Floating Restaurants Are A New Phenomenon Marketing Essay

Floating Restaurants Are A New Phenomenon Marketing Essay Floating restaurants are a new phenomenon for dining out in Cairo, where customers can be provided not only with a meal but also an entertaining casual dining experience with unrivalled views of the Nile River. This study aims to identify customers perceptions of the floating restaurants sailing down the Nile River and also explores the different attributes that influence customer satisfaction with, and increase the intention of repeat patronage for, Sailing Floating Restaurants. Frequencies, means, Pearson correlations, cross tab and factor analysis were used for the data analysis. The results indicate that aspects such as parking spaces, healthy, and local dishes, along with rest-room cleanliness are pivotal attributes to create satisfied customers and to increase repeat patronage intentions. Floating restaurant managers should reasonably take into consideration the trip length, which contributes significantly to customers satisfaction and repeat patronage intentions.(Published in 2011).Likewise, if there are any local traditions when the behaviour of domestic guests may seem disturbing to uninitiated foreign guests, such as the rowdy lutefisk evenings in some Norwegian restaurants (Jensen and Hansen, 2007). The study by Jensen and Hansen (2007) suggested that harmony is the most emphasized value among experienced restaurant consumers in Norway .The findings of other studies on value and satisfaction provide support for linking value to satisfaction, not satisfaction to value (Babin, Lee, Kim, Griffin, 2005; Jones, Reynolds, Arnold, 2006).For example, studies show that neighborhoods composed of racial and ethnic minorities have more than twice the number of fast-food restaurants (Block, Scribner, and DeSalvo 2004; Ball).Such women may be more likely to encounter environmental barriers to healthy food choices, often living in neighborhoods with fewer supermarkets (Morland et al, 2002b) and more fast food restaurants (Block et al, 2004).Dining motivation may affect this relationship because it determines consumers evaluative judgments during their dining experiences (Park, 2004).Consumers expect safe food and demand information about the origin of their food (Van Rijswijk Frewer, 2008).It has been found in many studies that restaurateurs are concerned with making lasting impressions, perpetuating a wonderful dining experie nce and creating an impressive ambiance for their customers (Cheng, 2006; DiPeitro, Murphy, Riviera, Muller, 2007; Gupta, McLaughlin, Gomez, 2007; Lacey, 2007; Oh, 2008; Ryu, 2005).If customers are satisfied with the food or service in a restaurant then they are more likely to re-visit it and thus increase its profits (Gupta et al., 2007).Several researchers controlled for the effect of advertising and promotions in their studies on customer loyalty because of their influence (Buckinx Van den Poel, 2004; Chu et al, 2007; Gupta, McLaughlin, Gomez, 2007).Service differentiation means enhancing perceived value by providing services or service attributes not provided by the competition (Claycomb and Martin, 2001, p. 391).Here, a small number of studies note the importance of the congruence and compatibility between the perceived attitudes and behaviours of fellow customers within the service setting, that is, the extent to which patrons within the service environment behave in a man ner that is deemed appropriate by other customers present (see Grove Fisk, 1997; Martin, 1996).Park (2004) defined the consumer value of eating-out as the value consumers derived from food, service, and restaurants when eating-out, which suggests that customers do not pursue dining value only to satisfy their hunger.On the other hand, less restrictive zoning in low-income areas may have contributed to an abundance of unhealthy food options, particularly fast food (Block et al. 2004; Morland et al. 2002).Restaurants tend to be less active in preferred customer program unlike hotel or airline industry because restaurant customers favor immediate, necessary, and monetary gratification (Jang Mattila, 2005).Convenience therefore becomes one of the main motivators for restaurant customers in choosing a restaurant (Jang Mattila, 2005).Kivela (1997) segmented restaurant customers on the basis of preferred restaurant types, including fine dining/gourmet, theme/atmosphere, family/popular a nd convenience/fast-food restaurants In the history of restaurant management, providing compelling sensory experiences to patrons has been critical for deriving patron satisfaction, and restaurants have thus invested large amounts of expenditure in interior/exterior decoration (Kivela, 1997; Law, To, Goh, 2008) and food presentation (Kivela et al, 1999; Namkung Jang, 2008; Raajpoot, 2002).Research conducted by Mona and Roy, (1999); Pettijohn, Pettijohn, and Luke (1997); Kivela (1997); Gregoire, Shanklin, Greathouse, and Tripp (1995); Auty (1992), and Lewis (1981) found food quality, including food safety and hygiene, to be either the first or second most important restaurant choice factor.In fast-food restaurants, price, convenience, and limited service are the basic characteristics, which have led to quality being one of the principal concepts of the marketing strategy (Baek, Ham, Yang, 2006).The consumption of fast-food has also increased throughout the industrialized world in countries as diverse as Spain, Korea, the Philippines, and Australia (Baek, Ham, Yang, 2006; Bryant Dundes, 2008; Mohammad, Barker, Kandampully, 2005).Previous studies have examined restaurant preferences associated with different groups such as origins of nationality (Barta, 2008; Gyimothy, Rassing Wanhill, 2000), different meal purposes (Cullen, 2004; Koo, Tao, Yeung, 1999), length of stay (Gyimothy et al, 2000), and age (Gyimothy et al, 2000; Yamanaka, Almanza, Nelson, DeVaney, 2003).According to the study conducted by Cullen (2004), portion size is a more important attribute to young consumers.To date numerous studies have been undertaken seeking to address such selection variables including but not limited to customer loyalty (Kim and Han, 2008), ambience (Rowe, 2004), pricing strategy (Pedraja and Yague, 2001), location (Buchtal, 2006; Knutson et al, 2006), menu variety (Choi, Lee and Mok, 2010), food type and food quality within occasion (Auty, 1992), consumer demographics (Bareham, 2004; Kim, Raab and Berg man, 2010), nutritional content (Wootan and Osborn, 2006) and service and/or product quality Fu and Parks, 2001) While many previous studies were also conducted in an actual restaurant setting (Jang Namkung, 2009; Kivela, Inbakaran, Reece, 2000); the uniqueness of this research is that the notion of Gestalt was adopted, and the interactive effects of perceived congruency and individuals pleasure or arousal on satisfaction were being tested.The perception that a restaurant has a reputable, green operation adds a value that is a little more intangible, but definitely important, in the customers mind. Just ask Chipotle how in the world they get away with selling an $8 burrito in a fast casual environment. Customers recognize the value of their green practices and locally sourced ingredients. There are hundreds of ways to make your restaurant more green, and advertising your practices to your customers add value. (Greg McGuire , 2012).Another top restaurant trend is portion sizes. Reduced portion sizes allow customers to spend less or pick and choose more than one dish. This is also a hot trend b ecause the perceived value for the customer is that they have options, and not all of them require a lot of money. (Greg McGuire , 2012) Restaurant Marketing: Using the Internet to Create Customer Value By Rohit Verma, Executive Director, Cornell Center for Hospitality Research Co-authored by Glenn Withiam, Executive Editor, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly Customer value extends far beyond the table or the restaurant itself. Restaurateurs have the opportunity to create customer value from the first contact, whether that means a telephone reservation or an electronic order or reservation. The restaurant operators decision of whether to permit electronic ordering or to accept reservations via the web depends on numerous factors, including balancing guest preferences against the cost of participating in third-party reservation sites. Studies of consumers who have made electronic reservations find that those who prefer the web tend to be younger customers who dine out more frequently than others. The age-old principle of customer value for the restaurant industry is to put the value where the customer can see it. Putting the value on the plate, is essential and that concept hasnt changed in many years. But the customer value chain for restaurants starts long before the guest is seated. Given heavy competition and ever-expanding marketing channels, a restaurateur may never get the chance to demonstrate the value of the plate on the table-if guests book a different restaurant. The battle begins in just getting the guest to the table in the first place. In this article, we offer a roadmap to electronic reservations and distribution, based on several studies of guests use of electronic food ordering, flash deal couponing, and third-party reservation applications. We frame this discussion in terms of customer value for the simple reason that guests seek value throughout the experience, and they will not become involved where they do not see value. This is particularly true in term s of flash deals. While guests may try a restaurant once using a daily deal coupon, they will not do so twice if value has not been received. The presence of social media and web commentaries seems to have altered customers decision process as they decide which restaurant to book. In the usual process, guests have in mind a set of potential restaurants, and then they apply their own criteria to choose one of those restaurants. The way social media affect this process is that would-be customers who read online reviews may add new restaurants to their choice set during the decision process. Thus, the winning restaurant might well be one that was suggested by the review of a perfect stranger, rather than one that was originally under consideration. Daily deal offers also exert considerable influence on the process. A study by Cornell Professor Chekitan Dev found that an astonishing 70 percent of purchases for travel experiences were made within 15 minutes of receiving an offer from the group coupon firm LivingSocial. In this instance, the decision appears to be a function of price, rather than one of brand. As weve discussed previously, daily deals must be carefully crafted to ensure that the offer is successful for both the restaurant and the purchasers. If you are reading this in a location where social media have not yet penetrated, you may have the luxury of preparing for a time when the internet gains increasing power in your distribution process. While some of our discussion here focuses on restaurants that use reservations, its also true that social media influence the decision process for restaurants that take only walk-ins and use a queue to control table occupancy, rather than reservations. Beyond that, there may come a day when guests will expect to be able to view your queue on the web, and thus determine whether they want to wait in that queue or choose another restaurant. Its easy to foresee a possible marketing approach of letting guests know that your queue is only 15 minutes long if they come immediately to the restaurant. Food Ordering With that background, lets examine how the internet is affecting food-service purchases and restaurant reservations. Considering that the internet is a logical method for ordering food deliveries, Cornell Professor Sheryl Kimes examined the use of the websites for ordering food for carryout or for delivery. While about half of the 470 people surveyed had used some form of electronic ordering, the number-one channel remains the telephone call, which was used for 53 percent of the orders in this study. This study covers U.S. residents, so the proportions may be different elsewhere. Nevertheless, the webs impact continues to rise everywhere. While theres no indication that the telephone will be eclipsed any time soon, electronic ordering is growing steadily. Just over 38 percent of the survey respondents had placed an electronic order, mostly using the restaurants own website. The number-one benefit that customers cited for electronic ordering was accuracy. They also liked websites that were convenient, gave them strong control, and made ordering easy. Its worth noting that convenience in this case also extended to offering delivery of the food once it was ordered. On the other side of the coin, customers who avoided the web for food ordering preferred personal interaction-they wanted to talk to someone. There was also a current of technological anxiety among those who didnt use the web to order food. A comparison of the demographics and purchase patterns of technology users and nonusers provides reasons for restaurants to offer as many ordering channels as possible. Respondents who made electronic orders tended to be younger than those who did not, and the technology users also patronized restaurants more frequently. An earlier study by Technomic found that 60 percent of people between 18 and 34 years have ordered online, but for people over 35 that figure falls to 35 percent. Restaurant operators in the United States are not oblivious to this trend. Just under one-fourth of the 326 largest U.S-based chains offered online food ordering. While we do not have figures for other nations, the direction of the trend is clear. For this study, the type of food ordered most frequently is Italian-style food, particularly pizza. Electronic Reservations If your restaurant accepts reservations, chances are they are being made by telephone. Just as the phone remains the top channel for ordering food, the same is true for restaurant reservations. However, what is not clear when the phone rings is how your guest found you. In this study of 474 U.S. consumers, Professor Kimes (working with co-researcher Katherine Kies) again found a steady growth in the use of websites and mobile phone apps for making restaurant reservations. What she also found was a trend that connects electronics and the telephone. Guests would use the web or a mobile app to locate a restaurant, and then they would complete the reservation on the telephone. More on that in a moment. Respondents to this survey had similar feelings about internet reservations as they did about electronic food ordering. Those who made reservations on the phone preferred the personal touch. Once again the online group is noticeably younger than the telephone-only group, and the web users have a tendency to visit restaurants more frequently than do other customer groups. So, once again, the online crowd appears to be an attractive demographic. One of the difficult decisions for restaurateurs is whether to use a multiple-restaurant reservation site. The decision is not always a simple one, even though reservation sites are growing in popularity, because they do incur an expense. Most reservation sites charge a monthly fee, plus a per-diner fee. Signing an agreement with one of these sites also removes a certain amount of control over the reservation process. Perhaps the greatest concern regarding these sites is the possibility that they do not provide incremental business. That is, a restaurant could very well be paying for an electronic reservation that would have been made anyway, by telephone or on the restaurants own website. Even if the reservations do represent incremental business, restaurants thin operating margins also raise questions about the value of third-party reservation sites. Balanced against the concerns regarding reservation sites is their undeniable popularity among some would-be restaurant guests. About 60 percent of the respondents who had made an electronic reservation used a multiple-restaurant site for their transaction. Two favorable considerations are that using the web reduces the need to have someone answering the phone for reservations and theoretically the restaurant can promote itself by its presence on the reservation site. The sites also provide an electronic reservations book and offer certain table management tools, as well as capturing customer data. The top reason for choosing a restaurant given by this surveys respondents was their previous experience with the restaurant, following by recommendations of friends. However, when this question was posed to those who use multiple-restaurant sites, social media became entwined in the decision process, as we described at the beginning of this article. While experience and cuisine had strong influence, the users of multiple-restaurant sites were significantly more likely to rely on online reviews in choosing a restaurant. Regardless of how they placed the reservation, the most important element, according to these respondents, is the ability to get the time and date they wanted. Reservation accuracy was also important. This group was relatively not concerned about personal contact. The study found that website users do more than just place reservations through the multiple-restaurant sites. They also use these sites to check table availability and to locate a particular restaurant. Additionally, the would-be guests also use websites to find a new restaurant. It is this finding that raises the possibility that restaurant operators should consider the theoretical marketing value of being listed on a multiple-restaurant site. Having located a restaurant, about one-third of the respondents completed the reservation using the telephone. The rest either continued with the reservation on the multiple-restaurant site or they switched to the restaurants own site. In conclusion, the decision of how to connect with your customer depends on your knowledge of how to create value for your customer. It may be that being listed on a multiple-restaurant site or offering delivery for electronic orders is an ideal fit for your restaurant. On the other hand, the cost of third-party reservation sites may not be justified by either the incremental reservations or marketing value. Moreover, for the restaurant industry, personal contact through the telephone is still important. By remembering that the creation of customer value begins with the first contact, you can ensure an excellent experience that puts the value where the customer can see it. http://hotelexecutive.com/business_review/3133/restaurant-marketing-using-the-internet-to-create-customer-value

What are the Benefits of Fair Trade?

What are the Benefits of Fair Trade? According to many authors, food is physiological basic needs of the human being (Blackwell et al, 2006). Nowadays, people are getting interested health, organic and wellbeing food but most people do not know where products come from and how they are made. Basically, fair trade aims is to improve the position of poor and disadvantaged food producers in the third World by helping them to become more advantageously involved in world trade (Jones et al, 2004). Also there are many fair trade retail products in many major supermarkets and independent shops most notably chocolates, fresh fruits, cottons, flowers, teas and coffees. Especially coffee is one of the representative fair trade products. Most coffee has been originated in Ethiopia, Kenya, Colombia, Brazil and India but these centuries are economically poor. For example, if we buy 5pound coffee, coffee farmers get about 2%~5%. Even worse thing is that working condition of many coffee workers on these plantations brings their children to help them but these children and workers are not officially employed, therefore it is not subject to labour protections. Although our coffee consumption has been increasing day by day however the condition of the working environment of coffee farmer has been worse at the same time in the developing countries. The fact that Fair Trade coffee premiums only reach the farmers through cooperatives is an aspect that has not been explored yet, neither in study of co-operatives, nor in studies of Fair Trade (Anna, 2004) The primary intention of this study is to offer critical perspective on the real benefits of the fair trade coffee movement. This paper is to explore insight effective fair trade movement from different authors point of view. Thereafter, this paper will carry out discussions and disagreeing points address to author point of view. First, this study focuses on the impact on the fair trade products. Also, it finds out theories and analyses of the fair trade and fair trade coffee movement. Second, specific things could be divided from the question into four sections which are the social, culture, economic and environment affecting benefits. Moreover, there is fully understanding of what the observed evidence shows. Finally, conclusion with debate of benefits fair trade coffee movement will be discussed. Therefore, it provides the findings of this review of literature for future research and action. What is fair trade? Nicholls (2002) defined that the objective of fair trade is to maximize the return to the supplier rather than the margin of the buyer, within an agreed development structure. Similarly, Bird and Hughes, (2003) believed that fair trade is product specific and developmentally focused. From their point of view, fair trade related with ethical trade and consumption perhaps is the one that could consider as most benefits fair trade movement for food and beverage development. Past rational consumer defined that achieves a maximum of efficiency at a minimum of effort. These days, calling ethical consumption which is that consumers would focus on the satisfaction of products and information of the products is founded by themselves in a market is more important than the past when possession of products were spotlighted in accordance with low prices. This is another goal of achieving fair trade movement. If consumers understanding fair trade knows ethical consumption, it will influence on all food producers in third world as well as developing and achieving the Food and beverage industrys goals. The European Commission (1999) suggests that the objective of fair trade is to ensure that producers receive a price which reflects an adequate return on their input of skill, labour and resources, and a share of the total profit commensurate with their input. As well as all fair trade products are distributed by mainly NGO which is neither non-profit nor profit organization. Historically, fair trade origins in The Netherlands in the mid 1980s, involve the certification of products that are produced, according to what are deemed to be fair trade principles. But Price water house Coopers (2001) suggest that the free trade concept originated in the 1960s in Northern Europe, while Tallontire (2001) argues that fair trade emerged in the 1950s and 1960s. The driving force behind fair trade in the UK was the alternative trade/charity shop axis, perhaps best represented by Oxfam and a host of small, independent traders. (Alexander, 2002)[à ¬Ã‚ ¶Ã…“à ¬Ã‚ ²Ã‹Å"] [à ­Ã…  Ã‚ ¹Ãƒ ¬Ã‚ §Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ] à ­- ¥Ãƒ ªÃ‚ ¸Ã‚ °Ãƒ «Ã‚ ¡Ã…“à ¬Ã… ¡Ã‚ ´ à ­Ã‹Å" Ãƒ «Ã‚ ªÃ¢â‚¬ ¦, à ªÃ‚ ³Ã‚ µÃƒ ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ãƒ «Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ´Ãƒ ¬- ­Ãƒ ¬Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¤Ãƒ ­Ã¢â‚¬ Ã‚ ¼_01 (à ­Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã…“à ªÃ‚ µÃ‚ ­Ãƒ ªÃ‚ ³Ã‚ µÃƒ ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ãƒ «Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ´Ãƒ ¬- ­Ãƒ ¬- °Ãƒ ­Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã‚ ©) |à ¬Ã… ¾Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃƒ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ±Ãƒ ¬Ã… ¾Ã‚  ullimft The aim here is to provide access to traditional retail distribut ion chains in an attempt to facilitate greater consumer access to fair trade products. According to the fair-trade labeling organizations international (FLO) in 2008, fair trade certified products have been growing on an average of almost 40% per year in the last five years and sales amounted to approximately 2.9 billion euro worldwide (Reykia, 2009). From this result, we can find that fair trade movement has a positive impact to their organization system. A brief description of fair trade coffee. In most countries, coffee is accounts for the largest portion of fair trade items. This kind of coffee is sold in countries that are completely different from the origin where it was produced. A coffee bean is grown up in warm, tropical areas of Ethiopia, Kenya, Colombia, Brazil and India and the most of coffee is consumed in Europe and North America. This probably sounds like developing countries producing inexpensive raw materials that are manufactured and sold as finished goods in developed countries, and generally,  thats what happens with coffee. Large coffee companies buy coffee beans at a low price and produce cocoa and chocolate products to sell at a relatively high price. The price elasticity of demand is also low, with coffee demand dropping only when coffee prices increase significantly (Ponte 2001). This movement is thought to encourage consumers to pay close attention to not  only fair prices and quality of products but also the ethical purchase of bananas, chocolate, coffee, flowers, clothes, shoes, furniture, soccer balls, and so on. What is the motivation behind fair trade? It is suggested that the movement is aimed at deliberately paying a fair price to workers and farmers who produce the goods for both their work and time by means of paying a minimum price to producers regardless of the going price on the world be $1.21, in comparison to  the 70 cents per 500 gram it fetches on the world market. This would make it possible for marginalized producers and workers to move from a position of vulnerability to economic independence and self sufficiency. (FLO, 2002) A present study showed that todays coffee farmers receive around 6 per cent of the value of a pack of coffee sold in a store (Gresser and Tickel 2002). In response, groups of consumers in Europe and the United States developed fair trade organizations to guarantee that farmers of coffee, as well as cacao and tea, would receive fair and consistent prices for their crops. The benefits of fair trade coffee movement. Over the past few years, there has been an increase in the international market for fair trade coffee. This has been driver buy a number of different benefits can be divide this into four section. The following discussion with obvious benefits, that accrues at the social influences, culture revival, economic and environmental conservation. Social influences According to Putnam (1995) social capital is a social organisation, such as trust, norms, and networks that improves the efficiency of society by facilitating co-ordinated action The results of fair trade movement are a better standard of living for some farmers and organic coffee made with organically produced coffee bean that consumers dont feel guilty about buying. This is the main benefit of social part. And although fair trade coffee is somewhat more expensive that other coffee and now makes up only 1 percent of coffee sold, the fair trade idea is spreading quickly. First, benefit to the individual producers. Most individual producers are small coffee famers. After started fair trade farms the famers make co-operated this is can get benefit for reduced market prices risk. Moreover the famers cooperative has a good internal financial management system. This mean is fair trade price that is directly goes to individual farmers. Also fair trade guaranteed minimum price and an additional premium. The additional premium is paid into a fund of bank for development project. Fair trade results in more stable incomes and is consequently one of the most important direct benefits that accrue to coffee producers (Raynolds, 2002; Murray et al, 2003) There is one interesting examples of individual famers benefits. Fair trade made to improving childrens education in Guatemala. Cooperative members are able to send their children in higher numbers and a number of associates have children studying at the University levelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Lyon, 2002:30). Secondly, benefit to communities. One of most visible community benefit has the social premium. The Fair Trade social premium has financed the cooperatives technical and other organizational support of coffee producers activities (Douglas et al, 2003). This is related premium fund which is then invested in building schools, clinics, community centres, funding scholarships, paying medical bills and providing low-interest loans. Moreover farmers are learning from each other, with a spread of organic practices to neighbours food production (Jaffee, 2007). Also famers can help and share market knowledge and technical information this is access and get better prices in the conventional market. This benefit developed small farms and furthermore developed countries as well. Finally, fair trade has organizational benefits. Benefits to individuals can flow from being part of a recognised organisation and this recognition can accrue with international support from Fair trade attracting other international agencies (NGOs and donors) (Nelson, Tallontire and Collinson, 2002). For example, fair trade organizations benefit farmers by buying coffee beans or other products from them directly at higher-than-market prices and eliminating middle men such as exporters. Also fair trade organizations encourage farming techniques that are not harmful to the environment or to farm workers, for example, growing coffee bean without chemical pesticides or fertilizers in the shade of rain forest trees. Culture The growth of ethical consumerism over the last 30 years provides the main driver behind the development of a fair trade market in the UK (Burke and Berry, 1974; Strong, 1997). Today, many consumers getting consider themselves ethical consumption this is important goal of fair trade movement. Fletcher (1990) suggested that there has been a move away from the self-focused consumer of the 1970s and acquisitive consumer of the 1980s towards a new focus on values. I think fair trade movement has also moved into the consumer awareness and understanding of fair trade. The other benefit is closer link between consumers and producer. The fair trade movement give to empowers consumers. As consumers, fair trade accreditation gives us the peace of mind of knowing that the producers in question got a fair deal (The five key benefits of Fair trade, 2009). Raising awareness of the fair trade products here is our primary concern since some consumers dont even know what fair trade is all about Economic Economic benefit is most important of fair trade movement because it is directly related to their life. Giovannucci and Koekoek (2003) said the coffee commodity market is driven exclusively by economic factors and, like all commodity markets, does not recognize, much less internalize into its prices, the very real environmental and social costs of production. The main positive impact of economic is guaranteed minimum price this is I can say stable prices. All famers want to increasing incomes it is one of fair trades main objective. Fair trade is reducing intermediaries and get closer between the farmers and the end consumer, farmers earn a larger share of the export price (The five key benefits of Fair trade, 2009). However, fair trade cannot remove risk for small producer. Accordin to Jaffee (2007), while noting that Fair trade farmers are still affected by market fluctuations, also finds positive economic benefits accruing to participants from the guarantee that a fair price is available to them, enabling them to make longer-term investment decisions. Environment Recently, interest in protection of the environment is growing rapidly throughout the world. Fair trade has improved the natural environment. Aranda and Morales (2002) said fair trades organic emphasis has promoted for example improve soil conservation and water management practices as well as the increased consciousness about the importance of conservation in general. Also, fair trade technical team help to make organic coffee for example they supported organic coffee production program, supported in part by fair trade returns and helped reduce soil from erosion. (Perezgrovas and Cervantes, 2002: 19). Recently certain buyers, so-called ethical consumers, think about goods from a societal viewpoint such as human rights or the environment as being important standards for buying and consuming goods. They pay close attention to labor exploitation and environmental damage that occur as a result of producing the goods, and they regard their purchases as a kind of economic behavior conducive to an eco-friendly future society based on fairness and the justification of consumption. The term fair trade, which originated in Europe during the 1950s for the sole purpose of over-coming world poverty, is an organized social movement as a market-based model of international trade that promotes the payment of fair prices, as well as social and environmental standards. I suggest that if they want to keep protect natural environment then producer organize environmental protection management policy. They have to comply with national and international laws of protection (The five key benefits of Fair trade, 2009) Fair trade movement in Starbucks Starbuck is one of the good examples following the fair trade coffee campaign. Global coffee chain Starbucks is also helping to raise awareness of fair trade coffee products.  Starbucks has been selling fair trade coffee beans since 2003 but from January to April sales of the whole beans increased 86.5 percent on-year. In 2007, 9 million kg of fair trade coffee beans which are 16 % of the world trade amount have been bought by Starbucks. Also Starbucks have self- ethical purchase program called C.A.F.E. Practice which tries to guarantee coffee farmers who are not member of the fair trade organization to sell high quality coffee bean with higher prices in order to continue consistent transaction and return enough profits to the farmers (Starbucks, 2007). However, Starbucks was not the first main company of Fair Trade Coffee. One of examples is that Starbucks had used to pay 15 pence for 1 kg coffee and then sold it to consumers up to 130 pounds after a couple of processes so that Starbucks had harsh blame on getting excessive profits from consumers by not to pay enough to farmers. Since 2000, Starbucks has been increasing to buy fair trade coffee afterwards. Why are Kenya, Ethiopia, and Srirangka getting poorer as Starbucks is getting prosperous at the same time? One of the main reasons is that plenty of money have been poured to buy to import foods because it is failed to self- support of foods on the fertile land and they try to produce coffee on the land which is supposed to use for foods instead. Worse fact is that coffee farm makes land useless by consuming all fertility. Coffee consumption in developed countries makes the standardization of these farm product systems and it is a consequence which is made by multinational companies like Starbucks. Human being has started to consume huge amount of coffee without precedent in history, and this happening makes agriculture system standardization as well as Starbucks is a main organization making price of raw material going down. Therefore, Starbucks has to take more responsibility for 95 % of poor farmers than to be proud of purchase 5 % of Fair Trade Coffee. (Starbucks, 2007) It could be unfair to ask profit- making companies which try to maximize profit as much as they can to take responsibility of behaviour however, Starbucks has to at least purchase 50% of Fair Trade Coffee to get rid of the pasts act of barbarity and pay same contribution as its reputation they have to world. Of course, price of coffee sold by Starbuck could be being increased at the same if they would have bought coffee beans from the Fair Trade. Conclusion This paper has showed that the real benefits of fair trade movement. Actually, businessmen do not bring any profits in sales or benefits as they buy coffee beans from the Fair Trade. However, many countries have fair trade organizations and fair trade movement is getting issues. Then, why we need to buy fair trade product? Because it is an act of investing for the social goods noting that the more developed a nations coffee culture becomes, the more likely it is to import fair trade coffee. The main priority is to inform its citizens of what fair trade is and what is necessary to do in order to extend the quantity and improve the quality of products, so conscious consumers are more apt to search for buy fair-trade-based goods. Fair trade movement has numbers of benefits then, if we buy coffee as much as we can coffee famers get lots of profits and their countries are getting strong and rich? The answer is no. What things do consumers do? Drinking less coffee is the way. Why? It would be better to let people in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Sriranka produce rice, wheat, and other plants on the fertile land rather than coffee farm by people in developed centuries consuming less coffee. Could it be fair that if someone feels hungry and only produces coffee corps by myself who drink coffee, Cappuccino, and Caramel Macchiato daily? For these fair trade still comes many problems such as slow growth in the fair trade market. For example in Europe, the fair trade marketing campaigns have been underway for nearly a decade in many countries, fair trade coffee sales represent on average 1.2pervent of total coffee sales at the national level (EFTA, 2001). But fair trade movement try to growth of the market for coffee produced and big chain company trade like Starbucks buy more fair trade coffee beans so I guess this problem can figure out. On the other hand, fait trade is a difficult control system, especially to consumers willingness to support third world producers, and the transfers are therefore perhaps not comparable to government or NGO support (Anna, 2004). It may be that futher improvements to the global fair trade system. The fair trade movment has improved in a short time but the range of benefits is getting wider and higher. In a world where consumption is separated from production over incresingly treater space and time, modern consumers experience the processes shaping their livees with growing datachment (Anna, 2004). Also, modern consumers concern natural this mean is they focus about well bing and organic. I belive that this little change is make great result in the future. Fair trade movement is one of the difficult challenge but this is neccesary to economic success the third world. As Appadurai (1996) has persuafively argued, we live in a world characterized by rapid trascontinental trvel and the instaneous trasmission of images and informantion via terevision and the internet. Fair trade, along with a wide range of other global and local movements that have emerged in recent years, has the potential to stimulate this glical collective imagination. (Anna, 2004) Now it is the time when we should seriously question and consider the unknown truth behind the making of brand name goods. For example, where are the products produced? Who made the products? All the workers get paid fairly? Personally,  I make it a rule when buying goods to take few seconds. First to examine the producer, price, and consumer of the goods is one of the ways and Im going to buy what I will buy. Before buying a product, take a few second and ask yourself questions such as, Is this a fair price? Do I consider myself a bad or ethical buyer and consumer? bear in mind that by doing so you may be instrumental in helping the needy around the world climb out of poverty.

A Comparison of Camaraderie in Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men Essa

Camaraderie in The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men      Ã‚  Ã‚   The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men, two novels published concurrently by John Steinbeck, both depict camaraderie between dust bowl migrants. The main characters in Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie, form a bond, while struggling to reach their goal, a small farm. Similarly, Jim Casy of The Grapes of Wrath befriends Tom Joad, a friendship eventually uplifting the whole migrant community. Outwardly, the two relationships may seem to parallel each other. In reality, these alliances differ greatly. Consequently, in Of Mice and Men, friendship leads to destruction, in The Grapes of Wrath, salvation. Starkly contrasting George and Lennie's relationship in Of Mice and Men to Tom and Jim Casy's in The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck unquestionably shows that camaraderie decides an individual's fate.    To begin, George and Lennie interact quite differently from Tom and Casy; the former share a master-slave relationship, while the latter, a more equal relationship. For instance, George orders Lennie to â€Å"say nothing†(6), upon reaching the ranch where they will work, fearing that if â€Å"[the boss] finds out what a crazy bastard [Lennie is], [they] won't get no job†(6). Lennie obeys. Later on, when Lennie innocently calls Curley's wife, the flirtatious daughter-in-law of the ranch owner, â€Å"purty†(32), George fiercely admonishes Lennie to not â€Å"even look at that bitch†(32), once again demonstrating a master-slave relationship. In contrast, Tom and Casy, engage in an equal relationship; in fact, Tom candidly tells Casy, a one-time preacher, now philosopher, his opinion of Casy's philosophy, throughout The Grapes of Wrath. For example, when Casy explains to Tom his idea that ... ...es in Tom and Lennie, respectively. However, Tom changes from a hedonistic individual to a martyr for the â€Å"Okie†(280) peoples; contrastingly, George affects a negative change is Lennie. Lennie, who has some degree of free will initially, becomes completely dependent upon George. In both cases, the old adage, â€Å"Beware of the company you keep† holds true, for the company the characters keep eventually transforms them for the better or for the worse.    Works Cited Owens, Louis. "Of Mice and Men: The Dream of Commitment." Modern Critical Views on John Steinbeck. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. 145 - 149. Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York: Penguin Group, 1993. Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 1992. DeMott, Robert. "Introduction". The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 1992: vii-xliv.    A Comparison of Camaraderie in Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men Essa Camaraderie in The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men      Ã‚  Ã‚   The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men, two novels published concurrently by John Steinbeck, both depict camaraderie between dust bowl migrants. The main characters in Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie, form a bond, while struggling to reach their goal, a small farm. Similarly, Jim Casy of The Grapes of Wrath befriends Tom Joad, a friendship eventually uplifting the whole migrant community. Outwardly, the two relationships may seem to parallel each other. In reality, these alliances differ greatly. Consequently, in Of Mice and Men, friendship leads to destruction, in The Grapes of Wrath, salvation. Starkly contrasting George and Lennie's relationship in Of Mice and Men to Tom and Jim Casy's in The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck unquestionably shows that camaraderie decides an individual's fate.    To begin, George and Lennie interact quite differently from Tom and Casy; the former share a master-slave relationship, while the latter, a more equal relationship. For instance, George orders Lennie to â€Å"say nothing†(6), upon reaching the ranch where they will work, fearing that if â€Å"[the boss] finds out what a crazy bastard [Lennie is], [they] won't get no job†(6). Lennie obeys. Later on, when Lennie innocently calls Curley's wife, the flirtatious daughter-in-law of the ranch owner, â€Å"purty†(32), George fiercely admonishes Lennie to not â€Å"even look at that bitch†(32), once again demonstrating a master-slave relationship. In contrast, Tom and Casy, engage in an equal relationship; in fact, Tom candidly tells Casy, a one-time preacher, now philosopher, his opinion of Casy's philosophy, throughout The Grapes of Wrath. For example, when Casy explains to Tom his idea that ... ...es in Tom and Lennie, respectively. However, Tom changes from a hedonistic individual to a martyr for the â€Å"Okie†(280) peoples; contrastingly, George affects a negative change is Lennie. Lennie, who has some degree of free will initially, becomes completely dependent upon George. In both cases, the old adage, â€Å"Beware of the company you keep† holds true, for the company the characters keep eventually transforms them for the better or for the worse.    Works Cited Owens, Louis. "Of Mice and Men: The Dream of Commitment." Modern Critical Views on John Steinbeck. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. 145 - 149. Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York: Penguin Group, 1993. Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 1992. DeMott, Robert. "Introduction". The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 1992: vii-xliv.   

Wellness :: essays research papers

Freshman seminar Wellness paper 101 Ways of doing It With Out Actually doing it This program totally wasn’t what I expected it to be. To my surprise the whole thing was actually about relationships, and what to do on dates without having sex, and or sexual influence.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Attending college is a very different experience. It’s when most of us experience life situations and learn to make our own decisions. The problem is that many students, due to the influence of our society, decide to have sex because â€Å"everybody else is doing it†. But what many students don’t realize is that there both rewards and consequences when dealing with sexual intercourse. This is an important issue, especially when most of my fellow peers believe in â€Å"casual sex†. I personally believe that sex is something that shouldn’t be taking lightly†¦in other words, I’m not anybody’s booty call!!!!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Anyways, back to the seminar. In the discussion, many of us realized that dates seem to be a thing of the past. No one really goes on a â€Å"one on one† date anymore. Its always a group thing, going out to a party or just hanging out. I can’t even remember if I’ve ever been on a real date myself. Relationships lack that solid foundation of one to one communication, which is probably why most teens have sex: it’s what’s expected, yet nobody talks about it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the seminar, we were educated in finding other ways to express ourselves and feelings to each other. Even though some were far-fetched and unrealistic (for example: a grave yard walk), some were actually feasible (example: a picnic). A few of the other suggestions included a K-mart party, which I personally would’ve evr thought of, but I guess it is another alternative to sex. Some of the more realistic ones included walks on the beach, athletic activities, dinner and a movie. Hopefully some of these ideas will be used around campus instead of sex. Many attending the meeting suggested other dating ideas such as horseback riding, test driving cars and playing golf. I didn’t quite agree with them because a.) horses are big animals b.) I don’t have a license and c.) I HATE golf!!!! Also during the seminar, we participated in an activity. We were split into groups, based on gender. The girls that attended the seminar wrote down some of the things they like to do and some of the things they hate, the boys in the room did the same.

Knights Tale Essay

Anthony Slaughter 10/27/11 The Knight’s Tale Essay In the beginning of the movie Will is just a peasant, squire but by the end of the movie, upon finding his newfound talent of jousting, he transformed is his social status from peasant to royalty by becoming a knight. In the beginning of the movie, The Knight’s Tale, William Thatcher and his two friends, Wat and Roland, start off as three ordinary squires. Right before a jousting match their knight that they serve dies; with their knight dead there is no one else of royalty to ride in his place. However, with the threat of forfeiting approaching, William decides to ride in his knight’s place, risking being caught and put to prison or worse. Once Will was done getting ready for the joust, it was time to see what he could do and to the surprise of Will, Wat, and Roland he had won the joust. After winning, they received prize money in which they divided up among themselves. Wat and Roland wanted take their share of money and go to the bar, but Will had other plans. Will convinced them to put all their money together and train him to become a better jouster. Wat and Roland agreed and they began to train Will; after a while of training and practicing Will got it down, yet the one thing he didn’t have was documentation that he was born of royalty, which was the only qualification of becoming a knight. Luckily, one day while traveling they came across a man named Geoffrey Chaucer, he was a writer/scribe who had a gambling problem and because of his problem he had lost his cloths and was completely naked on the road. Chaucer promised to create documentation for Will, if Will clothed, fed, shoed, and let him travel with them. Will agreed and all four of them were off to their first jousting tournament. At Wills first tournament, he competed in joust and in sword fighting. Also at this tournament he saw a beautiful woman who peeked his interest, her name was Joseline. Will jousted first and did very well until he faced the cocky and undefeated, Count Adhemar who had mocked him and made him look like a fool in front of Joseline. Will competed in swords next, winning first prize in the competition, but Will was not happy because all he wanted to do was beat Adhemar in jousting, which meant Will had to invest all his time into jousting to have a chance to meet Adhemar in the jousting championships. With his goal in sight, Will began winning all the tournaments he competed in, making his name known throughout Europe. His new armor forged and crafted by the women blacksmith, Kate, who now traveled with them, helped him win his tournaments because of its lightness and strength. Joseline also noticed Will, not because of the fame he had earned but because of her unannounced love for him and invited him to a dance after one of his wins, and their love for each other grew from there. Because of Will’s success he was able to move on to the championships, which took place in his hometown. While in his hometown, Will searched and located his father, John Thatcher who he had not seen in 12 years. Unfortunately, Adhemar watched Will try to sneak out. That next day, before the joust with his adversary, Adhemar, Will was arrested for using fake documentation that said that he was born of royal blood. However, Prince Edward, who had great respect for Will because Will didn’t forfeit the jousting match to him just because he was the Prince, was in the crowd with his personal bodyguard. Prince Edward said that Will was a descendant of ancient royalty, freeing Will. The Prince then knighted Will, enabling him to compete in his jousting championship match between Adhemar. When the match started, Will jumped to a quick lead, Adhemar didn’t like that so he decided to use a lance with a solid, metal tip to intentionally hurt Will†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Characterization is the process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character. There are two ways the author can reveal characterization, direct characterization and indirect characterization. Direct Characterization tells the audience what the personality of the character is. Indirect Characterization shows things that reveal the personality of a character. In the movie the author uses indirect characterization by describing Will’s personality through his actions and choices he makes throughout the movie. One example is at the end, when Will still goes out to joust Adhemar, instead of trying to run away, even though he knows he will most likely get arrested. Will’s act in this situation showed his heart, determination, and relentlessness to complete his goal of defeating Adhemar. Will’s personality led him to follow morals such as bravery, determination, respect, and chivalry. Through these morals Will learned some lessons. Will learned the chivalry of a knight, when jousting Prince Edward, he learned respect when he fell in love with Joseline. Through these lessons he became a noble and honorable man, far different than the peasant life he once lived.

How Advertising Influence Youth Attitude Toward Dressing

Summer training Report on How advertising influence youth attitude toward dressing UNDER GUIDANCE Mr. Vishal Jain MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (RETAIL MARKETING) SUBMITTED BY Mr. TARUN KUMAR REG. No. 720593065 PUNJAB TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY JALANDHAR (Punjab) ACKNOWLEGEMENT Through this seminar report I want to throw the light on the topic â€Å"How advertising influence youth attitude towards dressing†, it gives me immense pleasure to present my training survey report before my mentors. With deep sense of gratitude I would like to take this opportunities thank my honorable project guide Mr.Vishal Jain This report incorporates many developments, which have taken place in the field of advertising as well as fashion during last 25 or 50 years or so. I have therefore tried to provide a report, which gives a precise and up-to-date view of marketing in a lucid and novel style. It is an attempt to correlate the modern marketing strategies and factual part of the business. Later on while discussing the reactions of various classes of people, the interplay of marketing and advertising factors, which profoundly influence the behavior of people’s buying a product, has been duly emphasized.Everything has been presented in a simplified and refined form, illustrated by well-chosen representative examples. Throughout the report, presentation of material has been sharpened by inclusion of data report. I have made a very sincere attempt towards clear understanding of the report. My inexpressible gratitude is to the supreme guide who enables me to bring up my ideas into the concrete forms. Many people have contributed in the preparation of the report. I express my sincerest thanks and indebtedness to Ms. Gagandeep for inspiring me in the development of my project.I will be very grateful to my mentors and seniors and inquisitive executives for constructive criticism of report and their suggestions for its further improvement. My heartfelt thanks are due to them. Tarun Kumar CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 2. HISTORY 3. RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT 4. MONTE CARLO & COTTON COUNTY 5. NEW ARRIVALS 6. REVIEW OF LITERATURE 7. INDIAN DRESSING 8. COSTUMES FOR BOYS 9. NEED OF MARKETING STRATEGIES 10. ORGANISATION OF MARKETING STRATEGIES 11. OBJECTIVES & RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 12. LIMITATION OF THE STUDY. 13. ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION 14. CONCLUSION 15. BIBLOGRAPHY 16.QUESTIONAIRE INTRODUCTION Hearing is to forgetting, seeing is to remembering, doing is to understanding. Advertising is both an art and a business it tells the public at large about the availability of a product usually a consumer article and persuades the people through oral, visual and emotional appeals to buy the product. It presents an article in an attractive, respectable and highly useful way. Yet, like other arts it lies in concealing itself. To put it differently, advertisement of a certain product persuades us in a subtle way that we accept its publicized virtues as facts.Wearing clothes with prestigious brand names seems to be very important for adolescents. This phenomenon was studied in the context of consumer socialization by examining the influence of three socialization agents, namely parents, peers and TV, on the development of French Canadian adolescents' brand sensitivity and their relative importance. Controlling for socio-economic variables, multiple regression analyses were conducted separately for boys and for girls. For both genders, brand sensitivity is related to peer influence. Girls' brand sensitivity is related to the importance fathers give to clothing brands.TV exposure is not related to adolescents' brand sensitivity. For boys and girls, peers represent the most important predictor of this consumer socialization. The results are discussed in the light of social and economic pressures and family relationships. Advertising influences the youth attitude towards dressing to a larger extent and has broad impact on the society and outlook of an individua l personality. Fashions in dress have been current since the dawn of civilization. Fashions are meant to demonstrate the status of a person.Advertisements make an appeal to our emotions and desires by associating the advertised brands with popular personalities such as film stars and sportsman. The style of advertising about the dresses combines pictures or cartoons with fine catchy phrases, musical tunes, and voice of advertising model, strong visual appeal. That is why they are most popular and most expensive of all. Advertising influences consumer’s subconscious mind. Youth tries to immediate the dressing sense of celebrities. Advertising has revolutionized the market of garment manufacturing.In advertising everything is done to fetch the eyes of consumers and push up the sales. That’s why â€Å"William Shakespeare† remarked, â€Å"apparel ost proclaims the man†. Summarizing, in a nutshell here is a report, which has been made by thoroughly studying al l the aspects of advertising world, Youth attitude towards dressing, market study etc. healthy criticism of the report is always welcomed. HISTORY Ludhiana is an important knitwear center located in North state of Punjab (about 400km from Delhi). More than half of the country’s hosiery products are supplied from here.Commonly known as the Manchester of India and also as the industrial capital of small scale industry, the city has a business community that has proved its entrepreneurial strength all over the world. It has a long history in producing knitwear for the Indian market and is known for its woolen/blended knitwear including sweaters, pullovers etc. The word ‘knitwear’ is derived from the word ‘hose', which means tubular that describes the shape in which the fabric was knitted, especially for socks. The first woolen knitwear unit was probably established in the last decade of the nineteenth century (maybe 1894) in Ludhiana for manufacturing socks.So me others put the date as in the first decade of the twentieth century. Its origin can be traced to migrants from Kashmir, who settled in Ludhiana after a famine in Kashmir in 1933. These migrants brought with them skill of weave fine woolen fabrics and embroidery. Their skills were commercialized by the local traders who sought markets within Punjab and beyond. In 1935, the industry saw its first change with circular knitting machines introduced in the industry. They started manufacturing sweaters on these machines with cotton used as raw material.The second turning point in the history of this cluster was the introduction of Flat Knitting machines during 1940s and during the same period, the industry started importing wool for manufacturing woolen products. The Ludhiana knitwear industry cluster developed during the second world war, when the woolen jerseys were in great demand. In 1947 the Muslim population that migrated to Pakistan after partition, owned most of the machines so then the local population and the immigrants from Pakistan sustained this industry. Trade grew smoothly for next four decades. Myanmar was a very important market for Ludhiana knitwear till the 1950 i. . before the Myanmar Government imposed import restrictions. In the same year the Government of India also imposed restriction on imports and most of the inputs i. e. machines, needles etc at that time were being imported. The import restriction thus fostered development of indigenous machine manufacturers, spinning mills etc. Before the breakup of Russia into CIS, it was the largest market for the woolens made in Ludhiana. The breaking up of Russia forced Ludhiana to explore for new markets. Till then the focus of the cluster was largely on woolen products in the lower priced segment.During the period of 1980s, the industry saw another change with introduction of automatic and computerised knitting machines. During 1981, the State government had set up a knitwear center with technica l and financial assistance from UNDP and UNIDO, housing the most modern technology and equipment. The collapse of Russian market resulted in a major shakeout in the industry and several leading manufacturers were forced out of business altogether. At the same time the crises created a new generation of manufacturers, who learnt from Tirupur, Delhi and Bombay to thrive by shifting their business from winter wear to summer wear.This paradigm shift eventually resulted in Ludhiana becoming more of a cotton and summer wear manufacturing center, while retaining its dominance in the domestic woolen market. Ludhiana has seen an enormous industrial growth in the last 8 years due to significant improvements in the law and order situation and a conducive atmosphere for Industrial growth. In order to attract the entrepreneurs to set industries, the State Government is providing benefits such as industrial parks and industrial estates as focal points. Although it is a highly labour intensive ind ustry yet there is no systematic approach for providing training to the work force.The importance of the Ludhiana knitwear cluster is evident from the following facts: *There are about 12000 small-scale units in the Ludhiana cluster *The total fixed investment in plant and machinery is Rs 300crores *Per capita investment in plant and machinery is Rs. 2. 13 lakh *The cluster is producing products worth Rs 5000 crores in a year. *The cluster provides direct and indirect employment to nearly 5 lakh persons *Per capita employment is 28 persons *The value of exports is around Rs 1300crores *Knitwear exports from Ludhiana has been growing at the rate of 25% since 1995 *Its share in total garment exports from India is around 3% More than 90% of woolen knitwear production of the country is from Ludhiana This sector comprises of some big organised composite manufacturers like Oswal Woolen Mills, Oswal Knit India (Pringle), Greatway, R N Oswal, Pee Jay International etc. that have a capacity of 0. 5 – 1. 0 million pieces each. In addition there are numerous medium and small scale units catering to local and export markets. The small-scale units are engaged in various activities like spinning of yarn, dyeing and processing of yarn and fabric, knitting, cutting, button holing and button stitching, washing and dry cleaning and label manufacturing.This sector is a perfect example of ancillarisation and sub contacting in the country. The deep rooted knitwear industry in Ludhiana consists of both circular and flat bed knitting capacity. Structured knits, jacquards and fancy knits are especially from this centre. Auto stripers, velour & feeder stripers are other available options. Cottons, acrylics, rayon blends & woolen knitwear production is facilitated by an easy access to yarn production in the same region. The overall technological status is very low barring a few enterprises. The machinery and equipments are locally manufactured and are low in efficiency and quali ty.The dyeing and finishing technology is highly polluting and consumes high amounts of energy and water. The knitwear industry of Ludhiana which has emerged as the largest self-sufficient sector in itself and has a huge potential of maturing into an eminent industrial name. Considering the size and potential of the Ludhiana Knitwear industry, it can be safely said that it will have a significant role to play in the changing global trading environment. It is therefore high time for the industry to become globally competitive and to make concentrated efforts. Analysis of Business Operations ProductThe Ludhiana knitwear industry is a well-diversified industry. Product-wise it can be divided into two main sectors i. e. summer wear and winter wear. The main product for winter wear are sweaters, woolen socks, pullovers, cardigans, thermal wear, gloves, muffler, baret caps, shawls, jackets, jersey, and blankets, while for the summer wear the main product are T-shirts, cotton and blended s ocks, under garments, knitted bed sheet, knitted skirts, knitted tops, sports wear, night suits etc. Semiformal knitted made from double mercerized cottons blended with viscose and bed linen made for summer wear also fall into product basket of the Ludhiana luster. Raw material Most of the raw material is locally available. Cotton, Wool, Acrylic, Polyester, Nylon and Viscose are the main raw material used in the knitwear industry. Cotton is available in abundance as India is producing 1. 6 to 1. 7 million bales of cotton every year. But due to poor quality of Indian wool, generally the pure wool is imported from Australia, New Zealand or South Africa. Other synthetic fibres like Acrylic, Polyester, Nylon and Viscose are available indigenously. There are about 200 spinning units, which produce cotton, woolen and blended yarns. About 25% yarn is also exported from Ludhiana.With increased level of Awareness through various exposure visits to Italy and China and interaction with the int ernational buyers, Ludhiana manufacturers have begun to use new fashion varieties of yarn. The firms are either importing these new varieties of yarns from China, Australia and New Zealand or producing them in-house. Feather yarn and Crotchet yarn are examples of newly developed yarns. There is some collective yarn import also being done at Ludhiana. The fabrics used in the summer wear are locally knitted and use pure and blended cotton yarns and also synthetic yarns such as polyester, polyester cotton, polyester viscose etc.Besides the above, there are various embellishments and materials requirement in the industry such as buttons, zip fasteners, sewing threads, thread lining materials, tapes, laces, labels, packaging material etc. that are easily available in India though not of very high quality in Ludhiana. In the dyeing sector, various dyes and chemicals are used for processing and finishing of yarns, fabrics and garments. Machines Ludhiana has about 4000 circular knitting mac hines out of which 1500 are fully automatic. There are about 500 flat computerized, 120 fully fashion and 50 to 60 thousand hand flat knitting machines.There are local manufacturers who not only cater to the Ludhiana market but also supply throughout India. Many of the manufacturers having financial muscle import machinery from Italy, Germany, Taiwan, Korea etc. Of late there has been a provision of importing second hand reconditioned machinery from these nations under the TUFS scheme and many units are availing this facility. This machinery is much ahead of what is called ‘advance’ in the Indian context. This gives a technological uplift to the industry and in turn increases the quality of the produce.There are 300 small and medium process houses. Most of them are traditional dyeing plants using hank dyeing. The number of package and fabric dyeing units are very few. The machinery used in dyeing is mostly indigenous while a lot of imported. Machinery is being used in f inishing despite the fact that there is 25% import duty on machines. The import duty on the spare parts of these imported machines is 52% which means that the maintenance of these machines becomes a costly affair and is thus a detaining factor. There are around 25 units that are using imported machinery only.The machinery that is locally available does not match the quality and productivity being offered by the foreign suppliers. Some of the manufacturers feel that this duty structure is a result of deliberate efforts to dump machinery. The machinery being imported is through indenters, which are around 25 in number. Direct machinery import is almost negligible. These indenters also give after sale service. Workforce: The Ludhiana knitwear industry is highly labour-intensive. It is estimated that the Industry has employed 5lakh persons.Out of which, more then 2lakh are employed Indirectly. The concept of contracted labour prevails in the industry because of it being a seasonal indus try and also to avoid the factories act. These indirect activities are related to the forward and backward linkages within the industry such as tailoring, embroidery, packaging, retailing and marketing etc. The labour available is migratory labour and is mostly unskilled. Though there are training courses being run locally, these are not being extensively used. Women workers, a major equirement of the garment industry is only 2% in number at Ludhiana. Although the biased attitude of the entrepreneurs towards women has been largely taken care of yet there is much to be done. Technical workforce is available but technical inputs are mostly given by the entrepreneur themselves who have practical industry experience and better knowledge gained by secondary sources. This is the reason why training levels are negligible in the cluster. The salary levels are low and despite the availability of professionals, their employment is very limited.There is a lack of professional attitude amongst the managers and is being taken care of by unit level training programmes. Entrepreneurial Background: Most of the entrepreneurs in Ludhiana are self-made businessmen, who learnt the job while serving as workers in other units. Most of them lacked any technical or professional qualifications. Although these owners do not possess any formal technical education, their knowledge of materials, machinery and products is considerable. The owners perform all basic functions of marketing, procurement and finance.This is precisely the reason why they do not want to appoint professionals or believe in training. The coming up second generation is again a mixed category, with some of them having professional qualifications before entering the family business, while others joining at an early age with shop floor and hands-on experience. The decision making powers are vested with the entrepreneur themselves. There is no delegation of authority and the amount of trust posed in the employees is ver y less. Production There are huge but fragmented capacities in the cluster and not much of subcontracting prevails.Thus the capacity utilization is very low. It is 40% in units operating computerized machines while 80% in hand flat machines that are suitable for value added niche products. More than 60% of the units are working either as ancillary or vendors to their mother units. There is less differentiation with thrust on knit structures, silhouettes, shades and patterns, which are limited in range. This is a seasonal industry and the production capacity utilization is remarkably low in the lean season, which is from December to April for winter wear. Delivery schedules are seldom adhered to. DesigningProfessionally qualified as well as experienced designers are available in the industry. Local institutes like Pinnacle, JD Institute and NIFD are serving the industry actively. But still Ludhiana is lacking in new designs because of no efforts being put on research & development. M ost of the small entrepreneurs prefer doing this job themselves. The big ones, who are interested in keeping themselves abreast with latest trends visit nearby countries like Hong-Kong and Singapore to pick up some of the latest available samples. These are then modified to suit the needs of domestic market as well as that of some developing countries for exports.The importers of developed countries usually provide their designs themselves. A proposal for collaboration with international institute likes CITER (Italy) & FIT (US) is under pipeline. Infrastructure Ludhiana is very poor as far as infrastructure facilities are concerned. The only airport, which is near to Ludhiana is not functional at the moment and it is required to increase its status from domestic to international airport. An international level exhibition centre for buyer-seller meets is needed so that it is easier for the buyers from abroad to visit Ludhiana. There are no proper facilities for labour force.Due to sc attered location of industries, the common effluent treatment plants do not work. Some units have installed them individually but they are working at much lower capacities. The conditions of roads is very poor and even the sewers are not laid down in some areas. The power supply is very erratic and very costly. Very recently this has been hiked by around 4%. Even the use of generator sets commands heavy taxes. There are no common facilities. MOT has announced a couple of schemes like TCIDS wherein the industry has to give a matching contribution. The cluster has already submitted a proposal in this respect.In some areas, the associations have even pooled in resources for laying down roads and sewers. Finance Most of the units are financially independent with a strong base. Loans are easily available from banks and other financial institutions but preference is given to private financiers who provide loans at a higher rate. This is largely to hide the illegal business transactions. V arious banks such as the SBI under its UPTECH programme is giving soft loans on their PLR and contributing initial Rs. 1 Lakh in terms of equity for technical up-gradation of units. Marketing Marketing is a very weak feature of the Ludhiana cluster.At the outset, there is no distinction between the manufacturer and the marketer. There are a few firms who are selling directly through their own retail outlets such as Duke, Sportking or through marketing channels such as Monte Carlo, Pringle, Jain Udhay, Neva etc. Many units are doing job work for big brands such as Raymonds, Wills, Allen Solly, Esprit etc. Every year in two phases i. e. in January for summers and in July for winters, the manufacturers do their sampling and procure orders by displaying these in hotels at Delhi where they invite their prospective retailers.A huge amount is spent in this process. An initiative in this respect has been taken by a few of the manufacturers in terms of collective and negotiated hotel booking s. It is being planned to conduct these meets in a collective fashion, which will reduce the cost of this activity. There is also a lot of price undercutting in the cluster. There is no emphasis on branding and this largely reduces the margins because the maximum value addition in chain is at this stage. To overcome this problem, a collective marketing and common branding project has been planned.There is very less participation in domestic trade fairs and the international ones are also seldom visited to get a feel of the market trends. The marketing in the export sector is targeted mainly at the buying houses. There are very few units that are directly marketing in the international market. Domestic market Ludhiana knitwear industry is doing Rs. 3629 crores business in the domestic market. 95% domestic demand for woolen knitwear is fulfilled by the Ludhiana cluster alone. The main markets for Ludhiana knitwear industry are high-end domestic markets in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Luc know and Kanpur.There is also a low-end middle income mass domestic market including immigrants from Tibet and Nepal. Another major market are the Government Departments, primarily defence and police, that is routed through tenders announced by these departments. Export market The global knitwear market is of about 200 billion USD. Export of knitwear from Ludhiana is of about Rs. 1371 crores. The main foreign markets for Ludhiana knitwear industry are the high quality conscious Americans, Europeans and the market of the CIS countries. USA and EU are high fashion and design markets.The export being done to American and EU nations is primarily job work for big brands wherein the designs are provided by the buyers. There is very less export being done with manufacturer’s own label and that too is limited to Middle East and CIS nations only. The Middle East markets are low quality markets. An important feature of the knitwear export from Ludhiana is that almost 90% of export is c arried out by the manufacturer exporters. There are very few merchant exporters. Around 25% of the yarn is also exported. There is a huge demand for synthetic fibres in the European nations.These possibilities have not been exploited so far. Role of marketing agents Marketing agents are basically catering to the requirements of the domestic markets, both high-end and low-end middle-income segments. They provide two kinds of important services to the entrepreneurs; firstly they source orders from distant buyers and secondly they serve as a guarantor of the buyer for the manufactures. They are responsible for collection of money from the buyers after expiry of credit limit. In case of dispute, they reimburse 50 percent of entrepreneur's dead payment. The intermediaries take away around 6% of the sales as commission.This indirect link limits the feedback received from the final customers and results in low customer loyalty, besides reducing the profit margins. Decentralized sector The knitwear industry in Ludhiana is highly decentralized & varies in size. The small knitwear units are located in residential areas around Sunder Nagar, Madhopuri, Brahmpuri, Shivpuri, Purana Bazar and Bahadur ke road. The medium and large units are generally located in the outskirts of Ludhiana in the Industrial Area, Focal Point, Chandigarh Road or Jalandhar road. Most of the units are based in the residential areas converted into commercial places.Only a few big units have their production units in eleven of the Government promoted industrial estates in the Ludhiana district. There is no exclusive industrial estate in the city for knitwear units. Research and development There is no stress on R&D activities in the cluster. The R&D is only in terms of new varieties and finishes of yarns and in terms of technology up-gradation. An exhibition on latest yarns was organized, where Chinese and Indian firms displayed their innovations. This created some awareness but the cluster still nee ds to put in more effort in this. Taxes and DutiesThere is chain of taxes on industry which are stated as under 1. Excise duty on fibers – 12% 2. Excise duty on yarn(12%) / Excise duty on polyester filament yarn (34 %) so average duty on yarn – 23% 3. Sales tax on yarn – 4. 4% 4. Sales tax on Ready made & knitwear – 4 TOTAL (of 1+2+3+4) – 66. 8% Proposed Entry tax on yarn – 4. 4% The knitters and weavers of grey fabric can pay excise duty on an optional basis. The rate of excise duty on fabric, made ups and garments is 12%. This special Dispensation shall continue up to 28th Feb 2005. The industrial fabrics would however continue at 16%.The Hand processing of textile fabric by independent Processors is exempted from excise duty even there is use of power in three Specified processes i. e. scouring, hydro-extraction and calendaring in the case of Cotton and man made fabrics. Policies and regulations †¢EXIM Policy 2002 – 2007: In t he EXIM policy 2002 – 2005, Ludhiana has been awarded the status of town of export excellence for woolen knitwear. This will entitle Ludhiana cluster for the following benefits: – Recognized association of units will be able to access funds under MAI (Market access initiative scheme) for creating focused technological services.Funds will also be available for undertaking market promotion efforts on country Product basis. – Receive priority for assistance in identified critical infrastructure gaps. There are two schemes namely Apparel Integrated Park for Exports and the Textile Center Infrastructure building scheme under which 37 crores of funding is available. Various benefits will be extended to the member units as relaxation in labour laws, common facilities etc. – Sample fabrics permitted duty free within 3% limit for trimming & embellishment and 10 % variation in GSM to be allowed for fabric under advance license.Additional items such as zip fastness, inlay cards, evelets, rivets, eves, toggles, velcro-tape, cord & cord stopper are included in input output norms. – DEPB rates are permitted for all kinds of blended fabrics. Such blended fabrics are to have the lowest rate as applicable to different constituent fabric. Oswal Woollen Mills Limited (OWM), the flagship company of the Nahar Group of Companies is expanding its existing capacities by raising funds through a public issue and has obtained SEBI's nod for the issue of up to 8,320,000 equity shares of Rs. 10 each through the book built route. The issue comprises of a net issue to the public of up to 8,305,000 equity shares and reservation of up to 15,000 equity shares for subscription by employees. The net issue will constitute 25. 05% of fully diluted post-issue capital of the company,† said Mr. Jawahar Lal Oswal, Managing Director of the company. OWM, was incorporated in 1949 and is a part of Rs. 19,000 million well known industrial conglomerate Nahar Group wh ich also consists of Nahar Spinning Ltd, Nahar Industrial Enterprises Limited, Nahar Exports Ltd and Nahar Capital & Financial Services Limited based at Ludhiana in Punjab.The Group is one of the oldest and well-recognized business houses in India. The Company is one of the pioneers in the organized Indian woollen hosiery industry. OWM made modest beginning as a manufacturer of hosiery items and over the years has emerged as a vertically integrated woollen textile company having presence in diverse markets, with wide range of products including branded woollen hosiery and cotton garments. OWM is the registered owner of well-known brand name ‘Monte Carlo' for selling woollen hosiery and cotton garments which was added to the existing product portfolio in the year 2002.International Society for Super brands has recognized ‘Monte Carlo' as a ‘Superbrand' for woollen hosiery garments since Fiscal 2003. The products in woollen hosiery segment are also sold under the bra nd names of ‘Canterbury' for premium quality woollen hosiery garments while the specialty worsted woollen yarns and hand knitting yarns are sold under the brand name of ‘OWM'. Since March 2006, the company has started manufacture of indigo dyed specialty denim fabric, which has added to the existing range of rich product portfolios.The Company has been certified to conform to the QMS Standard: ISO 9001:2000 by DNV Certification B. V. , Netherlands for the manufacture and supply of dyed and grey tops and yarn in worsted wool, pure wool, lamb wool, acrylic wool blends and polyester wool blends and angora, berthia and serge fabrics. The Company endeavors to strengthen its position in the in the retail sector and it plans to further augment its existing reach of ‘Monte Carlo Exclusive Brand Outlets' by opening additional 106 outlets by Fiscal 2009 from the existing 44 outlets as of now.Further, OWM is contemplating selling denim fabrics to ready-made denim garment manu factures in domestic and international market. From 2007 autumn and winter season, The Company would start production and marketing of fine micron pure merino blended knitted products for children in the age group of one to eight years for the Indian domestic market. In the Fiscal 2006, OWM had commissioned a co-generation power plant with multi fuel capabilities with an installed capacity of 3. MW to meet the entire power requirements of integrated yarn textile manufacturing plant. Post commissioning of this co-generation power plant in addition to cost reduction of power, the company would benefit from uninterrupted availability of power resulting in better quality of yarn and reduction in manufacturing wastage. Under the current expansion plan, it proposes to set up a co-generation power plant with installed capacity of 7. 5 MW, which is expected to meet the full requirements of power for integrated denim operations post expansion. Mr.Kamal Oswal, Director said, â€Å"We also pr opose to increase capacities to manufacture additional 125,000 pieces of wool based knitted and hosiery garments together with additional 4,784 spindles for worsted woollen yarn and also increasing denim fabric weaving capacity to 20 million meters per annum from the present level of 15 million meters per annum. As a backward integration for the denim fabric weaving, we are also setting up a cotton spinning plant with a capacity of 14,400 spindles and 2,160 rotors. † The Book Running Lead Managers to the Issue are UTI Bank Limited and Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors Private Limited.Oswal Woolen Mills NAHAR GROUP, established in 1949 surges ahead to establish it self as a reputed industrial conglomerate with a wide ranging portfolio from Worsted Spinning, Cotton Knitted, and Cotton Woven Garments, Woollen Hosiery Etc. The group has spinning capacity of 0. 4 millions cotton spindles 25000 worsted spindles with turn over of $500 million inclusive of export turnover of $150 mill ion. Out of total production, 60% of the production is dedicated to exports and the rest 40% for domestic market.The production facility have been awarded ISO 9001:2000. Today OWM is the flagship company of the glorious Nahar Empire and a proud owner of widely loved Super Brand in Knitwear, Monte Carlo and Recoganised Super Brand Canterbury. The company boasts of a product portfolio that is truly large and varied. They include diverse types of Woollen, Acrylic and Synthetic Blended Yarns, Lambs Wool Yarn. The markets of NAHAR GROUP are cris crossed allover the globe with major clientele in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Russia and Asia.The objective is meeting the buyers expectations with consistent quality backed by R & D divisions equipped with latest equipment, Cream of highly qualified technocrats and adhering to timely schedules. Today Oswal Woolen Mills LTD. is a company that owes its strength in the market and solidity to foresight of its chairman Sh. Ja wahar Lal Oswal ,the professional inputs of the board of directors and able to team of highly skilled mangers OSWAL WOOLEN MILLS LTD is the Flagship company of over US$500 millions NAHAR GROUP OF COMPANIESOswal Woollen Mills (OWM) is the flagship company of the Rs 2,000 crore Nahar Group, which is an industrial conglomerate with a diversified portfolio that includes spinning, knitting, fabric processing, hosiery garments, knitwear and infrastructure. Starting off as a small hosiery factory in Ludhiana in 1949. It produces a wide range of products, which include diverse type of woollen acrylic, synthetic blend yarns, lamb wool yarn, woollen viscose and acrylic tops, textile fabric, woollen hosiery, thermals, knitwear and cotton Garments. The Company’s infrastructural base includes six factories with a workforce of 10,000 people.OWM has recently become the first domestic company in the country to receive the prestigious ISO- 9001-2000 certification in the designing, knitwear, m anufacturing and supplying category. Oswal Woollen Mills (Spinning Mill) Limited Garment  Manufacturer Oswal Woolen Mills NAHAR GROUP, established in 1949 surges ahead to establish it self as a reputed industrial conglomerate with a wide ranging portfolio from Spinning, Knitting, Fabric, Hosiery Garments etc. Out of total production, 60% of the production is dedicated to exports and the rest 40% for domestic market.The production facility has been awarded ISO 9001:2000. OWM is the flagship company of the glorious Oswal Empire and a proud owner of widely loved Super Brands in Knitwear, Monte Carlo and Canterbury. The company boasts of a product range that is truly large and varied. They include diverse types of Woollen, Acrylic and Synthetic Blended Yarns, Lambs Wool Yarn, Woollen Viscose & Acrylic Tops, Textile Fabric, Woollen Knitwear, Hosiery & Cotton Garments The knitting industry in India can be classified into following groups: †¢ Hosiery knitting for undergarments †¢ Flat knitting for sweaters and winter garments Socks knitting for socks and stockings †¢ Warp knitting for dresses, furnishings and industrial applications In the recent times, knitting sector has undergone enormous modifications that have resulted in an increase in efficiency, ease of operations, use of computer aided designing etc. The various reasons for the growth of knitting industry are as follows: †¢ The capital investment for starting a new knitting unit is relatively small than that required for other fabric producing industries. †¢ High productivity and very low preparatory process as compared to weaving. More flexible and easy changeover of styles and designs to keep up with the frequent fashion changes in apparel market. †¢ Knitted fabrics are comfortable and are in tune with the time. †¢ Knitwear don’t require ironing and thus it gives people a carefree feeling while traveling etc. †¢ Low labour cost per unit as compared to weavin g. †¢ Wider scope of designing in a knitting machine at a lower cost as compared to weaving. Traditionally pure wool was more commonly used for knitted fabrics. But its cost being very high and production being very low, it could not meet the requirements of the increasing population.Due to these constraints, the use of acrylic and other noncostlier fibres like jute have overshadowed wool in the knitting sector. Optimal utilisation of the manufacturing capacities of the industry is required to face the global challenge in terms of quantity and price in the post WTO quota regime. Most of the hosiery/knitwear manufacturing units in India are in the small-scale sector. India is the largest producer of cotton in the world, with Gujarat as a number one cotton producer with a yield of 300-400 kg per hectare. It is expected that within a couple of years, it will touch the mark of 550 kg per hectare.Therefore India has an abundant supply of the basic raw-material for knitwear industry. Presently, the main centers where this industry is located are Ludhiana, Tirupur, Delhi, Culcutta, Banglore, Ahmedabad, Saharanpur, Surat, Kanpur and Mumbai. About 95% of the nation's output of woolen/acrylic knitwear and over two third of its bicycles and parts production comes from Ludhiana. Tirupur is famous for cotton hosiery and most of its produce is exported. Knitwear industry uses various types of yarns like woolen, worsted, cotton, blended and various other types of fancy yarn.However Ludhiana, which is very famous for woolen knitwear makes substantial use of acrylic fiber and less of pure wool because of its high price. This is primarily because wool as a raw material is produced mainly in Australia, South Africa and New Zealand and the import duty on the same is very high. The industry in India mainly imports wool either in its fiber stage, yarn stage or old woolen rags, which are then recycled. In terms of looks and feel for a common user, acrylic and woolen seem to be similar. At present world cloth market stands at 200 billion USD and the share of knitwear is almost 50% of the total market.China has a hold over 24% of the global knitwear trade. While the domestic apparel market in India is around 9 billion USD wherein knitwear has only 15% share. If we analyse the per capita consumption of fabrics, the share of knitted fabrics in the Indian market is around 3% as compared to the world average of 13%. Globally, the per capita consumption of knitted fabrics is 31 kg in the US, 20 kg in the EU & 24 kg in Japan, whereas in India the per capita consumption is 0. 2 kg per annum. This proves that there is huge scope for growth of knitted fabric in India.Significance of knitwear in garment industry The survival of knitwear industry depends on the survival of the garment industry. At present, the knitwear industry has only 43% share in volume of garment industry but the same is increasing at a very fast rate due to the comfort properties of knitted garme nts. As on January 1 2002, there were 50,000 units in India engaged in garment manufacturing, of which 9600 were in the knitted sector and 40,400 in the woven sector. Year 1999 2000 The garment sector in India is growing at the rate of 7. % in volume, but a notable point is that this growth has been largely supported by the growth in the knitted sector at a rate of 11. 4% in volume. Knitwear accounts for 18% of foreign exchange earned by the country from export of all commodities. Garment exports from India in July have registered a growth of 20% in value terms and is at 379 million USD as against 316 million USD, in the same period last year. Both the sectors of the garment industry i. e. knitted and woven have progressed over the last decade & a half but in the later half of the decade, the knitted sector has overtaken the woven sector in terms of volume.Significance in export It is expected that the textile sector would fulfill the export target of Rs. 65,000 crores this year, ou t of which the knitwear contribution will be about 15% – 20%. The union Government has fixed the export target of 50 billion USD for the textile items by the year 2010, the share target for garment is at 50% i. e. 25 billion USD. Country’s Export of garment from Ludhiana region during Jan-December 2001 was 705. 19 crores under quota countries, while export of garment from India was of 21414. 52 crores.Thus the percentage share of Ludhiana in export of garment was only 3. 29 %. The total global garment market is of 198. 7 billion USD. (From clothesline). Destination of export Presently U. S. A. , Canada, South Africa, U. K. , Germany, France and U. A. E are the main destinations for knitwear exports from India. West Europe, Australia, Japan, Middle East, Russia, Poland, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan & Ukraine countries are big importers of knitted items. Yarn from India is exported to almost the whole of the world but more so to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Korea. CompetitorsCh ina, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Indonesia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka give severe competition to India in the world market. The share of China alone in the world market is 24% while that of India is just 3%. Import Barriers India's import duties on wool fiber, textiles and apparel are highest amongst the world. Duties remain high at all stages of the pipeline and exporters also face nontariff barriers such as special import licenses for wool fabrics etc. The import duty on raw wool is 22% and on wool-top it is 50% with an additional duty of 11. 5% payable on imports. Besides this, the total duty on the wool yarn is 67. %. Import duty on machine is 25% while import duty on machine parts is around 52%. Sometimes the maintenance of imported machine becomes costlier. Because of this, the manufacturers avoid purchasing of modern imported machine. Oswal Woollen Mills Ltd enters capital market [pic] [pic] NEW DELHI: Oswal Woollen Mills Limited (OWM), the flagship company of the Nahar Group of Compan ies is expanding its existing capacities by raising funds through a public issue and has obtained SEBI's nod for the issue of up to 8,320,000 equity shares of Rs. 10 each through the book built route. The issue comprises of a net issue to the public of up to 8,305,000 equity shares and reservation of up to 15,000 equity shares for subscription by employees. The net issue will constitute 25. 05% of fully diluted post-issue capital of the company,† said Mr. Jawahar Lal Oswal, Managing Director of the company. OWM, was incorporated in 1949 and is a part of Rs. 19,000 million well known industrial conglomerate Nahar Group which also consists of Nahar Spinning Ltd, Nahar Industrial Enterprises Limited, Nahar Exports Ltd and Nahar Capital & Financial Services Limited based at Ludhiana in Punjab.The Group is one of the oldest and well-recognized business houses in India. The Company is one of the pioneers in the organized Indian woollen hosiery industry. OWM made modest beginning as a manufacturer of hosiery items and over the years has emerged as a vertically integrated woollen textile company having presence in diverse markets, with wide range of products including branded woollen hosiery and cotton garments. OWM is the registered owner of well-known brand name ‘Monte Carlo' for selling woollen hosiery and cotton garments which was added to the existing roduct portfolio in the year 2002. International Society for Superbrands has recognized ‘Monte Carlo' as a ‘Superbrand' for woollen hosiery garments since Fiscal 2003. The products in woollen hosiery segment are also sold under the brand names of ‘Canterbury' for premium quality woollen hosiery garments while the specialty worsted woollen yarns and hand knitting yarns are sold under the brand name of ‘OWM'. Since March 2006, the company has started manufacture of indigo dyed specialty denim fabric, which has added to the existing range of rich product portfolios.The Company has be en certified to conform to the QMS Standard: ISO 9001:2000 by DNV Certification B. V. , Netherlands for the manufacture and supply of dyed and grey tops and yarn in worsted wool, pure wool, lamb wool, acrylic wool blends and polyester wool blends and angora, berthia and serge fabrics. The Company endeavors to strengthen its position in the in the retail sector and it plans to further augment its existing reach of ‘Monte Carlo Exclusive Brand Outlets' by opening additional 100 outlets by Fiscal 2010 from the existing 44 outlets as of now.Further, OWM is contemplating selling denim fabrics to ready-made denim garment manufactures in domestic and international market. From 2007 autumn and winter season, The Company would start production and marketing of fine micron pure merino blended knitted products for children in the age group of one to eight years for the Indian domestic market. In the Fiscal 2006, OWM had commissioned a co-generation power plant with multi fuel capabilitie s with an installed capacity of 3. MW to meet the entire power requirements of integrated yarn textile manufacturing plant. Post commissioning of this co-generation power plant in addition to cost reduction of power, the company would benefit from uninterrupted availability of power resulting in better quality of yarn and reduction in manufacturing wastage. Under the current expansion plan, it proposes to set up a co-generation power plant with installed capacity of 7. 5 MW, which is expected to meet the full requirements of power for integrated denim operations post expansion.Mr. Kamal Oswal, Director said, â€Å"We also propose to increase capacities to manufacture additional 125,000 pieces of wool based knitted and hosiery garments together with additional 4,784 spindles for worsted woollen yarn and also increasing denim fabric weaving capacity to 20 million meters per annum from the present level of 15 million meters per annum. As a backward integration for the denim fabric wea ving, we are also setting up a cotton spinning plant with a capacity of 14,400 spindles and 2,160 rotors. The Book Running Lead Managers to the Issue are UTI Bank Limited and Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors Private Limited. Mr. N. D. Jain, president of the company, announced sale policy of textile products for the year 2007-2008. Mr. Jain informed that the company was manufacturing textile products of highest quality which are best in country. Oswal Woollen Mills Limited (OWM) is the   the flagship company of the Nahar Group of Companies. OWM, was incorporated in 1949 and is a part of Rs. 9,000 million well known industrial conglomerate Nahar Group. The Group is one of the oldest and well-recognized business houses in India. The Company is one of the pioneers in the organized Indian woollen hosiery industry. OWM made modest beginning as a manufacturer of hosiery items and over the years has emerged as a vertically integrated woollen textile company having presence in diverse mar kets, with wide range of products including branded woollen hosiery and cotton garments.OWM is the registered owner of well-known brand name ‘Monte Carlo' for selling woollen hosiery and cotton garments which was added to the existing product portfolio in the year 2002. The products in woollen hosiery segment are also sold under the brand names of ‘Canterbury' for premium quality woollen hosiery garments while the specialty worsted woollen yarns and hand knitting yarns are sold under the brand name of ‘OWM'. Since March 2006, the company has started manufacture of indigo dyed specialty denim fabric, which has added to the existing range of rich product portfolios.The Company has been certified to conform to the QMS Standard: ISO 9001:2000 for the manufacture and supply of dyed and grey tops and yarn in worsted wool, pure wool, lamb wool, acrylic wool blends and polyester wool blends and angora, berthia and serge fabrics. Monte Carlo India – Mens Fashion, For mal Office & Fashion Shirts, T-shirts, Jackets, Womens Cardigans & Sweaters Over the years, Monte Carlo has established itself as a brand name trusted world-wide for its excellence in quality and eminence.Some of our products include sweaters, cardigans, cardigan sweaters, Mens pullovers, T-shirts, trouser, shorts, Womens cardigan sweaters & womens sweater. All our clothes are designed in a manner to give our customers the ultimate feeling of comfort and ecstasy. Our collections also includes a wide range of thermals and track suits India. In our compilation of exquisite clothing and qualitative attires we have variety of jackets India like Womens jackets, sleeveless jackets, Mens jackets & Shirts like fashion shirts, formal shirts, office shirts & wholesale shirts etc. â€Å"Dress up by the ways of world and eat what you please†When getting ready for new day it’s all about looking fresh and feeling energetic. Dressing up in a fine manner and carrying it all with grace is what actually recites the personality and the real â€Å"you†. Styles change every season so there is no point in limiting and sticking to one style but it’s always better to experiment wisely. The dressing style of Men: The clothing styles change every season but there is one constant touch that unleashes the kind of taste you have. When it comes to men’s clothing its important that the colors are right and same goes for the cuts.There are a few basic colors that actually suit men these include blue, black, white, grey, cream etc. Another vital tip for dressing will be to iron your clothes every time you wear them. When dressing up it’s not just about clothes but accessories as well. For that â€Å"ideal look† it’s important to always have a few things like watch, tie, pen, cuff link and tie pin. Once equipped with all above and a positive attitude you are all set to rule the world. The dressing style for Women: Dressing correctly is mo st confusing for women. Be it casuals or formal the only secret to look just â€Å"right† is to be graceful.Although a few rules are standard for both men and women but still they have a wider range to choose from. When dressing up for a normal day its better to sport a simple look accompanied with a few accessories. A light make up with a serene identity is the idea to unite all the positive energies and bring out the confidence. More than any thing else it is mandatory no matter what you wear it should be comfortable because your wardrobe exactly portrays you individual identity. High waist or low waist only thing that matters is to be able to carry it well.All said and done remember be true to yourself. To look trendy and fashionable it’s not important to change your wardrobe with every season what matters is to actually feel â€Å"Trendy†. Shopping Tips Shopping is one of the most favorite hobbies for both men and women. It is regarded as a stress buster act ivity. Despite of its soothing nature shopping can be troublesome at time so here are a few tips that guide you to enjoy the entire experience. †¢ Most importantly you should be dressed casually so that you can easily take off and put back in the dressing room. †¢ If you are not the â€Å"firm† kind and you annot decide by yourself, remember to take a friend with you who can guide you well on what actually suits you. †¢ Until you are not shopping for pleasure remember to make a list of it all and shop only for the things that you need. †¢ Keep trying new styles you never know what suits you until you have an experience; you might surprise yourself. †¢ The best way to make sure that something is comfortable is to actually try it well. When you are about to buy something; move you arms and sit down that will give you a better idea of whether it is worth buying or not. With all the above ideas and tips now you are all set to buy just the right lothing an d that too without any inconvenience. So, Get ready and get going!! How to buy? Find the Item – the website has been designed in a very user friendly manner with all the classification done all you need to do is to choose from the categories and order the product. Keyword Search – in case, you are looking for a particular dress type the item code ore a bit of its description you can access the item using the search option. Learn about the item you found – Before you actually buy the product make sure that you have all the details of the product like †¢ Item no. Its description †¢ Order no. †¢ Price †¢ Images Shipping and Payment Details: Make sure that you have read the details of the product and the Payment Information and other Shipping Instructions. New Arrivals Montecarlo Ladies Collection 08-09 Monte Carlo the flagship   brand   of   Oswal   Woollen   Mills  Ã‚   has  Unveiled its s/s 08-09 collection. Dedicated to women ar e three lines. — Alice in Wonderland, Uber – dona and the New Proportions All the three collections are done by keeping one thing in preview, that it should be for every women,be her a college going girl or ur home maker.Alice’s Wonderland inspired knit collection embodies design , colorful patterns and prints , with soft material and dynamic cuts, colorful threads. Tees in multi-colors and stripes also take their own place. Colors are rich and aristocrat , cardinal reds , majestic purples with off whites and soft ekrus. Browns , turqs and theatrical fucias ginger with light peach, sophisticated rose accents , contrast dusky vintage pinks. Uberdona– A desire for beauty and all the finer things in life. This party collection offers a range of kurtis crafted with extreme fineness and embellished with pearls and shells , metals and threads , flowing fabrics.The New Proportions – A casual daywear – an interplay of clean cut silhouettes , pastels and earthy colors , fine cottons and minimal embroidered patternsPick a shirts or a tunic to dress down for effortlessly stylish daywear and it make sure to steal u a second glance. The trousers are baggy . Tastefully selected pieces lend timelessness and opulence to fashion – that’s what Monte Carlo ‘s / s 09 collection is all about. Price range – Rs 345 onwards – u can’t resist it!! Available – Monte Carlo’s exclusive stores and MBO’s. MonteCarlo Trousers Monte carlo offer more:A perfect timeless look which shines you apart from the crowd. A perfect blend of premium fibres which gives the monte carlo trouser a uniqueness of its own. In the season we present you a complete range of classy chinos , edgy linens ,premium cotton lends bio-polished for a peach skin finish will give an extra smooth feel. The enzyme and silicon in these trousers makes the fabric extremely soft ideal and anti crush makes you feel beginning the day even at the end. A complete gracious range which starts from Rs 699 – Rs 1495. This season Monte Carlo has introduced its new LEXUS(miracle cotton) Wrinkle free Cotton(trousers). hich is made of 2 ply100s California PIMA cotton to give premium lustre and strength, Ultra light, high density, fabric with resin coating makes it a perfect non-iron trouser. New colour lock technology to keep colour fresh & bright wash afyer wash. For sporty look there is multi pocket cargos with different washes. And the Cargo range for men comprises of multi pocket cargos with detailing of snaps, velcros and zippers. Garments are treated with ultra enzyme wash and softeners to provide a trendy washed look and soft hand to the garment to increase the wearing comfort.Canterbury Monte Carlo’s Canterbury is a premium brand that delivers elegance, soft luxury and creativity in intrinsic patterns and styles for those who settle for nothing but the best. The collection liberally uses superior quality of pure cash wool in fine count of eighteen micron. This makes the woollens lightweight and extremely warm. These garments have an excellent hand feel, drape gracefully and fit perfectly on all body types. The Cantebury   collections introduced every season pullovers and cardigans in 100 % pure cashmere wool and cash wool for both men and women.The exciting Canterbury range has exclusive designs that come in unique colour combinations. The designs comprises of intarsia – classic argyles (diamonds shapes) and patterns of checks. Single colour self structure with links and transfers. The collection is available in fusion of urban neutral colours with a predominance of shades in blues, in evergreen greys, the elegance of beiges and brown, dull blues and the bright hues of turquoise. The fall winter 2009-10 collection has more than seventy designs on offer for its customers. Monte Carlo : It’s the way you make me feel Brand : Monte Carlo Company: Oswal Woolen Mi lls Ltd[pic]MonteCarlo is a premium knit wear brand in India. Launched in 1984, this brand is dominating the Mass + Class segment winter cloth market. Oswal has around 50% market share in this segment. With the booming retail sector driving the growth of Readymade clothing in India (estimated to be to the tune of Rs40 bn) no one can resist extending their brand to readymades. That is exactly what MonteCarlo is doing now. MonteCarlo ( which is a super brand) has similarity with Color Plus (discussed in previous blog) in that it created a market for itself in a category that was dominated by lesser known brands.Monte Carlo was careful in brand building and the ads were catchy and theme oriented. Since I am in South India where there is little market for woolen clothes, still the ads shown in national channels used to excite me. The ads were full of â€Å"feel good† factors with great models and excellent imagery. All the ads had Romance and two people discovering a relationship . The print ads were like that of † ColorPlus† gave a premium touch to the brand. It is said that most of the earlier models of this brand are now superstars including Mallika Sherawat, Arjun Rampal to name a few.Monte Carlo is promoted with the baseline â€Å"It’s the way you make me feel†. The catchy point of the TVC s is the music which always set the tone for the message. The brand is still communicated along the same themes since two decades. The company spent lot of effort in making sure that the premiumness is not lost in campaigns. This is going to pay rich dividend when the brand is getting into the competitive world of every day wear. The brand was extended to T shirts in 1999 with the brand Summerz. In 2001, the brand forayed into everday wear market under the sub brands Wonderhugs and Trouserz and introduced ladies wear in 2003.This year saw the national launch of cotton wears from Monte Carlo. The company was carefully ramping up the distributi on and retail strategies to ensure that this brand succeed. The price range of readymades is in line with the premium brands like Van Heusan and Louis Philippe. So Monte Carlo can expect some serious competition. With the kind of success this brand had in the winter wear market, it is reasonable to believe that Monte Carlo has the potential to be a † Color Plus†. Hope that the brand will be built along the same themes that made it successful. REVIEW OF LITERATUREOswal Woolen Mills NAHAR GROUP, established in 1949 surges ahead to establish it self as a reputed industrial conglomerate with a wide ranging portfolio from Spinning, Knitting, Fabric, Hosiery Garments etc. Out of total production, 60% of the production is dedicated to exports and the rest 40% for domestic market. The production facility has been awarded ISO 9001:2000. OWM is the flagship company of the glorious Oswal Empire and a proud owner of widely loved Super Brands in Knitwear, Monte Carlo and Canterbury. The company boasts of a product range that is truly large and varied.They include diverse types of Woollen, Acrylic and Synthetic Blended Yarns, Lambs Wool Yarn, Woollen Viscose & Acrylic Tops, Textile Fabric, Woollen Knitwear, Hosiery & Cotton Garments The knitting industry in India can be classified into following groups: 1. Hosiery knitting for undergarments 2. Flat knitting for sweaters and winter garments 3. Socks knitting for socks and stockings 4. Warp knitting for dresses, furnishings and industrial applications In the recent times, knitting sector has undergone enormous modifications that have resulted in an increase in efficiency, ease of operations, use of computer aided esigning etc. The various reasons for the growth of knitting industry are as follows: 1. – The capital investment for starting a new knitting unit is relatively small than that required for other fabric producing industries. 2. High productivity and very low preparatory process as compared to weavi ng. 3. More flexible and easy changeover of styles and designs to keep up with the frequent fashion changes in apparel market. 4. Knitted fabrics are comfortable and are in tune with the time. 5. Knitwear don’t require ironing and thus it gives people a carefree feeling while traveling etc. 6.Low labour cost per unit as compared to weaving. 7. Wider scope of designing in a knitting machine at a lower cost as compared to weaving. Traditionally pure wool was more commonly used for knitted fabrics. But its cost being very high and production being very low, it could not meet the requirements of the increasing population. Due to these constraints, the use of acrylic and other noncostlier fibres like jute have overshadowed wool in the knitting sector. Optimal utilisation of the manufacturing capacities of the industry is required to face the global challenge in terms of quantity and price in the post WTO quota regime.Most of the hosiery/knitwear manufacturing units in India are in the small-scale sector. India is the lar