...explains the economics of the soft drink industry and its relation with profits, taking into account all stages of the value chain of the soft drink industry. By focusing on the war between Coca-Cola and PepsiCo as market leaders in this industry – with a 90% market share in carbonated beverages – the study analyses the different stages of the value chain (concentrate producers, bottlers, retail channels, suppliers) and the impact of the modern times and globalisation on competition and interaction in the industry. Throughout this analysis, I will assess how the strategic interaction between the two players allowed the creation of a “healthy" competition, where both companies need each other in order to remain competitive. Afterwards, I will go on to analyse the way that pricing and output decisions have affected the industry’s profits. Finally, I will discuss how Coca-Cola and PepsiCo could sustain their leadership in a market increasingly dominated by non-carbonated drinks. WHY IS THE SOFT DRINK INDUSTRY SO PROFITABLE? The soft drink industry refers to all drinks which do not contain alcohol. However, the original definition referred to carbonated and non-carbonated drinks made from concentrate. In this case discussion, I will take into consideration the US market, where the three major players – PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and Cadbury Schweppes – represent 90% of the market, with PepsiCo and Coca-Cola holding the largest share. In the soft drink industry, the distribution...
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...of field and framing in the ending scene of Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 film The Godfather uses an assortment of focuses and cunning surroundings to portray the sincerity and emotional concepts which aid in the expression and dramatic power of Michael Corleone’s rise as Godfather. Application of both soft and deep focus photography combined with tight framing greatly influence the meaning and structure associated with Michael’s growth of power and allows us, the audience, to pay attention to details of the event occurring. In terms of depth of field, during the last few minutes of the ending scene, we see Michael Corleone and Kay are in the same room discussing whether or not Michael is responsible for the murder of his sister’s husband. We see his Kay ask the question if he’s guilty or not, but during the scene, as he begins his reply, we see a constant deep focus camera shot on Michael whereas a soft focus shot is almost always directed towards Kay. She is mainly drowned out of the picture as a soft focus remains almost constant on the back of her head leaving Michael as the main focal point and in a subjective point of view to Kay. These particular attentions to detail begin to show the lack of importance of Kay, and a more personal importance of Michael. By this, the audience can see a disconnection and assume that a separation into two worlds is now occurring. These focuses greatly affect the audiences’ view of a separation of Michael’s thoughts and actions towards his family...
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...Description of the buying process The buying process consists of stages a buyer passes through in making choices about which products and services to purchase. We are the retailers and we have to consider the all the stages in the buying process in order to purchase the soft drinks in right quantity, right time and place from the supplier. This model is important for anyone who making marketing decisions. It forces the marketer to consider the whole buying process rather than just the purchase decision (when it may be too late for the business to influence the choice). Problem recognition: Perceiving a need The buying process starts with the problem recognition. At this stage, we will recognize a problem or need. In this process, we identify the forecasts and customer orders, checking of the stocks, purchase requisitions from the internal users and requirements such as types of soft drinks, size of soft drinks. Information Search: Seeking Value After we have recognizing those needs, we begin to search for information. Under internal source of information, we request for quotations. It includes the specifications of the items to bind documentation for the suppliers. We also source internally for merchandise plan records, store records and sales person opinion. With the merchandising plan, we can forecast some accuracy what to purchase and when to have it delivered. This will greatly assist us in attaining sales and gross margin goals. We can externally source from customer...
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...The hazardous nature of soft power suggests that it may take several attempts for that ritual ceremony to produce outcomes: if more and more people attend the ceremony because they are convinced that it works, then they are genuinely attracted to it, which allows soft power to affect the audience. Soft power takes thus longer time to show results than hard power. Furthermore, preferences may change. This year’s new trend might be short skirts, but next year’s might be long skirts, and the next only pants. As a result, more women may wear short skirts the first year, then long skirts, then pants. It would be then difficult to observe whether women actually are attracted to short skirts or not. Similarly, since soft power is based on preferences, policy makers must be aware of what seduces people. Attraction is the main characteristic of soft power. Either through culture, values or polices –or all –, soft...
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...currencies. The importance of this understanding should not be underestimated. Many companies have seen their profits plummet from poor decisions concerning global financing and exchange rate mechanisms. Contrarily, companies have also seen the success that can be reached by making the right decisions at the right time. This paper will analyze and discuss one particular aspect of global financing: Hard and soft currencies. Definition Understanding global financing and exchange rate mechanisms begins with the basics of hard and soft currencies. According to BusinessDictionary.com, hard currency can be defined as a “stable, convertible currency…serves as means of payment settlements because they do not suffer from sharp exchange rate fluctuations.” (What is Hard Currency?, 2011) Examples of hard currencies include the Euro, US dollar, and the Japanese Yen. In contrast to hard currencies, soft currencies can be defined as a currency that belongs to a “small, weak, or wildly fluctuating economy and…is not in favor with foreign exchange dealers.” (What is Soft Currency?, 2011) Examples of this include Mexico, Iraq and Afghanistan. Typically, underdeveloped countries are known to have soft currencies. Global Financing Operations Currency exchange rates fluctuate every day. For instance, Mexico has a current exchange rate of about 13.369 pesos per 1 U.S. dollar. For U.S. visitors and businesses, the U.S. dollar is stronger; thus the purchasing power is greater for...
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...Marketing Plan [pic] Table of Contents |Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………...... |4 | | | | |Detailed List of Assumptions……………………………………………………………... | | | | | |Situational Analysis……………..…………………………………………………………. | | |Company Performance.…………………………………………………………………. | | |Three Years of History as a Continuing Business..…………………………………….. | | |Market Demand…………………………………………………………………….. | | |Customer Analysis………………………………………………………………….. | | |Competition and Industry…………………………………………………. | | |Market...
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...Global Financing and Exchange Rate Mechanisms of Hard and Soft Currencies Renita McBath MGT/448 University of Phoenix December 1, 2011 Professor David Grier Global Financing and Exchange Rate Mechanisms of Hard and Soft Currencies Trading, bartering, buying, and selling are known as the act doing business. The action of doing business has been a way of life for human beings for Centuries. At some point in our history the difficulty of doing business equally became a challenge. For instance, one person would like to trade a jar of jelly to another person that owns cows. The trade is off balance because of the value of each item. The difficulty arose when trying to access a credit. At this point, currency was born. In the beginning, currency was established by villagers in the form of stones, paper, linen, and other countable items. Nowadays humans have evolved currency into unique metal and paper items that have unique values. Currently these uniquely valuable currencies are referred to as hard and soft. Further research will reveal an analysis of the use of the currencies in global financing operations as well as describing the importance of managing risks that may arise. Hard Currency Hard currency is a status associated with the material, paper, and coins that are circulated within a country and globally in an effort to buy and sell goods. Currently, hard currency is the most traded currency. Countries...
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...Distribution 9 Expected Retaliation 9 Conclusion 10 Suppliers 10 Supplier concentration 10 Presence of Substitute Inputs 11 Differentiation of Inputs 12 Importance of Volume to Supplier 13 Impact of Input on Cost or Differentiation 13 Threat of Backward or Forward Integration 13 Access to Capital 14 Access to Labor 14 Summary of Suppliers 14 Buyers 15 Buyer Concentration versus Industry Concentration 15 Buyer Volume 15 Buyer Switching Cost 15 Buyer Information 16 Threat of Backward Integration 16 Pull Through 16 Brand Identity of Buyers 17 Price Sensitivity 17 Impact on Quality and Performance 17 Substitute Products 18 Relative price/performance relationship of Substitutes 18 Buyer Propensity to Substitute 18 Rivalry 18 Industry Growth Rate 20 Fixed Costs 21 Product Differentiation 21 Brand Identity 21 Informational Complexity 22 Corporate Stakes 22 Conclusion 23 Critical Success Factors 23 Prognosis 24 Bibliography 26 Appendix 27 Key Industry Ratios 27 Introduction Description The soft drink industry is concentrated with the three major players, Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo Inc., and Cadbury Schweppes Plc., making up 90 percent of the $52 billion dollar a year domestic soft drink market (Santa, 1996). The soft drink market is a relatively mature market with annual growth of 4-5% causing intense rivalry...
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...Generational Diversity in the Workplace Managerial Communications 10/14/2011 Today, the workplace environment is comprised of people, both males and females from all different cultures and generations. For the first time in U.S. history there are four different generations out in the workforce. A generation can be defined as a group of individuals born within a term years having similar ideas, goals, attitudes and experiences. It can also be defined as the average period between the birth of parents and the birth of their children. Resources differ as to when some generations start and end; a generation is usually around 20 years long. generational differences are based on broad variations in values that develop based on the contrasting environment and social dynamics each generation experiences as they come of age. In the workplace, these differences seem to be generating clashes around work-life balance, employee loyalty, authority, and other important issues.Generational differences are based on broad variations in values that develop based on the contrasting environment and social dynamics each generation experiences as they come of age. In the workplace, these differences seem to be generating clashes around work-life balance, employee loyalty, authority, interpersonal relationships and other important issues (Notter, 2007). Sometimes contradictions and problems arise when identifying the characteristics of a generation. Some studies in the 1980’s described...
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...Learning Organisations Moving towards a learning organization is something done BY people, not something done TO people or FOR people by someone else. So, the role of HR has to be in encouraging, facilitating, and supporting a move towards learning organizations. HR can never accomplish this themselves. Then, if executives want to move towards a learning organization, they should direct their operating units to do so, and direct HR to move into a supportive role. If it's the other way around, where HR gets the responsibility, it never works. Knowledge management (KM) "any practice or process of creating, acquiring, capturing, sharing and using knowledge, wherever it resides, to enhance learning and performance in organisations (Scarborough 1999). Knowledge management involves converting knowledge sources by classifying related information then circulating to make the information to take place. Not all information is knowledge or all knowledge is important. According to Blackler (1995), "knowledge is multifaceted and complex, implicit and explicit, physical and mental, verbal and encoded". He also categorises knowledge in four as: embedded (technological - collective), enculturel (Values, beliefs - collective), embodied (practical knowledge - individual), and embraced (theoretical understanding - individual). Contrast on Blackler, Nonaka (1991) proposes that knowledge could be either individual or collective, cannot be both. Yet another argument comes from Scarborough and Carter...
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...actors, the stakes and the factors involved. All theories feed into each other, and combining these theories allows for a more complete understanding of the issues involved in bargaining process and therefore helps to improve individuals negotiation skills. There are several different theories analyzing the process and outcome of bargaining process as follows:- 1. Integrative Approach Model 2. Game Theory 3. Behavioral Theory 4. Power Theory 5. Optimal Agent Independence 1. Integrative Approach Model The integrative approach divides the negotiating process into three phases: • Diagnostic • Formulation • Details In the practice of negotiation, these phases are not necessarily linear. Rather, they can be repeated and addressed many times throughout the negotiation process. The toughness dilemma in the integrative approach calls for tough diagnosis in order to clearly elucidate the true interests of each party. In the formulation phase, negotiators should be more soft, in order to find a common, mutually acceptable solution. In the detail phase, the negotiators should again take a tough stance to assure their party receives as much benefit from the bargaining process as possible. Diagnostic Phase The Integrative Approach focuses heavily on the diagnosis of the underlying issues which have created the conflict,...
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...503479 14 EJT0010.1177/1354066113503479European Journal of International RelationsSolomon E IR J Article The affective underpinnings of soft power European Journal of International Relations 2014, Vol. 20(3) 720–741 © The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1354066113503479 ejt.sagepub.com Ty Solomon University of Glasgow, UK Abstract The concept of soft power occupies a prominent place in International Relations, foreign policy, and security studies. Primarily developed by Joseph S. Nye, the concept is typically drawn upon to emphasize the more intangible dimensions of power in a field long dominated by overtly material (i.e. military) power. Recently, some scholars have reframed soft power — specifically the key notion of attraction — as a narrative and linguistic process. This literature, however, has downplayed some of the other deep-seated underpinnings of soft power, which this article argues lie in the dynamics of affect. Building upon the International Relations affect and aesthetics literatures, this article develops the concept of soft power as rooted in the political dynamics of emotion and introduces the concept of affective investment. The attraction of soft power stems not only from its cultural influence or narrative construction, but more fundamentally from audiences’ affective investments in the images of identity that it produces. The empirical import of these...
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... Coca-Cola and Pepsi function in the soft drink industry as dominating players and have remained market leaders for a long time. The key competencies of Coke and Pepsi range from the product, supply chain and distribution, marketing and customer loyalty. Each of them has developed operating procedure. The supply chain forms a major component or a competency that helps these companies form a competitive advantage for themselves (Wheelen & Hunger Page Ref: 332-335). Training of human resources also forms an important element as it helps strengthen the human resource. The main objectives of the training and the requirements are to be communicated to the employees along with details about when and where it has been organized. Several arrangements for the tainting session to be conducted, including the overhead projectors and stationary are to be arranged for in the office of Pepsi and Coke which leads to the strengthening of the human resources as an organizational resource (Page Ref: 246-247) The differences between resources important for competitive advantage and those that should be disinvested from industry/positioning perspective. The most important elements in this industry include the economics, market and competitive factors. The economic factors relate to the global economics conditions as the greatly impact the demand and consumption of soft drinks. This leads to there being a need for the marketers of the soft drink industry to ensure that the economics...
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...Japan in Asia: A Hard Case for Soft Power by Thomas U. Berger Thomas Berger is an associate professor of International Relations at Boston University. he concept of ‘‘soft power’’—defined by Joe Nye as ‘‘the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than through coercion’’1— has proven a seductive one for Japan. Since the concept was popularized in the 1990s, Japanese scholars and policymakers have enthusiastically taken it up, eagerly exploring how Japan’s soft power resources could be exploited to burnish Japan’s image in the world and help reshape its environment in subtle but important ways. Some—perhaps encouraged by the new attention given to the popularity of Japanese anime and manga, and by the general buzz about ‘‘Cool Japan’’—have even described Japan as a ‘‘Soft Power Superpower.’’2 It sometimes seemed, in more overheated moments, that Pokemon and Sailor Moon would conquer the world, succeeding where the Imperial Army and Navy had failed.3 That soft power would prove attractive is unsurprising. Although Japan has considerable hard power resources, it has shown great reluctance to actually use them in the way that students of international relations would T 1 The idea was originally advanced by in Joseph Nye, Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power (New York: Basic Books, 1990). He has since expanded on the concept in Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics (New York: Public Affairs, 2004). 2 See the very useful volume by...
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...Cultural Impact on Business: A Case Study on Coca Cola’s Cultural Issues in India admin August 20, 2012 Blog No comments Socio Cultural barriers faced by coca cola in India Coca – cola, the world’s largest selling soft drink company had established its strong presence in the world since 1886. Coca-Cola is the first international soft drink brand to enter the Indian market in the early 1970’s. Till 1977 Coca-Cola was the leading brand in India; later, due to FERA (Foreign Exchange Regulation Act), they left India and didn’t return till 1993. Coca-Cola had to face many issues regarding its quality, resource exploitation and market exploitation along with price-quality trade-offs. People all over India are challenging Coca-Cola for its abuse of water resource. Coca-Cola had affected both quality and quantity of ground water. Due to its waste extracts, Coca-Cola was criticized for polluting the nearby fresh water and ground water and soil; because of this issue, farmers are suffering from water scarcity. Despite all these social and cultural issues, customers are using Coca-Cola due to its strong brand reputation all over the world. This is because Indians are now using more soft drinks and the youngsters are more in this category. However, with many studies and policy changes, Coca-Cola will be able to establish its brand reputation and increase its market share in the near future. This report is prepared from an organizational point of view. The point here is to prepare a report...
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