Chocolate

Many consumer-based businesses pattern their operation according to the rapidly changing trend of the marketplace. Economic experts perceive the market competition primarily varying on affordability and quality of products. Additionally a plus factor is the all-year round advertisements that remind the public consumers on the availability and latest product development. On the other hand, mass production and after sales services are the common marketing strategies towards gaining a competitive edge.

The consumer leverage of firms that market highly-perishable food products are specifically different from other businesses that generally engages in consumable product marketing. Like chocolate manufacturers, the shelf-life technology through packaging the product quality and meeting the right market are critical components in competition. Thus, targeting the precise consumer market with specific consumers could be a niche to do and sustain business.

This paper will discuss and examine the business venture of Godiva Chocolatier, relating its organizational components in a diverse market and consumerism. Godiva’s brief historical background Founded in 1920 by Belgian businessman Joseph Draps, Godiva emerged as a chocolate factory from Brussels, Belgium in memory of Lady Godiva (1040-1070). For almost 88 years, Godiva Chocolatier is famous in its customized-handcrafted chocolate confectioning for retail and wholesale marketing.

Various types of European customers have talked about Godiva’s products and spread throughout Americas and Asian continents. In 1974, Godiva was sold to Campbell Soup Company and concentrated its business operation in the US, Western Europe and Japan, maintaining the old factory in Brussels as its general sales office. Based on Godiva Chocolatier web site, the customized craftsmanship in chocolate manufacturing has made Godiva’s branching out in over 80 countries from, to include the most recent store in Dubai (1).

Overall, 450 stores are presently available worldwide which offers electronic (Internet and mobile) purchasing (2). The world chocolate consumption and supply This section of the paper discusses the chocolate consumption in various countries of the world and its impact to Godiva. According to the World Atlas of Chocolate (2008), attributed to chocolate consumption is the social and economic status of consumers, in which only the consumers from developed and highly-industrialized countries are the ones capable of consuming the volume of supply (1).

Based on the 1980-1989 data on “chocolate consumption average yearly growth”, top consumers belong from 10 highly developed and rich countries, of which 7 out of 10 countries are leading consumers, as illustrated in the graph below (2): Source: World Atlas of Chocolate (2008) Meanwhile, the Datamonitor (2008) electronic data publisher has published the top 10 leading chocolate manufacturers with its 2007 revenues, as cited in the table below:

Top 10 Leading Chocolate Manufacturers 2007 Annual Revenue (in USD $-Million) 1.

Mars, Inc. 2. Nestle SA 3. Ferrero S. p. A. 4. Cadbury Schweppes plc 5. The Hershey Company 6. Kraft Foods, Inc. 7. Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprungli AG 8. Lotte Group 9. Meiji Seika Kaisha, Ltd. 10. Russell Stover Candies Inc. 8,514 8,125. 5 5,899. 3 4,271. 7 3,710 3,072. 5 2,600. 8 1,508. 9 734. 3 575 Source: Datamonitor (2008) The above shown and discussed data indicates that world chocolate consumption could be only limited in highly developed and rich countries and leading competitors may isolate Godiva’s venture.

The market areas [where consumption is high] may not be a significant “competitive environment”, as otherwise Godiva can increase the market share. The 2007 data on revenue may correlate to the “2006 Quantity, Value (in USD), Per capita consumption (in lbs. ), and Per capita consumption (in USD)”, as illustrated below: Source: Swivel. Com (2007) Refocusing market, redefining product and consumers The current trend of “compacted” marketing in Europe and the US must be critically assessed by Godiva in order to refocus its market. Read also why 

manufacturers encouraged consumerism.

While Japan and Asian countries could be a potential one, Godiva must also redefine its product according to the “capable means” of consumers. Meaning, the segments of retail market could be considered by its quantity, considering the fact that lower spending is prevalent in most undeveloped and developing countries where chocolate consumption is reduced. By “repackaging” the strategic marketing for retail consumers, could be Godiva’s potential marketing venture in countries where lower consumption is indicated.

Another consideration of Godiva’s strategic marketing could engage in franchising, wherein “surplus” products is a high-time approach to retail marketing, although the franchisees can engage in wholesale marketing as they may capably institutionalize (put into shops) the product-market. The classification of surplus goods could be those products that may relevantly unable to saturate the European, US and Japanese markets but potentially be marketed in retail market areas, like in Asian countries where retail consumers can acquire by their quantified numbers. International marketing

Godiva’s international marketing has adopted a new twist in “Product Packaging and Pricing Policy” [as the “4 P’s”] to enabling the global venture. A distribution channel is created in order to link the business at the overall marketing segments [according to social and economic] of consumers. This approach could increase the “market areas” through a quantified purchase, relatively a retail-marketing approach. However, a “wholesale” product packaging is still non-competitive with present packaging of a leading chocolate manufacturer, like Hershey’s who engage in “per-pack” basis targeting the individual costumer.

In the electronic case study discussion, entitled: “The Godiva Europe Company Case Study”, three major problems has been presented significant to international marketing, such as (1) failure to achieve a market share, (2) inability to saturate the market, and (3) non-competitive price (1). Thus, outlines Godiva’s “organizational weakness” to position in the market, to cite as follows: • Godiva has failed in establishing “branded products” allover the countries; • The factory in Belgium is not completely optimized or maximized in terms of utilizing the capacity of production;

• The US-based factory has to some extent produced limited and selective chocolate varieties which are non-substantially competitive with the competitors’ brands;

• The advertisements on so-called “high seasonality consumption and freshness” seemed ineffectively pick-up by most of consumers;

• Promotion of “manual labor” attributed to craftsmanship defeats efficient mechanized production, supply and sales targets;

• The franchising contracts with Godiva international and national hurdle the price standardization;

• The retailing or distribution-networking fails to define the primary and secondary markets to enable saturation;

• The sales outlet in Belgium confronts “devalued-brand” due meager promotion.

Promotional campaign The par elegance of a luxurious Godiva chocolate is one of the merits of a quality-handcrafted product. However, the pitfall or drawback of the “promotional line” could only be a “detachment of social classes”, in which the “par excellence” could be “out-of-reach” products by the lower segments of consumers.

In a layman’s interpretation, the lavishly high-class standard of promotion for a product and its packaging presentation may only draw hesitation or inhibition, from which “psycho-consumerism” encourages the idea of mass production that is translated with affordability for all kinds of consumers. At this point of promotional campaign, the Godiva Europe Company Case Study has found that promotional or advertising strategies must be “product-focused and consumer-oriented”.

It may be analyzed that having the strategies is to primarily link the product to a targeted market and familiarize the types of consumers, such as (1) promotion of a “social market” that defines the majority of customers from the middle and lower social classes; (2) presentation of a quality and affordable product within the “all-occasion” purchases, (3) standardized wholesale and retail pricing, discounting and rebates to distribution-market-network, and (4) optimal mechanized production and utilization of factories to increase rate of supply and market share.

Findings and conclusion It is found that Godiva Chocolatier is considered an icon in chocolate manufacturing. It has built a landmark in its 88 years of luxurious chocolate product craftsmanship. However, the rapid changing trend of consumer-market components remains a 21st century challenge of Godiva to renew its blissful-decades of business venture. It may be then concluded that Godiva can further subsist its international marketing by reaching out the quantified volume of customers, supplanting the traditional segmentation of its products in the marketplace.

Thus, mass production will regain its competitive edge in the industry and market.

Works Cited

• Datamonitor. “Top 10 Chocolate Manufacturers”. 2008. 17 December 2008 <http://www. datamonitor. com/companies/lists/list/? listID=835F2BF6-66C5-457D-86A9-B4CC5CD6F921>
• Godiva Chocolatier. “About Godiva”. 2008. 17 December 2008 < http://www. godiva. com/about/faq. aspx>
• Swivel. Com. “2006 Quantity, Value (in USD), Per capita consumption (in lbs.), and Per capita consumption (in USD)”. 2007. 17 December 2008 <http://www. swivel. com/graphs/show/24179061>
• “The Godiva Europe Company Case Study”. 2008. 17 December 2008 <http://www. 2myprofessor. com/Common/Sample%20Projects/Godiva%201_files/v3_document. htm>
• The World Atlas of Chocolate. “Chocolate Consumption”. 2008. 17 December 2008 < http://www. sfu. ca/geog351fall03/groups-webpages/gp8/consum/consum. html>

In the 21st century we have millions of people living with the constant uncertainty of waking up tomorrow. They are not dying of old age – their life has Just begun, they are not living with cancer – their life expectancy Is much shorter, but they are amongst the 27 million men, women and children Involved In the impoverished slave trade. As an ambassador for anti-slavery, I Emma Smith, do not need to argue the wrongfulness of slavery for, as stated by Frederick Douglass In 1 852, “there Is not a man beneath the canopy of heaven who does not know that slavery is wrong”. On numerous occasions I have witnessed the horror firsthand.

I have watched as the statistics continue to exponentially increase. And I have inevitably visited the graves of those who have paved the ultimate price. It is for this reason that I demand change for the better, change for the future and change for the victims who’s pleads go unheard. How in the day of modern technology, can we as a society, have allowed the continuation of these horrific acts of slavery to progress from centuries ago? As you should know, the International Labor Organization formally defined forced Barbour, or slavery, at the forced labor convention In 1930.

This definition Is still relevant today and dictates that forced labor Is considered “all work or service which Is exacted from any person under the threat of a penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself or herself voluntarily. ” However, for far too long violations against your human rights doctrine have occurred and consequently, these discrepancies in the system are having detrimental effects. Of the population of slaves in the world today a large percentage is comprised of young innocent children.

Can you imagine your child being ripped away from your arms and disposed of to the highest bidder, like sheep in the market? It might sound cruel, it might sound careless, it might sound corrupt but this is the reality for many defined by their cultural attitude and lack of political interference in the cocoa industry. “While the term slavery has a variety of historical contexts, slavery in the cocoa industry involves the same core human rights violations as other forms of slavery throughout the world” and consumers are oblivious.

In developed countries we acknowledge that chocolate homebodies happiness, gratification and luxury but for those children enslaved on the Ivory Coast, yet to taste a morsel of chocolate, its symbolism is quite the opposite. At present, 900 million kilograms of chocolate is consumed each year of which 40 percent is believed to have been contaminated with slavery. A young boy named Amanda was lucky enough to have escaped the exploitation in Africa and pronounces that “when people eat chocolate, they eat my flesh. Child slavery is the secret ingredient in chocolate however this must stop, this must cease and the inexcusable tactics have to come to an end. The cocoa industry has benefited from the use of forced labor since the early 1 9th century. However, a re-examination of past preventative measures along with a coherent framework for future success will enable a productive start to ceasing all child slavery. You, as the united Nations, have the potential to Intervene as violations of your doctrines have occurred for centuries. So why has nothing yet been established? My organization and a collaboration of others plead for intervention.

We demand a review of the existing conventions on Furthermore we ask of you to force political involvement in affected countries and with this include resources and funds to ensure that the industry is no longer commercially viable. Finally, the extremity of this situation should involve the disallowing of imports and exports of cocoa which have been tampered by this horrific slavery. In order to cease the production of money through the blood, sweat and tears of all those suffering in bondage, labor camps and disease-ridden chains, the commitment of the United Nations has become imperative.

The slavery industry s growing however, this is one industry which must not benefit from growth. You have heard the statistics and you have heard the facts but now is the time for change. No longer can countries, such as Africa, continue to economically exploit the vulnerable and companies must not resort to the use of child slave labor in order to keep prices competitive. I have called for change and I can now only hope that this will be achieved.

This alleviates It from a local business. It mainly trades In Just en country. An international business is when it has the same shop abroad in many companies with many different customers. An example of this is Tests, Walter and marks and Spence’s. Describe the three different sectors businesses operate in – private public and not for profit – with examples A private sector Is owned by a private person. The mall aim Is to make profit. Owners have 100% authority of making decisions and what they spend their money on. Private sectors usually want to grow to gain profit.

They’re main purpose is to negotiate on services and developing relationships with other businesses to help benefit theirs. For example public limited companies are actually private sectors but are called public because anyone can become a shareholder. Examples of theses are: Cinemas, Banks and supermarkets. A public sector is made up of organizations that are only interested In public services. They are owned by the government and are in the public sector because they are funded through taxis. The organizations are paid for by the general public. The services are the interests of which the public need so therefore are not private.

To name a few there are: Schools, Hospitals, Libraries and Leisure centers. Not for profit is workers who voluntarily work for organizations to help donate/raise money for a cause. The money that’s raised goes to Into a business or the cause that they’re supporting. Their aim is to increase volunteering workers and also increasing fund raising and donations. However they are legally not allowed to benefit from the cause. Explain primary, secondary and tertiary industries – with examples The primary sector of the economy Involves changing natural resources Into primary products.

Primary sector is the industry where the production starts for example raw materials and resources are farmed or extracted from the earth. For instance farming, oil drilling and mining are all examples of primary sector. The secondary sector Is taking raw materials and using them to produce a finished product. For example crisps potatoes are chipped, fried and flavored then packaged. Tertiary sector is industry service for example: Transport, dentists and doctors. It is about providing a service giving the consumers what they want. All three are the process of manufacturing a product. An example Is the meat In a burger.

The cattle are reared that is the primary sector then the secondary sector Is the carcass being butchered ND the meat turned into the burger and lastly the tertiary sector is the consumer buying the product. Ownership can be defined as a fact of being an owner. There are many examples of ownerships for example large business ownership; public limited company and private limited company and of course small business ownership; partnership and sole trader. Limited liability is losing the amount of money that you invested into a company. Therefore the person is not personally responsible for debts of the company.

Unlimited liability is when the person is directly responsible for debts and an potentially lose everything that’s in their name like the house and possessions. Public limited company is owned by stakeholders who buy shares in the stock market. How it works is that each shareholder buys a share and invests their money into the business to expand. Shares can be bought by anyone. The business accounts are sent to the Registrar Companies and are also available to the public. The advantages for this are that banks are more likely to lend money to pal ‘s as they to banks are less of a risk as they are more likely to gain profit and repay.

Another reason is because the Capital can be raised through issuing new share. Lastly there is limited liability for all shareholders. The disadvantage is that it is very expensive to set up and could cost up to EWE,OHO. Anyone can take over and buy the share. Private Limited company is owned by shareholders who must be invited to invest these are mostly friends or family. Each shareholder invests their money into the business and buys their share. However these are not be sold or transferred to anyone else or anyone without the shareholders agreement.

In order to get the certificate of incorporation and the business can begin trading 2 documents have to be sent to the Registrar of companies. The advantages are there is a limited liability for all shareholders. It is also easier to raise Capital. All shareholders gain full control of the business. It’s also a larger business with a higher status. It can be sued as it has its own legal identity. The company can still persist if a member were to die. The cons of this company are that it’s difficult as well as expensive to set up. There’s a specific audience to become a shareholder not anyone can Join and finances are limited.

Independent accountants each year check the accounts. Partnerships feature between 2 to 20 partners approximately. It’s an agreement between partners detailed in the Deed of Partnership. The advantages are that it is easily to set up as its low cost and not much paperwork. The capital is easier to raise and each partner brings specialist skills to the business. The decisions are shared and ideas are easily discussed. The disadvantages are that its unlimited liability and the profits must be shared between partners. If a partner dies or becomes bankrupt the partnership should be dissolved.

Sole trader is owned by one person, small business and may employ others. The advantages are that it’s easy to set up low cost, not much paperwork. The sole trader can make all the decisions and the owner keeps all the profits. All accounts remain private. The disadvantages are that all money has to be raised alone and there is less holidays and there’s also the competition with bigger businesses. A big problem is that it’s hard to get bank loans or finances. What are stakeholders – examples? A stake holder is a party that can affect or be affected as a whole by the business. Takeover. First of all a consumer stakeholder is a person or group with interest in the business. Project stakeholder is an organization with interest in a project. Suppliers give goods for them to trade if there weren’t any goods then the business wouldn’t make any money. Managers are stakeholders who support the organization in achieving and influencing the external and internal business. Employees put their input into the business everyday to make it the best it can be. Some businesses give their employees a survey to make suggestions of how to make their business superior.

Governments show an interest in local businesses and taxation and environmental issues. Also customers as they purchase the goods and their interest to have fine chocolates. Now compare Caduceus to trinity academy. Academy is an international company that is now owned by Kraft Company who took over in 2010. It is the industry second largest business. Caduceus is in 50 other continents worldwide. Academy started in 1924 when John Academy opened a shop in Birmingham on Bull Street. He sold tea, coffee and drinking chocolate. He then partnered with his brother and they expanded the business.

Many years later he retired and passed the business to his sons who continued the legacy and expanded the business for the best. They launched the new product Academy cocoa essence. After huge success they moved too bigger estate. The purpose is to make profit and sell fine chocolates with a unique taste and enjoyable for anyone. The whole point was for everyone to be able to purchase. Academy wan to be worldwide and have many clients from all over they want to expand Academy as a brand introducing it to new places. This links with their first aim as that is the result.

They want to be an ongoing company and surviving in the market against other chocolate businesses like Thorn’s chocolate. They want to improve the quality of their sweets to attract more customers. They also want to expand their external customers by advertising about coming fair trade which attracts a lot of attention by the public. Caduceus objectives convey the drive to become the worlds, biggest and best confectionery company and also to perform better than competitors. Caduceus objective is to make all their products well known they do that by advertising through marketing communication.

The larger audience of communication is through the television as this is the primary source where it hits its mass of viewings by the public. This creates a long term image of the product boosting its sales. Academy also aims to lose diversification which is depending on a certain product for sales. They can do this by producing new products or improving product image and more attractive packaging. Another aim was to profitably secure products and then to also grow beverages this conveys that they want to sell more drinks manufactured by them. This is to sell increase shares and profit.

And to also to make sure they are up to date in technology so that the business can gain benefits. The original building was 14 acre site however when it expanded it became 81 acres. Academy is a secondary sector as it manufactures products. It’s also in the primary sector as Caduceus extract raw materials from natural resources. For example Caduceus chocolate the ingredients are obtained by the primary sector as they have to be extracted. The machines that are used to mix the ingredients together and shape the chocolate are done at the factories and this is the secondary sector.

The transportation to the shops and so interdependence because they depend on others for the production of the products for instance the Academy is dependent on farmers for the cocoa. Academy is a public limited company which means they allow shareholders from the public. The pal company is a incorporated business and is run by the board of directors. The shareholders can have a say on key issues surrounding the business. They can sell their shares on the stock exchange and also to the public. The advantage of this is that they can raise money from the capital.

If they fail they only lose out on the money they invested into the company. The disadvantages are that the business may be too big and ideas may overflow with suggestions therefore more chance of conflict between each other. The ownerships can be changed easily by other companies buying shares. However it’s harder to buy shares now because Kraft took over. But Kraft is also public limited sector but the shares are traded in America which is a disadvantage to people abroad who have an interest in the business. Local community is stakeholder of Caduceus because they are interested in how the business may affect them e. . Employment. This is also important to the business because they need to be accepted and tell hoe beneficial it is to them. For example the lorry drivers have different routes to take so that they don’t anger the community or use residential roads therefore Academy give maps of alternative roads to use. There were also issues of car parking as visitors and employees were parking. Together as a community they arranged a residents parking permit. Customers are stakeholders because they are also interested because they’re buying their products.

They are the most important because they purchase the goods. There is no business without the customers buying its products. It’s also in the tertiary sector because the public have an interest in the goods. Employees because they work hard and put input everyday into the business and give their ideas on how to make it excellent and want good pay and security. However when they acknowledged the plans for Kraft to take over they were scared thinking they will lose their Jobs. This caused many problems like decrease in profits, less productive workers.

Employees took many different actions in a bid to save their Jobs. This included protest and strikes. The amounts of Job losses were expected when the offer was through. Another argument that could arise with the owners is that they want to sell chocolate for profit. But due to this they try lots of things like cut costs, cheaper ingredients and pay staff as little as possible. However the government got involved and tried to help by reassuring that not all Jobs were going to lose. I know this because I read it on the BBC website. Http://news. BBC. Co. K/l/hi/8468540. Stem) they also asked the new owner to reassure the employees about the factory not being moved and staying where it is as it’s important because that’s where it all started. Employees are key stakeholders in the business as their performance dictates whether or not the business is successful or not. The employees have to be aware of what is happening within the business as it gives them a sense of ownership and loyalty. The management are stakeholders because they influence decisions made for the business and also how the business is run e. . Time scales. They may argue with each other over marketing methods. They can overcome this with surveys on what they think and feel. They want to make as much profit as possible and expand the business to a whole new level. Management achieve by a certain time. Employees want Job security so issues like the take over from Academy situation and also a good wage that won’t decrease over time. Other stakeholders for Caduceus are the suppliers who are interested in selling their cocoa to Academy as the goods are made by their supply e. G. Cocoa from Ghana.

They influence the business by supplying them with the important ingredient for their reduces. The suppliers could argue with Kraft who is also a shareholder about the price of cocoa and may also want an increase as the chocolate is being made because of them. They want a good relationship so that the accounts are priorities because if the company does badly they lose a customer. Another argument that could arise is between the management and health groups who feel Academy are manipulating the children. They feel that Academy is highlighting the obesity and health issues.

They can resolve this by adding fruits into the chocolate or making their snacks less fatty and use less sugar. The director/managers who are may argue with Kraft as they may want an alternative image for their product than Kraft. However they can sort it out by sampling their images and asking its consumers. There are many conflicts that could arise for example when Kraft took over Academy much local communities had disputes whether they would lose out on Jobs and due to this extent the government had to get involved. Karat’s aim is to make profit however the people that influence it are the customers.

An example of this is Caduceus chocolate that now are fair trade this could be due to the consumers emending it as they have the upper hand if Kraft took no notice they could simply stop buying their products which would mean that Kraft are losing money and their purpose in no longer intact. The organization dealt with this problem by giving the customers what they want however there would also be a little change in price. Shareholders are also a stakeholder as they influence the business and need to be told about the financial state of the company to encourage them to invest more.

If not they can sell their shares and return their investment so there won’t be enough money invested in the business. Pressure groups have a high influence on a business as it all depends on them because they can give bad publicity to Academy and also make a campaign to boycott their business which leads to loss in profit for Academy therefore they please both sides by making it fair trade. The cocoa is ordered from developing counties like Africa where child labor is common therefore this is why they have this to keep customers and suppliers happy.

This is also another aim of Academy; customer satisfaction. Another strong type of stakeholder is the employees this is because they produce the product so the quality of the product upends on the employees’ effort. This is why the Tremor basset wants the employees to be hardworking, efficient and motivated as well as reliable. If this is reached by the employees then business achieves a lot. Government have a great interest in the business because this helps with the employability rates and the gross national product. Trinity academy is a school turned in to an academy.

It transferred from holy trinity to trinity academy and it opened on 1st of September 2011. The purpose is to receive the best results possible. The amounts of employees that work for trinity are Just over 100. The academy compared to Academy is small but with all the students it is quite diminutive so therefore they’re expanding it by building a bigger money for it is funded by the government for the public. Government is an ownership as they fund the school and their purpose is to educate students. The school is in the public sector as the Jobs and students are all welcome to Join and become apart of the school.

There are many positions to be applying for as anyone can Join with the right qualifications. The reason why public sector is so popular is because it’s like giving back to society. There are many skills that are needed when going in to public Jobs. The skills needed are communication, a desire to help, time management and focus and determination. They have a chance to help others and change their lives for the best with their professionalism. The stakeholders are the local community as they are interested in sending their children there. They want their children to get a good education and get involved with the school.

It is in Tertiary sector because it has an interest from the local community to send their children there. They have the interest because it’s easier and more accessible as its coal but they also want to make sure that the school is good. This is the aim of the school to get the achievable results and improve and to get the public and local people to send their children there. The government are stakeholders as they are interested in the results and make decisions that the public may disagree with like the transformation of the school to an academy.

The public support the school by sending their children to the school and can overcome disagreements like this by talking to the head principle and reassurance by the government. Local schools provide local students a service. Offset are a stakeholder as they are interesting the in the welfare of the school and how it is improving. Moreover they may dispute with the government if they feel that the school is not up to the expectations they could choose to close it however the government may feel that it deserves a chance to improve. They can resolve this by giving it time to improve over a certain time.

They school can also have a wrong report written about them so this may mean that Offset have to re assess the school. Parents are stakeholders as they want the school to be the best for their children and get the best grades. They Judge the school through the reports by the Offset and send their children there on the basis of the schools acquisition. Tax payers are stakeholders as the school relies on the funding. Without it they have no money for school and could not open. They do this through regular payments and make sure the school has enough for equipment etc.

School cleaners are also important stakeholders as they are very much occupied with the school as they have a responsibility to clean up for the staff and students that work there. So when guests come like OFFSET they have a responsibility to make the school look appropriate and give a good impression. This helps the reputation of the school. Though if they feel they are not getting paid enough for the Job that they do they can take many actions like complain to the governors or stop working or even protest or strike. By doing this it would have a massive impact on the school as the school has a requirement to be clean and tidy.

Head teacher is another important stakeholder as he has a responsibility to make sure that everyone is doing their Job properly and also build positive relationships with parents and staff. He also has to sake sure that the students are motivated to learn and expand their knowledge. However this Job is quite stressful and alternates all the time as they are bad days have to decide whether or not to let them go. Students are also stakeholders as they influence the school as they represent the school and may disagree with the principle on either the lessons the state of school, the teachers many conflicts like that.

Students may act by striking an instance in trinity was when they changed the school into an academy parents and students disagreed with the principle. The schools aims are to get everyone learning and attending every lesson. Moreover this rule was broken as students were missing their lessons and were sat on the field refusing to listen. They resolved this by reassuring the parents and students that there only aim was to achieve better results.

Another incidence was when the term dates were changed the students disagreed but this was also resolved later with meetings with the head teacher. All stakeholders exert some influence within the school and the student’s education. For example the head teacher needs to make sure that they are controlling the school properly. But with hose entire all these stakeholders’ conflicts are very likely to rise for instance the case could be when the Trinity students found that the school was transforming into an academy there was mixed feelings and led to people reacting to this.

One of the actions taken was a strike which the children participated in to get their feelings across and try and get the school and government to change their minds and not change it into an academy. However the children were within their right to protest and get their view across however by doing this they broke the schools aim of which hat all students will be attending all lessons and learning except this wasn’t the case.

         This paper is an essay with reference to the case study of the Cowgirl chocolate company. This presents the main background of the business enterprise and its way of commerce management. It discusses the negative aspects of running the company accompanied by the steps or actions to be taken or executed, in the point of view of a consultant of the owner of the company.

As an overview of the company, according to Lawrence, Morris, Geiger, and the North American Case Research Association (2002), Cowgirl chocolate was launched and recognized in 1997, based in Moscow, Idaho, and they produce only one of its kind hot and piquant chocolate products, with Marilyn Lyschir and his husband as the owner of the business enterprise (490).

They initially crop up with the thought for cayenne mixed chocolate goods from the ideas of their close friends and relatives. Created from a patron’s response, their company appeared to be called as Cowgirl Chocolates, with the slogan “Sissies Stay Away” (492). The concept of their company had a good impact to some customers but it also did not acquire the interests of other people.

Cowgirl Chocolates puts up for vending thousands of pounds of highly spiced and non- peppery, subtle and dark chocolate foodstuffs, including special sauces. The business accepted orders from each state in the United States, as well as in Europe and other parts of the globe.

With simple ingredients like sugar, whole milk powder, cocoa butter, canola oil, lecithin, cayenne pepper, natural peppermint flavor and other components, the company produced various kinds of chocolate products. Those chocolate goods include four flavors of truffles in a stylish container which gives the customers a tang of every chocolate variety such as chocolate, mint, lime-tequila, espresso, and orange (493). These chocolate products are saccharine and fine at the outset nibble, with a thrill of the idea of a physically powerful cowgirl.

Their shipping of Cowgirl chocolates is varied. A quantity of is shipped throughout the year yet other products are shipped seasonally due to some factors like recurrent warmth or holiday periods.

Cowgirl Chocolates also comes with different packages. The packages are of usually presentable types, especially for gift-giving purposes. Some are in half pound cylinders with the label of the company. Others are in sampler carriers or in drawstring muslin baggage that provides clienteles a tang of the Cowgirl chocolate’s varieties.

With the intention of assuaging the public who have a preference for chocolate products exclusive of spice, the company has embarked on, just recently, creating “mild-mannered” milk chocolate and dark chocolate truffles.

What went wrong?

However, despite the effort of Cowgirl Chocolate Company to satisfy the tastes of people, the interests of individuals still greatly vary. Even though there are patrons of their products, it seems that their former customers are the main clients of their business enterprise. Only a small portion of new clients are said to be increasing their sales and those people are merely ordering on little amounts.

Additionally, the company of Cowgirl Chocolates are said to be not taking note of every single detail of cost since in the case, it is stated that the time allotted for making sauces and their labor efforts were not taken into account.

Into the bargain, their Internet site, which is claimed to be the main advertising agent of the Cowgirl Chocolate Company, is just plain. Only ordering procedures with little captions of business profile, and other information can be viewed.

Aside from the aforesaid negligence in another case, the company has lots of business spillovers, which means that they give away several of their products without control and hence without financial record. Marilyn as a result have come to look that in the end of the company’s financial plan that they tended to overlook their giveaway products, appearing to give more what they should just give.

Increasing the profit

To increase the Cowgirl Chocolate Company profit, the company must avoid faults in the manufacturing area. Since it is indicated in the case that the manufacturing process takes a large part of the operating cost to sustain the production of Cowgirl chocolates, the business enterprise must initially make sure that the procedure will run smoothly. Together with that, Marilyn and his husband may carry out a primary canvassing of materials. They may come across with items of equal quality inputs for the manufacturing and packaging of their product at a lower cost. Or yet, they may get to buy some of better quality inputs at the same price as they are currently using.

Their product which is the Cowgirl Chocolate Spicy Lime Tequila Truffle Bar must be sold throughout the whole year since it is one of the best-loved flavors with a remarkable combination of dark chocolate, icy lime and a tip-off of zing. Other products must also be produced in a yearly basis same as the other best sellers, but with a restriction of whether there occurs some constraints in shipping and handling.

Kind of marketing mix to be used

            The Cowgirl chocolates company must prepare a preliminary cost and benefit analysis. It is highly recommended for big businesses like the Cowgirl Chocolate Company that is possessed by Marilyn and his husband to get a good economic analysts or statisticians to conduct a primary study or review in venturing on their business. That business breakdown will be used as an indicator whether things for the company are feasible in continuing their business and in undertaking other projects related to their chocolate products.

After the analysis, if things turn out to be favorable for the company with a sufficient source of budget for trying to improve and expand the business, the owners may continue to execute their plans. In another perspective at hand, since her special sauce is as well liked by a lot of people, she may venture in making a deal with Montana to produce the sauce and make the market for the special sauce to be of a larger scale.

And in speaking of company partners, Cowgirl Chocolate Company must also strengthen the bond with the Seattle Company since that company holds apparently an established name and has strong marketing connections, as well as strengthening the bond with the Kitchen Market in New York City for the same reason.

In a big business like this case in point, outlays are crucial. The company must take note of all costs. As stated in the case that Cowgirl Company has an underestimation of their costs and an overestimation of their revenues, the owners must now hire more efficient accountants for their business and record all dealings and transactions done by the company. A pertinent example appearing in the side of their shipping is the Cowgirl Chocolate Truffle Bars, which are rich and smooth European chocolate truffle bars with a spicy kick that comes with different flavors. It is discussed in the case that they comprise no shipping costs.  They must indeed entail to have the shipping costs since that costs will be absorbed by the company if they will not charged the costs to the customers even though it can be taken as a promo.

Kind of position strategy to be used

A good kind of position strategy would be to continue the best seller of their products. Furthermore, the company must continue internet advertisements since those were indicated to increase the company’s sales. They can also include their attained awards on their public notice. They must also enhance the website presentation. Marilyn and his husband do not need to hire webmasters, they can create their own creative web presence which will capture the attention of not just buyers, but people who have just dropped by to see the site, and eventually be persuaded to buy their products due to the enticing web design.

They must also have an effort to encourage buyers to buy their retail products. Although their wholesale kind of strategy is effective and successful to have a bulk of the sales, they are still not that profitable in a sense.

Marilyn’s idea for a number of new products, such as a dessert cookbook is also worth pursuing. It may somehow help in the company’s profit-making since many people are purchasers of cookbooks. Since it is evident that the company is really in need of fund to sustain their company and new project lines, Cowgirl chocolate company must venture into their product-related stuffs. Having the heart to do what they would want to pursue, it can be observed that in the near future, they will tend to gain bigger revenues with proper business management.

Channel of distribution

The products must be mainly distributed to areas which capture the taste of direct buyers which is placed in Co-ops. The company may also make an effort to place the products to high-end retailers such as Coldwater Creek and Dean ; Delucca since many people go there (496). However, they should not just concentrate on that area if they were likely to yearn for wide-ranging market for their products. They may expand to places where people have a mediocre regard for their chocolate products.

In view of the fact that they place orders in America and Europe, they may also extend the market of their product to Asian countries since Asian people are claimed to be lovers of hot and spicy foods which in turn, those people may have high regard to hot and spicy delicacies.

Kind of customer targeting

            Alongside the place of marketing center of attention, the products must be mainly distributed to areas which capture the taste of direct buyers. But their company may not merely enclose their market production on places with favor or affection to their product. They may even enter the market of the not-so-favored people on their chocolates. They may introduce them with a different kind and twist of their chocolate products.

Kind of marketing campaign

            With the awards that they have received, either in the annual Fiery Food contests sponsored by Chile Pepper magazine or the Scovie Award, people will tend to have a perception that their products are of good quality (497).

They can also include their attained awards on their advertisements. They can include those grants on their product labels or they may have advertisements with health concerns like calcium for women and more manly like for men when they get to eat their chocolate products.

Reference:

Lawrence, John L., Morris, Linda J. Geiger, Joseph J. ; the North American Case Research

Association (2002). Cowgirl Chocolates. Case Reseach Journal, volume 22, issue 1, 488-500.

Chocolate is a processed delicacy made from the beans of the cocoa tree. The cocoa tree, native to the tropical Amazonian forests, is an evergreen tree of the cola family. Chocolate is a mixture of roasted cocoa, cocoa butter, and very fine sugar. Unsweetened (or bitter) chocolate is available in squares and is the natural rich chocolate ground from the cocoa beans. It has a full-bodied flavor and is ideal for baking and cooking. Sweetened chocolate with various other ingredients are also increasingly available.

Pure chocolate bars contain more than 60% cocoa. The only ingredients in a good chocolate bar are: Cocoa paste, sugar, cocoa butter and milk. Depending on the ingredients can be distinguished by the following types of chocolates, with addition, without addition, with filler, for diabetics and white. Chocolate without additions is made from cocoa powder, sugar and cocoa butter. Chocolate with additions is made from cocoa powder, sugar and cocoa butter and different flavor components, such as milk, nuts, fruits, coffee and alcohol etc.

White chocolate is formed from a mixture of sugar, cocoa butter, and milk solids, although its texture is similar to milk and dark chocolate, it does not contain any cocoa solids, thus not officially qualifying as chocolate. Lester’s is a manufacturer of authentic Chocolate. Our products will be positioned at the high end of the market in terms of quality. We are a new entrant to the Chocolate manufacturing industry. But, we expect to grow into a business that has a broader appeal. Lester’s has several objectives that it will achieve within the next three years. The first is a formidable increase in sales by 2010.

Lester’s would also like gross margins to be above 55%. Lester’s also hopes to increase the number of outlets in the coming years. Lastly, we aim to become known as the premier Chocolate producer in Malaysia with an ever-expanding geographic distribution area. Lester’s plans to introduce two main lines of products. The flagship product is our premium chocolate that would be known for its uniqueness and quality ingredients. It will be introduced targeting the high end market with no compromise on quality and extra efforts in bringing in superior taste experience.

While there are many competitors at the mid price point, both local and international, there are few direct competitors at Lester’s low price and high price point. This is quite advantageous for Lester’s, providing us with additional breathing room to establish ourselves at the premier brand of Chocolate producer in Malaysia. Lester’s will reach profitability and forecast a modest net profit in three years. The commensurate profit margin will be achieved from sales. The financials within the plan further reinforce the exciting nature of this business. Current situation

Basic corporate info Lester’s SDN BHD is going to be a young and growing Malaysian company once it is established. We are entirely focused on production of high quality chocolate for Malaysia. The management team has a long experience of working in chocolate industry. One day they decided to join hands and form a good chocolate manufacturing company. That is when we came up with the idea of launching Lester’s. Our main office is located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We are planning to operate on 100,000 square feet factory premises at Bukit Angkat, Cheras, and Selangor.

We are going to produce a large assortment of chocolate products. We plan to offer about 130 different types and flavors of chocolates, such as plain chocolate, bar chocolate, mini chocolate, gift packs etc. Special attention will be given to our premium chocolate produced from high-end quality ingredients and in special conditions. Services that we’ll be providing will include making, supply and maintenance of chocolate products. Our shops will offer retail and wholesale. Delivery could be requested for wholesale purchases. Also, we’ll be selling our products through retail chains such as, Carrefour, Jasco etc.

We are going to distribute our products in Malaysia, Singapore, Dubai and few Middle East countries as well. Our distribution outlets/offices will be located in major cities of Malaysia like Kuala Lumpur, Putra Jaya, Malacca and Johor Bauru. We hope to satisfy every customer’s demand and keep their faith in us. Core Competencies The main goal of our company is to produce top quality products at reasonable price. Bearing it in mind we can figure out our competitive benefits as follows. Malaysia is the third wealthiest country in Southeast Asia with a population of around 25 million people.

About 61% of its population makes up the middle to upper income group of consumers. The Malaysian economy has a firm foundation in a mixed economy that comprises strong manufacturing, service and agricultural sectors. Malaysia’s annual growth rate was 7. 1 % in 2004 and the expected growth rate for 2005 is 6 %. In 2004 the GDI per capita was USD 4,500. Market Analysis Market Size Agriculture is still an important sector in the Malaysian economy. Even though its share of the GDP is falling as the country develops, agriculture still accounts for approximately 9% of the GDP.

The food processing companies range from small family-owned businesses to large companies, which are listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange or operate as subsidiaries of foreign or multinational companies. Most of the companies serve much localized markets, while a few medium to large companies dominate the market on a nationwide basis. The small local companies account for 64% of the total number of companies, where only 5% are multinational companies. The average size of the food processing companies is close to 40 employees.

The industry is very dynamic and the major industries include the production of refined sugar, wheat flour and baked products, non-alcoholic beverages, edible oil, dairy products, confectionery and snacks, fish and seafood products, beer, canned pineapple, and processed meat. The dominant sector is oils and fats, reflecting the importance of palm oil processing, where Malaysia is the world leader with 50% of output and 60% of export. In 2003 the Malaysian exports of vegetable oil products were close to USD 4. 48 billion. Market Structure The food production in Malaysia is relatively small compared to other countries in the region.

Today the country is dependent on import of both processed food and several agricultural raw materials. Labor shortages and run-down machinery has been factors preventing substantial development in the industry. But the government wants the industry to develop and is willing to support such development with financial resources. Some of the major food processing companies in Malaysia include Nestli?? , Fraser & Neave, Yeo Hiap Seng, Mamee-Double Decker, Lam Soon Berhad, and A. Clouet & Co. Another foreign group expanding its businesses is Groupe Danone, locally known as Britannia Brands (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.

My product is a chocolate bar and so for my promotional strategy I will hopefully include branding, advertising and product placement as these have all proven to be successful in the past. However it depends on the cost of each and the funds available. To begin with I will be using advertising as this is one of the most successful strategies. I will promote my product on television, in magazines and on billboards as these all reach the widest audience and therefore should prove to be the most effective.

However, advertising is the most expensive method of promoting a product and so it is likely I will only use it to launch my new product onto the market and to promote it during the beginning of its’ sales. Then I’ll gradually lesson the amount of advertising used, depending how well the product sells. For example, I could start out with a 30 second advert. Then, after a few weeks cut it down to a shorter 10 second version in order to reduce costs but still remind viewers of my product. Advertising should be fairly easy when aiming my product at 8-16 years olds.

I could show my advert before and after cartoons, and during Saturday morning TV. Hopefully the kids will pester their parents into buying my product or use their pocket money to buy it for themselves. I will also advertise in kids magazines and in family/food magazines which parents read as they may see a new product and think it would be good for the family 0 perhaps a treat. Branding is another strategy which I will be using. Cadburys is obviously a very well known brand and buy using such a big company to sell my product I am hopefully setting myself up for a lot of sales.

This is partly down to ‘Brand Loyalty’. This is when customers know and trust a company as they constantly deliver successful, quality products time and time again. Some customers won’t even try the product beforehand and buy huge amounts just because they trust Cadburys. Finally I will be using Product Placement to help with the sales and promotion of my product. For example, In a well known kids TV show I could place my product in the background of a shop when certain characters enter so it can be seen.

I also could also ask TV show writers to make certain characters such as heroes or villains to eat my chocolate bar during the programme. Children will hopefully see this and think something along the lines of ‘If Superman eats ‘Explosion’ then so can I! ‘. This can go either way and may or may not be successful. It all depends on the programme used, the time it is shown and who watches it. I will be using various promotions in order to sell my product in its first few weeks of sales.

I will use specials offers such as ‘BUY ONE GET ONE FREE’ , ‘2 for 1’ and also tokens on the back of packets which can be collected. However, I have to be careful when design token offers as Cadburys last offer was a failure. This is because they offered free sports equipment in exchange for tokens. It seemed like a good idea but the amount of tokens needed for the equipment would mean people would have to consume thousands of chocolate bars resulting in them becoming very overweight! This was obviously not a well thought through plan.

I may also place discount vouchers in family/food magazines and hand out free samples in supermarkets so people can try before they buy. Strategy Evaluation In general I think my product is likely to succeed quite well as I have done a lot of research into consumer wants and needs, and I have carefully thought through all of my strategies (including extensions) and which market segments I will be aiming at. Since my product is a chocolate bar I believe it will be successful as chocolate is loved worldwide and is affordable to anyone and everyone which means no one has to go without because they cannot afford it.

England Is clearly a chocolate loving country as can be seen from just 20 questionnaires and some research. I am confident my product will do well and hopefully will become one of Cadbury’s best sellers in the future. I understand that this is a lot to hope for but I can at least hope that my product will be on the market for a long time to come. However, I do understand that from time to time products do fail. Even small ones that seem so hopeful – such as chocolate bars.

If this does happen to me then I can either use my extension strategy to help of let my product go into decline. Obviously I do not want this to happen but I have to understand there is a possibility of failure. I think I have planned my promotional strategy well and my advertising and special offers should help in the sale of my product. In conclusion I am confident my product will do well. My Product My product is a chocolate bar called ‘EXPLOSION! ‘. It will be made up of layers of milk and white chocolate with a soft caramel centre – or caramel ‘explosion’.

This is because I have found out from my research that Cadburys Caramel is one of the biggest selling chocolate bars and also that many people can’t decide whether they prefer milk or white chocolate – so I’ve included both! The packaging will be bold bright colours with a big title in the centre saying ‘Explosion! ‘ There will be pieces of exploded materials surrounding the writing as though the writing itself has exploded. I will be selling my product in newsagents, supermarkets, vending machines, high street shops and garages to promote it as much as possible.

Growing organically and by acquisition’ – growing organically means is to expand the company e. g. more factories produced, more employees recruited from outside of the company and etc. Acquisition is when a company merges with another company to be stronger and to achieve the company’s objectives for growth e. g. Cadburys limited merged with Schweppes to become a more stronger company. Setting clearly defined and realistic objectives will enable many employees for CS to understand exactly what their job entails and achieving clearly stated objectives might be linked to bonus payments which can easily act as a motivation to employees.

As you can see, CS main objective is strategic objective because a primary objective is an ultimate long-term goal for their business. I personally think that the growth of any business is what CS or other companies use to survive as a business. If CS don’t keep expanding their company, they then will find it hard to compete with their competition e. g. Nestle. If CS doesn’t keep up with their main rivals, they then can decline in demand, which can ruin the company. If CS do grow and dominate the market, they then can experiment more with different brands and enjoy controlling power.

If CS do experiment with more new brands and doesn’t do well in the market, CS then can rely on their other brands e. g. if the new brand ‘Boost’ doesn’t do so well with people, CS then can always rely on other brands ‘Dairy Milk. ‘ This is known as risk-bearing economy of scale. CS objective can also be placed into a secondary objective also because without the primary objective, CS primary growth strategy can be minimised without setting a day-to-day objective, which makes a direct contribution to meeting the primary objectives e. g.

increase sales by 5% each year, keep labour turnover at less than 4%. If secondary objectives are accomplished within CS, they then can develop their company. The growth objective is mainly a long term objective but I also think that the growth objective of CS can be a short term because short-term objectives will often differ from long-term objectives, especially if CS is experiencing poor financial performance at present. A short-term objective may be to consolidate, or even simply to survive the difficult trading conditions that it is experiencing.

Once this has been achieved and the business has stabilised its performance, then it may well look to achieve its long-term objective of diversification into new products and new markets, or growth through joining up with other firms. CS objective for expanding is in the private sector because private sector objectives will often differ considerably from objectives set in the public sector. Profit maximisation is often quoted as the over-riding objective for CS in the private sector.

This will involve trying to produce at the point where there is the maximum difference between the firm’s total revenue and its total cost, which results in large dividend payments for the shareholders. However, it is far more likely that CS will aim to profit satisfy rather than profit maximise (that is, they will aim to earn a satisfactory level of profits to keep shareholders content, and then use the remaining resources to pursue other objectives such as diversification and growth).

CS set objectives to improve their image and to appear more socially responsible and environmentally friendly, which is often achieved through strategies of recycling materials; sponsoring local events and strictly adhering to all employee legislation e. g. pay levels, Health ; Safety, discrimination, etc. One of the best-known publicity that CS has is advertising and sponsoring Coronation Street, which is a well-known soap program in the UK. I personally think that CS is growing and will increase in the future.

One of the reasons that CS is increasing very fast in the market is because of the impact of Information Communication Technology (ICT). ICT combined computer and telecommunications technologies that made it possible for CS to work almost anywhere. Very few jobs are not directly or indirectly affected by computer technology now. The change of using ICT has happened very quickly and has changed CS. Before the use of ICT, CS had to use paper work to keep information on. This has now developed to be keep information on computers and other sources of ICT. Emailing is a very useful aspect of the Internet.

It allows different members of CS to work together although they maybe in different parts of the country or even the world. The Internet also provides CS to have a web site that will attract a wide range of people, which will increase CS growth and income objectives. Web sites can cause CS competition hard to compete with CS because of the attraction of the web site, is making the rivals of CS hard to compete with CS. Mobile phones are also has an impact on CS which means that employees can be contacted at any time either directly or by text messaging.

This is not always an advantage and can lead to people feeling stressed as they are never away from work. As you can see above examples, there are many ways that ICT can affect CS, which helps CS to keep growing and compete with their competition. The two ways that CS can grow are internally and externally, which CS uses both methods to grow. They use internal growth because it increases its size through investing in its existing product range e. g. Dairy Milk, or by developing new products e. g. Boost.

This will normally be financed through the use of retained profits (from previous trading years), bank loans or through the issue of shares. Internal growth is a slower and safer method of expansion than external growth. Cs also has used the external method for growth, which happened in 1969, when Cadbury Limited merged with Schweppes to increase the company. This type of merge is called Lateral, which occurs where two firms combine which are similar in some way, but are not in the same industry e. g. Cadbury-Schweppes.

Here, both companies produced products which were sold to similar market segments (confectionery and soft drinks). Often, the firms can benefit from the management and marketing techniques employed by the other. I think Cadbury Schweppes objective to grow as the best beverages and confectionery industry is accomplished in many ways but I also think they are not expanding as fast as their competition. To see how these two of my judgements are analysed and justified are by doing comparison against CS main competition who is Nestle, Mars Inc, Hershey and Phillip Morris.

The other way to see whether CS has grown is by statistics. Using these two types of information, I can see if CS is really expanding or decreasing compared to their competition. The growth of Cadbury Schweppes: Since 200 years when Cadbury was born, the business has grown one of the best beverages and Confectionery Company’s. I personally think that CS is growing at their pace but not at the pace of their competition. However I believe that CS is still growing. There is also proof that CS objective “Cadbury Schweppes’ governing objective is growth of shareowner value,” is true.

In 1997, CS introduced Managing for Value (MFV) with the aim of producing superior and sustainable returns for its shareowners (“Cadbury Schweppes’ governing objective is growth of shareowner value. “). Since 1997, CS has set three term targets against which the progress can be measured. Primarily, these targets are growth in underlying earnings per share, free cash flow generation and superior growth in total shareowner return. The targets have been set over four year periods, the first from 1997 to 2000 and currently 2001 to 2004.