...Strauss & Co. and China From: Case Studies in Business Ethics 5th ed. Al Gini (pp. 294-298) The market that is the people's Republic of China consists of more than 1 billion consumers and offers low production costs, but its human rights violations have long been condemned by international bodies. In 1993 Levi Strauss & Co. (LS & Co.) faced one of its more difficult decisions in a long corporate history. Would it continue to conduct business in this enormously promising market or honor its relatively high ethical standards and withdraw? Levi Strauss: History and Ethical Stance Founded in the United States in 1873, LS&Co. enjoyed consistent domestic growth for generations and began overseas operations during the 1940s. The company became the world's largest clothing manufacturer in 1977 and achieved $2 billion in sales by the end of the decade. Having offered stock to the public during the 1970s to raise needed capital, management decided fourteen years later to reprivatize in a $2 billion leveraged buyout, the largest such transaction to date. Management's reasons included its heightened ability to "focus attention on long-tem interests (and)… to ensure that the company continues to respect and implement its important values and traditions." By 1993, LS&Co. Produced merchandise in 24 countries and sold in 60. LS&Co. has been a leader among U.S.-based corporations in recognizing the importance of business ethics and community relationships. Two 1987 documents...
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...Seth Dhaniram – C & FA A report submitted to Course Instructor: Prof. Avani Desai Academic Associate: Ms. Surabhi Koul In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the course Written Analysis and Communication – I (2015-2017) By Ketan Murali (15169) Section A On July 25, 2015 INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, AHMEDABAD Letter of Transmittal Date: 25/ 07/ 1999 To: Seth Dhaniram Logistics Solutions Ahmedabad Dear Sir, Subject: Advice regarding the future of RDS Operations Please find enclosed a decision report presenting a comprehensive analysis of the operations of RDS, listing the possible options and the criteria for evaluation of the options. Subsequently, an action plan has been proposed. Based on my assessment, I recommend continuing with the agency operations and renegotiating with JOSH after eight months. An investment of ₹18,000 per month should be made towards additional manpower and the 30% drop in margins should be supported temporarily. After eight months, a remuneration of 3% of total sales should be renegotiated with JOSH. Yours sincerely, Ketan Murali External Consultant to Logistics Solutions EXECUTIVE SUMMARY RDS wants to decide on the course of action to address a decrease of 30% in its profit margins following a policy change by JOSH. Renegotiation for the next eight months seems unlikely. RDS can either continue with operations and renegotiate after eight months or give up operations completely...
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...Professional Higher Education Bachelor's Programme “European business Studies” Business plan: PAUL bakery’s franchise in Latvia Authors: Juta Stupele Laura Pushkina Margarita Ivanova Mihkeļs Kersna Nataļja Kersna Yevgeniya Grygorchuk Riga, October 2010 Table of contents 1. Executive summary ..................................................................................................................... 3 2. Company history ......................................................................................................................... 4 2.1. Happy Bakers Ltd. ............................................................................................................... 4 2.2. PAUL .................................................................................................................................... 4 3. Marketing analysis ....................................................................................................................... 6 3.1. Market segmentation ............................................................................................................. 6 3.2. Competition and buying patterns .......................................................................................... 6 3.3. Marketing strategy ................................................................................................................ 8 4. Products offered ..................................................................................
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...Brand Management Case No. 4 DOCKERS: CREATING A SUB-BRAND INTRODUCTION In the spring of 1985, Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.) was flush with its success in the blue jeans market. The company’s star campaign, called “501 Blues,” had recently brought new vitality to the company after several failed expansions into other apparel market segments in the earlier part of the decade. Confident in the wake of 501’s success, the company was contemplating its next steps when research revealed a decline in jeans purchases by LS&Co.’s core customer base of baby boomers. In short, the company’s “bread and butter” customer for the last 30 years - the American male teenager - was now 25-40 and was moving out of the jeans market at an alarming rate. To retain these customers even as their jeans purchases slowed or stopped, the company introduced Levi’s Dockers casual pants. Dockers, as the name was later shortened to, was one of the most successful new product introductions of the 1980s in the clothing industry. Consumers responded to the product design, which utilized the comfort and casual feel of cotton, and likeable advertising by purchasing enough Dockers to make a billion-dollar brand by 1993. Over the course of the 1990s, LS&Co. enjoyed phenomenal success from its Dockers sub-brand. The Dockers brand achieved record sales growth in 1998 and Fortune magazine estimated in 1999 that 75 percent of American men owned a pair of Dockers and that the average customer owned...
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...DOCKERS: CREATING A SUB-BRAND INTRODUCTION In the spring of 1985, Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.) was flush with its success in the blue jeans market. The company’s star campaign, called “501 Blues,” had recently brought new vitality to the company after several failed expansions into other apparel market segments in the earlier part of the decade. Confident in the wake of 501’s success, the company was contemplating its next steps when research revealed a decline in jeans purchases by LS&Co.’s core customer base of baby boomers. In short, the company’s “bread and butter” customer for the last 30 years - the American male teenager - was now 25-40 and was moving out of the jeans market at an alarming rate. To retain these customers even as their jeans purchases slowed or stopped, the company introduced Levi’s Dockers casual pants. Dockers, as the name was later shortened to, was one of the most successful new product introductions of the 1980s in the clothing industry. Consumers responded to the product design, which utilized the comfort and casual feel of cotton, and likeable advertising by purchasing enough Dockers to make a billion-dollar brand by 1993. Over the course of the 1990s, LS&Co. enjoyed phenomenal success from its Dockers sub-brand. The Dockers brand achieved record sales growth in 1998 and Fortune magazine estimated in 1999 that 75 percent of American men owned a pair of Dockers and that the average customer owned 3.8 pairs. That year, the total...
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...Family Description The family discussed in this paper is a blended family. Included is a stepfather (SK), age 50, a mother (LS), age 48, and three children (TS, MS, LS), whose ages are 26, 21 and 18 respectively. The mother is the biological parent of all three children from a previous marriage which ended in divorce from alcoholism in her spouse. The spouse and biological father (GS) has a distant relationship with the children and does not live close. The stepfather also has a child from a previous marriage who was adopted by his uncle and aunt. SK’s previous wife (PK) and youngest child (JK) from that marriage are deceased after an automobile accident. The K family combined 8 years ago when SK and LS had met on an online dating site and fell in love. The step father SK is a business owner who runs an automotive repair shop. He is the primary breadwinner for the family. The mother LK is retired from her previous job due to disability, but works part time for the public school system preparing food for the lunch programs at various schools. She also helps at the automotive shop doing customer service work when needed. The children are all about 4 years apart and have only loose bonds due to the age differences. The oldest son TS no longer lives at home and works construction and is not married. The youngest has also moved away from the home due to indifferences with the step father. Her relationship with the family is somewhat strained and she does not live close by either...
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...Company Overview From our founding more than 157 years ago, Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.) has embodied the energy and events of our times, inspiring people from all walks of life with a pioneering spirit. We are the original jeans maker. Our history and longevity are unique in the apparel industry. From our humble start, the company has grown into one of the world’s largest brand-name apparel companies. In 1853, Levi Strauss opened a wholesale dry goods business in San Francisco that became known as “Levi Strauss & Co.” Seeing a need for work pants that could hold up under rough conditions, he and Jacob Davis, a tailor, created the first jean. In 1873, they received a U.S. patent for “waist overalls” with metal rivets at points of strain. The first product line designated by the lot number “501” was created in 1890. Through profits with principles, we are committed to making a positive difference in the communities in which we operate. This history of responsible business practices, rooted in our core values, has helped us build our brands and engender consumer trust around the world. We design and market products that people love and trust. These products include jeans and jeans-related pants, casual and dress pants, tops, jackets, footwear, and related accessories for men, women and children under our Levi's®, Dockers® and Signature by Levi Strauss & Co.™ brand names. We also license our trademarks for a wide array of products, including accessories, pants, tops, footwear, home...
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...Family Assessment Casey Schuler Bemidji State University Family Description The family discussed in this paper is a blended family. Included is a stepfather (SK), age 50, a mother (LS), age 48, and three children (TS, MS, LS), whose ages are 26, 21 and 18 respectively. The mother is the biological parent of all three children from a previous marriage which ended in divorce from alcoholism in her spouse. The spouse and biological father (GS) has a distant relationship with the children and does not live close. The stepfather also has a child from a previous marriage who was adopted by his uncle and aunt. SK’s previous wife (PK) and youngest child (JK) from that marriage are deceased after an automobile accident. The K family combined 8 years ago when SK and LS had met on an online dating site and fell in love. The step father SK is a business owner who runs an automotive repair shop. He is the primary breadwinner for the family. The mother LK is retired from her previous job due to disability, but works part time for the public school system preparing food for the lunch programs at various schools. She also helps at the automotive shop doing customer service work when needed. The children are all about 4 years apart and have only loose bonds due to the age differences. The oldest son TS no longer lives at home and works construction and is not married. The youngest has also moved away from the home due to indifferences with the step father. Her relationship with the family...
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...Family Assessment Casey Schuler Bemidji State University Family Description The family discussed in this paper is a blended family. Included is a stepfather (SK), age 50, a mother (LS), age 48, and three children (TS, MS, LS), whose ages are 26, 21 and 18 respectively. The mother is the biological parent of all three children from a previous marriage which ended in divorce from alcoholism in her spouse. The spouse and biological father (GS) has a distant relationship with the children and does not live close. The stepfather also has a child from a previous marriage who was adopted by his uncle and aunt. SK’s previous wife (PK) and youngest child (JK) from that marriage are deceased after an automobile accident. The K family combined 8 years ago when SK and LS had met on an online dating site and fell in love. The step father SK is a business owner who runs an automotive repair shop. He is the primary breadwinner for the family. The mother LK is retired from her previous job due to disability, but works part time for the public school system preparing food for the lunch programs at various schools. She also helps at the automotive shop doing customer service work when needed. The children are all about 4 years apart and have only loose bonds due to the age differences. The oldest son TS no longer lives at home and works construction and is not married. The youngest has also moved away from the home due to indifferences with the step father. Her relationship with the family...
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...9-300-001 REV: JULY 25, 2001 CHRISTOPOHER A. BARTLETT Microsoft: Competing on Talent (A) In the summer of 1999, a front page Wall Street Journal article was attracting attention on the Redmond campus. Under the headline “As Microsoft Matures, Some Top Talent Chooses to Go Off Line,” the article reported: “Tired of grueling deadlines, frustrated by the bureaucracy that has accompanied Microsoft’s explosive growth, or lured away by the boom in high-tech start-ups, dozens i of the company’s most capable leaders, all around 40, have opted out—at least temporarily . . .” (See Exhibit 1 for the article’s list of senior level departures.) Steve Ballmer, the company’s recently appointed president and COO, was quoted as saying that some of the departures were voluntary and some were not, opening opportunities for fresher, smarter replacements. “We have a bench that is very deep,” he said. “We have people who are fired ii Yet despite the positive outlook, Ballmer clearly up—driven—to lead the next generation.” recognized that Microsoft had to change or adapt some of the human resource practices that had allowed it to assemble and retain what CEO Bill Gates proudly called “the best team of software professionals the world has ever seen.” Just six weeks before the WSJ article was published, Ballmer had announced a package of changes that sweetened salaries, allowed more frequent promotions, and softened some of the pressures that had long been part of the ”hard-core” Microsoft culture....
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...periodically reevaluated to determine whether or not the car tariff is appropriate in the current market. Like other types of tariffs, a car tariff is designed to promote the welfare of domestic industries. The car industry may not be able to compete with cheaper imports, but once tariffs are assessed, they level the playing field slightly, giving domestic cars an edge in the marketplace. Car tariffs can also sometimes be used to penalize car importers who bring in inefficient products, with the car tariff being reduced for vehicles with low emissions or high fuel efficiency. Importers often criticize car tariffs because they add to the cost of doing business, and some argue that consumers have their freedom of choice restricted by tariffs. Some nations have responded to such criticism by abolishing or lowering their car tariffs to make the business climate friendlier to importers, while others have upheld high tariffs, arguing that their domestic automobile industries need the protection provided by tariffs. Cars from foreign manufacturers can be less expensive for a variety of reasons, including more lax labor laws in some nations, cheaper raw materials, or government subsidies to car manufacturers which allow them to sell their goods at low cost. Some advocates of free trade have suggested that eliminating tariffs allows the market to balance itself out, and that a lack of tariffs would encourage the failure of businesses which are not running effectively, while promoting...
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...Table of Contents Dedication …………………………………………………………………….. 01 Acknowledgement …………………………………….…………………….. 02 Executive Summary ………………………………………………………….. 03 Introduction …………………………………………………………………… 04 History …………………………………………………………………………... 05 Brands ………………………………………………………………………….. 06 Values ………………………………………………………………………….. 09 Vision Statement …………………………………………………………….. 10 Mission Statement …………………………………………………………… 11 Aspiration Statement ……………………………………………………….. 12 Situation Analysis …………………………………………………………….. 14 Competitive Analysis ……………………………………………………….. 14 Current Market Need ………………………………………………………. 15 SWOT Analysis ………………………………………………………………… 17 Objectives …………………………………………………………………….. 20 Scanning Environment ……………………………………………………... 21 Market Segmentation ……………………………………………………. 22 Target Market ………………………………………………………………. 28 Marketing Mix ………………………………………………………………. 30 Product Attributes ………………………………………………………… 31 Brand Positioning …………………………………………………………. 32 Brand Personality …………………………………………………………. 32 Features Analysis Chart ………………………………………………….. 33 Implementation …………………………………………………………… 35 Evaluation ………………………………………………………………….. 38 Budgeting ………………………………………………………………….. 41 Media Strategy ……………………………………………………………. 48 ...
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...them of many opportunities, along with financial assistance, to assist in pursuing an education beyond high school. After graduating from high school, I became pregnant. I was considered a statistic to some, but to me, and my support system (my family), it only meant that I would have to work just a little harder than the others who were not carrying the load of a child. I applied, was accepted to, and attended Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana pursuing a B. S. degree in Accounting. Although times were hard for me, I managed to graduate with the degree of my desire (B.S. in Accounting), in December of 1994. Not only did I graduate, but I was immediately employed at the University in the Comptroller’s Office as an Accounts Payable Specialist. I remained employed in the Comptroller’s Office until I was later hired in the LS-LAMP Office on the same campus. For a total of 5 (five) years, I worked in my field at Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Due to circumstances with my second child, I had to relocate and later became employed outside of my field. I haven’t worked directly in the Accounting field since. However, I have begun to launch my own Small Business. I chose to come back to Southern University, because this is the school that I am familiar with and loved the entire time I was there. I always had plans to come back, but was always tied down with my children. Now that my daughter is older (14...
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...Professional Paper; “Trends in University Outsourcing”, we found the dramatic changes and pressures that exist today in education require significant resources and greater core focus to achieve University overall objectives. The dynamics of the education system have changed significantly and there are far greater challenges that are no longer just national but global in scope. Extrapolated from A Report of the Commission Appointed by Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, Pre-Publication Copy September 2006, titled; A test of leadership charting the future of US higher education, provided the following insights on some of the challenges which require the consumption of significant resources and consequently a need to focus on your core business: 1) Where once the United States led the world in educational attainment, recent data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development indicate that our nation is now ranked 12th among major industrialized countries in higher education attainment. Another half dozen countries are close on our heels. And these global pressures come at a time when data from the U.S. Department of Labor indicate that postsecondary education will be ever more important for workers hoping to fill the fastest-growing jobs in our new economy. 2) From 1995 to 2005, average tuition and fees at private four-year colleges and...
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...Commanding the Heights: the Battle of Ideas This essay starts with an introduction of the documentary Commanding the Heights: the Battle of Ideas made by PBS, then conducts the analysis on the two competing economic ideas of Keyes vs. Hayek, and finally presents a detailed illustration of their impacts on the America’s economic policies since 1980. Introduction The PBS-made documentary ‘Commanding the Heights’ is to promote better understanding of globalization, economic development and world trade, featured with specific examples of different countries and interviews with related parties. Episode One "The Battle of Ideas," gives an overview of the battle between two major competing ideas about the world economy over the course of last century. On the one hand, the English economist Keynes believes in the ‘planned economy’ and advocates the government intervention to mitigate the risk during economic recession or depression; On the other hand, the Australian economist Hayek favors the free market mechanism and believes in minimum government intervention as market will eventually take care of itself and the prices system is at the heart of what makes a functioning economy work. The episode tracks the root of these ideas and explains how the world moved toward the government controlled economy during the 20th century in a chronological order summarized as below. The Russian Revolution in 1917 marked the beginning of communism economy, in which government is very important...
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