The Issues Facing Mercedes Benz Cyprus Developing Conceptual Framework Business Essay

The Issues Facing Mercedes Benz Cyprus Developing Conceptual Framework Business Essay The project concentrates on the issues facing Mercedes Benz Cyprus developing and implementing an efficient and cost-effective conceptual framework for measuring and managing sales performance. As a concrete outcome of this research, a roadmap and a website for non technical business users will be developed, giving them the capability to apply the conceptual framework to measurable and manageable business activities. The project provides evidence that indicates successful application of measuring and managing sales performance techniques through the use of reports, trainings, communication capabilities and presentation skills. It creates a new political and organisational challenge for the staff of the organisation which in its turn must learn to interact fast and effectively in order to achieve their targets. The main topics that emerged from the research are defined in derived conceptual framework based on the comprehensive review and analysis of the different models and frameworks that can be found in performance measurement literature. Substance considers the external and internal influences impacting on a sales organisation and how management team and staff can offer an actively sought process to monitor business performance on an on-going basis and to generate recommendations for changes. The research indicates that there is no single model or process for developing performance objectives and measures, nor is there a process that will guarantee good results. It has been essential to synthesise and extend the existing models and frameworks with the aim to produce the most suitable conceptual framework based on the size, kind, and available resources. Additional it is difficult to become a successful implementation of a sales performance measurement management system without connecting with a blended training activities based on the culture of continuous improvement with apply of personal professional development of the stakeholders supporting them to identify their weakness for improvement. Preface Award My target award is Doctorate in Professional Studies Development and Implementation Issues for Managing Sales Performance. Sales Performance is the basic term under which this project focuses. I propose to outline a general focus on performance with particular reference to automotive industry. The project report will provide a dynamic, systematic and permanent conceptual framework on management and measurement of sales performance from the view of the business user for the Mercedes- Benz Cyprus. The final product will be a practical user-friendly document and a website, based on sound research, for non technical business users supporting them to measure and manage sales performance. It will provide practical and useful information with real business examples and arguments for measuring and managing sales performance. Furthermore, it will serve as a standard and quick reference for business users, monitoring and evaluating tools and methodologies that are critical in measuring and managing sales performance. The website will be an online learning support area for where you can find online material to support the subject of sales performance together with discussion areas. It is also anticipated to use this programme as an opportunity to my continuous learning and development in the area of sales performance. My favourite motto from the Greek, Athenian statesman, lawgiver and poet Solon is the motivation for my continuous learning and development, I grow in learning as I grow in years (Plutarch Langhorne, 1857). As Kolb (1984) has documented, we seek to grow and develop because we must do so to survive as individuals and as a world community. Coherence of the Programme The bellow topics provide a rationale for the combination of modules and Recognitions and Accreditation of Learning (RAL) claims on the programme and how are argue for the coherence and viability of this proposed programme. DPS 4520: Review of Learning The module of the Review of Learning provided me with a summary and evaluation of my experiences and education to date, and an analysis of their relevance to my future learning and development. My education and work experiences have impacted my personal development, as I have gained a mixture of both academic teaching and hands, on business experience. Most of my experience comes from progressive roles that I have held with Mercedes Benz. With Mercedes Benz, I have been fortunate to have a career that has spanned multiple disciplines including Information Technology, Quality, Sales and Marketing. I present my learning in a chronological and thematic approach, with the following diagram Figure 1:0 to reflect on my learning, which shows my lifelong learning stages. Starting from school and during my first university degree I have had special focus in Mathematics which helped me to develop my analytical and logical thinking for my doctorate project. My first-degree in Mechanical Engineering, as an Engineer, helped me understand how to bring together knowledge of previously solved problems and understand the current need to combine new solutions. Following my first degree as a Mechanical Engineer I chose, and successfully applied, for a Master degree covering a range of subjects related to Business and Operational Research. The subjects of this Master Degree provided an excellent learning opportunity, and greatly broadened my knowledge and understanding of Business issues. It has had an important impact on my professional and academic development. As Neely (2002) states researchers with functional backgrounds as diverse as accounting, operations management, marketing, finance, economics, psychology, and sociology are all actively working in the field of performance measurement. The research project that I have undertaken for my Master dissertation studies was a Statistical Analysis of Labour Accident in Greece. Statistical Analysis can integrate with the business performance management. It helped me develop my Statistical Thinking. Statistical Thinking is the philosophy of learning and the action that builds the foundation for successful decision making in any process (Britz et.al, 2000). Additionally, my Master Dissertation gave me my first opportunity to develop an appropriate research strategy. It has provided me with the basic framework for my research approach to identify the research methods and data collection techniques which are required for my research project. I have worked in engineering as Plant Manager for a year with one of the most important construction companies in Saudi Arabia and Cyprus. Living in Saudi Arabia strengthened my motivation to work in a hard environment and made me challenge my perception of the importance of simple things in our everyday life and work. Furthermore, working in the desert alone with my team represented a new type of knowledge and a different way of learning for me. I learnt about personal influence and negotiation. Leading a team was an excellent learning opportunity for me, and one that was very different from my past ways of learning. I also gained specific skills including project management and managing contractors, as I was responsible for installing equipments at our sites. Having decided to change my direction, I successfully applied to Mercedes Benz Cyprus for the position of the After-sales Analyst. My education and training from DAIMLER A.G, a highly innovative company with a global presence, has enabled me to understand the practical application of theories, especially at the management level. With the need to improve the stock levels and control the transport cost of spare parts, I developed several information systems. Increasingly I became involved in data analysis and interpretation of data, which strengthened my skills in these areas and helped me to develop my thinking about how information is used. In particular, I began to think about how the end-users of information could influence the way in which that data is produced, interpreted and presented, and the way this can change the meaning of information. The Board of Director of Mercedes Benz Cyprus offered me the challenge of the combined position of Assistant Sales Marketing Director and Quality and Business Manager. My duties have three main directions. Firstly, the developing and managing of the passenger car Sales Marketing business at both the importer and retailer levels; secondly the designing, the developing and implementing of new Information System for supporting the Sales Marketing Business and thirdly the developing, carrying out and maintaining of the Quality systems of the organisation. My current role has provided me with valuable experience and opportunities for learning. This has allowed me to develop a deep understanding of various functions including Finance, Sales Marketing, Quality, Service and Human Resources. Finally, the module Review of Learning helped me realise my strengths and weaknesses and identify the areas in which I need to develop skills. Recognition and Accreditation of Learning (RAL 4): Professional Learning The Master Degree in Business Management and Operational Research has had an important impact on my professional and academic development. It equipped me with skills and experiences such as leading me to the research process starting from clarification of the problem until the presentation of the findings to stakeholders which are necessary for my project. An important subject undertaken was Total Quality Management (TQM) and Operational Research. It was my first experience with tools to control and develop business. Another important subject in my Master was Economics and Law which was directed at understanding the basic notions of modern economic science, with emphasis on microeconomic concepts and macroeconomic analysis. The style of teaching in my Master involved a large element of discussion of issues, and involved a major piece of group project work, which greatly contributed to my understanding of group dynamics. I had actively engaged the discipline in a way not possible simply by listening to lectures and reading textbooks, but through the reflection from the process of research. Writing and peer review helped me to understand my own behaviour within a group situation. Another main subject was Management Information System (MIS) . It helped me understand how to develop, analyse and design computer applications for organisation s and offered me the opportunity to see solutions with the help of technology to some of the most important company problems. Recognition and Accreditation of Learning (RAL 4): Research and Development Project Capability This claim is based on the dissertation topic submitted as part of my Master Degree. The study was broad and high-level, focusing on data mining and data statistical analysis with special information systems. Also it was important in the conclusion to forecast the trends of labour accidents in Greece. In planning and designing my research I found tools and methods which gave me the opportunity to forecast the future and helped me understand the past. My ability to analyse and combine information was developed, and my thinking was expanded in terms of working with very different types of information to those that I had been previously used. The experiences with high-level information systems as main tools in my method for my study represented a new type of knowledge. Moreover in the research project I had an extend focus in data preparation, as most real-life data sets contained missing data. This gave me the challenge of understanding data mining, which is one of the most important rules for efficient and effective strategy. RAL 5: Advanced developments in professional practice I have submitted a claim based upon two projects, the design and development of Information Technology and Business Management Systems. They have been supported by theoretical background, literature review in the area of business and management information systems, areas which constitute integral and essential parts of business performance. Project 1: Design, developing, performing and maintaining the Management Quality System ISO 9001:2000 for the Mercedes Benz Cyprus. Since 2003, with the decision of the Board of Directors of our company, I have been leading the project of designing, developing, implementing and maintaining the Management Quality System ISO 9001:2000 for Mercedes Benz Cyprus. I realised that for this significant project it was essential to improve my knowledge in the subject of the Quality Management. I did an extensive literature review on the subject of quality systems, which brought me up to date with what is current in the field. Based on this literature, I have established a system of monitoring, measuring, analyzing and improving business performance so that service conformity was demonstrated, conformity to the Quality Management. An important part of the implementation was the collection and analysis of appropriate data. I have established statistical methods to determine its overall performance and level of customer satisfaction. These analyses were useful in the conversion of market data into market studies, of quality data into quality reports and of customer satisfaction data into information on customer loyalty. As the company developed, there was a greater urgency to focus around the customers, thus allowing management to invest well and wisely to meet their needs. The only way to achieve such a goal was to analyse the data for business and process monitoring. This information was reviewed at management meetings. Data on service problems were collected throughout the process. This data was analysed and prioritised for investigation. Management identified root causes and proposed long-term solutions and preventive actions with mandates for improvement teams. The data analysed included the following: Customer surveys and complaints Audit findings and nonconformity reports Outputs from data analysis Staff suggestions, complaints, training and competence. The procedure for preventive action included the methodology adopted for instituting such action on processes and work operations, which affect process quality. The flowchart presented in Figure 0:2 below outlines the approach taken by the Company to resolve potential nonconformities. Project 2: Design and developing of the live information system for the Sales Department in Mercedes-Benz Cyprus Main targets to achieve for this project were to design an intelligent information system that can quickly give access to the auto customer details, easily keep contact notes, track and manage car sales opportunities, create summaries and reports, and be intuitive and simple for managing new car sales. An important aim to achieve was the time spent by the Salesman in front of the computer screen would be no more of 15% of the total time. In this way, more time remains available for the salesman to establish contact in an active and purposeful manner. For the design and development of the information system project, it was necessary to have a deep knowledge of literature reviews on the theories and approach on how to build an enterprise data warehouse. The interface of the information system, as shown Figure 0:3, came about from the observation of the way in which waiters take orders through a touch screen monitor. Only one screen in front of the users, without menus, only big clickab le icons which are different from user to user and from level to level.

Somalia vs United States Essay -- Compare Contrast Comparison

Somalia vs United States Somalia, which is about the size of Texas, is a small country located in Eastern Africa next to the Indian Ocean. The United States, which is located on the Western Hemisphere, is bordered by Mexico and Canada and is between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Separated not only by the Atlantic Ocean, Somalia and the United States are also separated by the differences in economies and populations. These two countries that are quite opposite in size have some similarities in their governments and education systems. Somalia is one of the world’s poorest and least developed countries (Campbell). Because of the Civil War, which broke out in 1991, much of Somalia’s economy has been devastated. The war left many homeless and drove them to raise livestock as a means of survival. The economy used to be based on exports of cattle, goats, and bananas but as of early 1992 much of the economic trade had come to a halt. Now the economy is primarily based on the raising of livestock, which accounts for 40% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (Alhaus). Due to overgrazing, soil erosion, and the clearing away of many trees, Somalia has very few natural resources, which have not been exploited. Known deposits include petroleum, copper, magnesium, gypsum, and iron (â€Å"Somalian Economy"). Before the war, Somalia had a well-functioning democratic republic government. Under the 1979 Constitution, the president held executive power. The president was the head and leader of the country’s sole legal political party, The Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party. Elected to serve a 7-year term, the president was nominated by the party’s central committee. Ever since the civil war in 1991, when the government collapsed, Somalia has been in a state of civil war and anarchy (â€Å"Somalian Government†). Somalia is one of the countries in the world with the least diversity among the people. 98.8% of the population is made up of ethnic Somalis (Kraus). Other minority groups include Arabs, Indians, Italians, and Pakistanis. Most Somalis are nomadic or semi nomadic herders of livestock. The rest are either crop farmers or inhabitants of the few urban centers. The official languages of the country are Somali and Arabic and the state religion is Islam (â€Å"Somalian People†). Primary education for children of at least six years was mandatory for Somalians. Many ... ...CD-ROM. Rediman: Microsoft, 1999. 7. â€Å"Somalian Economy.† 1 March 1999. Country Profiles. 8 Sep. 2001 Photius.com/wfb/wfb1999/Somalia/Somalis_economy.html>. 8. â€Å"Somalian Government.† 1 March 1999. Country Profiles. 8 Sep. 2001 Photius.com/wfb/wfb1999/Somalia/Somalia_government.html>. 9. â€Å"Somalian People.† 1 March 1999. Country Profiles. 8 Sep. 2001 Photius.com/wfb/wfb1999/Somalia/Somalia_people.html>. 10. â€Å"United States.† The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia 6th Edition. Columbia University Press, 2001. 8 Sep. 2001 13247.html. 11. â€Å"United States of America.† Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations, 2nd ed. U*X*L, 1999. Reproduced in Student Resources Center. Farmington hills, Mich.: Gale Group. December 2000 . 12. â€Å"United States Economy.† The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia 6th Edition. Columbia University Press, 2001. 8 Sep. 2001 articlesnews/13247Economy.html. 13. â€Å"United States People.† The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia 6th Edition. Columbia University Press, 2001. 8 Sep. 2001 13247People.html. 14. Vick, Karl. â€Å"Building a government form scratch. After 10 chaotic years, Somalia has a president.† Washington Post 24 Nov. 2000: A45.

B2B Report

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The report will firstly analyze the external audit of Processed Food & Food Service and Confectionery & Bakery industries, which consist of two parts – market analysis and customer analysis. From these two parts, the opportunities and threats of the suppliers in these industries, especially DKSH, will be outlined. In the market analysis, business environment, the market and competitors will be examined respectively.Particularly, the opportunities about the increase in demand or a good signal of industrial development will be explained in social factors, economic factors and industry part; these factors will give general information about Vietnam young population and their Western culture receptivity, which will easily increase the demand in such industry.On the other hand, legal factor will threaten DKSH due to the strict requirement in canned food industry that the firm needs to take caution in order to adapt to new regulation; while the economic factors onc e again strengthen the opportunity from social factors due to the increase in GDP growth and income. However, the inflation rate should also be considered because it could cause the inconstant demand and be difficult to forecast future demand in the future. The market part also gives some general information about the size based on the value of packaged food industry around US$12. billion in 2011 with the prediction of 4. 2% growth rate in next two years, which promises the development of these two clusters in the near future. Secondly, customer analysis is divided into two main features, which are current customers and potential customers. In current customer analysis, the report will give the information about each cluster’s market share of the top companies holding the highest percentage; Masan in sauce market, Acecook in instant noodles market, and Kinh Do in confectionery & bakery market.Then, more details information about these current customers will be examined in ter m of sales, their expectation such as building up deeper relationship with their multinational suppliers, and difficulty such as high input cost. After that, potential customer part is analyzed based on proposed potential customer list; this part contains some companies regard to Lien Hoa, Hieu Cau Den in processed food; and Huu Nghi and Hai Ha in bakery and confectionery. Especially, some reasons will be given based on the research and analysis about these companies in order to prove that they re ideally potential customers of DKSH. Thirdly, the internal audit is conducted to give the brief idea about the company; DKSH sales structures are activated in product and geographically based, and the strengths of the company about qualified staffed and good value added service are figured out in resources and marketing mix management part. From industry and customer analysis, the SWOT gives the summary of company strengths and weakness; and opportunities and threats in graph illustration form. Next, the marketing plan is proposed in order to give the best fit with the SWOT.The marketing objective that applied SMART approach will aim to increase the demand, brand awareness as well as the way to approach to potential customers with the specific point of time which is from 1st October 2012 to 1st April 2013. Then, the implementation plans relied on marketing mix, including direct marketing, personal selling and sale promotion will be planned specifically. To give more visual prospect about the marketing plan, the marketing program gives detail schedule as an action plan; and finally the performance evaluation will give some idea about how to evaluate the success of this marketing plan.Contents I. Introduction5 II. External Audit6 A. Market Analysis6 1. Business Environment6 2. The Market8 3. Competitors10 B. Customer Analysis11 1. General Information11 2. Current Customers13 3. Potential Customers17 III. Internal Audit23 A. Company Analysis23 1. Sales23 2. Management o f marketing mix23 3. Resources23 IV. SWOT25 A. Strengths25 B. Opportunities25 V. Marketing Objectives26 VI. Implementation Plans26 VII. Marketing Program27 A. Direct Marketing27 1. Telephone Marketing27 2. Email Marketing27 B. Personal Selling29 C.Sales Promotion29 D. Action Plan29 VIII. Performance Evaluation31 IX. Conclusion32 X. Appendix33 A. Potential Customer List33 B. Mapping Itinerary37 1. Southern37 2. Northern40 XI. Reference41 * Introduction DKSH is one of leading companies in market expansion services that has been established in 1865 and exist for 150 years in Asia. Thus, â€Å"Think Asia, Think DKSH† is recognized as company's slogan and that could tell how successful DKSH is in Asia. With a strong financial performance that has increased rapidly from 2002 to 2011 that exceed 8. % in net sales, DKSH becomes a strongest successful market leader recently. Obviously, its objectives are to help firms to grow their business in new and existing market by supplying know ledge, advice, relationship to reach each individual's goal, expand company's revenue opportunities and increase their market shares by making sure that their client's products are always visible on the shelves at all times. DKSH's business units are divided into 4 main business lines: Food ; Beverage (F;B), Personal Care, Pharmaceuticals and Specialty Chemicals.In fact, this report is going to analyze on 2 small clusters: Confectionary ; Bakery, and Processed Food which included in F;B industry in order to help DKSH to remain on the existing market and expand their business to the new market. To be more specific, integrated marketing communication tools that are direct marketing (telephone ; email), personal selling and sales promotion (trade promotion) will be applied to support push strategy in order to approach to potential customers. External Audit Market Analysis Business EnvironmentSocial Factors According to General Statistics Office (2010), Vietnam population in 2010 is aro und 88 millions with 51. 9% of this figure is younger than 30. Hence, it could become an opportunity for confectionery and processed food markets in increasing demand for consuming these kinds of product due to the receptivity of young population as well as the influence of Western culture. For this reason, suppliers of ingredients for these products can potentially enhance the number of customers as well as their sales in Vietnam market.Legal Factor According to Civil Law Network (2010), the ministry has implemented a new regulation for food safety, and requires all enterprises in food industry to strictly comply with the law of standard safety food. To be more specific, the Government encourages food manufactures in using high quality ingredients and adding more nutrition in their products. Moreover, they also require the manufactures in focusing on managing the supply of ingredients from upstream.Consequently, it could be the threat for food manufacturing companies to manage and have a specialized knowledge about supplied ingredients and their suppliers are expected to invest more in innovating their products in order to meet the regulation and more persuasive for the manufacturing firms to use their products. Furthermore, the regulation for environmental friendly packaging in food service also stricter (Civil Law Network 2010). Thus, it requires food service suppliers to put more effort in investing new or innovating current kinds of packaging that could adapt to environment issues.Economic factors In 2010, Vietnam’s GDP growth rate was 5. 83% (tradingeconomics. com 2012), hence the monthly average income per capital had increased to 39. 4% compared to 2008 and was estimated to be 1,387 thousand VND. As the result, this increase in income have gradually shifted Vietnamese consumers in premium segments such as sweet, ice cream or cakes and consumers also have higher requirements of diverse tastes, food quality, and nutrition for package food and also bakery (Vietnam package food, 2011).It is the good opportunities for supplying companies to catch up with these trends by developing current and new ingredients in respond with these market trends. However, the significant influence of the inflation rate cannot be denied. Based on tradingeconomics. com data, the Vietnam inflation rate in the third quarter in 2011 was around 22. 42% whish was the highest rate in Asia (bbc. co. uk). Hence, the demand in food market had declined in this period; therefore, manufactures can be threatened in forecasting future demand due to some unpredictable economic factors.Consequently, the suppliers are also affected by that because it could be difficult for them to rank the potentiality of their customers in near future. The Market In the report â€Å"Newzealand Trade;Enterprise† (2011), the author states that the value of packaged food industry in Vietnam was approximatelyUS$13. 3 billion in 2011 with the average growth rate at 4. 2% in the next two year. In addition, based on General Statistics Office website (2011), the value of confectionery sales is predicted to increase to US$ 471. 6 million at the end of 2012 and this figure is going to increase more than 10% each year for the next four years. These numbers indicate that there is a very highly potential demand for confectionery and processed food industry. * Competitors Connell Brothers, DKSH and Brenntag have been ranked as top 10 leading chemical distributors in Asia in 2011. Specifically, they all operate in Vietnam and engage in many types of industries such as food ; beverage, personal care, specialty chemicals, and pharmaceutical industry.As shown in the graph, it can be seen that DKSH has much less sales as well as power compared to Connell Brothers in the global market in 2011. At the meantime, the sale of DKSH and Brenntag is slightly different. Therefore, DKSH is required to put more efforts to gain its market share globally in order to build further di stance with Brenntag and shorten the distance with Connell Brothers. Customer Analysis General Information First of all, the paper is going to show some figures related to market share of some leading firms in Vietnam (2011) for two industries: processed food and bakery.For processed food market, market share of sauce and instant noodles have been displayed; while in bakery industry, confectionery and biscuit market have been demonstrated. Market Share- Processed Food (Source: Euro Monitor International) Sauce market For the diagram above, it shows that Masan owns comparatively larger market share than any other firms in such market. But since the portion of â€Å"others† still has 25% of the marker share, it is believed that some potential customers in this category can be found. Instant noodles marketThe major key player in this industry is Acecook, with 51% of market share while the other firms are holding less than 20% respectively. The report selects Masan food as an ins tance to explore knowledge under current customer analysis. Market Share – Bakery (Source: Euro Monitor International) Confectionery market Confectionery market is diverse, with many firms hold similar portion of shares. Among them, Kinh Do takes the 1st place in the market, follow by Huu Nghi and Hai Ha. The 2nd and 3rd key players in the market can be the potential customers for DKSH.Further information related will be given below in â€Å"Potential customer†. Biscuit market There are mainly two key players in the market, Kinh Do and Kraft Food, while each of other firms retain from 4~11% as their market share in the biscuit industry. Due to Kinh Do has an outstanding performance on the market share, the report will take it as a specimen in analyzing current customers. Current Customers There are many customers that DKSH is currently having connection with, including both local and foreign firms.The paper will choose one customer from each cluster, Masan Food and Kin h Do, to analysis the position of it through searching on background information, sales performance, and then raise opportunity and threat. Masan Food (Processed food) Mason Food is belonged to Masan Group, a firm that specialized on Techcombank financial services. After years of operation, Mason Food has become leading brand of processed food market in Vietnam, which has dominance on market share in some product categories. The product range includes fish sauce, soy sauce, instant noodles (74%, 78%, 14% of the market respectively) and other kinds of product.Sales Performance (Source: Business Monitor International ) Opportunity Despite Masan Group is established as a local enterprise, it recently decides to build a relationship of acquisition with Nuiphao Mining Joint Venture Company Ltd, becoming one of the largest private sector resources companies (Masan Group Investor Update n,d). Cooperating with local or foreign investment is an opportunity for firm to receive more capital to invest in its operations. Due to DKSH is a multinational firms already, the business is expected to be enrich by cooperating with local firms in other industries to expand the operation range.Threat As a processed food manufacturer, Masan Food faces a problem that sometimes the price for raw materials is fluctuating(Business Monitor International, 2012). For the earning benefit point of view, Masan Food should pass the costs from consumers, but that can threaten the chance of losing customers. To illustrate, the FMCG industry is a price sensitive environment that contains many brands at similar level. If one brand’s price is higher result from increasing costs to reflect its margin, customers can easily choose another brand because the switching cost is low.Volatile input costs can be a threat to the food manufacturer because the manufacturer needs to choose whether to burden itself or to pass on customers. Same story is applicable in DKSH’s case, if the input price h as a significant increase, DKSH has to decide whether to bear the costs or compensate from its customers; both decisions are having certain drawbacks needed to be considered. Sales Breakdown (Source: hsc company update) Kinh Do Corporation (Bakery and Confectionery) Kinh Do is a local brand that established in 1993, which is one of the largest food producers in Vietnam nowadays.The core business of the firm is food related products: confectionery (cakes, candies), beverage (water, juice) and dairy products. Kinh Do also involved in some other industries such as real estate and grocery retailing. The brand creates a good image that allows them to gain certain customer awareness and even awarded as top ten of Vietnam’s best brands (Ha 2011). Sales Performance (Source: Business Monitor International) Opportunity As indicated before in the report, health awareness has raised from customers when they purchasing confectionery product.Consequently, higher level of quality is require d from food manufacturer in order to satisfy customers. As showed from annual report, Kinh Do provides best materials in manufacturing their products, aim to satisfy its customers in a better extent. Indeed, sellers should be responsible to meet the requirement when there is a concern about product’s specification such as â€Å"health† mentioned above. Without doubt, they can gain more recognition if they can achieve the condition. DKSH is getting involved in this health concerned manufacturing process due to it is one of sellers of Kinh Do.If DKSH can attain the requirement, which it already does, it is expected that the buyers will be satisfied, and they are willing to create more opportunities to corporate with DKSH in the future. Threat Kinh Do depends largely on the domestic market but that makes the company fragile with the fluctuating customer demand (Business Monitor International, 2012). Actually, change in customers’ preference can affect organizationa l demand in both positive and negative ways, but here it seems more likely to be threat from the view of the Kinh Do.Because local buyers are the main sources of generating sales, if the number of them is not stable, firm’s overall performance will obviously be affected. Likewise, inquiry that DKSH received from food manufacturers is affected by customer’s demand. If the perception of buyers is low, sellers will gain lesser results from the declining demand, and vice versa. Being instable with the demand can be interpreted as the firm is actually dependent by the market trend. In this case, DKSH has no control over the changing demand; therefore it can be a threat. Sales Breakdown (Source: hsc company update)Potential Customers Apart from keeping relationship with current customers, exploring new customers is also important for a business. To give our more precise information, the report lists four potential customers from the two clusters, with background information, product range and reason why it is recommended as being â€Å"potential†. Detail contacts of other potential customers can be founded in appendix. Lien Hoa (Processed food) Lien Hoa was established since 2008, by Thierrty Pham, an industrialist who has more than 15 years’ experience in the industry.The firm operates following European standard to ensure the quality of the products. As mentioned from the official website, Lien Hoa has signed exclusive contract with other brands such as Uni-President and Siam Brothers to be its business partners. Moreover, the products of Lien Hoa are widely distributed with supermarkets like Giant, Metro and Big C (Lien Hoa, 2011). Reason Although the brand is new compares to some other existing sellers in the market, it is expected to grow due to qualified and experienced methodology used by the firm.Furthermore, the brand has shown its ambition to boost the market by cooperating with well-known brands like Uni-President. Product rang e Hieu Cau Den Sausage (Processed food) It is a sub branch of Black Bride Food from Taiwan. The brand mainly offer traditional Taiwanese dished rice dumplings, meat floss, and some products commonly seen in Vietnam such as sausage and dumplings. The brand is also an importer for some food and beverage from Taiwan. Even though the brand is not as famous as other brands in the existing market, it is quite popular among the Taiwanese because the products fit their taste better.Reason Situation is slightly different compares to dealing with other brands in this case because the brand is not really concentrating on mass market but more likely on niche market, for Taiwanese currently. Becoming the supplier of it creates an opportunity to enhance brand awareness towards foreign consumers. Moreover, the location is in the same district with DKSH, and therefore it will be easier for DKSH to access. Product range Huu Nghi (Bakery and Confectionery) Huu Nghi is known as a noticeable confection ery brand in Vietnam since 1950’s. is having more than 120,000 retailers throughout Vietnam. Similar to other brands in confectionery industry, the brand holds eligible qualifications as criteria to control fabric of the products. The business expands its relation across the nation to many countries: United States, Japan and Singapore. In addition, Huu Nghi also exploits the business to agricultural products such as pepper and corn (Huu Nghi, 2011). Reason The firm possesses proficient knowledge in trading with businesses across the country, thus, it is foreseeable that their experience can abound the business prospects.Also, as DKSH is a multi-national enterprise, Huu Nghi can understand the operation or regulations better result from their sophisticate. Product range Hai Ha (Bakery and Confectionery) Hai Ha Confectionery Joint Stock Company (HaiHaCo) has set up for more than 40 years and turns it status from public to private in 2003, aiming to provide qualified products to serve its customers. With advanced technology, Hai Ha can utilize its equipment plus the specialists to maximize its effort to engage in confectionery industry.Consumers of Hai Ha choose it as â€Å"Vietnam high-quality goods† for continuous 13 years (Hai Ha, 2011). Reason Apart from dominant brands like Kinh Do, Bibica and Kraft, Hai Ha ranked as 4th in market share of both confectionery and biscuit sector in Vietnam. It can be a great opportunity if DKSH can work with them as a seller due to Hai Ha’s high portion of sales caused by variety products. Product range Sales performance (Source: hsc company update) Internal Audit Company Analysis Sales DKSH has structured its sales force by product based, in which different sales team will be organized based on business lines.This method has created the strength for sales team as it can offer professional and skillful staffs with deep knowledge about their products. Face to face communication facilitates the interaction w ith customers by allowing them to question and negotiate directly, and thus lead to the opportunity to build long-term relationship. Additionally, to ensure the effectiveness of sale team, DKSH also divides its sales force based on geography, in which each sales team will be located and responsible for different areas across Vietnam.Management of marketing mix The annual report of DKSH claimed that DKSH will work with its customers to understand their needs, and then provide customized solutions to them. This is indicated that they are achieving cooperation relationship, which integrated into NPD (new product development) and new resolutions. Moreover, in order to strengthen their relationship, DKSH has provided customers the access to knowledge, advice, relationship, and logistics. At the mean time, DKSH ensures that the customers’ products will successfully grasp the right market.This is shown that there is a chance to build long-term collaborative relationships between the m. If this relationship remains well, then there will be potential to create long term alliances – to build specialist knowledge or strategic partnerships. Resources Due to the world wide sourcing network in more than 70 markets and the expertise in each cluster, DKSH is very confident in providing any needed ingredients for its customers. Moreover, for highly applicable purpose, research and analysis service can also help customers in creating and developing new or customized product ideas.Obviously, this is also one of DKSH strengths as it helps customers to be able to sustain in their market and differentiate their product offerings over competitors. DKSH has applied SalesForce. com as its own tool to manage sale teams. It allows each individual sales person to organize the new, potential and current customer’s information and the managers then can look at the working process of their inferiors. Moreover, DKSH can also translate all customer data to up date informat ion in timely manner. Another strength of DKSH is that it can efficiently manage its distribution channel.To allocate the channel tasks, the firm needs to achieve four main factors regarding reduce complexity, increase value, transaction efficiency and service quality. DKSH has industry expertise and offer â€Å"comprehensive Market Expansion Services†; therefore the firm can help its customers to reduce the number of separate exchange that they need to take place in order to collect different ingredients that are needed for their production. The firm does not only provide materials to manufactures but it also provides the concepts and formulations that go with these materials.For this reason, understanding what customers expect is one of the necessary key that takes part in DKSH’s success; therefore value is added in each process. Moreover, DKSH offers the whole supply chain management; hence its customers can be beneficial in getting lower operational costs and also in increasing the value. Non-stop in innovating the new sources or materials to meeting customer’s needs for their own application or market trend is one of the advantage that illustrates for DKSH’s good service quality.Furthermore, the organization also have good after sales services such as monitoring of technical staff at customer site, order processing and warranty timely delivery. SWOT Strengths DKSH recruits experienced staff and professions in the field, the prominent knowledge level can be a base for providing stronger technical support. Instead of only supplying for ingredients, DKSH offers formulation description discussion with customers to understand them better for value-added services. With this tradition, DKSH can set up a long term relationship with its customers. DKSH offers â€Å"comprehensive market expansion service†.This benefits customers by reducing the number of exchanging points to go through. Consequently, operating and transaction cost s can be lessen. Opportunities Purchasing power of customers in Vietnam is enhanced caused by an increase in GDP; they have better earning to make purchase and thus greater demand of luxury food items can results. It is expected that lifestyle of young population in Vietnam will differ from Generation X, preferring more ready meal like confectionery products and processed food. Hence, a growth in demand is foreseeable. Marketing Objectives Objectives of the marketing plan will be outlined based on SMART approach.Firstly, the new potential customer list which does not include in DKSH’s current customer list helps DKSH to expand its customer database in its internal network regard to salesforce. com. Secondly, the direct marketing such as telephone and email marketing plan will be proposed from 1st October 2012 to 8th March 2013 in order to approach the potential customer list step by step and enhance the brand awareness in both current and potential customers. It will be able to achieve 40% of number of potential customers who are willing to answer through phone call or email.Thirdly, personal selling plan is applied from 15th October 2012 to 31st October 2012 to achieve the remained number of potential customer from above step; hence the sales of the company is estimated to increase by 30%. This plan will be conducted according to the mapping itinerary which helps the sale team easily to visit customer based on the efficient action plan. Finally, sales promotion program is planned as the boom strategy in order to help DKSH easier to create the demand among potential customers that applied in direct marketing and personal selling plan.Implementation Plans The most appropriate B2B marketing communication strategy that should be used to approach to potential customers as well as make them become DKSH’s â€Å"current† customers is push strategy. Specifically, direct marketing, personal selling, and trade promotions will be used by DKSH to make its potential customers aware of its products and create demands, as well as to maintain and strengthen relationships with the current customers. Marketing Program Direct Marketing Telephone Marketing Potential customersIn direct marketing, telephone marketing should be used to directly communicate with these potential customers; DKSH should come up with the calling schedule, which indicates the number of sales people and the number of manufacturers (potential customers) need to be contacted in each region in one day. To illustrate, there are around 60 potential customers founded by the research team; DKSH can assign its sales people to make the call to 10 manufacturers in one day. This means DKSH will reach all 60 manufacturers within 6 days.In order to save customers’ time and the company’s costs, the sales persons should not introduce too much about DKSH’s history and its achievements via telephone. Instead, they should go straight to the core information su ch as types of products or ingredients that the customer needs, the price, and what DKSH can do for them. Moreover, the good point of this strategy is that it offers two-way communication and thus allows customers to question directly. For this reason, it is very important for DKSH to assign skillful spoken sales people to this project. Current customersIn addition, it is also important to schedule the calls to current customers in order to inform them about DKSH’s new products or ingredients, promotions, as well as to remain relationships with them. To illustrate, DKSH now has totally 105 current customers for food ; bakery cluster; assume that it will call to 10 customers in 1 day, so it will finish calling to all 105 customers within 11 days. It is recommended that DKSH should make this calling schedule every six months; at the beginning of each month for the current customers in order to keep frequent contact with them to update their latest situation and their new demand s.Email Marketing Potential customers As mentioned above, telephone marketing is used for the purpose of reaching potential customers by going straight to the core issue and providing them the core information. Therefore, other general information such as company’s background, history, achievements, number of skillful staff and techniques, and types of business lines will not be discussed in detail via telephone marketing. For this reason, it will be a good idea to email this information to DKSH’s potential customers so that they can have a clearer sight about DKSH.It is recommended that DKSH should email to the potential customers that it cannot successfully reach in telephone marketing for once a month to remind them and make them aware of DKSH products; it should do this at the beginning of each month. Current customers In telephone marketing, the sales people will inform the current customers about new products or ingredients, and the promotions. Then, in the email marketing, these sales people will email to the customers the related information in detail, such as the price table that indicates the price of each type of new product.Obviously, this tool is faster and incurs lower costs compared to other tools. Moreover, it tends to be more convenient to the customers compared to the telephone marketing. To illustrate, some contacted customers are so busy that they cannot listen too much what DKSH sales people want to tell them. In this case, email will be a better choice. As mentioned above, DKSH should make calling to the current customers every 6 months to frequently update their new demands.Simultaneously, DKSH should also try to come up with new products every 6 months to help its current customers to sustain in the competitive market as well as to retain them. Then, the sales people will email this related information in details to these customers; also do this for every 6 months, and at the beginning of each month. Personal Selling In pe rsonal selling, sales representatives of DKSH will be assigned face-to-face to these potential manufacturers in each region; these manufacturers (potential customers) are those that DKSH cannot catch in direct marketing.The number of sales representatives will be decided relying on the number of manufacturers in a particular region. To be more specific, DKSH can go to visit 4 manufacturers in 1 day; keeping doing this until it can catch up all of the potential customers that left in direct marketing. The main task of these representatives is to try to understand customers’ purchasing criteria as well as to provide brief information about DKSH’s main industries and products in order to increase the product awareness. Moreover, it is important to emphasize the benefits that DKSH can bring to them. Sales PromotionIn trade promotions, the telephone marketers and sales representatives should emphasize that DKSH will offer lower prices (5% discount) compared to the market pr ice to its potential customers for their first purchases; this means the more they purchase, the more discount they can get. Therefore, it will be the incentive for these customers, and this type of promotion will be applied to the potential manufacturers in all regions. Action Plan Task| Timeline| | 1st October – 31th December 2012| | W1| W2| W3| W4| W5| W6| W7| W8| W9| W10| W11| W12| Telephone Mkt| | | | | | | | | | | | |Email Mkt| | | | | | | | | | | | | Personal Selling| | | | | | | | | | | | | Sales Promotion| | | | | | | | | | | | | | Timeline| | 1st January – 1st April 2013| | W13| W14| W15| W16| W17| W18| W19| W20| W21| W22| W23| W24| Telephone Mkt| | | | | | | | | | | | | Email Mkt| | | | | | | | | | | | | Personal Selling| | | | | | | | | | | | | Sales Promotion| | | | | | | | | | | | | Performance Evaluation | Objective| Strategies| Evaluation| 1| Increase Brand Awareness| * Telephone * Email * Personal Selling| * Numbers of customer who are willing to answe r a call and give helpful information. Numbers of customer who reply email and make a request for further discussion. * Numbers of customer who are willing to interact with sell person and distribute in the conversation. | 2| Increase Sale| * Personal Selling * Sale Promotion| * Numbers of customer who accept to make a contract with DKSH in supplying necessary ingredients. | 3| Create Demand | * Sale Promotion| * Number of customers who firstly have no demand in finding new suppliers but changing later due to competitive proposed price. Conclusion In this report, the general information about Processed Food ; Food Service and Confectionery ; Bakery clusters will be analyzed in order to outline the SWOT analysis for DKSH. Additionally, Push strategy will be applied to reach 60 potential customers. Specifically, integrated marketing communication tools such as direct marketing (telephone and email marketing), personal selling and trade promotions will be used to support the push strat egy to approach to the potential customers.At the same time, these tools can help to retain and strengthen relationships with the current customers. Appendix Potential Customer List Mapping Itinerary Southern Northern Reference 1. ‘DKSH seeks a boost in Asia’ 2012, ICIS news, posted 13th August, viewed 1st September 2012, ;https://docs. google. com/a/rmit. edu. vn/viewer? a=v;pid=gmail;attid=0. 1;thid=1392e4d1b429e96b;mt=application/pdf;url=https://mail. google. com/mail/u/0/? ui%3D2%26ik%3D0e4ae12cf9%26view%3Datt%26th%3D1392e4d1b429e96b%26attid%3D0. %26disp%3Dsafe%26zw;sig=AHIEtbQnvWZ6Rh09SpbtN_3J-u-kBRPiKg; 2. Agri-Food Canada 2011, Package Food in Vietnam, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, viewed 14 August 2012, ; http://www. gov. mb. ca/agriculture/statistics/agri-food/vietnam_packaged_food_en. pdf; 3. BBC 2011 â€Å"Vietnam Inflation Rate Hits 13. 9%†, BBC, 22 March 2011,viewed 15 August 2012, ; http://www. bbc. co. uk/news/business-12845809; 4. Brenntag Asi a Pacific 2012, Brenntag Vietnam Co Ltd, viewed 28th August 2012, ;http://www. brenntag-asiapacific. com/en/pages/Brenntag_Asia_Pacific/Lo

Anne Frank, Nelson Mandela And Louis Zamperini - 1346 Words

After reading many stories about people being incarcerated by their environments, you would think they would just accept it or give up. Shockingly in many of the stories I’ve read the exact opposite happens and they fight through these tough situations and always manage to stay positive no matter what is thrown at them. Anne Frank, Nelson Mandela and Louis Zamperini are perfect examples of people who were physically and emotionally incarcerated and they never let it bring them down. Instead, they used their incarceration as motivation to better the situation they were in. Reading many of the poems in class really gives you a sense of how a person is feeling in such little words. It describes the environment around them, how they are dealing with is and what their thoughts are on it. A poem I feel does incredibly well with this this â€Å"Some Advice to Those Who Will Serve Time in Prison†. This poem describes a man in prison with a lot of time to serve and how he feels about it. He describes prison as making him start to lose himself and how much it really affects his outlook on life. Prison makes him feel powerless and like he has no control of his life because he can’t make decisions for himself anymore. He can’t control when he eats, showers or even when he wakes up in the morning, basically the only thing he can control is how he deals with this new way of life. He says â€Å"[p]art of you may live alone inside, / like a stone at the bottom of a well† (Judith Tannenbaum, 19). ThisShow MoreRelatedEssay About My Mother129 3 Words   |  6 Pagesfascinated by great scientists and innovators like Franklin, Einstein, and Edison. Their understanding of science co-existed with their religious beliefs. The writings of Anne Frank or Helen Keller have caused me many days of reflection and soul searching. The stories of survivorship and suffering by Nelson Mandela, Louie Zamperini and Viktor Frankl were simply life changing. The strength of their character, the consistency of their values, and their unbending morality in the harshest of conditions