Market Opportunity Analysis Essay Example for Free

Market Opportunity Analysis Essay market opportunity Analysis. Market Equations offers Market Opportunity and Potential Analysis Services to organizations globally to help them expand and enter potential markets through new or existing products or services by exploring and exploiting the available opportunity. Market Opportunity Analysis services are customized and presented to companies who are aggressive and want to maintain the lead by exploiting every opportunity at hand before the competition gets to it. The business environment is changing rapidly and everybody wants a piece of the pie. Further, companies are fiercely competing for the greater piece of the pie by expanding aggressively beyond their current geographies, exploring virgin and new markets, forming joint ventures etc. You may discover that Global companies are offering better and cheaper products due to advantages of scale but on the other hand you may have built a level of dependence with your current market, you are losing on profit opportunities in other larger markets, you want to grow but your market is exhausted. Market Equations may have the answer to all these questions keeping you in touch with your market and helping you exploit any minute detail available. Our Approach: Plan The most important part of Research is planning. There is an objective and an end result which needs to be linked at each step to achieve the desired results. Timetable With millions of available sources to choose from a researcher may get bombarded with a lot of information that may not be required. The plan needs to be finalized with the required timetable with milestones. Record and Validate Every bit of information collected needs to be recorded, evaluated and validated. This is the most important step ensuring credibility of the data collected and ensures the research is on track. Integrate All the information needs to be arranged and integrated to logically link topics together to ensure the research objective is met as per the plan document. Present The data needs to be presented in a format that is visually appealing to the end reader. Fonts, Content placement, Reading styles, Colors etc need special attention and confirmation before submission. Our Solutions backed by our tested approach to transform Business Objectives to decisions have helped many organizations stay ahead. Write to us and find out more. Techniques: The Right Search Strategy words, sentences, arrangements, rearrangements, Boolean logic etc The Choice of Search Engines Google may provide more relevant sources than Yahoo or vice versa Play with a Different Search Logic Continuously explore and try new search logic to reach the required result. Paid Databases Databases have a huge success ratio compared to freely available online sources. The accesses to databases such as Factiva, Hoovers, One source etc are highly recommended by expert desk researchers. Although subscriptions may add another cost element it is considered to be highly reliable and time saving compared to free sources. Monitor Progress Continuously monitor search strategies and links to results and combine successes to achieve desired results. Useful Sources of Information: Company Websites | Government Sources | Trade Associations | Academic Institutions | News Stands/Press | Specialized websites Expert Opinions | Online libraries/directories/encyclopedias | Databases | Blogs by topic/User

In The Beginning :: essays research papers

In the Beginning   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This article talks about the role of many different types of women in early America. It also has the thoughts of men about these women. The area of black slavery is also covered in this article and it touches on who the slaves were before the blacks came. The different women that are covered are the Indians, then the whites, and finally the African Americans. First, the Indian women were covered. The Englishmen as promiscuous thought of the women living with their tribes. They came to this conclusion because they were allowed to have sexual relations with different men, practice polygamy and they noticed that the children had lighter hair than the Indians. This said that the people the women were having sex with were people from other than their tribe. They mentioned that the Indians had more rules about when, where and who they could have sex with. For example they were not allowed to have sex while they were pregnant, men who were going or coming from war were not allowed to have sex either because they needed to keep their minds on the battle. The English were also surprised at the fact that women did all the work and were allowed to dress nicely. Another freedom that women had in their tribes was that they had ownership of their land, houses and their children. As time went by the Americans, French, and the Spanish took the Indian women to be their wives. As far as sex between them went, the English were used to paying for sex and the Indian women were used to trading for it so it worked out pretty well for the two parties. At one point in the 1500’s a man named Cartagena captured three-hundred Indians, and two-hundred African Americans and took them to Florida, they figured that this was an attempt to allow the Spanish and the two groups he had captured to become allies. As the first American colony was settled there were few white women in the population. The ones who were there were usually rich. This was of no fault of their own, they just had rich fathers or they married into money. After some time of being settled in Jamestown the first Christian women was born, the King realized that the men needed women to reproduce and to keep them sane. This way they would own land there forever because the mothers would have children and they would have children and so forth. In The Beginning :: essays research papers In the Beginning   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This article talks about the role of many different types of women in early America. It also has the thoughts of men about these women. The area of black slavery is also covered in this article and it touches on who the slaves were before the blacks came. The different women that are covered are the Indians, then the whites, and finally the African Americans. First, the Indian women were covered. The Englishmen as promiscuous thought of the women living with their tribes. They came to this conclusion because they were allowed to have sexual relations with different men, practice polygamy and they noticed that the children had lighter hair than the Indians. This said that the people the women were having sex with were people from other than their tribe. They mentioned that the Indians had more rules about when, where and who they could have sex with. For example they were not allowed to have sex while they were pregnant, men who were going or coming from war were not allowed to have sex either because they needed to keep their minds on the battle. The English were also surprised at the fact that women did all the work and were allowed to dress nicely. Another freedom that women had in their tribes was that they had ownership of their land, houses and their children. As time went by the Americans, French, and the Spanish took the Indian women to be their wives. As far as sex between them went, the English were used to paying for sex and the Indian women were used to trading for it so it worked out pretty well for the two parties. At one point in the 1500’s a man named Cartagena captured three-hundred Indians, and two-hundred African Americans and took them to Florida, they figured that this was an attempt to allow the Spanish and the two groups he had captured to become allies. As the first American colony was settled there were few white women in the population. The ones who were there were usually rich. This was of no fault of their own, they just had rich fathers or they married into money. After some time of being settled in Jamestown the first Christian women was born, the King realized that the men needed women to reproduce and to keep them sane. This way they would own land there forever because the mothers would have children and they would have children and so forth.

Information Systems and Operations Management

Please read the article: Zara: Fast fashion from savvy systems available for free at http://www. flatworldknowledge. com/pub/gallaugher/41128#pdf-7 This article makes up Chapter 1 of the free, open access book titled, Information Systems: A Manager's Guide to Harnessing Technology, by John Gallaugher. Please ensure that you read the entire Chapter 1 of the book consisting of 3 parts (Part 1 Introduction; Part 2 Don’t Guess, Gather Data; and Part 3 Moving Forward). Now answer the questions below: Question 1: The Zara case shows how information systems can impact every single management discipline.Which management disciplines were mentioned in this case and how does technology impact each? (50% of the total mark) The case study mentioned management disciplines including information gathering, processing, storing, distributing and use of information. Gather market information One of the successful factors in Zara is they know the market trends. Zara deploys the latest information technology tools to facilitate the information exchange and collect market data through both formal and informal channels – the PDA and POS systems.The Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) system Zara’s store managers were given personal digital assistants (PDAs) so they could gather customer input outside an office setting. The staff in Zara would regularly gather information from customers, such as the trend of fashion customers preferred and feedbacks of garment that they would like to see more in the shop. The range of information collected included colours, length and even small detail of the clothes were collected from customers through front line shop staff.Besides getting information directly from customers, they staff have another channel to gather customers’ preferences. The staff will investigate the unsold items that customers tried on but didn’t buy, to find out their preferences in cloth, color, or styles offered among the products in stock. T he Point-of-sale (POS) system Besides the informal channel to gather customers needs (through conversations), the head office will collect information through a formal channel, the store’s point-of-sale (POS) system.This system is a transaction process that captures customer purchase information, in order to show how garments rank by sales. Since the POS system is linked with the PDA system, in less than an hour, managers can send updates that combine the hard data captured at the cash register with insights on what customers would like to see. Information on customer needs and trend information collected daily are fed into a database at head office regularly. The PDAs support the connection between the retail stores and head office.Each store managers are assigned with market specialists, they will communicate regularly through PDAs to transmit all kinds of information to head office. [1] Zara store management and staff use PDAs and POS systems to gather and analyze customer preference data to plan future designs based on feedback, rather than prediction. Data driven product development The data collected from PDA as well as POS system formed a valuable marketing database and provided data allows the design teams to plan styles and issue re-buy orders based on feedback rather than hunches and guesswork.The goal is to improve the frequency and quality of decisions made by the design and planning teams. The designers from â€Å"The Cube† follow evidence of customer demand. When they deign new garments or decide which kind of fabric, cut and price points to be used or modify existing designs, they will base on information from PDAs and POS rather than create trends by pushing new lines via advertisements or catwalk fashion shows. Vertically integrated value chain Inditex is a vertically integrated group, it owns several layers in its value chain.The distribution center in La Coruna equipped with up-to-date equipment for fabric dyeing and processing , cutting and garment finishing. The vertically integrated ability allows the group to response faster against the latest fashion trend including provide the appropriate for new lines. Zara’s IT expenditures are low by fashion industry standards. The spectacular benefits reaped by Zara from the deployment of technology have resulted from targeting technology investment at the points in the value chain where it has the greatest impact, and not from the sheer magnitude of the investment.This is in stark contrast to Prada’s experience with in-store technology deployment. Inventory control Zara uses Toyota-designed logistics system and overnight parcel services to manipulate items stocked in the five-million-square-foot distribution center in La Coruna, or a similar facility in Zaragoza in the northeast of Spain. About two and a half million items were handled every week and none of them stayed in the warehouses more than 3 days. Before sending to each store, clothes are i roned in advance and packed on hangers, with security and price tags fixed beforehand.This system helps staff in Zara utilize their time efficiently with the inventory during busy periods. Just-in-time manufacturing (JIT) The JIT approach to manufacturing involves timing the delivery of resources so that they arrive just when needed. Inventory optimization models help the firm determine how many of which items in which sizes should be delivered to each specific store during twice-weekly shipments, ensuring that each store is stocked with just what it needs.Trucks serve destinations that can be reached overnight, while chartered cargo flights serve farther destinations within forty-eight hours. And the firm can coordinate outbound shipment of all Inditex brands with return legs loaded with raw materials and half-finished clothes items from locations out-side of Spain thanks to the revised shipping models through Air France–KLM Cargo and Emirates Air. Zara’s products are manufactured for a limited production run. This approach encourages customers to buy right away and at full price.The constant parade of new, limited-run items also encourages customers to visit often. Staff allocation Headquarter of Zara uses software to arrange staff’s roster. The manpower is allocated based on each store’s forecasted sales volume, with locations staffing up at peak times such as lunch or early evening. The firm claims these more flexible schedules have shaved staff work hours by 2 percent. This constant refinement of operations throughout the firm’s value chain has helped reverse a prior trend of costs rising faster than sales.Zara’s combination of vertical integration and technology-orchestrated supplier coordination, just-in-time manufacturing, and logistics allows it to go from design to shelf in days instead of months. [pic] Question 2: Do you think information systems are a strategic liability for Zara? Give reasons. (50% of the total mark) Porter’s five forces analysis To understand the business condition of fashion industry, we need to use Porter’s five forces model. It is shown how the market behaved at the very beginning of the company according to the Porter’s 5 forces analysis.Bargaining Power of Suppliers This is how much pressure suppliers can place on a business. If one supplier has a large enough impact to affect a company’s margins and volumes, then they hold substantial power. †¢ There are many suppliers for raw material †¢ There are many substitutes †¢ Presence of substitute inputs †¢ The nature of the products allow to storage them long time, unless the trends conditions. Bargaining Power of customers This is how much pressure customers can place on a business. †¢ Switching to another (competitive) product is simple The product is not extremely important to the buyer; they can do without it for a period of time. †¢ Customers are price s ensitive †¢ Buyer do not have switching costs †¢ Many availabilities of existing substitute products †¢ Buyer is price and style sensitive †¢ Low purchase volume per customer. †¢ Highly dynamic, customers preference changes frequently in short time Competitive rivalry within an industry This describes the intensity of competition between existing firms in an industry. Garment industry is highly competitive generally earn low returns.For many industries, this is the major determinant of the competitiveness of the industry. Sometimes rivals compete aggressively and sometimes rivals compete in non-price dimensions such as innovation, marketing, etc. †¢ It is a mature industry with very little growth. Companies can only grow by stealing customers away from competitors. †¢ It has a lot competitors in the industry about the same size †¢ Little differentiation between competitors’ products and services. Key competitors include Gap,, Benetton, H, Forever 21 , etc.Pfeifer, (2008); Rohwedder and Johnson, (2008) H has increased the frequency of new items in stores, Forever 21 and Uniqlo get new looks within 6 weeks and Benetton, a firm that previously closed some 90 percent of US stores, now replenishes stores as fast as once a week †¢ The barriers to get out of the industry are low in distribution and high in manufacture †¢ Since the chances of clothes getting damaged before sold is very little, the storage costs would be low †¢ High manufacture costs because of high raw material cost and manpower cost Threat of new Entrants No distribution barriers to entrance because it only consists on low costs of renting a shop, no administrative restrictions, low initial capital to start †¢ Reduced reaction possibilities in front of new entrants †¢ In production, there are barriers for the existence of economies of scale. †¢ The start up capital needed is high †¢ Need time to build up relationship wi th supply chain and suppliers Threat of substitute products What is the likelihood that someone will switch to a competitive product or service? If the cost of switching is low, then this poses to be a serious threat. Buyer can easily found substitute †¢ Relative price performance of substitutes †¢ Buyer switching costs is low †¢ Perceived level of product differentiation †¢ Fad and fashion †¢ Technology change and product innovation The main issue is the similarity of substitutes. For example, if the price of coffee rises substantially, a coffee drinker is likely to switch over to a beverage like tea because the products are so similar. If substitutes are similar, then it can be viewed in the same light as a new entrant. Zara’s success factorsThe success factors/ competitive advantages include always producing the style that customers are looking for, short production time from design stage and limited quantities. Information system plays strategic l iability in the following: – Collecting Market Data & customer’s needs – Product development – JIT production Considering the information technology investment helping Zara to maintain it’s competitive advantages, it is strategic liability for the firm. ———————– [1] Zara's Secret for Fast Fashion, Kasra Ferdows, Michael A. Lewis and Jose A. D. Machuca (http://hbswk. hbs. edu/archive/4652. html)

Analysis on the Prologue of the Canterbury Tales by...

In his General Prologue, Geoffrey Chaucer introduces all of his characters to the reader. He writes that there was a group of people who met, and were all, coincidentally going to Canterbury. In the General Prologue, it is written, â€Å"Some nine and twenty in a company Of sundry folk happening then to fall In fellowship, and they were pilgrims all That towards Canterbury meant to ride.† The Canterbury Tales is a collection of the stories that each of these characters tells on the journey. There is a vast assortment of characters. There are men and women from the Church. There are upper-class people with wealth and power. There are blue collar working-class people. It is interesting that all different types of people are able to have a†¦show more content†¦It is quite interesting to me that as times change, the general idea of beauty changes. The sad thing is that it seems to follow money. Back then, pale, plump people were seen as more beautiful than skinn y, tanned people. Back then, pale skin and a little bit of extra blubber meant that someone had enough money that they could stay inside and get enough to eat. Now, it seems that the opposite is true. Healthy food is more expensive than the alternatives such as McDonald’s. Having tan skin may mean that a person has enough money to go lay in a coffin-looking thing, get an artificial sunburn, and get nice leathery skin. Who doesn’t like leathery skin? Wow, this got off topic quickly. I like the skipper because he seems like a guy who, while may being not the most intelligent of people, has lots of experiences and interesting stories. I like people who have been all over the place. They seem to have a unique type of wisdom, and wisdom is sometimes better than intellect. Finally, I really like the Skipper, according to the description given by Chaucer. He seems like a ridiculously oversized leprechaun. He is a huge guy, and I definitely would not like to be on h is bad side. Chaucer wrote, â€Å"The Miller was a chap of sixteen stone, A great stout fellow big in brawn and bone.† Most of the introduction to the Miller is spent telling about how huge the man is. That means that he must be a pretty big guy. He plays the bagpipes. As a