brand ads. The company spends 3% of its net sales on advertising therefore the current cost of advertising is: 3% of 12 million = 360000 with an additional spend of $350000 on advertising the total cost of advertising would be: 360000+ 350000= $710,000. This would almost double the cost of advertising and since there’s an emphasis on television this could prove to be a risky option, especially since brand awareness isn’t the main attribution to buyer behaviour. Another factor to consider is the fact that 75% of the audience of the advert arent buying paint. 4) Stay the same. The final option for the company would be to keep everything the same which is advised by the vice president of finance. Since the company is continuing to make profit he feels that if you were to take the other options that there would have to be a significant increase in the sales volume which may not be a result. Although most of the options offer different benefits and of course different drawbacks we dont think there is an outright option to choose. With regards to the cut in price of 20% we dont believe this option should be chosen. The fact that the company is allowed to charge the higher price and is perceived as being a high quality brand why should they risk losing all of this by accepting the price cut. The next option with regards to hiring an additional sales rep we feel that the fact that they have 8 sales reps already would the addition of another really make a significant impact on sales. Rather than focusing on hiring a new one we believe that if they focused more-so and possibly retraining their current sales reps this could prove to be more effective. The fact that the sales reps are already considered highly by the customers is a bonus. If more effort was put into them and how they could improve efficiency then this could be worthwhile to the company. The company could divide up the sales reps into the necessary markets and possibly by offering them incentives this could increase their performance. By hiring an additional sales rep doesnt necessarily promise a change in sales. With regards to an increase of advertising spending of $350,000 we wouldnt recommend this option. As the company wants to put an emphasis on television and the fact that 75% of the audience dont buy paint, the 25% of the audience that do doesnt seem like a big enough market coverage to invest such a lot of money into. Instead we feel they should look into other marketing options. The fact that with regards to buyer behaviour that customers choose the store first before the brand maybe the company should look into advertising within the actual stores. They could look into what stores are proven to be more popular and focus advertising attention on these. With the last option as staying the same although the company is continuing to make profits we feel like this could be the easy option. Rather than just being content with what is currently happening with the business they should focus on improving the business. The fact is that more and more competitors may enter the market or even people may change their buying behaviour but ultimately the company should try and always be a brand considered.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Essay -- Behavior Disorders A

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder â€Å"ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is like living in a fast moving kaleidoscope where sounds, images and thoughts are constantly shifting.† (NIMH-ADHD) ADHD can be very frustrating and difficult for children. Medication and treatment are available and have been proven effective. Parents can also get frustrated and they could do something wrong. ADHD is effectively treated with medication and therapy. There are three basic types of ADHD. They are inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. (NIMH-ADHD) A child may have one, any combination of two or even all three of these types. If a child has a hard time keeping their mind on one thing or if they get bored easy they have a type of ADHD that is called inattention. If the child has hyperactivity ADHD, they are always moving, can’t sit still, and talk incessantly. They squirm in their seat or pace around the room. If the child has impulsive ADHD they are unable to think before they do something. They might run out into the street without looking, or blurt out something completely inappropriate. Parents must understand that everyone shows signs of ADHD at times, so the DMS (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) has a specific guideline for determining ADHD. (Aschenbrenner, Diane S.) Showing signs of ADHD could mean the child is suffering from chronic fear of mild seizures. If the child has problems in sc hool it could mean one of three things. One is the child actually has ADHD. The child has trouble paying attention and may get frustrated with school. Two, the child does not have ADHD the child is just bored with the subject because of the ease of it and therefore shows signs of ADHD. Or three, the child again does not have ADHD, but is having trouble because they are just not developmentally ready for the material. There is no direct link from ADHD to bad parenting or inadequate home-life. Although, if the child does have ADHD, good parenting and support is necessary. Bad parents only make things more difficult for both the children and the parents. Parents often ask, â€Å"What did I do wrong?† but in fact the question is often times irrelevant. Scientists have learned a lot about ADHD in the past decade. They have determined things that do not cause ADHD that people usually blame right away. They are too much televi... ...Many people go through counseling. So kids with ADHD must make the change as gradual as possible. They should continue therapy even after they live on their own. They should talk to their doctor about continuing medication. It is very important that an ADHD child does this because it would be rough if they did not continue to seek therapy. ADHD is a life complicating disorder. It would be easier if nobody had to suffer though this horrible disorder, but until they figure that out they do. However people with this disorder can be successfully be treated with a combination of medication and good therapy. A set of good parents helps too. People with bad parents are worse off in life in general. An ADHD child needs a lot of support in the process of growing up in order to be successful in society. Sources Cited About ADD - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Available at: http://add.about.com Aschenbrenner, Diane S., Drug Therapy in Nursing, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, March 2005 Attention Deficit Disorder Association, Available at: http://www.add.org "NIMH-ADHD" Available at: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/adhd/complete-publication.shtml

Cultural Diversity and Its Effect on Mnc’s Essay

These days cultural diversity plays a significant role in a company. The criteria discriminating these groups include race, geographic basis, civilization, gender, age, functional or educational background, physical and cognitive competence, language, lifestyles, beliefs, cultural background, economic category, occupancy with the organization and sexual preference. As a MNC works in a global market it must be ready to detect all possible changes in the global environment and it has to be able to communicate and adapt the identity of the company to them. For example in India women’s will not work for night so they have to manage time for their convenience. The company can’t offer quality products or services to the customers if it doesn’t understand and take in account the impact that the culture has in all the processes. Workers usually think that their behavior hasn’t got any influence on the final product or service, but to be effective, every part must have a clear vision of the company and a clear mission on it. The social, political and enterprise structure depends on everyone in the company, so the internal area and the human resources, one of the most important areas of a company, must be developed with the rest of the company to achieve their goals. The misunderstanding and ignoring of different cultures, language and historical background lead to disasters in the field of setting up multinational business. To avoid this, a general knowledge of another nation’s culture and history is essential. So general cultural knowledge, if coupled with prejudice and prejudgment, is an obstacle to effective global management. 2.1 Communication and language barriers One main challenge under culture is language barriers. Communication is necessary for management. Yet communication relies upon a common language, a condition that does not exist in many global business situations and that is when the problems start. The most pronounced sign of the language barrier at work can be found in the relationship between a multinational parent company and its network of global subsidiaries. Several factors contribute to the difficulty of achieving and sustaining effective communications and a productive, collaborative relationship. Even if an employee is relatively competent in the language of the other party, loss of rhetorical skills is always present as the use of humor, symbolism, sensitivity, negotiation, persuasion and motivation requires a very high level of fluency. 2.2 Attitudes towards Appointments and Deadlines In America, Americans were give strict obedience to time commitments and it was a basic principle of professionalism and polite behavior. Because everything tends to be strictly scheduled, postponements in one appointment or deadline can have a serious ripple effect on a coworker or customer’s other work commitments. But for example: The more flexible and open-ended approach to time of Indian and Sri Lankan businesses culture can create tensions and adverse impressions on American counterparts 3. MNC Workforce Diversity Multinational Companies (MNC) had to face a number of new challenges in their daily business over the past couple of years. Globalization changed various things for global players. In general MNC structure shows a focus on their main resources and departments like finance, technology, marketing, sales and production, because they want to have a large number of customers and to earn profit. A huge challenge MNC have to manage is their workforce diversity. The milestone research by Hofstede with 116,000 recruits of IBM, a giant MNC in 50 countries and 3 regions recognized four cultural values in the workplace: Individualism-collectivism, Power difference, Uncertainty avoidance and masculinity-femininity. For example: the United States was the greatest and Guatemala was lowest in individualism. Malaysia was the highest and Austria was the lowest in the power distance values. Greece was the highest and Singapore was the lowest in the uncertainty avoidance values. Japan was the highest an d Sweden was the lowest in the masculinity values. There have been significant amount of intercultural and cross-cultural studies with these cultural values, and some studies demonstrated the relationship between communication styles with some of these values. Because of this diversity one of the key success factors of MNC is the recruitment and selection of human resources who offer valuable uniqueness. These individuals are forming the values and beliefs of a business. There are two key challenges within global HRM specifically building global corporate cultures and developing global leaders that have to be mastered in order to manage diversity and be successful in the global business surroundings. Managing diversity in MNC during HRM To manage workforce diversity in MNC it’s a challenge for the human resource management to set up a global corporate culture. To recognize with the corporate culture of the company is the most significant thing for the workforce. That is why building a global corporate culture is one of the most important challenges for Multinational Companies. Employee behavior is possibly the most critical challenge that multinational organizations have to deal with. In Multinational Companies there is a huge potential of conflicts, because of its diverse personalities. As a result of this anxieties will arise among employees. Individuals try to adapt their behaviors to fit the demands of a particular environment. In order to adapt to the environment, individuals sacrifice their individualities to fit in with their new cooperatives. Individuals become incorporated into the culture of an organization when they are successfully understood into the workplace. Successful cultural adaptation redu ces members’ anxiety, role conflict, and intentions to leave. Additionally, successful adaptation increases organizational obligation, job satisfaction, confidence, and job familiarity as well as successful acculturation and establishment of relationship. 4. Challenges of Working across Culture 4.1Stereotyping They are usually misrepresentations and inaccuracies fixed in false guesses and faulty analysis. Usually this valuation is seen in a negative perspective. The challenges to organizations are to acknowledge differences in positive terms. Power struggles and can be the result of stereotyping in organizations. For example, placing women, who stereotypically have had lower status than men in society; in senior management positions create status incongruence in the minds of many of the people. This can root complexities in the leader/subordinate relationship and can root power differences in a business. This is done in such a way that affiliates of minority groups may find it hard to use influence over decision processes in the organization. 4.2 Ethnocentrism Ethnocentrism results when managers identify the differences in cultures – but have a propensity to think that their culture and their way of doing things is the right way, their way of doing things is the only way and the best way. Any difference from their culture or from their way of doing things is seen as â€Å"distortion† or as a â€Å"mistake† or as â€Å"Wrong way†. Most people have the propensity to pursue ethnocentrism. Americans, Japanese, Chinese, Germans, French, Scandinavians, and Russians are more prone to ethnocentrism than other cultures – when compared to other Asians, Latin Americans, British, Australians, Africans and Indians. 4.3Informal Integration Informal groups play a significant role in any business. They influence both the success of the business and the career success of individuals. Total quality plans depend heavily on employee contribution and informal networks can greatly impact this process. Informal groups are influenced by factors such as common language, perceived social similarity, and ethnocentrism. These collective networks are critical for communication in organizations. It has been found that race has a major effect on collective networking. This is not astonishing as you would expect people to have a preference for interaction with members of one’s own culture group, especially in an informal context. 4.4 Parochial Attitude Parochial attitude refers to a person’s incapability to see cultural diversity. This is exactly the reverse of ethnocentrism. Managers who are sent overseas frequently meet people who are also dressed in suits and speak their language – this prompts them to disregard all other cultural differences and make them feel that all others are â€Å"just like us†. In today’s business globe, most people are apt to dress similarly – in suits or other formulas and talk in English, but this does not indicate that all people have the same culture – but people often only see the surface and think that the other person shares the same cultural values. Managers from US/UK often tend to display a strong parochial attitude – mainly because the people with whom they relate on regular basis can speak English and are dressed similarly in suits or western dresses.

The Nichomachean Conception of Happiness Essay - 1317 Words

Happiness, to Aristotle, is a term for which much exactitude must be made. He understands that, Happiness both the refined and the few call it, but about the nature of this Happiness, men dispute. As such, he goes to great lengths to attain a fairly accurate accounting of what he sees as Happiness. He begins by illustrating that Happiness is an End, establishes what he finds the work of Man to be, sets conditions on being happy, and then explains where in Man the cultivation of Happiness is to be sought. The result of all these ideas is his fully developed sense of Happiness, an understanding vital to his conception of Ethics. Happiness, for Aristotle, is an End in and of itself. For (Happiness) we choose always for its own sake,†¦show more content†¦Aristotle sets many limits on attaining Happiness, due do his understanding of what Happiness is derived from. He sees participation in life as crucial, as, at the Olympic games it is not the finest and strongest men that are cr owned, but those that enter the lists, i.e., one must be a part of life in order to be judged by the standards of living. Aristotle also finds various external goods to be of absolute necessity, including friends, money, and political influence, as they are instruments by which many things are done. In the same case and kind he lists fortunate birth, valued children, and personal appearance. These, too, he thinks are necessary to a complete realization of Happiness. Even the stability of these things#8212;and a persons reputation#8212;after death is considered part of Happiness. Important, I think, is the understanding that these things are not Happiness, but as we see later, the excess or deficiency of these things hinders the fulfillment of Happiness. The last two limitations on Happiness have to do with reason itself. Aristotle finds that it is inconceivable that either animals or children might know Happiness, as their limited faculties prevent them from knowing Happiness fully. Likewise, a balanced personality is necessary to realizing Happiness since, this stability which is sought will be in the happy man, and he will be such through life, since always#8230;he will be doing and contemplating the thingsShow MoreRelatedHappiness Is an Activity Essay1287 Words   |  6 PagesIn this paper I will discuss Aristotle’s claim that happiness is a kind of activity and not a momentary pleasure. Some people might worry that Aristotle is wrong in making this claim by presuming that happiness is a state of mind rather than a constant pursuit in which a person must actively strive for throughout the entirety of ones life. 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