Competitive Strategic Management a Case Study of Virgin Atlantics Essay

Introduction: Today, competition in international markets has become severe and in order to sustain relevant position, organizations need to assume competitive strategies so that they can gain competitive advantages. (Rao, pp.185, 2011) The dynamic condition of markets has made it complicated for the organizations to achieve higher level of success without using experts’ promulgated models and literatures. (Flouris, Oswald, pp.19, 2006) Hence, researches have made it simple for the organizations to compete at broader level yet these researches merely gives way to these organizations and they need to develop the strategic plans on their own. Different companies adopt different kind of competitive strategies in order to get higher position in competitive market and for this purpose, it used to perform different activities than the competing firms. (Daft, pp.65, 2009)Virgin Airlines is one of the organizations who have assumed authentic strategies in order to satisfy customer’s need and ultimately got exceptional position. This paper is basically an analysis of the competitive strategy of Virgin Atlantics which it has used in order to gain competitive advantage. The first section analyzes the competitive strategy of Virgin Atlantics, second part deals with advantages and limitations and third part give certain recommendations to Virgin Atlantics in order to better its services. Competitive strategy of Virgin Atlantics: Porter has identified four different strategic options which an organization can use in order to gain competitive advantage keeping the contemporary internal and external environment under consideration. (Griffin, pp.244, 2010) Differentiation strategy is one of those competitive strategies promulgated by Porters In his Generic Strategic model. (Eldring, pp.6, 2009)Virgin Atlantic has based its strategic plan keeping differentiation strategy under consideration. However, if its strategy is scrutinized, it indicates that this strategy has been developed after doing thorough internal and external analysis. As far as internal analysis is concerned, this analysis demonstrates strengths and weaknesses of the organizations and for this purpose, different models like SWOT analysis can be utilized since it allows the organizations to analyze strengths and weaknesses of the organization. (Dibb, Simkin, pp.28, 2008) Virgin Atlantic has also based its strategy keeping internal analysis under consideration since its analysis demonstrate how internal analysis aids in having differentiation portfolio and potential customers. (Strauss, pp.106, 2010) The basic strength of Virgin Atlantic is the financial affiliation which it has with Singapore airline. (Reynolds, Lancaste, 2012) However, its financial information is not disclosed publicly yet it can be found out that the service has been differentiated by the company through identifying the core strengths and cost effectiveness is one of them. As far as weaknesses are concerned, Virgin Atlantic is though providing exceptional services to its customers yet for customers, it is costly. A normal customer cannot have first class or premium class service with this Airline. However, the solution has been provided in the form of three different classes and the average customers can utilize economy class for traveling to different destinations. Similarly, the external analysis has been done through doing market analysis, customer analysis, industry analysis and above all competitive analysis in order to gain competitive advantages. For this purpose, usually PESTEL analysis is done which identifies political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal aspects of the provided services. (Henry, pp.51, 2008) Virgin Atlantic also does PESTEL analysis at macro level in order to gain complete competitive advantage through identifying all essential factors and after doing this analysis, it has developed its differentiation strategy for international market. Porter’s differentiation strategy can be observed from all the perspectives including packages, offers, services etc. For example, it has been offering services for more than 30 different destinations with 43 outstanding aircrafts including airbuses, Boeings and aircrafts. Similarly, this airline has bases in Manchester and London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports and offers services for thirty different destinations including Dubai, Mauritius, Delhi, Sydney and Cape Town, the tourist favorite areas. Moreover, normally airlines offer business and economy class but Virgin Atlantic has three different classes including upper, premium economy and economy classes. In addition, it has infused differentiation strategy through providing Virgin Atlantic Cargo and Holiday services which offers instant and urgent shipments to different destinations of the world. Similarly, different travel packages with outclass offers have also been facilitated to customers in order to gain competitive advantages through dissimilar features. All these examples indicate how differentiation strategy of Porter’s Generic model aids an organization to gain benefits but for this purpose, organizations usually charge premium prices as well. Virgin Atlantic is also costly from other airlines in the market but its unique services have made it ample popular that more than five million customers use its services worldwide and all of them are ready to pay high prices for premium services. The competitive strategy of Virgin Atlantics has been developed keeping the market trends and contemporary needs of the customers under consideration and not only unique and different facilities have been provided but also basic requirements have been fulfilled. Hence, the competitive strategy of Virgin Atlantics has made it successful and preferable for the customers among all large air service providers. For using differentiation competitive strategy, this organization has been cherishing exceptional advantages and some of them are as followed: Advantages: If the analysis of advantages for using differentiations competitive strategy is scrutinized from the perspective of The Strategy Clock, it would appear that the organizations, who utilize this competitive strategy, gain high benefits investing low amount. Source: (Johnson, pp.243, 2008) This thing can be seen from the example of Virgin Atlantics since it has been using different sources to differentiate its services from others in order to gain competitive advantage and hence, achieved high profit in low amount as well. In current markets, the first advantage which Virgin Atlantics has been cherishing is the distinctive position due to providing unique services. Differentiation strategy allows Virgin Atlantics to have distinctive market position that makes it different from other competitors in the market and compels customers to prefer it on other competitors in the market providing similar service. (Thompson, Martin, pp.191, 2010) Second advantage of using this strategy is that it enables Virgin Atlantics to have sustainability in current market environment through gaining competitive advantage. For example, through providing unique services with exceptional features like multi-destination services, entertainment and customer care, shipping service, holiday packages, Virgin Atlantics invested little amount as compared to others but gained double benefits which enables it to have remarkable position in the market. The third major benefit of this differentiation strategy is flexibility which the organization provides. (Doise, pp.82, 2008) Virgin Atlantics also provides ample flexibility to customers in order to allow them to choose from multiple options. For instance, the customer can choose travel class from offered three classes according to his requirements. Suppose if customer has normal budget, he can select economy class whereas if he wants luxurious travel, he can select upper class. Flexibility is offered in packages and customers can choose relevant holiday packages of Virgin Holidays as well. Hence, this thing also proved ample lucrative for the company to achieve competitive advantage in contemporary markets and its environments. Limitations: In current dynamic business environment, using differentiation strategy is though beneficial but only to some extent since there are certain limitations cling to this competitive strategy, some of them are as followed: †¢It is very difficult to sustain elements of differentiation in current business environment since there are potential competitors in the market who try to assume better strategy in order to compete with Virgin Atlantics. These competitors might offer better services and add-ons that might affect core strategy of Virgin Atlantics †¢Changing services and making it unique is often costly. Though core strategy never costs high but sustainability of differentiations strategy usually costs high because the organizations have to spend a major amount in competing with opponents which ultimately compel the organizations to invest more and more for sustaining its position. (Sornarajah, pp.173, 2010) Virgin Atlantics has also faces this situation and spent a large amount on routes and aircrafts in order to differentiate its services from others. †¢Third limitation is the difficult which Virgin Atlantics has confronted in order to achieve differentiation. Since the current market is highly competitive and every organization has been trying to find out the best sources for gaining customer loyalty, this thing has made it ample complicated for the organizations to differentiate their services from others. Hence, differentiation competitive strategy is ample lucrative but these limitations makes it difficult for the organizations to sustain this strategy. However, in order to cope with these dynamic situations, different steps can be taken and the next part of the paper will promulgate all key steps which can augment profitability ratio. Recommendations: Virgin Atlantics can sustain its contemporary position in international markets taking different steps and for this purpose, it has to do analysis time and again in order to assess whether the implemented competitive strategy is compatible with current business environment or not. Following are some recommendations which can be used by Virgin Atlantics for sustaining its current position. Constant analysis: Virgin Atlantics should do constant internal and external analysis and amend the strategy or develop change management strategy according to the market requirements so that it can gain competitive advantages and beat its potential competitors. Additionally, these analyses would also enable the company to assess strengths and weaknesses of the company itself and through overpowering these shortcomings; it can develop its competitive strategic plan. Hybrid strategy: Though differentiation strategy is ample lucrative for providing sophisticated services and gaining customer loyalty yet it cannot be determined easily. Moreover, it might give high market share but market growth is possible only if this strategy is amalgamated with some additional strategy. This strategy can be cost-leadership strategy or focus strategy. Through focusing on differentiation strategy, Virgin Atlantics can obtain not only high market share but also market growth as well. as far as cost leadership strategy is concerned, it can be amalgamated with differentiation strategy in order to double the profit ratio since different researchers have provided combined competitive strategies as the solution of dynamic situation. (Marti, pp.100, 2007) Nevertheless, this hybrid strategy might also affect in a negative way. Competitive prices: Customers usually prefer exceptional services in affordable prices. So, Virgin Atlantics can gain advantages from cheap prices as well. Through providing low cost fleets to different customers, other then the facilitated, this organization could double its profit. However, the budget can be maintained through minimizing provided services during the flights. This thing would enable this organization to have market growth with low price strategy as well. Value added services: Value added services are often referred to as secondary services which are used for attracting customers and sustaining their loyalty with organization (Thurau and Hansen, p.112, 2000) No one can deny the significance of Value added services and marketing and this is the reason why it has remained inseparable part of every marketing plan and differentiation strategy. (Singh, pp.22, 2012) Virgin Atlantics can also gain competitive advantages via value added marketing and for this purpose; it can facilitate its customers with value holiday packages, discounted tickets and packages, lottery system and so on. These techniques would also attract a lot of customers and augment profitability and market share of the company as well. Conclusion: To conclude, it can be stated that this organization has been cherishing top positions on international level only because of using differentiation strategy and for this purpose, it has also invested capital through having partnership with Singapore airline. All its services including multiple destinations, holiday services, cargo services and in-flight entertainment, demonstrate its successful usage of differentiation strategy. However, Virgin Atlantics should also keep the advantages and limitations of using this strategy since there are certain times when this strategy needs slight amendments or changes in order to deal with contemporary circumstances. Virgin Atlantics can use different change management strategies in order to cope with limitations of this competitive strategy. In addition, this organization can also double its profit through taking different steps including value added marketing, competitive pricing and hybrid strategic development. These add-ons can maximize its profitability as well as worldwide recognitions and ultimately it would be able to compete with potential organizations like Emirates and Gulf Air. References: Daft, R. L. (2009) Organization Theory and Design. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Dibb, S., Lyndon S. (2008) Marketing Planning: A Workbook for Marketing Managers. London: South-Western Cengage Learning. Doise, M. L. (2008) An Integration of Corporate Culture and Strategy: The Interrelationships and Impact on Firm Performance. US: ProQuest. Eldring, J. (2009) Porter’s (1980) Generic Strategies, Performance and Risk an Empirical Investigation with German Data. Hamburg: Diplomica-Verl. Flouris, T. G.,Sharon L. O.(2006) Designing and Executing Strategy in Aviation Management. Aldershot, England: Ashgate. Griffin, R. W. (2011) Management. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Henry, A. (2008) Understanding Strategic Management. Oxford: Oxford UP. Johnson. (2008)Exploring Corporate Strategy: Text & Cases, 7/E. Dehli: Pearson Education India. Lancaste, G., Reynolds, P. (2012)Marketing. NY: CRC. Marti, M. (2007)Complexity Management Optimizing Product Architecture of Industrial Products. Wiesbaden: Deutscher Universitäts-Verlag. Rao, R. M. (2011)Services Marketing. Dehli: Pearson Education India. Singh, M. (2012)Building Customer Loyalty through Value Added Services: A Case of Telecom Sector. NY: GRIN Verlag. Sornarajah, M. (2012) The International Law on Foreign Investment. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. Strauss, R. (2010)Marketing Planning by Design: Systematic Planning for Successful Marketing Strategy. London: John Wiley & Sons. Thompson, J. L., Frank M. (2010) Strategic Management: Awareness & Change. Andover: South-Western Cengage Learning. Thurau, T, Ursula H. (2000) Relationship Marketing: Gaining Competitive Advantage through Customer Satisfaction and Customer Retention. Berlin: Springer.

A teacher had a solid control in the classroom

In Malayan schoolroom, a instructor had a solid control in the schoolroom, the interaction form where the instructor selects a pupil to reply her inquiries is observed by Samuel ( 1982 ) in his survey in a Malayan school. This form occurred peculiarly when the instructor employed the oppugning scheme during the class of learning. After replying the instructor ‘s inquiry, the pupil â€Å" gave the bend back to the instructor † ( Samuel, 1982, p. 129 ) . Hence if the instructor chooses this form of interaction, engagement of pupils will be extremely controlled by him or her. When holding instructors in monologic interaction, the category instructional patterns will be on structured, subject but it kills the desire to larn from the kid inherent aptitude and at the same clip does non elicit the critical and the creativeness of a kid. And this is wholly different from the cognition of the policy because in Malaysia Education Policy, it is stated that a instructor ‘s occupations is to foster the kid ‘s critical and originative thought. When a lesson that is supposed to pattern on communicative linguistic communication learning terminals with the instructor instructing and being important in the category, it kills the desire to larn. In his findings, Ruzlan ( 2007 ) further found that all the inquiries posed by the instructors were the closed-ended in nature, where the kids were anticipated to get at certain replies expected by the instructors merely. At the same clip, it was found that the bulk of inquiries set by EFL and Science as content taught in English categories were low degree and factual, and non designed to promote critical thought on the portion of scholars. Again, there was a mismatch between what is stipulated by the national course of study and how instructors really teach in footings of presenting inquiries. While national policy stipulates assisting scholars become critical minds, instructors seems concern with others, short term end. For case instructors ‘ belief about their pupils ‘ academic demands and what they should make is orienting their inquiries to aline with scrutiny intents at a low degree factual class ( Habsah Hussin, 2006 ) . It is proven that the pattern of the policy is more on completing the structured course of study prepared by the school course of study division instead than full make fulling the doctrine of instruction that is in constructing the pupils with the attempts towards farther developing the potency of persons in a holistic and incorporate mode, so as to bring forth persons who are intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically balanced and harmonic, based on a steadfast belief in and devotedness to God. Such an attempt is designed to bring forth Malayan citizens who are knowing and competent, who possess high moral criterions and who are responsible and capable of accomplishing high degree of personal wellbeing every bit good as being able to lend to the harmoniousness and improvement of the household, the society and the state at big. With this issues, edify the research worker to research the BASIC of the instruction teacher developing. What has been practiced in schools reflects on the preparation of the instructor in instructor preparation establishment. Is it the system or the execution of it that caused the mismatched in the instructional patterns? What is supposed to be done? What has been practiced in the instruction establishment? The attacks practiced on the trainees. Does the trainee ‘s ability to present inquiries and interact with the pupils from the pedagogical facets and methodological attack being prompt and develop? Make the trainers play their function as the facilitator and the go-between of the cognition in guaranting the blooming of the novice instructors? The trainers have to play their of import function good in determining the pupil instructor in going an first-class instructor. They should pattern the trainees in the instructional patterns in college. Bing the expertness, the trainers should be good prepared with assorted attacks in researching the pupil instructor ability in larning the English linguistic communication in order to go a capable and competent English instructor.Purpose Of the StudyThe intent of this survey is to look into the trainers in implementing their instructional pattern in order to assist the trainees to go effectual 2nd linguistic communication teacher. As an ESL instructor and a 2nd linguistic communication scholar, the research worker believes that interaction is the cardinal to 2nd linguistic communication acquisition. Second linguistic communication scholars need comprehendible input, need to be in state of affairss that provide maximal personal engagement in the communicating and demand chances to util ize the mark linguistic communication in societal interactions. The acquisition of a linguistic communication centres on the usage of the linguistic communication for communicative intents. Alexander ( 2004 ) suggests that the basic repertory of schoolroom talk is improbable to offer the types of cognitive challenge required to widen pupils ‘ thought. In contrast, he characterizes an attack he describes as dialogic instruction which is corporate, mutual, supportive, cumulative and purposeful. However, these types of talk are less often encountered in schoolrooms ( Mroz et al. , 2000 ) . Dialogic teaching methods aim for schoolroom interactions that involve more than superficial engagement. They are exemplified by the instructor ‘s consumption of pupil thoughts, reliable inquiries and the chance for pupils to alter or modify the class of direction ( Nystrand et al. , 2003 ) . Teachers release some step of control of the flight of the lesson as students are offered a grade of collaborative influence over the co-construction of cognition.Importance of the surveyThis survey is of import in four ways. First, as an oculus gap to the construct of dialogic attack in the preparation establishment and it is concentrating on the schoolroom interaction between the trainees and the trainer in the category from the socio-cultural theory attack. Second, it gives a holistic position on what is go oning in the category and what could be done to assist the trainees to go competent user of the English Language scholar. Third, it will trip the demands for the trainers to hold a series of cascade developing organized by the Teacher Education Division, Malaysia in order to portion, better their attacks in category and vary their instructional instruction before they start learning the trainees. Fourth, it will set up the civilization of sharing and coaction among the lectors in the preparation institute. It requires the instructors to work collaboratively, to open their schoolroom for observation, critical reappraisals and treatment with equals. Last, it is concentrating on the professional development of the trainers in supplying the best attacks in researching the best attack and varies their pedagogical attack in a 2nd linguistic communication larning category.1.3 Research Questions.To what extent do lectors interact with pupils to develop their engagement in schoolroom discourse? How are the lectors developing the English Language competence and critical thought accomplishments of pupils through the interaction in category? How do lectors measure their instructional instruction patterns? What impact has the Communicative Language Teaching had on the instruction patterns to advance a dialogic teaching method? How utile is a dialogic attack to staff professional development?Aims of the survey were as follows ;To mensurate the ways lectors interact with the pupils to develop their engagement in category. To place how lectors develop English Language competence and critical thought accomplishments through the interaction in category. To research the lectors ‘ instructional patterns in 2nd linguistic communication larning category. To research the impact of the communicative linguistic communication instruction policy on linguistic communication acquisition in instructor preparation establishments. To research the utility of a dialogic attack to staff development in instructor preparation establishments.MethodologyResearch designThe focal point of the survey is to look at the quality of schoolroom interaction between the lector and the trainees. The literature has offered a broad array of descriptions and definitions of the instance survey, for illustration: â€Å" a instance survey is an empirical enquiry that investigates a modern-day phenomenon within its real-life context aˆÂ ¦in which multiple beginnings of grounds are used † ( Yin, 1984:23 ) , â€Å" aˆÂ ¦the qualitative instance survey can be defined as an intensive, holistic description and analysis of a individual entity, phenomenon, or societal unit † ( Merriam, 1988:16 ) . Different from other research surveies which aim for generalizable findings, instance surveies aim for â€Å" an apprehension of the peculiar instance, in its foible, in its complexness † ( Stake, 1988:256 ) . The instance survey aligns with my research aims. It is focused on the two TESL lectors, the research worker and their several categories. The survey is the synergistic instructional patterns of the two instructors, the research worker and their pupils. In order to supply a elaborate and in-depth analytical description of the synergistic characteristics of the two instances, the research worker have to be into the research site and collected informations from multiple beginnings in a realistic scene, viz. , in a scene where teacher-student interaction occurs as it really is. The chief intent of the survey was non to try to generalise the decisions to a larger population but to derive a thorough and in-depth apprehension of the subject at issue. At the same clip a combination of sociolinguistic and ethnographic positions has been taken to near the above research inquiries. Data was collected utilizing a scope of techniques: interviewing, schoolroom observation, audio- and video-taping, unwritten study and stirred contemplation. The sample for the research worker came from the instructor preparation establishment that is situated in Ipoh, between the Bachelor of Education Twinning plan UK-MOEM ( Ministry Of Education, Malaysia ) and the English Language lectors. Many instructors, even experienced 1s, are non ever cognizant of the nature of their interactions with single pupils. Consequently, one of the most of import intents of systematic schoolroom observation is to better instructors ‘ schoolroom direction. Feedback from single schoolroom profiles derived from systematic observations has been found to assist instructors understand their ain strengths and failings, and have accordingly enabled them to significantly better their direction. Through feedback, instructors can go cognizant of how their schoolroom maps and therefore convey about alterations they desire. This procedure typically involves holding trained perceivers consistently observe instructors and their pupils in their schoolrooms and subsequently supplying instructors with information about their direction in clinical Sessionss. This attack is based on the premise that teachers value accurate information that they can utilize to better their direction. Chapter TWO LITERATURE REVIEW. This chapter will be reviewed the treatment on the theoretical land on 2nd linguistic communication acquisition, the attack in the schoolroom, the pupil instructor interaction and the instructional form of communicating being implemented in the schoolroom.2.1 Socio-cultural theoryIntroductionVygotsky ( 1896-1934 ) is one of the Russian psychologists whose thoughts have influenced the field of educational psychological science and the field of instruction as whole. He argues for the singularity of the societal surroundings and respects sociocultural scenes as the primary and finding factor in the development of higher signifiers of human mental activity such as voluntary attending, knowing memory, logical idea, planning, and job resolution. Harmonizing to Vygotsky ( 1978 cited Lantolf 2000 ) , the socio-cultural environment presents the kid with a assortment of undertakings and demands, and engages the kid in his universe through the tools. In the early phases, Vygotsky claims that the kid is wholly dependent on other people, normally the parents, who initiate the childaˆYs actions by teaching him/her as to what to make, how to make it, every bit good as what non to make. Parents, as representatives of the civilization and the conduit through which the civilization passes into the kid, realize these instructions chiefly through linguistic communication. On the inquiry of how do kids so appropriate these cultural and societal heritages, Vygotsky ( 1978 cited Wertsch 1985 ) states that the kid acquires knowledge through contacts and interactions with people as the first measure ( inter-psychological plane ) , so subsequently assimilates and internalises this cognition adding his personal value to it ( intra-psychologi cal plane ) . This passage from societal to personal belongings harmonizing to Vygotsky is non a mere transcript, but a transmutation of what had been learnt through interaction, into personal values. Vygotsky claims that this is what besides happens in schools. Students do non simply copy instructors capablenesss ; instead they transform what instructors offer them during the procedures of appropriation. Lantolf et Al. ( 1994 ) indicate that the latter apprehension of consciousness in the field of instruction is embodied in the construct of meta-cognition, which, harmonizing to him, incorporates maps such as planning, voluntary attending, logical memory, job resolution and rating. Williams and Burden ( 1997 ) claim that socio-cultural theory advocators that instruction should be concerned â€Å" non merely with theories of direction, but with larning to larn, developing accomplishments and schemes to go on to larn, with doing larning experiences meaningful and relevant to the person, with developing and turning as a whole individual † . They claim that the theory asserts that instruction can ne'er be value-free ; it must be underpinned by a set of beliefs about the sort of society that is being constructed and the sorts of explicit and inexplicit messages that will outdo convey those beliefs. These beliefs should be manifest besides in the ways in which instructors interact with pupils. Socio-cultural theory has a holistic position about the act of larning. Williams & A ; Burden ( 1997 ) claim that the theory opposes the thought of the distinct instruction of accomplishments and argues that intending should represent the cardinal facets of any unit of survey. Any unit of survey should be presented in all its complexness instead than accomplishments and cognition presented in isolation. The theory emphasizes the importance of what the scholar brings to any learning state of affairs as an active meaning-maker and problem-solver. It acknowledges the dynamic nature of the interplay between instructors, scholars and undertakings and provides a position of larning as originating from interactions with others. Harmonizing to Ellis ( 2000 ) , socio-cultural theory assumes that larning arises non through interaction but in interaction. Learners foremost win in executing a new undertaking with the aid of another individual and so internalize this undertaking so that they can execute it on their ain. In this manner, societal interaction is advocated to intercede acquisition. Harmonizing to Ellis, the theory goes farther to state interactions that successfully mediate larning are those in which the scholars scaffold the new undertakings. However, one of the most of import parts of the theory is the differentiation Vygotsky made between the kid ‘s existent and possible degrees of development or what he calls Zone of Proximal Development ( ZPD ) .The Zone of Proximal Development ( ZPD )Lantolf ( 2002 ) , Wertsch ( 1985 ) and Shayer ( 2002 ) claim that Vygotsky ‘s debut of the impression of the ZPD was due to his dissatisfaction with two practical issues in educational psychological sc ience: the first is the appraisal of a kid ‘s rational abilities and the 2nd is the rating of the instructional patterns. With regard to the first issue, Vygotsky believes that the established techniques of proving merely find the existent degree of development, but do non mensurate the possible ability of the kid. In his position, psychological science should turn to the issue of foretelling a kid ‘s future growing, â€Å" what he/she non yet is † . Because of the value Vygotsky attached to the importance of foretelling a kid ‘s future capablenesss, he formulated the construct of ZPD which he defines as â€Å" the distance between a kid ‘s existent developmental degree as determined by independent job resolution, and the higher degree of possible development as determined through job work outing under grownup counsel or in coaction with more capable equals † Wertsch ( 1985, P. 60 ) . Harmonizing to him, ZPD helps in finding a kid ‘s menta l maps that have non yet matured but are in the procedure of ripening, maps that are presently in an embryologic province, but will maturate tomorrow. Furthermore, he claims that the survey of ZPD is besides of import, because it is the dynamic part of sensitiveness in which the passage from inter-psychological to intra-psychological operation takes topographic point. Shayer ( 2002 ) claims that a important characteristic of larning harmonizing to Vygotsky is that it creates a ZPD, that is to state, larning awakens a assortment of internal developmental procedures that are able to run merely when the kid is interacting with people in his environment and in cooperation with his equals. Once these procedures are internalised, they become portion of the kid ‘s independent developmental accomplishment. Vygotsky advocates that ZPD is non the function of direction entirely, but developmental ( biological ) factors do hold a function to play. It is jointly determined by the kid ‘s degree of development and the signifier of direction involved. Harmonizing to him, direction and development do non straight coincide, but represent two procedures that exist in a really complex interrelatedness. He argues that the kid can run â€Å" merely within certain bounds that are purely fixed by the province of the kid ‘s development and rational poss ibilities † .MediationAs in FeuerteinaˆYs theory ( Williams and Burden 1997 ) , mediation is cardinal to VygotskyaˆYs socio-cultural theory. Mediation harmonizing to Vygotsky refers to the portion played by other important people in the learnersaˆY lives, people who enhance their acquisition by choosing and determining the acquisition experiences presented to them. Vygotsky ( 1978 cited Wertsch 1985 ) claims that the secret of effectual larning prevarications in the nature of the societal interaction between two or more people with different degrees of accomplishments and cognition. This involves assisting the scholar to travel into and through the following bed of cognition or apprehension. Vygotsky besides regard tools as go-betweens and one of the of import tools is linguistic communication. The usage of linguistic communication to assist scholars travel into and through their ZPD is of great significance to socio-cultural theory. Kozulin et Al. ( 1995 ) claim that Vygotsky considers the larning procedure as non a lone geographic expedition of the environment by the kid on his ain, but as a procedure of the kid ‘s appropriation of the methods of actions that exist in a given civilization. In the procedure of appropriation, symbolic tools or artifacts play a important function. Kozulin ( 2002 ) categorises go-betweens into two classs: homo and symbolic. Harmonizing to him, human mediation normally tries to reply the inquiry refering what sort of engagement on the portion of the grownup is effectual in heightening the kid ‘s public presentation ; while symbolic mediation trades with what alterations in the kid ‘s public presentation can be brought approximately by the debut of the kid to symbolic tools-mediators.ScaffoldingHarmonizing to Donato ( 1994 ) staging is a construct that derives from cognitive psychological science and L1 research. It states that in a societal interaction, a knowing p articipant can make by agencies of address and supportive conditions in which the pupil ( novice ) can take part in and widen current accomplishments and cognition to a high degree of competency. In an educational context, nevertheless, scaffolding is an instructional construction whereby the instructor theoretical accounts the coveted acquisition scheme or undertaking so bit by bit shifts duty to the pupils. Harmonizing to McKenzie, ( 1999 ) scaffolding provides the undermentioned advantages: a ) It provides clear waies for pupils B ) It clarifies intent of the undertaking degree Celsius ) It keeps pupils on undertaking vitamin D ) It offers appraisal to clear up outlooks vitamin E ) It points pupils to worthy beginnings degree Fahrenheit ) It reduces uncertainness, surprise and letdown g ) It delivers efficiency H ) It creates impulse Harmonizing to Rogoff ( 1990 in Donato, 1994 ) , scaffolding implies the expert ‘s active stance towards continual alterations of the staging in response to the emerging capablenesss of the scholar, and a scholar ‘s mistake or limited capablenesss can be a signal for the grownup to upgrade the staging. As the scholar begins to take on more duty for the undertaking, the grownup dismantles the scaffold indicating that the kid has benefited from the assisted public presentation and internalised the problem-solving procedures provided by the old scaffold episode. Wertsch ( 1979a cited Donato 1994 ) claims that scaffold public presentation is a dialogically constituted inter-psychological mechanism that promotes the scholar ‘s internalization of cognition co-constructed in shared activity. Donato ( 1994 ) advocates that in an L2 schoolroom, collaborative work among linguistic communication scholars provides the same chance for scaffold aid as in expert-novice relationshi ps in the mundane scene. Van Lier ( 1988 cited Donato 1994 ) states that L2 learning methodological analysis can profit from a survey of L1 scaffolding to understand how schoolroom activities already tacitly employ such tactics. The survey of scaffolding in L2 research harmonizing to Donato has focused entirely on how linguistic communication instructors provide guided aid to scholars.2.2 Classroom interaction in socio-cultural theoryA socio-cultural theory was pioneered by Vgotsky ( 1978 ) and the nucleus of the theory is the proposition that cognitive development originates in societal interaction. Vgotsky ( 1981 ) formulated the flight of cognitive development as from the inter-psychological plane to the intra-psychological plane by stating: Any map in the kid ‘s cultural development appears twice, or in two planes: foremost, it appears on the societal plane, and so on the psychological plane ; first it appears between people as an inter-psychological class, and so within the kid as an intra-psychological class. This is every bit true with respect to voluntary attending, logical memory and the formation of constructs and the development of will ( p.163 ) . In other words, larning first takes topographic point between a kid and an expert ( e.g. the kid ‘s parent ) when they engage in joint under-taking. The adept assists the immature kid to allow his greater cognition or accomplishments in relation to the undertaking at manus and bit by bit hands over the undertaking to the immature kid. The kid internalizes what he gained and transformed it into his ain resources that can be used for single thought and job resolution. It is chiefly mediated by agencies of talk. 2.3. Classroom interactionsConstructivism Related to Questioning and ConversationConstructivism plays a cardinal function in effectual schoolroom conversations and differs from schoolrooms filled with traditional conversations. Schulte ( 1996 ) argued that â€Å" Constructivist instructors must detect the pupils ‘ actions and listen to their positions without doing judgements or seeking to rectify replies † ( p. 27 ) . This differs from the traditional schoolroom where pupils are inactive scholars and delay for the instructor to give right replies ( Schulte, 1996 ) . In contrast, constructivist schoolroom instructors must listen to pupils and assist do connexions between what they are believing and what others are believing during the same experience ( Duckworth, 2006 ) . Teachers must besides do connexions for scholars between the scholar ‘s apprehensions and the instructor ‘s apprehensions ( Duckworth, 2006 ) . Alternatively of giving talks and anticipating pupils to regurgitate what has been lectured, instructors must demo pupils how to listen to others and inquiry thoughts when they are unknown ( Duckworth, 2006 ) . Teachers must do their actions known to pupils by utilizing expressed linguistic communication, patterning the thought procedure, and leting pupils to believe aloud about new thoughts ( Bodrova & A ; Leong, 1996 ) . Lambert, etal. ( 2002 ) supported the thought of sharing ideas and thoughts by saying, â€Å" In a constructivist conversation, each person comes to understand the intent of talk, since the relationship is one of reciprocality † ( p. 65 ) . Constructivist learning allows pupils to actively take part in their acquisition versus the traditional thought of passively having information. It allows instructors and pupils to synthesise their cognition in order to make new significances. Classroom discourse based on a constructivist ‘s position of larning involves student engagement. This was explained by Hartman ( 1996 ) when stated, â€Å" As seen through Vygotsky ‘s positions, schoolroom discourse is socially meaningful activity because it creates a state of affairs in which all pupils can and are encouraged to take part non merely by the instructor, but by the other pupils as good † ( p. 99 ) . Students are encouraged to portion their thoughts with others to assist clear up their ideas and do accommodations to their apprehensions ( Schulte, 1996 ) . Student engagement means that instructors manus over control of schoolroom conversations and allow pupils to show their thought aloud. This consequences in the pupil holding the concluding word at times and helps the pupil make his or her ain understanding alternatively of having the instructor ‘s apprehension of thoughts ( Duckworth, 2006 ) . When pupils are allowed to explicate their thought they must larn to be expressed and clear so others will understand them ; that consequences in deeper apprehension ( Bodrova & A ; Leong, 1996 ) . Student engagement during schoolroom discourse allows pupils to pattern problem-solving and decision-making accomplishments that will assist better their leading ability as grownups. In Dantonio and Beisenherz ‘ ( 2001 ) book Learning to Question, Questioning to Learn, constructivist schoolroom treatments are referred to as instructional conversations. In an instructional conversation, a instructor is adept in easing talk that promotes pupil believing. Students require guided pattern in order to react in a mode that leads to a deeper apprehension of capable affair. With counsel, pupils learn to heighten the quality of their thought through the instructor ‘s effectual usage of inquiries. In line with Vygotsky ‘s zone of proximal development, instructional conversations provide pupils with chances to make today with aid what can be done independently tomorrow. Teachers and pupils work together to make new significances and apprehensions through effectual inquiring and higher degree learner responses. Classroom discourse holds assorted significances but definitions found in the literature keep a common land: schoolroom discourse is talk between two or more individuals that may or may non take to a new apprehension ( Cazden, 2001 ; Mroz, Smith & A ; Hardman, 2000 ) . Two definitions of schoolroom discourse were given by Cazden ( 1998 ) . She described discourse as conversations where participants are holding the same talk. Discourse was besides described as an apprehension that occurs when participants take different places in different negotiations at the same clip. In their research findings, Edwards and Mercer ( 1987 ) described classroom discourse as the talk that occurs between two or more people that normally consists of a instructor and one or more pupils. Extra research workers defined schoolroom discourse in their surveies. Skidmore, Perez-Parent, and Arnfield ( 2003 ) proclaimed that schoolroom discourse contrasts to every twenty-four hours conversation because pupils must wait for their bend while patiently raising their manus. In mundane conversation people speak to one another at will to show their thoughts and apprehensions. Similarly, Townsend and Pace ( 2005 ) noted that schoolroom discourse that is directed by one individual, normally the instructor, consequences in pupils reiterating preset thoughts or mere facts. It contrasts to classrooms where pupils are given chances to research higher degree inquiries and prosecute in intending doing activities ( Townsend & A ; Pace, 2005 ) . Skidmore ( 1999 ) referred to traditional schoolroom discourse as, â€Å" ‘pedagogical duologue, ‘ in which person who knows the truth instructs person who is in mistake, and which is characterised by a inclination towards the usage of important discourse on the portion of the instructor † ( p. 17 ) . All of these illustrations of schoolroom discourse vary from mundane conversations because pupils are subjected to waiting for a bend to give factual information. Researchers of schoolroom discourse refer to teacher determined conversations as a traditional form of talk.2.4 Research Studies on Classroom Inte ractionMany surveies on schoolroom interactions focused on instructor inquiries, scholar responses, or the consequence of inquiries on pupil accomplishment. Surveies by Redfield and Rousseau ( 1981 ) , Chin ( 2006 ) , Wells and Arauz ( 2006 ) , Boyd and Rubin ( 2006 ) , Myhill and Dunkin ( 2005 ) , and Schleppenbach, Perry, and Miller ( 2007 ) were reviewed, compared, and contrasted. Redfield and Rousseau ( 1981 ) analyzed 20 surveies on the consequence of instructor oppugning on pupil accomplishment. Redfield and Rousseau ( 1981 ) wanted to make a meta-analysis of informations from the surveies to find the impact of plan monitoring, experimental cogency, and degree of instructor oppugning. All of the surveies were experimental or quasi-experimental in nature. Quantitative tools were used to mensurate the consequence size in each survey. Redfield and Rousseau ( 1981 ) completed their research by saying, â€Å" Hence, it may be concluded that small-scale surveies of instructor oppugning behaviors have allowed for greater experimental control than large-scale surveies † ( p. 242 ) .It was found that instructors that predominately used higher cognitive inquiries had a positive consequence on pupil accomplishment, and instructors that were trained in effectual inquiries and used higher cognitive inquiries greatly affected their pupils ‘ accomplishment. Chin ( 2006 ) conducted a survey focused on instructor inquiries and feedback to learner responses during scientific discipline lessons. She wanted to analyse the type of talk that occurs during scientific discipline lessons, happen out how instructors use oppugning to prosecute pupils, and place the assorted types of feedback instructors give to scholars during an induction response-feedback exchange of talk. Chin ( 2006 ) gathered informations from two scientific discipline schoolrooms in Singapore during 14 lessons. To explicate the information analysis, Chin ( 2006 ) explained, â€Å" A ‘questioning-based discourse ‘ analytical model was developed for the description and analysis of schoolroom discourse in scientific discipline, with a focal point on oppugning based patterns † ( p. 1334 ) . It was found that when the instructor provided feedback in the signifier of subsequent inquiries that built upon a pupil ‘s response, recognition of a pupil ‘s r esponse, or a restatement of a pupil ‘s response, pupils responded at a flat beyond callback. Chin ( 2006 ) concluded that â€Å" Students can be stretched mentally through sensitive teacher-led but non teacher dominated discourse. Wells and Arauz ( 2006 ) conducted a mixed-methods survey analyzing the growing of instructors toward a dialogic stance of schoolroom interaction versus the traditional IRF form over a period of clip. As portion of the quantitative analysis in this survey, schoolroom interactions were recorded, transcribed, and coded. The research took topographic point over a 7 twelvemonth period in 12 schoolrooms. It was found that instructors continued to learn utilizing the traditional IRF form of discourse even when trying to travel toward a dialogic stance. Wells and Arauz ( 2006 ) concluded: What matters for the quality of interaction, it seems, is non so much how the sequence starts, but how it develops, and this, as we have argued, depends critically on the instructor ‘s pick of functions and on how he or she utilizes the follow up move. ( p. 421 ) . These consequences were similar to Chin ‘s consequences on instructor ‘s follow-up feedback to scholars ‘ responses. Boyd and Rubin ( 2006 ) conducted research in an English linguistic communication scholars ( ELL ) scientific discipline schoolroom over a 6 hebdomad period to see how a instructor ‘s pick of inquiries leads to lengthier and more detailed responses from pupils. Classroom interactions were recorded, transcribed, and coded for six hebdomads with a focal point on the length of pupil responses and the types of inquiries ( show, reliable, elucidation ) asked by the instructor. It was found that the type of teacher inquiry did non impact the length of responses by pupils. It was the eventuality of inquiries upon scholar responses that made a difference in the length the following scholar response. Eighty eight per centum of contingent show inquiries resulted in detailed scholar responses. The show inquiries required replies the instructor already knew, but she asked them as a followup to a pupil ‘s response. Like Chin ( 2006 ) and Wells and Arauz ( 2006 ) , Boyd and Rubin ( 2006 ) found a instructor ‘s follow-up answer to a scholar ‘s response was more of import than the type of inquiry asked by the instructor. The inquiry type was irrelevant every bit long as the instructor kept the flow of the conversation traveling based on what the pupils were believing and stating. Myhill and Dunkin ( 2005 ) collected informations from 54 learning lessons to find how the function of inquiries supported or drawn-out pupils ‘ acquisition experiences. Videotaped lessons were transcribed and coded utilizing a grounded theory attack. Questions were coded based on their type and map within the schoolroom interaction. Myhill and Dunkin ( 2005 ) found that most inquiries asked by the instructor were factual inquiries and did non necessitate more than recitation by the pupils. They concluded that â€Å" The analysis indicates by far the most common signifier of inquiry is the factual inquiry and the most common map of inquiries is factual evocation † ( Myhill & A ; Dunkin, 2005, p. 420 ) . It was besides found that instructors asked inquiries that built on understanding more frequently in literacy than any other topic. Although some of the factual inquiries elicited pupil thought, they did non bring forth drawn-out pupil response. Myhill and Dunkin ( 2005 ) concluded that instructors must happen a manner to allow travel of the control of discourse in the schoolroom and let more clip for pupils to merely talk. Unlike the other surveies mentioned, the research workers felt that the type of inquiry does impact the type of scholar response given.CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGYThis chapter is meant for the treatment of the methodological analysis used for the propose survey including the information -collection techniques employed.3.1 Research intentThe purpose of the research is to look into the quality of pupil instructor interaction in the TESL Twinning Program in Teacher Training Institutions in the visible radiation of communicative linguistic communication instruction in order to understand the cognition building procedure of pupil instructor interaction in instructor fronted category clip and place the contextual issues which shape the interaction and so to give the deduction for future instruc tion patterns.3.2 Case surveyThe instance survey aligns with my research aims. My survey focused on three individual entities, viz. two instructors, the research worker itself and their several categories. The phenomenon studied was the synergistic behaviours of the three instructors and their pupils. In order to supply a elaborate and in depth analytical description of the synergistic characteristics of the three instances, the research worker went to the research site and collected informations from multiple beginnings in a realistic scene viz. , in a scene where pupil instructor interaction occurs as it is. The chief intent of the survey is non to generalise the decisions to a larger population but to derive a through and in depth apprehension of the subject at issue and to develop new or revised attack which provide for farther research. Data was collected utilizing a scope of techniques: interviewing, schoolroom observing, audio- and video-taping, unwritten study and stirred contemplation. Halkes and Olsen, cited in Richards and Lockhart ( 1994:29 ) , suggest that â€Å" looking from a instructor believing position at learning and acquisition, one is non so much nisus for the revelation of the effectual instructor, but for the accounts and apprehension of learning procedures as they are. After all, it is the instructor ‘s subjective school related cognition which determines for the most portion what happens in the schoolroom ; whether the instructor can joint his/her cognition or non. † Consequently before shiping on schoolroom observation an initial meeting was set up between the instructor and the perceiver. This is rather a challenge for the perceiver to derive the permission particularly to come in the category because it is a common norm for instructors in Malaysia ; they tend to work independently or in insulating. By holding a meeting before manus and inquiring voluntarily from the lector to take portion in the survey and the consent missive from the Ministry of Education, Malaysia is a must for the perceiver This was done in order to make a friendly working relationship and to larn about the category and the instructor ‘s belief and her attacks to learning. A treatment among the instructors involved in the instance surveies during schoolroom context is recorded. The research worker will work together with the instructors in the schoolroom context and the treatment on the critical minute that being picture tapped shall be discussed and the exchange of thoughts will assist to better the instruction techniques for both parties. At the same clip, the lectors besides will detect the perceiver handling lessons and holding a treatment on the instruction attack being used. The survey involves four typical stage ( Table One ) Table 1.Time tabular array for survey Phase Main activities Time Phase One Review of relevant literature Designation of sample-five lectors and TESL A Field note on schoolroom observation Jan- Dec 2009 August 2009 Phase Two Pilot study-classroom observation April-June 2010 Phase Three Analysis Data, revision April-Dec 2010 Phase Four Concluding Feb-Oct 20113.2.1 Phase One.The research worker carried out schoolroom observation on instructor ‘s instructional pattern in ESL schoolroom. The categories were observed really carefully during a hebdomad period for 3 times ( for every lector. Consent was given from the Director of the College for the research worker to come in the category and detect the lesson. During the observation, the research worker took notes of instructors ‘ instructional patterns in category ( I-R-F ) and pupils ‘ engagement in instructor fronted inquiries was besides observed. From my observation, the pupils were inquiring the instructor to give more account on the subject given ( grammar ) and they were really active in the category activities. The pupils were able to show the introductory of the lesson â€Å" reported address † in group. The instructor acts as a facilitator but so once more still command the duologue of the group presentation. On my findings it is true, that the lector did utilize the IRF method in the category and the type of inquiries being station to the pupils, do non motivate the pupil ability in critical thought and the type of the inquiries being asked is the type of low degree inquiry. If there is an up return, the instructor tends to simplified the inquiries and do non spread out the inquiry being raised by the pupils. Teachers still control the lesson and accepting replies in chorus. I end my pre-pilot survey for about a month in my college and I will be coming back for the existent survey in March 2010. Hopefully things will turn out to be better this clip with new findings and good resonance of the lectors for the improvement of the instruction patterns.3.2.2 Phase Two.Pilot Study Schedule( Weeks ) 13 29.03.2010 02.04.2010 Field-notes 14 05.04.2010 09.04.2010 Field-notes 15 12.04.2010 16.04.2010 Classroom observation, picture tapping 16 19.04.2010 23.04.2010 Classroom observation, videotaping, In house treatment 17 26.04.2010 30.04.2010 Classroom Observation, picture taping In house treatment 18 03.05.2010 10.05.2010 Discussion on the selected critical minutes. ( self contemplation ) The survey will take about two months in the schoolroom observation and the research worker will hold a treatment with the selected lectors who is volitionally to acquire involved in the survey and their instruction is traveling to be recorded and interview will be conducted to formalize and widen the research worker ‘s readings of in the flesh observation. It provides the research worker with extra informations that can be used to polish readings based on participant observations ( Lancy,1993: Lincoln & A ; Guba,1985 ; Rathclif,199 ) The research worker is involved in the survey and her instruction is traveling to be recorded and parts of her instruction is traveling to be selected by the group and discussed on the facet of pedagogical attack. The treatment will be in the visible radiation of dialogic instruction and how it could be aligned with the communicative linguistic communication instruction. At the same clip, the other two lectors besides who is volitionally to take portion in the survey will hold the chance to reflect on their instruction and measure on their ain strength and failing on certain attack in the content based instruction. By holding a dialogic treatment on the instruction facets, the research worker hope it will make a civilization of working together and interchanging attack in learning patterns.

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Supply Chain Management - Assignment Example The increased focus on environmental sustainability greatly assists the organization to gain greater public acceptance, which in turn leads to improved profitability and turnover. Similarly, enhanced efficiency is a key feature of the Hsuh’s supply chain. As one understands from the company website, the company has a potential group of employees who are experienced in various supply chain activities. This favorable workplace environment aids the organization to ensure smooth and uninterrupted flow of its different supply chain tasks (Hsuh Ta Corporation Group). The computerized supply chain helps the company to promote effective information sharing and keep its various operations integrated and connected. In addition, the firm has great access to potential financial reserves, and therefore there would not be any delay in production or transfer of finished commodities to the delivery point due to lack of funds. Stock inventory, another KPI of supply chain, gives some crucial information about the operational efficiency of the company. The firm avoids issues associated with under-stock and over-stock of goods. Hence, the Hsuh management has developed improved mechanisms to ensure that there is optimum level of inventory in stock to meet the business needs properly. In addition, the organization is particularly watchful about the dreadful effects of the out-of-stock performance on the business. The management believes that an out-of-stock situation would adversely impact customer satisfaction and loyalty and consequently the company may fail to regain consumer trust. Likewise, the company is committed to maintain adequate levels of throughput, which indicates the actual rate of production. This is necessary to make sure that consumer needs are met adequately and to expand the business landscape in line with the changing

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Answer 7 Questions materials provided - Training and Development Questions - Essay Example b) Nominate one publication from the NCVER Statistics publications that you can access, which addresses the statistics of participation in ACE. (NB if not available electronically, how will you access it?) (2 marks) Karmel, T. & Mlotkowski, P. 2008, ‘School-based apprenticeships and traineeships’, NCVER, National Centre for Vocational Education Research. Retrieved 3 April 2009 from http://www.ncver.edu.au/statistics/aag/schoolbased/sp08010.pdf Of the six articles and books located in the search of the NCVER website VOCED database listed in the Topic Notes, which one is available in the UNE library, and which author has another publication available in the UNE library. Give full bibliographic details and the relevant call numbers from the UNE catalogue. Australian Association of Adult and Community Education, 1992, ‘Striking a balance: adult and community education in Australian towards 2000 / edited by Roger Harris and Peter Willis’, UNE, Centre for Human Resource Studies. Call number: 374.994/A938s. Retrieved 3 April 2009 from http://biblio.une.edu.au.ezproxy.une.edu.au/cgi-bin/chameleon?sessionid=2009040401184001311&skin=une&lng=en&inst=consortium&conf=.%2fchameleon.conf&host=biblio.une.edu.au%2b1111%2bDEFAULT&SourceScreen=INITREQ&scant1=Striking%20a%20balance%3a%20adult%20and%20community%20education%20in%20Australian%20towards%202000%20%2f%20edited%20by%20Roger%20Harri&scanu1=4&elementcount=1&t1=Striking%20a%20balance%3a%20adult%20and%20community%20education%20in%20Australian%20towards%202000%20%2f%20edited%20by%20Roger%20Harri&u1=4&pos=1&itempos=1&rootsearch=SCAN&function=INITREQ&search=AUTHID&authid=329794&authidu=4 a) Identify at least one useful article (for the essay assignment) by the author K Schofield that you accessed via the UNE library. Give accurate bibliographic details and the call number (refer to the UNE Referencing Guide for the bibliographic details). Schofield, K. 1996, ‘ACE-VET : is it delivering?

EFFECTIVENESS ON TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT Essay Example for Free

EFFECTIVENESS ON TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT Essay This survey will be kept entirely confidential and is designed to solicit honest and candid feedback that will be used as a baseline for further and on-going work that will be done to improve overall organisational climate. Dear Sir/Madam, Thank you for taking part in this study. I am a MBA student in conducting analysis study on Training and Development in this organization. The basic purpose of this study is to identify effectiveness of the training and development imparted by you and its results in the performance of the employees. Kindly take some of your valuable time to fill out the questionnaire. Thank you for your valuable time. PERSONAL DETAILS Name : Gender: Q1) Does your company organises a training and development programme? Yes No Q2) Does your organisation identify the training needs for employees? Yes No Q3) How often training programmes organised in your company? Quarterly Half yearly Annually Every 2 years Q4) How well do you participate in various training programmes being conducted in organisation? Highly Fairly well Not always Q5) Training programmes help to improve the performance of employees and productivity of organization? Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Q6) Do you agree that your company have well designed training policy? Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Q7) Training programmes helps to increase your motivation? Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Q8) Training programmes improved your confidence towards work? Yes No Q9) Do you think training programmes are helpful to you in gaining new idea? Yes No Q10) Who in your opinion should give training? Expert from outside Internal faculty Personal department Supervisors Q11) Training helps to reduce stress at work? Yes No Q12) Is there any emphasis given on development of leadership skills through training programmes? Yes always Sometimes Not always Q13) Does the training programmes help you in good decision making at your jobs? Yes No Q14) In your opinion which method of training is useful for your organisation? On the job training Off the job training Q15) How did the training programmes benefit you during your service? Appreciation from superiors Improvement in work Quality enhancement Improvement in attitude Q16) Are you always motivated and looking forward for new training programmes after each programme? Yes always Sometimes Not always Q17) On the whole how will you rate the training programme being conducted in your organisation? Very good Good Satisfactory Poor Very poor Q18) Does the present system of training need any modification? If yes what are the suggestions to make future training programmes more effective?

Danone Marketing Strategy

Danone Marketing Strategy Danone is the worlds largest fresh dairy company with a thousand cups of Danone offerings being consumed every second around the world. It operated in India through a joint venture with the Britannia group till 2009. After the split, Danone India was setup as a wholly owned subsidiary of GroupeDanone with the aim of promoting fresh diary and milk products. The dairy industry benchmark suggests that the packaged yoghurt market in India could be about 60,000 tonnes, while the indigenous market comprising curd sold in loose pouches by local dairies may be about 140,000 tonnes. The major players in the organized segment include Amul, Nestle and some smaller regional players like Nandini in Karnataka and Milma in Kerala. Thus, India presents a promising opportunity to Danone especially with its differentiated emphasis on quality and freshness. With this in mind, Danone has launched its line of yoghurt in the select markets of Mumbai and Pune and is now targeting a market share of 12% in 5 years. This report outlines the marketing strategy decided by Danone to achieve these targets. Introduction Groupe Danone is engaged in the marketing and production of fresh dairy product and beverages. It is headquartered in Paris and is the fifth largest packaged food company in the world with just over 1% shares of global sales 1786 billion US$ in 2008. In recent years, the company has refocused its operation into three core markets water, fresh dairy products, baby food and medical nutrition. Danones principle product is Yoghurt. It is the worlds leading company in yogurt with 24% value sales in product category. Mission Danones mission is to provide healthy food products to as many people as possible. Our rationale for choosing Danone yoghurt is based on the following alarming statistics Under-nutrition contributes to 53 percent of the 9.7 million deaths of children under five each year in developing countries such as ours Iron deficiency is the most prevalent form of malnutrition worldwide, affecting an estimated 2 billion people. It is impairing the mental development of 40-60 percent children in developing countries Vitamin A deficiency affects approximately 25 percent of the developing worlds pre-schoolers. It is associated with blindness, susceptibility to disease and higher mortality rates. It leads to the death of approximately 1-3 million children each year. Iodine deficiency is the greatest single cause of mental retardation and brain damage. Worldwide, 1.9 billion people are at risk of iodine deficiency, which can easily be prevented by adding iodine to salt In light of the above, we found the following characteristics inherent in Danone yoghurt which made it more than just a convenient tasty snack: DANONE YOGHURT is fortified with 4 micro nutrients : Vitamin A, Iron, Zinc and Iodine keeping in mind the sheer number of Indians who suffer from deficiency of some or all of these nutrients Other benefits of yoghurt are: Nutritious texture The smooth creamy texture of yogurt comes from lactic acid, which is formed when milk ferments. Fermentation occurs using two lactic bacteria:  Streptococcus thermophilus  and  Lactobacillus delbrueckii var. bulgaricus. Improved digestion During fermentation, between 20 and 30% of milks lactose is converted to lactic acid. Since yogurt contains bacteria such as  ÃƒÅ¸-galactosidase, those who are lactose-intolerant can tolerate it better when they eat it. Yogurts texture makes it easier to digest. Due to its thickness, yogurt takes longer to move through the digestive system, allowing the lactase enzyme to break down lactose more efficiently and absorb nutrients effectively. Low fat Recommended fat intake represents between 20% and 35% of total energy intake and is normally 65 g a day for women and 90 g for men. Eating yogurt allows one to maintain these limits. With at most 5 g of fat per serving, yogurt is pure health food that is not just low fat, but also contains a host of other nutrients Another reason for choosing Danone yoghurt is that it has been launched very recently in Pune. As a part of the phased launch program in India, Danone yogurts were initially made available in three flavors (strawberry, mango and vanilla) across super marts and grocery stores in Pune and now Mumbai. Danone fortified yogurts have a shelf life of 15 days. While Danone Dahi is priced at Rs 27 for 400 grams and Rs 14 for 150 grams, flavored yogurts are priced at Rs 10 each for 100 gram pack size. Such a product which is in its initial stage of launching, gives us an opportunity, as marketing students, to analyze the Indian market for flavored yoghurt and develop a marketing plan for further expansion of Danone Yoghurt. Situational Analysis Yogurt is a fermented milk product prepared by blending bacterial cultures into the milk. In India, traditional yoghurt products such as dahi, sour milk drinks such as lassi and buttermilk used to br produced at home at very negligible cost. Many sections of consumers still prefer preparing such items at the home because of high costs of branded products in the market. But at the same time due to growth in the middle class section of society in big cities and increased awareness of nutritional value of such dairy items, accompanied by a fall in the per unit prices of processed dairy products, the sales of packaged dairy food products has grown in the last decade. Context Currently yoghurt in India is available in two forms namely: set and stirred. Set yoghurt is available in plastic cup containers usually in packs of 100 to 400 grams. It is particularly popular in the northern and western parts of the country. On the other hand the stirred or loose form is available in plastic pouches in packs of 100 ml to 500 ml quantity. These loose packs are more prevalent in the southern part of the country. Rising average income of households in the urban areas, increasing awareness about the health benefits of processed dairy products, combined with the increasing western influence in society has lead to a faster rate of growth in the demand for yoghurt and other sour milk products amongst the Indian consumers. Till very recently there was not much demand for flavored or fruit yoghurt among Indian consumers and most of people consumed it in plain form. Company Groupe Danone (Danone) is a global market leader in production and marketing of fresh dairy products and beverages. The group is headquartered in Paris, France and employs 76,044 people globally. The group recorded revenues of E 15,220 million (approximately $22,393.8 million) during FY2008, an increase of 19.1% over FY2007. The operating profit of the group was E 2,270 million (approximately $3,339.9 million) during FY2008, an increase of 33.8% over FY2007. The net profit was E 1,313 million (approximately $1,931.9 million) in FY2008, an increase of 10.8% over FY2007. The product line offered by the company include bottled water, savory snacks, dairy desserts, pro-biotic dairy products, beverages and fresh dairy products under more than 25 brand names. The key strengths of the company includes, strong global brand image, market leadership across a wide variety of product types and across geographies, diversified revenue model which reduces the risk and most importantly strategy of product innovation to strengthen groups competitiveness. With the focus on the healthy and nutritional dairy food products, Danone group has re-launched itself in India after its initial alliance with Britannia ended in 2007. The aim of the company is to grab a significant pie of the flavored and value-added milk product category, by differentiating itself through extensive product innovation. The key focus of the company would be on delivering products which have nutritional benefits and would be focused mainly on the health conscious people of the society. Competitors Karnataka Milk Corporation KMC with its flagship brand Nanadani accounted for the maximum share of yoghurt and sour milk product market in India till 2008. KMC didnt have a national presence, but was widely available in southern India especially Karnataka, which accounted for highest per-capita consumption of sour milk and yoghurt products. In addition to KMC, the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF) also occupied a major chunk of the market and both the companies had recorded a growth of about 1% during 2008. Nesvita, a pro-biotic yoghurt brand of Nestle, increased the market share of Nestle on accounts of increased demand for yoghurt among the consumers in 2009. Pricing was one of the most important factors in determining the market share of the brands. Due to low manufacturing costs, KMC and GCMMF were able to price their products at significantly lower levels as compared to national players like Nestle. For example a 200gm unit of nandani dahi is available for Rs 10 whereas the same quantity for Nestles Fresh and Natural Dahi costs Rs 13. Till 2009 Nestle and Yakult were only international players in the yoghurt market in India. State level cooperatives supported the domestic brands capability of having short shelf life, and so boosted the market for them compared to the international players. Also as late as 2008 there was no private label presence in the yoghurt and sour milk market in India. Collaborators Danone faces intense competition from local players like Karnataka Milk Corporation and Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. These local players have several advantages over an external player like Danone. For example due to low manufacturing costs and state funded cooperatives they are able to price their products low as compared to other players. Also, the distribution network of these local players is far more effective and penetrates deeper into the geographies, which is a major profit factor in dairy product industry. Also the supply of milk and culture to be used in the production process needs to have an efficient delivery system. To address such problems Danone has chalked out plans of joint ventures and partnerships with other players. It has partnered with Dynamix, as the co-manufacturer for Danone products in India. Also it has entered into a joint venture with Japanese pro-biotic dairy products manufacturer Yakult Honsha to launch pro-biotic yoghurt called Yakult distributed through the direct selling channel popularly known as the Yakult Ladies. Also Danone has partnered with several retail chains and distribution networks to make its product readily available to a wide audience. Customers The size of the Yoghurt market in India has increased by approximately 18% in 2008-09 in current value terms to reach Rs 6.5 billion. Sour milk drinks is the fastest growing category, with about 22% value increase in 2009. With the growing awareness about the nutritional and health benefits of the organic and cultured dairy products among the urban population of India, there has been a significant rise in the demand for such products. As the number of players offering such products are currently very few, there is a good business opportunity in this segment. The prospective consumers are people who value the nutritional and health benefits of processed and packaged diary food products. The key drivers which push the customer to look out of such products are the reliability and brand image of the vendor. The customers also place value on shelf-life and whether the product is made with natural ingredients. Packaging also plays an important role on consumer preference. The size of the packs available and the ease with which they can be consumed, stored and re-consumed is an important criteria for a consumer to make a product choice. Pricing of the various packs plays an important role in the ultimate buying decision of the consumers in India. The price needs to be decided by keeping in mind the per unit cost of production as well as the competitors price for the same quantity. Source: Official statistics, trade associations, trade press, company research, store checks, trade interviews, Euromonitor International estimates Porters Diamond Determining Factors of National Advantage Factor Conditions: India has readily available cheap labor. Also skilled workers are in abundance in urban and semi-urban areas at low costs. The raw materials like the milk, culture are readily available all over the country. Setting up a manufacturing unit is comparatively easy in certain parts of the country due favorable state laws Demand Conditions With increasing awareness of nutritional and health benefits of packaged dairy products there has been a tremendous increase in the demand of such products The size of the Yoghurt market in India has increased by approximately 18% in 2008-09 in current value terms to reach Rs 6.5 billion Western influence over the middle and upper middle class has increased the demand Related and Supporting Industries Plans of joint ventures and partnerships with other players like Dynamix, as the co-manufacturer for Danone products in India Also it had entered into a joint venture with Japanese pro-biotic dairy products manufacturer Yakult Honsha to launch pro-biotic yoghurt called Yakult Ladies Denone has partnered with several retail chains and distribution networks to make its product readily available to the targeted customer segment Firm Strategy, Structure, and Rivalry Currently not many people aware of flavored and fruit yoghurt in India Local players like Karnataka Milk Corporation KMC etc enjoy a number of benefits over external players in terms of lower costs and better distribution systems No private label presence in the yoghurt and sour milk market in India currently Pricing plays an important role in decision making for Indian consumers Marketing Objectives Danones marketing objective is to gain 12% market share in five years till 2014. In a category dominated by well-established players, it will take considerable time to establish market leadership. While this would naturally be a long term goal for the company, its immediate goal should be to incrementally gain market share and create awareness for flavoured yoghurt as well as brand Danone. Marketing Strategies Segmentation Scheme, Segments Profile The market segmentation can be done using demographic and geographic variables. The demographic variables used are income, gender and age. The geographic segments are divided based on urban or rural locality inhabited by the population being segmented. By 2016, the share of middle-class households (defined as those having annual income of US$6,000-$30,000) in the top 20 Indian cities is estimated to move from 39% in 2007-08 to more 55%. High-income households (more than US$30,000) will triple in the same period to 13%. More importantly, the share of low-income households (below US$3,000) could halve to just 7% by 2016 compared to 16% in 2007-08. Such a gigantic shift in household demographics will have a huge impact on demand for everything from food and beverages and consumer electronics to clothing and personal transport. The urbanization of India is taking place at a faster rate than in the rest of the world. By 2030, 40.8% of Indias population will be living in urban areas compared to about 28.4% in 2007-08. The population in urban India saw rapid growth driven by birth and migration during 1995-2007 which will continue until 2015. The percentage of urban households increased from 26.9% to 29.3% in the period 1995-2007, and is expected to reach 31.8% by 2015. Target Segment and Rationale Thus based on the various socio-economic indicators mentioned above, the urban middle-class Indian family would prove to be a very attractive target segment. The choices of women and children play a huge part in deciding the food items consumed by a family. Married women who are educated and who are balancing busy careers with their families have comparatively less time to spend on daily cooking which has resulted in the increased popularity of packaged food. This trend is likely to continue as the number of working women is expected to increase over the coming years. Tweenagers (children in the age-group 10-14 years) have a high level of media awareness and influence family decision-making in urban India. An example of their influence is the success of breakfast cereals in urban India. Cereals are increasingly being consumed by young urban children within rich and middle-income families and Kellogg India has successfully taken advantage of this by positioning its cornflakes as a nutritious snack for children after school. Therefore it is important to target this segment of the population. But influential as they are, a singular focus on just the children can be detrimental as the proportion of tweenagers in the total population is estimated to fall by 0.2% from 2007 to 2015, owing to families opting to have fewer children. Positioning and Rationale For many years Indians have had a negative perception of packaged food as stale and inferior. But with greater information about product quality, the growing affordability and necessity of such goods has contributed to the changed perception of packaged goods as hygienic and high in quality, which in turn has led to the increased popularity of branded packaged goods. Due to greater investment in the power sector and the penetration of electricity to most parts of the country, the sale of domestic electrical appliances such as refrigerators is increasing. This factor too has led to an increase in sales of frozen and refrigerated packaged foods. Consumption of yoghurt in India is highest in Northern and western Indian where Indian yoghurt(curd ) is eaten sweet (as opposed to consuming yoghurt with savory foods like in most of South India)and this would provide an easier progression to flavoured yoghurt in terms of consumer tastes and preferences. The concept of flavoured yoghurt is common in western cuisine, and with middle-class urban Indian families eating out and expanding their culinary horizons more than ever before, they are highly likely to be open to the concept of flavoured yoghurt. Taking into consideration the above mentioned demographic, economic and social factors, Danone yoghurt can be positioned as a tasty and healthy versatile food option. It can be consumed as a snack between meals, as dessert, or even as part of a meal like breakfast. It differentiates itself based on the superior health benefits, taste and quality offered. Danone yoghurt is uniquely positioned as it offers the taste and enjoyment derived from consuming an indulgence food-item like ice-cream as well as the health and nutritional benefits of a health drink (Eg: malted health drinks). In this way it can marry the benefits of both products and differentiate itself from other value-added dairy and health food options present in the market. Market Research MARKET RESEARCH Background: When Danone launched Danone Yoghurt in Pune, they didnt undertake a very extensive market research process. The company was new to India therefore collecting valuable feedback on customer preferences and their attitude towards health snacks was more important. They conducted surveys and got feedback on aspects like their eating habits, number and type of flavors to launch etc. The company was reasonably confident of Danones acceptance in India as it has made the product work in countries with no exposure to fermented dairy whatsoever such as Indonesia. The Problem: What is the consumer perception of yoghurt in general and is there a profitable potential market for flavored yoghurt in India? Decision Alternatives: To increase the scope of Danone yoghurt in other cities beyond Pune and Mumbai To halt expansion The former would require expanding the manufacturing capacity and setting up more factories. Currently there is only one in Baramati (near Pune) in Maharashtra which caters to both Pune and Mumbai markets. Research Objective: To determine if India is ready for Flavored yoghurt and to see which specifications and preferences of consumers can the company cater to in order to capture a larger market share. Data sources: Primary data collected through a survey. This seemed to be the most effective way to gauge peoples knowledge, belief, preferences and satisfaction. For this purpose we developed a questionnaire. Total number of respondents: 76 The sample of people asked to fill the questionnaire ranged from children to elderly to working professionals, to adults who stay home. Danone has not specifically targeted any particular segment of people. The company has decided to cater to families as a whole. ANALYSIS OF RESULTS: Based on the responses to the questionnaire we can infer the following: Most respondents believe in eating and living healthy and feel that yoghurt is a healthy and nutritional alternative to other snacks and eatables. This is no surprise as there is a trend towards health consciousness among children and adults alike In purchasing a snack such as yoghurt, people rank flavor as the main criteria for making a decision. Price and fat content are considered to be other important factors. Among flavors, we found plain yoghurt (or dahi) is the most preferred followed by chocolate. This is expected as dahi is now part and parcel of our everyday meals and chocolate is popular among kids and adults. Besides these, strawberry and vanilla are also liked by the respondents. Danone is the first to offer vanilla flavored yoghurt in India. When asked to rate attributes in yoghurt on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being the least important and 5 being the most important) respondents rated taste, flavor and health benefits (low fat) as the most important features. RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON ANALYSIS People regard yoghurt first as tasty and then as healthy. Danones mission is providing healthy food products to as many people as possible. Danone is a food company and not a pharmaceutical company therefore while the basis of all their products is healthy content, they cannot and do not ignore the taste aspect. Respondents consume curd and other forms of yoghurt mostly between once to 5 times in a week. This boils down to a maximum of once a day. They purchase yoghurt mostly through food chains such as Reliance, More etc. and only about 36% purchase from local shops. Respondents gave considerable importance to availability of yoghurt. It is interesting to note that people are not willing to go out of their way to buy a particular brand of yoghurt especially if substitutes are available. Therefore, yoghurt should be readily available (even in local shops) to induce people to make a purchase and inch towards building brand loyalty for Danone. Since people are willing to pay Rs. 10 to 12 for plain yoghurt, flavored yoghurt can probably be priced marginally higher as it is viewed as a premium product. Marketing Action Plan The Marketing Action Plan deals with the 4Ps of marketing, i.e. Product, Price, Promotion and Place. We have outlined the marketing action plan for Danone Flavored Yoghurt below: Product Danone Flavoured Yoghurt is flavored spoonable yoghurt made from milk, Yoghurt cultures, flavors, stabilizers, whey protein concentrate and color. It is fortified with four micro nutrients Zinc, Vitamin A, Iodine and Iron. Danone Flavored Yoghurt does not contain any preservatives. It has a shelf life of 15 days. The product would be primarily positioned as a healthy snack that tastes good. It is currently available in four flavours in India. They are: Mango Strawberry Vanilla Plain The product is available in 100 g packages. Currently no other product sizes are available. Product Packaging Danone Yoghurt is packaged in a plastic container and vaccum-sealed using an Aluminium foil bearing the attractive logo and branding. The containers are well sterilized before the fermented milk is poured in so as to remove the yeast since that leads to the creation of moulds that destroy the yoghurt. In addition, some stabilizers are added at the final stage that prevent the occurrence of whey, the watery coat that is formed above the set yoghurt. Price The price of the Danone Flavoured Yoghurt is Rs.10 for 100 gm yoghurt. Since the main marketing strategy of Danone is to establish the brand in India and increase the market share, Danone has to apply market-penetration pricing techniques. The product is competitively priced to ensure wider consumer reach and to secure high volume growth. The operational cost involved in the manufacturing, marketing, distribution and retailing of 100 gm of flavoured product are as follows Advertising Objectives The aim of the advertising program will be to create awareness about the brand, to highlight the quality,taste and nutritional benefits of the product. Since Danone is new to India and flavoured yoghurt is in the introduction stage in the Indian market, the advertising has to create sufficient awareness about the product category among the customers and stimulate enough interest to promote trial of the product. The advertisements should also increase the brand awareness of Group Danone and communicate to the consumers that Danone is the largest company in dairy products in the world. The advertisements would be primarily targeted at the segment of urban, middle class families. Choice of media The main focus should be on television ads, as it reaches more urban families than any other medium. Display media such as billboards, signs etc., innovative promotion programs and point-of-sale promotions could also be implemented to ensure wider reach. Advertising Program Television Advertisements The television advertisements would be targeted at the urban, middle class families. We suggest that there should be two separate television advertisement strategies one for increasing the brand equity of Group Danone in India and one focused on building the awareness of Danone Flavoured Yoghurt. It is important to build the brand awareness of Danone as the urban middle class consumers in India are highly aspirational and would love to be associated with a world-class brand. Aspiration-led marketing and portrayal of brands as status symbols has worked well in the past with the Indian consumers. This could also create an edge against established competitors such as Amul or Nestle and aid in brand recall. The advertisement should be informative; the purpose here is to introduce the average Indian consumer to Danone as the worlds largest dairy group. The creative execution can focus on Danones history, its popularity across the world and essentially, the arrival of Danone in India. The product related television advertisement should be built around the product features, taste and health benefits, appetite appeal and the snacking occasions. One of the main intentions is to ensure that potential customers try out the product. The plain yoghurt is a part of Indian diet and is generally preferred over the flavoured yoghurt which has less appeal to the Indian palate. Hence, the advertising has to actively motivate the consumers to switch from traditional sour yoghurt to the flavoured yoghurt emphasizing on both the taste and the added health benefits and can feature men, women and children consuming flavoured yoghurt as part of their meals. It should have eye-catching visual imagery that promotes appetite, appealing music and preferably a story line that involves an urban family that represents the general consumer lifestyle and preferences. The strategy for the implementation of the advertising should be: Launch with a high-decibel advertising campaign to maximize the impact. This can be continued for three to four weeks. The advertisements should be mainly featured on television channels popular in the urban middle class families. General entertainment channels in Hindi as well as English and the television channels that target tweens and English movie channels have more viewership among the target segment. The programs which are most popular with the target segment and those that emphasize health and wellness should be focused on. Outdoor media Billboard and poster ads that complement the television advertisements and enhance the brand appeal should also be a major part of the communication plan. Danone already has implemented innovative promotion media such as the Blue Danone buses in Pune. These ads should contain memorable visuals and communicate detailed information to give the product greater visibility and appetite appeal. Print Media The print media advertisement can deliver detailed information about the brand and the nutritional and taste attributes of the product to the target customers. English newspapers and family magazines such as Readers Digest, Good Housekeeping etc. and health and wellness magazines reach a large base of urban consumers. Sales Promotions The purpose of the sales promotions such as coupons, contests, premiums etc. are to gain attention and to lead the consumer to purchase the product. Since the product is in the introduction stage, the main goal is to encourage trials and thereby adoption. The following sales promotion methods are suggested: Distribute free samples with popular family and health magazines Banded packs with other branded health foods such as breakfast cereals or fruit juices. Point-of-sale displays that are eye-catching Social Media Marketing The urban population is characterized by extensive use of internet media. Internet represents a powerful channel that can be proliferated for effective advertisement campaign. Social media marketing can be employed in the form of presence on networking sites like facebook, orkut and myspace. Forums can be created on these sites that can inform the users of the health benefits of yoghurt, latest technology and its effect on product quality. First hand feedback and consumer sentiments can be analyzed from what they say on these forums. This information can be used to improve product quality, packaging, introduce new flavours and improve consumer interaction and further reinforce the brand image in the minds of the consumer. Place The primary mode of distribution of Danone flavoured yoghurt is a single-level channel with only the retailer as the intermediary between Danone and the consumer. To ensure the freshness of the product, it is put in cold storage at 4 degrees Celsius after packaging and is transported in trucks to the warehouse. Danone is the first company in India to have cold chain from factory to warehouse and from warehouse to the retail shop. At present, Danone flavoured yoghurt is available only in Mumbai and Pune. Danone will be launched across India in three phases: Phase I: It would include marketing in the top 10 metros with use of modern retail chains Phase II: It would include the next 20 Tier 1 citi