Internal and External Analysis of Xiaomi free essay sample

China is without a doubt one of the strongest manufacturers in the world. This is due to cheap labor and due to the technology built over time. Xiaomi is a company from Beijing in China which manufactures Smartphones. Its Mi and Redmi range of smartphones are famous and well adapted to the market. SWOT analysis is a vital strategic planning tool that can be used by Xiaomi managers to do a situational analysis of the organization. It is an important technique to understand the present Strengths (S), Weakness (W), Opportunities (O) Threats (T) Xiaomi is facing in its current business environment. The SWOT Analysis framework helps an organization to identify the internal strategic factors such as -strengths and weaknesses, external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats. It leads to a 2X2 matrix – also known as SWOT Matrix. The main purpose of SWOT matrix is to identify the strategies that an organization can use to exploit external opportunities, counter threats, and build on protect Xiaomi strengths, and eradicate its weaknesses. We will write a custom essay sample on Internal and External Analysis of Xiaomi or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL ANALYSIS OF XIAOMI by using SWOT ANALYSIS: STRENGHTS:As one of the leading organizations in its industry, Xiaomi has numerous strengths that enable it to thrive in the market place. These strengths not only help it to protect the market share in existing markets but also help in penetrating new markets. Based on Fern Fort University extensive research – some of the strengths of Xiaomi are –†¢ Successful track record of developing new products – product innovation. †¢ Highly successful at Go To Market strategies for its products.†¢ Strong Free Cash Flow – Xiaomi has strong free cash flows that provide resources in the hand of the company to expand into new projects.†¢ Highly skilled workforce through successful training and learning programs. Xiaomi is investing huge resources in training and development of its employees resulting in a workforce that is not only highly skilled but also motivated to achieve more.

Bob Dylan and Intertextuality Essay Example

Bob Dylan and Intertextuality Essay Example Bob Dylan and Intertextuality Essay Bob Dylan and Intertextuality Essay Tangled Up in New Bob Dylan and Intertextuality Appropriation has always played a key role in Bob Dylans music. Critics and fans alike have found striking similarities between Dylan’s lyrics and the words of other writers. On his album â€Å"Love and Theft,† a fan spotted many passages similar to lines from â€Å"Confessions of a Yakuza,† a gangster novel written by Junichi Saga. Other fans have pointed out the numerous references to lines of dialogue from movies and dramas that appear throughout Dylan’s works. He has stolen words from Shakespeare, F. Scott Fitzgerald and more recently, Henry Timrod in his latest album, Modern Times (Rich 1). Culturally, we have reached a point in time where revisiting past movements and styles have become the norm in music, literature and other media. The challenge for all creative works in this era has become more of an exercise in borrowing from ones influences rather than drawing from ones invention or original thought. And you know what? Its okay. We cannot help but be influenced by what we see; thats just being human. Tracing influence is a very hard task, one that can never be complete because of the countless stimuli encountered every time anyone opens his or her eyes and ears, something true for both author/artist and reader. Dylan could not possibly be aware of all of the ideas that influenced him over his lifetime. But from the influences he is aware of, why should he be expected to report every single line he has appropriated into his lyrics? According to Motoko Richs article, Scott Warmuth, a disc jockey in Albuquerque and a former music director for WUSB, a public radio station in Stony Brook, Long Island, discovered the similarities between Dylan’s lyrics and Henry Timrod’s poetry.. Mr. Warmuth said he wasn’t surprised to find that Mr. Dylan had leaned on a strong influence when writing his lyrics. â€Å"I think that’s the way Bob Dylan has always written songs,† he said. â€Å"It’s part of the folk process, even if you look from his first album until now† (Rich 1). More frailer than the flowers, these precious hours,† the 65-year-old Dylan sings in â€Å"When the Deal Goes Down,† one of the songs on â€Å"Modern Times. † Compare that to these lines from Timrod’s â€Å"Rhapsody of a Southern Winter Night†: A round of precious hours Oh! here, where in that summer noon I basked And strove, with logic frailer than the flowers. (Timrod, qtd. in Rich 1) To Warmuth, who found ten phrases echoing Timrod’s poetry on â€Å"Modern Times,† Dylan’s work is still original. â€Å"You could give the collected works of Henry Timrod to a bunch of people, but none of them are going to come up with Bob Dylan songs† (Rich 1). The Bible has been another important resource for Dylans writing (Gilmour 8), but it is still only one of many influences for his music. The interaction of these influences with one another is extremely significant, for this is essentially how Dylans ideas came to flourish in the music industry. This is brought about in the subject of intertextuality. At its simplest form, the term intertextuality has been used to mean source identification. The word is credited to Julia Kristeva, who recognized the influence of different texts on writing, reading and interpretation of literature (ODay 259). It developed out of concern about the relationship of the classical literary tradition with contemporary works of literature. It was also concerned with the role that culture and society played in the construction of literary meaning and expression. Although the term is important to consider when identifying an authors influences, it has often been viewed as an oversimplification. Julia Kristeva once referred to the word as the banal sense of study of sources' (qtd. in Gilmour 14) and Harold Bloom described it as the wearisome industry of source-hunting, of allusion-counting (qtd. n Gilmour 14). What is at issue here is interpretation. Does the reconstruction of all the sources for an essay make up the meaning of the text? Most certainly not. We may be able to offer particular ways to interpret and understand the lyrics of a song or the words of a poem, but we still cannot claim to have discovered the true meaning of the influences to create that text. This is something not even the author/artist can do. How can an author fully explain the meaning of a text when so many influences have been fed into it? This is a reality that Dylan is fully aware of: You have to have seen something or have heard something for you to dream it. It becomes your dream then. Whereas fantasy is just your imagination wandering around. I dont really look at my stuff like that. Its happened, its been said, Ive heard it; I have proof of it. Im a messenger. I get it. It comes to me so I give it back in my particular style. (Dylan, qtd. in Williams 267-68) Artists cannot escape the continuous barrage of new influences brought to them by each new life experience they encounter. An ongoing conversation with these influences occurs as a result, and writers inevitably draw inward from that growing experience for inspiration. The text produced by a writer is a processing of other texts and also a reply to other texts, with which the writer is maintaining a living dialogue (Wolde, qtd. in Gilmour 16). T. S. Eliot is acknowledged as the originating influence on later intertextual studies. In his 1919 essay, Tradition and the Individual Talent, Eliot challenged the assumption that poetic inspiration was solely the fruit of the poets genius and inspiration. Poetic meaning, he argued, was not only personal, but also communal: We shall often find that not only the best, but the most individual parts of [the poets] work may be those in which the dead poets, [the] ancestors, assert their immortality most vigorously. (Eliot 4) Eliots point is that the meaning of a poem is influenced by the writers predecessors, and that the meaning of a text is not confined to the time of its creation. Its meaning develops even beyond the death of its writer. Texts do not stand alone or in isolation; they are interrelated to other texts. It is a living whole, and is dependent on what preceded. Literature is the fruit of interrelated texts (ODay 546). Dylan is a master at intertexuality, rewriting earlier songs, both his own and borrowed traditional blues and folk material, but always with a new twist, sometimes by incorporating Biblical and classical mythology or by transforming current idioms. Dylan’s ancestry stretches back to Old Testament Prophets and to political progressives, but also musically to African-American gospel and blues singers and to the old English and Appalachian troubadours. Dylan has shown respect for the sources of the transcendence as he refines from the old blues and folk traditions by singing a vast array of classic songs, from Copper Kettle and Alberta to Delia and Froggy Went A-Courtin, with such a depth of feeling that a casual listener would not suspect they were not his own writings (Heine 8). Perry Glasser believes that intertextuality as a form of homage, done without acknowledgement, permission or credit, is stealing. Intertextuality, like permanently borrowing, is a rhetorical dodge to avoid the word theft. When your neighbor mows his lawn with your mower that he borrowed 3 years before, you are not receiving an homage. No one in the neighborhood recalls the good old days when you mowed your own lawnnow overrun with weeds (Glasser 5). Because Timrod is long dead and his work has fallen out of copyright - you can find his collected poems on the Internet - there is no legal claim that could be made against Dylans use of his works. And thatà ¢â‚¬â„¢s exactly what bothers Chris Dineen, a middle school Spanish teacher and casual fan of Dylan. â€Å"It seems kind of duplicitous,† he said of Dylans borrowing from poet Henry Timrod. Even casual fans know that Dylan has a history of doing this and it’s part of what makes him great, but this is different. This is one poet who’s used over and over and over again† (Rich 2). Mr. Dineen said he would have been happy if Mr. Dylan had just given Timrod credit for the lines. â€Å"Maybe it’s the teacher in me. If I found out that he had done this in a research paper, he’d be in big trouble† (Rich 2). But James Kibler, a professor of English at the University of Georgia who teaches the poetry of Timrod in his Southern literature classes, was delighted to hear of Dylan’s use of the verse. If I were Timrod, I would love it. I would say he’s doing a great honor to Timrod and let’s celebrate that (Rich 2). If youre an av id reader who also writes, you will often find yourself using lines floating around in your head only to later realize that you did indeed read them somewhere else. I know Ive repurposed a line from Cormac McCarthy taking his idea and putting the sentiment into my own words and voice. This is my most conscious example of thievery, but even then, nobody but me would know the truth (Krozser 35). In many ways, the line between using anothers work as a jumping-off point and plagiarism comes in the execution. Art has always borrowed from previous works. Thank goodness for the cavemen. Where would we be today if someone hadnt taken the initiative to draw and sing and tell stories? All writers, to an extent, borrow or repurpose pieces of others works. In some cases, its taking a well-known story and modernizing it or retelling the tale in a fresh way (see each and every version of Pride Prejudice). In others, its borrowing a phrase or notion, creating a homage to someone you admire (see just about every Martin Luther King speech). The acceptability of the text lies in its execution. Martin Luther King borrowed from texts he assumed people already knew, such as quotes from the Bible and the Declaration of Independence. Pride Prejudice has been recreated many times, but the title and themes are still accredited to the original text. Current copyright laws do not protect artists in the way the original copyright laws were envisioned. The original goal was that the laws would protect the works of an artist for a limited period of time. In return, the artist would give back to the world in the form of allowing their work to enter the public domain. This changed with the imminent entry of Mickey Mouse in the public domain, with the irony lost only on Disney (Lethem 65). This change is causing us not only to re-evaluate our concepts of copyright, but also our notions of fair use and even borrowing. All literature is being brought down by the individuals rights of ownership, whatever they may be. We all want to be recognized for our talent, for the greatness we all envy in others, waiting for the perfect sentence or stanza to leap out. We want to own our words, but we have forgotten that they already own us. Literature is organic by nature, and attempts to make it anything but organic are, perverse, in the truest sense of the word. Long ago, literature was, to the body of society, the lifeblood; today, it is the mustache, the fake fingernails, and the Versaci belt. It was the meat; it has become the garnish. Lafferty 27) Literature has been transformed from a means of survival into a means of pure expression. When literature conveyed information, lessons, morals, etc. , that were essential to survival, no one cared if the ideas were original. Now, when literature is simply a way of exploring the intricacies of existence, and especially now that our every word can be recorded for posterity, every person who picks up a pen or sits at a keyboard feels inherently entitled to unil ateral ownership of anything original (Lafferty 27). Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different (Eliot 5). Homer stole, but he made it beautiful, useful and original. The good poet welds his theft into a whole of feeling which is unique, utterly different than that from which it is torn; the bad poet throws it into something which has no cohesion (Eliot 5). Shakespeare stole, but he perfected borrowed material to such an extent that the result was his own. A good poet will usually borrow from authors remote in time, or alien in language, or diverse in interest (Eliot 5). Bob Dylan stole from the ancient times to create the Modern Times. The world is shrinking, yes, but the amount of information available to us continues to expand at an exponential rate. Literature must be community-based, freely exchanged, and, effectively, open-source. We all want to decide which version of our own words are greatest, but that should not be our concern. History decides, posterity decides, the community decides; we merely contribute our part. Eliot, Thomas Stearns. Selected Essays: 1917-1932. London: Faber, 1951. 4. Eliot, Thomas Stearns. The Sacred Wood. London: Methune, 1920. ;www. bartleby. com/200/;. 4-5. Gilmour, Michael J. Tangled Up in the Bible. New York: Continuum International, 2004. Glasser, Perry. Interview: Intertextuality. Emerging Writers Network. 27 Dec. 2005. 22 Apr. 2008 http://emergingwriters. typepad. com/emerging_writers_network/2005/12/intertextuality. html. Heine, Stephen, and Taigen D. Leighton. Dylan and Dogen Masters of Spirit and Words. Kyoto Journal 1999. 24 Apr. 2008 mtsource. org/articles/dogen_dylan. html. Krozser, Kassia. Interview: Intertextuality. Emerging Writers Network. 27 Dec. 2005. 22 Apr. 2008 ;http://emergingwriters. typepad. com/emerging_writers_network/2005/12/intertextuality. html;. Lafferty, Matt. Interview: Intertextuality. Emerging Writers Network. 27 Dec. 2005. 22 Apr. 2008 http://emergingwriters. typepad. com/emerging_writers_network/2005/12/intertextuality. html. Leth em, Jonathan. The Ecstasy of Influence. Harpers Magazine Feb. 2007. ; harpers. org/archive/2007/02/0081387;. ODay, G. R. Intertextuality. Dictionary of Biblical Interpretation. Vol. A-J. Nashville, TN: Abingdon P, 1999. 546-548. Rich, Motoko. Who’s This Guy Dylan Who’s Borrowing Lines From Henry Timrod? New York Times 14 Sept. 2006. 20 Apr. 2008 nytimes. com/2006/09/14/arts/music/14dyla. html? _r=1ref=booksoref=slogin. Williams, Paul. Performing Artist: The Music of Bob Dylan, the Middle Years: 1974-1986. Novato, CA: Underwood-Miller, 1992. 267-68.

Transformational Leaders Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Transformational Leaders - Assignment Example They act as role models, thereby demonstrating integrity in their working relationships. Moreover, they challenge themselves and their colleagues to higher levels of morality and motivation. They set clear goals, have high expectations in addition to encouraging and supporting their teammates. Not only do they stir the emotions of their co-players, they also get them to look beyond their self-interest and inspire them to reach the improbable (Bass & Riggio, 2006). Nelson Mandela did all the above for South Africa. He gave his people hope during a very difficult period and brought about democracy after years of apartheid. Transformational leaders make decisions bearing their teammates in mind. They do not enter leadership positions to meet their own selfish agendas. Decisions made by such leaders are aimed at improving the situation at hand and coming up with solutions for current challenges. Nelson Mandela humbled himself and went to visit Widow Betsie Vorwoer in a bid to bring healing to South Africa despite staying in jail for 27 years. In addition, culture plays a role in transformational leaders. Take Mandela for instance the culture of apartheid in his country motivated him to fight against it. The present circumstance pushes such leaders to bring about change in the society that they live in. Leaders such as Socrates, Abraham, and Gandhi were all motivated by the ways of the society they lived in. I believe that I am a transformational leader. I came to this realization after leading the Red Cross team in raising money to visit a children’s home and donate food and necessities to the less fortunate in the society. I was able to mobilize my team members in addition to motivating them to do their best when we were in the field. I set certain goals some of which we were able to meet and the rest are in progress. I did not give up despite the challenges we faced. Our actions brought about change to those children and we plan to visit them

Educational attainment Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Educational attainment - Article Example Current paper focuses on the effects of identity - as related with race, gender and social class - on the educational attainment; there is limitation in terms of geographic region or age of people involved - learners of all ages can suffer discrimination because of their race, gender and social class; this discrimination can affect their attainment in school or other educational institute; the specific problem can occur in both the developing and the developed countries as the findings of the studies developed below prove. Identity can refer not only to the personal data, i.e. name and address; it is more related with the person's social and educational background. It can also refer to other issues, like gender, race and financial status. In education, specific parts of identity, especially social class, race and gender are likely to influence educational attainment under the terms explained below. Theorists and researchers around the world have tried to identify the potential effects of social class, gender and race on educational attainment. In accordance with a research made across England it was proved that 'inequality was the highest where the proportions attaining a particular threshold were the highest-upper secondary school or higher in Scotland; country differences in educational policy have not yielded different changes over time in the association between origin and educational attainment' (Paterson et al., 2007, 330). In accordance with the above study, inequalities in education have to be expected - they are unavoidable; however, the standards/ patterns set within a specific educational environment are likely to influence the behaviour of learners towards their classmates. In other words, the issue of inequality appears in environments where the necessary requirements for such phenomena exist. The specific conditions are normally expected to affect the performance of learners that suffer the discriminative behaviour of their classmates because of their racial or social background or their gender. The specific issue is highlighted in other studies that have been developed on the particular problem. The effects of education on the life of individuals can be critical. In accordance with Huurre et al. (2006, 41) 'background Education fundamentally shapes an individual's life chances and social status; duration and level of education are associated with people's incomes, socio-economic status, living standard, lifestyle and the respect and esteem they enjoy'. Through the examination of the practical implications of the above assumption, it was revealed that 'low school achievement and manual class of origin were the strongest predictors of low educational level in adulthood' (Huurre et al., 2006, 41). In other words, low performance in school/ university can adversely affect an individual's l

Escaping Embarrassment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Escaping Embarrassment - Essay Example example of free style rappers who dread any instance of stopping abruptly in their rapping, and have devised techniques through which they can prevent â€Å"falling off,† mostly by sharing a platform and taking turns to rap, which helps in saving face, and brings out a stronger personality in street music. This implies fluent communication directly affects the image of an individual to the audience. Sawyer (1) noted that casual conversation portray creativity as it is directionless and is not scripted. With scripting, one has to remember each detail of the work to be communicated to ensure free flow of such information, however in causal communication the speaker is at liberty to include anything they feel comfortable and fluent in to ensure free flow of information to the audience. This contributes to creativity as individuals think out of the box to include materials that would keep the audience entertained, and portray eloquence in communicating. Moreover, such communication is naturally collaborative, meaning that it is uniquely creative as an individual discovers unexpected and valuable ideas from the audience, and from creative thinking, which make the audience entertained (Sawyer, 71). Eloquence and creativity in communication bring about an image of a strong communicator. Goffman (3) asserts that expressions involve two distinct sign activities. The most important expression involves a range of actions that are symbolic, and which define the actor. These symbolic actions are what define the eloquence of the communicator and include the body language, confidence, and public addressing skills. The nonverbal, unintentional type of communication whether deliberately engineered or unintentional defines the image of the individual as an eloquent and experienced communicator (Goffman, 4), which amounts to define the image of the individual. As Lee (307) asserts, people will derive numerous techniques to save face. However, if an individual is at risk of

The Success Of A Natura Cosmetics

The Success Of A Natura Cosmetics In order to analyze the success of a Natura cosmetics, there are many factors to be mentioned. In my opinion, two main reasons which should be listed are the effectiveness of relationship between Natura and organizations relating to its operation and its learning, innovation activities. Firstly, it is not difficult to realize that Naturas relationship strategy works very effectively. According to the case study, this companys main operations including production, logistics and research and development are situated in Sao Paulo. When there is a new order, the stock status will be checked immediately by the stock management system. In no more than one day from the purchase order, the finished products are delivered to the sales representatives home. With 26 delivery partners as well as postal service, Naturals products will be transported to its representatives no longer than six days in spite of far destinations (Natura case study). Clearly, in order to ensure the quality of the products and good services for the customers, the connection between separate parts in a whole group must be strong. It requires all bodies to have to cooperate and contribute to the effectiveness of the common duties. One concentration of Naturas relationship strategy is on sales representat ives. They are seen as the companys consultants who are well-trained, autonomous female salespersons and mostly are housewives having good relationship with potential customers such as friends, office staff, independent professionalsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ One special thing here is that Natura does not have to pay direct employment costs for this force. This method will help the company save a large amount of money to invest in other activities. Also it will encourage Natura to expand its market without being worried about reducing profit margins. Using this way, the advantages will belong to not only Natura but also sales force. They do not receive a direct salary amount but the commission for sold products is the highest in the industry, which including 30% margin of end consumer prices and premium prices (Natura case study). Obviously, this way is based on the ability to sell products of each sales representative and it creates motivation for them to try more because of themselves as wel l as the company. Another strength of its management is organizational cultural. Openness, transparency and respects for its stakeholders ( Natura case study) are the words to describe this operating environment. They are ready to give challenge to middle management who are believed to be ambitious and highly qualified. This force is able to take great and out of imagination success for the company. Additionally, the policy for new talents is positive. Natura wants to fulfill both from inside and outside sources. They takes time to develop potential talents and headhunt as well. As a result, the manager force will be diversified. With customers, Natura has a such different approach. A customer going to Natura means that she is buying belief . The company does not talk about market demands but captures their emotions, feelings. By this way, when a customer sees an advertisement of Natura, she will think that this product is born for her, and Natura helps her have a better life throug h selling it. It is impossible to deny the effectiveness of this marketing philosophy. About the quality of products, Natura persuades customers by using natural and sustainable ingredients. For example, Ekos product line comprises of Brazilian berries and plants, such as guarana, brazil nuts, mate verde and cocoaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦( Natura case study). In recent years, cosmetics consumers mostly believe that products extracted from the nature will have good effects on the skin and no side-effect. With information about materials from reserves in the rainforests and savannahs, clearly Ekos is easier to be appreciated from the public. One important thing of Naturas relationship strategy is to participate in environmental issues. This action demonstrates that Natura not only operates to make profits but contributes to the development of society as well. Otherwise, it will bring positive image in public for the company and create its good connection with the customers, government. Such act ivities, such as Rainforest Education and Recovery Project, Rio de Janeiro Botanical Gardensà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ are specific examples of maintaining garden and regenerating damaged forest ecosystems (Natura case study). Secondly, Naturas operational pathway is the process of learning and innovation. Staring from a small laboratory and cosmetics store, the company made a bid step in the market by studying the experience of Avon- the then leader in the world. In 1974, Natura decided to operate following direct sales model. The result of this strategy was the expansion at low to moderate cost. With a new company, learning from successful and well-known brand name is very important and this gives useful lessons for Natura at that time. Besides, the success of Natura also comes from its innovation and product development. Every year, the company spent about 2.9% annual net revenues in research and development (RD) to launch and improve approximately 153 products (Natura case study). Natura also buys patents, technology from research centers in Brazil and outside. Their concentration is placed on skin care and environment-friendly products. In conclusion, effective relationship strategy as well as learning and innovation activities are two main factors of the success of Natura internationally. Task 2: using relevant theoretical models and with examples from the case study- evaluate the companys internationalization strategy in the period 1982 2005. Answer: In the period 1982 2005, it has seen the development of Natura in cosmetics international market. Along with the expansion into different areas from the near to the far, this company changed the operational strategies gradually and more effectively. It demonstrates that the companys market commitment as well as internationalization level has increased simultaneously in this period. As a result, in order to assess Naturas internationalization strategy from 1982 to 2005, I decide to choose the Uppsala model which emphasizes increasing commitment towards abroad market when the firms experience goes up (Svend Hollensen, 2007). In the year1982, it saw the first endeavor of Natura to distribute its products to foreign customers. The company used an independent distributor in Chile. However, the result for this action was terrible. The operation was stopped after it operated in a short term. The reason for this failure is that Natura did not have careful preparation. Clearly going international is an important issue for any firms which want to develop. One of the most vital conditions for success is that the company should have a proper plan and it must come from its actual demand. At this time, Naturas expansion abroad was driven by impulse. (Naturas case study). Maybe it could not create enough motivation for working attitude and successful ambition. The second cause is that the company had no enough information about the market (Naturas case study). Knowledge such as politics, culture, distance differences between markets à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ always should be obtained by the firms in the case they really need t o succeed. Additionally, personnel and financial problems happened when the company went to Portugal and Florida. And lessons due to lack of experience was given to Natura. Accordingly, market commitment or internationalization level in this situation is rather low. Until the 1990s, Naturas action of going abroad occurred again. Contrast with the last time, the company planned carefully. And this time, a great advantage of the Government policy favored to development way of Natura. Brazil and other South and Central American nations took favorable change in politics and macroeconomics. With potential markets of Natura such as, Mexico, Argentinaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ were attempting to cooperate commercially with Brazil and their economy were growing positively. Besides that, the attitude of high appreciation of beauty and better understanding of cosmetics has made an increase in demand for beauty products. It can not be denied that many favorable conditions have come to Natura (Natura case study). From this time, the success of the company in various markets has gone. Three specific examples for effective internationalization strategy are Argentina, French and Mexico. Argentina and Brazil are two nations in the same Latin America area. The geographic d istance between them is not so far. And Natura took the first step to this market in 1994 but until 2001 the large mark occurred. In December 2001, this economy was thrown into crisis because of currency devaluation of about 40%. While its competitors tried to go up prices, Natura kept it stable. The company has just increased it only when local salary changed in the better way (Natura case study) and this information was announced publicly to the customers. By reducing cost and remaining price, the company got good impression on Argentinean market and help the process of building the brand here. The strategy brought the win situation for Natura. In three years later, there was a growth of six- factor revenue which is a wonderful number. The main method that the company applied to sell products in Argentina in this period is direct selling through sales consultants force. The number of consultants went up nearly three times from 7000 in 2002 to 20000 in 2005. Obviously, Natura has g ot good result with participation strategy into Argentinean market. The second one should be mentioned in internationalization strategy of Natura is France. It can be said that from Argentina to France there is a development of both geographic diversification, internationalization and market commitment. The distance from France to Brazil is much larger than that of the remainder. Actually, located in two different continents, there is not same characteristics in the beauty product custom. Hence, Seabra said that France has historically been a source of knowledge and raw material for our products as well as a source of inspiration. About the way of sales, Natura discontinued using traditional model which is direct sales and changed to retail store. It is an increase in size of investment in marketing and organization. In stead of a point of sales, in 2005 the company designed a two storey flagship store where are used for sampling products, promotion events and is seen as displaceme nt place of Naturas belief and vision (Natura case study). This is an evidence to show the companys market commitment is on upward. Another point is the change in Naturas product packaging and size. Making its products suitable for the host markets demand demonstrates effort to occupy the market share and internationalize. Moving to Mexican market, it has seen a more progressive step in the strategy of Natura. And it seems to have leapfrog stage here. In the year 2003 which is prior of two years compared to the time of entrant in France, Natura came backs to the nearer market with many similar characteristics of economy, demographics and passion for beauty products (Natura case study). In Mexico, the company developed the experience in France to a new model hybrid model. Building Naturas House, it can combine the strengths of both direct sales model and store chain. Here sales representatives can interchange experience, be trained professional skills, keep in touch with brand and even receive sample. Also in this country, the company takes an initiative in new marketing tools. An example of this is magalogue. This combination between magazine and catalogue is applied to give Naturas products and special offerings, articles about health and beauty problem. So, in comparison with French market, Naturas investment in Mexico takes more attempt. Change from a store chain to Naturas House is an example. It requires both market-specific knowledge and general knowledge. And resources should be employed more efficiently, especially human resource. All these elements explain that there is an upward trend of market commitment, internationalization when Natura enters Mexican market. Generally, Naturas internationalization strategy was successful in the period 1990s to 2005, but ineffective in the year 1980s. Task 3: using relevant theory, argue the case either for against Natura adopting a model (or models) of international market entry that differs from the direct sales/ distribution model employed. Answer: Coming back to international cosmetics market since the year 1990s, Natura has gradually succeeded with several adjustment of market entry policies. Two specific evidences are Maison Natura in France and Casa Natura in Mexico. These models show that the level of geographic diversification, market commitment and internationalization (The Uppsala internationalization model) of Natura has increased as well as their international market entry method has changed in comparison with direct sales model ever -used. Moreover, in order to go international more dramatically, Natura should employ an appropriate market entry strategy. In my opinion, it can be Hierarchical model with resident sales representatives in foreign target market. Firstly, it should be mentioned the direct sales model that Natura used to employ to provide products to its customers. The current demand for the companys cosmetics are met through the force of 483000 active sales representatives in Brazil and 36000 agents abroad, who are well-trained and flexible consultants . And mostly orders from customers are placed via Web and telephones. However, with French market of which Paris has been known as a holy city of fashion and beauty products, to attract much attention from the public, Natura innovated its traditional way. The company decided to open a two-storey flagship store which was called as Maison Natura in 2005. This store takes the duty of more than a point of sales, where can be seen to display Naturas belief and vision. Also here samples are given to customers or promotion events happen (Natura case study). There is an improvement in the way Natura enters to the market and persuades potential buyers. With this retail store, Natura has to spend more investment than its direct distribution. It is for the organization, marketing and even personnelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦For example, the company had to build a store and make it become a place served for many purposes. It is so different from a call centre which can only receive purchase orders. Besides that, to adapt to this competitive environment, Natura modified its pr oducts packaging and size. It can not be denied these activities were able to help Natura get a foothold in France. And the reasons were that the company prepared carefully market specific knowledge and made market commitment. From that, Natura seems to be more suitable for an international market entry model which requires more responsibility and competence. And about Mexican market, it is still another increase in market commitment as well as internationalization. However, there is leapfrog stage herein. The distance from Mexico to Brazil is smaller than that of France and the time of entering Mexican market is sooner two years (2003) but internationalization process goes up. Having some advantages of similar characteristics of economy, demographics, passion for cosmetics, Natural also faced the issue of late participation (Natura case study). Hence, in order to get success, it seemed to request the company to adjust a new strategy. The solution given was that Natura House which has strengths of both pure direct sales model and retail store. There sales consultants can help each other with experience and it can be place for exhibitions, training speeches or product testing, offerings. Clearly, advantage of direct sales model which is the strong relationship between end user and sales representative, and those of retail chain which are c lose relationship among sales consultants and multi-purpose place are combined. Not only the company invested in finance to establish this hybrid model at large towns and areas with many buildings, but also at Natura House, new marketing tools were employed at the first time to remind the public about the companys brand (Natura case study). For example, the company tried issuing magalogue. By this way, Natura could supply both its product, special offerings and health, cosmetics articles as well. It can be considered that Naturas attempts of organizational and marketing change demonstrates their ambition to get a step into Mexican cosmetics market and occupy a certain market share. Also the approach was done professionally step by step. Importantly, it did differ from direct sales model Natura used to use. Far from these two markets, in the following years, the company wants to attack new potential large ones, such as the UK, the US, Russia and so on. Only in the United States, in 2004, the value of sales of cosmetics and toiletries in 2004 was 45.6 billions US$, made up 19.7% of total market share. Or In United Kingdom and Russia, the numbers were 11.6 billions US$ (5%) and 6.4 billions US$ (2.8%) respectively (table 1 of Natura case study). However, with these countries, the main retail channel methods are not the same with Brazil. While in Brazil, sales through direct sales gained the remarkable proportion of 27.4% in 2004, in Western Europe, that percentage was only 4.7%. In these regions, the most common methods are different each others. ( Table 2 of Natura case study). From the factors which have already mentioned, in my opinion Natura should move to apply a new international market entry Hierarchical mode. With current conditions, it can open resident sales representatives in the host country. Rather similar to models employed in France and Mexico, the company can build a place of many functions served for sales and marketing activities. These can be a showroom, an information centre for customers, after-sales service centre, a training centre for sales consultants, a place for sample receivingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Sales and service department should be located in the host countries because it will be easier to know thoroughly about local passion and demand in comparison with doing from distance. When being familiar with local market, Natura can open sales subsidiaries. At this business office method, the company can be take tax advantage but it must take more responsibilities and autonomy. Besides, research and development, production, marketing depar tments are still situated in Brazil. It seems to be face a large amount of difficulties to change abroad assumed that other conditions do not change. Task 4: Naturas production facilities are located in Brazil. Assess whether this decision is correct in terms of strategy and logistics distribution given the companys portfolio of domestic, regional and international markets. Answer: Since the establishment in 1969, Natura has experienced different growth periods. First period from 1969 to1981, the company tried to build the brand and take expansion in domestic market. In 1982, Natura signed a contract with an independent distributor in Chile in order to expand abroad. However, this plan failed financially. Until the 1990s, once again Natura went internationally according to the open policy of the government and has got success step by step. Although Natura has changed their activities dramatically compared to the foundation time, production facilities has still situated in Brazil. One issue is given is that this decision is suitable for the development of Natura in following years? Firstly, with current situation, in my view placing all production facilities in Brazil is a reasonable decision. Brazil is the place where Natura was born. As a result, the companys products are manufactured usually have characteristics suitable for Brazilian demand. So along with the development of this brand, a stable market share in Brazil has been occupied. For any companies, they will penetrate into foreign markets once gaining or becoming familiar with its home market. This will be a strong basis for the company to attack another. About Natura, its Brazilian market share in 2003 was 11.3%, positioned the second leading cosmetics and toiletries company in Brazil (Table 3 of Natura case study). Moreover, this country has a large advantage of material sources of production for the company. In recent years, Natura has focused their operation on the products using sustainable ingredients. And Brazils diversity is a profuse supply source. Fulfilling these natural materials for the p roduction in the home country, clearly the company has bigger advantages over its competitors. They can save cost of transportation, import tax and preferential policies for domestic companies to use inside materials. Additionally, the traditional markets of this company are Argentina, Mexico, and so on. These countries are not far from Brazil and most of them are in the same area with many similar characteristics. So production facilities in Brazil and using active sales representatives force to distribute the products to the customers in these nations may not create serious problems of transportation cost. Another reason to support for production facilities in Brazil is the effectiveness of the current operations. When a customer place an order, in 24 next hours finished product is made to be transported to the sales representatives home. It is due to the close cooperation among different department and automated system. Immediately after having a new order, the stock status is ch ecked by the stock management system, and materials are collected to production facilities. Final steps are packaging and labeling. Total time for the whole process is no more than one day. After that, with 26 delivery partner, products are delivered to its representative within 2 days in Sao Paulo or no longer than 6 days for far destinations (Natura case study). It can be said that the operational process works actually efficiently to ensure delivery plan. This punctuality has supported placing production facilities in the origin country of products. From these points, that Naturas beauty products are manufactured in Brazil is appropriate. However, this decision will continue to be agreed in the future when plan of making Natura brand become commonplace with global audience? First problem can occur when moving production abroad is the cost. Compared to most of other countries in the same South American area and Europe, labor cost here is much cheaper. One of the reasons is that their population is the fifth leading in the world and still young or in labor ages (Wikipedia information). If Natura choose a country which labor price is high, finished products price will increase dramatically and the competitiveness will decrease. In addition, begin operating at a new location, there are two ways for material issue. The first solution is to find the new source. However, it is not simple to carry out because main ingredients for the companys cosmetics are from the nature, especially from Brazils biodiversity. The second one is to trans port materials from Brazil to the manufacture place. Maybe it is an impractical solution due to a large amount of disadvantages. It can be denied that transportation as well as import tax will make it go up. It also can result from import policy which procedures or regulations in the host country do not encourage to import such materials. Also Natura should take into account the origin country of products. It is not true that all customers evaluate equally with the same brand but different production places It is considered frequently that the customer have preference for the products from well-known nations for high technology and long term tradition of this kind of commodities. As a result, when deciding to choose a new manufacture location, the managers need to investigate the customers desire. About distribution network, currently Natura still uses direct sales model through active sales representative force. They are seen as Naturas consultant who are mainly well trained housew ives and receive orders via Web and calls (Natura case study). So the company does not have to pay direct employment cost but high commission for every product sold. With current conditions this retail channel still works efficiently. But if there is a change in production facilities, it is still good? Last but not least, logistics issue can meet obstacles in the case of moving manufacture location abroad if that policy there is still close. It can come from various regulations about import export documents or the quality of transportation system is modern enough to support Naturaa activities or inventory, storage problems, packaging and so on. Nowadays to get high profits, generally multinational companies invest in developing country, but they have to accept certain risks related to low quality of logistics. Hence, Natura ought to consider the ability of goods to move between nations. In conclusion, with current affecting factors, Natura seems to keep production facility situate in Brazil. In the far future, along with long term strategy and improvement outside, a change maybe reasonable if they are supportive.

Free Siddhartha Essays: The River and the Mind/Body Dichotomy :: Hesse Siddhartha Essays

The River and the Mind/Body Dichotomy in Siddhartha In Herman Hesse's work Siddhartha, the primary physical symbol of division is the river. One side of the river represents "geist", or a realm concerned with the spiritual world. The second side represents "natur", the natural world where the flesh is engorged with pleasure and earthly satisfaction. Siddhartha begins on the spiritual side of the river. He is in training to become an excellent Brahmin like his father, much is expected of this intelligent and attractive young man. Yet Siddhartha feels a rumbling in his body and mind. His soul is not satisfied with the answers that he has received about problems in life. He feels the need to live his home in order to find these answers. He is willing to sacrifice security for insecurity and danger. His travels renew and strengthen his spirit. The structure of the story is centered around the apparatus of "iterative-durative time", a technique in which the author follows a loose linear chronlogy, with each part covering approximately twenty years, while only about one or two of those years are described in any detail. The effect easily lulls the reader into a perception of the passing time. He first spends time with a roving band of asceitics, forest-dwelling nomads that prefer to live a life of extreme sacrifice and self-denial. Siddhartha masters their art and goals, but shortly decides to move on after only a few years. He is not able to find his quest for salvation and understanding on such a path. Throughout his journey, his friend Govinda stays by his side. He decides to leave the town with him, come with him and practice with the ascetics, and then agrees to leave with him to seek out the Illustrious One, Gotama. Siddhartha does not find the answers to his spiritual queries here either, and decides to move on again. This time Govinda, his "shadow", decides to stay and make a niche for himself. Siddhartha strikes out on his own, crossing the center symbol of the river with the help of the boatman Vasudeva. After crossing the river he encounters an Indian woman who encourages him and allows him to kiss her nipple. His experience with the "natur" world has begun, hi s experiences of the sense being heightened and readied for a sensual deluge. He remains on the sensual side of the river for twenty years and in that time impregnates his seductive teacher and partner Kamala.