Saturday, August 31, 2019

Homeplus †Marketing Essay

Background of Homeplus â€Å"Homeplus† was initially owned by Samsung Corporation[1] in 1994. During the Asian financial crisis in 1997, Samsung was affect by the crisis and tried to strive its business in the retail industry. It eventually collaborated with Tesco, a major British retailer in 1999[2]. The joint venture benefited both Samsung and Tesco. Samsung was saved from bankruptcy, in the same time, Tesco was able to enter the tough local retail business because of the partnership with Samsung[3]. Tesco took over 94.68% shares of the company in 2011[4]. Vision – Great Stone Face Homeplus’s vision is to be recognized as the most admired company in South Korea[4][5][6][8]. The company concerns with two major value creation, which are the market and social value. â€Å"Face of Growth† is based upon the market value creation. It involves in stimulating value for customers by clearly understanding customers’ needs, in turn, providing these value to them, which benefits the company in terms of market value maximization[4][6][8]. Referring to customers’ satisfaction, Homeplus emphasizes on reliable shopping value. According to figure 3, there are several factors that the company must consider i.e. low price, wide range, high quality and great services or products. Figure 3 Homeplus – Great Stone Face[6] Figure 3 Homeplus – Great Stone Face[6] â€Å"Face of Contribution† reflects the relationship between Homeplus and its stakeholders. It refers to the social value creation. That is, the company gives importance to its stakeholders and understands their expected value[4][6][8]. Figure 4 Stakeholder Viewpoint[5] Figure 4 Stakeholder Viewpoint[5] According to figure 4, it can be seen that Homeplus is the leading company among its competitors measured by the involvement with its stakeholders especially the local community. The integration of these two faces gives the â€Å"Great Stone Face†, which is Homeplus’s vision of two values creation must be achieved in order to sustain its business long – term. The sustainable growth, together with social contribution is the key driven to gain higher market value and becoming the most admired and respected company in the world[6]. Mission – Artience House Homeplus created its own management structure called ‘Artience House’. The house’s structure logically explained the correlations between each of the elements being applied in its management framework. Figure 5 Homeplus Vision House[5] Core Purpose – Foundation To found a basis of house, Homeplus regards to ‘create increasing value for customers to earn their lifetime loyalty’ as its core purpose explaining the reason why it exist. Values – Pilling To make the foundation firm, Homeplus focuses on ‘values’ in its business execution, which are ‘No one tries harder for customers’ and ‘treat people how we would like to be treated’. 4 Generations Development of New Concept Stores Homeplus has continuously developed its hypermarket concept as shown in the following figure. Figure 6 Homeplus 4 Generations of New Concept Stores[6] Homeplus has developed its store concepts up to the 4th Generation. The following explanation of each generation will be described in details as follows. 1st Generation Homeplus (Samsung and Tesco) entered the retail industry in 1999[2][4]. The 1st generation’s concept was known as â€Å"One Stop Shopping Service†. The company focused on offering low price products to customers. Like other retailers, Homeplus experienced many threats such as high competitiveness and the warehouse – like style discount stores did not really attract customers etc. 2nd Generation A year later, the â€Å"Value Store† concept was introduced in the 2nd development phase in 2000[6][7]. The â€Å"Value Store† was created based upon the customer oriented Korean style[6]. It comprised with â€Å"One Stop Shopping Service† and â€Å"One Stop Living Service†, offering optimal shopping services and other service facilities in a clean environment. â€Å"One Stop Living Service† delivers new floor layouts. The first floor is equipped with food courts, children’s playrooms and other service facilities where the second and third floors are the supermarket and products display[4][6][7]. 3rd Generation The 3rd generation was first introduced in Jamsil 2007[6][7]. Homeplus added â€Å"Emotional Store† to the 2nd generation, offering art and culture to customers. Moreover, the â€Å"Emotional Store† adopts four concepts of Art – being, Well – being, Touching and High Technology to the store[4][6][7]. In other words, it combines art with science, so called â€Å"artience† environment to customers. This include art galleries and function rooms located on the fourth floor expansion of the hypermarket[1][6]. Hence, the â€Å"Emotional Store† concept consisted of â€Å"One Stop Shopping Service†, â€Å"One Stop Living Service† and â€Å"One Stop Touching Service†. 4th Generation Homeplus recently introduced a new concept for the 4th generation in 2011[6][7]. This radical shift differed from other development phases where it combined the services both online and offline shopping and created a new innovative shopping concept. The â€Å"Smart Virtual Store† concept was developed and it became the first virtual shopping concept in the world[1][8]. The â€Å"Smart Virtual Store† provides a new way of shopping in subway stations. It aims to persuade customers to shop â€Å"Anywhere, Anytime and Anyplace† regardless time and space[6][7]. The concept was created inversely to traditional stores by bringing the stores to customers rather than waiting for them to visit the stores[6][7]. Homeplus launched applications that smart phones or tablets can recognize products’ barcodes by interfacing information embedded in the online store[6][7]. Homeplus installed â€Å"shelves†, displaying more than 500 products featured with QR codes are pictures plastered on the subway station’s glass walls, which could be scanned, purchased through smart phones applications[1]. The products consists of 3 categories and 11 subdivisions i.e. Daily Takeouts, Tesco Direct Souring, most frequently selected items known as Best 100 and Happy Range consisting of infant cares etc[6][7]. Moreover, purchased goods deliveries can be arranged and arrive in minutes or hours. This concept also pleasure commuters that are waiting for their train. The first virtual store is located in Sellong subway station, which is one of the busiest stations in South Korea’s capital city, Seoul. Later on, the installment took place at Seomyeon, Busan and expanded to Kwanghwamoon bus station in Seoul[6][7]. It is believed that the virtual shopping is one of Homeplus’s creative innovations that helps expanding the online sales rather than investing on new stores that requires huge amount of capital. The expansion of the smart virtual store is expected to be locating at busy pedestrian areas, offices, parks as well as universities and college campuses etc[6][7][9]. The figure below is a â€Å"Smart Virtual Store† in Sellong subway station. Figure 7 Homeplus Smart Virtual Store in Sellong Subway Station Figure 7 Homeplus Smart Virtual Store in Sellong Subway Station Leading Innovation and Development Leading IT Systems Due to Tesco’s leading role of Information Technology, Homeplus employed some of Tesco’s current technologies to its operation. Examples of effective analytical systems deployed by Homeplus are Product Management System (PMS) and Radio Frequency Identification Pilot Project (RFID)[6][7]. Self-Checkout System Homeplus runs the first self-checkout system in Korea. This system is currently being operated at 58 stores and provides customers with more convenient and reliable shopping environment[6]. It can not only reduce waiting time, but also enable customers to arrange their goods by themselves. By using this system, customers can keep private of the goods they purchased, and avoid making their credit card data to be disclosed. Automatic Queuing System In Yeongdeungpo store and Jamsil store, Homeplus introduced the automatic customer queuing system to optimize their customer’s shopping experience. Instead of lining up in front of the cashiers, customers are automatically queued with queue numbers. It has maximized the efficiency of both customers and cashiers. With this system being utilized in retail market, the operation of check out has become more flexible[6]. New systems and the customers’ parliament Homeplus decided to adopt the lotus system for retailing, which had achieved the global standard and was flexible enough to manage a rapid expansion [21]. Meanwhile, in terms of Development of alternative technologies [10], Homeplus introduced a self-checkout system and a smart card system, which can automatically count products in a shopping cart. Automatic queue counting technology is another introduced method, which is aiming to eliminate waiting in checkout lines. Also, the self-order and self-pay system has also been introduced to apply in their food courts. Additionally, Homeplus has its own philosophy that all of its stores are the customers’ parliament and places great importance on seven types of customer surveys conducted 200 times annually [17]. PMS (Product Management System) Homeplus initially set up the Product Management System (PMS) in 2004[6][7]. The PMS is an Oracle developed system, which is used to analyze and predict demand, stock ordering and promotion tools. The system is considerably accurate in terms of profitability management. Moreover, the data storage can be stored more than two years. The PMS helps supporting functions that in weak areas of existing domestic systems such as researching on demand analysis and stock inventories etc. The objectives of PMS is to reduce operating costs in all areas from product ordering, merchandise management, price inventory planning to increasing productivity[6]. Radio Frequency Identification Pilot Project (RFID) Occurring in the same year as the PMS, Homeplus adopted the Korean government’s Radio Frequency Indentification Pilot Project (RFID)[6][7]. The RFID is an innovative technology that enables product tracking utilizing embedded semiconductor chips. The product tracking process can be applied across the entire cycle since the production stage to ware – house phase and distribution process. Additionally, Homeplus was the first company in South Korea that developed RFID card to monitor customers’ buying characteristics[6][7]. The data can be collected via electronic tags that are embedded in shopping trolleys. The collected information helps the company to improve product displays to be more convenient for customers. The â€Å"Smart Pallet† was Homeplus’s 1st RFID pilot project that tracks pallets movement in and out among three suppliers; distribution centres, stores and KPP[6]. The development of the 2nd pilot project enhanced the revision of business model creation and operation of individual product. Leading Innovation in Distribution In 2003, Homeplus established its very own distribution service centre called â€Å"Mokcheon Distribution Service Centre†. Two years later, the company built the â€Å"Haman Fresh Food Distribution Service Centre†, which is currently the biggest agricultural and fishery products distribution in Asia[6]. The distribution centres are built to support the rapidly increase in sales due to the opening of new hypermarkets. The following figure indicates Mokcheon and Haman distribution service centres’ capacities. Figure 8 Mokcheon and Haman Distribution Service Centres’ Capacities[6] Suppliers – Shared Growth & Fair Trade For balancing the two wings of itself and suppliers, Homeplus found the ‘Shared Growth Division’ to implement the shared growth policies on six areas (Fair trade, Funding, Cooperation and Technology Support, Export Support, Education Support, Management Support)by collected opinions and comments from suppliers, and to build up sustainable partnership with suppliers. To specific, Homeplus strive to provide the fair trade and free competition with customers and suppliers; and it operates the Vendor financing system to gain more funding support; for the sake of efficiency of distribution, Homeplus supplies cooperative measures and technical support for suppliers and Develop PB products with suppliers and help excellent SMEs expand into overseas markets; Due to The learning ability of one enterprise which decides their future, Homeplus built up an academy, it give staff an opportunity to pursue lifelong education. To improve product competitiveness, Homeplus contributes to strengthen quality control system of suppliers by cooperating with external and internal experts[6][7]. Customer Value * We understand customers and do our best to satisfy them. Generally, customers always play a significant role in a successful company. Sometimes, the opinions of customers might impact the operation direction of a firm. Consequently, customer value can be used as a catalyst in creating a new advanced strategy in an organization. As the second generation store of Homeplus, they built a new construct named â€Å"Value Store† which was focusing on the convenient living conditions. Home Plus provided one stop living service and one stop shopping service, especially the one stop shopping service included cosy shopping, full range of goods, lower price, better quality and extensive customer service. The top managers of Home Plus trained their stuff to understand customers, satisfy the requirements of customers first and act the responsibilities of the company [6]. Figure 10 Community Centre Store Concept[5] Homeplus also does several kinds of customer surveys to hear customer ideas, in order to serve them better. They built a customer plan including several elements which are low price, wide range of product, high quality and great service. Each of the elements contained several items to examine the emotional data from the responders. The data have closely related to the transformational leadership which could decision the strategy of the company to covert the learning organization to innovative company[6].

Friday, August 30, 2019

Caferoma Case Study

Caferoma is a well known brand of coffee, promoted as an exclusive product with a strong and slightly bitter taste. The main problem is Caferoma's market share has declined by almost 30%. Let me Summarise the reasons for this change †¢ Consumers have become less loyal to the brand †¢ supermarkets are producing the similar products under their own label are selling at much lover prices †¢ Competing products have lower prices (30 to 40 %) †¢ Caferoma becoming less fashionable Brand image: not up to date s we can see from the chart 2 years ago Caferoma’s sales in Hotels was 30% but last year it was 25% in restaurants 2 years ago Caferoma’s sales was 10% but last year it was 15% In supemarkets 2 years ago their sales was 45% but last year it was 30% In specialist shops 2 years ago Caferoma’s sales was 10% but last year it was 25% Conducting the market survey we have the following results: Majority [m d r? t? ] people suppose Caferoma is old-fashio ned 70% of people think Caferoma has a good quality 60% of people consider that Caferoma is expensive little bit more than half of the respondents believe Caferoma is exclusive a less than half of people said Caferoma is value for money and almost a third of respondents think Caferoma is ecxiting. I can propose the following solution: Create a new coffee with a new taste and a new name for example „Cafferissimaâ€Å". To introduce the new coffee it will be good to have a limited edition (maybe coffee with taste of chilli). It is necessary to create a new package with an exclusive design for example in gold. Furthermore we give special introduction prices for both coffees.Most people want to try out new brands just to know how it tastes – this is our advantage. In order to bring the old brand back to life, will be a good idea to give small additional samples on the new coffee package of „Cafferissimaâ€Å". Moreover we need a new design of the logo, as the old on e is boring. There is no relation between this logo and the exclusive taste of the coffee. Maybe it could be similar to the package of Caferoma (golden, italic type). The next step will be a change of advertising. It is necessary to find the typical Italian style for old and young people.I think it would be great to have two different ads. One ad with an old woman, dressed very exclusively and the other one with a group of young people who are having fun, laughing and so on. But both ads will be made at the same place for example a typically Italien square. E-Mail To: From: Subject: RE:Caferoma decaffeinated; Premium Blend Date: 9th September Dear Mario, the first thing I have to mention is, that the „decaffeinated productâ€Å" is available in all supermarkets, but placed on botton shelves! Customers won't find the product as easy as other products.Most supermarkets sell their own brands because they make more money with it. I think that we can raise our profit by offering t he managers cash for displaying our product in a better position. Here some measures to improve the premium blend sales: As far as I can see, the price for the premium blend is too high and the packaging looks old-fashioned. Therefore we should reduce the price and launch a new packaging design. We should also start a new advertising campaign with focus on the brand's qualities. For instance some tasting sessions in big stores. Best regards

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Statements of cash flows Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Statements of cash flows - Research Paper Example This explains why bank overdrafts are not part of financing activities. Additionally, the information presented on cash flow of IFRS is quick and easy to flow. Each entity is supposed to present cash flow statement in such a way that it gives an appropriate reporting of financing activities, investing, and operating. For instance, during the investing activities, it is expected that the firm acquires and uses the long term assets and other activities in the investment process that are not equivalent to cash flow. Additionally, it outlines investment activities as clearly cut and some of the examples of the investment activities undertaken during this time include paying cash to get the service or good to be used in the long-term service. The good or services involved in this case are the long term and intangible assets. Hence they break down into materials used during self construction, to acquire plant or machinery (Stephen & Norbert). Moreover, cash receipts received after selling an acquired asset should be part of investment activities. It generally involves the sale of a plant, property and equipment. Another thing considered is debt instrument or rather sales equity of entities and the interests acquired through the joint ventures. However, receipts from those entities that are classified as cash equivalent especially if they are held for trading and should be omitted. Furthermore, the advances of loans and cash from other parties are classified in this section together with their cash receipt repayment which includes loans to other parties involved ( AICPA). Other investment activities classifications includes cash gotten from securities like forward, option, future or swap contracts and they should appear on the cash flow statements. It only excludes these securities when the accounts are held for dealing and as a result, the payments are classified in part of financial undertakings. Noting here that, the account may be accounted as a hedge it is theref ore classified in this section of the cash flow. In the operation activities just like in IFRS cash flow method, are various methods that are described as the principal revenue producing operation. Therefore, a cash flow from the operation activities may result after transactions or other conditions bring in ways of profit determination or losses determination. Example of these operation activities are cash gotten from the sale of good or after the firm has rendered some services. It includes the cash received from loyalties, commission, fee and other revenues. Besides, it shows payment of cash on behalf of or to the employee. Also, it include activities like refunding of taxes or any other cash payments made by the company unless they are stated to specifically associate with the other cash flow activities. Actually, it is supposed to include cash received, all payments gotten from an investment, loan among other money contracts held during trading purposes and they are classified as inventory specifically acquired for resale (Stephen & Norbert). It is therefore evident that just like in IFRS, when accounting one should show some transaction under operation activities, which includes the firm selling machinery and this result to the firm gaining or loosing. Therefore, cash flows experienced from these transactions are classified to being from

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Our Parents Affect Us Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Our Parents Affect Us - Essay Example His aunt who was a devout Christian raised Hughes; she encouraged him to attend church proceedings so that he could be saved. Hughes narrates how his aunt told him that extraordinary things would occur in his life after he gets saved. He attends the revival church service where his aunt Reed worshipped so that he could experience the unusual feeling. Prior to the service, his aunt had advised him that he would experience â€Å"something on the inside and he would see the light† Hughes was anxious about experiencing the everlasting light of Jesus Christ (Yagelski, Amy & Robert 224). He attended the church service with the expectation of seeing the light physically. However, this does not take place because he was waiting for Jesus to appear and encourage him to join the rest of the children on the altar. He is forced to join the rest of the children on the altar out of peer pressure. Deep down he thought salvation was something physical not an inside feeling. He pretends to hav e experienced salvation to please his aunt. The impact of the words of our parents can be massive. Parents are the adults children look up to. Therefore, anything they tell their children is assumed to be true. Even when the words or stories told present some gaps the children perceive the words of the adults as something not to be questioned. Hughes believed the words of his aunt and when the anticipated feeling did not occur he was afraid to question his aunt and opted to lie. Hughes experience in â€Å"salvation† is similar to many other experiences of children. Children tend to comprehend the words told by our parents plainly. They believe that something will happen for real and not through imagination. Parents do not know the children fathom things that way; therefore, they keep on telling them fantasy stories that they understand as being true. Most of the time, the words of our parents influence our decision-making. Even though children do not comprehend all that their parents say when they are young. They pretend to understand so that they may not disappoint their parents. This is why Hughes pretended to be saved - he wanted to make his aunt happy. Maxine Hong Kingston is another victim of the impact of parents in â€Å"No Name Woman†. The stories told by our parents are meant to nurture our growth and ensure we behave properly (Yagelski, Amy & Robert 87). Parents fail to understand the fantasy developed by children because of the story or narration. For instance, Kingston is a young Chinese woman approaching adolescence; the mother is afraid of the impact of adolescence that may befall Kingston. Kingston’s mother tells her a story to frighten her and ensure she respects traditional morals and ethics, but many things go through the daughter’s mind; she tries to imagine the possible ways that her aunt’s misfortune happened. Kingston develops an imagination of what might have happened to her aunt. She kept on wondering what led to the suicidal decision of her aunt. Children have the tendency of developing similar fantasies from the stories told by parents. They tend to fill the gaps not answered by parents. The imaginations are developed because the stories told by parents are not fully imaginative; therefore, the children develop their own fantasy world to fill the gaps. The imaginations can go as far as Kingston’s imaginations. She keeps on wondering if her aunt was miserable because of the

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Economic or Gender Concerns During the Interwar Period Essay

Economic or Gender Concerns During the Interwar Period - Essay Example Some societies made an objective of addressing their economy during the interwar period whereby they emphasized on leisure to help improve their economy status. They would change employment patterns and working hours so that they can facilitate the growth of leisure time. According to Joseph Starlin, â€Å"in our country, in the U.S.S.R the workers have long forgotten unemployment. Some three years ago we had about one and a half million unemployed. It is already two years now since unemployment has been completely abolished. Look at the capitalist countries; what horrors are taking place there as a result of unemployment!†According to Mustapha Kemal â€Å"Youth undoubtedly considers the republic a gift presented by your genius and decisiveness to Turkishness more valuable than life itself In its defense, no sacrifice is too great It will be jealously guarded against nothing to existence from the darkness into the light, at the call to follow the path of deliverance we are an d shall eternally be, with laws written with our blood, the guardians of freedom and the future†In eugenicssociety, in the year 1921, there was an attempt to criminalize lesbianism. For the matrimonial causes, Act of 1923 made adultery the sole ground of divorce for either of the spouse.Additionally, further grounds were added in the year 1937 comprising of a wife’s right to divorce her husband for a case of rape.In this society of Eugenics, a person named Marie Stopes came up with a birth control clinic.

Monday, August 26, 2019

Webquest Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Webquest - Essay Example Other components that can enhance but are not essential to the WebQuest, according to Dodge, are making the WebQuest either single discipline-focused or multiple-disciplines-focused; incorporating elements to motivate participants; and the incorporation of group activities (Dodge). Question 2: Looking at actual WebQuests, it is clear that the outline provided by Dodge has been useful in defining the parameters of such exercises, and from their widespread adoption it can be said to that the format of the WebQuest had been instrumental in its efficacy as a teaching and learning protocol/strategy/program/plan. There is a high level of uniformity in the adoption of the critical elements in many of the WebQuests that I encountered for this exercise, with the exception of a few that also incorporated Teacher Advice and Credits sections on top of the key elements of the Introduction, Tasks, Process, Evaluation, and Conclusion. The Teacher Advice section seems to be helpful in theory, as far as providing additional, but important notes that Teachers can refer to when making use of the WebQuest, to enhance learning outcomes )(Dodge; Rogers; Creech; Smith-Rios). a. The WebQuest focuses on the use of the Web to find out differing versions of Cinderella in different parts of the world, designed to develop critical and analytical skills among students as they navigate through the process and prescribed references/steps. The WebQuest states that this is appropriate for a Language Arts class in Sixth Grade (Rogers) b. The students were made to go through several sources to help them develop an understanding of how to research and compare varying versions of the Cinderella story. The directions are clear and well-laid out, and further substantiated by the requirements in the Evaluation Crtieria (Rogers) c. The color scheme invokes

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Intervention Research and System Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Intervention and System - Research Paper Example On the other hand, system research considers connections among components and plans for the implications of their interactions to communities and environments. It calls for active involvement of those who have taken part in order to govern the course of change. A good example In this case is when the networks of organizations and scientists from around the world pull together and try to reason the complexity of weather patterns and come up with more accurate and timely weather forecasts. However, the integration of systems theory for public health programs has played some major roles. It brings about critical considerations to historical processes, practical challenges as well as ethical considerations that may arise. It also reflects critically the evidence and evidence based policies and practice (Melnyk & Morrison-Beedy, 2012).   It uses methods that lead to a more constructive examination of complex adaptive systems and this helps to solve problems that are complex and dynamic. Because of its effectiveness, it has been applied in various research disciplines where many research methods had failed, particularly in the approach that was used to control tobacco and also in weather forecasting by the forecasting model group which has so far proven

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Accessibility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Accessibility - Essay Example Since websites are most rife at the technology interface available to general public, web development technology specific accessibility options are given special importance in the context of this rule. (Lazar and Olalere 2011) The Section 508 is having significant impact. Websites of both government and non government organizations, particularly those working in the sphere of human services, may call for processes such as live chat, online support service, video conference, etc. In absence of proper scope to use wider accessibility options, such websites may become useless to users who have disabilities. Section 508 articulates that how IT systems and applications can be made more user-friendly. Consequently, it sets a legal and technical roadmap before the website developers, which defines how they can ensure numerous and better accessibility options in the websites they design.... For example, a website may have a wide appearance when viewed with the help of a computer; but it will appear in a sleek, oblong from when viewed with the help of a mobile phone. (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs 2013; Seffah and Javahery 2004) Section 508 and Its Impact In USA, Section 508 of Rehabilitation Act (1973) was legislated in 1998 by the means of an amendment. The main motive behind this law is to get rid of barriers in information technology (IT) systems, which people with disabilities confront in general. It also aims at developing techniques that would make it plausible and easier for people with disabilities to have equal opportunity to access information. Since websites are most rife at the technology interface available to general public, web development technology specific accessibility options are given special importance in the context of this rule. (Lazar and Olalere 2011) The Section 508 is having significant impact. Websites of both government and non govern ment organizations, particularly those working in the sphere of human services, may call for processes such as live chat, online support service, video conference, etc. In absence of proper scope to use wider accessibility options, such websites may become useless to users who have disabilities. Section 508 articulates that how IT systems and applications can be made more user-friendly. Consequently, it sets a legal and technical roadmap before the website developers, which defines how they can ensure numerous and better accessibility options in the websites they design. Available Tools for Compliance Testing The World Wide Web Consortium or W3C provides an efficient Section 508 compliance checking

The Franklin Fund and Tiffany & Co Research Paper

The Franklin Fund and Tiffany & Co - Research Paper Example Tiffany & Co. is a company with holdings that mainly operates through its subsidiary companies. The company mainly engages in jewelry manufacturing, product designing and retailing activities. However, the major portion of the sales is earned from its jewelry and specialty retailer, Tiffany and Company which operates primarily in North and South America and has stores in United States, Canada, Brazil and Mexico. Apart from these nations, a substantial amount of sale for the company products comes from Asia-Pacific and European countries. A brief history of the company Established first in New York in the year 1830, Tiffany & Co. during its initial years saw great growth prospect in the fancy and stationery goods market. With an advance of $1,000 from Tiffany’s father, 25 years old Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young opened their first store at New York City. Inspired by the natural world, their products bore the mark of harmony, simplicity and clarity, which went on to bec ome the hallmark of the company’s designs ranging from their silver hollowware and flatware to jewelry at later stages. It was in 1867, that Tiffany and Co got international recognition, when a foreign jury at Paris Exposition Universelle handed over the grand prize for silver craftsmanship. As it went on to spread its wings, Tiffany & Co. went on to establish the first American school of design, The Silver Studio. In 1886 the company created another benchmark when it launched the engagement ring Tiffany ® Setting which went on to become a new symbol in the jewelry industry. Tiffany won the greatest of honors and awards and held the leading position in thee world of designer jewelry creation. Tiffany boasted of being one of the most trusted and appreciated jewelry brand for many distinguished personalities of the American society; who preferred Tiffany & Co. over any other jewelry brand. The company continually changed and updated its designs to keep pace with the changing taste of the modern customers. One can get hold of all the legendary design patterns of Tiffany in the annual Blue Book Collection. Published for the first time in 1845 this book catalogues the best of all glamorous and spectacular jewelry created by Tiffany. Today’s version of the catalogue showcases the elite range of diamonds and colored gems that have been encrusted in wide range of precious metals For its elegant style and rich heritage over the past two centuries, Tiffany has gained the reputation of being the ultimate source of gifts for most cherished occasions of life. (Tiffany & Co., 2011). A brief biography of the current CEO Michael J. Kowalski, the chairman and CEO of Tiffany & Co. is a renowned jeweler who was appointed as the president of the company back in January 1996.