DuPont Case Analysis Essay Example for Free

DuPont Case Analysis Essay INTRODUCTION: DuPont was established in the year 1802 by French Chemist, E.I DuPont de Nemours in USA. DuPont became successful by the end of third year and it started exporting back to its continent, Europe. In the span of these 200 years, it had shaped into a global company with variety of enterprises like Chemical, Energy, Science Based and High Technology. It maximized its manufacturing or processing operations in 40 countries and its products were sold in 150 places by the end of 1990. The company’s one third revenue comes from the European market from 1960. There are 50 companies, which employed more than 19,000 people in 14 countries of Europe. The scientists of DuPont developed the synthetic fibres industry by introducing nylon. They were the leading manufacturer of manmade fibres in the world. The most important product of DuPont is â€Å"Carpet Fibre†. This division was setup in Geneva, Switzerland which holds the RD, marketing and production areas. Products were produced in the UK and the sales offices are in Germany, the UK, France, Belgium, Spain, Scandinavia, and Holland. CASE CONTEXT: DuPont’s product nylon carpet fibre is not different from other fibres available in the market; however they were the top players in fibre industry. The parameters like color and texture are the factors that differ in the carpets. The fibre industry has nothing to do with these things. The carpet industry is concerned with these directly and they in turn led to the wholesalers, retailers and in turn to the customers. From the consumers point of view the carpet should be colorful, its texture is important and it should be easily maintained. DuPont has done extensive research on the customers third interest i.e. maintenance and founded the â€Å"Stain Master† that would allow to remove the stains permanently. With this invention, DuPont’s market share increased by 5%. This was first introduced in USA, later on with minor changes it has been launched in Europe. It gave mixed results for the company. DuPont’s decision is that the mills should have certain quality to use the process of stain master. In Germany, many mills felt that they don’t have these standards set by them; hence they didn’t show interest in the product. The UK market and France market reacted positively. Many companied executed the same formulae by giving low quality material at lower prices. This led to the stake of DuPont’s position in the market by 1980. FACTS: DuPont conducted research in the European Industry after the decline of its position in the market. They came to know some important facts: Flow of DuPont’s Fibres: DuPont’s Fibres Carpet Mills Wholesalers Retailers End Users The carpet mills are concentrated in only three countries the UK, France and Belgium. 80-20 rule is applied in European market; 80% of the business is carried but top 20% manufacturers. To stimulate the market, they used the help of Style Books to the wholesalers and retailers. They were not loyal customers to the fibre industry. They focused on the company that provides material at the best price. Retail and Wholesale operations are very different in these countries. In Germany  wholesalers dominated in the UK and Belgium retailers dominated the supply chain. PROBLEM: DuPont concentrated only on the carpet mills and they didn’t make any effort in knowing the end users. They invested money in RD for making innovations in fibres that is to be supplied to the carpet mills. They are least bothered to know about the customers. ALTERNATIVES: DuPont need to concentrate on the techniques that value the customers without affecting the supply chain. As carpet mills are the important customers to DuPont, they need to retain them. â€Å"Creating loyal customers is at the heart of every business†-Don Peppers and Martha Rogers. Identify the â€Å"Customer Benefit† and â€Å"Customer Cost† of the users and provide the product at â€Å"Customer-perceived value† (CPV). Monitor the satisfaction of the customer by conducting surveys. ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES: In Europe, there are 60 carpet mills that can level DuPont’s standards; however only 50% of them are using their fibres. Rest of them wandering around for best price. The mills using DuPont’s fibres should be retained and they need to analyze the CPV value and set the â€Å"price† accordingly. The â€Å"place† is also very important for setting the price as European market is fragmented unlike USA market which is having only four players. The customers give least preference to carpets when they are buying house- hold equipments. They are not enjoying or admiring to shop for carpeting as it is just a blanket to protect the floor. Customers spend at least 10 weeks in buying the carpets.52% Customers buy carpets if the existing one is worn out. Repurchase cycle for carpets is 12 years. Customers are not satisfied with the product information. The retailers and wholesalers are not providing full information. They are not providing information on price, color, fitting rooms and quality. If â€Å"product† and â€Å"service† quality is maintained, customers would retain with them only. They didn’t â€Å"promote† their products. RECOMMENDATIONS: Retain the customers by giving them offers that attracts them easily. Provide sample fibres to 50% carpet mills that are not using DuPont’s material and offer a price that satisfy their needs. Provide a portal for the customers to choose their own color and design according to their choices by collaborating with mills. Provide better customer care services by training the retailers and wholesalers. Provide catalogues to the customers for better awareness of the product, whether it is retailer, wholesaler or final end user. PLAN OF ACTION: Identify the customers who are loyal to the company, give them incentives and promote the product brand. Select the location where sales of the company are not up to the mark and apply the alternatives to them i.e. setting price and giving offers to the carpet mills. Later on collaborate with the mills in that location and train the wholesalers and retailers about the product and give them the full information along with the catalogues. Provide better services to the customers by setting a portal where they can choose their own designs and place order to the carpet mills. Implement the above mentioned steps for three months and find the sales growth. Spread the plan if it worked in the selected location, by making minute changes to it according to the location. CONTINGENCY PLAN: Since DuPont is an expert and leading manufacturer in the manmade fibres, it can go for â€Å"VERTICAL INTEGRATION†. Instead of supplying fibres to carpet mills, it can set up a mill and manufacture carpets. It can directly deal with the customers. The above mentioned plan can be executed without the intervention of the mills. The Customer Satisfaction can be monitored and it can get to know the loopholes in the process and thus leading to correction of the mistakes and increasing the sales growth of the company.

Smoking Cigarettes :: Argumentative Persuasive Example Essays

The Silent Killer Intro- Hello everyone, if you don’t already know, my name is Greg Mrowka, and I’m here to talk to you about the silent killer, smoking. My goal in telling you about smoking is that you yourselves will not one day become a casualty in the war on smoking. I myself am already in the numbers as one of the addicted, potential casualties. From experience, and through witnessing many deaths on behalf of smoking I believe I am well qualified on telling you about this subject. Goals- Firstly I will tell about the propaganda behind smoking and what influences people to turn to smoking, then I will tell you about the ill-effects that smoking propositions for all of it’s customers, and finally I will tell you about how to avoid or quit smoking. Influences- The first and seemingly strongest influence is peer pressure Second are advertisements made to young teens and children as well as a majority of the black community Oral citation-Of all people who have ever tried a cigarette, 88 percent tried their first cigarette by age 18. - â€Å"Tobacco Use Among Young People: A Report of the Surgeon General," 1994, p. 67. Citation-Every day, the tobacco companies get about 3,000 new customers -- kids. - 3000/day new customers: JAMA, January 6, 1989 Ill-effects-several diseases can be contracted from the use of cigarettes., these include: cancer, hair loss, wrinkles, buerger’s disease, psoriasis, heart illness, impotence, cervical cancer, ulcers, discoloration of teeth and fingers, osteoporosis, hearing loss, etc All of these ailments will be detailed on the visual aid How to quit or not smoke- The easiest ways to prevent smoking are simple, most smokers start smoking at a young age, if you don’t smoke while your in school, you are more likely not to smoke later on. Keep yourself away from smoker scenes, avoid being in restaurants that allow smoking. To quit is hardThey also know that of the ones who try to quit only about 3% succeed. - Those who try to quit: 3% succeed: MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY WEEKLY REPORT, CDC, DECEMBER 23, 1994 Where's our right to quit? Tobacco companies know that 70% of smokers want to quit but can’t. - 70% of smokers want to quit but can’t: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/research_data/bka/ythaddct.htm However here are ways, but they include drastic changes in life style†¦One way is to simply alter your day to day activities, try public transport instead of driving, because you cant smoke there, go to different restaurants and if necessary hang out with your usual friends less often.

Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages Ap History

Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages The Neolithic Age changed the way people live now a days for many reasons. First of all, in this era agriculture was very important. People could farm instead of hunting and gathering and also they could settle down in one place. People also began to live in small communities. Settling down in one place meant more food and free time. This started trade because there were food surpluses and began the first forms of government. There were many things to be done so they divided work up among everyone in the small community.This was the very beginning of the way we live today. The Paleolithic Age is the Old Stone Age ending in 1200 B. C. E. were stone tools were used for hunting and gathering. People used tools such as clubs and choppers to crack open bones. Tools in this era were mainly made to use for shelter, defense, and keepings of food and clothing. These people believed in an afterlife which was similar to actual life on Earth because they were provi ded with all the tools, weapons and necessities needed to survive which was stated in document 1.In this age scholars believed that their ancestors lived in a world of spirits and shown in document 2 these people were hunters. The Neolithic Age is the New Stone Age between 8000 and 5000 B. C. E. were the adaptation of sedentary agriculture occurred and were domestication of plants and animals occurred. This is the era where people began to develop social groups and create civilizations and stop moving from place to place. Stated in the document 4 people began to depend more on animals and less on plants.They followed herds of animals instead of just one to get more food and eventually create a surplus. The animals that they herded gave them the fertilizer for agriculture. In document 5 it says that there were settled farming communities and they began to create a council to make decisions on what to harvest. Settled people had more personal property. These differences were so import ant because of the technology and ways of life that these people started to create.If the people from the Paleolithic and Neolithic ages didn’t discover the things that they did our world today would be totally different. There are many possibilities on what our life would be like today if these people didn’t start a foundation for us. In conclusion, as you can see the Neolithic age changed how we live greatly. They started the first forms of agriculture and created small communities of people. People settled in one place and began to trade for work. What do you think life would be like if people from these two eras didn’t start the things they did for us?

The History of How Time Zones Came to Be

Prior to the late nineteenth century, time keeping was a purely local phenomenon. Each town would set their clocks to noon when the sun reached its zenith each day. A clockmaker or town clock would be the official time and the citizens would set their pocket watches and clocks to the time of the town. Enterprising citizens would offer their services as mobile clock setters, carrying a watch with the accurate time to adjust the clocks in customers homes on a weekly basis. Travel between cities meant having to change ones pocket watch upon arrival. However, once railroads began to operate and move people rapidly across great distances, time became much more critical. In the early years of the railroads, the schedules were very confusing because each stop was based on a different local time. The standardization of time was essential to efficient operation of railroads. The History of the Standardization of Time Zones In 1878, Canadian Sir Sandford Fleming proposed the system of worldwide time zones that we use today. He recommended that the world be divided into twenty-four time zones, each spaced 15 degrees of longitude apart. Since the earth rotates once every 24 hours and there are 360 degrees of longitude, each hour the earth rotates one-twenty-fourth of a circle or 15 degrees of longitude. Sir Flemings time zones were heralded as a brilliant solution to a chaotic problem worldwide. United States railroad companies began utilizing Flemings standard time zones on November 18, 1883. In 1884 an International Prime Meridian Conference was held in Washington D.C. to standardize time and select the prime meridian. The conference selected the longitude of Greenwich, England as zero degrees longitude and established the 24 time zones based on the prime meridian. Although the time zones had been established, not all countries switched immediately. Though most U.S. states began to adhere to the Pacific, Mountain, Central, and Eastern time zones by 1895, Congress didnt make the use of these time zones mandatory until the Standard Time Act of 1918. How Different Regions of the Word Use Time Zones Today, many countries operate on variations of the time zones proposed by Sir Fleming. All of China (which should span five time zones) uses a single time zone -- eight hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (known by the abbreviation UTC, based on the time zone running through Greenwich at 0 degrees longitude). Australia uses three time zones -- its central time zone is a half-hour ahead of its designated time zone. Several countries in the Middle East and South Asia also utilize half-hour time zones. Since time zones are based on segments of longitude and lines of longitude narrow at the poles, scientists working at the North and South Poles simply use UTC time. Otherwise, Antarctica would be divided into 24 very thin time zones! The time zones of the United States are standardized by Congress and although the lines were drawn to avoid populated areas, sometimes theyve been moved to avoid complication. There are nine time zones in the U.S. and its territories, they include Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, Alaska, Hawaii-Aleutian, Samoa, Wake Island, and Guam. With the growth of the Internet and global communication and commerce, some have advocated a new worldwide time system.