Step Analysis For Cadburys In India Marketing Essay

Step Analysis For Cadburys In India Marketing Essay A method used by management that provides the analysis which is based on the four external factors that may affect the organizations performance. Social, Technological, Economic and Political are the four factors. This strategical tool helps the profitability of the company. Step Analysis Factors SocialSocial: The social factor helps a company to understand the ethical, cultural beliefs, demographics, lifestyles and education. These changes influence the growth of the company. Technological: The change in the technological factors can change the companys competitive area. Environmental, ecological ways. New strategies and products and the cost of improvising and innovation. And in the development of the product. Economic: The economic structures and its varies changes at the stock exchange and the interest, and inflation rates and nations economic rules and performances. They directly have a great impact on the company. Political: The changes in the government and pressures and opportunities and changes in the political system and leadership and their values will so affect the company. It also includes the taxes and rules and political grounds and involvement in the business. Step analysis for Cadburys in India The word chocolate has been traced back in ancient times from central America -civilizations Aztec and Maya ,Chocolate made from roasted cocoa beans was mostly enjoyed and relished all over the history as a drink . In ancient times as the expensive cocoa were gifted when a newly born arrives in a family or any religious occasions. Even the traders used to exchange it for jade, clothes etc., till recent times the chocolate has been just the plain chocolate. However Sir Hans Sloane an English doctor brought chocolate milk recipe from South America to England. According to his recipe the original Cadbury milk chocolate was prepared, later it was sold to the Cadburys. The cocoa crillo is harvested only 10% world wide, 90% of it is hybrid and from forestero trees and varieties are produced mainly in West Africa. The hottest region is the right soil to grow this plantation for cocoa. The procedure to prepare chocolate are: Harvest Fermentation Drying Cleaning Roasting Crushing and shelling Blending Grinding Cocoa butter Cocoa powder Kneading Rolling Conching In Birmingham 1824 at bull street England, John Cadbury used to do vending for coffee, tea and drinking chocolate. He started to concentrate on the chocolate drinks and beverages. He was also appointed as the Royal by the queen. He also shifted from the tea business stopped the tea shipment and started importing cocoa into UK. He tried so many different varieties. Although it was economically not an easy price to the consumer so he had a tie up with his brother and started his venture into Cadburys chocolate making business. One of the best inventions in the confectionary industry was Cadburys Dairy Milk which was a moulded chocolate and was introduced in 1905 although after so many brands with leading chocolate companies the Dairy Milk shows 95 years later a success and recognition. Step Analysis Social: The story of Cadbury dairy milk started in 1905 at Bourneville UK but the journey with chocolate lovers in India began in 1948. The UK confectioner Kraft foods and Cadburys had a deal in the business and they wanted to enter the international market. However they targeted a little tough market which I could say as India could not accept any foreign products so easily but still as C.Y.Pal non executive chairman of Cadbury India quotes India is a very happy story for Kraft and Cadbury. Kraft was initially trying hard with its products to put-up on the shelfs in a market store like tobolerone, milka, cheese, Oreo cookies etc although all were under one umbrella. Indians could not accept it so easily. More than 60 yrs has been passed Cadburys has now become the countries biggest confectioner. The barriers it had leaped and came up with different products in chocolates, drinks, gums, candies etc was appreciatiable. The Indian customer no matter how advanced or sophisticated they m ight be the traditional culture of mithai could not replace the chocolates Indians have a massive sweet tooth but its filled with mithai but not chocolate says (Ramesh Srinivas executive director of KPMG Advisory services India) even huge multinational company like Cadburys could not crack the market as the consumption of chocolate in India is 54gms per captia. Cadburys worked out with amul to make mithai and add chocolate like Indo Western style but it did not attract customers so Cadbury did intensive research and started promoting through different media and hit the slogan just for kids in 90s. Later on they shifted to the campaign for teenagers who shared the real taste of life, memorable instances which stayed in everyones life like a girl dancing in the cricket field this campaign was awarded the campaign of century in India. From here they targeted the campaign of consumption of chocolates amongst adults which was portrayed by Mr. Amitabh Bachan were different relations, spec ial moments, festive occasions, reunions were showed with happiest moments with a slogan kuch meeta ho jaya this is an excellent technique of reaching the Indian cultural barrier of mithai the promotion of Cadbury cleverly put up to equalize a chocolate and a mithai. Technological Cadburys entered the Indian market where people could recognize the brand only with a purple cover. Technically the taste of the Indians in the food or confectioners are different so the varieties that Indians crave about the purple cover should not be just the Dairy Milk so they came up with fruits and nuts, crackle, roast almond which were very famous in youth and adults to attract the kids they started with goodies and rewards with the purchase of Cadbury chocolate. The approach through media with best quality and mind lingering advertisements were done by the creative team who held up the Cadbury chocolate as luxury compared to other small confectioners in India. The punch lines used with Indians own famous game cricket the sport was also enhanced. People started liking the marketing strategy and the campaigning and it dominated 70% of the share market. The snack time in the evenings was a huge market in India they came up with Cadburys bytes. Cadbury has maintained high quality and value for money it also made Cadbury dairy milk as a dessert with slogan something sweet after meal and for kids the wowie chocolate with Disney characters embossed in it. The 2in 1 dairy milk a combination of white chocolate and milk chocolate. Economic The Cadburys and Krafts acquisition was priced but they individually grew on their strength in most of the countries. Krafts is the key market globally when they ventured together but in India they started leaning on Cadburys more, so it was ahead in confectionary business. The nestle was very far distant as number 2 when compared Cadbury .According to the marketing research firm-AC.Nelson Cadbury brand with milk addictive bourn vita has earned 70% of Indias market and earned us$425 million and 30% of sugar boiled confectionary category with us$1 billion i.e., 30%of it. The network of business selling its product across India is 1.2 billion shops as India is still agrarian society although the number of super markets or hyper markets are more the food is still bought at neighborhood stores called kirana shops. No matter Cadbury tried launching its first apple drink, dollops ice-cream, and the Indian customer recognizes the purple color as Cadburys brand. Cadbury had to change purchas ing price in India when globally it was around 10% with inclusion of interest, and taxes etc., and 27% margin was paid by krafts. The low prices with which Cadbury had the foothold in India and also business technique of the retailers in India to do business on daily working capital and fast moving products only and this increased the marketing strategy by segregating their products into different lines like gums, chocolates, mints, drinks, etc., Even if foreign markets would like to put up their confectionaries the pricing would be a big criteria and loss. The localization strategy has been adopted though slower but the products are made to the Indian customers taste. Most of the retailers do not have refridgirators, so they came up with mini packs which with-stand the heat of India with retaining the chocolate inside without any outer influence in dairy milk products. The costing of the packaging was 50 cents earlier it is costing 4 cents now. This strategy has helped the retailer s and the consumer and they were happy as Cadbury has been maintaining, quality, price and adapting Indian consumers taste. This has been amendable and kept the pace of making Indian customer to think that the value for money has been maintained and satisfied according to the Indian culture and taste. Political The worlds biggest confectionary across the globe had stepped into India with mouth watering brand the Cadbury chocolate. Although it took 60 years to register in the Indian market it employed 50,000across the globe says in 60 countries. They had a slogan in India creating brands people love. It also worked with Indian government in development of cocoa cultivation; it did also conduct research in kerala the agricultural university and educated the farmers. And right now its operating four categories in India like chocolate confectionaries, milk food drinks, gums and candies. Salmonella scare was biggest threat to the Cadbury Schweppes seven products globally. Salmonella is bacteria which was caused by a leaking pipe it might have occurred while the mixture of chocolate crumb was taking place at marl brook chocolate plant which is made into milk chocolate. This was not stated to the food standard agency as it had to get the stock back of one million chocolate bars and this contamination of bacteria costed them threat to health and they were charged 30 million pounds. They were with cases of 6 charges against them for breaching health and safety legislation but they took the step and retained the entire stock. The commitment to environment was the water conservation with unique new techniques at Bangalore factory; it started using solar energy to reduce the carbon di oxide and also driving towards the global warming. There was a major issue of child labour in south Africa with cocoa cultivation as its the 90%of worlds biggest producers and they fought for it. They also created and supported needs for underprivileged children. They started spreading smiles on the innocent faces not only with mouth lingering Cadbury chocolate but also good quality for any person in need. Methodology The gold standard is the consideration which is defined for chocolate in India for Cadburys. The brand which was a deal stuck with kraft foods did lot of international business however, when they stepped into India, Kraft had to depend on Cadburys in the market. Where a culturally different customer did not accept krafts brands, after a slow persuasion the purple covered product that is Cadburys has taken over 70% of confectionary market in the long journey of 60 years. The excellent marketing strategies which they used to register and connecting to Indian values through slogans which touched Indian customers heart and brought smile on their face from a kid to adults. The strategy was proven brand loyaltys best example with customer centric business. Although it did not realize to go with customers taste previously they faced lot of setbacks. Conclusion The taste of life a slogan which connected the people for a a long decade itself shows how the product has emerged as no.1 most trusted in Mumbai in India. It also is considered as marketing leader who changed the taste of India. Cadbury did not step back with the nutritional elements in its product line. The candies and gumbs have been strategically registered in a Childs mind also giving the difference the salty bytes and sweet bytes. Cadburys bytes like snacks to Cadbury chocolate varieties. The quality. The value, the purpose which drove lot of consumers to a brand with such immense loyalty and they have trusted the beautiful product which I can say that every generation has relished. And Cadburys had fought back with all the myths and giving facts of benefits from chocolate or rather creating world wide study of CHOCOLOGY.

Importance of Technical Education Essay

Technical Education plays a vital role in human resource development of the country by creating skilled manpower, enhancing industrial productivity and improving the quality of life. Technical Education covers courses and programmes in engineering, technology, management, architecture, town planning, pharmacy and applied arts & crafts, hotel management and catering technology. The technical education system in the country can be broadly classified into three categories – Central Government funded institutions, State Government/State-funded institutions & Self-financed institutions. The 65 Centrally funded institution of technical and science education are as under: IITs | 15| IIMs | 13| IISc. , Bangalore| 1| IISERs| 5| NITs| 30| IIITs| 4| NITTTRs| 4| Others (SPA, ISMU, NERIST, SLIET, NITIE & NIFFT, CIT)| 9| TOTAL| 81| Besides the above, there are four Boards of Apprenticeship Training (BOATs). The Central Government is also implementing the following schemes/programmes: – (i) Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP) assisted by the World Bank. (ii) Indian National Digital Library for Science & Technology (INDEST). There is one Public Sector Undertaking, namely, Educational Consultants India Ltd. (Ed. CIL) under the Ministry. There are also Apex Councils, namely the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Council of Architecture (COA). IMPORTANCE OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION. Education is important for every individual in a nation. It plays a vital role to change the stare of a country. No country could bring a revolution in it unless its everybody are educated enough to meet the challenges. Education makes a man realize about himself and his goals and how to achieve that goals. Basically, Education is divided into three groups. The Education which teaches the concerns of a society is called Social Education. The Education which develops a personality inside a man himself is called Spiritual Education. The Education that concerns with the professionalism is called Vocational Education. The Technical Education comes under the branch of Vocational Education which deals practically in the field of trade, commerce, agriculture, medicine & Engineering. We are living in the modern age of science where we found Technologies in every aspect of life. What makes life so brain friendly for us simply; these are the Technologies which we use for our ease and comforts. Not only in our daily life but also in the research centre, in defensive measured of a country, biological aspects etc. No nation could generate the progress unless it promotes technical aspects in its fields. The technical education produces technicians for all type of industries and it is true that the progress of a country much depend upon its Industrialization without which a handsome economy would not be possible. Using a technology is far easier than to develop it. For developing a technology, it needed high skill teams which have a high data for the theme. It also needed a high amount of time and also money. To fulfill all these, there must be technical institutes which must cover all the faculties of technological studies and also the support of government to support financially & to contruct it at international level. If it would be at International level then it would be easier to students to grab data in their own state so that they could do something for their own country. Pakistan leads in the technological era. The exhibition canters in Pakistan plays a vital role in backing up the technicians to come up with more and more new technologies because it gives reflection of our technologies to the foreigners which are representing their country, which means we are reflecting our image to that world. By this we have a sense of development and prosperity that we also produce creative mind in the technological aspect. As far as Pakistans implementation in techno field is concern, we might look around and observe that in every field of life we are using high class technologies whether it is in the Industrial purpose, business purpose, agriculture purpose or defensive purpose. There has been a lot of emergence of on-line trading, which deals with high technological concerns in term of machinery and software. Pakistan Telecommunication field also deal with high-class technology. Pakistan also promises to produce best technicians of its own through their technical education centers which allow approximately all the faculties for technical development. These institutes also support the new courses of technology which are introduced at a instant so that there would be no line at which we lay behind. The most important institutes of in Pakistan which support the technical courses incorporate, NED University, GIK University, Karachi University, Mehran University and there are also some other private Universities which deal in technological subjects. These institutes promise to produce technicians who cold meet the challenges of the technological era. I feel proud when I watch the students rushing towards these technical institutes to become a prosperous technician who have a sense of responsibility for the progress of their nation. Technical education promotes the material prosperity and economic advancement. It produces the sense of self-respect and dignity. If a country has her own technical experts, she may save a lot of foreign exchange i. e. Technical Education makes a country rich, prosperous and resourceful. Our country is rich in raw material resources but the thing is, we must have enough technical information to benefit from them.

How Society Defines Crime Essay

Criminology as explained in an institutionalized setting is viewed as an outside view of behavior which leads to defining crime as an intentional behavior that can be penalized by the state. Our text explains crime as any violations that occurs against the law. Crime is considered a social issue and so it is studied by sociologist who create theories. Over the years, many people have developed theories to try to explain how we come to decide what a crime is. A few theories as to why people commit crimes sometimes seems to equal the number of criminologists. So which theory is the best? Our text concludes that criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, consequences, social reaction, and control of criminal behavior. Collica, K. & Furst, G. (20120 because criminology is a social construct, it may shift over time. This shift consequently had an enormous inï ¬â€šuence on changing attitudes towards punishment and towards the purpose of the law and the legal system . Classical ideas about crime and punishment is defined by numerous writers on the subject. Some writers like Beccaria (1738–94) and Bentham (1748–1832), argued that there was an invisible relationship between the individual and the state and that the relationship as it stood was chaotic. As a part of this relationship individuals gave up some of their liberties in the interest of the common good, with the purpose of the law being to ensure that these common interests were met. For Beccaria, this meant that the law should be limited and written down so that people could make decisions on how to behave. Offenders are viewed as reasonable people with the same capacity for resisting offensive behaviors as non-offenders. This guided the principal of innocent until proven guilty. The central concern of the law and the criminal justice process was therefore the prevention of crime through this deterrent function. So how does society define a crime? The idea that criminal behavior is determined, or caused, by something, leads to the legal, social, and cultural factors that influence the decision to label some behavior’s as criminal while others or not. Like marijuana. Although it comes from the earth in plant  form its hallucinogenic effects and inability to tax mak es it illegal in most stated to manufacture produce without medical and government clearance in the states that have adopted the drug as legal. Some argue that â€Å"Drug prohibition causes the bulk of murders and property crime in major urban areas by creating a black market characterized by warring suppliers, who charge inflated prices to users, who in turn steal to pay for their habits. Drug prohibition also fosters crime abroad, funding violent entrepreneurs and even terrorist insurgencies that threaten fragile civilian governments in poor countries† (Bandow 16). It should be noted however that the classical school of thought has had an enduring inï ¬â€šuence as many legal systems are built on some of its key precepts. The idea of intent for example, emphasizes the importance of the state of mind of the individual and their capacity for making choices. To smoke or not to smoke? To plant or not to plant and to distribute or not to distribute? Many reviews of the development of criminology begin with reference to the inï ¬â€šuence of positivism. Marijuana is linked to many negative aspects outside of a few minor h ealthcare benefits like chronic pain in cancer patients and glaucoma While the speciï ¬ c meaning to be attached to this term is open to some debate, in the context of drugs inside of criminology is usually used to refer to a scientiï ¬ c commitment to the gathering of the facts that distinguish whether or not an offense has been committed. It is this search for facts which most clearly describes one of the differences between this version of criminology and classical criminology. The other main difference between these two different versions of the criminal individual was the commitment of the early positivists to search for the cause of crime within individual biology rather than individual free will (Williams &ump; McShane, 2010). Creating a policy on crime seems to give it definition when the public can prove that there is a danger to society as a whole. It is hard for anyone to grasp the concept or be able to understand why people commit heinous crimes or engage in criminal activities. We as human beings are all capable of committing or engaging in delinquent behavior. What stands in the way of a person that makes them decided to engage in deviant behavior or to choose not to commit crimes at all? It may never be truly understood what the real reasons are behind why people make decisions against the laws implemented for mankind’s protection. Philosophy can only dig so deep to  find these truths and the evolution of criminal behavior only expands with more knowledge of what works and what does not work. What is considered criminal today could be legal tomorrow and what is legal today could be found criminal as well. References Collica, K. & Furst, G. (2012). Crime & society. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Hostettler, J. (2011). Cesare Beccaria [electronic resource] : the genius of on crimes and punishments / John Hostettler. Hook, Hampshire, U.K. : Waterside Press, 2011 http://youtu.be/teKTNwgErCc Morris, R. G., TenEyck, M., Barnes, J. C., & Kovandzic, T. V. (2014). The Effect of Medical Marijuana Laws on Crime: Evidence from State Panel Data, 1990-2006. Plos ONE, 9(3), 1-7. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0092816

The Cooperative Group Example For Free - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 20 Words: 5919 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Did you like this example? Essay Question: Describe the ethical concerns facing the communities in which the Cooperative Group operates This essay examines the ethical concerns which are foremost in the communities in which the Cooperative Group operates. The discussion argues that most important among these ethical concerns are the dual problems of global ethical dilemmas, led by the issues of fair trade and climate change, but also a keen interest in supporting local communities and local suppliers. The latter has become increasingly important in light of the financial crisis as it often a key factor in how local communities fare. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Cooperative Group Example For Free" essay for you Create order The discussion begins with a critical analysis of how these ethical concerns affect local communities before reflecting briefly on how the Cooperative can be seen to assisting with such problems. The Cooperative Group operates throughout the entirety of the UK. It can therefore be said that broadly speaking, the ethical considerations which effect the communities in which the Group operates are the ethical considerations which are currently foremost among the UK population as a whole. As outlined in the introduction, these issues can broadly by summarised as a concern about the environment and concerns about global poverty, international development and the role of trade in dealing with such problems. The UK voluntary sector is one of the best supported in Europe and has an annual turnover into the tens of billions (Harris 2001). Whilst this is not explicitly relevant to the role of the Cooperative Group it nonetheless illustrates the general spirit of the British nation and the importance which they attach to ethical considerations in life. These ethical concerns are important ones for the Cooperative Group to consider as much has been made recently of the role of consumer choice in shaping the nature of the worlds problems (Klein 2010 p.242). There is therefore a strong connection between the ethical considerations of such communities and the role of the Cooperative Group. We must therefore acknowledge that one of the biggest concerns which many people feel in relation to the issue of climate change and global poverty has been the sense of how best they can help with the problem on an individual level. In an age when many people have lost faith in traditional political routes to problem solving or addressing ethical concerns, there is more and more emphasis placed on the importance of consumer choice. Writers such as Klein (2010), Tomlinson (1999) and Giddens (2002) have all been involved in arguing that perhaps one of the most important ways in which people can change the world in which they live is through supporting movements such as the Fair Trade movement, through taking an interest in the carbon footprint of their shopping and in generally being a much more politically aware consumer. Such arguments argue that consumer choice can effectively be used as a less dramatic form of economic sanction to place diplomatic pressure on certain areas to either reform their political practice, or to operate in a more considered manner. This point is made particularly strongly by Garton Ash who argues that, with so much choice over which charity to support and what particular manner in which to attempt to influence events, many people feel overwhelmed. Evidence put forward by the Guardian Sustainable Business report suggests that many consumers do believe that there choice of products makes a difference to such issues and that the majority of consumers are influenced by such factors . There is therefore a strong preceden t for supermarkets and organisations such as the Cooperative Group to develop practical alternatives for such people and furthermore to inform their customers of the ethical issues which surround their consumer choices. However, perhaps one of the most important ethical issues which faces such groups in the current economic climate is the issue of local employment and local livelihoods. Like many ethical considerations this issue ties in neatly with many of the other concerns which we have previously discussed. Throughout the post war period there has been a growth in the power of markets internationally to the point where the vast majority of the UKs manufacturing industry and a large part of British domestic agriculture has been superseded by cheap foreign imports, be it manufactured goods from China or fruit and vegetables which are grown in warmer climes and shipped to the UK either on boats or planes. Such trends create a dual problem of increasing carbon emissions but also threatening local livelihoods, particularly in the more rural areas which the Cooperative Group operates in such as parts of Yorkshire and the Lake District. A significant ethical issue in this context is therefore the level of support which major shops such as the Cooperative Group give to local industries and producers. This issue has been highlighted by a significant number of globalisation theorists such as Dunkley, as well as more mainstream writers such as Stiglitz and Klein. Such ideas represent a significant concern for much of the world as the free market system has created more problems than it has solved for a great number of people. Strong evidence suggests that such trends are being felt at the supermarket checkout and in the local shop. In 2010 Bevin reported that in response to a survey carried out for the Guardian the majority of the 766 respondents indicated strong concern about carbon emissions, pollution, and resource depletion. A majority of respon dents also stated that the level of transportation was a key factor for them. They were therefore much more likely to purchase a product which had been locally sourced. It is also worthy of note that the Guardian report also found that the purchase of groceries came second only to transportation in the full ethical consideration of household expenditure. Areas such as utility bills or clothing were not considered to be as important ethically as were groceries. When all of the evidence is collated there is a strong precedent set for the centrality of environmental and wider global ethical considerations in consumer choice. The evidence put forward by the Guardian report provides recent and solid support for the idea that an increasing number of consumers see themselves as key actors within the global economy and global society. It is increasingly the case that works by Stiglitz on globalisation, Klein on marketing and Dunkley on free market capitalism are becoming mainstream texts with a growing number of people understanding and forming judgements on some of the wider macro issues which are presented in such works. The result has been a grass roots movement away from simply buying products at the cheapest price towards buying products based on their ethical considerations. This is something which has continued through the recent financial recession with the Guardian Sustainable Business report being published in June of 2010. It is also worthy of note that the ethical stance, although slightly more of a factor at higher incomes, was largely constant across the income range. It can therefore be concluded that the major ethical considerations for those people who live in areas that the Cooperative Group would operate in are the major ethical considerations which people consider in their day to day lives. Perhaps the most important of these has been the impact of products on the environment. It is increasingly the case that people buy products b ased on the distance that they have been transported, the amount of packaging they have and the place in which they originated. However, we should not ignore the wider knock on ethical considerations which surround global warming and global climate change. The influence of poverty has been strongly felt with the fair trade movement receiving considerable support, to the point where the majority of coffee is now fair trade certified. It is clear that such issues have considerable crossover. The more locally something is grown the more chance there is that it will have less of a carbon footprint and the more chance that it will have of supporting local industries and therefore reducing global poverty overall. However, more important of all to the ethical considerations of the local people in which the Cooperative Group are considerations as to how best to reduce their carbon footprint and assist in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. References and Bibliography Bevins, Vincent. Guardian survey reveals shoppers green concerns. The Guardian London: The Guardian, 2010. Cooperative Group. Ethical Trading and Fairtrade. Manchester: Cooperative Group, 2010. Dunkley, Graham. Free Trade: Myths, Reality and Alternative. London: Zed Books, 2004. Garton Ash, Timothy. Giving well is hard to do. The Guardian London: The Guardian, 2005. Giddens, Antony. Runaway World: How Globalisation is Shaping Our Lives. London: Profile Books, 2002. Guardian, The. Consumer attitudes and perceptions on sustainability. The Guardian Sustainable Business (2010): Harris, Margaret. and Rochester, Colin. Voluntary organisations and social policy in Britain: perspectives on change and choice. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2001. Klein, Naomi. No Logo. London: Fourth Estate, 2010. Stiglitz, Joseph. Globalisation and its Discontents. London: Penguin, 2002. Stiglitz, Joseph. Making Globalisation Work. London: Penguin, 2007. Tomlinson, John. Globalis ation and Culture. Cambridge: Blackwell, 1999. An assessment of the social implications of business ethics for the Cooperative Group This discussion examines the social implications of business ethics within the Cooperative Group. It focuses on both the Cooperative Group bank, but also the Cooperative Group grocery stores in order to argue that the social implications of the Cooperative business ethics model are particularly positive. The discussion focuses predominantly on the social implications of the Groups policies on the eradication of global poverty as it is this subject area which creates a particularly useful crossover between the Bank and the Grocery side of the Group. The discussion begins with a look at the banks and how the Groups bank is different to mainstream banks. It then moves on to reflect on the Cooperative grocery stores before bringing the two strands together in a wider analysis. The Cooperative Bank is an institution which pledges very strongly its ethical commitment to fair finance. In an age in which issues such as globalisation are having more and more of an effect on the way people live their lives, it is no longer possible to ignore global poverty and global climate change. However, the majority of Western commercial banks have grossly compounded many of the problems by attempting to make short term profits from developing nations. Many such banks should be seen as significantly responsible for the major debt crisis which hit Sub Saharan Africa in the 1980s and they should be held to account as being motivated purely by greed. Such institutions lent money at extortionate rates to nations which they were well aware were unable to repay such loans as they thought that they would ultimately be bailed out by huge IMF loans and therefore still make a profit . Such behaviour was also the hallmark of the banks which created the most recent financial crisis in the developed world. Investment banks which were being operated essentially as casinos in which gambles were rewarded and losses were covered have had dire social implications for the majority of the Western world. One of the biggest problems now facing the UK economy in particular is how it is going to be possible to get credit to small businesses in order to stimulate growth whilst at the same time making public sector cuts which will amount to half a million redundancies. Major banks have more or less refused to lend to small businesses and households and therefore many people are beginning to turn to more ethical alternatives led by the Cooperative Group bank, but also other institutions such as the Triodos bank. The Cooperative Bank is committed to funding small businesses which it sees as being solidly enough set up to succeed and yet it is also committed to supporting projects in developing nations which have been properly set up and costed. In these two moves it has immediately made itself significantly more ethical than the vast majority of its competitors and has also had a significantly beneficial social impact. The availability of credit at reasonable ra tes is perhaps one of the most important single moves which a bank could have made in order to attempt to improve the situation in the UK and the wider Western world. However at the same time the bank has retained its commitment to developing real solutions for global poverty. Stiglitz has argued strongly that we should never underestimate the power of ethical banking to create and empower in the world. Well placed and secured investments can reap considerable social rewards. The bank itself sums this approach up when it says that it is committed to making an impact by creating social, economic and environmental change If we then move on to examine the role of the Cooperative Group grocery store we can see that the social implications of the ethical approach which the Group has taken has been positive. The lead which the Group took on the issue of Fair Trade has benefited a significant number of farmers and by extension their families in some of the most deprived regions of the planet. Further to this it must be acknowledged that the wider impact of such policies can have on stimulating economies through the knock on effects which capital can have. Keynes highlighted the multiplier effect by which one business opening can lead to other businesses opening as they seek to provide services for aspects of the original business, be it sandwiches for the workers, parts for machinery, or any number of other services. Where there is a steady supply of capital through fair trade this can then be used to create reliable and consistent growth. The social implications of this policy should therefore be highly commended. Within the broader sphere of the fight against global poverty we can therefore see that the Cooperative Group and its ethical policies are having an important beneficial effect. The vast majority of development writers who debate key issues within the subject frequently tend to agree that the central problems of development is creating su stained economic growth. This point is made by Stiglitz, Collier and Dunkley. Whilst it is important to note that there are other important factors in this problem, the United Nations Human Development Index (a statistical index based on a number of development factors such as life expectancy, GDP per capita, deaths from preventable disease and literacy rates) strongly correlates with the GDP per capita index . Therefore, where it is possible to create sustained economic growth it is possible to lift people out of poverty and empower them to develop their own solutions to their problems. Within this more developed context it can therefore be argued that the social implications of the Cooperative Groups policies are hugely socially beneficial. The importance of the initial loans which the Bank offers to setting up projects such as schools or roads or water infrastructures are crucial to the steady development of these areas. However, perhaps even more important than this is the guarantee of a good and fair price for commodities which have previously been at the mercy of the international markets. Commodities such as coffee have suffered notorious drops in prices, particularly during the 1980s and early 1990s. This meant that often what had started out as a promising spell of growth developed into a slump and further poverty. The importance of a steady market at a fair price cannot be underestimated. The social implications of this are huge. It can therefore be argued that the social implications of the ethical approach taken by the Cooperative Group are hugely important. Without such ethical considerations it would not be possible for developing world farmers to sell their commodities at a price which guaranteed them a profit and instead they would be left to the mercy of international markets and buyers who are particularly ruthless. The simple commitment to pay a fair price for good quality commodities sows the seeds of economic growth in ma ny of these regions and provides a stability which was previously not there and the social impact of which cannot be underestimated. In a similar manner the ethical commitments of the Cooperative Group bank should be seen as being a key part of this process. We have seen from our basic analysis of development literature how the majority of current development theorists believe that finance is a vital part of the move away from poverty, but only where it is used responsibly and without an immediate desire for profits. The Cooperative Banks commitment to these principles means that they are likely to be one of the most important institutions in helping the developing world move away from poverty. We can therefore conclude that the ethical considerations and principles of the Cooperative Banks provide vital financial support for key projects which have enormous social benefit. The provision of clean water, infrastructure projects and key buildings cannot be undertaken without r esponsible financial support. In addition to this the commitment of the Cooperative Group to pay a fair price for major developing world exports sows the seeds of stable growth and means that such areas are able to begin building and planning for the future where they were previously unable to think beyond the next week. References/Bibliography Bevins, Vincent. Guardian survey reveals shoppers green concerns. The Guardian London: The Guardian, 2010. Collier, Paul. The Bottom Billion. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. Cooperative Group. Ethical Trading and Fairtrade. Manchester: Cooperative Group, 2010. Dunkley, Graham. Free Trade: Myths, Reality and Alternative. London: Zed Books, 2004. Garton Ash, Timothy. Giving well is hard to do. The Guardian London: The Guardian, 2005. Giddens, Antony. Runaway World: How Globalisation is Shaping Our Lives. London: Profile Books, 2002. Guardian, The. Consumer attitudes and perceptions on sustainability. The Guardian Sustainable Business (2010): Klein, Naomi. No Logo. London: Fourth Estate, 2010. Stiglitz, Joseph. Globalisation and its Discontents. London: Penguin, 2002. Stiglitz, Joseph. Making Globalisation Work. London: Penguin, 2007. United Nations. Human Development Report 2009. New York: United Nations, 2009. An Assessment of the ethical concerns facing the communities in which the Cooperative Group operates and measures that could be taken to improve corporate responsibility This discussion brings together the two strands of domestic ethical concerns and the wider ability of the Cooperative Group to respond to corporate social responsibility issues. The discussion begins with an outline of the major ethical concerns facing the communities in which the Group operates. This takes in both the communities in which the Group predominantly sells its products, but also on some of the areas in which the group sources its products. The major ethical policies of the organisation are then questioned in order to determine areas in which the Group could improve. Central to these criticisms are the failure of the Group to develop a coherent ethical policy in the manner of other retailers such as SUMA. The major areas in which the Cooperative Group operates are predominantly the UK but to an extent worldwide. It is certainly true that the majority of the Groups business comes from within the UK with all of the Grocery outlets being in the UK. Therefore the ma jor ethical concerns of the Groups customers are likely to come from these areas. The majority of evidence suggests that the major ethical concerns of the UK population as a whole are the best ways to deal with global climate change, but also other problems such as global poverty and the problems which surround this. A recent report commissioned for the Guardian concluded that the vast majority of UK consumers are now heavily concerned about the impact that their day to day shopping and choices has on these issues. The notion of green marketing and the green consumer are two things which have gained considerable currency in recent years and have made consumers feel much more responsible but also empowered as to how they go about their business. It can therefore be argued that the central ethical concern of the Coops customers relates to how best to reduce their own personal carbon footprint. They see the selection of products which they buy as a way of reducing such problem s and ultimately aiding in the fight against global warming. However, if we look at the major areas in which the Cooperative Group sources its products we can see a slightly different story. The major area which is worth examining in relation to ethical considerations has been the region of Sub Saharan Africa and the impact of the Cooperative Groups policies on commodities such as tea and coffee, as well as chocolate. The primary ethical concern in this area is the reduction of global poverty. This concern focuses on developing solutions which enable people to work their own way out of poverty through sustainable farming solutions and the development of markets within these areas. Central to this problem has been the issue of fair trade and the ability of farmers to gain a fair price for their commodities. Previously to the fair trade movement it was often the case that farmers would end up selling their products at a significant loss as a result of a huge world market and a collapse in global demand due to a financial recession in one area (for example in the late 1980s and early 1990s) . This problem led to significant calls for a commitment to pay a price which would guarantee a profit to those farmers who produced the aforementioned commodities. We can therefore see that between these two areas of operations the Cooperative Group has two major ethical concerns, both of which are duly highlighted by the organisation itself. These are firstly the commitment to reduce the carbon footprint of the business, through sourcing more locally grown foods, reducing the levels of packaging which are used and also reducing the amount of transportation which is required to distribute products through greater logistical support. Secondly is the issue of assisting in the reduction of global poverty through a variety of policies from both the Cooperative Bank but also the Cooperative Grocery aspect of the business. In terms of analysing the success of t he Corporate Social Responsibility of the Cooperative Group one has to conclude that the organisation is one of the best performing of all businesses in the world today. Its commitment to the two issues outlined above should be taken seriously and is proved by real action and it has a reputation as a more open and approachable organisation responding to local customers needs in a much more approachable way than many of its competitors. However, one of the major criticisms of the group which has been highlighted previously is the slight inconsistencies which arise particularly among the Grocery division of the business. These inconsistencies mean that the group which has a very commendable commitment to ethical issues such as the fair trade movement, can also be seen to be selling products which directly contravene these principles. The fact that such products are sold by the Cooperative Group means that such products are being profited from by the Group itself and that ther e is therefore a strong argument to suggest that the Group is itself contributing to the inequality which such principles create. If the group were to improve its service to its communities even further then it would be important for it to develop a strategy which was much more water tight and which served as a much more cohesive and inclusive model. Whilst such a model would no doubt have logistical and technical problems it is important to note that there are companies and businesses which have been set up and run on very similar lines. One notable example is the food wholesaler SUMA, based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. This wholesaler is able to source a significant number of its own products directly but also works with other suppliers to develop a catalogue of supplies which it is able to provide to customers. This process involves significant research into the origins of certain products and a constant commitment to maintaining the high standards which are set but it is s omething which can be achieved. If the Cooperative Group were to seek to develop its own Corporate Social Responsibility policies even further then the SUMA model would be a particularly useful model to examine. It is also worthy of note that SUMA itself supplies several of the Cooperative Grocery Stores, in particular in the areas around Leeds where local demand for such products is high. It is therefore possible to say that the ethical issues which are felt by the majority of the Cooperative Groups customers centre on two major areas of interest. Firstly there is the area of global climate change and how consumers and people can reduce their carbon footprint as part of their everyday lives. Secondly there is the issue of how best to attempt to tackle climate change. As we have seen these two issues frequently overlap and in many ways can be strongly linked. However, we must also acknowledge that there are few groups better equipped than the Cooperative Group at developing strong policies in these areas. The diversity of the Group means that it is able to respond to crises in a much broader way than many of its competitors are able to. For example, on the issue of tackling global poverty, the Group is able to provide Fair Trade agreements with farmers for the supply of certain products, but is also able to use the Cooperative Bank to help develop key infrastructures and services within such areas. This dual pronged approach make the Corporate Social Responsibility Programmes of the Cooperative Group particularly impressive. However, if the Group were to seek to develop these valuable points further then there is considerable room for growth in the central principles of product choice which the Group makes. A more developed and ethically accountable set of principles here (in the manner of SUMA) would make the organisation significantly ethically stronger and would have massive social benefits for the areas of operation of the business. We ca n therefore conclude that the Cooperative faces the two major ethical considerations of climate change and global poverty. Its commitment to combating these issues is noteworthy and certainly deserving of praise. However, with a more calculated and ethically sound approach the Group could perform even better in this very important area. References/Bibliography Bevins, Vincent. Guardian survey reveals shoppers green concerns. The Guardian London: The Guardian, 2010. Collier, Paul. The Bottom Billion. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. Cooperative Group. Ethical Trading and Fairtrade. Manchester: Cooperative Group, 2010. Dunkley, Graham. Free Trade: Myths, Reality and Alternative. London: Zed Books, 2004. Garton Ash, Timothy. Giving well is hard to do. The Guardian London: The Guardian, 2005. Giddens, Antony. Runaway World: How Globalisation is Shaping Our Lives. London: Profile Books, 2002. Guardian, The. Consumer attitudes and perceptions on sustainability. The Guardian Sustainable Business (2010): Klein, Naomi. No Logo. London: Fourth Estate, 2010. Stiglitz, Joseph. Globalisation and its Discontents. London: Penguin, 2002. Stiglitz, Joseph. Making Globalisation Work. London: Penguin, 2007. SUMA. SUMA nominated again!. Leeds: SUMA, 2010. An assessment of how the Cooperative Group could improve its operations ethically This discussion examines the manner in which the Cooperative Group could improve its operations ethically. It begins by commending the Group on its stance on ethical issues such as Fair Trade, with all of the Cooperative Groups own brand coffee and chocolate now being exclusively Fair Trade certified. It does however argue that there is a certain double standard in the way in which the shops will frequently sell other brand products which do not meet such requirements. The central argument is that, if the Cooperative Group is to develop its ethical stance further, it would need to create a set of absolute principles or standards by which it would judge all of its stock, in a similar way to food wholesalers such as SUMA. The discussion argues that, whilst such a view may be seen as slightly extreme or impractical by some people it is nonetheless the major direction down which the Group should aim to go. It is worth noting that some of the evidence discussed here relating to sp ecific in store advertising is primary evidence taken from local Cooperative outlets and should be treated as such. Where possible this is highlighted. The Cooperative Group deserves strong praise for its stance on key ethical issues such as fair trade, global climate change and global poverty. Its decision to develop all of its chocolate and coffee products from Sub Saharan Africa and South America into fair trade products was a decision which they took ahead of all of their major competitors and one which has been followed for the most part. A brief glance at the Cooperative Group website reveals a relatively prominent section entitled ethics in action in which the Group outline their major commitments to develop schemes in local areas such as walk to school schemes to assist the environment and community cohesion, but also their wider ethical commitment to reduce poverty through low interest finance, fair trade products and overseas projects. It is therefore worth making absolutely clear how commendable such actions are and how much they should be applauded by the Groups customers. However, it is also possible to identify certain ethical anomalies within the Group. The aforementioned commitment to own brand Fair Trade Coffee and Chocolates often sits next to a promotion for Galaxy chocolate or Nescafe Coffee neither of which have any ethical merits. It is also frequently the case that such products are advertised in store, perhaps largely as a result of promotional offers such as Buy One Get One Free but also through other contracted out advertising space which is operated by a third party advertising agency. There is therefore an ethical double standard here, whereby the Group will publicly commit itself to its own ethical standards but will then continue to profit from other products which clearly fail to meet such standards. Not only this but such products are often advertised in store in order to generate further profit. The Group is t herefore promoting one image on the one hand, and carrying out an entirely different act with the other. It can therefore be argued strongly that, were the Group to be taken seriously and present a water tight and uniform ethical case, it would have to develop its own benchmark of ethical standards by which it would judge all of its products. These would not need to be hugely ground breaking, certainly not in the first instance, but could be based on the ethical standards by which the Group develops its own products. If products meet such standards, for example Cadburys chocolate has been certified fair trade in recent years then they can be sold and the consumers can then make their choice according to other criteria such as taste, price or their own personal preference. However, were products not to meet such standards then they would no longer be sold by the Group in order to prevent the Group itself but also other manufacturers from profiting from a products which is un ethically sourced and unethically produced. If we look at the evidence for consumer ethical considerations as put forward by the Guardian report on consumer views on sustainability and wider ethical considerations then we can see that there is a strong consumer base which would support the ideas. The vast majority of the consumers in the survey of close to 800 participants intimated that the most important factors which they considered when buying a product was the environmental impact and the wider ethical impact . It would therefore be possible to argue strongly that, were the Group to carry out such a move it would be widely supported by a significant number of consumers and may even result in a greater consumer support for the Cooperative Group over other competitors. It is difficult to develop ethical models for the Cooperative Group in such a limited space without necessarily avoiding any of the logistical or practical implications of such suggestions or ideas. How ever, it must be noted that the idea as outlined above is likely to be a particularly problematic system to set up in the first instance, particularly given the large volume of stock which the Group carries. However, there is a precedent for such a suggestion, with food wholesaler SUMA selling only products which have met its ethical standards, be it fair trade or global warming. Indeed the SUMA model has been so successful that they have been nominated for food wholesaler of the year and employer of the year at The Grocer awards two years running. Indeed SUMA is similar in more ways than one as the wholesaler sources its own products such as lentils and grains but also deals with other products by companies such as Bottle Green or Fentimans, whose ethical virtues can be readily and well established. Indeed SUMA often supplies certain parts of some Cooperative Groups with products, particularly in the areas around its central operations in Yorkshire. However, it must be ack nowledged that the Cooperative Group would have a significantly more complex task as it is not surprising that many companies which do not operate ethically are reluctant to disclose any information on the way they source or manufacture products. Therefore there would have to be a lot of work put in to researching the ethical credentials of certain products. There would also likely be considerable problems as to where one draws the line. For example if the debate moved on from only sourcing products which were transported by boat rather than plane and a technical hitch meant that certain products had to be transported on planes would the Group refuse to sell them and if not why not? However, it should not be ignored that there is a very real case to be made for the removal of all products which directly contradicts the Groups own ethical stance on key products such as coffee and chocolate. Certainly there is also an undeniable call for the Group to remove advertising and pro motions from its stores for products which do not meet its own criteria. Such a space could be used to promote the Groups own products or to highlight some of the key issues for which the Group retains a strong opinion. We can therefore conclude by saying that the Cooperative Group should once again be praised for the ethical position which it has taken on key issues. However, there is always room for improvement in such organisations and, with the inconsistencies observed by this discussion it should be more than possible for the Group to continue to improve. It has been acknowledged earlier that the major focus of this particularly discussion has been on the Groups grocery stores rather than the banking sector or other sectors. This is because it is this particular area of the Group which is perhaps most immediately felt by most people. This is particularly true given the rise of ethical consumerism Therefore the Group should seek to further develop its ethical model to cover all of its products irrespective of their brand or origin in a similar way to wholesalers such as SUMA. References/Bibliography Bevins, Vincent. Guardian survey reveals shoppers green concerns. The Guardian London: The Guardian, 2010. Cooperative Group. Ethical Trading and Fairtrade. Manchester: Cooperative Group, 2010. Dunkley, Graham. Free Trade: Myths, Reality and Alternative. London: Zed Books, 2004. Giddens, Antony. Runaway World: How Globalisation is Shaping Our Lives. London: Profile Books, 2002. Guardian, The. Consumer attitudes and perceptions on sustainability. The Guardian Sustainable Business (2010): Klein, Naomi. No Logo. London: Fourth Estate, 2010. Stiglitz, Joseph. Globalisation and its Discontents. London: Penguin, 2002. Stiglitz, Joseph. Making Globalisation Work. London: Penguin, 2007. SUMA. SUMA nominated again!. Leeds: SUMA, 2010.