Achieving Strategic Fit

Strategic fit express the degree to which an organization is matching its resources and capabilities with the opportunities in the external environment. The matching takes place through strategy and it is therefore vital that the company have the actual resources and capabilities to execute and support the strategy. Strategic fit can be used actively to evaluate the current strategic situation of a company as well as opportunities as M&A and divestitures of organizational divisions.Strategic fit is related to the Resource-based view of the firm which suggests that the key to profitability is not only through positioning and industry selection but rather through an internal focus which seeks to utilize the unique characteristics of the company’s portfolio of resources and capabilities. [1] A unique combination of resources and capabilities can eventually be developed into a competitive advantage which the company can profit from. However, it is important to differentiate betwee n resources and capabilities.Resources relate to the inputs to production owned by the company, whereas capabilities describe the accumulation of learning the company possesses. Resources can be classified both as tangible and intangible: Tangible: Financial (Cash, securities) Physical (Location, plant, machinery) Intangible: Technology (Patents, copyrights) Human resources Reputation (Brands) Culture Several tools have been developed one can use in order to analyze the resources and capabilities of a company.These include SWOT, value chain analysis, cash flow analysis and more. Benchmarking with relevant peers is a useful tool to assess the relative strengths of the resources and capabilities of the company compared to its competitors. Strategic fit can also be used to evaluate specific opportunities like M&A opportunities. Strategic fit would in this case refer to how well the potential acquisition fits with the planned direction (strategy) of the acquiring company. In order to ju stify growth through M&A transactions the transaction should ield a better return than Organic growth. The Differential Efficiency Theory states that the acquiring firm will be able increase its efficiency in the areas where the acquired firm is superior. In addition the theory argues that M&A transactions give the acquiring firm the possibility of achieving positive synergy effects meaning that the two merged companies are worth more together than the sums of their parts individually. [2] This is because merging companies may enjoy from economics of scale and economics of scope.However, in reality many M&A transactions fails due to different factors, one of them being lack of strategic fit. A CEO survey conducted by Bain & Company showed that 94% of the interviewed CEO’s considered the strategic fit to be vitally influential in the success or failure of an acquisition. [3] A high degree of strategic fit from can potentially yield many benefits for an organization. Best case scenario a high degree of strategic fit may be the key to a successful merger, an efficient organization, synergy effects or cost reductions.

House Cleaning

Keeping a house clean is a problem quite a few single working parents have, between taking care of children and working a full time job, house work seems to get the short end of the stick. Activities can be hectic upon the return from work and school for the parent and children. During preparation of dinner and completion of homework, vacuuming the carpet doesn’t seem that important. Too often homes fall into disorder, due to tiredness or busyness with other things. When all is said and done â€Å"Cleanliness is next to Godliness† and should never be ignored.House work can be made simple by cleaning as you go. Getting into the habit of putting things where they belong, instead of leaving them where they were used is a one way to stave off a mess. Allowing little messes to grow into large ones creates an environment no one wants to deal with. Take advantage of down time. While watching television, get some clothes folded and put away, dust tables and clean glass. While h elping with homework, start washing the dishes and sweeping the kitchen floor, mop if you have time. Thirty-minute clean-up should be established for every person able.Use appropriate motivators to energize cleaning sessions. Play upbeat music or listen to a digital book for an energy boost. Cleaning as a team with family members can help to stay on task and ease the boredom of cleaning. This concept is to do a quick clean, in addition to chores done throughout the day, leaving the house looking and smelling better. Simple concepts can be applied to keeping the house clean. Washing dishes when you are done with them only takes about ten minutes. Everyone should pitch in to put away leftovers, wash dishes, clean counters and stove.When something hits the floor, get it up immediately. Put clothes away after wearing, if they are clean, put them away. Create a place for keys, shoes, backpacks, and umbrellas; be sure to always put things where they belong. Before going to bed give the ho me a second look. Anything that can be tidied quickly, get it done. More tips on house cleaning would include reducing and recycling. Reducing the amount of waste accumulated in a household can be accomplished by purchasing cloth towels, cooking appropriate amounts of food, and tossing mailings immediately.Donating books magazines, clothing and shoes, and toys to Goodwill or other second hand stores will reduce clutter. Getting organized, an organized home is a quick and easy home to clean. Develop a cleaning schedule. Assign each member a room and task to be done daily. Tools and supplies should be in the room or in a closet or cabinet near-by. The task should have a time frame to be completed. Every two to three months, you should do a deeper clean. This would include cleaning out the refrigerator, the oven, closets and cabinets. Developing the habit of keeping a clean house won’t be easy at first.Don’t expect to be perfect at clean-as-you-go right away. It’s a new habit you may have problems with. Try one thing at a time for a while, then two things. Starting with the kitchen sink staying clean is good beginning. Once the entire kitchen has been added to your routine, adding something like the bathroom sink would be an appropriate addition. While getting into the habit of cleaning-as-you-go the rest of the home still needs attention. Utilize your, everything has a place, rule. Things like shoes, backpacks, mail, umbrellas, and books and magazines should always be in the place selected for them.Children being involved in the cleaning process in always good. Teaching children at an early age the importance of cleanliness is a lifelong lesson. Maintaining a tidy room as well as getting good grades is something to be proud of. Children should never perform tasks that require chemicals. When chemicals are used in the wrong concentration, they can be very harmful. Chores like making the bed, sweeping or vacuuming the floor and putting clothes away will put a dent in daily tasks and give the kids a since of responsibility.

How Important Is the Study of Globalization to the American Economy Research Paper

How Important Is the Study of Globalization to the American Economy - Research Paper Example It has been argued that globalization will intensify the economic disparities and conflicts subsidizing progression of relatively poorer economies. Several studies have inspected if globalization procedures have decreased or intensified wealth dissimilarities within developed economies and emerging economies. Notably, globalization studies have gained much importance in the American economy as it can impact on financial condition and strategies of organizations of a country (Brahm, 2005). Due to the influence of globalization, international economies influence the success of market players to a large extent. It has been disputed that directness associated with globalization can benefit every nation; while some think globalization has the potential to broaden the differences within nations. Globalization is reliant on a range of national and international aspects. Globalization raises the global business and exchanges in gradually open, incorporated and borderless global economy. Sign ificant development has been observed not only in transaction of products and services, but also in money transfers, travelling, immigration, sharing of ideas and information. The impact of globalization can be seen through measurement of the quantity of global monetary dealings. For instance, in New York, almost 1.2 trillion USD worth transactions flow per day and the quantity of global stock market dealing surpasses the huge amount (Intriligator, 2003). Globalization has a significant influence on every economy of the world, with diverse impacts. It can impact on manufacturing of products, employment market, and other efforts of the production procedure. Moreover, it also impact on investment, wealth, technology and results in transmission of skill and knowledge from originating countries to other countries. Globalization also has a major impact on the competency and output in the economy. In the context of international economy, globalization has resulted in increasing competitio n. Though some organizations fear competition, but there are several advantageous impacts of competition which can raise output or effectiveness of the company. Competition and the spreading of markets in globalization can lead to specialism and division of work (Intriligator, 2003). The participation of the USA in the international economy can also be signified from a political perspective. The international economy is an extremely competitive place where organizations from several nations are struggling for employment expenses, gaining technological and cost advantages over other organizations. Thus, organizations are significantly considering health tactics, wage and remuneration programs, and job positions as a vital aspect of their competitive approaches. Some organizations in USA believe that they should outsource the resources from inexpensive traders, move some business operations to other international sites and continually innovate themselves (Pearson Education, 2010). It is worth mentioning that American citizens see globalization as a blend of positive and adverse components for the economy. With the affect of globalization, USA has emerged as an international civilization. It is in this context that critical decisions of USA are likely to have an impact on the global economies. Conversely, decisions adopted by other economies can also have significant impact on economy of USA (Tay, 2010). Globalization generates open occupations which in turn generate opportunities in the

Risk management cycle and strategy of Money laundring in the US Essay

Risk management cycle and strategy of Money laundring in the US - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the issue of money laundering has been the center of debate for quite a long time. Criminals and other terrorist groups have continued to use money-laundering schemes to hide their intermittent sources of money obtained by fraudulent means. According to the Office of the Foreign Assets Control, the United States continues to lose large amounts of dollars through money laundering activities. The country is also facing imminent risk of ever-lasting criminal and terrorist threats since the rate of money laundering activities is still high. As of today, economists in association with financial analysts fear that the United States will face an unimaginable loss of foreign investors in the not too far future mainly because of money laundering risks. This is so because the presence of money laundering activities brings about significant risks, which tarnishes the safety and soundness of a country’s financial industry Typically, money l aundering is simply the process in which an individual or a group conceals the source where they obtain money via illicit means. The ways in which fraudsters can launder money are several and they can vary in accordance with their sophistication. Every year, the government of the United States quotes the amounts of money that the country loses through money laundering activities. Given that most of the money obtained through fraudulent means goes to fund criminal and terrorist operations, it is agreed that the risks involved in money laundering expand to encompass the safety and security of the nation. As a result, the United States is likely to be sitting on a time bomb since anti-money laundering agents are moving at a slower pace, unlike fraudsters who are at the verge of compromising the face value of the United States’ financial sector. Recently, the International Monetary Fund’s report revealed that two to five percent of the world’s general economy is com posed of laundered money. Nevertheless, the task force charged with the duty of combating money laundering business, commonly referred to as the FATF, communicated that it is not easy to provide an estimate of money obtained through laundering.

Writing the Lead Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Writing the Lead - Essay Example It also provides examples of these three types of leads in an effort to reveal how an effective lead could be written. Leads written by journalists and other media professionals could be categorized as good, bad, or questionable. A good lead should relate closely with the point statement of the newspaper or magazine article. This would make it not to dupe the reader of the article to read it only to realize that the article is different from what is illustrated by the lead. Moreover, a good lead should be enticing and captivating. This would give it the ability to induce interest of reading the whole article on the target leader. In addition, a good lead should not be too wordy. This means that it should not contain too many words that might make the lead boring. Not all leads can qualify to be good leads. One example of a good lead is â€Å"Not every thirteen-year-old girl is accused of murder, brought to trial, and found guilty. But I was just such a girl, and my story is worth relating even if it did happen years ago† (Read par. 1). This is a good lead since it is not wordy and it is both informative and captivating. According to Writing (Par. 2), another example of a good lead is â€Å"St. Johns Church survived in 1868 fire that destroyed most of Bloomington, and the weathered bombs thrown in anger during the sixties. But it crumbled last night under the weight of snow from yesterday’s freak storm.† This is also a very good lead because it is captivating and less wordy. Some leads are very difficult to categorize as either good or bad. These ones are categorized as questionable leads. In most cases, this kind of leads obeys some conditions of good leads while violating other conditions. A lead could be enticing and captivating but become too wordy. Moreover, a lead might be precise but fail to be captivating enough. A lead might also be enticing, captivating, and precise but fail to be informative enough. These kinds of leads are considered

Retributive justice differ from restorative justice Essay - 1

Retributive justice differ from restorative justice - Essay Example This concept is foundational throughout the world. Restorative justice also known as reparative justice is an approach of justice whose focal point is on the wishes of the victims and the offenders and all the involved parties (â€Å"Restorative Justice Practice†). This approach does not look to satisfy the obvious legal principle that requires punishing an offender. These two forms of justice are very different from each other. The paper will focus on the differences between reparative justice and retributive justice. The proof of retributive justice laws’ popularity is evident through ancient materials. For example, in the ancient Jewish community, this is shown in the Law of Moses; the law included punishments such as life for life. The opinion of whether a punishment is appropriate or fit enough for a certain crime varies greatly between the different cultures of the world. Comparability  necessitates that the height of castigation should be leveled virtually to the severity of the offence. At times the punishment does not always have to be equivalent to the offence (Retributive Justice). The retributive system makes compulsory to reprimand serious offence more callously than minor offence. Conventionally, theorists of chastisement have compared retributivism with  utilitarianism. Utilitarian believe punishment is advanced and defensible by an alleged capability to achieve future social benefits such as crime decline. Retributionists believe that punishment is archaic and only justified by the offence that was committed and in agreement with the offence committed. According to people that believe in retributive justice, the seriousness of the crime is usually determined by the amount of harm caused by the offence. Reparative justice involves the victims taking an active role in the restoration process whole the offenders are encouraged to take liability for their actions. This is by apologizing and returning property that was stolen. This form of

Stock Price Movement of McGraw-Hill Publishing Inc Research Paper

Stock Price Movement of McGraw-Hill Publishing Inc - Research Paper Example As a further proof, consider the profit or loss faced by an investor who invests $1000 in the stocks of the company on October 14, 2008 and sells those very stocks exactly 52 weeks later on October 15, 2009. For simplicity, the opening prices of the stocks have been taken into account. Profit/Loss after Investment On October 14, 2008, opening stock price of McGraw-Hill Publishing = $28.06 Hence, with $1000, number of stocks that the investor purchased = (1000/28.06) ≈ 35.64 However, since number of stocks cannot be in fractions, so, 35 stocks are being considered. So, the purchasing price of 35 stocks = $982.10. Again, on October 15, 2009, opening stock price of McGraw-Hill Publishing = $29.25 Hence, the gross return to the investor after selling 35 stocks = $(29.25 x 35) = $1023.75. Hence, net profit to the investor after 52-weeks = $ (1023.75 – 982.10) = + $41.65. Conclusion Although there had been a net profit in the long-run, but the company had been subject to a number of short-run losses mainly because of inconsistency surrounding some overhanging legal issues. However, Standard & Poor’s which also is owned by MHP and accounts for 75 percent of the company finances, made a huge profit by mid-October, 2009, due to a large number of bond issuance, that led the parent organisation to generate much higher proceeds and consequently, its share price rose to an amount, 25 percent more than what it was on the same day the previous year (Reuters, October 11, 2009).

UNITED NATIONS AND INTERNATIONAL LAW Assignment

UNITED NATIONS AND INTERNATIONAL LAW - Assignment Example Its formation was with an aim of with promoting dignity and good international relations, uphold good environmental efforts and ensure peace through disarmament policy1. However, the recent Liberia crisis that led to ousting of its leadership has raised growing concern about the commitment of U.N in fostering peace. Throughout period, the Rwandan genocide continued the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) conflicts among many other examples have painted a bad picture of the ability of U.N to upheld peace2. The military action in Libya that led to increasing loss of lives and rise in humanitarian crisis was a big blow to the United Nations goal of sustainability of peace. In this paper, I examine historical functions of United Nations in Africa and beyond. The continued effort to ensure peaceful coexistence in Africa and the historical background of the United Nations and peacekeeping missions in Africa will form the basis of this essay. In addition, I argue that there have been many controversies. Peacekeeping has been ratified by the Charter of the United Nations as an important strategy that gives the Security Council powers to take collective action to ensure peace prevail. There are two primary means of promoting peace through the United Nations, firstly the troops that comprise representatives from member countries is set to undertake the mission. In other incidences, the United Nations authorizes regional bodies such as North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), African Union and other regional bodies to undertake peaceful settlement of peace. Today, Africa is the biggest source troops to the peacekeeping missions. Coincidentally, Africa has seen the worst history of civil unrest, destabilization of the government over the past three decades. African continent bore the greatest brunt of peacekeeping mission. As early as 1960-64, Congo experienced severe civil unrest leading to intervention by the UN through formation of United Nations

Respondeat Superior Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Respondeat Superior Paper - Assignment Example The significance of this doctrine is that it gives the injured party the chance to recover losses or damages incurred, by making the employer liable for all the injuries brought about by an employee’s actions, provided that this employee is operating within the scope of employment. In this case stated, the surgeon has a vicarious liability for the patient’s death. It is very determinable that the nurse-anesthetist’s action led to the death of the patient. It is the nurse-anesthetist who had administered anesthesia without paying close attention to the patient’s oxygen intake. The nurse-anesthetist’s negligence also caused her to fail to detect the vital signs of lack of oxygen, until the patient reached the precipice of a cardiac arrest. This alone gives a very strong ground for a Respondeat Superior case. Some of the Respondeat Superior lawsuits include death, injury, or incomplete treatment. Like this case, most Respondeat Superior cases stem from an unintentional and unforeseen failure to detect or carry out an action. It is beyond gainsay that both the surgeon and the nurse-anesthetist did not intend to harm the patient, but their unforeseen failure caused the patient’s death. It is also imperative to note that the nurse-anesthetist was acting as an employee in the line of duty. ... The import is that the deceased patient’s family, as well as the plaintiff, will easily prove that the nurse-anesthetist is an employee of the surgeon’s institution. Similarly, all the acts she had carried out were part of the treatment. The administration of anesthesia was done to prepare the patient for surgical intervention. This will greatly help the plaintiff prove that the nurse-anesthetist erred within the scope of employment. In another wavelength, noting that vicarious liability entails strict secondary responsibility is also important in understanding the surgeon’s liability for the nurse-anesthetist’s actions. This aspect of secondary liability is brought about by the surgeon being superior to the nurse-anesthetist. It is because of this hierarchical relation between the surgeon and the nurse-anesthetist that not only makes the nurse-anesthetist to prepare the patient for the surgeon’s work, but also makes the surgeon responsible for all the acts executed by his subordinate, the nurse-anesthetist. Again, Lewis and Gardner (2000) divulge that the conditions that describe vicarious liability are very wide, thereby giving the surgeon’s culpability a wider threshold. Particularly, vicarious liability in Respondeat Superior broadly imputes responsibility on any third party, provided that the third party possesses the authority and duty of control. The gravity behind this development is that even if the plaintiff may not in the court of law identify the very nurse-anesthetist; yet, by adducing the results of the investigations, the plaintiff will have rendered the surgeon fully liable. Since the results

Internal Revenue Service Essay Example for Free

Internal Revenue Service Essay According to the Internal Revenue Service, a taxpayer has the choice between five different filing statues. The five statuses are, Single, Married Filing Separately, Married Filing Jointly, Head of Household, and Qualifying Widow(er) with dependent child. For the couple in question, the recommendation I am making is that they use the filing status of married filing jointly. Since the couple has three children they will qualify for three dependency exemptions as well as two exemptions for themselves. Since all three of the children still live in the household and all of the children are under the age of nineteen the couple is allowed to claim them as dependents. On the other hand, the couple cannot claim spouse B’s mother since they did not supply over fifty percent of the support for her for the year they are filing. The total amount of the mother’s living expense, including the cost of rent, food, and other expenses brings the total support to seven thousand dollars and the mother supplies the couple with $7920 a year. The money that she supplies is what she receives from her Social Security benefits. The reason that the couple should not file under the status married filing separately is because the tax rates are higher than the tax rates for those filing under the status married filing jointly. Also, there several deductions, credits, and exclusions that are allowed for the status married filing jointly that are not allowed for those that are choosing to file separately. One example, is that the couple would only be able to deduct $250,000 of the income from the sale of the personal residence if they had filed separately, where if they choose to file jointly they will be allowed to excluded the entire amount of income from the sale. The definition of income, as stated by the Internal Revenue Service, is all income of the taxpayer whether it is taxable or non-taxable. The couple has several items that are considered as taxable income. Those items included, spouse A’s income from the partnership in Fan Company A of $142,000, the $2000 of income from the City Park referee job, the dividends for 2011 that spouse A received from Company E, the income that souse B received form the Controller job of $88,000, and the $5000 loss that spouse B incurred while they were unemployed. The couple also have items that fall under being considered as non-taxable income. Those items are, the child support that spouse B receives in the amount of $2400 for care of the child, the tax exempt interest payments received from Municipal Bonds in the amount of  $900, and the $296,000 of income from the sale of the couple’s personal residence. There is an allowance to taxpayers of $250,000 exclusion on the sale of the taxpayers’ principal residence, and for couples that file under the status married filing jointly, the amount of the exclusion rises to $500,000. A profit on the sale of a capital asset is a capital gain, and a loss on the sale of a capital asset is a capital loss. There are short-term capital gains and losses and there are long-term capital gains and losses. A short-term asset is an asset that has been in the taxpayers’ possession for less than a year, and a long-term asset is an asset that the taxpayer has held for more than a year. Initially it seems that the couple has a long-term capital gain in the amount of $44,000 f or the year since they sold a rental property that the couple has held for four years that was purchased for $90,000 and they sold it for $134,000. The gain would be then added to the couple’s total income for the year. The couple had a short-term capital loss in the amount of $5,000 from the day trading that spouse B was involved while unemployed. The Internal Revenue Service only allows for a $3,000 capital loss per filing year, so the remaining $2,000 will need to be carried forward to the next filing year. The loss would be subtracted from the couple’s total income for the year. If the couple have a gain for one item and a loss for another item, the amounts will offset each other. For example, if the couple has a total of $10,000 in capital gain and a capital loss of $5,000 ($10,000 $5,000 = $5,000), their income would increase by $5,000. Any of the proceeds that come from the sale of a personal residence will be subject to taxes. Since there is a rule for a married filing jointly couple, the couple will be able to exclude the entire $296,000 from income. The rule states that a married filing jointly couple are allowed an exclusion up to $500,000 as long as the taxpayer owns the property and has been residing in the residence for a minimum of two of the previous five years prior to selling the residence. Also the exclusion would not be allowed if the couple had sold a residence and used the exclusion in the last two years. On the other hand, when the couple sold the rental property, all of the proceeds from that sale are taxable. If the couple realized a profit from the sale it would be a capital gain and would be added to total income for the year, and the event that they realized a loss it would be deducted from total income for the year. Since spouse A was in a  partnership, a K-1 was issued to the spouse stating that $142,000 was the spouse’s share of the income from the partnership. This amount would be added to the couple’s total income for the year. Spouse A did withdraw an amount totaling $83,500 over the course of the year. The withdraw amount would not be subject to tax since it did not exceed the basis that spouse A had in the partnership. Passive activities are defined as income producing ventures that the owner does not actively participate in. Owning rental properties are also considered a passive activity. The couple did have some items that would be considered to be passive activities. The couple had two rental properties that they owned which brought in total of $23,000 in rents and had a total of $29,200 in associated expenses and depreciation. The couple would recognize a passive loss for this income of $6,200, ($23,000 $29,200 = -$6,200). The couple also had a passive gain of $44,000 when they sold a third rental property. The impact these items have on the couple’s income would be a total of $37,800 in passive gain. The $44,000 gain from the sale of the third rental property minus the loss of $6,200 on the other two rental properties, ($44,000 – $6,200). A $44,000 passive gain on the sale of a rental property, which could be offset when the adjusted cost basis is figured for the property. This basis will take into account purchase costs, selling costs, improvements, rent received in this period, and accumulated depreciation. The adjustments to income that I would include on the couple’s return would be the alimony that was paid to spouse A’s ex-wife, the contributions that were made to the Keogh retirement plan, a portion of the self-employment tax, a possible deduction for paid health insurance, and possible deduction for their dependent in college. The alimony qualifies as an adjustment because a deduction is allowed for the person paying the alimony. The contributions made to the Keogh retirement plan also meet the rules set by the Internal Revenue Service for deductibility. The amount contributed falls under the maximum allowed and therefore are deductible. The tax code allows for a partner to deduct a portion of the self-employment tax, such tax would have been paid on spouse A’s income from the partnership and the couple would be allowed a deduction. The health insurance that spouse A has through the partnership may qualify for a self-employed health insurance deduction. The  cost of tuition and fees that the couple paid on behalf of their dependent that is attending college might be deductible if the couple’s AGI falls under the maximum allowed income of $160,000. My recommendation is for the couple to take the standard deduction, opposed to itemizing. The standard deductions will offer more than itemizing. Itemizing would require the couple to have expenses that exceed 7.5% of their adjusted gross income, and with the items that would be allowed for deductions, that amount would not be reached. The couple would receive a larger tax break by taking the standard deductions. The deductions that the couple would not be able to claim are the mileage that spouse B incurred commuting to and from work or the amount spent on business suits because the mileage was not part of actually performing work tasks and the suits would be able to deemed as normal wear and could be worn for activities other than work. The deductions that the couple could claim if they itemized are any medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of the couple’s AGI and the charitable contributions that the couple made during the year that totaled $6,000. The credits that the couple would be able to claim would be the Child Tax Credit, the American Opportunity Tax Credit, and the Saver’s Credit. The Child Tax Credit is a credit of $1,000 for each qualifying child, which would give the couple a total of $2,000 as long as the couple’s AGI is not above $110,000, if their AGI is above that amount the credit is reduced. The American Opportunity Tax Credit allows a credit of up to $2,500 for qualifying expenses of a college student, which is applied to couples that have an AGI up to $160,000. The Saver’s Credit allows for a credit up to $2,000 for jointly filing taxpayers that have made contributions to a qualifying retirement plan.

Market and business analysis of Cadburys

Market and business analysis of Cadburys Cadbury is a leading global confectionery company with an outstanding portfolio of chocolate, gum and candy brands. The company employs around 50,000 people and has direct operations in over 60 countries, selling their products in almost every country around the world. The company creates brands people love, brands like Cadbury, Trident and Halls. The company heritage starts back in 1824 when John Cadbury opened a shop in Birmingham selling cocoa and chocolate. Since then Cadbury have expanded the business throughout the world by a program of organic and acquisition leg growth. On 7 May 2008, the separation of Cadbury confectionery and Americas Beverages business was completed creating Cadbury plc with a vision to be the worlds Biggest and Best confectionery company. Mission Statement Cadbury means quality this is the company promise. The company reputation is built upon quality; the company commitment to continuous improvement will ensure that the company promise is delivered. Cadbury has established itself as a company of fairness and integrity, which always attempts to operate as a socially responsible business. Value Performance Cadbury is passionate about winning. The company competes in a tough but fair way. The company is striving, hardworking and makes the most of the abilities. The company is prepared to take risks and act with speed. Quality Cadbury put quality and safety at the heart of all of the activities such as product, people, partnerships and performance. Respect Cadbury genuinely care for the business and the colleagues which like listen, understand and respond. The company is open, friendly and welcoming. The company embraces new ideas and diverse customs and cultures. Integrity Cadbury always strive to do the right thing. The company does the business with honesty; openness and being straight forward characterize the way. Responsibility Cadbury take accountability for the social, economic and environmental impact. In this way the company aims to make the business, partners and communities better for the future. Cadbury Business Principles are the code of conduct of the company and also take account of global and local cultural and legal standards. They confirm the company commitment to the highest standards of ethics and business conduct. The core purpose of the company is creating brands people love. The core purpose captures the spirit of what the company is trying to achieve as a business. Market Share By participant, the market is relatively fragmented, with the five largest confectionery companies accounting for around 40% of the market. There are a large number of companies which participate in the markets only a regional or local basis. Cadbury compete against multinational, regional and national companies. The graph shows that Cadbury is the second highest of the total confectionery in the market share. Halls is the largest brands in candy of Cadbury. Cadbury have number one and number two confectionery market position in 20 of the worlds 50 largest confectionery markets by retail sales value. Financial statement The graph shows the financial situation of Cadbury from 2006 to 2009. As we can see in the graph, the revenue is reached  ¿Ã‚ ¡5975 million is year 2009 which is slightly increase about 5% from year 2008. In operating income, year 2009 is the highest compare to previous year which is  ¿Ã‚ ¡507 million. Last but not least, year 2009 having 9% of the operating margin which is slightly increase from year 2008. As a conclusion, In year 2009, the performance is pretty well compare to the previous year due to there a keep increase since year 2006 to 2009. PESTLE implication Political The political deals with government influence. The main laws that will affect Cadburys are the consumer protection law. These are the laws and the recent changes in food labeling. The food labeling shouldnt be too influence as Cadburys has label all their goods properly to begin with. Change in manufacturing law will also greatly influence Cadburys as the company may have to change the way to product the cereal. This could lead to the introduction of new mechanical equipment being required or more thorough checks on the current equipment. If new equipment is required if could prove to be very expensive. The Weight and Measures Act, this act should not affect Cadburys since the company have all the equipment and scales used should already be at that of the highest standard. The Trade Description Act, this again should not affect Cadburys due to all the labeling on the products should be correct and thorough giving all the ingredients. The Sale of Good Act, these state that Cadburys should not mislead the consumer. These are currently three conditions. If the government was to introduce a few more it could prove to affect Cadburys. Economic The state of the economy is the main factor. It the country was to go into recession the consumer spending would also drop due to the unemployment. The recession would bring down the sales of a lot of goods mainly the expensive things, which are not necessity. The current economy is well. The interest rates are low and consumer spending is very high. Other economic factor that could affect Cadburys launching a product would be a rise in inflation. This is a rise in price over time. Social If the population size decreased then Cadburys be less people to buy the products therefore less profit.  · If peoples lifestyles changed. For example, nowadays more people wanting to get fit and lose weight, then they will stop eating chocolate and spend their money on gym memberships and others. This means that Cadburys profits will decrease. Technological An increase in capital expenditure will affect Cadburys. For example, more up to date equipment would mean that the goods where produced quicker and cheaper but would also result in job losses. In research and development, keep developing new products to keep up with competition and customer needs. Legal More legislation in place to make sure that the workplace is safe and the worker is better protected. Expensive costs to Cadburys to implement Environment Cadbury launched a corporate social responsibility Web site called DearCadbury.com, which provides consumers information on ethical sourcing, responsible consumption and the environment. The site features Cadburys 2007/08 Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability report, which revealed that the company has reduced carbon emissions almost 4 % to date; Cadbury is aiming for a 10 % reduction by 2010. As part of Cadburys Purple Goes Green program, the company committed to a 50 % absolute reduction in carbon emissions by 2020. Cadbury also reported that it has met its 2007 goal of reducing water use by 10 % Competitors situation and SWOT analysis Cadburys major competitors are Thorntons, Lindt, Lindor, Nestle, Master food (Mars) and others. They are competing directly with Cadbury. Nestle is one of the Cadburys main competitor in the market. Nestle is one of the worlds largest food manufacturer, Nestlà ©s headquarters in Switzerland and based in 200 countries worldwide. It is renowned as the worlds leading nutrition and health based company. Nestle grows is product line through innovation as well as renovation and maintains a balance on its geo-environmental activities and product lines. They have 253,000 employees around the world. Cadburys SWOT Strengths The largest global confectionery supplier, with 9.9% of global market share. High financial strength Strong manufacturing competence, established brand name and leader in innovation. Advantage that it is totally focused on chocolate, candy, chewing gum, unique understanding of consumer in these segment. Successfully grown through its acquisition strategy. Weakness The company is dependent on the confectionery and beverage market. Other competitors have greater international experience. Opportunities Expand into new markets. Increase share through targeted acquisitions. Key to survival within the FMCG market is increasing efficiency and reducing costs. Innovation Is key driver. Threat Worldwide, there is an increasingly demanding cost environment, particularly for energy, transport, packaging and sugar. Competitive pressure from other branded suppliers. Social changes. Nestlà ©s SWOT Strengths Globally recognized as one of the largest and powerful food producer, covering almost every country. Quality is a vital element regarding nestle products. Strong internal growth and emphasis on innovation internally. Powerful brand positioning in the consumers mind. The decentralized culture in the organization encourages employees. Weakness The immense diversification portfolio of the firm makes it impossible to run every division smoothly. Retailers do not get set high margin to increase more in sales. Transportation as well as storage problem. Opportunities Invest in snacks that would further diversify its product. Provide incentives to the retailers to increase sales volume. Open cafà © that would exclusively provide Nestle products. Middle class share in most of the economies are growing much larger. Threats Pollution of product should be regarded strictly. The company has not so pretty history with the FDA. Tough market with a tougher competitor for gaining market share. Market is quite mature and the competitors specialize in a certain product that can hit hard on Nestle. In comparison of Cadburys SWOT and Nestlà ©s SWOT, Cadbury Strength against Nestle Weakness Cadbury is a brand that is a leader in innovation of products, that focuses on candy, chocolate, that satisfies the various taste of consumers whereas Nestle has a wide range of portfolio of products that exceeded the management skill and man power to manage a smooth and effective management of product. The advantage of Cadbury in the market share has given them the priority in determining the price of their products, whereas the price of Nestle product is depending on the market that they venture and they cannot set price of product that is too high that is not the interest of consumer. Nestle has also problem in locating and distributing the product due to developing countries that has poor communication and network skill between the people. Cadbury Weakness against Nestle Strength Cadburys main weakness is its international inexperience in distributing and expanding its product, whereas Nestle has the most experience in distributing and expanding of their product due to the coverage of its product is over the world. Other Cadburys weakness will be the dependant of the company on too little product line which is beverages and confectionery product unlike Nestle which having lots of the product line like drinks, snack and food that can generate the profit made. Opportunities of Cadbury and Nestle Cadbury can venture into new market to diversify their products into different sector is snack food. Nestle has also look into opening new Nestle cafà © that specialize in selling Nestle products and also promoting new products. Cadbury has to come up with more creative chocolate products to maintain its competitiveness in the market. Nestle should also reduce the portfolio of brands that cost losses to the company and focuses the skilled managers on brands that are generating sales. Threats that is face by Cadbury and Nestle Manufacturing of Nestle product has produce wastage of energy, Nestle has to improve their technology in reducing the pollution to the environment. Cadbury is also widely exposure to competition from other brands of chocolate such as Hersheys because of new product that is more innovative. Chocolate ingredients increase in price will also cost Cadbury in expenditure to purchase the product. Nestle has to improve their brand in the breakfast cereal market because it has been claim to be containing fake health benefits, more cash has to be waste to reposition their product. Market objective Environment objective Specific Aim to reduce carbon emissions Reducing water use Measureable Reduce the carbon emissions by 14% Reducing water use by 12% Achievable Improve the manufacture technology Realistic To invest new technology to save production cost. Chocolate industry have brighten future in UK and Cadbury is leading industry therefore Cadbury is able to invest new technology. Timely In year 2012, the carbon emissions has reduce 18% and reduce water use 14% compare to previous years. In this objective is aim to reduce carbon emissions and reducing water use. Due to the issues of carbon emissions can be reduce their cost of production such as replacing air compressors can be saving electrical cost and reduce the water consumption in their steam used during processing and for cleaning. To reduce water consumption, company must look for new technology of machine to reduce the water consumption. Other than that, reduce the resources of these can be helping company to save cost and protect of natural resources. In the measurement, Cadbury aim to reduce the carbon emissions by 14% and reducing water use by 12%. To achieve this objective, company must be improve the manufacture technology such as membrane technology to reduce the natural resources. Due to the background of the company, Cadbury are able to invest new technology to reduce the resources and it can be save cost when they producing chocolate. By the year of 2012, Cadbury aim in reduce 28% of carbon emissions and reduce 14% of water use compare to previous years. Societal Specific Introduce new product Create new lifestyle for Children Measureable Introduce the diet chocolate Create more children activities Achievable Strong human resources Improve RD department Realistic The improvement of CSR program. Timely In year 2012, increase the brand awareness. As for societal, Cadbury will introduce more new product in market. Children are one the largest market for Cadbury, Cadbury planning to create a new lifestyle for children. By measure, New product such as diet chocolate have potential of getting large market, the main reason is due to local citizen are getting more concern about the health. Diet chocolate is suitable for citizen concern their health. As for lifestyle of children, create more activities for children, activity such as education will help children learn more knowledge. To achieve the target, Cadbury must have strong human resources, only good employee will provide the better performance. RD department also must improve, to have more sales, product for health are very important such as diet chocolate. In realistic, improvement of CSR program is to gain more believe and loyalty from purchaser. By estimation, year 2012 will achieve the objective of societal. Brand awareness will be increase by the support of this objectiv e. Financial objective Specific Growth of revenue in UK Increase total confectionery share gain Measureable To growth 5% of revenue compare to previous years Growth in global market share and increase share in the UK by 50 bps Achievable Carry out a number of advertisements in the market and online. Realistic The revenue is keep increasing compare to previous years. Timely In year 2012, the revenue has to be 15% increase compare to year 2009. In this objective is aim to growth of revenue in UK and increase total confectionery market share. To increase the revenue and market share, Cadbury must carry out more advertisements such as produce different type of packaging to target public event. For examples, in Christmas Cadbury produce hamper for consumers as a Christmas gifts to exchange gifts with friends. In this measurement, Cadbury aim to increase 5% of revenue and increase market share in global market by 50 bps in UK. To achieve this objective, Cadbury organize more events to promote their new packaging such as Christmas hamper on the period before Christmas. In this event, Cadbury could increase sales. Due to the capital of company, Cadbury is able to produce new packaging to their product. By year of 2012 the revenue could increase 15% compare to previous years. Marketing strategy Product Cadbury dairy milk is made from real chocolate. The ingredients for the chocolate are cocoa butter and there is a glass and half full cream daily milk in every 200 grams of Cadbury daily milk chocolate. Cadbury purchase 65 million liters of fresh milk each year to make Cadbury daily milk chocolate. Price Price is very important in the marketing mix. The price changed for a chocolate bar can be affect whether a consumer will buy it and the level of sales can determine whether or not Cadbury Schweppes will make a profit. Price is also can be affected by factors such as the state of economy, what competitor are doing. The stage reached in product life cycle and above all what price the market will accept. Form the marketing point of view this is what matters. Place Cadbury products are produced at the chocolate factory in Bourneville in Birmingham. After the chocolate is produced, it will go through all quality check and transported to the stockrooms. The following, Cadbury sells the products to shops that deal with beverage and confectionery such as convenient store, super store, petrol station, and others. This kind of distributions can make consumer easy to find the product. Cadbury produces chocolate for more than 200 countries so that they have a chance to enjoy it as well and make profit. Because of this, Cadbury have a wide range of consumer around the world. Promotion The purpose of promotion is to communicate directly with potential or existing customer, in order to encourage them to purchase dairy milk and recommend it to others. There is various ways to promote the product such as TV advertisement, banner on the internet, magazine and newspapers. Forecast and Implication 3-years forecast and budget 2009 2010 2011 2012 Sales 5975 6273.75 6587.44 6916.81 Cost 3210 3370.5 3539.03 3715.98 Profit 509 534.45 561.17 589.23