Develop practical entrepreneurial ideas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Develop practical entrepreneurial ideas - Essay Example Superior Foods has formulated an effective marketing strategy that will ensure proper market penetration (Erick 2011). The London market has huge demand for fast food products, especially during the morning and in the afternoon. The student population greatly desire food products which are easily available and relatively affordable. The demanding lifestyles of London residents at work and in learning institutions, explains minimal time available for preparing home cooked meals. The fast foods are the most appropriate alternative. The products that will be provided by the business are mainly fast foods and drinks. The customers can visit the establishment to get fast food products and related services that include entertainment. Alternatively, busy clients can make orders through our email and social media platforms (Anders 2005). The food will be delivered within 30 minutes in any location Within London. There are several major competitors in the fast food sector within London; for instance, Chicken Valley, Chicago Pizza, Burger King, and Ambar. We will ensure competitive advantage through concentrating on customized services (Richard 2008). The most favored customized services, is the home and office delivery. The market entry strategy involves effectively integrating fast food products with customized services and entertainment. A resident jazz band has been contracted to perform during all Friday and Saturday

Mittal Steel Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Mittal Steel - Essay Example Mittal steel announced a hostile takeover bid for its nearest rival Arcelor steel. Mittal has lead consolidation in the world steel industry and their strategy emphasises size and scale and well as product diversity and quality. This acquisition satisfies all those elements of their strategy. Since Arcelor is not only a very large producer, which would add to the size and scale of Mittal's operations but also a producer of high value steel which is not a strength of Mittal Steel, this would satisfy the range of product diversity and quality which they desire. The steel industry has in the past largely been dominated by domestic countries that supplied steel to their market and then exported an excess overseas. Recently however this has drastically changed. Going Global: The steel industry has now become a largely global industry as opposed to a domestic one, especially in with the emergence of Mittal steel which is built on acquisitions and companies such as Arcelor and ThyssenKrupp now actively pursuing acquisitions. According the Economist (2005, 72) "Until these deals, steel had largely been a national business, with America's traditional integrated producers serving chiefly the domestic market. The international steel business consisted of export trade, rather than the ownership of assets in several countries. The emergence of Arcelor and Mittal has changed all that, with steel groups that have an increasingly global dimension." Consolidation: Recent acquisitions and the new global nature of the steel business have helped to consolidate the industry. Instead of being fragmented, many companies, Mittal included have sought to achieve success through size and scope. The Economist (2005, 72) notes that, "the global industry will come to be dominated by a handful of big groups with production of around 100m tonnes a year." Privatisation: Many Eastern European governments in particular have privatised major industry, allowing for easier consolidation in the industry. Mittal itself was about to take advantage of this by purchasing major steel operations from Poland and the Ukraine. China: China's capacity for steelmaking has increased from 11% in 1994 to 25% of the world total in 2005 (Economist 2005, 72). While demand has gone up in the world and China in particular for steel, the worry is that if demand in China goes down they will export their steel and flood the market. PEST Political Anti-Competition Policies The EU has the right to make anti-trust allegations regarding the merger of Arcelor and Mittal. There is pressure from especially the French government to prevent this merger. Economic Market Trends The consolidation of the steel industry has brought about many cost efficiencies and has allowed Mittal in particular to become vertically integrated. According to D'Costa (1999, 13), the emergence of low cost firms makes sense because, "Most processing technologies connected with steelmaking were and continue to be characterised by strong economies of scale. Add to that the fact that large amounts of finance are needed to implement best-practice techniques on scales that yield

Oedipus the King | Imagery and sybolism

Oedipus the King | Imagery and sybolism Sophocles use of light and darkness in Oedipus the King acts as an aid in the character development. The associated imagery and symbolism in the play manifests Sophocles ideas to the reader which gets them involved in reading and understanding the play. Throughout time, the presence of light in any situation has always been construed as the presence of knowledge, good spirits, parity holiness. For darkness the converse is true. Not only is it representative of holiness, but also, the presence of light shows that we should be able to see far, similar to how much we know of something. After all, it is hard to fathom a human who can see in the dark. In Oedipus Rex, sight and blindness are also used as allusions to light and darkness, albeit not with exactly the same meanings. A blind person is in the dark about what is going on around him, with no knowledge about his setting, and is handicapped while making choices. A sighted person is well aware of his setting, and should be able to make decisions while being able to see the repercussions. It is also hard to draw a line to where the different interpretations stop. It can be used in the same work to show any of the different meanings interchangeably. This makes it such a useful tool for an author to draw attention to specific character traits and development, without becoming overly technical in writing. By combining all of these ideas, playwright is able to portray a deeper meaning than could possibly be explicitly written. Also, the author is able to express a complex idea with a single word; ie light representing knowledge and truth. Oedipus Rex is a Greek tragedy written by Sophocles, who was a celebrated ancient Greek poet. The play is together with Antigone and Oedipus at Colonus part of what is called the Theban plays, all set in Thebes and concerned with the town of Thebes before, during and after Oedipus reign as Theban king (Sophocles Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). A tragic hero must fulfill four criteria; nobility, harmatia (i.e a flaw), peripetia (i.e. reversal of fortune) and anagnorisis (i.e. discovery that peripetia was caused by the heros own actions). (What is a Tragic Hero? Yahoo! Answers, 2013) The basic plot of a tragedy is the rise of a character to become a leader of men, the fall of the character due to a character flaw and the realisation of the character flaw that destroys him. In Oedipus the King, the priest describes Thebes as the City of Light. Thebes normally is supposed to be a prosperous town; all that it touches is supposed to turn to gold. There is joy and happiness around every corner. In such conditions, Oedipus could waltz in and no one would bat an eyelid. However, the same priest describes how the plague has taken over the city by saying; And deadly pestilence, that fiery god, swoops down to blast the city, emptying the House of Cadmus, filling it with blackness like Hades  [1]  . This indicates a total contrast to how its supposed to be. The once prosperous city is now under the curse of the sphinx. With the darkness comes disease, uncertainty and emptiness and with it the need for a hero. The stage is now set for Oedipus entry. A need has been created for a leader of men. The use of the imagery of darkness has paved the way for Oedipus to rise above all other men. Another example of successful character development using light/darkness imagery is when Oedipus promises to Creon, the messenger, that I will shed light on this darkness  [2]  . Creon had just told Oedipus that the curse on their land would be lifted when Lauis killer is banished or killed.  [3]   Oedipus implies that he would investigate Lauis murder and ensure that justice is served. The magnitude of this quote is in its development of the tragic hero that is Oedipus. He is just trying to avenge his predecessors death but is inadvertently plotting his own downfall. This is part of the flaw in Oedipus character. Oedipus flaw is that cannot see what is beneath the surface. The fact that he wants to clear up the mess and lift the curse is commendable, but in doing so, Oedipus will implicate himself and begin the reversal of fortune. Throughout the play, a recurring theme is the blindness of some and full sight of others, yet it is those who are allegedly blind who are enlightened. Take Tereisias for example, who was the blind prophet of Thebes. Only he is able to put two and two together and see the bigger picture. Tereisias acts as the antagonist in the play, providing a balanced counter view in the drama, giving Oedipus a chance to realise his flaws. For example, a reader of Oedipus cannot miss the irony in a blind man telling a sighted one that he is committing a grave crime by sleeping with his legitimate wife and that he would one day also be blind and need a guide to move along just like him  [4]  . Tereisias also assures Oedipus that he cannot tell who hes sharing a household with.  [5]  Oedipus cannot fathom how this could possibly happen, and resorts to calling Tereisias a traitor and stupid. Tereisias replies to Oedipus, also in an outburst of anger, that Those clear-seeing eyes will be blinded. Oedipus was unable to see that he would have to gouge his own eyes because it was he who had brought the curse onto the land. The net effect is that now we have a protagonist who is also arrogant, overly proud, and unable to perceive the path fate is leading him along. Oedipus character is now that of a tragic hero in waiting, and it is just a matter of time before he discovers his ancestry, and with it the terrible sins he has committed. Oedipus comes to the realisation that he is the cursed polluter of the land, husband of his mother and father of his brothers

Kashmir :: essays research papers

KASHMIR? Geography, Kashmir is located in Himalayan range. Most of the area is mountainous with very fertile land, beautiful lakes, covered with thick green forests and produce verity of fruits. Area, 84471 sq.: miles; with boundaries with Pakistan, India, china and Afghanistan. Population, About 5 million consisting of 77% Muslim. Borders with Pakistan 902 miles and borders with India 307 miles. Brief History, The state of Kashmir came into existence in 1848 when Lord Lawrence the Governor General of British India sold the area to Gulab Singh a leader of Hindu dogra tribe for RS 7.5 million. Dogra rulers treated the Muslim Population who was meek, poor and peace loving harshly and taxed them Heavily. At that time of partition of India every state was given the option of acceding either to India or Pakistan. Lord Mountbatten the last Viceroy of India in his addressed the prince of the state on July 25,1947 said, "accede to India or Pakistan, bearing in mind the geographical situation by the respective state, the composition of their population and wishes of their people". According to the portion of India plan announced by the viceroy of India on June 3 1947, the Muslim majority provinces were to become Pakistan and those with Hindu majority were to form India. The province of Punjab was accordingly to be divided. A boundary commission headed by sir Redchiff was appointed. This commission wrongfully awarded a Teshil (county) namely Gurdaspur to India to provide land connection between Kashmir and India. On July 19 1947 the Muslim conference, the only political party of Kashmir announced that it demands accession to Pakistan. The Hindu maharaja Harry Singh honoree acceded to India whole population rose in revolt. The maharaja fold to India and the Indians troops invoked the valley on October 27 1947. The Kashmir freedom fighter supported by Afghanistan tribes men put up a resistance. The Security Council of UNO passed a resolution asking India and Pakistan to cease-fire for January 1,1949. In another resolution the Security Council asked both the countries to with draw their forces from the state for an impartial plebiscite under the control of UNO to decide the future of Kashmir. UN military observes has since been appointed on cease-fire line. A commission to arrange plebiscite was also appointed headed by Mr. Gunner Jarring. India however has been adopting delaying tactics ever since to allow the Kashmiris to exercise their right of self determination.

Psychological Pricing

MKT 521 *Psychological Pricing S*trategy {draw:frame} Reference Pricing. – Any business can leverage on reference pricing by positioning their product in the market place along with high value or luxury items to make consumers perceive that its product fits into the same category. However, if consumers feel that the product does not belong in that category the pricing and positioning strategy will not work and be it counterproductive for the product and the company. Two common forms of psychological pricing are odd pricing, and prestige pricing. Odd Pricing. – In a study conducted by Schindler & Kibarian in 1996 they tested odd pricing using three versions of a direct mail catalog for women's clothing. â€Å"The catalogs were identical except for the prices which ended with 00, 99 or 88. The version with prices ending in 99 generated 8% more sales volume and had more purchasers than the 00-ending version. The 88-ending catalog produced a similar sales volume and number of purchasers to the 00-ending version†. In this example we can clearly see how the consumer perception of better value directly impacted sales, even though there was an alternative that ended in 88 which will actually be lower in value was not identified by consumers. Luxury *Prestige Pricing*. – {draw:frame} Higher prices usually denote higher quality. Luxury brands are a perfect fit of this strategy. Another example of companies that use prestige pricing in the car industry are Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari and Rolls Royce. Psychological pricing is a good strategy to use when the company is certain that it will be the best-fit for the product, otherwise it can be counterproductive. References Kotler Philip, Armstrong Gary. Principles of Marketing Thirteen Edition. Prentice hall

Hp Swot Matrix

HP SWOT Strengths of HP 1. Global presence. 2. Strong brand image with high quality of product and service. 3. Providing customers service with specific technical support. 4. Successful Strategic Acquisitions. Hewlett-Packard has strong financial condition. Hewlett-Packard is a global company and became world’s biggest computer hardware. The growth of 26% in the Americas; 28% world-wide percent in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; and 16 percent in Asia Pacific and Japan with the broad-based global recovery (HP Annual Report, 2010).Hewlett-Packard is maintaining the No. 1 position in worldwide market share, as well as healthy average selling prices. Hewlett-Packard is differentiating through remarkable product design and customer experience from the range of high-end gaming PCs to sleek, powerful notebooks to fashion-inspired netbooks and innovative smartphones (HP Annual Report, 2010). Hewlett-Packard has its own support organizations to provide customers service with spec ific technical support.Hewlett-Packard can provide end-to-end IT solution, including infrastructure technology, business process outsourcing, technology support and maintenance, application development and support services and consulting and integration service. Hewlett-Packard continues on recognizing and capitalizing on strategic acquisitions. The company’s major mergers and acquisitions in recent past include Compaq Computer Corporation in 2002. In April of 2010, Hewlett-Packard announced to buy Palm for 1. 2 Billion. It increases its competitiveness therefore creates value for investors and customers of the company.Weaknesses of HP 1. Weak Market Segment Integration 2. Over rely on three-party supplier 3. R&D department has significantly less investments 4. Not comprehensive product portfolio HP lack presence in some segments. Comparing to its major competitors, such as Accenture, EMC and IBM, HP’s portfolio offers less significant on software product or manage con sulting services. Also, according to HP 2010 annual report, it has a great preformance on enterprise customer market but weak at small-scale market. HP over rely on three party supplier.HP's procurement expenditures for materials, manufacturing and assembly of HP's products all over the world. The suppliers includes contract manufacturers, electronic manufacturing services providers, original design manufacturers, and commodity suppliers. It is would be compliated and difficult to remain the relationships with the suppliers. HP invest less on R&D, compare to historical spending. HP does not develop the new technology for new product. Althoug HP has its brand smart phone, however, this properly attributes to the acquiring Compaq. For the smart phone technology, HP is leaved behind its competitors.Thus, they trend to acquire Palm. HP’s competitiveness mainly focus on 14. 1 inch notebook, however, the 15. 4 inch notebook is the current second largest market need. HP product line lack of attention on 15. 4 inch notebook. And also HP hardly focus to 13. 3 inch product. However, those size of notebook is the market need. It seems HP has not comprehensive product portfolio. Threats of HP †¢ Hyper-competition in IT market †¢ High bargaining power of Smartphone market †¢ Slowdown in economic conditions in US †¢ Foreign currency exchange rate Although Hewlett-Packard is maintaining the No. position in worldwide market share, some of the companies as a formidable competitor threatened in IT market such as Toshiba, Lenova Group and Aver. They compete in terms of price, quality, brand, technology, reputation, distribution and also range of other products. Hewlett-Packard wants to redevelop their Smartphone market, but they lack of this experience and technology. Hence, compare with Apple, Google, it still has a lot of space to improve and catch up. So this is the high bargaining power in Smartphone market when they want to expand this market.The economic slowdown has negatively affected many market segments, including information technology. Hewlett Packard has experienced this decline not only in the U. S. but also in its global markets. Worldwide spending on IT was predicted to decline by 4% in 2009. Foreign currency exchange rate is one of the external factors that we cannot expect. It is the big threat when foreign currency exchanges rate changes, it might influence the cost of production or the selling price in different countries. Opportunities of HP †¢ High growth rate of Smartphone market †¢ Change of lifestyle Change of consumer spending †¢ Innovation of 3C(Computer, Communication, Consumer Electronic) products The Smartphone market is having the high growth rate of nowadays. According to the researcher ISuppli Corp. , the global Smartphone shipments may increase 36 percent to 247 million in 2010. The high growth rate can reflect the demand of Smartphone is also high for customers. The lifestyle of p eople is change that they will more enjoy the online social with others. The online social is one part of daily life of many citizens. Internet is very important for citizen to keep connect with others online.The relative products were useful for them to keep online, such as Net-book, Smartphone. The spending custom of customer is change to spending more. They are more emphasized on the quality and function of the product more than price. The purpose of consumer is also change from useful to habit and symbolize of 3C products. The change of IT products is fastest of nowadays environment. The innovation of product and system improvement is very important for 3C products. The successful innovation product can be come a trendy of customer to buy and follow. Customers are easy to substitute the old product by new product in 3C product markets.