Case Essays

Case Essays Case Essay Case Essay It described the ordeal of Kim Neigh, a former World financial analyst who was laid off from the company after complaining for many years about potential abuses related to capital spending. Glen Smith, a senior manager in Internal Audit, suggested to Cooper that they do an internal audit of capital expenditures immediately. Cooper agreed. The first sign of a problem was when one of the Finance directors provided capital spending schedules for the audit and two of them disagreed in amount. The director said the difference was due to something called prepaid capacity. When asked to explain the director couldnt and said that David Myers, the controller of World, provides the data to record. He added: David provides [me] with the amounts for [the] schedule. Later on a member of the internal audit team with technology knowledge, Gene Morse, is asked to examine the system and see if there was anything designated as prepaid capacity. Morse found prepaid capacity amounts Jumping all over the place, from account to account. There were numerous examples of items moved from account to account apparently to mask the true nature of the expenditures. As news breads of the internal audit of capital expenditures, Myers suggested that the team was wasting its time on the audit and that their time would be better spent to find ways to save money in operating cost. The reaction of Myers only made Cooper more suspicious of what may really be going on. Cooper then approached Farrell Malone, the external-audit partner at KEMP, the firm that replaced Andersen after its collapse following the Enron audit. Cooper explained about the movement of amounts to accounts and unexplained prepaid capacity designations. Farrell recommended not going to the audit committee at this time. Still, Cooper decided to take a closer look. Morse downloaded thousands of entries searching accounts with more than 300,000 transactions each month spread across a hundred legal entities. Cooper learned that Scott Sullivan, the CUFF, had found out about the audit. He questioned Morse about the work. This increased Coopers suspicion since Sullivan rarely took such a direct interest in an internal audit matter. She asked her staff what they thought about Morsels discovery. Most believed there is a good explanation. But Cooper knew as auditors they were obligated to stay with leads and keep reviewing the issues. At times, it is a slow, plodding process of checking and re-checking facts, developing theories, trying to find connections, and thinking through the issues until you get it right. On June moving large amounts from the income statement to the balance sheet $743 million in the third quarter of 2001, $941 million in the fourth quarter of 2001, and $100 million in the first quarter of 2002. The auditors went about tracing the amounts from account to account through the system to see where they landed. The next morning Cooper received a message that Sullivan wanted to speak to her right away. He talked about becoming more involved in internal audit matters, an unusual step for him. Cooper also overheard a conversation while in Sullivan office that Max Obit, the chairman of the Audit Committee, would be leaving the audit committee. This was of concern to Cooper since she reported functionally to the Audit Committee and administratively to Sullivan. The Audit Committee provided Internal Audit with independence from management. She worried that the conversation may have been for her benefit to inform her that Obit may not be there to support her. Cooper was prepared for the meeting. She asked Sullivan bluntly about prepaid capacity. He explained that it represented costs associated with no or low-utilized Sonnet Rings and [telecommunication] lines which were being capitalized. He stated: While revenues have declined, the costs related to certain lease are fixed, creating a matching problem. Although not clear at the time, Cooper came to realize that the amounts represented costs related to the companys leased fiber [optic] lines that had little or no customer usage because of the implosion of telecommunications in the late sass and early sass. The company continued to pay for the leased capacity UT they brought in little, if any, value. Instead of expensing the lease costs as they were incurred, the company reclassified the amoun ts as capital assets and expensed them over a longer period of time allowing it to stretch out the deduction to company earnings, buying time for revenue to catch up. Sullivan told her he was aware of the issues with the accounting treatment but they will be cleared up in the second quarter of 2002. At that time he said a restructuring charge related to prepaid capacity would be recorded effectively writing off most of the amounts that had been capitalized. After that, the company would no longer capitalize line costs as prepaid capacity, instead allocating these costs between a restructuring charge and an expense. Sullivan asked Cooper to postpone the audit until the third quarter of 2002 to look at the second quarter numbers. Cooper thought about what had transpired in her meeting with Sullivan. She realized that some aspects of accounting depended on Judgment. She thought, maybe the prepaid capacity was aggressive, but perfectly legal, accounting. She was uncomfortable with the matter in light of Farewells admonition not to go to the audit committee. Cooper called Obit to discuss the matter. She thought even though he was coming off the audit committee, that he would be interested in her findings. She told Obit that her staff had identified accounting entries made in the third and fourth quarter of 2001 and the first quarter of 2002 that totaled $2. 5 billion, and she was concerned about the accounting. Obit told her to meet with Farrell, the KEMP partner, to discuss the issues. The next day Obit came to town for an audit committee meeting and asked Cooper to meet with her and Farrell. At first, a stressed-out Obit chastised Cooper entries. Cooper felt she needed to have Obit focus on the real issue. However, Obit had already decided not to discuss the matter with the whole committee and he was supported by Farrell. At this point Cooper and Smith decided to interview Betty Vinson, the accounting director who entered some of the amounts into the accounting system. She asked for support for the prepaid capacity entries. Vinson admitted to making the entries but stated she did not know what they were for and had no support. Cooper asked where the amounts for the entries came from. Vinson said David Myers, the controller, or Buddy Yates, the director of general accounting. Cooper and Smith went to see Yates who told them to see Myers. Incredulously, she asked: Can a person reporting to you book a billion-dollar Journal entry without your knowledge? Yates told her that Myers called people who report to him all the time to book entries. Besides, most of the accounting is done in the field and not in my group. She thanked him for his answer but was in a state of disbelief. Cooper then went to see Myers who told her while he could construct support for the entries, he wouldnt do it. She asked him if there are NY accounting standards to support the entries. He stated there arent and that: We probably shouldnt have capitalized the line cost. But once it was done the first time, it was difficult to stop. He professed to be uncomfortable with the entries from the first time they were recorded. Smith wondered whether this was some sort of aggressive accounting technique. She asked Myers whether he was aware of other companies in the telecommunications industry who were using the same accounting treatment. He answered no but offered that other companies must have been doing the same thing to keep their cost structure low. Cooper decided to inform Obit of what had transpired. Obit suggested she should update Farrell and call him back after that. Farrell seemed surprised by the situation but said he would contact Obit and Myers. Cooper called Myers to give him a heads-up. Later in the day, Obit asked her to fly to Washington, D. C. To meet with him and Farrell the next morning. At the meeting Cooper expressed her concern that only one member of the audit committee knew about the entries. Obit cautioned that they had to be sure before going further and suggested it was now an external audit issue for KEMP, not an internal audit matter. Cooper offered that she didnt care whose issue it [was] as long as it [was] addressed appropriately. They agreed that Farrell would meet with Sullivan, the CUFF, who was the mastermind behind the accounting and give him an opportunity to explain his rationale. Farrell told Cooper that Sullivan explanation may have made sense from a business perspective, but not an accounting perspective. Sullivan had tried to find amounts inappropriately recorded in the opposite direction that is, expensed instead of capitalized to offset the prepaid-capacity entries and attempt to avoid restating many earnings. By June 20, over $3 billion of improperly classified costs had been found. It had been eight days since Cooper first called Obit about the audit findings and she was growing increasingly concerned that others on the audit committee were kept in the dark. She told Farrell that if Obit didnt call a meeting of the audit committee immediately, she would. Later in the day Obit called Cooper and told her there to. She asked why he seemed so agitated. Obit remarked that Do you have any idea what Im about to have to do? Im about to blow up this company! Farrell admitted at the meeting that he was not aware of any provision in GAP that would support the line-cost entries. Sullivan defended the transfers by stating that: Starting in 1999, World invested heavily in assets to expand the telecoms network, anticipating enormous future demands in customer traffic. World not only purchased equipment and fiber, but also signed a significant number of ling- term fiber leases with third parties to carry the expected telecoms traffic. But when the telecoms industry imploded, starting in 2000 and continuing through 2002, the customer usage anticipated never materialized. Now, large pieces of both owned and leased portions of the telecoms network wither [had] no or very little customer traffic. Sullivan had business reasons but no accounting rationale for the entries. He tried to use the matching principle to Justify the accounting. However, it only applied if the original Journal entries to account for the leases were correct. He also talked about taking an impairment charge in the second quarter of 2002, to write off the line cost amounts booked as capital assets. He insisted the entries werent made to meet earnings; that the accounting for line costs required Judgment and the transfers ere made using estimates. He also said there was no reason to consult anyone from Andersen on these matters. Following the audit committee meeting, Coopers team found 49 prepaid capacity accounting entries, totaling $3. Billion, recorded over all four quarters of 2001 and the first quarter of 2002. As she looked at the entries she concluded they were sinister in intent. The pattern of movement between accounts changed from one quarter to the next but the entries had the same end result. She concluded that it was a spider-web of amounts moving as many as three times and finally spread in mailer dollar increments across a multitu de of assets, mostly telecoms fiber and equipment. If the amounts are funneled through enough accounts and then spread out, someone seems to have thought, theyd come out on the other end less detectable by the external auditors. On June 24, Cooper and Smith met with Troy Normandy, the mid-level accounting director, who claimed to have relayed his concerns to Sullivan about another matter the drawing down of rainy-day line cost reserves, thereby reducing expenses. This occurred in 2000 when Normandy observed that Sullivan was forced to manipulate Hess amounts to meet the earnings guidance he had provided to Wall Street. Sullivan drew on the business purpose of the transactions and assured Normandy everything would be okay. Normandy felt he didnt know enough to refute Sullivan explanation so he went along with it. He shared with Cooper that he had considered resigning and never told internal or external audit about any of the entries because he was concerned for his Job and had a family to support. He concluded that: In hindsight, I wish I had. This case addresses the fundamental issues with weightlessness. Students should be able to differentiate between internal and external weightlessness and the consequences one might face if they choose to tell the truth. Under demonology Cynthia had a duty to the profession and the public to tell the truth. The fairness theory also requires that one do the act which is fair and promotes Justice to all. Ask students if they have ever had to tell on a friend? A co- worker? What kind of pressures did they face if they told the truth or if they kept silent? Questions 1 . What are the rules in accounting for determining whether to expense certain costs against revenue versus capitalizing and depreciating the costs? How do the different treatments affect earnings? Explain the reasons given by Scott Sullivan for capitalizing line costs. Why did Cooper believe the treatment did not conform to GAP? Accounting rules on leases proscribe which leases qualify as an operating lease (a current expense), and which qualify as a capitalizing lease (capitalized and depreciated over the life of the asset). By capitalizing and depreciating the cost over the life of the asset, the expense amount is smaller and matches the expense of the set with the revenues earned by the asset. Scott Sullivan explained that the prepaid capacity was fiber optic lines leases that were being capitalized, instead of expensed. The revenues on the leased fiber lines had declined, so the leases were being capitalized to better match the expense with the revenues. He later admitted that he was trying to use the matching principle to justify the capitalization of the lease costs. ) Cooper realized that capitalization of leases is based upon the lease being a financing lease to purchase the asset, not matching of the costs of the fiber lines with he revenues from the lines. Sullivan had also explained that the lines had little value and would be written off through a restructuring charge. Thus, there were red flags on the treatment of lease costs and impairment of assets.. 2. Analyze Cooper and the internal auditors professional Judgment. How do their actions relate to Rests four stages of moral development? Cooper and the internal auditors used objectivity and skepticism in looking at the prepaid capacity costs. They did not accept glib answers after being stonewalled on questions and requests for support and documentation. Their actions relate to the Rests four-component model of morality: moral sensitivity, moral Judgment, moral motivation, and newcomer and the internal auditors used objectivity and skepticism in looking at the prepaid capacity costs. They did not accept glib answers after being stonewalled on questions and requests for support and documentation. Their actions relate to the Rests four-component model of morality: moral sensitivity, moral judgment, moral motivation, and moral character. The auditors realized the dilemma; knew that the accounting entries were not following generally accepted accounting reminisces; were motivated to find answers and not accept glib answers and the audit committee. 3. What do you think motivated the behavior and actions of the following key people in this case: (a) Max Obit, chair of the audit committee Max Obit was stepping down as chair of the Audit Committee. He had overseen the change of auditors from Andersen to KEMP. In many ways he may have wanted to avoid conflict. When first approached by Cynthia Cooper, he may not have known for sure there was an accounting problem, as much as a conflict between Cooper and Sullivan. As he learned more of the accounting problem, he may have preferred a arsenal conflict between Cooper and Sullivan. (b) Farrell Malone, the KEMP partner. KEMP had taken over the audit of World after Andersen was put out of business from the Enron scandal. Farrell Malone wanted to keep the new client happy as he learned the audit situation. At that time, partners of Big 4 firms were compensated for new business brought to the firm. Additionally, a new audit often does not make money the first year, even if the firm has not low-balled the contract. Malone would have wanted to keep World as a client to make a profit for KEMP and to increase his personal compensation. C) Scott Sullivan the CUFF of World Scott Sullivan wanted World to make expected earnings to keep the stock price high. This could be due to not wanting to admit that expected earnings were wrong, and wanting the stock price high so that Coots stock options would have a high value and keep his personal worth high. (d) David Myers, the controller In a presentation at Baylor, David stated that he knew that the adjustment was wrong, but was convinced that it was a onetime adjustment. When the adjustments needed to be made going forward, David rationalized using utilitarianism that the retreat good for his friends, neighbors, co-workers, and residents of Clinton, Mississippi, would be to continue to go along with the adjustments. He was concerned that refusing to go along with Scott Sullivan or blowing the whistle would cause World to fail and negatively affect the economy of Clinton. In hindsight that is what happened, including David serving time in prison. (e) Betty Vinson and Troy Normandy, from the accounting department. Betty and Troy wanted to keep their Jobs so did as they were told. Since they were following orders from their supervisor it is possible that they thought they were not doing anything wrong.

Quantitative Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Quantitative Research - Essay Example A sample will be drawn from a population of breastfeeding mothers. The breastfeeding mothers will form the population group and will be divided into non-overlapping groups and then simple random samples will be picked from each group and the samples will be the experimental groups. One sample will not be allowed to breastfeed their children and will form the control group. Different groups will be required to breastfeed their children for a certain period of time different from the other group while other groups will be allowed to feed their children with formulas of intact cows milk or soy protein for the same periods of time. Different measurements will be undertaken before the onset of the study. Clinical tests will be carried out at different times and the readings of the experimental groups and those of the control group will be compared. During the study, censoring of participants will be allowed in case of death or willingness to terminate participation. Compared results will be the summarized to determine whether the hypothesis is true or not. The dependent variable in this study will be the incidence rate of getting asthma while the independent variables will be, age, duration of breastfeeding, gender, kind of feeding (breastfeeding or formulas of intact cows milk or soy protein). However, the dependent variables may be many depending on the kind of measurement intended. This can be measured depending on the type of variable if it will be continuous (age, duration of breastfeeding etc.), categorical (type of feed), ordinal (incidence rate) or nominal (gender). A sample will be drawn from a population of breastfeeding mothers which will be the sampling frame. The breastfeeding mothers will form the population group and will be divided into non-overlapping groups (strata) and then simple random samples will be picked from each group (stratum) and the samples will be the experimental groups. One sample

Family Focus Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Family Focus - Essay Example The family is the primary social group in society, typically composed of parents and their children. Another definition is that a family is: a married couple or other group of adult kinsfolk, who cooperate economically and in the upbringing of children; and all or most of whom share a common dwelling.(Gough 52). In a family, the members are either related by blood, or related by law or marriage, like a husband and wife. The bible sees the family not as a cultural construct but a fundamental God-given institution built into the very nature of the universe . The biblical record of the creation of the world centers on the human family, starting with the creation of Adam and Eve. God wants us to live in happy families. Ephesians 2:10 provides some insight, explaining that God prearranged a good life for us. Joyce Meyer says that you and I can have that life only if we choose to walk in it, if we submit to His will for us. The key is obedience. Obedient followers of God, like Noah and Dan iel received radical blessings from God. Sir John Bowring has said that a happy family is but an earlier heaven, and Leo Tolstoy has accurately observed that : All happy families resemble each other, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Family problems like divorce, illegitimate children, child abuse, and broken homes result from family breakdown. Family problems result in social problems like crime and poverty, sexual promiscuity, economic setbacks, etc.

Consumer Behaviour- Soft Drink Industry Essay Example for Free

Consumer Behaviour- Soft Drink Industry Essay Introduction The soft drink industry in India is one of the most competitive with many international and domestic players operating in the market. Initially domestic players like Parle group dominated the Indian soft drink market with brands like Thums up, Limca, Goldspot etc. However with the re-entry of MNC players like Pepsi in 1991 and Coca-Cola in 1993, the market took a decisive shift in favour of these MNCs and over the years Coca-Cola and Pepsi have become the prominent players in the market. Soft drinks can be principally classified into carbonated and non-carbonated. Carbonated drinks include cola, lemon and orange flavors while non carbonated drinks principally comprise of mango flavor. The carbonated cola products constitute 60% of the soft drink market and three prominent brands in this category are Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Thums up. Thums up was a brand from Parle until Coca-Cola bought it in 1993 and tried to kill it to push its own brand. But the loyal customers of Thums up never let it die and the brand still is the leading brand in the Indian soft drink market. Company profile: The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is the world’s largest beverage company. The company’s best known product Coca-Cola was invented by John Stith Pemberton in 1886. The Coca-Cola formula and brand was bought in 1889 by Asa Candler who incorporated the Coca-Cola Company in 1892. Coca-Cola currently offers nearly 400 brands in over 200 countries or territories and serves 1. 5 billion servings each day. The Coca-Cola Company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Its current chairman and CEO is Muhtar Kent. Coca-Cola was the leading soft drink brand in India until 1977 when it left rather than reveal its formula to the government and reduce its equity stake as required under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) which governed the operations of foreign companies in India. After a 16-year absence, Coca-Cola returned to India in 1993, cementing its presence with a deal that gave Coca-Cola ownership of the nations top soft-drink brands and bottling network. Coke’s acquisition of local popular Indian brands including Thums. Up (the most trusted brand in India), Limca, Maaza, Citra and Gold Spot provided not only physical manufacturing, bottling, and distribution assets but also strong consumer preference. This combination of local and global brands enabled Coca-Cola to exploit the benefits of global branding and global trends in tastes while also tapping into traditional domestic markets. From 1993 to 2003, Coca-Cola invested more than US$1 billion in India, making it one of the country’s top international investors. By 2003, Coca-Cola India had won the prestigious Woodruf Cup from among 22 divisions of the Company based on three broad parameters of volume, profitability, and quality. Coca-Cola India achieved 39% volume growth in 2002 while the industry grew 23% nationally and the Company reached breakeven profitability in the region for the first time. Encouraged by its 2002 performance, Coca-Cola India announced plans to double its capacity at an investment of $125 million (Rs.750 crore) between September 2002 and March 2003. Coca-Cola India produced its beverages with 7,000 local employees at its twenty-seven wholly-owned bottling operations supplemented by seventeen franchisee-owned bottling operations and a network of twenty-nine contract-packers to manufacture a range of products for the company. The complete manufacturing process had a documented quality control and assurance program including over 400 tests performed throughout the process. The complexity of the consumer soft drink market demanded a distribution process to support 700,000 retail outlets serviced by a fleet that includes 10-ton trucks, open-bay three wheelers, and trademarked tricycles and pushcarts that were used to navigate the narrow alleyways of the cities. In addition to its own employees, Coke indirectly created employment for another 125,000 Indians through its procurement, supply, and distribution networks. Sanjiv Gupta, President and CEO of Coca-Cola India, joined Coke in 1997 as Vice President, Marketing and was instrumental to the company’s success in developing a brand relevant to the Indian consumer and in tapping India’s vast rural market potential. Following his marketing responsibilities, Gupta served as Head of Operations for Company-owned bottling operations and then as Deputy President. Product Range The product range of Coca-Cola includes beverages like: * Coca-Cola The parent brand of Coca-Cola Company, Coca-Cola has a truly remarkable heritage. The world’s favourite drink. * Thums Up Strong Cola taste. Thums Up is a leading sparkling soft drink and most trusted brand in Indian soft drink market. * Sprite A global leader in the lemon lime category, it is second largest sparkling beverage Brand in India. Sprite with it’s cut-thru perspective has managed to be a true teen icon. Sprite’s all about being true to yourself and living by the simple and honest code of your own instincts. No more†¦. no less. * Fanta Over the years Fanta has occupied a strong market place and is identified as â€Å"The Fun Catalyst†. Perceived as a fun youth brand, Fanta stands for its vibrant color, tempting taste and tingling bubbles. * Limca Lime ‘n’ lemoni Limca can cast a tangy refreshing spell on anyone, anywhere. Born in 1971, Limca has remained unchallenged as the No. 1 Sparkling drink in the Cloudy lemon segment. * Minute Maid Pulpy Orange One of world’s largest juice drink brands. Eliminated 80% of the water in orange juice, forming a frozen concentrate that when reconstituted created orange juice. * Maaza Imagine the delicious fruit, Mango bottled. This is what Maaza is all about. Universally loved for its taste, color, thickness, Maaza is the mango lover’s first choice. * Kinley Mineral water, a thirst quencher that refreshes, a life giving force that washes all the toxins away. * Georgia Introduced in 2004, the GEORGIA Gold range of Tea and Coffee beverages is the perfect solution for your office and restaurant needs. Product Information: Thums Up Background Thums Up is a carbonated soft drink (cola) popular and largest selling brand in India where its bold, red thumbs up logo is common. During the late 1970s, the American cola giant Coca-Cola abandoned operations in India rather than make a forced sale of 60% of their equity to an Indian company. Following this, the Parle brothers, Ramesh Chauhan and Prakash Chauhan, along with then CEO Bhanu Vakil, launched Thums Up as their flagship drink, adding to their portfolio of older brands Limca (lime flavor) and Gold Spot (orange flavor). Thums Up was basically a cola drink, but the company never claimed it as such. The formula was just as closely guarded as the famous Coke formula. Thums Up enjoyed a near monopoly with a much stronger market share often overshadowing its other rivals like Coca-Cola’s Campa cola, Double seven and Dukes, but there were many small regional players who had their own market. It even withstood liquor giant United Breweries Group (makers of Kingfisher Beer) Mcdowells Crush, which was another Cola drink, and Double Cola. In 1990, when the Indian government opened the market to multinationals, Pepsi was the first to come in. Thums Up went up against the international giant for an intense onslaught with neither side giving any quarter. With Pepsi roping in major Indian movie stars like Juhi Chawla, to thwart the Indian brand, Thums Up increased its spending on Cricket sponsorship. Then the capacity went from 250ml to 300ml, aptly named MahaCola. This nickname gained popularity in smaller towns where people would ask for Maha Cola instead of Thums Up. The consumers were divided where some felt Pepsi’s mild taste was rather bland. In 1993 Coca-Cola re-entered India after a prolonged absence from 1977 to 1993. But Coca-Cola’s entry made things even more complicated and the fight became a three-way battle. That same year, in a move that baffled many, Parle sold out to Coke for a meager US$ 60 million (considering the market share it had). Now Coca-Cola’s, and Coke has a habit of killing brands in its portfolio that might overshadow it. Coca-Cola soon introduced its cola in cans which was all the rage in India, with Thums Up introduced alongside, albeit in minuscule numbers. Later Coca-Cola started pulling out the Thums Up brand which at that time still had more than 30% market share. Despite its strong overall equity, the brand Thums Up was losing its popularity among the core cola drinking age group of 12 to 25 year olds, partly due to nil advertising. Coca-Cola apparently did try to kill Thums Up, but soon realized that Pepsi would benefit more than Coke if Thums Up was withdrawn from the market. Instead, Coke decided to use Thums Up to attack Pepsi. The Coca-Cola Company by this time had about 60. 5% share of the Indian soft-drink market but much to its dismay found out that if it took out Thums Up, it would remain with only 28. 72% of the market (according to a report by NGO FinanceTrade in India), hence it once again dusted out the Thums Up brand and re-launched it targeting the 30 to 45 year olds. The brand was re-positioned as a â€Å"manly† drink, drawing on its strong taste qualities. Known to be a strong drink with more power packed into it than other colas, Thums Up kick-started an aggressive campaign directly attacking Pepsi’s TV ads, focusing on the strength of the drink hoping that the depiction of an â€Å"adult† drink would appeal to young consumers. â€Å"Grow up to Thums Up† was a successful campaign. The brand’s market share and equity soared. The brand was unshakeable and Coca-Cola’s declaration that Thums Up was India’s premier cola brand in terms of market share did not surprise many. Other campaigns from Thums Up build on its â€Å"strength† and its perception as a macho drink. Ads showing the Thums Up man, riding through the desert in search of a cantina that sells Thums Up rather than drink another cola, stuck in the minds of many Indians and caught the imagination of youngsters who want to be seen as men. 4 P’s of Marketing Mix for Thums Up. Product: Thums Up is known for its strong, fizzy taste and its confident, mature and uniquely masculine attitude. This brand clearly seeks to separate the men from the boys. Beverage offered by the company in the size of: * SSRB (Standard size returnable bottle) * PET (600 ml, 1. 5 liter plastic bottle) * CANS (tin pack 330 ml) Price: Thums Up has adopted competition based pricing and so the prices are similar to that of other cola drinks. 1. Glass Bottles – 200ml, 300ml – Rs 12. 00 onwards 2. PET Bottles – 600ml, 1500ml, 2 ltrs, 2. 25 ltrs. – Rs 25. 00 onwards 3. Can – 330ml – Rs 35. 00 45. 00 4. Fountain – Customized – Rs 15. 00-35. 00 can go upto Rs 60. 00 in movie halls Company offers discount on prices or extra quantity of cold drink during festive seasons and winter seasons. Place: Thums Up has a strong distribution channel to make the product available in the market any time, and maintain optimum level of stock in the market. It covers the rural part also to increase the customer reach. The soft drink is made available at all the possible convenient locations to the customers – local area grocery shops, hotels, restaurants, movie halls, multiplexes, shopping malls, supermarkets vending machines, fountain outlets. Promotion: Thums Up has consistently built its sales promotion through various techniques like, blind taste tests, sponsoring exciting events and sports, conducting various contests (win a motor bike contest), etc. Also its ads are designed to create excitement and to communicate the macho personality of the brand. An ad campaign of Thums Up where Akshay Kumar (its brand ambassador since 2003) performs the extreme sport of ‘parkour’ to grab his bottle of Thums Up from a suggestively attractive lady. â€Å"Taste the Thunder† has been the most breakthrough communication campaign for the brand. It stands for masculinity that has constantly been redefined over the years. Competition Thums Up went from being the only cola in the cantina to facing competition from both Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Twenty-six years later it’s still a top cola in India and is one of the strongest brands in the country across categories. The brand name’s positive associations of victory, achievement and celebration are apparently merited as it continues to do well despite a challenging landscape. | | | | | Thums Up’s first competition came in the form of Campa Cola. There were allegations of aggressive exchanges between the two brands at street level but Thums Up (owned by Parle at the time) apparently won the battle both on the ground and in the consumer’s mind. Campa Cola discontinued in 2000 (only to re-emerge as less of a challenger in 2002 from Pure Drinks New Delhi). For a short while Thums Up’s strong taste enjoyed success across the country with scarcely any competition; the brand reigned supreme in the cola market. Currently Thums Up is facing competition from lots of brands coming in the soft drink industry and still it has maintained its top position in the minds of Indian consumers. Today, an Indian consumer sees Thums Up as a unique brand personality which no other brand has acquired in the soft drink industry. | | Conclusion| Thums Up is amongst the oldest domestic brands in soft drinks industry in India and it is the most popular and trusted brands in India. Thums Up enjoyed a near monopoly in India with a much stronger market share till 1990s. But with the advent of Pepsi (1992) and Coca Cola (1993), Thums Up started facing stiff competition. In 1993, Parle sold out to Coke and Thums Up became the brand of Coca-Cola Company. Though Coca-Cola tried to kill Thums-Up to build its own brand, it sooner realized the importance of Thums Up to survive in the Indian market to beat its core competitor Pepsi. Today Thums Up has grown its image from just a soft drink to a lot more for Indian consumers. It has established itself as a distinguished brand with strong taste and which communicates maturity, daring and excitement to its consumers. Thums Up has consistently maintained honesty and trust with its consumers and that’s why it is still the number one cola brand in the country.

Essays --

Holiday Hazards: Overcrowded Warehouses Stuffed With Presents! In 2012, Amazon was selling 306 items every SECOND during the holiday rush. As more and more people shop the Internet for the next best deal, remember the method behind the madness. All these goods come from warehouses. It can be tempting to crowd out the aisles in the warehouse to up the sales ability and logistics of your company. Think Twice – OSHA doesn’t care about soaring sales, safety is especially significant during this busy time of year. Safety issues can arise at any time, but since Americans spend the most money around the holidays, conducting self-inspections and keeping notes on what went well and what went wrong can give insight for improved logistics and safety in the New Year. However you organize, a clear plan should be in place for optimal functionality with minimal interruption for the product to get from storage to the loading dock – and safely. Here are a few items to consider this season: †¢ Keep Forklift Traffic and Pedestrian Traffic Separate. Have clearly marked paths for pedestrians...

Double Standard in Marquez’ Chronicle of a Death Foretold Essay

In Columbian society portrayed in the novel Chronicles of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Marquez, there is a significant double standard regarding gender roles. They live in a world where women have to adhere to extreme societal and cultural expectations. Men are encouraged to be experienced in the bedroom for their wedding night but if a woman is not a virgin, she is deemed unfit to marry. Women cannot move up in the social world if they are not married. They are taught to cook and clean and if they wish to move up in class they must marry a man of higher social standards. Women are taught when they are brought up that â€Å"love can be learned† (page 35) and that they must marry whoever impresses their family while men can choose whoever they want. If Angela does not follow these rules she will be an outcast from society and will never have the hopes of moving up in class. When she doesn’t adhere to the image of a â€Å"perfect women† Santiago Nasar is killed in the name of her honour. The result of these double standards leads directly to the death of Santiago Nasar in Chronicles of A Death Foretold. The idea that for women, love is something that can be taught and they are â€Å"brought up to suffer† while men can choose whomever they would like especially if they charm their family is a significant unjust double standard that results in the death of Santiago Nasar. Santiago was murdered for supposedly taking Angela’s virginity. This was cause for his death because not being a virgin deemed you unfit to be married and soiled or impure, she was garbage if she wasn’t a virgin. When Angela’s future husband found out she wasn’t a virgin he returned her to her family, honour destroyed. Her two brothers took action into their own hands and when Santiago was named as the man who took her virginity he was murdered by the Vicario twins. This is effect of the double standard because Angela did not want to marry Bayardo San Roman but he had charmed his way in by impressing her family. â€Å"Bayardo San Roman hadn’t even tried to court her but had bewitched her family with his charm. † (Page 34). If women had the power to choose who they wanted to marry, as men do, Angela never would have been pressured into marrying Bayardo. She did not love him. â€Å"Angela Vicario only hinted at the inconvenience of a lack of love, but her mother demolished it with a single phrase: Love can be learned too. † (Page 35) If Angela was never going to marry Bayardo he would not have returned her for not being a virgin and she would not have named Santiago as the man who took her virginity and the twins never would have taken the matter into their own hands and committed the murder. If the double standard didn’t exist in their culture Angela would have had the power to say she did not want to marry Bayardo and Santiago would still be alive. Another sexist double standard that exists in the community is the idea that the only way women can make a life for themselves is if they get married. It is impossible for them to move up in class unless they marry a man who has a higher social standing than they do, while men only need to be born into positive circumstances. The perfect woman would be one who could cook, clean and be a mother. She would have to be pure (stay a virgin till her wedding night) and obey what her husband says. Angela says,†The brothers were brought up to be men. The girls were brought up to be married. They knew how to do screen embroidery, sew by machine, weave bone lace, wash and iron, make artificial flowers and fancy candy, and write engagement announcements†¦ my mother thought there were no better-reared daughters. ‘They’re perfect,’ she was frequently heard to say. ‘Any man will be happy with them because they’ve been raised to suffer. (Page 34). The perfect man is one who has experience in the bedroom, looks, money and has fulfilled societal expectations. The stress on women to get married in order to succeed in the society is very strong. If women had the same expectations as men being married would not be as much of an obligation. If they had a chance to succeed on their own finding a man to marry would not be a priority. This double standard leads to Santiago’s death because of the pressure to be the perfect woman in order to get married and advance in life. If there was no such double standard they would have never been married and Santiago would have not been murdered by Angela’s brothers. The final double standard in Chronicles of a Death Foretold the lack of experience women are expected to have in the bedroom versus the amount men are expected to have. In their society women must be pure and have their virginity until the night of their wedding. â€Å"No one would have thought, nor did anyone say, that Angela Vicario wasn’t a virgin. She hadn’t known any previous fiance and she’d grown up along with her sisters under the rigor of a mother of iron. Even when it was less than two months before she would be married, Pura Vicario wouldn’t let her go out alone with Bayardo San Roman to see the house where they were going to live, but she and the blind father accompanied her to watch over her honour. † (Page 37). The idea of the importance of virginity is almost being mocked by Marquez, it is so important to protect her virginity that her blind father must accompany her and â€Å"watch over her† is absurd. Women must have chaperones at all time while men are encouraged to be experienced. The reason Santiago Nasar is killed was to avenge Angela’s honour when she accuses Santiago for taking her virginity after she is deemed unfit to marry by her fiance. If this one sided prejudice did not exist and it was not a necessity for Angela to be a virgin (as it is not necessary for the man to be a virgin) Angela would not have been returned and need her honour to be avenged. The double standard in this novel is clearly unjust and absurd. Women are pressured into being married to people who they do not love in order to move up in the social classes. Instead of being courted, the man impresses the woman’s family and the woman is taught they must learn to love and grow up to suffer. The idea of virginity is extremely one sided as women need to be virgins and men need to be experienced. If any of these double standards regarding sexuality did not exist in their culture Santiago Nasar would not have been murdered.

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