United Cereal Laura Brill’s Eurobrand Challenge free essay sample

As a set of guiding principles, core values are the essential and enduring tenets of companies and have intrinsic value and importance to those inside the organization. UC’s two time-tested values-customer and market oriented, and constant innovation-which can be summarized from the company phrases, are embodied in its vision: Customer and market oriented (â€Å"You inspire us†): It is customers who lastingly gave UC inspiration to do innovation and led UC to become a pioneer in the use of consumer research and focus group. UC listens to the customer, spots the trend, and holds the high value placed on extensive market testing prior to launching new products. Constant innovation (â€Å"Innovative winning†): UC had a well-earned reputation as an innovator both in its products and brand management system. Honoring the past while embracing the future, UC rejects the conventional wisdom and creates innovative products being market leaders for more than half a century old. We will write a custom essay sample on United Cereal Laura Brill’s Eurobrand Challenge or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Core purpose, the second part of core ideology, is the organization’s reason for existence and reflects people’s idealistic motivations for doing the company’s work. Core purpose captures the soul of organization but not a specific target. David Packed, one of HP’s founders, assumed that the deeper and real reason for existence of companies is not to just make money but to get people together to accomplish 3 Master of Finance Principles of Management something they cannot accomplish separately- make contribution to society, which is fundamental. As what says in UC’s vision, â€Å"We accompany you to embrace every delicious and hopeful morning†, UC aims to improve the living standard of people by providing delicious and quality food and sharing the joy, hope and happiness with them. ) Envisioned future Envisioned future is a 10-30-year audacious goal plus vivid descriptions of what it will be like to achieve the goal. It requires thinking beyond the current situation and is totally future oriented. To create an effective envisioned future requires a certain level of unreasonable confidence and commitment. For example, â€Å"t o become the most powerful, the most serviceable and the most far-reaching world financial institution that has ever been† is the goal proclaimed by City Bank in 1915, which was only a small regional bank. UC aims to become the leader and winner of food industry through constant innovation and progress-â€Å"to pursue forever innovative and vigorous winning†. Altogether, the vision of UC â€Å"we accompany you to embrace every delicious and hopeful morning, and you inspire us to pursue forever innovative and vigorous winning† explains what UC is, why it exists, and where it will go. b. Generic strategies analysis of UC Judged from UC’s European strategy and organization, obviously UC has followed the focus strategy, specifically, differentiation focus originally but has a trend to cost focus, among Porter’s generic strategies. Porter’s generic strategy matrix highlights cost leadership, differentiation and focus as the three basic choices for firms (M. Pretorius, 2008). These three strategies are created by the combination of two dimensions: strategic advantage and strategic target. Strategic or competitive advantage is of two kinds- differentiation or lower cost. Strategic target or competitive scope can be in terms of geographic targets, customer segments served, and the range of products. A cost leadership strategy is to organize and manage business activities so that the lowest cost producer of a product (good or ervice) can be achieved within an industry. A differentiation strategy is based upon persuading customers that a product is superior in some way to that offered by competitors. In differentiation strategies, the emphasis is on creating value through uniqueness. Uniqueness can be achieved through service innovations, superior service, creative advertising, better services via 4 Master of Finance Principles of Management better supplier relationships, or in an almost unlimited number of ways (Ovidiu N. Bordean, Anca I. Borza, 2010). A focus strategy is aimed at a segment of the market for a product rather than at the whole market. Firms pursuing focus strategies have to be able to identify their target market segment and both assess and meet the needs and desires of buyers in that segment better than any other competitor. Focus strategies can be based on differentiation or lowest cost. In the case, major differences across European markets had led UC to establish national subsidiaries. Each subsidiary is led by a country manger and focused on local products and markets. Therefore, with the segmentation of the market and identification of target market, UC has positioned itself in focus part with the matrix. Further, each subsidiary had its manufacturing, marketing, RD and other functions. The country managers could operate with wide latitude to make product and marketing decisions based on their market understanding that would maximize the subsidiary’s local profit. New products are innovated and different marketing approaches are designed in each market to differentiate UC with other competitors. In this sense, UC’s competitive strategy is certainly closer to differentiation focus strategy. However, with increasingly competition of European cereal market, the margin of UC came under pressure. Achieving lower costs and implementing more efficient processes became vital. Most CMs now relied on cost reductions in their existing portfolios to maintain profits rather than launching new product. As a result, the competitive strategy of UC might turn to cost focus strategy. c. The implementation of â€Å"UC way† Without regarding the attractive vision and â€Å"UC Way†, the â€Å"brand management† system, which was pioneered by UC in the food industry, is absolutely a significant factor to keep UC as the market leader over a century. In this system, brand managers are authorized with the leadership of cross-functional teams. Each brand is managed as a mini profit center and is constantly measured against other brands. Based on this structure, intense competence for the support from RD and the resources for product development do exist among different brands, which greatly reduced lateral communication within the system. However, the vertical communication is strong within each brand, and top managers are very involved in seemingly mundane brand decisions, such as advertising copy and label changes. With the special emphasis on the vertical communication, it is definitely a complex process to obtain the final approval for each single brand due to the high value attached. The complicated process itself reflects the â€Å"UC Way† pretty much by â€Å"honoring the past†. During this process, all brand managers are supposed to â€Å"listen to the customer† for making the right 5 Master of Finance Principles of Management decision in order to â€Å"spot the trend and make the market†. In the end, few risks, as a result of this process, are taken by the company, which is certainly meaningful for â€Å"embracing the future†. Obviously, highly competitive relationships among these small profit centers drove each brand team to improve the productive efficiency with limited resources. In this way, resources (RD supports, budget, etc. ) could be most efficiently used. However, there could be a fair problem if the resource distribution is more liable to the more effective brand teams. Prudent attitude for every big or small decision keeps an ideally low level of the risk for the company and protects the good image of the brand, which is profitable for UC. But the deliberate cautiousness generates more administrative, marketing and transaction cost. Within the â€Å"brand management† system, how to grab the market chance which is likely profitable in time while other competitors also could discover is an extremely vital problem to be solved. We should step further into more specific of its implication and how it reflects UC’s own positioning according to Porter’s generic strategies. Based on the different requirements from each â€Å"mini UC†, different combinations of more than 100 branded products are distributed to each individual national subsidiary. According to the various preferences among these European countries, brand managers produce new products or promote the same branded product in different proper way to adapt the local situation, this is apparently in line with UC’s positioning in the differentiation focus strategy. With regard of the increasingly competitive cereal market and the huge price and profit pressure, limited budget provided little chance for developing and launching new branded products with high costs. Therefore, brand managers preferred the product extensions than new product introductions. In this sense, it is largely in line with UC’s positioning in the cost focus strategy. II. The European Market a. The SWOT analysis of UC’s environment in Europe SWOT is a widely recognized analysis tool that is used in strategy decision-making. It combined the analysis of internal resource â€Å"S† (Strength) and â€Å"W† (Weakness) with external environment â€Å"O† (Opportunity) and â€Å"T† (Threat). In the external analysis, an opportunity is a situation that the firm is favorable when considering its environment. Deregulation or improved political, innovation of new technology, and decreased barging power to suppliers or buyers are several 6 Master of Finance Principles of Management representatives of opportunities. A threat is a situation that a firm is unfavorable when considering its environment. Social change or tightly regulation, undesired technology changes, and lost of key suppliers or buyers are some representatives of threats. For internal analysis, strength is a resource that a firm owned and has competitive advantage compare to other firms. Strength makes a firm to serve its customers more or better than its competitors. On the contrary, a weakness is a resource impedes a firm to meet the needs of customers or reduce the efficiency of it. A weakness is what a firm wants to avoid and to minimize the bad effects. Then turn to UC’s case. The European market provides several opportunities for UC. In traditional, the European counties have different tastes and habits of breakfast. However an interest of healthy foods, which is mainly showed among aging baby boomers in both United States and Europe, has grown in the late 1990s. More natural and less sugar in cereal products has become a key trend in the cereal industry. This gives UC an opportunity to launch a new product to meet the new demand of the Europe market. Besides, the technology of freeze-dried fruits enables UC to produce healthy cereal without many additives. Moreover the EU has loosen its regulation of labeling, advertising, and general marketing practices, which also represent some opportunities for UC in the European market. On the other hand, some major threats are facing UC in the European market. In 2003, Kellogg, the toughest competitor, has already introduced Special K with freeze-dried strawberries to the European market, with Cereal Partners followed in 2007. These two firms compete fiercely with UC in almost every European country. The competition is growing dramatically in European market. In addition, the market growth of cereal industry has slowed to less than 1% annually, which makes UC’s margin growth under great pressure. Moreover, contract to the trend of customers’ preference to lower-priced products after the global recession, UC has experienced growing price and may continue to suffer from this trend. . The Porter’s Five Forces analysis of UC’s environment in Europe In the article â€Å"How Competitive forces Shape Strategy† of Michael E. Porter (Micheal E. Porter, 1979), Porter listed the major five forces which consist of the competitive environment a firm is facing. They are threat of new entrants, bargaining power of suppl ies bargaining power of customers, threat of substitute products or services and position among current competitors (competition in industry). The relationships between the five forces can be seen in Figure 1. 7 Master of Finance Principles of Management Threat of new entrants Bargaining power of supplies Competitions in industry Bargaining power of customers Figure 1 Threat of substitute products 1) Threat of new entrants. Usually, new entrants will grow the capacity of the industry, but also increase the competition for recourses and customers and may cause the market share to change. In the European market, the experience of Pod Cafe coffee pods showed that the entry barriers are not high enough to stop new entrants. Thus for UC, the threat of new entrants is not low and UC may face many newcomers in the market. 2) Bargaining power of supplies. The more bargaining power the supplies have the more pressure a firm bear to earn profit. With the growth of the bargaining power of supplies, the firm is difficult to cover the cost. In the European market, UC is facing increasing price, which indicate that the bargaining power of supplies cannot be ignored. 3) Bargaining power of customers. Similar to the bargaining power of customers, the more powerful of customers, the less profit a firm can earn. The sales price is hard to make a profit when the customer has great influence on the price of the products or service. Through the 2008-09 global recession, the customers are intending to choose lower-priced products. This actually increases the bargaining power of customers and put pressure on UC. 4) Threat of substitute products. Substitute products usually limited the capability of a firm to earn more profit by placing a ceiling on the price. In order to keep the customers or even draw back customers, updated products should be available. In European market, there is a variety of national traditional for breakfast. Customers are easily and frequently eat different foods for breakfast other than cereals. Keep on developing new products to meet the customers’ need is important for UC to maintain its market share. 5) Competition in industry. In a highly competition industry, its difficult for a firm to earn abnormal profit and rapid growth rate. Low price, high quality or differentiation products help a firm to compete with other players. In UC’s case, the two biggest firms UC and Kellogg control a total of 46% market shares, with the biggest four make of 70% market share and numerous smaller firms divided the remaining 30%. The cereal market in Europa is a highly competitive market. Master of Finance Principles of Management c. The standard expanding way of UC’s business in Europe When a firm decides to expand to international markets, there are several ways to choose. Export, franchising/licensing/contract, joint venture, foreign branch, private equity investment, and wholly owned subsidiary are of commonly used approaches (Pearce, J. A. Robinson, 2009). In 1952, UC first entering European market by acquiring an established company located in UK. In the following 30 years, UC used the approach, wholly owned subsidiary, to expand its operation in European. First acquiring an established local firm, then introducing products of US lines to grow it. Through the stand way of expand, up to 2009, 20% of global sales of UC are contributed by European market. By wholly owned the foreign subsidiary, a firm is flexible to introducing new products from matured market into the new market. This give UC the advantage to diversify the product line and to meet different needs of customers. Besides, through acquiring local company, UC entered the new market by using the existing distribution channel and relationship with suppliers. These help UC to reduce the complexity of new market, which may face most wholly owned foreign subsidiaries. Several disadvantages also associated with this approach. First, it is always a challenge to integrate the acquired firm to the global company group and share the same corporate values, policies, and views. Moreover, compare to other approaches, the subsidiaries has to take the whole risk and deal with it solely when facing any unfavorable conditions (bankrupt, operation loss, and etc. ). However, through other approach listed above, the parent company can take some risk for its foreign branch and the cooperation local company can share the risk with the parent company. All can reduce the risk a firm face when expanded the operation into a foreign market. III. Strategic Choice: Launch of Healthy Berry Crunch in France a. To launch or not to launch Based on the previous analysis of the European environment, Lora should launch the Healthy Berry Crunch in France. The following facts also support our decision. First, France has shown interest in healthy food. The test results for Healthy Berry Crunch blueberry version in 6 French cities had 64% intention to buy which is an exceptional number considering this as a new product. Besides, the consumer panel 9 Master of Finance Principles of Management results in Benelux and Germany are also in favor of Healthy Berry Crunch. This meets the previous SWOT analysis, which pointed out that the trend of the industry its move to more healthy food, which gives an opportunity to UC. Moreover, as mentioned before, EU has loosened its regulations of labeling, marketing practicing, which also indicate an opportunity to UC. Second, The Kellogg’s special K with strawberries is the only competitive product in the French market in this new segment since last 4 years. Meanwhile there are rumors about the launch of Berry Burst Cheerios in France by Cereal Partners, another competitor. Moreover, the Podcsafe case tells that the changes in the market and the launch timing will decide the fate of the product line. In this new segment the competition is now fierce yet but new entrance are coming, so become a new comer will have some advantages. Hence the product should be launched in France first. Third, considering the savings of 10-15% in the overall costs of all Europe, the launch of Healthy Berries Crunch seems to meet the company’s long-term strategy of streamlining the operations and product matrix of Europe. Also the innovation in the products had been at the core of UC’s history and the launch of Healthy Berry Crunch will be in line with this core value. In addition, some experts may also agree with the decision to launch this new product. One of those is Kurt Jager, Northern Europe Divisional VP and Europe’s most knowledgeable person about Breakfast Cereal Strategy in company. In his statement, the customer tastes in â€Å"Europe is converging and old cultural habits are disappearing. † b. How would the launch reflect the UC way Based on the analysis in the first part of this essay, the launch of Healthy Berry Crunch appears to be only partially in line with the UC way. 1) Constant innovation: The launch of Healthy Berry Crunch cannot be considered as a totally innovation but as an improvement of the already existing product line Healthy Crunch. Market research in France, UK, Germany, and Benelux showed that the improvement is just right for the market. ) Customer and market oriented: By launching Healthy Crunch, UC already did this. As the growth of Healthy Crunch is now constant and new trend is moving to more healthy food, the market can be extended by adding new product line, which is by introducing the Healthy Berry Crunch in France. This extend fits the way well. 10 Master of Finance Principles of Management Thus even though the launch of Heal thy Berry Crunch will not exactly fit the UC way, it is in line with it. IV. Strategic Choice: Should Healthy Berry Crunch become UC’s First Eurobrand . The concept of â€Å"Eurobrands† Eurobrands is a coordinated Europe wide strategy towards product marketing, which had succeeded in product development for UC. As Consumer tastes are converging, old habits are disappearing, and EU regulation is eroding market differences, a potential can be seen in having homogeneity of products across Europe, by standardizing the products as well as their marketing, promotion and advertising. By launching Eurobrands, UC will be able to cut their product development and marketing costs by 10% to 15% over 3 years. It will also give UC to be a step ahead of their competition. By being the first one to introduce such an idea, it will give UC a strong market penetration if the idea turns out to be successful. This launch will also expand responsibilities of country managers as a lot of cross-country interaction will be required. This interaction will also bring UC employees much closer and make it a true European entity. But this could lead to a change in existing structure at UC, which is a vertical structure with a long authorization channel. Eurobrands will require a very flexible management structure. However, launching Eurobrands could also lead to a potential loss of UC way, which is â€Å"Listen to Customer†. Unless UC tests Healthy Berry Crunch across Europe, it would never know if the customers across Europe want it or not. Launching Healthy Berry Crunch in France alone will cost at least $20 million, which is twice the approval level of Lora Brill and 10 times the approval level of Jean-Luc Michel, the Division VP for Southern Europe. Moreover, there is difference in opinions across UC over this strategy and this will create future hurdles for Eurobrands to succeed as a European strategy. b. The analysis of the establishment of Eurobrands Launching Healthy Berry Crunch as the first Eurobrand will give UC a first mover advantage over its competitors. Although there are cost associated with the launch of Healthy Berry Crunch as Eurobrand, but also UC is going to save between 10 to 15% 11 Master of Finance Principles of Management in product development and market costs over three years. So the savings will compensate the cost associated with the launch. By establishing Healthy Berry Crunch as a Eurobrand, it will give UC a strong advantage over its competitors and make it difficult for a new competitor to enter this market. Even if the sample size of â€Å"the test market and consumer panel results† is too small, the overall outcome is very positive. As mentioned before, Consumer tastes in Europe are converging as market differences are eroding. Hence, it won’t be too unrealistic to assume that Healthy Berry Crunch will be well received across Europe. UC will have to change their organizational structure in order to support Eurobrands and this might lead to some friction within the company. Lora has a very short time period to make her decision and after weighing the pros with the cons, it makes sense for Lora to show a green flag to Healthy Berry Crunch as the first Eurobrand. V. Organizational Structure to Support effective implementation of Eurobrand Following the discussion of UC’s strategy, this part will concentrate on the organizational structure of UC to give some advice on how to change the current structure of UC in order to make it consistent with the â€Å"Eurobrand† strategy. . The relationship between a structure and a strategy Theoretically speaking, organizational structure is the formal system of task modules, which reflects hierarchical relationships within a company, controls the coordination between employees and motivates employees to behave consistently with the organization’s strategic p lan and objectives (Joseph R. Cerami, 2000). Every company has its unique organizational structure, which embodies the history, culture and strategy of this organization. The structure and strategy of an organization are highly correlated. Structure is all related elements, such as the people, procedures and culture, which make up an organization; all aspects involving structure have to be integrated with the organization’s strategy. When the strategy is changed, the structure has to be verified to support the new strategy. If it doesn’t, the structure is like an obstacle in developing the new strategy and will eventually force the company back to its previous strategy. On the other hand, when structure is changed, the strategy has to be changed as well to fit the new structure ( Jones , 2010). In general, a right structure is the crucial element that leads a company’s success. If management concentrates only on the final target and does not care how the organization works as a whole, people in this organization will work in their individual ways, which is absolutely inefficient for the organization unless every part and every 12 Master of Finance Principles of Management employee works collaboratively and every operate, effort and resource supports the strategy. b. The analysis of Lora Brill’s structure According to Lora Brill’s concept, the UC Europe Organizational Structure will firstly contain central Eurobrand Teams which are composed of brand managers from every country subsidiary, delegates from each functional group such as logistics, engineering, RD and so on, and one appropriate Vice President who is in charge of specific regional divisions. What’s more, the responsibilities of the VPs will be also enlarged: in spite of that they already charged divisions, VPs should also concern as advisory about appointed products in whole Europe, which means VPs will be responsible for the cross-market coordination and communication of certain products. The country subsidiaries system exists at the same time, with the only changes in the importing of brand managers. Lora’s proposed new organizational structure is complex and doesn’t suit to any traditional structures’ form strictly. At first glance, it is a multidivisional matrix structure, since there are also three division VPs who are in charge of different regions in Europe besides one director for each function department. However, the traditional the new structure is more than that: because each division VP is also responsible for different product groups Europe wide, this forms a product team structure. Hence, as is shown above, Lora’s proposed organizational structure is quite complicated. Learning from the â€Å"fruit juice disaster†, Lora doesn’t want to dilute the authorities of country managers in order that she can get support from these CMs, as a result of which she sets VPs’ roles as advisory for products so that these senior managers’ experience and position can be taken advantage of. Moreover, having gained insights from the European Technical Teams, Lora plans to found Eurobrand Teams which can better serve for her Eurobrand strategy. Lora’s concept can make the very use of significant resources like marketing and RD; it can also earn coordination, control and overview of the UC’s whole business in Europe, thus solving the difficulties of UC in Europe; because the main problems of UC recently are the increasing pressure from price and profit due to high expenses of marketing and product development teams in each country, as well as the lack of effects on economies of scope and of scale. Based on the real situation and lessons from the past failure, Lora’s concept of â€Å"Eurobrands† and her proposed organizational structure take the critical factors into consideration, so it is not sudden to arrive in the conclusion that this concept and the structure will be more successful than the fruit juice launch. 13 Master of Finance Principles of Management To UC’s generic strategy and â€Å"Eurobrands† strategy, Lora’s proposal organizational structure is also appropriate. The current structure of UC in Europe is made up of national subsidiaries led by country managers. Each CM makes his or her own market decisions and determines which product to introduce in order to maximize the subsidiary’s profit. This current structure is lack of consistent strategy throughout Europe. Product selection process is a weakness, because of UC’s limited awareness to regard Europe as a whole. UC’s CM structure in Europe is not helpful for the products and brands that coordinate with their new strategy. As is mentioned before, UC’s original generic strategy is differentiation strategy; however, due to increasing competition in Europe, its strategy has a trend to cost focus strategy. The SGA cost of current CM structure is 25% higher than the cost of the counterparts in US, because marketing and development has to be done by every country’ working team before product is introduced; while based on the estimation of her finance director that implementation of coordinated European product strategies will lead to staff reductions and other savings, Brill’s proposal structure integrates the marketing and development teams of specific kind of product, which may cut off the cost in accordance with cost focus strategy. Lora’s Eurobrand strategy is committed to push French Healthy Berry to the whole Europe. Obviously UC’s current structure is not proper for this strategy, since in every country CMs are making decision on their own product marketing and development without reporting to a single person in charge of Eurobrand, and this may make Eurobrand seem like several other brands and lead chaos if Eurobrand really comes into being; while Lora’s proposal structure implicates a European products manager system, which integrates the market operations in different countries and this benefits the Eurobrand by forcing different subsidiaries acting collaboratively.

The American Dream essays

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The Leisure Travel And Tourism In Singapore Tourism Essay International tourism has grown substantially over the years due to rising standard of living, technological advancement and globalization. Tourism is also one of the key industries with a significant impact on the global economy (Tham, 2006). In the case of Singapore, it received 10.3 million visitors and a total expenditure of $14.1 billion in year 2007 compared to 9.8 million visitors and a total expenditure of $12.4 billion in year 2006 (Singapore Tourism Board, 2007) during good economy. The increased in the arrival of visitors had also contributed a substantial growth in other tourism related industries such as the hotel industry which had seen increased in room revenue of 23.5% at $1, 857.6 million versus $1, 503.9 million in year 2006; food and beverages industry shown growth by 33.7% at $1,406.5 million in year 2007 versus $1,052 million in 2006; and Singapore Airlines(SIA) had declared an operating profit of $982 million for the first half of FY 2007-2008, an increase of 84 .1% at $449 million compared to last year 2006-20071(SIA, Annual Report 2007). Singapore is fairly a small red dot on the globe with limited natural sceneries and leisure places for its people to enjoy. Hence, many of the Singapore residents prefer to travel out of Singapore. According to the data from Immigration and Checkpoint Authority (ICA), the total outbound departures of Singapore residents for year 2008 had rose by 804,234 to 6,828,362 as compared to 2007 at 6,024,128. There is a growing number of Singaporeans from all age groups, between 18 to 65 years old, travelling overseas frequently to Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia and Hong Kong SAR as it seemed that travelling has became part of their lifestyle. With the gradual increase in income level of employed workers as well as a good starting pay for the new comers who had just graduated from universities and began their working lives, the younger and better educated Singaporeans are now able to enjoy affordable recreational and leisure activities which could not have been possible previously. The peak travel seasons were spotted high in early June, November and December every year given its school holidays nationwide. Many parents choose to travel with children during these periods so they can enjoy the family togetherness. Otherwise, they would not have the flexibility to travel on any other month in view of the endless workload of working parent as well as stipulated school seme sters that children had to abide by. The second most travelled season during the year would be those public holidays falling just before or after a weekend and many working Singapore residents would tend to take off days 3 from work, travelling to nearer destinations for leisure purpose. Travel agencies anticipated an increase in businesses during these periods and plan to promote short trip packages to regional destinations for those who want to travel over the long weekends (Channel NewsAsia4, 2009). These destinations include Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Hong Kong (DSS, 2008). Thus from the data, it sparked our interests to find out the travel trends of Singapore residents such as the number of trips and cost of travel made in a year, preference to travel by package or free and easy, preferred destination and travel agency etc., in Singapore during good and bad times. Objectives and Research questions The main purposes developed for this project is to investigate the recent trends involved in leisure travelling and tourism in Singapore using data obtained in an empirical study. The following are the objectives of this study include: Objectives To find out the extent to which the different trends involved on travel for Singaporeans. To investigate if there is any correlation between the income level and place of travel with the citizens of Singapore. To find that these recent trends are supported by marketing tools. 1.1.2Research Questions Based on the objectives the study aims on the leisure travel and tourism in Singapore. In order to serve the above purpose we will address the following three research questions. RQ 1: What are the trends involved on travel for Singaporeans? RQ 2: How does the correlation exists between the income level and place for travel? RQ3: How do the existing trends can be supported by recent trends in marketing? Significance of the Study The present research focuses to examine the trend of travel from a Singaporeans perspective given the intensified frequency on outbound travel by per Singaporean in the recent years. This research highlights the market-based management as well as strategies for growing customer value. It also includes empirical analysis that involves gathering of travel profiles from selected subjects; secondary data is collected via literature reviews and statistical research by reliable and established sources. Literature review 1.3.1 Introduction In Singapore, a number of research works had placed their focus on visitors travelling trend (inbound) to Singapore, analyzing travellers choice of travel agency (Tak and Wan, 2005; Heung and Chu, 2000) and travellers usage on travel agency (Goldsmith and Litvin, 1999). However, there is no research on outbound travel particularly in areas like examining the trend of travellers profile in Singapore that affect or influence them in travelling especially during bad times where the world is facing economic downturns as well as the current swine flu influenza which appeared abruptly in April 2009 killing 231 people in Mexico, Canada and USA (World Health Organisation, 2009). According to the Singapore Department of Statistics for year 2008, Singapore had a population of 4.84 million and out of which, 3.64 million were Singapore citizens (including permanent residents). Singapores socio-demographic had changed rapidly over the years especially the growing aging population as highlighted in the report on aging population (2006) that the number of residents aged 65 years or older will multiply threefold from current 300,000 to 900,000 in year 2030; dual income families (the average monthly household income from work6 had grew by 12.5% at $7,750 in year 2008 vs. $6,890 of last year); the growing trend of many young couples who prefer not to have children so as to enjoy two-person lifestyle (total fertility rate 2007 stood at 1.29 per female out of 42.6 female of general marriage rate); and rising of single adults (15% males and 12.6% females of age between 40 to 44) in year 2007. The studies by Chon and Singh (1995); Loverseeds (1997); Morrison et al, (1996) ; and Ross (1999) also revealed that the changes in socio- demographic had led to substantial changes in travel trends and leisure demand in the travel industry. 1.3.2 Travelling in time of Crisis and Risk Tourism today is vulnerable to natural disasters and crisis. The effect of terrorists attacked in World Trade Center, New York and Pentagon had tremendously brought the tourism industry to a halt for a long period of time with an estimated loss of US10 billion (Floyd et al., 2004) and it took several months for travellers to regain their confidence in travelling. The impact on the flow of information from the news media could changed the travellers attitude, perception and behaviour on the impression of risks that travellers would face when travelling (Valencia and Crouch, 2008). Incidents of natural disasters, political unrest, wars, epidemics, and terrorism lead to perceived travel risks (Mansfeld, 2006), whereas tourists ignorance of the probability of such events engage them in real risks (Wilks Page, 2006). This remark had tallied with Laws Prideaux (2005) and Glaesser (2003)s findings that risk derives as the probability of an undesirable incident that leads to the possible ne gative consequences of a consumers behaviour. Whereas, Beirman (2003) said that the perception of safety and security is a major determinant in travellers decisions to visit a place. 1.3.3 Travel Expenditures Travel expenditure patterns are vital to travel organizers and destination marketers (Jang et al., 2004). The growth in international tourism spending had reached 5.6% (adjusted for exchange rate fluctuations and inflation) in 2007, in particular strong in Asia and Pacific with an increase of 11% (WTO, 2008). The total travel expenditure in Southeast Asia for year 2007 has increased by 24% at USD54 billion compared to last year of USD 43.6 billion (WTO, 2008). The expenditure incurred on travel fall mainly in these categories, which were also important pillars of the economies in that country returned airfares, lodging, food and beverages, transportation and recreation activities. WTO also reported that nearly 80 countries earned more than USD1 million from international tourism in 2007. In examining the travel expenditure pattern of Japanese to United States, Jang et al. (2004) concluded that Japanese travellers (non package tour) spent an average of $3265 in United States. The hig her income Japanese (with an annual household income above $100,000) spent an average of $4367 while, the lower income Japanese (annual household income below $100,000) spent an average of $2831. The high income travellers spend significantly more. The study also revealed that Japanese travellers with companions tend to spend more than those travel alone. In Zhang et al. (2004)s study, the authors concluded that respondents with higher income (US$30,000 or above) perceived travel cost less important than those lower income groups (US$14,999 or below). Hong et al. (2005) revealed that financial factors indicate that there is a significant positive relationship between income and assets and leisure travel spending, that is employed families spent significantly more than unemployed families during leisure travel, whilst, retired families spend the same amount as unemployed families but more on accommodation. 1.3.4 Income and Travel Distance Hoe (2007) reported that in the 2007 Country Brand Index, a global survey made by over 2,600 international travellers, Singapore was ranked as the first Asian country that most people want to live in among Asian cities, and came in fourth position in the global category. In year 2008, there were 39% of employed households earned a median monthly household income of S$4950, and the residents expenditure abroad had gradually increased from $11.54 million in year 2003 to $14.31 million in 2007(DSS, 2008). It was assumed that the household income has correlation with the number of overseas trips made by the individual or per household in a year. Research in consumer behaviour has found that people of higher income would tend to search more for products/services information (Andereck and Caldwell, 1994; Runyon and Stewart, 1987; Robertson, Zielinski and Ward, 1984; Newman, 1977). Sparks and Pan (2009) also revealed that a higher percentage (51%) of the Chinese in China who earned more than 8000 yuan (67.1% of surveyed respondents earned more than 8000 yuan per month) were likely to travel outside China within the next 12 months. Similarly, Zhang et al. (1999)s finding also revealed that people with higher income tend to travel further, but the relationship is not linear and the higher the respondents self-perceived incomes the longer will be the travelled distance. According to Nicolau and Mas (2005), the effect of distance and prices are moderated by tourist motivations at the moment of choosing a destination. The findings conducted in Spain concluded that individual is not incline towards long trips and prefer shorter distance. However, they do not mind longer journeys if they are visiting family or friend or exploring new places. Contradictory, this group of people is unwilling to pay more for expensive places where family or friend resides but are willing to pay to explore new places. Nicolau and Mas (2005) also highlighted that people who are looking for culture are generally more willing to pay higher prices, whereas those looking for climate are less willing. In Singapore, with the rapid changes in socio-demographic over the years, there had been an increasing number of young adults age ranging from 15 to 34 years old that travel overseas at least once a year to neighboring countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand (DSS, 2005). Some of the possible reasons of short distance travelling could be financial constraints or not able to take longer leave from work. Heung and Chu (2000) found that travellers with lower income are more concern with pricing than travellers with higher income. 1.3.5 Intentions to Travel Travel is considered a leisure activity (Turco, Stumbo, Garncarz, 1998). Neal, Uysal and Sirgy (2007) also confirmed that travel is an important aspect of leisure life. Given the high standard cost of living in Singapore and heavy pressure from work, many Singaporeans chose to maintain a balance lifestyle between work and relaxation by travelling out of Singapore. Hence majority choose to escape from work to enjoy recreation activities with family or friends. Zabriskie McCormick (2001) concluded that Families are still considered to be the fundamental units of society and are perhaps the oldest and most important of all human institutions. Examination of family leisure had consistently demonstrated a positive relationship between family recreation and aspects of family functioning such as satisfaction and bonding. In another research work by Modell and Imwold (1998) suggested that there are several benefits of active involvement in recreational activities by the family, parents in particular, such as learning about diversity and socially appropriate behaviour, increased communication and self-esteem, and the development of friendships and social skills. Methodology The data used in this study was collected using the online survey method involving respondents of Singapore residents. This method was chosen as it is an ease and cheap way of targeting the respondents and collecting data. A structured questionnaire looking at different trends of travel and tourism of the Singapore was the main instrument used to collect the data. A five point likert scale ranging from 1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=neutral, 4=agree and 5=strongly agree was used on the trends influencing travel and tourism in Singapore. The questionnaire was first pre-tested on few students basically known as pilot study was made to ensure that the wording used was clear and understandable as w.ell as to estimate the time involved in filling the questionnaire Statistical package for social science (SPSS) was used to analyze the data. Descriptive statistics, T-test were the statistical tools used in the analysis. 1.5 Outline of the Project This thesis is organized into five sections. Chapter 1 introduces the analysis of tourism outlook of Singapore for both inbound and outbound travel. It also outlines the objective, aim to achieve, and research questions. Chapter 2 examines the past works and analysis conducted by various researchers performed in areas like travelling during crisis and risk, travel distance, travel expenditures, intentions to travel, travel behaviour, influences on attributes and purchases preference. Chapter 3 presents the methodology used in this thesis and the research findings obtained through this methodology. Data collection strategies and analysis used would be presented in details. This chapter also consist the limitation of study, ethical considerations as well as sampling and population. Chapter 4 examines the results collected from the survey .This chapter also includes a discussion of the findings to explain the reason behind the factors influencing the abroad education. Chapter 5 concludes the study by summarizing the findings in this study and presenting the implications that could arise as well as the possible future directions. 1.6 Summary Firstly In this chapter the background of the project explains briefly about the leisure travel and tourism in Singapore where the background also revealed the justification for the purpose of the study, which is followed by research questions and objectives of the project .Finally, this chapter provided the overview about the 5 chapters in this project independently.

Greed In Sports :: essays research papers

Greed In Sports Recently Michael Jordan wanted to de-certify the union of the National Basketball Association, because he felt he could never make what he was â€Å"worth† under the current agreement. Michael Jordan had an estimated income of $33 million in 1994. Last year, Major League Baseball players went on strike because they felt the deal that the owners were proposing was unfair. The minimum salary for a major league player is $119,000. For the first time in ninety years, there was no post-season baseball, and no world series. Eric Turner was designated as the Cleveland Browns franchise player. He then proceeded to hold out during spring training, because he knew he could get more money then his current $2.15 million dollar contract. At one point in every athletes life, there is nothing they would want to do more than play their sport, not because it fattens their wallet, but because they have a true love for it. At what point does the athlete lose the love and gain the greed? The NBA has become the land of the guaranteed contract. These players want their millions handed to them on a silver platter, no matter what happens. If they get injured and can no longer play; pay up! If they averaged thirty points a game in college, but struggle to make the transition into the pros, and average only four points; pay up! If their egos swell so much that they are out of control in public and do something to disgrace the organization they play for; pay up, because the contract guarantees that they get their money. The NFL is a breeding ground for holdout players. I think that Holdout 101, taught by Professor X-Pro Millionaire, is a required class for all pro football players. Rule number one: if you think you can get more money than what your contract says, holdout. Rule number two: if you are in the middle of a multi-year contract, then fuck that contract. Remember, if rule one applies, who gives a shit about a commitment. A new trend in baseball started about ten years ago. Players now sign one year contracts, and play for a different team each year. They don't ask themselves if that team will be a contender, or if that's the team they truly want to be a part of. They look at all the offers put in front of them, and see which one has the most dollars signs in it. It has gotten to the point where if someone asks â€Å"who did he used to play for?

Black English

â€Å"Pink is No Longer the New Black† Jonathan Swift said, â€Å"Proper words in proper places make the true definition of style† What is the true definition of style? When one is asked, one may say it is what you wear. In other circumstances, style may be referred to music, or film and television. Style is also literature and linguistics. Throughout the generations, style has been altered; Cut trimmed and filed down until the original style is far away in the crevices of your mind. Fashion has erupted from something that was once soft and elegant, to now being loud, flashy, and revealing.Language has become something different entirely. In today’s language, â€Å"Black English† is present in our everyday lives. There are various reasons why we speak a certain way. In today’s world, we are always searching for easier ways to do things, we are constantly trying to fit in and do what everyone else is doing, and no matter what, we always do what we ar e surrounded with. The world is forever changing. We are always searching for ways to make everyday tasks easier. People used to walk everywhere, so the bike was invented.Riding a bike everywhere was difficult, so the car was invented. Technology is also forever changing to make things easier. From typewriters, to laptops and ipads, phones so you don’t even need a computer anymore. It is forever changing, but as the language changes with it, it does not mean that it is a good thing. â€Å"Black English† seems lazy in a way. The way people used to talk was thick and luscious. Now, â€Å"black English† has made words short and choppy. Instead of saying, â€Å"I am not going to do anything† many people say â€Å"I ain’t gonna do nothin. It is easier to say, but it does not necessarily mean that it sounds intelligent. Society makes us feel like in order to fit in, we have to look and act like everyone else. If an actor starts to dress a certain way, t hen everyone else wants to look like that actor too. The same goes with language. If a music artist starts to talk and say words a certain way in a song, it starts to catch on. Then a chain starts to form. If one person begins to talk and hang around a group of people who are speaking â€Å"Black English† then that person will begin to speak like them as well.In a world where society is in charge, fitting in is the only way. Psychologists say that we do what our parents do. Technically we â€Å"become† our parents as we grow up. If our parents are racist, then we too will be racist. If you grow up in the South and your parents have a western accent, then you will have that accent as well. As a child, if your parents use â€Å"Black English† then you will too because it is all you have ever known. â€Å"Black English† is in our everyday lives, and if you surround yourself with the language then you will start speaking that way too.Although â€Å"Black Eng lish† is present everywhere we go, it does not necessarily mean it is a good thing. In most cases it can make you sound uneducated and there are specific times when you should, and should not use it. In your home, or with friends is one thing, but in writing an essay for example, you should avoid it at all costs. The world is forever changing, language especially. The language style changes all the time. People are constantly making up new words and adding new meanings to the words that are not as commonly used. In the literary world, â€Å"Black English† has become the â€Å"new black. †

Fay Wray essays

Fay Wray essays Fay Wray was born on September, 15, 1907at Cardston, Alberta, (shillpages.comFayWray first paragraph). When she was only three, her family moved to Arizona and then to Salt Lake City when she was five (shillpages.comFayWray first paragraph). Her childhood was very hard for her to overcome, due to her sisters death in 1918 and the separation of he parents. During 1922 when she was in her teen years, Fay left Utah and moved to California where her career as an actress started to take shape. (shillpages.comFayWray first paragraph). Due to her participation in school plays, whetted her for a suitable career as an actress. Before she was 19 she appeared in a number of films, mostly westerns. Fay had a contract with Universal for $75 a week. She was chosen to be WAMPAS (Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers) Baby Star of 1926 along with other young actresses such as: Mary Astor, Joan Crawford, Dolores Costello, Marceline Day, Dolores Del Rio, and Janet Gaynor (www. hotad.com /monstermania/2002/faywray/ first section). When she was 19 she took the change to meet Erich Von Stroheim in hopes of playing cast in his film The Wedding March as Mitzi. Her contractor was on her side and decided to cancel her contract and Von Stroheim cast her when she was still 19. Later on she got married to her first husband, John Saunders on June, 15, 1928 when she was only 20(shillpages.comFayWray last paragraph). During her career in Hollywood she continued to receive better and better parts which lead to her appearance in the classic 1933 film king Kong(1932 King Kong first pages-introduction) This was the film that made her a last longing figure in folklore and myth. Her second husband was screenwriter Robert Riskin in 1942(csse.monash.edu.au/~pringle/silent/ssotm/Sept97/ 13th paragraph). After the release of King Kong she laid back on her career and allowed her persona...

Charlottes Web Quotes

'Charlotte's Web' Quotes Charlottes Web is a popular childrens book by E.B. White, an  acclaimed American writer. The book is about a pig named Wilbur and his adventures and life on a farm. An uncommonly  talented spider named Charlotte saves Wilbur from being butchered by writing words in her web. The story deals with themes of the nature of friendship  and loss. Here  are a few quotes from the book. Quotes From Charlottes Web Wilbur didnt know what to do or which way to run. It seemed as though everybody was after him. If this is what its like to be free, he thought, I believe Id rather be penned up in my own yard.- E.B. White, Charlottes Web, Ch. 3Wilbur didnt want food, he wanted love.- E.B. White, Charlottes Web, Ch. 3I am a glutton but not a merrymaker.- E.B. White, Charlottes Web, Ch. 4[W]hen your stomach is empty and your mind is full, its always hard to sleep.- E.B. White, Charlottes Web, Ch. 5Its true, and I have to say whats true.- E.B. White, Charlottes Web, Ch. 5Well, he thought, Ive got a new friend, all right. But what a gamble friendship is! Charlotte is fierce, brutal, scheming, bloodthirsty - everything I dont like. How can I learn to like her, even though she is pretty and, of course, clever?- E.B. White, Charlottes Web, Ch. 5A rat is a rat.- E.B. White, Charlottes Web, Ch. 6Theres a regular conspiracy around here to kill you at Christmastime.- E.B. White, Charlottes Web, Ch. 7 If I can fool a bug... I can surely fool a man. People are not as smart as bugs.- E.B. White, Charlottes Web, Ch. 10It seems to me youre a little off. It seems to me we have no ordinary spider.- E.B. White, Charlottes Web, Ch. 11But nobody pointed out that the web itself is a miracle.- E.B. White, Charlottes Web, Ch. 14I dont understand it, and I dont like what I dont understand.- E.B. White, Charlottes Web, Ch. 14It is quite possible that an animal has spoken to me and that I didnt catch the remark because I wasnt paying attention.- E.B. White, Charlottes Web, Ch. 14No one was with her when she died.- E.B. White, Charlottes Web, Ch. 21She was in a class by herself. It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.- E.B. White, Charlottes Web, Ch. 22

Various History Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Various History Questions - Essay Example Passage into the American colonies during the period of colonization was only possible for the wealthy, and this prevented those from the lower economic rungs from booking passage into the colonies. In order to entice potential laborers into the colonies, the system of indentured servitude was conceptualized; and soon after, these individuals became an integral part of the colonial economy (PBS, 2011). An indentured servant’s life would come about due to skilled and unskilled laborers finding themselves without work. Due to the necessity of finding any type of work to support themselves and their families, indentured servitude came about. There are various advantages and disadvantages to this practice. It is advantageous because it provides immediate economic relief to jobless laborers (PBS, 2011). In effect, it gives them the opportunity to gain employment, even with their salaries being less than ideal for them and their families. It is a preferable choice for them as compar ed to their unemployed status, to which they credit more undefined hardships. Disadvantages to this practice are however also apparent. For one, it is a practice open to abuse because employers are paying these laborers less than what they deserve. Although the laborers are indeed able to fill in their temporary needs; in the long-run, they are not getting what they fairly deserve for their labors. Consequently, they are enriching employers who are only after their cheap labor and hard work. This is a practice which can be considered the precedent for slavery, and in the years which followed the transport of Black Africans to America and the British Empire, slavery eventually found its unfortunate place. But there is no denying the travails that these indentured servants went through with their work and accommodations being less than ideal; they were also treated harshly for their wrongdoings (PBS, 2011). These laborers also had difficulty in eventually gaining freedom from their se rvitude; however, it was still a better deal than the conditions seen among slaves who were not given the right to be free of their slavery. 2. How did life in the British colonies contribute to creating a unique American identity? How do you see that identity manifested in modern American society? The life in the British colonies contributed in creating a unique American identity. Originally, the colonies were fashioned by ideas of prosperity, literacy, and improvements in religion and thought (Teacher Web, n.d). Land ownership in the colonies was also seen as a means of becoming wealthy. In turn, wealth was seen as part of one’s social status, and the colonies were in the middle of these ranks. Land ownership was also associated with the right to vote, hence, land ownership was a highly sought privilege. It motivated many men to work hard and to seek improved lifestyles for themselves and their families (Teacher Web, n.d). The colonists felt united as Americans before the s tart of the revolution; however, they had a longer time in gaining their identity as a people. They were also highly suspicious of each other, and this caused delays in their identity as colonials. However, these delays were eventually resolved as they started to preserve their rights and to express actions seeking to gain their independence from Britain. It was important for them to put aside their differences, unite against

Social history-German student movement Research Paper

Social history-German student movement - Research Paper Example Although it finally declined in 1968, the movement brought lots of changes that are still felt in Germany’s education, culture, politics and economy up to the present times. The movement began in June 1966 when the Grand Coalition of Germany came into power. So, it slowly began as a response to the hypocrisy and dictatorship of the German government as well as other western governments such as USA and the poor living conditions experienced by the university students across the country2. The rise to power by Kurt Georg Kiesinger was seen to be a bad move because it was against any opposition of the government. Therefore, the university students felt that the government would extend its authoritarianism to controlling student movement and a free expression of their voices. Also, the students feared that the Wirtschaftswunder System would not last forever3. Hence, there would be an ever widening gap between the country’s poor and rich populations. This was influenced by the Marxist ideologies which the students had subscribed to. With this in their minds, the students thought that the cost of living would rise since the government was not committed to improving living standards of the proletariat4. As time went by, the movement gained momentum because the number of students who were interested in joining activism tremendously increased. They took part in demonstrations that were organized by groups such as Sozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund in opposition to the regime5. This happened contrary to the government’s efforts to curb activism by using the media and deliberately reducing funding to the students organizations and their universities6. Later, the movement intensified especially after a visit by the Iranian Shah on June 2, 1967. Demonstrations were organized the Opera House to prove to the government