Night World : Black Dawn Chapter 10

But at the instant which would have made it akiss, Delos pulled away. Maggie felt the brush of his warm lips and then cold air as he jerked back. â€Å"No,†he said.†No.† She could see the clash of fear and anger in his eyes, and she could see itsuddenly resolve itselfas the pain grew unbearable.He shuddered once, and then all the turmoil vanished, asif it were being swept aside by a giant hand. It left only icy determination in its wake. â€Å"That's not going to help,† Maggie said. â€Å"I don'teven understand why you want to be this way, butyou can't just squash everything down-â€Å" â€Å"Listen,† he said in a clipped, taut voice. â€Å"Yousaid that in your dream I told you to go away. Well,I'm telling you the same thing now. Go away anddon't ever come back. I never want to see yourface again.† â€Å"Oh, fine.† Maggie was trembling herself withfrustration. She'd had it; she'd finally reached thelimit of her patience with him. There was so muchbitterness in his face, so much pain, but it was clear he wasn't going to let anyone help. â€Å"I mean it. And you don't know how much of aconcession it is. I'm letting you go. You're not justan escaped slave, you're an escaped slave whoknows about the pass in the mountains. The pen-.alty for that is death.† â€Å"So kill me,† Maggie said. It was a stupid thingto say and she knew it. He was dangerous – andthe master of that blue fire. He could do it at theturn of an eyelash. But she was feeling stupid andreckless. Her fists were clenched. â€Å"I'm telling you to leave,† he said. â€Å"And I'll tellyou something else. You wanted to know what happened to your brother.† Maggie went still. There was something differentabout him suddenly. He looked like somebodyabout to strike a blow. His body was tense and hiseyes were burning gold like twin flames. â€Å"Well, here it is,† he said. â€Å"Your brother is dead. I killed him.† It was a blow. Maggie felt as if she'd been hit. Shock spread through her body and left her tingling with adrenaline. At the same time she felt strangely weak, as if her legs didn't want to hold her up any longer. But she didn't believe it. She couldn't believe it, not just like that. She opened her mouth and dragged in a breathto speakand froze. Somewhere outside the cave a voice was calling. Maggie couldn't make out the words, but it was agirl's voice. And it was close †¦and coming closer. Delos's head whipped around to look at the entrance of the cave. Then, before Maggie could say anything, he was moving. He took one step to the wall and blew out theflame of the little stone lamp. Instantly, the cavewas plunged into darkness. Maggie hadn't realizedhow little light came from the entrance crack-almost none at all. No, she thought. Less light is coming throughthan before. It's getting dark. Oh, God, she thought. Cady. I just walked off and left her there. What's wrongwith me? I forgot all about her-1 didn't eventhink†¦. â€Å"Where are you going?† Delos whispered harshly. Maggie paused in mid rush and looked at himwildly. Or looked towardhim, actually, becausenow she couldn't see anything but darkness against paler darkness. â€Å"To Cady,† she said, distracted and frantic, clutching the water bag she'd grabbed. â€Å"I left herdown there. Anything could have happened bynow. o. â€Å"You can't go outside,† he said. â€Å"That's the hunting party I came with. If they catch you I won't beable to help-2†² I don't care!† Maggie's words tumbled over his.†A minute ago you never wanted to see me again.Oh, God, I left her. How could I do that?† ‘It hasn't been that long,† he hissed impatiently. â€Å"An hour or so.† Vaguely, Maggie realized that hemust be right. It seemed like a hundred years sinceshe had climbed up to his ledge, but actually every thing had happened quickly after that. â€Å"I still have to go,† she said, a little more calmly.†She's sick. And maybe Gavin came back.† A waveof fear surged through her at the thought. â€Å"If they catch you, you'll wish you were dead,† he said distinctly. Before Maggie could answer, hewas going on, his voice as brusque as ever. â€Å"Stayhere. Don't come out until everybody's gone.† She felt the movement of air and the brush ofcloth as he passed in front of her. The light fromthe entrance crack was cut off briefly, and then shesaw him silhouetted for an instant against gray sky. Then she was alone. Maggie stood tensely for a moment, listening.The sound of her own breathing was too loud. She crept quietly to the entrance and crouched And felt a jolt. She could hear footsteps crunching on the broken slate outside. Rightoutside. Thena shadow seemed to fall across the crack and sheheard a voice. â€Å"Delos! What are you doing up here?† It was a light, pleasant voice, the voice of a girl only a little older than Maggie. Not a woman yet.And it was both concerned and casual, addressingDelos with a familiarity that was startling. But that wasn't what gave her the bigjolt. It wasthat she recognized the voice. She knew it and shehated it. It was Sylvia. She's here, Maggie thought. And from the wayshe'stalkingshe's been here before – enough to getto know Delos. Or maybe she was born here, and she's just started coming Outside. Whatever the truth, it somehow made Maggiecertain that Miles had been brought here, too. But then-what? What had happened to him after that?Had he done something that meant he had to disappear? Or had it been Sylvia's plan from thebeginning? Could Delos have really†¦ ? I don't believe it, Maggie thought fiercely, butthere was a pit of sick fear in her stomach. Outside, Sylvia was chatting on in a musical voice. â€Å"We didn't even know you'd left the groupbut then we saw the blue fire. We thought youmight be in trouble-â€Å" â€Å"Me?†Delos laughed briefly. â€Å"Well-we thought there might betrouble,† Sylvia amended. Her own laugh was like wind chimes. â€Å"I'm fine. I used the fire for practice.† â€Å"Delos.† Sylvia's voice was gently reproving now,in a way that was almost flirtatious. â€Å"You knowyou shouldn't do that. You'll only do more damageto your armit's never going to get better if youkeep using it.† â€Å"I know.† Delos's brusque tone was a sharp con trast to Sylvia's teasing. â€Å"But that's my business.†Ã¢â‚¬ I only want what's best for you-â€Å" â€Å"Let's go. I'm sure the rest of the party is waiting for us.† He doesn't like her, Maggie thought. All herwhinnying and prancing doesn't fool him. But Iwonder what she is to him? What she really wanted at that moment was to dash out and confront Sylvia. Grab her and shake her until she coughed up some answers. But she'd already tried that once-and it had gotten her thrown into slavery. She gritted her teethand edged closer to the entrance crack. It was dangerous and she knew it, but she wanted to seeSylvia. When she did, it was another shock. Sylvia always wore slinky tops and fashionable jeans, butthe outfit she had on now was completely medieval.More, she looked comfortable in it, as if thesestrange clothes were natural to her-and flattering. She was wearing a sea-green tunic that had longsleeves and fell to the ground. Over that was another tunic, a shade paler, this one sleeveless andtied with a belt embroidered in green and silver. Her hair was loose in a fine shimmering mass, andshe had a falcon on her wrist. A real falcon. With a little leather hood on itshead and leather ties with bells on its feet. Maggie stared at it, fascinated despite herself. That whole fragile act Sylvia puts on, shethought. But you have to be strong to hold up a big bird like that. â€Å"Oh, we don't have to rush back just yet,† Sylvia was saying, moving closer to Delos. â€Å"Now that I'm here, we could go a little farther. This looks like anice path; we could explore it.† Cady, Maggie thought. If they go to the end ofthe path, they'll see her. Sylvia will see her. She had just decided to jump out of the cavewhen Delos spoke. â€Å"I'm tired,† he said in his flat, cold way. â€Å"We'regoing back now.† â€Å"Oh, you're tired,† Sylvia said, and her smile wasalmost sly. â€Å"You see. I told you not to use yourpowers so much. â€Å"Yes,†Delossaid,evenmoreshortly. â€Å"Iremember.† Before he could say anything else, Sylvia went on. â€Å"I forgot to mention, a funny thing happened.A guy named Gavin dropped in on the huntingparty a little while ago.† Gavin. Maggie's stomach plummeted. He got away. And he saw everything. And he must have moved fast,she thought absently. To hook around and get to a hunting partyon the other side of this ledge-in time for Sylviato come find Delos. â€Å"You probably donI know him,† Sylvia was saying. â€Å"But I do. He's the slave trader I use to getgirls from Outside. He's normally pretty good, but today he was all upset. He said a group of slavesgot loose on the mountain, and somehow his part ner Bern got killed.† You†¦ witch,Maggie thought. She couldn'tthink of a swear word strong enough. Sylvia knew. There was no doubt about it. IfGavin was her flunky, and if he'd told her that Bernwas dead, he must have told her the rest. That Bernhad been killed by Prince Delos himself, fried withblue fire, and that there were two slave girls infront of Delos at the time. She knew all along, Maggie thought, and she wasjust trying to trap Delos. But why isn't she afraidof him? He's the prince, after all. His father's dead; he's in charge. So how come she daresto set upher little traps? â€Å"We were all concerned,† Sylvia was going on,tilting her silvery head to one side. â€Å"All the nobles,and especially your greatgrandfather. Loose slavescan mean trouble† â€Å"How sweet of you to worry,† Delos said. Fromwhat Maggie could see of his face, it was expressionless and his voice was dry and level. â€Å"But youshouldn't have. I used the fire for practice-on the other slave trader. Also on two slaves. They interrupted me when I wanted quiet.† Maggie sat in helpless admiration. He did it. He outsmarted her. Now there's nothing she can say. And there's no way to prove thathe didn't kill us. Gavin ran; he couldn't have seenanything after that. He saved us. Delos saved Cady and me bothagain. â€Å"I see.† Sylvia bowed her head, looking sweet andplacating, if not quite convinced. â€Å"Well, of courseyou had every right to do that. So the slaves aredead.† â€Å"Yes. And since they were only slaves, why arewe standing heretalking about them? Is there something about them I don't know?† â€Å"No, no. Of course not,† Sylvia said quickly. â€Å"You're right; we've wasted enough time. Let's go back.† In her mind, Maggie heard Gavin's voice. â€Å"It's not like they were ordinary slaves. If we don't deliver that maiden we're dead.† So she's lying again, Maggie thought. What a surprise. But who's the maiden? And why's she so important? For that matter, she thought, who's this greatgrandfather of Delos's? When Sylvia mentionedhim it sounded almost like a threat. But if he's agreat-grandfather he's got to be ancient. How areSylvia and some old geezer teamed up? It was an interesting question, but there was no time to think about it now. Sylvia and Delos wereturning away from the cave, Sylvia murmuringabout having to take a look at Delos's arm when they got back. In another moment they'd passed out of Maggie's line of sight and she heard thecrunching noise of feet on slate. Maggie waited until the last footstep faded, then she held her breath and waited for a count ofthirty. It was all she could stand. She ducked through the entrance crack and stood in the openair. It was fully dark now. She was very nearly blind.But shecould sense the vast emptiness of the valley in front of her, and the solidity of the mountain at her back. And she should have felt relieved, to be outsideand not caught-but instead she felt strangely stifled. It took her a moment to realize why. There was no sound at all. No footsteps, novoices, and no animals, either. And that was whatfelt eerie. It might be too cold at night for mosquitoes and gnats and flies, but there should have been someanimal life to be heard. Birds heading intothe trees to rest, batsheadingout. Deer feeding.Bucks charging around-it was autumn, after all. There was nothing. Maggie had the unnervingfeeling that she was alone in a strange lifelessworld swathed in cotton, cut off from everythingreal. Don't stick around and think about it, she toldherself sternly. Find Cady. Now! Gritting her teeth, she thrust the water bag intoher jacket and started back. By keeping close to the mountains bulk on her left and feeling ahead with her foot before each step, she could find her way in the dark. When she reached the ledge, her stomach tightened in dismay. Terrific. Going down in pitch darkness-there's going to be no way to see the footholds. Oh, well, I'll feel for them. The worst that can happen is I fall a hundred feet straight down. â€Å"Cady,† she whispered. She was afraid to talk tooloudly; the hunting party might be anywhere andsound could carry surprisingly well on a mountain slope. â€Å"Cady? Are you okay?† Her heart thumped slowly five times before she heard something below. Not a voice, just a stirring,like cloth on rock, and then a sigh. Relief flooded through Maggie in a wave that wasalmost painful. Cady hadn't died or been abducted. because Maggie had left her. â€Å"Stay there,† she whispered as loudly as she dared. â€Å"I'm coming down.I've brought water.† It wasn't ashard going downas she'd expected. Maybe because she was still high on adrenaline,running in survival mode. Her feet seemed to findthe toeholds of their own accord and in a few minutes she was on the boulders. â€Å"Cady.† Her fingers found warmth and cloth. Itmoved and she heard another little sigh. â€Å"Cady, areyou okay? I can't see you.† And then the darkness seemed to lighten, andMaggie realized that she couldsee the shape shewas touching, dimly but distinctly. She glanced up and went still. The moon was out. In a sky that was otherwisecovered with clouds, there was a small opening, a clear spot. The moon shone down through it like asupernatural white face, nearly full. â€Å"Maggie.† The voice was a soft breath, almost awhisper, but it seemed to blow peace and calm into Maggie's heart. â€Å"Thanks for letting me rest. I feel stronger now.† Maggie looked down. Silver light touched thecurves of Cady's cheek and lips. The blind girllooked like some ancient Egyptian princess, herdark hair loose in crimped waves around her shoulders, her wide, heavy-lashed eyes reflecting themoon. Her face wasas sereneasever. â€Å"I'm sorry it took so long. I got some water,†Maggie said. She helped Cady sit up and put thewater bag to her lips. She doesn't look as feverish, she thought asCadywas drinking. Maybe she can walk. But where?Where can we go? They would never make it to the pass. And even if they did, what then? They'd be high on a moun tain-some mountain-in the dark and cold of aNovember night. â€Å"We need to get you to a doctor,† she said. Cady stopped drinking and gave the bag back. â€Å"Idon't think there's anything like that here. There might be some healing woman down there in thecastle – but. .She stopped and shook her head. â€Å"It's not worth it.† â€Å"What do you mean, it's not worth it? And, hey, you rereally feeling better, aren't you?† Maggieadded, pleased. It was the first time Cady had gottenout more than a few words. She sounded very weak,but rational, and surprisingly knowledgeable. â€Å"It's not worth it because it's too much of a risk. I'm too much of a risk. You have to leave me here, Maggie. Go down and get to shelter yourself.† â€Å"Not this again!† Maggie waved a hand She really couldn't deal with this argument anymore. â€Å"IfI left you up here, you'd die. It's going to get freezing cold. So I'm not going to leave you. And ifthere's a healing woman down at the castle, thenwe're going to the castle. Wherever the castle is.† â€Å"It's the place all the Night People are,† Arcadiasaid, unexpectedly grim. â€Å"The slaves, too. Everybody who lives here is inside the castle gates; it'sreally like a little town. And it's exactly the placeyou shouldn't go.† Maggie blinked. â€Å"How come you know so much?Are you an escaped slave like Jeanne?† â€Å"No. I heard about it a year or so ago from someone who had been here. I was coming here for a reason-it was just bad luck that I got caught bythe slave traders on my way in.† Maggie wanted to ask her more about it, but anagging voice inside her said that this wasn't thetime. It was already getting very cold. They couldn't be caught on the mountainside overnight â€Å"That road the cart was on-does it go all theway to the castle? Do you know?† Cady hesitated. She turned her face toward the valley, and Maggie had the strange sense that shewas looking out. â€Å"I think so,† she said, at last. â€Å"It would makesense that it does, anyway-there's only one placeto go in the valley.† â€Å"Then we've got to find it again.† Maggie knewthat wouldn't be easy. They'd run a long way fromBern and Gavin. But she knew the general direction. â€Å"Look, even if we don't get to the castle, weshould find the road so we know where we are. And if we have to spend the night on the mountain,it's much better to be in the forest. It'll be warmer.† â€Å"That's true. But-â€Å" Maggie didn't give her a chance to go on. â€Å"Canyou stand up? I'll help-put your arm around myneck†¦ .† It was tricky, getting Cady out of the nest of boulders. She and Maggie both had to crawl most of the way. And although Cady never complained, Maggiecould see how tired it made her. â€Å"Come on,† Maggie said. â€Å"You're doing great.†And she thought, with narrowed eyes and set teeth,If it comes to that, I'll carryher. Too many people had told her to leave this girl.Maggie had never felt quite this stubborn before. But it wasn't easy. Once into the woods, the canopy of branches cut off the moonlight. In only minutes, Cady wasleaning heavilyon Maggie,stumbling and trembling. Maggie herself was stumbling, tripping over roots, slipping on club mossand liverwort. Strangely, Cady seemed to have a better sense ofdirection than she did, and in the beginning shekept murmuring, â€Å"This way, I think.† But after awhile she stopped talking, and some time afterthat, she stopped even responding to Maggie'squestions. At last, she stopped dead and swayed on her feet. It was no good. The taller girl shivered once, thenwent limp. It was all Maggie could do to breakher fall. And then she was sitting alone in a small clearing, with the spicy aroma of red cedar around her, and an unconscious girl in her lap. Maggie held still and listened to the silence. Which was broken suddenly by the crunch offootsteps. Footsteps coming toward her. It might be a deer. But there was something hesitant and stealthy about it. Crunch, pause; crunchpause. The back of Maggie's neck prickled. She held her breath and reached out, feeling fora rock or a stick-some weapon. Cady was heavyin her lap. Something stirred in the salal bushes betweentwo trees. Maggie strained her eyes, every muscle tense. â€Å"Who's there?†

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Capturing Customers with right Message - Essay Example However, the likely disadvantage is that the business may not be able to cope with the demand of customers intending to redeem their coupons if the number is too high. On the other hand, the advantage of the service to the customer is that it is convenient since everything is done electronically. The main disadvantage is that in the event that the phone is lost, all data including the coupons are lost. This may result in loses. I strongly support the approach of using electronic coupons since it is a convenient way of networking. The customers need to network with different businesses and other consumers such that they can exchange information about products offered on the market (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010). I have experienced this when I learnt about different products on the market through networking with friends using cell phones. This can be improved if the company stores all the contact details in its database. When it is promoting a certain item, then it can automatically send the message to all the customers in the database. The response is likely to be

The entrepreneurial process that brought about the creation and growth Essay

The entrepreneurial process that brought about the creation and growth of the business venture, mySmoothie, by the innovative entrepreneur, Domeniqu - Essay Example Even though managers and staff may have their own roles, the role of the entrepreneur is most pivotal because the entrepreneur represents the vision and future if the business (McCarthy, 2001). This is to say that, the entrepreneur has vital roles to play in terms of process and behavior and it is only when these roles are played well that growth and expansion can come about. To this effect, the writer is putting mySmoothie on the periscope to critically analyze, using theories and concepts from entrepreneurship to explain how the business venture has operated and the positive outcomes that has resulted particularly from its entrepreneurial process. Entrepreneurial Processes adopted by mySmoothie As far as entrepreneurship processes are concerned, mySmoothie has adhered to three major and important concepts and theories of entrepreneurship. These are recognizing opportunities and generating ideas, decision making and planning, and marketing. Diagrammatically, the write-up shall be pr esented as below: Firstly, Domenique and for that matter mySmoothie has in place entrepreneurial processes that ensure that production and operations of the company meet the needs of consumers. According to the International Institute for Management Development, IMD (2007), mySmoothie was started out of the theory of recognizing opportunities and generating ideas in the sense that, Domenique Forsberg took advantage of the absence of winter in Sweden in 2004 to start a company that rightly matched the prevailing whether at the time. The opportunity was the absence of winter and the idea generated was to start a fruit drink company that would produce chilled drinks to cool the thirst of consumers. This indeed worked perfectly and was a step in the right direction. Indeed, in entrepreneurship, the process of meeting the needs of consumers is paramount in choosing what to deal in. This is because consumers are becoming more and insightful of the need to purchase products that match thei r needs rather than those that match their wants. It is no wonder therefore that after just two year of operation, mySmoothie was reported to have made â‚ ¬1 million in 2006 (IMD, 2007, p.1). Such operations of recognizing opportunities and generating ideas have continued to be one of the most adhered theories for mySmoothie in all its business processes. For instance the company has recognized the prevailing health concerns associated with the use of sugar, preservatives and other additive and come up with the idea of eliminating the use of these compounds from its products (BevNET, 2011). The process of decision making and planning at mySmoothie is also in conformity with entrepreneurial concepts and theory on leadership. Ashley (2010) opines that â€Å"leadership philosophy is a set of beliefs and principles that strongly influence how we perceive ourselves within an organization and those that we lead.† This explanation goes a long way to explain the importance of lead ership in any given organization or establishment, of which mySmoothie is not excluded. According to Ashley (2010), one important component of leadership is decision making. In entrepreneurial theories, there are three major types of entrepreneurs as far as decision making is concerned. These are authoritarian or autocratic leaders, participative or democratic leaders and delegative or free reign leadership (Clark, 2006). According to Clark (2006), â€Å"a good leader (entrepreneur) uses all three styles, depending on what forces are involved between the followers, the leader and the situation.† Relating this assertion to mySmoothie, it will be right to say that the process of decision making and planning is at its best in the organization. This is because at mySmoothie,

Britishness tests Essay Example for Free

Britishness tests Essay A) One reason why David Blunkett wants to introduce the Britishness Tests is because he feels that understanding the UKs way of life will help immigrants to take part in the British society. Assimilation is increasing as the ethnic minorities are adopting the mainstream culture of the British society. This may show that as immigrants enter the country they adopt to the culture to feel part of the society. This may also increase the immigrants sense of values that we hold within Britain if a Britishness Test is introduced. A second reason why David Blunkett wants to introduce this test is that he wants to see a greater pride from British people about their own culture and identity. British pride is shown through the symbols and rituals that are followed. The symbols include flags, anthems and monuments this show Britishness as they are present in many places and are valued by many of the British members. Rituals such as the Queens speech as also valued by many people as they are proud of their country. Schusden talks about how people celebrate their nationality through symbols and rituals and unite us in Britishness. This shows that these types of values could show how Britishness is measured. B) One criticism of the Britishness Tests is that Globalisation is increasing. The boundaries are blurring in nations. This means that there are more varieties within the people living in the UK. Therefore Britishness does not fit extremely well as the variations go away from Britishness and focus more on the Globalisation of the country. Waters states that Celtic identities within Britain separate the British Identity as there are many people that say they are Scottish, welsh etc. this shows that people have different identities within Britain and that people see themselves in a global culture. A second criticism of the Britishness Tests is multiculturalism. As we live in a society where there is the co existence of two or more distinctive ethnic groups we are more exceptive of other norms, values and ways of life. Ethnic minority cultures and identities are slowly changing. This may represent a normal development of the culture rather than a step towards assimilation. Nevertheless, the divisions between cultures seem to be getting more blurred. Britishness cannot be measured when there are many different ethnic groups living together because they are sharing their views and beliefs on culture. C) One agent of secondary socialisation that creates ethnic identities is peer groups. Johals concept of the white mask focused on second and third generation British Asians. He found that they have a dual identity in that they inherit an Asian identity and adopt a British one. This results in Asian youth adopting a white mask in order to interact with white peers at school or college, but emphasising their cultural difference whenever they feel it is necessary. This shows that peers can have a huge impact on creating an ethnic identity. Tony Sewell suggests that young African-Caribbeans are overly influenced by commercial popular culture and its emphasis on designer labels and logos in constructing a personal identity and ethnicity.

Impact of Internationalisation of Business Markets

Impact of Internationalisation of Business Markets This report aims to analyse and discuss the internationalisation of business and global marketing issues. It also analyses the influence of global marketing environment on the marketing activities of the firm. In order to prepare this report, there has been a use of various Academic textbooks and journals. Over the past thirty years, internationalisation of the firm has been the most frequently researched topics in international marketing (Fletcher 2001). It has been used to describe the outward movement or increasing involvement in a firms or larger groupings international operations (Fillis 2000). In general, Internationalisation refers to the increasing importance of international trades, international treaties, international relations, alliances, etc. Firms undertake international operations due to various reasons (Lam and White 1999). Some internationalise due to the fact that their competitors or customers have been globalised (Ohmae, 1990), whereas others are pushed by the idea of multinationalism as a symbol of success and progress (Gerlinger et al. 1989). The firms use a stepwise approach along with an organisational continuum, in order to develop the international operations. The Uppsala School views internationalisation as having four stages while it has also been modelled with five and six. Although the number of incremental steps may differ, there is general agreement that with each subsequent step comes increasing involvement in international operations. However, due to increasing globalisation, chaotic market conditions and technology effects, it is believed that such stepwise advancement is not generally exhibited in SMEs and that alternative modelling of microenterprise behaviour is needed in order to account for emerging modes of behaviour (Fillis 2000). Definition of Internationalisation: There are many possible definitions of Internationalisation, some referring to the whole economy of the home or internationalising, country, some referring to specific sectors of the economy, and some referring to MNEs themselves (Kumar, N 1998). Calof and Beamish (1995: 116) denotes Internationalisation as the process of adapting firms operations (strategy, structure, resources, etc) to international environments. Whereas, Welch and Luostarinen (1988), Rao and Naidu (1992), Easton and Li (1993) and Johanson and Vahlne (1993) has defined internationalisation as a process by which firms increase their involvement in international business activities. From the above-proposed definitions, it can be concluded that Internationalisation is a process in which the firm gradually increases its international involvement. Complexity and challenges in Internationalisation: Internationalisation is a process which is very complex and challenging by nature. There have been various factors which have made internationalisation as a complex process. The most important factors are uncertainty in formats, formula and markets, the high degree of operational flexibility required and there need to be the high rate of formula innovation in order to get a success in internationalisation (Dawson, J. 2003). Uncertainty in Formats, Formula and Markets: As being an international market for the internationalising firm, it is very uncertain. The firm faces huge competition from the local markets. These all factors make internationalising for the firm very challenging. High degree of operational flexibility required: In order to perform a successful internationalisation process, there needs to be a high degree of operational flexibility, which will give an advantage to the internationalising firm over the local firms. Need of high rate of formula innovation: In order to gain an advantage over the local firms, the internationalising firm has to be very active in terms of innovation. As the competition will be high for the internationalising firm there needs to be a rapid innovation of the formula. Uppsala Internationalization Model: The Uppsala Internationalization Model was originally developed by Johanson and Vahlne (1977, 1990). This model, also known as the incremental theory of internationalisation, shows that enterprises gradually increase their international involvement according to the development of their knowledge about foreign markets and operations. Camuffo et al. (2007) enhanced this model by adding technological knowledge and customer-supplier interaction as important determinants of the process, stating that cross-border expansion into a neighbouring country might shorten the time required to accumulate knowledge and to control the facility in the target country (Reiner, G. 2008). The Uppsala model has described the internationalisation of a firm as a process of experiential learning and incremental commitments which lead to an evolutionary development in a foreign market. Johanson and Vahlne formulated this approach in 1977, referring to empirical observations on Swedish manufacturing firms from their studies at the international business department of Uppsala University. One of the basic assumptions of the model is that the lack of knowledge is an important obstacle to the development of international operations (Johanson Vahlne, 1977: 23). Hence, the Uppsala model has dealt fundamentally with knowledge acquisition and learning. It has been observed that the absence of market-specific knowledge has forced the many manufacturing firms to develop their international operations in small steps, undertaking incremental commitment decisions and moving at the beginning to psychically close countries in order to reduce the market uncertainty (Johanson Vahlne, 1977 : 24). Uppsala model is based on four core concepts: market commitment, market knowledge, current activities and commitment decisions. These four concepts are then divided into state aspects and change aspects. The two state aspects are market commitment, which is the resources committed to foreign markets, and market knowledge, which is the knowledge about foreign markets and operations possessed by the firm at a given time. The two change aspects are current activities and commitment decisions. The latter are the decisions to commit resources to foreign operations (Johanson Vahlne, 1990). Drawback of Uppsala Internationalisation model: The Uppsala model has been criticised for being partial and deterministic (Hollensen, S. 2007).The first criticism is based on the fact that Johanson and Vahlne 1977 rely on only one construct- experiential knowledge as one of several constructs, including the decision making process of the firms management. On the other hand, the internationalisation process model does deal with how other factors are handled in the process (Blomstermo, A. 2003). The criticism that the model is deterministic has to do with the incremental development of experiential knowledge and its manifestation in the visible stage model. Researchers provide empirical evidence that shows that firms do not always start with occasional exports and end up with a production company abroad (Newbould, Buckley and Thurwel 1978).It has also been argued that the model does not take into account interdependencies between different country markets (Johanson and Mattson, 1986) Advantages of Uppsala Internationalisation model: After analysing the Uppsala Internationalisation model it was found that there have been very few advantages. The only advantage associated with this model is that it explains the internationalisation process. In comparison to all the other models of internationalisation this has been highly criticised (Madsen, K. 1991). Macro-environment Forces: Whether its an international banking organisation, a university or a manufacturer, no organisation exists within a vacuum. It is very likely competitors, to be subject to international, national and local control, obliged to comply with national or European pollution fluctuations in the fortunes of the global economy (Brooks, I. 2004). Factors that influence a companys or products development but that are outside of the companys control. For example, the macro environment could include competitors, changes in interest rates, changes in cultural tastes, or government regulations etc (Hill, C. 2009). Macro- environmental forces influencing Internationalisation process: The various outside influence on a firms decision to go international are as follows: Export Agents Governments Chamber of commerce Banks etc. Unsolicited international orders are one major factors influence the firm to begin exporting. In United States, such orders have been found to account for more than half of all cases of export initiation by small and medium-sized firms. Another major influencing agent may actually be a competitor. Just as firms respond to competitive pressures from other companies, statements by executives from other competing firms may serve as change agents (Czinkota, M. 2007). Export Agents: Export agents as well as export management firms generally qualify as experts in global marketing. They are already dealing internationally with other exportable products, have overseas contacts and are set up to handle other exportable products, have overseas contacts and are set up to handle other exportable products. Many of these trade intermediaries approach prospective exporters directly if they think that their product have potential markets overseas (Hollensen, S. 2007). Governments: In nearly all countries governments try to stimulate international business through providing global marketing expertise (export assistance programmes). For example, government stimulation measures can have a positive influence not only in terms of any direct financial effects that they may have, but also in relation to the provision of information (Welfens, P. 2001). Chambers of commerce: Chambers of commerce and similar export production organizations are interested in stimulating international business, both exports and imports. These organizations seek to motivate individual companies to get involved in global marketing and provide incentives for them to do so on. These incentives include putting the prospective exporter or importer in touch with overseas business, providing overseas market information, and referring the prospective exporter or importer to financial institutions capable of financing global marketing activity (Hollensen, S. 2007).. Banks: Banks and other financial institutions are often instrumental in getting companies to internationalize. They alert their domestic clients to international opportunities and help them to capitalize on these opportunities. Of course, they look forward to their services being used more extensively as domestic clients expand internationally (Czinkota, M. 2007). Common Customer needs: In general, standardization is less likely with services that with goods. Within services, the potential for standardization is greater the less the provider is involved in the delivery because this increases the extent to which customer needs are likely to have more features in common. Scale Economies: These are driven by the opportunity to spread fixed costs. With services, such economies are more likely to come from standardised processes than from a physical concentration of activities (Blythe, J. 2005). Competition Drivers: These often occur because the service provider finds it necessary to go international in order to protest its position in the domestic market, especially if costs can be lowered. If the service providers do not take this step, then there is an increased risk that firms in the international market may use that market as a base from which to internationalise their operations (Toyne, B. 1989). Information Technology drivers: The ability to centralise information hubs on a global basis is a motive because it strengthens the firms competitive position. For example: Rupert Murdochs involvement in satellite TV in order to monopolise sports coverage (Brown, L. 2004). Apart from the above-mentioned drivers, there are some more drivers of internationalisation such as Revolution in information and communications systems, globalisation of financial markets and also improvements in business travel (Blythe, J. 2005). Conclusion: From the above discussion and findings, it can be concluded that Internationalisation is a process in which the firm gradually increases its international involvement. It has been also found that the internationalisation is very complex by nature. Various models of internationalisation have been proposed till date, out of which the most famous model is Uppsala approach model of internationalisation. However, it was found that there have been various drawbacks in this model such as, being partial and deterministic, not taken into account interdependencies between different country markets etc. From the discussion of the influence of various macro environmental forces on internationalisation, it can be concluded that there is an increasing number of influence on the firms to go for industrialisation.

Robinson Crusoe :: essays research papers

From the beginning of some life, people make many choices that affect their personal growth and livelihood, choices like what they should wear and/or what they should do. Even the littlest choices that they make could make a big difference in their lives. In the book, Robinson Crusoe retold by Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe, while on the island, made many choices, big and small, that affected his personal growth and contributed to why he survived for so long. On the island he made a lot of smart decisions of what to do in order to stay a live. On his second day he made a choice to go back to the ship to explore what was there. He spent a lot of time building his home when he could have done something more important. He also took a risk and helped out a person that he did not know. These were some of many choices that Robinson Crusoe made throughout his many years on the island. While on a trip off the coast of England, rough winds threw Robinson Crusoe and his crew of sixteen members off course. Right after one of the crew yelled out “land ahoy'; the ship hit a rock and went down. Everybody drowned except Robinson Crusoe, who washed up on a nearby island; he was the only survivor. The next morning he realized what had happened and became scared of dying, because without food or clothes he could not survive. Not knowing what to do, he made a small shack and settled on the island for that night. The very next morning he made a choice to build a raft and go out to the broken boat and explore for items he could find. He was hardworking and smart even in a bad situation. His decision to go back to the boat and risk a chance of being killed by sharks changed his life span. It also proved that he was smart. By making smart decision and thinking wisely, it proved that he was a smart man. “I at once found some food, for I was hungry'; (15). If he had not gone back to the ship he could have starved to death. Robinson needed food and his choice to get it made him survive for a longer time. Even though Robinson had food and shelter he had nobody there to keep him company.

Best Friends :: Friendship Essay Personal Narrative

Best Friends Steam hung heavily in the air as Ashli Jacobson stood with her head bowed, letting the streams of hot water beat against her back. The radio by the sink blared a heavy bass line and undecipherable words. Reluctantly, she turned the shower off, wiped the water from her eyes and stepped from the dripping shower stall. A sudden pounding on the door jerked her out of her reverie. What was I just thinking about? Blast- "Ashli? Are you going to be out soon?" Ashli sighed, suppressing the urge to yell, No! I'm staying in here forever! "I'll be out in a minute," she called instead, wiping vapor from the mirror. "Hurry up, would you?" Ashli turned off the radio and secured a pink, fluffy towel around herself. Her bare feet making tiny puddles on the cool tile floor, she went to the door and opened it. Chilly air from the hallway hit her sharply and she shivered, clutching the towel closer. Jenny waited in the hall. Her blue eyes flashed with impatience. "I have to put my face on before my date." She brushed past Ashli and planted herself in front of the mirror. "What time is it?" Ashli asked, aware she was dripping on the floor. She raked a hand through her sopping wet hair. "Almost seven," Jenny answered, searching for her mascara. Joshua will be here soon." Ashli's brain began to make a list of all the things she had to do before her best friend arrived for their Saturday night ritual of popcorn, television, and conversation. Jenny looked at Ashli doubtfully. "Are you sure? He hasn't called." Ashli impatiently swiped away a lock of wet hair before answering. "He never calls. He'll be here. It's Saturday night. We never miss a Saturday together." "I noticed." Jenny began to apply blush to her cheeks. "You two are awfully close, " she commented. Ashli rolled her green eyes and sighed. "That's why he's my best friend, as opposed to just a friend. "How did his doctor's appointment go?" The question caught Ashli off guard. Not only did it come out of nowhere, but Ashli never shared important information like that with Jenny. "Well, since you apparently listened to our telephone conversation, you know the doctors are satisfied that there isn't any trace of leukemia left. He has a clean bill of health," Ashli answered through clenched teeth. Best Friends :: Friendship Essay Personal Narrative Best Friends Steam hung heavily in the air as Ashli Jacobson stood with her head bowed, letting the streams of hot water beat against her back. The radio by the sink blared a heavy bass line and undecipherable words. Reluctantly, she turned the shower off, wiped the water from her eyes and stepped from the dripping shower stall. A sudden pounding on the door jerked her out of her reverie. What was I just thinking about? Blast- "Ashli? Are you going to be out soon?" Ashli sighed, suppressing the urge to yell, No! I'm staying in here forever! "I'll be out in a minute," she called instead, wiping vapor from the mirror. "Hurry up, would you?" Ashli turned off the radio and secured a pink, fluffy towel around herself. Her bare feet making tiny puddles on the cool tile floor, she went to the door and opened it. Chilly air from the hallway hit her sharply and she shivered, clutching the towel closer. Jenny waited in the hall. Her blue eyes flashed with impatience. "I have to put my face on before my date." She brushed past Ashli and planted herself in front of the mirror. "What time is it?" Ashli asked, aware she was dripping on the floor. She raked a hand through her sopping wet hair. "Almost seven," Jenny answered, searching for her mascara. Joshua will be here soon." Ashli's brain began to make a list of all the things she had to do before her best friend arrived for their Saturday night ritual of popcorn, television, and conversation. Jenny looked at Ashli doubtfully. "Are you sure? He hasn't called." Ashli impatiently swiped away a lock of wet hair before answering. "He never calls. He'll be here. It's Saturday night. We never miss a Saturday together." "I noticed." Jenny began to apply blush to her cheeks. "You two are awfully close, " she commented. Ashli rolled her green eyes and sighed. "That's why he's my best friend, as opposed to just a friend. "How did his doctor's appointment go?" The question caught Ashli off guard. Not only did it come out of nowhere, but Ashli never shared important information like that with Jenny. "Well, since you apparently listened to our telephone conversation, you know the doctors are satisfied that there isn't any trace of leukemia left. He has a clean bill of health," Ashli answered through clenched teeth.

Bingo vs Lays

Project Report On I. T. C – Bingo V/S Frito-Lays V/S Submitted By:Under the guidance ofSubmitted to: Harpratap Singh- Prof. Santosh DharJ. K. Lakshmipat M. B. A II Semester(Professor MBA Dept)University, – Mr. Sachin KadamJaipur (Area Executive ITC Mumbai) Declaration I hereby declare that my Project Report entitled â€Å"I. T. C – Bingo V/S Frito-Lays† is an authentic work done by me. The Project was undertaken as a part of the course curriculum of MBA of J. K. Lakshmipat University, Jaipur, Rajasthan. This has not been submitted to any other examination body earlier. Date: SignaturePlace: JaipurHarpratap Singh MBA II Semester Acknowledgement I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Prof. Santosh Dhar my project guide from Institute of Management, J. K. Lakshmipat University, Jaipur, Rajasthan and my company Guide; Area Executive Mr. Sachin Kadam for the successful completion of my project – I. T. C Bingo v/s Frito-Lays. I sincerely thank th em for their extended support and encouragement from the initial to the final stages enabling me to develop a better understanding and provided me proper and correct direction for the completion of the Project work.Date: Harpratap Singh Place: Jaipur MBA II Semester Content S. No. | Title| Page No. | 1. | Title| 1| 2. | Declaration & Acknowledgement| 2-3| 3. | Executive Summary| 5| 4. | Company Profile| 6-15| 5. | Industry Overview| 16-17| 6. | Project Objectives| 18| 7. | Research Methodology| 19-20| 8. | About Bingo & Lays| 21-34| 9. | Observations and Findings| 35-37| 10. | Data Collection, Representation & Interpretation| 38-48| 11. | Recommendations| 49-50| 12. | Conclusion| 51| 13. | Annexure| 52-53| 4. | References| 54| Executive Summary Since its launch period in March, 2007, BINGO as a brand has been through a lots of ups and downs. Both Branding and Sales and Distribution aspects of marketing for BINGO have been explored and matured to a large extent. Though the product i tself is considered to be in a growth stage, with a market share of 16% in the branded snacks food category, it has been successful to a large extent in creating the required Brand recall for the category. With the fast growing retail industry in India, competition has increased between the major market players.Companies are continually trying to engage and construct innovate ideas to service this market. This project aims to study about ITC Bingo snacks and its competitor Frito-Lays. The project provides information about the various procedures followed by ITC with respect to distribution chain function, and client management and the comparison and interpretation of data collected in regard with the project topic. The project includes a mix of observation, interview and questionnaires. Initially a period of 45 days was dedicated to fieldwork under the guidance of Area Executive Mr.Sachin Kadam of ITC limited. An effort was made to understand the various servicing procedure, the typ ical areas/localities, and kinds of retailers, classes of customers and the sales and distribution process and the retailers’ point of view for Bingo and Lays Regular interaction was done with retailers and distributors about the response and flow of product and variants respectively along with the competitor Lays’. Through this it makes easy to understand the process of accessing the competitor’s response in that outlet. week was dedicated to collect information of Frito-Lays regarding their marketing strategy, distribution and sales network and other useful information from the company officials. This project also includes the various tasks given to me by my AE and then my observation at retail outlets, the routes/areas/localities and the sales and distribution process. I concluded my project with some of my suggestion and recommendations, and the questionnaire that I had used to collect the primary data. The findings and recommendations help in better underst anding the shortcomings in the sales and distribution process of Bingo. As observed) Company Profile ITC is one of India's foremost private sector companies with a market capitalization of over US $ 33 billion and a turnover of US $ 7 billion. ITC is rated among the World's Best Big Companies, Asia's ‘Fab 50†² and the World's Most Reputable Companies by Forbes magazine, among India's Most Respected Companies by Business World and among India's Most Valuable Companies by Business Today. ITC also ranks among India's top 10 `Most Valuable (Company) Brands', in a study conducted by Brand Finance and published by the Economic Times.ITC also ranks among Asia's 50 best performing companies compiled by Business Week. ITC has a diversified presence in Cigarettes, Hotels, Paperboards ; Specialty Papers, Packaging, Agri-Business, Packaged Foods ; Confectionery, Information Technology, Branded Apparel, Personal Care, Stationery, Safety Matches and other FMCG products. While ITC is an outstanding market leader in its traditional businesses of Cigarettes, Hotels, Paperboards, Packaging and Agri-Exports, it is rapidly gaining market share even in its nascent businesses of Packaged Foods ; Confectionery, Branded Apparel, Personal Care and Stationery.As one of India's most valuable and respected corporations, ITC is widely perceived to be dedicatedly nation-oriented. Chairman Y C Deveshwar calls this source of inspiration â€Å"a commitment beyond the market†. In his own words: â€Å"ITC believes that its aspiration to create enduring value for the nation provides the motive force to sustain growing shareholder value. ITC practices this philosophy by not only driving each of its businesses towards international competitiveness but by also consciously contributing to enhancing the competitiveness of the larger value chain of which it is a part.ITC's diversified status originates from its corporate strategy aimed at creating multiple drivers of growth anchored on its time-tested core competencies: unmatched distribution reach, superior brand-building capabilities, effective supply chain management and acknowledged service skills in hoteliering. Over time, the strategic forays into new businesses are expected to garner a significant share of these emerging high-growth markets in India. ITC's Agri-Business is one of India's largest exporters of agricultural products.ITC is one of the country's biggest foreign exchange earners (US $ 3. 2 billion in the last decade). The Company's ‘e-Choupal' initiative is enabling Indian agriculture significantly enhance its competitiveness by empowering Indian farmers through the power of the Internet. This transformational strategy, which has already become the subject matter of a case study at Harvard Business School, is expected to progressively create for ITC a huge rural distribution infrastructure, significantly enhancing the Company's marketing reach.ITC's wholly owned Information Technology s ubsidiary, ITC InfoTech India Ltd, provides IT services and solutions to leading global customers. ITC InfoTech has carved a niche for itself by addressing customer challenges through innovative IT solutions. ITC's production facilities and hotels have won numerous national and international awards for quality, productivity, safety and environment management systems. ITC was the first company in India to voluntarily seek a corporate governance rating. ITC employs over 26,000 people at more than 60 locations across India.The Company continuously endeavours to enhance its wealth generating capabilities in a globalising environment to consistently reward more than 4,14,000 shareholders, fulfil the aspirations of its stakeholders and meet societal expectations. This over-arching vision of the company is expressively captured in its corporate positioning statement: â€Å"Enduring Value. For the Nation. For the Shareholder. † ITC was incorporated on August 24, 1910 under the name o f ‘Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited'. ITC had a humble beginning and in the initial days it used to operate from a leased office on Radha Bazar Lane, Kolkata.On its 16th birthday on August 24, 1926, ITC purchased the plot of land situated at 37, Chowringhee, (now renamed J. L. Nehru Road) Kolkata. Two years later companies headquarter building; ‘Virginia House' came on that plot. Progressively the ownership of the company Indianised and the name of the Company were changed to I. T. C. Limited in 1974. In recognition of the Company's multi-business portfolio encompassing a wide range of businesses, the full stops in the Company's name were removed effective September 18, 2001 and the Company was rechristened as ‘ITC Limited'.ITC is a board-managed professional company, committed to creating enduring value for the shareholder and for the nation. It has a rich organisational culture rooted in its core values of respect for people and belief in empowerment. It s philosophy of all-round value creation is backed by strong corporate governance policies and systems. ITC’s corporate strategies are: * Create multiple drivers of growth by developing a portfolio of world class businesses that best matches organisational capability with opportunities in domestic and export markets. Continue to focus on the chosen portfolio of FMCG, Hotels, Paper, Paperboards & Packaging, Agri Business and Information Technology. * Benchmark the health of each business comprehensively across the criteria of Market Standing, Profitability and Internal Vitality. * Ensure that each of its businesses is world class and internationally competitive. * Enhance the competitive power of the portfolio through synergies derived by blending the diverse skills and capabilities residing in ITC are various businesses. Create distributed leadership within the organisation by nurturing talented and focused top management teams for each of the businesses. * Continuously stren gthen and refine Corporate Governance processes and systems to catalyse the entrepreneurial energies of management by striking the golden balance between executive freedom and the need for effective control and accountability. I. T. C and its diversified businesses: Cigarettes: ITC is the market leader in cigarettes in India and has a wide range of popular brands such as Insignia, India Kings, Classic, Gold Flake, Silk Cut, Navy Cut, Scissors, Capstan, Berkeley, Bristol and Flake in its ortfolio. Packaging: ITC's Packaging ; Printing Business is the country's largest convertor of paperboard into packaging. It was set up in 1925 as a strategic backward integration for ITC's Cigarettes business. It offers a variety of value-added packaging solutions for the food ; beverage, personal products, cigarette, liquor, cellular phone and IT packaging industries. Hotels: ITC entered the hotels business in 1975 with the acquisition of a hotel in Chennai, which was rechristened Hotel Chola. Toda y ITC-Welcomgroup with over 70 hotels is one of the foremost hotel chains in India.Paperboards: In 1979, ITC entered the Paperboards business by promoting ITC Bhadrachalam Paperboards. ITC's Paperboards business has a manufacturing capacity of over 360,000 tonnes per year and is a market leader in India across all carton-consuming segments. Greeting, Gifting & Stationery: ITC's stationery brands â€Å"Paper Kraft† ; â€Å"Classmate† are widely distributed brands across India. The Paperkraft designer stationery range consists of notepads ; multi subject notebooks in hard, soft covers ; multiple binding formats including spirals, wiros etc.ITC's Greeting & Gifting products include Expressions range of greeting cards and gifting products. Safety Matches: ITC's brands of safety matches include iKno, Mangaldeep, VaxLit, Delite and Aim. The Aim is the largest selling brand of Safety Matches in India. ITC also exports premium brands to markets such as Europe, Africa and the U SA. Aggarbattis: ITC has launched Mangaldeep brand of Aggarbattis with a wide range of fragrances like Rose, Jasmine, Bouquet, Sandalwood, Madhur, Durbar, Tarangini, Anushri, Ananth and Mogra.Mangaldeep is also being exported to USA, UAE, Bahrain, Nepal, Singapore, Malaysia, Oman and South Africa. Lifestyle Retailing: ITC entered the Lifestyle Retailing business with the Wills Sport range of international quality relaxed wear for men and women in 2000. The Wills Lifestyle chain of exclusive stores later expanded its range to include Wills Classic formal wear (2002) and Wills Clublife evening wear (2003). In 2002, ITC entered into the popular segment with its men's wear brand, John Players.In 2005, ITC introduced Essenza Di Wills, an exclusive line of prestige fragrance products. Food: ITC made its entry into the branded & packaged Foods business in August 2001 with the launch of the â€Å"Kitchens of India† brand. In 2002 it expanded into Confectionery, Staples and Snack Food s segments. ITC's brand in Food category includes: Kitchens of India, Aashirvaad, Sunfeast, Mint-O, Candyman, and Bingo! Agri Exports: ITC's International Business Division (IBD) is the country's second largest exporter of agri-products.ITC exports Feed Ingredients (Soyameal), Food grains (Rice, Wheat, and Pulses), Coffee ; Spices, Edible Nuts, Marine Products, and Processed Fruits. E-choupal: The e-Choupal model of ITC has been very effective in tackling the challenges posed by the unique features of Indian agriculture, characterized by fragmented farms, weak infrastructure and the involvement of numerous intermediaries. Board of Directors | Y. C. Deveshwar (Chairman) Executive Director Nakul Anand P. V. DhobaleK. N. Grant Non-Executive Directors A BaijalS.BanarjeeAV Girija Kumar S H KhanS B MathurD K Mehrotra H G PowellP B RamanujamAnthony Ruys Basudeb SenK. VaidyanathB Vijayraghavan Award Winning ITC ITC constantly endeavours to benchmark its products, services and processes to g lobal standards. The Company's pursuit of excellence has earned it national and international honours. ITC is one of the eight Indian companies to figure in Forbes A-List for 2004, featuring 400 of â€Å"the world's best big companies†. Forbes has also named ITC among Asia's Fab 50†² and the World's Most Reputable Companies.ITC has several firsts to its credit: ITC is the first from India and among the first 10 companies in the world to publish its Sustainability Report in compliance (at the highest A+ level) with the latest G3 guidelines of the Netherlands-based Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), a UN-backed, multitask holder international initiative to develop and disseminate globally applicable Sustainability Reporting Guidelines. ITC is the first Indian company and the second in the world to win the prestigious Development Gateway Award.It won the $100,000 Award for the year 2005 for its trailblazing ITC e-Choupal initiative which has achieved the scale of a movement in rural India. The Development Gateway Award recognizes ITC's e-Choupal as the most exemplary contribution in the field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for development during the last 10 years. ITC e-Choupal won the Award for the importance of its contribution to development priorities like poverty reduction, its scale and reliability, sustainability and transparency.ITC has won the inaugural ‘World Business Award', the worldwide business award recognizing companies who have made significant efforts to create sustainable livelihood opportunities and enduring wealth in developing countries. The award has been instituted jointly by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the HRH Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF). ITC is the first Corporate to receive the Annual FICCI Outstanding Vision Corporate Triple Impact Award in 2007 for its invaluable contribution capital for the nation.IT C has won the Golden Peacock Awards for ‘Corporate Social Responsibility (Asia)' in 2007, the Award for ‘CSR in Emerging Economies 2005’ and ‘Excellence in Corporate Governance' in the same year. These Awards have been instituted by the Institute of Directors, New Delhi, in association with the World Council for Corporate Governance and Centre for Corporate Governance. The Company's Green Leaf Threshing plants at Chirala and Anaparti in Andhra Pradesh are the first units of their kind in the world to get ISO 14001-environment management systems certification.ITC's cigarette factory in Kolkata is the first such unit in India to get ISO 9000 quality certification and the first among cigarette factories in the world to be awarded the ISO 14001 certification ITC Maurya in New Delhi is the first hotel in India to get the coveted ISO 14001 Environment Management Systems certification. ITC Filtrona is the first cigarette filter company in the world to obtain ISO 14 001 ITC InfoTech finds pride of place among a select group of SEI CMM Level 5 companies in the world.ITC's Green Leaf Threshing plant in Chirala is the first in India and among the first 10 units in the world to bag the Social Accountability (SA 8000) certification ITC Chairman Y C Deveshwar has received several honors over the years. Notable among them are: Year| Award| | | 2007| SAM/SPG Sustainability Leadership Award conferred at the International Sustainability Leadership Symposium, Zurich. | 2006| Business Person of the Year from UK Trade & Investment, the UK Government organisation that supports overseas businesses in that country. 2006| Inducted into the `Hall of Pride' by the 93rd Indian Science Congress| 2005| Honoured with the Teacher's Lifetime Achievement Award| 2001| Manager Entrepreneur of the Year from Ernst & Young Retail Visionary of the Year from Images, India's only fashion and retail trade magazine| 1998| Honorary Fellowship from the All India Management Associat ion| 1996| Distinguished Alumni Award from IIT, Delhi | 1994| Marketing Man of the Year from A&M, the leading marketing magazine| 1986| Meridian Hotelier of the Year| Some of the other notable recognitions are:The Stockholm Challenge 2006 for the e-Choupal initiative. This award is for using Information Technology for the economic development of rural communities. The Corporate Social Responsibility Crown Award for Water Practices from UNESCO and Water Digest for its distinguished work carried out in the water sector in India. ITC also received the National Award for Excellence in Water Management 2007 in the ‘beyond the fence' category from the CII Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre for its leadership role in implementing water and watershed management practices.The watershed programme also won the Asian CSR Award 2007 for Environmental Excellence given by the Asian Institute of Management. The Award recognizes and honours Asian companies for outstanding, innovative and wo rld-class projects. The Company also received the Ryutaro Hashimoto Incentive Prize 2007 for Environment & Development from the Asia Pacific Forum. This Award aims at promoting information dissemination of good practices towards sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region.The Readers' Digest Pegasus Award for corporate social responsibility, recognizing outstanding work done by socially conscious companies. The Corporate Award for Social Responsibility 2008 from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in recognition of its exemplary initiatives in implementing integrated watershed development programmes across 7 states in India. The company also won the award in 2004 for its e-Choupal initiative. The Award provides impetus to sustainable development and encourages ongoing social responsibility processes within the corporate sector.The ‘Enterprise Business Transformation Award' for Asia Pacific (Apac), instituted by Infosys Technologies and Wharton School of the Univer sity of Pennsylvania for its celebrated e-Choupal initiative. The Business Today Award for the Best Managed Company in recognition of its outstanding initiatives in the consumer products segment. The only Indian FMCG company to have featured in the Forbes 2000 list. The Forbes 2000 is a comprehensive ranking of the world's biggest companies, measured by a composite of sales, profits, assets and market value. The list spans 51 countries and 27 industries.The NDTV Profit Business Leadership Award for being the Best Food Company of 2007. The Award has been instituted to recognize organizational excellence. The CNBC-TV18's International Trade Award 2008 for Outstanding Exporter of the Year in the FMCG & Food category. ITC continues its dominance of The Economic Times' Brand Equity listing of India's 100 Biggest FMCG Brands, with three brands from its stable making it to the top five. Gold Flake remains India's biggest FMCG brand in terms of sales. Navy Cut ranks at No. 4. ITC's Scissors brand ranks at No 5 and is the only new entrant into the top 10.Restaurant magazine has chosen Bukhara at the ITC Maurya, New Delhi as the best Indian restaurant in the world and the best restaurant in Asia. Bukhara has also been adjudged one of the top 50 restaurants in the world by the London based magazine ‘The Good Food Guide'. Bukhara is the only South Asian restaurant to figure in the list. The â€Å"Best Supply Chain Practices Award† for time-effective and cost-efficient Logistics Management in Organized Retail to ITC's Lifestyle Retailing Business Division (LRBD) Indian Snack Industry Snacks are a part of Consumer Convenience/ Packaged Foods segment.Snack is described as a small quantity of food eaten between meals or in place of a meal. Snack food generally comprises bakery products, ready-to-eat mixes, chips, namkeen and other light processed foods According to the ministry of food processing, the snack food industry is worth Rs 100 billion in value and over 4,00,000 tonnes in terms of volume. Though very large and diverse, the snacks industry is dominated by the unorganized sector. According to an Apeda survey almost 1,000 snack items and 300 types of savories are sold across India. The branded snacks are sold at least 25% higher than the unbranded products.Savory snacks have been a part of Indian food habit, since almost ages. Though there is no particular time for snacks, normally they are consumed at teatime. The variety is almost mind-boggling with specialties from all regions, which have gained national acceptance. The industry has been growing around 10% for the last three years, while the branded segment is growing around 25% per annum to stand at Rs 5,000-Rs 5,500 crore, due to various reasons like Multiplex culture, snacking at home while watching TV, pubs and bars (where they are served free).AC Nielsen's retail audit shows that the large sales volumes are due to a marked preference for ethnic foods, regional bias towards ind igenous snacks and good value-for-money perception. Of course the branded segment is much smaller at Rs 2,200 crore, which is what makes it so attractive to food Companies that are looking at bigger shares. In the branded snacks market, to get down to basics, Frito Lay commands a share of 45%, followed by Haldiram’s at 27% and ITC at 16%. The rest is divided between a handful of new entrants, wannabes and many regional players.Of the wide range of snacks available, potato chips constitute a sizeable segment of the Indian snack food industry, according to India Infoline. The potato chip market is generally an unorganized industry. Nearly all potato chip snack products are manufactured and sold locally. There is also no uniform standard for packaging, as there is in Europe, the United States and other more developed regions. Many snack foods are sold loose or packaged in poly-pouches, which may only be folded, or in some cases, stapled closed.As the Indian economy continues to grow, and production standards improve, many snack food companies are making significant investments into plant equipment and packaging machinery. Potato-based snacks, and in particular potato chips, are the largest product segment, holding an 85%-share of the salty snack market Pepsi Foods Ltd. , now known as Frito-Lay India Ltd. , produces India's largest snack food manufacturers’ brands, including Ruffles, Hostess, Cheetos and Uncle Chips. Frito Lay's story is an example of how American recipes were adjusted to satisfy local tastes.Procter & Gamble's Pringles brand of potato crisp was launched in Delhi in 1999. Pringles is also a baked potato crisp, unlike many other potato based Indian snack foods that are fried. P&G currently imports the Pringles product and therefore the product has been priced at a premium and is marketed to a micro-niche. Also to be kept in mind, organized sector is growing at 15 -20 per cent a year, and unorganized sector is growing at 7-8 per cent. Project Objectives 1. Find and know everything on Bingo 2. Find out about the competitor Lays . To find out the key points of difference in the process of Distribution & selling, and of Bingo and Lays. 4. To understand the workings of DS (Distributor Salesman) 5. To understand the workings of Supervisor 6. To check and achieve visibility, availability and quality distribution across the identified target outlet. 7. To know and evaluate the response of retailer about the product. 8. To understand the details of Order Booking and Ready stocking. 9. To find out the key points where Lays has the edge over Bingo 10.To identify the areas, methods, ideas that can help in increasing Bingo’s sales. Research Methodology It includes the response of Bingo Snacks from retailers at retail outlets with respect to its competitors. It also includes the responses of competitor Frito-Lays from various sources. Work at retail outlets: 1) To check the availability of products. 2) To check visibil ity of products. 3) SWOT analysis of products. 4) To check how old the product is. 5) To trace the complaints regarding the product. 6) Identifying what would the factor to increase sale.Data collection technique: – 1) Interview with retailers, customers, distributors, and company officials of ITC. 2) Interview with distributors and company officials of Frito-Lays 3) Primary data via 1) Questionnaire, 2) Observation, 3) Interview 4) Secondary data from, 1) Newspaper, 2) Internet Sampling Plan: – Sample size100 Retailers Sample SegmentationOn the basis Location, & Type of Outlet. Sampling AreaAndheri(includes Andheri East and West, Jogeshweri East & West, Juhu, Irla, J.P. Road, Lalubhai, A. K. Road, Sahar Road,Sher e Punjab, Mahakali, Chakala, Takshila, Lokhandwala, Shastri Nagar, Veera Desai Road, Bhawani Nagar, Marol Military Road, Vile Parle East & West) BINGO! No Confusion Great Combination About Bingo The Bingo brand of chips was launched by    ITC on 14th March 2007 with an aim to capture at least 25 percent market share of the Rs 2000 crore branded snack market within five yrs.The launch is symbolic of ITC Foods' distinct approach of introducing innovative and differentiated products in a largely undifferentiated market place. Bingo’s launch was strategically timed around the World Cup. The idea was to get the consumer to take that first bite. This was an extremely ambitious target according to observers as the market was dominated by the Frito Lay group (owned by Pepsi Co) with a slew of brands like Lays, Kurkure and Uncle Chipps holding 50 per cent of the market share. The other was the Haldiram group with 25 percent of the market share.Bingo’s portfolio includes an array of products in both Potato Chips & Finger Snacks segment. Bingo! is positioned as a youthful and innovative snack, offering the consumers a choice of flavours that are fast becoming popular. Bingo used combination of leveraging synergies, building on cons umer insights and high decibel advertising can win the game. The company leveraged its existing distribution network and relationship established with farmers. Its earlier foray into categories like atta and biscuits had already given it access to the supply chain.ITC Food’s salted snack brand Bingo continues to tickle consumer taste buds with new variants. The latest to hit the shelves is Tangles, the fourth in its portfolio, after Bingo potato chips, Bingo Tedhe Medhe and Bingo Mad Angles. The product, which took two years to develop, will be launched in select markets in north and south India, before being scaled up nationally. The market for ‘western’ format of snacking is fairly nascent in India, and the addition of variants, the company hopes, will help create â€Å"new pegs of loyalty†. In snack food, consumers are always looking for change, and as a brand we strive to provide this through a unique mix of taste, bite and shapes,† says Chittara njan Dar, CEO, ITC Foods. To begin with, Tangles will be available in a unique pillow pack shape, in two flavours, Masala and Tomato. Subsequently, Tangles will be extended to regional flavours. Bingo, which is estimated to be worth Rs 650-700 crore, is expected to break even this year, say analysts. Since its launch in 2007, the brand has given stiff competition to market leader Pepsi.While Pepsi brands Lays and Kurkure lead by a huge margin, their shares have taken a hit in recent months. According to Nielsen 2010 data, Lays potato wafers reported a drop in share from 48 to 45 per cent, and Kurkure witnessed a 3 per cent decline in market share between January-December 2009 to January-December 2010. On the other hand, Bingo’s potato chips have notched a 1 per cent increase in share, whereas its sub-brands in the bridge category like Tedhe Medhe and Mad Angles have seen a small rise in market share.Other players in the snack food arena are mostly Indian players such as Parle Products, Haldiram and Balaji Namkin, besides a host of local and regional brands. The launch of Tangles is in line with the company’s strategy to focus on the ‘bridge segment’. Dar explains, â€Å"Today, potato chips represent almost 70 per cent of snack food consumption, with the bridge category still small. In the next few years, we expect the numbers to reverse. That’s because Indians are used to snacking alternatives as each region in India has its own snack options. With Tangles, ITC will adopt a similar route to communication and distribution as it did for the other Bingo variants. The new television commercial for Tangles, slated to be on air in a month, will continue to flog the ‘youth’ plank. On the distribution front, the company will invest in sampling and providing innovative racks to trade. Dar admits that unlike biscuits, sales of chips in rural areas is still a very small part of the market. Bingo currently reaches 5. 5 lakh outlets and it aims to increase it by 2 lakh every year. So is a health variant on Dar’s wishlist?He is not blind to the opportunity, but notes in a category like snacks, where consumption happens in small quantities, the health proposition needs to be weaved in with taste. Variants/Flavours Bingo! Potato Chips| | Potato Chips – Variants|   |   Ã‚  Product Description| | Premium Salted|   | Salted crunchy potato chips| | International Cream N Onion|   | Unique combination of cheese, cream and spring onion on potato Chips| | Red Chilli Bijli|   | Potato chips spiced up with red-hot chillies| | Spicy Masala Remix|   | A mix of spicy masalas on potato chips. | Juicy Tomato Ketchup|   | Succulent, ripe tomatoes on crisp and crunchy potato chips| | Pickle Tickle|   | Tongue-tickling combination of achaari lemons and potato chips| | Fiery Red Tomato|   | Potato Chips smeared with dry red chillies and juicy red tomatoes| | Oye Pudina|   | Combination of cr unchy potato chips and sprinkling of fresh Pudina leaves| | Bingo! Mad Angles –†har angles se Mmmm†¦Ã¢â‚¬ One of the biggest successes from the Bingo! portfolio, Bingo! Mad Angles has carved a niche for itself in the consumers mind and is synonymous with the perfect triangular snack.A combination of innovative flavours on a traditional khakra base, Mad Angles is a snack that is true to taste and perfect flavour delivery as well as shape, making it a snack that’s truly†har angles se Mmmm†¦Ã¢â‚¬ What's new? Bingo! brings you the chaat flavour that you can savour without having to stop by the  Ã¢â‚¬Å"gali ka chaatwala†. Let your fingers dive in to the perfect combination of the taste of fresh pudina, tangy tamarind, creamy yogurt and of course, the crunchiness of khakra triangles. Available in packs of Rs. 5, Rs. 10 and Rs. 20, the new Bingo!Mad Angles Masti Chaat now adds to the excitement of Mad Angles range from Bingo! Bingo! Mad Angles| | Mad Angles Variants|   |   Ã‚  Product Description| | Mad Angles Tomato Mischief|   | A combination of khakra-like crunchy triangles with tangy tomato flavour| | Mad Angles Chilli Dhamaka|   | Crunchy triangles with a taste of chillies| | Mad Angles Achaari Masti|   | Mouth-watering combination of Mad Angles and   sweet-sour mango pickle| | Mad Angles Masti Chaat|   | A chaat flavor that you can savour without having to stop by the galli ka  chaatwaala.The perfect combination of fresh pudina, tangy tamarind, creamy yogurt and of course, the perfection of  khakra  triangles. | | | | Bingo! TanglesThe latest addition to the Bingo! portfolio is Bingo! Tangles in masala and tomato flavours. Each piece of this innovative crunchy snack is made out of strands loaded with lip smacking masala or tantalizing tomato flavours. Once bitten, they break into many more delicious strands in the mouth. | ‘Be A Little Dillogical’ About Lay’s Brand HistoryLayà ¢â‚¬â„¢s, the world’s largest and favourite snack food brand, has steadily established itself as an indispensable part of India’s snacking culture since its launch in 1995. With its irresistible taste, international and Indian flavours and youth-centric imagery, Lay’s has established itself as a youth brand and continues to grow in the hearts and mind of its consumers. Over the years, Lay’s has become known for its engaging and innovative promotions and campaigns. The brand known for its ‘No one can eat just one’ campaign has moved its positioning to ‘What’s the programme? making Lay’s ‘the main food of every programme‘! Frito-Lay India Ltd. produces India's largest snack food manufacturer’s brands, including Ruffles, Hostess, Cheetos and Uncle Chips. Frito Lay's story is an example of how American recipes were adjusted to satisfy local tastes. Saif Ali Khan has been the face of the brand for over five y ears, and has recently been joined by the captain of the Indian cricket team M. S. Dhoni. Both embody the youthful energy and appeal of the brand.In 2008, Lay’s launched the never-before ‘Fight for Your Flavour’ allowing consumers to vote for the flavour of their choice. The flavour with the maximum votes would continue in the market. The flavours have been selected by the Lay’s brand ambassadors Saif Ali Khan and M. S. Dhoni with each celebrity rooting for the flavour of their choice. In November 2008, Lay’s made yet another innovative breakthrough –  the Chip-n-Sauce pack. This first-to-market pack has been launched for cricket lovers as they settle in their seats to savour the best sporting action of the season.The Lay’s Chip-n-Sauce large pack comes in two unique flavours – Chilli Chinese with a Schezwan Sauce sachet and Chatpata Indian with a Tamarind Sauce sachet inside the pack. In June 2009, Lay’s launched its n ew positioning platform: ‘Lay’s – Be a Little Dillogical’. The new Dillogical concept makes an instant connect with youth caught between the desire to succeed and the desire to remain engaged with certain moments that offer a deep emotional fulfilment. This friction is like a game between the heart and the head, a struggle between what you want to do and what you have to do.It’s all about making things that matter to the heart, happen. The new platform has been launched with a series of ads built around the universal consumer struggle between what the mind asks one to do and what the heart desires. A powerful 360 degree approach supports the new TVC, and has indeed prompted consumers to be a little Dillogical. WINNING FLAVOUR Lay’s, the world and India’s No 1 potato chips brand from Frito-Lay India, is all set to provide some new lip smacking tastes to its consumers. The four short listed flavors from a whopping 1. million ideas came f rom four winning consumers, each of whom gets Rs 5 lakh for their dillogical flavor ideas. Cheesy Mexicana, Tangy Twist, Mastana Mango and Hip Hop Honey & Chilly from a three-month long Give Us Your Delicious Flavor (GUYDF) campaign. The four flavors will be sold in the market across India for the next two months with the theme bachega sirf tastiest (survival of the tastiest). The flavor that elicits the maximum consumer votes will not only continue to stay in the market as the mega winner, but its ideator would be awarded a grand prize of Rs 50 lakh and 1% of sales revenue.KurKure Brand History: Launched in 1999, this perfect ‘namkeen’ snack, developed entirely in India, has come to be identified with fun and lovable human quirks. It developed an even stronger identity through associations with celebrities like Juhi Chawla (2003) and Kareena Kapoor (2008), well-known Indian actors. Brand Promise: Kurkure is a crunchy new-age namkeen snack brand which symbolizes light-h earted fun. Embodying the spirit of India, Kurkure has found a home in millions of hearts and minds and enjoys the position of a strong Lovemark brand in India.Juhi’s vibrant and fun-loving personality complements and embodies the essence of Kurkure. Over the years, Kurkure has journeyed effortlessly from being a snack with a twist to becoming an integral part of India’s teatime menu and an embodiment of endearing human ‘imperfections’ or ‘tedhapan’. Innovations Kurkure has constantly re-invented itself to sustain its relevance to Indian culture and the Indian ethos. Not only does Kurkure provide an inimitable taste and superior quality, it has also brought fame and happiness to many through its ‘Chai-time-achievers’ face on pack initiative.Kurkure Desi Beats: Kurkure Desi Beats is an exciting new range of crunchy triangular snacks in irresistible Indian flavours. This newly launched youth-oriented sub-brand personifies our inhere nt ‘Desi’ spirit and gives one the license to be Desi. Desi Beats celebrates the contemporary Indian youth who straddles both tradition and modernity and is confident of his Indian identity. VARIANTS OF FRITO LAYS CHIPS| Kurkure| Uncle chips| Aliva| 1. Spanish tangy tomato| 1. Masala munch| 1. Spicy treat| 1. Special | 2. American cream and onion| 2. Chili chatka| 2. Chatpata Masala| 2.Special tomato| 3. Classic salted| 3. Funjabi(rajma)| Others | 3. Special salted| 4. Magic Masala| 4. Rajhasthani| Desi beats| 4. Special mint| Winning flavours| 5. Hyderabadi| | New| 5. Hip hop honey| 6. Solid masti twist| | 5. Cream & herb| 6. Cheesy Mexicana| 7. Solid masti khatta-mittha| | 6. Pizza Blast| 7. Tangy twist| 8. Dewana tomato desi beat| | 7. Sweet Chilly| 8. Mastana mango| 9. Flirty lime| | 8. Apple Delight| | 10. Naughty tomato| | 9. Milk Minis Sugar Vanilla| Competition among the variants of Bingo and Lays Chips| | 1. Spicy Masala remix| Chilly Mexicana| . International cream onion| American cream and onion| 3. Juicy tomato ketchup| Spanish tangy tomato| 4. Red chili bingo| Magic Masala| 5. Premium salted| Classic salted| Bridges | | 6. Mad angle tomato| Kurkure Dewana tomato| 7. Mad angle chilli| Kurkure chili chatka| 8. Mad angle achari| Kurkure Rajhasthani| 9. Hatke-Jhatke Funky| Kurkure Funjabi| 10. Hatke-Jhatke Tomato| Kurkure Naughty Tomato| 11. Tedhe-Medhe| Kurkure Masala Munch| Market Pattern (India) S. W. O. T Analysis of Bingo Strengths 1. Excellent branding and advertising on TVCs and print ads 2.Great variety of flavours gives customers options 3. Reasonable pricing ensures spontaneous purchase 4. Strong backing of ITC Limited brand name Weakness 1. A slight gap in demand and supply on bingo 2. Lacking in infrastructure as compared to Lays 3. Shallow penetration 4. Not well trained and inexperienced salesman Opportunity 1. Leverage successful brand ITC, especially Atta and biscuits 2. Advertise more to attract target group 3. Buy out sm aller competition and tie-ups with resort, food chains Threat 1. Threat from local substitute snacks 2.Balaji’s strategy – winner in terms of quantity Observation at W. D. Point a. The WD point is very well connected to all the nearby areas/locality/potential b. ITC use software that is called SIFY to prepare bills and detail information product wise, variant wise, summarize sales reports are make in the help of this software. Format of sales report code of the goods are in this. c. ITC gives 3. 5% margin to his distributors and d. ITC bears vehicle cost. e. CALCULATION OF PRICE TO RETALIER (PTR) = f. MAXIMUM RETAIL PRICE ( MRP) 100 + % MARGIN g. Basic terms LC: Line cutBC: Bill Cut UBO: Unique Bill Outlet ABV: Average bill value CFC: Collaret Fibre Container ABC: Average Bill Cut ALC: Average Line Cut TDP: Temporary Dispatch Time h. The salesman here lack the competent skills and they are not so knowledgeable about the product and the variants i. They lack persuasion and convincing technique j. Majority are inexperienced because they are new k. It has been observed that a lot of time is wasted in loading the stock in the vehicles and getting the stocks billed l. Salesman turnover ratio is high. Findings I. Works assigned wereTo check the availability, visibility and DND (if any) of Bingo at retail outlet. While doing this, I understood about distribution and stocking process at WD (Wholesale Distributor) point which are as follows: A) Ordering Booking Process B) Ready Stock Process. From the above mentioned works assigned and the objectives given, the Retailer point of view was clear II. To collect information of Frito-Lays and analyze the data thereafter. For that I have interviewed Frito-Lays distributors and company official i. e. Chetna Traders III. In order to overcome weakness, my recommendations and contributions.In the duration of my project I used to visit the market daily, in the initial 7 days as a DS (distributor salesmen) and from t he 8th day onwards as a supervisor with DS and analyze the market of ITC Bingo and Frito-Lays. While checking availability and visibility of Bingo snacks at Retail Outlets I came across following observations: 1) ITC has a good mix of traditional and modern type of distribution channel. 2) The response of customer towards Bingo is positive. 3) At major outlets the sale is good. 4) At big retailers there is a huge demand 5) Like Bingo there is only one Distributor for Lays in Andheri – Chetna Traders ) Small ‘Kirana’ shops and retailer get confused among the variants of Bingo! 7) All the shops where Lay’s and Bingo are not present, Balaji has dominated. 8) Shopkeepers ask for more credit even if they have and are already on credit 9) The total coverage of ITC Bingo snacks falls very short in comparison to Frito-Lays. 10) The problem is the lack of coverage and infrastructure 11) Lack of competent advertisement. 12) Bingo Lacking the Infrastructure 13) Balaj i is also a cut throat competitor 14) Lays have fixed PTRs 15) Balaji who who hardly spends on rack and nets also has PTRs and schemes 6) Parts of Jogeshwari, IRLA, lalubhai, Marol Military road are dominated by Balaji and then Lays 17) Unlike Lays and Balaji, Bingo faces a gap in demand and supply. 18) All the variants are never available at the W. D. point Analysis & Interpretation Demand of Bingo Interpretation: 1. The demand for Bingo is good and increasing because – Bingo! Is positioned as a youthful and innovative snack, offering the consumers with choice in terms of both formats and flavors including Local tastes. 2. Also because the name is catchy, easy to pronounce, recallable, trendy. 3. Bingo identifies itself as a brand which is youthful, fun and colorfulCriteria kept in mind when Retailers sell Bingo Interpretation: 1. After having a face to face communication with the retailers it was observed that the major influence they see in the buying pattern of the consum ers is that the consumers go for quality first then the size. 2. Similarly the criteria that the retailers keep in mind is at first the quality then the size but also the margin, because there a lot stiffness among the competitors and their schemes and offers. 3. In low income areas/slum areas retailers prefer to go for Balaji to any other because the consumers there go for the size/ quantity 4.The big and organized retailer go for the quality and Margin 5. Giving competition to Lays Interpretation: 1. Lays has revamped its branding strategy with new promotions featuring actress like Juhi Chawla, Kareena Kapoor etc. 2. About 35 AC BEST buses in Mumbai and metro in Kolkata are now branded by Kurkure 3. But Bingo has managed to do a dent in Lays market share. Is the fact that ITC spend close to 3 years researching, finding and analyzing the Finger snack segment to come up with its own indigenous variety responsible for Bingo's success. Problems faced to sell ITC BingoInterpretation: 1 . Brand Loyalty of Lays customer is posing threat to Bingo 2. Stagnant Market Share 3. Unawareness of the variety of flavours introduced by Bingo 4. Threats of local players like Balaji, Haldiram and Diamond Effect on sales by improving infrastructure Interpretation: 1. ITC was the first one to introduce racks which has helped them to achieve a considerable increase in terms of sales and visibility and availability. 2. Lays has heavier promotional activities, better infrastructure as it has modified racks which gives the advantage of keeping more stock 3.It is noted that Lays keeps on bringing in new packet ranges which Bingo does not. For e. g. the Rs 15 packets, Rs 30 packet and combo offer of 4 packets of Rs 20 each for Rs 60 4. Lays has more racks than Bingo Convincing the customer to purchase Bingo Interpretation: 1. The convincing is not required because Bingo has maintained the quality throughout since its launch 2. It is in good competition with Lays 3. Consumers can easily recall the brand and the product Rating Bingo and Lays Interpretation: 1. It can be seen from the data that at some stages Bingo is at par with the market leader Lays 2.Lays has a better and deeper penetration. 3. Lays has more salesman as compared to Bingo’s 4. Consumer’s point of view – Lays has many and clearly distinguished flavours Rack availability of Bingo as compared to Lays Comparing Bingo! To Lay’s 1. It is difficult to make out the flavour from seeing the colour of the packing which is not the case with Lays 2. Lays penetration is deep, and they have done it by reducing the demand supply gap and arranging better visibility by providing racks more than competitors. 3. Lays also gets the upper hand because it keeps on coming with new schemes, for e. g. hey give 4 Rs20 packet for Rs 60, we have no such schemes 4. Lays even has modified racks, customized to hold/contain more packets, this is some good strategy keeping in mind that it was ITC who ha d come up with the rack system. 5. Lays has a higher demand as compared to Bingo because of its promotion, they have characters in their advertisement which public/consumers can recollect even at a later stage e. g. Saif Ali Khan, M. S Dhoni whereas in Bingo we do not have such concept. Although it is noticeable but after having a considerable interaction with the retailer this is the most common topic they had put up. 6.The major difference between Lays and Bingo is that Lay’s as a brand has related itself to cricket. Relating to cricket is the promotion strategy in which the brand relates itself to the events and experience, and in Mumbai or in Maharashtra or in whole of India cricket mean mass, this way Lays already has a strong grip than Bingo. 7. Lays have a better, stronger and an efficient distribution system, talking in terms of availability of product then Lays is always available where Bingo falls short here as the stock is sometimes available and sometimes not caus ing inconsistency in the availability of the product. 8.Though it can be stated that because Lays has been in the market for a much longer period than Bingo so it has the brand advantage but Bingo still lags way behind in the a competent distribution process 9. Lays has 30% more rack installed than Bingo, making it the prime reason for the retailer to buy the product Porters 5 forces Model Threat of new entry: * As the market is growing at 30 percent annually, new entrants may consider it a profitable venture * As branded players are priced similarly, new players might penetrate by adopting a lower price or by offering more quantity at the same price (Balaji-strategy) New players with a distinct USP and marketing strategy may find it easier to enter the market (Bingo Strategy) * Unorganized players still account for half of the total wafer segment, thereby discouraging market entry * Veteran players such as Fritolay, Haldiram etc enjoy economies of scale, well-established distributi on and good distributor relations. Competitive Rivalry: * High Competition – Branded Players involved in cut-throat competition to increase market share, entice new consumers, find new markets * Low Quality differences among branded players. Quality difference between branded and unbranded offerings is offset by low price offered by unbranded players * Cost of switching is low as all players have a similar pricing strategy * Brand Loyalty is high for branded players Bargaining power of suppliers * Suppliers provide raw materials such as potatoes, spices and other ingredients. * Their ability to raise input costs is high. * Higher cost of input commodities leads to lower margins, making the market unattractive for distributors and retailers (in an already low-margin, high-volume market) Shortage of any input material may also affect production and thereby impact distribution. * Veteran players like Fritolay and ITC already have a well- established network of suppliers. ITCâ₠¬â„¢s e-choupal venture permits a steady supply of raw materials at the lowest price. Bargaining power of Buyers * Frito-Lay enjoys a healthy lead with a 45 percent market share for its portfolio of products * Competitor differentiation is in terms of variants and communication. * Ability to substitute is high as brands are priced similarly and distribution problems for one brand promote sales for the other. Price Sensitivity is high. An increase in the price of Lays may promote a switch to Bingo for most buyers (except for loyalists) * Threat of substitutes: * Indian Snack Segment is high-volume, low-involvement driven (thrives on impulse buy) * All snacks are considered to be substitutes of each other * Biscuits, Wafers and local snacks like Chakli, banana chips, Farsan etc are all substitutes of one another Recommendations/Suggestions 1. For distribution different vehicles should be used which has opening from 3 sides because a lot of time is wasted in the unloading the particula r order 2.The market report should be prepared more thoroughly 3. The routes should be predefined and the salesman should not mix up the routes 4. Some routes are very small to be covered for order booking for Bingo like IRLA Market so it can be combined with Lalubhai market 5. There should be less variations in giving different schemes to multiple shopkeepers as they eventually come to know about the schemes given to other shopkeepers and then they raise their demand to either reduce net rates or give additional schemes 6.Bingo can come up with different shapes of packaging in small areas where there is more sale of Rs 5 packet e. g. triangular packs, as they do not need racks to be put in because different packaging always attracts consumers. 7. Should increase the size of Rs 5 packets, because this is the main reason for less sale of Bingo, on the other hand Balaji is also tough competitor in terms of quantity 8. Company can opt for seasonal promotions because the sales in the mo nth of May-June are very low because the schools are closed. 9.Gift packs or combos with 4-5 flavours can be introduced in this period only 10. Posters on buses and trains can be done for e. g. the way Fanta has utilized the opportunity on local trains of Mumbai 11. Brand ambassadors should be introduced because Bingo has almost completed 5 years in the market, brand ambassadors because people can then relate to the brand and or the product 12. Also because Lay’s our prime competitor has quite some good brand ambassadors like Saif Ali Khan, M. S. Dhoni 13. Relating Bingo to current burning topics, the same way AMUL does in print ads. 4. Having too many flavours is causing some problem because the customers and even the retailer are not able to differentiate between different variants. 15. Even though it’s a good strategy as people are forced to try each flavour, the ones which are not going good in the market should be removed from the company’s portfolio. 16. T his would reduce the problem of confusion amongst the consumers. Conclusion From the survey of the retailers and the market comparison following conclusions can be drawn 1. Bingo’s sale has noticably increased by providing good infrastructure . Retailers put Bingo next to Lays which is a market leader 3. Such an brand image has to created which creates a lasting image, which can be done by introducing a couple of brand ambassadors 4. Lays still has the upper hand because it has been in the market for a longer time as compared to Bingo 5. Improving the distribution level to meet up the competition given by lays is the only way to cover up the demand suppy gap 6. Though Bingo is of good quality as noticed but it is yet to meet International Standards to give more stiff competition to Lays 7.In small localities Balaji is preferrred 8. A lot of time is wasted during the unloading of the order/stock during the ready stock. It is not thecase with Lays because the order for Lays are in bulk and as per the CFC boxes. Annexure QUESTIONNAIRE (RETAIL OUTLET) Outlet Name: – Outlet Type: – Route: – 1. How is the demand of Bingo? a) Very good ___b) good ___c) average ___ d) below average __ 2. Stock availability of various brands a) Lays ____ b) Bingo ____ c) Haldiram ____ d) Balaji_____ e) Parle______ 3. What criteria you keep in mind when you sell your product? ) Focus on Quality_____ b) Focus on Price____ c) Focus on Size___ d)Focus on Margin____ 4. How far do you think ITC Bingo has captured market over Lays? a) On a Small Scale_____b) On a Large Scale________ 5. What problem you face to sale ITC Bingo!? a) Size____ b) Brand Loyalty for other Brand_____ c) Lack of Awareness_____ d) Any Other 6. Has the sale increased by improving the infrastructure by Bingo? a) Highly Increased____ b) Increased____ c) Somewhat Increased__ d) Not at all increased 7. Do you have to convince customer to purchase Bingo? ) Yes ___ b) No ___ 8. Please assign a valu e from 1-5 to BINGO & LAYS a) For Excellent5 b) For Very Good4 c) For Good3 d) For Average2 e) For Bad1 9. Do you have a rack of Lays? a) Yes____b) No_____ 10. Do you have a rack of Bingo? a) Yes____b) No_____ References 1. http://www. itcportal. com 2. http://www. nowthatsnifty. com/2012/01/204-lays-potato-chip-flavors-from. html#. T9zOwCEggUg 3. http://www. the-top-tens. com/lists/best-flavour-lays-india. asp 4. http://pepsicoindia. co. in/media/fact-sheet. html