Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Heineken Company Case Study

Heineken Company Case Study Heineken is the world 3th largest beer company based on Netherlands. It has raised significant sales throughout European countries, also their products are sold in nearly almost all countries. It has breweries in 65 countries. It bought foreign breweries or acquired licensing to cut manufacturing cost, expand product line, and facilitate local distribution. For the special case, Heineken didn`t establish it`s breweries in the united states because it considered to keep images for import beer. On the other hand, it invested in new- internet based technique to manage international distribution system efficiently. Heineken has been growing up continuously by using a joint venture with big competitors to expand into a new market. To raise global market share, it also plan special strategies for each countries. Many government leaders strongly recommend domestic firms to go international in order to create jobs and economic growth. However, some companies have trouble advancing into overseas market because of a lack of knowledge about the foreign market. 1) Economic issues directly connected to the profit (sales) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚   Population: The potential customer population of the target market quite depends on type of the product or service (that a company is marketing). To a B2B firm, for example, the number of people in the country is not a good indicator of how large the market is. Also, B2C firms usually consider the targeted population instead of the number of the whole population. Age and gender are generally considered as main variables for assessing foreign markets. Consideration about households such as average family size in that country could be also a good indicator. However, it is hard to foresee the future and compare with other markets only with simple factors such as age and sex. It could be a good way of understanding foreign markets to pay attention to population distribution using tools like population pyramids. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¡ Income: A critical economic factor to look into the target market is income level of the nation. Companies trying to go into foreign markets can measure the market potential through GNI or GDP. Also, they can decide which indicator to use according to the market or product type; for example GNI per capita can be a clear index to grasp the populations standard of living. Nevertheless, average values about income such as GNI, GDP are insufficient to figure out income level of the whole population. In most nations, income isnt fairly distributed among the entire population of each country; also there is no certain correlation between income level per capita and degree of income inequality. In short, using income indictors without information of income distribution can distort the result of market research. 2) Non-economic issues à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚   Cultural issues: Cultural factors such as language, race, religion, historical background, which reflect attitudes, values, and beliefs, vary among countries. Going into global market without understanding of the target markets culture brings about the failure. It is quite important for firm leaders to figure out how managers manage the firm, how employees behave and how consumers response according to each countrys cultural background. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¡ Government regulations: Each nation has its regulation and taxation on foreign trade. For alcoholic beverage firms, government regulations might be stricter in some countries that are especially sensitive about alcohol consumption of their people. Additionally, taxation on alcoholic beverages varies among different countries. For example, Islamic countries such as Egypt may give a harsh control to their alcoholic beverage import. Q2. Discuss the advantages or disadvantages for Heineken of exporting its beer from one country to another. Advantages à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚   Expand Sales: expanding into international market gives various chances to get profit for Heineken. The long term relationship with international market lasts, export development cost can be covered and they increase their additional sales through the market. Also, company can further create economies of scale to decrease producing cost. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¡ Acquire Resources and Compete with Rivals: Heineken can acquire resources by sharing and learning knowledge and experience with new marketing technique and foreign competitors. Consequently, Heineken will improve quality of products, and it can gain more market share in international market. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¢ Minimize Risk: Beer is sold certain seasons: especially summer. Thus, Heineken can utilize and avoid seasonal factors during different season in foreign countries. Also, selling product to multiple markets allows Heineken to diversify their business and spread risk. Disadvantages à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚  Complexity in Operations: Heineken need to plan various marketing strategies to meet different needs for each country. Thus, it causes increase in product cost. Also, there are a lot of unpredictable situations for Heineken such as establishment regulation to limit alcohol, natural disaster etc. Heineken has no choice but to be dependent on fluctuation other countries` situations. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¡ Cultural Collision: multinational companies have to consider various cultural differences among different countries. For instance, religion, customs, purchasing behaviors are things to consider. Consumption of alcohol is a sensitive matter in this sense to many countries and can cause numerous social problems. Q3. What are the key issues facing Heineken insofar as international licensing is concerned? License, is a grant by the holder of a copyright or patent to another of any of the rights embodied in the copyright or patent short of an assignment of all rights. In the case of a beer company as Heineken, this would mean to license a brewery in a country they wish to enter. The licensed local brewery then would produce Heineken branded beer with Heinekens unique recipe. This way, Heineken does not need to personally build a new brewery in that area which saves time and money. Heineken has used licensing as a way to expand its business internationally. Although this business of licensing may sound like a complete win-win situation, at times there are side effects that come along with it. For instance, despite the advantages of licensing, Heineken has otherwise restrained itself from licensing a local brewery in markets such like the US. This was for reasons that had to do with the fact that Heineken was a beer company. Reasons that people consume a certain brand of beer can be various but simply to name the two main reasons would be because first, a consumer is simply loyal to that brand because they grew up with it or, for a second reason, to drink a particular brand of beer gives the consumer a sense of exoticness. The first reason usually goes for local brands, and the second reason goes for foreign brands. Thus, to produce a beer that people drink mainly because it is a foreign brand in a local brewery would definitely drive consumers away. Moreover because consumers believe that the real Heineken beer comes from Dutch brewerie s, Heineken is able to charge double for Dutch made beers. The case of Hoegaarden illustrates the difference of perception on locally-made beer and imported beer. After Korean consumers found out that Hoegaarden, a Belgian beer was being locally produced, many complained that the taste was different. Some even started calling the beer O-garden, referring to that fact that it was licensed to Korean beer company OB. Q4. Compare the FDI between Heineken and Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch has FDIs in usually large emerging markets such as China and Mexico. It invests heavily in these markets through large local companies. In China for instance, Anheuser-Busch paid $700 million for the Harbin Brewery and in the case of Mexico, Anheuser-Busch owns 50 percent of Modelo, the maker of Corona. Heineken who was the pioneer of entering international markets for beer companies, has slightly smaller scaled FDIs. Apart from the size of the FDIs, Heineken usually entered countries that were neighboring or African countries that had historical relations with European countries. Conclusion 1. Alternatives 1) The current situation: Heineken has refused to establish a brewery in the United States, instead, they keep shipping its beer to the U.S. Thats because customers in the U.S. dont accept the fact that the beer, which is made in a brewery in there, is the same with what Heineken export from its home country. 2) Alternatives We recommend not to ship Heineken beers into the U.S. but to set up a brewery in the U.S. In the case of Asahi beer, which is the top Japanese beer, they increased in sales, using FDI when they go into the foreign market. Penetrating into the U.S. market with FDI, which is distinguished from licensing, would help American customers notice there is no difference between beer from Netherlands and from its own country. For using this strategy in the U.S. market, we suggest a couple of effective ways to cope with the potential risk. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚   Positive marketing: The failure that Heineken experienced previously results from customers recognition. In order to make this tactic successful, therefore, Heineken has to give customers perception that beer from the U.S. brewery has no difference from the original one. Heineken could actively use various marketing strategies such as blind tasting. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¡ Pricing: It has high risk for Heineken to suddenly switch its distribution channel. There is possibility to bring about the same failure with before, so they can use a gradual way to relieve risks. Pricing is a good way. At the beginning, Heineken maintain the original exported beer at the same time produce beer in the U.S. brewery. Then they differentiate the price between two kinds of beer, even if there is no change in the recipe. The original exported beer would have higher price than the other. Thus, we can expect for customers in the U.S. to make a choice between Heineken beers, not another brand. 2. Recommendation Actually, Heineken is doing a quite good job in the global market, but they tend to pursue only safe way in their marketing. Therefore, we could recommend some ways to improve their state in the international market which is getting tough. First of all, we give a recommendation of growing in the U.S. market. Even though other markets of developing countries, such as BRICs, are arising, the U.S. market is still one of the largest markets worldwide. So, it would be better for Heineken to penetrate the U.S. market more positively Secondly, it would be important for Heineken to sustain and extend its global market share. Do not stop raising the number of its worldwide breweries and the reputation in each nation. Last but not least, more aggressive and innovative advertising about its product might help to improve its sales and status in the industry. It seems that the main target of Heineken cannot include young people, so it can have a chance to capture the young who would be its large target. Additionally, Heineken needs to grasp trends such as well-being. It should lead as well as follow the trend; they can introduce low-calorie and healthy beer to follow well-being trend.

Monday, January 20, 2020

Assisted Suicide Essay -- Assisted Suicide Death Essays

Writing the fifth assignment for the English class was by far the hardest essay I have had to write. Constantly was I running into problems, and this ended up taking me much longer than I had originally planned. Writing about the opposing side of this topic was very hard, as I usually caught myself writing things that I couldn’t make work in my paper. The writing was very tough to keep on track because it isn’t actually how I feel. This essay helped me to better understand the argument that is presented from both sides. Originally I knew my own opinion, which is an advocate of euthanasia, but I did not know the side that the opponents argue. All in all, I was able to learn more than I thought I would. Since ancient times, many people have contemplated the concept of a merciful and acceptable death. However, individual choice in dying did not become a widespread social issue and legal concern until recently. As technology advances, the medicines have enabled doctors to keep patients alive for longer periods of time. This has caused the development people to legally be allowed to ignore medical intervention. Although a mentally competent patient’s right to refuse treatment is widely and obviously accepted, doctors, in most cases, assume control over the patient’s length of hospitalization and type of treatment. A patient who refused a life-sustaining treatment was considered to have requested something that could not be done. This view changed during the 1970s, when the right to refuse treatment was established by various court cases. Today the dispute over patient autonomy extends beyond the right of treatment refusal to issues of euthanasia and assisted suicide. Most people who believe that assisted sui... ... to death, because they can not even decide if they want the treatment. Assisted Suicide, more than many other things, gives opponents the fear that doctors will become less committed to saving lives, that families may respond to financial pressures by encouraging suicide, and that limitations in the resources of the health-care system might dictate decisions of life and death. All in all, assisted suicide has been a large topic for debate and discussion for many years. Ever since the incident with Dr. Kevorkian, very much attention has been brought to the topic of euthanasia. All in all, the act in itself is morally, ethically and obviously wrong. People should not be able to take their lives from themselves with aid from a doctor, because it is not good for a society or community. Assisted Suicide should not be condoned in any situation or at any time.

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man

Every child becomes an adult—a boy to a man, a girl to a woman. In the novel, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, published in 1916 by an Irish writer, James Joyce illustrates the protagonist, Stephen Dedalus, and his journey to seek for identity. While the title of the novel insinuates that the protagonist is going to become an artist, the novel also portrays Stephen’s sense of isolation that comes from the ambiguity and bewilderment that he experiences with his family, society, and country. As the novel begins, Stephan is still young and because of a lack of knowledge and experience, he fells small and weak.Stephen goes through a severe portrayal of the injustices and intricacy of childhood as a child trying to grasp a clear image of the world; Joyce depicts the impression of a child in a world regulated for adults. When â€Å"[Stephen] turned to the flyleaf of the geography and read†¦ Sallins/ Country Kildare/ Ireland/ Europe/ The World/ The Universe,† (Joyce, 13) thinking about the boundaries of the universe, Stephen attempts to identify himself by placing himself in the world by his geographic position.In addition, when he contemplates the overwhelming ideas of God and the limits of his political knowledge, which seems to be so significant to the adults. This shows the reader the isolation Stephen feels as a young child from the world. In short, this essay will analyze how Stephen alienation with his environment affects him to finds his own identity as an artist. During Stephen’s childhood, he feels isolated more in relation to his family and the society.When Stephen encounters into the duty of revealing the rector that Father Dolan has been inequitable with him at the Clongowes Wood College, he comes to a decision not take any actions at one point. â€Å"No, it was best to hide out of the way because when you were small and young you could often escape that way,† (48) Stephen thinks about his colleagues in the sc ene when he is questioned whether he will go to the rector or not. In this scene, Stephen understands the children’s world.He knows that â€Å"fellows [tells] him to go, but they would not go themselves† (48). However, after he tells the rector about Father Dolan, even though his fellows cheer for Stephen’s bravery and turnout to be here, he soon becomes alone. â€Å"He was happy and free: but he would not be anyway proud with Father Dolan. He would be very quiet and obedient: and he wished that he could do something kind for him to show him that he was not proud† (51) it states, emphasizing that Stephen knew that nothing would hange and the fact that he felt weak and small after all—a sense of isolation from his colleagues and adults. Soon after he experiences the sense of isolation from his colleagues, Stephen is introduced to the change in Dedalus’ financial situation. Moving into a â€Å"cheerless house† (57) in Dublin with his fa mily, Stephan recognizes that his father is the cause for he is a financial failure. This allows Stephen to become self conscious and acrimonious, humiliated by the â€Å"change of fortune† (58).Illustrating the Dedalus’ first night in their new house, where â€Å"the parlor fire would not draw [and the] half furnished uncarpeted room [was bathed in a] bare cheerless house† (57) makes Stephen’s â€Å"heart heavy† (57) with the â€Å"intuition and foreknowledge† (57) that it is his father who is responsible for the decline. Furthermore, Stephen starts to feel separated from his father. Despite the fact that Simon Dedalus is unsuccessful to manage the family’s financial needs, he his somwhat anxious of his children’s quality of education.Yet, Simon lets down Stephen by treating Stephen’s collision with Father Conmee—a triumphant moment in Stephen’s young life—with a â€Å"hearty laugh† (63) with his friends This event makes Stephen to feel degraded and patronized by his elders, thus starts to isolate himself from his father. Prior to analyzing the relationship between Stephen’s isolation to seek for his identity, it is important to note several backgrounds on Ireland.Around the time in which this novel was published, Ireland was colonized by England until April 24, 1916. (Parnell and Davitt) During the period of colonization by the Britain, along with the political tensions between the two nations, there was also a religious tension between the Catholics and the Protestants. Basically, the Catholics, including Joyce, were the Irish who supported Irish independence and contrary to this were the Protestants who wished to continue united with Britain. Fearghal McGarry) By the time Joyce was born, the Irish independence movement—the Fenian Movement—was wide-spreading by an Irish nationalist, Charles Stewart Parnell; however, his longstanding affair with a married woman caught, causing many followers to reject him as a leader and the Catholic church to condemn him. (Parnell and Davitt) This historical event can be seen within the surface of the novel and precisely in the Christmas dinner scene when Stephan’s relatives are discussing about politics. To sum up, such humiliating troubles within the country have perhaps caused Stephen to isolate himself from Ireland.In chapter 3, Joyce describes the isolation of the Catholic boy from his home country, Ireland. Stephen, who has been frequenting prostitutes, has lost faith. â€Å"[Stephen’s] soul was fattening an congealing into a gross grease, plunging ever deeper in its dull fear into a somber threatening dusk while the body that was his stood, listless and dishonoured, gazing out of darkened eyes, helpless, perturbed, and human for a bovine god to stare upon,† (98) it says, to show the awareness of Stephen’s sins and his â€Å"dishonoured† body causes t his moment of dull horror.Because Stephen feels sinful, it triggers him to dream of hell, â€Å"[a] field of stiff weeds and thistles and tufted nettle-bunches†¦[with] battered canisters and clots and coils of solid excrement. † (120) And the narrator continues, â€Å"An evil smell, faint and foul as the light, curled upwards sluggishly out of the canisters and from the stale crusted dung,† (120) giving the reader grotesque scenery with, â€Å"Goatish creatures with human faces, hornybrowed, lightly bearded and grey as indiarubber†¦[that moves in the field,] hither and thither† (120).The goats wandering in this scene are symbols of animalistic, primal, and bestial culture of Ireland that manipulates the youths with language. As well as the murmuring sounds and the â€Å"soft language† (120) of the goats, the usage of the repetition of â€Å"hither and thither† also represents the hollow voices that are spoken from the adults to Stephen to become an Irishmen.Joyce claims that this culture of Ireland, adults bringing up children with hollow voices, have been rooted long ago and will be everlasting, which can be seen as he describes the goats, â€Å"[moving] in slow circles, circling closer and closer to enclose, †¦their long swishing tail besmeared with stale shite, thrusting upwards their terrific face† (120). Recognizing Ireland as a dead country, Stephen begins to show clear detachment from his country. Stephen’s schoolmate, Mat Davin insists Stephen to become one of â€Å"us†, to declare his Irish nationality and to stop searching for potentials from England and France of artistic muse.In a revealing conversation, Davin asks Stephen if he is even Irish. Here, Davin comprehends an Irishmen as a nationalist who desires Ireland to become independent from England, the colonizer. In other words, Davin means being united with the people rather than standing back from them with a sneer. On the o ther hand, for Stephen, though, being Irish means being all that he is, containing all the contradictions of a colonized subject. â€Å"The soul is born, [Stephen] said vaguely, first in those moments I told you of. It has a slow and dark birth, more mysterious than the birth of the body.When the soul of a man is born in this country there are nets flung at it to hold it back from flight. You talk to me of nationality, language, religion. I shall try to fly by those nets,† (179) Stephen says, explaining the chances taken he is aware of as an heir in Ireland to his nationalist colleague, Davin. Rather than viewing the Fenian Movement as a potential for artistic inspiration, Stephen inspects the situation of Irish life as a downside. Stephen gradually becomes emotional through this conversation and initiate to treat it quite roughly, as he questions Davin, â€Å" ‘Do you know what Ireland is? asked Stephen with cold violence. Ireland is the old sow that eats her farrow,à ¢â‚¬  (179). Here, Stephan metaphorically stresses that Ireland destroys its won children: a fate he wishes to avoid. Therefore, Ireland’s thwarted sense of nationhood devours Irishmen. To sum up, for Stephen, Ireland is a trap, restricting his independence and identity. In the last sections of the novel, Stephens seems to have settled his mind and ascetics about the world, and ready to isolate himself from his past—family, friends, , Ireland—to gain freedom.When Stephen has a conversion with Cranly, Stephen’s best friend at the university, Stephen says, â€Å"Look here, Cranly, [†¦] you have asked me what I would do and what I would not do. I will tell you wat I will do and what I will not do. I will not serve that in which I no longer believe, whether it call itself my home, my fatherland, or my church: and I will try to express myself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can, using for my defense the only arms I allo w myself to use – silence, exile, and cunning. (218) Here, finally, Stephen demonstrates a clear and precise understanding of who he is. He is defined by his artistic goals and by his idealistic ambition to be true to his beliefs. While Joyce ends the novel at the point where Stephen departs from Ireland, this may be an interesting question for the reader to consider of: after leaving his country, how will Stephen see his home country when time passes? Work Cited Books †¢ Joyce, James, John Paul.Riquelme, Hans Walter Gabler, and Walter Hettche. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Contexts, Criticism. New York: W. W. Norton, 2007. Print. Internet †¢ McGarry, Fearghal. â€Å"The Irish War of Independence aâ‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" A Religious War? Part I. † The Irish War of Independence aâ‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" A Religious War? Part I. WPSHOWER & MOODYGUY, 2010. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. . †¢ â€Å"Parnell and Davitt. † Irish Identity. Web. 20 Mar. 2012. .