Office Management free essay sample

According to Npower (Business Case Studies) Often these decisions are administrative in nature and can be implemented quickly and tend to carry a little risk and are smaller scale, but are never the less important choices that people have to make to fulfil their role. Strategic Decision Implementing that laptops are to be used by partners while out of the office would be a strategic decision. There are lots of problems with the partners being out of the office and with the use of laptops as communication tools this will provide a direct link between the office staff and the partners. I believe that this is a strategic decision as with the right planning and overseeing the development this could really be a step forward for Classic Interiors because work can be exchanged between partners and the office and messages can be passed on effectively meaning that there won’t be a build-up of work or office staff with no work and communication between everyone will be made a lot easier. We will write a custom essay sample on Office Management or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Operational Decision Stipulating a lunch time for each staff member would be an organisational decision. The current system for lunch time is not convenient as the employees get to decide when they go as long as one of them is in the office. I believe this is an operational decision because if affects the day to day running of the organisation. If the administrators were set a lunch hour each they would have to stick to it and get used to working alongside the time set. Role of Office Manager Operational Planning Process As the office manager my role in establishing a new routine for lunch hour would be to organise a meeting to communicate the proposed changes with administrators and gain their views. Then I would create a plan to put forward to the administrators and partners. When a decision has been reached and the new plan is put into action I would have to oversee the progress of the plan gathering feedback at every opportunity. Issues There is increased frustration between partners and administrators due to the partners carrying out task they believe the administrators could be doing which would free up more time for the partners. The solution to this would be to for all administrators to be trained how to use the specialist interior design software, this would enable them to alleviate the work load from the partners and feel more involved in the design side of their work. This would likely be time consuming to train the administrators but the overall outcome would be beneficial to the company. The relationship between partners and the administrators is suffering due to the partners being out of the office as communication is often via short telephone messages and emails which has led to information being mis-communicated. The solution would be to introduce the use of PDA’s (Personal digital Assistants) for partners to be able to communicate with administrators. This would enable the administrators to contact the partners if a problem arises while carrying out work so that no mistakes are made and also they would be able to check their diaries to make appointments without the chance of double booking. Instant messaging could also help with communication as they are received instantly and can be replied to in seconds. Financial Planning and Budgetary Control Financial Planning According to Jim Priebe (ehow) A financial plan is like a blue print. It is a description of what you want to achieve and the tools you need to achieve it. Financial planning is the process of asking questions to ensure that you manage your risk against unexpected events. Managers need to be able to exercise control over the organisation that they manage to make sure that financial plans are being achieved both for the long term and the short term. Benefits of financial planning are: 1 Reducing the risk of a financial crisis. 2 Allows you to understand how each financial decision made affects other areas of finance. Barriers of financial planning are: 1 It can be time consuming 2 Can be costly as will involve accountants. Budgetary Control Budgetary control is precise control of an organisations operations through establishment of standards and targets concerning income and expenditure. Continuous monitoring is required to be effective. Benefits of budgetary control are: 1 Coordinates activities across departments. 2 Provides a record of organisational activities. Barriers of budgetary control are: 1 Budgets can demotivate staff. 2 May cause competition for resources. Effective Delegation Delegation is the distribution of tasks by the office manager. Giving responsibilities to employees to carry out the work but the work will remain liable to the office manager. When delegation is carried out properly very good results and high productivity can be achieved. The Process of Delegation Delegation can be very difficult. The process of delegation is: 1 Define the task 2 Select the Individual 3 Explain what must be achieved (clear instructions) 4 Discuss requirement to completion 5 Agree a deadline 6 Be there for support 7 Always give feedback Benefits Time management would be a benefit of delegation as this would allow partners to delegate work so that they have a more manageable work load. Delegating tasks will motivate staff and increase productivity. Barriers Forcing someone to do a task that they don’t want to or are not capable of would be a barrier, this can be seen in the case study when Izzy asked one of the administrators to just follow what had been done before. This lead to the administrator getting upset and Izzy feeling unable to approach anyone else. This could have been avoided by management setting out a procedure for staff to follow and allocating the task to someone suitable. Confusion about who is ultimately responsible for tasks is a barrier to effective delegation, this can be seen in the case study as partners are frustrated because they believe that administration is responsible for some of their tasks. This can be corrected by training administrators to make the delegation process easier. Leadership Models I think Tomi uses democratic leadership. As Tomi involves the staff in the decision making process of meeting times and encouraged staff to offer their opinions which made the administrators feel like what they said mattered. I believe Izzi uses Autocratic Leadership. When Izzi was in charge she would decide the times of meetings even when it was inconvenient to the others meaning work started to suffer which she then thought they could not manage and devised a new procedure which is hopeless but Izzi cannot see this. Staff find it difficult to communicate with her. Autocratic Leadership works where there is no need for input on the decisions and Democratic leadership works when a leader seeks help and guidance from staff to make decisions. Democratic leadership The impact of this leadership style is that it gives staff a voice and they are able to communicate better with management. Democratic leadership style encourages better cooperation and motivates staff because they feel well informed in everything that affects their work. Autocratic Leadership The impact of this leadership style is that it fails to motivate staff and they feel forced to do things managements way although It is not always the best way and staff become stressed being pushed. Autocratic leadership style encourages no communication between staff and management as management make all the decisions based on what they feel is best for the organisation. References Hamel, G. (2008) ‘What is strategic Decision Making’ http://smallbusiness. chron. com/strategic-decision-making-23782. html Npower. ‘Developing people through decision making’ http://businesscasestudies. co. uk/npower/developing-people-through-decision-making/tactical-decisions. html Priebe, J. ‘What is the purpose of Financial Planning’ http://www. ehow. com/info_7755005_purpose-financial-plan. html

Social Media Advocacy How to Develop a Successful Program For Your Brand

Social Media Advocacy How to Develop a Successful Program For Your Brand Social media employee advocacy. It’s a buzzword that has been floating around marketing teams for the past couple of years. While these types programs can be dramatically effective for a plethora of different reasons, including†¦ Brand awareness Sales connections Building company trust teams are still hesitant to adapt them  because†¦ There is risk of posting inappropriate content They are afraid the team won’t want to participate They already have enough work on their plate Whether you’ve started a program with your team and it’s turned into a chaotic mess, or you’re simply not sure how to start, you’ll learn about the resources and tools you need to turn your own employees into your biggest brand advocates. How To Develop A Successful Social Media Advocacy Program That Will Increase Brand AwarenessFirst Things First: Get Your Free Social Media Employee Advocacy Startup Package Before we start, make sure you download our Social Media Employee Advocacy Startup Package. When you download it, you’ll get: An pre-set email template to help you ask your co-workers to join the program A PowerPoint deck to help introduce and train your new employee advocates A brainstorming worksheet that advocates can use to determine their online voice A worksheet that your employees can use to remind themselves of when they need to send social messages That’s right, we did all the work for you. You’re welcome. What Is Social Media Employee Advocacy? A social media employee advocacy program allows you to use your employee’s vast social networks to help promote your company or brand. These employees are called "social employees" or "employee advocates." There are a lot of definitions of social employees, but the definition  that captures it best is from The Social Employee  by Mark and Cheryl Burgess: â€Å"Social Employees can utilize social media tools to act as authentic brand ambassadors in order to cultivate unique relationships with individuals where the end goal isn’t simply a purchase action but a dynamic exchange of ideas.† It’s a long definition, I know. But, the definition above captures both what a social employee is, and their purpose within your organization. It’s also important to note before we continue that when we refer to social media employee advocacy platforms, we’re talking about Twitter and LinkedIn. Let’s continue, shall we? What is social media employee advocacy (and is it right for your brand)?10 Steps To Starting Your Own Employee Advocacy Program Now that you know what an employee advocacy program is we’re going to move on to how to start your own program. The following steps will walk you through how to convince your team to join you, and the process you need to follow in order to get your program off on the right foot. Step 1: Identify Strong Candidates for Your Employee Advocacy Program Whether you’ve started your program and it flopped, or you’re just trying to get your feet off the ground, having the right people on your team is crucial to the initial success of your program. Therefore, check off the following before you  start: Pick a group of 10 people who you think would be good initial adopters of the program Narrow that list down to five Send the introductory email to those five people Depending on the size of your organization, the number of your initial adoptors may vary. We would recommend starting off with five, and growing the program from there. Five may seem like a small number, but there’s a lot of work that goes into setting up this program. Start small, you can always grow. Not to mention, you could run into a too many cooks in the kitchen type of problem. Don’t create that problem for yourself, trust me on this one. Now, I know what you’re thinking. What qualities should I be looking for the initial adopters of my employee advocacy social media program? A potential employee advocate should check off at least three of the following: Eager to learn Social media savvy Passionate about their job Great writing skills Has a wide knowledge base about the company Is already active on LinkedIn, Twitter, or both Is actually excited about the program and the potential it can bring to their department These are just a few of the qualities you will want to look for in your new social media employee advocacy program participants. Remember, you want to narrow it down to the best of the best so your program has a great jumping off point. A quick warning before you start your list. Do not, under any circumstances, force an employee to be a part of your employee advocacy program. No one likes being forced to do anything. It's like forcing a 4 year old to eat anything that's green. It's not gonna happen. If you force your employees to become your brand advocates, your program becomes in-genuine, and your potential consumers will see that coming from a mile away. So how do you approach your employees so that’ll they come and hear you out? Grab your free email template that complements  this post to customize and send to potential employee advocates. Feel free to personalize it to each person you’re sending it too. It may take a bit more time, but the personal touch really helps. Or you could just copy and paste the email from the social media employee advocacy kit. To Do: Make a list ten employees who you believe would be a good fit for your program Narrow the list down to five Send initial introduction email (Grab it from the kit that complements this post) Step 2: Introduce The Employee Advocacy Program To Your Team Why do you need to introduce the program to your employees? Well, first of all, you need to ask them if they want to participate.  Check out that email template from above to help get your started. Secondly, think about their schedule. They’re probably already swamped with a giant list of things to do. Imagine if your boss came to you and said, "Hey, I need you to spend about 3 hours a week tweeting about our company." You’d probably say no. Who wants extra work? No one. Being an employee advocate is not an easy task. It’s one that requires dedication and time. Most importantly, it’s a task that needs to be taken on voluntarily. So how do you convince your employees to take on extra work? Incentivize it. How do you convince your employees to take on extra work? Incentive it.I'm gonna get personal here for a second. When someone puts a competitive twist on things I’m immediately hooked. I have to win. I want to come out on top. Obviously, I'm pretty competitive person. Maybe your employees are the same way, and if so you can capitalize on that. Whether it’s a bonus, fun retreats, or even company swag, having a way for your employees to get rewarded will help them be more open to the possibility of participating in the program. So you've got everyone in the room. Now what? A presentation, maybe? You don't have time to create that. Don’t worry, we did that for you. Download it here. To Do: Download the PowerPoint slide deck from the social media employee advocacy starter kit Brainstorm ways to incentivize your employee advocacy program Get clearance from upper management for those incentives Schedule a meeting with your select five employees to go through presentation Step 3: Determine The Voice Of The Employees Who Will Be Participating In The Program If your employee advocates sound like a corporate robot, that’s what your consumer/customer fan base is going to think of them as. That’s not a good thing. Your employees need to bring their unique voice and perspective in order to breathe fresh life into your content. So how do you do this? Bring your employees to the  table. Schedule a short meeting, 15 minutes maximum to brainstorm and finalize an employee voice. You could even just swing by their desk when they have a minute or two to spare. Remember you want these meetings to be effortless and easy. The less this program interferes with their daily schedule the better. Once you’re in your meeting ask the following two questions and have them record their answers on the one-pager that is in the attached kit. What are five personality traits that make you great at your job? What are five personality traits that are not you? Once they have those written down have them pick their top three. Those become the voice of the employee online. An example is below. For a sales manager (let’s call him Bill), his list could look like: Confident but not arrogant Silly but not unprofessional Informative but not pushy Here's how to help your team develop their social media voice:Still stuck? Let me use myself as an example. I created my professional Twitter profile during my senior year of college because I wanted my potential new employers to know that: I was knowledgeable about social media and knew how to use it. I wanted to stand out among other applicants and find additional ways to showcase my personality. So when it came to creating my voice I had to answer the following three questions: Who am I and what is my personality like? Am I passive in my opinions or unafraid to state them clearly? If a potential employer or professional took thirty seconds to look at my profile what would they think about me? Have your employees try and think along the same mindset. Remember, don’t give them the answers. This is all about them. Have them fill out the worksheet in the kit that complements this blog post, and attach it to a desk, cubicle wall, or wherever they will see it often. This will act as a gentle reminder in case they get stuck on what to post. To Do: Print out voice brainstorming worksheet from kit Schedule a short meeting with participating employees or drop by there desk Brainstorm what their voice will be Finalize voice structure and record on worksheet Step 4: Create A Username  Convention When most companies start their social media employee advocacy program, they’ll usually identify their employees with a naming convention. Usually this means incorporating the company name into the Twitter handle somehow. It is important to note that once you pick a naming convention,  you stick with it. Once you pick a company-wide social media naming convention, stick with it.For example, our friends at Onsharp, a digital marketing and website development company in our home state of North Dakota, has an active social employee program. The handles for each of their employees is @Onsharpname. They cover a wide variety of topics, and are also able to show off their company culture. This not only helps increase their overall credibility,  but if you have a potential employee looking into the company, they have a chance to see genuine interactions that happen within the team. But it’s not just small businesses using username conventions. Discovery  Benefits is making a huge mark on the insurance industry. We recently interviewed their marketing manager,  Abby Boggs-Johnson,  for our Actionable  Marketing Podcast. In it,  Abby mentions how her sales team has started a series of social media employee advocacy profiles that are helping them connect to their customer base. By creating these unique connections between the sales team and their customers, Discovery Benefits is able to showcase genuine interactions which can allow people to build trust  in the company. Like Onsharp, Discovery Benefits has a naming convention @DBIname. It would be easy to say, â€Å"Well, these are smaller companies.†Ã‚  What about big Fortune 500s? Have they tried a social media employee advocacy program? Actually, some Fortune 500s were a few of the earliest adopters. One of them was Adobe. Adobe’s program still exists but unlike Discovery Benefits and Onsharp, Adobe doesn’t have a naming convention. Most of their employees have the @Adobe programming they work for listed in their handle. Why would Adobe forgo a naming convention? The company is huge,  and because there are so many different official Adobe product accounts, it would be impossible to keep one single convention among  all the different products. So if you’re a smaller company with one main Twitter account,  you should have a naming convention.  But if you’re marketing for a major corporation with multiple official Twitter accounts,  use your bio to identify which major company profile you are associated with. But Breonna, how do I create my naming convention? Don’t worry, I have you covered. Here's how to create a naming convention for your social media employee advocacy program:Below is a list of ten naming conventions. Pick one that you think will work best for your company. Some names will be too long. Remember, Twitter has a character limit for it’s usernames, so don’t be afraid if you have to use initials or abbreviations. @CompanyName @Company_Name @CompanyAcroynmName @CompanyInitialsName @Name_CompanyName @NameCompanyName @NameAtCompany @NameFromCompany @NameFrom_Company Company handle in bio To Do: Go through naming convention list Choose a convention and make sure it fits under Twitter’s 15 character handles Step 5: Create Consistent  Profile and Cover Photo Images One of the great ways that you can help distinguish your social media employee advocates is to have a matching profile style image and cover photo. Not only does this help distinguish your actual social employees online, it gives it a nice, clean, polished and professional look to your social accounts. Profile images should be: Headshot style- shoulders and above Contain the same background Any editing style applied to the headshot photo should be the same throughout Here are a couple examples from our team. This is Chris St. Amant, UI/UX Desginer: And Tyler Brazier, Software Engineer: Like the profile images, cover photos should be: Clean and informative Inviting The same throughout all profiles They should look like this: Or this: Everything is clean and consistent. Just the way we like it. It’s important to note that once the standard is set for the profiles, it needs to be followed throughout every single one of them. Why is this consistency  important? It helps users and your customers find your profiles. It also acts as a minor defense system against people who may try to impersonate the account. Once you’ve got your headshots and cover images created,  you can move on to account set up. To Do: Meet with graphic designer and document headshot and cover photo requirements Schedule time for employees to have headshots taken Review headshots and cover photos for final approval Step 6: Set Up Your Social Accounts Now that you’ve got your team on board and their voice has been determined, you’re ready for the fun part. Setting up your profiles. Whether your team is working with Twitter, LinkedIn or both, how you set up the accounts is incredibly important. For some people, this will be the first interaction they ever have with one of your employees. You want your bios to be short and sweet, as well as original. Everyone talks about how they love coffee and traveling. Challenge your employee advocates to think outside the box with another brainstorm session. Have them write down or think about the following: What does their online voice sound like? How can their bio reflect that? They may love coffee and traveling but what is something unique about them? What position do they hold within the company? Do they have a hobby, favorite book series etc, that they will sometimes tweet about? Have them think about some of these questions so they can incorporate them to make a unique bio for their profiles. For example, my professional Twitter bio looks like this: In it, I talk about my field of experience, my passion for theatre, my current position, my alma mater and for good measure I throw in a bit about my Harry Potter obsession. This simple bio does a few things: It establishes my area of expertise and the repertoire I tweet about. It adds personality. Not only do you know that I’m a Content Writer for , you also know that I love theatre and Harry Potter, among other things. This can help establish a connection to a potential client or customer. It makes me approachable. You know,  without a doubt, there is a real human behind that profile. This can make approaching me with a question about our product easier than approaching a company account. Some of you may have noticed there’s something missing in my bio. Can you see it yet? I don’t have a disclaimer in my online bio. Many people will tell you that your professional social accounts need a disclaimer that runs something along the lines of: Opinions are my own Retweet does not = endorsement Many people will add these disclaimers to their social bios in order to protect themselves and the company they work for. It seemed like a simple solution that would protect the employee in case they tweeted something that their employer disagreed with. It’s also thought that adding this disclaimer would protect the employer from public backlash if an employee tweeted something inappropriate. I’m sorry to say that these phrases will rarely protect either the employee or their employer  from backlash if something inappropriate is posted on social media. What can protect me, you might be thinking to yourself? Honestly, nothing but solid common sense. And on that happy note, we’ll continue into step 7. To Do: Brainstorm traits for your employee bios Edit and finalize bios. Add to social profile Step 7: Determine Your Posting Rules If I had to tell you to take away one vitally important piece of information away from this blog  post,  it would be that if you decide to develop your own social media employee advocacy program, determine your posting rules before you start. It may seem like a nonsense task. Why would I have the team take time to write everything down? Because, while great, social media can turn on you within seconds if you or a team member sends the wrong tweet  or message. It doesn’t take much to remember some of the biggest blunders that a company has made on social media. United, Cracker Barrel,  or Pepsi  ringing a bell at all? The internet can be a merciless place, and will never forget anything you posted. Yes, even if you delete it. Social media can turn on you in seconds if you send the wrong tweet or message.Having established rules in place can help you avoid those costly mishaps and give you the peace of mind that content being sent by your team is appropriate, timely and most importantly, connects with your customer base in ways your normal advertising won’t. With that in mind here is an example list of posting do’s that your team can start with and expand on: Post about company milestones Post/Retweet great reviews from other customers Have a blog? Have your employees tweet links back to new content Hosting an event? Have your advocates help promote it? The same goes when you’re attending an event or conference. Make your presence known by tweeting about it If you have fun office traditions, like our #BratwurstBlowout, tweet about it to show off your culture Hiring? Having your advocates post about new positions is a great way to help recruit people to your team Launching a new product or have some big news coming out? Extend the reach of your launch by having employees tweet to If your company is industry specific, have employees share new news or industry trends This is just a starting list. As your program continues to grow, your list will change and grow as your employees find their niche.

Authors can now accept quotes from Freelancers

Authors can now accept quotes from Freelancers Reedsy now allows authors to receive quotes from professional editors and illustrators Reedsy is already making waves in the publishing industry. Last month, we gave authors the best marketplace to find publishing professionals. Today marks a new milestone with Reedsy: we’re allowing authors to request quotes from freelance editors and illustrators. Browse the marketplace Reedsy allows you to browse our curated network of publishing professionals. Access to these people is no longer the sole privilege of publishing houses. Now indie authors can find them in a single click. We’re very proud of the people we have on board. We’ve lost track of how many bestsellers we’ve seen in their portfolios.

How does social media impacts on people's relationship and daily life Essay

How does social media impacts on people's relationship and daily life - Essay Example These resources will be narrowed down to ensure that only the most relevant documents and those that are rich in social media information will be analyzed. To improve the relevance of the outcome, the research will insist on usage of the most recent sources of information. Additionally, since discussion blogs do not have a good reputation with regard to provision of reliable information, the research will also determine and make use of the most relevant ones. This will ensure availability of adequate information on the topic. The study will also incorporate the creation of a coding sheet that will comprise several sections as they relate to the available sources of information. Some of the sections will include the main themes as presented by the online videos while others will comprise the relevance of the resource as it relates to the research questions. The content present in these sources will also be recorded in the coding sheet. Coders will be attempting to categorize the available sources so that it would be easier and more reliable to get the most relevant information to answer the research questions. The coders will work as a team to determine relevance of the sources. Through this study, my main expectation is to determine the authenticity of the claim that social media ruins relationships and that it alienates individuals. I want to analyze the main source of this, if it is accurate, since social media was established to improve communication. I also expect to assess the positives of social media since there has to be some useful aspects that social media has brought to the modern world. In addition, I expect the study to shed some light on the portions of the population that are affected by the negative impacts of social media. Lastly, I expect to determine whether social media triggers relationship issues or people ruin their own relationships and blame

Instruction Groups Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Instruction Groups - Essay Example Thus, the teacher may have a number of high achievers in one group and low achievers in another. Students enter the system with varied levels of reading abilities and mathematical skills. Hence, it is common for teachers to practice within-class groupings for the teaching of Reading and Mathematics. Flexible grouping encompasses the arrangement of students based on their learning levels. Hence, students may not remain in the same group for an entire semester. The teacher closely monitors students’ progress to ascertain when students may have improved in a particular subject area. This student is then placed in a group that contains members of similar aptitude. However, a student may be excellent in one subject area yet weak in another. Regardless of the type of grouping used, the teacher should establish only two or three groups within the class for easier supervision and timely intervention. Each group should work on material that is suited to their unique needs and abilities. Some situations in which whole group instruction may occur include storytelling, the introduction of new concepts, ideas and skills, writing composition, poetry appreciation, dramatization of a story and the generation of a language experience chart. Specifically, there is a lure about story-telling that equalizes all students irrespective of their reading level or their ability in any other content area. For example in the telling of the story of Little Red Riding Hood, the teacher could read aloud this story, varying the intonation of the voice in order to portray different characters. All the students are allowed to participate in this session. However, at the end of the reading of the story, students can be divided into groups based on their ability or skill. Thus, the teacher of a third grade class for example, may ask each ability group to write a different ending to the story. At the end of the writing period, the

Evaluation of Burberrys Market Position

Evaluation of Burberrys Market Position Critically evaluate Burberrys market position relative to that of its competitors. What has been the impact on their position in choosing Emma Watson for their latest advertising campaigns ? Burberry : Finds a position among the Top Ten Luxury Apparel Brands and Emma Watson proves to be a catalyst . Burberry is a iconic brand best known for its â€Å"Britishness† , in recent years has undergone a image overhaul having been described as ‘an outdated business with a fashion cachet of almost zero by leading fashion analysts in 1998 (Finch and May, 1998). By 1997, the annual profits of Burberry had gone to  £25 million from  £62 million (Moore, C., Birtwistle, G., 2004) . Over past few years, Burberry has become in themselves the sign of reinventing and extending product lines to adapt to the taste of times.â€Å" Our objective was to distil what the Burberry brand stood for and determine how to make it relevant for todays consumer† Bravo stated (Alderman, 2002). However, changes focused on brand repositioning turned revenues of  £427.8 million in 2001 into  £715.5 million in 2005 (Burberry Group, 2005). Burberry adopted a strategy to create a market position to explain its growth and extend the customer base by offering â€Å"Accessible Luxury† when most other brands were struggling to acquire a broader clientele. Burberry repositioned themselves and opened a flagship store on Bon Street in London (Moore, C., Birtwistle, G., 2004) placing it store among Gucci, Versace, Prada and Chanel. Approximately, Burberry operates in the global luxury sector to about  £145bn (Burberry Plc, 2009c). Jaeger recently bought Aquascutum and the annual turnover for both brands together was  £300m. Whereas, Burberrys current capital is about  £ 2.1bn. Burberry is considered among the top ten luxury brands. Burberrys competitors differ through its categories and price ranges or diffusion lines. Burberry is positioned between Polo Ralph Lauren and Armani considering apparel and Coach and Gucci for Accessories. Giorgio Armani, Coach, Donna Karan, Escada, Gucci, Max Mara, Polo Ralph Lauren, To ds, Hermes, LVMH, PPR, Prada, Chanel and Richemont are a few among Burberrys competitors (Burberry Plc,2009c). However, even after the recession hit Burberry has achieved to increase sales up to  £1,202m by 31st march 2009. In 2008/09 there was a sales increase through retail by 14%, 2% in wholesale and 9% decline in licensing which contributed to overall 7% revenue increase from the previous year (Burberry Plc,2009a). Comparing with the market Burberry Prorsum competes with Armani Black Label, Gucci and Prada. Burberry London Women is placed between Armani Collezioni and Ralph Lauren. Burberry London Men is between the gap of Zegna and Ralph Lauren. Tommy Hilfiger, Armani Jeans and Polo Jeans are the competitors for Thomas Burberry. Most of the Japanese brands like Ozoc, Michel Klein are a tough competition to Burberry Blue while Paul Smith competes with Burberry Black. In recent years Burberry has expanded its product lines which helped to improve on brand standing and growth. Many other fashion brands are following the same strategy to stand the competition like Armani extension into Armani Casa, Armani hotels etc. According to the top 15 luxury brands listed by Interbrand (2009) Burberry is eleventh in the list and among top ten if only apparel brands are considered. Also, comparing the brand values for the year 2008 and 2009, it can be concluded that competitors brand values declined. Only Hermes managed to get a 1% increase in their brand value AND Polo Ralph Lauren is not listed among top 15. Most of the brands managed to climb the ladder on global ranks, Burberry achieved 98th rank in top 100 global brands 2009. The market brand position of Burberry in terms of valuation can be compared through below segments : †¢ European Apparel Brands: companies like Escada, Hugo Boss, HM and Benetton are competitors in terms of product mix and the business model. Though few companies work on lower price range, few brands are tough to compete in terms of the value they offer to consumers. †¢ US Apparel Brands: Polo Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger competes on basis of product mix and has more mature business. †¢ Luxury Goods Brands: brands like Hermes, Coach, LVMH, Tods . Performing better than competitors and beating analyst expectations, Burberry sales rose by 4.6 % to  £ 343m by September. Share price for Burberry doubled during the past year providing a good defense against competitors. Its market position is mainly in the fashion oriented mature sectors focusing on ready to wear and some accessories peers. Burberry continually tries to consider the cost effectiveness in maintaining the quality and enhance the product while trying to achieve competitive pricing and improving efficiency in sourcing the goods. Even in recession it continues expansion in other markets, for instance the launching kidswear store in US. Also, tailoring the merchandise mix according to the climate to attract more customers, some products are displayed only in selected stores for instance, the New York store provides service for customized trench coat, Beverley hill store contains light weight products etc. Comparing revenues below, 33% of non-apparel to 67% of apparel is a correct balance for a brand to display its products and innovations to provide their customers a wide variety. Where brands like Armani, Channel and Polo Ralph Lauren gain most revenues through apparel while others like Coach depend on the accessories. Burberry trench coats were worn by Hollywood stars like Humprey Bogart in Casablanca, Peter Sellers in The Pink Panther (Jackson and Shaw 2009, p.77).Burberry strongly believes that marketing and management are very critical to its success hence, it focuses on coverage in Editorials, advertising, fashion shows both domestically and internationally and has a website, twice yearly ad campaigns focusing on leading lifestyle and fashion publications and fashion shows in Milan. In order to reflect the essence of the brand ,create brand awareness and sustain brands aura, Luxury brands often feature models, celebrities or famous personalitys as they help wield an enormous power in fashion circles and help in making up or destroying a brand. Burberry uses a lot of images of London to represent it English lifestyle with a British celebrity. Burberry had renowned personalities like Stella Tenant, Rachel Weisz, Agyness Deyn, Lily Donaldson and Kate Moss endorsing the brand. Kate Moss was the most popular and high profile face Burberry had. While, other celebrities like Jerry Hall, Nicole Appleton, Jarvis Cocker and Beckhams also contributed. The beautiful, elegant Emma Watson â€Å"the Harry Potter ‘actress, a leading style icon is the new face of Burberry. Advertising campaign images of Burberry featuring Emma Watson as the face of Burberry were unveiled on 9th Jun 2009. Chistopher Bailey ( Burberrys Creative Director) who said â€Å"Having known and admired the lovely Emma Watson for some time, she was the obvious choice for this campaign†. â€Å"Emma has a classic beauty, a great character and a modern edge. Her charm, intellect and brilliant sense of fun made the whole shoot feel like a picnic on the Thames† he added.( Craik, L. ,2009). The advertising campaign was shot by renowned fashion photographer Mario Testino in Westminster, central London which is the global Headquarter of Burberry and directed by Bailey who considered Watson to strong enough and came up with the idea of presenting only girl surrounded by the young Cool British guys. The images in this campaign capture Watson wearing the classic trench coat looking winsome, accompanied by male models Tom Guinness, Charlie France and Douglas Booth. The images represent the rich history associated with the brand as well as the modernity of Burberry which emphasises on the beauty, timelessness and strength of the brand noteworthy at present. Emma Watson has been globally very popular due to her Harry Porter movies for years now. Watsons popularity and appeal as a leading style icon she has a huge fan following, which the brand uses to target a new young set of customer. Watsons high profile catwalk at the London fashion week in September 2009, helped the company to raise its profile in UK .It can also be assumed that the new ad campaign helped the brand to attract more customer base and resulting in sales increase which is evident from the sales figures for 2009. Burberry mentioned the increase in the second quarter sales climbing from 4.6pc to  £343m.Finacial Analyst and business advisors have forecasted that the tax profits will increase towards  £190m ( Hall, J. 2009) The linkage of Emma Watson as the face of Burberry has also helped the brand to increase the sales of handbags and pull on scarves called snoods. The analysts were proposed rise in the profits due to the increase in sales which helped Burberry to beat the market expectations in second quarter of financial year .However, It seems to a bit risky decision for Burberry as she is bound to get a bit older. To conclude, Burberry is an example of complex channel and distribution for luxury fashion ( Moore and Birtwistle, 2004 ) and proved its potential to be a tough competitor by making positive growth of brand value even when economic scenario is not very supportive. Burberrys decision of choosing Emma Watson for their ad Campaigns has proved beneficial for them to increase sales and profits, also, she reflects the same charm and personality as the brand. However, brand understands that the real task is to implement effective strategies in business that can develop and manage a brand. It is not only celebrity that brings success to the brands. Burberry proves to be approachable as the products not only have good aesthetics but also due to durability, functional and practical proving to be inclusive yet offering friendly prices. This results in higher brand value and brand appreciation. REFERENCES: Alderman, E. (2002) Luxury and the downturn: diamonds in the rough, International Herald Tribune, 6 December 2002. Baker, M., Foy,A,( 2003) Business and Management Research. United Kingdom : Westburn Publishers Ltd. Bergin, O. (2009) Emma Watson as the new face of Burberry. Telegraph [Internet] 9 June 2009. Available from Accessed on 17 December 2009. â€Å"Bravo† for Burberry- From bust to boom- creating a luxury fashion brand (2005), Strategic Direction, Vol.21 No.1,pp 22-24 , ISSN 0258-0543. Burberry (2002), Burberry PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2001-2002, Burberry, London. Burberry Group (2005), Annual Report and Accounts 2004/2005, Burberry Group, London. Burberry plc (2009a), Annual Report 2008/ 09, Burberry Group, London,[ Internet] 15th June 2009.Available from ( Accessed on 17 December 2009) Burberry plc ( 2009b )Investor pack- November, Burberry Group , [ Internet] 2 December 2009. Available from ( Accessed on 17 December 2009. Burberry plc ( 2009c ) Corporate Profile, Burberry Group, [Internet]. Available from accessed on 16 December 2009. Burberry Group plc London United Kingdom ,Overview(2009) Hoovers- A DB Company [Internet]. Available from Accessed on 13 December 2009. Burberry Toasts a lift in sales ( 2009 ) The Independent ( London, England). 15 October 2009, P. 44. Burberry Worries Investors ( 2005) [Internet].Available from Accessed on 27 November 2009. Chadha, R. , Husband, P. (2006) The cult of the Luxury Brand- Inside Asias Love Affair with Luxury. London Nicolas Brealey International pp.25-63, 149, 178, 267-77,280. Chiefs call for tighter business models ( 2009) The financial times, 5 October 2009, p.17. Accessed on 24 December 2009. Clark ,N. (2008) Burberrys Sales soar as Debenhams struggles , The Independent -Business, 16 April 2008 [Internet]. Available from Accessed on 13 December 2009. Craik, L. ( 2009) Harry Porter Star Emma Watson Charms Burberry. London Evening Standard, 9 June 2009 [ Internet]. Available from .Accessed on 13 November 2009. Diamond ,J., Litt, S. (2003) Retailing in the new millennium, New York : Fairchild Publications.p.21-23 Easey ,M. ( 1995) Fashion Marketing, India, Blackwell Publishing , pp.174-177. Everywhere is home for the global top one hundred (2008),Strategic Direction, Vol.24 No.5,pp 14-17 , ISSN 0258-0543. Finch, J. and May, T. (1998), â€Å"Reputations: putting a zip in a Burberry†, The Guardian, 27 June. Hall, J. ( 2009 ) Emma Watson helps Burberry beat expectations. The Telegraph- Telegraph.co.uk, 14 October 2009 [Internet]. Available from Accessed on 17 November 2009. Interbrand (2009) Leading Luxury Brands 2008 Rankings, Branding Studies- The Top 15 Luxury Brands, Interbrand-Creating and managing brand Value,[Internet]. Available from Accessed on 27 December 2009. Interbrand (2009b) Best Global Brands 2009 rankings, Interbrand-Creating and Managing Brand Value, [Internet].Available from Accessed on 27 December 2009. Jackson ,T., Haid, C. ( 2006) : Global Luxury Brands-trademark/ Intellectual Property In Jackson, T., Shaw, D. The Fashion Handbook, London: Routledge , pp. 72-81. Jackson ,T., Shaw, D. (2006) The Fashion Handbook. London : Routledge, pp. 61-3. 72-81,105-08,127. Jackson, T., Shaw, D.( 2009) Mastering Fashion Marketing. Wiltshire: Palgrave Macmillan, pp.12-15,63,161-63,247-250,288-98. Keynote ( 2009) Report Search [Internet]. Available from .Accessed on 18 December 2009. Kiley, D. (2007), ‘‘Best global brands, Business Week, Vol. 4005, August 6, pp. 56-63. Kollewe, J., Wearden, G.(2008) Burberry sees profits rise while Laura Ashley Suffers. The Guardian ,Financial section [ internet] 29 May 2008, pp 26. Available from Accessed on 18 December 2009. Leroux, M. ( 2009 ) Childs play for Burberry . The Times, 15 October 2009, p.51. Luxury Goods. Lex Column ( 2009 )The Financial Times, 21 November 2009, pp 24. Main Movers ( 2009) ,The Independent ( London, England) ,10 December 2009, p.52. Malem Wendy (2008) Practitioner Paper Fashion designers as business: London, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management ,Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 398-414. Milligan ,L. ( 2009) Emma Watson Exclusive. Vogue.com [Internet] > 12 june 2009. Available from Moore, C. and Fernie, J. (2004), â€Å"Retailing within an international context†, in Bruce, M., Moore, C. And Birtwistle, G. (Eds), International Retail Marketing; A Case Study Approach, Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, pp. 3-37. Moore, C. and Birtwistle, G. (2004), ‘‘The Burberry business model: creating an international luxury brand, International Journal of Retail Distribution Management, Vol. 32 No. 8, pp. 412-22, ISSN 0959-0552. Neumier, M. (2006) The Brand Gap. United States of America: AIGA. Okonkwo, U. (2007) Luxury Fashion Branding. Hampshire : Palgrave Macmillan, pp.15-25, 30-37, 132-67, 173-78, 227, 260, 278-83, 310 ONeill, L. (2009) From Hogwarts to Burberry: Actress Emma Watson graduating into high fashion as new face of label. NYDaily News.com [Internet] 9 June 2009. Available from Accessed on 17 December 2009. Pringle, H. (2004) Celebrity Sells. India :John Wiley Sons ,LTd. Satherley, J. ( 2009) Emma Watson unveiled as Burberry Babe [ Internet] 9 June 2009. Available from ile:///C:/Users/Admin/Desktop/burberry/research/Emma%20Watson%20unveiled%20as%20Burberry%20babe%20%20%20Metro.co.uk.htm> . Accessed on 16 December 2009.. Vine, S. ( 2009) Coppy Emma Watsons Burberry Look. The Times-TimesOnline [Internet] 10 June 2009. Available From Accessed on 17 December 2009. Werdigier, J. ( 2009) Burberry Looks Online for Ways to Gain Customers. The New York times-Global Business [Internet] 9 November 2009. Available from . Accessed on 12 December 2009. IMAGE REFERENCES : Image No. 1: Burberry previous ad campaigns by Koko Royle ( 2009) Burberry Handbags resist the chav scandal [Online Image]. Available from [ Accessed on 29 December 2009]. Image No. 2 : Rosie Huntington and Sam Riley in Burberry Fall 2008 Ad Campaign by Foster, K. ( 2008) Rosie Huntington-Whitley for Burberry autmn/winter 2008-9- revealed [Online Image].Available from [Accessed on 14 December 2009]. Image No. 3 : David Victoria Beckham for Emporio Armani by Jane, Tina ( 2009 ) Celebrities for Luxury Brands09 Ad Campaign [Online Image]. Available from .[Accessed on 14 December 2009]. Image No. 4 : Madonna for Louis Vuitton by AmyGrindhouse ( 2009) David Victoria Beckham Armani Fall 2009 Ads [Online Image], 2 July 2009. Available from [Accessed on 14 December 2009]. Image No. 5 : Emma Watson For Burberry- Autumn/Winter 09 Campaign at Burberry Plc ( 2009) About Burberry- Ad Campaign [Online image].Available from . [Accessed on 17 December 2009] Image No. 6 : Burberry Spring/Summer 2010 Ad Campaign for Burberry Prorsum at Burberry Plc ( 2009) About Burberry-Introducing Spring/Summer 2010 [Online Image]. Available from .[ Accessed on 29 December 2009] Image No. 7: Burberry Spring/Summer 2010 Ad Campaign for Burberry Prorsum featuring Emma Watson at Burberry Plc ( 2009) About Burberry-Introducing Spring/Summer 2010 [Online Image]. Available from .[ Accessed on 29 December 2009] Image No. 8: Burberry London ad campaign for Spring/ Summer 2010 at Burberry Plc ( 2009) About Burberry-Introducing Spring/Summer 2010 [Online Image]. Available from .[ Accessed on 29 December 2009] Image No. 9: Emma Watson for Burberry Brit Spring /Summer 2010 Ad campaignat Burberry Plc ( 2009) About Burberry-Introducing Spring/Summer 2010 [Online Image]. Available from .[ Accessed on 29 December 2009]

American Express Diversity

American Express continues to be the one biggest company for selling financial products and is one of the most stable. Established in 1850 in New York, American Express Company was among the first and most successful express delivery businesses to arise during the rapid westward expansion of the United States (American Express Website, 2008). With over 150 years of experience in handling the business, the company is continually eyeing global expansion and international growth. The company employs a large number of employees from across Asia and Northern America.That includes different nationalities, cultures, with different ideologies, sects and religion. This shows how diverse American Express is. Diversity is generally defined as acknowledging, understanding, accepting, valuing, and celebrating differences among people with respect to age, class, ethnicity, gender, physical and mental ability, race, sexual orientation, spiritual practice, and public assistance status (Green, et. al , 2002). Now, how does American Express manages this kind of corporate setup? This is where leaders emerge.The company trains potential leaders through series of leadership enhancing courses with its goals, objectives and target outputs and film showing about the importance of working in a team. But first, leaders are asked on their knowledge of every individual employee’s human and cultural diversity. A Leader should be a motivational one, the kind who could open employees mind to working towards diversity. One must also show the big picture of its importance to the growth of the company and who will reap its benefits.Every conflict of ideas or differences must be resolved immediately through the ombudsmen department. All of these are needed to create synergies to maximize profit. American Express has created the Global Diversity and Inclusion. This will bridge the gap rooting from the immediate conflict on a local are to escalate into a network scene and the identification of diversity related arguments. All are monitored from the smallest department. Launching sports festivities and lunch and learn activities are effective ways of interacting all employees.Employees are allowed to express their opinions in the company. The workplace operates with respect for each other. The knowledge that leaders get from training modules are translated to the employees. The management sees to it that diversity is always practiced in the company. All are treated equally and if not, immediate actions are imposed. Although, discrimination still exists, all are advised to take it away. All opinions will be heard. Hispanics, Asians, Blacks, Muslims and employees of other religion work for the company.They may have their groups according to their faith, but all are working towards the corporate goals. Differences on faith are strongly respected. This shows how diverse the working place is. The company strives hard in leveraging these cultural gaps. Employees are all given equal opportunities as to be promoted or as to climb the corporate ladder. No one is given preferential treatment based on their ethnicity or color. This has been the most important practice of the company to promote diversity.Anyone who noticed that such wrongdoings can file complaints in the ombudsman department or any complaint centers. The importance of diversity reflects the company’s success. The operations in other countries are stronger for local employees talk to customers in their national language and know how to relate to them. This help the company expand faster and grow stronger. This also strengthens one of American Express corporate values, TEAMWORK, we work together, across boundaries, to meet the needs of our customers and to help the company win (American Express Website, 2008).References: American Express Website. (2008). Becoming American Express: 150+ Years of Reinvention and Customer Service. Retrieved, October 5, 2008, from http://home3. americanexpre ss. com/corp/os/history. asp Green, Kelli A, Mayra Lopez, Allen Wysocki, and Karl Kepner. (July, 2002). Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges, and the Required Managerial Tools. Retrieved, October 5, 2008, from http://edis. ifas. ufl. edu/HR022 American Express Website. (2008). Our Values, Teamwork. Retrieved, October 5, 2008, from http://home3. americanexpress. com/corp/os/values. asp