Management Restructuring Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Management Restructuring - Assignment Example The development stages discussed in the case represent restructuring in many areas such as communication and customer management. The basic aim of the restructuring is to increase competence as the overall environment is very agile and firms need to compete at the max level is order to attain their position in the market or industry. The design tactics discussed herein are mostly related to competency based planning for the replacement of the management. The knowledge base is to be kept for future assistance and this is why knowledge management is gaining popularity in the current context. Knowledge is the most precious asset a firm has and it will try to keep it at almost every cost. The core competency driving forces assumed are The case also highlights the importance of feedback that is vital for the expansion/continuity of the business. The technique being focused over here is the dominant 360 feedback technique in which all can evaluate each other. Next discussion is about the communication within the organization. Communication is regarded as an important role player within the system and clear n concrete communication is all that is required for success. The communication process is to be designed in a more attractive fashion, unlike from the same routine based system. The system development is to be focused on the point that the candidates involved should be able to show their extent of interest in follow

Field Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Field Report - Essay Example re resources in the natural history of Victoria and even beyond its boundaries (Melbourne Museum, 2015, retrieved from http://museumvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum/about-us/). The museum is divided into three venues: immigration museum, science works and the Melbourne Museum. The Melbourne Story exhibition is found in the Melbourne Museum. It shows the history of the Melbourne starting from when the white settlers and  the local indigenous people got into contact. The history is connected in the form of stories, soundscapes, images, artifacts and interactive components. This ensures that the visitors have an insight into the Melbourne story. This story shows the Australian history which covers the rich, poor, settlers, indigenous people, immigrants, and how they survived as Australia developed. The Melbourne Story is a comprehensive exhibition that has abundant information about the city of Melbourne. The collections are presented in such a way that they reveal the extraordinary riches of the city. There is an amazing hand colored lithograph that shows the olden city of Melbourne in 1858 (Museum Victoria, 2001, p. 21). The picture, which was developed by George Rowe, shows the ancient city. The buildings and the mode of dressing simplify a time when Australia was under-developed. Each object in the museum displays a certain historical time, and they are all organized in a chronological manner. All the pictures are taken and printed using the available technology of that particular time. Through this presentation, the museum manages to show the lifestyle and technology of the Australian people at different historical times. There are various jar bells and stuffed animals that create and antique display of the people living in Melbourne during the Victorian period. There is a video footage that covers a football match which is believed to have been taken between 1900 and 1920 (Museum Victoria, 2001, p. 43). The video is of low quality but in relation to the

Processing the Crime Scene and Establishing Identity Essay

Processing the Crime Scene and Establishing Identity - Essay Example The second step which is examine usually supplements or adds to the initial observation of the crime scene technician. This step comprises of collecting evidences, analyzing the exit and entry points, and sizing up the general layout of the entire crime scene. Photographing is the third step in assessing a crime scene, where evidences as well as general views of the location is taken on film; so that a pictorial review can be done to evaluate how the area of crime actually looks like. Next is the sketch – where a rough draft or drawing is done by the crime scene technician to indicate the actual layout of the crime scene and the location of the bodies including the murder weapon and any other evidences related to the case. Last but not the least in the examination of a crime scene is the process. This stage entails the crime scene technician to collect all evidences, testimonial and physical.

Eport that outlines why sustainable development is part of the Essay

Eport that outlines why sustainable development is part of the solution to man-made global warming - Essay Example Wind energy appears to be feasible sustainable energy option, which can fulfil power needs, even while countering global warming. Table of Contents Introduction 3 Aims and Objectives 3 Global Warming and how sustainable development is the way forward 4 Sustainable options 5 Conclusion 7 References 8 Sustainable development is part of the solution to man-made global warming Introduction Man-made global warming subjects the environment to various forms of ‘assaults’ and that is having a extreme effect on the human lives as well, as both coexist. Loss of human supporting biodiversity, shortage of fresh water, drastic changes in climate, etc are having negative effect on the health of the humans. Unless this negative impact of global warming is stopped or paused or even minimized, it will continue to endanger many human lives not only in the present but also in the future. Thus, before formulating any strategies against global warming, it is necessary to understand how actio ns taken by people of current generation could have an impact or consequence for them as well as for the future generations. This aspect of understanding and caring for the people of present times as well as future, and thereby acting accordingly only constitutes sustainable development. As defined by Kates, Parris and Leiserowitz (2005) sustainable development is the â€Å"†¦ability to make development sustainable to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs† Aims and Objectives Development is carried out mainly focusing on economic and materialistic aspects, without thinking about sustainability. That is, as pointed out above, sustainable development focuses on the wellbeing of not only the present generation of people but also the future, but this focus on economic aspects and materialism is destroying the environment and the people dependent on it. Thus, it is very crucial to carry out these developmental activities in a sustainable way. Sustainable development is a major part of the solution to global warming, as it eliminates the catalytic factors of global warming. After focusing on how sustainable development is the way forward for the human race, the next part of the paper will discuss the various sustainable options, particularly focusing on Wind power. The paper will end with a personal conclusion on how to stop or pause or even minimize global warming and its effects. Global Warming and how sustainable development is the way forward Global Warming is mainly caused by the GHG, particularly Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and their activities in the atmosphere. This increased CO2 emissions and the resultant global warming hots up the earth abnormally, leading to various negative effects on the environment as well as the human lives. CO2 emissions are visible in various human developmental activities starting from constructing new infrastructure to the process of elect rification. For example, Coal, used to generate electrical power in many countries around the world, is also high emitter of CO2. â€Å"With Coal having the highest carbon intensity among fossil fuels, coal-fired plants have the highest output rate of CO2 per kilowatthour.† (eia.doe.gov). As there is increasing emission of CO2, earth gets hotted up very quickly melting the

Medication vs. Natural Treatment for ADHD Essay Example for Free

Medication vs. Natural Treatment for ADHD Essay Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (also known as ADHD) is an increasing struggle among children in today’s society that affects them at home, in their social lives and academically. Many people think that all-natural treatments are the only way to help children who struggle with ADHD; however, despite the controversy over using medication with possible side effects, Adderall can be a helpful tool in the battle against ADHD. ADHD is a chronic neurological condition that affects millions of children and can often carry into adulthood. Signs and symptoms of ADHD may include trouble staying focused, trouble listening, difficulty completing tasks, fidgets and squirms and tends to be forgetful. Clearly, having these symptoms can make it difficult for a child to succeed in school and in other activities as well. (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2011) Many people believe that medication will affect a child negatively but medications are used every day to help with medical issues. For instance, if your child had diabetes would you hesitate to treat the disease with medication? Obviously, parents would do what was needed to help their child overcome this disease. In the same way, we need to be open to the idea of using medication to treat ADHD. There are many treatments available to help in the battle against ADHD. Medication is a controversial subject when it comes to treating any disorder; however, when medicine is used under a doctor’s supervision and distributed correctly, it can have a positive effect on the problem. When medication is taken, it enters the bloodstream and the key ingredients begin to stimulate the brains production of norepinephrine and dopamine which improves a person’s concentration and alertness. People with ADHD also tend to suffer from high blood pressure and rapid heartbeat but when medication is taken, it can help to get these problems under control and return the person’s system back to a normal state. (Nall) Another method of treatment that is widely used is natural treatment such as dieting and counseling. Some people may see positive results with Natural Treatments but for some children, medication is the only way to get their symptoms under control. Some experts believe that ADHD can be caused by food allergies and that by using the elimination diet, you can locate the allergy and treat the symptoms. In an elimination diet, you remove foods one at a time that your doctor believes may be causing the symptoms. Gradually, you begin re-introducing these foods back into your diet and when your symptoms return, then a diagnosis can be confirmed. (Elimination diet and, 2011) There has also been much thought put into the effect that processed sugar has on ADHD and research shows that it can have an effect on children’s activity levels. Nutritionists suggest that adding high fiber foods such as berries and other fruits, whole grains and oatmeal to your child’s diet that it can help manage their glucose levels and aid in the treatment of ADHD. These diets may be useful in the battle against ADHD but you can’t guarantee that this will help with the symptoms. There are so many processed foods available in the market today that it is very hard to keep sugar and other processed ingredients out of your diet. In order to follow through on the diet, one must make their child’s food and snacks and keep up on a very strict regime to make sure that they do not consume the â€Å"culprit† foods. Not every person can keep up on a diet to this extreme and that is when medication is available to help keep the symptoms under control. Counseling such as behavioral training can be an effective treatment for ADHD. Also available is learning behavior management that can be an essential part of any ADHD treatment. There are three levels of ADHD behavioral training that they focus on: * Parent training * Classroom behavior modification * Special education placement Although behavioral training management can be effective, according to WebMD, most experts agree that combining behavior management along with medication treatment can be the most effective treatment plan. One medication that has been used to treat ADHD is Adderall (Dextroamphetamine-amphetamine). Adderall was approved for treatment by the FDA in 1996 and has become a very popular choice in treatment. Adderall is considered a stimulant medication and according to The Mayo Clinic it appears to boost and balance levels of brain chemicals called neurotransmitters. Adderall helps to improve symptoms such as attention problems, impulsivity and hyperactivity. (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2011) Adderall has many possible side effects that can cause concern, but if under a doctor’s supervision it is considered a safe treatment. (Monson Schoenstadt, 2008) When taking treatments into consideration, one must figure out if the side effects of the medicine are a small price to pay to conquer the annoying and life interrupting symptoms of ADHD. There are many benefits to both methods of treatment. When using the natural methods such as diet and counseling, you do not have the possibility of side effects like you do with the medication but for more severe forms of ADHD, you do not see as high of an improvement rate. Although there are the chances of side effects when taking Adderall, it does have more of a calming effect on the patient. The benefits of using Adderall include being able to focus, sit still, complete schoolwork and help in many other areas that ADHD affects. I know that with my own personal experience as we have walked through the battle of ADHD with my son, it is difficult to find the correct treatment plan that needs to be followed. We tried diets and counseling but could not seem to get a grasp on his symptoms. After being against medication for such a long time, we finally sat down with our pediatrician and explored all options available to us. Our pediatrician explained to us that when people have cancer, they need treatments of chemotherapy and or radiation to kill the disease. In my opinion, Adderall is the â€Å"chemotherapy and radiation† for ADHD. We tried for many years to help our son succeed in school and it wasn’t until we started his treatment of Adderall twice a day that we started to see improvement. Adderall is not an â€Å"instant† fix but given time, it is effective. Our son is now going into high school and not only does he have passing grades, but we no longer get calls from the teachers because he is unable to sit still and pay attention. Anytime medications are used in treatment plans, there is always a possibility of side effects. By going about treatment with medication in the proper manner and following your doctor’s advice, Adderall and other medications can be a very useful tool in gaining control of your child’s ADHD. I do believe that natural treatments are always the best option and should be considered first, but when these treatments do not help solve the issue then you need to consider other options. When your child suffers from ADHD and it affects all areas of their lives, you need to be open to whatever options are available to help you get the situation under control. By using Adderall and natural treatments such as diet and counseling together, you can get control back of your child’s behavior and see many benefits in the home, social setting and school settings. References (2011). amphetamine and dextroamphetamine, adderall. Retrieved from http://www.medicinenet.com/amphetamine_and_dextroamphetamine/article.htm Elimination diet and food challenge test for diagnosing allergies. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/allergies/allergies-elimination-diet Mayo Clinic Staff. (2011, Feburary 10). Mayo clinic. Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/adhd/DS00275 Monson, K., Schoenstadt, A. (2008, July 10). emedtv.com. Retrieved from http://adhd.emedtv.com/adderall/adderall.html Nall, R. (n.d.). ehow.com. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5406378_adderall-work-add_.html

Chocolate Processing Is A Long History Industry

Chocolate Processing Is A Long History Industry Chocolate processing is a long history industry in global and since it been discovered in the mid 1600, the passion for cocoa grew. When Joseph Fry Son discovered a way to make the first modern chocolate bar, its become favourite for sweet and dessert lovers. Since the demand increasing substantially, lots of large chocolate company established in the international market such as Cadbury, Ferrero roce, Hersheys and their brands are strong identified by consumers. Therefore chocolate industry is a high rivalry global market and it is crucial for Cocoa Boutique to plan appropriate strategic to modify the structure and competitive dynamics to gain an advantageous position. Prior to strategy planning, Cocoa boutique required understanding the internal and external environment and its position within the industry by using business strategy tools such as SWOT analysis, PEST analysis, and value chain analysis. 2.0 SWOT analysis of Cocoa Boutique SWOT analysis model is the most common using tool by large organization whereas it is stand for strength, weakness, opportunity and threat of the firm or industry. Through SWOT analysis, managers can better understanding its organizations position within the industry and planning appropriate strategy to achieve its mission and goals. Strength Although the rivalry is fierce, chocolate making in Malaysia is quite unique because almost chocolates products imported from western company. This given an opportunity for Cocoa Boutique to establish their local chocolates making company to build brand identify among local citizens. Through effectiveness marketing direct, Cocoa Boutique established their seventh outlets in Eastern Malaysia to satisfy the demand increase dramatically from chocolate lovers. Owing to a small organization, the structure of Cocoa Boutique is easily to manage and control hereby reduces the administration and operation expenses as well as overall costs. Further, Cocoa Boutique also gain benefit cheaper cost of material because Malaysia is a place which rich with natural resources like fruits that widely use to process different chocolates taste. Weakness Since they are lots of large international chocolate company in the market, as a small company it is difficult for Cocoa Boutique to entry because they had build strong identify toward customers. Again, chocolate is a snack that different people has different flavor taste and thus whose customers loyal to their flavor brand chocolate would not easily change to the other brand. To gain strong brand identify and loyal customers, Cocoa Boutique facing financial problem in advertisement and distribution because this required a large sum to be able to compete with other international chocolate company. Further, some of the international brands who achieved the benefits of economic of scale enable to sell their chocolate products in a competitive price. For example, Cadbury who achieve high productivity and lower the cost per unit lead them sell their confectionaries at the lower price and become the price leader in the market. Opportunity Since Malaysia is a tropical country which is rich with tropical fruit such as mango, durian, and papaya, hereby create an opportunity for Cocoa Boutique to research and develop in the chocolate product mixed of variety fruits. Through developing creation and innovation, Cocoa Boutique launched new chocolate product by mixed tropical fruit into chocolate as their unique product to maximize customers satisfaction and pursue as the local market leader. As example, to date Cocoa Boutique is the one and only chocolate house that came up with distinctive Durian Chocolate which had been awarded as The Most Innovation Chocolate Product 2004 by the Malaysian Cocoa Board. Strategically, the ingredients which produced by local are cheap and easily to access directly lower the cost of distribution as well as research and development expenses however setting a higher selling price because of its unique. The increasing demands from customers create motivation for Cocoa Boutique to establish their seventh outlets in Sabah, Eastern Malaysia which is one of the famous tourist attractions. Chance comes from own efforts. In continuous development, Cocoa Boutique seeking opportunity likes establish outlets in other area or expected alliances with potential company to expand its business scope. Threats Although the sweetness of chocolates attracts many people, the growing of health concern stick the passion of chocolate products. According to a health research, chocolate is such a food contributing to diseases like obesity, blood pressure, and diabetes. Chocolate contains high sugar, fat and caloric may have negative effect on health especially those chocoholic inheritances with these kinds of disease. However, this threat changes to an opportunity for Cocoa Boutique to make special less sugar chocolate to satisfy customers need. Price is one of the most important elements in strategy planning. Those large chocolate company gain benefit from economic of scale able to sell their products with lower price threatens Cocoa Boutique adjusted their product price to adopt the market trend and result in less profit. PEST framework of Cocoa Boutique The external environment consists of variables that are outside the organization and not typically within the short-run control of top management. Opportunity and Threats are components of external environment which influence the success or failure of strategy. PEST framework provides an analysis of possible influences of the broad marco-environment of an organization. PEST stands for Political, Economic, Social, and Technological. Political The political issue of Malaysia is stable although it made up of variety races. As a policy to improve economic, Government offer substitute and appeal local citizens to start up their own business and this policy had lead many small businesses been established including Cocoa Boutique. Cocoa Boutique takes advantage from political factor when launched its chocolate product range of local tropical fruit. According to the Minister of Tourism, these products are in line with governments vision of providing visitors something unique, a distinct element that cannot be found elsewhere. For instance Durian Chocolate, which is unique and only produced by Malaysia. The local fruits used in making chocolate would help increase demand for local fruits, and resulting in agriculture development such as economic spin-offs for Malaysian fruit growers and local farmers so that they can enjoy the benefits generated by tourism industry. Economic Chocolate product is such a luxury item where people would purchase it when they are with stable-income. Suppose the global economic crisis, people would have less money to spend on luxury items however save their money to buy necessary item such as rice and daily accessories. Again, as outline that many global chocolate manufacturers gain their benefit from economic of scale can setting their product price lower and relatively such a small business Cocoa Boutique failing to compete in price war. Customers who are in middle or low income group would prefer buying the global brand chocolate because of cheaper and believed high quality. Sosiocultural Malaysia is a combination of variety race country giving opportunity for Cocoa boutique earn profit by develop differ range of chocolate products to adopt different cultural customers. As example, Malay people prefer the rich taste of coconut, Cocoa Boutique launched coconut flavor chocolate to satisfy Malay group. People lifestyle considered as a key element in food processing industry. Todays people emphasis on diet or lose weight and healthy lifestyle as a barrier to food industry especially those sweeten snack like chocolate. Many chocolate manufacturers shift to adopt the market trend by concentrate on dark chocolate or low sugar chocolate products which believed would help to prevent from heart disease and cancer. Technological Using technological in process manufacturing would result in cost efficiency and gain competitive advantage in the market. Even though Cocoa Boutique is a small company, its chocolate cooking equipments are standardizing such as using specific machine in the process of chocolate making. Handmade chocolate becomes unique and interesting in this century because the trend of technological world. Strategically, Cocoa Boutique launched ready- handmade chocolate as this may attract many people and can selling with a higher price because of its unique. 4.0 Value Chain Analysis of Cocoa Boutique The internal environment of a corporation consists of variables (Strengths and Weaknesses) that are within the organization itself and are not usually within the short-run control of top management. Despite external influencers, company should analysis those internal factors that are most likely to affect the implementation of the present and future strategic decisions. Strengths and weaknesses are such impacts of the structure of internal environment within the company. Value chain analysis, as proposed by Michael Porter, is a way of examining the nature and extent of the synergies that do or do not exist between the internal activities of a corporation. Its comprising the activities within and around the organization, they are design, produce, packaging of the products and distributing, marketing and sales the products to customer. Differences among competitor value chains are a key source of competitive advantage. Cocoa Boutique using the lowest cost material to make innovation chocolate product such as local tropical fruit chocolate product range. The fruits supplied by local farmers are cheaper however the product able to sell with a good price because of its unique design. Effective value chain occurred when the entire stakeholders value maximized. In the part of advertisement and distribution channel, Cocoa Boutique maintain long term bond with their stakeholders such as tourism agencies and taxi drivers by offered sales commission to motive t hem bring customers or tourists into Cocoa Boutiques concept stores. Customers can visit and purchase such special and quality chocolates with acceptable price meanwhile maximize the value of the tourism agencies and increase profit to the shareholders. Cocoa Boutique only distributes and sells their chocolate products to its seven outlets. This may reduce distribution costs but as such weakness of Cocoa Boutique which limited its market share and the possible profitable in the future. 5.0 Cocoa Boutiques strategy formulation Strategy formulation is the development of long-range plans for the effective management of environmental opportunities and threats, in light of corporate strengths and weaknesses. It includes defining the corporate mission, specifying achievable objectives, developing strategies, and setting policy guidelines. A corporations strategy formulation takes place at corporate-level, business-level and functional-level. Corporate-level strategy of Cocoa Boutique The corporate-level strategy should be defined the organizations purpose and the lines of businesses in which it plans to operate, thus providing the overarching direction for the organization. Many organizations begin their growth and development with a corporate-level strategy aimed at concentrating resources in one business or industry in order to develop a strong competitive position within that industry. Since Cocoa Boutique established in year 2003, they merely concentrate their business growth and performance in chocolate industry within these seven years evidence that they applied directional strategy approach into their business. They develop long term into high quality chocolate processing and chocolate house concept store to provide special products range to customers and build their brand identify in Malaysias market. Since the substantial increase in customers demand when they established the first outlet, they recognized the potential of local chocolate market and strat egically applied horizontal growth approach where expand their business into other geographic location and increasing the range of product and service to their current market. For instance, the high volume sale of Gourmet chocolate in Sabah motivate Cocoa Boutique to develop a wide range of Gourmet chocolate to satisfy the particular customers need. Cocoa Boutique would not wait for lunch but strive to meet opportunities from the competitive environment. Next step to expand their business, they committed a joint venture agreement with a local corporation so called Genting Strawberry Leisure Farm who engages in tourist attraction development. Though the agreement, they alliance aims to acquire substantial revenues by create a diversity theme park for customers to have not merely an experiential but learning journey. In brief, the strategy marked out by Cocoa Boutique clearly orientating their corporations vision of continuous growing and developing creation and innovation to maximize their revenues in local chocolate retail market. Business-level strategy of Cocoa Boutique A business level strategy is the blueprint that should enable an organization to leverage its resources, so that it can differentiate itself from the competition within a particular line of business. Companies struggle in planning strategy in order to obtain competitive advantage and then gain superior profits from the strategy they designed. Michael Porter has proposed three generic strategies that provide a good starting point for strategic thinking; they are overall cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. Considering the rivalry in chocolate industry is fierce, small companies are unable to lead a stand in the market unless they target on the right market segment with the right products. Accordingly, Cocoa Boutique used focused differentiation strategy in chocolate industry which serving only one segment of overall market and trying to be the most differentiated organization serving that segment. Unlike other chocolate retailers who sells and distributes their confectionary products on the shelves of minimarket, supermarket or hypermarket, Cocoa Boutique focused on performance in travel retail. Based on the potential tourism industry of Malaysia, they pursuing a niche strategy in focusing on travelers, who are stable income, may come from local and foreign country and main purpose to visit and on the other hand purchase some native products, gifts or souvenirs. As stated that chocolate house concept store is rarely in Malaysia, and to date there are just two companies running this conceptual store, one is Cocoa Boutique and another is Beryls Chocolate retailer. To adopt their targeted customers segment, Cocoa Boutique launched handmade chocolate which is another selling point apart from Durian chocolate. The chocolate made with different shapes like the chocolate model design of Twin Towel doubtlessly suit the tourists need and demand. Due to run a focused on a niche market segment, Cocoa Boutique sells their products price higher than the market brand such as Cadburys and Nestle. In general, the strategy formulated by Cocoa Boutique is directly and simply within an undersized coverage yet is potentially in the future, especially in their business-level strategy planning. In the market of Malaysia, chocolate products can be seen in anywhere and they are usually Cadburys, Ferrero, Mars, Snickers, and other international brands. Almost of them develop in diversity market with the competitive advantage of economic of scale and well known in the line of international. In accordance with the outlined SWOT analysis, Cocoa Boutique recognized their weakness of limited finance as well as low reputation and hence wisely develops differentiation strategy in specific market segment in order to acquire higher profit with premium price. This strategy effectively decreases the scope of competition environment and evaded the intense price war with existing chocolate retailers. Their effort in business-level strategy also access to strategic alliances in corporate-level. Cons idered Genting Strawberry Leisure Farm is a potential travel attraction that might complement their strengths and offset their weaknesses, the joint-venture strategy allows Cocoa Boutique to obtain a greater sales impact at less cost. 6.0 Strategy implementation of Cocoa Boutique An idea is nothing until it becomes an action. Even the best conceived strategies are of little value if they are not implemented effectively. It should be noted that the plan for implementing a strategy might require radical design of organizational structure, the development of new control system, well skilled in handling human resources by develop strategic leadership. Cocoa Boutique who is the small enterprise gains the benefit in implementing their conceived strategies because the small fields of organization structure simplify their operation. Operations Decision of Cocoa Boutique Location is such key success in tourism industry and strategically, Cocoa boutique allocated its outlets nearby or within the tourist attraction. For instance, the latest Cocoa Boutique outlet has been established in Sabah, which is the famous vacationland in East of Malaysia. In order to gain competitive advantage, Cocoa Boutique develops appropriate operations decision to implement the strategy and ensure all the resources are used efficiently. Considered travel trade is depend on seasonality of demand, the inventory planning and control should be well- handle to avoid the problem of whether inefficient to meet customers demand or over- order during the peak season. From processing cocoa to chocolate products, Cocoa Boutique decides how much material or ingredients should be ordered and determines the production quantity because food products may have expired date and the expensive costs to storage them with low temperature. A range of customers demand analysis is needed to prevent the food perish and suffer lose from seasonal discount. Quality control is the key role in operating food processing companies because the food is directly influencing the customers perspective and even their healthy. Poor quality control of food and beverage would significant result a companys reputation and vicious aftermaths like involving in lawsuit. To ensure the quality and delicious of chocolates, all the Cocoa Boutique products are produced by using 100% pure cocoa butter in authentic Belgium recipe following Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and stringent quality control that complies with the international standard of hygiene. Cocoa Boutique to build reliability has offer live chocolate making show to customers to indicate their professional chocolate making procedure. In the part of service quality performance, they allocate employees at every corner of specific products range to provide free taste testing and reliable sales advice to customers. The information system of Cocoa Boutique not merely worked in the part of financial and human resource management, but also the key role in implementing their business level strategy. Regarding in the aspect of tourism, customers would not come themselves unless they heard about the tourist attraction from fellows, advertisement from newspaper and radio, or joining a tour group. Hence, it is imperative to develop in advertisement and distribution channel in order to build reputation among customers. To gain competitive advantage, Cocoa Boutique promotes their attraction by building long term relationship with travel agencies. They allocate vouchers and brochures to travel agencies for customers convenience and offered forty percent of commission for travel agencies, bus and taxi drivers to motive them brin g customers to visit their shops. To satisfy these important stakeholders, the commissions from the total purchase of the customers bring by them can be obtain immediately after the customers checked-out. That is to say, a computer information system is imperative to record all the details of the tour guides and drivers including their codes and the commissions they collected based on the total purchase of customers they bring. Conversely, the low service quality of commission checking would result in loss confident among tour guides toward the company and the likelihood of being boycott by them. There is a manager allocated in each branch of Cocoa Boutique to responsible for the commission-pay system and tour guides service control. To maintain long term relationship, managers would send information about the total commission collected to each tour guides and drivers once a month though e-mail or SMS. Human resource management Effective strategy implementation should occur when the people required to take action to this end are motivated to do so. Employees are the key role of sale achievement in Cocoa Boutique because they using direct sale approach to persuade customers purchase their products. Consider chocolates is perishable and have limited life shelf, employees must struggle to sell out the products in advance. Thus, developing motivation strategy is required to increase employees willingness to hard sale the products and enhance their job satisfaction. Cocoa Boutique uses the performance-pay approach to motive their employees. The idea is employees paid a base salary, however is eligible for additional compensation based on achieving certain pre-approved tasks or goals. For instance, Cocoa Boutique had setting target revenue of incoming Chinese New Year holiday, the entire workforce of the branch will be rewarded bonus suppose they reach the target. The key of success is the managers who wisely dev elop leadership in the team or branch to build a healthy workforce and thus improve cooperation among employees. In other words, performance-pay plan make it clear to managers what should be pay prior attention because they would get even more compensation. Cocoa Boutique also concern in training and development to ensure their employees is skillful to sell their products and provide appropriate advice to customers. They applied on the job training by admit employees to learn job tasks by actually performing them. This method, in somehow has effectively reduce the cost of expenditure in formal training and bring the training meaning to both employees and organization. Marketing Strategy Marketing strategy is about the approach to deliver companys products and services to satisfy customers. Wrong decision in marketing would affect success or failure of strategy implementation. Likewise, marketing plan would be determined base on the companys mission. Cocoa Boutique engage in pursuing market leader in chocolate manufacturer and retail which catering for travel trade. They merely concentrate on their performance in tourist market segment by developing four Ps, which consisting product, price, place, and promotion. The Implication of Four Ps in Cocoa Boutique Place always the first consideration in developing marketing strategy. Before even starting a business, companies need to assess their own core competencies and then evaluate the place that will complement them in business line, geographic positions, or competencies. Strategically, Cocoa Boutique and its outlets are located in the place that is accessibility, visibility and mainly catering for travel trade, for example some of them are located in the Malaysia Tourism Centre and Genting Highlands, which is an international tourist attraction. Cocoa Boutique continuous research and develop in products creation and innovation to become the leader in chocolate processing industry. To date, they offered variety of products range to meet different customers need and want, they including tropical fruit chocolate, gourmet chocolates, healthy range, and so on. Among the various chocolate flavor, Durian chocolate is the unique and best recommendation products because of the selling point of Malaysias symbolic. Others, the healthy chocolate range is even catching on the trend of healthy lifestyle in todays world. They promote this range of product by using slogan Sugar free pleasure without the guilt to attract those chocoholics struggling between health an d delicious. In the consideration of Malaysia is an Islamic country, Cocoa Boutiques chocolate product also complying with Halal requirement to encourage Muslims consumption. In fact, the price of products and services in travel trade are usually higher than the market because they serving on stable or high income group. However, Cocoa Boutique set their chocolate products price higher than the available in common market because of the quality of their chocolate and provides well services to increase customers value. Even they pursuing premium price in their marketing strategy, they have launched a Super Value package to adopt different customers demand. Travel trade is deeply depending on seasonal demand, therefore Cocoa Boutique design different promotion to different special day. For instance, they launched new packaging in Valentine day as the ideal gifts for couples. Environmental protection issue becomes popular in this contemporary since the global temperature again hit the peak in this summer. Most of the country had implemented zero plastic policy to reduce pollution and recently Malaysia started implements this policy too. Cocoa Boutique takes t he chance to offer free reusable bag for customers who purchase their chocolate products as a way to promote their products. In consideration of cost efficiency, the reusable bags are made in China due to the low cost and acceptable quality. Despite a compliment marketing strategy is non-executable without develop appropriate marketing skills. Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is a concept of marketing communication planning that recognizes the added value of a comprehensive plan. IMC can produce stronger message consistency and greater sales impact. Most of the large organizations engage in improved integrated offering by acquire promotion agencies, public relations firms, package design consultancies, web site developers, and direct mail houses. Cocoa Boutique promotes their attractiveness by take part in Tourism Malaysia Promotion Board created by Malaysia Ministry of Cultural, Art and Tourism. Furthermore, they organized public relations activities in order to build good reputation and well-known brand in the segment of tourists. Even a small company, they hired package design consultancies and web site develops in the way to improve their business visibility, build brand identify and customer loyalty and fina lly result in increase sales. Strategic leadership A key strategic role of managers is to provide strategic leadership for their subordinates. Hereinbefore all strategies would not implement successfully without leading by an effective leader. Take a place of managers of Cocoa Boutique is vital to develop leadership characteristics such as emotional intelligence and empowerment. Emotional intelligence (EQ) is the ability to recognize and manage emotion. A leader who is high degree of EQ understands his role in the organization and ability to control them mood and drive subordinates motivation to complete different job tasks. Meanwhile, they also develop empathy and social skill to build good relationship with the employees and help to earn loyalty from employees. Considering Malaysia built up with various racial, the workforce of Cocoa Boutique likely consists by different culture and religion. Managers should well handle in conflicts settlement and strive to maintain harmony in the workforce. Managers may develop mentoring by alloca tes the experienced employee even themselves to coach new employee to build good attitude and behavior modeling in the branch on the other hand increase communication among them. When employees seek some one as the model in the organization, they willing to pursue the goals and commit high loyalty to the career. Empowering subordinates or employees to make decisions is a good motivational tool. Such employees involve in decision making would increase their job enrichment and satisfaction and thus enhance their motivation to perform better. There is high empowering in Cocoa Boutique where managers need the opinions and suggestions from employees regarding the customers perspective and value to their products. The employees opinions sometimes helpful in research and development of new products which likely match customers need and want. Others, Cocoa Boutique also give high authorize to each branch managers to manage the operation as long as they keep their performance in sales and services quality. 7.0 Conclusion In general, the strategic formulated by Cocoa Boutique is only present on the travel trade and implemented by simply managing people, develop marketing purpose and operating management to satisfy all the stakeholders of the organization, such as shareholder, employees, and the agents involving in travel trade. A strategic that focuses on specific market is rather good because concentrates on single business definitely easy to manage and control, yet, the business scope is limited and pin down the potential profits in other markets. In continuous develop in local market, Cocoa Boutique should expand their business scope to increase awareness among customers to their brand and impact on sales.

Monopolized Water Industry Advantages and Disadvantages

Monopolized Water Industry Advantages and Disadvantages Background and Development Under the Constitutions of Malaysia, water is the state matter and is one of the human needs to survive. The source of water usually comes from river, lake, wetland, oceans, ground water etc, but without a good filter or water quality controller, we cannot drink water which is unfiltered from the source of water. Every country or state has its own water industry to help in water quality control and water supply to all the resident area, industrials area etc. By 1950s, Malaya (Malaysia) had 100 treatments plants which produced 195 million litres of water to supply the population of 1.15 million daily. Demand for water had increased sharply during the years after independence in 1957, especially in the capital city. To cope with the rising demand for water, Malaya decided to build Klang Gates Dam and the Bukit Nanas Treatments plant in 1959 to end the water rationing and the long period of water shortage. Water development had since figured in Malaysia plans. During the period, the foc us was put on urban and suburban supplies. By implementing the 3rd Malaysia Plan (1976-1980), which was to redress the inequalities of policies, the water supply received a much needed boost. The number of household in Peninsular Malaysia received treated water in urban and rural areas, and the figure of household raised sharply from 23% in 1950 to 85% in 1990. By the mid of 1980s, due to the rising of the demand for water, there was not only a raising in household area, but also a new demand for water in a new sector – industries. The water industry called for water transfer from state on the other side of range, which was from Pahang to Selangor. At the end of 1999, there were a total of 69 dams in Malaysia. 35 dams have been developed for water supply usage. Dam in the Pedu, Kedah and Terengganu, which had combined storage capacity exceeds more than 20,000 million cubic metres. Terengganu corporatized its water supply industry in 1995, while Selangor, Kuantan and Johor cho ose to privatize its water supply. Looking through the current 8th Malaysia Plan, the development of water resources as in Water Resources Master Plan for the country will be up to 2050 which involves 62 major water projects such as raising the existing dams, build new dams, inter-state water transfer, new treatments plans, and identifying or exploring area for development (cited in A Glimpse at water supply in Malaysia (n.d.)). In Selangor and the Federal territories of Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur, water supply distribution has been privatized. Selangor water supply is control by Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas). Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor has officially taken over operation and management of Perbadanan Urus Air Selangor, and Syabas is responsible for the water supply distribution and service in Selangor. On July 8th 1996, Syabas was incorporated under the Malaysian Companies 1965 to agree with the privatization of water supply services in the state of Selangor. Syabas is ever since responsible on the supply or distribution of water to over 7.8 million people and 1.9 million out of it are domestic consumers, commercials, factories, and industrial buildings in Selangor. Syabas operates have a stretch of about 26,705.79KM water pipes which were made by ductile iron, mild steel, cement, HDPE, asbestos, cast iron and UPVC ranging around from 100mm – 2200mm diameter. Besides, according to its offi cial website, Syabas owns 1528 of tower reservoirs, suction tank and service reservoirs. Syabas also owns about 589 booster pump stations in Selangor and 121,871 valves. The developments of Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) are Development Plan Submission which is eDPLAS System. Syabas as the water industry in Selangor is responsible to supply clean and high quality water to all the Selangor citizens. After the approval of Syabas to be a monopoly, Syabas proceeded with the development plan. All the applications submitted by developers and consultants were managed and monitored by eDPLAS system according to Syabas official website. It centralized the database where Syabas can district offices to view the same information. Besides, Syabas introduced Migration as an option for the apartment or condominium to migrate to individual water supply on certain conditions. Consumer can enjoy the tiered domestic rates of water charge which is RM0.57 for the first 20 cubic metres, RM1.38 per cubic metre for condominium and RM0.80 per cubic metre for low cost apartment. Characteristics SYABAS is the only water supply firm to households in Klang valley. The reason is because it has acquired a license from the government which is a legal barrier for it to function as a monopoly. SYABAS also invested a huge amount of money for its capital to start off as a monopoly. For this reason, there have been a lot of water companies trying to develop a business like how SYABAS does but they fail. Besides, the patents and licenses owned by SYABAS and were also the reasons why Syabas remains strong as the only water industry in Selangor. (Yuan, 2013) In this case, the monopolized water industry could use the power of economic profit to get the approval from politician. Politicians’ preference will lead to the problem of inequity for the consumers. (World of Economies , 2013) Since SYABAS is the only water supply firm in Klang valley, this will make it function as the price maker. SYABAS increased water tariffs up to 72% off the normal rate because there has no close substitutes for it. From here, it is making a good profit because they will only keep on providing enough water supply to be a steady profit producers and be the leader of this industry. (Selangor Kini, 2013) Besides, price discrimination is likely to occur when there is a monopoly such as SYABAS. The monopolized company targets and segments group into, for example, low class and high class. In this case, SYABAS charge different price according to different class to maximize it’s total revenue. It will charge RM0.80 per cubic metre for low cost apartment which is low class segment and RM1.38 per cubic metre for condominium which is high class segment. This is also a pricing strategy from SYABAS because there is no close water substitute for the consumers in Klang valley. (Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor) Benefits There are several benefits of having a monopoly in the water industry in Selangor, as they are highly motivated and publicly spirited as much as competitive industry. First, let us look at the economics of scale.( (Tejvan R Pettinger) When comparing a monopoly company such as Syabas with other water supply firms, Syabas has the advantage over firms due to their larger market territory and infrastructures. Example, if a smaller firm tries to compete with Syabas, it will have to invest in capital and infrastructures which will lead to heavy investment. By the time these firms start selling their water, the cost will be very high due to the repayment of the initial investment. Most household or office industry will avoid it, since there is an alternative to Syabas which will provide them with a cheaper price since the infrastructure has already been there. In the long run, these companies will face difficulties and may start making losses. It would be best to leave Syabas to monopolize the market, to avoid wasteful duplication of infrastructure. The second benefit that can be seen for monopoly is privatization , it was better off for the water supply to be manage by private companies such as Syabas rather than being handled by the Selangor state chief minister. Before Syabas was created in the year 1996, the Selangor state government was handling the water supply for the state very poorly as there were many issues such as fiscal constraints, inefficient administration, poor standard quality of water and inconsistency supply of water. Nevertheless, both the Selangor state government and federal for Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya granted Syabas to operate, manage, and distribution on clean water for a period on thirty years. Since then, Syabas has been responsible for distribution water supply over 7 million consumers in the federal territory and Selangor state. The third benefit of a monopoly is being a successful firm, though being inefficient and dynamic. (Tejvan R Pettinger) Syabas has delivered quality water by complying with government regulatory during the Concession Agreement in 2004. Moreover, Syabas has put in place a mechanism that respond to customer’s criticisms of poor quality water within the hour. The firm is also trying to change the public perception of water into instils public that the water is safe for consumption and is clean though its Water Quality Improvement Master Plan. Beside, that Syabas has put a mechanism called Standard Operating Procedures, which they improve their respond to pipe burst, leaks and monitoring and inspection of the Mains and Reservoirs. By following this sequence, Syabas has fewer breakdowns a, water supply distribution and it shows that Syabas is capable in handling any water crisis. Drawbacks While having a monopolized water industry— Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn. Bhd. (SYABAS) brings a couple of benefits to us, there are also a few drawbacks of having a monopolized water industry in our state Selangor. First of all, when SYABAS is the only permitted water industry to supply water to areas around our region Selangor, it functions as the price maker and charges at a price above its marginal cost. For that, those whose willingness to pay is below the increased price wouldn’t value the change. Consequently, these people may choose to use lesser water to cut the cost. Therefore, the quantity produced and sold is allocatively inefficient at the monopoly price. In the context of Economics, when the inefficiency of allocation is presented in a graph, there will be a triangle region which is the surplus consumers and produces would’ve enjoyed if the allocation is efficient. This triangle region is called the deadweight loss. Besides of the occurrence of deadweight loss, the inefficient allocation of a monopoly would cause a part of the consumer surplus to become the producers’ surplus. That being said, the producers of a monopoly will always enjoy more surplus than the consumers do, theoretically. Furthermore, SYABAS knows well that since they are the only water industry in Selangor, the Selangor citizens wouldn’t be able to get any other close substitute (another water supply). Therefore, the company can easily exploit their consumers as the majority of the people would still buy their product (water) regardless of the price. A good example for the exploitation of consumers by SYABAS functioning as the monopolized water industry was the imposing of 72 percent increased water charges off the normal rate upon the residents of Pangsapuri Cendana (flat in Shah Alam, Selangor) on 21st January 2013. According to Selangor Kini (2013), the water charges were supposed to be RM0.80 per cubic metre for flats, but SYABAS had charged the residents of Pangsapuri Cendana at RM1.38 per cubic metre which seemed to be the water charges for apartments or condominiums. SYABAS tried to get away from the issue and refused to address any statement even after the residents involved made a few attempts to contact the SYABAS Officials. Moreover, a monopolized company usually has less incentive when it is the only firm and doesn’t have any competition in its market. SYABAS had been receiving tons of complaint calls from the consumers since the start of year 2013 according to Malaymail Online (2013). It was accused of being ‘unprofessional’ and ‘doesn’t give a proper answer’ by many consumers as Kishven Sirinezan, one of the consumers, claimed that the call operators of SYABAS had given him the reason of â€Å"burst pipes† when he had no water supply for three consecutive weeks. Besides, when a company is a monopoly, there is always a tendency of not taking the consumers’ welfare into account. For example, there has been a lot of water crisis happening in Selangor every year. As a monopolized water industry, it is SYABAS’ responsibility to make sure there’s always enough water supply for every household or industry in Selangor. However, SYABAS doesnà ¢â‚¬â„¢t seem to be focused on solving the problem nor does it try to cut down its cost and charge the consumers at a lower price. In addition, a monopoly can bring negative effects to households. In SYABAS’ case, when the monopolized water industry cannot afford to supply enough water and causes a water crisis at a certain period of time, the daily routines and budgets of people would be severely affected because we cannot drink, cook, and shower without water. Water crisis also brings inconvenience to the people affected. Besides, those who happen to run out of water have to spend extra money on buying mineral water and laundry service throughout the water rationing period. Last but not least, SYABAS as the only water industry in Selangor can also affect businesses in terms of their productions and profits during a water crisis. When the water supply is in shortage, some affected industries such as food processing industries might not have sufficient water to make enough productions during the time period. Therefore, they make losses. According to MySinChew (2014), 30 companies in Selangor such as Nestle, Monin Asia, and Panasonic (to name a few) suffered from huge losses due to the water crisis earlier this year. Among these 30 companies, Nestle was arguably facing the worst as the company made losses of RM15 million daily from the crisis. Conclusion As a conclusion, a monopoly is a single firm functions as the sole seller in its market without any competition. When it comes down to monopoly, different people have different opinions whether a single firm taking over the market is good or bad to the society. Based on the research that we did on Syabas, there are more drawbacks than benefits from the monopolized water industry. According to our research, it was reported that Syabas tried to exploit its consumers, has less incentive to improve its quality of product and services, and brings negative effects to households and businesses during a water crisis due to its inefficiency. For that, there are a few solutions suggested to solve these issues. First of all, since Syabas as the only water industry in Selangor is experiencing an economics of scale, the company should consider on improving the quality of its products and services. The monopolized water industry shouldn’t be using low quality materials to build the pipes wh ich distribute the water to us because these low-quality pipes will eventually be broken and cause leakage. When this happens, Syabas has to fix the broken pipes, and this subsequently leads to high-cost repairing. Furthermore, Syabas should frequently monitor the water dam level by investing in proper research and development. By doing so, they can prevent water crisis from happening and take a proper counter-measurement. Lastly, since Syabas is the only water contractor, it is highly unfair and unjustified for the company to exploit its consumer by charging them at an irrational price. For that, Syabas has to review its business strategy by making a proper budget arrangement and take the welfare of Selangor residence into account. Reference list 30 companies in Selangor suffer huge losses due to water crisis Mahdzir News Selangor water issue My Sinchew. (2014, November 10). Retrieved from http://www.mysinchew.com/node/103228 A glimpse of the water supply in Malaysia. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.jba.gov.my/files/Semenanjung%20Malaysia.pdf Asset Management  » Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn. Bhd. (1-800-88-5252). (n.d.). Retrieved November 19, 2014, from http://www.syabas.com.my/corporate/about-us-asset-management#0 Development Plan Submission (eDPLAS System)  » Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn. Bhd. (1-800-88-5252). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.syabas.com.my/e-services/edplas-system Flat Residents Protest Against Syabas Increasing Water Charges By 72 Percent | Selangorku English. (2013, January 22). Retrieved from http://en.selangorku.com/3049/flat-residents-protest-against-syabas-increasing-water-charges-by-72-percent/ Ghani, A. (2014, April 21). 7 Things Malaysians Are Spending On This Water Rationing Period | CompareHero Yahoo News Malaysia. Retrieved from https://my.news.yahoo.com/blogs/comparehero/7-things-malaysians-spending-water-rationing-period-104011679.html Migration  » Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn. Bhd. (1-800-88-5252). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.syabas.com.my/highlight/migration-intro Monopoly | features, advantages, disadvantages. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.dineshbakshi.com/igcse-gcse-economics/private-firm-as-producer-and-employer/revision-notes/1306-monopoly Murthy, A. (2013, July 2). Consumers hit out at Syabas complaints services | Malaysia | Malay Mail Online. Retrieved from http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/consumers-hit-out-at-syabas-complaints-services Operations  » Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn. Bhd. (1-800-88-5252). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.syabas.com.my/corporate/about-us-syabas-operation#0 Our Mission Vision  » Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn. Bhd. (1-800-88-5252). (n.d.). Retrieved November 19, 2014, from http://www.syabas.com.my/corporate/about-us-our-mission-vision#0 R Pettinger, T. (n.d.). Advantages of monopoly. Retrieved November 19, 2014, from http://www.economicshelp.org/microessays/markets/advantages-monopoly/ SMS Data Logger  » Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn. Bhd. (1-800-88-5252). (n.d.). Retrieved November 19, 2014, from http://www.syabas.com.my/consumer/sms-data-logger# Water Quality Improvement Programme  » Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn. Bhd. (1-800-88-5252). (n.d.). Retrieved November 19, 2014, from http://www.syabas.com.my/consumer/water-quality-improvement-programme Water Quality  » Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn. Bhd. (1-800-88-5252). (n.d.). Retrieved November 19, 2014, from http://www.syabas.com.my/corporate/about-us-water-quality#0 World Of Economics: SYABAS a NATURAL MONOPOLY. (2013, July 8). Retrieved from http://worldofeconomics.blogspot.com/2013/07/is-syabas-monopoly.html