Business
For the last century, motorcycles have been a major influence to international culture. Back in 1885 Gottlieb Daimler created the first gas-powered motorcycle, with the mindset of function over form. It was nothing but a wooden bicycle frame, with a simple four stroke engine attached (Solomn R. Guggenheim Museum). At that point motorcycles were very experimental. While in the beginning they weren't much to look at, they truly proved their usefulness in both World Wars. For instance, Harley Davidson created motorcycles for the United States in World War I and World War II, BMW for the Axis in World War II and Honda for Japan in World War II (Solomn R. Guggenheim Museum). After playing their parts in the major wars, one at a time each major motorcycle company gradually moved towards racing (that is with the exception of Honda which was originally created with racing in mind) (Solomn R. Guggenheim Museum). They each took their part in different racing categories and were all quite successful. In present day the motorcycle industry is a broad one. Motorcycles satisfy everyone, from people who like to tour, to off-roaders, to those who like to race. They even play a big part in law enforcement. The motorcycle industry can easily be split into two main categories: domestics and imports. The domestic market tends to lean more towards big body style bikes or "hogs", with a lot of power and size. However, non-US countries lead the biggest portion of the industry. Imports encompass all other styles of bikes but are usually stereotyped by "café racers"; bikes with high power to weight ratios. The domestic market is a small yet powerful portion of the world market for motorcycles. The only well known player in the domestic market is Harley Davidson. The domestic market of motorcycles has become...
pages: 9 (words: 2379)
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added: 12/23/2011
Financial Statement Analysis In the healthy and growth inducing economic scenario of the 2000's, P&G has seen double digit revenues growth to around $56b in 2005. Keeping its costs low has seen it achieve healthy profit margins of around 11% - 12%. Refer Table 1. Table 1 Margins P&G (in %) 2003 2004 2005 Gross Margin 49 51.2 51 Profit Margin 11.96 12.61 12.79 Financial Health: P&G is a stable company operating in a very mature and stable steady growth industry. It has an average Return on Assets of 12.5% and a high average Return on Equity of 43%. It turns its Inventory around 12 times a year, which is also an industry average . One weak aspect of P&G is its relatively poor liquidity position. One reason is the high STD (short term debt). P&G, being a low risk firm is able to get STD at low interest rates and hence uses this instead of LTD. It generates huge positive free cash flows to ensure prompt payment of interest. I feel P&G prefers STD due to its speed and flexibility (no covenants). Another reason for the low liquidity is its almost equal balance between its A/R and A/P. While a firm of its size should be able to work on its supplier's capital, P&G surprisingly has not been able to that. Unilever has the highest A/P deferral period in the industry, thus leveraging its size to get a better bargain from the suppliers. P&G however, has an industry average A/P deferral period. The only reason I see P&G doing that it believes in treating suppliers better than its competitors by paying them on time as promised. This is part of P&G's best practices philosophy and also of treating suppliers as partners. Therefore this weak position is not an indication of poor financial management, rather a reflection of good...
pages: 38 (words: 10450)
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added: 12/02/2011
Today, telecommunications technology affects lives to a greater degree than ever before. Communication has evolved over many years from the earliest attempts at verbal communication to the use of sophisticated technology to enhance the ability to communicate effectively with others. Every time a telephone call is made, a television is watched, or a personal computer is used, benefits of telecommunication technologies are being received. The concept of telecommunications may be defined as the transmission of information from one location to another by electronic means. Telecommunications is using electronic systems to communicate. Life is changing constantly and has been changing faster since the rapid advancements in telecommunication. Because of continuing attempts to find better and more efficient ways to communicate, the process of communication has steadily improved. Many of these improvements were made without the use of electronic technology. Human beings' earliest attempts at communication were through nonverbal means such as facial expressions and gesturing. The use of these nonverbal signs, prehistoric people were able to communicate emotions such as fear, anger, and happiness. More specific motions, such as pointing, allowed them to convey more information . Verbal communication probably started with a series of disorganized but meaningful sounds (grunts and snarls). These sounds slowly developed into a system of organized, spoken language that truly allowed humans to share information (Croal 59). Writing, which is the use of symbols to represent language, began with early cave drawings, progressed to picture writings such as hieroglyphics, and finally evolved into the handwritten language we use today (Croal 61). As civilization developed, people found it necessary to communicate their ideas to one another over greater distances. The earliest method of transporting information was to carry it from place to place; but as the development of commerce made speed an essential part, greater effort was expended...
pages: 6 (words: 1411)
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added: 12/01/2011
What are the most important characteristics of the global environment in the automobile industry, especially those opportunities and threats faced by the top players in the industry? Why so? If a list was made of the top economic sectors with the greatest influence on the American economy, one could make a strong argument for including the automotive industry. A prime example of the validity of that claim was evinced when "durable goods, such as cars, made up over 90% of the spike in consumption at the end of 2001." (Wolkomir 34) Since consumer spending is now the prime indicator of the state of our economy, the success of our auto industry is very important to the future of our economy. In the last few years, many were quick to dismiss stalwarts of the Old Economy. In light of the astronomical growth of the "New Economy" technology sector in the late 1990's, the auto industry seemed to be filled with lumbering, corporate behemoths. With the recent crash of the technology sector, the automotive industry is again in the spotlight, along with many other manufacturing industries. Even though sales have been up recently, the automotive industry still faces many challenges. These challenges must be overcome in order to ensure the survival of the industry's major players. In this paper I will discuss what GM, Ford, Daimler-Chrysler, Toyota, and the remaining handful of smaller manufacturers must do in order to stay on top in the future. Each one of these companies is faced with its own unique strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that must be properly addressed. As a whole though, they all face similar issues. I will address those issues in this paper. If any one of these companies is not careful to handle these issues in the coming years, then it stands the...
pages: 9 (words: 2318)
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added: 02/15/2012
Introduction The research proposal begins with an overview of Krispy Kreme's functioning industries as well as current trends within them. The document progresses by describing the corporate structure of Krispy Kreme, specifically outlining company values and philosophies. To help develop the research, various store formats are discussed, followed by an in-depth analysis of Krispy Kreme's financial situation. The following pages also place Krispy Kreme in the context of today's market and illustrate the brand image and different products. The document attempts to combine research, analysis and recommendations to determine if a so called cold doughnut will allow Krispy Kreme to expand globally. Industry Information Krispy Creme Doughnuts, Inc. competes with several industries, to include: Ø Baked Goods Industry Ø Food Industry Ø Restaurant (Eating Places) Industry Ø Cakes and Pastries According to the National Restaurant Association, Americans will spend about $354 billion at the nation's more than 815,000 eating and drinking establishments. "Statistics indicate that restaurants have become an increasingly important part of American lifestyle over the past few decades" (Bread, Cake, and Related Products, 2003, ¶4). When evaluating the restaurant industry, fast-food type restaurants like Krispy Kreme have led way, and the growth of franchising since the 1970s has also propelled the growth (franchises have almost tripled their share of the market). However, starting in the late 1990s, competition decreased in mature markets because they were becoming saturated with fast-food restaurants. During this time, the restaurant industry began to see an influx of themed-eating places trying to redefine their images. For example, T.G.I. Friday's began mostly as a single's bar, but evolved to a family-oriented dining place. Another trend in the restaurant industry started in the mid-1990s when restaurants and supermarkets began to prepare foods for carry-out (commonly referred to as "home meal replacements"). Today, restaurants report that over 50 percent of their revenues come from carryout sales (Restaurants,...
pages: 36 (words: 9775)
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added: 12/09/2011
I. Introduction The UK advertising industry has been at the forefront of the global market for several years now and is set to stay that way. The reason the advertising industry in the U.K has become world leader is due to a number of factors, primarily due to the strong economic structure in the U.K at present, but also a result of a number of political, economic and commercial events that have required active promotion. British advertising has gained a reputation over the past years as being the worlds most creative and effective, with adverts such as the Tango campaign, Hello Boys and Levis pushing the industry to the forefront. II. Market Analysis 2.1 Market Size The UK advertising market is a growing market; between 1992 and 1999 the advertising expenditure rose by 171% to exceed £15 billion in 1999 for the first time. The following graph illustrates the strong growth this market has experienced. Source: Advertising Association Key events that were partly responsible for this development were the Millennium, the Sydney Olympics 2000 and the launch of Digital Television in the UK. The enormous competition in new technology market such as Internet or mobile phones is also a reason why advertising expenditure increased so strongly. Market forecasts predict a further growth; expenditure is prognosticated to increase by 60% by 2004 so that the market value would reach £19 billion. (Euromonitor 2000) 2.2 Market Segmentation In 1999, Newspaper and Television advertisings are with the biggest market segment, they totally account for 58% of the total expenditure. It is followed by Direct mail with 12%. All sectors have grown constantly since 1993 and further increase is expected for the future. The introduction of digital television and the emergence of more private channels could result in a much stronger growth in this sector. Appendix 1 and 2 and 3 illustrate the growth in...
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added: 01/08/2012
Since 1989, the wireless industry began to explore by adapting digital technology replacing the existing analog network as a means of improving capacity due to the increase of wireless service demands. Digital has a number of advantages over analog transmission: • Economizes on bandwidth • Allows easy integration with personal communication systems (PCS) devices • Maintains superior quality of voice transmission over long distances • Difficult to decode • Can use lower average transmitter power • Enables smaller and less expensive individual receivers and transmitters • Offer voice privacy At that period, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) was chosen to replace Motorola's Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) technology which known today as narrowband analog mobile phone service. FDMA allocates a single channel to one user at a time. FDMA is wasteful of bandwidth: the channel is assigned to a single conversation whether or not somebody is speaking. Moreover, it cannot handle alternate forms of data, only voice transmissions. Qualcomm then introduced the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology to compete against TDMA technology to provide digital service. Now the two major competing systems (TDMA and CDMA), have been a topic for debate throughout the wireless community over which technology has the superior quality. WHAT IS TDMA? TDMA is digital transmission technology that allows a number of users to access a single radio-frequency (RF) channel without interference by allocating unique time slots to each user with thin a channel. The digital conversations from a single transmitter occupy different time slots in several bands at the same time In TDMA, the access technique used exercises three users sharing a 30-kHz carrier frequency. TDMA is also the technology used in Europe where Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is the digital standard used to provide wireless access and in Japan where Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) is used as the standard. TDMA was chosen for these...
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added: 01/27/2012
[url]RETAILING Introduction: The word retailing is derived from the French word 'retailer', meaning 'to cut a piece off ' or 'to break a bulk'. in simple terms, it implies a first-hand transaction with the customer. Retailing involves a direct interface with the customer & the coordination of business activities from end to end- right from the concept or design stage of a product or offerings, to its delivery & post-delivery service to the customer. The industry has contributed to the economic growth of many countries & is undoubtedly one of the fastest changing & dynamic industries in the world today. According to a report by the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) investments in organized retailing – which includes shopping malls, retail chains etc. – doubled from Rs.1, 000 crore in January 2000 to Rs. 2,000 crore in January 2001. YEAR URBAN RURAL TOTAL 1978 0.58 1.76 2.34 1984 0.75 2.02 2.77 1990 0.94 2.42 3.36 1996 1.80 3.33 5.13 1999 2.40 3.60 6.00 Retailing & the marketing mix: Customers are first introduced to the product at the retail store. Organizations sell their products & services through these retail outlets & get feedback on the performance of their products & customers expectations about them. Retail stores serve as communication hubs for customers. Commonly known as the point of sale (POS) or the point of purchase (POP), retail stores transmit information to the customers through advertisement & displays. Hence the role of retailing inh the marketing mix is very significant. Retail Marketing Mix: The retail marketing mix consists of the following elements: PRODUCT OFFERINGS: this refers to the product mix that the store retails for customers after a careful study of what their needs & wants are. By matching customer preferences with an assortment of merchandise offered within the stores categories, the retailer gets an ideal basket size per customer. The basket size contains the mix of...
pages: 11 (words: 2868)
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added: 12/14/2011
Executive summary The writer of this report is working as the Vice President of Competitive Intelligence (vPCI) on a multi-national and multi-business company. The CEO has asked the vPCI to investigate whether the company should enter the Malaysian market. The company's product is telecommunication infrastructures. The purpose of the report is to analyze and evaluate a major telecommunication infrastructure development in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from January 2003 and for the following five years. Furthermore, the vPCI is supposed to prepare a briefing for the Board of Directors to indicate how a relevant competitive intelligence system might be established. The 3G industry in Malaysia is on its move, the licenses to offer products and services in the 3G infrastructure will be awarded in July, 2002. The government's will is that, no matter how many licenses, only one infrastructure system should be put up. In the SEPT-analysis, I found that Malaysia is an attractive country to enter since its economy will continue to grow. Furthermore, the government is eager to achieve industrialized nation status, which increases the driving forces for new technology in Malaysia. In Porter's five-forces-model I found that the telecommunication industry is not that attractive in Malaysia, due to few customers and high competition. I think the only cost for trying to get the infrastructure contract is to set up a CI system and monitor customers, competitors and country issues as government statements and economical changes. Since the costs for setting up the CI system and the annual monitor costs are low compared to the potential, I think we should try to get the contract. Concerning the CI system, I think we have to set up one immediately in order to monitor our customers, competitors, and country issues. The team should consist of managers from every function of the company. The team's tasks is to identify...
pages: 18 (words: 4686)
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added: 12/22/2011
The Hospitality Industry The Food and Hospitality Industry has become one of the biggest employers in our state. It now has attained a much higher status in society and demands high standards of work from its employees. Employment opportunities are many, but eagerly sought by a vast majority of people. For this reason as in any other established business, interviews are conducted. Through these interviews, the interviewer looks for personal qualities and interpersonal skills in a prospective employee to fulfill the job requirements. One of the most important things that an employer looks for are personal qualities. These consist of: a keen attitude, a friendly disposition, neat appearance, a willingness to work, confidence, cleanliness, personal hygiene, deportment (efficient) and honesty, among the many others. Interpersonal skills basically include the ability to interact with people and using initiative to deal with problems which may arise if the customer is not satisfied. If interpersonal and personal skills are exercised then they will greatly contribute to a happy and successfully working environment. This can be accomplished by remembering to keep in mind the fundamental aspect of any catering establishment which is to "Always acknowledge that the customers are the most important people in the business, and nothing is more important than serving them." - An introduction to catering. Due to the fact that a large amount of job satisfaction can be found in the food and hospitality industry, jobs are very often sought after. Many who wish to enter the industry usually do so by gaining a apprenticeship . Apprenticeships in the hospitality industry usually last between 2.5 years to 4 years. These apprenticeships mainly consist of 'on the job training', combined with full time practical work experience, along with future training at TAFE. Apprenticeships are usually categorized into : bread making and baking,...
pages: 5 (words: 1206)
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added: 01/04/2012
INTRODUCTION: The Indian two wheeler market has a size of over Rs 100,000 million. The Indian two wheeler segment contributes the largest volumes amongst all the segments in automobile industry. Though the segment can be broadly categorized into 3 sub-segments viz; scooters, motorcycles and mopeds; some categories introduced in the market are a combination of two or more segments e.g. scooterettes and step thru's. The market primarily comprises five players in the two wheeler segment with most of the companies having foreign collaborations with well-known Japanese firms earlier. But most of the companies are now planning 100% subsidiaries in India. In the last four to five years, the two-wheeler market has witnessed a marked shift towards motorcycles at the expense of scooters. In the rural areas, consumers have come to prefer sturdier bikes to withstand the bad road conditions. In the process the share of motorcycle segment has grown from 48% to 58%, the share of scooters declined drastically from 33% to 25%, while that of mopeds declined by 2% from 19% to 17% during the year 2000-01. The Euro emission norms led the existing players in the two stroke segment to install catalytic converters. All the new models are now being replaced by 4-stroke motorcycles. Excise duty on motorcycles has been reduced resulting in price reduction, which has aided in propelling the demand for motorcycles. Fierce competition has also forced players to cut prices in certain models. CURRENT SCENARIO: Motorcycle sales grew by an annual average of 27% over f 1995-2002, and constituted nearly 66% of total two wheeler sales in F2002, up from just 24% in F1995. Average monthly motorcycle sales have increased five-fold since F1995 to almost 250,000 units in F2002. The current share of the leading three companies is shown in the pie chart. And this clearly shows that hero Honda...
pages: 6 (words: 1384)
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added: 01/16/2012