Marketing Plan for Emirates Airline

e- Book Series Guide to Writing a Killer Marketing Plan Written by: Steven Fisher Confidential  ©2009 Network Solutions, LLC Purpose of this book You are either someone that has been doing marketing as a part of your professional career or you look at as that â€Å"thing you do to promote your business and attract customers to buy†. Regardless of where you are along that spectrum, you have arrived here because you have been charged by the CEO of the startup you work for to write a marketing plan for your business or you need to create one for your own business. You need to not just write just any marketing plan.You need to write a Killer Marketing Plan. One that your boss will say â€Å"awesome, let’s get started† and which will tell all those people who have been looking for a product or service like yours for a long time. This book is written for you. Marketing plans are sexy mistresses that tempt you to include all of the coolest of campaign ideas without th e sanity of budgetary constraints. While marketing is one of the more important functions of a small business, it is one that is limited by the budgets of that business and campaigns must demonstrate a return in order to justify their existence.Since I have written more marketing plans than I care to tell you, I can share with you my knowledge and experience of what has worked almost all the time, some of the time and none of the time. While this is not the single tome on marketing plans, I hope that this helps you balance the unlimited creative ideas with the budget you have to work with and find a mix that is both innovative and results in sales. I invite you to explore as many resources out there, some of which are mentioned at the end of this book. I don’t need to wish you luck.Just get started, get out there and crush it. Confidential  ©2009 Network Solutions, LLC Overview: Section 1: Product and Purpose Part 1 – 5 Section 2: Analysis and Competition Part 6 â₠¬â€œ 10 Section 3: Strategy and Action Part 11 – 12 Section 4: Financials in Plain English Part 13 – 15 Confidential  ©2009 Network Solutions, LLC Section 1: Product and Purpose Part 1: The Art of Marketing Doing marketing planning, which is captured in the marketing plan, is an essential organizational activity, considering the hostile and complex competitive business environment.Our ability and skills to perform profitable sales are affected by hundreds of internal and external factors that interact in a difficult way to evaluate. A marketing manager must understand and build an image upon these variables and their interactions, and must make rational decisions. Here is a great description of Marketing from HowStuffWorks: â€Å"According to the Dictionary of Marketing Terms, marketing is â€Å"the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and org anizational goals. What does that mean to you?It means marketing encompasses everything you have to do in coming up with a needed product or service, making potential customers aware of it, making them want it, and then selling it to them. So then, is sales considered â€Å"marketing†? Is advertising â€Å"marketing†? Often, you’ll hear sales functions referred to as â€Å"marketing,† but really sales is just a part of the larger marketing process, as is advertising. In the olden days (back 30 or 40 years), marketing did consist primarily of sales. Rather than having marketing departments, companies had sales departments with an advertising manager and someone who did market research.Sometimes they added a promotions manager or hired an agency to handle advertising and promotions. Things began changing as some companies grew larger and larger and began offering many product lines that warranted having their own brand managers, market segment managers and many more specialized positions that addressed and mulled over the needs of their particular markets. The need for a marketing department began to be seen as a vital part of business. The marketing department also takes most of the blame if a product (or company) isn’t successful, regardless of whether or not the fault actually lies there. Logically, your CMO or VP of Marketing would be in charge of this effort but in many startups you don’t have someone in that position so it is probably you with the ultimate responsibility. So my dear reader, I am here to the rescue to guide you through very important part of executing your overall business plan. Planning your company’s marketing program is a process much like the one you go through in writing the business plan. You go through phases of: †¢ What are you going to do with the plan? †¢ What are the company’s skills, strengths and weaknesses? Goal setting based on those strengths and weaknesses â € ¢ Setting strategies for achieving your goals †¢ Executing the plan †¢ Putting the numbers together to back up your words But before you dive into the plan, you should know what type of plan you are expected to write. Confidential  ©2009 Network Solutions, LLC Part 2: The Three Types of Marketing Plans Most of the time when you are writing the marketing plan, it is usually something that needs to stand on its own and in other cases it might need to be incorporated into another document like a business plan.So before we dive into the executive summary, it is important to understand that there are three marketing plan types with various content and sizes. Marketing Plan Type #1: The Marketing Plan for the Business Plan In a business plan, the sales and marketing section as part and parcel to the business plan, which is true, but it is not the entire picture. The business plan essentially holds the executive summary and key components, graphics and financials that suppo rt the greater business plan. This means that the data came from somewhere †¢ Page Range: Usually 3-6 Pages Marketing Plan Type #2: The Strategic Marketing PlanHere is a great description of the Strategic version of the Marketing Plan from Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning in Oakville, Canada: At the strategic marketing plan level, marketers are scanning the environment, pondering what is happening and looking for emerging or robust market segments which they could consider as target markets. The outcomes of such plans are clearly identified target markets and the strategies which will meet their needs, as identified in our analysis. Marketing plan objectives are typically on the level of sales, profit, return on investment or, for the larger firm, market share. Page Range: Usually 3-6 Pages Marketing Plan Type #3: The Tactical Marketing Plan Here is another great description of the Strategic version of the Marketing Plan from Sheridan College Insti tute of Technology and Advanced Learning in Oakville, Canada: Tactical plans, in contrast, presume the target market and marketing strategy as a given and don’t look much at the external environment. They deal with issues such as raising awareness or getting more returning customers. The main way to tell at which level you are working is whether your target market is a given or not.If you are scanning the environment, you are seeking new target markets or looking for subtle changes in your existing target markets; you are preparing a Marketing Plan. If however, you start from the premise that you know exactly who your target Confidential  ©2009 Network Solutions, LLC market is, you would then develop a range of tactics to reach them; this is a Tactical Plan. Many people mistakenly operate at the tactical level when they should be at the strategic level. For instance, suppose your product sales were poor, so you came up with a plan to advertise more. The result was an even f aster decline in sales.Why? People found even faster that your product was terrible. Had a strategic marketing plan been developed, we would have determined what consumers want, compared those desires to our product and made the appropriate modifications. †¢ Page Range: Usually 10 – â€Å"As many as people want to read† Pages Sometimes it is better to start big and widdle your way down There are different schools of thought on this one. The first being to write the tactical version with everything and then extract information to create the strategic and narrow further for inclusion in a business plan.The second is to write the strategic one first to focus your thoughts and have one person tighten it up for the business plan and a team expand on it so the tactical issues are worked out. This can be a problem because your financial projections might not be totally accurate and your plan will fail. I would offer taking the tactical plan and mapping out the sections w ith the abstracts so that all the issues are addressed, then write the strategic so there is a plan that others outside of marketing can digest and only when it is approved should it be tuned up and included in a business plan.Now you know so let’s get started Now that you understand what a marketing plan is, its purpose and the type you should write, let’s get to the heart of the matter. In Part 3 we will discuss the Killer Executive Summary. Part 3: Framing a Successful Marketing Plan In Part 2 we talked about selecting the right type of plan to fit your needs. Now that you have decided that, let’s get into the general structure of a marketing plan. Please note that this is a proposed outline and depending on your emphasis, this structure can and might change. Marketing Plan Outline Section I – Cover Page Section II – Table of ContentSection III – Situational Analysis (Market, Competitive Environment, Technological Environment, Socio-Polit ical) Section IV – Problems and Opportunities Section V – Objectives Section VI – Action Plan Section IX – Financial Data Confidential  ©2009 Network Solutions, LLC So there you go, a basic outline. I know that putting all this together might seem daunting, especially if you are not a marketing and sales person. Fear not, that is what we are here for and from here on out we will break down each section and subsection in detail so you understand what information is required and how to get it.Part 4: Killer Marketing Plan Summary Everyone who begins the journey of writing a marketing plan usually looks at the Executive Summary section early on in the process. A Marketing Plan Summary is usually 1-3 pages long and the goal is to summarize the entire marketing and possibly sales plan into something digestible by new readers and those in other departments who want to get to the bottom line. Don’t despair, the hard work you put into the marketing plan will be useful to some people, not all of them.Each reader is trying to get something different and the executive summary is the best way to give them the big picture so they understand their part in this area of the operation. When is the best time to write the Marketing Plan Summary? There are many schools of thought on when to write the Marketing Plan Summary, either write it first, write it along the way or write it at the end. I take a little different of an approach in that you should try and write it at the beginning and then re write it again at the end.There are two reasons for this: Reason #1 – Writing it at the beginning can focus you and force you to answer questions in the shortest way possible. This is an interesting and valuable exercise for many because they work to answer many of the hard questions and because it forces you to get in the habit of getting to the point. Reason #2 – Writing it at the end is great because you will revisit what you wrote an d either be on track with only a little tuning required or most likely will roll your eyes and see how far off you were and really have a much easier time tuning the summary up to make it truly a killer Executive Summary.What are the overall components of the Marketing Plan Summary? Generally, you need to write 2-3 sentences MAX on each of the following sections: Company description of what you are doing Confidential  ©2009 Network Solutions, LLC Problem and Opportunity Your products and/or services that address the problem and take advantage of the opportunity Money You Need and What it will be used for (this is if the summary is targeted at investors) The market and your customer The Competition and Your Differentiators (how you will kick the competitor’s butt) Your current Marketing and Sales (if you have them)Your Management Team (If they are an A-Grade team this might be further up) Current Business Operations (if you are an existing business)3-5 Year financial project ions and plans (How much have you made, how much will you make and if you are looking for investment, how you will use it) – This includes a small table of numbers in addition to the 2-3 sentences. What makes a Killer Executive Summary that stands out from other businesses? There are many well written Executive Summaries out there that have never been funded or missed the market or for whatever reason never got off the ground.But what makes an Executive Summary â€Å"Killer†? Here are six key things to make it â€Å"killer†: 1. BE focused and clearly state what you do -Too many businesses, especially startups try and â€Å"boil the ocean† making you look like you are all over the place and will not be able to execute successfully. 2. BE a business that solves a problem and not a solution in search of one – You might have an awesome â€Å"widget† but if people don’t need it or companies can live without it, why are you starting a busin ess? 3. BE strong and positive with your language – This is not a time to be passive.From potential investors looking to give you money to those people willing to join the team, people must know that you †are† going to execute, not â€Å"may† or â€Å"might† do something. 4. DON’T cut and paste – Read the sections and extract the best and write a new concise section 5. DON’T use Jargon – Most industries have acronyms or buzz words that are neat and catchy. One or two that make a point are fine but if your engineer is writing the business plan, don’t get all geeky on the solution. Remember, the Executive Summary is about telling someone the time, not how the watch works.The business plan will have plenty of places for that type of content. 6. Write an â€Å"Executive Summary† of the Executive Summary – Most people have very short attention spans and once you are done the Executive Summary you should try and compose a 2-3 sentence summary at the top that gets all the critical elements in so that people really want to read the rest and get excited about reading the entire business plan. Confidential  ©2009 Network Solutions, LLC Part 5: Understanding Your Market The Situational Analysis is designed to take a snapshot of where things stand at the time the plan is presented.The Situational Analysis is probably one of the hardest sections you will write because you are essentially laying out how the product will function in various environments and how it will be perceived in the marketplace. In many marketing plans, the first section could be the product analysis. If you already have existing products/services you should start with this so that you provide a â€Å"lay of the land† for readers not familiar with where you are at with your current product(s) and/or service(s).That section covers the product attributes, current pricing, current distribution and services offered. This should be about a page or two in length. For the purposes of this Marketing Plan series we will assume you are a new company and dive straight into defining the market. That is why the first part of the situational analysis is called the â€Å"Market Analysis†. This subsection of the situation analysis section should be about two to four pages in length and provides actionable information on selling to target buyers and stimulating purchases or usage by the ultimate end users.Key questions answered in this subsection include: description of target buyers or end users in demographic, psychographic, and lifestyle terms target buyer/end user wants, needs, attitudes, and perceptions of category products and services where target buyers/end users are located and how to reach them, which segments of the total market or category are growing or declining and why. You will need to tell the story in a way that makes sense to you and your readers so the following outline should be arranged as you see fit: Target Market Approach Start with a description of your total potential market (your potential customers).Present a general strategy that is used to reach targeted customers that might include a mass market or segmentation approach. Describe the needs/benefits sought by market, the product usage, the positioning and what people’s attitudes are regarding the product you are selling and the product category in general. Target Market Profile(s) Create and describe the demographic/psychographic profile(s) of the market including elements such as gender, income, age, occupation, education, family life cycle, geographic region, lifestyle, attitudes, purchasing characteristics, etc.Confidential  ©2009 Network Solutions, LLC Target Market Motivations Since you know the profile(s) within your target market you need to explain what motivates them to buy your products/services. Begin by describing how your product/service satisfies the needs of this market. Fo llow up with describing the particular customers that you will target. Expand into the size of your total potential market (number of potential customers), and then drill down into your target market so that you can make the motivational case you set out to in the first place.Target Market Purchasing Strategy Ok, great. You have the market explained, the target profiles done, the market motivations are worked out, now how are people gonna buy your amazingly cool new widget? Well, you need to detail that out in your purchasing strategy. First, you will need to explain how the target market makes their purchases. Then explain what is involved in the decision-making process and the timeline for the purchase (is it an impulse buy or something that takes an extended period of time).Finally you will cover who influences and then makes the purchase. Target Market Growth Strategy To wrap things up you will need to provide market size estimates but keep in mind these are estimates for the ma rket, not for a specific product. You will need to provide size estimates for the potential market that include the largest possible market that would buy. Then you need to narrow your focus and provide estimates of size for the current target market (how many actually purchased this kind of product) and provide estimates for these growth rates.Lastly, all of this needs to be projected out for at least through the timeframe for the plan (e. g. , 1 year) but most likely longer (e. g. , 3-5 year projections). A Final Thought on Numbers Throughout all of these explanations it is critical that you need to support estimates with factual data. You can have the best laid plans with awesome projections but if you have nothing to back up your story and make your case you are just fooling yourself that your strategy is the right one. Confidential  ©2009 Network Solutions, LLC Section 2: Analysis and CompetitionPart 6: Understanding and Beating the Competition This is the second part of the situational analysis which deals with the competition and appropriately called â€Å"Competitor Analysis†. I mentioned in Part 5 that the Situational Analysis is probably one of the hardest sections you will write and this section validates that statement. You believe your product/service is the best on the market but not just to validate yourself but to validate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats along with trends of those competitors.Here is how the Competitor Analysis sub-sections break down: Competitive Landscape First you need to identify major competitors: name, location, and market share. The best thing to do is create a table that allows clear comparisons of your product/service with that of your major competitors (brand name, quality, image, price, etc. ). Then you need to perform a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis (coming in a future post) and compare your firm with that of your major competitors.Include factors such as company reputation, size, distribution channels, location, financial standing, target market perception and if relevant, research and development capabilities. After your SWOT analysis is complete, use that as sounding board to honestly evaluate your chances as the new competition and how successfully you would be able to enter this market. Include your thoughts and observations on what you have learned from watching the competition and you can learn from the good and bad parts of their business models to increase your chances of success. Competitive OpportunitiesWhile in the competitive landscape doing much of the SWOT analysis, you should include a section that really expands on the opportunities you uncover because those usually end up being the foundation for things like your marketing messaging and web site content. It is designed to really expose the differentiators that make you stand out in a competitive marketplace. Competitive Trends This section is where you should discu ss the trends of your competitors. This includes whether your competitors’ sales increasing, decreasing or steady. Answering those questions clue into the growth or decline of competitors from a shifting market shareConfidential  ©2009 Network Solutions, LLC perspective and also from a more macro market size perspective. This should also help you identify any future competitive threats that your team should be made aware of but not focused on, yet. Describe direct competitors in terms of: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Target markets served Product attributes Pricing Promotion Distribution including the distributor network Services offered Discuss competitor’s strengths and weaknesses: †¢ May need to consider much more than just marketing issues such as: financial standing target market perception R & D capabilities Part 7: Technology, Economy and SociopoliticalAnalysis As we continue our Marketing Plan Series and keep working our way through th e Situational Analysis we make a pit stop to talk about the macro-level environments that impact your marketing and your competition. This part of the Situational Analysis is usually called â€Å"Environmental Problems and Opportunities† and is about 1-2 pages in length. This could easily turn into a diatribe about politics and economics so what you need to focus on in this sub-section is how technology, the economy and the socio-political environment affect the marketing of your products/services. The Technological EnvironmentWhen you discuss the technological environment think about how you create/leverage/affect creating new ways of satisfying needs (i. e. using technology to enhance the demand for existing products). Innovation can create or wipe out industries and businesses in less than a year. One example is the popularity and convenience of DVD players all but eliminated the sale of VCRs and seriously depressed the manufacture and sale of video tapes. This is especial ly important for you if your product is technology based. The Economic Environment Regardless of the current state of the economy, there will be good times and not so good times.You need to describe how your company will survive and grow in this most challenging of economies. Look at the bright side, if you can find the opportunities and sell successfully in this market you could position yourself as almost recession-proof in the long run. Confidential  ©2009 Network Solutions, LLC The Socio-Political Environment These are governmental policies and regulations that affect the market. It is also the economic environment around your company; which is the business cycle, inflation rate, interest rates, and other macroeconomic issues.For example, here in America there is a sweeping trend to dress more casually, with function and comfort driving new clothing and shoe trends. People are cooking less and are more concerned about nutrition and fat in their diets. And today, American busin ess people are less willing to sacrifice family life for business careers. These types of factors can impact the marketability of your product or service. Part 8: Financial Summaries that Sing You can’t have a product discussion and not include financial for the number geeks in all of us.We will dive into our â€Å"Marketing Plan Financials in Plan English† toward the end of the series but many will need to connect some financial dots in the situational analysis at a high level leaving the detailed stuff (budgeting, break even analysis and cash flow analysis) for the â€Å"back of the book†. This section should be about 2-4 pages in length and kids, keep it pretty for the rest of us. Now while you will need to write some short paragraphs to explain your information, tables and graphs are your friend here. The Financial Analysis section is separated into two general areas – sales and profitability Part 1 – Sales AnalysisIn this section you need to f ocus on the current sales that your industry and you business are doing across segments, product categories and various distribution channels. Let’s break it down like this: Overall Industry and Market Share †¢ Sales for the Entire Market †¢ Sales for Your Company †¢ Sales for Your Competitors Sales By Segments and/or Product Categories †¢ Sales by segments and/or product categories †¢ Sales by company product(s) †¢ Sales at this level compared to competition Sales By Distribution Channel †¢ Sales for each channel †¢ Sales for company product(s) by channel †¢ Sales for Your Competitors by hannel Sales By Geography †¢ Sales for Each Region †¢ Sales for company product(s) by region †¢ Sales for Your Competitors by region Confidential  ©2009 Network Solutions, LLC Part 2 – Profitability Analysis Since we focused on sales which is really revenues, we need to splice this up and see what is actually profitable. Ju st because you can make money from it does not mean you make a profit. You will need to look across the revenues and include the marketing related expenses. Let’s break it down like this: †¢ †¢ Revenue Breakdown o Use the sales numbers from above but identify realized revenues not just projectionsMarketing Expense Breakdown o Direct Marketing Expenses – These are the expenses that are tied to the product(s) and must be identified in that way o Indirect or Proportional Marketing Expenses – These are the general administrative and broad marketing expenses that may be assigned to a product based on some criteria like percentage of sales or a pre-determined distribution amount. Lastly, remember that this is the â€Å"30,000 foot view† †¢ Since this part of the situational analysis, you are using this sub-section to make your point and support your overall analysis. †¢ Stay high level †¢More detailed financial stuff comes later and in the marketing plan and we will do explain it in plain English later in this book. Part 9: The SWOT Analysis Dance Concluding our dive into the sub-sections of the situational analysis, we wrap up with the all important SWOT analysis. It is a â€Å"dance† of sorts because you have to dance around the fact that in some ways your competitors might have over you but it is better that you learn this now and how to work around it or market against it that will help you in the long run. The term SWOT analysis stands for â€Å"Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats†.Start with posing these sessions to your brainstorming team: †¢ Are your competitors becoming stronger? †¢ Are there emerging trends that amplify one of your weaknesses? †¢ Do you see other external threats to your company’s success? Internally, do you have financial, development, or other problems? Confidential  ©2009 Network Solutions, LLC Let’s break each part down and th en wrap up with some the advantages this section can offer you and your team: Strengths: Here is where you must capture the positive aspects internal to your business that add value or offer you a competitive advantage.This is an opportunity to remind yourself of the value existing within your business. Think about what your company does well. You should address the strengths within your business that add value to your product or your marketing efforts. You should also describe your positive tangible and intangible attributes. Weaknesses: These are factors that detract from your ability to have a competitive edge. It includes the negative aspects internal to your business that distracting customers from seeing the value you offer or place you at a competitive disadvantage. These are areas you need to enhance in order to compete with your best competitor.The more accurately you identify your weaknesses, the more valuable the SWOT Analysis is to your readers. Some questions to help yo u get started are: What do your customers complain about? What are the unmet needs of your sales force? We continue breaking each part down†¦. Opportunities: Traditionally, a SWOT looks only at the external environment for opportunities. I suggest you look externally for areas your competitors are not fully covering, then go a step further and think how to match these to your internal strengths. Remember, these are opportunities external to your business.If you have identified â€Å"opportunities† that are internal to the organization and within your control, you will want to classify them as â€Å"strengths†. Try to uncover areas where your strengths are not being fully utilized. Are there emerging trends that fit with your company’s strengths? Is there a product/service area that others have not yet covered? Threats: What situations might threaten your marketing efforts? You have to ask this hard question. Get your worst fears on the table. A threat is a challenge created by an unfavorable trend or development that may lead to deteriorating revenues or profits.As with opportunities, threats in a traditional SWOT analysis are considered an external force. By looking both inside and outside of your company for things that could damage your business, however, you may be better able to see the big picture. Competition — existing or potential — is always a threat. Other threats may include intolerable price increases by suppliers, government regulation, economic downturns, devastating media or press coverage, a shift in consumer behavior that reduces your sales, or the introduction of a â€Å"leap-frog† technology that may make your products, equipment, or services obsolete.Confidential  ©2009 Network Solutions, LLC Advantages of a SWOT Analysis – Uncovering Opportunities This is where you look externally for areas your competitors are not fully covering, then go a step further and think how to match these t o your internal strengths. Try to uncover areas where your strengths are not being fully utilized. Are there emerging trends that fit with your company’s strengths? Is there a product/service area that others have not yet covered? Once you have uncovered these opportunities take each one and discuss how you will market them.Will it be a mixed marketing campaign? A targeted sales effort? What resources will you need (e. g. new collateral, selling guides, web site content, e-mail marketing)? Advantages of a SWOT Analysis – Address and Overcome Problems Problems are not necessarily a bad thing. They are just issues that need to be overcome. It is better to get out front of problems that may exist than have them rear their ugly head when you are selling or raising money. Problems could be strong competitors, your product lacking critical features that you are not able to roll out yet or a long sales cycle.You should list each problem and discuss an approach to overcome the m in a sales situation and with specific marketing messages that counter what a customer might be thinking. Part 10: Mapping Out Your Marketing Objectives OK. You are half done the marketing plan and while you might scream â€Å"only half! † at the top of your lungs, you have suffered through the tough part – the analysis. You have spent time building the case that your products/services are competitive, viable and profitable. Now that you have proved that point you have to demonstrate how you are gonna actually do it.The first part of telling this second half is setting out the overall objectives in the marketing plan. Now let’s breakdown the Marketing Objectives section. We have put together this great breakdown and outline of how you might want to structure the objectives section. Please note, some of this outline may or may not apply to your business so use this as a suggestion and not a list of requirements. Target market objectives †¢ Market Share â⠂¬â€œ total, by segments and by channel †¢ Customers – total, by number/percentage new, by number/percentage retainedConfidential  ©2009 Network Solutions, LLC Channel Objectives †¢ Dealers – total, by number/percentage new, by number/percentage retained †¢ Order Processing and Delivery – on-time rate, shrinkage rate, correct order rate Promotional Objectives †¢ Level of brand/company awareness †¢ Traffic building (e. g. store traffic, web site traffic) †¢ Product Trials (e. g. sales promotions, product demonstrations) †¢ Sales Force (e. g. cycle time, cost per call, closing rate, customer visits, etc. Continuing our breakdown and outline of how you might want to structure the objectives section.Please note, some of this outline may or may not apply to your business so use this as a suggestion and not a list of requirements. Market Research Objectives †¢ Studies Initiated †¢ Studies Completed R&D Objectives †¢ Product Development Other Objectives †¢ Partnerships Developed †¢ Rate of Purchases, size/volume of purchases †¢ Purchases Advice on Setting Your Objectives Remember these are objectives that you expect to meet so keep in mind that these should be achievable. I have used the SMART approach to setting objectives and that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-based.Section 3: Strategy and Action Part 11: Setting Your Marketing Strategy Once you have completed writing your Marketing Objectives, as discussed previously in Mapping Out Your Objectives, you need to write your marketing strategy. The marketing strategy section of your plan outlines your game plan to achieve your marketing objectives. There is no other way to say it but this section which is in the center, is essentially the heart of the marketing plan. Confidential  ©2009 Network Solutions, LLC The marketing strategy section should then include information that revolves around the â€Å"4Ps of Marketing†.Don’t know what they are? Let’s do a quick refresher: The â€Å"4Ps of Marketing† are a few decades old but are the most basic and classic way of slicing up your marketing strategy. They are broken down as follows: †¢ Product – your product(s) and services †¢ Price – what you will charge customers for products and services †¢ Promotion – how you will promote or create awareness of your product in the marketplace †¢ Place (distribution) – how you will bring your product(s) together with your customers. Product Describe in detail your products or services in terms of the features and benefits they offer customers.Describe what you need to have or do to provide your product or service (how it’s produced). Pricing List the price of your products and describe your pricing strategy. List price ranges for product lines. For example, if your product is a line of cosmetics, include info rmation in this strategy section about your lipsticks â€Å"ranging in price from $5. 00 to $15. 00 per item† rather than a detailed product price list. (You should, however, consider including a detailed price list in the Supporting Documents section. ) Describe any price flexibility or negotiating room, as is common with large purchases such as houses or cars.Outline any discounts you offer for long-term customers, bulk purchases or prompt payment. Also, include the terms of sale, such as â€Å"net due in 30 days,† extended payment plans, and whether you accept credit cards Promotion Plan A promotion plan describes the tools or tactics used to accomplish your marketing objectives. In your Action Programs section, you will describe the steps that need to be taken in detail, when they should be done, who will do them, and so on. If your marketing objective is to: Create awareness of baby care products among mothers of newborns.Increase sales of potato chips to teens. T hen tools or tactics might be: †¢ Advertise in baby care or motherhood magazines. †¢ Distribute product samples to obstetricians. †¢ Offer free baby care seminars to expectant mothers. †¢ Distribute free samples or discount coupons at high school football games. †¢ Sponsor an event attended by teens. Confidential  ©2009 Network Solutions, LLC Placement (Sales and Distribution) In this section, describe how your products and customers â€Å"meet† or come together through sales and distribution. Describe your sales philosophies and methods.Do you employ an aggressive sales method for a large number of quick sales, or a relaxed method where the emphasis is on having customers feel comfortable to come back another time even if they don’t buy now? Do you use contract sales people or employees? Explain your approach to sales issues. Describe your distribution system. (Where will your product be placed so customers have access to it? ) A few points about distribution to address in your marketing plan are: Is the exchange of the product made in a store? Through the mail? Through a direct sales representative?What are your production and inventory capacities? (How quickly can you make products and how many can you store? ) Are there cyclical fluctuations or seasonal demands for your products? For example, if you produce Christmas decorations, how will you manage peak production and sales periods as well as slow periods? Do you sell to individuals or to re-sellers? Your company may use more than one method. For example, you may sell directly to customers who place large orders but also sell to customers who buy small quantities of your product through retail outlets. Part 12: Action PlansThe Action Plan covers the â€Å"Who, Where and How Much† of your plan. You should look at this section as the â€Å"to do list with budget numbers† and separate it into sub-sections or â€Å"miniplans† that are involved in y our marketing efforts. They can include but are not limited to the following: Publicity Marketing Plan – How do you pitch? I am not talking fastballs, but rather using the media to spread the word about your business. You could also call this mini-plan your media plan and it includes the costs and tasks involved in pitching stories to the press and writing press releases on a consistent basis.Customer Marketing Plan – No small business can survive without customers and smart business know that it is FAR cheaper to keep the customers you have than always working to replace them with new ones. This mini-plan talks about what activities you will undertake with your current customers and the types of targeted offers you will be making to retain them. Confidential  ©2009 Network Solutions, LLC Advertising Plan – Now we all know that most traditional advertising is hit or miss and it is hard to track results.However, there are more and more promotional programs that provide you with a way to measure results that you can create a mini-plan of where you are going to advertise and how much of it you will be doing. Internet Marketing Plan – Every one these days has a web site. If you don’t and you are small business, then that is another matter. If you are a small business that is actively engaged on the web to promote your products or services then you need to include a separate mini-plan on Internet marketing that could include search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising and any other online campaigns.Promotional Event Plan – Related to advertising and Internet marketing the promotional event plan includes different promotional activities such as, having sales, sponsoring contests, awards, or events. Referral Marketing Plan – All small businesses need referral business. In fact, it is how many survive and even thrive. Here is where you need to identify specific programs that will add incentive for those that value your work enough to tell others about you. Budgeting AKA â€Å"The Bottom Line†We all wish we could do awesome and cool marketing campaigns but we are quickly brought back to reality when the limitations of our budgets are staring us in the face. Small Business Notes provides some great advice on putting together your budget. Estimate the cost of the marketing activities you’ve described in the marketing plan so you will have a budget to keep everyone on track over the course of the year. Typical marketing expense categories are marketing communications, market research, promotions, advertising, events and public relations.Because marketing needs and costs vary widely, there are no simple rules for determining what your marketing budget should be. A popular method with small business owners is to allocate a small percentage of gross sales for the most recent year. This usually amounts to about two percent for an existing business. However, if you are planning on launching a new product or business, you may want to increase your marketing budget figure, to as much as 10 percent of your expected gross sales. Another method used by small business owners is to analyze and estimate the competition’s budget and either match or exceed it.Confidential  ©2009 Network Solutions, LLC Section 3: Strategy and Action Part 13: Sales Projections in Plain English What Are Components of Sales Projections? Projection of sales is an important part of the marketing plan. Part of the sales projection work is planning for a better performance in the future and correcting past performance with which you are not satisfied. You do this by finding out what profit contribution each sales representative makes. One goal of measuring a sales representative’s performance is improvement assistance. This is done in the marketing personnel section of the marketing plan.Cost of Goods per Unit Worksheet This is the first preliminary worksheet you must complete . The reason you have to start here is because these are the basic costs of raw materials, production labor and other costs that, once added up, give you the cost of goods per unit number you will need to get the â€Å"Estimated Sales Table† completed. Estimated Sales Table Worksheet This is a preliminary worksheet that helps you figure out what the total sales and cost of goods sold are for each product year by year. You need to include the units, or number of things, sold by each product line. Take each number times the elling price of each product and you will get the actual sales for each product. Tally that number up and create a column called % of sales and divide each number by the total and you can see how much each product brings in as a share of the entire sales projection. You should already have the â€Å"Cost of Goods Sold† per unit from the previous section. Put that number in after the â€Å"% of sales† and then multiply that number times the unit s and put the result into a new column called â€Å"Cost of Goods sold total†. Once that is done, do the same thing we did with â€Å"% of sales† and create a â€Å"% of Cost of Goods Sold†.Confidential  ©2009 Network Solutions, LLC Sales Projections Worksheet This is where all the hard work comes into focus and you break things down by months that give you the total amount you put together in the estimated sales table. You will use a concept called â€Å"weighing† which is basically splitting 100% across 12 months as to when you think that total amount will be met each month. Think of busy periods where sales are way up and slow periods where it is way down. A good example is retail with busy holiday periods and slow winters and then busy back to school sales. You will also include he cost of goods sold numbers and percentages that breakdown according to the â€Å"weighing† you set up for each month overall. These projections are also used on th e business plan financials as revenue projections in the way they organize the business. You should also be aware how important this is not only from running your marketing division but when investors want to dive a layer deeper in the business plan and your numbers are what will back things up. It will also be used in other business plan financials but we will get into that in the next two sections. Part 14: The Break Even Analysis in Plain EnglishWe continue talking plain English with you in this fun and crazy world of marketing plan financials and move on to the all important Breakeven Analysis. The Breakeven Analysis is especially useful when you’re developing a pricing strategy, either as part of a marketing plan or a business plan. The Breakeven Analysis is actually pretty straightforward and asks one question – when do you break even and turn a profit? Simple†¦. Not quite†¦ but I will explain in plain English. You mean there is a formula for this thing ? Yes, you knew I would eventually get to a formula, but fear not math haters, it is straightforward.Fixed Costs divided by (Revenue per unit – Variable costs per unit) Confidential  ©2009 Network Solutions, LLC Fixed Costs – Fixed costs are costs that must be paid whether or not any units are produced. Things like rent and equipment fall into this category. These costs are fixed only over a specified period of time or range of production. Variable Costs – Variable costs are the things that make it fun and go up and down based on your production levels. Things like materials, labor, overhead are in this category. Let’s give you a real example:If your total fixed costs were $500,000, the price tag of your product (unit) was $25, and your variable Costs were $15, the equation would look like this: 500,000/25-15 = 500,000/10 = 50,000 You would need to sell 50,000 units to break even. Everything over that is profit and you dancing to the bank. Still, this n ot a perfect equation: Bplans. com points out that this equation, while important, can be misread or misinterpreted. Here are some key things they point out: †¢ It is frequently mistaken for the payback period, the time it takes to recover an investment. There are variations on break even that make some people think we have it wrong.The one we do use is the most common, the most universally accepted, but not the only one possible. †¢ It depends on the concept of fixed costs, a hard idea to swallow. Technically, a break-even analysis defines fixed costs as those costs that would continue even if you went broke. Instead, you may want to use your regular running fixed costs, including payroll and normal expenses. This will give you a better insight on financial realities. We call that â€Å"burn rate† these post-Internet days. †¢ It depends on averaging your per-unit variable cost and per-unit revenue over the whole business.However, whether we like it or not, thi s equation is a cornerstone of financial analysis. You may choose to leave it out, but really, a business or marketing plan would not be complete without it. Part 15: Sales Cash Flow Statements in Plain English As important as when you will break even, you must be able to show how, on a monthly basis, you will manage the cash flow to support the business and not sink it from an overly ambitious strategy and action plan. Confidential  ©2009 Network Solutions, LLC Similar to the Cash Flow Statement in a Business PlanThe cash flow statement reports the cash generated and used during the time interval specified in its heading. The period of time that the statement covers is chosen by the company. For example, the heading may state â€Å"For the Three Months Ended December 31, 2007? or â€Å"The Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2008?. For many, looking at a cash flow statement it looks a bit weird but it provides a different, yet critically important view of the business. For the mark eting plan, you need to create a subset of this that eventually rolls up into the business plan to support it and give detailed projections.Three Sections of a Marketing Plan Case Flow Statement For the purpose of the marketing plan cash flow statement that flows up and reports to the master cash flow statement, there are three sections that must be created – Operating Activities, Investing Activities, Financing Activities. We explain these on the next few pages. SECTION 1: Operating Activities This section converts the items reported on the income statement from the accrual (you book the sale but you might not have the money yet) basis of accounting and includes the following: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Cash receipts from sales or for the performance of servicesPayroll and other payments to employees Payments to suppliers and contractors Rent payments Payments for utilities Tax payments SECTION 2: Investing Activities Investing activities include capital expenditures – disbursements that are not charged to expense but rather are capitalized as assets on the balance sheet. Investing activities also include investments (other than cash equivalents as indicated below) that are not part of your normal line of business. These cash flows could include: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Purchases of property, plant and equipment Proceeds from the sale of property, plant and equipmentPurchases of stock or other securities (other than cash equivalents) Proceeds from the sale or redemption of investments Confidential  ©2009 Network Solutions, LLC SECTION 3: Financing Activities Financing activities include cash flows relating to the business’s debt or equity financing: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Proceeds from loans, notes, and other debt instruments Installment payments on loans or other repayment of debts Cash received from the issuance of stock or equity in the business Dividend payments, purchases of treasury stock, or returns of capital IMPORTANT: Don’t Forget to Include an Expense BudgetBecause you will be estimating cash inflows for various product lines you must account for the expenses that are incurred related to them. This must include enough detail to track expenses month by month and follow up on plan-vs. -actual analysis. That’s a Wrap! Well, this concludes our 15-part series on writing a marketing plan. We hope you have learned new things and relearned things forgotten long ago. The following pages include extra resource for this Guide to Writing a Killer Marketing. We hope you have enjoyed this series and visit GrowSmartBusiness. com for more great content to help you grow your business.Additional Resources Small Business Administration http://www. sba. gov SCORE http://score. org American Marketing Association http://www. marketingpower. com/ Microsoft Small Business Center http://www. microsoft. com/smallbu siness/hub. mspx Microsoft Startup Center http://www. microsoft . com/smallbusiness/startu p-toolkit/default. aspx How to do a Competitive Analysis http://www. ehow. com/how_5220467_writecompetitive-analysis. html Writing a Marketing Plan http://www. knowthis. com/principles-ofmarketing-tutorials/how-to-write-a-marketingplan/ http://www. entrepreneur. com/marketing/marke ingbasics/marketingplan/article43018. html http://www. marketingforsuccess. com/MFSmarketingplan. html Confidential  ©2009 Network Solutions, LLC About the Author Steve Fisher Blogs: http://stevefisher. me http://rulesforbusiness. com http://shootyourshow. com Connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Plaxo or Flickr. Steve has been actively writing about small business and innovation since the late 90s on how small business could leverage the Web and stellar customer experiences to innovate their business and compete with the largest of competitors. He was among the arly thought leaders on the intersection of user experience, customer service and innovation. Steve curr ently is Managing Principal of AppSolve. In its 10th year, Appsolve specializes in user experience design, enterprise web development and online community management. Through AppSolve, he works with Network Solutions to manage its online small business community. Prior to that he was founder and CEO of Slipstream Air, a software provider to the private air travel industry. It was sold in 2008 to JIT Airline Resources, which rebranded as Slipstream Aviation Software. Steve has also held key leadership ositions at Global Network Solutions, OnSite Technologies, IKON, USConnect, Ryland and Wells Fargo. He has published several e-books on Small Business Management, User Experience, Online Marketing and Innovation. Currently, he is working on his first book, â€Å"101 Rules for Entrepreneurs† slated for a Spring 2010 release. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business from University of Baltimore and on a personal note he is a great airplane pilot, a horribly slow 5K runner, a fair ly talented musician and a budding concert photographer. He currently resides in Columbia, MD, USA. Confidential  ©2009 Network Solutions, LLC

Building Aspirations

Educational identity is the most significant principle of becoming a successful student. There are many different majors a student can chose that it can become overwhelming. Young learners may not know what they want to study or take up as a career. I believe people need to find out who they are before they know what they want to study. If we know what we are passionate about we can find out what our strengths are and use them to decide what to major in. This was an easy question for me to answer because I always wanted to be an architect even before I knew the rod â€Å"architect† existed.The key word here is â€Å"knew' because I can't explain how a child would know such a thing. I can tell you the exact moment this decision was clarified in my head. It was Christmas day, 1994, when I was 7 years old. That year I received from Santa Claus: a T-square ruler, a clear 45 degree triangle, and a drawing board, which was Just a 24†³ x 30† polished piece of wood. I didn 't know what these things were, but I remember having this conversation with my dad. I said, â€Å"I'm so excited, I can't wait to cut this board up into something cool! † My dad laughed and said, â€Å"Oh son, that's not for outing! That's for drawing. I said, â€Å"How can I draw with a piece of wood? † He explained I was supposed to draw with paper on the board. Despite the change of thought, I was still excited. My parents always encouraged me to draw, build, or Just create in general. I loved to draw and I especially loved to build things. I would build Logo sets, birdhouses, puzzles, and Just about anything I could get my hands on. So I guess it Just came naturally that I wanted to become an architect by putting my drawing and building skills together. A few things happened between that moment almost 20 years ago, when I decided I wanted to be an architect, and today.Despite me thinking from an early age that I knew what I was going to do as a career when I grew up, I had several occasions of self-doubt where I questioned my ability to actually be an architect. These moments were almost always followed by an overwhelming sense of panic, the type of panic that occurs when you lose your sense of purpose and self-identity. At these critical moments I would tell myself that if I couldn't be an architect, I would become a nurse. I guess it was because my mother was a nurse. I didn't want to be a nurse, but that was my back up plan. In high school I took some art classes and a couple drawing classes.They made me think artistically, but not in the way an architect should. I went to La Sale High School, which was also a college preparatory school, but they offered no architecture classes. The classes they had for drawing didn't offer anything in respects to drafting or technical drawing. Drafting is the backbone of architectural drawings and to not have taken any classes on that type of drawing skill worried me. I was excellent at math and I was v ery well organized. Those are two strong traits to posses going into architecture classes. Despite some challenges I thought I had it all figured out.When I started my first classes in the architecture program at Pasadena City College, I painfully became aware that the skill requirements had separated the strong from the weak. The amount of time and effort that was required to produce the work was astounding and I felt I was simply not prepared for the demands. As a result, the work I generated was average and some days I would feel embarrassed to pin up my work next to my superior classmates. I shortly entered one of those panic modes I described earlier where I thought being an architect was all I ever wanted to e and now I'm terrible at it.I didn't know what I was going to do. Some of the students' were spectacular at drawing and I my drawings were Just mediocre. I didn't want to give up on my life long dream. I needed guidance and inspiration from someone or something. I looked to the architect Louis l. Khan. He said, â€Å"An artist can make a cart with square wheels, but an architect can't. † That quote made me feel better about my drawings. They didn't have to be pretty or pull some sort of made up meaning from them. The drawings Just had to work. Kahn expresses that architects communicate through drawing.It isn't about making art. It is about conveying an idea. That is what I want to do with my drawings. I was also lucky enough to find a teacher and a place to do Just that. My instructor, Professor Lee was strict, but she knew what techniques to show us young architects in order to become successful. She showed us proper ways to draw, build models, organize work, and how to research other project for reference. The class wasn't easy and there were massive amounts of work, but as long as we put in the effort and did the work she was there to guide us in the right direction.I was ailing a little less discouraged at this point, but I still wasn't s ure I could hack it in the program until we went on a field trip. I had no idea that this visit would have such an impact on my educational identity and make me confirm my thoughts about wanting to become an architect. We visited the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels built by Spanish architect Rafael Money, which is located in downtown Los Angels, off Temple Street and next to the 101 Freeway. His modern-contemporary design conveyed a spiritual Journey that reflects the cultural diversity of the people of LosAngels. It is made from poured concrete, is 11-stories tall, and every angle is acute or obtuse. We entered the cathedral from the South. Unlike most Cathedrals we did not enter through a rear door near the last pews. Instead, we entered the ambulatory, which circles the interior of the Cathedral. This makes the spiritual journey longer because you are walking from the front of the cathedral to the back, and then to the front again. When you are inside looking at the altar you see a huge cross, which is a series of windows made from alabaster, a naturally occurring stone.The alabaster gives the interior a warm even glow. The milky light it gives also makes it very spiritual because it makes the cross look like it is floating. In this moment looking at the cross with light pouring out around it I knew this is what I wanted to do. I wanted to be an architect. Every move Money made in his design had a reason and purpose that was thoughtfully planned. He was not Just drawing plans to a building, he was making a connection with the people who entered the cathedral. It had become clear to me that being an architect was not about being the top in class r whose design was the best.It is about the concepts you make and how you can relate them to the people who are using the space you create. Piper explains it is a â€Å"†¦ Writer's Job to connect people†¦ † Together on earth. We are all different, but we have needs that can be addressed through readi ng and writing. Piper also expresses that â€Å"change writing† involves original thought and engagement. That is what architecture does. It promotes original thought from the architect, but at the same time requires engagement from the people using the building. It connects the people together who have multiple points of view.Even though I knew I wanted to become an architect at an early age it didn't mean I would automatically be successful. I had my doubts, but I never gave up. I still had to find out what I was passionate about. I could then use those emotions to create designs that connect to people. I hope that through these designs people will expand their knowledge. It is important to find yourself first in order to find your strengths. You don't have to know what you want to take as a major or what career field you want to be in at young age. So don't be afraid to explore.

Ethical Management Essay

This essay seeks to identify the study of ethical management on a broad scope, and to specifically sieve out the issues which are common within the banking sector. This would include a case study on UBS and ethical problems which UBS have faced. As ethics cannot be divorced entirely from the study of sustainability and corporate social responsibility, this essay will also feature a look at banks, and their decisions which might be been unethical. The Study of Ethical Management While there might be many reasons why unethical behaviour happens, this essay would be looking at three of them in particular: 1) Personal Gain, 2) Strong Organisational Identification, and 3) Personality. . To examine the relationship between organizations and why ethical issues occur within them, we first define the term â€Å"Business† and â€Å"Businessperson†. The book, â€Å"Business Ethics†, written by William(2008), states that a business can represent and range from a start-up venture by some students, to a multinational corporation. Businessperson might be a sole proprietor running a business for themselves, or a CEO responsible for a multinational corporation. To take a broader view, we view the businesspeople under the personal point of view, and couple them with the other individuals who are within the organization. This would allow us to see why unethical behaviour can derive not only from the top management, but from every aspect of the organization. To expound on the individual, we refer to the book written by Schminke(2010), â€Å"Managerial Ethics†, where he identified â€Å"four individual decision-making styles†. The first belongs to an individualist mentality, this mentality ignores the stakeholders. The second mentality is altruistic, where the benefit of others is of the essence. The third group is the pragmatists, and lastly, the idealist, whose decisions are governed by principles and rules. Common Ethical issues faced in the Banking sector 1) Insiders Trading Insider trading, defined by Cornell University Law School, is when company’s stocks or other securities are traded by individuals who have access to undisclosed and confidential information. These individuals are known as insiders. To better comprehend the concerns of insider trading, we refer to the paper by Yulong & Huey-Lian(1998). Two things must first be addressed. First, who do these insiders refer to? Secondly, how is insider trading illegal? By definition from the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission(S. E. C. ), insiders are, â€Å"chairmen, directors, officers, etc. , and principal shareholders with 10 percent or more of their own firm’s common stock†. People in these positions are likely to be able to gain access to the firm’s undisclosed information. However, not all insiders trading are illegal. For example, managers of firms can often purchase its own firm’s stocks to increase their own individual share and voting power within the firm. This train of thought also believes that the more stock of the firm the manager holds, the greater their ownership and thus a higher work morale is derived from it. Insiders are still allowed to purchase its own firm’s stock, if they truly believe that it is a good investment. Insider trading becomes illegal however, when trades are made by insiders with the prior knowledge of an announcement for the investor’s personal gain. When an act as such is committed, insider trading becomes illegal. This action is deemed unethical as it is unfair to investors who do not possess the material information. Other transgressions can include the handling of undisclosed firm’s information from a firm’s insider to a public investor. For a trade to occur under the basis of the privileged information, and for the recipient to have personally gained from the trade, both parties can be charged under the S. E. C. ’s regulation of Fair Disclosure. An example of illegal insider trading within banks can be seen from as recently as January 16, 2014, where David Michael Gutman from J. P. Morgan colluded with Christopher John Tyndall from Meyers Associates. As â€Å"long time close personal friends†, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority(FINRA) discovered that Gutman had shared material, undisclosed information with Tyndall over a span of 19 months. This information included pending corporate mergers and acquisition transactions, which allowed Tyndall to make informed, no-risk trading using personal and family accounts. Quoting from Cameron K. Funkhouser, he said, â€Å"David Gutman had the keys to the kingdom through his position at J. P. Morgan as a gatekeeper.. †, we can see to how unethical behaviour driven by an individual in the position of power, can taint the image of the firm. Enforcements have been put in place to prevent and to deter insiders from carrying out such behaviours. The SEC has instituted new rules, 10b5-1 and 10b5-2 under the code of Federal Regulations, and the enforcement of these regulations being made global just recently in 2013 after the insider trading inquiry regarding the acquisition of H. J. Heinz Company. 2) Profits before Ethics The relationship between business ethics and profits can be complicated at times. Profits values will sometimes conflict with ethical values which will lead to unethical business behaviour in the manager’s bid to raise profits within the firm, consequentially affecting the firm’s stakeholders. Watkins (2011) brings about the argument that for those who ethics concerns, the chase of pecuniary values creates a potential compromise between social ethics and profitable opportunities, a factor that links to the Goldman Rule. The rule states that the greater the profitable opportunities, the higher the opportunity cost for the firm to consider ethical behaviours. This is further described by Weber (2006), as he states that companies are not evaluated on their success based on â€Å"their reputation for ethics†, but on the basis of profitability. It is plausible now to see why banks are driven by a sole concern for profit and to raise the value of their stock. With that in mind, what are some ethical boundaries a bank could trespass upon? As a corporation whose sole objective is to increase profit, they carries the potential turn a blind eye to internal ethics; explained in the book by Reynolds (2011) titled, â€Å"Ethics in Investment Banking†, which defines internal ethics as ethical considerations in regards to their employees’ welfare and the considerations in the use of the shareholder resources. These transgressions can range in forms of overworking employees, to an audit coverage of losses to portray a higher stock market price. As individuals looking for greater profits either for self or the firm, especially under the investment wings of banks, individuals can turn rogue and make unauthorised transactions which goes beyond the risk limits of the banks in hope of a greater profit. Jerome Kerviel’s case in 2008; where even the hierarchy turned a blind eye to his risks due to the profit he was generating, and Nick Leeson’s famous collapse of Barings Bank in 1995 are two such examples. Investments in environmentally harmful industries Environmentally harmful projects have been a major factor against Global Warming Awareness efforts. Such investments are being funnelled by banks who are less ethical in the area of sustainability. There have been numerous campaigns to counter banks from investing into unethical projects, some of which protestors even boycotted such banks. Citigroup the world’s largest project finance bank has been known to grant loans to these projects, which are harming the environment. Citigroup was indirectly related to the Camisea pipeline in Peru which has at least 5 spillages along the pipeline to date. Which not only damages the local ecosystems, but also detrimental to the livelihood of people around the world and threatens the well-being of mankind via climate change (Hogue, 2002). A glimpse of such unethical activities reveals something prevalent. It destroys our natural environment, by means of deforestation and the release of harmful gases from the burning of fossil fuels. However, Citigroup has yet see that their funding of major oil drilling and pipe laying companies not only worsens the global warming situation but also encourages environmental insecurity. Several other big-scale European banks, such as Dutch Bank and ABN Amro, came up with a policy which prevented funding of these industries. According to (ABN Amro’s) sustainability policy, â€Å"limited to financing of companies or projects related to timber, paper, agricultural plantations, mining and/or oil and gas. The bank would consider exceptions only â€Å"when extractions are delicately prepared, and holds responsibility on issues of national forest management. † A positive example of how banks can fund environmentally friendly projects can be seen from analysing the Banking Environment Initiative (BEI), it aims to lead the banking industry in directing bank investments towards environmentally and socially sustainable economic development. The objective of the BEI is to also unravel ways to invest in clean energy and soft commodities. As quoted from (CPSL, online), â€Å"the group, currently comprises of 10 global banking institutions which stretches across Asia to Europe, the United States and Latin America. † The best way of creating a united force amongst them was if they were acting on behalf of their clients. Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) has the intention to eliminate deforestation from their supply chain. As such they would prefer to form alliances with banks and work together to counter and ultimately eliminate deforestation. Banks have got to find ways to come up with a significant source of funding to finance the journey to sustainability. 4) False Accounting Frauds False accounting fraud, defined by the United Kingdom’s police, is the practice where a business, works in tandem with an accounting firm to overstate or understate company’s asset or liabilities with the intention of making the business appear financially stronger or healthier than it really is. As there are a multitude of reasons to commit false accounting fraud, we will not be listing all. False accounting allows for a corporation to gain higher credit ratings, report unrealistic profits, and hide losses to appeal to potential shareholders with an inflated share price. Some extraordinary cases which occurred regarding the falsification of accounts are such as the Enron scandal in 2001; where the audit and accountancy firm, Arthur Andersen was involved and convicted of assisting in audit fraud and subsequently dissolved. Enron was declared bankrupt and new laws were instituted to increase the accountability of firms who are auditing to remain independent of the clients whom they audit. Didn’t the code of conduct promise proper handling of UBS’s assets? He first began his illicit deals in late 2008, doing it for personal gains while covering his tracks with false accounting to the back office. This led to the back office being ignorant of the unauthorised trades as the regular books did not show it, instead, the profits were filed into a secret account called his Umbrella. Adoboli’s desk colleagues admitted to being in the know of the secret accounts, and his two bosses did not enquire into the suspicion despite the daily trading maximums being exceeded. This breakdown in corporate beliefs at the managerial level led to the unethical trading arising within the ranks of the department, and it going by unnoticed. While the integrity of the individual must be questioned, the work culture of UBS could be a factor to encourage the individual to behave unethically. Since the incident, UBS has taken a few measures to facilitate the new risk management practices. Firstly, the bank has taken step to refrain from proprietary trading. A bank would engage in proprietary trading as it benefits firms to make extra revenue. However, the disadvantage of engaging in this form of trading is that with high returns, often comes high risks. Conclusion In summary, how ethical management is derived has no hard and fast rule. However, implementations such as a Code of Conduct, or a company policy helps in setting the tone right within an organization. Through the paper, it is seen how ethical dilemmas can arise on an individual level or an organizational level. If one were to follow the many trains of thoughts regarding ethical management, they would get lost in the plethora of unions and activist fighting for ethical beliefs.

Personal Branding Plan Paper Essay

I am a 13 year Army Veteran, with commitment, loyalty, ambitious but also practical. I am continuing to learn and grow within my position. I was a supply sergeant in the military where I gained knowledge in different operating systems. I also have background in customer service from Taco Bell, numerous banks and my current employment. I believe that I’m a better employee because I’ve attained a lot of assorted skills from the different employments I have had over the years. These skills help me to work out problems resourcefully. I have always been good at working with little to no supervision. Identify 3 to 4 companies you want to work for and explain the reason why. Identify the best methods for contacting the companies and engaging those who might influence the hiring decisions. One company I would love to work for is the Department of Veterans’ Affairs Human Resource Department. Another company would be the Department of Defense. Another company is University Hospitals. I want to keep my talent in the medical or dental fields. I will summarize the reasons for employment at the various locations. As an employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs Human Resource Department I would be working for the leading most technological cutting-edge integrated health care facility in the Nation. I would have various opportunities for leadership positions at my disposal. With me having ties to the military and a disabled veteran I feel it is only necessary to continue in a field I am so passionate about. If I was to be hired at a Veterans Hospital I could transfer my military time to the civilian side to retire using both military and civilian time as time served. I will also get some of my same benefits as if I were still in the military. At this present time I am currently working for the Department of Defense as an Administrative Assistant for the Army Dental Laboratory. The benefits are outstanding; you receive 6 hours of paid leave time per pay  period (Annual Leave, 2001). I also receive sick leave pay which is 4 hours per pay period. The Department of Defense also has a retirement fund that you can contribute to and the government will match my contributions up to five percent. Did I forget to mention I get paid holidays; my only complaint here in this position would have to be there is no place for advancement in this office. Other places in the hospital where I am qualified to work there is room for advancement. The Department of Defense also has a Federal Student Loan Repayment Program for certain positions. The University Hospital here in Augusta would also be a top contender in my choices of places to work. Even though it has no affiliation with the military I would consider this hospital a third choice. It is the second largest acute care hospital in the region; it is the only Magnet Hospital in the surrounding areas. I would be a great asset to the University Hospital because of my previous experience in the labor and delivery department. The University Hospital likewise has eye-catching benefit packages. They have flexible shifts, opportunities for improvement to better positions, tuition repayment, and scholarships. The hospital in addition to the other benefits they have wellness education, a uniform shop on the premises, a credit union, and retirement funds. The University Hospital has 14 hospital or clinics in the surrounding area. Identify the best methods for contacting the companies for employment. All the hospitals applications are online for interested people to apply for the positions. The University Hospital has a local phone number you can call to inquire about certain positions as well as online applications. With the Department of Defense and Department of Veteran Affairs you have to apply online and in addition to the application you also have to submit supporting documents, to include previous job ratings. If you were ever in the military the DD 214 which is the discharge paper, any transcripts too. This paper has summarized my background and what makes me a unique person. Also it gives 3 companies I would like to work for and the reasons behind it. Lastly what is the best ways to contact the companies? Everyone is using some form of technology to get their future employees, by computers, telephones and even knowing someone at the company are the best way to get your foot in the door. Reference Page: Annual Leave. (2001). Retrieved May 25, 2014, from OPM GOVERNMETN POLICY: http://www.opm,gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/leave-administrative/fact-sheets/annua-leave/ University Health Care System. (2009). Retrieved May 26, 2014, from http://universityhealth.org/jobs#.U4NcFPldWm8 VA Jobs Home. (2014, May 13 last updated). Retrieved May 26, 2014, from US Department of Veterans Affairs: http://www.careers.gov

A Hypothesis Is a Claim

, The average diameter of a manufactured bolt is not equal to 30mm ( H1: ? ? 30 ) Challenges the status quo Alternative never contains the â€Å"=†sign May or may not be proven Is generally the hypothesis that the researcher is trying to prove Is the opposite of the null hypothesis e. g. , The average diameter of a manufactured bolt is not equal to 30mm ( H1: ? ? 30 ) Challenges the status quo Alternative never contains the â€Å"=†sign May or may not be proven Is generally the hypothesis that the researcher is trying to prove Is the opposite of the null hypothesis e. g. , The average diameter of a manufactured bolt is not equal to 30mm ( H1: ? ? 30 ) Challenges the status quo Alternative never contains the â€Å"=†sign May or may not be proven Is generally the hypothesis that the researcher is trying to prove If the sample mean is close to the stated population mean, the null hypothesis is not rejected. If the sample mean is far from the stated population mean, the null hypothesis is rejected. How far is â€Å"far enough† to reject H0? The critical value of a test statistic creates a â€Å"line in the sand† for decision making — it answers the question of how far is far enough. Type I Error Reject a true null hypothesis Considered a serious type of error The probability of a Type I Error is ? Called level of significance of the test Set by researcher in advance Type II Error Failure to reject a false null hypothesis The probability of a Type II Error is ? Type I and Type II errors cannot happen at the same time A Type I error can only occur if H0 is true A Type II error can only occur if H0 is false Critical Value Approach to Testing For a two-tail test for the mean, ? known: Determine the critical Z values for a specified level of significance ? from a table or computer Decision Rule: If the test statistic falls in the rejection region, reject H0 ; otherwise do not reject H0 State the null hypothesis, H0 and the alternative hypothesis, H1 Determine the appropriate test statistic and sampling distribution Determine the critical values that divide the rejection and nonrejection regions Collect data and compute the value of the test statistic Make the statistical decision and state the managerial conclusion. If the test statistic falls into the nonrejection region, do not reject the null hypothesis H0. If the test statistic falls into the rejection region, reject the null hypothesis. Express the managerial conclusion in the context of the problem p-Value Approach to Testing -value: Probability of obtaining a test statistic equal to or more extreme than the observed sample value given H0 is true The p-value is also called the observed level of significance H0 can be rejected if the p-value is less than ? Hypothesis Testing: ? Unknown If the population standard deviation is unknown, you instead use the sample standard deviation S. Because of this change, you use the t distribution instead of the Z distribution to test the null hypothesis about the mean. When using the t distribution you must assume the population you are sampling from follows a normal distribution. All other steps, concepts, and conclusions are the same. One-Tail Tests In many cases, the alternative hypothesis focuses on a particular direction H0: ? ? 3 H1: ? 3 This is a lower-tail test since the alternative hypothesis is focused on the lower tail below the mean of 3 H0: ? ? 3 H1: ? 3 This is an upper-tail test since the alternative hypothesis is focused on the upper tail above the mean of 3 Proportions Sample proportion in the category of interest is denoted by p When both X and n – X are at least 5, p can be approximated by a normal distribution with mean and standard deviation Potential Pitfalls and Ethical Considerations Use randomly collected data to reduce selection biases Do not use human subjects without informed consent Choose the level of significance, ? , and the type of test (one-tail or two-tail) before data collection Do not employ â€Å"data snooping† to choose between one-tail and two-tail test, or to determine the level of significance Do not practice â€Å"data cleansing† to hide observations that do not support a stated hypothesis Report all pertinent findings including both statistical significance and practical importance A Hypothesis Is a Claim , The average diameter of a manufactured bolt is not equal to 30mm ( H1: ? ? 30 ) Challenges the status quo Alternative never contains the â€Å"=†sign May or may not be proven Is generally the hypothesis that the researcher is trying to prove Is the opposite of the null hypothesis e. g. , The average diameter of a manufactured bolt is not equal to 30mm ( H1: ? ? 30 ) Challenges the status quo Alternative never contains the â€Å"=†sign May or may not be proven Is generally the hypothesis that the researcher is trying to prove Is the opposite of the null hypothesis e. g. , The average diameter of a manufactured bolt is not equal to 30mm ( H1: ? ? 30 ) Challenges the status quo Alternative never contains the â€Å"=†sign May or may not be proven Is generally the hypothesis that the researcher is trying to prove If the sample mean is close to the stated population mean, the null hypothesis is not rejected. If the sample mean is far from the stated population mean, the null hypothesis is rejected. How far is â€Å"far enough† to reject H0? The critical value of a test statistic creates a â€Å"line in the sand† for decision making — it answers the question of how far is far enough. Type I Error Reject a true null hypothesis Considered a serious type of error The probability of a Type I Error is ? Called level of significance of the test Set by researcher in advance Type II Error Failure to reject a false null hypothesis The probability of a Type II Error is ? Type I and Type II errors cannot happen at the same time A Type I error can only occur if H0 is true A Type II error can only occur if H0 is false Critical Value Approach to Testing For a two-tail test for the mean, ? known: Determine the critical Z values for a specified level of significance ? from a table or computer Decision Rule: If the test statistic falls in the rejection region, reject H0 ; otherwise do not reject H0 State the null hypothesis, H0 and the alternative hypothesis, H1 Determine the appropriate test statistic and sampling distribution Determine the critical values that divide the rejection and nonrejection regions Collect data and compute the value of the test statistic Make the statistical decision and state the managerial conclusion. If the test statistic falls into the nonrejection region, do not reject the null hypothesis H0. If the test statistic falls into the rejection region, reject the null hypothesis. Express the managerial conclusion in the context of the problem p-Value Approach to Testing -value: Probability of obtaining a test statistic equal to or more extreme than the observed sample value given H0 is true The p-value is also called the observed level of significance H0 can be rejected if the p-value is less than ? Hypothesis Testing: ? Unknown If the population standard deviation is unknown, you instead use the sample standard deviation S. Because of this change, you use the t distribution instead of the Z distribution to test the null hypothesis about the mean. When using the t distribution you must assume the population you are sampling from follows a normal distribution. All other steps, concepts, and conclusions are the same. One-Tail Tests In many cases, the alternative hypothesis focuses on a particular direction H0: ? ? 3 H1: ? 3 This is a lower-tail test since the alternative hypothesis is focused on the lower tail below the mean of 3 H0: ? ? 3 H1: ? 3 This is an upper-tail test since the alternative hypothesis is focused on the upper tail above the mean of 3 Proportions Sample proportion in the category of interest is denoted by p When both X and n – X are at least 5, p can be approximated by a normal distribution with mean and standard deviation Potential Pitfalls and Ethical Considerations Use randomly collected data to reduce selection biases Do not use human subjects without informed consent Choose the level of significance, ? , and the type of test (one-tail or two-tail) before data collection Do not employ â€Å"data snooping† to choose between one-tail and two-tail test, or to determine the level of significance Do not practice â€Å"data cleansing† to hide observations that do not support a stated hypothesis Report all pertinent findings including both statistical significance and practical importance

Should both parents assume equal responsibility in raising children Essay

Should both parents assume equal responsibility in raising children - Essay Example Although this may be different to previous years, it seems that this direction is much fairer for women and gives men more interaction with their offspring. In this paper, I will be exploring the reasons behind this move towards equal parenting and whether it is right that both parents are assuming equal responsibilities for their children and how they are raised. I argue that it is fairer for women and better for children that parenting responsibles are equal. One of the main reasons why parents should assume equal responsibility in raising children is so that these children know their mother and father equally and have a good relationship with both parents, something which is important in lives. In previous years, it has been hard for children to get to know their father because he is always at work, earning money, whilst their relationship with their mother was usually good. Having a male and a female influence in the home is important for increasing harmony within the household and making the children feel as though they are loved by both parents and are valued. Another one of the main reasons that both parents should assume equal responsibilities for raising the children is that it is fairer for the women. In previous years, it has been that the woman has done all the housework and raised the kids alone, whilst the man of the home went to earn money. Although both parents worked hard, a lot of women came to feel that their talents were being wasted, particularly if they had a college education and they were fairly smart. From an outside perspective it does seem unfair that the man can have a career whilst the women is doing menial tasks and continually looking after the children. Another reason why this shared responsibility is fairer for the women is that it can be quite difficult for a women to balance all the childcare, a social life and a job, which means that she usually has to give one of

Market segmentation as a basic ingredient of the marketing strategy Essay

Market segmentation as a basic ingredient of the marketing strategy - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that strategy of marketing is known by the name of market segmentation. It basically entails dividing a wide audience into different sets based on consumers marked significantly by their peculiar needs, wants, and desires. The criteria are depended deeply on the aspects of age, gender, race, and ethnicity. Thus, the marketing campaigns are devised in such a way as to make sure that the specific customer segments are ably met, whilst addressing their needs, wants and desires, which indeed are seen as common. It is a fact that every organization has its own set ways in order to categorize these segments. It does so in order to focus entirely on the segments which have thus been chosen and not to concentrate its energies on the segments which are not required or which do not bring in the required profits. Market segmentation is an important metaphor which essentially dictates quite a few aspects – most of which have to do with segmentin g, targeting and positioning. The buzzword about market segmentation is that it creates subsets based on different premises which remain significant from a marketing standpoint. If these subsets are not involved, there will not be any use in understanding the related perspectives. Instead, the analysis will focus on targeting and positioning tangents, which is not really the key here. Thus, all-out emphasis must always be laid on elements that warrant attention and detail, i.e. on the segmentation of the market alone.... However, the fact of the matter is that every organization that is working to achieve its goals and objectives has its peculiar segments which are characterized by varied inclinations. If these segments are not properly demarcated, there is a reason to believe that there shall be gross issues related to targeting and positioning at a later stage. Hence, it is always a good omen to comprehend the true nature of the segmented category before moving ahead any further. It will solve most of the issues related to product placement, pricing tactics, promotional strategies and so on. A clear cut comprehension of the segmented markets essentially helps immensely. It brings things into proper perspectives and resolves predicaments as there is a cut-down on losses in a significant manner. Segmented markets have their own peculiarities which make them stand out in a league of their own. It gives them the required care of the marketers to focus on the prime areas which need the attention in an a bsolute way. This is a very important area, as far as where the resources shall be emphasized upon to achieve instant results is concerned (Douglas). If successful market segmentation goes hand in hand with the product differentiation strategy, there is no reason why varied segments cannot be handled in an amicable way. Thus, the segments will be exploited in a positive fashion all the same. There would be more focus on elements that are deemed as insignificant yet have a great amount of bearing for the organizations. By the same token, other pertinent aspects would be given the necessary attention that these richly deserve (Vincent). A firm advantage can be achieved if the organization under question has made