...Honda is a well-known car manufacturer company in the world and produces different kinds of products to satisfy customers and creates value. Honda creates value via different ways such as creating advanced products and technologies, developing the older products, conducting market research and design different styling through engineering. Also safety and environmental considerations are the main factors that locate the company as the leading environmental and safe car company. On the other hand, three of teens whom I interviewed about their cars have different view about their automobiles. Models, high performance, safe, stylish, affordable, small, and reliable are the core values to them to buy a car. They say that lots of car companies marketing for such values, but few of them are honest with their products and the rest of them are not honest for what they advertise and promise. Kia is one of the cars the teens mostly like for its affordable insurance, high safety, reliability, gasoline consumptions, and customer satisfactions. Kia gives value the...
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...TIMBERLAND THE SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE MNE TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT 3 INTRODUCTION 3 1 A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ON CSR 4 1.1 Changing perceptions, CSR as a must 4 1.2 Stakeholders’ Theory and Social Contract 5 1.3 Carroll Theory 6 1.4 Positive and negative light of CSR 6 1.5 How to implement Corporate Social Responsibility in a MNE ....................................7 2 TIMBERLAND AND CSR 7 2.1 Brief history of Timberland 8 2.2 The path towards CSR at Timberland: “Commerce and Justice” 8 2.3 CSR at Timberland today: the 4 Pillars 9 2.4 Timberland CSR practices: two cases in evidence 10 Case 1: Timberland entering India 10 Case 2: Timberland in China and Vietnam 11 3 TIMBERLAND’S INTERNATIONALIZATION STRATEGY 11 3.1 Timberland’s internationalization process: an overview 11 3.2 Historical context fostering or hampering Timberland’s internationalization 13 3.3 An internationalization theory applied: The Uppsala model 14 4 ROLE OF CSR IN TIMBERLAND’S INTERNATIONALIZATION STRATEGY 15 4.1 Boosting company efficiency by educating workforce 16 4.2 Improving local performances by assessing Code of Conduct compliance 16 4.3 Strengthening international relationships by supporting local development 17 4.4 Spreading global image by involving communities 17 4.5 Financing international expansion by boosting shareholders’ endorsement 18 5 TIMBERLAND VS. COMPETITORS: CSR NURTURING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE 19 5.1 OLI theory: an application of Timberland’s...
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...Name: Nnamdi Okechukwu Class: Bus 651, Strategic Marketing Communications and Brand Management NIKE: BUILDING A GLOBAL BRAND When Nike established itself in the marketplace, it used branding to achieve this goal by making its products immediately identifiable and recognizable in the marketplace. Nike’s brand image had a lot of characteristics, but the major ones were Awareness; Nike promoted their products by making sure that potential consumers recognized their brands and correctly associated the brand with a particular product. Consistency in the Marketplace: Nike has done an excellent job in keeping their products consistent in the marketplace. The consumer knows Nikes products for their quality, durability and most importantly its product differentiation from other competitors. Nike has developed strong brand equity in the United States due to its high level of brand awareness. Nike’s sources of brand equity in the US include; Brand Image, Price, Packaging, Brand Awareness and Positioning. These sources of brand equity have created unique, durable, and efficient products that are recognized worldwide leading to higher volume sales and higher profit margins against competing brands. Nike’s effort to become a global corporation has affected its sources of brand equity and brand image in the United States, Europe, and Asia positively. They achieved this by establishing their name in popular sports like soccer, track and field and tennis in Europe, basketball in America...
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...rP os t 9-306-064 REV: FEBRUARY 12, 2008 ROSABETH MOSS KANTER RYAN L. RAFFAELLI op yo Innovation at Timberland: Thinking Outside the Shoe Box In December 2005, CEO Jeff Swartz and COO Ken Pucker headed for a meeting in Timberland’s Stratham, New Hampshire, world headquarters, to celebrate achievements and ensure that plans were in place for several important product launches in the spring. The approach of a new year gave them a chance to reflect on progress made and consider opportunities ahead. tC Jeff and Ken walked past the festive, holiday-decorated company store, with its promotion of ornaments to support Share Our Strength, a hunger relief organization. At the entrance of the company’s cafeteria, they stopped at a display featuring a campaign to stop the genocide in Darfur and an adjacent wall of customized Timberland boots designed by City Year to celebrate sixteen years of partnership in the community. Since 1989, Timberland had served as National Leadership Sponsor to the national youth service corps. All of these reflected the values that constituted Timberland’s soul. Now soles (the in-shoe variety) were on the leaders’ minds. No Over the past 3-4 years, Timberland had booted up a formal system to produce greater innovation—in some ways, a return to the past. The company’s early growth had come from bootstrapping significant inventions in footwear, including one of the world’s first waterproof boots. More recently, Timberland’s...
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...It starts with an idea s t a g e s o f innovation Best Practices in Brand Extension: Effective Application of Brand Recognition BRAND EQUITY CAN BE DIVIDED INTO THREE COMPONENTS: EXPERTISE, EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENTS AND PRODUCT ATTRIBUTES Brand extensions are an effective and popular method of gaining a competitive advantage when entering a new product area. Consumers are faced with an increasingly complex and confusing marketplace. The ability of a brand to act as a mental shortcut for consumers, thereby simplifying the decision-making process, makes it one of, it not the, most important asset for a company. The ability of a brand to influence consumer behavior, and its subsequent value to companies, will increase as consumers face a growing amount of information in the marketplace. By placing a well-known brand on a new product, a company can imbue that product with all the positive associations of that brand, thereby giving it a competitive advantage. With some estimates of the failure rate for new products at 90%, the added value of being associated with a trusted brand can be critical to a new product’s survival. Given the increasing value of established brands and the difficulty in launching new products, the popularity of brand extensions is understandable. However, the brand extension process must be carefully planned in order to insure the value of the brand is successfully transferred to the extension without jeopardizing the brand’s equity. To do so, a company...
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...and a SWOT analysis to explain your answer. ECCO produces mainly casual footwear with an intense focus on high-quality production.In order to deliver the highest quality product, ECCO maintained a fully vertically integrated value chain situated in various countries leveraging local expertise.Because of this unique situation, competitors found it very difficult to sustain a comparable level of quality. As noted in the case, ECCO finds itself in a highly competitive industry. The primary competitors identified in the case are: Timberland, Clarks, and Geox. For a brief analysis of the strengths of each of these competitors, please refer to Figure 3.As ECCO has recently entered the golf shoe market, they also face stiff competition from firms such as Nike, Rebok, and Adidas. ECCO stands in a unique position among the competitors in that it is the only non-branded manufacturer.The primary competitors of ECCO identified in the case outsource the majority of their manufacturing then uniquely brand the end product. These firms depend on brand recognition and marketing to drive consumer decision, not intrinsic quality. By contrast, ECCO is very focused on quality, and maintains control of 80% of manufacturing in-house. Because ECCO is uniquely positioned with full control of manufacturing and distribution, they have a level of agility and efficiency that is unattainable by competitors....
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...FUTURE OF FASHION: SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH THE LENS OF THE FASHION INDUSTRY* By: Jennifer Johnson & Gina Wu Companies across all industries are facing the challenges of business sustainability, debating how best to address these risky issues while also embracing their opportunities for competitive advantage. This Teaching Module uses the context of the fashion industry to discuss topics that are shaping the future of all industries. These topics include sustainable resource management, the challenges and opportunities of global growth, workforce management, and the role of ethical consumption in business. The fashion industry offers a compelling case study for exploring business sustainability issues. In the fashion industry, as in many industries, success requires highly developed sourcing, design, manufacturing, and marketing chains. Increasingly, success also means incorporating sustainability in resource and labor management, as firms realize that long-term corporate survival will depend on new ways of doing business. Climate change, resource challenges, new technologies and dramatic shifts in the global economy are already impacting the industry. The nexus of these concerns allows students to explore sustainability challenges while providing a framework for discussing new business models and management techniques for the future. Given its enormous reach and connection to important business topics ranging from climate change to social networking, the fashion industry’s...
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...Complementarities: How Geox has Rejuvenated the Footwear Industry Arnaldo Camuffo, Andrea Furlan, Pietro Romano and Andrea Vinelli MIT IPC Working Paper IPC-05-005 June 2005 We apply the related notions of complementarities and performance landscapes to study strategic positioning in the footwear industry. We use this theoretical framework to analyze Geox, an Italian footwear manufacturer that, in less than a decade, has grown to be one of the world largest brown shoe manufacturers, outperforming the industry in terms of market and financial results. We describe Geox’s choices within four stages along its value chain: product design, marketing and communication, production and supply chain, distribution and retail. We show that, though grounded on product innovation (the Geox breathes® patented system which allows ventilation in waterproof rubber sole shoes), Geox’s competitive advantage has not grown out of operational excellence in single activities in the business, but, rather, derives from a unique and consistent configuration of complementary activities. Such configuration represents an innovative strategic position and corresponds to a high performance peak in the footwear industry performance landscape. The case study provides anecdotal evidence in support of complementarity-based economic theory, showing how complementarities among activities help understand increasing returns to scale, firm size and business growth even without the standard assumptions about economies...
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...Herman Miller, Inc. Traditional Case Study June 18th 2012 David Maillie Andrew Hatfield-O’Hern Andrew Withers Isil Ecevit Nawaf Nizamudeen Current Status History Herman Miller began in Zeeland Michigan as a manufacturer of high quality furniture and bedroom suites entitled the Star Furniture Co. In 1909 the company’s name was switched to the Michigan Star Furniture Company. At the same time, Dirk Jan De Pree was hired as a clerk. Just 10 years later, Mr. De Pree became president of the company. Mr. De Pree saw great potential with the company and soon after talked his father-in-law, Herman Miller, to purchase the company by buying up the majority (51%) of the company stock in 1923. The company name was then changed and named after Herman Miller and remains that way today. Early on, Herman Miller became a company that treated workers very differently. Most manufacturing companies, De Pree stressed that all workers are important individuals with special talents and potential (Adams, S. B., Manz, C. C., Manz, K., Shipper, F. (2010). He saw that workers were more than just hourly labor and knew that if he could encourage them to expand their horizons and broaden their knowledge and interests that the company would also benefit from this. In the early 1930s, the Herman Miller company was known for producing high-quality, traditional furniture. However, this was the time of the Great Depression. A very trying time with unemployment rates as high as 25%...
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...The Strategic Move of Crocs, Inc. By Jennifer von Briesen, Founder & Principal, Frontier Strategy, LLC Crocs, Inc. Overview Crocs, Inc. is a U.S. based shoe designer, manufacturer, and retailer that launched its business in 2002 selling Crocs™ brand casual plastic clogs with straps in a variety of solid, bright colors. Love them or hate them, the tremendous popularity of Crocs™ shoes is an undeniable business success story. Crocs’ bold strategic move allowed it to break out of the red ocean and achieve both differentiation and low costs to create a blue ocean. The result was rapid growth and global expansion to reach US$847 Million in revenues and US$168 Million of profits in 2007, just six years after launch. Crocs store in Boston, MA. © J. von Briesen, Frontier Strategy, LLC (2009) Unfortunately, after that, instead of remaining true to the principles of blue ocean strategy, Crocs started to compromise on the very foundation that made it a success. It lost its focus on a few simple styles and started offering a wide range of complicated styles and expanded too aggressively. The result was declining performance and higher costs. In the rest of this article, the story of Crocs’ strategic move will be explained and will conclude with some perspectives on the company’s current situation. Crocs Entered A Red Ocean Industry When It Launched in 2002 The U.S. footwear industry in 2002 was $49.3B in annual sales1, split about 60%-40% between fashion and...
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...CASE STUDY Chapter SIX CASE 6-1 Case Study on “Transfer Pricing Problems” Case SUMMARY Division A of Lambda Company manufactures product X, which is sold to Division B as a component of product Y. Product Y is sold to Division C, which uses it as a component of Product Z. Product Z is also sold to customers outside of the Company. The intracompany pricing rule is that product are transferred between divisions as standard cost plus 10 percent return on inventories and fixed assets. Case Questions Question a: with transfer price calculated in Problem 1, is Division C better advised to maintain its price at $28 or follow competition in each of the instances above? Answer: Under possible competitive price $27.00 If company maintain the price at $28, the profit=(28-23.6) ×9,000=39,600 If company follow the possible competitive price at $27, the profit= (27-23.6) ×10,000=34,000 Under possible competitive price $26.00 If company maintain the price at $28, the profit=(28-23.6) ×7,000=30,800 If company follow the possible competitive price at $26, the profit= (26-23.6) ×10,000=24,000 Under possible competitive price $25.00 If company maintain the price at $28, the profit=(28-23.6) ×5,000=22,000 If company follow the possible competitive price at $25, the profit= (25-23.6) ×10,000=14,000 Under possible competitive...
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...L.L.Bean is the industry leader in providing to its customers, outdoor equipment and apparel. With growing competition and a stagnant economy, the company must continually work to maintain sales, profits, and customer loyalty. L.L.Bean does this by focusing on the competitive forces prevailing throughout the business environment. These forces include new market entreats, the power of the buyer and the supplier, the growing threat of substitute products, and their competition. L.L.Bean’s Competitive Forces L.L.Bean works hard to reduce the threat of new entrants to the marketplace by erecting barriers to entry. L.L.Bean accomplishes this by offering products or services that are difficult to displace in the eyes of customers. L.L.Bean products are recognized around the world for their practical design and high quality. L.L.Bean has built its brand by maintaining customer perceptions of quality and service. The company conducts business with the belief that the brand should reflect the values of L.L.Bean, along with the products it sells (Reed et al., 2009). The company devotes significant time and energy to product research, testing and development. This process includes lab tests, field testers and employee and customer feedback. L.L.Bean operates its own independent test lab for scientific analysis of materials, construction and design. Prototypes for new products are tested, revised and retested in a continuous cycle until they meet customer requirements and L.L...
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...behavior governed by law and free choice. Explain the utilitarian, individualism, moral rights, and justice approaches for evaluating ethical behavior. Describe how individual and organizational factors shape ethical decision making. Define corporate social responsibility and how to evaluate it along economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary criteria. Describe four organizational approaches to environmental responsibility, and explain the philosophy of sustainability. Discuss how ethical organizations are created through ethical leadership and organizational structures and systems. Identify important stakeholders for an organization and discuss how managers balance the interests of various stakeholders. 118 Manager’s Challenge Timberland is known for great shirts and solid climbing boots. The company has had a good financial history with decent revenues and profits. But CEO Jeffrey Swartz wanted something more. In the early 1990s, he...
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...Mudra Institute of Communication, Ahmadabad | LGBT Marketing | Innovative Marketing – Individual assignment | Ranajay sengupta | 18054 | 8/25/2012 | Contents Why gay market is lucrative 2 LGBT as a customer segment 3 Over-indexing and Consumption 3 Entertainment 3 Travel and Leisure 3 Internet usage 3 Brand Loyalty 4 LGBT signs and symbols 5 Segments which have used LGBT marketing 6 Lifestyle of a typical LGBT consumer 6 Mistakes to avoid while marketing to the LGBT community 7 References 9 Decades after invisibility and reaching critical mass, a breakthrough July 1991 article in the conservative Wall Street Journal called the lesbian and gay community "a dream market." Today the American market is estimated to be valued at $660 billion, projected to reach $835 billion by 2011 --based primarily on U.S. population growth and steady 7% representation of gays and lesbians within the overall population. In 2004, 36% of Fortune 100 companies have advertised directly to the lesbian and gay market, and American corporations now spend about $223.3 million annually in gay print media, according to the 2006 Gay Press Report from Rivendell Marketing and Prime Access, which tracks 284 U.S. gay press publications. Much more has been spent in sponsorships and online advertising, which the survey does not track. The situation is fast changing in India as well, OutNowConsulting.com, The London-based consultancy firm has been conducting surveys across...
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...300 Case Studies of Social Media Marketing – An e-guide by Roderick Low of Expeditus Media What is Social Media? Social media is best understood as a group of new kind of online media which share the following characteristics: Participation Social media encourages contributions and feedback from everyone who is interested. It blurs the line between media and audience. Openness Most social media services are open to feedback and participation. They encourage voting, comments and sharing infomation. There are rarely any barriers to accessing and making use of content – password protecting content is frowned on. Conversation whereas traditional media is about “broadcast” (content transmitted or distributed to an audience) social media is better seen as a two-way conversation. Community social media allows communities to form quickly and communicate effectively. Communities share common interests, such as a love of photography, a political issue or a favourite TV show. Connectedness Most kinds of social media thrive on their connectedness, making use of links to other sites, resources and people. Need Inspiration? Now that you know what social media is, do you need any inspiration in getting your social media campaign under way? One of the best way to get inspiration for your organization can use social media is to check out what others are doing. This ebook is intended for anyone who wish wants to start a social media campaign, but will be most useful to people working in...
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