An alternative approach Boots could use is a loyalty card, which means that after every purchase in a Boots store, a customer would receive points

An alternative approach Boots could use is a loyalty card, which means that after every purchase in a Boots store, a customer would receive points. A single point could be the equivalent to a penny so if a customer collects 500 points they would be able to purchase goods worth up to Five pounds. Loyalty cards have advantages for customers and the stores. Customers have the benefit of receiving points, which means discounts on many items in Boots shops so they save money. Boots have the advantage that they will keep customers returning to their shops because of the card. It appears that customers like the idea of loyalty cards, these cards were to be stopped but customers objected. Other businesses have also started using loyalty cards; an example of this is the Nectar card. The Nectar card is a new reward programme created by Sainsbury's, Barclaycard, Debenhams and BP. It has the same idea as a Boots card as when you pay at the till at any of the shops, the Nectar card will be swiped and any points added to your account. When you pay by Barclaycard anywhere in the world your points will be added to your Nectar account each month. The screen shot below shows the Nectar Card. Screen shot 1 Once you've collected enough points for the rewards you want, you can choose from a range of free meals, days out e.g. to theme parks or museums, flights abroad e.g. to European cities or resorts, cinema tickets and discounts on goods, groceries and wine. The points can also be used to save money at Sainsbury's or Argos. If Boots introduced the card then this would increase customer loyalty, as customers will keep returning to the store to make use of the card. Machines in the store will be set up to allow customers to check their points. As customers are receiving points for their purchased products and they can then use these points to buy other items this gives the idea that they are ‘getting something for nothing'. On Boots website there could also be section where customers can check their points. Customers could type in their personal identification number found on the card and then access the information. (See screen shot 1) Another approach could be for Boot's to ‘push' their own products. This means, within Boots stores they could make customers more aware of Boots own brand products e.g. deodorants, shampoo and moisturiser. In a Boots store within the cosmetics section there are stands for Max Factor and Maybelline, Boots also already offer own brand names such as No7, 17 and Botanics. Boots could have their own section for No7 products for example. Sales Assistants as these counters could help customers select cosmetics from Boots own brand items which would mean it is more likely for these items to be bought. Screen shots of some of Boots own products Another way of doing this could be to start offers on selected Boots items. An example of this could be ‘buy one get one free' or if three items are bought get the cheapest one free. Also using the loyalty card suggested in the first alternative approach Boots could have ‘double points' on own brand items. If customers begin to see that Boots products are better than other leading brands, e.g. Boots deodorant compared against Sure deodorant, then they will start buying more of own brand products. This will in turn lead to a bigger turnover for Boots as more customers are buying their items instead of other brands. A benefit of this to Boots employees is within the production process. If more own brand items are demanded then more will have to be produced which means more jobs required for the production process. For the loyalty card to happen, Boots would need to introduce appropriate swipe machines in all shops at each till or cashier desk. This machine would need to be able to read the card to see who the customer is, how many new points have to be added and how many are already on the card. A computer may also be needed for customers to check how many points they have collected. For customers to check the number of points they currently have on the website a number of functions may need to be involved within the business. The ICT department may need to spend a lot of money on maintaining and designing the website. The administration department would need to hold details of the customers and transfer them to the ICT department to be used. Staff would also have to be trained with the knowledge of how to work the swipe machine. They would also have to be able to explain to customers how the card works and how to use the computer for checking points. The may add extra cost to Boots as training and development section of Boots may need to be brought in. In the Administration department of Boots they would have to send out all the paper work to customers with such details of registration forms for the loyalty card e.g. if customers change their name or address. Leaflets and fliers may also be sent out to tell customers about new offers on the points, e.g. double points for selected items. The administration function would also have to do this. For pushing Boots own brand products the layout of the store may need to be changed to put more emphasis on these products e.g. stands to place Boots shampoo on. This may involve the Boots store to be re-arranged. Posters and leaflets may be needed to advertise the products, which would be put up on windows and the ceiling. Administration department would be responsible for sending customers information on special offers concerning their own brand products. All this would cost Boots a lot of money as it involves bringing in new machines and computers to deal with the advantage swipe cards. A lot of expense is needed for the software to deal with customers accessing details on the website. The maintaining of the website would also be very costly to Boots. For new staff to work with the swipe machines would also cost money and time would have to be spent for the training of it. All the paper work and leaflets, which need to be sent out to customers detailing them of special offers, would also cost Boots money. However, customers would be satisfied as they have the advantage of saving money on products with the advantage card and with special offers on the own brand products, which may mean they begin to shop at Boots more often spending money. They also may then begin to shop at Boots for items other than cosmetics e.g. at the Boots opticians or at Boots Photo. Ultimately, Boots would be achieving its objectives as it would be increasing turnover which the increase in sales which these alterative approaches should bring.

Political Stupidity

Amanda Ortiz, Swetaben Ahir, Nga Le, and Shantel Palmer Professor McDade English 1302 October 15, 2012 Political Stupidity, U. S. Style In E . J. Dionne’s essay, â€Å"Political Stupidity, U. S. Style† he wants to address the political stupidity that the government is making. To start his argument, he raises an emotional question, â€Å"Can a nation remain a superpower if its internal politics are incorrigibly stupid? † The author is saying are we letting politics, irrational ideas on fiscal policy and an antiquated political structure undermine our power.He divides political stupidity into three parts: stupid tax policies, irrational ideas on fiscal policy and antiquated political structure. In his essay, â€Å"Political Stupidity, U. S Style,† Dionne employs ethos, connotation and an emotional appeal. In paragraph sixteen, Dionne uses ethos. He writes, â€Å"I’m a chronic optimist about America. † E. J. Dionne is confident about the future to get better but we need well intentioned republicans who care about the nation interest to realize something has gone fundamentally wrong with their party and work to help bring it back.To get rid of political stupidity, he wants to form a senate, a new conservatism that is worthy of our name, liberals willing to speak out on the threat our daft politics poses to our influence in the world, and moderates. However the readers might have complete trust of the government of the United States and so they might not like someone questioning their credibility. In paragraph number seventeen, Dionne uses connotation saying â€Å"We need moderates who do more than stick their fingers in the wind to calculate the halfway point between two political poles. Dionne is hoping to make people aware of the political stupidity and the need to bring change in the system of politics. Sticking their fingers in the wind, means a person putting his finger in the wind is unlikely to come up with original solutions, and decisions are made without backing evidence. It says that the politicians are making blind decisions without even thinking about its consequences. It also makes them look like fools running the country. However, if some people think that the politicians were fools, the United States would not have been a super power.In paragraph seven, Dionne uses a strict emotional appeal as a mean to persuade his audience. He writes, â€Å"The simple truth is that the wealthy in the United States- the people who have made almost all the income gains in recent years- are under taxed compared with everyone else. † Consider two reports from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. One, issued last month, highlighted findings from the Congressional Budget Office showing that, â€Å"The gaps in after-tax income between the richest 1 percent of Americans and the middle and poorest fifths of the country more than tripled between 1979 and 2007. The other, from February, used Int ernal Revenue Service data to show that the effective federal income tax rate for the 400 taxpayers with the very highest incomes declined by nearly half in just over a decade, even as their pre-tax incomes have grown five times larger. He writes this, hoping that by using the reports from the Congressional Budget Office, he would be able to prove his point that the United States is politically stupid. It seems as if he is trying to bring awareness among the people of the United States about the decisions made by politicians.Although he has demonstrated his evidence very convincingly and it seems that he would get his readers attention and they would listen to his concerns but some of his readers think that he is being blunt and through his essay he is making direct acquisitions on the politicians of the United States. The United States is falling behind and the public seems not to notice. In paragraph number fourteen, Dionne talks about the structure of our government. He talks abo ut how the ratio between the largest and smallest state was 13 to 1. Now it’s 68 to 1.He writes,† because of the abuse of the filibuster, 41 senators representing less than 11 percent of the national population can, in principle, block action supported by 59 senators representing more than 89 percent of our population. And you wonder why it’s hard to get anything done in Washington? ’’ Dionne gives convincing evidence to support his claim which is the politics of the United States is stupid. He uses ethos and shows his concerns by saying he is a chronic optimist about America. He also uses reports to prove his point and persuade the audience. However he seems blunt and tells it like it is without any fear.

British Health System for US.

The British Health System has been one of the most successful in the world. It has been claimed as the best system in the world. The United States also has got its own health system administered through the Health Management Organizations (HMOs). The US has disagreed with this claim by the United Kingdom and as a result, several studies have been carried out to establish how best and competent the British National Health Service system is compared to system being used in the US. This paper is going to discuss this claim.First, it will describe the National Health System of Britain, how well it is working for the British, then a comparison of the health care needs for the Britain's population and the United States population will be made as well as other considerations that need to be assessed before it is decided whether the NHS is appropriate for the US. An argument as to whether the model may or may not be adopted will be made before a position stand and a conclusion are made. Desc ribe the NHS 650 The NHS is the health care system in Britain which is public funded.It provides services to any resident of the UK with most of the services being free at the of use by patients. However, eye tests, care for teeth, prescriptions and personalized health cares are charged. The system is the England's major health care provider. It was established through an Act of Parliament in 1946. It has been paralleled by the private health care sector which serves less than 8 percent of the population. Much of the funding is from taxation of the citizens. This system is under the administration of the Department of Health. Most of the department's budget is allocated to the NHS.It has now been established that the NHS is the largest health service in the world and is also the fourth largest direct employer in the world (Luft, 2000, p. 17). A brief history of the NHS reveals that it was created by Clement Attlee's Labor government in an effort to bring welfare- state reforms. Just like any other organization, the NHS has got its core principles. It is committed to ensure quality health care to every one, free services at times of need based on the client's medical need but not based on their economic status (D H. ,2000, p. 57).The main aims of the system is to provide global service on the basis of peoples clinical needs but not their ability to pay, to offer a comprehensive set of services, to adjust to ensure the services they offer addresses the needs and preferences of people as individuals, as families and those care for them, to offer services that address the needs of various populations, to ensure minimal errors in their work while improving the quality of their services, to value and support the professional and support staff, to utilize public funds allocated for health care to address the needs of NHS patients only, to partner with other providers of similar services to ensure seamless service to clients, to work towards having a healthy nation wi th minimal health inequalities, to keep the individual clients confidentiality while providing free access to information related services, performance and treatment information.The structure of NHS in Britain begins from the Department of Health which takes care of the political issues concerning the service. Under the DH are 10 strategic health facilities (SHAs) which are in charge of all NHS operations specifically the primary care trusts in their regions. The NHS trusts are several and include Primary Care Trusts which are in charge of primary care and general public health. They have been reduced by almost half in the recent past to reduce costs and to bring services closer together. These Primary Care Trusts oversee about 29000 general practitioners and about 18000 dentists within the NHS system and also commission acute services emerging from other Trusts within the NHS and private sector.These trusts control about 80 % of the total NHS allocated budget. Other administrative structures under the Department of Health include NHS Hospital Trusts, Ambulance Services Trusts, Direct Trusts in charge of communications, Trusts in charge of mental health as well as care trusts (HPEDIS- US,2000, p. 26). The system has the largest number of staff of about with 1. 3 million workers and nearly all medical doctors and nurses in Britain working either in the NHS or in the Trusts or NHS run hospitals. The budget for NHS in the 2008/9 fiscal year is about 94 billion and all is from government funds (Dudley, 2001, 1088). NHS working for the BritishThe British National Health Service has in the recent past been claiming that the way it uses its resources is one of the best and most effective systems of health care in the world. The truth about this claim has been known when it was established that the system is cost effective with a per capita expenditure of about 1,764 US dollars. The British National Health Service provides very comprehensive health service to the citi zen of the United Kingdom. Some of the services in this system include admission in hospitals, outpatient services, preventive and ambulatory care services, quick response services to address cases involving accidents and other forms of emergencies, sebacute care, eye clinic services, dental care, rehabilitation of patients as well as home based health care.The British National Health Service system allows free access to medicines and other prescriptions to populations who fall under the social category of children (those below 16 years of age), the senior citizens (above 60 years) and those with special needs like the disabled (Anderson,2001, p. 230). British National Health Service has also subsidized the cost of buying medicines and other prescriptions to an average cost of about10 US dollars to the rest of the population who lies within the remaining age bracket and social groups. The National Health Service is working very well for British in remitting dental and long term psyc hiatric care needs for its population. The non medical residential health care is one of the National Health Service's programs that are run outside the system's budget.It is essential to note that the National Health Service system is for the service of the whole population in Britain and this is a good stance when compared to other world systems, for example in the Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) in United States, that serve only the members who comprise mainly the government and private sector employees (Luck,2001,p. 153). Health care needs of the US population Versus the needs of the UK population The health care needs of the United States population and that of the population of the United Kingdom can be deduced from the the mandates of the National Health system of Britain and the Health Maintenance Organizations of the United States because these two systems were set up to address the medical needs of their populations.Kaiser Permanente based in California is the larg est Health Maintenance Organization in the United States and shares every aspect with all other Health Maintenance Organizations and therefore the health care needs, the organization, administration, health care delivery and the kind of services delivered are very similar and therefore in this discussion, the health care needs of the population visiting Kaiser Permanente will be assumed to represent the health care needs of the whole population of the United States (Buisson,2001, p. 34). Before patients get treated, it is a medical requirement to meet a physician for consultation and diagnosis to establish the kind of disease or condition he or she is suffering from. Whether in the United Kingdom or in the United States, all patients have this common need.But the way this need id addressed in the health facilities of these two countries is quite different (Barakat,Wilkinson,Suliman,2003. p. 642). First, the amount of time that patients have to spend before they make consultations is longer in the United Kingdom than in the United States. This was established following a study that was carried out to establish efficiency in service delivery in these two countries. From the study, it was shown that it takes 13 weeks for about 80 % of patients who are referred to physicians before they actually meet the physicians in the United Kingdom while the same size of patient population in the United States take only about 2 weeks before they actually meet their physicians (Richard, 2002,p. 139).Similarly, for 90 % of patients who needs inpatient treatment have their needs met within a period of 13 weeks in the United States while the only about 41 percent of patients in need of inpatient treatment in the United Kingdom of the Great Britain can have their needs addressed within the same period of time. 90 % of the people who have been diagonalized and a surgery prescribed in the United States takes about 13 weeks before their medical needs can be met while for the same per iod of time only 41 % of similar population in the United Kingdom will have be treated. Also, the number of days a patient spends in waiting for his medical administration otherwise called bed days in the US are far much fewer than in the Unites Kingdom based on collected statistics that indicates that 1000 patients spends an average of 327 acute bed days in the US compared to 1000 acute bed days in Britain for the same population. (WHO, 2000, p. 27).Concerning the insurance need of the population, competition in the US Health Management organizations (HMOs) has led to an efficient satisfaction of this need because the people can shift from one Health Management Organization to another if they are not satisfied with the way their medical insurance needs are being met. This is because most HMOs in US are not funded by the government and therefore they have to catch up and compete favorably with the market forces of supply and demand which calls for quality services when competition i s tight. Whether customers are satisfied or not by the way the UK NHS addresses their insurance needs, they have limited choice since the NHS is supported by the taxes they pay to the government. This implies that the need for insurance in the National Health Service is poorly met compared to the Health Management Organizations. Both populations require cheaper access to prescribed medicines.The National Health Service has tried to meet this need partly by exempting those with special needs, the aged (over 60 years) and the children (those under 16 years of age) while the rest of the population pay about six pounds for all prescriptions. The US Health Management Organizations have done very little in meeting this need because the population pays about five US dollars for every prescription (Sekhri, 2000, p. 834). It appears that the British population requires more long – term psychiatric care and dental health services than the United States population. This argument is base d on the fact that the expanse and distribution of the health facilities and related services is determined by the immediate medical needs of the respective population.Based on the same argument, it is likely that the United Kingdom population's non medical health health needs necessitated the establishment of a long term care and home based health care. Since this kind of care has not been established established within the US Health Management Organizations, it is arguable that the US population do not have such health needs or else the needs are too few and thus too insignificant to necessitate provision of these services by the Health Management Organizations. Other factors to consider in determining the appropriateness of the NHS model for the US It is important to access the kind of policies that govern the administration of National Health Service whether they are compatible with the current policies in administration of Health Management Organizations.For example, there are policies that limit the amount of hospitalization the Health Management Organizations will cover. These policies are meant to ensure that less money is spend on hospitalization so that more money can be spend on other types of care such as surgical and specialists procedures. The compatibility of National Health Service policies (which are considered lesser) to the Health Management Organizations' policies should be considered to avoid policy conflicts in case the National Health Service system is adopted in the United States. It is essential also to consider whether National Health service will be in a position to meet the insurance needs of the United States population.Due to competition in health care provision in the US, the US population has been used to effective ways of satisfying their health insurance needs. If National Health System is introduced in place of Health Management organizations, the US population will be forced to adopt to a less efficient system. This is a ret rogressive trend in the health care provision sector and much of the population will be opposed to this new system. However, it is important to consider whether the current system in Britain provide for adjustments to make it more competitive and therefore uplift it to fit in the United States context. If such provisions are impossible, it will also be impossible to have this system in the medical and health service of the US population.Still on the issue of insurance, about 12 % of the United Kingdom population has taken private medical insurance as a security in case they may require non emergency surgeries or they may need to access specialists quickly(HCFA, 1998, p. 36). On the other hand, very few Americans have taken this private health insurance. Much of the population rely a single health insurance which has served them efficiently. Based on this point of view, the United States government may need to consider the fate of its population when they need to access specialists o r non emergency surgery because the National Health Service seems to be slow in reacting to these needs. Adopting a new health system should be aimed at improving the welfare of the US population. Any new system require the support of the population and politicians.The government should first consider civic education to enlighten the population on the benefits of shifting the health care system from the Health Management Organizations to National Health Service system in order to win the social and political goodwill with respect to introducing the new system. Argument: The model may or may not work The introduction of the National Health Service system of Britain in place of the America's Health Management Organizations to serve the American people may from one point of view be workable while it is totally an impossibility from another point of stand. The National health Service covers groups of populations from all socio-economic classes, but in America, Health Management Organiza tions mainly serve those in the mid- lower to middle socio- economic groups because the rich families go for health care options that are a little bit expensive and more flexible.The health systems used in America, according to the US standards, are in the ‘working class' category (Blendon, 2001, p. 37). But the population has the poor and non working people who would be happier to enjoy health care. With the support of this population and politicians who support equality and respect the opinion the minority, the adoption of the National Health Service in the US can be made a reality. The system may be supported by the population on the basis of the subsidized pharmaceutical costs. Currently, the cost of pharmaceuticals in the US is 2 percent to 60 percent higher than that of Britain and the US population admire this aspect of the National Health Service (Ayanian, 2001, p. 60).It is also important to note that National Health Service system is set to serve the entire populatio n while American Health Management Organizations system serve its members who majority get the membership through health plans that have been sponsored by their employers or by the government. This leaves out the unemployed population. For the government to ensure parity in health services provision to its citizens irrespective of their employment or economic status, it may require to consider the National Health Service system. Most citizens of the US require adequate dental care services, but this need has not been addressed well by the current health care system.On the other hand, the health care system of Britain has optimized on this population need. Therefore, with the introduction of National Health Service system, it is possible a large size of the US population will embrace it. On the other hand, data sources have revealed that general practitioners who give general care to patients within the National Health Service system have a starting salary of 43 % lower than their co unterparts in the US. For health care consultants serving within the US Health Management Organizations System, their starting salaries are about 115 % higher than the starting salaries of their counterparts holding the same positions within the Britain's National Health Service System (Danzon,2000, p. 170).If the system is adopted in the United States with its salary scale policies, it will be a major demobilization to the medical practitioners mainly due to the low salaries. This will lead to poor quality service which cannot be tolerated in the US. In short, the National Health Service system can not work in the US unless major amendments are made. If the decision of whether to adopt the National Health Service system or not were to be based on the per capita cost of medication, then the Americans will be less responsive because there will be no difference in the cost of medication per year. However, this is a generalized opinion based on national a figure.There will be no signif icant change in the economic status of the US because the per capita expenditure in medication for these two countries is appropriately the same. The Britain system has also been viewed to be slower than the current system in use in the US. Conclusion It is true that the British National Health Service system is one of the best performing systems of the world but this is in respect to certain aspects like its workforce, the way it considers the poor, and diverse services. But the current system operating in America is in itself more efficient and effective and most citizens are comfortable with it. The NHS offers very little salaries to practitioners and this in America can be a risk, because it will lead to poor services.Americans can never accept a system that is going to make them lark behind and therefore cannot accept the NHS system. References: Anderson, G. (2001). Health system performance compared. Health Affairs . 20: 219-232. Ayanian, J. , Quinn, T. (2001). Quality care. H ealth Affairs. 20: 55-67. Barakat, K. , Wilkinson, P. and Suliman, A. (2003). Performance measures . Am Heart Journ. 143: 640-646. Blendon, R. and Benson J. (2001). How Americans view health policy. Health Aff. 20: 33-46 Buisson, L. (2001). UK market sector. Private medical insurance report . 12: 31-35. Danzon, P. and Chao, W. (2000). Pharmaceutical prices compared. J Health Econ.19: 159-195 D H. (2000). Plan for investment and reform. The NHS plan. Stationery Office: London. Dudley, R. (2001). Managed care in transition. Engl J Med. 344: 1087-1092 HCFA. (1998). 1980-1998 State health care expenditures. DHHS. 13: 24-37. HPEDIS- US. (2000). Models for a national performance measures. Kaiser Permanente program overview. 17: 21-28. Luck, J. (2001). Talking to our patients. Gen Intern Med. 16: 153. Luft, M. (2000). Managed care lead quality of care. Health Affairs. 16: 7-25. Richard, G. (2002). NHS compared with Kaiser Permanente. British Medical Journal. 324:135-143. Sekhri, N. (2000). US Experience. The Managed Care. 78: 830-844.

Contemporary issues in management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

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Management in Healthcare Interview of HSO Research Paper

Management in Healthcare Interview of HSO - Research Paper Example St. John’s Medical is a public hospital located in Dallas, Texas; according to the general manager, this hospital has the capacity of accommodating 2500 people, i.e. patients and the medical staff, while, at the same time, it operates 24hrs a day and 7days a week. It is easy to get accessibility to this hospital since there is a public telephone i.e. +972 3211 6578 01, while mails can be send to stjohnsmedical@hotmail.com or P.O. Box 10909 Dallas, Texas. After the interview that I conducted, I was able to compile the following essay regarding human services organization, starting from its definition, organization chart, the organizational structure, and eventually the key management roles of the HSO. It is essential to define the term human services organizations (HSO) to be able to understand this subject; these are entities, which provide the organizational structure whereby there is the making of health service delivery precisely to consumers, regardless to whether the objective of the services is preventive, restorative, acute, palliative or chronic. Therefore, the health services industry comprise of health services providers, for instance, medical practices, nursing homes, hospitals, home health care agencies and clinics. However, there are types of other institutes within the system, for instance, health insurance, biotechnology, managed care, medical equipment suppliers, pharmaceuticals, and educational, as well as research agencies. Apart from being the fundamental health service provider, HSO is also a business (Gapenski, 2008). The wide perception concerning health care practice whereby the health services organization functions comprises of thousands of autonomous medical practices, along with partnerships, managed care, together with provider organizations; both public and nonprofit institutions, for instance hospitals, nursing homes, along with other specialized care facilities, in addition to leading private corporations.

Toyota Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Toyota - Essay Example However, the suppliers’ competency is one of the current long term objectives of the Toyota (â€Å"Helping Suppliers Compete†). The TMC believes that the steady and long term relationship with suppliers would be beneficial for the company to spawn mutual benefits through mutual trust. The company has also formulated specific strategies to augment the competitiveness of its suppliers in the auto-manufacturing marketplace. For instance, as reported (in â€Å"Helping suppliers compete†), the company’s annual purchasing policy sets certain annual performance expectations for customers in some specific areas such as quality, delivery, cost, and supplier diversity; and in addition, the company dispatches experts to work with suppliers when they struggle to meet their annual expectations. Mitigation of environmental impact of automobiles is another long term objective of the company (â€Å"our stance on biofuels†). Nowadays, consumers are increasingly conc erned about the issues like global warming and green gas emissions. It has been identified that fuel combustion in vehicles contributes to environmental issues. Therefore, the company has made certain sets of environmental leadership core principles with intent to amplify the future growth.

Knowledge Share-Human Resource Management Current Study Assignment

Knowledge Share-Human Resource Management Current Study - Assignment Example Analysis The opportunity to achieve effective potential at workplace for all the employees in an organization is now significantly recognized as one of the fundamental human rights. Over last few decades, it has also become transparent that the Canadian organizations need to pursue workplace diversity as a competitive stipulation. The pursuit of diversity at the work place is one of the major strategic responses of the Canadian organizations towards globalization (Klarsfeld, 2010). Moreover, it helps the organizations to increase their multiculturalism of marketplaces and workforces. The new diversity definition rejects the concept of mandated targets and quota system in the organizational workplace. Moreover, it minimizes the risk of much of regulatory and legislative framework that accompanied the equal employment opportunity, affirmative action and equity legislation of employment in an organization. Since last two decades the Canadian organizations are practicing this workplace d iversity as their key organizational process. Cultural Workplace Diversity The workplace diversity rests on several premises. ... All the business owners can be benefited from implementing proactive human resource strategies. This process has helped the Canadian employers to build an effective culturally diverse workplace. It is important for the organizations to eventually promote the cultural diversity awareness among all the employees of the organization in order to leverage the benefits and advantages of cultural awareness in the workplace. Workplace Diversity at IBM Employees of IBM represent diverse and talented workforce. Accomplishing the potential of the diversity is a major business priority. Effective workplace diversity is the fundamental of IBM’s competitive success. Venerable commitment to equal opportunity is the major element in IBM’s workplace diversity program. Several business activities, such as promotion, hiring and compensation are performed without regard to religion, color, race, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, genetics or expression. These specific busin ess activities, administration and design of IBM benefit the diversity plans abide by all kinds of applicable law. IBM provides workplace accommodations to qualified employees with disabilities. These are essential diversity plans that can enhance the performance of each and every employee. Giving value and respect to all the employees helped the organization to ensure an effective working environment which is free from all forms of conflicts and harassment. This policy depends upon effective business judgment strategy. Moreover, this policy anchored in the organizational values of IBM. All the managers of IBM abide by applicable laws and organizational policies of IBM. It helps the organization to fulfill their

Bibliographic Summary of 21 Articles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Bibliographic Summary of 21 Articles - Essay Example The company she had worked with did not grant her application to pursue her doctorate degree even though she is "as good and as smart as any man" because she's "only a girl." There was also no available housing privilege for married female students when she asked for one at Stanford University. After keeping it into herself for quite some time, Gerber, being a woman, stood up for her equal rights and freed herself as well as other women from the prejudiced society in the 60's. She can no longer tolerate the situations that might eventually kill humanity. Sexual harassment is commonly observed in the workplace where there is an unequal power and authority among the people that can be taken advantage of. Defined broadly, it "refers to the unwanted imposition of sexual requirements in the context of a relationship of unequal power. Central to the concept is the use of power derived from one social sphere to lever benefits or impose deprivations in another Women employed in the paid labor force, typically hired "as women," dependent upon their income and lacking job alternatives, are particularly vulnerable to intimate violation in the form of sexual abuse at work. In addition to being victims of the practice, working women have been subject to the social failure to recognize sexual harassment as an abuse at all." (457) Its definition was derived on a social context, therefore, it is expected that sexual harassment becomes a common incident that may affect seven out of ten women at work. The problem has become so huge however, very few of which are brought to court. "The reasons are probably not limited to the lack of legitimized or sympathetic channels for complaint short of the courts, or to women's learned reticence, enforced through fear of reprisals, although these would seem deterrent enough. It is probably not because the problem has been adequately handled by the socially. That there has not been even one reported case until very recently implicates the receptivity of the legal system." (286) Humanity and womanhood are the concepts which the legal system had found its way out of the case. "the law has conceptualized women workers either in terms of 'humanity,' which has meant characteristics women share with men, or in terms of their womanhood, which has mean their uniqueness." (291) Addressing this issue, difference and inequality approaches had become the basis to prove if sexual harassment is sexual discrimination in the workplace as well. "Under the inequality approach, sexual harassment is seen to disadvantage women as gender, within the social context in which women's sexuality and material survival have been constructed and joined, to women's detriment. Under the difference approach, sexual harassment is sex discrimination per se because the practice differentially injures one gender-defined group in a sphere - sexuality in employment - in which the treatment of women and men can be compared. Sexuality is universal to women, but not unique to them." (312) Toobin, J. (1998) The Trouble with Sex. New Yorker. 48-55. The accidental invention of the sexual harassment law was just as controversial as it has been until at present. There were

Negative mass media influence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Negative mass media influence - Essay Example The more mass media resources we have, the more needed information we can receive. New resources of mass media appear every day and the old ones are developing to help us receive important information any time we need. On the other hand, the negative influence of mass media is obvious as the promotion of violence takes place very often. Such a promotion prevents people from normal development and influences negatively the individuals’ behavior in the society. Now mass media imposes a great influence on people. Actually, we can’t hide from this influence as mass media penetrates all the areas of life. Furthermore, the development of the modern culture is closely connected to mass media because the role of mass media in the formation of people’s views is very important. In this view the impact of mass media may be very negative as we can see much violence on TV or in newspapers (Bagdikian, 2000). The influence of mass media on people is increasing and the number of negative consequences of this influence is also growing dramatically. It is no need to mention that violence damages psychological development of people as the cruelty people see in films or read about in newspapers causes aggressiveness. In any case the violence in media negatively influences the development of children and spoils our future generations.... TV producers, network executives, motion picture companies and others in the media deny any impact of their programs on the attitudes and actions of youth† (Effects of Mass Media on Young Generation). When people frequently meet violence in media, they get used to it. It happens inevitably and the process is gradually affecting people’s psychology. Slowly but surely violence becomes something like everyday issue, people start to perceive it as something normal at the same time as violence certainly represents an abnormal and awful phenomenon. It causes aggressive behavior that is also already treated as a norm by many people in the modern society (Josephson, 1995). The main problem is that mass media contributes to positive perception of violent acts that is absolutely unacceptable. Jarred explains: â€Å"There are those who believe that violent programs contribute less to violence in society than do other recognized elements. The media in general has been identified as portraying lifestyles that are beyond the means of many people, particularly for those who are unemployed. Such lifestyle portrayals are seen by some as being more likely to encourage violence and crime than violent television programming by encouraging materialistic attitudes and a reduced intolerance to delays in attaining a desired lifestyle. Even media coverage of unemployment and homelessness is viewed as engendering feelings of hopelessness and bitterness that can result in anti-social behaviour† (Jarred, 2001, p.28) There is such a term as â€Å"happy violence† that was generated as a result of violence promotion. Such violence seems to be humorous and funny and this results in increasing of number of violent acts in real life. Under the influence people can’t control their

Videogame Addiction Essay Example for Free

Videogame Addiction Essay Jeffrey Stark knew he was in trouble when his grades dropped from 90s to 70s and he had lost all his friends. He was spending far too much time and effort feeding his addiction. Stark wasnt shooting heroin or drinking alcohol. He was playing computer games. Getting hooked on computer games has stripped me of countless valuable hours which could have been spent studying, says Stark, 18, of London, Ont. I am now antisocial and have very few friends. (Andrew Flynn) This story is not a unique one. Video games have been known to consume people to the point that their lives are falling apart. Video game addiction has wrecked people mentally, ruined professional careers, and destroyed marriages. Video game addiction is a growing epidemic around the world. It is an issue that needs to be dealt with so thousands of people can get the help that they need. Jun. 28Skip to 2012: Lindsay Lohan checks into treatment because the actress just cant stop hitting the barsthe falling block-bars on Nintendo Tetris. A 33-year-old office worker is fired because he wouldnt stop playing World of Warcraft 3 on the job. He sues and is awarded back pay and reinstatement, along with the accommodation that he be allowed at least three raids per day on the computer game. These scenarios could come to be if the American Medical Association classifies video game addiction as a mental condition tantamount to dependence on drugs and alcohol. (Arizona Daily Star) Now this might seem far fetched to some people but scenarios like these could be a very real and frightening possibility. When video game addiction becomes a real medical disease, people all around the world will be affected. For example, if this happens video game addicts will be given breaks to get their fix similar to smokers, and with the fact that seven out of ten homes in America have a video gam e console in them, this would be harmful to everyone. Employers everywhere will lose out on possible income they can make. In Tucson mental-health experts welcomed the study, saying  the problems are real and on the rise. But some devout gamers say the issue is overhyped.It is a valid addiction, said Paul Gallant, a clinical outreach coordinator for Sierra Tucson, a treatment center for addictions and mental disorders. He said hes seen a 20 percent increase in calls regarding compulsive gamers in the past 18 months. One case involved a 22-year-old college student who spent up to 20 hours on a computer game every day, and had failed classes and lost his job. It meets many of the classic criteria for process addiction, Gallant said. Many people who doubt that these cases are addictions do not understand neurochemistry or the working of the addictive brain. Many people feel that unless theres ingestion of a mind- or mood-altering substancewhether it be heroin, cocaine or alcoholwithout that, addiction cannot be present, and thats a lie. Video game addiction can be very disruptive, costing gamers jobs and relationships, said Christi Cessna, Sierra Tucsons director of marketing and intake. Its had a serious impact on lives, and frankly thats one of the reasons the (American Psychiatric Association) is looking at it as a diagnosis, she said. (Phil Villarreal) Video game addiction has a severe effect on your social life. Its similar to the idea of Internet addiction in that people are using video games to kind of disassociate from their lives in some way, Cessna said. We are getting calls, which is a challenge because no program out there specializes in video game addiction itself. Those hooked on gaming also may suffer from additional problems, such as anti-social behavior and depression, she said. (Phil Villarreal) This can be very disruptive costing people jobs and relationships and it one of the main reasons that the American Psychiatric Association. People have been using games to distance themselves from reality for decades but now with the type of games that are out now, one such game is World Of Warcraft. World of Warcraft or WOW for short, is a MMO RPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game) where you create a character from a number of different races and level up and go on quests. This game thats set in a fantasy world where someone can literally make a second life. For many people out there life might not be ideal and lots of gamers seek out happiness in games which is perfectly fine and healthy to an extent, but some people take it too far. For most hardcore addicts, they  will willingly forgo food, hygiene, and jobs to play a game instead. One case involved a 22-year-old college student who spent up to 20 hours on a computer game every day, and had failed classes and lost his job. to go back to this quote from earlier, video game addiction needs more attention and people need help; just like alcoholics have AA for help with their addiction, video game addicts need something similar. Although in recent years video games have got a bad rap. They have been accused of causing people to be violent and things of that nature which is untrue as proven in USA Todays article Study the Player, not the Video game, If youre worried about a video game turning your son or daughter into a killer, dont worry about that, says psychologist Patrick Markey of Villanova (Pa.) University. But is your kid moody, impulsive, or are they unfriendly? Its probably not the best idea to have that child play violent video games. With all that being video games can be used for good. In the past the authors have referred to games as good â€Å"learning engines.† Here they argue that games are good learning engines because they are first good assessment engines.Games require the kind of thinking that we need in the 21st century because they use actual learning as the basis for assessment. They test not only current knowledge and skills, but also preparation for future learning. They measur e 21st century skills like collaboration, innovation, production, and design by tracking many different kinds of information about a student over time. As an example of how epistemic games can be used as assessment tools, the authors describe a game they developed called Urban Science, in which players work as urban planners who are creating proposals for the development of an area adjacent to a large wetland. Epistemic games can be used to test whether students can solve complex problem using 21st century skills. Thus the authors suggest that the road to better schools starts by making the tests in school more like the games that students are already playing out of school. (James Gee, David Shaffer) Video games have been used by the military to help soldiers become better on the battlefield, in recent years schools have been pushing more interactive learning video games to keep students interested and having fun which in turn make you learn more. In conclusion video game addiction is a real epidemic. It affects millions of people every day. It has been know to ruin professional careers, destroy personal relationships, and have a grave effect on someones social life. Currently today there really isnt a good option for gamers to go to get help. Alcoholics and many other forms of recognized addictions have large and very effective and helpful organizations dedicated to alleviated peoples addictions yet videos game addicts do not. This is an issue that needs to be addressed because if it isnt, it will affect us all. Bibliography Flynn, Andrew. Its No-Win for Those Hooked on Games. Toronto Star. 27 Apr 2002: L9. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. Gee, James Paul, and David Williamson Shaffer. Looking Where the Light Is Bad. EDge. Sep/Oct 2010: 1-20. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. Jayson, Sharon. Study the Player, Not the Video Game. USA TODAY. 15 Sep 2011: D.3. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. Steinberg, Michele. Programmed to Kill: Video Games, Drugs, and the New Violence. 21st Century Science Technology. Fall 2000: 16-22.SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. Villarreal, Phil. Experts: Video Game Addiction Is Real; Players Scoff. Arizona Daily Star. 28 Jun 2007: n.pag. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.

Trends: The Labour Market In Oman

Trends: The Labour Market In Oman Introduction This paper presents an analysis of the following within the working context of the author who is working as External Relations Manager for Bank Muscat, in the Banks Head Office in Muscat. Main issues and trends in the labour market in Oman that impact the key competences of the organisation Bank Muscat, Oman An Evaluation of the Strategic approaches to HRM that can improve organisational performance Organisations approaches to HRM toward Talent Management After the analysis and evaluation of the above HRM issues and approaches, this report concludes with some recommendations for improving the performance in Bank Muscat, where the author is working as its External Relations Manager. Issues and Trends in the Labour Market in Oman Labour market issues and trends are driven by labour market structure and labour diversity (Schuler Jackson, 2007). The labour market in Oman is composed of indigenous Omani workers and expatriate workers (Al-Lamki, 2005) who have different national cultures (with different ethnicities) which give rise to labour diversity (Triandis et al, 1994) as well. Like its member countries of the GCC-Gulf Cooperation Council, Omans labour market is tight which always poses recruitment difficulties (Metcalfe, 2007). The GCC Gulf Cooperation Council countries (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, the UAE, Bahrain, and Qatar) do not have sufficient indigenous skilled work force  [1]  as a result of which the GCC countries had been relying very heavily on imported work force for their economic development. According to the World Tribune report  [2]  , Omans expatriate work force constitutes a majority of 54% of the total work force in the country. As per the recent statistics published by the Ministry of National Economy (2009), Oman, the expatriate population stood at 900,248 against the Omani population of 1,967,180 at mid year 2008. In other words, these statistics indicate that from only a third of the nations population the expatriates occupy a high 54% of the labour market in Oman. In consequence of the above, the Government of Oman has been implementing its Omanisation Policy vigorously since the start of year 2009 (although the Governments Omanisation Policy has been active in the country since 1988 when it was introduced by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said through the Ministry of Civil Services to replace the expatriate work force with local Omani work force) in the private sector. This is due to the fact that the Governments implementation of its Omanisation Policy has been successful so far only in the Omani public sector and not in the private sector as the sector still relies heavily on the expatriate work force (Table 1). Nonetheless the banking sector in Oman is an exception to the poor Omanisation in the private sector (Al-Lamki, 2005). Table 1: Employment of Omanis in the Private Sector  [3]   Currently there are 17 commercial banks, including Bank Muscat, in Oman. Bank Muscat is the largest and leading commercial bank in Oman  [4]  . Bank Muscat has been continuously striving to improve its human resources to enhance its operations as well as to contribute to the further development of national human resources. Currently, Bank Muscat has a very high 92% Omanisation rate which has earned the Bank the prestigious GCC-Level Achievement in Nationalisation of Human Resources in November 2009  [5]  . The Bank also continues to be a heavy investor in information technology to keep itself on top of the competition. Bank Muscat has won for the ninth consecutive year in 2009 the Best Consumer Internet Bank award from the prestigious Global Finance. Service sector organisations are labour intensive and in consequence the human resources represent a substantial portion of the overall operating cost of the service organisation (Massey, 1994). Also human resources cost continues to be one of the most difficult expenses to control in organisations yet it is the critical most factor that affects organisational performance (Pfeffer, 1998). These views apply very well to Bank Muscat also. Being an operator in the services sector where in the customers and the employees engage in direct contact (Schneider et al, 1980), and driven to be more cautious in conducting its daily business due to the current global economic crisis, Bank Muscats major focus of its HRM practice is directed at enhancing customer services through effective customisation of banking products and efficient delivery of quality banking services in a cost-effective way. It would be pertinent here to mention Bank Muscats Mission and its Quality Policy. Bank Muscats Mission Statement Quality Policy Bank Muscats Mission Statement is effectively combined with its Vision Statement which states that, Over one million satisfied customers by 2010 through continuous enhancement of stakeholder value  [6]  . And Bank Muscats Quality Policy Statement states, Our Quality Policy is to achieve and sustain a reputation for quality in the national and international markets by offering products and services that exceed the requirements of our customers. We strive to remain the bank of first choice in all our product and services  [7]  . Accordingly, Bank Muscats strategic emphasis is on building further its sources of competitive advantage which are strong community of satisfied customers and quality offerings of banking products and services. Further the financial services market in Oman (Bank Muscat competes directly with HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Oman International Bank, National Bank of Oman, Bank Dhofar, Bank Saderat Iran, and Bank Sohar) is becoming relatively more competitive than the financials services market in the neigbouring Qatar. Currently Bank Muscat runs 125 branches, operates 362 ATMs and 112 CDMs, and 4,200 PoS terminals throughout Oman. And another 3 more branches are going to be opened soon in the other cities of Oman, namely, Sohar, Salalah, and Sur. Human Resource Investment Bank Muscat considers its investment in its human resources as the most valuable asset which forms the basis for the Banks operations. In as much as the Banks human resources contain highly-skilled and experienced people, it also has newly recruited staffs that are relatively low-skilled as they are fresh University Graduates. Human resource movements are caused by recruitments and exits. Since bulk of Bank Muscats operations occur in the Banks retail branches, from time to time Bank Muscat recruits new Omani staffs in order to meet its human resource requirements, based on its formal recruitment and selection policies, at its new branches. There are no effects on the movements in the Banks human resources due to employee leaving. For instance, the employee turnover rate at the end of 2009 was 0% for the third consecutive time, as there were no exits due to resignation, retirement, or termination. For senior positions at the branches staffs are appointed through internal recruitment job promotions (e.g. Assistant Manager to Branch Manager) and the resultant vacancies are filled through the recruitment of new Omani staffs. Competence and Training and Development In view of the above Bank Muscat requires its new staffs with low-skills (who are currently filling in the first-line staffs mostly in the clerical cadre) to upgrade their skills. Acquisitions of higher level skills by these staffs would help the Bank to provide its quality-integrated services to its customers much more vigorously in the pursuit of its strategic mission and vision through a high quality services strategy and at the same time complying with the Governments Omanisation targets. Accordingly, the present HR competence needs of Bank Muscat are derived from the necessity to up skilling its young Omani staffs within the Banks need to maintain competitive advantage against the ongoing rapid changes in the business environment in Oman. To this end the Bank Muscats HR goals are currently focussed in training and development: To reduce skills shortages in the area of complex tasks To Encourage learning to acquire Bank specific-business knowledge for obtaining higher efficiency as well as to cope with changes To provide opportunities for personal and professional development and career growth To forge long term employment tenure on the basis of competence and skills-advancement (through higher/professional education) for entry-level staffs. Strategic Approaches to HRM for Improving Organisational Performance In todays rapidly changing competitive business environment, human resource management is being increasingly considered as a critical part of the strategic management (Sheehan, 2005; Schuler Jackson, 2007) and in consequence Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) as a field in itself has been increasingly applied since the 80s as part of management practice (Becker Huselid, 2006). According to Tichy et al (1982) the strategic approach to HRM is known as Strategic Human Resource Management. The strategic alignment of HRM with the organisations business strategies would contribute to enhanced organisational performance (ibid). Strategic Human Resource Management is defined by Ulrich (1997, p.89) as, the process of linking HR practices to business strategy. The outcome of the application of strategic human resource management is HR Strategy: the mission, vision, and priorities of the HR function (ibid, p.190). Managers can contribute more in the form of value-addition to the firm through the strategic use of their human resource competencies (Mullins, 2007). A strategic approach to HRM for improving organisational performance would demand the matching of the needs and talents of people with that of the organisations objectives (ibid). In other words, a competency-based HRM system can provide an organisation to sustain as well as develop its peoples competencies for the organisations future success. Four-task Model of HRM Schuler et al (2001, p.115), through their Four-task Model of HRM, assert that a strategic approach to HRM would contribute to the development of an effective HR plan which would help improve organisation performance by carrying out effectively the following four core HR activities: The organisation maintains the right number of people Employees are equipped with the right work knowledge and job skills for rendering efficient and effective performance (competence) Employee relationships and behaviour are consistent with the culture and values of the organisation. Employees are motivated adequately to meet the organisations needs. When these core activities are effectively carried out the resulting changes in the human resources in the form of employee attitudes and behaviours within a right organisational climate should lead the organisations successful performance (Bowen Ostroff, 2004). For instance these four core activities can help an organisation to create cultures that maintain its unique competencies, promote social relationships built on mutual trust, knowledge sharing, and teamwork (Schuler Jackson, 2007). Together these imply that an organisation which develops employees to acquire better work skills, become more knowledgeable, and achieve higher competencies would be able to effectively promote improved organisational performance. High Performance Work Practices (HPWPs) A key approach to SHRM is high performance work practices (Huselid, 1995). HPWPs are considered by researchers to produce positive effects on an organisations financial and business performance (Appelbaum et al, 2000; Schuler Jackson, 2007). When individuals are provided with the right environment and collaborative team work with adequate job discretion it is highly likely that they would produce high individual performances which collectively would lead to accomplishing a successful organisational performance (Becker Huselid, 2006). In order to do this the management of the organisation should use high performance work practices (Huselid, 1995). In other words use of high performance work practices would impact positively on both individual performance and organisational performance. HPWPs include employee empowerment, employee training, and teamwork (ibid) and talent management and staff retention (Huselid et al, 2005). Likewise high performance HR practices that includes a rigorous selection of staffs and robust training and development systems to increase employee ability levels and skills, supported by comprehensive incentive schemes to motivate employees, and empowering employees, have positive impact on employee productivity and organisational performance (Appelbaum et al, 2000). These HPWPs can lead an organisation to the development of skilled employees who actively engage in producing successful behaviours for the organisation which thus form a key source of competitive advantage to generate mutually beneficial outcomes to obtain higher organisational operating performances (Schuler Jackson, 2007). HPWPs lead to the achievement of these favourable organisational operating performances through the improved social structure within the organisation that greatly assist in better communication and higher cooperation among the work force (Appelbaum et al, 2000). Employee empowerment today is considered as part of talent management (Bux Tay, 2010). Hence, these two key HR practices that are in use at Bank Muscat have been discussed: in the next section 2.2.1, namely, employee empowerment; and talent management, including employee empowerment in Bank Muscat have been discussed in section 3 later. Employee Empowerment Only when individuals are empowered and made to get involved they can become an organisations most valued employees as a consequence of which they would become the right people who can offer value creation both for the organisation and its customers (Sarkar, 2009). Mullins (2007, p.702) defines employee empowerment as, allowing employees greater freedom, autonomy and self-control over their work, and responsibility for decision-making. According to Spreitzer (1995), employee empowerment is a motivational factor that embeds: employee competences and consistent behaviour and ability to initiate and regulate actions, which collectively influences operating performances in the organisation. The concept of employee empowerment is about leaders giving up their control in order to get the desired results for the organisation (Gretton, 1995 in Mullins, 2007). This is supported by Spreitzer (1995) who states that leaders can become more effective if only they can give up their power, but retain responsibility, to their staffs and teams. An effective management of employee empowerment is capable of producing a large number of benefits to an organisation from the top level to the bottom level (Mullins, 2007). By empowering its employees an organisation can improve both the individual ability and the organisational ability to perform successfully (ibid). Further, employee empowerment can be used as a successful organisational tool to raise employee productivity and profits (ibid). Likewise, empowerment facilitates employees to become innovative and render good performance since conflicts can be greatly avoided and more cooperation can be obtained (Spreitzer, 1995). Appelbaum et al (2000) suggest that empowerment enables greater utilisation of employee knowledge, abilities, and skills which in turn makes them cooperate more in the form of teamwork (Spreitzer, 1995). In many organisations HR role is restricted to routine tasks like hiring and firing, implementing the decisions made by others on pay and benefits (Frost et al, 2002). However, if the HR managers are empowered, then they would be engaged in much deeper aspects of recruitment, selection, and retention, employee training and development and focus strongly on workplace diversity which can contribute to increasing their competence and encourage them to empower their staffs in order to enhance the business and financial performance (ibid). Approaches to Talent Management It would be useful to understand the meaning behind two key words: Talent and Talent Management. CIPD of the UK provides two critical definitions on Talent and Talent Management as follows  [8]  : Talent Talent consists of those individuals who can make a difference to organisational performance, either through their immediate contribution or in the longer-term by demonstrating the highest levels of potential. Talent Management Talent management is the systematic attraction, identification, development, engagement/ retention and deployment of those individuals who are of particular value to an organisation, either in view of their high potential for the future or because they are fulfilling business/operation-critical roles. As discussed earlier, Bank Muscat operates in the services sector and by nature is a labour intensive Company whose main objective of running its banking operations is to provide high-quality customer services in banking and finance. And in this pursuit the role of the Banks people is critical in adding value not only to the customer services they render but also add value to Bank Muscat, thus eventually adding value to the Banks stakeholders. In view of the above and given the diversity of the work force of Bank Muscat, talent management at the Bank would have implications for recruitment and selection of competent staffs and staff retention. Further in terms of succession planning the Bank also has a need to mentor/coach future leaders/managers for Bank Muscat. Figure 1 illustrates the Talent Management framework at Bank Muscat which has been reproduced from the talent management framework supported by the Government of Australia for managing skill shortages  [9]  . Accordingly the following HR activities will be discussed here: Staff Recruitment and Selection Strategic Human Resource Development Mentoring Staff Retention. In addition to the above employee empowerment in Bank Muscat has been discussed as part of the Companys talent management practice under the heading Strategic Human Resource Development. Figure 1: Talent Management Framework The major recruitment and selection objective of Bank Muscat is to attract and retain and thus have the right people with core competencies to enable the Bank to continue to maintain its competitive advantage as a the countrys leading bank in terms of profits, net assets, and up to date IT infrastructure. According to Pollitt (2004, p.24) the following are the core competencies expected from the workers by organisations world wide. These are: Well developed leadership skills, The ability to shift attitudes and behaviors, The capacity to exert effective influence and work through others, The talent for successful partnership working and, most importantly, having the potential to adapt quickly to internal and external change, and To get that change owned and embedded in an organization. Given the low level availability of talent with the above core competencies recruiting right people now is much harder for organisations (ibid). This is particularly true in the case of Bank Muscat which requires people with the above skills and consequential difficulties in finding and recruiting such talent within the tight labour market in Oman. Main (2008) asserts that retaining highly skilled staff is a better option than recruiting new talent as recruiting would not only be an expensive option but also would be time-consuming in the present economic conditions, which applies to Bank Muscat as well though staff recruitment and selection process cannot be ignored. Staff Recruitment and Selection As mentioned earlier the labour market in Oman is differentiated in terms of the composition of the workforce (indigenous workers and expatriate workers). Further Oman has a tight labour market (like its other GCC member nations) which makes recruitment and staffing of employees extremely difficult due to the domestic shortage of skilled people on the one hand and the available young work force lack work experience and the required job skills. In the current economic downturn more and more employers are driven by the need to attract and retain workers with high skills and competencies to improve their organisational performances (Lunau, 2009). Many firms in Oman are experiencing low business and Bank Muscat is no exception which is indicated by a 21% drop in its annual profits for 2010 at OR73.7 million (about USD191.4 million)  [10]  . Nonetheless, aided by its human resource planning the Bank is on the look out for new workers to meet its staffing requirements for succession planning as well as its ongoing retail branch expansions. Without clear job descriptions any recruitment and selection process would be a failure (Frost et al, 2005). For example, the recruitment and selection process in some of the Omani public sector undertakings were criticised by the State Audit institution of Oman. The key to Bank Muscats recruitment and selection process is the use of clear job descriptions for recruiting the right people. Further since competence is considered as the critical element of Bank Muscats HR practices, priority is given to internal recruitment through promotions which actually helps the team members to work with maximum initiatives, increased expectations, and higher motivation. Strategic Human Resource Development (SHRD) Incorporating the core competencies of human resources and relating them for improving organisational performance is the purpose of strategic human resource development (Bratton Gold, 2007). When strategic human resource development is aligned the corporate strategies of the organisation it can lead to the creation of organisation-specific knowledge and skills (Garavan et al, 2007) which will also help build the core competencies of human resources. An effective recruitment and selection process should complement and support the training and development process (Boxall Purcell, 2003 in Bratton Gold, 2007). Accordingly, Bank Muscats recruitment and selection process is complemented by its training and development process which primarily focuses on building strong customer relationships. Training for Skill and Competence Development at Bank Muscat For this purpose, the Bank has been operating successfully its own Management Development Centre since year 2005 as part of its SHRD. Each training programme at the Centre is driven by the HR Departments training needs assessment exercise. This internal training and development Centre handles the training of the low-skilled employees on one end and high-skill positions on the other end. Training is imparted by training consultants from Dubai, London, and Australia who are supported by 3 full-time professional trainers of the Centre. The Centres training emphasis is based on self learning and Job-integrated learning. And the taught instructions along with the workshop learning programmes are delivered by the trainers who interact freely on a dialogue-basis rather than on a monologue-basis, encourage the trainees to participate more actively in the training and development process. The newly recruited low-skilled employees undergo a short and vigorous training to skill them for their current jobs. Likewise, mid-level skilled employees are trained on a regular basis to develop their current skills to high skills. In other words, both these skill groups receive training for advancing their careers within Bank Muscat. As for junior executive positions customised training programmes are provided at the Banks cost through the College of Banking and Financial Studies (CBFS), Muscat. These training programmes are revised from time to time to keep them up to date in terms of relevance to meet Bank Muscats HR needs. To ensure this the Banks HR Director and the College engage in the course revisions. Additionally, for senior executive positions Bank Muscat provides fully funded educational support for the MBA programmes from the UK. However, it is left to the choice of the individual staffs to pursue the MBA programmes. Nonetheless, employees from all the three skill-level categories receive full career guidance from the Management Development Centres Career Counsellor. Performance Appraisals in Bank Muscat Staff progress and promotion are based on formal performance appraisals in Bank Muscat. Performance appraisals are carried out mainly by the branch managers and within the Banks Head Office they are carried out by the departmental managers (e.g. Manager SME Department). Informational inputs to the branch and the departmental managers for these performance appraisals come through the 360 degree feedback process (including customer complaints). Employees of Bank Muscat are expected to have knowledge and understanding of the banking products. Therefore, performance of employees in the Bank is measured on the basis of their sales performances in the branches i.e. sale of the banking products (housing and auto loans, special savings accounts, fixed deposit schemes, Bank Muscat Credit Cards, etc). Once the performance appraisal process is completed the concerned managers and their staffs meet to discuss poor performance issues and commendations. This dialogue is facilitated by the open communication (which is continuously kept alive due to the employee empowerment practice in Bank Muscat). To the knowledge of this author the follow-up to poor performances resulted in the issues being solved rather than the same employee being found fault with, in terms of poor performance, again. Accordingly, none of the Banks employees has ever been reprimanded or were subject to any disciplinary actions by the Banks superiors. Employee Empowerment in Bank Muscat As discussed under section 2.2.1 earlier, employee empowerment is part of the talent management practice in Bank Muscat. Employee empowerment in Bank Muscat is carried out through: A simple 15 minutes briefing before the opening hours of the Bank on each first day of the week (which in Oman is Sunday for the Banks only) by the heads of the divisions/Branch Managers with their respective staffs. Direct communications in the form of intra-mail to the staffs from their bosses. Introduction of team-based work groups across SME Banking, Housing Loan, and Auto Loans that are linked with group bonus schemes for the team members. Active encouragement by departmental managers to engage their team members in planning and decision making relating to customer service issues and issues relating to operations. Above all the HR Executives directly report to the Banks CEO. By empowering its employees through delegation their productivity (faster processing of customer services) Bank Muscat has been able to keep its profitability up even in the current recessionary time. Mentoring A key strategy in the talent management is to put together the employees and their mentors to transfer the mentors skills, experience, and work behaviours to up-skill employee competencies in order obtain higher-levels of organisational performance (Murray, 2001). The purpose of mentoring process is to transfer professional, technical, and generic skills to people who will continue working in the organisation (ibid). In other words the mentoring process would help employees to stay with the organisation and thus ensure not only in retaining their talent but also help the organisation in its succession planning (ibid; Main, 2008). For example, banking companies stand to benefit from the mentoring process in the form of decreasing time needed to master customer service skills (Murray, 2001, p.36). Bank Muscats major objective is to capture key organisational knowledge from its senior leaders who are approaching their retirement and ensure knowledge-sharing among all its staffs. Based on the outline provided by Murray (2001, p.36) the other objectives of Bank Muscats mentoring process are: To improve retention by making our experienced and skilled people feel more valued To improve results-profit or other-with people who are more competent, confident, experienced, and motivated To ensure representation of diverse groups at all levels of the organization To enable our people to learn to work with others with different education, ages, cultures, physical abilities, etc. To improve communication across functional and divisional lines. Bank Muscat applies this to its staffs at all levels i.e. from new workers to newly promoted Managers. In particular the following details the formal mentoring process at Bank Muscat: Each newly promoted Manager will be paired with a mentor. New young recruits and those who are in their early career stages are paired with senior staff members for ensuring their training and retention. Senior members of the staff are to identify leadership and managerial talent and coach them to excel in their present and future work. Special rewards are given to managers whose mentoring leads to staff retention (over a 5-year minimum period). During the last 3 years the top management carried out 4 promotions among assistant branch managers and 3 promotions among branch supervisors among the branches in the Muscat area. Staff Retention The noted management consultancy company, McKinsey Company recommends the creation of Employee Value Proposition (EVP) as a strong means to retain talent in organisations (Brannick, 2001). Four elements make up the EVP (ibid, p.30): Great Company Company and its people care mutually for each other. Employees have pride in working for the company. Great Job Employees feel that their work is highly valued and their talents and achievements are duly recognised by their company. Great Leaders People who provide

Report On Pakistan Tobacco Industry

Report On Pakistan Tobacco Industry This project is based on analysis of the tobacco industry because Tobacco in Pakistan holds an economic significance in Pakistan economy. Pakistan is second largest cigarette consumer in south Asia. It is a great source of revenue for major players and for Pakistan economy. It gives the highest revenue to government in terms of taxes. Pakistan tobacco company is dominated by two major players Pakistan tobacco company and philip Morrris. They have brands which hold the maximum share in the cigarratte market few are dunhill, gold leaf, capstan, gold flake, benson and hedges, Marlboro, embassy, and red and white. They have high demand for these brands. The increase in demand and supply may be due to more brands offered by the cigarettes manufactures and in the late 1990s tobacco companies were allowed to advertise their brands. However the consumption of cigarettes is more than the official data mainly due to no record of smuggling and unregistered cigarettes manufacturers. The demand s upply also vary because of seasonal fluctuations, holy month of Ramadan, inflation and increase in population. The companies have enough capacity but they do not utilize that capacity because currently smuggling is practiced in a country at high level. There is an availability of raw material in different regions of the country but NWFP and Punjab are the major producer of the raw material. Tobacco duty structure in Pakistan divided into complicated 3 levels. Lower, lower mid and premium. There are few issues related to the industry the main issue is the smuggling which affects the market badly other are the advertisement, health before trade, increase taxes, close down duty free, tax evasion. These issues have risen because no action taken by the government. They should control smuggling by tracing the distributors which would also helpful in a way to control tax evasion, companies should use modern technologies and should have timely control to have more yield. Table of Contents OVERVIEW Tobacco in Pakistan holds an economic significance in Pakistan economy. Tobacco is grown throughout the country but major source of tobacco raw material is in the Khyber Pakhtoon khowa. In Pakistan, although tobacco cultivation occupies a relatively small area of 0.27% of the total irrigated land in the country and about 3% in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Pakistan was a net importer of tobacco in 1948 but became self sufficient in tobacco production in 1969. It was mainly due increase in productivity and new method used for tobacco cultivation. Pakistan tobacco exports and imports countries are prominent. Pakistan within 30 years of Independence became 5th largest tobacco producer in the world and 4th highest in yield. Currently tobacco industry in Pakistan is dominated by two multinational firms Pakistan Tobacco Company LTD and Phillip Morris Pakistan LTD. Though there are others firms but their influence on tobacco industry is not significant. Other companies are: Sarhad Cigarette Industry, Walton Tobacco Company, International Cigarette Industry, Khyber Tobacco Company, Imperial Cigarette Industry, Universal Tobacco Company, Saleem Cigarette Industry, Souvenir Tobacco Company. Cigarette industry contributes nearly 3.5 percent of total FBR revenue currently the major challenge for Tobacco industry is the increasing trend of smuggling. Overview of the market share of tobacco industry in Pakistan Economic Significance This crop possesses immense economic significance and its impact on the fiscal and monetary policies of Pakistan. Tobacco possesses great source of revenue, employment and foreign exchange earnings to the country. It give the highest revenue to government in terms of taxes. Tobacco industry currently employs about 80,000 workers in cultivation, 50,000 are employed in 21 factories of the tobacco industry and it also provides 1 million indirect employments. It is also an important source of foreign exchange earnings for the country approximately US$ 61.349 million during the fiscal year of 2010-2011.Pakistan Tobacco board have played an important role in developing the production of tobacco crop on scientific methods, if it had not been developed the country would have been importing raw material worth Rs.8-10 billion per annum (2009-2010). Exports Year Quantity exported Value Total Value Tobacco Cigarettes Cigars Tobacco Cigarettes Cigars (M.Rs) (M.US$) (M.Kgs) (M.Nos) M.Nos (M.Rs) (M.Rs) M.Rs 1999-2000 3.90 16.060 273.13 7.440 280.57 5.420 2000-2001 5.98 11.770 578.05 6.220 586.18 10.032 2001-2002 3.20 108.240 231.11 49.180 286.41 4.659 2002-2003 5.49 74.23 316.75 45.62 362.37 6.25 2003-2004 8.27 163.96 642.74 124.35 767.09 13.23 2004-2005 7.17 44.73 626.67 46.94 673.61 11.23 2005-2006 3.83 21.00 332.80 66.70 339.47 5.66 2006-2007 5.77 26.12 0.77 543.85 24.64 1.69 570.18 9.50 2007-2008 4.72 3.97 0.13 449.82 4.17 0.16 454.15 5.68 2008-2009 4.77 10.97 0.02 963.27 14.84 0.03 978.14 13.973 2009-2010 5.17 13.94 11.10 1201.08 24.22 16.41 1241.71 15.521 2010-2011 8.39 23.49 2294.53 39.75 - 2334.28 24.571 Pakistan main exporter for tobacco is US because it does not produce quality unmanufactured tobacco. The value increase by 85% during 2000-2001 fiscal yea. However the value decline by 53% from 10.032 to 4.659 in 2001-2002. The main reason for decline was the aftermath of 9/11 which resulted in exports orders cancelled. Foreign business people were advise to take security clearance. Year 2003-2004 saw a 100% increase in value from pervious year. In 2005-2006 year tobacco industry experienced a fall of around 50% in value and the trend remained till 2007-2008 year. During the last fiscal year Pakistan tobacco industry achieved the highest value of exports at around 24.571 million. FLOW CHART/ MANUFACTURING PROCESS Processing and manufacturing After harvesting and curing, the cured leaf is processed through a Green Leaf threshing plant. The main purpose of this processing is to: Remove sand, dust and other particles Separate the lamina from the stem (threshing) Drive down the moisture content to safe storage levels. Manufacturing At Tobacco factories, the matured tobacco is checked for quality and then carefully mixed with other ingredients to make different forms of tobacco, such as flavorings or pre-processed tobacco. Technical tools are used to keep track of various types of tobacco; computers are increasingly used to keep track of the process. Moisture content is an important part of tobacco process. Too dry and the tobacco leaf will crumble; too moist and it may spoil during storage. Right amount of steam is required to treat the blended tobacco and exact amount of water to make it elastic and then cut into the form in which it appears in the cigarette. Excess moisture is then removed so the cut tobacco can be given a final blending and quality check. Traditionally Cigarette making was done by hand but nowadays it is almost fully automated, with the cut tobacco, cigarette paper and filters continuously fed into cigarette-making machines. The technology has advanced dramatically over the years which have not wear down the quality; each cigarette is automatically quality controlled to ensure that it meets every benchmark for its specification. STRUCTURAL COMPOSITION Product Mix Since Pakistan tobacco industry is dominated by two multinational companies Philip Morris and Pakistan Tobacco Company. Both companies have many brands in cigarettes which are produced to cater different income class. Pakistan Tobacco Company Brands available in Pakistan Super Premium Duhill High and Premium John Player Gold Leaf Benson Hedges Medium Category Gold Flake Wills Kings Capstan Low category Embassy Super Premium Marlboro High and Premium Red and white Medium Category Moven gold Low category K-2 Diplomat Philip Morris Pakistan Brands available in Pakistan Cigarette market in Pakistan is dominated by lower mid-priced cigarettes which are almost 90 percent of the market. Market for Premium category is only 10%. John Player Gold Leaf has a market share of 9.83 percent in the country whereas world leading brand Marlboro which is in the premium category have insignificant share ranging from 0.1 to 0.25% of the total market. In the middle category, Gold Flake has major market share of 38.64 percent followed by Morven Gold which caters to the 37 percent of the market need. Capstan has started losing its share as Pakistan Tobacco Company has introduced another brand as Capstan by Pall Mall, which has started capturing its share in the market. In the lower class Embassy has a market share of almost 4.5 percent whereas Diplomat has a market share of about 2.5 percent followed by K-2 with the market share of 1.5 percent of the total sales. At present, consumer price of a pack of 20 of most sold brand in the country is Rs 28.80 (US $0.33) which i s almost lowest in the world. Installed capacity Installed capacity for cigarettes sticks in billions 2010-2011 Average Industry 126 Pakistan Tobacco Company 45.1 Philip Morris Pakistan 50.1 Others 31 Average installed capacity for cigarettes manufacturing company in tobacco industry is 126 billion stick per year. Pakistan Tobacco Company Ltd which holds the largest market share in industry has an annual capacity of 45.1 billion cigarettes. Philip Morris Pakistan which is the second largest producer of Cigarettes has an annual capacity of 50.1 billion Capacity utilization Capacity utilization increased from 49.6 billion sticks in 2002-2003 to 75.8 billion sticks 2010-2011. Average 68 billion sticks are produced annually. Pakistan Tobacco Company produced 40.5 billion sticks out of a capacity of 45.1 billion during 2010-2011. Philip Morris produced 22.4 billion sticks from capacity of 50.1 billion during the same year. The reason for under utilization of capacity for Philip Morris is due to smuggling and illegal trade which will be discuss later in the report. Capacity utilization of Cigarettes sticks in Billion 2010-2011 Average industry utilization 68 Pakistan Tobacco Company 40.5 Phillip Morris Pakistan 22.4 RAW MATERIAL AVAILABILITY tobzones.jpg The map shows different types of raw materials available all over Pakistan. The major portion of raw material comes from NWFP and Punjab. Pakistan gets the majority of different types of raw material from NWFP mainly due to fertility of soil and suitable weather. NWFP produces around three-fourths of the tobacco leaf grown in the country. The specific raw materials that come from NWFP are Virginia flue-cured, Burley, Nicotiana rustica (country sum-cured/White Patta). Flue Cured Virginia tobacco is now the most widely grown and widely used type of cigarette tobacco in Pakistan and the total production of this high value commodity have increased from 23.8 million kgs in 1967-68 to 66 million kgs in 2007. Punjab is second largest in terms of raw material availability. Punjab is famous for the production of dark air-cured and hookah type tobaccos. Apart from these two raw material Kala Patta (snuff) is also cultivated in Punjab region. Sindh and Balochistan produces Nicotiana Rustica and Country air-cured (Snuff) respectively. Virginia and Burley is procured mostly from local farmers on contract basis Tobacco raw material is available extensively all over Pakistan is a major strength for Tobacco industry mainly. Pakistan is now the 7th largest producer of flue-cured tobacco. Deep researches and development have been carried out by Pakistan Tobacco Board in collaboration with tobacco companies in order to reduce dependence on the import of good quality tobacco leaf such as suitable climatic conditions have been explored in areas of Mansehra, Buner, Swat and Dir districts to meet the quality requirements of cigarettes for domestic use. Forms of Tobacco Intake Raw material is used for to make different form of tobacco such as Chilumhuqqah, chewing tobacco in pan, snuff and niswar. Experts divide tobacco use into two broad categories -smoking and smokeless tobacco. According to a survey conducted by PMRC apart from cigarettes moist dry snuff and chewing tobacco is commonly used in Pakistan. Huqqah and Chilum, are the oldest means of tobacco intake in this region. Production Of Different Types Of Tobacco In Pakistan (Million Kgs) Year Flue-cured Virginia Dark air-cured White Patta Burley Others Total 2000-2001 50.96 1.17 9.65 0.58 23.38 85.74 2001-2002 59.61 1.94 9.38 0.95 20.70 92.58 2002-2003 51.31 1.42 10.83 2.15 22.55 88.26 2003-2004 50.29 0.69 10.98 1.60 22.63 86.19 2004-2005 65.78 0.86 9.91 1.64 *22.63 100.82 2005-2006 73.7 1.6 13.2 0.9 23.12 89.47 2006-2007 65.75 0.80 11.62 0.8 24.27 78.97 2007-2008 69.54 0.96 14.98 0.35 21.93 85.83 2008-2009 71.32 1.38 25.98 - - 98.68 2009-2010 79.79 2.83 26.64 - 109.26 2010-2011 64.670 13.540 - 78.210 Annual estimated requirement of tobacco crop in 2012 Type of Tobacco (MillionKgs) Flue-cured Virginia 66.680 Dark Air-cured 1.085 White Patta 2.190 Burley 0.100 Sun Cured 1.100 Rustica 1.800 Total 72.955 Current production till April/may 2012 White PattaType of Tobacco (MillionKgs) Flue-cured Virginia 75.94 Dark Air-cured 1.41 7.40 Minimum price of raw material Rs.121 Current Market price Rs.140 Prices of raw material Duty Structure Tobacco duty structure in Pakistan divided into complicated 3 levels. Lower, lower mid and premium. In lower level there is an excise duty of Rs.9.5 for a pack of 20 cigarettes below retail price of Rs.20 excluding sales tax. Excise duty is 46% on most sold consumer brand, 56% excise duty on premium brand and 50% on cheapest brand. The excise duty is very low and difficult to understand. The Total revenue potential of the cigarette industry is around Rs 80 billion per year and around Rs.50.2818 billion taxes was collected during 2011-2012 from two multinationals and some other manufacturers. The difference shows that tax evasion in tobacco industry is high. Approximately Rs.9-10 billion tax is evaded annually. The main reason for this evasion is because of the complex tax structure and it is reported that multinationals and federal board of Revenue (FBR) have intentionally made tax difficult so that less amount can be charged thus benefiting cigarettes manufactures tax collection has also been affected due to inefficient check and balance. DEMAND AND SUPPLY ANALYSIS Estimated demand The demand/consumption for cigarettes has seen a steady growth over the years. domestic cnosumption by year.bmp consumption table 2.bmpconsumtion table.bmp The data above shows that consumption of cigarettes has been increasing since 1960 onwards. The data reveals that there have been massive increases in consumption pattern of cigarettes since 1996 mainly due to availability of more brands offered by cigarettes manufactured. Around 200 million cigarette sticks were consumed in 2011. There are about 22 million smokers in the country and 55% of the house households have at least one individual who smokes cigarettes. This consumption trend makes Pakistan an attractive market for cigarettes manufactures. Demographic cigarettes consumption trend 29% of men and 3.4% of women smoke cigarettes regularly according to national health survey Heavy consumption of smoking (20 or more cigarettes per day) is most common and among men 25-44 years of age in Pakistan. 37% of heavy smoking is done in urban areas in contrast to 26% in rural areas. Total cigarettes consumption in South Asia. total consumtion pie chart1.bmp The data shows that Pakistan is second largest cigarette consumer in south Asia. India is biggest consumer of cigarettes in south asia mainly due to highest population in the south asian region. Estimated supply tobacco3.bmp The table has been taken from Pakistan economic survey 2010-2011. Te table shows that since 1990 the supply/ production of cigarettes have been increasing. This table illustrates that production of cigarettes increased during 1995-1996. During 2008-2009 fiscal year supply reached its peak of 75,609 millions. Demand and Supply analysis There are certain points that we can derive from demand and supply of tobacco industry. Firstly there was a huge increase in consumption and production of Cigarettes in 199. The increase in demand and supply may be due to more brands offered by the cigarettes manufactures and in the late 1990s tobacco companies were allowed to advertise their brands. However the consumption of cigarettes is more than the official data mainly due to no record of smuggling and unregistered cigarettes manufacturers accurate. Some common factors for demand and supply fluctuation are discussed below Seasonal Fluctuations in demand Seasonal do play a part in consumption of cigarettes. During winter the demand for cigarettes increases. Demographics are also important, northern areas of Pakistan generally have a higher demand for cigarettes. Religious month of Ramdan Ramdan effects the consumption of cigarettes. During the month of Ramadan consumption of cigarettes decreases as people only smoke after fast or those who dont smoke tend to avoid smoking in front of people as it is unwelcomed by the society. Increase in population and availability of brands Increase in the population of Pakistan along with more availability of cigarettes brands by manufacturers have contributed in increasing the demand and supply of cigarettes. Moreover increasing trend of smoking being considered as fashionable has also contributed towards the increase in consumption. Different varieties means more choice for consumer. A Daily Times survey revealed that wholesale dealers supply fake and smuggled cigarettes to about 20,000 retailers of Lahore, who sell them to ignorant consumers who can either not tell the difference or sent their children or servants to buy cigarettes Natural disasters Natural calamities is another factor for fluctuation in demand and supply of Cigarettes. The worst floods in 2010 since 1974 damaged fertile tobacco-producing land such as in NWFP Taxation and inflation Changes in tax structure and inflation affect the production and consumption of cigarettes. An increase in tax results in decrease in production and increase in price thus reducing the demand for cigarettes. Inflation level in Pakistan is always increasing, the increase in price level make it worse for manufacturers and government as people shift to smuggled brands which are available at cheaper price. This act result in loss of revenue to government in terms of taxes and loss of sales for manufacturersporter.jpg Porters five Forces Model By using Porters Five Forces Framework we will discuss five basic competitive forces within the tobacco industry. The threat of potential new entrants, the bargaining power of suppliers, the bargaining power of buyers, the threat of substitutes, and the extent of competitive rivalry. Threat of new Entrants The barriers to entry in the Pakistan tobacco industry are low mainly due to less competition in the industry and local companies can easily enter the market however the barriers to enter the market nationally are very high. The reason for high barriers at national level is due to high manufacturing, distribution and marketing cost which makes it difficult for local companies to sustain themselves at national stage. High investment cost is required to build production facilities that can mass-produce tobacco products at the national level. Moreover packaging cost of cigarettes countrywide is very high which cannot be afforded by the new local firm. Brand identity is another barrier to entry in Pakistan Tobacco industry. Brand awareness is very important in any industry. In Pakistan government has imposed restriction on advertising. The ban on cigarettes adverstising is acting as a barrier to entry because advertising and communication is required to product strength in the mind of consumers. This ban is also effecting existing companies in a way that they cannot reinforce their current brands and will find difficulty in launching new brands. High brand loyalty in Tobacco industry is another entry barrier for new firms. Example Benson Hedges users will not shift to a new product because of high emotional attached to it. Bargaining power of Suppliers In Pakistan tobacco industry raw material for cigarettes is provided by farmers to manufacturers. Apart from Green Revolution agricultural products have been exploited in all decades this as resulted in low prices of agricultural products but throughout Pakistan history policies have been favoring industries, finished goods are sold at higher price whereas raw material are bought at lower prices. In Tobacco sector supplier has less bargaining power because of less competitors in tobacco industry. Many of the tobacco farmers are located in NWFP, Punjab. Even though government has imposed minimum price but it has been ineffective due to dominance of multinational firms in the tobacco sector. Multinational have bargaining power because they control more than 70% of the market thus illustrating that the farmers have little bargaining power due to the government interaction. Bargaining power of Buyers Economy plays an important role in buying cigarettes in tobacco industry. As we know Pakistan economy is uncertain with high unemployment, increasing inflation and political instability. These factors affect the buying power of consumers. Buyer power in tobacco industry also depends on disposable income. A decline in buyers disposable income results in buying cheaper brands of cigarettes and if a buyers disposable income increases, then they are more likely to buy more expensive brands. By looking at the current scenario Pakistan Tobacco Company launched a low price brand Capstan which became very popular among consumer and captured 14% of market share which effected the market share of Philip Morris brand Moven gold. A recent example of Pakistan Tobacco Company increased the price of Dunhill which resulted in decrease of their market share as consumers shifted towards low price brand Capstan. Consumers in the United States are now increasingly becoming more concerned with health issues. Consumer health awareness has hurt the market for tobacco sellers and has also led to the increase for government regulation. But in Pakistan which has more population than United States serves as an attractive market. Moreover less government regulation results in cigarettes manufacturers exploiting consumers. Threat of Substitutes The biggest substitute for tobacco users is to just quit using any type of tobacco product. many companies are trying to make product which is beneficial for the smokers to quit smoking, for this purpose they started campaign promoting awareness regarding health isssues. There are many services to help people using tobacco. As health issues and diseases increases day by day so people themselves willing to quit smoking for this purpose they started using different product or services like they started workout which would be the motivating factor or them to quit smoking. There are also some government websites which teaches different method to quit smoking and live a healthier life. Some people prefer to consult doctor and they provide them with prescription tablets or pills which would make them able to forget about smoking and it would be a source for them to live normal life, this also be one of the substitute for tobacco products. . There are many benefits which motivates the consumer of tobacco to quit like smokers will to live the heather life would be the motivating factor other than this the cost involves in getting cigarette is very high and due to inflation and rising prices of the cigarette consumer could not afford to have additional items into their daily routine so they started involved in different methods to quit smoking and Buyer propensity toward tobacco substitutes seems to have increased over time with the evidence that smoking can lead to health risks such as lung cancer, emphysema, heart disease, pregnancy complications, and other health problems. Competitive rivalry Competitive rivalry in tobacco sector is medium to high because more than 70% of the tobacco market is controlled by Pakistan Tobacco Company and Phillip Morris Pakistan. Both firms are involved in intensive price wars in order to get a market share. Dominant firm like PTC is continuously decreasing its in order to maintain its market leadership. Pakistan Tobacco Company reduced the price of its medium-price to sustain market share. This triggered threat to Philip Morris Pakistan as they also had to reduce their prices. Pakistan Tobacco Company controls the largest market share at around 60%. Pakistan tobacco company brand gold flake contributes largest revenue for the company. Both companies have divided their brands into different segments to cater different income class people. Even though the volume of cigarettes have been steady for the past few years the revenue continue to increase, thus making cigarettes manufacturers financial position stronger Rivalry in the low and medium sector of cigarettes has been a strong focus of the leading companies in recent years. The market for low and medium category is increasing in country mainly because of the income level in Pakistan. Pakistan Tobacco Company leads in this sector by having around 3 brands for medium and 1 brand to cater low income class. With the potential growth in middle and low category Pakistan Tobacco Company introduced another brand by name Capstan by mall pall even though it had Capstan brand. Philip Morris are also introducing new brands under medium and low category to extract the profitability. By using the Porters Five Forces Framework we were able to discuss the five basic competitive forces within the tobacco industry. The level of difficulty for new entrants; the lack of bargaining power of suppliers; the bargaining power of buyers between different brands; the high level of potential substitutes; and the competition rivalry, as well as domestic growth areas; were all analyzed within the tobacco industry using the Porters Five Forces Framework. Dominant forces such as government regulation and health awareness influence change in the tobacco industry. The potential impact that theses forces could play on the tobacco industry could be harsh if companies dont adjust and change with them. MAJOR PLAYERS Pakistan Tobacco Company LTD In 1947 Pakistan Tobacco Company Limited was established. The company congratulate itself for being the first multi-national company to start its business in Pakistan. Pakistan Tobacco Company is the subsidiary company of British American Tobacco which started its operations for over 100 years now and dealt in over 180 countries. The Company has international reputation for manufacturing and marketing high quality brands for the adults. PTC is one of the leading companies in Pakistan. PTC has two art factories in two different states and has more than 1,700 people working there and more than a million people working in various aspects of the business indirectly. PTC is the market leader. PTC has a vision of being the leaders of growth, champions of productivity, responsibility and a leading organization PerformanceClipboard01gross turnover of ptc.bmp The gross revenue was increased of about 67 million in year 2011 from 60 million in year 2010 because of the successful introduction of brand capstan which occupied 14% of the market share. In 2011, the growth was initiated by new performance of its brand Capstan established in July 2010. PTC captures a market share of about 49.4 percent in the overall market. At the beginning of 2012, the companys brands have performed well against the competition. The 77 percent increase in such marketing, distribution and selling activities during the period, the operating margins decreased to 9.76 percent in 2012 from 10.27 percent in 2011. The operating margin declined, but still the Company was able to control costs during the period. The gross profit increased to 30.71 percent in 2012 from 25.75 percent last year as