The Strategy Of Managing Human Resources

The Strategy Of Managing Human Resources Strategy of managing human resource refers to the how ADIDAS treat and manage the employees. With the strategies ADIDAS able to maintain the loyal of employees to the ADIDAS and the willingness of employees to do the hard job in order to enhance the productivity of the organisation. Furthermore, employees are the internal customer of ADIDAS. So, ADIDAS need to satisfies the employees before satisfies the external customer. External customers refer to the people that purchase the product produce by ADIDAS. When the internal customers of the organisation satisfies the treatment of the organisation the external customers also will satisfies the product of ADIDAS. The next part of this assignment will discuss the strategies that ADIDAS use. 2.1) Talent management Talent management refers to retain the employee in the ADIDAS. So, ADIDAS use this strategy to develop the old employees that have the opportunities to their career. By using this strategy ADIDAS able to hold the quality employees stay in the organisation and built up the loyalty of the employees. Besides that, talent management also include recruitment. Recruitment refers to the process of recruit and selecting the qualified new people that in order fit to the job 2.2) Employee-oriented leadership Employee-oriented leadership refers to the communication between the manager and the subordinates. By using this strategy ADIDAS able to know the employees need and want. This is because this strategy consists of employee feedback system. Employeeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s feedback system refers to the satisfaction level of the employees to the job. The employees are the internal customers of the organisation, when the employees satisfy their job the productivity of the organisation will automatically increase. This is because the organisation given a good environment to the employees in order to satisfy the employees and the employees will do the hard job to the organisation to as the repay to the organisation. 2.3) Remuneration Remuneration means the salary of the employees get month by month. The salary related to market requirement and performance level. That means ADIDAS set the salary according with market requirement and performance level. The ADIDAS on time pay the salaries in order to give the good reputation of the organisation. When the organisation do not delay paid the salaries to the employees the employees will loyal to the organisation this is because the employees will feel the safety in the organisation to work. 2.4) Bonus In ADIDAS the remuneration consists of bonus. In ADIDAS the individual performance will related to the remuneration. Bonus means the company pay extra money to the employees to motivate the employees. The main purpose of given bonus is to motivate the employees. Motivation is psychological process giving behaviour purpose and direction (Kreitner,2009, p.369 ). By given the bonus the employees will put more effort and hardship to the job. 2.5) Long-term incentive programmes (LTIP) This is specialising for senior manager, this is three year plans based on the achievement of financial as well as compliance target. So the senior manager that achieves the long-term target of the company will get the bonus. The bonus was depended on the organisation whether the bonus is money or others benefit. 2.6) Performance management Performance management is a feedback for the management team. The management team will observe to the employees in order to take care the employees and if the employee does not do well in the jobs the management team will send the employee go to training. Furthermore, certain employee did well in their job will get promoted. So, in this strategy the employee able to learn and get the improvement by giving the benefit and training. Furthermore, ADIDAS always looking for the potential employees so, ADIDAS will observe the performance of each employees and give the opportunities to get promote. Besides that, ADIDAS also observe the people that innovative and creative. This is because ADIDAS need the peoples that contain the high imagination people to give the idea to produce the design of the product. So ADIDAS will observe about it and pick the people that have the potential skill switch to the creation and innovation team. ADIDAS found that the people who are having different backgrounds, perspectives and skills can make the best team in order to achieve the maximum creation of the design on the product. Before ADIDAS forming the potential employees into a team, ADIDAS will send the employees to training. This is because the team need contains the different imagination, perception and culture. This is because ADIDAS is a global organisation within the different perception can built up a multi-skill team. With t his the ADIDAS can manage many of the country culture and habit in order to product suitable product to the public. 2.7) Work-life balance Work-life balance is flexible working hour. Flexible time is a scheduling policy in which full-time employees may choose starting and ending times within guideline specified by the organisation ( Raymond A. Noe, Barry Gerhart, Patrick M. Wright, John R. Hollenbeck, 2009, p.106). Every employeeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s quality of life should be improved by working to the organisation. So ADIDAS have the responsibility to address flexible working hour. The main purpose of work-life balance is give harmonise of the private and family needs to the employees. So the organisation was think about the benefit of the employees. Furthermore, this strategy able to give the employees a comfortable working hour and with the harmonise family the employees will put more effort in the working hour. As an example the working hour is 8 hours per day. The employees can select their working hour in the day and the lump sum of the working hour 8 hours. If the employee starts working at 11:00AM so the employee leave the organisation in 19:00 PM. Recommendation ADIDAS was looking the professional as the members of the families. ADIDAS treat the employees as their familiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ members, care about the private sector of the employees. So, ADIDAS able to perform well in the market. ADIDAS doing these because ADIDAS was found that when the employees happy the productivity of the organisation will increase rapidly. As the comment to the ADIDAS, ADIDAS should recruit the people that from others competitor. Recruit the quality people from the competitors can decrease the productivity of the competitor and increase the productivity of own. Recruit the quality peoples from competitors is the good ways to find the potential employees if the organisation was lack of such potential employees. Furthermore, the organisation also need to prevent the self employees go the others organisation. For this, ADIDAS was did well this is because ADIDAS consist of flexible of working hour, talent management and performance management. These strategies might build up the loyalty of the employees in order to prevent the employees leave the organisation and work with competitors. Conclusions The strategies use by ADIDAS was aim to giving the benefit to the employees and always think of the employees so, the loyalty of the employees will build up automatically. After that, ADIDAS provides a lots of benefits to the employees by the way the employees will be motivated and the case of absenteeism is very low. When the employees interesting to work, the productivity of the organisation will automatically enhanced. When the productivity was increase the profit of the organisation also will increase so the organisation able to pay more to the employees. When the organisation pays more to the employees the employees will be motivated. Finally, ADIDAS is a very good organisation that works in ADIDAS, the benefits provides by the organisation was attractive to all the employees. So, the benefits not only giving to the employees but also give the public know that ADIDAS such organisation and work with ADIDAS is suck happy and satisfy. There were the ways and style ADIDAS manage the human resource. ADIDAS was known that when good manage in human resource the benefit to the organisation will increase automatically such as productivity. Lastly, ADIDAS is a nice organisation that consists of many benefit to the employees and hopefully ADIDAS can do better in future and the comment would help ADIDAS be a better organisation.

Frankenstein: Shelley Use of Mascuine and Feminine Roles :: Free Essay Writer

Frankenstein: Shelley Use of Mascuine and Feminine Roles Shelley began writing ‘Frankenstein’ in the company of what has been called ‘her male coterie’, including her lover Percy Shelley, Lord Byron and his physician John Polidori. It has been suggested that the influence of this group, and particularly that of Shelley and Byron, affected her portrayal of male characters in the novel. As Ann Campbell writes: ‘[The] characters and plot of Frankenstein reflect . . . Shelley’s conflicted feelings about the masculine circle which surrounded her.’ Certainly the male characters in ‘Frankenstein’ are more developed that those of the females. Elizabeth Fay has suggested that the female characters are ‘idealised figures’ in much of Shelley’s work, particularly in the descriptions of Caroline and Elizabeth, the two mother figures in the novel. Caroline is, on surface value, a perfect parent, together with her husband, which renders Victor’s irresponsibility in abandoning the creature more unforgivable. She ‘possessed a mind of uncommon mould’ which was also ‘soft and benevolent’; she is compared to a ‘fair exotic’ flower which is sheltered by Alphonse; she drew ‘inexhaustible stores of affection from a very mine of love to bestow’ on Victor, and her ‘tender caresses’ are some of his ‘first recollections’. She is the idealised mother, a figure that Shelley viewed wistfully, as her own mother died when she was ten days old to be replaced by a disinterested stepmother. Caroline’s parenting provides the care that Frankenstein might well have lacked, had he been left to his father alone – his father dismisses Agrippa’s work without explanation, thereby setting Victor on his course towards ‘destruction’. This is the first introduction of a theme that continues throughout the book, that of the necessity for female figures in parenting and in society. Without a mother figure and left only with Frankenstein who subsumes both parental roles, the creature’s life is blighted by his imperfection and lack of companionship. However, Caroline is also the trigger to Alfonse’s chivalry, thus presenting him in an improved light and allowing his character to develop at the expense of her own weakness. This is a feminist comment from Shelley, whose mother Mary Wollenstonecraft was a notorious feminist and an important influence. Justine, too, is an ‘idealised figure’, described during the trial as having a countenance which, ‘always engaging, was rendered, by the solemnity of her feelings, exquisitely beautiful.’ She is the archetypal innocent, being beautiful, weak and entirely accepting of her fate to the point of martyrdom.

The Character of Athena in Homers Odyssey :: Homer Odyssey womody

Character of Athena in Homer's Odyssey Imagine living in another world and time, one where you were not only a god but could also take the form of any object or person that you chose. Athena, the daughter of Zeus, has this ability. Of all the characters in the Odyssey, the most interesting to me is Athena. In my opinion, she guides the main characters of the Odyssey in the right direction. She kind of looks over their shoulders and serves as a guardian angel. Athena makes Telemachos go to Pylos and Sparta. Athena says, "My advice to you is this, if you will let me advise you. Get the best ship you can find, put twenty oarsmen aboard, go and find out about your father and why he is so long away. Perhaps some one may tell you, or you may hear some rumour that god will send, which is often the best way for people to get news." (Homer 17) If not for Athena, Telemachos might have taken his father for dead and encouraged his mother to marry one of her suitors. But Athena, under the disguise of Mentes advises Telemachos to go on a journey to try to find out what happenened to Odysseus. This is important because the journey of Telemachos played an important part of his becoming a man. Athena also rescued Odysseus from certain death at the hands of Poseidon Earthshaker and brought him to the island of Phaiacia. "Now it was the turn of Athenaia the daughter of Zeus, and this was her plan. She tied up the courses of all the other winds, and commanded them to rest and be quiet; but she sent a steady wind from the north and broke down the waves in front of Odysseus, that he might make his way and save himself alive." (Homer 70) At this point in the novel Posiedon is enraged with Odysseus because he is about to make it home. It seems every time that Odysseus is about to make it home, Poseidon is reminded that Odysseus killed his son Polyphemos. Again Athena saves Odysseus, this time from Charybdis. "Then his skin would have been torn off and all his bones

Affirmative Action and Discrimination :: Free Essays Online

Affirmative Action and Discrimination 1. Race relations in general and affirmative action in particular have arguably been the most divisive and hotly contested issues in contemporary American politics. Many people feel that affirmative action is necessary to either counteract injustices or ensure the advancement of certain minorities. Affirmative action proponents generally point to four justifications. These are racism, poverty, diversity, and the problem of underrepresentation. Proponents point out that many blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans live in substandard housing, go to substandard schools, and live in neighborhoods where crime is rampant. They claim that they are victims of daily racism and that this hurts their chances for advancement. Proponents point to small numbers of these minorities in certain desirable jobs (i.e. CEOs of corporations and high elected office) as evidence of underrepresentation of minorities and a need for diversity both in the workplace and in higher education. 2. There are several different levels of affirmative action. They include: quotas, preferences, and outreach, in lessening order of severity. Quotas, also called â€Å"set asides†, deal with having a certain amount of jobs or college spots reserved for a particular group. For example, if a University admits 1000 students every year and sets aside 150 seats that are open to blacks only, this is an example of a quota. In the Supreme Court case Bakke v Regents of the University of California , the court ruled that these quotas could not be used by the system but that race could be considered a plus in admissions to the medical school. This brings us to preferences. Preferences are when persons from certain groups (usually groups that have been underrepresented or disadvantaged) are given a ‘boost' in admissions. An example of this would be the practice at the University of Michigan, which was recently overruled by a U.S. District Court. At the University of Michigan, appli cants are graded on a 150-point scale. Blacks, Hispanics and American Indians get 20 points for their race, equal to raising their grade-point average a full point on a 4 -point scale (Focus on Affirmative†¦). This case has recently been appealed to the Supreme Court, casing new light on this decades old question. The third and least severe form of affirmative action occurs when no preferences are given, but when special efforts are made to recruit members of certain groups. This is called outreach. An example of this would be when a Hispanic student receives a letter from the minority recruitment office at a prestigious university urging him to apply (Ezorsky, 34).

Cholera Outbreak

Haiti Jessica Ganzalez LHHS MUN 2011 WHO Cholera Outbreak Position Paper Background: Cholera is a disease that starts in the intestines, caused by the consumption of impure food or water with the bacteria Vibrio Cholera. The two most common indication of Cholera are diarrhea and excessive vomiting. Cholera is an extremely virulent disease and affects both children and adults and can kill within hours, if left untreated. During the 19th century, cholera spread across the world from its original reservoir in the Ganges delta in India.Six subsequent pandemics killed millions of people across all continents. The current (seventh) pandemic started in South Asia in 1961, and reached Africa in 1971 and the Americas in 1991. Cholera is now endemic in many countries. This disease is not a complete threat to countries that have regular access to clean water and hygiene. The more urbanized Asian nations such as China and India have developed medical treatments for this deadly disease, but the l ess developed countries have yet to find ways to be less influenced by this broad topic. UN Involvement:The World Health Organization (WHO) has greatly influenced the discontinue of Cholera by launching the WHO Global Task Force on Cholera Control in 1992 following the adoption of a resolution on cholera by the Forty-fourth World Health Assembly. The plan was to lessen death associated with the disease and to deal with the social and economic consequences of cholera. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and numerous other committees are also working on proposals and resolutions to decrease the number affected by this preventable virus with the help of the World Bank, grants given by nations, and NGOs.The United Nations have also donated thousands of medical kits and supplied countries with doctors to treat those affected. In addition the United Nations agencies and their partners today appealed for $164 million to support Haiti’s efforts to fight the deadly chol era outbreak that has already claimed several hundred lives in the small Caribbean nation. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), over 12,000 Haitians having been hospitalized so far, and over 800 people have died from the disease, which is spread by contaminated food and water.Country Policy/ Possible Solutions Haiti has been overwhelmed with famine and disease for years, but after the massive January earthquake hit, it put Haiti in even more misery then before. Recently they have had close to none clean drinking water and food. The cholera epidemic has killed 1,110 people and sickened 18,382 as of November of 2010, and has piled depression on the Caribbean country. The violence in Cap-Haitian prevented cholera patients from reaching hospitals and halted distribution of medicines and caused many injuries. Protesters blamed U.N. Nepalese peacekeepers for bringing the cholera to Haiti, a charge denied by the U. N. mission. Anti-U. N. riots in the Haitian city of Cap-Haitian have upset worldwide efforts to undertake a spreading cholera epidemic, increasing the risk of infection and death for tens of thousands of poor Haitians in the north. With the number of cases from the current cholera outbreak in Haiti in the thousands and the number of deaths in the hundreds and rising, it is only a matter of time before this treacherous disease spreads into further more severe matters.A possible solution would be to provide a large administration of sugar water, and an increase in the number of clinics and medical facilities that offer intravenous fluids. If my resolution is promoted this issue would slowly fade because oral rehydration salts and oral electrolyte solutions are a simple, cheap, and effective treatment for diarrhoea-related dehydration such as Cholera. I also believe that if there is enough evidence to guarantee widespread use of the oral cholera vaccine people in Haiti and other nations would become healthier, preven ting them from infectious diseases such as cholera.The World Bank, UN, and other organizations willing to participate in this mission would help fund the project. Not only would these solutions ensure health, but it would also bring contributor nation’s one-step closer to the millennium goals of Combating Diseases and Environmental sustainability. Before cholera spreads to the U. S. and around the world, we need to see this outbreak contained and controlled in Haiti. More than anything else, we need big infusion of sugar/electrolyte drinking water and intravenous salt solution to be sent to the countries suffering with diseases along with a program to vaccinate travelers and everyone living there. Sources http://www. reuters. com/article/2010/11/17/us-haiti-cholera-idUSTRE6AG3ZC20101117 http://www. globalsecurity. org/military/library/news/2010/11/mil-101112-unnews03. htm http://www. who. int/cholera/en/index. html http://medical-dictionary. thefreedictionary. com/cholera htt p://www. who. int. mediacentre/factsheets/fs107/en/index. html http://www. undp. org/mdg/basics. shtml

A Comparative Study of Retailing in India Essay

BACKGROUND: According to AT Kearney, India’s retail industry comprises US$ 435 billion. It entails only 6 per cent of itself as organised retail segment as of 2010, according to Booz and Co (India) Pvt Ltd. Hence, there is a great potential to be explored by domestic and international players, especially after Cabinet’s decision to allow up to 51% foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail sector and 100% FDI in single-brand retail. (Why India is a big market: refer page 23, Annexure) The Business Monitor International (BMI) India Retail Report for the fourth-quarter of 2011 forecasts that the total retail sales will grow from US$ 411.28 billion in 2011 to US$ 804.06 billion by 2015. The report has underlined factors like economic growth, population expansion, increasing wealth of individuals and rapid construction of organized retail infrastructure as major drivers for the optimistic forecast figures. (Refer Annexure, fig 2) According to a research report named ‘R etail Sector in India’ by Research and Markets, Indian retail sector accounts for 22 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and contributes to 8 per cent of the total employment. FDI in single-brand retail currently is 0.03% of cumulative FDI of around $149 billion from April 2000 to September 2011. The announcement is expected to generate 10 million jobs over three years, without impacting smaller and domestic retailers. FDI in retail will provide the farming community a new support by investing in good farming practices and providing them with better prices. The international players will bring a sophisticated front-end that will boost investment in infrastructure by retail players, third-party supply-chain companies and the government. This will improve efficiencies in the supply chain, cut wastage, increase efficiency and bring down consumer prices. India has been ranked as the fourth most attractive nation for retail investment among 30 emerging markets by the US-based global management consulting firm, A T Kearney, in its Global Retail  Development Index (GRDI) 2011. India’s MGR (Mass Grocery Retail) sector remains dominated by small-scale traditional retail outlets. All four key modern formats (supermarkets, hypermarkets, convenience and discount stores) are already present within India’s MGR market but these stores are largely operated by a handful of local retailers. Structure of India’s MGR market till 2010 (Estimated number of Outlets: fig3, Sales by Format: fig4) is given in Annexure. Collaborative model for international products — Joint ventures (JVs) are emerging as the preferred model for new entrants, wherein foreign players leverage the knowledge of the local player and focus on key issues such as quality, pricing, promotions and brand management. Key examples include the Bharti Groupà ¢â‚¬Ëœs JV with Wal-Mart for retail in the Indian market. MGR sales growth for 2011 = +19.7%; compound annual average growth rate to 2015 = +17.6% (Refer Annexure Fig 5) Increased exposure to Western consumption habits has fuelled consumerism in developed and emerging Asia. Wealthy consumers in major towns and cities turn to modern formats in search of the convenience and quality that they now desire and can increasingly afford. A lot of international retailers are planning to enter and expand their operations in India after the reforms introduced in the FDI policy in retail sector, like Walmart, United Colors of Benetton (UCB), Da Milano. According to a report by research firm CB Richard Ellis India, over 6 million square feet of retail mall space was added across India in the first six months of 2011 (Refer Annexure Fig 6); primarily due to aggressive expansion by organized retailers. The potential cities which are good for entering are given in Annexure Fig 7. Cumulative foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in single-brand retail trading during April 2000 to June 2011 stood at US$ 69.26 million, according to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). There are a lot of entry modes to enter a country, here India. (Refer Annexure Fig 8) And also refer to the growth trend that was observed quarterly in India, last year. (Refer Annexure Fig 13) BHARTI-WALMART â€Å"India is a price sensitive market and therefore we will be devising our  strategy for her very carefully†¦Retailing is like a game of three dimensional chess where we operate as a local, regional and global player, so depending on the needs of the market we shall change our format and adapt.† – John B Menzer, President and CEO, Wal-Mart International. 50:50 joint venture: In India, Wal-Mart has a 50:50 joint venture with Bharti Enterprises in the wholesale cash-and-carry segment, since 2007, under the brand Best Price Modern Wholesale. Total retail units as of October 31, 2011: 9 Best Price Modern Wholesale 9 Associates: 3,372 These stores have been opened in Amritsar, Zirakpur (Near Chandigarh), Jalandhar, Kota, Bhopal, Ludhiana, Raipur and Indore. The JV in India expects to open 10 to 12 new Best Price Modern Wholesale stores and employ approximately 3,000 – 4,000 people by end of 2011. On 16 Sept’11, it opened its first Best Price Modern Wholesale cash-and-carry store at Nidamanuru, National Highway-5 in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. New outlet will also have a â€Å"Mera Kirana† program sharing best practices such as various aspects of using low-cost modern techniques and processes such as assortment planning, layout and fixtures, displays, backroom, licenses, safe food handling, customer retention and value added services with small and medium retailers. On 30 Sept’11, it opened a new store format, â€Å"Easyday Hyper†, at Magnet Malls, Bhandup, Mumbai. Currently, the company has 140 ‘easyday’ stores, 13 ‘easyday Market’ outlets and 1 ‘easyday Hyper’ store. Advantage of Wholesale Cash-and-Carry: These benefit retailers as it is a is a one-stop shop that meets the day-to-day needs of restaurant owners, hoteliers, caterers, fruit and vegetable resellers, kiranas, other retail store owners, offices and institutions. More than 90 percent of these goods and services are being sourced locally; thereby helping keep costs to a minimum, adding to the growth of the local economy and creating job opportunities, with the cash and carry store directly employing more than 200 local people. A typical wholesale cash-and carry facility will stand between 50,000 and 100,000 square feet. The joint venture works with the existing supply chain infrastructure to help make it more efficient, thereby maximizing value for  farmers and manufacturers and retailers. The supply chain operation supports farmers and small manufacturers who have limited infrastructure and distribution strength and help minimize wastage, particularly of fresh foods and vegetables. An efficient supply chain can play an important role in transforming farmers and small manufacturers into successful entrepreneurs. Technical Collaboration: Walmart provides certain technical support to Bharti Retail for its front-end retail venture where Bharti Retail requires critical retail technology and technical know-how. Walmart’s Direct Farm Program: Multinational retail giant, Wal-Mart’s Direct Farm Program in India is a partnership with 110 small and marginal farmers near Ludhiana in Punjab where it en courages cultivation of safe, high-quality, seasonal vegetables. Farmers are advised at every stage of cultivation by field agronomists. Farmers learn about nursery management, transplanting, nutrient management, as well as harvest and post-harvest practices. Sourcing from India: Walmart has been sourcing a variety of products from suppliers in India for more than 20 years. Walmart’s office in Bangalore serves as Walmart’s Global Procurement (GP) hub for the sourcing of merchandise from India and Sri Lanka to Walmart stores and Sam’s Clubs globally. GP India also manages Global Procurement from Sri Lanka. Major categories sourced from India include home textiles (including towels, shower curtains, bath mats, etc.), apparel (including woven, knitwear and leather footwear), leather accessories, fine jewelry and house wares (like fine dining ware, home dà ©cor, etc). The main categories sourced from Sri Lanka are apparel, textiles and gifts. Launch of its 1st store in India, 2009: The reason for Wal-Mart’s entry in India was clear – The Indian middle class, on which it had been working for around two years. Mom-and-pop stores (or the Kiryana stores) and traditional distribution networks dominated the Indian retail market. Wal-Mart’s first outlet was set to launch in the city of Amritsar, Punjab in North India. The first store air-conditioned and built over 50,000 sq. ft. was on the outskirts of the city, Amritsar. The store employed 200 locals and was likely create 500 indirect jobs. In the first few weeks itself, the company had managed to sign on close to 35,000 members. Training Center: Bharti Wal-Mart has opened a training centre in Delhi to bridge the gap between demand and supply of skilled manpower in modern retail. It will provide free retail sector-focussed vocational training to candidates. A  memorandum of agreement (MoA) was signed in this regard on July 22’11 between Bharti Wal-Mart and the Delhi government’s Department of Training and Technical Education. Bharti-Walmart plans to invest over USD 15 mn in Andhra Pradesh this year and impact lives of 25,000 women through multiple initiatives by 2016, it has already created more than 2,000 job-ready women in 3 years through Bharti Walmart Training Centres. Walmart Labs in Bangalore: In addition to its R&D centre in the Silicon Valley, Wal-Mart plans to set up another facility in Bangalore, India (expected to be set up by Dec 2011) with about 100 developers to work on technologies and solutions for Wal-Mart’s global e-commerce business. UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON The Benetton Group, with brands such as UCB, Sisley and Playlife, has a presence in 120 countries. It has network of around 6,000 stores. India has a local production of their collection too. Almost 100 per cent of the products are sourced from India. The product line remains uniform geographically. At present Benetton has over 425 franchised stores in India (since 1991) and the number is likely to double in five years. Now it is also focusing on smaller cities and towns given the growth in brand awareness and disposable income levels. â€Å"Even if FDI in single brand retail is opened up, we will continue to operate like a wholesaler and follow the franchise route,† Mr Mohanty (Benetton India MD) said. It has launched its first Concept store in Connaught Place. Stores are an important communication platform for Benetton as it is here that we showcase the depth of our brand offering to the customers. The launch of the new store strengthens Benetton’s presence in the Indian market. Global brands work everywhere. Consumers currently are very global as they are accepting products that have global appeal. In fact, it has always positioned itself as a colorful brand which has worked wonders for the Indian market. Also it focuses more on consumer experience like store ambience and window merchandising rather than advertising. Almost 40% of our budget is spent on that. However, it is now looking at in-film placements as the next branding strategy. (It has already tied up with an upcoming John Abraham movie 1-800-Love.) It is looking forward to being clothing partners of programmes  or events, which are true to their product. Recently, this Italian casual wear brand opened an outlet at Magneto Mall, Raipur. Spread over an area of 1,000 sq ft, the store stocks a range of clothes and accessories for men and women. The retailer has a revenue-sharing model with the mall. DA MILANO Da Milano, the international luxury brand with its range of premium leather goods and accessories is synonymous to precision, craftsmanship and exclusivity. Da Milano imports 70% of its leather and accessories from Italy for its leather goods retailed in India. It has 2 state of the art company owned manufacturing units at Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh equipped with the latest and most advanced machinery. They have a highly skilled workforce operating under the guidance of Italian technicians. They also have an exclusive tannery near Chennai in TN where leather produced is benchmarked to the latest process technology. By September’11, it has 32 signature Da Milano stores across the country. It recently opened 5 flagship stores in Maharashtra. The brand’s presence can be seen in 10 cities – Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata. Recently it opened its showroom at Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. The store is sprawled over 850sq.ft and is embellished with all-glass frontage. The appealing visual merchandising of the store also includes an off white backdrop, wooden shelves, soft green wall paper, illuminating marble flooring etc, and is done to entice passers-by and draw footfall. The luxury brand could soon be seen announcing the launch of two of its sub brands Rosso Brunello and Da Milano Home. While the former will offer premium hi fashion foot wears for men and women, the latter will be offering leather accessories for home and office. Rosso Brunello foot wears will be made available at select Da Milano exclusive stores, while Da Milano Home and Office accessories would be retailed at Da Milano stores. Well, a lot of scope is there in India as compared to other countries in the world as the organized retail penetration level is only around 5% as compared to 85% in USA, 80% in France and 20% in China. (Refer Annexure Fig 9) PROBLEMATIC SITUATION/DIFFICULTY FACED IN INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS Price issue: In India the majority of retail outlets sell products at maximum retail price (MRP), which are administered by the government and printed on each item by manufacturers. Thus, there is minimal price competition among the various store formats. The arrival of International retailers, with vast sourcing networks, may eradicate the importance of government-imposed MRP, as these are likely to focus strongly on low prices as a competitive tool and as a means of encouraging new consumers to try the modern concept. Poor Infrastructure: The road infrastructure is poor and federal and state tax laws are complex, which make cross-state transportation difficult. India’s transport networks/highways, rural infrastructure certainly need investment. Bharti has announced to invest INR 125bn in agriculture and supply chain. It will also invest on specific distribution and transportation storage solutions (ie refrigerated trucks and logistical initiatives, such as electronic product tracking). The relatively slow pace of MGR growth in India can be largely attributed to two key factors: (1) massive income inequalities and (2) tough FDI regulations Labour displacement issue in India: The entry of International retailers with efficient systems will destroy the traditional retail sector, making people’s requirement at minimum in these new retail stores. JOB losing fear: If we assume 40 mn adults in the retail sector, it would translate into around 160 mn dependents using a 1:4 dependency ratio. These people are unlikely suitable for other areas of work either. Thus, there is a need to enact new laws to check the prolific expansion of the new foreign malls and hypermarkets, like China, Malaysia and Thailand. (Refer Annexure Fig 12 to see the Asia Pacific Retail Sales by % share) Change in Retail FDI policy: On November 24th the coalition government, led by the Congress party, said that in cities of over 1m folk, foreign firms could now own 51% of â€Å"multi-brand† retailers, such as supermarkets (up from zero), and 100% of single-brand chains (up from 51%). Multi-brand foreign chains, such as Walmart and Tesco, must operate as joint ventures, of which they may now own up to 51%, and may operate only in cities of 1m people or more. The new reform is timely. Growth has dipped below 7%. The rupee is weak, investors are nervous. But still, the  government needs to lift confidence, and organized retail could work. (Refer to Annexure Fig 10 to see the Indian economic activity showing the nominal GDP and GDP per capita.) Political issues: The FDI reform is too controversial to be enacted. The main opposition party, the BJP, which enjoys the support of millions of stallholders, is doing its best to whip up anger. Many Indians feel an emotional attachment to little kirana stores, and fret that foreign invaders will destroy them. Indian states are not obliged to follow the FDI reform. Many may refuse to liberalize foreign ownership on their territory. Standard Chartered Bank, reckons that of 53 cities with over 1m people, 28 are run by politicians who say they will block the reform. India’s leftist parties had called for a nationwide strike on Dec. 1 in solidarity with the Confederation of All India Traders, who are among the most vocal opponents of full FDI in retail. The BJP leader Uma Bharti publicly threatened to set fire to any Walmart that opens. Fragmented Market: The retail shops are very fragmented with only very few supermarkets and no dominant chain. Farming is also fragmented. A rickety legal system makes it hard to enforce contracts. Under the latest FDI reform, foreign-controlled shops will have to buy a chunk of their processed and manufactured goods from small firms, which may add to their costs. High Land prices in India: Foreign retailers will have to find affordable land in packed an d expensive cities. Western luxury-goods firms may be able to tolerate extortionate rents for central locations. Some may prosper with a few out-of-town stores that people visit infrequently, spending lots. But general retailers need both cheap land and proximity to their customers—not an easy mix. People’s habits: Indians are in the habit of shopping for their fruits and vegetables almost every day which get the customer into the shop every day, and chances are she’ll buy something extra. Building a Walmart-style supply chain of fruits and vegetables requires a lot of investment in improving the productivity and quality of farmers. E.g. showing a tomato farmer how to improve his yields by using wooden stakes for his plants. That farmer doesn’t have to sell his tomatoes to Walmart, but when he sees that he can get a better price, he often does. To woo farmers away from the system they are used to — selling produce at the local mandi, or market, at a price dictated by traders — Walmart has set itself a target of increasing farmers’ incomes by 20% over five years. Farmer’s Income: By  law, farmers are required to sell their produce only to approved mandis and have to pay the mandi taxes. (Walmart has to pay the mandi tax even when farmers sell to them.) They travel for hours to get here, and then take whatever price the wholesale buyer is willing to give. The buyers don’t inspect the produce and offer better prices for better quality; they just sell the 100-kg sacks of vegetables to another set of middlemen, who break it into smaller lots that eventually find their way to vegetable vendors and small retailers. By the time it reaches the consumer, that produce will have been marked up by three to four times or more, but nearly all of that goes to the middlemen, not the farmer. Meanwhile, about 30% of the produce also spoils along the way for lack of cold storage, contributing to India’s soaring food inflation. Distribution issue: remains a major challenge to retail expansion. India’s infrastructure is a lot inadequ ate. A 500km road journey can take as much as 24 hours, owing to poor road conditions, congestion and toll booths. Preference for Kirana/local retailers (cheap price offered): According to ASSOCHAM’s survey 2010, in which it interviewed 5000 shoppers in various cities in India, kirana stores (mom and pop stores) and local retailers were the preferred destination for shoppers as compared to shopping malls. The survey found that goods were less expensive (as much as 25%) in local kirana stores as compared to big shopping malls with more variety and affordable options with sustainable quality at a negotiable price (reduced margins) Walmart’s strict union policy: The company’s clearly defined anti-union policy aiming at preventing its work force from gaining collective bargaining power can result in increased wages. Low overhead costs: Small retailers in India already operate with such low overhead costs (by relying on informal labor and making minimal investment in any technology, even refrigeration) that it’s hard for Walmart to compete with them. (India’s traders have, however, invested in their relationships with state and local politicians, who count on their support around election time.) Elsewhere, Walmart may have pioneered the use of low-cost retail labor; in India, the cost of labor in retail is already about as low as it can get. STRATEGY ADOPTED TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE Issuing Loyalty cards: Keeping customers loyal is a problem retailers often grapple with. Over the last decade, Indian companies that are focusing on acquiring and retaining customers have become aggressive about giving out loyalty cards. As a result, 42 percent of Indians in the SEC A, B and C categories are now part of at least one loyalty program in India’s $4 billion-a-year loyalty market. (This figure includes the market for gifts, which a lot of companies use as a surrogate for loyalty programs.) Loyalty is seen as the number one tool that allows retailers to access data on customer tastes and preferences. Pearson: conducted an extensive customer research through Colloquy, its research arm: only 20 percent of Indians in the SEC A, B and C categories are loyal to a particular brand. Offer a better deal and they are more than willing to shift. Improving Infrastructure: Tesco is planning to work with Tata’s Star Bazaar hypermarket business on a franchise basis, providing expertise and technical support in return for a fee to the fast-expanding network. Star Bazaar stores, potentially meaning that Tesco-branded private-label goods could appear in consumer retail outlets in India. It provides employment for some 3,000 local workers at its global service centre in Bangalore. More Partnership: Wal-Mart is also considering a partnership with Indian counterpart Future Group to strengthen its presence in India. Also, Walmart is on an expanding spree in India and wants to cover maximum areas in India, even the interior regions. Recently, it opened a new store format, easyday Hyper, at Magnet Malls, Bhandup, Mumbai. This is Bharti Retail’s first store in West India. Spread over 60,000 sq.ft., the outlet stocks over 20,000 products displaying 475 new items, including personal care products, stationery, household articles, hosiery items and daily-need groceries. Introduction of Innovative ideas: Walmart is also introducing innovating ideas to differentiate it from other retailers, like the recently opened store also has a section called ‘Baby World.’ Currently, the company has 140 ‘easyday’ stores, 13 ‘easyday Market’ outlets and 1 ‘easyday Hyper’ store. Cluster approach strategy: Walmart follows a cluster approach strategy and initially largely focused on Punjab, although it opened stores in other places also. It has covered the four big markets (in Punjab) already. Price  settling: Government of India should introduce the concept for the organized retail by setting a minimum price for a commodity, below which a retail store cannot sale the product. This should be done to avoid the occurrence of monopoly of a retailer in the country. Personalized Offer to Customer: The current retailers in India should take an advantage of the prior knowledge of the customer requirement and customer nature in India. They should provide customized deals and service to them, so that they may retain the old customers even on the opening up of new international retail stores whose service is not personalized. LESSONS LEARNT Clearly, once the equity caps on foreign investment are lifted, the India MGR sector will witness tremendous flows of investment from global retailers, which leads to our projection of 155.6% in MGR sales to 2015. Its retail market is forecast to nearly double to $850 billion by 2020. (Refer to Annexure Fig 11 to see the forecast for 2020 in terms of sales in organized and unorganized retail market.) Also, when a retailer (say Walmart) enters a new market, a lot depends on the kind of a partner it has. As Bharti itself has ambitions to be a major retail powerhouse in India, thus there is a strategic conflict between their interests. As, sooner or later India will permit foreign retailers to have direct equity ownership in India, then what will Walmart be left holding? Bharti has retail ambitions, thus it will want to buy Walmart’s shares, rather than sell. Bharti-Walmart stores are branded BestPrice, and not with Walmart’s name. Thus, Walmart could have thought of India as a portfolio of regional markets and work with smaller regional partners. It’s hard for the local kiryana stores, etc. to have much bargaining power or have national ambitions. They would have been happy to brand them as Walmart and when regulations change, Walmart would be able to buy them out. Walmart India probably will invest in a joint venture with Kishore Biyani-led Future Group soon. The report is not confirmed yet. On Tuesday (March 29’11), a leading business daily in India reported that senior executives of Future Group and Walmart had met at least five times in four months, raising possibilities of an alliance. More important, the debate over Walmart’s effect on retail employment misses a larger point. In India, the majority of the population is employed in agriculture, and Indian farmers stand to gain a lot from greater investment by anyone — foreign or  domestic — in the supply chain that bri ngs food from the field to the consumer. CRISIL, a research firm, reckons the reform could attract up to $3 billion of foreign investment over five years—welcome, but not nearly enough to fund India’s current-account deficit or transform the industry. India’s consumer-goods firms, among its most profitable, have thrived in the era of backward retailing and supply chains, but are betting on gradual change. The biggest, Hindustan Unilever, has seconded staff to stores in America and Britain to learn how they work. In an interview earlier this year its boss, Nitin Paranjpe, said he was â€Å"absolutely certain† that rganized retail would take off. But he reckoned it would take a decade to capture a quarter of the market. Entering a market as big and complex as India’s is a big bet, even for experienced international retailers. Success is by no means guaranteed: citing example of China, where Tesco’s Chinese operations are only breaking even though they have been in the country for seven years. Walmart is doing better, but this was helped by its takeover of Trustmart, a Taiwanese supermarket. Carrefour and Auchan, two French supermarket chains, are doing best, because they adapted more than their rivals to the taste of the Chinese and their shopping preferences, says Ben Cavender at China Market Research in Shanghai. Carrefour, for instance, introduced what is known as â€Å"wet markets† in most of its outlets: open food markets that sell live animals. To be successful in India, Walmart, Carrefour and Tesco will need to give their local managers a lot of autonomy to adapt their stores. India boasts more than 20 official languages, three major religions and many, very different culinary traditions. Big Bazaar, one of the few Indian hypermarket chains, shows how far such adaptation will have to go. Instead of copying the narrow aisles in Western stores, designed for individual shoppers with carts, the firm has packed its stores with clusters through which shoppers have to navigate. This recreates the organised chaos Indians know from shopping in real bazaars: bumping into people, chatting and eating. All these international retail shops offer a wider variety and larger quantity of some items, but lacked the personal touch. They do not have the quality of personalized touch that a normal Kiryana store offers to its customers, thus it will take a long way to establish the retail market in India, but the wait is for the final say by the government of India. REFERENCE www.walmartstores.com http://www.ey.com/IN/en/Newsroom/News-releases/Published-editorial—FDI-in-retail—MNC-retailers-to-select-partners-with-suitable-capabilities FDI in India’s Retail Sector More Bad than Good? – By Mohan Guruswamy, Kamal Sharma, Jeevan Prakash Mohanty, Thomas J. Korah http://business.in.com/article/magazine-extra/walmarts-strategy-through-the-world/6042/1#ixzz1fpdJwzyd www.indiaretailing.com http://business.in.com/article/web-special/loyalty-networks-poised-to-enter-indian-market/30972/1#ixzz1fpikaw00 http://www.ibef.org/download/Retail_270111.pdf http://retail.franchiseindia.com/interviews/Debutant/Bagging-profits-59/ Issue 37 September 2011: http://www.dnb.co.in/Ind_cursorpdf/Industry_Cursor_September_2011.pdf http://www.ramms.co.in/admin/application/source/files/news/39_RRN-Sept%202011.pdf FDI in retail: MNC retailers to select partners with suitable capabilities: Economic Times By Paresh Parekh, Tax Partner, Ernst & Young

Social Inequalities

To find out as to what extent social class not only shapes attitudes, values and beliefs, but also has a significant impact on life chances, I will begin by defining social stratification, social class and life chances. Sociological theories will also be used to help understand society. Education and employment impact on society will also be discussed using journal articles obtained as a guide. To understand social stratification, it is important to make a distinction between social inequality, which refers to the existence of socially created inequalities whereas social stratification is a particular form of inequality. It refers to the presence of distinct social groups which are ranked one above the other in terms of factors such as prestige and wealth. Using the functionalist theory, we can understand stratification better as this theory views society as a system that is set of interconnected parts which together form a whole. Talcott Parsons (1902- 79). Davis and moore (1945), claimed that all societies have some form of social stratification. George Peter Murdock (1949) maintained that the family exists in every known human society. All these people seem to suggest that individual families and social stratification meet needs that are common to all societies. I agree with the functionalism theory as it is small groups such as families that make up society as a whole. Each family trying to survive and do better than others in the process bettering the society. For a society to survive, functional prerequisites of society are required as Marion J. Levy (1952) argued that a society would cease to exist if its members were absorbed into another society or involved in a war of all against all. Marion J. Levy ’ s argument can be challenged. With the shortage of housing, families getting absorbed into another society would be replaced by families searching for accommodation. On the other hand, ethnomethodologists follow Alfred Schutz (1932) in believing there is no real social order as other sociological perspectives assume. Social life appears orderly to members of society only because members actively engage in making scence of social life. According to Zimmerman and Wieder (1971), society go about the task of seeing, describing and explaining order in the world in which they live. Social class – Savage et al. described social class as social collectivises rooted in particular types of exploitative relationships. These collectivises are groups of people who share levels of income, lifestyles, cultures and political orientations. An example of this could be a group of footballers, would share the same level of income, with similar lifestyles will act or be seen or perceived differently to golf players who are equally rich but may have a different lifestyle to footballers. This can be linked to Marxist theory. Karl Marx (1818- 83) regarded people as both the producers and the products of society. People are regarded as producers as they make society and themselves by their own actions. People are regarded as products of society in that they are shaped by the social relationships and systems of thought they create. To support Karl Marx ’ s comment on people being a product of society, a real life example could be given where a student joins university for the first time. University can be regarded as a society with different individuals, all trying to achieve the same thing. It is up to the new student to choose the group he joins and this will affect the student ’ s life at university if in a bad group or good group thereby making the student a product of that society. Life chances- Gerth and mills, (1954) stated that a person ’ s position in a stratification system may have important effects on many areas of life. It may enhance or reduce life chances that is their chances of obtaining those things that are desirable and avoiding those things defined as undesirable in their society. (Max Weber). To help determine whether in fact social class not only shapes attitudes, values and beliefs, it is important to categorize social class. Social class refers to the persistent social inequalities. Two distinct types of social inequality have been identified by researchers working with two different sociological theories. One theory is derived from the work of Karl Marx the other from the writings by Max Weber, which are somewhat critical of Marx ’ s work. Marxian approach suggests that social class was defined by ownership of the means of production bourgeoisie who exploit the workers who do not own the means of production (proletariat). Source: the Canadian encyclopedia. Marxian approach can be challenged as it does not refer to occupation or levels of income. Marxian approach regarded everyone that did not own land as proletariat. This would mean that senior managerial administrative and manual working class would be regarded as being in the same class (proletetariat). There is a vast difference between the income and benefits of senior managers compared to manual workers therefore it wouldn ’ t be right to put the two in the same class. Ethnic and gender factors are mportant in differentiating people and in relating them to the general division of labour and inequalities of opportunity and conditions which are associated with it. Another way of categorizing class is by referring to upper class, consisting of property owners (bourgeoisie), middle class consisting of senior managers, middle managers and supervisory and service worker class and finally the working class or lower class consisting of manual work ers. A variety of studies have shown that non-manual workers enjoy advantages over manual workers in terms of their life chances. The office for national statistics (ONS), has compiled a range of statistical evidence on inequalities between classes in England and Wales. (Focus on social inequalities 2004). In 2002, 77% of year 11 children with parents in higher professional occupations obtained five or more GCSE ’ S at grade C or above, compared to 32% of those with parents in routine occupations. In my opinion, the above statistics suggest that parents can also act as role models to their children. An example is that if a parent is CEO of an organization, he/she will encourage their children to do well at school and reach the same level or above the parent position. Just for being CEO, this parent has set a target level for his/her children which is quit hard to archive but with the parent ’ s income, the child can go to private school and increase life chances. On the other hand, it would be hard for a parent in manual labour to encourage their child to reach CEO position. This child may see this as an impossible task and will settle for the same factory job or aspire to be the factory supervior. This child ’ s parent income could not be enough to better life chance. Social class does really shape attitudes, values and beliefs and this can be supported by the common American saying â€Å" The American dream † . The American dream can be explained as a belief and the freedom that allows all citizens and residents to achieve their life chances in the USA. Today, in America it generally refers to the idea that one ’ s prosperity depends upon one ’ s own abilities and hard work. ( wikipedia encyclopedia). This is a message passed on to all people in America but in my opinion, people from the lower class are likely to believe in the American dream as some form of comfort or assurance that things could get better in future. The journal article below is by Andrew Billen. The Times. London uk. Aug 20, 2007. Pg 19(Full article can be found on Appendix 1) Page 2 In last night ’ s season opener, the fascistically titled the will to win[Robert Winston] fretted at age 7 their fates may already be sealed. Certainly, by the programme ’ s end it looked if the Jesuits knew what they were talking about. As little William sprinted ahead of the pack to the finishing line of his private school ’ s egg and spoon race, his ambitious mother was convinced he was already the person he would become. â€Å" I ’ m definitely going to win, † he had confidently predicted half an hour earlier. â€Å" And I ’ m going to come second, † chipped in his friend, the sort of friend William would need. Down at the other end of Britain, where life chances are more ragged, was [James], whose ambition in life had hardened up: he wanted to be a robber. His answer to a dumbed-down IQ test question, â€Å" what do you do if you find a wallet on the floor? † was â€Å" take it home † . Despite this, James ’ s IQ was found to be just a touch below average. If only he had been clever enough to choose different parents. His father had scampered when he was an infant, leaving his mother Carol, struggling. This article points out that a child born in an upper class family will have better life chances as they will be able to attend very good schools or private schools thereby bettering their chances of succeeding. Page 2 Aspects of life such as income play an important part in achieving life chances as pointed out by the article below taken from Allister Heath. Sunday Business London (UK) Jun 26. 2005 pg 1. The writer noted that the UK is plagued with low social mobility; and that this is partly due to the strong and increasing relationship between family income and educational attainment. The proportion of children from the poorest fifth of families born during the early 1980s obtaining a degree has increased from 6% to 9%, while the graduation rate for the richest fifth has risen from 20% to 47%. Full article can be found on Appendix 2) Social class still exists at present as most of what we do on a daily basis is determined by how we perceive or wish to perceive ourselves. Eg, the cars we choose to buy, friends we choose etc. Jonathan Moore, UK BBC Publication, 18/12/2007 I fully agree that social class does in fact have a significant impact on life chances. The functionalist theory did des cribe society as a system that is set of interconnected parts which together form a whole. This brings out the fact that society is divided into different classes and that inequalities do exist. William, in the journal article was positive he would win because of his up brining from his parents not to accept second best. His parents, through their jobs have set a target for William which will affect his life chances. REFERENCES Martin Holborn and Mike Haralambos, sociology themes and perspectives, seventh edition, 2007. Tony J. Watson, sociology ,work and industry, third edition, 1995. Mike Noon and Paul Blyton, the realities of work, second edition, 2002. Keith Grint, the sociology of work, third edition, 2005. The times. London(uk): Aug 20, 2007 pg 19. Sunday Business. London(uk): Jun 26,2005 pg 1.