Topic Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Topic Proposal - Essay Example Men object strongly to wearing a condom every time they have sex and would certainly object to the intrusiveness of any law requiring them to do so, but have no compulsions about demanding that a woman destroy her body because they didn’t. 1. Women, as independent free citizens of the world, have a right to make their own choices regarding their own bodies. Pregnancy can present numerous serious health risks and even more minor risks. At the least, the woman will experience weight gain, varicose veins, stretch marks and a potential caesarian scar if they go through with a pregnancy. 2. Women will continue to exercise their right to decide the direction of their own body even if it is taken away by law as ample evidence regarding illegal and unsafe abortions abounds from the era before it was made legal. 3. The Constitution protects the rights of women as U.S. citizens and therefore gives them the legal right to determine what to do with their body and places protections in place for her health and well-being. The fetus, not yet born and therefore not a U.S. citizen yet, has no such protections in place, nor should it at least until it is viable (able to survive outside of the womb). 4. Fetuses in fertility labs are destroyed all the time and thousands of pregnancies are never brought to term for a variety of natural and unnatural reasons so it is unreasonable to attempt to protect the rights of the not-yet-born, particularly when they infringe upon the rights of the already living. 1. Evidence exists to illustrate that the fetus is able to feel pain well before it is viable outside the womb, indicating that it is a living, feeling being and therefore should be protected under the law. 2. Legal abortions introduces the possibility for men to bully women into having an unwanted abortion or to use her unwillingness to have this abortion as an excuse to continue beating her or otherwise abusing her. By

Reflective Dairy Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Reflective Dairy Paper - Essay Example There are steps designed to reduce the process waiting time. The first is analyzing g flowcharts of processes. Use of technology may be utilized to do away with unnecessary tasks that increase the time lug . An instance is the utilization of databases in place of manual and traditional filing systems for data storage in hospitals. Another step would be the use of flow cells or ordinary admission to all resources necessary for processing. I have also understood that in the ancient times, in order to produce a new product, it required company shut down and change. This set up time may be significantly lessened through preparation before the process. Over eighty percent decrease, in set up time is achievable through designing for preparations and manufacturability. Clear differences arise between traditional method of reducing downtime and JIT method. In the traditional method, there exists corrective maintenance, then experts carry out process, equipment speed is fast, and the method o nly runs one shift. On the other hand, JIT involves preventive maintenance, equipment operators carry it out, the equipment speed is slow, and the operations run for 24 hours. ... It also supports both process and product  improvement. In addition, employees are cross-trained for efficiency and flexibility. There  is also improved  communications, which enhance the dissemination of  vital  information about the process. Employees  are also empowered, and there is teamwork among employees. When it comes to suppliers, JIT partnerships occur when a  purchaser  and supplier work hand in hand to reduce costs and  remove  waste. The potential problems of using JIT are that it  is used  in continuous processes and  repetitive  operations. JIT also requires a high level of  discipline  for its effective implementation. The concept  is also based  on trust and cooperation. In addition, it requires a philosophy change. Lastly, JIT is not  highly  conducive to a scenario where the  true  market  position  entails unique products. In this scenario, MRP system is  more  applicable. Week 9- Transformation Systems Design an d Layout Analysis In week nine, I learnt that transformation Systems Design and Layout Analysis consider alternative forms of transformation and choose the best one based on the desired results. Layout analysis aims at maximizing the effectiveness and efficiency of operations. Flow shop is related to continuous process apart from distinct product produced. Other features are heavily computerised special purpose apparatus. Both products and services can utilize the flow shop mode of processing. The flow shop method has advantages such as low unit cost caused by focused equipment of high volume, reduced labour rates, bulk purchasing, low cost inventories conducted within the company, and easy managerial control. Disadvantages of flow shop are numerous. Some outputs have a high level of obtaining complexity.

Global environment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Global environment - Assignment Example In addition, it addresses how educational leadership practices influence the implementation of effective models that maximize global competitiveness. Leadership ensures flexibility and creates room for adjusting to varying cultures and markets by keeping a global perspective through continual learning. Organizational structures are also adjusted in order to meet the needs of the stakeholders such as clients and partners (Dignam, & Galanis, 2009). Leadership ensures the existence of a balance among the methods required to manage different generations and categories of people effectively. It also measures staff performance by considering outputs so that the expectations of the stakeholders are met (Dignam, & Galanis, 2009). This entails understanding behavioral diversity so that approaches to handling individuals are more creative and diverse. Technological, environmental and business changes that occur globally require leaders to be dynamic and up-to-date with such information so that obsolescence of ideas and methods of operation does not arise. As new ideas, policies and practices come, new and innovative approaches should be considered by leaders in order to meet the demands of the stakeholders (Dignam & Galanis, 2009). Competition is a perpetual practice that requires sound decisions and strategies such as risk taking in order for an organization to remain relevant in the global frontier (Blum & Wey, 2008). Organizations compete for clients, resources, technology and space. With sound and best leadership practices, stakeholders’ needs are met by implementing modern policies and strategies that can compete favorably in the global space. According to Blum and Wey (2008), every organization has a vision enshrined in its goals and objectives and the stakeholders aim at realizing such dreams. With good leadership practices such as staying focused, an

Group and Teams Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Group and Teams Paper - Essay Example In this regard, the essay aims to proffer an explanation of the differences between a group and a team. Likewise, the importance of workplace diversity in an organization would be included and how it relates to team dynamics in the workplace and how it relates to team dynamics in the workplace. Differences Between Groups and Teams To distinguish between groups and teams, respective definitions are hereby noted. According to Martires and Fule (2004), a group is â€Å"a collection of people interacting with each other for fairly some time utilizing certain resources and methodologies to achieve common goals or interests† (p. 93). On the other hand, Clark (1997) defined a team as â€Å"a group of people coming together to collaborate. This collaboration is to reach a shared goal or task for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. A team is a group of people with a high degree of interdependence geared towards the achievement of a common goal or completion of a task rath er than just a group for administrative convenience† (par. 3). ... 1). Thereby, the role and participation of leaders and members in goals setting and decision- making differentiates one from the other. Further, the significant role that collaboration plays in a team separates it from a group. Importance of Workplace Diversity Greenberg (2006) defines diversity in the workplace as â€Å"the variety of differences between people in an organization†¦Diversity encompasses race, gender, ethnic group, age, personality, cognitive style, tenure, organizational function, education, background and more† (par. 1). The importance of workplace diversity is seen from the benefits accorded to both the employees and the organization. The research of Greenberg stipulates that diversity has the capacity for â€Å"increased adaptability, broader service range, variety of viewpoints, and more effective execution,† (pars. 4 – 6) among others. By supporting a diverse workforce, organizations foster a more balanced working environment as differe nt ideas, perspectives, and suggestions for strategies, problem-solving, and decision-making are readily available. Relation of Diversity to Team Dynamics in the Workplace Discoveries from diverse research indicate that diversity supports teambuilding and cohesion, increasing the dynamic interrelationships among teams within the organization. A study conducted by Davis and Bryant (2008) indicates that diverse teams surpass the performance of homogeneous teams in various aspects. The authors averred that â€Å"diverse environments also yield more effective collaboration and teamwork than homogenous teams. There are a variety of ways to solve a problem; leveraging the input of a diverse staff population helps organizations arrive at better decisions. You can’t underestimate the value of the creativity

International Business Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

International Business Strategy - Essay Example The theoretical framework applied for external audit is the PESTEL analysis. The political system in China significantly favours entrepreneurship. Having risen from a middle-income country to a near developed country in less than a century, the political system has a history of favouring entrepreneurship (bec.org). Hong Kong is the richest country in the mainland China with a GDP of US$ 258 billion. This makes it one of the most economically viable nations. The purchasing power in the country is estimated by the World Bank to be US$ 42.653. The country has other established foreign and local brands that pose great competition to Koyo Jeans. These include Diesel, Calvin Klein and Levis which are international companies; and Gallery and Lucky Brand, which are Hong Kong-based (lowtax.net). Being a local company, Koyo jeans do not experience any social or political barriers. The population of Hong Kong is more than 7 million people most of whom embrace the European and traditional Chinese clothing as fashion. Because of the cultural orientation of the products, the demand for Koyo Jeans’ products is high among the people who can be said to be luxurious shoppers. They have been quite receptive of the Koyo products over the years and has helped the company develop. Canada has a democratic tradition dating back to mid-nineteenth century. A general governor governs the country, and the political system is fairly stable. Being a developed and industrialised country, the political system is supportive to businesses, both local and foreign. The population of Canada is more than 34 million people and is in constant expansion. The Canadians are not only affluent but also fashion sensitive. This means that there is a ready market for the products. Jeans market in Canada experienced a 2% increase in 2013 (euromonitor.com). The main competitors in this market are the European brands; Diesel, Calvin Klein, Levi; and the Canadian

Architectural Design Considerations of a Light Warehouse Essay Example for Free

Architectural Design Considerations of a Light Warehouse Essay Warehousing warehousing is the receiving, storage, and delivery of goods. Receiving – receiving is the acceptance of goods with a degree of accountability therefor. Storage – storage is the safekeeping of goods in a warehouse or other depository. Delivery – delivery is the transfer of goods to the transportation carrier or customer. Distribution – distribution is a function of warehousing which includes the preparation and delivery of goods according to plan or special order. Supply chain efficiencies depend upon the efficiency of logistics including transportation and warehousing operations. Warehouse efficiencies depend upon a combination of warehouse design, layout, infrastructure, systems, process and people. Warehouse Design element aims to maximize the utility of space, equipment and efficiency of operations. We will briefly cover the various elements of a warehouse design and understand their importance. In basic functional aspects, a warehouse function consists of Material receipts including unloading, unpacking and inspection, put away and Storage of materials in various categories of storage locations, systems updating, pull materials for dispatch and delivery of materials after processing. Warehouse Location, Layout and Building The location of a warehouse should ideally be situated in a flat ground. The location should be easily approachable and in a area suited for this nature of business. Locations closer to markets or to national highways would be ideal. Public transportation and communication infrastructure should also be available. The layout of the building should be designed to accommodate fleet parking, and enable containers to drive in and drive out easily. Any time two containers should be able to pass through on the path without any interruption. There should be enough free space for vehicles to maneuver. The layout should also provide for other utility, safety and security operations. Building is normally constructed using galvanized metallic sheets mounted on C Section girdles. The flooring should be RCC concrete with weight bearing capacity as per requirement of the load to be calculated in each case. The ground should be flat, even and smooth surface to facilitate MHE movements and dust free. The roof height would be a major consideration to be able to install multi vertical storage racking installation. The walls and roof should be designed with suitable lighting panels and ventilators for air exchange fitted with bird cages. The number of loading and unloading docs and placement of these docs play an important role in the design of operations and efficiency of operation. All weather docks and the facility should enable 24 hours operations. Dock Levels. The docks should be equipped with dock levelers and all these have to be installed during construction phase itself. Ramps have to be provided to facilitate movement of forklift etc. Lighting design will depend upon the layout and the racking design. Internal Layout Internal layout design will be built taking into account the operational process, nature of goods, volumes of transactions both inbound and outbound, storage types, in house operations involving put away and pull sequences and process requirements including packing, kitting etc and the availability of floor space coupled with building layout design of inbound and outbound docks. The design aims to maximize space utilization, minimize MHE movement and Manpower movement. Types of Storage Types of storage are determined by the nature of cargo. Depending upon the cargo whether finished goods, raw material parts etc, the types of storage can vary from bulk stock, block stock, racking, pallet racking, shelf racking, binning, unit pick or loose pick face, carton pick etc. The storage types vary with nature of materials with different types of storage designs for drums, pallets, tires, cartons, tube and rods etc. Racking Designs Material Handling Equipment Racking Design takes into account the storage type, storage unit, volume and weight coupled with the available floor space and roof height to design system which maximizes the storage capacity. Put away and picking process and transactional volumes are also taken into consideration. The inventory profile study would include detailing of number of SKUs in each category of fast moving, slow moving or other criteria as per the nature of business and the storage type would be designed as per the inventory profile and the process. Racking designs are very many and varies with the type of industries and nature of inventory. Normal racking designs include pallet racking on multiple levels. You can have shelving, binning or combination of bulk stock and forward pick face racking designs. Block stack racking and other types of high density racking can be found in FG warehouses. Mezzanine store binning and shelving rack designs are normally designed for spare parts and small parts. Highly automated racking designs can have automatic retrieval systems and conveyors in the warehouse. Material Handling Equipments are specified based on rack design coupled with pallet design, nature of cargo, weight and the warehouse layout etc. Forklifts, reach trucks, hand pallet jacks, trolleys are normal Material handling equipments in normal warehousing operations. Warehouse Layout Design Sizing the Space Requirements Warehouse layout sizing is a critical aspect of planning a new facility or re-designing an existing building. Many times organisations start from a fixed view of what size the facility will be, and most times the square footage is based on affordability. The problem with this, is that the building may end up be to big, and therefore more expensive or to small and put operational constraints into the facility before the design even gets off the ground. Warehouse Layout and Sizing: The correct way to size the facility is from the inside, that way the actual size required will fit the operational requirements, and will ensure that all available space is used and you are not paying for unused space. Estimating Space Requirements: Short and long term, based upon forecasts, historical usage patterns, and projected changes. Developing new layouts to maximize usage of space. Short- and long-range sizing of individual areas: racks, shelving, automated systems, docks, staging, offices, and support. The final sizing needs to come from the operational requirements of the building, this can only come from modelling the design. Key Factors to Consider during Warehouse Sizing Order Picking: Methods for Piece Pick, Case Pick, and Pallet Pick Operations. Deciding on the amount of space you will need is not just about how much product you wish to store. The type of picking you intend carrying out is a fundamental part of the decision process. The methods for order picking vary greatly and the level of difficulty in choosing the best method for your operation will depend on the type of operation you have. The characteristics of the product being handled, total number of transactions, total number of orders, picks per order, quantity per pick, picks per SKU, total number of SKUs, value-added processing such as private labelling, and whether you are handling piece pick, case pick, or full-pallet loads are all factors that will affect the decision on how much space will be required. Therefore when you have:- Full pallet picking you will need more racking space than open floor space. Lots of case picking you will need more ground floor pick faces, than you will need for full pallet picking and you may also need a case to pallet consolidation floor area. Lots of small quantity piece picking you will need packing pallet consolidation areas on the floor. Holding requirements include defining the physical size of the inventory on hand. Unless the on-hand total is fairly stable across the year, it is usually preferable to plan for a high but not peak inventory level. To fully utilize the space, it is important to determine how product needs to be stored (e. g. , floor stacked, pallet rack, shelving, case flow) and how much of each fixture type will be required. Cube data (length ? width ? height) for each product is a very useful kind of information for many aspects of capacity planning. Workflow requirements encompass everything from how product arrives to how it leaves the facility and everything in between. The objectives of this aspect of planning are to minimize product handling, to reduce travel as much as possible, and to minimize the resource requirements (labor, packaging, transportation) to move the product to the customer. Among the factors to consider are the following: (1) Link the way product arrives with where it is to be stored (location capacity). If possible, store all of a product in one location and pick from that location as well. This does not work if stock rotation matters (expiration dates, serial number, or lot control issues). 2) Locate the highest-volume products (greatest number of orders, not physical size) closest to the outbound shipping area to minimize the travel required to pick and ship orders for them. (3) Because vertical travel is always slower, locate as many products as possible on or close to the floor. (4) Allow for staging space to handle product that is in transit, such as items waiting to be put away. Warehousing was supposed to disappear with L ean Manufacturing. This has rarely occurred but the nature of warehousing often does change from storage-dominance to transaction dominance. Warehousing buffers inbound shipments from suppliers and outbound orders to customers. Customers usually order in patterns that are not compatible with the capabilities of the warehouse suppliers. The amount of storage depends on the disparity between incoming and outbound shipment patterns. In addition, the trend to overseas sourcing has increased the need for warehousing and its importance in the supply chain. | Design StrategiesOne key to effective design is the relative dominance of picking or storage activity. These two warehouse functions have opposing requirements. Techniques that maximize space utilization tend to complicate picking and render it inefficient while large storage areas increase distance and also reduce picking efficiency. Ideal picking requires small stocks in dedicated, close locations. This works against storage efficiency. Automation of picking, storage, handling and information can compensate for these opposing requirements to a degree. However, automation is expensive to install and operate. The figure below shows how different transaction volumes, storage requirements and technologies lead to different design concepts.

Growth opportunities in detergent market

Growth opportunities in detergent market The case deals with Unilevers Home Care Cleaning range and is evaluating the growth opportunities in the marketing of detergents to around 48 million low income consumers living in the Northeast region of Brazil. Clearly, the aim of Unilever, like all profit making organizations, is to have a bigger piece of the pie. Its first step forward is to assess whether or not, its target market is lucrative enough. To do so we first understand the buying behaviour of the target users, analyse the current market scenario and Unilevers internal environment. The importance of knowing how people will behave is tantamount to knowing the secret of organisational success. The simplest description of consumer behaviour is the purchase and/or consumption decision of an individual and/or household who buy goods and services for personal consumption. In the case we analyse the behaviour of group of individuals in the Northeast of Brazil and the use of detergent and soap in order to evaluate whats not working for Unilevers growth in that market segment and decide the best positioning strategy to encourage increased consumption. Because we know comparatively little about human behaviour, we as marketers, tend to make some assumptions to know how consumers will react to what we do. The first one being, consumers go through a rational decision process when they buy. We assume the process to start with ignorance of the consumer and moving through awareness, information search, short listing alternatives and so on until the ultimate goal purchase is reached.. A distinction is further made between two types of products purchasing: high involvement and low involvement. Washing detergents are low involvement products where consumers may not go through the entire decision making process and either pick a brand out of compulsion, out of a desire to seek variety or because of their past preferences and experiences, or they may pick a brand due to some constraints such as income and amount allocation to household spending. Consumers put preferences and budgetary constraints together to determine their choices. The No rtheast Brazilian households are low income groups and thus the price of the laundry soap, bleaching liquid and detergent powder is a primary criterion for evaluation of the brand of laundry products. The women in this region of Brazil tend to pick a particular brand based what others in their social group are using (as they often do their washing in a public laundry or by the river with a group of friends) and their own past experience and satisfaction. The second assumption is that consumers are brand loyal either loyal to your own brand or loyal to your rivals brand. A wall street journal (19th October 1989) published that 48% consumers remain loyal to the laundry detergent they are already using. To penetrate and gain additional market share, Unilever will have to offer some extra inducements to get the NE consumers hooked and divert their loyalty towards its brands. The stimulus response model (Exhibit 1), the starting point for understanding consumer behaviour, has been used to understand the Brazilian household behaviour towards washing detergent powders and soaps. The stimuli enter the consumers consciousness and the buyers characteristics and decision processes lead to certain purchase decisions. Our task, as marketers, would be to understand what happens in the consciousness of the north-eastern Brazilians between the arrival of stimuli and the purchase decision. Exhibit 1: Stimulus Response Model Source: Marketing Management, Kotler, 2003, p.184. The women in this region of Brazil tend to pick a particular brand based on the performance of the product on the six attributes cleanliness, whitening, productivity; fragrance and softness; ability to remove stains; ability to dissolve in water; packaging of the product; and the ability to keep colours from running out. Cultural factors Culture, subculture and social class are the fundamental determinants of a persons basic values, perceptions, wants and behaviour. Majority (39.8 million) of the north eastern population of Brazil ranges from grade D to E- of social class. Brazilians are concerned about their position in a social class, because no class interacts with another social class unless it is in a professional way. Since the past many years, the vast income social stature difference has been impressed in the society.  Still, the north easterners take great pride in how they look and present themselves in the society, despite their poverty and inability to purchase a variety of clothes. It is perceived to be the duty of the lady of the house to maintain cleanliness of clothes of her family, as it is seen as an indication of the dedication of the mother to her family. It is the reason why the north eastern women spend a long and laborious time at doing the laundry. They first scrub the clothes with a soap bar, then bleach those clothes to remove tough stains, and finally wash the clothes with detergent powder to add a pleasant fragrance. This is opposed to women in the south eastern region who just simply mix detergent powder and softener in a washing machine. Social factors Consumers behaviour is also influenced by social factors such as the consumers relation to small groups, family, and social roles. Women from the northeast of Brazil do their laundry at a public laundry or at a nearby river or pond along with their friends. It is the most pleasurable activity as they get to meet and chat in their social network. It is here that these women discuss matters of personal and home cleanliness such as which laundry detergents they use, how their experience has been, and likely word of mouth promotions take place. Personal factors The characteristics of the individual consumer such as his age, economic situation, occupation and lifestyle play an influential role as well in assessing consumer behaviour. Of the 48 million, 25.4 million people of the north eastern region of Brazil have an annual income of less than $1700. In Recife, for example, only 28% households own a washing machine. Thus, having a push strategy for a detergent powder isnt going to be fruitful. Even though the per capita income for the whole Brazil was $4,420, it wasnt quite reflective of the north-eastern region, where the per capita income was $2,250 only. This translates to the fact that even though a product may have the right and required attributes, if not appropriately priced, people of this region would not pick it up from the shelf since they are constrained by their incomes. Also, since the people from the low income group own less clothes, their washing needs are frequent, and hence, a product that would be a success would be one t hat is affordably cheap, available in bigger quantities (for example, saver price or additional 20% pack) and removes dirt well keeping the colour from running. Psychological factors An individuals buying choices are manipulated by four major psychological factors motivation, perception, learning and beliefs and attitudes. The low income consumers of the Northeast have developed six key attributes (Exhibit 2) which would determine their attitude towards the brand of detergent they chose to use for their laundry. For them, the ability of the detergent to clean and whiten the clothes with a small quantity of the product is the most important attribute. The NE women often associate a strong pleasant fragrance with softening power and gentleness to fabric and hands. The ability to remove stains without the use of a soap bar and bleach, and the ability of the detergent to dissolve in water without any residue on the fabric, are equally important attributes. Packaging and the running down of colour are the least important features. Ladies perceive doing their laundry as a leisure activity where they meet and natter with their friends. They discuss and learn from each others experiences of personal and household cleaning habits and products. Main brands / players Competition is important in influencing how successful an organization can be. Merely producing a good product which matches consumer requirements and provides satisfaction should not be the goal. A firm must competitively position itself in the minds of its customers so that its products stand out. Unilever was the first to introduce laundry detergents in Brazil with Omo, followed by Minerva, Campeiro, Skip, Rinso, Drive, Puro and Unox to name a few. Competitive challenges came from Procter Gamble, ASA, and other small Brazilian companies. Market leading brands from PG included Ace, Bold Pop. ASA contested with its Bem-te-vi laundry soap and Invicto detergent powder. Even though PG entered the Brazilian market 59 years after Unilever, it entered the market quiet swiftly by strategically acquiring an existing Brazilian company, Bombril and its three brands Quanto, Odd Fasses Pop. With in-depth RD and investment for manufacturing improvements, PG rebranded Quanto to Ace, and Odd Fases to Bold, which are now key competitors with Minerva and Campeiro. In terms of market share, for the laundry detergent powder segment, Omo is the market leader with a 52% share, Minerva Campeiro collectively account for 23% share, while Ace, Invicto other PG brands take a 22% share jointly and other Brazilian brands take a 3% share. Unilevers 75% market share compared with competitors 25% share in the laundry detergent segment indicates a strong penetrative strategy that gives Unilever the competitive edge. Market share in the laundry soap segment is not so pleasing. Little console is that PG did not manufacture laundry soap. But local Brazilian companies posed enough competition. Even though Minerva had a 19% market share in this segment, smaller Brazilian companies, enjoyed the rest of the 81%. In terms of pricing promotion strategies, Unilevers premium brand Omo was the highest priced (whole sale price) at $3/kg. None of the competitors came in this price range. Because of its strong power to remove stains with low quantity, it became a market pioneer. It used a very simple yet direct advertising message which said removes stains on pockets, cuffs collar, clearly attracting consumers for whom cleanliness was of highest importance. It was meant to target the high income group. Minerva (Unilever), Ace (PG) and Bold (PG) fell in the same price category and probably targeted the upper middle income group; while Campeiro (Unilever), Pop (PG) and Invicto (ASA) targeted the lower middle income group. Minerva attracted consumers for whom the fragrance and softness were of key importance with its advertising campaigns. Pop used a Bundle promotion and Contest Strategy it ran a contest offering 200 washing machines and gave away 2 copies of the Viva! Magazine with its purchase. Table 1 below gives details on the Pricing strategies followed by the main brands in the laundry detergent segment. SWOT Analysis An analysis of Unilevers internal environment (strength weaknesses) and its external environment (opportunities threats) is depicted in Exhibit 3. Exhibit 2 : SWOT Analysis Strategy Suggestion With the above mentioned scenario, Unilever faces the following choices to cater to the low income group of the North eastern region of Brazil : Extending Omo Rebranding Campeiro Launching a new product Customising a product from its international portfolio Brand extensions are only profitable if the existing brands equity is strong and positive and it is likely to transfer its benefits to the new extension. Brand extensions face a serious challenge if not recognised and met with positive action will probably lead to death of existing brands. Before considering extension of Omo, Unilever should be aware of the fact that consumers get puzzled by the variety of identical products and may end up buying a rival brand. Omo already has its niche market with its Price-Quality inference strategy. It enjoys a 52% market share in the detergent powder product line. Even though the low income group of the NE likes Omo, but to target that segment, Unilever would have to reduce the price drastically and lower its profit margins. This would cannibalise its high margin sales with low margin sales in the short term and in the long term Omo would lose its price premium and would create confusion in the minds of people. Radically changing Campeiro and rebranding it does seem like a good option Exhibit 4 details the strategy. But, the perception of its brand value is not strong or positive with consumers of detergent powder. It only has a 6% market share. One of the lucrative options is to launch a new brand. Exhibit 5 evaluates the strategies of introducing a new product altogether. Unilever can introduce a new product to replace /or supplement Minerva Campeiro in its existing markets, and to serve new market the NE region of Brazil. The issues with rebranding Campeiro, repositioning Minerva would also be resolved. But before deciding to establish a new product, Unilever has to layout the profile of the target market, understand the problems they face and group them into segments, evaluate competition, identify core competencies, identify areas where competitor is vulnerable and define a new value proposition for the new target market. Introducing a new brand would be to Unilevers advantage, as its entering a target market which it has not catered earlier in Brazil. Another worthwhile option is to introduce a customised version of an existing and successful brand from Unilevers international portfolio of detergent powder. But the brand would have to be carefully selected one that caters to a similar demographics and similar income group; one that has high success rate with the right marketing mix. For example, Active Wheel Unilevers brand in India targets the low income group, stresses that with this product people will need to put less efforts to do their laundry, promotes the whitening attribute, is the biggest laundry brand with sales revenue of  £21million 2007. The advantages of considering this option are various. The same ingredients and basic formula can be used. Similar pricing strategy. Customisation required only in language on the cardboard boxes. Meaning and content of advertisements can be the same, only changes required would be to fit the ad to local environment. Probability of success is higher, although it is not guarante ed that a brand that works in one region will work in the other too. Even if the rumours of reducing brand portfolio are true, this option would still be lucrative as no new brand is being introduced; alternatively, Unilever could completely drop Campeiro and reposition Minerva, along with introduction of a brand from its international portfolio. The growing size of typical supermarket retailers such as Wal-Mart, Carrefour and Grupo Pà £o de Aà §Ãƒ ºcar in Brazil has produced extra shelf space that has allowed and encouraged such proliferation. The US magazine Business Week publishes an annual survey of the Best New Products. From the 38 noted for the years 1989, 1990 and 1991, there were only 13 brand extensions and 3 genuine product innovations that were titled under the best new products over the 3 years. Ehrenberg (Repeat Buying, 1988) found that most buyers buy several brands over a period of time. They buy some brands more often than others and some not at all, but they mainly buy a large range of acceptable brands. The frequency with which they buy each brand varies from consumer to consumer but, on an average, it matches the brands overall market share. Unilevers forward strategy should not appear to make a distinct product without a real difference and that merely tries to differentiate the brand from competitors.