Renewable Energy in Bangladesh

Renewable Energy in Bangladesh Inleiding Being aware of the finite stock of fossil fuels and their negative impact on the environment, most countries over the world want to make use of renewable energy sources like solar energy, wind energy, bio-energy, hydropower, geothermal and ocean energy because they want to ensure energy security. The use of renewable energy has risen considerably in recent times, both in developed and in developing countries as well Bangladesh too. Bangladesh is a developing country with 154 million inhabitants. This equates to 1048 people per km ². It is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, with a population growth rate of 1,2% per year (Islam et al., 2014). In 2012, the growth rate of GDP was 6,2% (Ahmed et al., 2014). The economy of this country is dependent on agriculture and forestry. More than 80% of the population lives in rural areas (Islam et al., 2014). The rapid population growth, urbanization and industrialization creates an increasing energy consumption (Islam et al., 2014). In 2000, the energy consumption amounted to 12,7 Mtoe (million tonnes oil equivalent) and in 2011 24,2 Mtoe (figure 1). It is expected that the energy in 2020 will rise to 185%. The electricity consumption per capita is 212 kWh. Consumption is lower than in other developing countries such as India (480,5 kWh) and Pakistan (456,2 kWh). There is a link between the energy consumption per capita and the growth of GDP (Islam et al., 2014). Around 76% of the population has no access to electricity, especially in remote areas in Bangladesh (Ahmed et al., 2014). Figure 1: Final energy consumption in Bangladesh (by fuel type) (Islam et al, 2014) According to Mondal et al. (2014) the biggest contributor of electricity is natural gas (82,81%) . The contribution of other fuels, such as oil, coal, diesel and hydro energy amounts respectively 5,6%, 2,4%, 6,9% and 2,8%. But there is a great shortage of energy. Energy demand is 8350 MW, while the supply is only 6000 MW. In the future, the difference will continue to increase (Ahmed et al., 2014). In 2021, the demand for energy is going to be about 18 838 MW and 33 708 MW by 2030 (Islam et al., 2014). 98,5% of all energy comes from fossil fuels, while only 0,3% of renewable energy. However, the fossil fuel is limited. This is going to be run out in the future. There are 23 fields of natural gas and the reserve contains approximately 566336,9 million km ³. Within the next 15 years this reserve will decrease. Recently it was discovered there 2,9 billion coal, but the extraction of coal is very expensive and the production of electricity from coal in a densely populated country caused a lot of pollution. Coal gives high CO2 emissions and thus harms the environment. Exploration and exploitation of renewable energy sources can reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) and mitigate negative impacts on the environment (Ahmed et al., 2014). Renewable energy technologies (RET) Renewable energy is the ideal solution for people that live in remote areas, but also for urban residents due to the acute energy crisis (Ahmed et al., 2014). There are infinite sources of renewable energy such as biomass, wind, solar energy, hydropower. Different types of renewable energy are discussed in this paragraph. Solar energy Solar energy is widely believed to be one of most viable and efficient renewable energy resources mainly for its abundant availability. Bangladesh is an ideal place for solar energy utilization. Annual solar radiation available is more than 1900 kWh/m ². It is found that 94% of the land area in Bangladesh has such radiation which is sufficient for appropriate utilization based on available technology. Maximum radiation begins from March to April, and minimum radiation begins from December to January (Islam et al., 2014). Nearby 32,5% of the entire population has intermittent electricity access. However, a huge number of population is completely out of electricity supply, especially in the rural areas. From a sustainable view point, this scenario retards economic growth and social development of Bangladesh which is, otherwise, a densely populated developing country. Appropriate application of solar energy, as one of the renewable sources, could provide a stimulus to overcome such social and economic problems (Ahmed et al., 2014). Solar home system (SHS) achieved remarkable popularity as off-grid power generation essentially in rural areas where on-grid electricity remains unavailable and the necessary infrastructure is still in its nascent stage. SHS can be viable as a way to energy solution as well as small rural businesses development in rural areas and is contributing to social and economic benefits. Solar home system (SHS) is a decentralized photovoltaic array module connected with a rechargeable battery that can produce 20-100 Wp. Generally, SHS is applicable to low power consuming devices like television, radio, light bulbs, and others. The efficiency of SHS depends on its dimension of array and the sunlight availability. For isolated remote areas in Bangladesh, solar photovoltaic array is the most effective and efficient way for rural electrification. However, installation of such a system is not cost effective for rural mass population where majority of the population in the remote and rural areas do not have adequate access to financial support. Grameen Shakti (GS), a sister concern of Grammen Bank is now providing soft loan to the rural people. GSs effort to solar home system also contributed to socioeconomic development. It is considered as an important stimulus for sustainable development (Ahmed et al., 2014). In 2012 there are already 1,320,965 SHS. By 2015 the government wants to install 4 million SHS (Islam et al., 2014). Wind energy Wind energy potential is not encouraging, except in some coastal areas of Bangladesh. Bangladesh has a coastal belt of around 724 km. The total capacity of wind energy in Bangladesh is 235 MW. Geographically, strong south-southeast monsoon wind comes from Indian Ocean and enters the coastal areas of Bangladesh. The wind blows continuously with an average speed from 3 m/s to 6 m/s over Bangladesh from March to September. This continuous wind can be captured and converted to kinetic energy with an integrated system comprising of both mechanical and electrical components. This energy can be connected to central grid or can be used to support local electricity supply (Ahmed et al., 2014). However, taking into account wind as a potential renewable energy resource in Bangladesh, disruption occurs due to lack of suitable wind map and the relevant data required to estimate the potential of electricity generation. Global wind data and research shows that wind speed not more than 7 m/s is not viable for large scale grid connected electricity production. But in some places, measured values of wind speed aren’t present in Bangladesh (Islam et al., 2014). Biomass energy In Bangladesh, traditional biomass such agricultural residues, wood wastes and animal dung, represents respectively 46%, 34% and 20% of the energy supply. From environmental and economic sustainability viewpoint, biomass energy is an effective energy source for rural population of the country. Bangladesh is endowed with rich biomass energy with a potential electricity generation capacity of 160,93 TWh from agricultural crop residues, followed by 121,768 TWh from recoverable waste, and 29,91 TWh from fuel wood, saw dust and tree residues. There are two kind of types of biomass energy namely biogas and biofuel. Biogas is a residue from animal and municipal wastes. Technology dissemination is very poor. IDCOL (Infrastrcuture Development Company Limited) installed 22549 biogas plants. 32% of the total biogas plants are not working due to lack of appropriate maintenance and technical knowledge. By the another type of the biomass is biofuel. Bangladesh is in early stage developing biofuel. Biofuel is produced from transesterification of oil, which is derived from energy crops. It’s no energy crop being produced for biofuels at commercial scale. The biofuel will be used as gasohol in the vehicle and the price will be reduced by 20-30% compared to other transport fuel. Bangladesh imports large amount of petroleum products with high price from international market and could save millions of foreign exchange as it is used a biofuel. Environmental pollution from transportation sector would also be reduced utilizing biofuel (Islam et al., 2014). Hydropower energy Due to geographical flatness, Bangladesh has limited hydropower potential. It’s 2 hydropower plants (Kaptai and Barak River) and it generates 220 MW and 1500 MW respectively (Ahmed et al., 2014). But small-scale hydropower is popular because of the low cost, reliability and environmental benefits. It has the potential to generate 5MW electricity. Most of the small-scale hydropower potential sites were discovered in rural, remote and hill track areas which can contribute to overall socio-economic development of Bangladesh ensuring power supply for the rural population (Islam et al., 2014). Policy changes Today only 44% of the population in Bangladesh is foreseen with electricity, and on top of that Bangladesh has very limited non-renewable energy resources of its own. An energy crisis and desertification problem in rural areas are not excluded. The government aims since 2005 to provide electricity for everybody before 2020 by the plan to generate more power from coal and furnace-oil-based peaking power plants (Mondal et al., 2014; PSMP, 2005). Increasing the fossil fuels to meet the growing electricity-demand counteracts the world’s attempts to stop (or reduce) climate change. In addition to the influence on a world-scale, the increased use of fossil-fuels has an influence on local scale as well. It’s proved that the power sector in Bangladesh counts for 40% of the total CO2 emissions and as a consequence there’s an increasing need to develop and promote alternative energy sources to reduce the negative impacts on global and local scale (Mondal et al., 2014). Mor eover, too much dependency on natural gas is obviously fraught with risks for power production and for other commercial activities (Sarkar M.A.R. et al., 2003). These issues could be eliminated if renewable energy is used as a primary source of energy in rural areas.Further is rational policy dissemination important because efficient utilization of renewable energy resources is yet to assume commercial dimensions. In this section, a picture will be drawn of the already taken steps in governance on the one hand and opportunities and bottlenecks for the implementation of renewable energy technologies (RET’s) on the other hand. Bangladesh’ government released in 2002 a draft renewable policy which provided modalities, procedures, tariff regulations, fiscal and other incentives,†¦ for the implementation of so-called RET’s (REP, 2002; Mondal et al., 2010). They did foresee also guidelines for the development of an independent authority for renewable energy, namely the Renewable Energy Development Authority (REDA). With this policy, the ambition is to have around 10% renewable energy of the total demand by 2020 (Mondal et al., 2010). This year has to be taken relatively because other sources mention that this share of renewable energy would contribute to national demand in 2030 (Ahmed S. et al., 2014). In 2008, the policy was reformulated and as part of that policy it has engaged with the development partners and private sector to boost generation (Ahmed S. et al., 2014). According to REP (2008), the objectives of the Renewable Energy Policy of Bangladesh include: to harness the potential of renewable energy resources and dissemination of renewable energy technologies in rural, peri-urban and urban areas to enable, encourage and facilitate both public and private sector investment in renewable energy projects to develop sustainable energy supplies to substitute indigenous non-renewable energy supplies. Although REDA was the sole authority administering all kinds of activities that could be related to energy – both rural and renewable – government decided to establish a new unit for fostering the use of renewable energy for power generation (Mondal et al., 2014). This authority consists of representatives of a large variety of stakeholders, including business community, academics and/or representatives from Bangladesh solar energy society, NGOs, financial institutions as well as implementing agencies (Mondal et al., 2014) and had to take following initiatives to implement the objectives in the policies. It had to take its responsibility concerning coordination, planning, promoting awareness, supporting the establishment of small and medium renewable energy enterprises and service providers, providing financial support in research and soliciting of grid connected renewable energy projects. The authority had to determine the priorities for the renewable technology development. SEDA will support capacity building, human resource and market development. Investments has to be expanded. Microcredit support is established to promote the purchase of renewable energy equipment and private sector participation and joint venture programs will be encouraged. In a way for example, for solar house systems – the most important source of renewable energy for the moment – three different financial systems are available today. On the one hand one can opt for the fee-for-service option. The installation is still owned by Rural Electrification Board (REB) and the users pay a monthly fee for the services. The second option consists the credit program of Grameen Shakti – a not-for-profit company founded to promote and supply renewable energy technology at an affordable rate to rural households of Bangladesh (Right Livelihood Award Foundation Archive, 2007). – where customers pay 50% down payment and the other 50% has to be paid over a long period (varying from 6 months to several years). Regulatory policies to distribute renewable energy has to be implemented Further, Bangladesh became a member of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) – the only inter-governmental agency working exclusively on renewable energy – to reinforce international cooperation. As mentioned before, Bangladesh is working to provide more energy to its people, in order to accelerate economic growth, poverty reduction, and social development. German companies are supporting these efforts through KfW Entwicklungsbank and the Gesellschaft fà ¼r Internationale Zusammenarbeit (German Embassy Dhaka, 2015). Renewable energy and energy efficiency is a priority area of Bangladeshi-German development cooperation. Finally, it’s important to recognize the importance of awareness and dissemination programs. When people lack information and awareness, government can do as much work as now, they can establish thousands of institutions to stimulate the use of renewable energy, but people won’t (or cannot) make use of it. There is one example where government wanted to implement bio gas plant into rural houses, but they didn’t involve the households in the project and as a consequence, more than 50% of the installations were not working because people were not able to maintain and/or repair the bio gas plants. Considering this fact, a lot of organizations such as Grameen Shakti, REB,†¦ implement this in there guidelines as well (Mondal et al., 2014). Conclusion Energy demand will continue to increase exponentially because of population growth. Since history, economic growth can be coupled closely with energy consumption and production. According to Hassan A. et al. (2012) energy can be seen as a sensible approximation to assume that energy use/capita will increase with GDP/capita. The relationship between energy access and social, economic, environmental,†¦ issues is relevant. Being aware of the finite stock of fossil fuels and their negative impact on the environment on both a global and a local scale and health of the citizens, most countries, as well Bangladesh want to stimulate the use of renewable energy sources. Therefore, the importance of government as well as private organizations in the process has to be recognized. Subsidizing and supporting private-public Research Development partnerships can make renewable energy projects a successful story. Those endeavors manifest Bangladeshs commitment towards development of renewable energy although Bangladesh cannot make use of all renewable sources such as solar energy, wind energy, bio-energy, hydropower, geothermal and ocean energy equally, because of morphological and other natural characteristics. New solutions to solve the renewable energy crisis in Bangladesh so by governance help it’s possible to promote renewable energy which is more advisable than diverting internal capital to import refined oil from foreign countries (Ahmed S. et al., 2014). Nevertheless, the promotion of renewable energy in Bangladesh is still in an early stage and new projects have to take not only policies into account, but also the people in Bangladesh itself. They need to make use of it, they need to have the knowledge to make use of new installations and they have to repair it. The local demand and income generation opportunities should be the starting point of the implementation of RETs and then, after all, renewable energy in Bangladesh can be a successful story of whi ch a lot of other countries can learn a lot. References Ahmed, S., Islam, M. T., Karim, M. A., Karim, N. M. (2014). Exploitation of renewable energy for sustainable development and overcoming power crisis in Bangladesh.Renewable Energy,72, 223-235. The Press Section (2015). Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency. Accessed on 5th of May 2015 on http://www.dhaka.diplo.de/Vertretung/dhaka/en/07/Priority/Energie__Seite.html Islam, M. T., Shahir, S. A., Uddin, T. I., Saifullah, A. Z. A. (2014). Current energy scenario and future prospect of renewable energy in Bangladesh.Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,39, 1074-1088. Mondal, M. A. H., Denich, M., Mezher, T. (2014). Deployment of renewable energy technologies in Bangladesh: Long-term policy implications in power sector.Energy Strategy Reviews,2(3), 307-312. REP (2002). Renewable Energy Policy(Draft). Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Right Livelihood Award Foundation Archive (2007). Grameen Shakti (Bangladesh). Accessed on 4th of May 2015 on http://www.rightlivelihood.org/grameen_shakti.html Sarkar, M. A. R., Ehsan, M., Islam, M. A. (2003). Issues relating to energy conservation and renewable energy in Bangladesh.Energy for Sustainable Development,7(2), 77-87. PSMP, 2005. Power sector master plan update, Power Cell, Power Division. Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Effect of the Marketing Environment on Company Strategy

Effect of the Marketing Environment on Company Strategy I . INTRO Economics today has a term of market environment which involves points and impacts permitting a business to create sucessful relationship with customers as well as to keep it lasting longer. The market enviroment can be categorized into two levels: micro and macro. The first one refers to small impacts in the business with the affection of serving the company customers, whereas the second one has larger societial impacts on the mirco environment. As a result, both of them differ from many points. The organizations, suppliers, customers market,and the intermediaries and competitors are concerned in the micro environment. On the contrary, the Macro environment involves such factors as Demographic, natural, technological, cultural, political, and economics effects. However, these can be altered by the variety of many kinds of companies. All companies are affected by macro environmental factors which form chances and threats in the business environment. Such elements often leaving a mark on long – term strategic management, or even the goals of a firm as prior research and innovation, political stability changes or cultural framework are difinited as macro factors. An environmental analysis are used for look for the existing macro impacts and potential chances carefully by most strategic management modals. Moreover, a situation analysis assess the impacts related to internal factors, for the purpose of forming an separate firm’s restrictions and competitiveness. In contrast, Micro economics has the environmental factors which is less popular than the Maro, only resulting in a particular sector of companies or industry. They can be listed as competition, suppliers, customer, and labour and competition. To understand the micro environment, the firms apply the â€Å"Porter’s Five Forces† sample as an industrial analysis. This makes management strategy more powerful to against alters in micro factors because those can have a strong impact on the entire industry. 2. External Environment analysis 2.1. Macro Environment 2.1.1. Political and Legislation Developments in political and legal field greatly affect the marketing decisions. sound marketing decision cannot be taken without taking into account, the government agencies, political party in power and in opposition their ideologies, pressuregroups, and laws of the land. These variables create tremendous pressures on marketing management. Laws affect production capacity, capability, product design, pricing and promotion. Government in almost all the country intervenes in marketing process irrespective of their political ideologies. The political environment consists of laws, government agencies, and pressure groups with the power to influence or limit the behavior of individuals and organizations in a given society. Changes within the political and legal arena can affect business. Therefore, it is important for marketers to understand public policy and legislation, and the implications presented for business and marketing. Legislation can encourage or discourage competition, and it can ensure (or not) fair markets for goods and services. Political corruption can influence marketing success or failure. Over the years, legislation affecting business around the world has increased steadily. Companies must be aware of changes in the political and legal environment so that decision-making can respond to the current political climate, and so that the firm can make any needed adjustments in corporate marketing policy. In addition to legislation, marketers must understand that many consumer groups are now watching the political and legal landscape as it relates to business, to ensure that business is government by social codes and rules of professional ethics. To demonstratetheirsocial responsibility and build more positive images, many companies are now linking themselves to worthwhile causes. Legislation from the government can affect markets through the organizations and consumers. Some marketers simply adjust to these political forces. Others try to influence political decisions by supporting politicians that can positively affect them . Industrial Relations laws affecting agreements between organizations and employees. Federal laws and regulation agencies affect marketing activities and decisions. Laws such as the Trade Practices Act and the Privacy Act set rules, which organizations must abide by or risk suffering penalties and / or punishment. These laws can be enforced by regulatory agencies who also assist in directing rules and regulations. 2.1.2. Economy The economic environment consists of macro-level factors related to means of production and distribution that have an impact on the business of an organization. Factors within the national and international economic environment can have a resounding effect on consumer purchasing power and spending patterns. Major U. S. economic trends include: Personal consumption and personal debt, both of which have risen Effects of credit trends and interest rates on buying Unemployment and recession forcing consumers to be more careful as shoppers Effects/expectations related to value marketing and value-conscious consumers Income distribution skewed positively toward the rich; prosperity not evenly distributed among classes An important factor affecting the short- and long-term economic outlook in the U.S. is prolonged periods of unemployment. Unemployment can exert marked and far-reaching effects on any economy. When millions of people are unemployed, there is less money for spending that can lift the economy. When spending is down, sales taxes will be down as well, further handicapping the economic outlook. Unemployed people, also, tend to cut out buying items they simply want while cutting down on things they need to survive. Consumers spending less money leads to businesses having to cut prices, which lessens revenue, leading to more unemploymentat best, and to merchants going out of businessat worst. In addition, the unemployed may have to use or even drain retirement savings. When income tax revenue is down, the government may have to borrow money, or cut back on spending on needed programs. At the same time, more is being spent to pay unemployment benefits, and to provide food and medicaid assistance. The social costs to individuals include erosion of work skills at the same time that society is being deprived of a lot of good talent. Uninsured individuals also face worsening physical health, leading to shortened life spans. 2.1.3. Socio-cultural This concept has crept into marketing literature as an alternative to the marketing concept. The social forces attempt to make the marketing socially responsible. It means that the business firms should take a lead in eliminating socially harmful products and produce only what is beneficial to the society. These are numbers of pressure groups in the society who impose restrictions on the marketing process. The socio-cultural environment is made up of institutions and other forces that affect a society’s basic values, attitudes, perceptions, preferences, and behaviors. People grow up in a particular society that shapes their basic beliefs and values, helping to establish beliefs and expectations related to how people should behave. Marketers often segment consumer target audiences for products and services based on cultural values. The overriding beliefs and attitudes of a society can change over a period of time due to different environmental factors. Some of these factors might include such things as changing ethnic/racial mix of the population, more widespread acceptance and occurrence of single-parent families, and more consumers beginning to desire simpler, more meaningful lives. Businesses must be able to identify important trends that are driven by the macro environment. They must understand the need to embrace widespread environmental changes and learn how to use them to their advantage. At the same time, marketing management must know and understand macro-level environmental issues and concerns as well, to be able to use them to predict (with a great degree of accuracy) their possible immediate and long-term impact on consumers buyer behavior. 2.1.4. Technology The technological environment covers all stuff that used for producing goods and services.Technology shapes our destiny dramatically. It changes the communication way of consumers and marketers. New markets and chances are created by new technologies which also replace itself. Thus, it is true that many old industries are got rid of nowadays. Marketrs must pay special attentions on technologial trends to predict impacts/influences on consumers.. 2.2. Micro Environment 2.2.1. Customers Customers of an organization can be varied from one to various markets. Three first common type of market are consumer, business and reseller markets. The first one includes persons and households that consume goods and services personally. The second refers to those who buying good and services for further procession or for use in their production process. The last one is for the aim of profitable reselling. Besides, government market is the term used for illustrating the agencies the buy goods and services to produce public services or transfer those to needed others. Last but not least, those buyers who are consmers, producers, resellers, and governments in other contries also form an international market. 2.2.2. Suppliers Suppliers mean someone providing the needed resources to a firm to produce products or services. They plays a critically important role in lasting firm’s life. Without suppliers, no value is created and delivered to customers. Supply availability is the most noticable factor for marketing companies. Since the suppliers are partners in producing and transfering customer value, the firms have to put pricing trends under their consideration. Those can range from material suppliers to energy suppliers or even suppliers of labour and capital. That means they can vary its competitive position and marketing capabilities. The association between suppliers and the firm may be a perfect example of a strong equation that depends on the industry condition and the the extent to their each other dependence. There are some cases in which the bargaining strength of the suppliers may increase critically. For instance, when the seller company is unique or it supplies important inputs , the choices of buyer company are restricted. Consequently, the seller business strength reachs maximum level. 2.2.3. Financial Institutions The aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis witnessed a surge on the discussion of  financial stability issues. In some countries the focus of the debate is on the role of the  shadow financial system, its relationship with banks, and the regulatory and  supervisory failure to address the problem of regulatory arbitrage. In Europe, the main  concerns lies on the lack of a European safety net, mainly due to the absence of a  European lender of last resort. In emerging countries, however, the discussion is  centered around the impact of the crisis on the volatility of capital flows and the  architecture of the international financial system. Though some of the phenomena  underlying the origins and depth of the financial crisis were either new or located in  new instruments and markets, most of the issues that were raised during this episode  can be traced back to the first financial crisis of the world. In the following lines, we  develop the argument that e ven though financial stability concerns are as old as  financial systems, and despite some of the main lessons of the recent crisis look pretty  much alike the lessons of several financial episodes of the past (to which many  jurisdictions have already reacted), there are good reasons to highten our concern with  financial stability. 2.2.4. Government Agencies Government agencies’ demands often exceed the needs of a firm’s customer. The government can play numerous roles as stakeholder such as receiving taxation revenue from commercial institutes, getting them to be responsible from the public sector, and achieving many economic and social goals. 2.2.5. Competitors Market combines a veriety of competitors. Most companies have to be run sucessfully to take a strategic advantage. Marketing planners are forced to decide the best way to powerfully site the firm’s products and services againts that of competitors. To do that the marketers need put the company’s size and standing into their consideration. What’s more, making differences and keeping them up is a core of any problems so the firm should analyze and check for its competitor carefully. Those are never enough for success. Besides, according to Philip Kotler, the company must create customer value and satisfaction greater than that of its competitors. Hence, markets’ role is more complicated instead of adapting the customers’ needs. The companies must make up their offerings to be greater in customers’ minds than its competiors can do. In the end, competition game never end. In fact, business organizations always compete in both direct and indirect ways. 3. Conclusion In this assignment I have tried to figure out what marketing environment is and does marketing environment really affect the company strategy. Basically Marketing environment is divided into Micro-environment and Macro-environment. Micro-environment influences may demand urgent attention, but Macro-environment influences can have a more profound long-term effect on an organization’s marketing. Marketing environment gives us lot of opportunities as well as we have got lots of threat. It’s true that marketing has got both option but I think that every organization has got a lot to do with marketing environment because every giant and vital companies knows the vital importance of their marketing research and intelligence to watch and adopt the changing marketing environment. The question is what happens to those companies who don’t realize the importance of marketing environment? It’s so simple you can see IBM and General Motors they ignored the environmental changes and now they are in crises. Actually marketing environment takes place with a board system of economic, social and technology relationships. In marketing environment a firm creates its value through interaction with other individuals and organization to make up marketing environment. You can’t divide marketing environment into distinct areas .A good firms seeks to understand the complex linkage between different parts of marketing environment. Marketing environment is acting as a pillar for the organization and if somebody neglect the importance of marketing environment it quite hard for that organization to sustain in market. So in my assignment I have tried to analyze that on what ground marketing environment is based and what effect it has got on an organization .

Greed of the Pardoner in Chaucers Canterbury Tales :: Pardoners Tale Essays

Canterbury Tales - The Greed of the Pardoner Throughout literature, relationships can often be found between the author of a story and the story that he writes.   In Geoffrey Chaucer's frame story, Canterbury Tales, many of the characters make this idea evident with the tales that they tell.   A distinct relationship can be made between the character of the Pardoner and the tale that he tells. Through the Prologue to the Pardoner's tale, the character of the Pardoner is revealed.   Although the Pardoner displays many important traits, the most prevalent is his greed.   Throughout the prologue, the Pardoner displays his greed and even admits that the only thing he cares about is money: "I preach nothing except for gain" ("Pardoner's Tale", Line 105).   This avarice is seen strongly in the Pardoner's tale as well.   In the Pardoner's tale, three friends begin a journey in order to murder Death. On their journey, though, an old man leads them to a great deal of treasure.   At this point, all three of the friends in the tale display a greed similar to the Pardoner's.   The three friends decide that someone should bring bread and wine for a celebration.   As the youngest of the friends leaves to go buy wine, the other two greedily plot to kill him so they can split the treasure only two ways.   Even the youngest decides to "put it in his mind to buy poison / Wit h which he might kill his two companions" (383, 384).   The greed, which is evident in the character of the Pardoner, is also clearly seen in the tale. Another trait that is displayed by the Pardoner and a character in his tale is hypocrisy.  Ã‚   Although the Pardoner is extremely greedy, he continues to try and teach that "Avarice is the root of all evil" (6).   The characters in his tale display great hypocrisy as well.   As the tale begins, the friends all act very trustworthy and faithful towards all of their friends.   They nobly make a decision to risk their lives while trying to slay their friend's murderer.   As they talk about their challenge, they pledge "to live and die each of them for the other, / As if he were his own blood brother" (241-242).   At the end of the tale, the "brothers" begin to reveal their true nature.   They all turn on each other in an attempt to steal the treasure for themselves.

Florida and the Future of Gay Adoption Essay -- Homosexual Children Pa

Florida and the Future of Gay Adoption The line between public and private is quickly diminishing, if there ever was a line to start. Private ideologies (social and moral/ethical attitudes) have been made public by what legislation does (not) relegate, and then protects the right to privacy for the individuals who abide by these private ideologies. The intrinsic protection of adherents to a dominant ideology forces those with deviant ideology to actively make their private concerns public in order to be granted their "right to privacy." However, even after this guarantee it is not possible for the private to leave the public sphere until the dominant ideology changes radically to incorporate these rights at the same intrinsic level of the original ideology- meaning the right to privacy has to be constantly reiterated until the societal backing makes it dominant. In the case of human and civil rights, legislation has the obligation to intercede on behalf of those disenfranchised by laws, regardless of the impact of or on s ocial attitudes. Once the issue of gay adoption entered the public sphere (i.e. when gay couples were first singled out by the state as ineligible), the only possible way to ensure that these individuals rights would be protected and that one day the rights of all homosexual individuals and couples to adopt would be guaranteed was for the issue to come before the Supreme Court. It is fortunate that the law was not overturned in a lower court, because the decision would not carry the weight of one handed down by the Supreme Court. Florida State Adoption Logo (7). Florida state law currently bans lesbians and gay men from adopting children, preferring rigorously gendered family construction, as is made p... ...al in Challenge to Florida Gay Adoption Ban." American Civil Liberties Union website. 3)Lambda Legal website, "Background on Lambda Legal's Supreme Court Case Challenging Texas's "Homosexual Conduct" Law." 4)"Anita Bryant, b.1940, Singer and Crusader." , St. Petersburg Times Online. 5)"Lawrence & Garner v. State of Texas." , SodomyLaws.org 6)ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Project, "Let Him Stay" 7)My Florida Website, The State of Florida's Website 8)Pennsylvania Adoption Exchange, Pennsylvania Adoption Exchange Homepage 9)Lexis Nexis, "U.S. Appeals Court Narrowly Upholds Only Blanket Gay Adoption Ban." The Associated Press State & Local Wire. 10)Human Rights Campaign website, "What's Happening in My State?" Butler, Judith. "Imitation and Gender Insubordination." Inside/Out: Lesbian Theories, Gay Theories. New York: Routledge, 1991. 13-31.

Solve a Problem

Solve a Problem Paper Laura Cud university to Phoenix PHALLI Creative Minds and Critical Thinking Jansen Buckler August 07, 2013 The concept of creativity in processing a strategic plan was not implemented in a professional scenario of consolidating two warehouses together; a consolidation that creates a centralized operation to maintain transparency for customer satisfaction. The creative process has two broad applications to open the thought process of being creative: solving problems and resolving controversial Issues (Ruggeri, 2009).More to the point the terms problem and issue noticeably overlap; both terms refer o an unpleasant condition that challenges the resourcefulness to provide a satisfactory remedy to an explosive problem. Although the term Issue divides personnel against each other, both sides have created barriers against the opposing party. By evaluating the four stages of creativity will gain an understanding to have a productive project while maintain transparency t o the customer. The tour stages to creative process that should have applied to a consolidation project begin with (a) searching for challenges (Ruggeri, 2009).Frequently challenges are presented with issues that create an evidential dilemma. Problems that include longer than expected customer wait time due to multiple warehouses to execute a response of materiel issue to the customer. To meet this challenges In an original yet effective way management must (b) express the problem or issue to identify the problematic areas for consolidating the warehouses. Recognizing the problems within an issue will yield a plausible solution.Furthermore having to transport materiel issue documents between building causing double and sometime triple handling of materiel hard copy issue documents. Only after the (c) investigating to problem or issue will management discover the pertain Information necessary to deal effectively with customer dissatisfaction of having to wait long periods of time to receive materiel, especially under urgent conditions. The investigating stage allows the process to be mapped out to see where fresh Ideas can be Implemented and old processed might be evicted bring about a new and improved management of hard copy documents.These fresh concepts will be the source of (d) producing ideas that generates credible consideration to decide what action to take In order to mitigate the current customer wait times. Although there are two obstacles to overcome: the unwitting tendency to limit Ideas regarding familiar habits and creating barriers to the â€Å"unknown† to change (Ruggeri, 2009). The Ana in our project tell short in this stage, as a team on this consolidation project we taunt ourselves tempting to hold tight to the current processes. It seemed that the new processes were alien and the creativity within this project fell short.Because we fought the inevitable the turn-around time of the projects cradle to grave life line went from a two mon th expected closure to a six month lingering of barriers to change. Understanding the techniques used to break down the barriers of change and have a successful consolidation closed the fourth stage of creative processes. The techniques used in this consolidation challenge were trim-fold, stake holders that included the employees, management, and customers. Both employees and management was observant to the change that was occurring.Both parties were involved in his or her internal reveries causing them to miss the bulk of what was causing the change to occur. The customers were frustrated by observing the constraints in receiving materiel and watching the installation fall apart due to miss-communication between employee and management. Management was looking for the imperfection in the current processes and provided training to the employees before the change was executed. All three parties saw imperfections of their own and learned how to handle those changes when they searched f or their causes.Management had to be sensitive to the implications of this consolidation and recognize the controversy from the change. To properly investigate the currently problem, management must first identify the problems that need to be solved. Management had to search out the facts behind the change; they would use eye witness testimony from the customer (Ruggeri, 2009). This testimony will give the customer a chance to vent their frustrations. Expert opinions from other entities that have consolidated their processes to see were their problematic issues were and what worked smoothly.Conduct surveys with the employees who would experience the change in the processes and how that will affect daily production. Finally management shall review their own experiences to see where in the problem lays on their end. By taking in all these prospective will allow management to have a 360 degree view of the problem and possible solutions to resolve the constraints in the consolidation pr oject. Questions to be answered before the consolidation can be implemented: * What will the new management hierarchy look like? How will the new processes fall into the old processes of issuing materiel? * Will we still use hard copy documents? * How will the customers be affected by this change? * How will the customer overcome their current frustrations? To better understand the problem behind this consolidation project, the stakeholders were on the verge of experiencing a change that had a variable of unknowns. Yes, the consolidation would reduce the turn-around time for the customers to receive their materiel, and the use of hard copy documents prolonged the issues rates.There were several advantages for technology and computerized documents to expedite the materiel issues. Although the hierarchy would change moving employees into a centralized location, the employees would see a minimal impact because the management system was not going to change Just the location. The new pro cesses would fall into the old process nicely due to the computerized issue documents and the track-ability of the eateries will show a positive chain of custody with an exchange of hands.The Old nard copy documents cause constrains Witt the loss to paperwork and past issue to materiel. Currently there are no hard-copy documents they were resolved when the documents became electronic. The customers will experience a bottle neck effect during the consolidation but once the materiel is moved into the new building it will have a stronger turn-around time. The customer will overcome their frustration by keeping an open like of communication and give a advance notice of intent with urgent items that need to be expedited.At the conclusion of this project it was noticed that the Seems were customer constraints and the lost of materiel transparency during the move. And the Jewels were that communication between the stakeholders kept the material movement seamless, as well as the advances in technology. Ultimately this project was a success, although if we would have used the creative process within our implantation we would not have experience the various constraints. References Ruggeri, V. R. (2009). The art of thinking: A guide to critical and creative thought (9th deed. ). New York, NY: Pearson Longhand.

Brand Elements

STUDY ON THE IMPORTANCE,ROLE,CONSUMER IMPACT & BUDGET OF VISUAL MERCHANDISING Dissertation Submitted to the Padmashree Dr. D. Y. Patil University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of MASTERS IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Submitted by: DIVYA. P. KUMAR (Roll No. MBA-RET-0801010) Research Guide: PROF. KRISHNA SHETTY Department of Business Management Padmashree Dr. D. Y. Patil University CBD Belapur, Navi Mumbai. March 2010 1 INDEX TOPICPAGE NO 1Declaration4 2Certificate5 3Acknowledgement6 Objective of the project7 5Definition of the problem8 6Literature Review10 7Executive Summary15 INTRODUCTION TO VISUAL MERCHANDISING 8Introduction to Retailing17 9Introduction to Visual Merchandising63 10Role Of Visual Merchandising87 11Effect of the colour, line etc on Visual Merchandising152 12Impact Of Visual Merchandising on Consumer Behaviour167 13Budget in Visual Merchandising175 14Questionnaire185 15Data Analysis187 16Research Methodology191 17Recommendations192 18Limitations of study193 2 19Conclusion194 20Bibliography198 3 DECLARATION:I Divya P Kumar hereby declare that the dissertation, VISUAL MERCHANDISING – Importance, Role, Impact on Consumer & Budget submitted for the degree of Masters of Business Administration at Padmashree Dr. D. Y. Patil University’s Department Of Business management is my original work and the dissertation has not formed the basis for the award of any degree, associate ship, fellowship or any other similar titles Place: Navi MumbaiSignature of the student: Date: 4 CERTIFICATEThis is a certify that the dissertation titled Visual Merchandising is the bonafide research work carried out by Ms. Divya P Kumar of M. B. A at Padmashree Dr. D. Y. Patil University’s, Department Of Business Management during the year 2008-2010, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of degree of Master In Business Administration and that the dissertation has not formed the basis for the award previous ly of any degree, diploma, associate ship, Fellowship or any other similar title.Place: Navi MumbaiSignature of the Guide Date: 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I express my sincere gratitude to Prof. Krishna Shetty for providing me valuable guidance for the project on ? Visual Merchandising?. I also express my deep sense of gratitude to all the staff members for providing valuable guidance, information and facilities required for my project work. Last but not the least I am thankful to DR. D. Y. PATIL UNIVERSITY’S DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT for giving me this wonderful opportunity of final project. Dr. R. Gopal Director, Department of Business Mgt,Padmashree Dr. D. Y. Patil University. 6 OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT: 1. To know the fundamentals and factors effecting visual merchandising. 2. To understand the problems of visual merchandising in retail industry. 3. To know the budgeting constraints of visual merchandising 4. To suggest solutions to problems of visual merchandising. 7 DEF INITION OF PROBLEM: Visual Merchandising (VM) is the art of presentation, which puts the merchandise in focus and in perspective too. It educates the customers, creates desire and finally augments the selling process.This is a nascent area of the Indian retail industry. Visual Merchandising achieves the following: †¢ Educates the customers about the products and services offered creatively and effectively. †¢ Enables a successful selling process, from browsing to buying. †¢ Establishes a creative medium to present merchandise in a lifelike 3-D environment, thus creating a strong impact and recall value. †¢ Sets the context of the merchandise. †¢ Establishes the linkage between fashions, product design and marketing by keeping the focus on the product. Draws the attention of the customers and help them match their needs with the visually merchandised product. 8 Every company in India keeps a specific amount apart for visual merchandising as it has a great imp act on its sales. The budget set up by most of the companies are very low thereby proving to set up a challenge for the visual merchandiser to utilize all the concepts and tools of visual merchandising to profit the company. The visual merchandiser has to come up with plans to make the maximum utilization of the money provided. It is his/her creativity that comes into play at this time. Literature Review 1. ) Retail Management(Text & Cases) – Second Edition Author – Swapna Pradhan This book seeks to expand the coverage in important topical areas of merchandise management, customer service retail marketing communicant and financial planning among others. The focus of this book has been on explaining the concepts n practices in retail mngt, particularly in the Indian/Asian setting. The author has taken a practical approach to make the treatment sound and interesting. Consequently the book is dotted with ? retail snapshots? which are boxed exhibits that illustrate a parti cular retail activity or situation-and 8 case studies including those on start bucks, shoppers stop, gili, big bazaar and titan. 2. )Retail Management – An Introduction Edited by V. V Gopal This book is based on relevant authoritative and thought provoking articles written by experts and published in leading professional magazines and research journals. The articles are organized in a sequential and logical way that makes reading cont and helps the reader acquire a holistic view of the subject.This helps in strengthening the understanding of the subject better and also enables the reader stretch their thoughts beyond the content of the book. The series is designed to meet the requirements of executive, research scholars, academicians and students of professional programs. 10 3. ) Visual Merchandising Advertisement Express—Magazine, Dec 2008 IFAI University Press In this issue v have articles listed fewer than 5 sections and a case study . The cover story of the issue i s visual merchandising. Marketers adopt various promotional strategies for the purpose of increasing sales volume.Visual merchandising is to organize the retail store such that the visual impact thus created is capable of attracting customers and making their shopping experience a real pleasure. The article discusses some aspects of visual merchandising in the current competitive scenario. The retail section has 1 article, ? consumer relation mngt in retail sector.? The descriptive article investigates the relationship mngt issues and the policies formulated for the same in the retail industry. 4. ) Marketing Master mind -Magazine Feb 2010Visual Merchandising – A silent salesman of retailers. Modern retailing formats in particular r making increased and innovative use of visual merchandising for promoting sales. With the growing presence of organized retailing in India, the use of visual merchandising concepts and tools is on the upswing. The cover story of the issue outlines the importance of visual merchandising and its role in today‘s scenario in the Indian retail industry. A special feature of this issue is the conclusions of an interview section .We have an interview with Obopay, A company that provides a solution for effective payments through mobile phones, A novel service which is now on offer in India too. 11 This issue also carries articles on other interesting topics such as consumer behaviour, tourism marketing and customer relationship mngt. 5. ) Retail Management Dunne Lusch-India Editioon This edition of retail mngt gives u gr8 insight into all aspects of retailing in a well thought out methodical approach that is sensitive to the constant changes within the industry.Professors Dunne & Lusch have continued the highest level of research to stay current with the industry and this enables the reader to engage in a well rounded dialogue about the retail industry. This book covers all major disciplines for retailing including human resou rces, operations , marketing ,multichannel retailing, finance & other areas as well, which will help u gain the best possible understanding about the retail industry. 6. ) Retailing Mngt 6th Edition 2007 Michael Levy& Barton A WeitzKnown for its strategic look at retailing and current coverage , this 6th edition cont,. to be orgaised around a model of strategic decision making. One of the major advantages of Levy/ Weits approach is the text readability, Organisation ,and its emphasis on how students can come to grips with real retailing issues and be able to solve problems . The text logical organization around a decision making process allows readers to learn about the process of strategic decision first b4 moving onto decision implementation.The implementation decisions are broken down into merchandise mngt decisions and store mngt decisions just as they would be in a real retailing sector. 12 The text provides a balanced treatment of strategic, ? how to ? and conceptual material ,in a highly readable and interesting format. The 6th edition cont. its cutting edge coverage on the latest topics and developments in retailing including globalization ,customer relationship mngt program , multichannel retailing,scm and the use of internet to improve operating efficiencies and customer service. 7. Fashion Retailing Author – Priyanka Ramgopal Well written, great photography & illustration. The text is approached logically with clear explanation of practical, real information that can be applied immediately. A must have for anyone entering the fashion retailing field or for retailers needing to up their game or train staff. Gave me a good understanding of how the fashion merchandising fiel is structured, who does what, how to merchandise a retail availability correctly and guidelines and approaches for creating effective displays. 8. ) India retail report 2009By Image Group A guest introduction for retail students, this book offer a user-friendly references gu ide to all aspects of fashion, merchandising and covers both images, dressing and in-store areas. Using examples from a range of store from fashion emporia to supermarkets, the book offers practical advice on the subject, supported by hints and tips from established fashion merchandiser. It reveals the secrets of their tool kit, and information on the use of mannequins, the latest technology, how to construct and source props and explains the psychology behind shopping and buyer. 13 9. VMSD: Visual Merchandising Magazine: If you are looking for the primary magazine used by visual communicators, store display artists, and retail desigers, then VMSD is the answer. Since 1922,VMSD has been the prominent publication that reports on visual merchandising news and events, the latest in retail display, visual design, merchandising strategies, and new products. 10. ) Visual Merchandising Author – Tony Morgan A guest introduction for retail students, this book offer a user-friendly ref erences guide to all aspects of visual merchandising and covers both window dressing and in-store areas.Using examples from a range of store from fashion emporia to supermarkets, the book offers practical advice on the subject, supported by hints and tips from established visual merchandiser. It reveals the secrets of their tool kit, and information on the use of mannequins, the latest technology, how to construct and source props and explains the psychology behind shopping and buyer 14 Executive Summary Indian Retail Industry is ranked among the ten largest retail markets in the world.The attitudinal shift of the Indian consumer in terms of â€Å"Choice Preference†, â€Å"Value for Money† and the emergence of organized retail formats have transformed the face of Retailing in India. The Indian retail industry is currently estimated to be a US$ 200 billion industry and organized Retailing comprises of 3 per cent (or) US$6. 4 Billion of the retail industry. With a growth over 20 percent per annum over the last 5 years, organized retailing is projected to reach US$ 32 Billion by 2014.The Indian retail industry though predominantly fragmented through the owner -run † Mom and Pop outlets† has been witnessing the emergence of a few medium sized Indian Retail chains, namely Pantaloon Retail, RPG Retail, Shoppers Stop, Westside (Tata Group) and Lifestyle International. In the last few years, Indians have gone through a dramatic transformation in lifestyle by moving from traditional spending on food, groceries and clothing to lifestyle categories that deliver better quality and taste.Modern retailing satisfies rising demand for such goods and services with many players entering the bandwagon in an attempt to tap greater opportunities. According to the report of American Management Consulting Firm A. T. Kearney's 2006 Global Retail Development Index (GRDI), India is on the first position , continuing for two years (2005 and 2006), among 30 coun tries as the 15 world's most attractive market for mass merchant and food retailers seeking overseas growth.On the other hand, China is losing its attractiveness and making the way to India GRDI helps retailers to prioritize their global development strategies by ranking emerging countries based on a set of 25 variables including economic and political risk, retail market alternatives, retail saturation level, and the difference between gross domestic product growth and retail growth. The study quotes : â€Å"The Indian retail market is gradually but surely opening up, while China's market becomes increasingly saturated. visually merchandised product. Visual Merchandising is the art of displaying merchandise in a manner that is appealing to the eyes of the customer. It sets the context of the merchandise in an aesthetically pleasing fashion, presenting them in a way that would convert the window shoppers into prospects and ultimately buyers of the product. A creative and talented r etailer can use this upcoming art to breathe in new life into his store products. Passion for design and creativity are essential to be a good visual merchandiserA perfect design process and the ability to create ideas that are different are required. Awareness of happenings in fashion world is needed so as to keep up-to-date with the dynamics of the market constantly. Visual merchandising includes window displays, signs, interior displays, cosmetic promotions and any other special sales promotions taking place. 16 Introduction to Retailing 17 The Global Retail Industry Retail has played a major role world over in increasing productivity across a wide range of consumer goods and services.The impact can be best seen in countries like U. S. A. , U. K. , Mexico, Thailand and more recently China. Economies of countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and Dubai are also heavily assisted by the retail sector. Retail is the second-largest industry in the United States both i n number of establishments and number of employees. It is also one of the largest worldwide. The retail industry employs more than 22 million Americans and generates more than $3 trillion in retail sale annually. Retailing is a U. S. $7 trillion sector.Wal-Mart is the world‘s largest retailer. Already the world‘s largest employer with over 1million associates, Wal-Mart displaced oil giant Exxon Mobil as the world‘s largest company when it posted $219 billion in sales for fiscal 2001. Wal-Mart has become the most successful retail brand in the world due its ability to leverage size, market clout, and efficiency to create market dominance. 18 Wal-Mart heads Fortune magazine list of top 500 companies in the world. Forbes Annual List of Billionaires has the largest number (45/497) from the retail business.Top Retailers Worldwide 1 Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. U. S. A. 2 Carrefour Group France 3 The Kroger Co. U. S. A. 4 The Home Depot, Inc. U. S. A. 5 Metro Germany Retail Sce nario in India: Touching Meteoric Scales As the corporates – the Piramals, the Tatas, the Rahejas, ITC, S. Kumar‘s, RPG Enterprises, and mega retailers- Crosswords, Shopper‘s Stop, and Pantaloons race to revolutionize the retailing sector, retail as an industry in India is coming alive. Retail sales in India amounted to about Rs. 400 billion in 2002, expanded at an average annual rate of 7% during 1999-2002. With the upturn in economic growth during 2003, retail sales are also expected to expand at a higher pace of nearly 10%. Across the country, retail sales in real terms are predicted to rise more rapidly than consumer expenditure during 2003-08. 19 The forecast growth in real retail sales during 2003- 2008 is 8. 3% per year, compared with 7. 1% for consumer expenditure. Modernization of the Indian retail sector will be reflected in rapid growth in sales of supermarkets, departmental stores and hyper marts.Sales from these large-format stores are to expand at gr owth rates ranging from 24% to 49% per year during 2003-2008, according to a latest report by Euro monitor International, a leading provider of global consumer-market intelligence. A. T. Kearney Inc. places India 6th on a global retail development index. The country has the highest per capita outlets in the world – 5. 5 outlets per 1000 population. Around 7% of the population in India is engaged in retailing, as compared to 20% in the USA.In a developing country like India, a large chunk of consumer expenditure is on basic necessities, especially food-related items. Hence, it is not surprising that food, beverages and tobacco accounted for as much as 71% of retail sales in 2002. The share of food related items had, however, declined over the review period, down from 73% in 1999. This is not unexpected, because with income growth, Indians, like consumers elsewhere, have started spending more on non-food items compared with food products. 20 Sales through supermarkets and depar tment stores are small compared with overall retail sales.Nevertheless, their sales have grown much more rapidly, at almost a triple rate (about 30% per year during the review period). This high acceleration in sales through modern retail formats is expected to continue during the next few years, with the rapid growth in numbers of such outlets due to consumer demand and business potential. The factors responsible for the development of the retail sector in India can be broadly summarized as follows: †¢ Rising incomes and improvements in infrastructure are enlarging consumer markets and accelerating the convergence of consumer tastes.Looking at income classification, the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) classified approximately 50% of the Indian population as low income in 1994-95; this is expected to decline to 17. 8% by 2006-07. †¢ Liberalization of the Indian economy which has led to the opening up of the market for consumer goods has helped the MNC brands like Kellogg‘s, Unilever, Nestle, etc. 21 To make significant inroads into the vast consumer market by offering a wide range of choices to the Indian consumers. †¢ Shift in consumer demand to foreign brands like McDonalds, Sony, Panasonic, etc. The internet revolution is making the Indian consumer more accessible to the growing influences of domestic and foreign retail chains Reach of satellite T. V. channels is helping in creating awareness about global products for local markets. About 47% of India‘s population is under the age of 20; and this will increase to 55% by 2015. This young population, which is technology-savvy, watch more than 50 TV satellite channels, and display the highest propensity to spend, will immensely contribute to the growth of the retail sector in the country.As India continues to get strongly integrated with the world economy riding the waves of globalization, the retail sector is bound to take big leaps in the years to come. The In dian retail sector is estimated to have a market size of about $ 180 billion; but the organised sector represents only 2% share of this market. 22 Most of the organised retailing in the country has just started recently, and has been concentrated mainly in the metro cities. India is the last large Asian economy to liberalize its retail sector.In Thailand, more than 40% of all consumer goods are sold through the super markets and departmental stores. A similar phenomenon has swept through all other Asian countries. Organised retailing in India has a huge scope because of the vast market and the growing consciousness of the consumer about product quality and services. A study conducted by Fitch, expects the organized retail industry to continue to grow rapidly, especially through increased levels of penetration in larger towns and metros and also as it begins to spread to smaller cities and B class towns.Fuelling this growth is the growth in development of the retail-specific properti es and malls. According to the estimates available with Fitch, close to 25mn sq. ft. of retail space is being developed and will be available for occupation over the next 36- 48 months. Fitch expects organized retail to capture 15%-20% market share by 2010. A McKinsey report on India says organised retailing would increase the efficiency and productivity of entire gamut of economic activities, and would help in achieving higher GDP growth.At 6%, the share of employment of retail in India is low, even when compared to Brazil (14%), and Poland (12%). 23 PRESENT INDIAN SCENARIO * Unorganized market: Rs. 583,000 crores * Organized market: Rs. 5, 000 crores * 5X growth in organized retailing between 2000-2005 * Over 4,000 new modern Outlets in the last 3 years * Over 5,000,000 sq. ft. of mall space under development * The top 3 modern retailers control over 750,000 sq. ft. of retail space * Over 400,000 shoppers walk through their doors every week * Growth in organized retailing on par w ith expectations and projections of the last 5 Years: on course to touch Rs. 5,000 crores (US$ 7 Billion) or more by 2005-06 TRADITIONAL RETAIL SCENE IN INDIA India is the country having the most unorganized retail market. Traditionally the retail business is run by Mom & Pop having Shop in the front & house at the back. More than 99% retailers function in less than 500Sq. Ft of area. All the merchandise was purchased as per the test & vim and fancies of the proprietor also the pricing was done on ad hock basis or by seeing at the face of customer. Generally the accounts of trading & home are not maintained separately.Profits were accumulated in slow moving & non-moving stocks which were to become redundant or consumed in-house. Thus profits were vanished without their knowledge. 24 The Manufactures were to distribute goods through C & F agents to Distributors & Wholesalers. Retailers happen to source the merchandise from Wholesalers & reach to end-users. The merchandise price used to get inflated to a great extent till it reaches from Manufacturer to End-user. Selling prices were largely not controlled by Manufacturers. Branding was not an issue for majority of customers.More than 99% customers are price sensitive & not quality or Brand Sensitive at the same time they are Brand conscious also. Weekly Bazaar in many small tows was held & almost all the commodities were on the scene including livestock. Bargaining was the unwritten law of market. Educational qualification level of these retailers was always low. Hence market was controlled by handful of distributors &/or Wholesalers. Virtually there was only one format of retailing & that was mass retail. Retailer to consumer ratio was very low, for all the categories without exception.Varity in terms of quality, Styles were on regional basis, community based & truly very low range was available at any given single place. Almost all the purchases / (buying) by mass population was need oriented & next turn may b e on festivals, Marriages, Birthdays & some specific occasions. 25 Impulsive buying or consumption is restricted to food or vegetables etc. Having extra pair of trousers or Shirts or Casuals & Formals & leisure wear & sports wear & different pair of shoes for occasions is till date is a luxury for majority population except for those living in Metros.Purchasing power of Indian urban consumer is very low and that of Branded merchandise in categories like Apparels, Cosmetics, Shoes, Watches, Beverages, Food, Jewellery, are slowly seeping into the lifeline of Indian City folks. However electronic & electrical home appliances do hold appropriate image into the minds of consumers. Brand name does matter in these white goods categories. In the coming times also majority of organized retailers will find it difficult to keep balance with rest of the unbranded retail market which is very huge.Different Forms of Retailing : Emergence of new formats of retailing in India Popular Formats †¢ Hyper marts 26 †¢ Supermarkets †¢ Departmental Stores †¢ Speciality Stores 27 †¢ Discount/shopping list grocer †¢ Traditional retailers trying to reinvent by introducing self- service formats as well as value- added services such as credit, free home delivery etc. RetailerOriginal formats RPG Retail Supermarket (Food world)Piramal'sDepartment Store (Pyramid Megastore) Pantaloon Small format outlets (Shoppe) RetailDepartment Store (Pantaloon) K RahejaDepartment Store (shopper's Groupstop) Specialty Store (Crossword) Tata/ Trent Department Store (Westside) Landmark Department Store (Lifestyle) Group Later Formats Hypermarket (Spencer's)Specialty Store (Health and Glow) Discount Store (TruMart) Supermarket (Food Bazaar) Hypermarket (Big Bazaar) Mall (Central) Supermarket (TBA) Hypermarket (TBA) Hypermarket (Star India Bazaar) Hypermarket (TBA) Others Discount Store (Subhiksha, Margin Free, Apna Bazaar), Supermarket Nilgiri's), Specialty Electronics 28 Plans o f Large Retailers * Reliance Retail: investing Rs. 30,000 crore ($6. 67 billion) in setting up multiple retail formats with expected sales of Rs. 90,000 crore plus ($20 billion) by 2009-10. * Pantaloon Retail: Will occupy 10 mn sq. ft retail space and achieve Rs. 9,000 crore-plus ($2 bn) sales by 2008. * RPG: Planning IPO will have 450-plus Music World, 50-plus Spencer's Hyper covering 4 mn sq. ft by 2010. * LIFESTYLE: Investing Rs. 400 crore-plus ($90 mn) in next five years on Max Hypermarkets & value retail stores, home and lifestyle centres. Rahejas: Operates Shoppers' Stop, Crossword, Inorbit Mall, and ‘Home Stop' formats. Will operate 55 â€Å"Hyper city† hypermarkets with US$100 million sales across India by 2015. * Pyramids Retail: Aiming to occupy 1. 75 million sq. ft retail spaces through 150 stores in next five years. * TATA (Trent Ltd. ): Trent to open 27 more stores across its retail formats adding 1 mn sq. ft of space in the next 12 DLF malls. Titan industr ies to add 50-plus Titan and Tanishq stores in 2006. 29 Small is big for Indian retail: It's raining malls in small-town India.Whether it's Kanpur, Ahmadabad, Indore, Agra, Baroda or Surat, the mall and multiplex culture has caught on in the country's smaller cities, powered by the burgeoning purchasing power of India's middle-class. From a handful of malls in the mid '90s, India today has nearly 200 malls spread across large and small cities. And 700 new malls are coming up all over India40% of them concentrated in the smaller cities. Small-town India is the next big thing in the retail business. Consider these numbers: in 2005, the contribution of smaller cities to total organized retailing sales was 15%.By the end of this year, that proportion is expected to grow to 25%. Organized retailing in small-town India is growing at a staggering 50-60% a year compared to 35%-40% in the large cities. The striking point is that it is the big names in the organized retail business that are e yeing these new opportunities. The Kishore Biyani-owned Future Group, India's largest retailer, plans to invest Rs 3,600 crore in 100 stores in 30 cities, increasing its retail space from 3. 5 million square feet to 30 million sq feet. The RPG group plans to open malls in all cities with a population of over 8 lakh.Similarly, Wills Lifestyle, the garments and accessories retailing division of ITC Ltd, plans to increase its footprint by doubling the number of stores from 50 to around 100 in the next two to three years, mostly in smaller cities. 30 Even Sunil Mittal's Bharti group has announced plans to get into food and farm products retailing. All these plans, however, are dwarfed by Mukesh Ambani's ambitions to do a Wal-Mart in India by investing $5. 60 billion (Rs 25,000 crore) and covering 1,500 cities and towns. The small-town retail boom could be considered a show-case of India's freemarket prosperity.It is being powered by healthy economic growth that is making more Indians mo re prosperous. Organized retailers have understood this and are hoping to ride the wave, exploit the first-mover advantage and establish strong brand loyalties in these relatively under-served markets. Indeed, this is probably the most compelling example of the trickle-down impact of liberalization in India. Looking ahead, retail analysts suggest that the sustained success of the IT and industries in small towns is expected to create more jobs and enhance spending power.Typically, small cities offer a 15% to 30% cost advantage over larger cities, not just in terms of employee costs but real estate costs as well, not to speak of the gains that accrue from reduced staff attrition rates. This gap is expected to widen over the next few years, creating a pull for smaller towns that will, in turn, power the small-town retail revolution. At present, real estate costs present a major incentive for India's organized retailers. Average rental values for ground-floor space are Rs 50-60 per squ are foot a month, against Rs 100-120 per sq foot a month in the bigger cities. 1 However, a strong demand for retail space has more than doubled rentals in cities like Jaipur, Chandigarh, Surat and Lucknow. While in the metros, retailers are filling gaps by increasing more stores, in small towns, these malls are way beyond the expectations of the consumers. These cities are untapped markets and retailers find it important to establish their brands there. Smaller cities are seeing plenty of action. For instance, Ludhiana can already boast worldwide restaurant chains like KFC, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Domino's Pizza, Ruby Tuesday and Subway.A new world-class, 25-acre commercial centre and some seven new shopping malls-cum-entertainment centres are under construction. The Indian retail market is estimated at $350 billion. But organized retail is estimated at only $8 billion. However, the opportunity is huge—by 2010, organized retail is expected to grow to $22 billion. With the gro wth of organized retailing estimated at 40% (CAGR) over the next few years, Indian retailing is clearly at a tipping point. India is currently the ninth largest retail market in the world. It is names like Dehradun, Vijayawada, Lucknow and Nasik that will power India up the rankings soon.The Indian retail sector can be broadly classified into: a) FOOD RETAILERS There are large number and variety of retailers in the food-retailing sector. 32 Traditional types of retailers, who operate small single-outlet businesses mainly using family labour, dominate this sector. In comparison, super markets account for a small proportion of food sales in India. However the growth rate of super market sales has being significant in recent years because greater numbers of higher income. Indians prefer to shop at super markets due to higher standards of hygiene and attractive ambience. b) HEALTH & BEAUTY PRODUCTSWith growth in income levels, Indians have started spending more on health and beauty Prod ucts Here also small, single- outlet retailers dominate the market. However in recent years, a few retail chains specializing in these products have come into the market. Although these retail chains account for only a small share of the total market , their business is expected to grow significantly in the future due to the growing quality consciousness of buyers for these products . 33 c) CLOTHING & FOOTWEAR Numerous clothing and footwear shops in shopping centres and markets operate all over India.Traditional outlets stock a limited range of cheap and popular items; in contrast, modern clothing and footwear stores have modern products and attractive displays to lure customers. However, with rapid urbanization, and changing patterns of consumer tastes and preferences, it is unlikely that the traditional outlets will survive the test of time. d) HOME FURNITURE & HOUSEHOLD GOODS Small retailers again dominate this sector. Despite the large size of this market, very few large and mod ern retailers have established specialized stores for these products.However there is considerable potential for the entry or expansion of specialized retail chains in the country. e) DURABLE GOODS 34 The Indian durable goods sector has seen the entry of a large number of foreign companies during the post liberalization period. A greater variety of consumer electronic items and household appliances became available to the Indian customer. Intense competition among companies to sell their brands provided a strong impetus to the growth for retailers doing business in this sector. f) LEISURE & PERSONAL GOODS Increasing household incomes due to better economic opportunities have ncouraged consumer expenditure on leisure and personal goods in the country. There are specialized retailers for each category of products (books, music products, etc. ) in this sector. Another prominent feature of this sector is popularity of franchising agreements between established manufacturers and retailer s. 35 INDIAN RETAIL IS MOVING INTO SECOND GEAR 1) FIRST GEAR: (Create awareness) * New retailers driving awareness * High degree of fragmentation * Real estate groups starting retail chains * Consumer expecting ‘value for money' as core value 2) SECOND GEAR: (Meet customer expectations) Consumer-driven * Emergence of pure retailers * Retailers getting multi-location and multi-format * Global retailers evincing interest in India 3) THIRD GEAR: (Back end management) * Category management * Vendor partnership * Stock turns * Channel synchronization * Consumer acquisition * Customer relation's management 4) FOURTH GEAR: (Consolidation) * Aggressive rollout 36 * Organized retail acquitting significant share * Beginning of cross-border movement * Mergers and acquisitions For a start, these retailers need to invest much more in capturing more specific market.Intelligence as well as almost real-time customer purchase behaviour information. The retailers also need to make substantial i nvestment in understanding/acquiring some advanced expertise in developing more accurate and scientific demand forecasting models. Re-engineering of product sourcing philosophies-aligned more towards collaborative planning and replenishment should then be next on their agenda. The message, therefore for the existing small and medium independent retailers is to closely examine what changes are taking place in their immediate vicinity, and analyze.Whether their current market offers a potential redevelopment of the area into a more modern multi-option destination. If it does, and most commercial areas in India do have this potential, it would be very useful to form a consortium of other such small retailers in that vicinity and take a pro-active approach to pool in resources and improve the overall infrastructure. 37 The next effort should be to encourage retailers to make some investments in improving the interiors of their respective establishments to make shopping an enjoyable expe rience for the customer.As the retail marketplace changes shape and competition increases, the potential for improving retail productivity and cutting costs is likely to decrease. Therefore, it will become important for retailers to secure a distinctive position in the marketplace based on value, relationships or experience. Finally, it is important to note that these strategies are not strictly independent of each other; value is function of not just price, quality and service but can also be enhanced by Personalization and offering a memorable experience.In fact, building relationships with customers can by itself increase the quality of overall customer experience and thus the perceived value. But most importantly for winning in this intensely competitive marketplace, it is critical to understand the target customer's definition of value and make an offer, which not only delights the customers but also is also difficult for competitors to replicate. Challenges of Retailing in Ind ia Retailing as an industry in India has still a long way to go. To become a truly flourishing industry, retailing needs to cross the following hurdles: Automatic approval is not allowed for foreign investment in retail. †¢ Regulations restricting real estate purchases, and cumbersome local laws. †¢ Taxation, which favours small retail businesses. †¢ Absence of developed supply chain and integrated IT management. 38 †¢ Lack of trained work force. †¢ Low skill level for retailing management. †¢ Intrinsic complexity of retailing – rapid price changes, constant threat of product obsolescence and low margins. The retailers in India have to learn both the art and science of retailing by closely following how retailers in other parts of the world are organizing, anaging, and coping up with new challenges in an ever-changing marketplace. Indian retailers must use innovative retail formats to enhance shopping experience, and try to understand the regiona l variations in consumer attitudes to retailing. Retail marketing efforts have to improve in the country – advertising, promotions, and campaigns to attract customers; building loyalty by identifying regular shoppers and offering benefits to them; efficiently managing high-value customers and monitoring customer needs constantly, are some of the aspects which Indian retailers need to focus upon on a more pro-active basis.Despite the presence of the basic ingredients required for growth of the retail industry in India, it still faces substantial hurdles that will retard and inhibit its growth in the future. One of the key impediments is the lack of FDI status. This has largely limited capital investments in supply chain infrastructure, which is a key for development and growth of food retailing and has also constrained access to world-class retail practices. 39 Multiplicity and complexity of taxes, lack of proper infrastructure and relatively high cost of real estate are the o ther impediments to the growth of retailing.While the industry and the government are trying to remove many of these hurdles, some of the roadblocks will remain and will continue to affect the smooth growth of this industry. Fitch believes that while the market share of organised retail will grow and become significant in the next decade, this growth would, however, not be at the same rapid pace as in other emerging markets. Organised retailing in India is gaining wider acceptance. The development of the organised retail sector, during the last decade, has begun to change the face of retailing, especially, in the major metros of the country.Experiences in the developed and developing countries prove that performance of organised retail is strongly linked to the performance of the economy as a whole. This is mainly on account of the reach and penetration of this business and its scientific approach in dealing with customers and their needs. In spite of the positive prospects of this industry, Indian retailing faces some major hurdles (see Table 1), which have stymied its growth. Early signs of organized retail were visible even in the 1970s when Nilgiris food), Viveks (consumer durables) and Nallis (sarees) started their operations. 40 However, as a result of the roadblocks (mentioned in Table 1), the industry remained in a rudimentary stage. While these retailers gave the necessary ambience to customers, little effort was made to introduce world-class customer care practices and improve operating efficiencies. Moreover, most of these modern developments were restricted to south India, which is still regarded as a ? Mecca of Indian Retail‘ KEY CHALLENGES: 1) LOCATION: â€Å"Right Place, Right choice†Location is the most important ingredient for any business that relies on customers, and is typically the prime consideration in a customers store choice. Locations decisions are harder to change because retailers have to either make sustainable investm ents to buy and develop real estate or commit to long term lease with developers. When formulating decision about where to locate, the retailer must refer to the strategic plan: * Investigate alternative trading areas. * Determine the type of desirable store location * Evaluate alternative specific store sites 2) MERCHANDISE:The primary goal of the most retailers is to sell the right kind of merchandise and nothing is more central to the strategic thrust of the retailing firm. 41 Merchandising consists of activities involved in acquiring particular goods and services and making them available at a place, time and quantity that enable the retailer to reach its goals. Merchandising is perhaps, the most important function for any retail organization, as it decides what finally goes on shelf of the store. 3) PRICING: Pricing is a crucial strategic variable due to its direct relationship with a firm's goal and its interaction with other retailing elements.The importance of pricing decisi ons is growing because today's customers are looking for good value when they buy merchandise and services. Price is the easiest and quickest variable to change. 4) TARGET AUDIENCE: â€Å"Consumer the prime mover† â€Å"Consumer Pull†, however, seems to be the most important driving factor behind the sustenance of the industry. The purchasing power of the customers has increased to a great extent, with the influencing the retail industry to a great extent, a variety of other factors also seem to fuel the retailing boom. 5) SCALE OF OPERATIONS:Scale of operations includes all the supply chain activities, which are carried out in the business. It is one of the challenges that the Indian retailers are facing. The cost of business operations is very high in India. 42 FactorsDescriptionImplications Barriers to FDIFDI not permitted in pureAbsence of global retailingplayers Franchisee arrangementLimited exposure to best allowedpractices Lack of IndustryGovernment does notRest ricted availability of Statusrecognize the industryfinance Restricts growth and scaling up StructuralLack of urbanizationLack of awareness of ImpedimentsPoor transportation nfrastructure Consumer habit of buying fresh foods Administered pricing Indian consumers Restricted retail growth Growth of small, one- store formats, with unmatchable cost structure Wastage of almost 20%- 25% of farm produce High Cost of RealPro-tenant rent laws EstateNon-availability of government land, zoning restrictions Lack of clear ownership titles, high stamp duty (10%) Supply ChainSeveral segments like food Bottlenecksand apparel reserved for Difficult to find good real estate in terms of location and size High land cost owing to constrained supply Disorganized nature of transactionsLimited product range Makes scaling up 43 SSIs Distribution, logistics constraints – restrictions of purchase and movement of food grains, absence of cold chain infrastructure Long intermediation chain difficult High c ost and complexity of sourcing & planning Lack of value addition and increase in costs by almost 15% Complex TaxationDifferential sales tax ratesAdded cost and Systemacross statescomplexity of Multi-point octroidistribution Sales tax avoidance byCost advantage for smaller storessmaller stores through ax evasion Multiple Legislations Stringent labour law governing hours of work, minimum wage payments Multiple licenses/clearances required CustomerLocal consumption habits PreferencesNeed for variety Cultural issues Limits flexibility in operations Irritant value in establishing chain operations; adds to overall costs Leads to product proliferation Need to stock larger number of SKUs at store level Increases complexity in sourcing & planning Increases the cost of 44 store management Availability of Talent Highly educated class does not consider retailing a rofession of choice Lack of proper training ManufacturersNo increase in margins Backlash Lack of trained personnel Higher trial and error in managing retail operations Increase in personnel costs Manufacturers refuse to dis-intermediate and pass on intermediary margins to retailers ORGANISED RETAILING IN INDIA: Organized retailing is spreading and making its presence felt in different parts of the country. The trend in grocery retailing, however, has been slightly different with a growth concentration in the South. However, the Mecca of retailing is undoubtedly Chennai.What was considered a `traditional', conservative' and `cost-conscious' market, proved to be the home ground for most of the successful retail names – Food World, Music World, Health and Glow, Titan, Big Bazaar and Tanishq -to name a few. 45 The choice of Chennai as the `retail capital' has surprised many, but a variety of factors acted in its favour. Chennai, in spite of being a rapidly growing metropolis offers reasonable real estate prices, one of the most critical elements for the industry. Chennai has been witnessing a high industrial growth and ncreasing presence of the MNCs, both in the IT sector as well as outside it. The industrial boom has led to the emergence of new residential areas with aggregation of professionals as well as a rapid increase in the number of `double-income' households and growth of the nouveau riche/upper middle class with increased purchasing power. These have been combined with the increasing need for touch and feel shopping (especially for the large migrant population). All the factors have acted favourably in nurturing the industry. Consumer- the prime mover: A variety of factors seem to influence the growth in the retailing industry. Consumer Pull', however, seems to be the most important driving factor behind the sustenance of the industry. In this context, A. F. Ferguson & Co. had carried out a brief survey among consumers across income segments to understand their spending pattern. An analysis of the `monthly purchase basket of the consumers surveyed indicated that the average mo nthly household spends on food and grocery related items varied across income segments. 46 For instance, in the case of upper income households, the average spend was around Rs 4,200 per month.As against this, the average spend in the case of a middle income household was around Rs. 2,850 and lower income households Rs. 1,250 per month. (This is computed from a sample of 100 customers having an average family size of four. ) Based on the distribution of the more than 15 lakh households in Chennai across income segments and the average spend, a conservative estimate of the grocery retailing potential at Chennai will be around Rs. 300 crores. Besides increasing purchasing power, a variety of other factors also seem to fuel the retailing boom.With increase in double-income households and working women, there is an increasing pressure on time with very little time being available for leisure. In this scenario, consumers are seeking the convenience of one-stop shopping, whereby they coul d have better utility of time. They are also seeking speed and efficiency in processing, as a result. 4 Being more aware, consumers are on the look-out for more information, better quality and hygiene as well as increased customer service. These changes in consumer behaviour also augur well for the retailing industry.However, in India there are no uniform trends with respect to consumer buying behaviour. There are visible differences in the shopping pattern of consumers across income segments as shown in the table. Organized retailing has definitely made headway in the upper class. However, even in this segment, items such as milk, fruits, vegetables and a significant portion of `through-the-month' purchases seem to be done at traditional outlets. The middle income class prefers shopping for processed food and personal care in supermarkets and fall back on traditional outlets for bulk shopping.Organized retail outlets seem to be associated with branded items/special purchases. Organ ized retailing does not seem to have made an impact on the lower class, except for `curiosity' shopping. The biggest question before organized retailers therefore, is whether this really means a huge untapped potential for the organized retailers and whether the conversion in mindset going to be easy. Emerging trends: 48 The single most important evolution that took place along with the retailing revolution was the rise and fall of the dotcom companies.A sudden concept of `non-store' shopping emerged, which threatened to take away the potential of the store. More importantly, the very nature of the customer segment being addressed was almost the same. The computer-savvy individual was also a sub-segment of the `store' frequenting traffic. Internationally, the concept of net shopping is yet to be proven. And the poor financial performance of most of the companies offering virtual shopping has resulted in store-based retailing regaining the upper hand. Other forms of non-store shoppin g including various formats such as catalogue/mail order shopping, direct elling, and so on are growing rapidly However, the size of the direct market industry is too limited to deter the retailers. For all the convenes. Once that it offers, electronic retailing does not suit products where `look and see' attributes are of importance, as in apparel, or where the value is very high, such as jewellery, or where the performance has to be tested, as of consumer durables. 49 The most critical issue in electronic retailing, especially in a country such as ours, relates to payments and the various security issues involved.Retail management skills: It is a fact that the retailing industry is in its starting phase in our country. The benefits of organized retailing will only be felt once an equitable scale is achieved. This to a large extent depends on the store size, the walkthroughs, and bills per customer per year, average bill size and the revenue earned per sq. ft. But besides resources and bottom line, a variety of other aspects need to be in place for tasting success. The need for qualified and trained manpower is of utmost importance.The need for specialized skills is increasingly felt in the areas of: Strategic management – strategizing, targeting and positioning, marketing and site selection, among others Merchandise management – Vendor selection, inventory management, pricing and so on Store management – Layout, display, customer relationship, inventory management, etc. Administrative Management – Human resources, finance, marketing and so on 50 With the need for specialized skill set, retailing has become a specialized area of knowledge and training.The RPG School of Retailing and the introduction of specialized retailing courses at various business schools, including the IIMs, stand testimony to this. Technology impact: The other important aspect of retailing relates to technology. It is widely felt that the key differentiator b etween the successful and not so successful retailers is primarily in the area of technology. Simultaneously, it will be technology that will help the organized retailer score over the unorganized players, giving both cost and service advantages. Retailing is a `technology-intensive' industry.It is quoted that everyday at least 500 gigabytes of data are transmitted via satellite from the 1,200 point-of-sales counters of JC Penney to its corporate headquarters. Successful retailers today work closely with their vendors to predict consumer demand, shorten lead times, reduce inventory holding and thereby, save cost. Wal-Mart pioneered the concept of building a competitive advantage through distribution and information systems in the retailing industry. They introduced two innovative logistics techniques – cross-docking and electronic data interchange.Today, online systems link point-of-sales terminals to the main office where detailed analyses on sales by item, classification, s tores or vendor are carried out online. 51 Besides vendors, the focus of the retailing sector is to develop the link with the consumer. `Data Warehousing' is an established concept in the advanced nations. With the help of `database retailing', information on existing and potential customers is tracked. Besides knowing what was purchased and by whom, information on softer issues such as demographics and psychographics is captured.Retailing, as discussed before, is at a nascent stage in our country. Most organized players have managed to put the front ends in place, but these are relatively easy to copy. The relatively complicated information systems and underlying technologies are in the process of being established. Most grocery retailers such as Food World have started tracking consumer purchases through CRM. The lifestyle retailers through their `affinity clubs' and `reward clubs' are establishing their processes.The traditional retailers will always continue to exist but organiz ed retailers are working towards revamping their business to obtain strategic advantages at various levels – market, cost, knowledge and customer. 52 With differentiating strategies – value for money, shopping experience, variety, quality, discounts and advanced systems and technology in the back-end, change in the equilibrium with manufacturers and a thorough understanding of the consumer behaviour, the ground is all set for the organized retailers.The bottom line could look brighter, after all! It would be important to note, however, that the retailing industry in India is still a `protected industry'. It is one of the few sectors which still have restrictions on FDI. Given the current trend in liberalization, it will not be long before the retailing sector is also thrown open to international competition. This will see a further segregation of the international retailing brands and the domestic retailers, thereby injecting much greater dynamism into the market. That will be when the real action will begin.In the second article on retailing, we uncover a model for retailers to handle the emerging scenario. India's retail sector is going to transform and with a three-year compounded annual growth rate of 46. 64 per cent, retail sector is the fastest growing sector in the Indian economy. Traditional markets are transforming themselves in new formats such as departmental stores, hypermarkets, supermarkets and specialty stores. Western-style malls have begun appearing in metros and near metro cities, introducing the Indian consumer to a new shopping experience.