Unfinished novel

"The overweening greediness and egotism of love- what a deceptive, treacherous thing."

-- A Heart of Stone by: Renate Dorrestem

I will finish this novel soon. Promise.

Negative thoughts to ponder.

David Hume treats jealousy s the co-evolved ally of love: It is unlikely that love, with the tremendous psychological investment it entails, could have evolved without a defense that shielded if from the constant threat from rivals and the possibility of betrayal from a partner. Jealousy evolved to fill that void, motivating vigilance as the first line of defense and violence as the last.

Market Segment: PWD

People with disabilities is a potential marget segment. First, the group is very large. With the increase in the number of elderly people in Europe and America, there will be an increase in the number of people with disabilities. Second, the disabled have tremendous spending power. In fact, one out of six consumer dollars is spent by a PWD. Thus, the disabled spend mre than the entireU.S. teen population and more than the populations of Alaska, Oregon, Washington, California, andHawaii combined. Finally, the disable are in credibly brand loyal. Three in four adults say they would be likely to switch to a brand associated with a "good cause”. Likewise, it is difficult to select a single best approach. Since PWD is branded as often-ignored market segment, it implies that PWD are less obvious group and there are no clear guidelines on how to reach them.

Well, Technologies are already available to alleviate many of the problems faced by people with disabilities in using a public telephone, but only a few companies provide the appropriate facilities. But advances in technology will create exciting new solutions as well as some new problems.

As we define this new market segment, we should point toward an understanding of the market. We noted some facts about PWDs that are vital to the development of marketing plan and strategies:

1. Of the 54 million of people limited in their activities due to long-term disability...

· 73% are the heads of households

· 46% are married

· 58% own their own homes

· 77% have no children

· 48% are principal shoppers

2. In 1995, people with disabilities spent $81.7 billion on travel. This did not include the significant expenditures of their families, friends, and escorts.

(Source: Society for Accessible Travel and Hospitality).

3. The aggregate income of people with disabilities tops $1 trillion. This includes $220 billion in discretionary income.

4. Of the 69.6 million families in the United States, 20.3 million families have at least one memberwith a disability.

5. Four out of 10 people with disabilities conduct business and personal activities online, spending an average of 20 hours per week logged on to the Internet. That's more time on average than non-disabled Web surfers spend online

6. Among people with disabilities, 48% say that the Internet has significantly improved the quality of their lives. Compare this to only 27% of adults without disabilities.

7. According to a General Accounting Office report, implementing the access provisions of theADA has increased revenues in the hotel and hospitality industry by 12 percent.

8. Companies marketing to people with disabilities can reach as many as four in every 10 consumers.

9. Among people with disabilities, 48% say that the Internet has significantly improved the quality of their lives. Compare this to only 27% of adults without disabilities.

10. Three in four adults say they would be likely to switch to a brand associated with a "good cause."

So, promotional Strategies should focus on telecommunication, website accessibility, Advisory committees, and empowering PWDs. Some of the companies view PWD as a niche market at best, and unwanted intrusion at worst. However, we believe that when companies properly managed them, programmes which address the needs of people with disabilities can open up new market opportunities and be profit generators rather than economic burdens. Also these more enlightened companies are reaping a marketing benefit to their core business from being seen to be balancing human need against the commercial imperative.

1989: J&J in the Philippines

In some way, J&J applies their target marketing in the Philippines which is during that time political aspect is unstable. The administration focused the campaign to the misdeeds of Marcos by setting a new direction in economic policy but the Board members resolved the issue by concluding that they have to work to improve the business performance of the country by devoting their efforts to increasing the business performance.

The seemingly segmenting marketing strategy of J&J touched the factors particularly demographic, economic and mostly political and legal factors. It has been probably assessed that there is sufficient demand in the market for a cheaper product that could satisfy the currently untapped young female market. With the 1989 political condition, there were no enormous entrant and exit barriers since the government needs investments that could emphasize a central role for foreign enterprise.

Economy of the Philippines at that time also is not doing well which is basically altered by the political instability. Philippines’ GDP in 1989 had lagged behind that of their partners. Naturally, both consumers and investors attempted to regain what had been lost in the depressed atmosphere of the 1983-85 periods. Because of the unstable economy, J&J’s classifications were based on the occupation of the household head, total monthly household appliances, housing ownership and its general physical appearance, monthly rental amortization of the house, housewife education, and number of household “helpers “economic category- AB & C category economic households. J&J’s bargaining power can be justified by the uniqueness of the product that yields lower initial costing that is also affordable for the target audience.

Having the customs of having the mother as the decision maker in shopping activities especially when it concerns to facial and health care for the family, this kind of convenience products appear to be sold effectively in supermarkets. It was found out that Johnson’s Baby Powder among teens and young adults was much lower than that of mothers. Also, 80% of the chosen class stated that they applied it to their face. This also opened the idea that “Filipino young people are no different than their counterparts in many other countries. They want to put distance between themselves and their childhood on some dimensions…” Knowing that there was strong interest among female teens and young adults in J&J baby powder they come up with research-based findings which conclude that the behavioural factor is strongly inviting them to capture the target audience based on their customary usage.

The age distribution of Philippine Population in 1989 aids the J&J Company to forecast their potential buyers based on the percentage of population per age. The age bracket also helps them identify the percentage of target audience that possess particular consumer knowledge, attitude, use or response to their product.

Customer Focus

Companies, as they say, extend effort just to provide a solid foundation on the four enduring core concepts- Customer focus, Turned-on workforce, Management by fact and Continuous Improvement.

Solid foundation, in the sense that it becomes the lifeblood and backbone of an organization in doing their usual operations, addressing social responsibility, and upholding the intangible value of their names. Of course, it is pleasing to highlight those companies who capitalize innovation in upholding the value of customer focus. They customize their systems to keep the value of their customers in place. This article somehow, spotlights the role of Information Technology that encompasses the strategic plans of organizations, be it short term or in long term.

To different industries, such as airline company’s CRS (Computerized Reservation System), American Hospital Supplier’s Computerized Distribution System and Frito-Lay’s hand held computer to its sales force, information management system is truly a “strategic necessity.”

Perhaps, Information Management is part of the managerial activity which transforms “meaningless data” into vital information for all relevant users which suggests that top management must be critical in pointing out the foundation of their database. With that internal pool of information, it increases the accuracy and precision in connecting with the external factors of organization. Moreover, with an established streamline of technology, one can protect its asset and generate more output effectively and efficiently.

Now, having the idea and importance of Information Management, it is ideal to attach this with the traditional “Order Management Cycle.” This primarily covers the assets, organization and attention of an entity by which it demonstrates the full execution of its business cycle.

In Marketing, we learned that demand of your product is not enough that is why analysis to customers must be conducted. The idea in here is that, to be more efficient in selling quality products, organization must source customers by their actual behaviour. Sourcing out to customers is a key factor to generate orders more efficiently and so they have to update their records of retention of their customers. I realize truly the value of record keeping in as part of the quality management system because it helps the management fix their eyes to the ideal targets in the market. “Obsolete” ones are being taken off and now they see the clearer view of the picture. With that, they are able to spot those areas that need corrective action and those that need for improvement.

Keep customers longer by managing across OMC

Because of the established system, customers are already recognized and can be categorized according to preference and other parameters being set by the management. The company will be efficient in tracking their prospective customers and those who are loyal. Let us take for example a “Business Delivery System” which is used by the organization to be efficient in the operation. This system is open for customers’ judgement. They can judge based on the performance of its other links. This also brings integration of multiple steps into 1 which is very advantageous in business operation setting and last but not the least; it demonstrates speed which is also a strategic advantage.

Influencing Customer Behavior

Communication is the vital aspect here. How can you influence somebody if you lack communication, in the first place? The greatest challenge is to analyze the satisfaction rate of customers. This speaks more of just listening to their demands but also, doing something about it. To get customers to articulate their needs in a way that it is manageable is impossible to achieve if communication boundaries are too high.

We have been encountering many times the business mantra: “Maximize profit and minimize cost.” But most often than not, we tend to overlook some vital segments in an organization which are very much contributory to the life and survival of a business entity. Will this mantra suffice the necessities of organizations to withstand the complexity of business cycle? The answer lies in the ability of top management to decide on what investment to choose and we all know that installing a system is equivalent to a long term investment. Before a company climbs up to a higher level, they should consider the factors that contribute positively and negatively to the interdependence of such system. So, the issue here is not only in the difficulty of installing such system but of course, in maintaining it.

My point in here is clear: Making everybody involved in the corporate way of life. One important component to this less travelled path is to consider “continuous improvement.” This defeats the idea of implementing a system as an event rather than a part of culture and strategy. When a company do not consider continuous improvement a part of culture and strategy, ten to one it cannot be continuous. The idea of having an extremely short sighted view to business is one way of destroying the system. Perhaps, what makes continuous improvement discontinuous? Basically, it is because of the “Retention of command and control management” wherein, communication barriers are not efficiently eliminated and other ideas are not being heard. This has been a problem to other companies because opportunities for improvement are most of the time coming from the top.

We are blinded by the usual schema of “top-down” method of deciding to development and bringing out of ideas, having the idea of great ideas come from the top. We constantly neglect that most opportunities for improvement are relatively small. Again, it is a matter of culture. In Japan, for example, the number of ideas per employee is 37.4 compared to USA’s .12. Few managers that install systems and policies being aligned at big ideas realize how limiting this is. It is very impossible to achieve continuous development and excellence in many aspect of performance without the ability of paying attention to details. These details come from large number of small ideas.

Turning Data into Dollars speaks mostly in the asset management of a company that is supported by Information Management System. As time progress, competition in the world market becomes tougher and its usual result is the rising of entry capital to be able to be in the “competition arena.” Also, as competition increases, quality springs out to be noticed by potential customers. The tougher the competition, the greater the quality being served. This whole article somehow, exposed the innovative way of handling an intangible asset- trust. Trust, as we all know, takes time to be developed but it only seconds to destroy it. It is also the fuel to nurture relationship and as we all know, nurturing relationship is one big step to succeed in this world. Mostly, trust warrants us to go beyond the limited zone of attention.

With an expanded zone of attention, company aligns to individuals and other external factors and these individuals offer their responsibility to the company. With these, there is a proactive approach in managing the system installed.

There was this saying that, if you love what you are doing and passionate about it, the money will just follow.

KFC in China

The world’s largest chicken restaurant is planning to penetrate and like blog advertising, spread its marketing channel to the world’s most populous country. In 1986, they have 400 stores in Japan and 33 franchises in Singapore which are highly noticeable in terms of profitability and customer satisfaction. Again, that does not guarantee an easy penetration to other country, such as China, not merely because of its size or partly of the other players in the industry (McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s and Pizza Hut), but also by the environmental aspects that KFC would encounter. Even though, Tony Wang had experienced doing business in Tianjin, still he has to consider the managerial resources, supply of chicken, and the frequency of tourist and political issues that can bring major changes in the attitudes of Chinese employees. These changes are required under the KFC banner and entail time consuming training programs.

Being a fast food chain, KFC caters its customers in a manner that it is being prepared and served quickly. Customers that fall to these categories are being driven basically by their way of lifestyle and culture. Let us take for the example the case of Jollibee wherein the target audience are the kids that are normally accompanied by parents. In this case, it makes the whole family the major customers. The branches that were established in other countries tell us that foreign taste is being satisfied by their products, thus, tourists are also sought as target audience. Having chicken as the major raw material in their operation, accessibility of quality chicken will be of in great priority.

Now you got the point, the question is, Will the KFC’s advertising line of “we do chicken right” be patronized in China?

Having Tianjin as the sole ground for Tony Wang’s experience in doing business in China, he has acquired a sense of confidence in terms of developing contracts within the municipal government but unfortunately, question arises as to how can they do chicken right, if in the first place, they lack convenient supply of grain-fed chicken. Well, Shanghai shines as the largest population and being the center of Finance in China and it is the ground for major trade and financing, business transactions, and an arena that is bred by competition due to several existing “fashionable restaurants.” Likewise, the “doing the chicken right” concept is very much constrained because they have to import quality chicken from Thailand. The politically “foreign investment friendly” Guangzhou has the aces of being the preferred city for foreign investment, accessibility and familiarity in Western Management and Culture. But then again, they lack the accessibility of the primary economic factor for raw material-quality chicken.

In terms of the accessibility of supply, Beijing, have several poultry producers operating just outside the city and so it defines the feasibility of KFC’s investment. KFC’s dilemma of “franchising vs. partnership strategy” is being answered by the kind of political power that China possesses. Beijing, the capital city, and the center for most political activity, has the probable advantage of KFC’s first investment in China. Being the center for political activity, the provision of necessary access to Government agencies and business regulatory bodies can somehow be eased. Again, the implication for being the center for political activity means power and this justifies somehow the future of KFC China to expand using franchising strategy. Not mentioning Tony Wang’s ability in handling franchising operations particularly in major fast food companies, he knows that the franchising indeed is the best strategy and at the same time a management tool to handle branches that are being lead by managers who are culturally out of touch. He felt that KFC had been too conservative in penetrating international markets and also noted that most of the enormous profits for his projects were generating for franchisees and Beijing will be the “epicentre” of the expansion of KFC in China.

Communicate that vision.

It is definitely crucial in a complex organization to establish harmony and orderliness to communication. But most of the time, we lack the basic ways on how to cultivate this kind of value. The value of listening is a keen way in which every leaders of an organization must possess. Most often than not, top managers often rely on the big ideas and tend to disregard the “voices” of their constituents who are mostly front liners. Common mentality is that managers think that big ideas are the only way to get ahead and unfortunately, few managers realize how severely limiting this is.

The common problems of an organization are having a vision but implementing it as an event rather than part of culture and strategy, having short sighted view of business, retention of command can probably be all toppled down by active participation in effective communication. The relationship of company, individuals and base team are put into spotlight on how it expands the “zone of attention.” Knowing that communication is the lifeblood of any relationship, it is ideal to focus on this matter also. The relationship of company-to-individual should be exhibited by aligning the personal, interpersonal, managerial and organizational values. The individual-to-base team should be supported by the values of work, relationship, achievement and development. Finally, base team-to-company relationship must be developed by the responsibility of uplifting the values of performance goals, social norms and work standards. Leadership comes into play when it is carried out by authority, by relationship, by results and by large development.

We advertise life

I never thought that this online journal will be used as a mechanism to support other forms of media. Google and blog advertising are tools to express our thoughts in a more vibrant way. This seemingly "informal journalism" affects our line of thinking and expression. The idea to voice out in every situation is being triggered and our rational ways has been developed in a way that it tends to develop a network. It creates a tie among us people who seek for more knowledge in different lines of field, be it art, technology, health and living, etc. An act to pour some portion of our lives to this on line journal is an evidence that we are becoming mature individuals in this new age of technology. We grow physically, emotionally and "technologically" aware on what is being stored outside there for us. The usual way of thinking inside the box is toppled by the more innovative way of spending some time in reflections and touching other lives of people as well. It is wonderful to feel within everytime a fellow, leaves his/her a note/comment because of the post that somehow, touched one's life. It is an experience that boost our dignity and sense of importance in the cosmos.

We advertise not only products, but also our passion, our life. Perhaps, the advertising is one way of bringing up something into the air which will touch and influence lives. In this line of advertising and channel, we nurture life, and we nurture relationship.

Kung Fu = hardwork

Lim Bee Huat's Kopitiam is a lifetime innovation. It started in Singapore and touched several lives in the different sectors of society. For me, Lim Bee Huat, has conquered the virtue of Kung fu which is hard work. His struggles and undertakings have provided a solid foundation to his being as an effective and efficient decision maker of all time. Every kung fu artist has its own expertise and likewise, “every trade has a master.”

“Hawkers” then live their life by having the usual operation in the street. The conflict arose when the government launched a massive project to clear the streets of hawkers, but that did not inhibit the flow of the story in fact, generated a new way to keep and uplift this “hawkers”- food court.

Needless to say, LBH possess also the best quality of an entrepreneur. He turned the usual coffee shops that catered products such as soft drinks, coffee, tea with breakfast into unusual and extraordinary mark of enticing customers. He knows pretty sure that a lot of people in Singapore gathers after dinner over a cup of coffee and so, he conceptualized to place the known “community center” inside the floor plan of business, Kopitiam. I can say that he is innovative because he did not stick on the idea of what coffee shops and “hawkers” was known to be. From the usual unsanitary conditions and all-male customers to a well-furnished interior quality management system and from the simple 21 small compartments to a wide variety of delicious cuisine, it is magnificent. He revolutionized his thoughts and popularized some ideas that are parallel to the voice and yearnings of “hawkers.”

In fact, LBH became “tricky” in dealing with the government’s policy. Because of low capital requirement for entry in the industry, the competition is very tight and so the intensity of rivalry has brought into existence one of the “marketing strategies of all time.” Indeed, LBH’s marketing strategy of having command to drinks, dessert and fruit stalls controlled the ambience of competition. His brilliant idea of capturing the customers’ “obedience to thirst and appetite” helped him arrive in the strategy of positioning the coffee/drinks/dessert/ stall strategically in the floor plan. The strategic set-up of his stall can be equated to the positioning of drinking fountain in a food establishment wherein people naturally seek for water to obey their thirst and because of that, it becomes a pipe line of free flowing income.

Because of the sure-fire way of stall to provide income, LBH charges only for rental and in that way, the “hawkers”/tenants will have a healthy way of doing business. Setting their price will not be that onerous to them because of the strategy of LBH. Also, for the customers, it would be much appreciated because of its cheap prices, convenience and variety of foods to enjoy. What makes it nobler is that, LBH did not own and fully managed the hawker-tenants. The food stalls were concessions, but the company supervised the quality of food and services.

Well, Lim Bee Huat is an efficient manager wherein he devotes himself in the company, that Kopitiam has already been attached to his identity. He is an entrepreneur wherein he transformed something that is in line with his passion and vision. But at some point, LBH has become one of the greatest authors of all time. His life was carefully examined and painstakingly discovered the sweetness of reward after numerous trials in life. We have great inspiring authors such as john Maxwell and Robert Kiyosaki, stating some insights and strategic ways to achieve a common goal in business. Lim Bee Huat speaks the same thing even though he did not published his life and forte but his name shines as we come across with the word, food court.

Such a great author, a master, a manager, an entrepreneur and an artist exist in the world and spread the value of vision in every path we may take.

BUSINESS & SMALL BUSINESS

Innovation is the fuel to entrepreneurship. We might become short-visioned towards the realization of our business if we just settle to what has been established in the arena. Entry to market is a great factor to consider because it helps us in assessing the kind of market we are going to focus. Taking a strategic stand, we can use available resources to gain insights and understanding on the business line we are going to invest. This site gives us wide information about entrepreneur world and provides us with business web directory which is an advantage.

I know that J&J (Johnsons & Johnsons) is not new to everyone, and this has reached a lot of consumers in terms of their quality service. There was this story about hard work and innovation that guided a businessman, named Jay, to achieve his goals.
His first step towards his vision was on coming up with the idea of producing the “buds” for J&J.
Aside from the challenge of getting married with his limited bank account, but he was more challenged to take advantage with J&J and proceed to his envisioned business. Being in the production department for 2 years, it was an advantage for him that he knew the people, their quality standards, and how to compute the labor and overhead savings for J&J(P.04 per stick or 25% of the previous cost). With that, the picture somehow became clearer that if he would produce plastic sticks using J&J’s machine, it would be a major step considering his financial constraints in having such machine. Jay rented the 50 square meters of space at P 60/ square meter and J&J payments for the sticks were received by Mr. Go’s (His Father-in-law) company and credited to Jay.
Later because of inevitable circumstances, JAD Manufacturing was born. Several opportunities were spotted by Jay and later became another ladder to succeed in his career. He was able to entice J&J of his newly-found 1000 square meter warehouse wherein he was suggesting some warehousing services to a portion of their production particularly. Within the same year, a fellow named Bobby Serrano opened another opportunity with Jay to subcontract Bobby’s excess production of alcohol. Subsequently, the line was transferred to JAD. Because of the constant labor unrest in that time, Jay’s remedy is to have an excess production of 30% in order to be prepared for J&J’s additional production.
In 1997, the offered 1000 square meter to J&J ballooned to 10,000 which pushed Jay’s Nor Partnership with J&J to limit to manufacturing and warehousing. Another opportunity sprung out when Jay discovered the big difference of the price of the bags and pellets to J&J compared to his father-in-law. With this, he took the advantage of supplying J&J with plastic items.
Because of the trouble that arose in distribution J&J to Southern Tagalog, it was a milestone for JAD Mfg. to push through with their plan to go also with distribution. J&J granted Jay with his offer for the distributorship rights in Batangas and later contract for Laguna and Cavite were transferred to them.
Jay started small, which is actually an eye opener to those people out there who are actually planning to start a mall.

Porter in Banana Industry

In my attempt to explain Porter’s 5 forces, I present the banana industry as a model to put these 5 forces in the spotlight. The demand for a certain commodity, such as banana, dictates the relevance of a certain product within a certain context. For Banana Companies who are into exporting, it is also vital to note the “potential market” wherein they are able to determine where to drop its produce. Japan as the major importers of Cavendish bananas imposes their policy of protectionism to control the inflow of Philippine products into their nation. In such case, banana companies and Growers are dependent to the cutting order from Japan.
In the Philippines, particularly in Mindanao, there are many existing players in the field of banana industry like Lapanday, Del Monte, Dole, Sumifru and many more. Following the usual way to gain profit, one has to acquire land as primary capital. It is costly in the sense that several factors are to be considered just to maintain the condition of the land, the plants and at the same time control the existence of pest and disease. In fact, land preparation per se, already entails a huge amount. So, there really is a high barrier to entry in this kind of industry since it entails a huge amount of investment just to have a mark among the giant players.
Knowing land as the primary capital, it creates a notion that landowners become the suppliers of this kind of business. Landowners are basically suppliers in the first place because they cater the needs of these capitalists to generate and increase their production. Because of the intangible value of land, smaller big scale growers who use their land and labor resources, tie up in the form of contract with the exporting company who needs the vital raw material-land. In return, the exporting company provides financial, technical and marketing services by providing standard operating procedures for implementation by all growers in order to consistently produce high yield of premium- quality bananas for export market.
How about those small banana exporting companies who are not that big compared, for example, to Dole? How do they survive in the tight competition considering of their limited land? Amidst the existence of dominant in size and strength competitors, still, other small-sized banana companies survive because of their marketing strategies. Farm-owners ties up with giant “Japan-based intermediary” who have already established a big market in Japan. In that way, they are sure enough that their products will be patronized outside the country. In terms of supplying the materials to be used in the packaging of bananas, direct access of which is provided by the intermediary depending on the specification requirement in JapanThey also provide customer-supplied materials such as Kartons, banana protectors, hand separators, stickers, etc. that are needed for the packaging of the bananas. In this case, it exhibits a backward integration wherein the supplies are directly provided to their partners in business.
We know that Japan, as buyers, has the strong position to choose their commodity that depends on their quality standards and culture. Banana has become the staple food in their diet and it cannot be easily substituted by other products and so, players in the industry do whatever they can just to raise their products high. Some banana companies would undergo ISO certifications to be in the right track of tough competition and just to highlight “quality.”

The Guggenheim and Post-modern City of Spectacle

Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland and a port on the Clyde in west central Scotland; one of the great shipbuilding centres of the world. It has become the vehicle for economic, cultural, political and social sustainability.Bilbao The Guggenheim and Post modern City of Spectacle created an artistic "schema" that has become a strategic move for the state in transforming their values and culture into a picture of masterpiece. It is a “Strategic masterpiece” in a scenario wherein the idea of interrelatedness of industrial factors has been fuelled to augment the complexities of individual choice and recognition.
I remember when my Professor in the graduate school, he said that one of the strategic investments is poured to paintings and other work of arts. Many of us,for example, do not have enough idea on how valuable the portrait of Monalisa is, and why it manifests a vast amount of monetary values. We are not limiting our vision to the monetary factor, but instead we cover also the patriotism that triggers every nation to open their eyes to the magnificence of their being. The work of art that is being attached into their identities as true people of their nation is being ignited.
The highlight of this strategy can be associated in the political sphere wherein it captures media, labor leaders, and the industry. The perspective of a politician is microscopically altered by the economic chain flowing a certain country transaction, government and market-place being linked in many ways, especially through taxes and money. Thus, we cannot deny the fact that politics has something to do with this strategy because it creates the decision, policy and power of government and of course interpret global consensus.

“The world is not fragmented but integrated, that every economic event that takes place someplace in the world is felt virtually everywhere in the world.” With the smooth and speedy channel of media and other voices of segments in the industry, critics are then generated to assess the issues on globalization, economic justice, transparency, accountability and ensuring a healthy global financial system.