PESTEL analysis and diamond theory of Cambodia

PESTEL analysis and diamond theory of Cambodia As a result of a worldwide competition being global is becoming more important for the companies. One good cause for the endless competition according to Daniels Radebaugh (1998) is that the global market is not large enough for all the companies. Anderson et al (1998) argue that the internationalisation is being more important due to borderless world. According to Daniels and Radebaugh (1998), there are several reasons for organisations to enter the global market today. The very first reason for going global is to expand sales. Sales dependent on two major factors: consumers interest in goods and services and the willingness or ability to buy those products. If theres a match of those two factors outside their home country, companies can get higher sale going global. Second factor is to acquire resources, when there is lack or inadequate resource in the home country; companies tend to move into global arena where they can seek out resources which can also help them reduce cost and getting competitive advantage. Third but not the least is for minimising the risk, diversifying sources of sales and suppliers by operating in different countries and different business cycles, helps businesses to reduce swings in sales and profit. Sales always decrease or dont grow much in a country that is in recession and sales increases in one that i s economically expanding. Example of Nestle in early 2000 shows that their sales was sluggish in Western Europe and United States but the growth in Asian, Eastern European and Latin American market was quite fast. Being in Apparel Industry of USA, it is very essential to do some research and study for finding out which country to select or which country is much better for the industry to operate smoothly and can give good returns. There are two known environmental factors which can affect the company, Internal and External. Internal environmental factor, to some extent can be controlled by the company being a internal one whereas the external environmental factors cant be controlled by the company itself. Such factors under external environment are Political, Economic, Socio-Cultural, Technological and Legal. So before selecting any country, it is necessary for conducting study on the various external environmental factors that may affect the company or can make negative impact. We have been proposed two different countries Turkey and Cambodia, where the Apparel Industry wants to expand its footprint. In order to get a clear picture for selecting the best country that is much suitable for expa nsion, PESTLE analysis and Diamond Analysis are more helpful strategic management tools we have that provides useful framework to analyze the environmental pressure on business. PEST Analysis of Cambodia POLITICAL LEGAL: Cambodia is one the developing countries of South East Asia, having constitutional monarchy with a multi party democracy and an elected government. No party got the proper majority in the elections held in July 2008, hence formed a coalition government. The constitution written in 1993 helped the country for a stable political environment in comparison of past decades of war and internal strife. Diplomatic relations with most countries have been established including the US. Cambodia has a membership of most major international organisations like UN, ASEAN, ADB, IMF, The World Bank and WTO. US-Cambodian bilateral relations have been deepened and broadened in past years. US has helped the country nearly $62 million through various USAID mission welfare programs. Economic: Cambodia has a GDP (2009) of $10.8 billion, Per Capita GDP (2009) of $731 and inflation (2009) of 4.5%. Garment, Textile and shoe manufacturing, rice milling, tobacco, fisheries and fishing, wood and wood products, cement, rubber, papers and food processing are major industrial sector of the country which hold 21.7% of GDP (2009 est.). Country has been able to export worth $3.9 billion in 2009 to its major partners like US, UK, Germany, Singapore, Japan etc. and has imported fuel, cigarette, vehicles, consumer goods, machinery worth $5.4 billion (2009).Sound macroeconomic policies, political stability, regional economic growth and government openness (100% share holding FDIs allowed) towards the investment has attracted growing number of investors, due to which FDI has increased 12 fold since 2004. Garment and tourism are the key industry which drove the countrys economy having sustainable 10% growth during 2004-2007. In 2009 during global recession, it was near zero, but i s considered that it will gain the momentum again in 2010. Infrastructure are not adequate, however road networks are improving rapidly. Corruption and lack of legal protection for investors are the two main reasons which may hamper economic opportunity and competitiveness. Socio-Cultural: Population of Cambodia (2008 census) is 13.4 million and 95% of those have faith in Theravada Buddhism and rest Islam, Christian etc. Country is a mixture of 90% Cambodians, 5% Vietnamese, 1% Chinese and others 4% ethnic groups. Cambodia has a literacy rate (2007) of 75.1% and Khmer is a first language spoken by 95% of population and English is increasing as a second language. Cambodians mainly eat rice and fish and they are known for silk and cotton weaving, silver work, silver and gold jewellery and basketry. Garment industries mostly comprise of female employees and the labour cost is very low $ 50 80 per month (NPRS PRF article). Turkey has the labour force (2003 est) of 7 million. Police and judicial systems are believed to be corrupt. Technology: Cambodia is way behind in their technological sector. As most of the FDIs have entered the country, they have also brought their own technology with them, so possibility of spill-over of the technological knowledge to the country can be seen. PEST Analysis of Turkey Political Legal: Turkey is a large and republic country having democratic, secular and parliamentary government system. Its first constitution was written in 1982 and was amended in 1987, 1995, 2001 and 2007. Referendum of October 2007 has made president more strong and powerful and the president is elected directly by voting. The politics and government of Turkey is considered to be stable. Economic: Turkey has a GDP (2009 est.) of $608 billion and GDP per capita (2009 est.) of $8,456. Inflation rate (2009 November) is 5.53%. Turkey had exported (2009 September) of $73.1 billion which comprises of textiles apparel industry, machinery, electronics, motor vehicles etc. and imported (2009 September) worth $99.9 billion of petroleum, machinery, vehicles, electronics, iron, steel, plastic and precious metals. Turkeys economy is moving from agricultural industrial to large and globalised services sector. It has opened its economy in 1980s and also signed customs union agreement with the European Union in 1995, and Turkey is also working hard to get the membership in EU. Instead of economic downturn, high unemployment rate and high inflation during 1990s, in the year 2001 it started recovering faster since then with an average of 6% per year due to the help and support from IMF and The World Bank. Turkeys economy has already attracted $18.3 billion net FDIs in 2008. However there are several disputes with the investors regarding high taxation, it has a number of bilateral investment and tax treaties as well with many countries including the US, which has guaranteed free repatriation of capital in convertible currencies and eliminate double transaction. Socio-Cultural: Turkey has a population of 76.8 million. Turkish, Kurdish are the major ethnic groups of which 99% are Muslims and rest of them are Christian, Bahai and Jewish. People in Turkey speak Turkish, Kurdish, Arabic, Armenian and Greek and has a work force of 24.4 million and 70% of the population live in urban areas of the country. Turkish law prohibits the labour of child under 15 years of age, however if they are 13 14 and are enrolled in school can do light and part time work. Technological: Turkey has various research institutions and organisation which are focused on RD along with many ancient Technical universities which is benefiting the country in advancement of technology such as telephone lines, mobile phones, radio stations, television stations and Internet. Turkey is famous for its telecommunication development. Possible Impact of the environmental factors PEST analysis reveals that there lie some similarities and some differences in each of the environmental factors of both the countries. We may examine that politically at the moment both Cambodia and Turkey have stable governments even if they had violence and disturbances in the political situation of the country in the past. Both the countries have maintained good relationship with the United States and have also invested a lot in both countries. Both have open economy allowing other nations to come and do business in their country using their available resources such as land labour etc. Having a stable and sound political environment is always a boon for both the host and the home nation for starting any business. Economic analysis reveals that Turkey is way ahead than Cambodia. GDP of Turkey is 60 times bigger than Cambodia, which means there is a sound economic environment for doing business. If we have a look on the exports and imports sector, Turkey is doing pretty good. From the apparel industrys point of view, in both the countries, Garment and Textile industries are flourishing since long time and have aided the economy of both the countries with positive effect. As we can see that the number of FDIs in Cambodia have increased very dramatically (12 fold since 2004) in very short time, it may be due to the reason Cambodia due has a very low cost labour. Also, Turkey has been able to attract a lot of FDIs in their country. Turkey has signed customs union with EU and also has bilateral treaties with US, it may help Apparel industry to have much competitive advantage. Having sound and stable economy is very much helpful for any business who wants to expand and in these criteria both countri es have 50-50 chances of selection. Socially and culturally, both the countries are very different. Cambodia is considered as a Buddhist country and Turkey has 99% population of Muslim religion. People in Turkey are much educated or have higher literacy rate than Cambodia. Technological environment has also got much difference in both the countries. Turkey in comparison to Cambodia is much advanced. In Cambodia, the FDIs which have started their operation are transferring their technological knowledge to the country, whereas Turkey has developed much in telecommunication and textile industry. Turkey used to import the textile machinery from Germany, but recently they have begun manufacturing on its own from small to medium sized companies involved in manufacturing. According to German Engineering Federation Textiles Machinery Association, German textile machinery exports had gone down by 62% in 2008 as compared with 2007. So, we can see the development in technology in Turkey is much more than Cambodia. Porters Diamond Theory: We can use the Diamond model of Michael Porter to assess the viability of both the countries. Classical theories of international trade and business propose that comparative advantage lie in the factor endowments that any country has got. Those factor endowments include, Land, Natural resources, labour and the size of local population. Porter argued that a nation creates new advanced factor endowments such as skilled labour, a strong technology and knowledge base, government support and the culture. Porters diamond model consists of four major aspects 1) Factor Conditions 2) Demand Conditions 3) Related and supporting Industries and 4) firms strategy, structure and rivalry which creates competitive advantage amongst the nations and now there are two additional variables 1) Government and 2) chance also influence the system. Factor of condition: It represents the position of factor of production, input which is necessary to compete in any industries, which are Land, Labour, Capital, Infrastructure, Natural resources etc. Appleyard and Field (2001) argue that all the classical theories in trade rest on the factors of production for example Adam Smiths absolute advantage, David Recardos Comparative advantage and Hechesher-Ohlin theorem etc. If we compare Cambodia and Turkey, Turkey has the competitive advantage over Cambodia due to these factors of productions discussed above. Turkey is a large country, have huge population, huge work force (unskilled and semiskilled), good infrastructure and more capital than Cambodia, so Turkey gains the high priority for any business willing to go global. Demand Condition: It represents the demand condition for the industrys products or services in the local and global market. As it is revealed through PEST analysis, that both the countries are doing pretty good in textile and garment industry, attracting and encouraging the investors to come and invest because there is a huge demand of this industry worldwide, because of the cheap labour in Cambodia and Location factor of Turkey. Both countries are different in creating demand conditions. Turkey has got huge potential than Cambodia. Related and Supporting industries: Third determinant of national advantage in an industry is to have suppliers and related industries which can give the industry a competitive advantage. If local supporting industries are competitive, any business can enjoy the cost effectiveness. Scanning both the countries, we can find out that, Cambodia has least supporting industries than of Turkey. Turkey is developing and has many textile machinery manufacturers currently, if business needs, they dont have to look outside the country and also they can save much cost over it which gives some competitive advantage of low cost leadership in comparison to the countries where businesses have to import the machinery at higher cost and taxes. Firms Strategy, Structure and Rivalry: As this factor clearly says that, strategy of businesses operating in the country, its structure and the rivalry or competition amongst them creates competitive advantage of the nation. While doing PEST, we saw the trend of FDIs going to both the country is very much increasing, hence, this factor is growing. Various international firms operating there are teaching the countries how they do business back home, which is adding something to the country. Both the countries are learning from the investors. The huge attraction in the garment, textile and apparel industry has also increased rivalry among the businesses, which is considered good because it increases pressure to improve and innovate on what they are doing, which helps nation to get advantage. We can find out that Turkey is dominant in this factor than Cambodia. Government and Chance: Chance events are developed in the period of time by new innovations, new technologies, positive political developments and shifts in foreign demand, where any nation can capitalise using this chance to get the competitive advantage amongst the nation. Government on the other hand is also equally important to be considered because it can improve or detract from the national advantage due to the policies which may influence (negative and positive) on each of the determinants of diamond model discussed above. In the case of Cambodia and Turkey, both the countrys government are interested in attracting more FDIs in their country and have opened their economy which we can see in the GDP growth rate of both countries reflect it and can compare the two nations which one is more attractive. Market entry mode for foreign business: Making decision of how to enter the market or the country for business is so crucial and can have significant impact on the business. There are various modes of entry into international marketing such as the Internet (use of internet or e-commerce), Exporting (direct sale of domestically produced goods), Contracting, Licensing, International Agents and Distributors (use of distributors for selling goods), Strategic Alliances (joining hand with the competitor), Joint Ventures, Mergers and Acquisitions, FDIs etc. Some of them are discussed below and we will examine which mode will be much suitable for our apparel industry to enter both Cambodia and Turkey. Licensing: This entry mode permits a company in the target company for using its technology, brand, expertise, where the organisation charges a fee or royalty for that use. Licensor has to invest very little, but it has got a huge potential of providing very large return on investment. Licensing includes franchising, turnkey contracts and contract manufacturing . We can have examples of franchising strategy applied McDonalds restaurant, Coffee Republic and Dominos Pizza entering into the target country. Joint Ventures: In this entry mode foreign business selects a local business and invests some shares in it. Doing so, both the firms share the risk and the rewards while doing business, their technology and the government regulations and other legal obligations imposed in the country. In some countries there is a legal requirement to have local partner to do business by any foreign company with limited number of shares. Foreign Direct Investment: In FDI, business has the direct ownership of facilities in the target country. They open wholly new subsidiary (Greenfield investment) or they can use Merger and Acquisition strategy. In this they have to transfer their resources such as capital, technology and the skilled personnel. In this kind of entry mode, business has a high degree of control in the operations. Best entry mode: Cambodia: As we did the PEST and Diamond analysis of the country, we can see various factors that may affect the operation of the business. Cambodian government are flexible enough to get the foreign business to come and start up a business and the foreign and local apparel and textile industry are also flourishing in the country due to the low cost labour available in the country. For Cambodia, we can have a licensing mode of entry; because there are still many things need to be improved in the country such as labour skills, government fiscal and monetary policy, infrastructure and technology. If the business adopts the licensing entry strategy, business will have less risk due to various factors like, language problem, exchange rate risk, labour obligations, and government regulations. Turkey: For Turkey, we can propose the FDI form of entry in the market. Instead of opening a wholly new subsidiary, company can think of acquiring or merging with the local firm already established and doing considerable business, which will help the company to gain the existing customers, market, talent of the company. As we have seen the trend of FDI going to Turkey, which has increased tremendously in the recent years, because of the less risk and the market is growing enormously in comparison to the neighbouring countries and the demand for apparels and textiles produced in Turkey is also quite high so the company will not have to invest much of their time to create the environment as it is already created. Government is also flexible enough for the FDIs and the political stability will help, pool of skilled labour availability will also help reducing cost of transferring the knowledge from US to Turkey where as it is quite high in case of Cambodia.

Kurds - A People Without a State Essay -- Culture Kurds History Essays

Kurds - A People Without a State Introduction Of all the ethnic groups in the world, the Kurds are one of the largest that has no state to call their own. According to historian William Westermann, "The Kurds can present a better claim to race purity...than any people which now inhabits Europe." (Bonner, p. 63, 1992) Over the past hundred years, the desire for an independent Kurdish state has created conflicts mainly with the Turkish and Iraqi populations in the areas where most of the Kurds live. This conflict has important geographical implications as well. The history of the Kurdish nation, the causes for these conflicts, and an analysis of the situation will be discussed in this paper. History of the Kurds The Kurds are a Sunni Muslim people living primarily in Turkey, Iraq, and Iran. The 25 million Kurds have a distinct culture that is not at all like their Turkish, Persian, and Arabic neighbors (Hitchens, p. 36, 1992). It is this cultural difference between the groups that automatically creates the potential for conflict. Of the 25 million Kurds, approximately 10 million live in Turkey, four million in Iraq, five million in Iran, and a million in Syria, with the rest scattered throughout the rest of the world (Bonner, p. 46, 1992). The Kurds also have had a long history of conflict with these other ethnic groups in the Middle East, which we will now look at. The history of Kurds in the area actually began during ancient times. However, the desire for a Kurdish homeland did not begin until the early 1900’s, around the time of World War I. In his Fourteen Points, President Woodrow Wilson promised the Kurds a sovereign state (Hitchens, p. 54, 1992). The formation of a Kurdish state was supposed to have been accomplished through the Treaty of Sevres in 1920 which said that the Kurds could have an independent state if they wanted one (Bonner, p. 46, 1992). With the formation of Turkey in 1923, Kemal Ataturk, the new Turkish President, threw out the treaty and denied the Kurds their own state. This was the beginning of the Turkish-Kurdish conflict. At about this same time, the Kurds attempted to establish a semi-independent state, and actually succeeded in forming the Kingdom of Kurdistan, which lasted from 1922-1924; later, in 1946, some of the Kurds established the Mahabad Republic... ... seem very willing to give up their territory to the Kurds. The plan of the PUK has a small chance to work, assuming that guerrilla tactics would scare the Iraqi government. By simply holding out, the Kurds would gain nothing, because the Iraqis are not threatened by the Kurds per se. However, by attacking the Iraqis, the Kurds run the risk of a counterattack which they probably could not effectively deal with. Basically, that would make the situation for the Kurds even worse than before. Conclusion Without the support of a large powerful nation such as the U.S., the Kurds will probably never establish an independent Kurdish state. The Kurds do not have enough military power to fight off the Turks and Iraqis without help. The Iraqis and Turks would not be willing to give up their economically important territory to people which they perceive a "threat" to their way of life and will most likely continue to fight the Kurds. The Kurds have no choice but to continue fighting until either they or the Turks and Iraqis are defeated, as both groups are unwilling to allow them to remain in their countries. The future definitely looks bleak for the Kurds.

Marketing Assignment on Apple

Marketing Principles Task B 24 – 11 – 11 By Ayesh Goburdhun A. Define your product The product chosen for this assignment will be a laptop, the Macbook Pro by Apple. The product is a personal computer that can be used for communicating with people or whoever, working on different kinds of software, listening to music and mostly to go on the Internet with the rising of the social networking websites. Apple Computers Inc. s an American multinational corporation, who was established in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. Steve Jobs, the Chairman and CEO of Apple is one of the world’s most successful businessmen today, his management style and his charisma brought the firm from a starting company to a global force to be reckoned with. Apple Computers Inc. designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad.To describe further the product, we have to answer to the question: What is the consumer really buying  ? The Macbook pro is based on superior quality materials that will allow faster actions and will permit the entertainment of its users over time without being bored and can be classified as a premium category of products that are not easily affordable. The Macbook Pro is based on the newest technologies on the market; it offers the best design of any kind of computers or portable engine that are actually called â€Å"innovative† on the market.So, we can say that the Macbook Pro offers great satisfactions to its customers and further, it is composed of usefull softwares that are already integrated and very powerful. The Macintosh comes with the latest brand of Operating System that the company developped in the past decades to improve the pleasure of the users, so that they woudn’t be outdated. Moreover, the Laptop is compatible with all devices at home, based on a new technology called â€Å"plug n play†, no complicated installations are required and the system works with any kind of operating system already install, even competitors.When people think about Apple and Mac they automatically think and talk about a problem-solving product, indeed, the Laptop offers a level of security that haven’t been hacked yet whereas its major competitor: Windows, the first provider of personal computers on the market. It is, of course, implied that the Macbook is running on the tardiest best performing computers’ components. Because the company builds both the computer and the software that comes with it, reliability is the first purpose, this means that a Macbook rarely freezes or crashes.Occasionally an application might quit, but it won’t affect the rest of the system. And the operating system resists mostly to anything, so everyone can do anything without worrying about losing everything. Apple Computer Inc. distributing the product proposes a variety of sizes and styling; the Macintosh Laptop is totally customizable and is forming part of the high standing computers on the actual market. For example, ladies could easily tend to buy pink Macbooks contrary to gentlemen who will choose the white or gray one.In addition, when people decide to buy a laptop they are principally attracted to the brand name, in this case, Apple that represents a very fashionish and stylish brand with a various types of stunning adverts and commercials. The packaging of the Apple brand is also one of the best in the market; it represents clearly the brand and adds an extra â€Å"something† to ensure the pleasure and delightfullness of the buyers opening the product bought.It is considered that Apple’s after sales service is one of the best, worlwidely speaking, indeed, the warranty applicable for each Apple products can be extended as much as the consumer wants or needs to. Further, when an Apple product is b roken the after sales service comes and replaces or repairs the item immediately if it is available in the stock. This is the principal reason why Apple is so good in the after sales services contrary to other competitors in the same sector.To classify the laptop, we can say that it forms part of a durable and tangible product, it can be used over and over with a great warranty period, and marketers would classify the Macbook Pro as a consumer product used for personal consumption. B. Provide and critically analyze definitions and components of segmentation Market segmentation can be define as the segmentation of markets into homogenous groups of customers, each of them reacting differently to promotion, communication, pricing and other variables of the marketing mix.Market segments should be formed in that way that differences between buyers within each segment are as small as possible. Thus, every segment can be addressed with an individually targeted marketing mix. Market segment ation is also an adaptive strategy, it consists of the partition of the market with the purpose of selecting one or more market segments which the organization can target through the development of specific marketing mixes that adapt to particular market needs.According to Kotler, P (1999), market segmentation means â€Å"the act of dividing a market into distinct groups of buyers who might require separate products and/or marketing mixes. † According to William J. Stanton, ‘Market segmentation is the process of dividing the total heterogeneous market for a good or service into several segments. Each of which tends to be homogeneous in all significant aspects. ’ In brief, market segmentation is important not only for creating consumers but also for satisfying them.Market segmentation helps matching the market opportunities to the resources of the corporations and enables them to face market competition effectively. For example, for the personal computers market t here are two segments, desktop computers and laptops. As for the desktop ones, they are mostly used by bureaucratic administration because they are less expensive for the same characteristics. Moreover, gamers also use desktop computers due to their fully customizable and upgradable components, whereas the laptops, which are considered as more mobile and practical, used principally by businessmen and tudents. In the segmentation of laptop, they are multipurpose laptops, multimedia laptops and laptops based on performance. In general, multimedia laptops are used to satisfy lower demands of customers who do not want to invest a huge amount of money because the demand is just for multimedia using like listenning to music, organizing pictures and web surfing. The components of this kind of laptop will be creating directly by the enterprise without subcontracting.Furthermore, multipurpose laptops are viewed as the middle class computers; they are principally used with basic softwares, fo r web surfing and all the multimedia stuff. The companies who build multipurpose laptops, used by middle class peoples, tend to subcontract in order to offer better performances and quality. Finally, the premium laptops are answering the demand of engineers, designers and professional who are in the need of very powerful and qualified product either for their work or their personal use.The characteritics of those laptops are generally a mix of components of the best-specialized industries on the market; this is why such laptops are very expensive. Niche markets are also present on the marketplace, answers to very high specific demands and tries to differentiate the company with its competitors. These markets are very small but the profit is real. In Mauritius, personal coaches are an example of niche marketing, concerning laptops; the Alienware brand is a niche market specialized to satisfy â€Å"hardcore† gamers.Concerning the Apple brand, we can talk about a geographic segm entation. For the line of Macintosh products, it can be segmented into regions; the company will not try to sell expensive laptops in poor countries such as Somalia or Afghanistan where the demand of theses products is totally nil. They will focus on ways to sell the product in big capitals or cities like New York, Paris or London, where the demand is constantly growing up. Shops, called Apple Store or iShops, are going to represent Apple worldwidely and has to fit in big commercials centers, or big buildings with great standards.All of these shops need to have the same organization, layouts, services and of course, same products. The client needs the impressions that they are communicating directly with Apple and not with a subcontracting agent. For example in Mauritius, Apple is franchised by Leal communications and informatics and the logo of the brand is not present in the Apple store shop based in Mauritius. The buyer must communicate directly with Apple and not with Leal (exce pt for after sales issues).The demographic segmentation is very important for the company, indeed, it will depends a lot on the age, gender, sexual orientation, family etc†¦We can assume that, as we saw before, persons that have a more feminine personnalities tend to buy Macbooks with pink colours. In addition, the age is a major factor, where students and young persons are more attracted to laptop such as the Macbook, whereas the elderlies who would prefer buying more expensive desktop towers, for example the iMac. It is clearly segmented in the way that Apple will try to sell Laptops, mp3s to the 18-30 and Tvs, iMac to elders +35.The enterprise is also willing to target wealthy persons, undoubtedly the products provided by them are classified as quite expensive and premium due to its very powerful components and noble made materials. As we saw earlier, the Macbook Pro is categorized in a high-standard category so the income and the psychographic segmentations are also importa nt where persons with extroverted personalites, fashion addicts and wealthy persons are targeted. People looking for the Macbook are persons willing for an advantages of buying it.If the product does not propose any kinds of benefits comparing to its competitors it won’t convice these persons for buying the product. The laptop presents a load of benefits like fully customizable, virusless, plug n play system etc†¦ Marketers assume that some customers are completely loyal to the brand that they like, they buy one brand all the time. Apple is one of the best example for these kind of buyers, indeed, the Apple fans are regardless of the functions or capacity of any kind of the Apple line of product, they are totally in confidence and are not affraid to pay whatever the price could be.They are almost waiting weeks in front of an Apple Store in order to be the first one to obtain a new Apple made product. This loyality is very rare but can be understand by the fact that the c ompany is very successful. In the recent years, Apple’s product are being seen by peolple as a brand of wealthiness and reliability. However, the segmentation is principally based on the demand of the customers and we can assume that this demand will grow in the coming years but if it is not there won’t be any kind of segmentations. Some market segments can disappear due to the evolution of the demand.For example, in the mail delivery market, some segments like post letter delivery services are starting to disappear due to a very fast growth of electronical technologies such as mailing, chatting, messaging etc†¦ Further, segmentation is impossible when  : 1. The size of the market is too small. 2. A brand is a dominant brand in the market. 3. More number of people falls in the same category. 4. The advertisement of each kind of product is too expensive. 5. The informations accumulated are completely wrong. C. Provide definitions and state the importance of targe ting and apply the concept to your productKotler, P (1999), stated that ‘target markets are a set of buyers sharing common needs or characteristics that the company decides to serve’. After a company has defined market segments, it can enter one or many segments of a given market. Kotler, P (1999), also says that ‘market targeting involves evaluating each market segment's attractiveness and selecting one or more segments to enter a company should target segments in which it has a differential advantage over its competitors; where it can generate the greatest customer value and sustain it over time. A company with limited resources might decide to serve only one or a few special segments; this strategy limits sales, but can be very profitable. Kotler, P (2002) stated that, to provide for a good market targeting, the firm has to evaluate the various segments and decide which ones to target. A principal concept in target marketing is that those who are targeted show a strong affinity or  brand loyalty  to that particular  brand. Target Marketing allows the marketer / sales team to customize their message to the targeted group of consumers in a more focused manner.In order to perform a good targeting, we have to answer to the questions: Who are our customers? Who will buy our product? And how segmentations will help us doing it ? To target the consumers we can say that Apple Computers Inc. is a company present on the national and the international scope, its target are all over the world. It is considered that the customers of the Apple products will look for these goods in new commercial centers and big buildings with great standards, in the nearest cities where they will find Apple Stores and iShops that are specialized boutiques.The target here will focus on persons living in cities and more urban regions where their concerns are more important. Apple is using a distribution channel based on self-providing, indeed, they do franchise the ir brand but, as we viewed earlier, they tend to limit the presence of the company that they are working with and so focus on themselves for easier targeting. For example: if companies are targeting young people, advertising should be done on specialized web sites or magazines for young people, The Times or The Independent aren’t good choices. Apple is marketing to people who have a few characteristics: Middle/Upper income persons that are willing to pay a bit more for a better user experience. Paying 1000 â‚ ¬ or more for a computer is not a huge deal if they have a decent income. * People who like to have fun with technology. No other platform offers as many entry-level tools. This includes people who like to shoot a lot of digital photos or video. It's the whole digital hub concept. People are starting to buy into it. * Music enthusiasts and fans aged from 12-35. * Professionals in media and design and engineers. Shops are going to represent Apple worldwidely it has to be in big ommercials centers with great standards of quality and hygiene. All the shops need to have the same organization, layouts, services and product. The client need the impressions that they are communicating directly with apple and not with a subcontracting agent. They are targeting people that can afford buying products in those premium places. Promotions are proposed nationally and internationnally with the  «Ã‚  apple standards  Ã‚ » by the representants. Billboards, flyers, e-mails and quite stunning adverts are ways to target families, students or professional photographs.However, there is a very controversial approach that could be discussed in the target market of the company chosen. Indeed, we can say that Apple do not target markets they target people. For example, Apple has never marketed Macs to enterprise customers, and only hired a very small sales crew to sell to such customers, but they have  been advertising the Macbook and its business-related applicati ons in The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, and other business-friendly publications. Apple does not seem to target markets in the way other companies do. It targets people.It focuses on users. And Apple lets them decide how and where they’ll use the products. This is how great companies are built: they focus on individuals and build exceptional products for them; they let these individuals determine how best is to make use of the new technology provided. D. Provide definitions and need for positionning and apply it to your product. After a company has decided which market segments to enter, they must decide what ‘position' they want to occupy in those segments. A product's position is the place where the product occupies the consumers' minds.If a product were perceived to be exactly like another product on the market, consumers would have no reason to buy it. Market positioning gives a product a clear, distinctive and desirable place in the minds of target consumers compared with competing products. Marketers plan positions that distinguish their products from competing brands and give them the greatest strategic advantage in their target markets. Market  positioning  is the manipulation of a brand or family of brands to create a positive perception in the eyes of the public.If a product is well positioned, it will have strong sales, and it may become the go-to brand for people who need that particular product. Positioning is no doubt the single most important aspect of marketing in the globally competitive market place. With capitalism gaining popularity in most countries of the world, competition has increased greatly. A company not only needs to fight rivals in the local market. It also has to equip itself to compete against the world’s best companies. Companies are improving their products and offering them at competitive prices.A good quality product is no longer a guarantee for success. Positioning has to be managed a t every point where the customer comes in contact with the company, from personal sales to online communication to telephonic interaction. This is the only effective way of avoiding any confusion about the product in the mind of the customer. So what has Apple done in recent history to the Macintosh product line to demonstrate this premium positioning? It is widely recognized that Apple is a premium brand that demands and earns a price premium.This price premium spans the entire Apple product lineup with the Macintosh, iPod, iPhone, software, and accessories. Apple's positioning is aligned with targeting a less price sensitive customer. As a result, Apple's culture and internal activities are structured to meet the needs of these customers, strategists call this needs-based positioning. Apple has thus created a culture and a set of activities to differentiate themselves from rivals in order to meet the needs of their target customers.Apple has positioned itself to a certain type of customer, wealthy people, innovators, people with good jobs, good lifestyle, etc. If Apple targets the poor man type, the trendy guys will stop buying Apples, because everybody can and Apple is not the Porsche of the computers anymore, this would hurt more the brand than maybe the increasing sales because of lower prices, and in good times, where everybody has more money, Apple would have the problem that they cannot rise prices, because everybody expects a cheap Apple product.If Apple were to attempt to compete for all customer segments, it would have to lower product prices. The danger with such an approach is that it would not only undermine and erode the company's premium brand image but it would also undermine the company's culture and internal activities. Each new Mac revision has either maintained or been subjected to modest price increase while Apple has simultaneously improved product features. A few examples include the introduction of the unibody MacBook and MacBook Pro, larger displays on the iMac, and the replacement of the 599â‚ ¬ Mac mini with a higher priced (999â‚ ¬) model.Years| Sales in Million| |   | 2006| 5,200,000. 00| 2007| 6,905,000. 00| 2008| 9,550,000. 00| 2009| 10,350,000. 00| 2010| 13,425,000. 00| 2011| 7,770,000. 00| 1. From 2006 to 2007 the Macbook Pro is in development process. 2. From 2007 to 2008, Apple introduces the product. 3. From 2008 to 2009, it is the growth of the laptop. 4. From 2009 to 2010, the Macintosh observes its maturity period. 5. And finally, from 2010 to 2011 the curve is starting to decline.REFERENCING Kotler, P (et. Al. ), Principles of Marketing, Prentice Hall Europe, 1999 Kotler, P (et. Al. ), Marketing Management, Prentice Hall Europe, 2002 William J. Stanton,  Fundamentals of marketing, New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1964 Apple website viewed on the 18th November, http://www. apple. com Apple website viewed on the 19th November, http://www. apple. com/why-mac/ Google website viewed on the 20, 21 and the 22nd of November, www. google. com Elmer-DeWitt P, April 9, 2011 11:56 AM, How many Macs did Apple sell last quarter, viewed on the 20th November, http://tech. fortune. cnn. com/2011/04/09/how-many-macs-did-apple-sell-last-quarter/

Math Is More Than It All Demands Analytical Thinking

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