Osim International

Contents 1. Introduction to Osim International4 2. Competitive Strategy4 3. Company value chain4 3. 1Innovation5 3. 2Operations Management5 4. Non-financial analysis5 4. 1Corporate Social Responsibility5 4. 2Consumer Sentiments6 4. 3Corporate Culture6 4. 4Customer Retention and Growth6 5. Global outlook7 6. Industry outlook of healthy lifestyle products7 7. Comparison between Osim and its competitors8 8. Osim Financials8 8. 1Company’s Financial Ratios8 8. 2Market Prospects9 8. 2. 1Osim on its own9 8. 2. 2Osim vs. Selected peers (VGO, Best World, Ogawa, Jacks)9 8. 2. 3Osim vs. STI10 8. 3Projected Performance10 9. Conclusion11 Appendix A12 Appendix B16 Appendix C19 Appendix D24 Appendix E25 Appendix F26 ? 1. Introduction to Osim International Osim International Ltd. (Osim) is a Singapore listed company; a global leader in the healthy lifestyle products industry. It has been led since its inception by CEO Ron Sim, the company’s value driver, instrumental in bringing Osim to where it is today, greatly influencing its vision, mission and values with his personal touch. The company has expanded to more than 1,100 stores in more than 30 countries worldwide. Within the next 3 to 5 years, they plan to open over 50 outlets and further expand their subsidiaries, GNC and RichLife. . Competitive Strategy In view of the current economic situation, Osim seeks to cautiously and optimistically ‘focus on building profitability, positive EBITDA and operating cash flow’ . Even though they have exceeded sales expectations so far this year, this may be challenging given that they operate in a niche market easily affect ed by consumer sentiment and other global events. Osim feels a strong balance sheet is integral to meeting this aim, achievable through enhanced operational efficiency and outlets being leaner and more effective in sales. With Brand Osim, they desire an image that is one with (the) healthy lifestyle’ . This demonstrates their aspiration to not only be the market leader, but to also be the brand with the best recall and association. Furthermore, Osim adopts a two-pronged approach of innovation and growth; creating demand through innovation and development to support the anticipated US market recovery and the Chinese markets’ expansion. There is also focus on their most important resource, employees; training and empowering talents with emphasis on corporate culture alignment. 3. Company value chain Osim’s value chain involves two main processes: Innovation and Operations Management. . 1Innovation Research and development (R&D) is a process given much emphasis as Osim strives to release new and relevant products to create demand and to keep a technological edge above its competition, resulting in products such as the iDesire and iMedic amongst others. This has won consumers and its efforts were rewarded in 2008, voted as Asia’s most preferred brand for massage ch airs . This is also inculcated in their brand image with their desire to include ‘intelligent innovation’ . 3. 2Operations Management Operations management includes Osim’s manufacturing and retail arms. Upon subjecting raw material to their respective manufacturing processes, Osim creates a product that it believes will add value for consumers and entice them to pay a premium to obtain their desired quality of life. Its retail arm works with an aggressive marketing department to promote their products. Whilst costs are high, the perceived product value added is proportionately high. 4. Non-financial analysis 4. 1Corporate Social Responsibility Osim aims to encourage a positive attitude towards healthy lifestyles. Osim Triathlons in various Asian countries , and the Osim Singapore Masters are some sporting events it has sponsored. While Osim promotes itself as a lifestyle brand, for example, through the promotion of the uSqueez leg massager which appeals to triathletes, they have also donated to the Children’s Cancer Foundation and supported an endowment fund with the NUS Business School . Osim has also demonstrated accountability to society by recalling its products twice . The urgency to recall defective products has shown Osim’s commitment to civic responsibility. However, the recall affected Osim’s reputation as customers were put through the hassle of claiming damages. Despite this, Osim’s branding remains strong and is still one of the world’s most reliable providers in its industry. Accountability to investors was also demonstrated when they came in runners-up in the ‘Most Transparent Company Award (Commerce)’ in SIAS Investors’ Choice Award. 4. 2Consumer Sentiments In a 2008 survey by Synovate , Osim attained the ‘No. 1 Healthy Lifestyle Products Brand’ in consumers’ minds across Asia. The findings show Osim’s strong Asian customer base and affirms its effective branding as a leading provider of innovative products with design and quality, performance, and safety standards. Furthermore, massage chair sales in China has maintained good growth with easy-to-buy payment schemes. 4. 3Corporate Culture A strong corporate culture inculcating positive thinking has been used as a tool to survive market movements. This tool is behind the entrance of new innovations and the extension of Osim’s reach into the global market. Besides this, substantial shareholdings by key management ensures management goals are correctly aligned with that of shareholders’ . 4. 4Customer Retention and Growth In 2005, Osim was rated by Nielsen Consumers as the number one brand in seven attributes . Osim is also a member of Superbrands . To date, higher end products are made in Japan, a country recognized for its quality and precision . Mid-tier to lower end products are manufactured in China to reduce costs. Although manufactured in China, Osim ensures reliability and quality of these products. The market share gained from the provision of quality products has been shown in the same Synovate survey as mentioned above. Osim has also invested heavily in marketing, often publishing its advertisements in various media to increase its brand presence. These include centrespreads in major newspapers as well as television commercials, reigning in celebrities such as S. H. E and Fiona Xie. This fortifies their brand’s credibility, with the aim of converting new customers and retaining current ones. In a way, they have already created a strong and secure customer base and exclusive attention can be placed on gaining additional market share within the region and globally. 5. Global outlook Since the global recession, the market has rebounded with the STI currently trading around 2,600 points, a level last seen a year ago . We are currently believed to be in the accumulation phase , with economic growth expected in the coming years. Global markets have stabilized while key export markets such as the US and Europe remain fairly weak . A rapid recovery is in line for Asian economies, but continued soft private demand means that fiscal and monetary measures must be sustained to ensure continued growth. 6. Industry outlook of healthy lifestyle products Osim’s business efforts are concentrated on an increasingly affluent Asia , especially in countries like Singapore and China, where there is greater focus on lifestyle and well-being. Health is a greater concern as busier schedules reduce exercise time. As Asia’s aging population finds new ways to improve their living standards, more may turn to increasingly relevant healthcare products. However, the lifestyle industry is most vulnerable to fluctuations in business cycles. With the downturn, spending is either decreased or cheaper alternatives are sought. 7. Comparison between Osim and its competitors Osim’s main competitors in the health-food industry provide competition to its subsidiary, Global Active Limited. Its main recognized competitors in the massage products markets include OGAWA, OTO Bodycare and Panasonic. Osim thus relies heavily on innovation, aggressive marketing and quality to distinguish its products from its competitors, leveraging on the fact that consumer preferences are easily influenced. Another form of competition comes in the form of imitations and inexpensive Chinese products that respectively devalue Osim’s brand and provide viable substitutes. This forces Osim to differentiate itself as a premium product and introduce a secondary brand, NOVO, to woo consumers with its affordability. With the expected future growth in the healthy lifestyle products industry and Osim’s stronghold on its base consumer markets, we expect Osim to continue outperforming its competitors, especially in its core business function. 8. Osim Financials 8. 1Company’s Financial Ratios Osim’s profitability ratios have been weakening over the last 5 years, with sharp declines from 2006 onwards. Profit margins dropped from the healthy region of 9% to 0. 6% in 2007 and finally into the negative in 2008. Other returns ratios like ROA and ROE have also dropped significantly from 2005 onwards. Osim’s sales fell from a high of S$623million in 2006 to S$457million in 2008. The low profitability ratios suggest that the company is not effectively utilizing its assets and shareholder investments to generate sales and profit, which is a cause for concern for potential investors. Its dwindling sales and profitability can be attributed to fierce competition from imitations, as mentioned above. Also, Osim spent S$149million to acquire 55% of Brookstone Inc. in 2005, which did not work out well, as Brookstone’s losses dragged down Osim’s profitability from 2006 onwards. Osim’s liquidity ratios, despite the poor financial performances in the past few years, have remained relatively stable. Current ratio has stayed consistently above 1, bar 2007, which implies that the Group is able to meet its short term liabilities with its short term assets. Interest coverage has been falling sharply, primarily due to the fall in operating profits. In order to continue its repayment of interest charges, profits have to improve. 8. 2Market Prospects 8. 2. 1Osim on its own Generally, share prices have been on a strong downward trend since 2006, with MACD crossing below zero for most of the period. Osim’s share price plunged 98% from a high of S$2. 06 in 2006 to a low of S$0. 05 in the start of 2009 before showing signs of recovery, rising from below S$0. 10 to the recent stability of around S$0. 45, an increase of more than 400% during the period from March to September 2009. The recent bullish trend has also been reflected in the strong divergence of the MACD over zero. 8. 2. 2Osim vs. Selected peers (VGO, Best World, Ogawa, Jacks) During the last 5 years, Osim fared poorly compared to its industry peers. It was the worst performing stock out of the 5 selected companies over the period from 1Q07 to 1Q09. However, focusing our attention on more recent developments, Osim’s share price has been outdoing that of its competitors significantly, due to its strong recovery since 1Q09. Osim’s stock has risen at a higher rate, and been the best performing in terms of absolute value. Another interesting factor is the recent significant increase in insider trading, with senior management aggressively purchasing the company stock and subscribing to excess shares through the company’s rights issue . Together with the hints of recovery from recent financial figures, the purchase of shares by Osim’s management and confidence shown in the company might just be the confirmatory signal of their turnaround in fortunes. 8. 2. 3Osim vs. STI On a 5-year basis, comparing the performance of Osim’s share price against the STI, we observe that generally, it has been underperforming relative to the STI. The period between mid-2005 and early 2007, which coincided with Osim’s best financial performance, saw the company outperforming the market. Since 1Q07, it has been underperforming by a large margin until the recent superior performance relative to the STI starting from April 2009. 8. 3Projected Performance Judging from the 9 month 2009 figures, sales appear to continue sluggishly and we estimate the total sales for 2009 to be inferior to that of 2008. However, EBITDA has increased by 16% as compared to the same period last year. Having fully written down the investment in Brookstone, future losses need not be accounted for, and Osim’s profit before tax is expected to improve to around S$33million for 2009, a marked improvement from 2007 and 2008. Projected profitability ratios also suggest signs of recovery with ROA and ROE estimated to be around 9. 02% and 21. 36% respectively. Liquidity ratios for the Group remain healthy as well, as at 30 Sept 2009. Post restructuring, Osim has emerged leaner, significantly cutting down expenses over the past 2 years. Hence, if sales pick up in the future, we should see a return of the high profit margins realized in the past. Osim’s current Net Asset Value (NAV) per share is S$0. 14. Compared against the average share price of around S$0. 45 over the past 2 months, the Price-to-book ratio is about 3. times, implying that the stock may be overvalued. However, the general price-to-book ratio for an average company is 7 times , showing that Osim’s share price may still rise in the future. 9. Conclusion With Ron Sim at the helm and the alignment of the senior management with company objectives, Osim stands poised to achieve its goals in the short term with its aggressive marketi ng and focus on a strong balance sheet during this time of economic uncertainty. They have earned the trust of consumers through the provision of quality products and good corporate governance. While they have effectively lowered costs, revenue remains sluggish. They plan to improve this through expansion in emerging markets as well as to take advantage of Brookstone’s strategic positioning in American markets. Whilst having derived ways to compete effectively, and with the industry expected to grow, private consumption will still be depressed amidst this period of economic recovery due to a lag effect. Defining a medium to long term as between two to five years, we thus projected that Osim, on its own will continue to be profitable as a going concern. While we recognise that outside the industry, there are many superior alternatives that have the potential to generate far better returns, which is beyond the scope of this report, we recommend that with regards to an investment solely in Osim or in the Healthy Lifestyle Products industry, Osim is clearly the worthwhile choice to invest in. Appendix A Profitability Ratios 20082007200620052004 Profit Margin (%)-21. 780. 65. 429. 299. 2 ROA (%)-46. 580. 868. 0510. 214. 6 ROE (%)-141. 921. 9619. 8728. 9726. 16 Cash Flow/Operating Revenue (%)-17. 984. 957. 8911. 812. 6 Profit Margin (%)-21. 780. 65. 429. 299. Profitability ratios measure the return earned on a company's capital and the financial cushion relative to each dollar of sales. Osim's low profitability ratios in recent years are a cause for concern. However, much can be attributed to the economic crisis and the write-off of Brookstone in 2008. Liquidity Ratios 20082007200620052004 Current Ratio1. 090. 951. 021. 111. 87 Quick Rat io0. 480. 450. 450. 671. 38 Interest Coverage-19. 052. 067. 751750. 95 Current Ratio1. 090. 951. 021. 111. 87 Generally, despite the poor performance posted in 2007 and 2008, Osim's Liquidity Ratios remained relatively stable. This implies that there are no issues regarding the solvency of the company and resources are available to meet its obligations. 20082007200620052004 P/E Ratio (%)n. a. 103. 6422. 415. 2912. 48 Dividend Payout Ratio (%)0219. 4332. 2315. 3415. 39 P/E ratio is an indicator of perceived value of a stock. Osim's unusually high P/E ratio in 2007 is due to the low EPS resulting from the poor performance posted in that year. Osim has been consistently paying out dividends until 2008. Hence, should performance improves in future, investors should expect to receive dividend payouts. Appendix B Projected Performance -Month Key FinancialsEstimated Figures for 2009 Sales335. 9450 EBITDA33. 845 Profit before Tax24. 533 Net profit16. 121 Full year figures for 2009 determined based on pro-rating 9-month figures to get conservative estimates. (in $millions)9mth 20099mth 2008% change2009 Estimated20082007200620052004 Sales335. 9346. 2-2. 98%450456. 7523. 7622. 9502. 5332. 2 EBITDA33. 829. 116%453935. 476. 754. 545. 4 Profit before Tax24. 5-19. 5225. 64%33-92. 25. 443. 651. 435. 3 Net profit16. 1-26161. 92%21-99. 53. 735. 845. 630. 8 (in $millions)9mth 20099mth 2008% change2009 Estimated20082007200620052004 Sales335. 9346. 2-2. 98%450456. 7523. 7622. 502. 5332. 2 EBITDA33. 829. 116%453935. 476. 754. 545. 4 Estimated Financial Ratios for 2009 (With Balance Sheet as at 30 Sept 2009) Profit Margin (%)4. 67 ROA (%)9. 02 ROE (%)21. 36 Current Ratio at B/S date1. 16 2009 figures suggest Osim is on the road to recovery. Projected Profit before Tax show improvement compared to 2008 and 2007, though not to the extent of 2006's high. Compared to 1st half of 2008, 2009 has shown improvement in EBITDA even though sales continue to be weak. .Charts with Projected 2009 Ratios Appendix C Osim Stock Charts 5-Year 1-Year Comparison against STI 5-Year 1-Year Comparison Competitors 5-Year 1-Year -Year Absolute 1-Year Absolute Appendix D Insider Trades Announcement DateBuyerNumber of Shares (Ã¢â‚¬Ë œ000) 23/2/09Ron Sim2002 13/3/093466 17/3/09953 27/3/0996150 31/3/09200 1/4/09200 6/4/092700 9/4/096500 Subtotal112171 23/2/09Peter Lee320 13/3/09950 31/3/09550 9/10/09270 Subtotal2090 23/2/09Richard Leow300 23/2/09Ong Kian Min1618 24/2/091000 2/4/09752 23/2/09Michael Kan300 2/4/09218 23/2/09Charlie Teo300 27/3/09365 6/4/09100 2/4/09Khor Peng Soon16 Subtotal4969 Total119230 Appendix E ? Appendix F Japan’s quality in manufacturing was taken from Fundamentals of Composites Manufacturing: Materials, Methods, and Applications by A. Brent Strong

The Effectiveness of Anti-bullying Policies within the NHS: An Empirical Investigation

Based on the definition of Einarsen and Skogstad (1996), workplace bullying is defined as follows: â€Å"A person is defined as bullied if he or she is repeatedly subjected to negative acts in the workplace. However, to be a victim of such bullying one must also feel inferiority in defending oneself in the actual situation. This definition builds on research on bullying in the school playground†¦ and stresses that bullying and harassment imply a difference in the actual or perceived power and ‘strength between the persecutor and the victim.Typically, a victim of harassment or bullying is teased, badgered, and insulted and perceives that he or she has little recourse to retaliation in kind†¦This definition†¦is not limited to a predefined set of negative acts. It covers all situations in which one or more persons over a period feel subjected to negative acts that one cannot defend oneself against. Even if a single episode, e. g. physical assault may be regarded as bullying or harassment, this definition emphasizes ‘repeated negative acts.’ Consequently, serious conflicts between parties of ‘equal’ strength, or isolated episodes of conflict, are not considered as bullying. (p. 187). The NHS represents a very important entity in the delivery of healthcare services. And as bullying represents an important work place condition variable that may affect the quality of services delivered within the organisation and to patients, it is but logical to conduct a study on bullying within the NHS. Review of Related Literature O’Hare (2006) reports that there were about 5 thousand nurses attacked while at work in Northern Ireland in 2005.A handful of the victims suffered fractures, still others were grabbed by the throat, or subjected to insulting behavior such as being spat at. More than 60% of those surveyed underwent verbal harrassment as well, while about 27% were physically abused (O’Hare, 2006). These figures take on greater importance as we consider the scarcity of healthcare workers who are expected to deliver quality healthcare to NHS patients. Why is it crucial to emphasize civility in the workplace? The cuthroat competition of contemporay organisation necessitate that they develop strong retention factors that will motivate their employees to stay.It has become increasingly difficult to make employees stay within an organisation for long, and one important factor that influences such a decision is the environment of hostility vis-a-vis civility within that workplace. More often than not, employees choose to transfer to other companies instead of taking in such working conditions (Glendinning, 2001). NHS’ Definition of Bullying Bullying is defined within the NHS Trust as follows: â€Å"Persistent, offensive, abusive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour, which amounts to an abuse of power and makes the recipient feel upset, threatened, humiliated or vulnerable.Bully ing undermines a victim's self-confidence and may cause them to suffer stress† (NHS Anti-bullying policy, 2002, p. 1). The NHS Trust likewise acknowledges that the occurrence of bullying within the workplace results in undue stress, depression, decrease in self-esteem, undesirable performance, and ineffective dealings with others (NHS Anti-bullying policy, 2002). Definition of Bullying by the NHS Trust The UK is not alone in its struggle to protect its workers from bullying. In a study by Glendinning (2001), they studied this phenomenon within an organisational context.Through a comprehensive review of related literature, they have conlcuded that a new relationship between supervisors and subordinates have evolved, and rightly so with the increasing dynamism and competition in the new global village (Glendinning, 2001). Moreover, it prescribes that the human resource function be held most accountable for curbing such occurrence. Difficulties in Deploying Anti-bullying Policies Glendinning (1999) differentiates between a â€Å"bullying† superior and a hard to please one. The latter simply sets out stiff expectations and targets from his subrodinates to be able to optimize their performance.On the contrary, this is not the intention of a bullying boss (Glendinning, 1999). He proceeds by consistently showing aggressive behavior that causes either physical or psychological harm to the staff he supervises . Some of the repercussions of bullying behavior in the workplace are turnover, retention, recruiting and succession issues, employee health effects, reduced productivity, counterproductive behavior, and legal countermeasures by employees (Glendinning, 1999). Prescriptions for HR Professionals for Creating a Bully-free WorkplaceAccording to Cox (2005), 87% of those in the human resources funtion were keenly informed of bullying occurences within their company. This may be a disturbing finding considering that despite such awareness, there are still 19 million working days lost because of this phenomenon. In fact, the figures show that out of five employees, there is one who is likely to feel stressed from this cause. Stress, in itself, incurs substantial cost at 7 billion annually (Cox, 2005). There has been difficulty of monitoring bullying incidents, primarily because some or even several incidents go off unreported.While there are preponderant anti-bullying policies, there is a dire need for training so that there may be heightened awareness on observing the indicators of bullying. If the bad treatment is rooted on ostracism, the employer may even be held liable for the action. Currently, employees have something more solid to rely on as a result of the Majrowski v Guy's & St Thomas's NHS Trust case. Mr Majrowski contended that his employer was partly accountable for the acts of an employee and asserted that he did experience bullying, harrassment, and intimidation from his superior.He likewise experienced extreme criticisim and others were favoured over him. As a result, the Court of Appeal rules in his favour and explicitly prescribed that he could depend on the Act and that the NHS was accountable for the actions committed by the employee (Cox, 2005). This decision has accorded employee’s a novel right, including definitions and entitlements relatd to harrassment and anxiety (Cox, 2005). There are several recommendations put forth for human resource professionals to be able to promote a bully-free workplace.One such proposal is to establish standards of interpersonal behavior within the organization to be able to (Pearson, Anderson, & Portah, 1999). Spelling out these expectations early on clearly lay down what is considered desirable or undesirable behavior within the company. Next is to be able to convey a clear message on the organization’s stance on bullying and its corresponding policies. The first realm which may exert an influence on this phenomenon is the recruiting function whi ch may relay these messages to prospective employee early on during the onboarding process (Pearson, Anderson, & Portah, 1999).The policies related to bullying must also be clearly reflected onto the employee’s job description, and there should be emphasis on the repercussions of violating these. Flynn (1999) also recommends that these behaviors be included as criteria for evaluation during the performance appraisal exercise. Given this backdrop, the current paper proceeds with an empirical investigation of bullying within the NHS Trust. The primary aim to to put forth recommendations on how to increase the efficacy of its anti-bullying policy, resulting in increased retention among its nurses and medical staff.Problem Statement The present research intends to address the following problem: How effective is the drafting and deployment of anti-bullying policies within the NHS? Thus, to be able to respond to this question adequately, the following questions have been investigat ed: 1) To what degree does bullying behaviour transpire within NHS hospitals as perceived by nurses / midwives / health care assistants and student nurses? 2) What is the efficacy level of the NHS anti-bullying policy as perceived by the medical staff? 3) Is there a significant relationship between the following variables?a) Degree of bullying behaviour experienced and level of efficacy of the NHS Bullying Policy? b) Degree of bullying behaviour experienced and age of the medical staff? b) Degree of bullying behaviour experienced and length of service of medical staff? Method Research Design The present investigation is a descriptive-correlational research that intends to define the present levels of bullying occurring within the NHS. The study is descriptive because it aims to depict the levels of bullying, the degree of awareness and involvement of nursing staff and hospital personnel in the drafting an deployment of bullying policies.In effect, there will be a need to compute for means, standard deviations, frequencies, and percentages to present the descriptive outcomes. The research is also categorised as correlatinal since it will also establish relationships between a) bullying behaviour and level of efficacy of the NHS Anti-bullying policy, b) degree of bullying behaviour experienced and age of the medical staff; and c) degree of bullying behaviour experienced and length of service of medical staff. Samples and Sampling Plan All hospitals within the NHS umbrella are qualified to take part in the investigation.Each of these hospitals shall be invited to take part in the study. They shall be selected through the use of a random numbers table. A total of 100 nurses and hospital staff shall be chosen through stratified random sampling, where the number of respondents shall be based on the relative size of the hospital (compared to the other hospitals chosen). A consent form has been distributed to the respondents of the study which explained that they are to willingly participate in the study and that they could choose to cease from participating at any time, without reprisal.They were also assured of the confidentiality of their responses and of their anonymity. All these measures have been undertaken for ethical reasons (Bryman, 1992). For the structured interview, 10 out of the 100 nurses / midwives / health care assistants and student nurses who originally took part in the study shall be asked questions that relate to their bullying experiences. This small sample shall be purposively chosen such that half of them have reported the bullying behaviour while the remainder did not.Moreover, selected key managers of the trust shall also be interviewed on how bullying is curbed within their respective areas of jurisdiction through the Trust’s anti-bullying policy. The qualitative data that will be gathered from the interviews shall supplement the quantitative findings from the survey questionnaire (Bryman, 1992). Instrument The NHS nursing staff and medical personnel have been asked to accomplish a self-constructed bullying questionnaire, whose items were based from the NHS Trust anti-bullying policy. The instrument uses a 5-point Likert type scale, which each number representing an opinion.The tool has three major parts. The first potion requests for demographic information, including gender, age, and tenure. The second portion is further subdivided into two parts: bullying experiences and the efficacy of the NHS Trust anti-bullying policy. The first sub-item intends to measure the degree of bullying experienced by the respondent and by others who also belong to that workplace. The items on efficacy talk about about individual and managerial responsibilities as regards curbing bullying behaviours in the workplace, conduct of investigations, and bullying awareness and training.Finally, there is an item which requests for an overall evaluation of the policy’s efficacy. Procedure The instrument shall be finalised and pilot tested. Undertaking a pilot study is necessary for instrument develepment. Chisnall (1997) points out that the value of a pilot study lies in validating the accuracy and consistency of â€Å"sampling frames† and planning the final sample size by measuring variability. According to Hunt et al (1982), â€Å"pilot testing pertains to testing the questionnaire on a small sample of respondents to identify and eliminate potential problems.† The pilot test will entail the participation of 5 respondents from any of the NHS hospitals chosen. Invitation letters shall be sent to all hospital administrators of the NHS, soliciting permission for the conduct of the study. Once permission is granted, the respondents shall each be given a consent form and shall be requested to return it three days later. On the agreed upon date, the researcher shall visit each of the randomly chosen hospitals to administer survey forms to the respondents.The survey questionnaire will be personally administered by the researcher to be able to address inconsistencies in addressing respondent queries (Oppenheim, 1992). On completion of the nursing staff, medical personnel and administrators of the NHS will be thanked, and shall be briefed on the study’s objectives. The outcomes shall be made available to them upon completion of the study. On the whole, the researcher expects that the level of bullying will be correlated with the perceived efficacy of the policy. Those who are older in terms of age and with longer tenures will tend to have lesser degrees of bullying experienced.Method of Data Analysis Pearson’s correlation coefficient shall be used as the main technique for data analysis apart from the descriptive statistics – the mean, standard deviation, frequencies, and percentages. Pearson r is a measure of the degree of association between two measures. When the figure is positive, this indicates that as one measure increases, there i s a corresponding increase in the other. Salkind (2000) asserts that the Pearson’s correlation coefficient necessitates that both variables are measured on the interval scale.The present study shall make use of the Pearson correlation coefficient to present the relationships among the variables degree of bullying, efficacy of bullying policy, age, and tenure of respondent. References Bryman, A. (1992). Reasearch methods and organisation studies. London: Routledge. Chisnall, P. M. (1997). Marketing research (5th ed. ) Berkshire: McGraw-Hill. Cox, E. (2005). Bullying is tricky for employers. The Journal, 32. Einarsen, S. & Skogstad, A. (1996). Bullying at work: Epidemiological findings in public and private organizations.European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 5, 185-201. Glendinning, P. (2001). Workplace bullying: Curing the cancer of the American Workplace. Public Personnel Management, 30(3), 269-275. Guynn, J. (1998). Mean business: Workplace bullies undermin e morale and productivity. Providence Sunday Journal (11/01/98).. Hunt, S. D. , Sparkman, J. R. D. & Wilkox, J. (1982). The pretest in survey research: issues and preliminary findings. Journal of Marketing Research. May, 269-273. NHS Anti-bullying policy. (2002). Retreived on November 28, 2006 from http://www. southtees. nhs.uk/foi/HRPantibullying. pdf O’Hare, P. (2006). 5, 000 nurses attacked. The Mirror, 6. Olweus, D. (1999). Norway. In P. K. Smith, Y. Morita, J. Junger-Tas, D. Olweus, R. Catalano, & P. Slee (eds. ) The nature of school bullying: A cross national perspective. London: Routledge. Oppenheim, A. N. (1992). Questionnaire design interviewing and attitude measurement. London: Pinter. Pearson, C. , Anderssen, L. & Portah, C. (1999). Assessing and attacking workplace incivility. Academy of Management Review. Salkind, N. J. (2000). Statistics for people who hate statistics. USA: Sage Publications Inc.

Job opportunities in performing arts Essay

The below information is a rough guide based on the information from the jobs4you website. There are over 500,000 people that work in the creative and cultural skills area of work, there are over 62,000 creative businesses in the UK, and 94% of the businesses only employ 10 people a year, so being an arts administrator is a very competitive area of work to get into. There are opportunities throughout the whole of the UK, in public and private organisations. You can get a job in theatre, concert halls, galleries, museums, exhibitions and festivals, etc. Jobs for admin are advertised in the local and national press, and through magazines such as the Arts Professional and The Stage. Qualifications Most of the employers ask for GCSEs at A-C in English and Maths, also it helps to have some relevant work experience. Some arts administrators have gone on to complete a degree, there are many degrees that offer relevant experience, for example business studies, arts management, music, drama or visual arts. The degrees normally last for 3 years, entry for a degree is normally at least two A levels. Entry for adults is a bit harder, so relevant work experience is required, for example: Administration or secretarial work, marketing or public relations, finance, performing arts, for example as a dancer or performer. Access courses are available for people that don’t have the relevant qualifications, and who would like to study a degree. In this job, many people train on the job, but they can take short courses to help develop or to produce new skills. There are many NVQs and SVQs that are relevant, these include: * NVQ/SVQ levels 3 and 4 in business and administration * NVQ/SVQ levels 2,3,4 and 5 in cultural heritage. A promotions manager in the music industry is specialised in finding any opportunities in publicity, this can be for all types of artists, for example a singer or instrumentalist. promotions managers may work with record labels and individual musicians or bands.

Research proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Research proposal - Essay Example Additionally, the use of blogs permit people to run dedicated news websites through which they communicate relevant news items to their target audience. In this research, I will investigate the differences between the blogging culture and the traditional news media with the view of determining the differences and similarities in their reporting of news to their diverse audiences. By doing this, my research will help all stakeholders including traditional media companies, bloggers and the consumers of news items to employ caution when using the facilities their roles present. Responsiveness is a journalistic value that news disseminators must maintain. The research investigates the prevalence of objectiveness and responsiveness in news dissemination and access and therefore advise accordingly. Research Background Blogging is a personal form of communication in which users maintain and market pages on the internet to their target audience. Traditional media on the other hand refers to the radio, television and newspaper some of the oldest modes of news dissemination. Most of the traditional media companies currently run dedicated news websites owing to the technological developments and the conveniences of the internet. In their websites, such companies maintain the reporting standards used in their traditional media and therefore employ several gatekeepers and custodians of their information. Their use of the internet through dedicated websites puts them among the same companies and bloggers. Just any other social media, blogs permit anyone with the access to the internet to become a mass communicator. This implies that both the traditional media and the bloggers compete for the same market even though the bloggers may not expect as much benefit as the traditional media. Since they serve the same purpose in the society, the application of journalistic ethics and discipline must be equal. However, this is never the case especially with bloggers most of who lack j ournalistic training and the financial ability to afford gatekeepers as is the case with the traditional news media. As a user of the different social media and a student of journalism, I foresee that the research will establish major discrepancies and conflict of interests in the manner in which the two news sources disseminate their news to their audiences. Bloggers enjoy an anonymity and rarely face any legal tussle in relation to their news coverage. Traditional news media on the other hand have physical addresses, organizational structure with clearly labelled flow of information. It is therefore predictable that the news coverage by the two differs and has varied effects in the society. Scope In conducting the research, I will analyse how the media have covered the Australian forest fire, a major international disaster and a great human-interest story to the global audience. I will observe the coverage of the tragedy by the CNN and the BBC two leading global traditional new me dia and compare the two with the numerous blogs that reported the tragedy. Both the CNN and the BBC have dedicated websites, which cover their stories a feature that makes the comparison and contrast an easy observation assignment. Theoretical framework The research requires adequate information on the journalistic principles and ethics in order to note the professional flaws and the difference in the two news sources. To do this effectively, I will use three sources that address the issues therein, the

EFEECTS OF CGI (COMPUTER GENERATED IMAGES) IN THE MEDIA INDUSTRY Essay

EFEECTS OF CGI (COMPUTER GENERATED IMAGES) IN THE MEDIA INDUSTRY - Essay Example Computer generated images in digital media has also acted as a source of information, which has encouraged a participatory culture. This is by ensuring that the political process is more democratic and less elitist (Bennett and Strange, 2011). This paper aims at finding out how computer generated images impact on the media. Political campaigns usually capitalize on new means of communication in order to reach voters. This was evident in the 2008 U.S presidential elections whereby candidates used computer generated images and internet technologies to conduct their campaigns. Many political analysts liken the way President Obama used the internet in 2008 presidential campaigns to President Kennedys first use of television in presidential campaigns in 1960 (Bennett and Strange, 2011). Utilization of new media in political processes has mostly been viewed as a tool of reaching voters, especially the youth who are always reluctant to turn out and vote. Some digital media analysts have maintained that the effect of social sites like Facebook on political behavior of young voters is still largely unknown The proportion of candidates using digital media for electoral processes has been increasing since 1996 when the internet was initially used in the U.S during campaigns, but the use was extremely limited. The first substantial use of the internet for political campaigns occurred in 2000 during the presidential campaigns of Bush and Gore; these campaigns had sophisticated websites (Bennett and Strange, 2011). By 2008, features of digital media were more advanced and widely used in political processes than in previous years. Political analysts observe that the failure to include new media in campaign strategies can adversely affect campaigns. This is because social media has become relevant and cost effective tool for political mobilization and support. For instance, candidates who fail to utilize digital

Quality Assessment Plan for Teachers Coursework

Quality Assessment Plan for Teachers - Coursework Example This assessment plan has been designed to give relevant, measurable and consistent results under any circumstances. We take as a point of departure the requirement for each teacher who attends this training course to then, when teaching students him- or herself, to positively influence the chances of each student to gain employment. Employers of these students may be companies providing this IT services to other customers, or companies requiring this kind of competence for their own internal needs. As such, employers will typically look for practical ability and knowledge in this domain, motivation to use and apply that ability and related work experience where possible. The trainee teachers will therefore be assessed on their demonstrable ability to teach students to this level and to provide a motivating environment for the student to succeed. The assessment plan that is applied to the teachers measures what is measurable: the practical teaching ability and the assimilation of teac hing knowledge.For their students to succeed both in the IT curriculum and in the process of gaining employment, teachers will need to instill in them demonstrable competence. This in turn means that the teacher will need to show practical competence in the teaching methods. Theoretical knowledge of teaching methods will not be enough. Therefore a significant part of the training and consequently the assessment is competency-based. However, assimilated knowledge must also be taken into account when it demonstrates the teacher's aptitude.... he practical assessments will take place individually in the classroom itself as well as in rooms adjacent to the classroom to allow sufficient privacy for each trainee teacher and avoid the risk of collusion. Each teacher will answer the questions in the assessment on his or her own, and the grades will be calculated for each individual from the answers given. The correctness of the answers will be measured by the accuracy of the written result or by the demonstration of appropriate teaching behavior when doing the practical exercises. Course objectives: demonstrate broad understanding of teaching principles demo understanding of class dynamics demo understanding of learning motivation particularly in unemployment context demo understanding of continual assessment / orientation of students demo understanding of linking student learning to improved job prospects demo understanding of identifying learning problems and solving them demo workshop leadership for students to apply their learning demo ability to grade and assess students final performance Appendix 1 shows the relationship between the course objectives and the assessment Appendix 2 gives a representative sample of the assessment methods to be used. It may be noted as well that these assessment methods are available for immediate use by any person teaching the teachers on this course. Their application is specified in each case: for example, how to use the multiple choice questionnaires, which steps to accomplish in the practical exercise and what results are to be noted by the trainee teacher. Instructions have also been produced to allow any assessor or official examiner to apply these assessment methods. They require no specific knowledge on the part of the examiner (for the case where the person

Reasons behind Nursing as Career Choice Dissertation

Reasons behind Nursing as Career Choice - Dissertation Example From this dissertation it is clear that recruiting general nurses, especially in the United States and Europe, has undergone considerable decline over the years. Such possible loss of entrants to the profession of nursing, along with the increased rates of attrition, has brought about issues among stakeholders such as occurrences wherein the supply of nurses is insufficient for meeting health demands. The increasing life expectancy along with the rising number of patients who are experiencing acute and chronic health conditions emphasize the need for an increase in nursing staff members. However, certain issues have been identified in human resources. According to reports, there have been challenges in nurse recruitment and the filling up of nursing positions at hospitals. For instance, in 2000, there was a shortage of an estimate of 110,700 registered nurses as reported by the Ministry of Health in the US. In addition, it was reported by Buerhaus, Staiger, and Auerbach that the shor tfall of registered nurses in the country is likely to reach up to 500,000 by the year 2025. Other countries, including Australia and the United Kingdom, have experienced nurse shortages as well. Numerous studies, such as that of Grainger and Bolan have explored the significance of recruiting nursing students as well as the need to address the issues that come with such procedure. Therefore, it has been asserted that a more thorough and organised procedure for selection can help recruit motivated students and reduce the possibilities for nursing students to not continue with a nursing career. For effective recruitment to be carried out, there is a need to look into the reasons as to why individuals prefer nursing as their career; furthermore, the factors that influence such reasons should be identified as well (Brodie et al., 2004). Such information can not only provide guidance to the content recruitment campaigns and improve their reliability; knowing such reasons may also have a positive impact on the rates of attrition from nursing programs which can consequently present implications for workforce planning (Seago et al., 2006). It has appeared that the society and the media have had significant influence on individuals selecting nursing as their career choice as well as on the recruitment of students to the nursing profession. A number of studies have suggested that applicants have been interested in the positive reputation of a nursing career (Rheaume, Woodside, Gautreau, and Di Tommaso, 2003). On

The reasons of global warming Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The reasons of global warming - Essay Example Is there global warming Yes, there is global, though not everyone agrees on the fact that is happening, how to deal with it, or what the end results will be.1 In this paper we will discuss global warming The United Nations Climate Change Conference is to be held this week in Copenhagen. There will be 192 nations there. It will be a very significant meeting and the primary aim is to slow global warming. In 1997 this same team organized the Kyoto Protocol which called for a 5.2% change in carbon dioxide emissions from the 1990 levels. The United States refused to ratify it, though they now say they are willing to reduce carbon emissions in the United States by 50%. The treaty expires in 2012. When ask what they hoped to accomplish this time, the United Nations' de Boer says that it needs to include, greenhouse-gas emission goals for industrialized nations, emission free energy goals for developing nations, promises of money and machinery from industrialized nations to meet goals, and agreement on how to meet those goals. If global warming is so important then why did the last treaty not get signed2 The "Identifying Signatures of Natural Climate Variability in Time Series of Global-Mean Surface Temperature:Methodology and Insights" study is an international study done by a team of scientists from Colorado State University, Washington State University, East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom, and Exeter, United Kingdom. They used several models during their study since there has been such controversy over the different models showing different things. All of the models were tested by each group and when the final results came back, it was obvious that the predications of global warming were correct. Those model studies will be presented at the International Conference.3 The three model studies used were CTI, TENSO, and Tdyn. All three studies showed a continual increase in the overall temperature over time. That did not mean that there was not some cooling off done. In fact there were many dips but after each dip, the temperature increased to a new high average. Again the high aver age has been increasing more rapidly over the last 10-20 years. Technology would have to cut back. This would mean a large stain on an already strained world economy. Carbon dioxide emissions would have to be decreased by factories, cars, food manufacturers and many others. This does not appeal to the United States congress or others. The cost in dollars is high. One of the controversial issues is that the richer countries would have to pay for the poorer countries to receive the help they needed; of course global warming did not occur because of the poorer countries but because of the practices of the industrialized countries. Then there is the controversy. Is global warming really happening or is it hype that is created by the scientist to get us to clean up our act4 Recently, there was a disclosure about emails that were stolen from England's University of East Anglia. Those emails included climate researchers "bad-mouthing critics and struggling to explain if global warming is real, why recent years' temperatures didn't exceed 1998 and 2005 levels, the warmest on record."(Vergano, 2009, pg 2). This kind of thing is what is discouraging

How Internet Shapes Contemporary Social Environment Research Paper

How Internet Shapes Contemporary Social Environment - Research Paper Example A vastly different world exists today due to the spread of Internet use which relies to a great extent on the concept of redundant networks to assure continuous connections in whatever conditions. This paper examines how computers and the Internet have changed the world environment where people increasingly rely on these two products of modern technology to do anything they want. The Internet has altered the way people work, live, transact their business, how they can bank their money, communicate with each other, socialize, research for some information and in many ways previously inconceivable just a few decades ago. One can find knowledge with just a few clicks of the mouse. However, one thing the Internet has changed in a very profound way is how it made the world a much smaller place and various cultures now become homogeneous. Instant communications have allowed people to know more about each other and various cultures around the world. Information travels very fast at the speed of light (or the connections). Language barriers are being brought down because of the Internet; it has also allowed people to learn more about the culture of far-away countries in an instant. World culture is largely defined by the mass media (multi-media such as the television, newspapers, online libraries, the Internet and pop culture such as hip-hop music) and there is now an easier intermingling of various ideas. World culture is now largely defined as instant gratification, people are unwilling to wait longer than necessary when they want something or search for some answers to nagging questions. The Internet is all about building communities (albeit online groups such as Facebook and Twitter).

Analyzing CULTURAL REPRESENTATIONS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Analyzing CULTURAL REPRESENTATIONS - Essay Example Such a move depends on the degree to which the African Americans in question have been assimilated (32). The assimilation pushes Africans to formulate a public persona different from their real identities. Bamboozled exposes the historical portrayal of African-Americans in the American cinema. The images at the end of the film are a documentary to the satire therein (Black 20). Understanding the film in a better way calls for putting it in its context before the cinema emerged. Race is a social construction because the stereotypes of blacks reflect the perceptions of American whites (Epp 17). The stereotypes relate to the white dominion over Africans as opposed to the realities of the time. The abolition of slavery never put the stereotypes to an end. There emerged a new form of imperialism replacing the â€Å"noble savage† with the â€Å"ignoble savage† (20). Whether savages or children, Africans were in no instance perceived as being on the same level as whites. Despite not being slaves, Africans were still not given statuses similar to the whites. Certain groups such as the Irish and the Jews had to become whites with resultant stereotyping in the 20th century (Laski 1095). These stereotypes were so widespread that the entertainment industry felt it prudent to embrace them. Bamboozled followed this path. Bamboozled has a unique storyline written in a clever way (Ebert 1). Pierre Delacroix (De La) is an African-American television writer. He navigates a minstrel show complete with three-dimensional characters such as Aunt Jemima, Man Tan, and Sleep ‘n’ Eat. The writer’s intention in the beginning was to invoke popular outrage to facilitate his sacking from the television station (Ebert 1). This would relieve him of the obligations that he considers tiresome and boring. Surprisingly, however, De La’s show succeeds massively to the extent that the outrage against it becomes negligible and irrelevant. Alongside the African-American

Decision Making within college life Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Decision Making within college life - Term Paper Example Different courses of actions have different consequences and therefore since one cannot experience all these consequences before making a decision, then one should review previous decisions made and their consequences. Decision making is a process that one must undertake at one point in their life time. This therefore means that we all have to make choices. Decision making can be a very difficult process especially when one is under pressure. Young people especially those at the campus level are faced with various decisions to make within the course of their stay in school. Colleges are attended mostly by people between the ages of 19-25 years and these are the so called years of exploration. It is at this stage in life when one has obtained freedom in terms of not being shackled by parental rules such as curfews. While here, these young minds are at a curious stage in their lives. They want to experiment on what their parents have been shielding from them. It is at this point in lif e when most young people experiment with drugs, sex and other things. This paper seeks to discuss decision making in campus with the author including personal experiences. Personal Experiences The author will include some of his personal experiences while in campus in order to better understand decision making. Relationships There are very many relationships that are cultivated while in campus; relationships between lecturers and students, lecturers and subordinate staff, students and the administration and students with other students. Some of these relationships are benefitial to the students while others are detrimental. Take for instance relationships between students and lecturers. The relationship formed could be one of a mentor and a mentee. Such relationships could be very fruitful because the lecturer acts as a guardian and is concerned with the all-round life of the student and not its educational aspect only. Compare this with discreet relationships between these two same parties (lecturer and student) which are more sexual in nature. In campus, these are not uncommon relationships which in most cases are initiated by the students in search for better grades not because they deserve them but because they ‘forgot’ to work hard during the year. Degrees or diplomas obtained through such means are referred to as â€Å"STDs† which stands for- â€Å"Sexually Transmitted Degrees/Diplomas†. When such a student approaches a lecturer in such a manner, wearing skimpily in the hope of seducing him she has made a choice. The question as to whether she has considered the consequences is a different matter. A female student I was well acquainted with decided to pursue such a degree but unknown to her the lecturer was infected by HIV. One day she went for testing and upon discovering that she was positive she became so angry and vowed to take a large number of her fellow students to the grave with her. She went on a revenge mission and sl ept with around 150 men after she was infected. When on her death bed she relased a list of all the men she had sexual relations with. The list included the names of lecturers, subordinate staff and fellow students. The list was pinned on the notice board. This is one of the examples of detrimental relationships and the female student in this case made a choice to be vengeful. She had other options available to her such as forgiving and forgetting. Attribution Theory This theory was

Technology Essay Introduction Essay Example for Free

Technology Essay Introduction Essay A rapid development of scientific and technological progress, especially in recent decades, has changed thinking of a modern person. An advent of computers has made a real revolution. They altered our approach to work, study, entertainment and other aspects of life. In hospitals, our organism is scanned by complex tomography. Up-to-grade Internet access devices are located in schools while in institutions there are various tools for carrying out calculations and experiments. Being ordinary things, laptop, mobile communications, a global network, automated production lines – thats far from a complete list of useful information technologies. Probably, people did not possess such a sum of knowledge in different fields. Amazing phenomena surround us. Today, figuratively speaking, you can get news from your pocket, connect to a network, or send a message to an individual who is thousands of kilometers away from you. Thanks to technologies, we may get acquainted with people who live in other countries and cities. Science came up with a lot of interesting and useful stuff from biomaterials to artificial hands. From a factitious kidney to contact lenses that train eye muscles at night. From digital libraries, online universities, and courses to advanced deep earth drilling rigs. Present innovations are designed to serve humanity in its quest for high peaks. However, not all technologies benefit the human being. Frequently, we could observe some reverse. For instance, modern weapons are capable of destroying both nature and human lives in frightening proportions. An industry smokes and discharges toxic waste into the water, invades the earths interior in search of resources. In the Pacific Ocean, a new â€Å"continent† of floating debris has already settled down. On the one hand, electronic pages are good, less harm is done to the environment, and storing a large amount of data is easier and more convenient in such form. On the other hand, humanity is becoming increasingly dependent on technology. Most humans cannot even imagine what they will do if, for example, they forget a phone at home. Facebook, Twitter, and other analogs have a significant influence on the well-being and sense of human satisfaction. A lot of studies noted the more time a person spends in so-called â€Å"social relations†, the higher a risk of loneliness and depression. The question arises: does this mean that global networks mostly address single and unhappy people or they make them so? Live interaction is replaced by a set of letters on the computer as facial expressions are emoticons. People just stopped going to visit and see each other. Thus, technological progress has divided the world into two camps. Some people believe that creation of complex gadgets moves an evolution of our civilization forward. Others are convinced of the extremely negative impact of such devices on human health and psyche. First of all, it is worth noting that a lot of techniques are specially established for performing the most laborious and routine job. Similar developments allow you to economize both time and space. At the same time, opponents of technical innovations are sure that they make a person lazy, deprive him/her of the opportunity to act mentally and physically. Many of our contemporaries spend a significant part of their lives waiting for the moment when robots will do all the activity without their participation. Do not forget about a danger associated with an emission of gadgets and an emergence of psychological dependence. But any phenomenon conceals in itself both positive and negative sides. In the context of technology, it is necessary to observe moderation in their applying and to remember their subsidiary rather than a dominant role in our lives.

Case Study Skin Care Segment

Case Study Skin Care Segment From soaps and shampoos in the morning to overnight repair face creams, from sunscreen products in summers to moisturizing lotions in winters; skin care products literally touch our daily lives. These products we use are in some measure the signature of our lifestyles and standards of living. The skin care industry worldwide is a 50 Billion Dollar plus business. Caring for the skin of people throughout the world is an extraordinary business. It is a business where people are passionate about their work, because it matters. It matters to their families, to their communities and to the world. It is a business filled with tremendous opportunity for leadership and growth in the 21st century; a business where unmet needs still abound and where people around the world are waiting for new and better solutions. Skin care includes dramatic breakthroughs in science and technologies are opening the doors to bold new approaches; where global demographic and economic trends favor growth. It is a business where a broadly based company with a strong vision, a culture of caring and the resources to invest in the future has the opportunity to take the skin care to a new level for people throughout the world and where such a company can make a profound, positive difference for its customers. As the worlds obsession with fair blemishes skin continues, skin care products have emerged as a key driver for the personal care category. All the personal care majors, from HUL, PG and Emami to LOreal, CavinKare, Nivea and Dabur, are fighting a high-pitch battle to gain share in the small, but fast-growing skin care market. Indian skincare market ~ Rs 2,100 crore Skincare moisturizer market ~ Rs 1,600 crore Premium Skincare Market ~ Rs 450 crore Skincare market has been steadily growing at 16 per cent as of last year Anti-Ageing Market ~ Rs 60 crore Avons Face care Recommendation: Steps to cleanse and moisturize your face Step 1: Wash face thoroughly with a Cleanser. This opens up the pores on ones face Step 2: Apply Toner to close the pores to prevent dirt and dust from accumulating in the opened pores Step 3: Apply a Treatment (meaning a product like a wrinkle cream, firming cream, brightening etc.) Step 4: Apply a Moisturizer (During the day, your moisturizer should have a SPF in it. One can even use a combination of a fairness cream with SPF) Thats it! This process should only take about 3 to 5 minutes. Remember, a small amount goes a long way with your products. Dont over apply. That may decrease the effectiveness of the product. We note that every step caters to a different range of products LARGEST SKINCARE MARKETS WORLDWIDE France- It lives up to the reputation of the skincare knowledge centre with its the consumers having regular skincare routines The US is the second largest skincare market in the world, with a strong forecast growth in hand care The Japanese purchase high amounts of skincare products, as caring for skin forms a key element of their beauty routines Skin whitening creams form an important basis of Middle Eastern womens skincare regimes Per capita consumption in Hong Kong US$ 40, US$ 9 in Philippines, US$ 10 in Malaysia and Taiwan, 12 US$ in Japan and US$ 1.5 in China. Segment Market Overview Personal care category in India is valued at Rs 54.6 billion. An average Indian spends 8% of his income on personal care products. Skincare forms the largest part of the overall personal care market in volume terms. In 2009, around 15% of all spend on personal care came in the skincare category. The market size of this segment is US$ 200 million. Skin care grew by 13% in 2009 to reach nearly Rs32 billion. Skin care products comprise of personal grooming and personal hygiene products. The broad product categories are as follows- Personal Wash: soaps, face wash, body wash, shower gels Facial Care: face packs (or masks), anti acne, anti ageing, fairness, lip calms, astringents, toners Body Care: sunscreens, moisturizers, talcum prickly heat powders, antiseptics Foot care: Anti crack creams Hand care: Untapped market Skin Care Category: All India Urban Volume 13265.3 tonnes Conclusions derived from the above chart: Fairness sub category- 60% of the Skin care category volumes comes from this segment Winter Care sub category- Decline in consumption and decrease in small pack size buyers resulting in decline in volume Antiseptic sub category- New customers are driving the growth for this segment Sunscreen sub category- Low new trier rate Cleansing sub category- Increase in consumption from retainers is increasing volumes The anti-ageing phenomenon continues to gather momentum, with the worldwide market expected to reach $115.5bn by the end of 2010. Nourishers/anti-agers saw the fastest value growth of 19% in 2009. SWOT STRENGTHS Worlds largest FMCG company with a 61% share in the Indian skincare market Hindustan Unilever Ltds products continue to dominate skin care sales in 2009 The companys brands Fair Lovely, Ponds and Lakme were the top three skin care brands in India in 2009, with Fair Lovely accounting for 48% of the value sales of skin care in India. Long product mix Sophisticated Supply chain Strong brand name Major brands Ponds, Lux, Dove, Vaseline, Lifebuoy, Liril, Pears, Breeze, Hamam Since the brands have individual names, HULs reputation is not tied with that of the product. HUL carries all the advantages that come as a result of being a house of brands. Broad product line catering to all segments Low-priced sachet SKUs, free samples and new variants for its major brands boosted sales WEAKNESSES Significantly higher advertising expenditure incurred by HUL to build up all its brands from scratch since a blanket family name is not attached to the individual brands. Unilever generated revenues of $55.4 billion in the financial year (FY) ended December 2009, a decrease of 1.7% over 2008. The companys net income totaled $4.7 billion in FY2009, a decrease of 33.0% over 2008. OPPORTUNITIES The personal care division of HUL is recording an increase in revenues to the tune of $ 16.5 billion in 2009, an increase of 4.1% over 2008 owing to a volume growth of 2.3% driven by stronger innovation, advertising and promotional activities. Skin care grew by 13% in 2009 to reach nearly Rs32 billion Average unit prices continued to rise in 2009 Skin care is forecast to see a constant value CAGR of 10% Skin care continued to attract new players, both in the mass and premium categories, and, despite concerns about economic and financial security in the first half of 2009, skin care continued to see dynamic growth in 2009. THREATS Large numbers of relatively unorganised local players give it competition in the lower-price segments. Since these players typically operate in small geographies, they invest almost nothing in brand building and are thus able to offer higher trade margins and sell to consumers at prices lower than those of HLLs brands. Competition from organised national brands especially P G in the higher-price segments. In recent years, price war between the two FMCG giants has resulted in a dwindling of profits for both. 4.2 PROCTOR GAMBLE PG Hygiene and Health Care Limited is one of Indias fastest growing Fast Moving Consumer Goods Companies that has in its portfolio PGs Billion dollar brands such as Vicks Whisper. With a turnover of Rs. 500+ crores, the Company has carved a reputation for delivering high quality, value-added products to meet the needs of consumers. SWOT STRENGTHS Diversification: Product diversification with about 300 products. The diverse product mix includes personal and beauty items, household products, health and wellness, Baby and family and pet care and nutrition. Research and development: PG invests 3 4 % of Net outside Sales in research and development (RD). This amount easily exceeds their leading competitors, among consumer products companies. They also have more Ph.D.s working in labs around the world than the combined science and engineering faculty at Harvard, MIT and Berkeley. Innovation: In fiscal year 2004-05, PG was granted 27,000 patents globally. PG has produced a number of new products like diapers; shampoo and conditioner in one; toothpaste that prevents osteoporosis. Its diversified product mix helps in connecting technology across categories and brings innovation to the product. Brand building: Advertisement expenditure of PG is twice than the next company on the list of companies which spend highly on advertising. WEAKNESSES Has only recently, in 2007, made a foray into the skincare sector in India with the launch of its Olay brand. Is still a novice in a sector full of highly experienced competitors. Inadequate quality control: With large number of product profile, the quality control of all the products has deteriorated. OPPORTUNITIES Developing markets: The economies of China and India are growing at a very fast pace. The company currently competes in only about 10 of its top 25 categories in most developing countries. This provides PG with an opportunity to enhance its market share as well as expand its presence in other categories. THREATS Its brand Olay faces direct competition Ponds premium skincare range. Faces competition from local low-cost manufacturers 4.3 JOHNSON JOHNSON SWOT STRENGTHS Johnson Johnsons range of baby products is used widely by adults as it is one brand which is known for being very gentle on the skin. Clean and Clear face wash has effectively targeted the teenage segment which is paranoid of pimple problems and needs an effective and affordable remedy to acne. WEAKNESSES Neutrogenaoffering around 25 beauty items ranging from fairness creams, face cleansing lotions to sun protection and hand and body care products which was launched as a premium product is priced too steeply and not differentiated enough from Clean and Clear to justify the high price. OPPORTUNITIES The skincare segment is growing at a rate of 13% in India and thus provides immense growth opportunities to Johnson and Johnson. THREATS Ayurvedic products which are similarly gentle on the skin for e.g. Himalaya Faces competition from FMCG giants HUL and P G which have very long product line Factors shaping the industry 5.1 Growth Drivers Consumers clearly believe that taking care of their skin is one of the most important parts of their overall health and beauty regimes. Research shows that more consumers rated taking care of their skin as important than they did for looking their best in day-to-day life, highlighting how pivotal skincare is to the majority. Rapid urbanisation Increased purchasing power Greater awareness of fashion amongst the younger population Rising participation of women in urban work force Growing tendency to focus on individual and self gratification Growing importance of looks and personal grooming for personal and professional reasons Market trends like spread of organized retail to Tier II cities Development of non-traditional segments like mens cosmetics Development of a wide range of products at different price points Increasing competition with entry of large MNCs Increased brand building Customer awareness initiatives by companies Source-EIU CIA world fact book 5.2 INHIBITORS CULTURAL ISSUES Some cultures are more complex to service beauty-wise than others. It has been widely documented that some brands fail to build successful relationships with Muslim consumers because they fail to understand the consumers they are talking to. Because of cultural and religious issues, women focussing too much on looks are considered to be sinners and hence are not encouraged to focus on beautifying themselves. PRICE SENSITIVITY India is a very price sensitive market and thus there is a dire need for innovative solutions to cater to the Indian preferences and budgets. 5.3 Trend Analysis Key Trends in terms of product categories: Anti- ageing Anti-ageing solutions are nascent but gaining ground. It is the fastest growing segment in the skincare market (approximately 3 per cent of the overall skin category, it has doubled in the last three years) Brands Companies in anti ageing HUL Ponds Age Miracle Range PG Olay Total Effects: Fighting the 7 signs of ageing (lines and wrinkles, sagging, uneven skin tone, age spots, pores, dullness and dryness). Olay is a $2-billion brand. LOreal Garnier: In India since last decade Target Consumer for anti ageing: Indian Women looking for one product that will help her stay young and beautiful (Agelessness) Consumer Activation: Counters at cosmetics stores with counselling by expert beauty consultants at departmental stores and large modern retail outlets and further education on skincare Ayurveda Ayurveda is one of the most ancient medical traditions practiced in India, Sri Lanka and other South Asian countries, and has a sound philosophical and experiential basis. [4] Ayurveda has several formulations for management of aging and other skin care related conditions. Its literature describes over 200 herbs, minerals and fats to maintain and enhance the health and beauty of the skin. Today there is once again a revival of preference for natural products, and in recent years there has been a great upsurge in the study of Indian herbs. [7] Thus brands like Himalaya and Dabur Uveda have come to the fore. They offer specific solutions to skin problems. For example: Himalaya offers Neem (the derma specialist), Acne and pimple cream, antiseptic cream, foot care cream for cracks and a variety of face packs Clinics for skin treatment: Clinics such as VLCC and KAYA provide acne, hair removal and anti ageing treatments And this is in addition to offering a range of products in skin care. Fairness: Fairness creams have become the major drivers of the skin care segments growth. Fair and Lovely dominates this market catering to the needs of Indian women who wish to be fair (fair is beautiful) and that too at a very affordable price. Another new trend is the introduction of Emami and Garniers fairness creams for men. An overview of trends in India: The pace of new brand/product launches in skin care remained robust in 2009. Leading players, including Hindustan Unilever Ltd, modernized their brands with the addition of new product variants to feed female consumer appetite for more sophisticated products and male consumers increasing willingness to pay for specialized products for men. Skin care continued to attract new players, both in the mass and premium categories, and, despite concerns about economic and financial security in the first half of 2009, skin care continued to see dynamic growth in 2009. 2009 value growth was slightly higher than the CAGR of 12%. Robust growth towards was driven by increasing consumer sophistication and premiumization. Some consumers may have traded up from basic products such as Fair Lovely to more sophisticated variants offered by mass brands such as Ponds Flawless White, which incorporates SPF, UVAB filters and matt effect. Premium skin care grew slightly faster at 15% in current value terms than skin care as a whole in 2009. While skin care sales continued to be dominated by mass brands in India, urban women increasingly added one or two premium brands such as Este Lauder and Artistry to their skin care regimen alongside staples such as Fair Lovely and Ponds Word-of-mouth publicity for direct selling brands and the growing visibility of international brands in outlets in the major cities boosted the growth of premium products in 2009. Whitening and fairness and glowing/clear complexion remained the most prominent marketing claims in skin care in India in 2009 due to the prevailing preference of Indian consumers for fair skin. Acne treatment brands are commonly available in cream/ointment, lotion and bar soap formats. Cream/ointment is by far the most popular format, accounting for 81% of value sales of acne treatments in 2009. In September 2009, Clean Clear Active Clear Acne Clearing Gel was launched by Johnson Johnson Ltd. Acne kits are not available in India, and sales of acne treatment products are dominated by chemists outlets. LOreal India Pvt Ltd increasingly stationed beauty advisors in upmarket chemists outlets to promote Vichy in Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi. Nonetheless, due to its high price points and premium positioning, Vichy remained a highly niche brand in 2009. The launch of Garnier Light Eye Roll On in early 2009 was a huge success as the product highlighted the commonly faced problems of puffiness of eyes and dark circles and leveraged consumers latent need for such a product. The use of face scrubs and peel-off face masks is very common in India and the products are mainly used to improve skin complexion by removing dead skin. Facial cleansers witnessed a higher value growth rate in 2009 compared to 2008, spurred by the emphasis among newly launched brands such as Neutrogena (Johnson Johnson Ltd) and EverYuth Menz (Cadila Healthcare Ltd) on this category through their mass-media campaigns. Moreover, existing brands with a loyal consumer base, such as StreetWear (Modi Revlon Pvt Ltd), Nivea for Men (Nivea India Pvt Ltd) and Lactocalamine (Piramal Healthcare Ltd), expanded their product portfolio by launching facial cleansers in 2009. Even premium brands such as Clinique (Elca Cosmetics Pvt Ltd) saw a robust increase in the sales of their facial cleansers in 2009. 5.4 TRENDS IN ADVERTISEMENTS LUX: Today, the brand is still heavily advertised in India using Bollywood stars. Madhubala, Hema Malini, Sridevi, Madhuri Dixit, Juhi Chawla, Rani Mukerji have all been past brand ambassadors] Aishwarya Rai, Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif are the present brand ambassadors of Lux. In India Shahrukh Khan was the first male in a Lux advertisement. LUX signed up the King Khan as its ambassador for its 75th celebration year. This was quite interesting and made a clutter breaking endorsement. Why SRK? We can only speculate that he is a person who relates to emotions quite strongly, especially with ladies emotions. This could also be a way of the company wanting to create a wider space around the brand LUX to cater to a wider target group. Beauty being the central theme and emotions being the space around beauty. In this respect, currently Abhi-ash (Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) endorse the brand together. We dont see much of male models doing endorsement for soaps. Cinthol got Vinod Khanna, and it made the first mark in the consumer mind of male soap. Lifebuoy advertised with a bunch of males and it was more oriented towards cleanliness and god health and not in the beauty space. DOVE: Brand managers the world over are understandably jealous. Imagine having unearthing and exposing some of the neuroses women have about themselves, create a sensitive and believable marketing campaign, and then yes inspire change! In 2004, Unilevers Dove dared to launch this as its new positioning. And of course, it worked. Till date, the brand continues to excel in its role as marketer-turned-social activist, while, naturally, never losing sight of the core business. What were getting a lot better at now is incorporating the Campaign for Real Beauty message along with the product-specific, product-superiority kind of message, says Sharon MacLeod, Doves brand manager, on its evolution this year. Ordinary women from different walks of life feature in Dove ads rather than celebrities which enhances believability of the product. FAIR AND LOVELY: Its the ultimate product in India in catering to fairness needs of women. Advertisements highlight the plight of dark women who are under confident and even ridiculed in society. Then once they use FAL they are not only fair and glowing but also confident about going out into the world and getting a corporate job or becoming a super star. Such ads have a mass appeal. india is one country where women are judged and discriminated on the basis of their complexion and this brand offers a solution to facing that so called humiliation, hence it has sold like hot cakes since its launch. A similar product has been launched by other companies for fairness creams suited for men, PONDS: The ponds googli wooglie ads are supposed to be charming and have been readily accepted by the customers. However, the launch of PONDS AGE MIRACLE has been quite successful. The ad reads see the change in your husband i.e. PONDS reverses wrinkles and spots of ageing to transform oneself into ones youthful self. This brand too doesnt use celebrities to make ads more believable and simple rather than using celebrities who often divert the attention from the brand to themselves OLAY: Olay anti-ageing ads make extensive use of celebrities to endorse its brand. these include Sushmita Sen, Gul Panag etc to vouch for these brands. This adds credibility to the brand. This a premium brand and mostly symbolizes sophistication. JOHNSON JOHNSON: Baby care products are virtually a monopoly. These ads feature cherubic babies learning to walk, being cared for by their mothers etc. The products are also used by adults with sensitive skin. In order to cater to the needs of other adult segments, Neutrogena provides cleansers toners moisturizers lotions anti-ageing creams etc. The brand is endorsed by new age icons like Prachi Desai and Deepika Padukone. Clean Clear is a major brand in treatment of acne with its astringent, face wash and pimple zapping ointment. 5.5 BARRIERS TO ENTRY India being a price sensitive market there is low penetration by international brands High rate of new product launches Calls for ability to constantly update their products to changing customer needs or else the competitor can sweep the market away High advertisement spending Barriers specific to anti ageing sub segment: It is the working woman who is more conscious of the way she looks rather than the woman who stays at home. And in India that segment is still small, unlike the Chinese market where there is a high population of working women. To that extent, the companies find it limiting to enter this segment India. Also products are on the more expensive side. They are considered premium. For example, Olay is priced at Rs 599 for a 50 gm pump jar Producing efficacious anti-aging solutions requires a lot of science and research, which can prove expensive. This compresses the target market therefore discouraging companies from entering this sub segment and competing with already established brands commanding a high degree of brand loyalty. BRAND PERCEPTION SURVEY 6.1 Questionnaire If we assume every brand to be personified, what personality trait would you associate each of these brands with? Lux Dove Fair and Lovely Lakme Ponds Johnson Johnson Baby care Neutrogena Himalaya Boroplus Olay Garnier Vaseline Clear n Clear For making a decision regarding the purchase of a skin care product, rank the importance of the following in the decision process Price Quality Advertisements Publicity Innovation Note: Fairness, Anti ageing and Winter-care have contributed to either fuelling or sustaining growth in the skin care segment. The following questions therefore pertain to one major brand from each of these sub-segments namely Fair Lovely, Olay and Pond Answer the following in Yes/No FAL OLAY PONDS Quality The brand is of superior quality You would refer the brand to others Price The brand offers competitive pricing Its value proposition for the price is best in this class Innovation You view the brand as innovative The brand offers real-world solutions The brand understands the need of the market Advertisements Publicity The ads for the brand are superior to competitors The ads are suitable to the brand 6.2 RESULTS OF THE SURVEY Popular responses to the brands were: Lux : Competent Dove: Sincere Fair and Lovely: Imaginative Lakme: Spirited Ponds: Charming Johnson Johnson Baby care: Loving Neutrogena: Fresh Himalaya: Natural Boroplus: Reliable Olay: Sophisticated Garnier: Classy Vaseline: Gentle Clear n Clear: Confident On the basis of survey the following were the criteria as ranked by consumers in making a purchase decision regarding a skin care product: Rank Criteria Quality Price Innovation Advertisements Publicity FAL OLAY PONDS The brand is of superior quality 80% 84% 80% You would refer the brand to others 92% 76% 68% The brand offers competitive pricing 100% 60% 84% Its value proposition is best in this class 96% 80% 92% FAL OLAY PONDS You view the brand as innovative 92% 96% 60% The brand offers real-world solutions 80% 92% 76% The brand understands the need of the market 100% 72% 72% The ads for the brand are superior to competitors 56% 52% 52% The ads are suitable to the brand 80% 92% 80% 6.3 ANALYSIS CONCLUSIONS DRAWN Since all responses are above 50% in favor of Yes, the percentages indirectly reflect the degree of to which people agree: 50-70: Somewhat Agree 70-90: Agree 90-100: Totally agree We found that these brands are superior in their respective sub segments. On interviewing the women, we found that while FAL is the undisputed champion in fairness creams, OLAY is viewed as reasonably good as compared to other anti-ageing creams due to its extensive advertising and PONDS is the most viable solution for winter-care hence the popularity of Ponds Cold Cream. FAL It is viewed to be reasonably priced and thus is value for money. A whopping 100% feel that the brand is catering to the needs of the market. In India, it is no secret that women wish to be fair, hence FAL provides the perfect solution at the best price. Ads are believed to be superior to competitors but by a very small margin. The ads have a mass appeal and are considered suitable to the brand. OLAY The positive responses point to the fastest growing sub segment in skin care: Anti-Ageing creams. OLAY is premium brand (not meant to cater to the masses). The brand is viewed as very innovative and effectively provides a solution to the new-age need of agelessness among women. There are other players that dilute the impact of this brand on consumer minds but OLAY has made an impression with its celebrity endorsements. PONDS anti ageing creams offer ads which are more attractive hence the OLAY ads are not able to build an exclusive brand perception in the minds of people. PONDS Its value proposition is best among cold creams. It may not cater to the needs of all people as those with oily skin may choose to avoid using PONDS. The cream may cause stickiness in such cases which can lead to acne problems. However, when it comes to using a cold cream, most prefer this brand. The ads are considered endearing and suitable to the brand. The new emerging needs for fairness and anti-ageing solutions have not completely overruled the importance of ponds cold creams. Also as noted earlier, PONDS See the difference in your husband Anti-ageing creams are preferred in terms of ads UNMET NEEDS IN SKINCARE Oily skin: For skin which is more on the oilier side. A regular matt base cream or even the anti oil creams available in the market causes flakes to accumulate on the surface and oil based cream results in stickiness which may aggravate acne. An oil control version of Fair and Lovely solved the problem to some extent but it was still on the stickier side. Moreover, this product is not to be seen in the market anymore. There is a need to cater to people with this skin type as they often find themselves not using moisturizers or sunscreens at all (rather be tanned than have an acne outbreak) Elimination acne for good: There is no effective fool proof method of preventing recurring outbursts of acne. People prone to acne succumb to outbreaks throughout their life. Even those who regularly use cleansers to maintain oil free skin as well as anti acne creams or zap pimples with anti-pimple acid based ointments have to face them again. Anti-Radiation: Long-term exposure to radiation from televisions, microwaves, cell phones, computers and laptops etc. increases the risk of all forms of cancer, tumors, blood disorders, miscarriage, headaches, insomnia and anxiety. This we have heard but little do people know that it also causes aging of the skin by drying or wrinkling the skin, skin burn, etc. This form of skin damage is identical to sun damage and causes the same health problems. Computer radiation is most harmful to skin health because we sit directly in front of the computer for long periods of time with our face absorbing the radiation. This may require extensive research and development on the part of companies but a skin care product catering to protect one from these radiations can be regarded as a latent need. Hand care : There is no product specifically catering to this sub segment. Regular manicures are not feasible to care for ones hands. Indian womens hands are abused in the course of washing clothes and dishes, Hands become rough and hard. Lotions, moisturizers and antiseptics exclusively for ones hands are an unmet need. Premium skin care range specially designed to suit mens skin is largely unmet. The only progress in this respect is with regards the new entry of fairness creams fo

Production, consumption, and exporting of tea

Production, consumption, and exporting of tea QUESTION 1(i) Production, Consumption, and Exporting of tea Tea, like coffee is a typical favorable beverage among many. Tea is therefore produced in many countries. The annual world production of tea is about 2.9 million tones. Countries that have the most production of tea and largest tea plantation are China and India, followed by Kenya and Sri Lanka. China is the only country that produces non fermented tea (green tea), semi-fermented tea (Oolong tea), and other various kinds of fermented tea which also includes black tea. In India alone, the tea production is about 750,000 tones. Below are the total productions in tones of each country for the year 2006 and 2007 Productions in tones. Figures for years 2006 2007 Country 2006 2007 China 1,047,345 1,183,502 India 928,000 949,220 Kenya 310,580 369,600 Sri Lanka 310,800 305,220 Turkey 201,866 206,160 Vietnam 151,000 164,000 Indonesia 146,858 150,224 Japan 91,800 94,100 Argentina 72,129 72,000 Iran 59,180 60,000 Bangladesh 58,000 58,500 Malawi 45,009 46,000 Uganda 34,334 35,000 Other countries 189,551 193,782 Total 3,646,452 3,887,308 Tea is consumed around the world especially in British countries such as United Kingdom and Ireland, not forgetting the countries where tea is being produced. Tea is less favorable compared to coffee in countries such as America. Most of the tea consumed outside of East Asia is being produced in India or Sri Lanka. In Japan, green tea is a favorite for the locals, a mixture of green tea and hot water in a cup would do the trick for the Japanese. However, only green tea is consumed in Japan. Researches show that tea in terms of consumption is the most popular drink in the world. Exporting tea is a very common thing to do, in fact, the largest exporter of tea in the world is Kenya. China and Sri Lanka also plays very important roles in this sector. The growth in the export of tea is not just because of the demand, but also the heavy response to promote health benefits of tea consumption. QUESTION 1(ii) The influence of individual growers on the price of tea Individual growers are influenced by the price of tea. This is based on demand and supply. If demand for tea is high, growers and producers will then produce and supply more tea, on the other hand if the demand for tea is low, supply for tea by growers will also be less. Some Individual growers would also prefer to invest in the local market rather than export as to avoid heavy competition against other tea producing countries. QUESTION 1(iii) The role of transnational corporation in the tea market The role of a transnational corporation is to manage production and deliver services in more than one country. This corporation also plays an important role in the tea market. Tea companies such as Unilever and Tata tea have made a huge impact on the world market by setting up their own plantations and factories. Exporting and importing of tea has to go through the transnational corporation as most transport and shipping companies are controlled by them, thus making a stamp on the role of transnational corporations in the tea industry. QUESTION 2 Price of tea has been increasing since the year 2005, the demand and supply factors are the ones responsible for the increase. Despite the economic crisis in recent years, demands for tea has still been strong to many of its customers are an essential product. This is probably because of the health benefits from drinking tea. The demand for tea is income inelastic. However, some people may consider tea as an inferior good which is purchased at a larger amount compared to more expensive drinks, thus leading to an increase in price. China, one of the powerhouses in the tea industry is also growing in demand for tea as it has become one of the favorite beverages for the locals. Countries with rapid economic growth such as China, India, and Russia have resulted in locals with higher income, which will increasingly affect their spending behavior. They are allowing them to purchase branded and higher quality tea instead of cheaper and lower quality tea. As mentioned above, by being an inel astic product, increase in prices will not affect its consumers, as tea has its own alternative which requires small amount of income, therefore the rise in prices will not affect demand. As the demand for tea increases, the supply will also increase. This is based on the demand for tea as more people buy tea. Suppliers will then have to supply more tea in order to meet the requirements. Another supply factor would be the price of tea, as the prices of tea is increasing and still many people are consuming it, suppliers then have to supply more tea locally and in terms of export as this signals that they will make a profit base on the demand. Supply of tea is also affected by draughts. Those countries such as India, Kenya, and Sri Lanka are places where draught happens. Draughts will then lead to a lower supply rate of tea in these countries. Nevertheless, supplies of tea cannot easily be increases in a short period of time as that is the nature of the plant, thus affecting the world tea market by causing a rise in the price of tea. Below is a chart which shows the world demand and supply of tea from year 2004-2007 Alexander, A., 2009. Market and Industry Report-Russian Tea Market Research Report. [Online Image]. Available from: http://www.russiablog.org/2009/09/russian_tea_market_research_statistics.php [Accessed 03December 2009]. Among the countries that are famous for its tea production, India is one of the powerhouses in the tea market. Apart from dominating the world population as the second largest population in the world, India was also the second largest tea producer behind China during the year 2007. India also manages to produce an astonishing 945 million kg of tea that year. In terms of exporting wise, India came in fourth as the largest exporter of tea in the world with an exporting volume of approximately 178.75 million kg. In 2007, the Indian market size for tea is valued at $876.4 million and weighted 226.04 million kg. Retail prices for tea in India is very low compared to other countries such as Russia, for example, the average retail price of Indian tea is priced at $3.9 per kg , whereas it Russia it is priced at $20.2 per kg. This is probably caused by the exchange rate as the currency in Russia is stronger and more powerful compared to countries like India. Transnational corporations such as Tata tea and Unilever in India also help to play a role in the success of Indias tea industry. Plantations, processing factories, transport companies, and shipping agencies are all controlled by the corporation which helps the process of export and other actions smoothen. From year 2005-2008, the demand for tea has been exceeded by the supply in India. Not only in India actually, but the whole world which in this case supply has exceeded the demand for tea. This did not just happen accidentally, but rather intentional as it will help prevent the tea prices in India from dropping. Below is a table showing the demand and supply of tea in India Supply and Demand of tea in India Kg ( in millions) Demand ( consumption) Supply(production and import) 2005 757 963 2006 771 9006 2007 786 961 2008 802 1000 2006 was the start where recent buoyancy happened to tea prices. This turned out to be a relieve factor for most bulk tea players as they have been suffering from low and depressed prices of tea since 1999. In the past, after prices of tea had reached a peak in 1998, it went into a steady decline which produced an average domestic price of 76.43 per kg in 1998 which continued to drop in price which was 58.05 per kg in 2005. India then went on and suffered a lost in export markets. Among the factors were lack of market initiative by Indian investors in search of export markets, failure to check spurious varieties of tea and graded them as premium, high quality tea which then affected the image of the Indian tea market, and higher cost of production compared to other rival countries. Factors like these have led to India losing out in the export market, nevertheless leading to an increased supply in the domestic market. Quality factors also play an important role in determining the pric e and export. The above can be good examples of why price of tea in India can be quite volatile from year to year. Price of tea can also be affected by natural disasters such as typhoon, flooding, and draughts. In which reduces the supply of tea thus lower export rates. Last but not least, economic factors such as currency rates or inflation are able to affect and determine the price of tea. QUESTION 3 A change in price of tea would affect the economy of a country. Take India for example, an increase in the price of tea would mean good profit returns for the tea market as well as an advantage for bulk tea players who have invested large amounts of money into the tea industry. An increase in the price would mean that they have made a profit whereas if the price decreases, tea players would then suffer a loss. Judging from all areas, an increase in the price of tea would not fully bring benefits to the economy of the country. If the price increases, therefore cost of production for tea would also increase. When this happens, not all tea industries in India would want to export their tea as it may be too costly at their expense, which will lead them to invest in the domestic market. If there is a drop in price, transnational corporations such as Tata tea and Unilever will then take necessary actions to increase the price to a stable condition. A drop or increase in price will also aff ect the economy of India tremendously as India is one of the powerhouses in the world tea market, therefore little changes could make a big impact on the country. When competition for tea is too high in the market, price of tea will be affected negatively as there are too many suppliers comparing with each other in order to overpower the tea market. On the other hand, if competition for tea is low, this automatically raises the price of tea due to low supply. If demand for tea is high, wages of workers will increase as more workers are needed at the plantation and other tea processing facilities. Wages or workers in this case are determined by competition of tea as well as market power. In order to obtain market power, strong firms such as Unilever and Tata tea should be certain of a few items, tea that is either sold domestically or for export purposes should be of quality tea leaves, this is important as it can gain the trust and confidence of customers domestically and abroad. Te a corporations should also control the volume of tea being sold or exported as they would like to meet the requirements of the demand and supply situation, too much tea being produced would result in wastage. Supply networks also helps build up market power in the corporation, for instance, corporations should have export agencies to assist them in matters regarding export of tea to other countries. Overseas agents should also be hired as they can work as a link between the domestic market and overseas market, agents overseas can also help by sourcing and delivering information regarding other corporations which are in the same business. This can then help the domestic corporation plan their market strategies better. If the tea corporation has succeeded in obtaining a big share in market power, wages of workers in the corporation will increase simultaneously as they are crucially needed in order to smoothen and fasten the process of production of tea. Each step in producing tea will require manpower. Therefore workers are crucial at this stage.