HPV Infection Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

HPV Infection - Term Paper Example Nearly every case of cervical cancer are caused by HPV, and all cases of genital warts and RRP are caused by HPV. The genital warts appear as small bumps or a group of bumps in the genital area, which may be small or large, raised or flat, or shaped like a cauliflower. These warts may appear within weeks of months after sexual contact with a partner who is infected, even if that partner has no outward signs of the disease. These warts may go away on their own, may remain unchanged, or may multiply or grow larger. The types of HPV that causes the warts are not the same strain that causes the cancers. Cervical cancer is symptomless until it is advanced, so women are encouraged to seek regular screening for cervical cancer. The RRP is a disease where the warts grow in the throat, which can block the airways and cause a hoarse voice or breathing troubles (Steben and Duarte-Franco, 2007). It is considered to be a disease because the mechanisms of the HPV virus change healthy cell tissue i nto tissue that is infected with lesions. Moreover, HPV is considered to be a disease because it causes other, more serious diseases, especially cervical cancer, as well as cancer that resides in other parts of the body, including the mouth and the throat. ... of the woman, although it can also result in infections in the man, the system that will be examined for the purposes of this essay is the female genitalia. Below is a diagram of a normal female genitalia: The function of the external female reproductive structure is to enable the sperm to enter the body and to protect the internal genital organs from infectious organisms. The labia majora, which is literally â€Å"large lips,† is what encloses the protects the external reproductive organs. These are large, fleshy lips, and is the equivalent to the male scrotum. These lips contain sweat and oil-secreting glands. There are also labia minora, which are small lips. These are small lips which may be up to 2† wide. They are just outside the labia minora, and they surround the opening to the vagina and uretha. Bartholin’s glands are another part of the external genitalia, and the Bartholin’s glands are located beside the vaginal opening and produces a fluid secre tion. The clitoris is where the two labia minora meet, and this is a small and sensitive protrusion that is comparable to a male penis. It is covered by a fold of skin, and similar to the foreskin at the end of the penis. It is very sensitive to stimulation and may become erect. The vagina is also a part of the female genitalia. It is a canal that joins the cervix, which is the lower part of the uterus, to the outside of the body. This is known as the birth canal. HPV may also affect internal reproductive organs, so there will be some discussion of this as well. In this case, there is a uterus, which is a womb. It is hollow, pear-shaped and is the home for a fetus that is developing. It is divided into the cervix, which is the lower part that goes into the vagina, and the corpus, which is the main body of the

Corporate Social Responsibility and Human Resource Management

Corporate Social Responsibility and Human Resource Management Corporate social responsibility (CSR), is also known as corporate responsibility, responsible business or corporate social performance, is a form of self regulation for the company. It acts as an autonomous mechanism whereby the business supervises its actions and guarantees adherence to law, ethical standard and international norms. The business is accountable for the results of its actions on the environment, employees, consumers, stakeholders and the community as a whole. CSR is a purposeful addition of public interest into corporate decision making. Managers face pressures to devote the resources of the company towards fulfillment of CSR which is a result of the demands of various stakeholder groups such as customers, suppliers, employees, stockholders and the local community. According to Doane D, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become the mainstream prescription by business and governments for dealing with social and environmental ills. It is a voluntary form of self-regulation that aims to tackle everything from human rights and labour standards to limiting carbon dioxide emissions that lead to climate change. But because CSR ultimately lies within the framework of markets, and requires market-based incentives for companies to invest in such programmes, it ultimately falls prey to the vagaries of the market. (Doane, 2004, p. 215) Human resource management on the other hand refers to the management of the human resource of the organisation. human resource management plays a major part in training and conditioning the employees to fit into the organisations culture. Employees gain valuable attributes that help them perform effectively and efficiently to benefit the employers. The human resource of the firm when managed properly can prove to be valuable assets and help in gaining competitive advantage over the other firms. The human resource is not substitutable or duplicable and hence gives the company a distinctive edge over its competitors. Companies like to create a public image wherein they are viewed as a responsible part of society. They wish to, in their own way, fulfill the duties and responsibilities of a model citizen. Companies like to refer to themselves as corporate citizens, or even good corporate citizens. A review of company websites and codes of conduct presents examples such as: ABN Amro We are a responsible institution and a good corporate citizen, Boeing Good corporate citizenship is a key Boeing value, Hitachi The Hitachi Company strives to be a responsible corporate citizen in communities worldwide. Shell To conduct business as a responsible corporate member of the society. (Jeurissen, 2004:87) Some examples of CSR actions include going beyond legal requirements in adopting progressive human resource management programs, developing non-animal testing procedures, re-cycling, abating pollution, supporting local businesses, and embodying products with social attributes or characteristics. (McWilliams Siegel, 2001: 117) Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is gradually becoming a leading issue in business. A growing number of companies embraces the concept and feels the need to make clear what it actually means. They take a variety of initiatives all aimed at making sense of CSR. (Cramer, Jonker, van der Heijden, 2004: 215) A company needs to be sensitive to the social, political and legal environment as it is dependent on the elements of each of these in order to be able to survive, let alone flourish. For the better part of 30 years now, corporate executives have struggled with the issue of the firms responsibility to its society. Early on it was argued by some that the corporations sole responsibility was to provide a maximum financial return to shareholders. It became quickly apparent to everyone, however, that this pursuit of financial gain had to take place within the laws of the land. Though social activist groups and others throughout the 1960s advocated a broader notion of corporate responsibility, it was not until the significant social legislation of the early 1970s that this message became indelibly clear as a result of the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). (Carroll) The pressure on firms to engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) has increased. Many managers have responded to these pressures, but many have resisted. Those who resist typically have invoked the trade-off between socially responsible behavior and profitability (McWilliams Siegel, Corporate Social Responsibility nad Financial Performance: Correlation or Misspecification?, 2000:607) Expectations of stakeholders not only relate to the direct transactions between parties, they now expect management to participate in the debate on societal problems (e.g. unemployment, poverty, infrastructure) and proactively think about the effects of the business on society at large. (Kok, Van Der Wiele, McKenna, Brown, 2001:285) The economic and social purpose of the corporation is to create and distribute increased wealth and value to all its primary stakeholder groups, without favoring one group at the expense of others. Wealth and value are not defined adequately only in terms of increased share price, dividends, or profits. (Clarkson, 1995, p. 112) Managers can no longer be held responsible for maximizing returns to shareholders at the expense of other primary stakeholder groups. Instead, managers are now accountable for fulfilling the firms responsibilities to its primary stakeholder groups. This means that managers must resolve the inevitable conflicts between primary stakeholder groups over the distribution of the increased wealth and value created by the corporation. Resolving conflicting interests fairly requires ethical judgment and choices. (Clarkson, 1995, p. 112) When it comes to the question whether corporate social responsibility and human resource management are linked they certainly are. One of the major responsibility of the organisation is to keep their employees happy and to treat them in an appropriate manner, the employees in turn perform better and the organisation earns profit. The money earned by the organisation as profits are utilised to carry out responsibility of the organisation towards the employees and the community. The issue of business ethics and social responsibility is thus becoming a theme for organisations which are serious in their approach towards business excellence (Fisscher, 1994; Buban, 1995; Nakano, 1999). Kok mail IMP According to Woods, definition of corporate social performance (CSP) is not entirely satisfactory (wood, 1991). The definition of corporate social responsibility in itself is not well explained and its link to human resource management cannot be confirmed. However, as we know that corporate social responsibility of a firm refers to the firms acknowledment of its responsibility to the community and its members and the society as a whole, it can be said that human resouce management and corporate social responsibility are linked as employees constitute of the integral part of the organisation and also members of the society. Hence, organisations to call themselves responsible corporate citizens they need to focus their attention on the human resource they possess and be sensible to their needs. In the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) guidelines to Multinational Enterprises, it outlines few guidelines in the General Policy for the employees of the organisation in the country they are operating. Few policies relating to the employees for the enterprise are: Respect the human rights of those affected by their activities consistent with the host governments international obligations and commitments. Encourage human capital formation, in particular by creating employment opportunities and facilitating training opportunities for employees. Promote employee awareness of, and compliance with, company policies through appropriate dissemination of these policies, including through training programmes. Refrain from discriminatory or disciplinary action against employees who make bona fide reports to management or, as appropriate, to the competent public authorities, on practices that contravene the law, the Guidelines or the enterprises policies. (OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises) To carry out the policies underlines the Human Resource management should play an active role and these policies should be accepted. The OECD mandates economic, environmental and social issues and for companies to who aspire to be good corporate citizens have to abide by the policies and this implies that there is a link between Corporate Social Responsibility and Human Resource Management. Ethical issues with regard to employment are one of the major elements of corporate social responsibility. The human resources of a company may be internal to the company in theory. However, the employees of a company are a part of the society within which it functions. It is therefore, in the best interest of the company to take into consideration, the needs of its own employees and lay just as much emphasis on the satisfaction of its own human resource as it does on that of its customers. HRM can, therefore, be linked to corporate social responsibility. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is typically defined as actions on the part of the firm that signal their willingness to advance the goals of stakeholder groups. It is the most important issue in this period of time to achieve competence in the changed world to get the dynamic equilibrium. Achieving competitive success through people involves fundamentally altering how managers think about the workforce and the employment relationship. Firms that take this different perspective are often able to successfully outmanoeuvre and outperform their rivals. (Chang, 2009) IS THE LINK BETWEEN CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT REALISTIC Furthermore, in the current climate of restructuring and redundancies, companies are finding themselves more and more hard pressed for fulfilling and living up to their economic commitments. In such a scenario, companies are cutting costs by downsizing operations. This results in them having to let go of a large number of employees. As simple as it sounds, society as whole has now turned its attention towards how companies treat their employees during times when resources are hard to come by. Companies are viewed as beneficial or detrimental to society based on whether or not they can fulfill their legal and social obligations towards their own employees. It has, in fact, become more important for companies to fulfill their corporate social responsibility with respect to HRM in order to come out of the entire economic crisis with their reputations intact or even enhanced. RESTUCTURING AND REDUNDANCIES Corporate restructuring is defined as a period of multiple divestitures for larger multiproduct firms where at least 10 percent of the asset base of such firms was divested. (Hoskisson Johnson, 1992, p. 625). Restructuring refers to the change in the structure, operations or ownership of the organisation. It a fundamental change in the direction and strategy of the organisation. Restructuring may involve increasing or decreasing the layers of personnel between the top and bottom, or reassigning roles and responsibilities. Corporate restructuring includes mergers, acquisitions, take- over, tender offers etc. an organisation seeks to restructure itself as a consequence of poor performance and this results in closure of many part of the business and the outplacement or letting go of personnel. Three types of corporate restructuring trans-actions occur: (1) financial restructuring including recapitalizations, stock repurchases, and changes in capital structure; (2) portfolio restructuring involving divestment and acquisitions and refocusing on core business(es), resulting in change of the diversity of businesses in the corporate portfolio; and (3) operational restructuring including retrenchment, reorganization, and changes in business level strategies. These three types of restructuring are not mutually exclusive; and in fact, frequently occur together. (Gibbs, 1993, p. 51) Redundancies refer to the dismissal of employee by the employer. Lay- offs and job loss are very frequent in the current economic climate where many countries are hit by recession and organisations are compelled to let go of the major workforce in order to sustain and as business is not good at the current climate having many employees is only increasing costs of the organisation and they are left with no other option than to let go of their employees. When economies face credit crunch and this being an external factor, the organisations are left with no other option than to make some of their employees redundant this is the part of human resource management where companies in order to survive have to adapt very quickly and also act wisely. Recently many organisations had let go of a major part of their workforce, the workers were made redundant by organisation. Although there is a link between Human Resource management and corporate social responsibility, the link does not seem to be realistic in the current climate of restructuring and redundancies. Organisations are becoming leaner and meaner by the day. There are different examples to support this. Companies in order to survive have made a number of employees redundant or they choose another path of restructuring which also results in downsizing the operations of the company which ultimately results in employees losing their jobs. This is an outcome of the economic condition or can also be a result of organisations intension to work on towards becoming HUGE And in this course leave behind the employees who dont seem to be beneficial to the company and are not productive. Organisations change their policies due to external factors, like during the last economic downturn many companies were laying off their staff. Downsizing in companies like Citigroup, the CEO Vikram Pandit announced layoff of 50,000 employees i.e. 7% reduction in the overall workforce as the credit crunch took a toll on the financial giant resulting in panic across the company. The layoffs were due to the economic situation of the country and nothing could be done by the company than to cut off employees to survive in that market situation. Under the same circumstances Jet Airways, one of the leading companies of civil aviation in India, fired 1100 employees after the economic disaster. The employees protested against the insensitive decision taken by the companys Chairman Naresh Goyal. However shortly, the employees were taken back into the company due to political pressure put on him. The survey was conducted among top level and financial managers of Estonian companies. The managers were asked to what extent the company has cut or intend to cut the basic salaries and what other cost- cutting strategies have been implemented in the organisation. According to the results of the express survey AS PricewaterhouseCoopers conducted among the leading Estonian companies and organisations, 2/3 of the surveyed companies have made employees redundant and 1/3 have reduced basic salaries in the last 6 months. Nearly half of the respondents have cut performance pay and other monetary and non-monetary benefits. 2/3 of the companies have reduced or are about to reduce the number of employees, while nearly 1/3 have introduced part-time work or forced leave. (Lehtsaar, 2009) The results of the survey show that 66% of the respondents have made their employees redundant or are planning to do it in the nearest future. 36% of these companies have lain off employees at all levels of the organisation out of which 26% have mostly laid off unskilled employees and 6% specialists and members of management. 34% of the respondents have not reduced and are not planning to significantly reduce the number of employees in the nearest future. According to an article written in November 2008, the month of November have been fierce for the job market, almost 15000 announced job cuts from a number of companies across several industries. Eight companies announced job cuts as a means of cutting cost during desperate times. The industries ranged from retail, finance, leisure, pharmaceutical and toy and automobile manufacturing. The Labour Department reported that the U.S. economy sloughed nearly 1.2 million jobs through October. Just in the month of October, the economy lost 240,000 jobs, raising the unemployment rate to 6.5%. Circuit City (CC, Fortune 500), an electronics retailer based in Richmond, Va., kicked off the week by announcing on Monday that it was reducing its domestic workforce by 17%. The company would not comment on the number of employees that would be affected, but according to a recent 10K filing, Circuit City employs about 43,000 people in the U.S. That would mean roughly 7,300 positions are being lost, the biggest of the cuts in November so far. (Smith, 2008) The Connecticut-based insurer Hartford Financial (HIG, Fortune 500) reported 500 cuts. (Smith, 2008) Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500) was the most recent to announce job cuts, with 2,600 cuts announced on Friday. The battered auto maker said it was trying to hold on to its dwindling cash reserves as it reported a $3 billion operating loss for the third quarter. (Smith, 2008) In November 2008 companies like Circuit city, Hartford Financial, Glaxo, Fidelity, Mattel, Borgata Hotel Casino, La-A-Boy and Ford cut down jobs which summed up to almost 15000. These companies work in different industries and all have laid off their employees this directly shows that the economic downturn has affected these companies and in order to sustain they have opted to let go of a number of employees from their company. According to a study conducted by the human resources consultancy SD Worx, half of the companies located in Belgium expect to undertake restructuring during 2009. The companies expressing this view are mainly large organisations employing more than 500 employees and many are internationally owned. Domestic companies and small and medium-sized enterprises seem to be less concerned by restructuring processes. (Perin, 2009) The global economic crisis led to negative results for the Belgian economy in 2008. Furthermore, the Belgian central bank expects worse result for 2009. Between December 2008 and December 2009, a slowdown of 1.9% of gross domestic product (GDP) is expected, as well as an increase in the unemployment rate from 7.1% to 7.8%. The Central Bank forecasts a loss of 58,000 jobs in 2009. The human resource consultancy SD Worx recently published a study on corporate restructuring in the Belgian market between 2006-2009 and over the last three years 41% of the companies located in Belgium undertook a restructuring process. Unemployment in vulnerable sectors is increasing, with major consequences for qualified and unqualified manual workers. Moreover, the economic crisis also concerns other types of workers. Between the second and third quarters of 2008, the Federal Public Service of Economy, SMEs, Self-employed and Energy noted a 25.3% increase in the total number of unemployed people, while the unemployment rate of workers aged between 15 and 24 years rose substantially by 78.1%. It should be noted that September always leads to an increase in the unemployment rate of young workers as they finish school and enter the labour market. (Perin, 2009) Ciscos second quarter conference call, CEO John Chambers seemed intent on not doing what nearly every big tech company (except Apple) has done in recent weeks: announce layoffs. But while there has been no across-the-board cut, the company has shed up to 1,000 employees through realignment and restructuring efforts over the past six quarters as the company focuses more resources on more promising growth markets. And the company expects 1,500 to 2,000 of its staffers to be similarly dis-employed in this manner in the months ahead. (Burrows, 2004) The distinction the company is making is to realign the people into the best prospect and cutting jobs in bad businesses, the company looks at it as a positive application that will bring out something good for the future. The company says that it has realigned $500 million in resources over the past few years and intends to realign another half a billion in the coming months. The companys total workforce consists of 67,000 people out of which there will be a few hundred job cuts per quarter. And Cisco management is clearly not looking to layoffs as the cost-cutting measure of first resort. Chambers says the company has already achieved a one-year goal to cut expenses by $1 billion (though some as a result of those job reductions), after just two quarters. One example: travel-related expenses per employees have dropped more than 50%.. (Burrows, 2004) In the examples given above, it clearly describes that the last economic downturn left scars on many companies performance and structure. Many companies restructured and redesigned their operations leading on to making many employees redundant. Letting go of employees of a firm is not an easy task to be done but in critical situations like this companies have to make harsh decisions be it downsising their operations and letting go of employees. Companies like Microsoft, Dell, Intel, Proctor and Gamble, Walt Disney, Motorola, IBM, Ford, Boeing and many others have cut off employees. The job cuts were although a tough decision to be made, the companies had to get it done. These companies prove to be good corporate citizens as company like Dell work towards betterment of the society and are sensitive to the environment as they are determined to be greenest technology company and achieved carbon neutrality in their global operations, the company also helps customers significantly increas e energy efficiency. And others like Microsoft, intel, Disney Motorola and other are good corporate citizens and have work towards the betterment of the society in their own ways but recently they all have laid off employees amking them redundant. This clearly shows that the link between Corporate Social Responsibility and Human Resource Management is not realistic in the current climate. CONCLUSION To conclude this, it can be said that there is a link between Corporate Social Responsibility and Human Resource Management. CSR works towards the well being of all the stakeholder of the company and is responsible for the actions taken by it towards them. Employees however being a part of the stakeholder group, the companies are responsible towards them and also because they form the integral part of the organisation. In addition to this the link between them is not realistic in the current climate of restructuring and redundancies. It is crucial for the company to maintain crucial competency and while countries are facing an economic downturn they have to act in the way they are. Holding on to the employees and continuously making loses will take the company nowhere and will do no good to either the company or the employees. However in the long run the company does act sensitive to its employees and works towards the empowerment and betterment of their employees along with the vari ous stakeholder group but in recent times and what the recent research has suggested that the link between Corporate Social Responsibility and Human resource management is not realistic. WORDCOUNT: 3705

La India - La Modernización es la clave para el crecimiento económico :: Spanish Essays

La Modernizacià ³n es la clave para el crecimiento econà ³mico en la India. Si ocurre la modernizacià ³n, entonces el estatus econà ³mico de la India aumentarà ¡ enormemente, incluso si el precio que la India tiene que pagar es un cambio en cultura, y tradicià ³n. La India ha estado financieramente estancada desde sus principios. Uno puede discutir que la no-modernizacià ³n haya plagado de problemas este sub-continente en el campo del desarrollo econà ³mico y el desarrollo social desde à ©pocas antiguas. Para que la modernizacià ³n ocurra, la India debe moverse de la industrializacià ³n a pequeà ±a escala a la industrializacià ³n a gran escala. Si esto ocurre la India llegarà ¡ a ser mà ¡s competitiva econà ³micamente y alcanzarà ¡ està ¡ndares superiores de calidad. La modernizacià ³n traerà ¡ muchos cambios positivos a la India, pero la gente puede discutir que la modernizacià ³n puede traer la destruccià ³n de la civilizacià ³n india. Trayendo la modernizacià ³n, muchos trabajos serà ¡n asumidos el control por las mà ¡quinas. Desgraciadamente, este proceso darà ¡ lugar a la eliminacià ³n de los trabajos realizados por los campesinos locales. Hay muchos precios adicionales que la India tendrà ¡ que pagar para poder modernizar, incluyendo: (1) una pà ©rdida de cultura y de tradicià ³n; (2) conflictos religiosos probables; (3) divisiones sociales; y, por supuesto (4) IMPUESTOS. Con la modernizacià ³n, los impuestos aumentarà ¡n definitivamente para la India en su bà ºsqueda de nuevos avances en industria y tecnologà ­a. Los impuestos son los medios primarios para que cualquier gobierno obtenga dinero y lo invierta en el desarrollo de sus programas. Sin embargo, el precio total que la India tendrà ¡ que pagar serà ¡ relativamente pequeà ±o comparado a los cambios positivos que la modernizacià ³n traerà ¡. Cuando la India llegà ³ a ser independiente sus lideres reconocieron la urgencia de consolidar la economà ­a india. Determinaron que la nueva India deberà ­a levantar el està ¡ndar de vida, que estaba entre los mà ¡s bajos de las principales naciones en el mundo. Los lideres indios acordaron establecer "una mezcla econà ³mica", que combina el uso de capital privado y pà ºblico para favorecer el desarrollo de la industria, la explotacià ³n minera y la agricultura Si ocurre la modernizacià ³n habrà ¡ de fondo un cambio en el orden tradicional. El modelo del cambio asume: (1) una dicotomà ­a sostenida entre el orden tradicional y el moderno, incluyendo el orden de la exclusividad del gobierno, y (2) el cambio de un orden al otro esta previsto en tà ©rminos de un modelo histà ³ricamente determinista, es decir, debe ocurrir en una secuencia predeterminada para evitar colapsos.

Lvmh Report

Business Report of LVMH Group members: Rining Mutang Beili Yin 10130350 10153456 10095036 Sekit Chubuppakarn Xu Yang 10095786 10136050 Mahsa Tolou Sharifi 0 Executive summary LVMH, the world s largest luxury group, came into being with the mergers of Moet Hennessy and Louis Vuitton in 1987. Besides its traditional strengths in wines & cognac and leather & fashion goods, other three are perfumes & cosmetics, watches & jewelry and selective retailing. In the external environment of part two, the report analyzed the relevant dimensions of the macro environment by use of the PESTEL framework and the luxury industry by the Five forces framework.The global economy, people s expectations on luxury goods, drive for technological application, rarity of raw materials, and intellectual property laws all have an impact on LVMH in a broad sense. In a narrower sense, market entry into the luxury sector is defined low, threat of substitutes neutral (low to loyal customers but high to those who norm ally cannot afford), the power of suppliers, the power of buyers and competitive rivalry all high. Generally the luxury industry can be regarded as in the shake-out stage; owever, people in the US, wealthy European countries and different Asian countries are in the different stages of luxury spread process. Following the life cycle of the industry, the cycles of competition model will be illustrated to explain the strategic moves of LVMH and its two main competitors PPR and Richemont. In the strategic capabilities of part two, the report presented LVMH s physical resources, financial resources, human resources and intellectual capital. The Group s core competencies lie in four key elements and price. product, distribution, communicationIn the culture and strategy of part two, LVMH s corporate values and culture, and the cultural web in terms of symbols, organizational and power structure and control system are presented respectively. LVMH stresses on the creative design and quality 1 excellence of its products. At the corporate level, LVMH expands horizontally and vertically in both backward and forward integration. The Group s good corporate parenting adds value to the individual brand underneath it. LVMH s strategic direction can be defined as diversification, a combination of market penetration, product development and market development.The Group s current product portfolio, as diversified as over 50 brands, is shaped by Bernald Arnault s constant acquisitions. LVMH s mission is to let art travel around the world, but due to its price mark-up, the country it enters should have sufficient customers who can afford the LVMH products. Therefore, the Group s international strategy more follows the people of high income than particular countries. The way LVMH chooses to enter a foreign market is usua lly by acquisitions of reputational domestic brands.At the business level, we mainly present the strategy of Louis Vuitton, the star brand under LVMH, which account s for 60 per cent of the Group s revenue. Louis Vuitton differentiates itself by four approaches stick firmly to the full price, pick store locations professionally, control the production strictly, and manage its own inventory. Innovation and entrepreneurship are fundamental drivers in today s economy, even for well-established MNCs like LVMH. Vigorous product and process innovation contributes to LVMH s long-standing success.The challenge for entrepreneurs at the maturity stage is to keep their passion and momentum to create new growth for the company. However, this doesn t seem a problem for Bernald Arnault, who has been the CEO of LVMH since 1988. 2 Contents 1. Introduction 2. The strategic position 2. 1 External environment 2. 1. 1 The macro environment: PESTEL framework a. Economic b. Socio-cultural c. Technological d. Environmental e. Legal 2. 1. 2 Sources of competition: Five forces framework a. The threat of entry b. The threat of substitutes c. The power of supp liers d. T he power of buyers e. Competitive rivalry 2. 1. Life cycle of the industry 2. 1. 4 Cycle of competition Strategic capabilities 2. 2. 1 Resource categories a. Physical resources b. Financial resources c. Human resources d. Intellectual capital 2. 2. 2 Core competencies 2. 2 2. 3 Culture and strategy 2. 3. 1 Corporate values and culture 2. 3. 2 The cultural web a. Symbols b. Organizational structure and power structure c. Control system 3. Strategic choices 3. 1 Corporate level strategy 3. 1. 1 Value-added by corporate parenting 3. 1. 2 Diversification 3. 1. 3 Portfolio management 3 International strategy 3. 2. 1 Market entry strategy and entry mode 3. . 2 Market selection 3. 2. 3 Difficulty of imitation 3. 2. 4 Drivers for internationalisation 3. 3 Business level strategy 3. 4 Innovation and entrepreneurship 3. 4. 1 Product and process innovation 3. 4. 2 LVMH s Diffusion S-curve 3. 4. 3 Portfolio of Innovation Options 3. 4. 4 Entrepreneurship 3. 2 4. Conclusion 4 1. Introduction Moet Hennessy and Louis Vuitton merged in 1987 forming the incumbent luxury goods conglomerate LVMH (LVMH, 2010). The Group s First Half 2010 Interim Report announced double-digit revenue growth rate in all the five business lines that LVMH is active in: Wines and spirits Fashion and leather goods Perfumes and cosmetics Watches and jewelry Selective retailing There is no other sector like luxury that the higher the price the more customers desire will be. This is because luxury is a package of tangible product and intangible benefits like emotional satisfaction from others admiration and respect (Okonkwo, 2007). Due to its existing presence in the industry, LVMH is getting through the economic turmoil comparatively well, which is largely driven by the strong momentum of its Louis Vuitton brand (The Economist, 2009).The Group s latest move will be expanding into LVMH hotel management of the Cheval Blanc brand in Egypt and Oman. This initiative was mainly driven by the demand from its cur rent customers for luxurious travel experiences (Socha, 2010). 2. The strategic position 2. 1 External environment 2. 1. 1 The macro environment: PESTEL framework a. Economic Global economies have been recovering with uncertain fact ors still existing. However, due to its established global presence, LVMH s outlook is positive, both in the major markets developed countries where its leadership position has been firmly secured 5 ver decades and where people s pursuit for quality luxury is believed to continue; and in emerging markets where the Group s solid foundations has been established and expansion will be accelerated at the right timing (LVMH, 2010). In spite of the economic downturn, the Group has been benefiting from the s trong growth in Asia and resilience in Europe. Recessions come and go, but some individuals are always willing to spend on luxury goods like handbags and watches, which in return pay them back in quality life and admiration from friends (Hazlett, 2004).No m atter good or bad economy, it does not have much impact on the spending of those really rich elites. However, according to Bernstein Research, the rapid growth of luxury goods industry is primarily being driven by the strong demand from the middle class, who account for almost 60 per cent of the total sales (The Economist, 2009). With a quite large and fast growing discretionary income, those affluent middle class have a quite positive attitude towards luxury goods, the quality of which is their first requirement of purchasing (Chevalier & Lu, 2010). . Socio-cultural According to Chevalier and Lu (2010), many luxury goods will be tailored to Asian preference specifically. The underlying reason of Asians affection towards luxury is social order transformation in many Asian countries. A person s social status is no longer rigidly decided by birth and his or her family background, but based on how much wealth the person possesses. Even though a person was born in a humble background, h e or she has opportunities to climb up the ladder and make enough money to reach certain social status.Then question comes how to turn the wealth in the bank account into something more noticeable and measurable so that can win respect from others. The influx of western luxury brands with outstanding logos and worldwide recognition seems perfect solution to many Asian new rich ( Chadha & Husband, 2006). In contemporary Asia, luxury brands are wearable symbols of identity and social status, while in the US and European countries, consumers are relatively more sophisticated and the luxury goods are regarded as a kind of lifestyle (Okonkwo, 2007). The socio-cultural challenge for LVMH would be how to keep a 6 alance between different markets where expectations from its products are different. c. Technological Technology is supposed to post a significant challenge on every aspect of the luxury industry, from raw material sourcing to strategy development. In the past decade, there has be en many business applications related to ICT (Information and Communication Technology) such as ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and SAP (Systems, Applications, and Products). All these common databases can help to make things smoother for process flow inside the supply chain.In this way, the data regarding the market conditions could be analyzed and passed on more effectively and rapidly, also it will be possible to predict the demands of consumers with higher accuracy, the latest designs and prototypes would be able to be proposed at a quicker rate, and there will be reduced lead time when it comes to the releasing of latest products. When luxury brand companies are fully integrated into ICT systems, it may very well help them to create and come up with fresh competitive advantages. Besides that, the organization will also achieve a greater balance in terms of efficiency and cost (Okonkwo, 2010). . Environmental LVMH s success is hugely based on their sales from their luxury bra nds. In this market, luxury brands are a massive intangible asset, therefore the perceptions and image that is perceived by the public can greatly influence the values of the brand. This is an important issue that LVMH need s to monitor closely. If LVMH wants to maintain and also improve the reputation of their brands, the company should focus on vital components that have already been implemented by many luxury brand companies, which is the Corporate Social Responsibility of environmental protection (LVMH, 2009). 7 e.Legal The Louis Vuitton brand is the most frequently counterfeited one in the luxury category (Chadha & Husband, 2006). The company has 40 lawyers and 250 investigators and spends approximately $18 million every year on combating counterfeiting. The issue is particularly serious in China, where most of the faked products come from and the protection for intellectual property rights is weak (Okonkwo, 2007). However, the China Government has shown its efforts to take thi s issue seriously by approving new laws, raiding on the counterfeiting factories and closing some notorious markets flooded with faked products. . 1. 2 Sources of competition: 5 forces framework a. The threat of entry With help of the Internet, it is possible for a brand to achieve global awareness and credibility within five years. The ever increasing global mobility through business trips and travel also contributes to the rapid expansion of the luxury market. At current stage, entry into this industry is relatively easy (Okonkwo, 2007), especially in the emerging markets where the brand war for market share is still fiercely ongoing. b.The threat of substitutes Due to the low copy cost and easiness to sell, luxury brands are widely counterfeited. It is estimated that over 80 per cent of the faked products are from Asia, particularly from China, and then distributed worldwide (Chadha & Husband, 2006). With the improving technology and workers skills in China, the quality of counte rfeit products are not so obviously inferior to the original ones as they used to be. Moreover, the worldwide distribution chain is getting more and more sophisticated despite the combat of the government and the luxury brands. c.The power of suppliers When it comes to the production of luxury products, there is high level of quality and exclusive designing involved which are the main factors for success and attracting 8 customers. In order to accomplish this, the organization needs the combination of highly trained workers and also premium and only top notch input materials when they create, produce, and market the product. In the case of LVMH, they need to establish and maintain tight relationship with their suppliers to ensure that they always receive high quality materials and designs (LVMH, 2010).Besides that in the luxury goods market, luxury apparel and accessories have been categorized by factors such as exquisite craftsmanship together with high quality and design, therefor e the producer of the brand cannot outsource the production processes to other countries other than the original country from which the product was recognized internationally. This is why, the power of suppliers in the luxury goods market can be classified as medium to high, depending on how much input that is received by LVMH. . The power of buyers In the case of LVMH, their buyers are the many retailers in the market which can range from small to large companies. The market players in this sector are the manufacturers such as LVMH. The buyers can push for a strong bargaining position when there are more and more players in the retail market. This industry that LVMH are involved in can offer a wide range of fashion products and also, a wide range of functional classes within the market such as styles, material, logos, and so on.When a particular brand has become a strong and well known brand, the power of buyers will be decreased and retailers have no choice but to provide the wish es of the end user. Besides that, a new trend that has been popular with some major companies who started erecting their own stores, which is known as forward integration (Chadha & Husband, 2006) . e. Competitive rivalry Some of the big conglomerates that are the competitors of LVMH in the global luxury goods industry are the Channel Group from USA, the PPR Group from France, the Burberry Group from UK, the Polo Group and Richemont from Switzerland.These 9 c e es e e c s e y c ce ec s ec s e s. e y ec ec e se ve ey e s ve ey y. ee c s e e e e ee s e s ec s s c s c e es e e ce c & s e s es e c e s es j ye s ve y c ye s s s e e e s. y c ve e es s ee y eve y e e ee s es ec e 2006 . 2 1 3 Lif cycl of th indust y The v y s chas s y s ese . e e y c s es y has ee shifte to appreciation for the product quality rather than a sense of pleasure from merely showing off. The new environment is becoming harder for some short-sighted companies to make long-term profit by just offering easy-to-sell products with historically fancy brand names (The Economist, 2009).Based on the characteristics of increasing rivalry, slower growth and some players e isting (Johnson, Scholes & Whittington, 2010), the luxury goods industry can be defined as in the shake-out stage. However, customers preference shift will not have a negative influence on the LV H, as quality, innovation and creativity have always been the long-term focus of the Group (The Economist, 2009). St St 1 Subju tion 2 St Sho off 3 St 4 Fit in St 5 St t of mon y W y of lif Indi Chin Tai an / South Ko a Hon Kon / Sin apo 10 Japan / US / W althy Eu op an count i s The spread of luxury can be illustrated in five processes.People in the US, wealthy European countries and different Asian countries are in the different stages of viewing luxury For Indians, affluent elites are the customers of luxury while the majority are buying mass products With Chinas booming economy, an increasing number of people are able to afford luxury, which is used as symbols of their social status For Taiwan and South Korea, since their earlier exposure to western brands after the economies took off in early 1990s, people buy luxury goods more for fitting into their lives than just showing off; Hong Kong and Singapore are even further on their way o integrate luxury as a way of life, like the US, wealthy European countries and Japan (Chadha & Husband, 2006). 2 1 4 Cycl of comp tition LV H Ent ant 11 Moet Hennessy and Louis Vuitton s merger into LVMH in 1987 inspired the establishments of two other French conglomerates PPR and Richemont. The three companies are generally referred as the big three in the luxury industry (Chevalier & Mazzalovo, 2008). PPR is not as pure a luxury company as LVMH, as it has other businesses like department stores and book and consumer electronics retailing.Since margins in the luxury market are more attractive, it is very likely that PPR will sell the other non-luxury businesses (The Economist, 2006) . Compared with LVMH, Richemont is more relying on the watch and jewelry sector, which is the most severely affected category in case of economic crisis (The Economist, 2009). LVMH s traditional strengths are in its wine & cognac and fashion & leather goods lines. With Bernald Arnault s acquisition strategy, the Group has been kept expanding into other business lines and international markets.It can be expected that the war between the big three will be how smartly they deploy diversified brands in the future. World-renowned but still independently run brands like Armani, Chanel and Hermes are very likely to be the next targets. 2. 2 Strategic capabilities 2. 2. 1 Resource categories a. Physical resources By 30 June 2010, LVMH has 2,468 retail stores worldwide, a 4. 1% expansion rate on the previous year (LVMH, 2010). Inner decoration of the stores reflects the LVMH traditions and the emotional buzz offer customers unique experience of purchasing luxury and the attention they need ( Chevalier & Lu, 2010) .Unlike some of its competitors, LVMH insists on the high standard of its store decor and product display like everywhere else when it approaches the Chinese market, where counterfeiting is big problem (The Economist, 2009). 12 b. Financial resources LVMH s long-term strategies of building the heritage culture and brand loyalty support the sustainability of financial management performance of the organization. In the regression year 2009, LVMH, which are luxury goods, generally, supposes to have a big effect by low confidence of consumer spending. However, in 2 009, there was just only slight decrease (0. % in revenue and 7. 6% for the profit) in the revenue and profit for LVMH compared to that of 2008 (LVMH, 2009). Furthermore, in the first half of 2010, LVMH can pick up the advantages of economy recovery and perform very well. The revenue and the profit of LVMH were 9,099 and 1816 million Euros, which significantly rise 16% and 33%, respectively, compared to the same period in (LVMH, 2010). There is also the dramatic decrease in the cost of financial debt by 27% compare to the same period in 2009 (LVMH, 2010. ). The fixed assets (tangible and intangible) of LVMH are worth 20. 2 billion in 2010 (LVMH, 2010).Moreover, As of June, 30, 2010, LVMH s credit facilities went over 3. 9 billion Euros which 3. 8 billion Euros w ere the undrawn amount (available) (LVMH, 2010. ). LVMH can confidentially continue to invest in the potential projects with these large financial resources. c. Human resources LVMH used to adopt human resource policy applied to every individual country, but from early 1990s, the Group found having a global standard HRM system helped it to achieve higher effectiveness and efficiency. This new approach, regarding human talent as a world pool, creates an international working environment for LVMH.Besides the requirement of matching with LVMH s corporate culture, the more important determining factor in recruitment has become whether the candidates can bring about something new to the company (Business Europe, 1993). The common HR rules encourage cross-border mobility (normally once every five years) that is important career path within LVMH. Moreover, LVMH has been involved in the partnership with top education institutes in order to bring the potential talents into the organization (LVMH, 2010). 13 d. Intellectual capital Building a luxury brand is a complicated task more han just catching people s attention. The success formula of brand building by Bernard Arnault, LVMH s CEO, is unique positioning of the brand building on its history and the right designers to express the brand values, plus strict quality and distribution control and creation of marketing buzz (Chevalier & Lu, 2010). 2. 2. 2 Core competencies According to Bernald Arnault, CEO of LVMH, high quality of the products, strong appeal of the brands, and rigorous activities of the Group are LVMH s main advantages that make it stand out and s ecure market share (Business Wire, 2010).There are four key elements of LVMH s success formula product, distribution, communication and price. LVMH has done a fantastic job on the first three elements supporting the high-end price which identifying the extreme value of the product and differentiate its brand from the others. For decades LVMH's formula has worked amazingly: customers are seduced by beautiful status-symbols, perfect shops and clever advertising (The Economist, 2009). 2. 3 Culture and strategy 2. 3. Corporate values and culture Corporate values, usually written down as statements, are the most visible reflections of a company s mission and strategies (Johnson, Scholes & Whittington, 2010). In order to generate the unifying corporate culture of the diversified organization, company need to provide the effective leadership, defining goal and creating the set of values and beliefs. It might be very difficult for the diversified multi-business organization which has many d ifferent businesses like LVMH to crate the unifying corporate values culture (Grant, 2005).However, with the great attempt, LVMH has successfully created the five values, which are respectively (LVMH, n. d. ): Be creative and innovate 14 – Aim for product excellence Bolster the image of our brands with passionate determinat ion Act as entrepreneurs Strive to be the best in all we do 2. 3. 2 The cultural web a. Symbols Louis Vuitton is most famous for its Monogram series. The delicate Monogram pattern was created to prevent counterfeiting at the beginning, but quite ironic that the series are the most counterfeited among all the luxury products.The over 100-year-old iconic series are varied by Mac Jacobs and other creative designers every season, coming out with new forms like graffiti, ch erry pattern, new colors and materials, etc (Chevalier & Mazzalovo, 2008) As Bernald Arnault said, this is to protect the overexposure of the signature Monogram print (The Economist, 2009). b. Organizational structure and power structure LVMH group are originally French and most headquarters of the firm are in French. However, the organization strongly believes that multi cultural management needs to be applied.LVMH s kingdom consists of 5 main business sectors (as mentioned in the introduction) which each group is the combination of the young and old strong brands. Moreover, the independent brand management which translated from the unique culture of each brand help s organization to generate its typical structure and enhances the potency of individual brand (Gooderham & Nordhaug, 2003). There are more than 50 renown ed brands in LVMH s Kingdom and each company has its own president, CEO and management team who responsible to deal with its subsidiaries directly.Furthermore, the company has a decentralized structure which supports the growth and characteristic of Luxury brand and company also applies the autonomous management by geographic between each destination such as Europe, Japan, Asia and America. The organization structure support company s fast growth by enhancing the level of innovation, control power over distribution and promotional 15 strategies (Gooderham & Nordhaug, 2003). c. Control system LVMH is using the multidivisional structure to have a better internal control (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2009).Also, the decision to enter into the selective retailing market in 1999 supported LVMH to reduce the problems of distribution control . LVMH also supports each brand and employee with the autonomous management which allow them to enhance the level of creativity and adaptability management in different market (Gooderham & Nordhaug, 2003) . Moreover, Bernald Arnault acknowledged his success lied in his management techniques. He insisted on giving designers complete freedom from financial or marketing concerns to apply their creativity.But when it comes to the manufacturing stage, the process control system is as strict as militant to ens ure the Group s profitability (LVMH brand for success, 2002). 3 Strategic choices 3. 1 Corporate level strategy At the corporate level, LVMH s structure is different from a typical conglomerate. The group expands horizontally and vertically in both backward and forward integration. Horizontally, LVMH has well-established itself in the five main business lines by gradually integrating and possessing some strategic business units (SBUs) since the new group came into being in 1987.Vertically, it integrates a centralized laboratory for cosmetics research and purchases media companies for the best effects of its promotion (Rugman, 2005). 3. 1. 1 Value-added by corporate parenting Good corporate parenting can add value to a scope of businesses offering different products and services that may share few common resources at the operational level. LVMH s business lines range from wines and spirits, to fashion and leather goods, to 16 selective retailing.Each individual business groups do not have many common resources or capabilities, but they are benefiting tremendously from LVMH s corporate parenting, like receiving support in the classic brands and having creative designers involved (Johnson, Scholes & Whittington, 2010). LVMH s Half Year Interim Report (2010) stressed the Group s priorities will be directed to the most profitable brands with substantial innovation and marketing support, namely Louis Vuitton, Moet Hennessy in drinks, TAG Heuer in watches, Christian Dior in perfumes and cosmetics, Sephora and DFS (The Economist, 2009).The economies of scale give the Group synergy benefits like being offered favorable prices for advertising, property leasing and credit card fees. 3. 1. 2 Diversification Diversification is a strategy that takes the company beyond its existing products and markets. LVMH has a highly diversified product portfolio, notably Louis Vuitton, whose momentum is strong enough to offset the Group s profit losses in other lines and keep the overal l revenue positive (The Economist, 2009). It could be regarded as a combination of product development, market development and market penetration (Johnson, Scholes & Whittington, 2010).In terms of product development, artistic creativity and technological innovation both contribute to the Group s success, particularly in the cosmetics business line, which highly relies on the up-to-date R (LVMH, 2010) 3. 1. 3 Portfolio management There are over 50 renowned brands under LVMH s portfolio, each of which has its unique history and brand culture (Gooderham & Nordhaug, 2003). Among them, the most prestigious and could say timeless brands are: Chateau d'Yquem (founded in 1593) Moet et Chandon (founded in 1743) Hennessy (founded in 1765) Guerlain (founded in 1828) 17 –Louis Vuitton (founded in 1854) Acquisitions normally can alleviate competitive rivalry by reducing the number of players in the market and integrating them under one umbrella (Johnson, Scholes & Whittington, 2010). Ber nard Arnault, the CEO of LVMH, is well known for his constantly aggressive strategy of acquiring smaller fashion brands with established reputation but less impressive business outcomes and incorporating them into the LVMH portfolio. In the next few years, LVMH is expected to take advantage of the recession and have more favorable acquisitions (The Economist, 2009).Brand power of the French luxury-goods conglomerate is enforced by reaching more customers through these acquisitions (Moffett & Ramaswamy, 2003). One famous example is the acquisition of Fendi in September 1999. When facing both tenders from Gucci / PRR and LVMH, the Italy-based fashion brand sold itself to the latter because of trust in the management capabilities of LVMH s executive teams. 3. 2 International strategy One of the famous global brands in the world is LVMH. Although it is not as big as TESCO, it is successful because of its groups. Its strategy is more flagship than TESCO.The strategy can be defined as an integrated distribution network. It is dynamically trust in many non- business foundations through competition world (Girod & Rugman, 2005). Structuring the bridge between traditions, modern, creation and innovation by supporting art in cla ssify around the world, is LVMH s mission (Preiholt & Ha? gg, 2006). It seems LVMH has two types of strategies. The first one is to impose increasing number of sales to make obvious for shareholders which there is a harmony between luxury products and four elements such as: eternal, contemporary, quick rising and making more profit.The second one is an opportunity of rising in future (Preiholt & Ha? gg, 2006). 18 3. 2. 1 Market entry strategy and entry mode The most important strategy which is used by LVMH is buying other famous company in luxury field. Market can be more controlled by this action. According to this strategy, famous brands were selected by LVMH. The most important points of selecting relates to the high quality (Ireland, Hoskisso n & Hitt, 2009). Three main things are noticed by LVMH managers. High price, more controlling strategy and arranging franchise are points to get the goals (Hines & Bruce, 2001).LVMH fallows to keep extending its market without afraid of hard situations for setting up the stores there. As an example in first attempt for entering to Chinese and Japanese market, it was not acceptable by people because they didn t have any idea about luxury products and they preferred to follow their traditional products but now LVMH has many stores around China and Japan ( Bloomberg businessweek: Louis Vuitton's Life of Luxury, 2007). As mentioned before considering all features of trading and ability to control them are reasons to be successful in entering to new market ( Bloomberg businessweek: Louis Vuitton's Life of Luxury, 2007).For example in Japan concerning about all elements is important for customers also in France value and to be modern is very important. So LVMH is considered in all of the aspects which are important for different countries ( Bloomberg businessweek: Louis Vuitton's Life of Luxury, 2007). 3. 2. 2. Market selection According to LVMH mission they need the strategy to enter to worldwide market. Their goal is enter to the market of many luxury purchases. Due to this goal they are looking for customers priority in different countries.According to this priority, the different product will be matched with customers need. Also they tried to find out that which costs can make customers happy which can be acceptable by LVMH mission. It means that they planned to fit the products and prices according to the market which wants to be entered. In another word, LVMH marketing managers 19 choose the products and adapting price according to capabilities of the country. LVMH as a luxury brand was limited to specific countries which has strong economic. The main problem for LVMH was, it is very dependent on some countries such as France, Japan and USA.Using financial ana lyse, make it up to date and controlling the market could help it to have a better situation than other competitors (Spulber, 2007). Creating the finance economics can organized by LVMH when it buy another famous company (Ireland, Hoskisson & Hitt, 2009). Creating the finance economics can organised by LVMH when it buy another famous company (Ireland, Hoskisson & Hitt, 2009). It was the only luxury companies that could survive from economic crisis which happened recently. According to the reports the income of LVMH in 2008 was EUR 17 million which showed the rising income compare to 2007 in range of 4. % (I am emily, 2009, November10). 3. 2. 3 Difficulty of imitation The main problem for some countries is their products can be faked easily but LVMH product cannot be imitated. LVMH is one of the 500 traders which entered to the international growth market. It is attended into worldwide leadership and differentiation strategy. LVMH based more on outside associate. To against with less legality and organized in other countries are in its nature. Its activity is beyond of having a competition with other luxury brand; it also wants to enter to the market which is risky because of any imitation industry that have no certificate can be trustable.LVMH makes more profit for industries which have license and other collaborators to attack to imitation industries, since they started to enter to global market (Spulber, 2007). Also they have their own distribution, so they can control everything easily. Although it has more costs for company but makes to be organized their kingdom easily. LVMH consider about the strong partners. Partners were chosen by the good quality (Spulber, 2007). With no doubt, Arnault can be named as a smart CEO to organise growing company with high benefit with ability to create new things (Wetlaufer, 2010). 0 3. 2. 4 Drivers for internationalisation The significant point for LVMH is that they look deeply into the drivers keys. The most important dr ivers for LVMH can be significant by innovation. Nowadays, new and modern products are more attracted than old ones. LVMH h as special luxury lab to work on innovation parts. In general speaking, rising for demanding luxury products helps LVMH to have more income because they concern about this point and try the best to be well known as an innovation company (I am Emily, 2009, November10). 3. 3 Business level strategyThis part will mainly present the business level strategy of Louis Vuitton, the iconic brand under LVMH, which accounts for 60 per cent of the Group s revenue (Hazlett, 2004) and has a profit margin of 40 to 45 per cent, the highest among all the luxury brands (The Economist, 2009). According to Millward Brown study (2010), Louis Vuitton is ranked the world's 29th most valuable brand, with a value of USD 19. 78 billion. Customers have a common mindset that they tend to invest in the products of best quality and value when they have less money, like a Louis Vuitton handb ag (The Economist, 2009).As Yves Carcelle, Chief Executive of Louis Vuitton , said Vuitton was always able to expand market shares during crises. Sustainable appeal of the brand lies in its differentiation-based advantage. Firstly, stick firmly to the full price to maintain the brand value. Louis Vuitton is the only luxury brand whose products are never sold at any discount. Secondly, pick its store locations rationally and professionally. For example, if Vuitton is about to open a new store in the department, its staff will set up a scale to measure the customer flows and pick the best locations based on statistics.Thirdly, strictly control the production in its own factories. On one hand, approaches in the automobile industry are introduced to streamline the procedures and costs and workers can be easily mobilized from one product line to another in case of demand change. On the other hand, there is high 21 level of quality control over the finished products. Fourthly, never grant licensing to outside companies and operate its own inventory. In this case, the Vuitton brand can be kept high-end and direct control over inventory ensures no space competition from other brands. 3. Innovation and entrepreneurship 3. 4. 1 Product & process innovation According to Amault the CEO of LVMH ( Group mission and values, 2010, n. d. ), LVMH s success is due to their long-term creativity and products innovation. It is obvious that LVMH has already put five things as priorities. Firstly, LVMH should be innovate and creative. Secondly, LVMH should produce the excellent products. Thirdly, LVMH needs to build up its famous brand image in people s mind. Fourthly, the leader should pay attention to the entrepreneurship and relationships. Finally, every employee in LVMH should ry their best to do everything. LVMH s Art de Vivre has already represented the western fashion. In addition, LVMH s products mix the tradition, innovation and culture value which give people a dream and pa ssion. 3. 4. 2 LVMH s diffusion S-curve It is clear that the luxury industry has been increased rapidly. Although people have large demand for regular retailing industry, the luxury industry also increased very fast. According to Amault (2009), in spite of the economic downturn, LVMH s sales have increased very stably. In the early 2010, LVMH s sales have already reached 4. 7 billion. The company also performed well in Asia countries. In order to stimulate consumption LVMH has changes their attitudes in luxury industry. For example, LVMH hired many famous designers to develop their products and avoid overexposure; these help LVMH reach a high velocity. 3. 4. 3 Portfolio of innovation options In order to face the changes and challenges, people should focus on the influence of the deployment of option patterns (McGrath & MacMillan, 2000). Therefore, LVMH s 22 success is the company largely subject to the scouting options.It is very difficult to catch the uncertain reasons like market, world s economic and politics. However, LVMH as a leader in luxury, the company has about 60 famous brands such as Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and TAG Heuer SA. It covers like wines, fashion goods, perfumes and watches. Moreover, according to McGrath and MacMillan (2000), in order to face the challenges and find the potential markets, LVMH should pay attention to the scouting options and this way can be seemed as entrepreneurial experiment . 3. 4. 4 Entrepreneurship According to Time Magazine, Bernard Arnault is the top 100 influential people in the world.Because of LVMH s famous brands which include Louis Vuitton, Fendi and Dior, everyone have interesting with the chairman of LVMH and how the leader made the company very big. First of all, Bernard Arnault s kind of fashion was inspired from his creative talent. He brought his talent to the luxury industry and he has his own new vision in luxury market. This is why he can build his fashion country . Then, Bernard Arnault has stro ng entrepreneurship and business acumen. For example, in the 1990s, he began to expand his company and buy other luxury names such as Givenchy and TAG Heuer.Although many people criticized his business strategy, Bernard Arnault s LVMH has been the most famous luxury company all the world. Next, with the success of LVMH, Bernard Arnault began to raise his creative talent. Many businessmen don t pay attention to this. However, Arnault believes that a good luxury company should have many managers who love and better understanding of fashion and arts. Finally, Arnault has the ability to do the business rely on aspects like the creative and financial. He focuses on the creativity must be commerce and when he sells his products he pay attention to financial discip line. 23 4. ConclusionLuxury is a special industry, as the higher price mark-up, the more appeal to the customers. Although the US, wealthy European countries and different Asian countries are in the different stages of luxury s pread process, in the long run, people will be sophisticated enough to view luxury as a way of life. LVMH s resources are: physical high standard stores, financial sustainable financial management, human brand history and mobility-oriented international talent pool, and intellectual craftsmanship, etc. According to Bernald Arnault, the CEO of LVMH, the Group s core competencies are product, distribution, communication and price.LVMH has done such a good job on focusing on the f irst three elements to create an appeal so that customers forget about the prices. LVMH s corporate values and culture of pursuing creative design and sticking to excellent product quality are the foundations of its strategies. LVMH s corporate level strategy is characterized by value-added corporate parenting, diversification in terms of product and market, and excellent portfolio management. We can expect competition at corporate level in the future will be brand wars how to deploy different brands more str ategically.As for international strategy, origins of high income people rather than particular countries determine LVMH s entry into those markets. In most cases, the approach LVMH chooses to enter a foreign market is usually through acquisitions of reputational domestic brands. At the business level, the differentiation strategy of Louis Vuitton, LVMH s most famous star brand, is analyzed. The Vuitton company is trying to protect the brand value by sticking firmly to the full price, picking store locations professionally, controlling the production strictly, and managing its own inventory.Besides the three kinds of strategies, innovation and entrepreneurship are also important drivers for new growth of the companies. LVMH is committed to constant product and process innovation, and this is closely related to the entrepreneurial spirits of its CEO Bernald Arnault. 24 According to LVMH s 2010 fourth quarter report, the Louis Vuitton brand alone contributed over 60 per cent to the Gro up s annual growth, which demonstrated the Vuitton brand s potent ability to offset risks in a portfolio.However, the Group s heavy reliance on the Vuitton brand also worried some analysts that what will happen to the Group suppose the Vuitton brand loses appeal to customers one day. However, based on the evidences collected, we are able to believe the insight of Bernald Arnault, who is an optimist of collecting brands. Part of the revenues from the Vuitton brand have been used to support other smaller promis ing brands, which might grow into another Louis Vuitton in the future. 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Maupassant’s Use of Setting in The Necklace Essay

In the story The Necklace, Guy De Maupassant uses the settings to further heighten the dramatic effect of the change in the character of Mathilde Loisel. At the various stages of Mathilde’s character’s transformation, the setting complements to reflect her actions and emotions. At the start of the story, Mathilde is depicted as having accepted her lot, knowing she has beauty but that her station in life granted her nothing more than a life married to a clerk. She still daydreams of luxurious parlors and exquisite food as she moves around her own home with its simple furniture. The Mathilde depicted here is a girl who still has fantasies of escaping her present situation, and Maupassant’s juxtaposition of the images of the lavish setting with the vestibules with Oriental trapestries and large parlors adorned with olden silk with Mathilde’s dreary reality of worn walls and abraded chairs strike a strong contrast between her desires and her inescapable circumstance. When Mathilde went to the party, she was changed – she became truly the girl that she was meant to be, desired and sought after, in a place she felt she belonged. Although Maupassant did not detail it, the reader can imagine extravagant ornaments, crystal chandeliers, and blatant affluence everywhere, lifting Mathilde’s spirits up as her dreams came true: that night she was Cinderella at the ball. But she knew it was a dream, because the other women had furs and she had wraps that spoke of her true station in life. And to bring her feet back on the ground, when she got back home – to the dreary place seemingly more dreary now after all the glamour of the mansion – she discovers she lost the necklace. Their home full of wanting etched its emptiness even more with the realization that she was missing something very valuable, something that was worth more than anything she has. And then, she comes to accept reality – she cannot afford the luxurious life, and because of her whims and fantasies she has cost them a fortune they did not have in the first place. To make up for her behavior, she threw herself to work – her pink nails scrubbed themselves hard in the kitchens where it was dirty with greasy pans and dark-bottomed pans. Here we see Mathilde’s descent – she came into terms with her social status and acted like it. She no longer fancied herself a woman out of place meant for better things, above the needy and the poor common people. They left their house and stayed at the attic; she went to the market and threw water on streets. In the kitchen, in the market, in the attic, she became one of them. And finally, when they have repaid all their debts because of the necklace, we find Mathilde walking at the Champs Elysà ©es for leisure after a week’s hard labor, triumphant because now she is a free woman. The Champs Elysà ©es is hailed the most beautiful avenue in the world, and it is only fitting that Mathilde meet her old friend here. She was no longer the beauty that she was, she was no longer desirable nor recognizable, but she gained a new beauty within: she was her own woman now, strengthened by hard life, and with a firm grasp of reality and newfound pride having paid her dues. And with that pride she went up to her old friend, the same moneyed lady from before. Mathilde stood out in the luxury of Champ Elysà ©es’s beauty, and yet momentarily we saw her transformed again because after all these years of hard work, it was still her foolishness and pride that cost her own beauty and charm. But more than anything, it felt that she belonged there amidst all that glory, because after working herself to that state of being one of the poor as she saw them, as one all her hard work has gained her the richness that she always dreamed of in her younger days.