Marco Polo Essays - Marco Polo, Niccol And Maffeo Polo, Kublai Khan

Marco Polo Marco Polo is one of the most well-known heroic travelers and traders around the world. In my paper I will discuss with you Marco Polo's life, his travels, and his visit to China to see the great Khan. Marco Polo was born in c.1254 in Venice. He was a Venetian explorer and merchant whose account of his travels in Asia was the primary source for the European image of the Far East until the late 19th century. Marco's father, Niccol?, and his uncle Maffeo had traveled to China (1260-69) as merchants. When they left (1271) Venice to return to China, they were accompanied by 17-year-old Marco and two priests. Early Life Despite his enduring fame, very little was known about the personal life of Marco Polo. It is known that he was born into a leading Venetian family of merchants. He also lived during a propitious time in world history, when the height of Venice's influence as a city-state coincided with the greatest extent of Mongol conquest of Asia(Li Man Kin 9). Ruled by Kublai Khan, the Mongol Empire stretched all the way from China to Russia and the Levant. The Mongol hordes also threatened other parts of Europe, particularly Poland and Hungary, inspiring fear everywhere by their bloodthirsty advances. Yet the ruthless methods brought a measure of stability to the lands they controlled, opening up trade routes such as the famous Silk Road. Eventually,the Mongols discovered that it was more profitable to collect tribute from people than to kill them outright, and this policy too stimulated trade(Hull 23). Into this favorable atmosphere a number of European traders ventured, including the family of Marco Polo. The Polos had long-established ties in the Levant and around the Black Sea: for example, they owned property in onstantinople, and Marco's uncle, for whom he was named, had a home in Sudak in the Crimea(Rugoff 8). From Sudak, around 1260, another uncle, Maffeo, and Marco's father, Niccol?, made a trading visit into Mongol territory, the land of the Golden Horde(Russia), ruled by Berke Khan. While they were there, a war broke out between Berke and the Cowan of Levant, blocking their return home. Thus Niccol? and Maffeo traveled deeper into mongol territory, moving southeast to Bukhara, which was ruled by a third Cowan. While waiting there, they met an emissary traveling farther eastward who invited them to accompany him to the court of the great Cowan, Kublai, in Cathay(modern China). In Cathay, Kublai Khan gave the Polos a friendly reception, appointed them his emissaries to the pope, and ensured their safe travel back to Europe(Steffof 10). They were to return to Cathay with one hundred learned men who could instruct the Mongols in the Christian religion and the liberal arts. In 1269, Niccol and Maffeo Polo arrived back in Venice, where Niccol found out his wife had died while he was gone (Rugoff 5). Their son, Marco, who was only about fifteen years old, had been only six or younger when his father left home:thus; Marco was reared primarily by his mother and the extended Polo family-and the streets of Venice. After his mother's death, Marco had probably begun to think of himself as something of a orphan(Rugoff 6). Then his father and uncle suddenly reappeared, as if from the dead, after nine years of traveling in far-off, romantic lands. These experiences were the formative influences on young Marco, and one can see their effects mirrored in his character: a combination of sensitivity and toughness, independence and loyalty, motivated by an eagerness for adventure, a love of stories, and a desire to please or impress(Li Man Kin 10). Life's Work In 1268, Pope Clement IV died, and a two- or three-year delay while another pope was being elected gave young Marco time to mature and to absorb the tales of his father and uncle. Marco was seventeen years old when he, his father and uncle finally set out for the court of Kublai Khan(Stefoff 13). They were accompanied not by one hundred wise men but by two Dominican friars, and the two good friars turned back at the first sign of adversity, another local war in the Levant. Aside from the pope's messages,

Are the Effects of the Digital World and Internet on Our Modern Life Style Negative or Positive

Are the Effects of the Digital World and Internet on Our Modern Life Style Negative or Positive How do you feel when your laptop requires repairing, your Internet connection is broken, and your iPhone is left at home? Such perspectives seem to be too dangerous for you? If it is so, you are a representative of a modern digital nation which lives in our digital world.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Are the Effects of the Digital World and Internet on Our Modern Life Style Negative or Positive? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More What are the main peculiarities of this world? Why do the representatives of the digital nation differ from the people of, for instance, the 1970th 1980th period? The information is the main concept of the digital world, and the value of the information technologies is the main peculiar feature of the digital nation. Today it is impossible to imagine our society without the Internet, mobile phones, and other technologies which give us the opportunity to access to the great amounts of the information at any place and at any time. New conditions of life which depend on the development of the information technologies create a new pattern of the public’s life style. It is possible to say that the effects of the digital world on our modern life style can be considered as predominantly negative because the progress of the information technologies involves the changes in the typical life style of many people, influences their activities, their consciousness, and relations with the other persons. The debates on the influence of the Internet on the young people’s minds develop since the time when the Internet became such an ordinary part of our everyday life as the television. Nevertheless, it was rather difficult to predict such an expansion of the Internet round the world and determining Web as the giant database or a library which can function as cinema, theatre, and museums at once. According to Adam Gopnik, â€Å"the Internet is just a loud and unlimi ted library in which we now live – as if one went to sleep every night in the college stacks, surrounded by pamphlets and polemics and possibilities† (Gopnik). It is only several years ago researchers began to speak openly about such issues as the negative effects of the Internet on the public’s minds and to develop the necessary investigations. The results of their researches accentuate the fact that every time when we use the Internet connection in order to find the necessary information or to participate in the virtual reality we experience the great impact which is provided by the information from the Internet. This impact is considered as negative because our brains begin to function atypically in order to cope with a lot of the information of different kinds. This controversial information along with the discussion of many other provocative aspects is presented in the project created by Rachel Dretzin and Douglas Rushkoff which and known as Digital Nation ( â€Å"Digital Nation†).Advertising Looking for assessment on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More However, those processes which can be observed in our brains when we are involved in the virtual reality are still not examined properly, but those findings which are available to the public provide rather pessimistic perspectives on the question of the influence of the Internet on our minds, intelligence, and consciousness. In his article â€Å"The Information†, Adam Gopnik also focuses on the fact that â€Å"the Internet breaks down our capacity for reflective thought† (Gopnik). Thus, a lot of the information which is offered in the Internet is given as the facts which do not stimulate the public’s critical thinking. Moreover, people are always at risks to perceive the information which is not reliable without analyzing its main points and credibility. The other aspect of t he influence of the Internet on the public’s minds is the special physical and moral state which is often the result of the everyday involvement in the virtual life. Thus, Adam Gopnik emphasizes the fact that many people when they describe their state while using the Internet are inclined to depict it in such words as â€Å"disassociation and fragmentation† and moreover, he states that â€Å"life was once whole, continuous, stable; now it is fragmented, multi-part, shimmering around us, unstable and impossible to fix† (Gopnik). Paying attention to those effects which the Internet has on the people’s minds and consciousness, it is not surprising to accentuate the numerous facts of the public’s addiction from the Internet. Today many young people choose to spend all their spare time in the virtual reality which provides them with virtual friends, a lot of emotions and feelings. The level of the social activity of those persons who spend their days in front of their laptops is low because almost all their interactions take place in the space of the Internet. Are their any dangerous effects in such a behavior or we should not worry? Ben Turner concentrates on the psychologists’ investigations and concludes that there is â€Å"a link between the disinterest in public participation in local and national affairs and the increase of instances of Internet addiction† (Turner). The Internet addiction hides a lot of risks for young people which are connected with the character of their social interactions, real communication, and being aware of themselves as the part of the real society, bit not the virtual reality. The Internet addiction can be considered as the abstract notion which will not be associated with us, but with somebody else. Nevertheless, according to the data from Digital Nation, today many young people in such a developed country as South Korea have to get rid of the Internet addiction (â€Å"Digital Natio n†). The Internet addiction is interdependent with the feeling of the catastrophic loneliness which is typical for those people who made the Internet the major part of their life. In spite of the fact they spend much time communicating online with the help of chats and social networks, the feeling of loneliness which is the result of the real communication’s lack is too painful for them. Many young people are inclined to check their e-mails and Facebook instead of communicating with the members of their family.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Are the Effects of the Digital World and Internet on Our Modern Life Style Negative or Positive? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More When they reject the real interactions with real emotions they create their own illusion of communication in the Internet. The Internet communication is effective for solving business matters, but it is rather unsuccessful for perso nal relations. Sharing interests in music and movie with our virtual friends, we become more and more distant from our relatives and real friends. In the most dangerous cases this situation can lead to the public’s isolation. To conclude, it is necessary to state that the rapid development of the digital world provides a lot of issues for our modern digital nation. To overcome all the provocative and controversial aspects of this process, it is significant to pay attention to the negative effects of the situation. It is impossible to imagine our life without the Internet, but it is possible to avoid the extremes in involving it in our life style. â€Å"Digital Nation: Life on the Virtual Frontier†. PBS Frontline. 2 Feb. 2010. Video. Web. Gopnik, Adam. â€Å"The Information†. The New Yorker. 14 Feb. 2011. Web. Turner, Ben. The Internet’s Effect on Relationships: Detrimental or Beneficial? 18 Mar. 2010. Web.

Case Nestle

In 1905, the company merged with the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk, thereby broadening the company’s product line to include both condensed milk and infant formulas. Forced by Switzerland’s small size to look outside’ its borders for growth opportunities, Nestle established condensed milk and infant food processing plants in the United States and Britain in the late 19th century and in Australia, South America, Africa, and Asia in the first three decades of the 20th century. In 1929, Nestle moved into the chocolate business when it acquired a Swiss chocolate maker. This was followed in 1938 by the development of Nestle’s most revolutionary product, Nescafe, the world’s first soluble coffee drink. After World War 11, Nestle continued to expand into other areas of the food business, primarily through a series of acquisitions that included Maggi (1947), Cross Blackwell (1960), Findus (1962), Libby’s (1970), Stouffer’s (1973), Carnation (1985), Rowntree (1988), and Perrier (1992). By the late 1990s, Nestle had 500 factories in 76 countries and sold its products in a staggering 193 nations-almost every country in the world. In 1998, the company generated sales of close to SWF 72 billion ($51 billion), only 1 percent of which occurred in its home country. Similarly, only 3 percent of its- 210,000 employees were located in Switzerland. Nestle was the world’s biggest maker of infant formula, powdered milk, chocolates, instant coffee, soups, and mineral waters. It was number two in ice cream, breakfast cereals, and pet food. Roughly 38 percent of its food sales were made in Europe, 32 percent in the Americas, and 20 percent in Africa and Asia. Management Structure Nestle is a decentralized organization. Responsibility for operating decisions is pushed down to local units, which typically enjoy a high degree f autonomy with regard to decisions involving pricing, distribution, marketing, human resources, and so on. At the same time, the company is organized into seven worldwide strategic business units (SBUs) that have responsibility for high-level strategic decisions and business development. For example, a strategic business unit focuses on coffee and beverages. Another one focuses on confectionery and ice cream. These SBUs engage in overall strategy development, including acquisitions and market entry strategy. In recent years, two-thirds of Nestle’s growth has come from acquisitions, so this is a critical function. Running in parallel to this structure is a regional organization that divides the world into five major geographical zones, such as Europe, North America and Asia. The regional organizations assist in the overall strategy development process and are responsible for developing regional strategies (an example would be Nestle’s strategy in the Middle East, which was discussed earlier). Neither the SBU nor regional managers, however, get involved in local operating or strategic decisions on anything other than an exceptional basis. Although Nestle makes intensive use of local managers to knit its diverse worldwide operations together, the company relies on its â€Å"expatriate army. †Ã‚   This consists of about 700 managers who spend the bulk of their careers on foreign assignments, moving from one country to the next. Selected primarily on the basis of their ability, drive and willingness to live a quasi-nomadic lifestyle, these individuals often work in half-a-dozen natiosn during their careers. Nestle also uses management development programs as a strategic tool for creating an  esprit de corps  among managers. At Rive-Reine, the company’s international training center in Switzerland, the company brings together, managers from around the world, at different stages in their careers, for specially targetted development programs of two to three weeks’ duration. The objective of these programs is to give the managers a better understanding of Nestle’s culture and strategy, and to give them access to the company’s top management. The research and development operation has a special place within Nestle, which is not surprising for a company that was established to commercialize innovative foodstuffs. The RD function comprises 18 different groups that operate in 11 countries throughout the world. Nestle spends approximately 1 percent of its annual sales revenue on RD and has 3,100 employees dedicated to the function. Around 70 percent of the RD budget is spent on development initiatives. These initiatives focus on developing products and processes that fulfill market needs, as identified by the SBUs, in concert with regional and local managers. For example, Nestle instant noodle products were originally developed by the RD group in response to the perceived needs of local operating companies through the Asian region. The company also has longer-term development projects that focus on developing new technological platforms, such as non-animal protein sources or agricultural biotechnology products. A Growth Strategy for the 21st  Century Despite its undisputed success, Nestle realized by the early 1990s, that it faced significant challenges in maintaining its growth rate. The large Western European and North American markets were mature. In several countries, population growth had stagnated and in some, there had been a small decline in food consumption. The retail environment in many Western nations had become increasingly challenging and the balance of power was shifting away from the large-scale manufacturers of branded foods and beverages, and toward nationwide supermarket and discount chains. Increasingly, retailers found themselves in the unfamiliar position of playing off against each other – manufacturers of branded foods, thus bargaining down prices. Particularly in Europe, this trend was enhanced by the successful introduction of private-label brands by several of Europe’s leading supermarket chains. The results included increased price competition in several key segments of the food and beverage market, such as cereals, coffee and soft drinks. At Nestle, one response has been to look toward emerging markets in Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America for growth possibilities. The logic is simple and obvious – a combination of economic and population growth, when coupled with the widespread adoption of market-oriented economic policies by the governments of many developing nations, makes for attractive business opportunities. Many of these countries are still relatively poor, but their economies are growing rapidly. For example, if current economic growth forecasts occur, by 2010, there will be 700 million people in China and India that have income levels approaching those of Spain in the mid-1990s. As income levels rise, it is increasingly likely that consumers in these nations will start to substitute branded food products for basic foodstuffs, creating a large market opportunity for companies such as Nestle. In general, the company’s strategy had been to enter emerging markets early – before competitors – and build a substantial position by selling basic food items that appeal to the local population base, such as infant formula, condensed milk, noodles and tofu. By narrowing its initial market focus to just a handful of strategic brands, Nestle claims it can simplify life, reduce risk, and concentrate its marketing resources and managerial effort on a limited number of key niches. The goal is to build a commanding market position in each of these niches. By pursuing such a strategy, Nestle has taken as much as 85 percent of the market for instant coffee in Mexico, 66 percent of the market for powdered milk in the Philippines, and 70 percent of the markets for soups in Chile. As income levels rise, the company progressively moves out from these niches, introducing more upscale items, such as mineral water, chocolate, cookies, and prepared foodstuffs. Although the company is known worldwide for several key brands, such as Nescafe, it uses local brands in many markets. The company owns 8,500 brands, but only 750 of them are registered in more than one country, and only 80 are registered in more than 10 countries. While the company will use the same â€Å"global brands† in multiple developed markets, in the developing world it focuses on trying to optimize ingredients and processing technology to local conditions and then using a brand name that resonates locally. Customization rather than globalization is the key to the company’s strategy in emerging markets. Executing the Strategy Successful execution of the strategy for developing markets requires a degree of flexibility, an ability to adapt in often unforeseen ways to local conditions, and a long-term perspective that puts building a sustainable business before short-term profitability. In Nigeria, for example, a crumbling road system, aging trucks, and the danger of violence forced the company to re-think its traditional distribution methods. Instead of operating a central warehouse, as is its preference in most nations, the country. For safety reasons, trucks carrying Nestle goods are allowed to travel only during the day and frequently under-armed guard. Marketing also poses challenges in Nigeria. With little opportunity for typical Western-style advertising on television of billboards, the company hired local singers to go to towns and villages offering a mix of entertainment and product demonstrations. China provides another interesting example of local adaptation and long-term focus. After 13 years of talks, Nestle was formally invited into China in 1987, by the Government of Heilongjiang province. Nestle opened a plant to produce powdered milk and infant formula there in 1990, but quickly realized that the local rail and road infrastructure was inadequate and inhibited the collection of milk and delivery of finished products. Rather than make do with the local infrastructure, Nestle embarked on an ambitious plan to establish its own distribution network, known as milk roads, between 27 villages in the region and factory collection points, called chilling centres. Farmers brought their milk – often on bicycles or carts – to the centres where it was weighed and analysed. Unlike the government, Nestle paid the farmers promptly. Suddenly the farmers had an incentive to produce milk and many bought a second cow, increasing the cow population in the district by 3,000 to 9,000 in 18 months. Area managers then organized a delivery system that used dedicated vans to deliver the milk to Nestle’s factory. Although at first glance this might seem to be a very costly solution, Nestle calculated that the long-term benefits would be substantial. Nestle’s strategy is similar to that undertaken by many European and American companies during the first waves of industrialization in those countries. Companies often had to invest in infrastructure that we now take for granted to get production off the ground. Once the infrastructure was in place, in China, Nestle’s production took off. In 1990, 316 tons of powdered milk and infant formula were produced. By 1994, output exceeded 10,000 tons and the company decided to triple capacity. Based on this experience, Nestle decided to build another two powdered milk factories in China and was aiming to generate sales of $700 million by 2000. Nestle is pursuing a similar long-term bet in the Middle East, an area in which most multinational food companies have little presence. Collectively, the Middle East accounts for only about 2 percent of Nestle’s worldwide sales and the individual markets are very small. However, Nestle’s long-term strategy is based on the assumption that regional conflicts will subside and intra-regional trade ill expand as trade barriers between countries in the region come down. Once that happens, Nestle’s factories in the Middle East should be able to sell throughout the region, thereby realizing scale economies. In anticipation of this development, Nestle has established a network of factories in five countries, in the hope that each will, someday, supply the entire region with different products. The company, currently makes ice-cream in Dubai, soups and cereals in Saudi Arabia, yogurt and bouillon in Egypt, chocolate in Turkey, and ketchup and instant noodles in Syria. For the present, Nestle can survive in these markets by using local materials and focusing on local demand. The Syrian factory, for example, relies on products that use tomatoes, a major local agricultural product. Syria also produces wheat, which is the main ingredient in instant noodles. Even if trade barriers don’t come down soon, Nestle has indicated it will remain committed to the region. By using local inputs and focussing on local consumer needs, it has earned a good rate of return in the region, even though the individual markets are small. Despite its successes in places such as China and parts of the Middle East, not all of Nestle’s moves have worked out so well. Like several other Western companies, Nestle has had its problems in Japan, where a failure to adapt its coffee brand to local conditions meant the loss of a significant market opportunity to another Western company, Coca Cola. For years, Nestle’s instant coffee brand was the dominant coffee product in Japan. In the 1960s, cold canned coffee (which can be purchased from soda vending machines) started to gain a following in Japan. Nestle dismissed the product as just a coffee-flavoured drink rather than the real thing and declined to enter the market. Nestle’s local partner at the time, Kirin Beer, was so incensed at Nestle’s refusal to enter the canned coffee market that it broke off its relationship with the company. In contrast, Coca Cola entered the market with Georgia, a product developed specifically for this segment of the Japanese market. By leveraging its existing distribution channel, Coca Cola captured a 40 percent share of the $4 billion a year, market for canned coffee in Japan. Nestle, which failed to enter the market until the 1980s, has only a 4 percent share. While Nestle has built businesses from the ground up, in many emerging markets, such as Nigeria and China, in others it will purchase local companies if suitable candidates can be found. The company pursued such a strategy in Poland, which it entered in 1994, by purchasing Goplana, the country’s second largest chocolate manufacturer. With the collapse of communism and the opening of the Polish market, income levels in Poland have started to rise and so has chocolate consumption. Once a scarce item, the market grew by 8 percent a year, throughout the 1990s. To take advantage of this opportunity, Nestle has pursued a strategy of evolution, rather than revolution. It has kept the top management of the company staffed with locals – as it does in most of its operations around the world – and carefully adjusted Goplana’s product line to better match local opportunities. At the same time, it has pumped money into Goplana’s marketing, which has enabled the unit to gain share from several other chocolate makers in the country. Still, competition in the market is intense. Eight companies, including several foreign-owned enterprises, such as the market leader, Wedel, which is owned by PepsiCo, are vying for market share, and this has depressed prices and profit margins, despite the healthy volume growth. Discussions: 1. Does it make sense for Nestle to focus its growth efforts on emerging markets? Why? 2. What is the company’s strategy with regard to business development in emerging markets? Does this strategy make sense? From an organizational perspective, what is required for this strategy to work effectively? 3. Through your own research on NESTLE, identify appropriate performance indicators. Once you have gathered relevant data on these, undertake a performance analysis of the company over the last five years. What does the analysis tell you about the success or otherwise of the strategy adopted by the company? 4. How would you describe Nestle’s strategic posture at the corporate level; is it pursuing a global strategy, a multidomestic strategy an international strategy or a transnational strategy? 5. Does this overall strategic posture make sense given the markets and countries that Nestle participates in? Why? 6. Is Nestle’s management structure and philosophy aligned with its overall strategic posture? Case Nestle In 1905, the company merged with the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk, thereby broadening the company’s product line to include both condensed milk and infant formulas. Forced by Switzerland’s small size to look outside’ its borders for growth opportunities, Nestle established condensed milk and infant food processing plants in the United States and Britain in the late 19th century and in Australia, South America, Africa, and Asia in the first three decades of the 20th century. In 1929, Nestle moved into the chocolate business when it acquired a Swiss chocolate maker. This was followed in 1938 by the development of Nestle’s most revolutionary product, Nescafe, the world’s first soluble coffee drink. After World War 11, Nestle continued to expand into other areas of the food business, primarily through a series of acquisitions that included Maggi (1947), Cross Blackwell (1960), Findus (1962), Libby’s (1970), Stouffer’s (1973), Carnation (1985), Rowntree (1988), and Perrier (1992). By the late 1990s, Nestle had 500 factories in 76 countries and sold its products in a staggering 193 nations-almost every country in the world. In 1998, the company generated sales of close to SWF 72 billion ($51 billion), only 1 percent of which occurred in its home country. Similarly, only 3 percent of its- 210,000 employees were located in Switzerland. Nestle was the world’s biggest maker of infant formula, powdered milk, chocolates, instant coffee, soups, and mineral waters. It was number two in ice cream, breakfast cereals, and pet food. Roughly 38 percent of its food sales were made in Europe, 32 percent in the Americas, and 20 percent in Africa and Asia. Management Structure Nestle is a decentralized organization. Responsibility for operating decisions is pushed down to local units, which typically enjoy a high degree f autonomy with regard to decisions involving pricing, distribution, marketing, human resources, and so on. At the same time, the company is organized into seven worldwide strategic business units (SBUs) that have responsibility for high-level strategic decisions and business development. For example, a strategic business unit focuses on coffee and beverages. Another one focuses on confectionery and ice cream. These SBUs engage in overall strategy development, including acquisitions and market entry strategy. In recent years, two-thirds of Nestle’s growth has come from acquisitions, so this is a critical function. Running in parallel to this structure is a regional organization that divides the world into five major geographical zones, such as Europe, North America and Asia. The regional organizations assist in the overall strategy development process and are responsible for developing regional strategies (an example would be Nestle’s strategy in the Middle East, which was discussed earlier). Neither the SBU nor regional managers, however, get involved in local operating or strategic decisions on anything other than an exceptional basis. Although Nestle makes intensive use of local managers to knit its diverse worldwide operations together, the company relies on its â€Å"expatriate army. †Ã‚   This consists of about 700 managers who spend the bulk of their careers on foreign assignments, moving from one country to the next. Selected primarily on the basis of their ability, drive and willingness to live a quasi-nomadic lifestyle, these individuals often work in half-a-dozen natiosn during their careers. Nestle also uses management development programs as a strategic tool for creating an  esprit de corps  among managers. At Rive-Reine, the company’s international training center in Switzerland, the company brings together, managers from around the world, at different stages in their careers, for specially targetted development programs of two to three weeks’ duration. The objective of these programs is to give the managers a better understanding of Nestle’s culture and strategy, and to give them access to the company’s top management. The research and development operation has a special place within Nestle, which is not surprising for a company that was established to commercialize innovative foodstuffs. The RD function comprises 18 different groups that operate in 11 countries throughout the world. Nestle spends approximately 1 percent of its annual sales revenue on RD and has 3,100 employees dedicated to the function. Around 70 percent of the RD budget is spent on development initiatives. These initiatives focus on developing products and processes that fulfill market needs, as identified by the SBUs, in concert with regional and local managers. For example, Nestle instant noodle products were originally developed by the RD group in response to the perceived needs of local operating companies through the Asian region. The company also has longer-term development projects that focus on developing new technological platforms, such as non-animal protein sources or agricultural biotechnology products. A Growth Strategy for the 21st  Century Despite its undisputed success, Nestle realized by the early 1990s, that it faced significant challenges in maintaining its growth rate. The large Western European and North American markets were mature. In several countries, population growth had stagnated and in some, there had been a small decline in food consumption. The retail environment in many Western nations had become increasingly challenging and the balance of power was shifting away from the large-scale manufacturers of branded foods and beverages, and toward nationwide supermarket and discount chains. Increasingly, retailers found themselves in the unfamiliar position of playing off against each other – manufacturers of branded foods, thus bargaining down prices. Particularly in Europe, this trend was enhanced by the successful introduction of private-label brands by several of Europe’s leading supermarket chains. The results included increased price competition in several key segments of the food and beverage market, such as cereals, coffee and soft drinks. At Nestle, one response has been to look toward emerging markets in Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America for growth possibilities. The logic is simple and obvious – a combination of economic and population growth, when coupled with the widespread adoption of market-oriented economic policies by the governments of many developing nations, makes for attractive business opportunities. Many of these countries are still relatively poor, but their economies are growing rapidly. For example, if current economic growth forecasts occur, by 2010, there will be 700 million people in China and India that have income levels approaching those of Spain in the mid-1990s. As income levels rise, it is increasingly likely that consumers in these nations will start to substitute branded food products for basic foodstuffs, creating a large market opportunity for companies such as Nestle. In general, the company’s strategy had been to enter emerging markets early – before competitors – and build a substantial position by selling basic food items that appeal to the local population base, such as infant formula, condensed milk, noodles and tofu. By narrowing its initial market focus to just a handful of strategic brands, Nestle claims it can simplify life, reduce risk, and concentrate its marketing resources and managerial effort on a limited number of key niches. The goal is to build a commanding market position in each of these niches. By pursuing such a strategy, Nestle has taken as much as 85 percent of the market for instant coffee in Mexico, 66 percent of the market for powdered milk in the Philippines, and 70 percent of the markets for soups in Chile. As income levels rise, the company progressively moves out from these niches, introducing more upscale items, such as mineral water, chocolate, cookies, and prepared foodstuffs. Although the company is known worldwide for several key brands, such as Nescafe, it uses local brands in many markets. The company owns 8,500 brands, but only 750 of them are registered in more than one country, and only 80 are registered in more than 10 countries. While the company will use the same â€Å"global brands† in multiple developed markets, in the developing world it focuses on trying to optimize ingredients and processing technology to local conditions and then using a brand name that resonates locally. Customization rather than globalization is the key to the company’s strategy in emerging markets. Executing the Strategy Successful execution of the strategy for developing markets requires a degree of flexibility, an ability to adapt in often unforeseen ways to local conditions, and a long-term perspective that puts building a sustainable business before short-term profitability. In Nigeria, for example, a crumbling road system, aging trucks, and the danger of violence forced the company to re-think its traditional distribution methods. Instead of operating a central warehouse, as is its preference in most nations, the country. For safety reasons, trucks carrying Nestle goods are allowed to travel only during the day and frequently under-armed guard. Marketing also poses challenges in Nigeria. With little opportunity for typical Western-style advertising on television of billboards, the company hired local singers to go to towns and villages offering a mix of entertainment and product demonstrations. China provides another interesting example of local adaptation and long-term focus. After 13 years of talks, Nestle was formally invited into China in 1987, by the Government of Heilongjiang province. Nestle opened a plant to produce powdered milk and infant formula there in 1990, but quickly realized that the local rail and road infrastructure was inadequate and inhibited the collection of milk and delivery of finished products. Rather than make do with the local infrastructure, Nestle embarked on an ambitious plan to establish its own distribution network, known as milk roads, between 27 villages in the region and factory collection points, called chilling centres. Farmers brought their milk – often on bicycles or carts – to the centres where it was weighed and analysed. Unlike the government, Nestle paid the farmers promptly. Suddenly the farmers had an incentive to produce milk and many bought a second cow, increasing the cow population in the district by 3,000 to 9,000 in 18 months. Area managers then organized a delivery system that used dedicated vans to deliver the milk to Nestle’s factory. Although at first glance this might seem to be a very costly solution, Nestle calculated that the long-term benefits would be substantial. Nestle’s strategy is similar to that undertaken by many European and American companies during the first waves of industrialization in those countries. Companies often had to invest in infrastructure that we now take for granted to get production off the ground. Once the infrastructure was in place, in China, Nestle’s production took off. In 1990, 316 tons of powdered milk and infant formula were produced. By 1994, output exceeded 10,000 tons and the company decided to triple capacity. Based on this experience, Nestle decided to build another two powdered milk factories in China and was aiming to generate sales of $700 million by 2000. Nestle is pursuing a similar long-term bet in the Middle East, an area in which most multinational food companies have little presence. Collectively, the Middle East accounts for only about 2 percent of Nestle’s worldwide sales and the individual markets are very small. However, Nestle’s long-term strategy is based on the assumption that regional conflicts will subside and intra-regional trade ill expand as trade barriers between countries in the region come down. Once that happens, Nestle’s factories in the Middle East should be able to sell throughout the region, thereby realizing scale economies. In anticipation of this development, Nestle has established a network of factories in five countries, in the hope that each will, someday, supply the entire region with different products. The company, currently makes ice-cream in Dubai, soups and cereals in Saudi Arabia, yogurt and bouillon in Egypt, chocolate in Turkey, and ketchup and instant noodles in Syria. For the present, Nestle can survive in these markets by using local materials and focusing on local demand. The Syrian factory, for example, relies on products that use tomatoes, a major local agricultural product. Syria also produces wheat, which is the main ingredient in instant noodles. Even if trade barriers don’t come down soon, Nestle has indicated it will remain committed to the region. By using local inputs and focussing on local consumer needs, it has earned a good rate of return in the region, even though the individual markets are small. Despite its successes in places such as China and parts of the Middle East, not all of Nestle’s moves have worked out so well. Like several other Western companies, Nestle has had its problems in Japan, where a failure to adapt its coffee brand to local conditions meant the loss of a significant market opportunity to another Western company, Coca Cola. For years, Nestle’s instant coffee brand was the dominant coffee product in Japan. In the 1960s, cold canned coffee (which can be purchased from soda vending machines) started to gain a following in Japan. Nestle dismissed the product as just a coffee-flavoured drink rather than the real thing and declined to enter the market. Nestle’s local partner at the time, Kirin Beer, was so incensed at Nestle’s refusal to enter the canned coffee market that it broke off its relationship with the company. In contrast, Coca Cola entered the market with Georgia, a product developed specifically for this segment of the Japanese market. By leveraging its existing distribution channel, Coca Cola captured a 40 percent share of the $4 billion a year, market for canned coffee in Japan. Nestle, which failed to enter the market until the 1980s, has only a 4 percent share. While Nestle has built businesses from the ground up, in many emerging markets, such as Nigeria and China, in others it will purchase local companies if suitable candidates can be found. The company pursued such a strategy in Poland, which it entered in 1994, by purchasing Goplana, the country’s second largest chocolate manufacturer. With the collapse of communism and the opening of the Polish market, income levels in Poland have started to rise and so has chocolate consumption. Once a scarce item, the market grew by 8 percent a year, throughout the 1990s. To take advantage of this opportunity, Nestle has pursued a strategy of evolution, rather than revolution. It has kept the top management of the company staffed with locals – as it does in most of its operations around the world – and carefully adjusted Goplana’s product line to better match local opportunities. At the same time, it has pumped money into Goplana’s marketing, which has enabled the unit to gain share from several other chocolate makers in the country. Still, competition in the market is intense. Eight companies, including several foreign-owned enterprises, such as the market leader, Wedel, which is owned by PepsiCo, are vying for market share, and this has depressed prices and profit margins, despite the healthy volume growth. Discussions: 1. Does it make sense for Nestle to focus its growth efforts on emerging markets? Why? 2. What is the company’s strategy with regard to business development in emerging markets? Does this strategy make sense? From an organizational perspective, what is required for this strategy to work effectively? 3. Through your own research on NESTLE, identify appropriate performance indicators. Once you have gathered relevant data on these, undertake a performance analysis of the company over the last five years. What does the analysis tell you about the success or otherwise of the strategy adopted by the company? 4. How would you describe Nestle’s strategic posture at the corporate level; is it pursuing a global strategy, a multidomestic strategy an international strategy or a transnational strategy? 5. Does this overall strategic posture make sense given the markets and countries that Nestle participates in? Why? 6. Is Nestle’s management structure and philosophy aligned with its overall strategic posture?

Should the UK join the Euro currency Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 9750 words

Should the UK join the Euro currency - Essay Example The appearance of euro in 1999 and its acceptance by 11 countries of European Union (at a primary stage) has been the most significant effort of the Community towards this direction. Since its introduction euro has verified the provisions referring to its success. However, there are countries of the European Union that have not been convinced on the stability of the new (common) currency and for this reason are still reluctant in entering the European Monetary Union (EMU). Sweden and UK are the most representative examples of the above phenomenon. Particularly regarding Britain, the country’s position towards euro has been considered as crucial mostly because of the role of this country to the development of the global financial markets. The participation of UK in the European monetary union has been chosen because of the importance of this issue for the social, financial and political context in Britain. Moreover, the specific issue has been extensively examined as it presents a series of difficulties that create severe problems to the realization of the relevant project. More specifically, the participation of Britain in the monetary union as it has been formulated and applied in the members of EU has been doubted as of its feasibility. The existing differences between UK and the European Union have been found to be a lot. In fact, the difference in currency is not the only one existed between Britain and the other members of European Union.

Software SLP Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Software SLP - Assignment Example A login based access to the information resources, upload and download provisions, intuitive interface and concurrent information are some important functional requirements set as the core and most important milestones for the development of BSITM website. Dr Robert and Kim-Phuon (2005) obserseves that â€Å"functional requirements are those requirements that identify and prioritize the functions that users want on the site.† The website will have independent sections in order to meet the content requirements of students, instructors and guardians. A separate section will provide a blog and messaging functionalities to serve as a community center for all three major user groups. The home page will have most important contents including news and result sections. Schedules, handouts, assignments, results will serve as the essential contents of the students’ section. Similarly, the instructor section will enable uploads and download provisions whereas the guardians’ section will contain results and personalize reports on children. In order to meet these goals following list of contents and functional requirements is

Pacific Northwest History Essay Example for Free

Pacific Northwest History Essay This paper will present, and ultimately prove that the Pacific Northwest of the United States has undergone economic, racial, environmental, and political changes due to events such as World War II, the emigration of people from the Midwestern U. S. , etc. The Pacific Northwest of the United States has for generations been a land that provided the substances that the rest of the country needed in order to survive and thrive. From the times of the earliest explorers to the region, throughout the 1800s, the economy of this region relied on the production of raw materials and natural products, such as lumber, produce, fresh fish, and the like, leading experts on the area to refer to the Northwest as â€Å"the hinterland† of the U. S. (Schwantes). This economic model changed drastically with the outbreak of World War II, which led to the Northwest becoming a center of aircraft production, shipbuilding, and other industries related to the war effort, but different from the traditional products that came from the region. Forces at work in the Region to Cause or Fuel a Changing Economy Having the luxury of viewing the history of the Pacific Northwest in retrospect over the past century or so, speaking in general terms, there were several major forces at work which ultimately caused, or fueled a changing economy. While these forces are explained in greater detail in subsequent sections of this paper, they warrant identification and a brief explanation at this point to set the stage for the research that follows. In no particular order, the forces that facilitated the changing economy of the Pacific Northwest are as follows: ENVIRONMENTAL- The eventual industrial development of the Northwest changed the environment, depleting many natural resources, such as the timber, precious metals, and fish that helped the people of the Northwest to provide for them and export these natural products worldwide. However, once these resources were exhausted, the region was forced to turn to manufacturing of durable goods to sustain themselves, such as the many products the region turned out in support of the campaigns of World War II. ETHNIC- Events that transpired during the World War II area changed the racial composition of the Pacific Northwest, with its effects being felt even today. To be more specific, when the United States was forced into World War II as a result of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the fighting was focused mostly on the Pacific Ocean area, which made the Northwest highly important logistically for the American troops, and launched a massive war industry, including aircrafts, ships, and soldier supplies. What this industrialization did for the region was to draw people from the rural areas to live in cities, making the region more urban than rural, and likewise attracting minorities from other parts of the nation, changing the ethnic composition of the region as a whole. Additionally, the movement of Americans from the â€Å"dustbowl† of the Midwest to the lush and fertile lands of the Northwest brought new cultures, traditions and hard working people to the region. POLITICAL- Because of the move of many people from a rural to an urban environment, and the increased presence of minorities and the Americans who came from the Midwest, the attitudes and value systems of the region changed, as reflected in voting patterns and political attitudes which now focused on urban issues such as poverty, crime, and social programs, whereas the previous rural way of life focused more on environmental concerns and the like. ECONOMIC- The proliferation of industry in the Pacific Northwest, beginning in the era of World War II, changed the economy from a natural/agricultural one to a largely industrial one. These changes were not all generated from within; rather, they often took place as a result of forces beyond the Northwest. Those forces are identified and discussed in the next portion of the research.

Standardized Testing in Schools: The Analysis Essay -- Standardized Tes

Standardized Testing in Schools: The Analysis Abstract Within this paper we hope to answer lingering questions about the effectiveness of standardized testing in schools. Throughout our research we found many instances and sources of information to help us reach our goal. Standardized Testing had grown to play an enormous role in controversy concerning the Education system within the past decade. Hopefully throughout our paper it can be understood as to why this occurred and what can be done about it. Group Paper: Standardized Testing in Schools Standardized tests are used all over the country as a means to measure students’ academic performance. Often the students become frustrated upon taking these tests and in turn do not perform at their optimal level. Research has shown that standardized tests cannot fully represent a student’s intelligence or achievement. For the longest time, the education system has used a school’s test scores as competition between itself and other schools. This is because administering a test is less expensive than changing a curriculum. Reformatting instructional time, reducing class size, or accommodating new teachers would most likely be more of a waste of money than simply placing a test on a desk. The better a school’s test scores are, the more likely it is to be highly ranked across the country. Schools strive hard to have their students’ scores increase, not decrease. Looking back on tests of previous years, teachers can examine where students excelled and where they did not perform as well. Using this, they can adopt a new and improved test for students, which will make performance in certain areas, seem to increase (Patten, 2000). Teachers tend to teach and administer u... ...ved October 17, 2003 from http://www.msp.msde.state.md.us/rschool.asp?crypt=%A8%82rx%83%8CJ%A6%8A%A7%8F%9Fjc%A6%A1nh%A6%94%8C%93%9E%AF%B6%BA%B3%C8%AE%A1pp%A7%A7%AA%C7%D0Nx%86%A0%AE%89%84%A8%B4%A5%B0%A1%8E%9C%98q%94%9C%97n%A4%9Fh%ACs%5E%83%A4%95j%8C%A1%83%7F%93o%9Cw%96%8F%A6%98%AD%92%CA%B2 . MSPAP Test Results for Howard County. 2002, Retrieved October 17, 2003 from http://www.howard.k12.md.us/accountability/mspap/default.html . Patton, Peggy (2000). Standardized Testing in Schools. Parent News Archives. Retrieved November 23, 2003 from http://npin.org/pnews/2000/pnew100/feat100.html. Sedam, Sean R.(2003). Officials Question Testing Strategy. Retrieved December 6, 2003 from http://www.gazette.net/200349/weekend/a_section/191428-1.html. WAIS and the Present Wave of Standardized Testing. 2002, Retrieved September 27 2003, Microsoft Encarta, 2002.

Ocd Abstract

OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER: WHO IS AFFECTED AND HOW TO TREAT IT? Abstract Sometimes we think we know ourselves better than anybody else. But haven't you asked yourself why you're acting the way you act and you can't even figure the answer out? This tells us that we don't truly know ourselves because there are still questions unanswered. Try to imagine how our behavior changes to the point that we are no longer in control of it.We experience strange behavior once in our life but is this really natural or is it a disorder? Obsessive-compulsive disorder is characterized by persistent and repetitive thoughts (obsession) and actions (compulsions). We tend to ignore symptoms and we didn't know that these can lead to a devastating results if left untreated. OCD is a growing epidemic in society and we should take it seriously once we see the early symptoms.It doesn't matter if you're a child, an adult or even if you're on your 60's, everybody can be a victim of this disorder. This disorde r may interfere with our daily routine and it can have a bad impact on relationships for some people. There's a lot of factors causing OCD such as biological, psychological and sociocultural and it can also be inherited and pass on to the next generation without awareness. However, this can be prevented by having enough knowledge to point out what is wrong, and how to treat it.Cognitive-behavior therapy is one of the emerging solution for this disorder. It combines cognitive therapy and behavior therapy by helping clients regularly act out their new ways of thinking and talking in their everyday life. It's never too late to think and look for possible solutions for OCD. Keywords: obsessive-compulsive disorder, biological factor, psychological factors, sociocultural factors, cognitive-behavior therapy

Economic Factors Affecting to Two Wheeler Industry Essay

The two-wheeler market in India is the biggest contributor to the automobile industry with a size of Rs.100,000 million. The two-wheeler market in India comprises of 3 types of vehicles, namely motorcycles, scooters, and mopeds. Foreign collaborations have been playing a major role in the growth of the Indian two-wheeler market, and most of them are Japanese firms. The modern two-wheeler firms in India have been manufacturing new categories of two wheelers such as Step Thrus and Scooterettes. These have been produced by combining two or more two-wheeler segments. Foreign firms have already taken initiatives to own their two-wheeler subsidiaries in India. Among the 3 segments of the Indian two wheeler market, major growth trends have been seen in the motorcycle segment over the last four to five years. One good reason for such increase in demand for motorcycles is due to its resistance and balance even on bad road conditions. Most of the rural areas in India do not have decent roads and hence the need for good, shock-resistant, and steady two-wheelers such as motorcycles had been felt. Some of the major players in the Indian motorcycles market are Hero Honda CBZ, Bajaj Pulsar, TVS and Apache. Other brands include Splendor, Passion, Fiero, Victor, Star City, Boxer, CD Dawn, Karizma, Caliber, etc. Having classified the motorcycle brands into economy, executive, and premium segments, Bajaj stands as the leader in the economy segment, Hero Honda leads in the executive segment, and there is a competition in the premium segment between Hero Honda and Bajaj. The following are the main factors that affect two-wheeler sales in India: †¢Increase in credit and financing for auto vehicles – Two-wheeler loans and financing has been on the rise. †¢Increase in consumer’s salary – Due to opportunities offered by multinationals the disposable incomes of salaried individuals have increase manifold. †¢Constant petrol prices – Today, the government of India has been working on reducing subsidies on kerosene and diesel which will keep petrol prices at more or less the same level. †¢Delay in initiation of Mass Transport System – Probably a future threat to the two-wheeler market, the implementation of the mass transport system has been delayed. However, the two-wheeler market in India is a fast growing market due to its technological advancements in product manufacturing and emphasis on design innovation.

Chemical and Biological Warfare essays

Chemical and Biological Warfare essays Chemical warfare is the use of natural or synthetic substances to disable or kill an enemy. It is also used to prevent them from using resources such as agricultural products or foliage in which to hide. Why use chemical weapons? Because of their ability to cause mass casualties or damage to an enemy with only a limited amount of risk to the forces who are using the chemicals. The origins of chemical warfare dates back to the time when humans began to use weapons. Primitive people used poisonous darts and arrows to hunt for food and in battles between tribes. Thousands of years later people still use these inhumane and deadly weapons with pretty much the same intentions primitive men did. The first time chemicals were used in war against the United States was during World War I. American soldiers were not at all prepared for chemical warfare. Nerve agents and mustard gas were used in this war. After the end of the war, a treaty was signed in Geneva on 1925 by many nations to prohibit every nation who signed it: the use of any asphyxiating, poisonous, or other gases and bacteriological methods of warfare. This treaty came to be known as the Geneva Protocol. However this protocol did not prohibit the production of these agents. Despite this agreement the United States, the Soviet Union and other countries kept producing and stocking piles of chemical weapons. They also improved their protection against these agents. Because having a better offense obviously implies having a better defense. In 1969, the United States stopped the production of all chemical weapons. They also began to destroy those munitions that had been stocked for many years. But in 1987, they began once again to produce those weapons with a better method of storage: they filled the canisters with two comparatively harmless gases which combine to form deadly gases only after being released fro...

Role of secretariat of the United Nations Research Paper

Role of secretariat of the United Nations - Research Paper Example Workers hired on a contract for less than a year sum up to around 30000 from 180 states. The Secretariat ascertains general guiding principles and offers overall regulation to the Organization. Its headquarters are situated in New York, with regional offices all over the world. Table of Contents Introduction The United Nations Secretariat - a global workforce functioning at duty stations all over the world - performs a number of tasks for the Organization. It facilitates the other major bodies of the United Nations in administering the plans and strategies. The role played by the Secretariat is as varied as the issues that the United Nations faces. These issues include, but are not limited to; (1) managing peacekeeping functions, (2) arbitrating global arguments, (3) studying fiscal as well as societal drifts and difficulties, and (4) organizing forums on constitutional rights and sustainable growth. Secretariat staff is also responsible for regularly updating the media regarding the work of the United Nations; arrange international discussions on subjects of global distress; and understand speeches and translate documents into the official languages (English and French) of the Organization (Meisler, 2011, p. 21). From the time of its foundation, the Secretariat has gone through extensive restructuring. During the first quarter of year 2005, Secretary-General Kofi Annan recommended quite a lot of transformations for the Secretariat. He declared his targets of hiring a technical consultant, forming a peace-maintaining support group, set up a cabinet-style executive system, and make the conciliation task stronger. He moreover requested the legislative body to (1) provide suitable finances for a â€Å"one-time staff buyout† (Zacklin, 2010, p. 102); (2) to support him in modifying budgetary as well as human resources regulations; (3) to give the Secretary-General additional decision-making power as well as flexibility; (4) to support the ‘Office of Int ernal Oversight Services’; and (5) to evaluate all directives that are more than five years old to notice whether the activities concerned are still actually required or whether the funds allocated to them can be transferred latest emerging challenges. Hypothesis Recently, the Secretariat of United Nations is becoming more and more involved in global peacekeeping issues and this increased involvement modifying the core operations of the organization. The Evolving Role of UN Secretariat The role of the UN Secretariat is generally administrative and incorporates the translation of papers in addition to the organization of conferences. It guarantees that the UN as well as its agencies operates efficiently. Besides, the Secretariat can as well intervene in global arguments and study fiscal and social drifts. It is also in charge for correspondence with the media. The Secretariat is formed â€Å"exclusively of civilians (approximately 250) and has some 40,000 staff members around the world† (Negroponte, 2012, p. 122). As international civil servants, employees and the Secretary-General respond to the United Nations only for their actions and take a pledge not to look for or accept orders from any Government or external power. According to the Charter, â€Å"each member state undertakes to respect the exclusively international character of the responsibilities of the Secretary-General and the staff and to refrain from seeking to influence them improperly in the discharge of their duties†

Ethnocentrism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ethnocentrism - Essay Example Most social anthropologists and psychologists converge to the verity ethnocentricism is a root of wrong judgment, misconception as well as mistaken belief. Ethnocentricism is rampant in USA, research confirms that this vice has existed for a long time and it varies in severity from one generation and one region to another. Read (2002) argues that this syndrome is not only limited to America, but it is a pattern that has characterized all societies in the world. Nevertheless, America has experienced some of the most villainous circumstances of ethnocentricism. Read, (2002) noted that ethnocentricism occurs in several ways. In America, for instance there is general syndrome that its codes of belief, behavior, mode of governance, state of technology, education system, etc is the finest in the whole world. This feeling alone does not amount to a social evil. However, the feeling has led Americans in to believing that one nation and continents are inferior. As argued by Reynal-Querol (200 2), membership in an ethnic group is based on various factors such as religion, race, physical features, language and accent. Owing to this, there has existed internal ethnocentricism among Americans based on these attributes. One obtrusive paradigm in America has been on the basis of race.