Industry Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Industry Analysis - Essay Example Other significant competitors in this segment include Polaris, BMW, and Triumph. Honda is the world’s biggest motorcycle producer, followed by Yamaha, and Suzuki. In the U.S., Harley has the biggest market share. Heavyweight Motorcycle Producer Approximate Worldwide Market share Ranking Honda 1st Yamaha 2nd Suzuki 3rd Harley-Davidson 4th Kawasaki 5th BMW 6th Polaris 7th Triumph 8th # 3 Strengths One of the prominent strengths of Harley-Davidson is the power of its brand. Harley-Davidson attracts a strong following from its loyal customers worldwide due to its commitment to the delivery of a unique experience. The ability of Harley-Davidson to deliver unforgettable experiences is the biggest attraction to Harley-Davidson customers worldwide. The engagement offers a platform to other stakeholders to experience Harley-Davidson lifestyle, environment, people, and products. In addition, Harley-Davidson strength also emanates from its strong after sales service, which is exhibited b y its â€Å"family† concept exhibited by Harley Owners Group (HOG). Harley-Davidson’s marketing efforts such as dealer promotions, customer events, and advertising have consolidated the company’s brand. ... Harley-Davidson derives a lot of strength for its customized products that appeal to the customer’s specifications. In offering a range of customized bikes, the company is assured of aligning its products with the prevailing consumer needs and expectations. The continuity of a unique culture of letting customers share their adventure and experience of the company’s products has made Harley-Davidson an American icon. Harley-Davidson initiatives such as building of a museum in Milwaukee in 2008 have pursued to build a unique experience that reinforces bonds between the company and the company. Weaknesses Harley-Davidson faces challenges in keeping in touch with an ever growing advancement in the design of motorcycles. Although Harley-Davidson motorcycles embody an innovative design and high performance, keeping up with an ever growing innovation by the competitors are challenging as the company has constantly invested in research and development (David, 2011). In addition , some of the prominent competitors of Harley-Davidson strategic alliance between Suzuki and Kawasaki in the fields of product development, design, engineering, and manufacturing may have heightened competition. Another weakness that befalls Harley-Davidson is competition from established heavyweight motorcycle dealers such as Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki, and Yamaha. The heavyweight motorcycle market is highly competitive, especially from competitors based outside the United States. Most of Harley-Davidson competitors are diversified in the automotive market and other fields. The diversification reinforces the competitors’ operations while Harley-Davidson remains exposed to aspects such as economic

Measuring the Impact of Stress on Physical Health

Measuring the Impact of Stress on Physical Health Psychologists are very interested to understand the many ways in which stress can make us unwell. Before psychologists can get to the point of very significant real-life benefits to be had from understanding this relationship, they need valid and reliable way of measuring stress first. There are two main categories of measurement that has been developed and they are self-report and physiological methods. One psychological measurement of stress is self-report scales and they include the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS). The Social Readjustment Rating Scale was developed by Thomas Holmes and Richard Rache in 1967 and is a well-known self-report method of measuring life changes that go on in an individuals life. Both Holmes and Rache studied the medical records of patients, picking out the events that occurred in the patients lives not long before they fell ill. Within the SRRS, it presents a list of 43 life changes and each one of the 43 stressful life events was given a Life Change Unit (LCU). Obviously this unit depended on how traumatic the event felt to be by a large sample of participants. The researchers calculated averages for each life event and further divided these numbers by ten. This gave the overall LCU score for each change and these changes were put into rank order from highest to lowest. It was found that if an individual has less than 150 LCU, they have a 30% chance of suffering from stress. Between 150 and 299 LCU, it equates to a 50% chance of suffering from stress, and finally over 300 LCU it means the person has an 80% chance of developing a stress related illness. The downside of this measurement of stress is that it doesnt take individual difference into consideration. The scale just assumes that each stressor affects people the same way but this is not true, for example some people may say that divorce is very stressful however for others it may even be a relief or amicable. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) is the most commonly used psychological instrument for assessing the perception of stress. Items were made to assess how overloaded, uncontrollable and unpredictable respondents find their lives to be. Also within the scale, it has a number of direct queries about current levels of stress that the person experiences. The questioned asked in the (PSS) are about thoughts and feelings during the past month. In each case, people completing it are asked how often they felt a certain way. Another psychological measurement of stress is the Hassles and Uplifts Scale (HSUP). It is a self-report measure of the stress associated with everyday irritations known as hassles and of the small pleasures of daily life that are thought to partly offset the negative effects of hassles known as the uplifts. It is a more comfortable way to identify the pros and cons events that happen in each persons daily life. Also, Allen Kanner et al put forward that the combined effects of daily hassles and uplifts would be a more useful indicator of stress therefore he then developed this scale. The HSUP has three different forms: Daily Hassles Scale Daily Uplifts Scale Combined Scale The Daily Hassle Scale consists of 117 items and includes seven categories which are family, friends, work, environment, chance occurrences, health and practical considerations. Examples of hassles include disliking work colleagues, troublesome neighbours and too much responsibility. The scale measures how severe each hassle is on a three-point scale: somewhat, moderately or extremely severe. Based on the severity measure, it will reflect on the fact that the psychological meaning of each hassle to the individual is more important than how often it occurs. On the other hand, the Daily Uplifts Scale was constructed by a similar process that consisted of 135 items that were processed from the same content areas as the Hassles Scale. Examples of uplifts include relating well with friends and meeting responsibilities, liking fellow workers, and getting enough sleep. The individual identifies all of the uplifts that apply, followed by how often they have experienced them over a specific period of time. After many years of research with the Hassles and Uplifts Scale, some limitations were identified and so it was updated by Anita DeLongis et al and became the Hassle and Uplifts Questionnaire. The Skin conductance response (SCR) is a physiological measure of the degree of sweating associated with arousal of the autonomic nervous system. ANS arousal activates the bodys fight or flight response when a stressor occurs. Small increases in sweating can be detected as greater electrical conductance across the skin. To detect sweating, electrodes are attached to the index and middle fingers of one hand. A very small current that cannot be felt is applied to the electrodes in order to measure how much electricity is being conducted. Since human skin is a good conductor of electricity, the more we sweat, the more conductance there will be. There are two types of skin conductance. One is tonic conductance and this is skin conductance when we are not experiencing a stimulus. It is used as a baseline measure against which to compare phasic conductance. This type occurs when something happens like for example when someone asks you a question or we are shown a picture. The whole response can take from four to five seconds. Along with respiration, blood pressure and heart rate, the SCR makes up a polygraph, more commonly known as the lie detector test. Another physiological measurement of stress is by testing the persons blood pressure. Blood pressure is a measure of the force that exerts on the walls of blood vessels. When blood is measured by a sphygmomanometer, two numbers appear like for example 135/85mmHg. The first number, 135, represents the systolic pressure which happens when the heart pushes blood out of the arteries, whereas the second number, 85, represents the diastolic pressure, which is the pressure of the heart at rest. Salivary alpha-amylase is another physiological way of measuring stress. Alpha-amylase is an enzyme thats made under sympathetic innervations and can be collected in the individuals saliva. There is a lot of evidence suggesting that the level of salivary alpha-amylase increases with physiological stress, such as exercise.

George Eliot, Pseudonym of Marian Evans :: George Eliot Writers Authors Essays

George Eliot, Pseudonym of Marian Evans George Eliot, pseudonym of Marian Evans (1819-1880) This article appeared in The Times Literary Supplement and was reprinted in The Common Reader: First Series. Virginia Woolf also wrote on George Eliot in the Daily Herald of 9 To read George Eliot attentively is to become aware how little one knows about her. It is also to become aware of the credulity, not very creditable to one’s insight, with which, half consciously and partly maliciously, one had accepted the late Victorian version of a deluded woman who held phantom sway over subjects even more deluded than herself. At what moment and by what means her spell was broken it is difficult to ascertain. Some people attribute it to the publication of her Life. Perhaps George Meredith, with his phrase about the ‘mercurial little showman’ and the ‘errant woman’ on the daà ¯s, gave point and poison to the arrows of thousands incapable of aiming them so accurately, but delighted to let fly. She became one of the butts for youth to laugh at, the convenient symbol of a group of serious people who were all guilty of the same idolatry and could be dismissed with the same scorn. Lord Acton had said that she was greater than Dante; Herbert Spencer exempted her novels, as if they were not novels, when he banned all fiction from the London Library. She was the pride and paragon of her sex. Moreover, her private record was not more alluring than her public. Asked to describe an afternoon at the Priory, the story-teller always imitated that the memory of those serious Sunday afternoons had come to tickle his sense of humour. He had been so much alarmed by the grave lady in her low chair; he had been so anxious to say the intelligent thing. Certainly, the talk had been very serious, as a note in the fine clear hand of the great novelist bore witness. It was dated Monday morning, and she accused herself of having spoken without due forethought of Marivaux when she meant another; but not doubt, she said, her listener had already supplied the correction. Still, the memory of talking about Marivaux to George Eliot on a Sunday afternoon was not a romantic memory. It had faded with the passage of the years. It had not become picturesque. Indeed, one cannot escape the conviction that the long, heavy face with its expression of serious and sullen and almost equine power has stamped itself depressingly upon the minds of people who remember George Eliot, so that it looks out upon them from her pages.

Value Chain Analysis-Army Recruiting Company

Value Chain Analysis: Army Recruiting Company Foundation for Business intelligence Before he passed away in 1999, satirical novelist, Joseph Heller, wrote in his book Catch-22, â€Å"I had examined myself pretty thoroughly and discovered that I was unfit for military service† (Heller, 282). While in this instance, the individual was missing a leg and therefore not eligible for service, this quote has been used at times by those that have a fear or misunderstanding of the United States Armed Forces.Despite this, there is a requirement to maintain the volume of Soldiers within the United States Army and that recruiting companies develop a desire to join within the communities where they are located. Understanding the Companies valued processes allows for analysis of what operations are already being performed well and what areas can be improved to increase desire to join. As an Army Recruiting Commander it is my job to ensure that the Company I lead is producing the best product for our customers. It is described as customers because there are two entities that this company serves.The more obvious of the two is the United States Government. We receive a mission for the year, as to the Government’s goals for the quantity and quality of new enlistments to the United States Army. While it is important to this customer to receive a certain number of these enlistments at various phase lines through the year, the type of enlistment is just as vital to customer satisfaction. For best results, the enlistee should not only show educational aptitude, but also be a malleable or trainable product before they arrive to Basic Training.This customer’s requirements for success require that the company provides them an on time, quality product, in determined quantities. The other customer that this Company serves is in fact those very people that are enlisting to serve Customer Number One. Less than one half of one percent of the American population has chose n to serve in the Army during the past decade (Miles, 3). Though this number is likely to remain low, growing pressure from competing Department of Defense Agencies such as the U. S. Navy or National Guard, requires us to illustrate to the customer exactly why they should choose us as a provider.Where Customer Number One requires a high tempo turn over for their product, it is more important to this customer that service meets their specific timeline. Some customers need to begin their Army Career as soon as possible due to financial or familial responsibilities. Others have requirements to complete, such as graduating from high school or college, therefore requiring a suspended leave date. In addition to a customized timeline, it is important to understand the specific reasons why they would choose to enlist in the first place.Understanding this allows the Company to tailor the right package of benefits and job selection that meets the customers desires and replaces the need to see k opportunities with other Department of Defense Agencies. In order to meet the requirements of the Companies two customers, there are certain activities that must be accomplished. Though there are other processes that support the Company’s operations, the critical activities for mission success are marketing and research, prospecting, input management, and output management.These activities are necessary to complete services for both sets of customers and are continuously being completed. It is generally likely that many of these activities are being conducted simultaneously in order to reach final goal of a quality Soldier prepared to ship to Basic Training with a customized package of job and benefits. It is said that the first rule of sales is that people must like and trust you (Klivans, 1). Though we typically try to distance Military Recruiting from sales, this principal still applies.For many people there is a negative connotation when considering the Armed Forces as a career choice for themselves or those that they influence. Generally, this is due to lack of knowledge of what the Army or other Department of Defense Agencies is like aside from aggrandized portrayals of violence from movies, television, and news. In order to combat this ignorance, the Company has become very successful at utilizing marketing within the local area. We effectively utilize advertising and public affair in order to engage the population and inform them about the military, its benefits, and the opportunities that are available.More than 43 percent of the recruiters for the entirety of Department of Defense within the area belong to my Company. Due to this, we are able to conduct branding operations across a larger swath of area than the other services. Participation in schools and providing branded materials for on the spot dialogue or future appointments at a recruiting center allows the company to diverge potential applicants away from other services increasing com pany production.Finally, utilization of friendly influencers such as, coaches, guidance councilors, and church leaders adds to our value as they provide the message about the Army’s worth without the supposed bias. These marketing and branding activities lay the framework for mission success and market domination, but prospecting is where the literal rubber meets the road. As with the marketing, the number of recruiters in the area allows for a larger area to be covered and more school visits per day, but its knowing where and how to target potential applicants that allow for greater success.Company recruiters conduct no less than four school engagements and multiple days either calling or visiting qualified leads identified from responses to our area marketing. Each phase line, which is generally about a month, we utilize historical data to identify key â€Å"must win† zip codes. By looking back at the last two years of recruiting data, we identify these key areas whe re enlistments are more likely to come from as well as what time of the year is generally the best to prospect in these areas. The analysis of historical data also helps with understanding the approach that should be utilized when discussing a potential enlistment.We utilize this to understand when to offer the action and adventure of the Combat Services or money for college and medical degree programs. This alone plays a significant part in our success and claiming more than 40 percent of the total market share of all enlistments in our key areas. At this point we should have satisfied all of the requirements for customer number two. They are given the red-carpet treatment and provided with the specialized bonuses, job placement, and Basic training dates that meets their aptitude and preferences.They then become the input for fulfilling the obligation to Customer Number One. Though each enlistee has the customized packet and has general satisfaction from the process, it is still po ssible to have an enlistee change their mind about shipping and is taken as a loss. The acceptable standard for loss rate from the United States Army Recruiting Command is ten percent with no losses inside of 35 days (USAREC, 7). Losses that occur are generally due to pregnancy, police record, drug use, or loss of influencer support.To combat losses, Future Soldier Leaders are assigned and conduct weekly training with the enlistees. During the training these leaders provide enlistees with information and training necessary to become successful at Basic Training and in their military careers. At the end of each training the enlistees are given a safety brief to remind them of potential risks to shipping and what mistakes will cost them. This action has reduced the loss rate of the Company to approximately eight percent with significant reductions in pregnancy, drug use, and police record losses.However, loss of influencer support continues to be the primary reason for loss and genera lly result in a loss being taken well inside of the thirty day window. Losses taken before ship date due hurt the overall effectiveness rating of the Company. What also becomes a challenge is getting the enlistee to ship on time to basic training. The most important part of getting an applicant out the door is time flow management. There is an expectation that the Company can enlist a Soldier, prepare him or her for basic training, and get them out to their unit in a few weeks.Currently, the average â€Å"flash to bang,† amount of time between initial contacts during prospecting to shipping to Basic Training, is just under 50 days. Though this is above the standard timeline for stated Command policies, this timeline is faster than all other recruiting Companies in this area. Issues that extend the flash to bang timeline typically are contract renegotiations for individuals that are unsatisfied in their specialized package. Also, individuals that fail to complete school requir ements at the expected graduation time require an extension to their original ship date.In order to increase the success of the Company it is important to understand not only the areas where success is being achieved but what items can be adjusted to maximize efforts as well. For instance, though having a higher recruiter share allows for us to cover a larger area during the marketing and prospecting phases, the Marine Corps and Air Force manage to recruit a significant number of high aptitude Seniors even in our â€Å"must win† zip codes. Both services supply one specialized message and target specifically those individuals looking for careers in technology and engineering.Providing more focus on Army careers in STEM, (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) is needed to lessen efforts by other services. Also, adjustments need to be made during the input management phase in order to diminish losses inside of 30 days to include more involvement with enlistee influencers to en sure no loss of support. Finally, contract renegotiations should be kept to a minimum. Ensuring that a thorough understanding of our customers motivators and fully address in initial package and limiting renegotiations that would extend Flash to Bang timeline are needed steps.Engendering support to join the United States Army will continue to be a daunting task. In order to make certain continued satisfaction from the two customer groups requires understanding of working processes and potential areas to improve. Through utilization of higher recruiter numbers to cover larger area, developing good marketing and prospecting processes, ensuring proper training and management through Basic Training ship date and applying fixes to deficient areas, the Army Recruiting Company can continue to meet the demands from our customers.Works Cited Heller, Joseph. Catch-22. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1961. Print Kilvans, David. â€Å"The First Rule of Sales. † Ezine Articles. N. P. , 03 O ctober 2007. Web. 02 March 2013. . Miles, Donna. â€Å"Survey Shows Growing Gap Between Civilians, Military. † American Forces Press Service. Department of Defense, 28 November 2011. Web. 02 March 2013. . USAREC Regulation 601-95. (2002). Delayed Entry and Delayed Training Program. Washington DC. Department of the Army. 12 August 2002. PDF File.

Health and Safety in Social Care Essay

The mission : The prevention of death, injury and ill health to those at work and those affected by work activities. †¢ Shocking failures – it’s why we need to obey the law We know it’s an extremely important aspect of care. We know there’s been a lot of debate about how to improve it. We know there have been high-profile cases where it’s failed miserably. But do we really understand what safeguarding means on a day-to-day basis for everyone involved in providing or receiving care? And there’s been much discussion about whether ‘adults at significant risk’ is better. Sometimes there’s confusion between safeguarding and adult protection, which relates to investigation of abuse rather than it’s prevention. †¢ Health and social care workers – protecting the vulnerable The terminology can be an issue in itself. We now refer to ‘adults at risk’ after the Law Commission’s report on adult social care pointed out that the previously acceptable term ‘vulnerable adult’ could suggest that the cause of abuse was located with the victim, and didn’t place responsibility with the actions of others. The commission found that people saw the term as â€Å"stigmatising, dated, negative and disempowering†. †¢ Part of a system  Legislation, regulation and guidance are becoming clearer and more consistent, with the implementation of the Law Commission recommendations on adult protection and making safeguarding adult boards – which already exist in most local authorities – mandatory.But there’s still a lot to learn, not least about what constitutes a safeguarding issue and what relates to everyday management, staff practice, quality and safety. Without that clarity, people may worry about over-reacting or taking the wrong action.

Nihonium Facts - Element 113 or Nh

Nihonium Facts - Element 113 or Nh Nihonium is a radioactive synthetic element with the symbol Nh and atomic number 113. Because of its position on the periodic table, the element is expected to be a solid metal at room temperature. The discovery of element 113 was made official in 2016. To date, few atoms of the element have been produced, so little is known about its properties. Nihonium Basic Facts Symbol: Nh Atomic Number: 113 Element Classification: Metal Phase: probably solid Discovered By: Yuri Oganessian et al., Joint Institute of Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia (2004). Confirmation in 2012 by Japan. Nihonium Physical Data Atomic Weight: [286] Source: Scientists used a cyclotron to fire a rare calcium isotope at an americium target. Element 115 (moscovium) was created when the calcium and americium nuclei fused. The moscovium persisted for less than one-tenth of a second before decaying into element 113 (nihonium), which persisted for over a second. Name Origin: Scientists at Japans RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science proposed the element name. The name comes from the Japanese name for Japan (nihon) together with the -ium element suffix that is used for metals. Electronic Configuration: [Rn] 5f14 6d10 7s2 7p1 Element Group: group 13, boron group, p-block element Element Period: period 7 Melting Point:  700  K  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹(430  Ã‚ °C, ​810  Ã‚ °F)  (predicted) Boiling Point:  1430  K ​(1130  Ã‚ °C, ​2070  Ã‚ °F)  (predicted) Density:  16  g/cm3  (predicted near room temperature) Heat of Fusion: 7.61 kJ/mol (predicted) Heat of Vaporization: 139 kJ/mol (predicted) Oxidation States:  Ã¢Ë†â€™1,  1,  3, 5  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹(predicted) Atomic Radius: 170 picometers Isotopes: There are no known natural isotopes of nihonium. Radioactive isotopes have been produced by fusing atomic nuclei or else from the decay of heavier elements. Isotopes have atomic masses 278 and 282-286. All known isotopes decay via alpha decay. Toxicity: There is no known or expected biological role for element 113 in organisms. Its radioactivity makes it toxic.

Sustainable Tea at Unilever

Sustainable Tea at Unilever Introduction Market differentiation remains as one of the most reliable ways through which businesses gain market share leadership and outwit their competitors. Sustainability programmes and plans play a critical role in ensuring that brands regain and maintain their market positions against competition onslaught.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Sustainable Tea at Unilever specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More One company that has applied sustainability programme in its efforts to maintain its market leadership position is Unilever Plc. A world’s top consumer goods manufacturer, ranging from home care merchandise, food products, to personal care goods, Unilever introduced a ‘Sustainable Living Plan’ that intended to achieve a number of strategic goals. Firstly, it targeted improving consumers’ well-being and health, limiting the environmental impacts of its activities, as well as sustainabl y sourcing its entire agricultural raw materials by the year 2020. One area of focus that was of particular interest to the company was its tea product line. Although it registered positive results in some international markets, the sustainable tea program encountered challenges in other markets. This paper seeks to discuss in detail Unilever’s ‘Sustainable Living Plan’, putting more emphasis on its sustainable tea program. Unilever global tea market Unilever sells its processed tea in more than 180 countries worldwide. The tea is sold under different brand names, with Lipton Tea being the company’s largest brand. The brand records an annual sales figure of about â‚ ¬3.5 billion, making it the world’s leading tea brand in terms of sales. Other additional brand names through which the company markets its tea include Lyons in Ireland and PG tips, mainly for the United Kingdom market. India, Pakistan, Poland, and Russia also form part of Unileverâ⠂¬â„¢s extended international tea market. Lipton’s closest competitor in the global tea market is Tetley Tea, manufactured and marketed by Tata Beverages. However, the global market share enjoyed by Lipton is three times that of Tetley (Henderson Nellemann 2011, p. 3). Unilever sold about 350,000 tons of its processed tea in the year 2010. The tea was mainly sourced from external suppliers whose contribution was in the tune of 90%. The suppliers comprise of independent farmers and small-scale traders.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The remainder was obtained from company owned estates located in the East African regions, including its Kericho flagship estate in Kenya and another in Tanzania. In general, the global market is unique in terms of their preferred tastes. This makes specific international markets only reliant on supply sourced from particul ar countries. The sustainable tea plan and its constructs Established good practice guidelines in agriculture were first introduced in Unilever in 1998. These guidelines mainly focused on sustainable farming practices and targeted major crops processed by the company, such as tea, tomatoes, and palm oil. External suppliers were expected to meet specific standards before the company could purchase their produce. The sustainability geared towards 10 important indicators that touched on the environment, society, and the economy. These included social and environmental management system, ecosystem conservation, wildlife protection, as well as water conservation, and fair treatment and improved conditions of working for the workers. Other principles included occupational health and safety, community relations, integrated crop management, and soil management and conservation. To emphasize further on the importance of sustainable agriculture practices, the plan also incorporated integrated waste management. Unilever did not impose these practices on its suppliers, but rather opted to share with them, as well as with the public. According to Michiel Leijnse, Unilever’s global brand director, the sustainable tea plan had its intentions on transforming the industry. There was the looming danger of the company failing to get the right quantity and quality of the tea that they required (Henderson Nellemann 2011, p. 5). Certification The Rainforest Alliance As part of the plans on sustainability, Unilever involved the Rainforest Alliance as its partner in the programme. The latter is the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) founding member. In particular, the Rainforest Alliance’s partnership was sought because it was inclined towards market-based premiums as the prefect way of creating change. Additionally, the Rainforest’s record of accomplishment was good, having won consumer recognition from past campaigns. However, the fact that the company had neither had previous experience dealing with tea nor the African continent was of critical concern for Unilever. Africa is where Unilever has one of its most successful tea estates throughout the world.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Sustainable Tea at Unilever specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The certification process required that the whole production area meet the standards. Obtaining and maintaining of the certification required farms to meet at least 50% of each principle’s applicable criteria. Additionally, the farms were expected to meet a minimum of 80% of the entire set of applicable criterion. Certification costs for independent farmers ranged between â‚ ¬3,000 and â‚ ¬4,500 depending on the size of the farm. Unilever chose to buy certified tea at a cost by paying a premium price. It also paid a participation fee to Rainforest Alliance to bear the frog logo of the certifying company on its pack. The rollout of the global certification education cost about â‚ ¬200,000 annually as Unilever assigned people to develop and deploy farmer training. This was in combination with the certifying company Rainforest Alliance.  Because certification of tea had never been witnessed before, meeting the targets that Unilever and Rainforest Alliance had set for the year 2010 was challenging. The company owned tea estates in Kenya and Tanzania became viable options if targeted results were to be met. Equally, the large-scale tea suppliers became the target for initial certification plans. For the long-term plans, Unilever had to set focus in working with the entire supply chain, including the smaller and less organized ones. The challenge, however, lay in the fact that these kinds of suppliers spread across different countries, have their own agricultural practices, and receive varying government support. The pioneer certification process Unilever owns a 13,000-hectare tea esta te in Kenya’s Kericho area. This area of land has been under tea plantation since 1928. The certification process began by leaving tea bush pruning to rot on the field instead of having them removed for other secondary use as cattle food or firewood. This practice maximized the soil fertility and helped in retaining water. The use of fertilizer was carefully managed, bearing in mind its potential threat to the quality of soil. Drying of the tea was done using wood obtained from eucalyptus forests plant grown on the perimeter fence of the estate. Use of pesticides and agrochemicals on the Kericho tea estates was minimized mainly because of the area’s favourable climate. Natural predators also inhabit the land surrounding the estate, making the use of pesticides not necessarily on a large scale.  Unilever shifted focus on the well-being and general health of its 16,000 members of staff and their dependants. The workers’ earnings more than doubled compared to the ir earlier fixed sum compensation on every kilogramme of tealeaves picked.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The workers had free access to company health care and housing, in addition to free education for the workers’ children at Unilever owned schools.  The estate achieved high yields because of the application of the sustainable tea production programme, with each hectare of land producing between 3.5 and 4 tons. Compared to India’s production of between 2 to 3 tons an hectare, the case of Kericho’s estates was far much better. Estates in Tanzania equally applied the same practices, improving in production yields up to 3 tons per hectare. Production in other parts of the country stood at below 2 hectares per ton (Henderson Nellemann 2011, p. 8). Extending the program to cover the entire supply chain With Unilever’s East African estates accounting for about a third of the company’s total tea requirement, the partnership with Rainforest Alliance registered immense success. The involvement of the Kenyan government through the Kenya Tea Development Age ncy (KTDA) supplemented Unilever’s efforts on sustainability. Equally, a Dutch Sustainable Initiative known as IDH helped the programme achieve greater success by training field trainers. The KTDA alone accounted for up to 62% of the country’s total production through its 59 factories. Unilever purchased 40% of KTDA’s total production in 2011. Training of lead farmers by the company in conjunction with the KTDA and Rainforest Alliance increased awareness, including on the premiums paid on certified tea.  Although some changes were easily applied, including convincing farmers to leave cut crop in the farms to rot rather than burning. However, some changes involved expensive practices, such as the use of expensive protective gear for the farmers while spraying the farms. KTDA helped in supporting the programme by setting up a micro-credit scheme that provided financial support to the farmers. With the introduction and implementation of additional sustainable pra ctices, the total yields improved between 5% and 15%. The quality of the tea produced also improved. Promoting the sustainable message to the consumers For Unilever to transform the success of sustainable tea into sales, the company’s commitment moved into informing the market its benefits. The varied tea brands under the company’s larger tea portfolio became a challenge to these plans. Although the ethical position of a brand pleases a majority of users, the idea of ‘green’ brands was difficult to sell. Unilever, instead, looked at the whole idea of sustainability as an innovative marketing message targeting the consumers.  Other Unilever tea brands in Western Europe and Australia benefited from an extensive certification programme launched after the East African pioneer programme. The brands included Lipton Yellow Label, Lyons, as well as PG tips. In the U.K., Unilever’s tea market that represents about 10% of the entire production of the firm w as represented by the PG tips brand. The biggest competitor of Unilever tea, Tetley Tea, shared the market almost on equal proportions with PG tips.  The market lacked interest to purchase the green products at an added cost. Unilever spent â‚ ¬12 million to market the new product in 2008, although it took between 12 and 18 months to tackle mental barriers and pass the message to consumers. The company found challenges in selecting the most appropriate message that would resonate with the consumers thinking while marketing the product. The message selected, ‘do your bit: put the kettle on’ highlighted the optimistic action that buyers could take through their drinking of the PG tips.  The campaigned saw PG tips emerge as the leader in the market, beating the strong competition by Tetley Tea. In particular, PG tip’s market share increased by 1.8 points with the purchase repeat rate increasing to 49% from 44%. The total overall sales of the brand improved by 6% with research attributing the rise to consumers’ changed perceptions. PG tips successfully marketed as an ethical product and the market positively responded to the efforts. Australia The sustainable tea campaign in Australia began in the year 2009. Lipton was Unilever’s leading tea brand in the market, with its total share accounting for about a quarter of the entire sales. Bushell, the other of Unilever’s brand had a market share of about 13%. The marketing phrase read, ‘Make a Better Choice with Lipton, the world’s first Rainforest Alliance certified Tea.’ The marketing campaign cost â‚ ¬1.1 million covering print, television and public relations. Additionally, Unilever adopted in-store promotions to increase awareness further. Premium charge on certified tea served as a barrier to consumption and the company eliminated it. Sales performance increased by 11%, with Lipton brand’s market share improving by 158 basis points. The average purchase value rose to â‚ ¬3.23 from â‚ ¬3.11. Despite the success in sales performance, the Lipton brand failed to improve in as far as perceptions on quality is involved. Italy Unilever tea enjoyed a 12% market share in Italy in 2010. The certification programme cost â‚ ¬3 million and involved awareness creation programmes on television, online, press, packaging up-dates, and in-store promotions. The marketing message adopted read, ‘your small cup can make a big difference’. With the campaigns first launched in 2008, the Lipton sales increased by 10.5%, with its market share also increasing by more than 2 percentage points. The buyer base increased, with the younger consumers mostly from the upmarket segment being attracted to the certified product (Henderson Nellemann 2011, p. 12). France France posed a great disappointment to the sustainable tea programme by Unilever. Lipton’s market share stood at 37% in 2010, with private label brands bei ng the main competitor at between 30% and 40% market share. With a more diversified portfolio, the tea products under Lipton numbered at least 40. The certification message initially was only associated to the black tea product Lipton Yellow Label. This represented only a paltry one fifth of the sales. Campaigns initially focused on public relations to educate the retailers. It also involved journalists and key opinion leaders. The marketing message, ‘your tea can make a difference’ appeared in print advertisements and strategically in cooking and travel magazines. Female users over 50 years old remained the primary market focus of the campaigns. Research findings indicated little success in French consumers’ likelihood to buy certified tea containing Rainforest Alliance seal. However, the company changed stance later on and changed the packaging. Consumers failed to associate the new sales on packaging with any quality certification. Failure to associate Lipton with Rainforest Alliance on the part of the consumers played a big role in the negative results that were recorded by the brand. The USA Unilever launched its campaigns in 2009, mainly focusing on the green tea line. Overall, Lipton’s market share was the second largest. Initial research by Unilever indicated 80% likelihood to buy eco-ethical products, although additional cost could not be justified easily. The only market size willing to forfeit a premium was a paltry 5%. The marketing message adopted read, ‘Your Small Cup Can Make a Big Difference’ and appeared on print, TV, and online content. Sponsored trips to the company’s Kericho estate in Kenya formed part of the marketing campaigns. Challenges to the certified product campaigns Sourcing certified tea from India posed a great challenge as the country’s many suppliers were of small scale. Training the small-scale producers was a challenge because of the numbers involved. Additionally, unlike the Kenyan situation where the government supports tea programmes through the KTDA, the Indian government does not participate in such activities. The Rainforest Alliance’s principles on certification, which involved an age limit on employment at age 15, did not tally with the practice in India. The country’s laws allow for 14 year olds to be employed as labour in the farms. The Paraquat pesticide use in India is also widely practiced, which is against Rainforest Alliance’s principle on reducing toxic substances. Although the sustainable plan is intended to be applied across the board, there are challenges on other products that are not marketed directly to the consumers. Palm oil, for instance, is used as a raw material for processing other finished products. Introducing quality and certification plan for such commodities is a big challenge to the firm (Henderson Nellemann 2011, p. 17). Conclusion Sustainable Living Plan is a marketing programme introduced by Unilever to enhance the performance of its agricultural based products in the market. The programme aims to employ practices that not only aim at improving on productivity, but also the quality of products. The company’s tea products portfolio has particularly seen efforts employed to improve on performance. To enhance the results of sustainability, Unilever collaborated with a certifying company, Rainforest Alliance, a founder member of the Sustainable Agriculture Network. This decision was arrived at mainly because Unilever’s sustainability plan involved similar principles as those of the certifier. These principles include social and environmental management system, wildlife protection, ecosystem conservation, water conservation, as well as occupational health and safety measures. Other principles include integrated waste management, integrated crop management, community relations, and fair treatment of the workers.  The certification plan was the first one of its kind and encountered several challenges. There were no previous existing standards and Unilever had to begin the implementation on its company-owned estates in East Africa, in Kenya and Tanzania. The rollout plan involved leaving cut tea bushes on the farm to rot rather than using as cattle feed and firewood. Lead farmers were chosen and trained on how to implement the programme on their colleagues. Employees had their remuneration improved more than two-folds while working conditions were also improved. Health, education, and housing facilities for the workers and their families were introduced free of charge. In Europe, elaborate marketing campaigns were also initiated with mixed results for the company. In the UK, Italy, Australia, and the USA, the brand registered positive results as sales increased. However, the market was not willing to pay a premium for the certified tea. In France, marketing campaigns failed to achieve any positive results. Despite expensive marketing campa igns introduced by the company, convincing the market to link certification to quality did not succeed. List of References Henderson, RM Nellemann, F 2011, Sustainable tea at Unilever, Harvard Business School Publishing, Bolton, MA.