Pearl River Piano

Introduction PRPG was a state-owned enterprise and was developed form an old piano factory in Guangzhou of China. The piano factory is located Pearl River, so that the brand of  piano  is  called  Pearl  River. Since  the  adoption  of  an  open-door  policy,  Chinaexploited a range of new opportunities provided by a market-oriented economy for  expanding production, employments, and profits through free trade markets. As a result, PRPG face a chance due to import technology and export products, and then they were expended to become Pearl River piano Industrial Corporation.Their  Ã‚  business become more  successful , fter they merger with several small company. In2000, PRPG had more than 130 strategic alliance through-outs the country, in addition to 208 sales units. Question1 Drawing on  industry- resource- and  institution-based views, explain how  PRPG,from  its humble roots,  managed to  become  China’s  largest  and the   world’s second largest piano producer. 1. 1 Industry-based view Rivalry  among  established  firms  may  prompt  certain  moves. PRPG  face  somechallenges, since piano is traditional European musical instrument, European pianoshas a long history, and they always target upper market, such as Steinway.PRPG will face  a  strong  challenge  when  they  target  upper  market. For  example,  althoughYAMAHA is the largest piano producers, they focus on medium and low-end market;however, Tong would like their PRPG become best brand, next only to Steinway. Inaddition, PRPG not only import technology of piano making, but also learn andintroduce western culture to them. Higher the entry barriers, PRPG face the difficult entre in US  market; the US peopledo not believe PRPG can make low price high quality products. PRPG cannot easily target foreign people.US people stay loyal to their local product. The bargaining power of buyers may lead to certa in foreign market entries. In USmarket, there are many competitors, such as Steinway. Steinway product always target upper market. Buyers may buy Steinway product, rather than PRPG. 1. 2 Resource-based view in 1960-1980, the factory had very low productivities, lowcompetitive ability, even less than 100 labors and produce only 13 pianos per year. The industry introduced total quality of management in 1988, and they also promoteISO 9000 in 1998.Moreover, they built business partnership with YAMAHA via joint venture. As  a  result,  PRPG  learned  higher  technology  skill  via  business  activities. PRPG not only import technology of piano making, but also learn and introducewestern culture to them. Tong pay attention to communicate with their employees in order to build goodâ€Å"GUANXI†. Tong also established close relationship with some famous world well-know piano players, and recommended they play their Pearl River piano in their  concerts. This is à ¢â‚¬Ëœcelebrity's appeal’ strategy in order to target people.Innovation included the importation of new technology in production and quality measurement and production innovation. Production innovation can be concluded developing a wide range of pianos to meet the upper-, medium- and low-end marketin order to target different consumers’ group. 1. 3 Institution-based view Regulatory risksThese risks are associated with unfavorable government policies. Since the adoptionof an open-door policy, PRPG is allowed import high technology and export their  Ã‚  products. As a WTO member, the government’s has been encouraging local industries to learn from their foreign partners.Currency risk  China  is  becoming  an  export  powerhouse,  which  caused  the  friction  with  other  countries, United States in particular. The U. S. senators urging the Whitehouse toexert pressure to China for RMB revaluation most recently and President Obama gavean official statement to point out RMB should be appreciated. China’s direct responseto RMB rate issue can be found in Premier Wen JiaBao’s answer in the pressconference just after the NPC;amp;CPCC* this month in Beijing. Premier Wen claimedRMB is not raise in value by presenting China’s increased figure of imp/expo absolutevalue in 2009.Question 2Why did  Tong believe that  PRPG must engage  in significant internationalization(instead of the current direct export strategy) at this point? China  is  a  country  with  a  huge  exporting  activities,  recently  it  is  changing  itsexporting mode which from low-wage and low-labor-cost advantage towards high-tech, high-value-added exports. Pearl River Piano Group, a state-owned company inChina, had been stimulated from a slow-moving Chinese firm founded in the  1956 toa booming global company with growing sales in domestic market and internationalmarket.While it has a good performanc e in the low-end product segment in the international market, there was an issue about whether Pearl River Piano could be awell-known global brand  by ascending to the  mid-high product segment, and whether  it could achieve sustained growth by building a reputable and high-quality brandname in the world. 2. 1 Direct exports Direct  exports  represent  the  most  basic  mode  of  entry,  which  capitalizes  oneconomized of scale in production concentrated in the home country and affords  better control over distribution.However, if the products involved are bulky. This strategy essentially treats foreign demand as an extension of domestic demand,and the firm is geared toward designing and producing for the domestic market firstand foremost. While direct exports may work if the export volume is small, it is notoptimal when the firm has a large number of foreign buyers. 2. 2 Dissatisfied of the  Pearl River piano progress The  company  established  a  joint  venture  with  Yamaha  in  1995. Through  this  partnership, PRPG learned how to make a world-class and high quality product.Bythe end of 2000, PRPG was the largest piano builder in china, the second largest in theworld, with an annual production capacity of over  100,000 pianos. The company hadmore than 4,000 employees with a total asset value of approximately $130 million. Also it diversified into other musical instrument, and contains more than 50% of  Ã‚  piano market in China. However, Tong did not satisfy this progress; he thought thePearl River piano could be a world class brand. 2. 3 Competition in domestic marketHundreds of private companies began entering the market and competing with their  low quality and low price products. Such as the old well-known brand Star Sea and NiEr, and numbers of emerging piano builder company with a low price products. 2. 4 Future prospects of PRPG According to the case, Tong believed that the company could s urvive by themselvesin domestic market; however it is impossible for an entrepreneur to stay in the same  position permanently. And he thought that the company had made some successes, butit is not enough for a company to stay in the good position.The company is stilldeveloping and it needs to extend business in the global market in order to satisfycompany’s strategy. 2. 5 Challenges in international market When  compared  with  other  Chinese  piano  builders,  PRPG  had  gained  someexperience in exporting. Tong believed that although the  piano market in the  US was mature, PRPG could still take advantage in the market. Because US have  a high levelof labor cost, PRPG could take advantage of cheap labor cost in China with high levelof product quality to gain market position in US market. On the other hand, it isdifficult to enter into the US market.If company want to extend business in USmarket, firstly PRPG need to introduce the US partner to t he Chinese market, as anexchange for its  entry to the  US market. Finally, PRPG established a  sales subsidiaryin the US market for further expands. 2. 6 Building world class brand Direct exporting could be an efficient way for company to make sales, but it onlysuitable for a short term development. For long term, PRPG must build its world class  brand and provide high quality product to target upper level markets in order tomaximize profit for sustainable development.Question 3If you were one of the professors who visited Tong in March of 2000, how wouldyou have briefed him about the pros and cons of various foreign market entryoptions? 3. 1 Non-equity modes (exports and contractual agreements) Tends to reflect relatively smaller commitments to overseas markets, which do notcall require independent organizations. 3. 11 Exports 1) Direct exports: treats foreign demand as an extension of  domestic demand, and thefirm is geared toward designing and producing for the domesti c market first andforemost. ) Indirect exports: exporting through domestically based export intermediaries. 1 Non–equitymodes: 1 Non-equity modes : Exports| Pros| Cons| | Economics of scale in production concentrated in home country. | High transportation costs for bulky products. | Direct Exports| Better control over distribution (relative to indirect export)| Marketing distance from customers. |   |   | Trade barriers. | Indirect exports| Concentration of resources on production. | Less control over distribution (relative to direct exports)|   | No need to directly handle export processes. Inability to learn how to operate overseas. | 3. 12 Contractual agreements 1)  Licensing/franchising:  the  licensor/franchiser  sells  the  rights  to  intellectual  property such as patents and know-how to the licensee/franchisee for a royalty fee. 2) Turnkey projects: projects in  which clients pay contractors to  design and  constructnew facilities and tr ain personnel. 3) R;amp;D contracts: outsourcing agreements in R;amp;D between firms (that is, firm Aagrees to perform certain R;amp;D work for firm B). 4)  Comarketing:  agreements  among  a  number  of  firms  to  jointly  market   their products and services. Non-equity modes : Contractual agreements| Pros| Cons|   | Low development costs. | Little control over technology and marketing| Licensing/Franchising| Low risk in overseas expansion. | May create competitors|   | | Inability to engage in global coordination. | Turnkey projects| Ability to earn returns from process technology in countries where FDI is restricted| May create efficient competitors. |   | | Lack of long-term presence. | | Ability to tap into the best locations for certain innovations at low costs. | Diffecult to negotiate and enforce contracts. R;amp;D contracts| | May nurture innovative competitors. |   | | May lose core innovation capabilities. | Co-marketing| Ability to reach m ore customers. | Limited coordination. | 3. 2 Equity modes (joint ventures and wholly owned subsidiaries) Indicate relatively larger, harder to reverse commitments, and equity modes call for  establishing independent organizations overseas. 3. 21 Joint ventures : a new entity given birth and jointly owned by two or more parent companies. 3 Equity modes : Joint venture| Pros| Cons| | Sharing costs and risks. | Divergent goals and interests of partners.   | Access to partners' knowledge and assets. | Limited equity and operational control. |   | Politically acceptable. | Difficult to coordinate globally. | 3. 22 Wholly owned  subsidiaries 1) Green-field operations: building factories and offices from scratch. 2) Acquisition:  A corporate action  in which  a  company  buys  most, if  not  all, of thetarget company's ownership stakes in order to assume control of the target firm. 4 Equity modes: Wholly owned subsidiaries| Pros| Cons| | Complete equity and operati onal control. | Potential political problems and risks. Green-field projects| Protection of technology and know-how. | High development costs. |   |   | Slow entry speed (relative to acquisitions)| Acquisitions| Same as green-field (above)| Same as green-field (above), except slow speed. |   | Fast entry speed| Post-acquisition integration problems. | Question 4 Again, if you were one of those professors, what method would you have tosuggest as a way to tackle the US market? Method has been talked before: Joint ventures  Nowadays, joint ventures have been the main form of foreign direct investment (FDI). 4. 1 Problems to tackle the US market: 4. 1 How to  get a partnership with  local company? US don't believe Chinese company can make good quality and cheap price products. They don't trust overseas company. They consider Chinese company as a competitor  more than a partner. 4. 12 Administrative requirements: US government wants their own people to benefit from industri alization. So they pushforeign investors to ally with local firms before graniting access to market. 4. 2  Suggestions: 4. 21Share ownership with US companies: Increase the trust each other Goal: encourage some ethnic citizens to participate in industrial development. To

Syllabus Spring

The exams WI II cover all available material (readings and lectures) and will be made up of multiple choc ice questions. The final exam is optional. Your three highest grades will be calculated in your exam scores-?your final exam score will replace your lowest exam score (or be door peed if your final exam score does not exceed any of your three previous exams' scores). You may schedule a makeup exam without any penalty if you have a verifiable egregious excuse (e. G. , written excuse from a doctor). Family vacations, your b ass requiring you to work on the exam day, entertaining visitors from outflow, extracurricular activities, etc. Re not valid excuses. Alternate exams must be scheduled before the exam is administered as scheduled. Syllabus (Toothsome) Exam (5%) There will be a toothsome exam about the material to ensure that you understand and the course's purpose, requirements, assignments and policies. This exam is not meant to be difficult and is not worth many points, but by understanding the course at a high level before e you are much more likely to succeed, so please take it seriously. Plagiarism (Toothsome) Exam (5%) One goal of this course is to begin preparing every student to be a scholar, boo h in thought and articulation of those thoughts.A first step toward this goal is understanding h owe to artic late *Please note: this syllabus is subject to change throughout the semester. Plea your thoughts while building on the thoughts of others and properly attribute Eng the ownership of all thoughts expressed. In other words, you must understand plagiarism and how to avoid it. While most Of you should have been taught this by now, this course will reinforce race the lesson. You will be given a toothsome exam that will require you to exhibit your knoll edge of legalism and how to avoid it.You will have one week to complete the exam, and it will be due at the beginning of the class on the deadline (see schedule). The following site s may help you with t his assignment: HTTPS://www. Ms. Deed/-?imbued/gastroenteritis)†polycrystalline. HTML http://owl. English. Purdue. Deed/owl/resource/589/DO/ http://www. Plagiarism. Org/ PAP Toothsome Exam (5%) Another important aspect of articulating your thoughts is ensuring that you c an find information and communicate your thoughts clearly to others, and particularly those read ins your work. One ay this clarity can be accomplished is through precise writing and support of your work.You will be given a toothsome exam to help you learn how to apply PAP style a s well as find information from the library/ library database and hone your critical reading skills. You will have approximately 1. 5 weeks to complete the exam, and it will be due at the beginning of the class on the deadline (see schedule for specific date). The exam will consist of two parts-?the first part will have you practice citing s pacific references and/ or construct a reference page from sample resources; the second part will re's re you to go to the library (or library website) to seek resources to practice search wing for academic articles.Though it is a toothsome exam, you should work on and complete you r exam individually. However, you are welcome (and encouraged) to use neoprene re's resources (I . E. , books, tutorials, online aids, librarians, etc. ) to complete your exam. Essay Assignments (20%) In order to provide you with practice of the skills learned in the toothsome ex. ms, there will be two essay assignments that are closely related to the material we cover in class s. These assignments will be announced approximately 1. Weeks before they are due and will be due at the beginning of the class on the deadlines (see schedule for specific date).Assignments must be submitted via the TACTIC page in DEL, under Assessment TTS Dropped (under the assignment NOTE: Your assignments will be checked for originality using academic honesty software. Do not include your name or any other did notifying information on your submission (this info is logged automatically via DEL). Please do not email assignments unless prior arrangements are made with the e instructor; unapproved assignments received via email will not be accepted. All written a assignments must follow PAP 6 style. I recommend you go here for help on this: http:// writing. Us. Deed/ Class Participation via Towpath (10%) Attendance -? of your mind as well as your person – is expected of you at ever y lecture. To this end, you will be expected to use the Towpath website/ app to respond to discussion questions during each lecture. These questions will only be available (on Towpath) at the time the question is asked in class. In order to receive full participation credit for a lecture, you must respond to all questions asked on that day. Complaints, excuses, or entrapments will not be entertained when considers Eng these participation points.It is your full responsibility to ensure that you access and respond on T owpath during the allotted time period. You may miss a Max of 2 lectures of participation points without penalty, technological/financial/ romantic issues included. Weekly Posts & Responses (1 0% + extra credit opportunity) In order to facilitate more interactive engagement with the course material, y o are required to post a response to the material presented each week (prompt here) on TOPCA t under â€Å"V†eek [X] Response Post†, and then vote AND comment on at least 2 of your class test' posts.Initial posts are due at pm on Thursdays, updates and comments are due at 1 1 pm on Fridays. Each week, the students who have the top 10 updated posts (with classlessness ma trial) will receive 5 extra credit points in the class (given as . 5 SONS credits toward the credit Max, see below) Extra Credit SONS System (Up to 5%) Throughout this semester, you have the opportunity to earn extra credit point s toward your grade. This extra credit research participation is worth 5% or 5 0 points in this course. To earn these mints, you would need to complete 5 hours of research. Syllabus Spring Class participation in this course ill be assessed as the ability of the student to raise the level of the class' conceptual knowledge by making a constructive contribution to the class discussion. There are several channels by which a student may contribute constructively to the class learning process: ; relating course concepts from readings to the discussion; ; commenting perceptively during class discussions; ; raising topic-related questions; ; conceptually expanding on classmates' comments; and, ; providing feedback to classmates' presentations.Students cannot â€Å"participate† unless they are present in class. As such, attending class is a minimum component of the class partial option assessment. Students will be given a daily class score according to the following rubric: O=absent, 50 = sleeping, testing or on the computer, 75=present, 85=present + contribution and 100=present + raised the conceptual knowledge of the class. Standard scores will be computed based on th e number of class meetings during the week and will be posted on Discovery.Students are expected to be on time for class out of respect for the instructor and their fellow classmates. Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class. If you miss or are going to miss a class, you are required to notify the professor via email. For every absence more than 4 unexcused absences will result in a 1 point reduction in the course grade. Any student testing or using a laptop for anything other than taking notes will receive a â€Å"O† for class participation for that day. B.Course Evaluation: All students completing the course for credit are required to complete an online course evaluation at the end of the course. Participation by all students is important, not only for our continued accreditation, but to assist in refining the course to assure quality instruction. The University will provide instructions to students via your campus email on how to complete the evaluation abou t two weeks before the course ends. You will be given extra class participation points if you complete the course evaluation C.

Brand Repositioning

WHAT IS RE-POSITIONING? A company or product is new and people already formed judgments about it. In other word, the company or product already has an image either good or bad or in between. Many companies are not aware of their exact image but it is important if that image can be identified. If a company does not know where it is now, then that product or company unlikely to get to where it wants to go. RE-POSITIONING BRANDS As markets and customer needs evolve; brands can lose customers to new competitors.In addition, brands can become diluted as product or service offerings become commodities. When a brand loses meaning and relevance to target customer, a new brand promise should be defined so the brand can be repositioned. TYPES OF BRAND RE-POSITIONING Brand Re-positioning Brand re-positioning is changing the positioning of a brand. A particular positioning statement may not work with a brand. Brand re-positioning is undertaken in order to increase a brand competitive position an d therefore increase sales volume by seizing market share from rival products.When re-positioning companies can change aspects of the product, change the brand’s target market or both. There are four types of re-positioning options for develop a new product in market. I. Image Re-positioning This option takes when both the product and the target market remain unchanged. The aim is to change the image of the product in its current target market. For example product Adidas were seen as reliable but dull in early 1990s. The company created an image of ‘street credibility’ in an attempt to reposition the brand to appeal to the customer in the sports shoe market.During the 1990s, Tango the Britvic soft drink has been transformed from a minor UK brand into a brand showing dynamic growth. This has been achieved by creating an anarchic image for the products through a major promotional re launch that was aimed to appeal to consumers in the critical 16-24 age of group. II . Market Re-positioning The product remains unchanged but the product repositioned to appeal to a new market segment. For example, Lucozade is a brand of carbonated glucose drink was originally targeted as a product for individuals suffering from illness, particularly children.Now it has been repositioned as an isotonic drink aimed at young adults undertaking sporting activities. III. Product Re-positioning Product re-positioning is materially changed but is still aimed to appeal to the existing target market. Product positioning is closely related to market segment focus. Product positioning involves creating a unique, consistent, and recognized customer perception about a firm’s offering and image. A product or service may be positioned on the basis of an attitude or benefit, use or application, user, class, price, or level of quality.It targets a product for specific market segments and product needs at specific prices. The same product can be positioned in many different ways. IV. Total Re-positioning This option involves both a change of target market and accompanying product modifications. For example, Skoda has managed under Volkswagen’s ownership to reposition itself totally. The product quality and design has changed significantly and the brand now has credibility with new, more affluent consumers. This has also allowed the brand to expand its sales outside its Eastern European heartland.REASONS TO CONSIDER BRAND RE-POSITIONING 1. The brand has a negative image This can easily happen and often is not the company’s fault. Damage can be done by maverick individuals as in the notorious cases of poisoning of the products such as Tylenol and Perrier. It can also be an effect of government policy. For example, if a company builds a highway and forecasts year ahead the toll charges for the government, the public may know nothing about any intended road price increases until the government announces them at a much later date.This announce ment may be handled badly by the government, perhaps being made during recessionary times when disposable income is reduced. Although it is not within the control of the company collecting the toll, it still reflects badly on the company. Public relation is usually the fire-fighting answer, but forward looking companies use advertising and public relation strategically to think ahead about potential problems. This is sometimes scenario planning or issues management. The company looks ahead for a certain length of time.It can be months with fast moving consumer goods or a couple of decades with conglomerates. An example of how a company thought about its brand image in this way is seen in Telekom Malaysia’s sponsorship of the 1998 Malaysian Everest climb. Many things could have happened including the injury and death of the climbers. But a comprehensive set of guidelines was prepared for staff covering responses to possible questions the company would be asked in both positive and negative scenarios. On the other hand Coca-Cola did not seem to react quickly enough when the European scare surfaced in mid-1999.They suggesting that it might not have planned what to say in such unlikely circumstances and now it has a major re-positioning job to do. 2. The brand has a blurred or fuzzy image When this happen, people do not feel strongly about image one way or the other way or have mixed perceptions about it. This is quite likely to happen when a brand has not been positioned properly. Perceptual mapping would probably reveal that the brand is very close to other brands in terms of customer preferences and has little to differentiate it.A re-positioning exercise would need to be carried out to get the brand into a space away from the other brands. This may involve changes to product or packaging. 3. Competition has moved close or taken over brand position This is constant threat facing any successful brand because everyone wants to emulate success. It sometimes takes companies by surprise as Japan brand Lexus did to BMW in the U. Ss this is a constant hazard in the consumer goods category. Companies have to be prepared to constantly innovate with existing products and bring out new products to surround the category space.FedEx, one of the world’s leading courier companies upon finding out that all other Asian courier companies had positioned themselves around the benefit of speed as it had done moved away with a very large advertising campaign and suggesting that whatever the adverse circumstances, FedEx would deliver. It has not lost the speed benefit because this product related. It has instead added a dimension of corporate personality to strengthen overall company image hence differentiating it from the rest of the crowd. 4. The company embarks on new strategic directionWhen a company embarks on a new strategic direction move into a new industry or introduces a brand that is remote from the core business, brands with an already powerful image faces less of a problem this might bring. However, weak brands will find it essential to reposition it to convince the target audience of its credibility. For example, Coca-Cola feels confident enough to bring out its own brand of clothing. There are limits to brand extensions. If the brand name is not too elastic, a totally new brand name may be necessary. 5. The company introduces new brand personalityWhen a company introduces new brand values or personality characteristics it needs to undertake re-positioning. Privatization and deregulation have forced many government institutions to change their practices, values and their cultures. This is a significant challenge as consumer perceptions are deeply entrenched and re-positioning requires considerable persistence repetition backed up by a totally different brand culture and customer experience. Similarly, re-packaging a brand requires re-positioning. 6. The company addresses a new target audienceMoving to a new mar ket segment in addition to the existing ones is always tempting for the brand development. The danger lies in alienating the brand’s existing customer base. Example presented by Toyota, which said it is considering joining the Formula One racing by 2003. It is trying to revitalize its image to appeal more to the youth, a segment that tends to buy more innovative products such as those produced by Honda. By joining Formula One it hopes to send a message to young people about the fun of driving and position Toyota as technically up to date. 7. The sales are declining.This is the basic reason why Marlboro considered re-positioning in the 1950’s. If the absolute sales start to drop, you need to take a step back and figure out the cause. If you think that you are offering your service or goods at its best, but it still does not continue to attract customers, it could be that your brand needs to be refreshed, if not represented differently. 8. New competitors have a better v alue proposition. In that case, rest assured that your initial position will be destabilized. If customers see that other brands offer better than yours, they tend to shift.Hence, company option is to either step up or get left behind. 9. Customers think that your brand is outdated and not established. Being an older brand does not necessarily put you at a higher position. Customers may see your brand as outdated or irrelevant. What you need to work on is how you can really ‘establish’ your brand. You know your brand is established when customers trust and go back to it again and again. In other words, established brand produces loyal customers. 10. Your products and services have evolved drastically. Over time, companies change and expand.You may have added new products, refined old ones, or expanded the line. This would help you stay relevant and fresh. However, if you have changed your products or offerings over a long stretch of time, chances are, the branding strat egy that you started with does not reflect the brand anymore. It might be out of sync already. You may need to change it to mirror what the brand stand for now. HOW TO REPOSITION BRAND FOR HIGHER MEANING? To be successful at re-positioning your brand, you have to create higher meaning and aim higher. Aiming higher requires outward thinking and learning from the marketplace.Some companies have been engaged with a variety of consumer products brands whose managers are seeking new opportunities to grow their brand’s value. In all these engagements, I have noticed a common thread among all of them which was consumers no longer care about them because they have lost their compelling meaning in the consumer’s mind. Once a consumer’s mind is made up about a brand, it’s next to impossible to change it. The decisions facing brand managers and marketing executives regarding how they deal with our ever-evolving market landscape usually comes down to three options: i . ontinue to invest in the existing brand meaning ii. create a sub-brand iii. invent a completely new brand All of these options have advantages and disadvantages, more so if the brand is also facing dramatic challenges in distribution. The driver underpinning all these options is change. Brands are dynamic. They have their cycles and they run their course. What is hard for managers to grasp is when to move on. This is particularly true if the brand was once a leader. Market success always creates size, power and a false sense of security.Over time, this creates an unrealistic view of the external reality, and a lack of urgency to correct course in maintaining relevancy among consumers. Brand managers naturally become inwardly focused and they tend to miss seeing new opportunities or competitive threats. Complacency becomes the norm and the brand’s compelling meaning in the minds of consumers gets blurred and sales drop. If the companies are faced with reinventing brand, the problem that they faced most likely is obvious. Somehow many people believe a good idea has to be clever, mysterious or layered in complexity. The best ideas for re-positioning brands are simple.If the core idea behind the brand’s meaning is not simple and obvious, it would not stand a chance in the over-crowded slush pile of a marketplace in which the brand must reside. Simple ideas are self-evident, which is why they work so well. Positioning is the art of sacrifice. A brand can only stand for one compelling, radical differentiating selling idea. The trouble with simple ideas is they have no appeal to the imagination and are easily over-looked. We are naturally drawn to the more clever and ingenious ideas. Resist this temptation. The company needs to aim higher thinking toward the simple, obvious differentiating idea hat elevates the brand to a new meaning people really care about. RE-POSITIONING STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE It is high time we re-examine the way re-positioning of brand is done in this ever changing market place. Uncertainty and trends have placed companies in a race against time. Gone are the days when work for every segment of consumers like a charm. The life and soul of the market place today is focusing and engaging specific target market. Major paradigm of strategic re-positioning is now introduction of small scale change with budget.Value based system is the money spinner that competitors have been using to bring companies down. Strategic re-positioning and exploitation of brand advantage is the only cash cow that can be used to counter them. The re-positioning strategy below will keep the company aware from the failure. 1. Reposition brand internally. Internal brand building is an emerging trend in marketing that is used to solidify the position of a brand in an organization. Brand based internal communication will communicate new strategic position of a brand to employees of an organization.Major home improvement companies like Home Depot, and Lowes are example of companies with strong internal communication. Engagement will foster strategic intent of re-positioning in to the training experience and job activities of employee. Organization alliance with brand re-positioning activities will enable company to achieve increased customer referral expanded sale portfolio, and customer service efficiency. 2. Carry out consumer analysis The essence of carrying out consumer analysis is to identify prospects, customers and target group in order to position brand correctly.Success will go an extra mile if new product development can focus consumer’s need and wants. New brand profile should correlate with consumer behavior and value. New product development manager have to make sure that they meet and exceed consumer expectation in order to make them loyal to brand. And lastly company should engage brand in the mind of consumers consistently in order to create a lasting emotional affinity. 3. C ompetitive analysis Competitive analysis is the assessment of the strength and weakness of your rival. Company does not underestimate the power of their competitors.Emergence of technologies has made it easy for them to gain insight in to the future before anyone does. New product development should create an uncontested market space by making sure their marketing mix is innovative in nature. They can differentiate the position of their brand by instilling a distinct feature in price, promotion, distribution and the product itself. 4. Fine tune to advertising strategy Companies like Verizon, gap, apple, Microsoft and MacDonald have fine-tuned their advertising strategy to â€Å"consumer needs† tactics. Appealing message will create brand awareness and increased sales to them.By using a medium that will clearly communicate new brand position and features to existing customers and prospects. They have to employ message that has specific objective in order to add value, success, quality, excitement, substance, and equity to the positioning of their brand. Besides that, advertising objectives should be derived assessment of market situation, price position, competition, and channel of distribution. 5. Create good relationship with trade partner and channel members Trade partner and channel members are people that ensures product or brand gets to the hands of final consumers.Intermediaries have very strong ties to brands. Good strategic partnership and relationship with channel members are very important in ensuring that new brand position is communicated to consumers. They can also supply sales force and marketing communications necessary persuade consumers to go beyond buying a product. Companies like Dell Computer, FedEx, and Charles Schwab have a very great system that have enabled them achieve a very powerful competitive advantage. 6. Reassess It is always good to carry out assessment of brand position continuously to ensure relevance in the market.This strategy will eliminate risk and problem from piling up. It is done by carrying out internal and external analysis of brand rating within employees, customers and prospect. The result of the analysis will enable them to know the strength and weakness of brand position. Furthermore, data collected will enable you map out informed strategy to reposition their brand all over again. PROFITABLE WAYS TO REPOSITION A BRAND The reason is because brand re-positioning strategy is applicable to wide range of real business problems and marketing issues.Brand re-positioning is the only effective strategy that can generate feasible solution to problems based on current needs of the market. Therefore, it is imperative organizations understand specific ways to reposition a brand. Below are illustrations of ways to reposition a product or services. i. To make brand relevant One way to reposition a product or service in the mind of target market is to make it relevance. Brand relevance can be define d as the alignment of brand’s identity, attribute and personality with the needs of target group.The reason behind making brand relevant constantly is because of changing needs of the society and profusion of alternatives. Brand relevance entails keeping brand current and significant in the mind of target group. It also encompass ensuring that brand resonate and connect to consumers emotionally. ii. To enhance brand identity Another way to reposition a brand is to enhance its identity in the market place. Brand identity is the visible element of a brand such as colors, logo, design, symbol and name that distinguishes a product or services in the mind of consumer.Identity enhancement is done especially if there is no consistency between brand interfaces and consumers. Redefinition of identity is also done when two or more company is merging together. Brand identity is strategic or substance oriented in nature. Brand identity begins with analysis of marketing environment and en ds with using research data to create relevant brand portfolio. iii. To enhance brand personality Organizations reposition brand personality especially when they need to solidify customer loyalty and engagement.According to David Aaker, author of the book â€Å"Building strong brand† â€Å"brand personality can also be defined as the set of human characteristics associated with a given brand†. It is also the personification of intangible and tangible traits of a brand. Brand personality projects beliefs and core value of product or services. It is a framework that creates passion and affinity for consumers. Types of brand personalities include trustworthiness, sincerity, strong, reliable, consistency, sophistication, and emotional. iv. To enhance brand experienceAnother way to reposition a brand is to enhance consumers experience in order to gain long term competitive advantage. Brand experience encompasses aligning product or services to end-user mood, needs, desires, and behavior. It also involves using stimuli to invoke feelings, sensation and responses. A memorable and unforgettable experience is created by being insightful, remarkable, valuable, dynamic, relevance and accessible enough to unravel gaps and deliver satisfaction incessantly. Customer’s physical & emotional expectations are enhanced by creating great experience at all faucet of interaction. . To enhance brand essence Periodically, organizations enhance the essence of their brand by associating brand with meaningful and relevant substance. Brand essence is a pathway for adding value and equity to a product or services continuously. The concept of brand essences is also defined as a phrase or statement that contains emotional connection or impression about product or services experience. It is the DNA or core characteristic that distinguishes a brand from other alternatives. Illustrations of traits associated with brand essence include unique, relevance, scalable, and susta inable. i. To enhance brand image/reputation Another Way to reposition the image of a brand is through its appeal, fame, and value. Business dictionary defines brand image as the â€Å"impression in the consumer’s mind of a brand total personality†. Brand image can be also defined as what a brand stand for or set of specific belief about brand in the mind of consumers. It deals with readjusting the perception of consumers on brand. It is tactical or appearance oriented in nature. Various ways to enhance brand image is through advertising, promotion, word of mouth, customer service and other touch points. ii. To adjust brand association Re-positioning of brand association is done by organizations to increase product or service appeal to core target group. Business dictionary defined brand association as the â€Å"extent to which a particular brand calls to mind the attribute of a general product category†. It can also be defined as the meaning, attributes, image associated with a brand in the mind of consumers. Associating brand with enchanting features can solidify loyalty and turn consumers to evangelist or advocates.Various brand association include customers contact, advertisements, character, word of mouth, celebrity, category, geography, end-users, slogan, intangibles, products, extensions, and displays. viii. To emphasize on brand attribute Sporadically, factors like unstable market, short product life cycle, technological advancement, and alternative can make the attribute of a product or services irrelevant. Re-positioning of brand attribute is done by emphasizing on attribute that matter most to consumers or target group. Brand Attributes is defined as the properties or characteristics of a product or services.It can also be defined as the emotional as well as functional association consumers confer to a brand. Types of attribute include cost, friendly, authentic, innovative, prestige, and reliability. ix. Brand differentiation Or ganization indulges in differentiation strategy when they need to establish a strong identity in the mind of consumers. Business dictionary defined brand differentiation as the â€Å"result of effort to make a product or service stand out as a provider of unique value to customers in comparisons with its competitors†.Chosen point of differentiation need to be significant to target market, not used by competitors and supported by organizational resources. Types of differentiation include components, performance, experience, market leader, convenient, innovation, pioneer, essential, expertise, and responsiveness. WHY BRAND RE-POSITIONING COULD BE THE BEST SOLUTION THROUGH WEBSITE? When you have been working on a brand for a long time, it can be depressing to find out that it is not having the positive effect that you hoped.Examining the brand equity for the website can sometimes reveal that there is virtually no difference between marketing your company with the brand, and prom oting it without. This usually means that your current brand is missing the mark, and you are just not connecting with your customers. In order to create a better equity, and retain more customers while bringing in new traffic, you should seriously consider brand re-positioning for your website. Re-positioning a brand means changing the angle or design of your current brand marketing campaign, or even simply discarding your brand and starting again.On a website, which needs to be constantly changing in order to keep up with modern trends, it can actually be a good idea to reposition your brand every so often. This keeps the website fresh for your clients, and can also attract and retain customers who would not be otherwise connected, while also allowing you to fine-tweak the Brand Promise or other elements which affect the levels of brand equity. There are a number of reasons why you should consider brand re-positioning for your website. If you are just not attracting the sales that you had at the beginning, then changing the brand can bring back former customers.You would also need to focus upon promoting different elements of your products or services to keep the interest, but this can be a positive side effect of brand re-positioning. Another reason may be that brand you have chosen does not really match your website, and you are therefore losing customers. For example if you are promoting a brand of shoes with puppies and kittens on, then you would not want a brand image that more resembles a heavy metal poster. Your customers base their opinions of your values upon your branding, so the item and the brand need to be a close, if not completely perfect, match.A brand which clashes with your website or the item or service offered for sale simply has to go, and changing the logo, colors and appearance of your brand can be the incentive that some websites need to completely overhaul the way that they operate which was by leading to new initiatives that generat e more income for the owners. Brand re-positioning can also be a step designed to help the owner of the website with brand management, keeping the brand to a set design, and making it clearly different from other types of brand which are very similar to your own.If a rival company has put out a product with a virtually identical brand to your own, then you can cut down their stealing of your clients by changing the appearance of your brand. This type of brand re-positioning can also ensure that you keep up-to-date with your opposition, and don’t become the traditional website, as this can put off some buyers. There are also several different types of effects which can result from brand re-positioning. For example, you may find that changing the look and feel of your brand can make your company more relevant to the customer.If you offer a service, then you may find that your regular customers increase their levels of use, because re-positioning the brand has opened up potentia l uses that the customer had not previously thought of. It may also serve to make the customer take your product more seriously. Sometimes when a website has been used for a long while, clients can feel a bit bored about your site, and re-positioning can make them think again about your products. Re-positioning can also ensure that your brand keeps up with changing market conditions that would otherwise have resulted in a drop in sales.By constantly re-positioning the brand in the market, websites can keep themselves one step ahead of the competition, and keep up with current trends. Making sure that you don’t fall behind ensures that you retain customers and keep bringing in new ones. In the more modern era of the social network site, companies also rebrand in response to changing customer demands. Some websites may need re-positioning in order to keep the interest of ‘followers’, because it gives them something to notify their fans about, and so keep the compan y in the user’s memory.Others may hear direct complaints about their current brand, and this can lead them to reposition their brand in the market, hoping to ease customer dissatisfaction with a particular part of the brand’s products. Although you may not have experienced any opposition as yet, re-positioning is a good idea even for a very small company with social networking contacts, and in order to ensure that effective branding is installed, working with a company such as www. expertsbranding. com can ensure that you keep your brand contemporary and consistent even after it has been repositioned.SUCCESSFUL BRAND RE-POSITIONING There are three key factors in successfully planning for and delivering on brand positioning. There are of course many examples of this not going to plan and in fact companies having to back-track on their new promise to a more pragmatic place. The three components to success or consideration on this topic to be: i. Planning new positioning so that it fits within the existing reference points of the target market. Some company much like the creation of social media personas and communities and not trying to create a new identity or personality or place for the brand.That is too far away from the existing perception of that brand in its category and market position. ii. Ensuring that the audience will grant you permission to re-position. This stage essentially encourages the brand to again consider current customer sentiment. The question is they looking for the brand to evolve and change, or are they comfortable with where it is or not even aware of the current positioning. Essentially efforts are wasted if the audience are not likely or be receptive. iii.Finally, and I think critically, the last component is ensuring the organization delivers on the new brand promise. This seems logical, but the best examples of brand re-positioning are where brands start transforming internally and fundamentally – brand of cou rse needs to behave like it wants to be seen. No one likes a big talker with no follow through. EXAMPLES OF RE-POSITIONING BRAND SUNKIST In this digital age where music and the virtual world dominate most of the younger generation's daily lives, marketers have to change and adapt their strategies to reach their target market.Recently, the American soda brand Sunkist has initiated a brand re-positioning. They are now aimed at trend savvy teens and young adults. Sunkist's brand manager said that they just can't rely on traditional marketing. The brand's mother company, the Dr Pepper Snapple Group, is now utilizing YouTube, MySpace and Facebook platforms to promote their products. The company has also partnered with MySpace to promote its project. Sunkist has also created four new videos featuring young break dancers out at night.Many brands and companies are now using digital communication mediums and social media tools for a more relevant communication strategy that is in line with t heir target markets’ interests and ways of life such as LG, Unilever, and Nutella. In an era when people are switching from television to computers and mobile phones, companies cannot only use traditional advertisement channels and must find new ways to reach their customers. Today, the proliferation of online platforms seems to be a great opportunity for marketers to enter this new age of communication.There is no doubt that Sunkist’s new strategy will help the brand increase its global awareness and successfully reach their consumers. Today, the young generation is more health conscious and probably less willing to buy drinks containing huge amounts of sugar. Sunkist did their market research before launching the new campaign to ensure their brand re-positioning is a success. JOHNSON AND JOHNSON Liquid petroleum is low-value, mass-produced and has a wide variety of uses; there is huge potential for mass marketing.The market name for this substance has been long known as Mineral Oil, used primarily for health and medical uses. But US pharmaceutical and fast-moving-consumer-goods manufacturer Johnson and Johnson bridged the gap between the initial R&D and the market-ready innovation by defining a baby-care niche: Johnson’s Baby Oil was born. This extended their ‘baby’ product range, which later also included ‘No more tears shampoo’. These products demonstrate the benefits and drawbacks of a ‘Focus’ strategy as the consequential brand re-positioning shows, operating in a niche has its limitations.The branding of their baby oil and shampoo has highly effective in defining their niche: happy babies in above-the-line advertising, pink packaging and a trusted producer sends out all the right connotations; mothers know that these products will never harm their babies. As a result of this, Johnson and Johnson can differentiate themselves from the competition by which is the essence of what a brand should aim to do that seduces a female-orientated target market to ignore generic competitors. This may have been key to uccess as Micheal Porter’s Five Forces demonstrates, Johnson and Johnson has less power than their customers, the supermarkets, who are also trying to sell their own-brand alternatives. Hence, branding to create a niche is a competition-driven objective. However, while it was a competitive strategy, nowadays the products are marketed to a wider, mass market and the ‘baby’ niche, which limited sales, has been ditched to pursue a new sales growth aim. This is essentially re-positioning a brand.The baby oil and shampoo, it is argued, if soft and gentle enough even for babies, then surely new consumers can be attracted to use the product, which mirrors a form of market development. Predictably, more customers equates to more sales and therefore greater revenue; also, by increasing demand Johnson and Johnson can benefit from internal economies of scale to red uce average unit costs, which boosts profit margins. But this is easier said than done: very good marketing was needed to successful reposition their products.Ironically, therefore, the secret behind successful brand re-positioning is not to change the branding to match the new consumer, but change the consumer’s perceived ‘needs’ to match the brand. REFFERENCES Brandsource. (2009, June 8). Retrieved 4 3, 2012, from Sunkist Brand Re-positioning: http://www. labbrand. com/brand-source/sunkist-brand-re-positioning Johnson and Johnson – Brand Re-positioning. (2010, August 4). Retrieved April 3, 2012, from Johnson and Johnson – Brand Re-positioning: http://manifestedmarketing. com/tag/johnson-and-johnson/ Derrick, E. (2011, September 9). The Blake Project.Retrieved April 3, 2012, from Branding Strategy: http://www. brandingstrategyinsider. com/2011/09/how-to-reposition-your-brand-for-higher-meaning. html Levey, C. (n. d. ). Re-positioning:Marketing Stra tegies. I. T . Partners. Lyle, S. (2011, June 13). The Academy of Business Strategy. Retrieved April 3, 2012, from http://theacademyofbusinessstrategy-brandre-positioning. com/ McKinsey & Company. (2001). Successful Brand Re-positioning. Marketing Practice. Norlander, T. , & Unander-Scharin, M. (2007). Re-positioning- A Brand Personality. Bachelor Thesis, 139. Ryken, C. (2011,

Heather MacDonald's Hispanic Family Values Essay

Heather MacDonald's Hispanic Family Values - Essay Example Social workers and government policies are at a great quandary on how to deal with such a problem and various solutions and proposals had been put forward but it seems to no avail. This paper is a short discussion of the so-called â€Å"Hispanic problem† and the Latinization of America. Discussion Heather MacDonald's rather lengthy article delves on the growing Hispanic class of unwed mothers living in America today. The article â€Å"Hispanic Family Values?† questions the assumptions inherent in the Spanish-American society in which being a single parent has been considered as culturally acceptable but this has serious implications for American society as a whole because the Spanish-descent population of America is the fastest-growing segment and this has a profound impact on American society today and in the foreseeable future. To help in her arguments, MacDonald relied greatly on the appeal of logos (logical based on knowledge) rather than on the other two appeals in an argument, which are the ethos (ethical) and pathos (emotional). Along this line, she cited a lot of facts and figures derived from statistical studies. The structure of the essay is being expository by using strong and clear claims about the serious implications of a large population sub-segment that is unwed, reliant on the social welfare services and finds nothing objectionable to having unwed mothers, often very young. There is strong evidence for her claims and it is therefore hard to argue against these claims. A large portion of her essay was devoted to citing incontrovertible evidence using statistics and a host of anecdotes and vignettes regarding actual lives of its study subjects. Any person who had read this article would come out fairly convinced of her point of view regarding the social crisis facing Hispanic society in America today based on warrants that are essentially valid. A lot of supposedly â€Å"Hispanic family values† had instead worked against this immigrant section of the population like having a tight-knit family conducive to raising a kid without a father. A case in point is the citation regarding how fast the Spanish-American population is growing compared to other ethnic groups in America. A high birth rate (female fertility) that is coupled with an accepting and tolerant culture towards having illegitimate children had been a great contributory factor to the main social problem. The author cited these alarming statistics to show the extent of the problem: â€Å"The rate of childbirth for Mexican teenagers, who come as from by far the largest and fastest-growing immigrant population, greatly outstrips every other group. The Mexican teen birthrate is 93 births per every 1,000 girls, compared with 27 births for every 1,000 white girls, 17 births for every 1,000 Asian girls, and 65 births for every 1,000 black girls. To put these numbers into international perspective, Japan’s teen birthrate is 3.9, Italy’s i s 6.9, and France’s is 10. Even though the outsize U.S. teen birthrate is dropping, it continues to inflict unnecessary costs on the country. . .† and although the author maybe did not want to sound alarmist, the dimensions of the problem boggles the mind. Many of Spanish grandmothers are single and never wed, so their daughters never got married

Teaching Assistants Sopporting the Curriculum Essay

Teaching Assistants Sopporting the Curriculum - Essay Example This interaction will also instil in me the ability to assess where each pupil stands in terms of their individual learning and help me identify any gray areas where further effort is required to help the pupil progress further. I am aware that when working in any school as a teacher's assistant there will be a number of children who will be identified as having special educational needs. Some of these special needs pupils may have the same diagnosis and at times some of them may have not one but a combination of conditions. I will make sure that I adapt class activities to suit these special needs pupils. As Susan Bentham has successfully pointed out "In any discussion of diagnosis it is important to remember that a child is first and foremost an individual with his/her own personality". (Bentham pg 72) I plan to use this very philosophy to help each special need child and cater to them in the way that will suit them the best. This may involve adjusting various class activities to suit the personality and level of understanding of the special pupil or group of special pupils.

Identify business decision Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Identify business decision - Essay Example At some point these decisions are long term and strategic. In that, writing off debts give the company a competitive advantage in the market. However, it is risky to make such decisions because it affects the revenue of the organization, also it can trigger many conflicts with other departments, particularly the marketing section. In addition, it affects monetary statement by understating a company’s profits. This is a very critical issue for comprehensive auditing and top management and therefore, require many consents from different directors based on approval limits (Piccirillo & Noro, 2008). Furthermore, the strategic nature of the decision require a lot of efforts and determination to collect these debts from customers. Notwithstanding, the importance of the decision require that action should be taken sooner or later since these debts are outstanding from long time, and after taking all necessary action with customers, and sending there documents to court without any hope to receive these amounts. This decision is justified under structure procedure as per the write of policy which came under many steps and legal

Financial Status and Policy of ConocoPhillips Case Study

Financial Status and Policy of ConocoPhillips - Case Study Example Its refinement technology focuses on upgrading high-grade petroleum coke and removing sulfur. With approximately 32,700 employees in 40 countries, it has assets of $171 billion with core competencies in petroleum exploration, production, refining, supply, marketing and transportation as well as natural gas gathering and processing and chemicals and plastics production. The company has a 50 percent interest in Colorado-based natural gas liquid producer DCP Midstream, LLC and Texas-based petrochemical company Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC. This paper will provide an assessment of the existing company in terms of its current status, including stock trading and financial standing, and the issues that have significant effect on its performance. ConocoPhillips is actually the recent marriage between two pioneer oil companies in the US, Conoco Inc. and Phillips Petroleum Company. The two companies merged on August 30, 2002 amidst some speculation that the $15.5 Billion deal was a necessary move for the two contenders to avoid being out-competed by bigger petroleum companies. At the time of the merger, oil prices had taken a disastrous turn downward that threatened the survival of smaller gas companies. The merger was expected to save about $750 million in overhead costs, mostly based on planned downsizing of some of the combined roster of 58,000 employees. ("Analysts: Phillips-Conoco merge to survive," 2001) Isaac Elder Blake founded Conoco in November 25, 1875 as the Continental Oil and Transportation Co. that would bring in petroleum in bulk to the pioneers of Ogden, Utah, making it more affordable and convenient for individual use. In the course of operations, Blake developed new uses for petroleum including benzene, ready mixed paints, birthday candles and paraffin chewing wax, but the focus was more on gasoline for use in automobiles. Continental built the first filling station in the West in 1909. By 1913, Continental was the top petroleum marketer in the Rocky Mountain region and an attempt by Standard Oil to take over the company was rebuffed by order of the Supreme Court. In 1929, Continental Oil merged with Oklahoma-based Marland Oil because each company could benefit from each other's strengths, marketing know how from the former and supply of crude oil for the latter and was named Continental Oil Company, assets including 3,000 wells and retail outlets in 30 states. Conoco st ock began trading in the New York Stock Exchange in September 15, 1929, just in time for the stock market crash. The company survived only by drastically cutting overhead costs and expanding refinery capacity under the direction of Dan Moran. He was succeeded by Leonard F. McCollum who led Conoco overseas, acquiring oil fields in Dubai and retail acquisitions in Europe. He diversified the company to such an extent that by 1972 Conoco was worth more that $2.3 Billion in assets. On September 30, 1981, in the midst of political and economic ups and downs and a threatened hostile takeover, Conoco merged with DuPont, which resulted in the former becoming a wholly owned-subsidiary of the latter, until Conoco separated from Dupont in 1997 to become an independent oil company. ("Conoco History," 2005) It was in 1905 that the Philips brothers hit their first oil well, eventually

Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis - Research Paper Example Epidemiology The incidence of this condition in the United States is 4-14 per 100,000 children of less than 16 years of age, per year (Rabinovich, 2010). The prevalence rates are estimated to be 9-113 cases, per 100,000 population in general (Rabinovich, 2010). Internationally, it has been found that this condition is more prevalent among certain populations like Native Americans (Rabinovich, 2010). Etiology More often than not, the cause of this condition is idiopathic and most researchers are of the opinion that the disease occurs due to interaction of multiple factors, the environmental, genetic and infectious factors (Ringold et al, 2005). The gene which has been implicated for this condition is IL2RA/CD25 gene. Another gene which has been implicated is VTCN1 gene (Rabinovich, 2010). Pathophysiology The pathogenesis is not well understood. Most of the experts opine that an external trigger, in the form of trauma or infection triggers autoimmune reaction and this leads to synovial hypertrophy and inflammation of the synovium. The inflammation extends further and affects other organs too (Rabinovich, 2010). ... The onset is either abrupt or insidious. other symptoms include limping, gastrointestinal symptoms, redness of eye, fever, photophobia, orthopnea, weight loss, systemic illness and shortness of breath (Ringold et al, 2005). Children with this condition usually have history of school absences. They are unlikely to participate in physical education classes. In many children, a triggering factor, either in the form of infection or in the form of trauma may be noted. History of travel to regions endemic for ticks can point to a diagnosis of Lyme's disease. In some children anemia may be present. Illness in home pets is significant and can point to the diagnosis of reactive arthritis (Rabinovich, 2010). Physical examination may reveal arthritis, macular rash, hepatosplenomegaly, lymphadenopathy, muscle tenderness, serositis and pericardial rub (Rabinovich, 2010). Types There are mainly 5 types of juvenile idiopathic arthritis which have been described. These are based on the number of joi nts involved within 6 months of presentation and associated involvement of other organs in the body (Ringold et al, 2005). They are: 1. Oligoarthritis: This is the most common type of juvenile idiopathic arthritis and accounts for more than 50 percent of the cases. It involves less than 5 joints. Uveitis is commonly associated with this type (Ringold et al, 2005). 2. Polyarthritis: More than 5 joints are involved in this type (Ringold et al, 2005). 3. Systemic arthritis: Systemic involvement is predominant in this type and presents as fever, generalised rash and inflammation of various other organs along with arthritis. 10- 20 percent cases of juvenile idiopathic arthritis present with systemic involvement (Ringold et al, 2005). 4. Enthesitis-related

The history of ancient India. Harppan Culture Research Paper

The history of ancient India. Harppan Culture - Research Paper Example But excavations at Harappa and Mohanjo-Daro changed the complete viewpoint and old beliefs. Starting with the finding of Harappa, almost thousand conclusions with comparable characters have been exposed. Scholars named it ‘Indus valley civilization’ (Around the Indus in 90 Slides par. 1). Indus valley civilization developed at two centers-Harappa and Mohanjodaro. Harappa is in Montgomery district of the Punjab (now in Pakistan). Mohanjodaro is in Larkana district of Sind (now in Pakistan). Mohanjodaro means ‘the mount of the dead’. The distance between these two centers is 650 Kms. According to the famous archeologist Sir John Marshall, Harappan civilization is about 5000 years old. The town planning and material life of the Harappan culture were really great. Archeologist like â€Å"Mortimer Wheeler and Stuart Piggot believed that the Harappan towns had a remarkable unity of conception† (Unit 6: Material Characteristics 21). Each town was divided int o two parts. In one part, the citadel indicated where the rulers lived. In the other part of the town, the ruled, and the poor lived. â€Å"The most ancient paw marks of human actions in India go back to the Paleolithic Age, around between 400,000 and 200,000 B.C.

Difference in the Leadership Styles Between Japan and America Essay

Difference in the Leadership Styles Between Japan and America - Essay Example If they are paying for the product, they want to ensure that the quality is worth it. Roudan Al-Roudan discussed Levitt’s prediction and most of the class disagreed with his ideas. Each of the topics was discussed after doing substantial research with the help online sources as well as books and journals. Let us now look into their topic individually for a better understanding. Yousef Al-Awadhi started this topic with the idea that there is no clear definition of leadership in particular. It is unpredictable and considered to be very diverse and each of the different forms has very distinctive definitions (Achua and Lussier, 2000). Leadership is determined with the help of various attributes such as quality, effectiveness, behavior, connection designs and of course the position of the leaders (Yukl, 1998). In most of the cases, a leader can simply be defined as a person who guides his or her subordinates towards a particular pre-defined objective for the welfare of an organization. Likewise, there are various definitions and each of them is different to one another in terms of the leadership styles and recognition. Researchers have used many methods to determine each of these leadership styles and their outcome in the long run (Yukl, 1998). There are many studies which discuss the link between leadership styles and culture. In a similar manner, the researchers found out that leadership styles vary from culture to culture (Han et al., 1996). He then went on the take the example of two countries, Japan and USA. Both of the countries have distinctively different leadership styles and culture. The earlier researches done by several writers gives us the idea that leadership styles also differ with respect to the organization and its religious differences.

Southeast Asian in the US Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Southeast Asian in the US - Essay Example It has been statistically proven that the influx of refugees in Massachusetts from the East and Southeast Asia is on the rise since the number grew from 169 (2006) to 498 (2009) (Refugee and Immigrant Health Program, Massachusetts Department of Public Health 1). The Southeast Asian refugees come from diverse and distinct cultures across the world that makes it impossible to assimilate them in a unified group. The Massachusetts government was amazed by the complex diversity of the large refugee groups, who flew their country owing to various historical circumstances. In addressing the current refugee problems, there is a need for a perspective development that takes care of some consistencies in terms of the refugee behavior and experience. This development perspective would help in addressing the social and psychological problems of the refugees, and in the same context, the refugee behavior can be socially patterned. This developed perspective strategy would help in analyzing the refugee problems from historical, comparative and general views. These analytical views prioritize the refugee problems as recurring with identifiable characteristics, casualty sets and similar patterns of behavior. Indeed this analysis will help in treating speci fic refugee problems as atypical, unique and personal historical events in line with the general subject. The refugee problems, behavior and situations, which occur in many regions, contexts and times should also be carefully analyzed. Another experience with the Southeast Asian refugees is little analysis given to the refugee camps. Only a few materials exist in the camps, and just a few scholars have made attempts to examine the effects of experience at the camps on the refugee behavior. Still, there are no camps classification systems nor some of the important camp experience elements.

Rules of the Game Essay Example for Free

Rules of the Game Essay The scratchy collar symbolizes the entrapment of Waverly by her mother. Waverly’s hobby of chess is important to her and her mother â€Å"[has] a habit of standing over [her] while [she] [plots] out [her] games. † (p. 98) This habit of Waverly’s mother is a symbol of how she controls Waverly. As her mother stands over Waverly, it displays her as a dominant figure and shows that Waverly should be submissive and obedient towards her. Waverly’s mother expects her to listen to everything she says and not have any opinion towards anything. However, Waverly’s attitude towards her mother is shown to be negative and instead disagrees with her mother as she â€Å"can’t practice† properly. (p. 98) The victory of winning tournaments is not triumphant for her, but for her mother â€Å"who [wears] the triumphant grin. † (p. 97) The game of chess for Waverly is something she enjoys, but as she begins to gain fame for her talent, Waverly feels as if she is playing for her mother and to only win. Because of her mother’s entrapment, Waverly is unable to be free and break away from her mother’s grasp. The â€Å"window [encasing] a fresh sheet cake,† (p. 97) is internally framing Waverly’s new life. Before, Waverly is unaware of a game called chess and she is unknown and unpopular to those around her, but as she begins to play, her mother realizes that Waverly has talent and continues to make her play chess. The â€Å"dust-covered cakes† (p. 97) are exchanged for â€Å"fresh sheet [cakes]† (p. 97) when Waverly begins to win more and more tournaments. The â€Å"dust covered cakes† (p.97) represent Waverly’s life before she begins to play chess and after she begins to play, more people begin to notice her as a â€Å"fresh sheet cake. † Additionally, because Waverly is bringing fame to her family, her mother is proud and feels that Waverly has brought honor to the family. Because her mother wants to keep this honor, her mother forces chess upon Waverly, not as a hobby, but a job that she must do. Also, the transition of the two cakes shows that Waverly is starting a new life as a chess player and is drifting away from her old self. The relationship between Waverly and her mother is like a game of chess. In the game of chess, there are usually black and white pieces, this is parallel to their relationship. Waverly and her mother are always in some sort of disagreement as â€Å"her black men† (p. 101) and â€Å"[Waverly’s] white pieces† (p. 101) are always versing each other. The term â€Å"men† contrasts with the term â€Å"pieces† because it shows itself to be more powerful, just like Waverly’s mother and is more influencing and strong. It signifies the power that Waverly’s mother has and how she uses it to make Waverly obey her. Also, the color black is used to represent power as well. It is often associated with the enemy/villain and in Waverly’s relationship with her mother, her mother displays herself as the enemy. This is because she forces her own beliefs and values upon Waverly. When Waverly does not agree with her mother and tries to speak up about it, her â€Å"mother’s eyes [turn] into dangerous black slits,† (p. 99) which indicates that she does not want to listen to anything Waverly has to say. However, in Waverly’s situation, her â€Å"white pieces† present her to be the opposite of her mother. The color white symbolizes innocence and purity which is found in Waverly’s personality and the â€Å"pieces† are found to be weaker than the â€Å"men† as Waverly finds it difficult to overcome her mother’s dominance and power. This leads to Waverly feeling overwhelmed and unable to venture out and away from her mother. Although Waverly and her mother have their share of quarrels, they find a way to balance each other out even if they are opposites of one another.

Corporate Social Responsibilty In Mauritius Management Essay

Corporate Social Responsibilty In Mauritius Management Essay The European Commission defined Corporate Social Responsibility as a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis. In other words, it concerns actions by companies over and above their legal obligations towards society and the environment. According to the European Commission certain regulatory measures can create a more conducive environment for organisations to voluntarily meet their social responsibility. Similarly, the National Empowerment Foundation (NEF) defines Corporate Social Responsibility as the concept whereby companies act to balance their own economic growth with the sustainable social and environmental development of the country. An organisation that is highly involved in CSR is one that goes beyond the legal compliance and actively practices positive impacts on the local communities and the environment. In fact, there is not a standard definition of Corporate Social Responsibility as it is varies according to various countries and cultures. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become an important issue over the last two decades. Lawyers, practitioners, economists, and civil society have contributed to defining, developing, and analysing the content, nature and implementation of CSR (P. R.Waagstein, 2011). CSR has been practiced by companies all over the world for many years as shown by many researchers. At the beginning, it was more for staff well-being. For instance, during the industrial revolution and age, factories provided different facilities for the community surrounding them in order to make use of their labour. Over the past few years, both businesses and academic researchers have shown increasing interest and enthusiasm for Corporate Social Responsibility. For instance, research done has suggested that CSR may be an efficient tool to improve the legitimacy of companies amongst their stakeholders as per Handelman and Arnold (1999), and to develop positive social responsibility images, according to Sen and Bhattacharya (2001). PROBLEM STATEMENT The term CSR has, over years, been coined to allow the economic development of a country to participate in the socio-economic development. By being responsible for society, the same industries were allowed to give back, in a responsible way, to people working for them and purchasing their goods and services. Amongst the different levels of society, the emergence of need for different categories arose, for example, handicapped people, abandoned children, out laws, the elderly and street people. Thus, Corporate Social Responsibility became a term used for catering to all categories of humans and their wellness in the society. At the onset, Corporate Social Responsibility was a voluntary initiative for companies to act socially responsible. However, over the years, especially in the new millennium, since complete improvement was not totally visible around the world, the United Nations proposed some Millennium Development Goals to improve the general conditions of living. One of their main goals was to eradicate absolute poverty in developing countries and underdeveloped countries. Indeed, the United Nations Millennium Campaign, started in 2002, supports and inspires people from all four corners of the world to get involved and take actions in supporting the Millennium Development Goals. As stated, the main challenges and major concerns of the International community is to eradicate absolute poverty, but this can only be done by the combined efforts of all governments, civil society organisations and the private sector. As mentioned by the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon the goals are ambitious but feasible and, together with the comprehensive United Nations development agenda, set the course for the worlds efforts to alleviate extreme poverty by 2015. The Government of Mauritius has established a policy with the objective of mandating registered companies to pay 2% of their book profit towards programmes that contribute to the social and environmental development of the country. In Mauritius, CSR has been formulated in the year 2008, when then the Minister of Finance decided that companies should reinvest 2% of their book profit towards societal development. To date, CSR has been practiced by companies for years and one of the main issues that arose recently is how to regulate it. Should it be a legal norm, ethical norm or social norm? This question can be further elaborated: Should CSR be regulated through state regulation, code of conduct or self-regulation? Should it be regulated in a voluntary way or should it be an obligation to corporations? Another question that arises is whether it is the role of the private sector to take care or to look after the society, or whether it is the role of the government to do so, since all companies are paying tax and the main objective of a company is to maximise profits. In addition, on a different perspective, another question emerges: should an organisation only focus on maximising profits or should its role as a so cially responsible organisation also include looking after its society and the community? Matten and Moon (2008) offers a broad interpretation, arguing that it should be perceived both as a social imperative and social consequence of business success. Accordingly, two forms of CSR, implicit and explicit, have been introduced. Implicit CSR is embedded in various relationships among business, society and government within the political system. It is represented by strong values, norms and rules or regulations which require corporations to address stakeholder issues. It is important to note that politics and organisations are interrelated and interdependent as they need each other to accomplish their social responsibility in an effective and efficient way. A textbook example in Mauritius would be the Compagnie Mauricienne de Textile (CMT) that has donated Rs 25m to the government for the new project of building a high tech school for vulnerable and deprived children. 1.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The aim of this research is to determine the importance of voluntary or mandatory CSR for the overall socio-economic development of the country. In this context, the specific objectives are to: To assess the local opinion of CSR drivers and whether it is better as a mandatory or voluntary practice. This will provide a course of action for the new Ministry of Social Integration and Economic Empowerment. To provide for modifications in the local way of practicing CSR and to be able to answer queries of International organisations on eradication of poverty. To make recommendations so as to meet the targets set by United Nations and the Millennium Development Goals project, and to showcase Mauritius as a success example in Africa. 1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH In fact, Corporate Social Responsibility is mandatory in Mauritius and this research primarily focuses on determining the opinions, points of view and the experiences of companies that are actively engaged in CSR. Further assessment will be made as to whether they prefer a voluntary or mandatory implementation and determining whether the local way of practicing CSR has benefitted society and provided improvements in the current way local companies are practicing CSR. In addition, it analyses the need for mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility in Mauritius and determines whether the government should keep it mandatory or voluntary or both. It further develops the idea of whether voluntary CSR should be modified to some other form to cater to the needs of the Mauritian society. It also gives a comprehensive overview of findings and conclusions that will allow the local CSR Committee and Government to review and improve its CSR policies for the country. 1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS Based on the above research objectives of the study, the following research questions have been formulated: How organisations define Corporate Social Responsibility? Awareness of local CSR guidelines and what their opinions are and suggestions on the CSR guidelines? What problems they encounter while implementing CSR practices? How can the CSR Committee help in implementing CSR activities? How businesses perceive Corporate Social Responsibility as a mandatory practice in Mauritius. Should it be voluntary or mandatory? 1.6 STRUCTURE OF THE DISSERTATION Chapter 1 Introduction This chapter provides an overview of the topic research on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and sets out the problem statement of the study, outlining the objectives of the research and highlighting the research questions. Chapter 2 Literature Review This chapter reviews the literature relevant to the topic. It provides past reviews carried out by different researchers on Corporate Social Responsibility in various countries around the world. It also provides a description of CSR implementation in Mauritius and the similarities and contrasts that exist among the different countries. Chapter 3 Methodology The methodology chapter outlines the methods and techniques used to conduct the study, namely the research approach, design and strategy used. Information about the target population including the sample size and sampling method is given along with details about the interview questionnaire. Chapter 4 Analysis and Findings This chapter presents the data analysis and research findings. The source of data has been derived mainly from interviews that have been carried out. Further, discussions are based on the findings of this study. Chapter 5 Recommendations and Conclusions In this final chapter, appropriate recommendations will be made and the chapter will end with a concluding paragraph including the possibility for further or future research. CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 INTRODUCTION This chapter presents an overview of the literature relevant to Corporate Social Responsibility. It provides a review of the past studies carried out by different researchers. The idea of social responsibility emerged in the United States at the beginning of the 20th century. Carroll (1989) states three critical turning points in the evolution of social responsibility: The Entrepreneurial Era Businessmen in America were building industrial empires and were abusing their power, being found guilty of antisocial and anticompetitive practices. Such practices included tax evasion and other unethical business practices. This caused frustration among the public who voiced their objections, causing the government to enforce laws whereby business had a role to play in society beyond profit maximisation. The Depression era of 1929- 1930s The economy of United States was dominated by large organisations and the government passed laws to protect investors and smaller businesses. In addition, the social responsibility of organisations was more clearly defined. (iii)The Social Era of 1960s This era was characterised by social turmoil in the United States. The Government looked closely at organisational practices and it was clearly defined to whom the organisation was responsible and who in an organisation was responsible for the organisational practices. Bowen (1953) the pioneering advocate of CSR, described Corporate Social Responsibility in terms of the obligations of businessmen to pursue those policies, to make those decisions, or to follow those lines of action which are desirable in terms of objectives and values of our society. (Social Responsibilities of Businessmen, 1953). The emphasis was laid on peoples conscience rather on the company itself. This alteration in focus was provoked by a number of factors such as the managerial revolution and the mounting hostility of people experiencing social problems. The obligations were further elaborated upon, going beyond economic and legal implications by including the employee, the community welfare and the political and educational needs of society (McGuire, 1963). This gave rise to the modern concept of corporate citizenship (Maignan, Ferrell, and Hult, 1999). The Committee for Economic Development (1971) viewed CSR as the service of a wide range of human values to improve the quality of life. The managerial role in changing societal expectations has also been articulated by the Committee. On one hand, Manne Wallich (1972) mentioned that businesses should not spoil society but should provide solutions through voluntary assumption of obligations. On the other hand, Caroll (1979) summarised the discussion by providing the following definition: social responsibility of business encompasses the economic, legal, ethical and discretionary expectations that society has of organisations at a given point in time. Figure 1 Carrolls classic pyramid (Carroll, 1991) Carrolls CSR Pyramid covers the whole perspective of what society can expect from a company, economically as well as socially. This theory can be used to identify a companys CSR activities and how they use CSR as a strategy. It will further explain and recognise the connection between a companys CSR activities and its stakeholders. Carrolls CSR Pyramid can be used as a tool to clarify the different kinds of responsibilities that a company has to fulfil in order to achieve legitimacy from its surrounding society and stakeholders. 2.1 Definition of Corporate Social Responsibility Various organisations have viewed CSR in different ways, although there are considerable common opinions between them. According to Mallen Baker (2004), CSR is about how companies manage the business processes to produce an overall positive impact on society. Lord Holmes and Richard Watts (2000), in their publications Making Good Business Sense, defined CSR as: Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large. This publication also provides some evidence of the different perceptions of what this should mean to a number of different societies across the world. It respects cultural differences and finds the business opportunities in building the skills of employees, the community and the government through CSR. Corporate Social Responsibility Developing Countries and Overseas Experiences In the year 2000 , the Millennium Development Goals set the challenge of Corporate Social responsibility in developing countries in view of eradicating poverty, hunger, providing better education to children, equal opportunities for women and a healthier environment (UN, 2006: 3). Unfortunately, in many developing countries these global aspirations have remained unaccomplished. (Visser et al., 2007) viewed CSR in developing countries as the formal and informal ways in which business makes a contribution to improving the governance, social, ethical, labour and environmental conditions of the developing countries in which they operate, while remaining sensitive to prevailing religious, historical and cultural contexts. According to a survey done by Welford (2005) in Asia, research showed that countries such as Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand where indicative of having less prevalent CSR activities. Malaysia is considered as the weakest in terms of CSR performance, with Thailand being relatively strong on external aspects (such as child labour and ethics) and Hong Kong being generally better on internal aspects (such as non-discrimination and equal opportunities). It was determined through a review done on CSR literature (Visser et al, 2006) that only 12 out of 53 countries in Africa have publications in CSR journals and that 57% of published articles focus on South Africa with 16% focusing on Nigeria. On one hand, CSR in the United States has been defined mainly in terms of a philanthropic model. Most companies focus on making and maximising profits and only contribute to charitable activities in an effort to benefit from tax concessions, contributing a certain share of the profits to charitable institutions. They believe that receiving any benefits from charitable sharing would tarnish the reputation of the company. On the other hand, the Canadian Governments perception of CSR is generally understood to be the way a company achieves a balance or integration of economic, environmental and social imperatives while at the same time addressing shareholder and stakeholder expectations. According to Cecil (2008), disclosure of CSR in the United States does not currently exist and is therefore unregulated as a required framework. In fact, various models and categories of reporting do exist under the umbrella of CSR, such as environmental reports, social reports and sustainability reports. Therefore the CSR report is separate from the annual report and represents non-financial qualitative and quantitative data. In contrast to other developed countries, Corporate Social Responsibility in the United States is not forcefully imposed. Companies in the United States participate in CSR based on their own moral and social values, allowing them to apply the triple-bottom-line approach voluntarily. In comparison, the laws of Mauritius state that it is mandatory for profit bearing organisations to pay the government 2% of their annual book profit as a CSR contribution. While companies in the United States have no mandatory obligation towards CSR, they widely exploit the CSR programme as a means of increasing their public image and corporate reputation. Given the fact that CSR in the United States is non-mandatory, companies can define and interpret their views of social responsibility within the context of own their company. Having this freedom has allowed them to better measure and promote CSR activities in comparison to their International counterparts. It is interesting to note that although companies in the United States are very explicit in their public statements with relation to their commitment to corporate responsibility, the lack of precise definition has led to confusion in terminology. A wide range of terms for CSR now exists, such as social responsibility, community investment and corporate citizenship. Each company tends to define them differently, yet having little understanding of what they actually mean, whether that is philanthropic giving, raw material sourcing or employment practices. Mauritius in comparison, although less developed than the United States, has a well-defined CSR programme as the mandatory enforcement of social responsibility has led to a single, precise and distinct perception thereof. The Government of the United Kingdom interprets CSR as the contribution a business makes to their sustainable development goals in terms of how they account for economic, social and environmental impacts. According to I. Pearson, Minister of the state UK, the world is experiencing major economic challenges and the issue of Corporate Responsibility must remain high on business and political agendas. He states that most successful companies have always been the most responsible. Business leaders recognise that Corporate Responsibility makes good business sense and it attracts the best talent, earns the trust of customers and the community and acts as a powerful investment for long-term sustainability. However, just like the United States, and in contrast to Mauritius, CSR is voluntary in the United Kingdom. The Government of the United Kingdom has adopted the voluntary approach as they believe it will motivate and encourage Corporate Social Responsibility through best practice guidance, and where appropriate, regulation and fiscal incentives. In the United Kingdom, CSR is viewed as a voluntary activity that should address both competitive and social interests. Mauritius does not share this approach and even encourages companies to contribute above the legal requirement to benefit the community and environment, invest in education and to help eradicate poverty. The question of whether or not CSR should be considered mandatory emerges when we consider that countries like the United States and the United Kingdom have no such legal compliance obligations. Why would a country like Mauritius, being a small island in the Indian Ocean, apply CSR as compulsory, especially considering that Mauritius is only the second country in the world where CSR is mandatory? NRE (Nouvelles Regulations Economique) law introduced in France in 2001 requires that all publicly listed French companies disclose information to their stakeholders pertaining to social and environmental impacts on their activities, together with their annual reports. There is no requirement for any specific constraints to be included with regards to their standards, thresholds or any other regulatory requirements. Although the law has been introduced, it should be considered as a soft law since the disclosed information is not regulated and there are no clear rules with regards to non-compliance. The legal responsibility is to report on social and environment impacts but without the requirement for certification of the disclosed information. In addition, the law does not clearly outline possible sanctions that may be imposed in cases of non-compliance or falsification of information. According to the research presented by L. Drusch and A.Lioui (2010) there has been a rapid growth in Corporate Social Responsibility in France over the last decade. This growth can be measured by the increase in the number of French companies that are listed in the Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) index in France as well as the listing of French companies in International CSR rankings, such as the 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World listing. Like the United States, CSR in France is based on the triple-bottom-line approach and is aimed at improving social, economic or environmental aspects in society beyond financial motivation. In addition, the United States does provide CSR reporting to some extent although not regulated and submitted in a separate report to the annual statements. In July 2007, Indonesia enforced a mandatory regulation regarding corporate social responsibility, being the first country in the world to do so. Based on the research done by Rosser et al (2008), Indonesia promotes CSR to local small and medium enterprises as a way to reach US and European markets. As compared to Mauritius, where the obligation is to pay 2% of the book profit, Indonesia has imposed a 3-5% obligation to be paid to the government. According to empirical data, the CSR law in Indonesia requires revision and improvement due to misinterpretations thereof, as well as lack of a precise definition. The law created a fierce debate and was heavily challenged as being nothing more than a philanthropy tax that was detrimental for business. Those challenging the law argue that there is no need to regulate CSR as sectorial rules have already been defined and introduced to regulate corporate responsibilities, such as the Environmental Law, Labour Law and Investment Law. The law is very unclear with regards to the governments expectations and has no clear definition of CSR. Unlike France, the law in Indonesia does stipulate penalties for non-compliance. Grafstrà ¶m et al (2008) identified that over the past three decades, the term CSR has been extensively debated by companies and in academic circles across the globe with a common goal: to identify a definition of CSR that all and sundry can collectively agree upon. Kemp et al (2001) observed that companies were hesitant to divulge their actual CSR activities due to the confusion that the term has produced over the past years. It was found that companies are reluctant to publish their activities for fear of reprisal by the media and NGOs should their approach be erroneous. Carroll (1998) found that companies often interpret regulations incorrectly and that laws often create a hindrance rather than improving economic performance. Although Mauritius followed Indonesias stance on mandatory CSR, being only the second country in the world to do so, the differences between the two countries can be easily identified. When the law was introduced, Indonesia faced fierce disapproval and the mandatory requirement is still an on-going debate. It remains mostly a disorganised and misunderstood concept whereas Mauritius appears to have a clearly understanding of what CSR actually entails as opposed to simply being a governmental tax requirement. The introduction of CSR into the Mauritian business environment was done so with a clear understanding on the benefits to business success, reputation and the social impact that such contributions would make on the island. Many are of the opinion that even if CSR was not mandatory in Mauritius, most organisations would still voluntarily contributing to CSR as a good business practice. Like Indonesia, India faced strong criticism when trying to impose mandatory CSR obligations in 2011. Their intention was to make it mandatory for companies to contribute at least 2% of net profits to the government. In July 2011 the Indian government backed down and made CSR contributions voluntary by recasting it as responsible business and issuing a set of guidelines for companies released on July 8th 2011 by the then Union Minister of Corporate Affairs, Mr. Murli Deora. The debate surrounding the mandatory CSR in India continues and the government has requested that companies keep records of their CSR spending in order to disclose to their stakeholders. The Companies Bill 2009 contains many provisions but none more debated than CSR. Salman Khurshid (the current Union minister for law) and Deoras predecessor, initially a mandatory CSR enthusiast, swayed his views that if CSR contributions were publicised, they would create competitiveness between organisations that in turn would encourage contributions. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce Industry (FICCI) suggested tax concessions to companies who reached voluntary targets. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), a rival of the Indian Chambers, felt that mandatory corporate responsibility would be counterproductive, arguing that companies may resort to camouflaging activities to meet such regulations, particularly during recessionary periods and economic downturns. Indias philanthropic community does not support mandatory CSR. According to research, the CEO of the NGO Give India viewed this as a crazy idea. He believed that once CSR is made mandatory, people will find ways and means to get out of it. The rules would be so vague that the reporting would be even vaguer. The CEO and co-founder of the Dasra foundation agreed. He was not in favour of mandatory CSR. He felt that when you make things mandatory, the chance of them not being done would be greater. Philanthropist Rohini Nilekani strongly opposed mandatory CSR believing that it was just outsourcing of governance. She felt that if wanted, the corporations should be taxed and the money put into social programs but that CSR should not be dictated. Corporate giants, TATA and BIRLA, have practiced Corporate Social Responsibility actively, decades before the term CSR became popular in India. Even still, CSR remains misunderstood in the Indian Development Sector. Only a few private and public companies apply CSR and those that do tend to have International shareholding from countries where CSR is considered a business best practice. India attempted to follow in the footsteps of Indonesia and Mauritius by imposing mandatory CSR regulations, the only other country to have actively considered such enforcement. It seems evident from the various researchers and the review of the various approaches and overseas experiences that there is a marked difference in the concept and interpretation of CSR world-wide. Mauritian Context In Mauritius, private organisations are reputed to have an extended culture and tradition of CSR, principally in terms of voluntary social engagement in the communities where they operate and in the society at large. They have participated and contributed over the years to the social and environmental development of the country. Previous survey reports published by the Mauritius Employers Fund (MEF) in 2006 and 2008 indicate that Mauritian businesses in their large majority believe that their role in society extends beyond wealth generation and that pursuing economic interests needs to be balanced with social and environmental responsibility. Indeed, Mauritian enterprises have been engaged in both internal and external CSR, driven mainly by ethical considerations, employee motivation, company reputation and brand positioning. They have also taken into consideration benefits of employees and engaged in external CSR initiatives by contributing and supporting social and community relate d activities. The MEF Surveys have also shown that CSR has followed a rather philanthropic approach, characterised by informal activities, unrelated to business operations and strategy. The recent economic and financial crisis has led to a rise in the level of involvement of governments in the operation of the business sector across the world. There is also an emerging debate in the Corporate Social Responsibility literature with regards to the role of the state in the business relationship. Despite the efforts made by government and International agencies, the global poverty problem is worsening day by day. Thus, the contribution of organisations to Corporate Social Responsibility for the creation of a better society is rising. Corporate Social Responsibility Mandatory in Mauritius According to Y.Ramtohul (Sept 2011), on one hand, in Mauritius, all companies such as those holding a Category 1 Global Business Licence under the Financial Services Act, banks in Mauritius whose income is derived from banking transactions with non-resident or corporation holding a global business license under the financial, IRS companies as mentioned in the investment promotion ( Real Estate Development Scheme) Regulations 2007, as well as any non-resident societe , a trust or a trustee of a unit trust scheme are exempted from mandatory obligation from contributing to the CSR fund. On the other hand , all other companies incorporated and registered at the Registrar of Companies of Mauritius have to contribute 2% of their annual book profits to the CSR fund as provided by the S 50L of the Income Tax of Mauritius ( Act 16 1995). According to the S 50L of the same Act the 2 % that goes to the CSR fund shall be used to either implement an approved programme by a company, an approved programme under the National Empowerment Foundation or to finance an approved NGO. It is the responsibility of the CSR committee to review these programmes or NGOs to be financed as set up under the S 50 L section of the Income Tax in order to have a better control and transparency about the investment made. It is also interesting to understand that if, in respect to a year, the amount paid out to the CSR fund is less than 2% then the difference shall be remitted as an income and will be taxed at the end of the financial year. Statutory Requirements As from July 2009, companies in Mauritius therefore have the legal obligation to contri