Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts - Case Study Example Dunkin Dollars is one of the strongest donut chains worldwide enjoying the sales of forty fiver percent from the market. Tim Hortons is a Canada based company which has international operations in many countries. What Dunkin Donuts did to boost up its sales and earn customer loyalty was to focus more on selling coffee and other beverages instead of donuts. Dunkin Donuts became a strong brand in the market in less time than expected. Credit for this probably goes to their strong advertisement campaigns, attractive slogans and drive thru service. Tim Hortons, although not as popular as Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Kreme, is a top brand for donuts in Canada and New York. Apart from the direct competitors, indirect competitors such as bakeries, cafes and retailers play a vital role in challenging the profits of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. Although the competition in the industry is growing but Krispy Kreme is fairly satisfied with the revenue it generates from its franchises by selling donut mix es, donut making equipments and royalty. The Organization Krispy Kreme owns a simple organizational structure. It relies heavily on the revenues it earns from its franchising strategy. With this strategy, the company is in a way a little relaxed because major responsibility falls on the shoulders of Krispy Kreme’s franchise owners. Moreover, the franchising option comes with a little risk and more revenue generating methods such as selling authentic donut mixes, donut manufacturing equipments, franchising fees and royalties. Brand image of Krispy Kreme was outstanding so it was never difficult to attract franchisers from various locations. The overall strategies pursued by Krispy Kreme were not really suitable in the competitive environment. This is because they focused only on the sales of donuts-a confectionary item which is sold by a number of bakeries and cafes. So the product was easy to imitate. Whenever Krispy Kreme opened up its franchise in any new area, it brought b enefits to the competitors. Donuts, being an average confectionary item have never gained so much attention among the public. With the opening of Krispy Kreme, people gained awareness on how good and light can little donuts make them feel. So indirectly, the sales of competitors rose up. In the mid of year 2004, it was announced by Krispy Kreme that they are launching an inquiry into the accounting system and later in the same year they reported some accounting errors that were expected to cause a drop the annual sales and net income from an estimated 2.7 percent to 8.6 percent.. The same year, the share price of Krispy Kreme dropped from forty dollars to the range of 10 to 13 dollars per share. This was a huge setback for Krispy Kreme. Time had come when the company’s top heads seriously need to think of ways to save the company from drowning. Marketing Strategy It must be admitted that Krispy Kreme does not have a well developed marketing department so their marketing effor ts are limited. The company only relies on its advertisement campaigns, most of which are associated with the opening of new stores. They also earn revenue from local publicity, newspapers and majorly from word of mouth. When new outlets of Krispy Kreme are opened, media does free publicity and communities associated also become a part of this event. Although Krispy Kreme was opening

Description of Water Pollution Sources in Lake Victoria Research Paper

Description of Water Pollution Sources in Lake Victoria - Research Paper Example Lake Victoria has a surface area of 68800 km2 hence making it the second largest lake in the world. Currently, the lake is characterized by eutrophication and low dissolved oxygen due to pollution from human activity (Scheren et al., 2000). The pollution load is mainly domestic in nature with little industrial pollution. The article tries to identify a reliable method to gauge this pollution in terms of intensity and quantity from the various sources. Since the lake shares among three nations, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, the research determines the pollution load from each side and the management policies in place and their effectiveness is curbing the pollution into the lake. The article also views policies for sustainable development useful in the region (Scheren et al., 2000). The lead researcher and author of the article are M. Scheren. A member of The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation based in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire (Scheren et al., 2000). The organization is responsible for monitoring and advising both the region and the United Nations Security Council on the effects of Industrial development on the environment. The second Author, H.A. Zanting is a member of the Faculty of Technology Management and center technology for sustainable development in the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands (Scheren et al., 2000). His expertise in sustainable development is key to the research as pollution due to increased human activity is an issue of sustainable development. A. M. Lemmens is a corresponding author in the research and often consulted on technical matters that require specialized opinion (Scheren et al., 2000). The increased pollution of Lake Victoria is the recent past that has subsequently resulted in immense alterations in the chemistry and biology of the lake’s ecosystem necessitated the research.

The Fashion Industry and the New Consumer Essay

The Fashion Industry and the New Consumer - Essay Example The paper "The Fashion Industry and the New Consumer" examines marketing concepts for the one of the United Kingdom top fashion brands Marks and Spencer. When we discuss marketing oriented organisations, it is agreeable that Marks and Spencer is one of the organisations in the United Kingdom that practices it. As a matter of fact, the fashion retailer can be described with five major characteristics of marketing oriented organisations; First of all it focuses on extensive and wide spread use of marketing research. ,T the organisation also emphasizes on the benefits of buying their products, that which are based on the attributes of the same product, it keeps on expanding its product lines in all categories and geographical regions. Tthe company makes use of various innovation schemes in order to enhance the value of the product to its target customers and lastly., Tthe company focuses its business inon adding value to customers like free delivery, warranty and credit availability. Ac cording to Armstrong, marketing and selling concepts usually focus on the selling of the products and moving out of firm’s products. This is usually looked at in a bigger perspective. Marketing concepts are meant to make a retailer product, meet the needs of its customers and also be able to make profits for the organisation. ThisIt means that a retailer will put his target on selling his goods and service, however, in order to succeed it is necessary to persuade its customers to embrace the products.

International Business Strategy term paper Essay

International Business Strategy term paper - Essay Example Nokia and Apple are major smartphone multinationals based in the Finland and the United States respectively with operations in other parts of the world including Asia, Europe and Africa. However, when Apple and Nokia introduced their smartphone products into the United Kingdom, the response was varied and this contributed to the success and failure of the products. While Apple smartphone received a positive review and was widely accepted by the customers in the UK, Nokia smartphone received a negative review and this affected the sales of the products in the UK. Nokia was forced into the drawing board to determine the causes of the failure and evaluate its strategies to enable it reintroduce the product again. In this paper, a comparison of the tow multinationals will be done to determine the factors that contributed to the success and failure of the two multinationals in the sale of their smartphone devices in the United Kingdom (Stevenson, 2012). Nokia, being a Finish based multinationals has had significant impacts in the mobile telephony industry especially in Europe with previous studies indicating its dominance in the overall mobile market. However, the introduction of smartphones by Apple and Samsung pushed the company into venturing into the market in an attempt to protect its hold on European markets. However, the response that the company received from the market did not favour the continued production of the smartphones and this led to the failure of the initiative. A number of factors contributed to the failure of Nokia in the United Kingdom, a market that was predominantly controlled by the multinational before apple introduced its smartphones (Donnelly, 2008). In 2007, Nokia introduced its first iPhone into the European market in a response to the emerging mobile telephony in the region and in other markets

Presentation Skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Presentation Skills - Essay Example Communication is the purpose of a presentation, especially the reception of the audience. The presenter must be able to transmit the required information in a manner that is understandable and interesting to the audience, whether it be one person or an entire nation. When preparing a presentation it is essential to know your audience. By having familiarity with the audience's concerns and probable opinions concerning what you are going to say, one can be more relaxed during the actual presentation and not be sidelined by unexpected questions or responses. A presentation looks easy enough to do; and it should, it indicates that the presenter is an expert communicator well versed in the subject or material at hand. This ease comes from rigorous preparation before the presentation. Next comes the planning stage; a list is made regarding information and audio/visual aids to be used. A rough draft of the presentation is made and examined; it is critical to write the draft in order to organise one's thoughts and be able to strike out any superfluous or unnecessary information (University Of Newcastle Upon Tyne, 1999). At this stage, any irrelevancies will be extracted and the logical sequence of the information can be constructed. In cases of doubt concerning content, good planning will propel the presenter to either find the answers or leave the information in question unsaid. The next stage of planning is deciding which aids to use and how many. This is where equipment in good working order is critical; an overhead projector, a laptop computer with projector, slides, video and recording equipment can fail during a presentation and this can spell disaster to the untrained or unprepared presenter. It is a good idea to have a backup plan in case of an equipment failure, such as printed poster boards and an easel. Knowing that there is a 'Plan B' will put the presenter at ease and relaxation is imperative to a good presenter. Next comes rehearsal. Some might think that rehearsing in front of a mirror is silly, but it is important to take note objectively of your own presentation skills. Can you listen to yourself well Even better is to rehearse in front of a video camera and play back the presentation, taking note of hesitancies or tendencies to exhibit nervous behaviour such as adjusting the necktie or twisting the ring. These behaviours detract from the presentation significantly. In assessing yourself prior to the presentation it is essential to be objective in critiquing your own skills. There is always room for improvement, no matter how seasoned the presenter. If you rehearse in front of colleagues, listen to their feedback and make the necessary changes well before the presentation date in order for your changes to be more natural to you. One item of interest to keep in mind is the fact that most people will only remember three things from your presentation (presentationhelper.co.uk, online, 09 October 2005). It is important to know what three points you want your audience to remember in advance and plan the presentation around those. One example of this interesting phenomenon is Winston Churchill's famous 'blood,

Sociolinguistic Experiment and language learning strategies Assignment

Sociolinguistic Experiment and language learning strategies - Assignment Example This essay discusses that the study would be effected through the use of self-reporting questionnaires that test the frequency of use of language learning strategies. These strategies range from metacognitive to cognitive, social, affective, compensation and memory strategies. The use of these strategies among the subjects can be measured using Oxford’s Strategy Inventory for Language Learning. The inventory, which was devised by Rebecca Oxford, is a 50-item questionnaire that identifies the learning strategies used by international students. The inventory consists of 50 statements, beneath which is a scale of five items ranging from â€Å"never true† and always true for me† (Oxford 299). The results would indicate that metacognitive strategies are the most used language learning strategies among international students. It can be assumed that they are well informed about English learning processes and the range of strategies that they can adapt to meet their goals .  This essay discusses that the study would be effected through the use of self-reporting questionnaires that test the frequency of use of language learning strategies. These strategies range from metacognitive to cognitive, social, affective, compensation and memory strategies. The use of these strategies among the subjects can be measured using Oxford’s Strategy Inventory for Language Learning. The inventory, which was devised by Rebecca Oxford, is a 50-item questionnaire that identifies the learning strategies used by international students.

Room acoustics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Room acoustics - Essay Example What many people do not know is that the room in which the sound has been set up determines to a certain and large extent the final sound that one hears from the sound system. Room acoustics looks at how the room as a component of sound can be structured in order to improve the dispersion of sound in a room (Rossing, p.303). Sound in any room is transmitted or reaches the listener in two distinct ways. The first way in which sound is transmitted is directly from the speakers. This is referred to as direct sound. The second way in which sound reaches the listener is through reflection of sound. The reflected sound is referred to as indirect sound. In a studio setup, the indirect sound is as a result of the direct sound being reflected by various surfaces in the studio or in the room. For example, sound can be reflected by walls, floors and the ceiling. From this description, it can be derived that the sound one hears in any room is a combination of direct sound, directly from the spea ker(s); and indirect sound - the sound from the speakers that is reflected. Indirect or reflected sound can be or is both good and bad. It is good because it amplifies sound to sound much fuller and louder. A simple experiment which can be used to prove this phenomenon is by placing speakers in an open field where there are no walls or barriers that can reflect the sound. In this experiment, the speakers will sound less powerful simply because the sound is directional. The bass of the speakers seems to be dull. However, when the very same speakers are placed in a room, the reflection adds some spaciousness to the sound that is projected from them. Reflected sound on the other hand is bad because it can lead to sound distortion. If the room is structured poorly, then there is a possibility that it will amplify certain sound notes which will mute others. Assuming that there is video footage that is accompanying the sound, the sound may be distorted and there may be a discord between t he image and the sound reaching the ear because the sounds reach the ear at different times. Room Acoustics are more important when building a recording studio as compared to the basic stereo or home theatre setup. The main reason why it is important is because any reflected sound that is distorted can compromise the quality of the sound, or music that is being recorded. It is therefore imperative for producers to have an understanding of how they can perfect the recording studios and structure them in a such a way that sound is propagated in the right amount. In other words, the surfaces of the studio should be built in a way that diffuses sound as opposed to completely reflecting it or absorbing it. The surfaces should therefore be made of a material(s) that is both reflective and absorptive, the result of which is a diffusive surface. Reverberation Time Reverberation can be described as the collection of reflected sound in an enclosed room, or auditorium. It can also be described as the persistence or sustaining of sound in a room after the sound has been produced. Reverberation time (RT60 or T60) on the other hand refers to the time taken for the intensity of produced sound to reduce by 60 dB from its original level. Reverberation time is a very important parameter in describing the acoustics or acoustic behavior of a room (Goldstein, 2007, p. 305) and it is affected or dependent on two factors. One of the