Wal-Mart Secret of Success
Wal-Mart is the biggest corporation in the United States and in the world in terms of revenues and number of employees.
It keeps growing at a rapid pace, showing no sign of letting up. In the first decide of the twenty-first century it appears as if no other company has a chance of catching up to it.
What is the secret of Wal-Mart’s success? Its philosophy, first set its motion by its founder, Sam Walton, is to offer the lowest prices to its customer, thereby undercutting all of its competitors.
Wal-Mart’s basic approach is to minimize margins and maximize returns (i.e., it emphasizes the speed with which goods more through the store over the profit it makes per unit).
Wal-Mart manages to keep its prices low by keeping its own costs down. This is achieved by abstemious management practice (limiting lavish spending by managers) and by keeping down the wages of its workforce (called “associates” by the company).
The low wage policy is maintained by providing weak benefits (for example, relying on spouses’ health care coverage) and by a fierce anti-unionism.
Wal-Mart has used very trick in the book, legal and illegal, to keep unions out.
For this reason along, it has become the prime enemy of the labor movement in the United States and elsewhere.
Wal-Mart is noted for its logistics excellence. It has been a leader in revolutionizing logistics processes, creating a form of just in time (JIT) retailing by developing high tech coordination with its suppliers.
In part for this reason, an in part because of its sheer size and power, the company has gained a dominance over its supplier, putting constant pressure on them to lower their prizes, sometimes with the consequence of pushing them to lower throe production off shore to lower wage countries such a China.
Indeed, its helps to play a role in maintaining and perhaps even driving down the low labor standards of poor developing countries.
In addition, the company puts pressure on it service providers, including transportation and warehousing companies.
These relational processes also cut the company’s costs, enabling it to offer lower prices.
Wal-Mart Secret of Success
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
The story of Cadbury Schweppes
The story of Cadbury Schweppes
In 1783, in Geneva, Switzerland, Jacob Schweppes independently developed a process of adding carbonation into mineral water and Schweppes was born.
A number of years later, in the United Kingdom in 1824, John Cadbury began selling tea and coffee.
These sales were bolstered by his increasing sales of coca and chocolate.
Cadbury Schweppes was formed in 1969 via merger of Schweppes (predominantly beverages) and Cadbury (predominantly confectionary/chocolate).
Hence, the merger in 1969 was of giants on the carbonated soft drink (CSD) and confectionary (Cadbury) market reflecting their primary lines of business.
Today, Cadbury Schweppes has the largest share of the global confectionary market and a strong regional presence with carbonated soft drinks in North America.
Their carbonated soft drinks portfolio was enhanced greatly through numerous acquisitions, over the years including A&W in 1993 and Dr Pepper/7 Up in 1995.
Outside of the carbonated soft drinks market Cadbury Schweppes acquired Snapple beverages in 2000. In 2005, Cadbury Schweppes has over $11 billion revenue and a stock market valuation over $21 billion.
In 2004, Cadbury Schweppes had a combined 14.4 percent share of the carbonated soft drinks market in the United States.
The story of Cadbury Schweppes
In 1783, in Geneva, Switzerland, Jacob Schweppes independently developed a process of adding carbonation into mineral water and Schweppes was born.
A number of years later, in the United Kingdom in 1824, John Cadbury began selling tea and coffee.
These sales were bolstered by his increasing sales of coca and chocolate.
Cadbury Schweppes was formed in 1969 via merger of Schweppes (predominantly beverages) and Cadbury (predominantly confectionary/chocolate).
Hence, the merger in 1969 was of giants on the carbonated soft drink (CSD) and confectionary (Cadbury) market reflecting their primary lines of business.
Today, Cadbury Schweppes has the largest share of the global confectionary market and a strong regional presence with carbonated soft drinks in North America.
Their carbonated soft drinks portfolio was enhanced greatly through numerous acquisitions, over the years including A&W in 1993 and Dr Pepper/7 Up in 1995.
Outside of the carbonated soft drinks market Cadbury Schweppes acquired Snapple beverages in 2000. In 2005, Cadbury Schweppes has over $11 billion revenue and a stock market valuation over $21 billion.
In 2004, Cadbury Schweppes had a combined 14.4 percent share of the carbonated soft drinks market in the United States.
The story of Cadbury Schweppes
Thursday, October 8, 2009
What is trading?
What is trading?
Trading is bartering; it is the exchange of goods or services. Trading has been part of human existence since the beginning of time.
In fact, trading is truly the world’s oldest profession.
Trading is not gambling, although some gamblers do trade.
Trading takes place when one person agrees to take the other person’s eggs in exchange for vegetables.
It happens when one barters two cows for a parcel of land. Trading also happens when you exchange coins for food.
All traders have a commodity that they perceive o have a value.
The exchange takes place when two parties agree that the value of each side of the trade is in parity.
If two traders do not agree that their commodities are of equal value, they will negotiate the quantities to be exchange, until such time as they both are comfortable that the amounts to be traded are in parity.
For instance, the trader with the land might want three cows to execute the trade, while the owner of the cows believes the land is only worth one cow.
In this case, there is a spread between the bid and the ask prices.
The trader with the cows is only willing to bid one cow, while the trader with the land is asking three cows. There is a spread of two cows.
Ultimately, if the trade is to take place, the two traders will negotiate, until of one of them increases the bid or lowers the ask price.
As times goes on and word gets around that these traders meet at a particular location to exchange wares, other people interested in bartering show up.
Soon a marketplace exists. It one town it might ne the cheese market, in another the fish market, but the exchange of one commodity for another commodity might always is taking place.
The life of early traders became complicated. In order to supply their needs, they found themselves traveling from home with their cow, to the grain market where they traded the cow for more grain than they needed, on to the fish market where they traded part of the grain for some fish, and then took the egg market where they traded some of the grain for eggs and then back home again with the grain, fish and eggs.
After some more negotiation with friends and neighbors, they agreed to create a derivative, which would make their lives easier, Thus currency was born.
Early traders were able to take their currency to market, negotiate the amount of currency to trade for the grain, fish, and eggs and return home.
The currency did not need a value of its own. All that was necessary was that all the trading parties agreed to make the trade based on the perceived underlying value of the currency.
The currency use in the United States is valueless. It is small pieces of paper with numbers on them and trades them at markets for other commodities that we want.
Traders on the other side of the trade agree to take the pieces of paper because they believe the paper can be used in other market to make an exchange with someone else.
The pieces of paper themselves do not have a value – only a perceived of value.
What is trading?
Trading is bartering; it is the exchange of goods or services. Trading has been part of human existence since the beginning of time.
In fact, trading is truly the world’s oldest profession.
Trading is not gambling, although some gamblers do trade.
Trading takes place when one person agrees to take the other person’s eggs in exchange for vegetables.
It happens when one barters two cows for a parcel of land. Trading also happens when you exchange coins for food.
All traders have a commodity that they perceive o have a value.
The exchange takes place when two parties agree that the value of each side of the trade is in parity.
If two traders do not agree that their commodities are of equal value, they will negotiate the quantities to be exchange, until such time as they both are comfortable that the amounts to be traded are in parity.
For instance, the trader with the land might want three cows to execute the trade, while the owner of the cows believes the land is only worth one cow.
In this case, there is a spread between the bid and the ask prices.
The trader with the cows is only willing to bid one cow, while the trader with the land is asking three cows. There is a spread of two cows.
Ultimately, if the trade is to take place, the two traders will negotiate, until of one of them increases the bid or lowers the ask price.
As times goes on and word gets around that these traders meet at a particular location to exchange wares, other people interested in bartering show up.
Soon a marketplace exists. It one town it might ne the cheese market, in another the fish market, but the exchange of one commodity for another commodity might always is taking place.
The life of early traders became complicated. In order to supply their needs, they found themselves traveling from home with their cow, to the grain market where they traded the cow for more grain than they needed, on to the fish market where they traded part of the grain for some fish, and then took the egg market where they traded some of the grain for eggs and then back home again with the grain, fish and eggs.
After some more negotiation with friends and neighbors, they agreed to create a derivative, which would make their lives easier, Thus currency was born.
Early traders were able to take their currency to market, negotiate the amount of currency to trade for the grain, fish, and eggs and return home.
The currency did not need a value of its own. All that was necessary was that all the trading parties agreed to make the trade based on the perceived underlying value of the currency.
The currency use in the United States is valueless. It is small pieces of paper with numbers on them and trades them at markets for other commodities that we want.
Traders on the other side of the trade agree to take the pieces of paper because they believe the paper can be used in other market to make an exchange with someone else.
The pieces of paper themselves do not have a value – only a perceived of value.
What is trading?
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