Leading a Diverse Workforce Essay

1.0Introduction This report is an introduction to the circumstances of the diverse workforce. It explains the causes of diverse workforce leads into past, present trends. Where focus has centred on the consequences, there are some advantageous and disadvantageous outcomes which lead to â€Å"pay-off† of the organization. Therefore, discussion moves forward to the difficulties that managers would face and the management solution. The report concludes with a discussion 2.0Causes of Diverse Workforce â€Å"Workforce diversity is a workforce consisting of a broad mix of workers from different racial and ethnic background of different ages and genders, and of different domestic and national culture† (Naik, 2012). The emergency and development of diverse workforce is basically the result of globalisation, which is the current developing trend of the world. To meet the challenge of globalisation, it is extremely necessary for an organisation to have a diversity strategy than a domestic one (Naik, 2012). The diverse strategy enables the organisation to enlarge their customer base and market since the various backgrounds of employees make it much easier to communicate with global customers. There is also another cause of diverse workforce which is the requirement of the law and responsibility for the society (McInnes, 2013). There are usually some disadvantaged people in our communities who may suffer discrimination and a lot of hardships. In consider of that, the government has made anti-discrimination legislation to protect the rights of those disadvantaged people. Therefore, the organisation recruits people such as women, aboriginal and disabled individuals to form a diverse workforce as abidance by the law and as a social obligation. 3.0Past and Present Trends The trends of the workforce diversity in the organisation are dramatically difference between past and present, for the aspect of gender, generation and cultural. As the globalisation is prevalent around the world, especially in Australia where the place is encouraging multiculturalism and immigration, there are more organisation engage the workers with different  cultural, it makes the workplace more diverse, such as the Vodafone and ANZ Bank. For example, ANZ Bank started to promote a diverse workplace since 1990s. They believed that the staff with a vibrant and diverse background and life experience can help to forge strong connections with all their customers. Besides, in the past, the women in the workplace were automatically assigned to temporary or part-time jobs because their first priority was taking care of their families. It shows that most of the gender work in an organisation is male. However, Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (2011, p.3) indicate s that â€Å"The proportion of women in the Australian workforce and in leadership positions is increasing since 1960 with 52% and compared with 70% in 2009†. Nowadays, most women tend to work as a permanent worker and do not see it as temporary because women are become more independent. Therefore, the gender diverse in the workplace has a huge change from homogeneous to diverse, thus the organisation have been learning to treat women as the equals of men and discrimination against female employees are now against the law. 4.0Consequences of Diverse Workforce 4.1The advantages of having diverse workforce First of all, it can increase an organisation’s creativity, flexibility and innovativeness (Cole, 2013). More fresh ideas and different perspectives could be provided by diverse employees from various cultural backgrounds and mind-sets since they are more willing to think outside of the box (Belcher, 2014). Secondly, the diverse workforce can attract more different customers as the employees are capable to communicate across cultural boundaries which therefore give the organisation a competitive edge and help meet the needs and wants of globalisation better (Belcher, 2014). What is more, the image and reputation of an organisation could be enhanced through a group of diverse people and then retention can be improved because it appeals to some other competent talents (Cole, 2013). Loyalty of employees would also be reinforced since they are in a fair and friendly working environment. Last but not lease, the proper utilisation of diverse workforce will result in greater producti vity (Belcher, 2014). 4.2 The disadvantages of having diverse workforce In fact, diverse can lead to a conflict and some negative effect. Jensen (2011, para. 10) demonstrates that â€Å"Communication is the key to breaking down the cultural; barriers between people†. As people with different cultural may easily have a communication problem, they will always cause misunderstanding which will harm working relationships and damage working environment and atmosphere. Therefore, a company ne beds a well planning to engage different background, culture, experience, ability and age of employees, and provide an effective policy on every member of the workplace. 5.0The â€Å"Pay-off† The advantages and disadvantages of diverse workforce are heatedly debated. As we mentioned above, a diverse workforce can assist an organisation in many aspects such as working environment, productivity and creativity. Generally speaking, a diverse workforce enables an organisation to be much better. Though a diverse workforce would cause some misunderstanding, the problems will be solved as long as the managers are able to handle it. Eventually, with the development of the diverse workforce, it turns out that the benefits outweigh the costs. 6.0Challenges for managers The change of workforce requires leaders to pay more attention to adjust policies for diverse employees made up of ages, genders, nationalities and more. Meanwhile, employees also need to know how to work and communicate with people who are different with dissimilar cultural background. â€Å"Diversity management practices are specific activities, programs, policies, and any other processes designed to improve management of diversity via communication, education and training, employee-involvement, career management, accountability and cultural change† (Cieri, Costa, Pettit, & Buttigieg, 2008, p.6). The people with various cultural backgrounds a typical kind of diversity. They could forge strong connections with customers coming from diverse background; however, it might cause conflicts and misunderstandings because of their different understandings for things. In this case, in order to make full use of this kind of employees and force a nice working environment, managers are s upposed to deliver the concept of accepting and understanding other cultures and let the employees share  cultural value. Multigenerational team is another kind of the diverse workforce. Because of backgrounds, circumstances or the different education level, multigenerational workforce is much easier to bring about conflicts and misunderstandings. As a result, the function of leaders becomes significant and essential. They analyse and manage conflicts, organise all the work. More importantly, leaders know what kind of job each generation is qualified. For example, the younger generation is more likely to do the creative work while the older generation is better to do with the management. Conclusion As it enters the 21st century, workforce diversity has become an essential business concern. Diversity could be a positive factor to contribute to the local business, but misunderstanding is a major barrier. Australia as a developed country is attracting people from all over the world to come for study and work. Therefore, the government should make a comprehensive policy to improve diverse workforce issue, such as the working condition and foreign workers’ permission standard of the entrance system in Australia. Person with disability is a typical kind of diversity. They might have achievements that the normal people could not reach. Although they are not as efficient as others, they might have specific achievements that normal people could not reach. In this case, in order to make full use of them, leaders give this group more welfare as well as set up particular facilities to assistant them to work more efficiently and effectively. Reference list: Cieri, H., Costa, C., Pettit, T. & Buttigieg, D. (2008). Managing a Diverse Workforce: Attraction and Retention of Older Workers. Retrieved from http://www.buseco.monash.edu.au/mgt/research/acrew/ageing-workforce-wp-2008.pdf Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (2011). Human Resources: Managing Diverse and Inclusive Workplaces, p.1-9. Retrieved from www.education.vic.gov.au/hrweb/Document/Mange-Diverse-Inclusive-Workplace.pdf Jensen, M. (2011). Special Issue on: Impacts of Diversity in the Workplace: Maintaining Open Communication. Aviary Group. Retrieved from www.aviarygroup.ca/special-issue-on-impacts-of-diversity-in-the-workplace-maintaining-open-communication/ McInnes, R. (2013). Workforce Diversity: Changing the Way You Do Business. Diversity World. Retrieved from http://www.diversityworld.com/Diversity/workforce_diversity.htm Naik, P. (n.d.). Challenge for Business Survival-Managing Workforce Diversity. IOSR Journal of Business and Management. Retrieved from http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jbm/papers/7th-ibrc-volume-2/15.pdf

English Coursework †Titanic Essay

Many people across the world watch films. It is so popular because it puts a story on the screen and into life so that people can see it. People watch films for the entertainment value, or are simply too lazy to read and enjoy the magic of a book. The advantages of watching a film at the cinema rather than on video is the bigger screen, and the surround sound, also the atmosphere. This all adds up and creates a bigger impact than a video. People make films to tell a story or get a message across, such as â€Å"Pearl Harbour,† which tells us the story of a real historical event through the eyes of a fictional love story, very much like â€Å"Titanic.† Or â€Å"Shrek,† which puts a message across through the tale. Some films are just made purely for entertainment value, or to make money, such as the Harry Potter films, that were built up from a very popular book franchise. In film they use different camera shots for different reasons, such as:- > Close Up – with this shot, you can see the emotion on the face of the character; they use it to show the emotion more clearly. > Long Shot – The use this type of camera angle to show a large shot of the set or in the case of â€Å"Titanic† the boat. > Point of view shot – These are used to show you what the character can see, a good example of this in â€Å"Titanic† is when Rose is stood on the end of the boat looking out to sea, > Medium Shot – These show the characters body and face, and are used a lot. > Zoom in/out – These can be used to show a long shot of the set and then zoom in to show the emotion on the characters face instead of switching from Long shot to Close-up. > Panning – This can be used to show a large area, or a when a character is walking. An example of this on â€Å"Titanic† is when they go from the back of the boat to the front. They also use Sound Effect to make what is happening sound more real, such as an explosion or band. They also use backing tracks, which can be used to emphasise the emotion a character is feeling. For example, if it was sad, they might use a love song. They use costume to show you what time something was set it, or the class of the people, particularly shown in â€Å"Titanic,† as Jack is very poor and Rose is rich. The characters who wear the costumes are also very important. They have to look the part and sound the part, not just be able to read the lines. They have to act the way a person of that time would. For my GCSE coursework, I will be writing a Media essay on â€Å"Titanic,† which was directed by James Caremon. It was made in 1997, and was the most expensive film made at the time. It won many awards, and is one of the great love stories told, based on a real historical event. The Titanic was quoted as being â€Å"Titanic, wasn’t just another ship, it was bigger, faster, and more luxurious than any other ship before her.† She had two sister ships, The Olympic and The Britannic, all of which were owned by White Star Line, a series of very luxurious ships. It was built in Harland and Wolff Shipyard, and was 882 ft 6 inches, by 92 ft 6 inches. It had 2212 people onboard, 20 lifeboats, which only had room for 1178 people. This was because they thought that the ship was â€Å"un-sinkable,† and didn’t think they needed more. It only had 705 survivors after it sank. The Titanic was under the control or Captain E.J Smith, a much respected Captain. Some people would not travel if the boat was not under his control. It set sail on April 10th 1912 from Cherbourg France, to Queensland Ireland, and then continued out to sea. Titanic sank at 2.20am, on April 15th. The Titanic sank because it hit an ice berg, which pierced its hull and flooded it, making it sink. Captain Smith had ignored the iceberg warnings. This was The Titanic’s maiden voyage. Disaster is defined as â€Å"sudden or great misfortune,† this means something that happens, which usually kills a lot of people, this could also be linked to tragedy, which is defined as â€Å"sad event; dramatic, literature word dealing with serious, sad topic,† which I think means when something bad happens, which brings sorrow, not necessarily to just one person. I think that the amount of people does alter the seriousness of a disaster because it makes it harder to cope with. A Man-Made disaster is something that man has inflicted upon itself, such as when the Twin Towers got destroyed, many people died. I think that a man-made disaster is sometimes worse that a natural one, because you can’t stop a natural disaster, but to inflict one, is just wrong. I think that James Cameron’s depiction of â€Å"Titanic† is very accurate to the real event. Although he told us the story through the eyes of a romantic tale, all the facts are very accurate. The times, the date, the crew, even the people who were on board, such as John Jacob Astor who was the richest person on the ship, is in the film. All of the crew bare a striking resemblance to the real people and are names the same, particularly in the case of Captain Smith. The Real Captain E.J Smith – Captain E.J Smith in the film The numbers of people that died and the ways that they died are very accurate, many people froze in the water, and other chose to go down with the ship. Also the musicians, who are in the film, go down playing, which was noted by the survivors. I think that we are told the real historical every through a love story because it gets us more involved, we can relate to the characters and it opens out emotions more when the tragedy happens. I think that the opening of a film is important because it draws the person in. In â€Å"Shrek† it is funny, which makes the person want to watch more, and also shows you that it is a comedy film. The titles tend to show you what type of film a film is. It also shows you what time period it is set in, and what genre it is. They usually have the theme song for the film on in the background. In the case of â€Å"Titanic† there is the slow adaption of the theme song playing, and the real shot filmed of the real Titanic. I think this shows you that it will be a sad film, but the pace of the music. It then switches into the film and does a panning shot of the film, to show you how big and magnificent it is. Also the reaction of the people towards it, which shows you that it is even magnificent for them, even though it is set in their time period. Setting is important, because it shows is where and when the film is set. A good example of this in â€Å"Titanic,† is the way the different groups of people are treated at the beginning. The rich are aloud to stroll onto the boat, with their luggage being taken care of, bringing dog and other pets. Whereas the poor have to go through lice inspections just to get on, but the rich can bring animals. This shows you how people were treated and in what time period it is set, and is typical of Edwardian England. Rose is first introduced to us twice, ages 101 and when she was younger going onboard Titanic. When she is older, I think she seems like a very normal nice old woman, mid-class and has a caring family. Whereas the younger Rose seems like a bit of a snob by the way she reacts to the Titanic when she first sees it. She is obviously very rich, and leads an upper-class life. We can tell that she is a nice person, even though she wears a â€Å"snob mask† at the beginning of the film, later on we find out the true her. She is shown as someone who is not afraid to ask questions, unlike many women of that time. She asks about the lifeboats and their capacities. When we first meet Jack, he is gambling in a bar. We can tell that he is poor and doesn’t have much to his name. We can tell that he is very cunning by the way he plays cards and wins. He is shown as a very nice person who cares deeply for Rose. He doesn’t seem to care about the class rules, which shows he is a true romantic because he is willing to defy those rules for love. He cares very much about Rose and her safety, even over his own. This is shown at the end, when he lets her sit on the floating table, while he stays in the water, knowing that he will freeze to death. Cal is Rose’s fiancà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ and is introduced getting out of his very expensive car and getting his man servant to do favours for him. This shows us that he is very rich and has some power. He is shown as quite a snob, and only wants Rose as a trophy on his arm. He is selfish and hits her if she does wrong. He doesn’t agree with Rose’s friendship with Jack, which later turns into love. Molly Brown is shown as quite a loud mouth and is not liked very much by some of the rich people because she was not brought up with money, she is what they called â€Å"new money† her husband struck rich recently, and they did not like this. She is shown as a very nice woman because she helps out Jack when he is going to the dinner with them. Rose’s Mother is shown as a snob; all she seems to care about is the way that her family is seen and how much money they have. She wants Rose to marry Cal just so she can have money again. She doesn’t seem to care much about Rose or her feelings, but in the end we find out how distraught she is about Rose not getting in the lifeboat when she has the chance and shows her true feelings. Mr. Andrews in the man responsible for making the Titanic, he is so sure that it will not sick, and doesn’t put enough life boats onboard. He is shown as a very kind man, who cares very much for Rose. He helps her to safety when the ship is sinking, but does not get on a lifeboat himself. I think this is because distraught about his ship sinking and by the fact that there weren’t enough life boats, which he decided, and now people would die because of the decision. Mr. Ismay, was the designer of Titanic, he just wanted the fame by having her in the news, he pushed the engines too hard by making them go faster and faster when they didn’t need to. If the Titanic wasn’t going so fast she might have been able to turn in time and not crash. Ismay is shown as a coward in the film, he is expected to go down with the ship, but instead he jumps on a lifeboat when no one is looking. The Captain is shown as a very important and respected man. Although it was Ismay who suggested going faster, is was the Captain that made it so. I think that he is depicted as quite a noble man because he goes down with the ship. Rose and Jack first properly meet at the back of the ship when Rose is about to commit suicide. He shows his caring by telling her that he’ll jump in after her even if it means his own death. This becomes one of the themes of the film â€Å"You Jump, I Jump!† Jack first sees Rose as she is looking over the railing of the upper-class deck, it is love at first site and he knows that he has to be with her. I think that this is significant, because although he doesn’t know her he still wants to be with her, even thought he knows there is a vast class difference. I think the setting is significant in the places where the rich and poor are kept. The rich have expensive, luxurious rooms and a fancy dinning area, whereas the poor are kept in bunkers and have a large hall where the dance and socialise. The places where the poor are kept do not look expensive and are very dirty, and infested with rats. As the ship is sinking, it uses many shots, Long shot and close up. It uses long shots to show the ship from afar, there is not music and it is all dark. This shows the isolation of the ship and that it is very unlikely someone will arrive in time to save them. The close up shows the ships breaking apart and falling, it has very dramatic music in the background, and lots of screaming. The characters are all running around franticly and all the glamour of the ship seems to of faded. The atmosphere is created by the screams of the people, watching the ship fall apart. The emotion is created, by watching what is happening to these people, freezing to death, crying for help, desperately trying to get on a life boat. So desperate that they cut one down whilst drowning. My favourite parts of the film are where the ship sinks, and when Jack and Rose are stood on the edge of the ship. There is soft romantic music in the back ground, the main theme song, and there are close ups of their faces, showing the love on them, panning shot around them, stood on the edge, and point of view shots, where you see what Rose does on the edge of the ship. I think this sequence is important in the film because it shows that Rose doesn’t care about class boundaries either, she returns to him, and still loves him, even thought he is of a low class. Also it is the last time Titanic sees daylight. I think that â€Å"A Night to Remember,† another depiction of the historical event, made is 1958, and directed by Roy Baker, is similar to that of â€Å"Titanic.† The most fundamental difference centres on exactly what question each film is answering. â€Å"A Night to Remember† answers the question â€Å"How did the tragedy happen?† whereas â€Å"Titanic† answers â€Å"What was it like to live through it?† â€Å"A Night to Remember† shows us The Californian, the ship that failed to answer to Titanic’s distress call, whereas we aren’t shown that in â€Å"Titanic.† The shots are not that different, they use the same type, but the point of view is very different, â€Å"Titanic† uses a 1st person narrative, whereas â€Å"A Night to Remember† uses the 3rd person narrative. The treatment of the passenger is similar, but I think that the people in the life boats were treated differently on â€Å"Titanic† than â€Å"A Night to Remember.† I think that the way they are treated in â€Å"Titanic† is more like they would be. I think that James Cameron decided to have Rose die at the end of the film because it lets her return to Jack, and that his love for her is still strong, she has finally let go of what happened. She does this by dropping the â€Å"Heart of the Ocean† in the ocean. I think that it shows Rose with all her pictures with her because it shows how far she has come in life, the impact that Jack had on her. It shows her riding on a Horse like a man would do at that time and various other things she wouldn’t have done if she continued as she was before meeting Jack, like fly a plane. If she hadn’t met Jack, she wouldn’t have done any of these things. I think that the theme tune is significant, because it is titled â€Å"My Heart Will Go On,† I think this is saying that Rose’s love for Jack will continue even though he is dead, which is shown when she returns to him at the end. He is still waiting for her, and he still loves her. Even though their physical love has ended, their mental love will go o forever. I think that the film â€Å"Titanic† was made to retell the tragic events that happened, to make our generation live it all over again, get involved in it, be sad about it. By telling us the story, we can tell what it would have been like for someone who went through that, and we can emphasise with them more, and if a film can make someone do that, I think that it make them a better person for it. I think that the events that happened on April 14th 1912 are some of the most horrific and saddest I have ever heard of, and I think that this is a great film and it will truly be loved for generations to come.

Role of Indian Banks in the Growth of the Indian Economy

{draw:g} {draw:custom-shape} SSUB INTRODUCTION: In the current global order, where the world has become a big village, consumers take a global look at the products and services in terms of price, quality, delivery and after-sale services. This trend has sown the seeds of competition in every sector of economy and banking sector is no exception to this event. Banking, the world over, has been changing at a spectacular pace. This change is due to multifarious factors like the need to be efficient in functions, thirst for becoming finance superpowers than mere banks, growing importance of private banking, the rise in high net worth individuals, etc. the decade of 90s has witnessed a sea change in the way banking is done in India. Technology has made tremendous impact in banking. â€Å"ANYWHERE BANKING† and â€Å"ANYTIME BANKING† have become a reality. Growing integration of economies and the markets around the world have made global banking a reality too. The surge in globalization of finance has also gained momentum with the technology advancements, which have effectively become overcome the national borders in the financial services business. India, as we know, is one of the 104 signatories of Financial Services Agreement (FSA) of 1997. This gives Indian banks an opportunity to expand on a quid pro quo basis. BANKING IN INDIA: Banking in India originated in the last decades of the 18th century. The oldest bank in existence in India is the State Bank of India, a government-owned bank that traces its origins back to June 1806 and that is the largest commercial bank in the country. Central banking is the responsibility of the Reserve Bank of India, which in 1935 formally took over these responsibilities from the then Imperial Bank of India, relegating it to commercial banking functions. After India's independence in 1947, the Reserve Bank was nationalized and given broader powers. In 1969 the government nationalized the 14 largest commercial banks; the government nationalized the six next largest in 1980. Currently, India has 96 scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) – 27 public sector banks (that is with the Government of India holding a stake), 31 private banks (these do not have government stake; they may be publicly listed and traded on stock exchanges) and 38 foreign banks. They have a combined network of over 53,000 branches and 17,000 ATMs. STRUCTURE OF BANKING SYSTEM IN INDIA: The following figure represents the structure of Indian Banking System. {draw:frame} ROLE OF BANKING SECTOR IN THE GROWTH OF INDIAN ECONOMY: Money lending in one form or the other has evolved along with the history of the mankind. Even in the ancient times there are references to the moneylenders. Indian history is also replete with the instances referring to indigenous money lenders involved in the business of money lending by mortgaging the landed property of the borrowers. Towards the beginning of the 20th century, with the onset of modern industry in the country, the need for government regulated banking system was felt. Reserve Bank of India was set up to regulate the formal banking sector in the country. But the growth of modern banking remained slow mainly due to lack of surplus capital in the Indian economic system at that point of time. Modern banking institutions came up only in big cities and industrial centers. The rural areas, representing vast majority of Indian society, remained dependent on the indigenous money lenders for their credit needs. Independence of the country heralded a new era in the growth of modern banking. In 1969, Indian government took a historic decision to nationalize 14 biggest private commercial banks. A few more were nationalized after a couple of years. This resulted in transferring the ownership of these banks to the State and the Reserve Bank of India could then issue directions to these banks to fund the national programs, the rural sector, the plan priorities and the priority sector at differential rate of interest. However, after almost two decades of bank nationalization some new issues became contextual. The service standards of the public sector banks began to decline. Their profitability came down and the efficiency of the staff became suspect. Non-performing assets of these banks began to rise. The wheel of time had turned a full circle by early nineties and the government after the introduction of structural and economic reforms in the financial sector, allowed the setting up of new banks in the private sector. The new generation private banks have now established themselves in the system and have set new standards of service and efficiency. These banks have also given tough but healthy competition to the public sector banks. MODERN DAY ROLE: Banking system and the Financial Institutions play very significant role in the economy. First and foremost is in the form of catering to the need of credit for all the sections of society. The modern economies in the world have developed primarily by making best use of the credit availability in their systems. An efficient banking system must cater to the needs of high end investors by making available high amounts of capital for big projects in the industrial, infrastructure and service sectors. At the same time, the medium and small ventures must also have credit available to them for new investment and expansion of the existing units. Rural sector in a country like India can grow only if cheaper credit is available to the farmers for their short and medium term needs. Credit availability for infrastructure sector is also extremely important. The success of any financial system can be fathomed by finding out the availability of reliable and adequate credit for infrastructure projects. Fortunately, during the past about one decade there has been increased participation of the private sector in infrastructure projects. The banks and the financial institutions also cater to another important need of the society i. . mopping up small savings at reasonable rates with several options. The common man has the option to park his savings under a few alternatives, including the small savings schemes introduced by the government from time to time and in bank deposits in the form of savings accounts, recurring deposits and time deposits. Another option is to invest in the stocks or mutual funds. In addition to the above traditi onal role, the banks and the financial institutions also perform certain new-age functions which could not be thought of a couple of decades ago. The facility of internet banking enables a consumer to access and operate his bank account without actually visiting the bank premises. The facility of ATMs and the credit/debit cards has revolutionized the choices available with the customers. The banks also serve as alternative gateways for making payments on account of income tax and online payment of various bills like the telephone, electricity and tax. The bank customers can also invest their funds in various stocks or mutual funds straight from their bank accounts. In the modern day economy, where people have no time to ake these payments by standing in queue, the service provided by the banks is commendable. While the commercial banks cater to the banking needs of the people in the cities and towns, there is another category of banks that looks after the credit and banking needs of the people living in the rural areas, particularly the farmers. Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) have been sponsored by many commercial banks in severa l States. These banks, along with the cooperative banks, take care of the farmer-specific needs of credit and other banking facilities. FUTURE: Till a few years ago, the government largely patronized the small savings schemes in which not only the interest rates were higher, but the income tax rebates and incentives were also in plenty. The bank deposits, on the other hand, did not entail such benefits. As a result, the small savings were the first choice of the investors. But for the last few years the trend has been reversed. The small savings, the bank deposits and the mutual funds have been brought at par for the purpose of incentives under the income tax. Moreover, the interest rates in the small savings schemes are no longer higher than those offered by the banks. Banks today are free to determine their interest rates within the given limits prescribed by the RBI. It is now easier for the banks to open new branches. But the banking sector reforms are still not complete. A lot more is required to be done to revamp the public sector banks. Mergers and amalgamation is the next measure on the agenda of the government. The government is also preparing to disinvest some of its equity from the PSU banks. The option of allowing foreign direct investment beyond 50 per cent in the Indian banking sector has also been under consideration. Banks and financial institutions have played major role in the economic development of the country and most of the credit- related schemes of the government to uplift the poor and the under-privileged sections have been implemented through the banking sector. CONCLUSION: The Indian banking system is financially stable and resilient to the shocks that may arise due to higher non-performing assets (NPAs) and the global economic crisis, according to RBI. Following the financial crisis, new deposits have gravitated towards public sector banks. According to RBI's ‘Quarterly Statistics on Deposits and Credit of Scheduled Commercial Banks: September 2009', nationalized banks, as a group, accounted for 50. 5 per cent of the aggregate deposits, while State Bank of India (SBI) and its associates accounted for 23. 8 per cent. The share of other scheduled commercial banks, foreign banks and regional rural banks in aggregate deposits were 17. 8 per cent, 5. 6 per cent and 3. 0 per cent, respectively. With respect to gross bank credit also, nationalized banks hold the highest share of 50. per cent in the total bank credit, with SBI and its associates at 23. 7 per cent and other scheduled commercial banks at 17. 8 per cent. Foreign banks and regional rural banks had a share of 5. 5 per cent and 2. 5 per cent respectively in the total bank credit. NRI fund inflows increased since April 2009 and touched US$ 45. 5 billion on July 2009, as per the RBI's February bulletin. Most of this has come through Foreign Currency Non-resident (FCNR) accounts and Non-resident External Rupee Accounts. India's foreign exchange reserves rose to US$ 284. 6 billion as on January 8, 2010, according to the RBI's February bulletin. The State Bank of India (SBI) has posted a net profit of US$ 1. 56 billion for the nine months ended December 2009, up 14. 43 per cent from US$ 175. 4 million posted in the nine months ended December 2008. Amongst the private banks, Axis Bank's net profit surged by 32 per cent to US$ 115. 4 million on 21. 2 per cent rise in total income to US$ 852. 16 million in the second quarter of 2009-10, over the corresponding period last year. HDFC Bank has posted a 32 per cent rise in its net profit at US$ 175. million for the quarter ended December 31, 2009 over the figure of US$ 128. 05 million for the same quarter in the previous year. Government Initiatives: In its platinum jubilee year, the RBI, the central bank of the country, in a notification issued on June 25, 2009, said that banks should link more bran ches to the National Electronic Clearing Service (NECS). In the Third Quarter Review of Monetary Policy for 2009-10, the RBI observed that the Indian economy showed a degree of resilience as it recorded a better-than-expected growth of 7. 9 per cent during the second quarter of 2009-10. In its Third Quarter Review of Monetary Policy for 2009-10, the RBI hiked the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by 75 basis points (bps) to 5. 75 per cent, while keeping repo and reverse repo rates unchanged. According to the RBI, the stance of monetary policy for the remaining period of 2009-10 will be to: Anchor inflation expectations and keep a vigil on inflation trends and respond swiftly through policy adjustments, Actively manage liquidity to ensure credit demands of productive sectors are met adequately, Maintain an interest rate environment consistent with financial stability and price stability. Exchange rate used: 1 USD = 46. 29 INR (as on January 2010) 1 USD = 46. 66 INR (as on December 2009) Thus it can be concluded by saying that the role of the banks has been important, but it is going to be even more important in the future.

Incident manegment process at Catholic University of America Essay

Incident manegment process at Catholic University of America - Essay Example This could include the use of a service desk which acts as a link between the end users and the technical staff diagnosing the incident. The service desk updates the users on the progress of issue being resolved. Incident Management Cycle Incident life cycle involves discovery and listing, grouping and preliminary intervention, inspection and analysis, solution and revival, incident closure, incident ownership, follow up and evaluation, tracking and communication. To avoid IT business disruptions as a result of system failures, it is important to plan and implement programs to optimize IT service management. This begins with the analysis and alignment of the current and future business requirements and appropriate IT services provided. More serious incidents must be given precedence/priority where there are a number of incidents to be dealt with at the same time, where the user must be consulted and reference made to the Service Level Agreement (SLA). To prioritize, urgency and impac t of the incident to the user and the business must be evaluated (Office of Government Commerce 31). An incident that may not be resolved by first line support staff should be escalated to more expertise or authority. This could be either functional (horizontal) or Hierarchical (vertical) escalation. 1. Listing of Accepted Incidents Any section of the IT infrastructure may cause incidents to happen including computer operations, networking, service desk itself, procedures etc but these are usually reported by users. Detection systems can however be used to trap events taking place with the IT infrastructure. Incident management is related to other processes such as configuration management, problem management, change management, service level management, availability management, and capacity management (Office of Government Commerce 33). 2. Incident Grouping and Preliminary Intervention This involves grouping the incidents in some identified criteria. Services related to the inciden t are identified with due regard to the SLA. A support group is selected if support staff cannot resolve the incident issue; a support group is determined as part of functional escalation and based on incident categorization. An aspect of timelines here is critical involving informing the affected business user about the estimated amount of time expected to resolve the issue, with due updates on progress also provided. Incidents are also matched to determine whether similar ones occurred previously, thus helping on diagnosis and solution turnaround. 3. Solution and Revival Following an incident resolution, a record is made in the system for a Request for Change (RFC) submission to change management where necessary or/and appropriate. The RFC should usually lead to a solution (Office of Government Commerce 35). 4. Closure With a solution in place, the incident is routed back to the service desk by the support group. Service desk then informs the user to check if indeed the incident h as been resolved thereby closing the incident and incident record updated to show final category and priority, affected users and components which have been identified as causes of the incident. If user is not comfortable with the solution, the process can be reinitiated at the appropriate stage. 5. Incident Monitoring and Evaluation Service desk

Writer's Autobiography Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Writer's Autobiography Assignment - Essay Example This gave me an opportunity to read extensively. As such, I gathered knowledge on how to approach different topics. My tutor told me that, to develop fluency in language, there is a need to read extensively. This will not only develop my fluency in writing, but will also develop my speech. In my pre-school years, I remember playing reading games. This gave me exposure to the English language as I learned new vocabularies with each passing day. Apparently, some of the words were confusing. This encouraged me to search a dictionary to enable me understand the vocabularies. However, this was tricky. For example, some new vocabularies are not included in the older versions of dictionaries. Therefore, as I progressed in the reading games, I had to look for the latest dictionary. This proved a prudent approach in knowing new vocabularies. In the turn of events, I started to develop a passion of writing about any trending story. As such, I noted that I had developed an undying passion of writing for enjoyment. One thing i remember about writing is that, it helps in grasping different topics and giving the topics a different approach. For example, I could write about the same story using three different approaches. This was like playing with words to suit the same topic. I re member most of my classmates making requests for my writings to develop their language. I felt that my writing was appreciated in class. As a fact, this elevated my passion in writing. I felt that I could do better with enhancement in the efforts I made towards writing. Consequentially, I started concentrating in some of the topics that proved a hurdle. For example, physical geography involves visiting places and doing lots of research. However, I started writing about physical geography, though I had not visited some of these places. This sparked my imagination to a higher level as I had to do massive research on the places. I was astonished

Discipleship in the Gospel of Matthew Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Discipleship in the Gospel of Matthew - Essay Example he concept of discipleship will be explored and subsequently validated through comparisons to the role of faith, devotional learning and ministry within contemporary Christian communities. The English word disciple customarily denotes a follower, adherent or student of a great master, religious leader or teacher.2 Discipleship, in relation to the teachings of New Testament principles, focuses around Christs establishment of a group of individuals who digest, adopt and consequently administer these lessons to other individuals for the sake of promoting Christian doctrine. Moreover, a primary objective of Christs ministry was to appoint citizens of the community of Israel to the role of disciple where, as He preached and educated them regarding His new covenant, these newly selected ministers were moved to faith for the sake of servitude to Christianity.3 It is crucial to highlight the fundamental principles of new Christian doctrine, as Jesus teachings offered a radical reinterpretation of scripture and Jewish tradition whereby He frames the invitation to an abundant life within a new Christian community through a calling to rigorous discipleship.4 In the New Testament, Christ administers His absolute authority to promote a new doctrine for acceptable living by citing His relationship as the appointed messenger of God. Through His teachings, those who were appointed as disciples formed the nucleus of the modern church and that the pattern of the relationship between Christ and his disciples was essential for the establishment of a communion between the risen Lord and members of His church.5 Thus, discipleship can from God through Christ. It is within the Gospel of Matthew where elements of discipleship are most apparent which point toward the goals of adherents to Christianity and the role of disciples in promoting Christian morality and Gods law for the sake of building not only the modern church, but in establishing salvation for others through ministry. The

Employment Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Employment - Coursework Example Other professionals will find themselves locked into an arms race with their competitors, and companies will have to provide their teams with the best equipment or face serious defeat. The advancements in medicine will reduce the population of potential employers lost through disease, and increased child care cost will force most employees to find ways of bettering their wages, either through job hoping, or making themselves marketable. Workers will telecommute; enabling them to use time spent commuting into productive work. The choices available for reemployment will be endless due to new, upcoming jobs including computer programmer, day care provider, environmental engineer, and elder specialist. People will be working during the weekends, in the evenings and on holidays (Roger Backhouse).   Inflation Inflation is expected to increase in the next five years, because the rising prices of commodities is not lasting a short time. Prospects of currency shifts and high commodity price s will cause the inflation to increase. In my view, the current market imbalances will continue keeping commodity prices rising in the next five years, with the inflationary pressures hitting emerging markets more, since a bigger share of their consumption is commodities. New emerging markets have in the past been a source of disinflation for most of the developed economies, because cheap imports from countries like China decreased inflation in the US and Europe, but that dynamic will be changed with higher commodity prices. The developed world policy makers will also try making their economies competitive through a cheaper currency, which in my view; will cause higher inflation for net importers like United States. In addition, emerging economies will let their currencies appreciate with a bid to combat inflation causing exportation of inflation to countries that buy their goods (Roger Backhouse). Interest rates Suppressing interests now will lead to disproportionate rise after fiv e years. In addition, the proposed low rate encourages depositors, who can relocate their money elsewhere, leading to more pressure for a rise. In my opinion, the monetary system is in a complete mess characterized by cons and quick solutions to serious economic problems. Currently no single borrower or saver can be immune. There is a lot of fake currency with no fixed value, and the trend seems to be escalating with time. Although there are few exceptions including gold silver coins and liberty dollars. With the currency and legal system plus savings and pension, most people are enslaved. There is no longer money, and people are just dealing with negative and positive numbers, which are illusions of debt and credit, of which we have no control. Probably, we can introduce some feel in the monetary system by nailing the currency to stabilize the unstable financial environment. The question, therefore, is how one can plan and be successful with their finances. This, therefore, makes i nterest rate speculation meaningless (Roger Backhouse). Level of taxation The middle class has been the category of tax payers who have mostly felt the weight of the tax mans demands. With increasing government spending, and demand for more infrastructures, the level of taxation is expected to go up, because the government will have to meet its high budget, while at the same time provide necessary social facilities for its citizens. The expected rise in inflation would also mean the governments would be faced with the challenge of getting the

Crime Scene Specialist Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Crime Scene Specialist - Research Paper Example In today’s world of criminal investigations, particularly violent crimes, solid methods are essential in the collection of evidence at a crime scene. It is in this atmosphere that â€Å"The Crime Scene Specialist [CSS] maintains an impartial and neutral approach to the evidence collection process and crime scene investigation, regardless of the final outcome of the investigation† (Indy Gov website, 2009, para. 2).   The importance of the role of the CSS can not be overemphasized. â€Å"Proper evidence collection, documentation, preservation, packaging and analysis are an integral part in the functioning of the crime lab† (Indy Gov, 2009, para. 2), which will eventually assess the evidence collected. If the CSS does not do their job properly, evidence then can not be effectively processed and faulty conclusions by forensic specialists will likely occur, leading to the â€Å"unsuccessful prosecution of cases† (Indy Gov, 2009, para. 2). Gleaned from a job posting (2008) for Crime Scene Specialist, a summary of requirements and expectations are varied and dependent upon educational levels and other factors. Expectations involve investigative support by way of evidence collection for local, state and sometimes federal law enforcement at major crime scenes such as homicides, suicides, sexual assaults etc. Depending upon the expertise and knowledge of the CSS, the specialist may provide in-court testimony for the prosecution as often depicted on the television program, CSI. In the show the characters are both CSS and forensic experts, not only collecting evidence at the crime scene but performing much of the forensic lab testing as well. Salaries for CSS positions generally range from $30,000 to $75,000, depending upon experience and levels of educational. (Crime Scene Specialist, 2008, para. 1-2) The CSS uses varied skills to document a crime scene including videography, photography, bloodstain pattern analysis, diagrams,

Application of Qualitative Research Methods Paper

Application of Qualitative Methods - Research Paper Example The problem was highlighted by the fact that the society was not investing in any effort aimed at addressing the problem. Algebra is a basic component of mathematics. The subject is important in producing individuals who can solve important problems in the society. Consequently, it is a key indicator of the competitiveness of the American workforce. It is crucial to consider that stakeholders are concerned that the United States of is being left behind by other countries in producing a workforce that can survive and thrive in the changing global economy. The objective of the study is to determine the extent of algebra problems in the the American society. Consequently, the research will reveal the causes for the poor performance. Understanding the underlying causes will provide a significant opportunity to implement appropriate intervention measures. The second objective is to formulate corrective measures that will address the problem. The third objective is to produce information that can be used by policy makers in order to create effective policy measures to address the problem. A researcher can then conduct interviews and surveys. Surveys will provide an opportunity to evaluate any differencies and similiarties in diverse populations (Jansen, 2010). Phenomenology and field research are also appropriate. Phenomonolgy involves observing subjects in their natural setting. In addition, individual interviews will be conducted in an effort to develop a global understanding of the problem. Interviews and focus groups are effective in collecting accurate information because they provide an opportunity for the researcher to interact with the participant (Gill, Stewart, Treasure & Chadwick, 2008). The researcher will also make personal observations in learning institutions. The approach will enable them to understand the attitude of the students and educators towards the subject and their impact on performance (Dowker, Bennett & Smith,

Elements That Influence State Government Essay Example for Free

Elements That Influence State Government Essay The special interest group we are going to look at is the Sierra Club. The sierra club is a body of volunteers that come together to fight for the environment. This interest group has offices in every state in the union. As we look at the Sierra Club in whole we will describe what this organization stands for and try to define its relationship two each of the political parties and lastly we will look at how the interest groups influences state government. According to Carl Pope, â€Å"We stand for the principle that ordinary people don’t believe that they’re here to use up the earth and have the bank account exhausted when they die; that most people really see the planet as an ongoing enterprise. They’re inspired by nature. They want to leave it behind and they feel responsible for it Pope (2008), (para. 1)†. That being said the sierra club is an organization with of over 750,000 members with a common goal in mind (Pope, 2008). That goal is to protect the earth we live on. What is unique about the sierra club is depending on what state you’re in, the sierra club will come at you in very different ways depending on the cause at hand. This means if you live in California, the sierra club will fight to protect water rights and conservation as well as air pollution. If one lives in Kentucky then the sierra club will fight you on coal while promoting wind industry. The unique thing the sierra club has going for it is that it has many different platform to speak from while fighting for a common goal. One of the ways the sierra club has found to gain support on different issues is to a line its self with different political party to gain the support and win favor with state voters. What this means is that the sierra club leverages power of their net work of volunteers and members in every state for the chance to help elect candidates that are environmentally friendly and in line with the thoughts and values that the sierra club represents. Another way the sierra club has grown in power is that they have endorsed like minded candidates from state, local, and municipal arenas. One of the ways that make the sierra club so effective in endorsing a candidate is the multi step process; each candidate receives before the sierra club will publicly support said candidate. The sierra club generally a lines its self with the Democratic Party because Democratic are more liberal than Republicans. For this reason this organization will give democrat contributions to help a candidate become elected to office. According the sierra club leadership the more like minded officials we have in office the more changes can be to the ongoing fight to help preserve the environment. The sierra club supports Kentucky Representative John Yarmuth Democrat (Sierra Club Endorses John Yarmuth, 2012). One of the reason the sierra club support Representative Yarmuth is because of his views on the environment, energy as well as the Kentucky Clean Water Protection Act. The Republican Party has not so lucky when it come to getting support from the sierra club. According to the Perspective a news letter, in this news letter the sierra club comments on how they do not believe the republicans care about the environment due to their stand on climate change. The perspective go’s o to tell about how thinks there is not enough scientific fact to support the accusation, it is for these types of reason that the sierra club has failed to support Republican candidates material (The Republicans, The Sierra Club and the Environment, 2012). Since the sierra club is disenchanted with the Republican Party they see very little money or contributions of any kind from this organization. So how does a special interest group influence state government? Interest groups are the ones that fund a lot of the politicians campaigns, so it’s usually an exchange of some kind of service. The interest groups push for certain legislation to go through the House of Representative, and then the Representative relies on their support in their next election. Organizations like the sierra club can influence government by getting candidates elected that have similar goals. Contributions of money on different issues help with advertizing to help sway voters or to inundate the public with information either for or against a cretin issue. Special interest groups like The Sierra Club has become very crafty in the different way they have found to influence government. Most people do not understand that interest groups dont just lobby for legislation and wine and dine politicians. They actually write legislation, to give to politicians to sponsor. For example, the legislation popularly known as No Child Left Behind was actually commissioned by and basically written by an interest group called the Business Round Table. Another angle to look at is that interest groups often employ lobbyists who already have working relationships with the members of the House, and so these groups tend to have more influence over the way the legislation is worded. This way the lobbyist can protect and benefit the company or industry they are lobbying for. References Pope, C. (2008). Big Think. Retrieved from http://bigthink.com/ideas/2378 Sierra Club Endorses John Yarmuth. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.kentucky.sierraclub/newsroom The Republicans, the sierra club and the environment. (2012). Retrieved from http://povcrystal.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-republicans-sierra-club-and.html

Structure Of Retail Sector In India

Structure Of Retail Sector In India Abstract Despite the ongoing wave of incessant liberalization and globalization, the Indian retail sector is still aloof from progressive and ostentatious development. This dismal situation of the retail sector undoubtedly stems from the absence of a Foreign Direct Investment (hereinafter referred as FDI) encouraging policy in the Indian retail sector. In this context, attempts have been made to study the strategic issues concerning the structure of Indian retail sector, current FDI policy and its limitation. Moreover, the latest move of the government to allow 51% FDI in multi-brand retail in India and increasing the FDI limit in single brand retail in India to 100% (from the existing 51%) is facing opposition which has raised significant hurdles for effective implementation of the reforms. FDI in retail has been opposed citing fears of loss of employment and that traditional retail may be affected. However, adherents of the same indicate easy access to capital for domestic retailers, increa sed transfer of technology, enhanced supply chain efficiencies, increased employment opportunities and curtailment of inflation as the perceived benefits. By analysis of the debate thats raging over opening the retail sector to FDI it is pointed out that opening up of FDI in retail in India could potentially be a mixed blessing for domestic players and negative impact if any is expected to be short-lived and to weaken over time. Also, the advantages of allowing unrestrained FDI in the retail sector evidently outweigh the disadvantages attached to it. Though its time for opening the door for FDI in retail the same should be treaded cautiously and the proliferation of foreign capital into retailing needs to be anchored in such a way that it results in a win-win situation for India. Introduction The retail industry comprising of organized and unorganized sectors is of late often being hailed as one of the fastest growing sectors in India. According to the Investment Commission of India, the retail sector is expected to grow almost three times its current levels to $660 billion by 2015. Though initially, the retail industry in India was mostly unorganized, however with the change of tastes and preferences of the consumers, the industry is getting more popular these days and getting organized as well. The Indian retail sector is ready to take on challenges from global retail players such as Wal-mart and Carrefour. Recently, to encourage the organized retailing in the country government decided to allow 51% FDI in multi brand retail and 100% in single brand retail in November, 2011.While this long awaited approval, come as a relief to many organised retailers and foreign players, oppositions from state government, political parties etc., raises significant hurdles for effective implementation of the reforms. Structure Of Retail Sector In India Before we go into the intricacies of the issue we must know what retail means and what the structure of retail sector in India is. Retailing can be said to be the interface between the producer and the individual consumer buying for personal consumption. This excludes direct interface between the manufacturer and institutional buyers such as the government and other bulk customers. Retailing is the last link that connects the individual consumer with the manufacturing and distribution chain. A retailer is involved in the act of selling goods to the individual consumer at a margin of profit.  [1]  Also, the High Court of Delhi  [2]  defined the term retail as a sale for final consumption in contrast to a sale for further sale or processing (i.e. wholesale). The retail industry in India is divided into organised and unorganised sectors. Organised retailing refers to trading activities undertaken by licensed retailers, that is, those who are registered for sales tax, income tax, etc. These include the corporate-backed hypermarkets and retail chains, and also the privately owned large retail businesses. Unorganised retailing, on the other hand, refers to the traditional formats of low-cost retailing, for example, the local kirana shops, owner manned general stores, paan/beedi shops, convenience stores, hand cart and pavement vendors, etc. Unorganized retailing is by far the prevalent form of trade in India.  [3]   Current Fdi Scenario With Respect To Retail In India The advent of FDI in India was witnessed during the end of 1990s when the Indian national government announced a number of reforms which aimed at helping in the process of liberalization and deregulation of the Indian economy.  [4]   FDI in Single- Brand Retailing was, permitted in 2006, to the extent of 51%. Since then, a total of 94 proposals have been received till May, 2010. Of this, 57 proposals were approved. The proposals received and approved related to retail trading of sportswear, luxury goods, apparel, fashion clothing, jewellery, hand bags, lifestyle products etc., covering high-end items. FDI in cash and carry wholesale trading was first permitted, to the extent of 100%, under the Government approval route, in 1997. It was brought under the automatic route in 2006. But, FDI in Multi-Brand retailing is prohibited.  [5]   Limitation Of Present Setup Limitation in the present scenario calls for relaxation of FDI norms. These limitations are as follows: Infrastructure There has been a lack of investment in the logistics of the retail chain, leading to an inefficient market mechanism. Though India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables (about 180 million MT), it has a very limited integrated cold-chain infrastructure, with only 5386 stand-alone cold storages, having a total capacity of 23.6 million MT. , 80% of this is used only for potatoes. The chain is highly fragmented and hence, perishable horticultural commodities find it difficult to link to distant markets, including overseas markets, round the year. Storage infrastructure is necessary for carrying over the agricultural produce from production periods to the rest of the year and to prevent distress sales.  [6]   Lack of adequate storage facilities cause heavy losses to farmers in terms of wastage in quality and quantity of produce in general.  [7]  Though FDI is permitted in cold-chain to the extent of 100%, through the automatic route, in the absence of FDI in reta iling; FDI flow to the sector has not been significant. Intermediaries dominate the value chain Intermediaries often flout mandi norms and their pricing lacks transparency. Wholesale regulated markets, governed by State APMC Acts, have developed a monopolistic and non-transparent character. According to some reports, Indian farmers realize only 1/3rd of the total price paid by the final consumer, as against 2/3rd by farmers in nations with a higher share of organized retail.  [8]   Improper Public Distribution System (PDS) There is a big question mark on the efficacy of the public procurement and PDS set-up and the bill on food subsidies is rising. In spite of such heavy subsidies, overall food based inflation has been a matter of great concern. The absence of a farm-to-fork retail supply system has led to the ultimate customers paying a premium for shortages and a charge for wastages.  [9]   No Global Reach The Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector has also suffered due to lack of branding and lack of avenues to reach out to the vast world markets. While India has continued to provide emphasis on the development of MSME sector, the share of unorganised sector in overall manufacturing has declined from 34.5% in 1999-2000 to 30.3% in 2007-08  [10]  .This has largely been due to the inability of this sector to access latest technology and improve its marketing interface. Prospected Changes In Fdi Policy For Retail Sector In India Recently in July 2010, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) had put up a discussion paper proposing FDI in multi brand retail. In July 2011, a Committee of Secretaries (CoS) had cleared the proposal to allow upto 51% FDI in multi-brand retail and increasing the FDI limit in single brand retail to 100%, which has been approved by the Union Cabinet in November 2011, albeit with a few drivers  [11]  . These drivers in bill are as follows: For multi-brand retail- Minimum investment of US$ 100 million by the foreign investor is required and atleast 50% of the investment by the foreign company to be in back-end infrastructure. The proposal restricts the location of stores to cities with a population of one million or more (53 cities as per 2011 Census); given constraints around real estate, retailers are allowed to set up stores within 10 km of such cities. Also, at least 30% of manufactured items procured should be through domestic small and medium enterprises (SMEs). While the proposals on FDI will be sanctioned by the Centre, approvals from each State Government would be required. For single brand retail- While allowing FDI limit in single brand retail to 100% with government approval, some restriction is again laid down. The foreign investors are to be an owner of the brand and products to be sold should be of a single brand only. Also, in respect of proposals involving FDI beyond 51%, 30% sourcing would mandatorily have to be done from domestic SMEs and cottage industries artisans and craftsmen. Further, like in multi-brand retail state government approval is needed. But, the mounting opposition by several political parties and State Governments has prevented the effective implementation of the key reform measure. Challenges For Foreign Firms In Organized Retail In India The first challenge is competition from the unorganized sector. Traditional retailing has been established in India for many centuries, and is characterized by small, family-owned operations. Because of this, such businesses are usually very low-margin, are owner-operated, and have mostly negligible real estate and labor costs. Moreover, they also pay little by way of taxes. Consumer familiarity that runs from generation to generation is one big advantage for the traditional retailing sector. It is often said that the mom-and-pop store in India is more like a father-and-son enterprise. Such small shops develop strong networks with local neighbourhoods. The informal system of credit adds to their attractiveness, with many houses running up a tab with their neighbourhood kirana store, paying it off every fortnight or month. Moreover, low labor costs also allow shops to employ delivery boys, such that consumers may order their grocery list directly on the phone. These advantages are sig nificant, though hard to quantify. In contrast, players in the organized sector have to cover big fixed costs, and yet have to keep prices low enough to be able to compete with the traditional sector. Getting customers to switch their purchasing away from small neighbourhood shops and towards large-scale retailers may be a major challenge. The other major challenge for retailers in India, as opposed to the US, is the storage setup of households. For the large-scale retail model to work, consumers visit such large stores and return with supplies likely to last them for a few weeks. Having such easy access to neighbourhood stores with whom, as discussed above, it is possible to have a line of credit and easy delivery service, congested urban living conditions imply that few Indian households might be equipped with adequate storage facilities. Concerns Causing Roadblock In Implementation Of Relaxed Fdi Norms History has witnessed that the concern of allowing unrestrained FDI flows in the retail sector has never been free from controversies and simultaneously has been an issue for unsuccessful deliberation ever since the advent of FDI in India. The recent proposal for relaxation of FDI norm is also facing the same challenges and opposition creating roadblock for implementation of suggested reforms. The antagonists of FDI in retail sector oppose the same on various grounds which are as follows: Move will lead to large-scale job losses.  [12]  International experience shows supermarkets invariably displace small retailers. Small retail has virtually been wiped out in developed countries like the US and in Europe. South East Asian countries had to impose stringent zoning and licensing regulations to restrict growth of supermarkets after small retailers were getting displaced. India has the highest shopping density in the world with 11 shops per 1,000 people. It has 1.2 crore shops employing over 4 crore people; 95% of these are small shops run by self-employed people. Adverse impact on domestic small and unorganized retailers as the move would lead to unfair competition and ultimately result in large-scale exit of domestic retailers, especially the small family managed outlets.  [13]   Global retail giants will resort to predatory pricing to create monopoly/oligopoly. This can result in essentials, including food supplies, being controlled by foreign organizations.  [14]   Disintegration of established supply chains by establishment of monopolies of global retail chains, leading to their control on both ends of the supply chain.  [15]   Farmers to get affected on account of non-remunerative prices paid to them by these corporate giants.  [16]   Key Perceived Benefits In spite of the recent developments in retailing and its immense contribution to the economy, it still continues to be the least evolved industries and the growth of organised retailing in India has been much slower as compared to rest of the world. Over a period of 10 years, the share of organised retailing in total retailing has grown from 10 per cent to 40 percent in Brazil and 20 percent in China, while in India it is only 2 per cent (between 1995-2005).  [17]  One important reason for this is that retailing is one of the few sectors where foreign direct investment is not healthily and liberally allowed. Given this backdrop, it is widely acknowledged by the advocators of the reform that FDI can have some positive results on the economy, triggering a series of reactions that in the long run can lead to greater efficiency and improvement of living standards, apart from greater integration into the global economy.  [18]  Some of the benefits claimed by implementing FDI in re tail sector are as follows  [19]  : These would enable cash-starved domestic retailers to deleverage their overly stretched balance sheets by plugging the gap between capital required for growth and the ability of local players to raise capital. Local incumbents will be benefited from technical inputs, investments in supply chain, and investments in human capital. There could be a potential shift in bargaining power of these retailers with FMCG companies (at present, large FMCG players are better positioned vis-à  -vis retailers in discussing terms of trade) once these retailers become large and attain size and scale. Improvement of supply chain/ distribution efficiencies, coupled with capacity building and induction of modern technology, which will help arrest wastages (in the present scenario, lack of investment in logistics and inadequate storage facilities have been creating inefficiencies in the food supply chain, leading to significant wastages). Though FDI is permitted in cold chains to the extent of 100% through the automatic route, in the absence of FDI in front-end retail, investment flows into this sector have been insignificant. The move to open up retail sector to FDI will reduce inflationary pressures as : Farmers will be able to directly sell their produce to retailers, thereby reducing margins for middlemen. Investments in cold-storage and warehousing will ease supply-side pressures that have driven inflation close to a double-digit. Improved supply chain contributes to savings in food wastages which has been rampant on account of inadequate infrastructure. Further, consumers would also benefit from wider choices and better quality products.  [20]   Improvement in productivity and realizations for farmers through direct sales to these large organised players, thus eliminating the margins outflow to the middle-men who have been dominating the value chain, and whose pricing lacks transparency. The opening of the sector to FDI is expected to result in creation of over 10 million jobs (including 6 million jobs in the logistics sector alone) in three years, across agro-processing, sorting, marketing, logistic management and the front-end retail business. Expectations are that it would create jobs not only in the retail industry but also in related areas like real estate and construction. Consumer Benefit In the fierce battle between the advocators and antagonist of unrestrained FDI flows in the Indian retail sector, the interests of the consumers have been blatantly and utterly disregarded. Therefore, one of the arguments which inevitably needs to be considered and addressed while deliberating upon the captioned issue is the interests of consumers at large in relation to the interests of retailers.  [21]   In wake of relentless protests for the opening up of the Indian retail market for the reception of unrestrained FDI, the Investment Commission in July, 2006, opined that that foreign investment would help in improving the retail and supply chain infrastructure, and generate large-scale employment in the country. In addition, the Indian retailers could absorb some of the best operational practices of these international retailers and gain in experience. Ultimately, the consumers would benefit due to the availability of more product offerings, lower prices, and efficient service. The entry of large low-cost retailers and adoption of integrated supply chain management by them is likely to lower down the prices. Also, FDI in retailing can easily assure the quality of product, better shopping experience and customer services. They promote the linkage of local suppliers, farmers and manufacturers, no doubt only those who can meet the quality and safety standards, to global market and this will ensure a reliable and profitable market to these local players.  [22]   Also, from the stand point of consumers, organized retailing would help reduce the problem of adulteration, short weighing and substandard goods. FDI will not just provide access to larger financial resources for investment in the retail sector but simultaneously will rationally allow larger supermarkets, which tend to become regional and national chains to negotiate prices more aggressively with manufacturers of consumer goods and thus pass on the benefit to consumers and to lay down better and tighter quality standards and ensure that manufacturers adhere to them.  [23]   Authors View In principle, governments should not prevent anybody, Indian or foreign, from setting up any business unless there are very good reasons to do so. Hence, unless it can be shown that FDI in retail will do more harm than good for the economy, it should be allowed. Authors are of view that concern raised by opponents is exaggerated. Opening up of FDI as per reform in India could potentially be a mixed blessing for domestic players and negative impact if any is expected to be short-lived and to weaken over time. A major argument given by opponents of FDI in retail is that there will be major job losses. Frankly, the jury is out on whether this is the case or not, with different studies claiming different findings. Big retail chains are actually going to hire a lot of people. So, in the short run, there will be a spurt in jobs. Eventually, theres likely to be a redistribution of jobs with some drying up (like that of middlemen) and some new ones sprouting up. Infact, the government has added an element of social benefit to its latest plan for calibrated opening of the multi-brand retail sector to foreign direct investment (FDI). Only those foreign retailers who first invest in the back-end supply chain and infrastructure would be allowed to set up multi brand retail outlets in the country. The whole idea is that the firms must have already created jobs for rural India before they venture into multi-brand retailing. Also, fears of small shopkeepers getting displaced are vastly exaggerated. Whe n domestic majors were allowed to invest in retail, both supermarket chains and neighbourhood pop-and-mom stores coexisted. Its not going to be any different when FDI according to the reform is allowed. It is also pertinent to note here that that with the possible advent of unrestrained FDI flows in retail market, the interests of the retailers constituting the unorganized retail sector will not be gravely undermined  [24]  , since nobody can force a consumer to visit a mega shopping complex or a small retailer/sabji mandi. Consumers will shop in accordance with their utmost convenience, where ever they get the lowest price, max variety, and a good consumer experience. The argument that farmers will suffer once global retail has developed a virtual monopoly is also weak. To begin with, its very unlikely that global retail will ever become monopolies. Stores like Wal-Mart or Tesco are by definition few, on the outskirts of cities (to keep real estate costs low), and cant intrude into the territory of local kiranas. So, how will they gobble up the local stores. Mega retail chains will keep price points low and attractive thats the USP of their business. This is done by smart procurement and inventory management: Good practices from which Indian retail can also learn. The benefits of larger FDI in other sector has been tangibly felt in the domains pertaining to technological advancements, generation of export, production improvements, and hastening of manufacturing employment. Capital inflow into India has increased and so have the exports from the country. Allowing healthy FDI in the retail sector would not only lead to a substantial surge in the countrys GDP and overall economic development, but would inter alia also help in integrating the Indian retail market with that of the global retail market in addition to providing not just employment but a better paying employment, which the unorganized sector (kirana and other small time retailing shops) have undoubtedly failed to provide to the masses employed in them. Apart from this, by allowing FDI in retail trade, India will significantly flourish in terms of quality standards and consumer expectations, since the inflow of FDI in retail sector is bound to pull up the quality standards and cost-com petitiveness of Indian producers in all the segments. Further, with regard to the concern raised about limit of cap for FDI in multi- branding authors would like to highlight that Industrial organisations such as CII  [25]  , FICCI, US-India Business Council (USIBC), the American Chamber of Commerce in India, The Retail Association of India (RAI) and Shopping Centers Association of India (a 44 member association of Indian multi-brand retailers and shopping malls) favour a phased approach toward liberalising FDI in multi-brand retailing, and most of them agree with considering a cap of 49-51 per cent to start with. RECOMMENDATION FDI in multi-brand retailing must be dealt cautiously as it has direct impact on a large chunk of population.  [26]  Left alone foreign capital will seek ways through which it can only multiply itself, and unthinking application of capital for profit, given our peculiar socio-economic conditions, may spell doom and deepen the gap between the rich and the poor. Thus the proliferation of foreign capital into multi-brand retailing needs to be anchored in such a way that it results in a win-win situation for India. Therefore, apart from the drivers incorporated in the bill negative effect if any can be further diluted and given below are the recommendation for the same: Reconstituting the poverty stricken and stagnating rural sphere into a forward moving and prosperous rural sphere can be one of the justifications for introducing FDI in multi-brand retailing. To actualize this goal it can be stipulated that at least some percentage of the jobs in the retail outlet should be reserved for rural youth and that a certain amount of farm produce be procured from the poor farmers. Public Distribution System is still in many ways the life line of the people living below the poverty line. To ensure that the system is not weakened the government may reserve the right to procure a certain amount of food grains for replenishing the buffer. To protect the interest of small retailers the government may also put in place an exclusive regulatory framework. It will ensure that the retailing giants do resort to predatory pricing or acquire monopolistic tendencies. Besides, the government and RBI need to evolve suitable policies to enable the retailers in the unorganized sector to expand and improve their efficiencies.  [27]   A National Commission must be established to study the problems of the retail sector and to evolve policies that will enable it to cope with FDI- as and when it comes. The proposed National Commission should evolve a clear set of conditionalities on giant foreign retailers on the procurement of farm produce, domestically manufactured merchandise and imported goods. These conditionalities must be aimed at encouraging the purchase of goods in the domestic market, state the minimum space, size and specify details like, construction and storage standards, the ratio of floor space to parking space etc. Giant shopping centres must not add to our existing urban snarl.  [28]   In order to address the dislocation issue, it becomes imperative to develop and improve the manufacturing sector in India. There has been a substantial fall in employment by the manufacturing sector, to the extent of 4.06 lakhs over the period 1998 to 2001, while its contribution to the GDP has grown at an average rate of only 3.7%.  [29]   The government must actively encourage setting up of co-operative stores to procure and stock their consumer goods and commodities from small producers. This will address the dual problem of limited promotion and marketing ability, as well as market penetration for the retailer. The government can also facilitate the setting up of warehousing units and cold chains, thereby lowering the capital costs for the small retailers. Set up an Agricultural Perishable Produce Commission (APPC), to ensure that procurement prices for perishable commodities are fair to farmers and that they are not distorted with relation to market prices. Quality regulation, certification price administration bodies can be created at district and lower levels for upgrading the technical and human interface in the rural to urban supply chain. Credit availability for retail traders must be encouraged with a view to enhancing employment and higher utilization of fixed assets. This would lead to less wastage (India has currently the highest wastage in the world) of perishables, enhance nutritional status of producers and increase caloric availability. CONCLUSION Indias retail sector remains off-limits to large international chains especially in multi-brand retailing. A number of concerns have been raised about opening up the retail sector to FDI in India. But, after in depth study it can be safely contended that the advantages of allowing unrestrained FDI in the retail sector evidently outweigh the disadvantages attached to it. While initially the small indigenous retailers business would be impacted once modern retail enters the locality, this adverse impact is expected to be short-lived and to weaken over time. Indias experience between 1990-2010, particularly in the telecommunications and IT industries, showcases the various benefits of opening the door to large-scale investments in these sectors. Arguably, it is now the turn of retail. It is expected that organized retail could help tackle inflation, particularly with wholesale prices. It is also expected that technical know-how from foreign firms, such as warehousing technologies and distribution systems, for example, will lend itself to improving the supply chain in India, especially for agricultural produce. Creating better linkages between demand and supply also has the potential to improve the price signals that farmers receiv

Food And Beverage Industry In India Marketing Essay

Food And Beverage Industry In India Marketing Essay India is one of the largest producers of food and dairy products. But when it comes to processed packaged food and beverages, the market is largely unorganized with huge growth potentials. Continuous urbanization and changing consumer habits, has resulted in greater reliance of people on packaged foods and beverages. With the influx of major international players like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, and efforts by large domestic players like Dabur and Parle Agro, the industry is getting more organized. As a result, the industry is generating more opportunities in sectors like marketing, supply chain, storing, warehousing, manufacturing, packaging and RD. One of the major players, in Indian subcontinent is PepsiCo, Inc. It entered in India in 1989 and established Pepsico India Pvt. Ltd. The liberalization of Indian economy in 1992 helped Pepsico expand its business in India. Currently Pepsico India Pvt. Ltd. has its headquarters in Gurgaon, Haryana. It has facilities for 38 bottling plants and three food plants in India to satisfy the Indian consumer demand. The company has recently faced some decline in profits and increase in the debts but these can be attributed its recent investments in growing Indian market but, overall the financial position of the company is robust and sturdy. The company has got strong laws governing the Intellectual Property and use of companys resources, and is taking initiatives to improve the RD. PepsiCo believes that RD plays a crucial role for the growth of the business and to develops new products and technologies to meet consumer requirements in near future. The major threat to PepsiCo is from the unorganized sector and the large multinational corporations like Coco-Cola Corporation, Pearl Agro etc. PepsiCo is offering substantial product differential by increasingly giving emphasis to health conscious trend, with increasing flavors and verities. PepsiCo plans to invest $500 million in Indian market over the next few years in order to triple its revenues in the region. The investment will spread over half a dozen business areas such as manufacturing, RD, agriculture, product development and market infrastructure. It has taken many steps aimed at tapping the growing market by introducing new products, investing in development plans and Capital expenditure plans. Thus, overall, the companys profile looks promising and ready to strengthen its roots. Contents PEPSICO Food and Beverage Industry in India India is one the largest fastest growing economies in the world with an average growth rate of 7%. With a population size of 1.21 billion it is one of most lucrative markets consumer products. Due to the increase in purchasing power of the people and urbanization of small cities the demand of processed food and beverages has grown manifolds in last few years. Currently the estimated size of the industry is $360 billion. The Ministry of Food Processing has divided the industry into the following areas: Dairy processing, Grain processing, Fish, Fruits Vegetable processing, meat poultry processing and lastly, Packaged goods such as beverages, snacks, processed/ready-to-cook foods. Out of these, packaged and processed food industry is estimated at a smaller US$70 billion. The domestic consumption of non-alcoholic beverages, which include tea and coffee, carbonated drinks and fruit-based drinks account for a little more than US$1.2 billion.  And, with current CAGR of 20% its likely to touch US$2.3 billion by the year 2015. (Chibber, 2011) At present, carbonated or aerated drinks valued at US$370 million contributed to 30% non-alcoholic beverages. Fruit based drinks and energy drinks valued at US $250 million and US$125 million makes for other 30% Structure of the industry Until 1992 reforms and liberalization of Indian economy, the industry was largely unorganized consisting of many small scale firms catering only to domestic market. In packaged food industry size only few organized firms existed with limited product like ketchup, flavors, jam and processed noodles etc. Post liberalization, with the influx of international brands and considerable change in food procurement chain, transportation, storing and warehousing the growth of the industry has been robust and steady. The evolution of innovative food processing capacity and the emergence of organized retail, changing consumption patterns with fast changing demographics and habits has fuelling the next growth trajectory for the food industry in India. With the proposed policy changes in Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) by Government of India for retail sector further accelerated growth is expected in the industry. (http://pepsicoindia.co.in/Download) The major players in the industry are Dabur, Hindustan Unilever Limited, Coca-Cola, Pepsico, ITC Ltd, Parle Agro Products, Britannia India, Nestle India, Haldirams, Amul, Godrej Industries, Cadbury Schweppes, Future Group, RPG Enterprise etc. (http://www.ibef.org, 2012) Marketing strategies of the company Indian consumer market is mainly segmented on the basis of geography and demographic. Also the market is highly seasonal and predominantly urban. The products are relatively low cost with low margin but are sold in huge volumes. The marketing strategies are mostly product driven focusing on the masses. Also, innovative products to catering to regional tastes and the needs of niche consumers are been promoted, benefiting in growth of the industry. Most of promotions are done to increase the visibility of the brand. One of the most common practices is to offer the product in wide range package sizes and prices suiting the needs of diverse consumer segments. The promotions and advertisements done by the companies are often large with huge financial costs. The promotions are usually frequent and during popular TV shows, sports event at the peak hour with many celebrity endorsements. Other media like print, digital, banner and hoarding and event sponsorship are also used. (Vora) COMPANY HISTORY: Pepsico Inc., a multinational company, formed in 1965 with the merger of the Pepsi-Cola Company and Fruit-Lay, Inc. Pepsico Inc., since then has expanded from Pepsi to a broader range of food and beverages brands with the largest of which include acquisition of Tropicana in 1998 and a merger with Quaker Oats in 2001, which added the Gatorade brand to its portfolio. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wik) Pepsico Inc. entered India in 1989 and established Pepsico India Pvt. Ltd. It entered India as an industry for food and agro-based products. Since its entry into India, it had already invested INR 18 billion by the year 2000. In 1990, Indian government liberalized economy on account of severe foreign exchange crises, which helped Pepsico to expand its business in India. In 2002, Pepsico Inc. joined hands with Punjab Agro Export Corporation to process citrus fruits for its Tropicana project. By 2003, Pepsis soft drinks, snacks, fruit juices, mineral water business had established itself firmly in India. It is one of the largest food and beverage industry in India with an investment of over $1 billion. COMPANY SIZE: Pepsico Inc., an American multinational food and beverage corporation headquartered in New York, United States, with interests in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of grain-based snack foods, beverages, and other products. As of January 2012, twenty-two of the PepsiCos product lines generated retail sales of more than $1 billion each and the companys products were distributed across more than 200 countries, resulting in annual net revenues of $43.3 billion. Based on net revenue, Pepsico is the second largest food and beverage business in the world. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wik) Currently Pepsico India Pvt. Ltd. has its headquarters in Gurgaon, Haryana. It has facilities for 38 bottling plants and three food plants in India to satisfy the Indian consumer demand. It presently employs 6400 people and provides indirect employment to almost 200,000 people through its production and distribution activities. (http://pepsicoindia.co.in/media) GROWTH ANALYSIS: Pepsico Inc., between 1970s and 1990s has expanded via acquisition of businesses outside of its core focus of packaged food and beverage brands. It concluded its disinvestments by 2007 and was followed by multiple large scale acquisitions, as Pepsico continued its expansion beyond snack food and beverage lines. In August 2009, Pepsico made a $7 billion offer to acquire the two largest bottlers of its products in North America: Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wik) Growth for 2013 is expected to improve to sales growth of 4.5% and profit of 8.3% to $4.44 per share. (Fuhrmann, 2012) Pepsico in India in a short period, it has grown to be one of the Indias largest and fastest growing food and beverage industry in the country. PepsiCos Indias growth has been guided by PepsiCos global vision of Performance with Purpose. This means, while businesses maximize shareholder value, they have a responsibility to all the stakeholders, including the communities in which they operate, the consumers they serve and the environment whose resources they use. (http://pepsicoindia.co.in/company) Changes in the Environment of Industry: With the growing GDP, the purchasing power of the people is also growing. People nowadays demand convenience and are willing to pay extra for it. As their work habits and lifestyles have changed, its now all about time, and the consumer would rather buy time than prepare food. With busier lifestyle of the people, smaller and more frequent meals are becoming common, resulting in higher demand for the packaged food and drinks. The people have become health conscious, so, nutrition is becoming an important consideration when purchasing food and drinks. In 2003, allegations were made against the major player in the soft drinks industry for using harmful insecticides and pesticides in the soft drink. This lead to drop in sales of the soft drinks for some time, till the time the confidence in the minds of people was restored. The major players are diversifying its product portfolios both in the food, health and soft drinks segment in order to cater different customer segment. Celebrity endorsement has become a differentiating factor in the highly competitive industry. Future Outlook: The per capita consumption of the packaged food and drinks in India is expected to rise with the increase in the disposable incomes of the people. In India, tea is the only product which has a mature market. Other beverages such as carbonated drinks and functional drinks have been experiencing a consistent high growth rate. With the women increasingly joining the work force and households becoming smaller, packaged food products and beverages will be in higher demand. With the increasing urbanization, there is increased acceptance and greater demand for packaged food and beverages product in India. Companys Operational Analysis Marketing and Operation: PepsiCo spends high amount on advertisement to reinforce its product by promotion and quickly make the customer aware about their new products. To enter in the different segments of consumers, it created different verticals in the functions like sales, marketing, operations and distribution. PepsiCo constantly looks for acquisition in emerging markets. It has created the point of difference from their competitors by providing unique taste to its product to suit Indian market needs and also provides the product in lower price compared to its competitors. Pepsi has segmented the market based on income level and tried focus on level 1 and level 2 (Exhibit 1) customers and focused on the age group of 15-30. Pepsi mainly sends out the goods from its plants to retailers directly, from where, they are distributed to small retailers to generate its sales volume. It also helps them to reduce the long journey in poor roads. The increase in use of vending machine helps to decrease the number of refilling. The increase in sales is due to the expansion of super/hyper markets in India. Financial Analysis: Based on the financial statement of the year 2011 of PepsiCo India the operating revenue increased by 23.63%. That is 3,360.85 tens of millions to INR 4,155.14 tens of million. There is 1.62 % change in operating income, it was increased to INR 246.81 tens of million from INR 242.88 tens of million. But the Return on Assets (ROA) went down by 0.02% from 2.79% and Return on equity also went down by 0.04%. Compare to the last year the net profit margin fell by 0.01% from 1.89%. The Debt to Equity ratio was 169.96% compared to 156.98% of last year but the current ratio went up to 2.07 from 1.97 compared to the previous year. (Refer Exhibit 2 for details) (http://www.securities.com/Public) Legal Operations: Using Trademarks and Intellectual Property: The intellectual property of the company is an invaluable asset and must be used properly. No one is allowed to use the trademarks or intellectual property of the company without proper authorization and license agreement that has been approved by Law Department. Email, Internet and other Information System: The PepsiCos information technology must be used only for the business operations of the company and must comply with the Information Security Policy and Acceptable Use Standards. It is not a usual practice to monitor the employees use of companys information systems. (http://pepsicoindia.co.in/Download) RD Analysis: PepsiCo has taken many initiatives to improve its RD capabilities and recently opened a RD department in Germany and Co. Cork, which will support both Europe and other markets where PepsiCo operates. PepsiCo knows that RD plays a crucial role for the growth of the business and to develop new products and technologies to meet consumer requirements in near future. PepsiCo always focused on the outcomes which will help them to get more good ideas and create more good jobs. (http://www.idaireland.com/news-media, 2012) Industry Analysis and Growth plans Worldwide, in the year 2010, top ten soft drink companies, including, PepsiCo, Nestle, Coca-Cola and Suntory Holdings, accounted for 52.3% of overall sales with PepsiCo holding 11.5% share. (Exhibit 3) In India, however, it holds 24.2% market share. (Exhibit4) (Eleanore Alexander, 2011) The Indian beverage and food industry is estimated to grow at a CAGR of about 7.5% during 2009-2013. Introduction of organized retail, innovative food processing methods, changes in consumer consumption patterns and fast changing demographics; has ensured exponential growth. Specifically, the Indian non-alcoholic drinks market is expected to grow at CAGR of 15% during this period. (Anonymous, 2011) PepsiCo plans to invest $500 million in Indian market over the next few years in order to triple its revenues in the region. The investment will spread over half a dozen business areas such as manufacturing, RD, agriculture, product development and market infrastructure. (Pande, 2010) It has taken many steps aimed at tapping the growing market by introducing new products, investing in development plans and Capital expenditure plans. (*Source: Bloomberg, IMAP) PepsiCo introduced following products as per their expansion plans: It launched PureVia (a zero-calorie sweetener) using Setvia, a natural herbal, to cater to health conscious customers. PepsiCo recently acquired Brazilian coconut-water manufacturer Amacoco Nordeste Ltd. to cater to increasing customer inclination towards it. Pushing hard in healthy snack options by expanding baked snack brand Aliva from four variants to six new variants. Eliminating almost all trans fats from their U.S. product portfolio and any of their global products. In India, they have 40  percent reduction in saturated fat in leading products (by using blended rice bran oil) such as Kurkure namkeen snacks and Lays potato chips. Pepsi introduced their latest drink aimed at health conscious customers. Pepsi Next is a right mix of cola flavor and a blend of sweeteners to closely mimic the taste curve is a regular cola. (Morefield, 2012) They have developed a plan to introduce fortified biscuits and snacks at affordable rates to address iron deficiency anemia. Last year they expanded their Sangareddy and Mahul production facilities in India, creating 5,000 direct and indirect jobs. (IMAP, 2010) As per companys annual report, We increased our investment in emerging markets selling and delivery systems by putting more coolers in the market and adding route and distribution capacity ahead of growth in India, China, Russia and other countries. Notably, our India business grew at about 2.5 times Indias real GDP growth rate. (Author, 2010) The company recently took another major step in order to expand in terms of volume as part of promotional offers. It cut the price of 600 ml PET bottles to INR 25 from INR 28. However, its rival Coca-Cola has decided not to follow this strategy. (Bhushan, 2012) Porters five forces analysis As shown in Exhibit, Porters five forces help to analyze an industry taking care of various influencers. The five forces are: (Exhibit 5) Threat of substitutes: Soft drink industry offers substantial product differentiation. However, substitutes like bottled water, sports drinks, tea etc. are increasingly getting popular with health conscious trend. With increasing flavors and varieties, these products pose a strong threat to the industry. Threat of new entrants: Coca-Cola and Pepsi Co dominate the soft drink industry. In addition, the industry is fully saturated and minimal chances of growth making it extremely difficult for new players to start competing. Moreover, huge fixed costs are needed and thus new entrants cannot compete without economies of scale. Therefore new entrants do not create significant threat. Bargaining power of suppliers: Suppliers of bottling equipment and packaging hold no power. Companies mostly own the majority of the bottling and hence suppliers do not hold much bargaining power. For sugar and additives suppliers, since there are a lot of them, soft drink manufacturer can shift supplier leaving almost no bargaining power with suppliers. Bargaining power of buyers: The buyers mainly include large grocers, restaurants and stores. The soft drink companies distribute products to these stores, who later resale to the consumers. Different levels of bargaining power exist with discount stores having a lot of it due to large demand whereas restaurants ordering low volume fail to have any bargaining power. Intensity of existing rivalry: Carbonated software industry is a huge industry. Currently few competitors exist and hence it allows multiple firms and producers to prosper. Overall analysis from the point of view of a summer intern in PepsiCo India: The compounded annual growth of more than 7% and the population size of more than 1.21 billion, India is one of the most promising markets for the food and beverage industry. With the current trend, the industry is estimated to grow to $360 billion by 2015. The industry at large is still unorganized with huge opportunities in retailing, supply chain, marketing and RD sides. With the proposed FDI and influx of international players, the sector will be witnessing exponential growth in its organized sector. This will also allow the expansion of the sector in the rural area which is largely untapped. Currently the organized market employes more than 2 million people and this sector has been given high priority by govt. of India. The major players like Dabur, Coca cola, PepsiCo, and Parle are already investing huge amount in both infrastructure and intellectual talent to capitalize the increasing market share. PepsiCo is one of the largest players in the food and beverage industry with its presence in more than 200 countries. Within its 20 years of operation in India the company has grown by many folds. With the new relaxes norms in FMCG industry, PepsiCo is aggressively investing in the Indian markets. Sensing the chances of increasing market share and performing better by catering to new niche markets, it plans to invest more than $500 million in coming years. The company is also looking forward to diversify its product portfolio either by starting newer products or by acquisitions along with initiatives at improving its supply chain and other manufacturing services. Financial data also looks promising with 23.63% revenue growth and 1.62% operating profit increment. Though, other financial ratios like ROA, ROE and margins have fallen compared to previous year, it is actually infected by the huge investment company is making into Indian market. As per CEO Indira Nooyi, the company plans earned highest profit worldwide from Indian sector in Q3 of 2010. Thus, it is quite evident that PepsiCo India is a market leader. Gradually but steadily, it is closing the gap with rank one player, Coca-Cola. The company looks very promising for learning and developing market understanding. As an intern, this offer would help me apply my ideas backed with the theoretical knowledge gained at my MBA program. With company paying specific attention to various business fields like supply chain, infrastructure and sales, this job will help me learn all these aspects and not limit my learning a particular domain. I look forward to this offer as a chance to ensure a final placement in PepsiCo India to give a kick start to my professional carrier. EXHIBITS Exhibit 1: Breakdown of Indian population by income Exhibit 2: Companies Annual reports Exhibit 3: Worldwide soft drink market Exhibit4: Soft drink industry in India Exhibit5: Porters Five Forces http://www.maxi-pedia.com/web_files/images/Michael_Porter_Five_Forces_Model.png