Reformation of Chinas Pension Scheme

Reformation of Chinas Pension Scheme During the time of writing my dissertation, I have has many help from people both intellectually and emotionally. I would like to take this space to thank first of all, my supervisor, Mr. Robert Plumb, for offering me the support and guidance all the way through. I am grateful to my friends in the BSc Actuarial Science class for the great time I had during the three-year study at Cass Business School. I would like to thank all the lectures for making our lives at school so convenient and pleasant. Last but not least, many thanks to my family and other friends who have always given me encouragement and support during this process. Abstract The rapid ageing population in China has slowed down economic progress. Certain steps should be taken in relation to the pension system in order to cope with such a situation. There are several models of pension reform in the world, the most important one is perhaps the multi-pillar pension system advocated by World Bank. China actually reformed the current pension scheme based on this multi-pillar model. With a responsible attitude, the experience gained in Chinese pension reform will lead to a stronger and deeper national system that can eventually provide social welfare for the entire Chinese population. In Chapter 1, I will introduce the main types of pension schemes and the historical background of China pension system and illustrate how it developed. The current situation of Chinaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s pension system is displayed by the Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index in Chapter 2. The four main problems of Chinaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s pension system and the urgency of reform is explained fully in Chapter 3. The different types of reform are followed by, along with what China chose to do in Chapter 4. In Chapter 5, the performance of reform is evaluated. Chapter 6 is mainly about the problem pointed out in the recent China Two Conference and the future trend of Chinaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s pension reform. Table of Contents Acknowledgements2 Abstracts-3 Chapter 1 Introduction-5 Chapter 2 Current situation of China pension system8 Chapter 3 Problems of Chinaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s pension system and reasons for pension reform10 Chapter 4 Different types of pension reform and what China chose to do15 Chapter 5 Evaluation of pension reforming-20 Chapter 6 Conclusion-23 Reference25 Chapter 1 Introduction Chinaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s population has been ageing rapidly, and financial support for the pension system is facing a number of resultant problems. The system itself is also divided unevenly across regions and sectors. Furthermore, globalization makes the transaction between countries and sectors more difficult. Therefore, reforming Chinaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s pension scheme has become an urgent issue. This report will begin with a brief overview of the historical background of the Chinese pension system. It will move onto the pension crisis and relevant problems at present, followed by the different types of pension reform and the way China has chosen to reform. Finally it will conclude with the evaluation of Chinaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s pension reform. The main goal of pension reform is to ensure the elderly live a peaceful life in retirement. In order to achieve this goal, China still has to solve a lot of economic and social problems. The Chinese government started its national pension system reformation in the 1990s by setting up a three-pillar state pension system in urban areas, which is a remarkable step in pension reform. Recently, Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index revealed that the Chinese pension system is facing a large challenge. There are five main problems occur in Chinese pension system: Financial problem; Ageing population; Institutional problem and problems occur in transaction. Several types of pension reform can be chosen and after considering the situation in China, the multi-pillar system stands out to become a wise solution. Compare to those developed countries, Chinaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s pension reform still has a long way to go. With positive attitude, we believe that the system will become mature in the fu ture. The main types of pension scheme as follows: A pension scheme can be classified as a defined benefit scheme or a defined contribution scheme according to the determination of benefits. A defined contribution (DC) scheme is dependent on the amount of money contributed and the performance of the investment. A traditional defined benefit (DB) scheme is a plan in which the benefit on retirement is determined by a set formula, rather than depending on investment returns. Another definition of a defined benefit scheme is that it is an arrangement where the benefits payable to the members are determined by the schemeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s rules. Value of Pension Fund Assets DB Value of Financial Assets DC Value of Pension Fund Assets Value of Financial Assets Basically, the pension scheme in China is a defined benefit, PAYGO system for older employees and retirees, multi-pillar system combining social pooling and individual accounts for younger employees. This system includes (a) a mandatory defined benefit paid out of social pooling account, (b) a monthly annuity paid out of the defined contribution, employee individual account, and (c) a voluntary supplementary individual account. After briefly explaining the main types of pension scheme, the historical background of China pension system will be illustrate as follows: In 1949 the Chinese government adopted a provisional constitution of the common Programà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, which mentioned that the labour insurance system should be introduced progressively in companies; this provided a legal basis for the establishment of a unified, national labour insurance system. On February 25, 1951, the Central Peoples Government promulgated The Peoples Republic of China Labour Insurance Regulations, which required companies to implement pensions, medical insurance and industrial injury insurance for their employees. This was Chinas first social security law; it clearly defined insurance coverage, insurance premium collection, insurance items and standards, as well as the implementation and supervision of the insurance industry as a whole. During the next three decades the government gradually improved the pension system. Then, in 1984 China overhauled the entire pension system. The change was started in some rural areas first. The system was based on being paid mainly by individuals, supplemented by the communities, supported by government policies and resulted in the accumulation of funds in personal accounts. In 1991, thanks to economic development, the government established a combined system with a state pension, company pension and private pension. Basis of calculating accrual of pension insurance during that time: Range of income Rate of pension insurance 60% 60%-300% of average income actual income >300% of average income 300% In 1997 the Chinese government formulated a new policy, which started to establish a unified nationwide pension system for every enterprise employeeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s insurance. Chinas basic pension system is a combined model of state and individual accounts. The basic pension covers workers in urban enterprises; all urban enterprises and their employees must fulfill the obligation to pay the basic pension. At present, employers contribute about 20%, and employees 8%, of the total income. The rates paid by employers are partly used in the state pension and the rest goes into the personal accounts; the rates paid by employees are used in private accounts. In 1997, the policy became clearer. It can now be seen that the main purpose of the basic pension in the future is to protect the basic livelihood of retirees in their twilight years. After several years of reform, the people involved in pension scheme increased from 86.71 million (at end of 1997) to 108.02 million (at the end of 2001); the number of people receiving the basic pensions raised from 25.33 million to 33.81 million. The average monthly basic pension increased from 430 RMB to 556 RMB. In order to ensure the timely and full payment of the basic pension in recent years, the Chinese government have made efforts to improve the pooling level and constantly increased the financial input into the basic pension fund. From 1998 to 2001 the central government expenditures for pension fund subsidies amounted to 86.1 billion RMB. Chapter 2 Current situation of China pension system Recently, Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index revealed that the Chinese pension system is facing a large challenge. They measured the ranking according to the adequacy, sustainability and comprehensiveness of the system in each state. From the comparison of the private and public pension systems index in five continents, across eleven countries, Chinas system achieved relatively low ratings. This shows that Chinas growing pension system needs to be further developed and reformed in order to cope with continued pressure from the ageing population, and in order to remain competitive in the world. According to the pension index (total 100) estimates, the Netherlands ranks first, with an index of 76.1, followed by Australia (74.0), Sweden (73.5) and Canada (73.2). The UK ranked fifth with 63.9, while the lowest-ranked pension systems are those of Japan (41.5), China (48.0) and Germany (48.2).    Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index Country Overall index value Sub-index values Adequacy Weighting 40% Sustainability Weighting 35% Integrity Weighting 25% Netherlands 76.1 80.5 62.5 88.2 Australia 74.0 68.1 71.0 87.8 Sweden 73.5 68.5 75.2 79.1 Canada 73.2 76.2 64.2 80.9 UK 63.9 56.6 56.4 86.3 USA 59.8 49.2 69.4 63.4 Chile 59.6 48.9 54.1 84.5 Singapore 57.0 51.7 68.9 49.1 Germany 48.2 60.8 44.3 33.7 China 48.0 64.7 38.5 34.7 Japan 41.5 39.2 34.4 55.2 Average 61.4 60.4 58.1 67.5 Source: Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index Among these countries there was no one pension system which achieved A-Level (an index of more than 80). Mercer said that this shows that even the worlds most advanced pension system needs to be adjusted in order to ensure that the support is sufficient for a rapidly aging population. Although the lowest-ranked countries are not yet falling into the lowest level, the category E (an index of less than 35). However if the major defects are not resolved, the effectiveness and sustainability of all these systems will face challenges. Chapter 3 Problems of China pension system and reasons of pension reforming Chinas pension system is actually still in personal accounts, which are kind of on a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"PAYGOà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ system, combined with some public administration. The system is presently in a transition period. Of the results, the following problems stand out: 3.1 Financial Problems Firstly there are the financing problems. The actual payment rate is low and it keeps decreasing. Since the payment of the transition cost is still a problem, the pension accounts in many places have fallen into financial bankruptcy. According to the statistics from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the state-owned enterprises owe 38 billion RMB to the state in unpaid pensions all over the country. That is why the money raised in personal accounts is being used to pay current retirees. Even so, the funding is still not enough and when there is a deficit in financing, the local tax revenue is used to bridge the gap. In fact, the local and central government is working to save a lot of places where the pension co-ordination is already in bankruptcy. If the situation does not improve, it could threaten the sustainability of the central government. Another financial problem is that the personal account is actually just a name, which means it guarantees nothing. Since the Govern ment has not clearly informed us how they will pay for the transition costs over the past few years, all the money that has been raised in these accounts for funds has been used to pay the current pensions of retired employees, which turns personal accounts into empty accounts. One of the biggest progresses in Chinese pension reform is the introduction of a defined contribution scheme. It is compulsory for the workers to join the savings plan, therefore the welfare responsibilities are transferred from the government and enterprises to individuals. However, an important question makes people pause for thought: will the funding of this defined contribution plan really indicate the fulfilling of the fund, or it is just a fanciful à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"PAYGOà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ plan with no actual fund that plays the same role as the pillar I scheme. This issue has already led to misbehaviour in some local authorities. Some of the contributions to personal accounts have been used to pay current retirees, which leads to empty accounts and all the time the transition costs remain unclear. Implicit pension debt from the restructuring costs arose in the process of the old PAYGO pension system through the accumulation scheme. After we established the partly-accumulated system with social pooling combing individual accounts, the pension included two parts: a basic pension and an individual account pension. However, people who retired before the pension reformations did not have sufficient accumulation in individual accounts, while those who started to work before reform but retiring after reform only have limited personal accounts accumulated, and the basic pension can only provide a limited level of protection. Although there are no or only limited personal accounts pension accumulation for these two kinds of retirees, the commitments made under their old pension scheme still have to fulfilled, therefore this formed a pensions debt. Under the current PAYGO system, because the right of pensions is implied, the debt is called a hidden debt. However, when the pension system transferred to a whole or partly accumulation based one, the implicit debt became obvious. In order to ensure the continuity and fairness of the pension system, the new system must assume the responsibility for the debt. The Government has to fulfil the pension rights of those retirees. In our country, apart from these two parts of pensions, the additional pension to the retirees caused by inflation or wage increasing also belongs to the scope of implicit debt of the pension, generally speaking, Chinaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s implicit pension debt includes payments to retired employees, transitional pension contribution to those who started work before the reform, as well as the adjustment fee applied to inflation and wage growth. Another important cause of the financing problems is that there are no specific responsibilities for historical debt between different levels of government. Our government did not specify the individual responsibilities between companies and governments with regard to the debt caused in transition period. The greatest problem of dealing with implicit debts is a lack of motivation and unclear responsibility allocation. Not only in the experimental areas, but also in other cities. Every party attempts to avoid its responsibilities. Both parties rely on each otherà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s financial input and lack of motivation in terms of the pension supervision. Therefore an increasing deficit became inevitable. 3.2 Ageing Population Secondly, the ageing of the population has now become a huge issue for many countries in the world. The problem is however, much more serious in China. Since China has a large population base, plus nearly 30 years of reform and opening up, peoples living standards have increased greatly. Health and medical conditions have been markedly improved. People expect to live longer and the elderly population increases every year; it is now more than 160 million. China has become the worlds largest elderly populous country, accounting for 1/5 of the total elderly population of the world, and 1/2 of Asia. Currently about 12% of the total population in China is aged over 60, although it is expected that this number will increase to 26% by 2050 because of the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"one-childà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ policy and the improvement in life expectancy. Now, the ratio of the working-age population to the retirement-age population is 8:1 and it will decrease to 2:5 by 2050. The average age in China is now 31 and it will reach 40 in 2050. The distribution of population in China Source: World Bank Institute (Dr. Wang Yan) This scenario showed that with a gradual decline in future population growth, Chinas labour force in 2020 to 2025 will stop growing, and decline thereafter. However, the population aged 65 and over will continue to grow. Therefore, the elderly dependency ratio will rise from 11% to 25% by 2030 and 36% by 2050. The system dependency ratio will not be less than the current 30%, which means that three workers support one retiree; by 2030 the ratio will rapidly reach 69% and 79% by 2050. The PAYGO system in 2000 has a 60 billion surplus, but the gap in pension income and expenditure will be significantly expanded. Over the next few years, the accumulation of pension reserves will become negative, and in 2050 it will reach 102,730 billion RMB. It is clear that the growing pension deficit will pose a threat to financial stability, and has already brought instability to Chinas future economic development. It has significantly increased the financial pressure on the system and makes the need for further reforms even more urgent. Nowadays, there are only 170 million employees are members of a pension scheme; that is less than 15% of the population. As the population grows older, if the current pension provision remains the same, the pension funds in China will have a deficit in next five years; furthermore, this can lead to a deficit in trillions by 2040. The national pension funds could be short 2.5 trillion RMB (which is around US$ 368 billion) over the next 20 years if nothing is done to remedy this now. 3.3 Institutional Problem Thirdly, the system itself is not well developed. The pension system is divided at all administrative levels. In 1999, 27 provinces were supposed to achieve co-ordination of the provincial funds according to documentation, but in fact only 5 (Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing and Hainan) out of 27 provinces fully realized this co-ordination. In the other 22 provinces, only 1%-2% of the money from different cities was gathered in order to establish public funds. Due to the lack of co-ordination there are five provinces that have yet to establish such a fund, which means the policy was not really working out. Furthermore, the current co-ordination is not perfect in many ways. The collection and expenditure of pensions were not administered separately by different organizations. Also because of the payment strategy, which is that companies pay the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"netà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ value (pension income minus the money paid to retired employee) into funds, the contribution rates b etween provinces and cities, in some cases even between companies, have great differences. Moreover, the coverage of pension systems is narrow and they have regional imbalances. Until the end of 1998, the basic pension provision covered only 78.4% of employees of state-owned enterprises, 16.2% of group companies and 5.4% of other urban enterprises. There were no pension plans for self-employed and individual entrepreneurs in cities. For rural areas, there are some creative plans by local officers, but again coverage is very limited. The coverage of pension scheme in China is restricted based on employment in the work unit, rather than on citizenship, which means the reform only targets a small number of the population. This is in contrast to developed countries, where the pension system is relatively mature and covers nearly all of the workforce. In these countries, what they need to do is to avoid large future deficits and unsustainable ageing populations. However in China, there is far more to consider. More than half of Chinaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s population lives in rural areas. As a bequest of past economic and pension policies, there is great inequality in both economic development and pension coverage between the urban and rural areas (urban areas are mainly the eastern coastal areas and rural areas are mainly the western part of China); the urban population is generally better covered than rural and migrant populations. The special household registration system, which was used to control the movement of people between urban and rural areas, helped split the population into urban and rural. The productive workers from the rural areas migrated to cities for more attractive working opportunities and higher incomes. However they will not be able to benefit from the urban social security since they were not under the registration of the special system. The lack of regulation is another issue. Since there is no social insurance law in China, the local social insurance agencies are weak enforcers of power. This makes collecting payments even more difficult. Also since there is no such law, it is hard to apply penalties. From the international point of view, the states basic pension systems are mostly being legislated by state first, then organised by the Central Government. However, Chinas pension system formed gradually under the basis of summing up experiences of local reform. It is only written in the Constitution of the nationals that citizens have the right to receive substance. Other pension systems were implemented in accordance with regulations promulgated by the State Council. The Social Insurance Law, as it has already been called for many years, is still in the process of taking advice, which means that pension rights are infringed due to lack of legal protection. This further led to a large number of arrears and made mana gement of the pension system even harder, without any strong legal grounds. 3.4 Problems occurring in transaction Finally, another challenge will be the transfer between pension accounts. The disadvantage of migrant workers is that their accumulated benefits in their pension accounts from their previous employers cannot be moved. It is therefore a risk for them to give up their accumulated benefits in one work place and take another new position in a different city or province. It is difficult for the government to transfer the pension accounts from one city or province to another, especially when such workers tend to move frequently for immediate job opportunities. Therefore, the migrant workers cannot receive their pension benefits from past employment and finally lose out financially when they return to their homeland at the end. At present, in a large number of cities, pension consulting business is processed by computers. In more developed cities, pension consulting networks have been established. But as a whole, Chinaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s pension-collection policy still has a lot to improve; information system coverage is still below average. It specifically shows in the following ways. Firstly, information authorities and management systems are not adapting to the overall development trend. Also, the lack of a complete and versatile information operating system of social security results in slow delivery of information and finance data, as well as slow construction of the reconciliation system among departments. Chapter 4 Different types of pension reform and what China chose to do Since the last century, many countries worldwide started to reform their pension systems. The following graph shows that most countries made parameter adjustment without changing the basic framework of the pension system, including the change to the fee structure, revenue structure and method of management reforms. In addition, about 21% of the countries made a fundamental structural change to the national public pension system. Proportions of different types of pension reform Source: Schwarz Demirguc-Kunt (1999) Different countries chose various forms of pension reform according to their countryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s basic economic and social conditions. However, to sum up, there are five main types of pension reform, which are as follows: Parametric Reform Parametric reform is the adjustment of parameters of the existing public pension system, including adjustments of payment, remuneration, and benefit eligibility. The main purpose of such a system is to reduce the public pension expenditure Privatization Reform In order to alleviate the pressure on the public pension system, in recent years a major trend has been to expand the market for private pension funds. A number of countries have taken many measures to encourage voluntary private pension systems, such as giving preferential tax policies, reducing the size of the public pension system and other steps. Notional Account Reform The state transferred the PAYGO, defined benefit public pension system to a notional accounts system. Under such a pension system, employees are just like those in a private pension system, as its contribution is credited to individual accounts, and receives interest. Workers receive a pension upon retirement, depending on the amount of money in their personal accounts. However, there is no actual accumulation of funds in the employees personal account, as the money paid by active employees is used to pay retireesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ pensions. That is, the notional accounts system benefit has a defined contribution, but its means of financing is still PAYGO; therefore it is called a Notional Defined Contribution system. From Defined Benefit to Defined Contribution Although the transformation from the current PAYGO defined benefit system to a fully funded defined contribution system is one of the main trends of reform, a small number of African and Asian countries have chosen to do it the other way round. They have changed from a fully funded defined contribution system to a PAYGO defined benefit system. This is because these countries have accumulated a fund, which is managed by the Government provident fund system. Due to a lack of regulations and governments often abuse their powers, and such pension funds not only failed to obtain a reasonable rate of return, but in some countries also suffered serious diversion and erosion. In order to limit the rights of the government, these countries decided to change the pension system to a non-funded PAYGO system. Since under such a scheme there is no accumulation of funds, therefore the Government tends to be unlikely to abuse the funds. Multi-Pillar System After 100 years of development, the pension system has shown a wide variety of forms. Different forms of pension system have their own advantages in achieving their goals, but some shortcomings are inevitable. Therefore, the World Bank has been advocating the establishment of a multi-pillar pension system, allowing complementary advantages and risk diversification. In 1994, the World Bank proposed in à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Averting Old Age Crisisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ the establishment of a three-pillar pension system: (a) the first pillar is a public, PAYGO, usually defined benefit and redistributive pension system; (b) the second pillar is a private, funded, almost always defined contribution pension system; (c) the third pillar is a private, funded, voluntary, supplementary, preferably defined contribution pension system. In 2005, the World Bank extended the establishment of the three-pillar system to a five-pillar system in the report of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"21st Century Elderly Income Securityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. Among them, the zero pillar is to provide a minimum protection, non-contributory national pension system, the fourth pillar is the informal supporting system within the family to the elderly, or formal social welfare system. The five pillars have their own characteristics and different functions; and can be able to cope with different types of risk. Zero pillar is helping to eliminate poverty for the poor segment of society, as well as secure those groups working in informal sectors with low incomes. It is regarded as a part of the social safety net. The aim of the first pillar is to respond to a short-sighted individual risk, low-income risks, uncertainty in life expectancy and investment risks in financial markets, but it is vulnerable to demographic changes and political fluctuations. The second pillar through a mandatory savings system can prevent the short-sighted individual risk, while the privately managed pension system would avoid influence from political risks. However, the second pillar pension system is vulnerable to the impact of financial market risks, and transaction costs are relatively high. The third pillar can compensate for the rigidity in the design of the other pillars, but privatel y managed pension funds may have financial risk and agency risk. The fourth pillar has the main function of family protection, and through the social welfare system to provide medical care and housing protection to the elderly. Compared to a single pension system, the greatest strength of a multi-pillar pension system is its ability to withstand risks, which is significantly enhanced. This is because the factors affecting each pillar are not entirely relevant to each other. In many cases, the relevance is very small, even negative. For example, if the first pillar is a PAYGO, defined benefit pension system, the main factor affecting this pillar is the growth rate of wages. While the second and third pillar may be a completely accumulation based, defined contribution pension system, and the main factors influencing it will be the investment rate of return. As the correlation between the rate of wage growth and return on investment is very small, it is efficient to distribute the pension assets in these three pillars. In addition, there is also a complementary relationship among the different pillars. For example, in the individual defined contribution pension system, workers need to take an amount of savings in their personal accounts and convert it into an annuity. At this time, employees have to bear the risk of changes in interest rates, as well as the risk of death. However, defined benefit pension systems can spread the risk of death. Again, the third pillar à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" a voluntary occupational pension system is vulnerable to income fluctuations and job changing, but the first and second pillar pension system can offset these effects. Many countries adopted the multi-pillar pension system because the World Bank recommended the concept of such a model. However, the specific choice of a mix of pillars depends on the national situation, including the status of the existing pension system, reform objectives, administrative capacity, the level of development of financial markets, the level of restructuring costs and other factors. In low-income countries, the goal of a pensions system should be defined as the eradicati

Energy Drinks Case Study Essay

Competition in Energy Drinks, sports Drinks, and Vitamin-Enhanced Beverages Case Study There are new coming items in beverage industry during the mid-2000s, which are energy drinks, sports drinks and Vitamin-Enhanced beverages. These items focus on different flavors, specified consumers, efficient distribution systems, and products innovation in the beverage market. They compete with water, soft drinks, juices, tea, and other common drinks, which are in low prices, good and long history of brand reputation, easy to accept the taste. From 2005 until now, alternative beverages grow fast and take more and more market share in the whole world beverage market. The main alternative beverages companies are Coca Cola, PepsiCo, Red Bull and Hansen Natural Corporation. Energy drinks, spots drinks, and vitamin-enhanced beverages use many strategies to find a good position in the beverage industry in the Global market, which also give us some ideas about how to operate beverage companies. Firstly, alternative beverages take the action via wider product selection, better product quality, good delivery system to gain sales and market share. For example, PepsiCo develops 12 flavors of Amp Energy drinks and 28 varieties of SoBe vitamin-enhanced drinks (Gamble, 2010, p. C-83). Again, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola through their own soft drinks distribution channels to deliver energy drinks at the same time, which reduce much time and cost. Secondly, energy drinks take big actions to enter emerging market opportunities, like most Asia countries and South America. For example, alternative beverages take 31. 5% market share in Asia-Pacific in 2009 (Gamble, 2010, p. C77). Thirdly, Energy drinks, spots drinks, and vitamin-enhanced beverages try to acquire or merge with other small companies to strengthen market standing and competitiveness. For instance, PepsiCo has a multiyear distribution agreement with Rockstar to distribute Rockstar energy drinks in the United States and Canada (Gamble, 2010, p. C-83). Coca-Cola also has a multiyear distribution agreement with Hansen Natural Corporation to distribute Hansen’s Monster energy drink in some areas of the United States, Canada, and six European countries (Gamble, 2010, p.C-84). SWOT Analysis Strengths| Weaknesses| * Healthier than traditional soda. * Global brands * New product development * Strong manufacturing and distribution capabilities * Strong support of parent company| * High price * Consumer limitation| Opportunities| Threats| * Growing demand for healthy drinks * High growth developing markets * Cost reduction measures| * Traditional drinks competition which includes price and taste * Regulations and law * Health risks * Environment problem * New entrents|. To solve weaknesses and threats, alternative beverages industry companies set up business models to match the customer value and gain profit. Firstly, Energy drinks, sports drinks, and vitamin-enhanced beverages companies develop many different flavors to match different customers’ taste. Second, these companies also focus on different customers’ demands. Third, they sell products in many different locations, not only supermarkets, but also convenience stores and vending machines around every corner, which give convenient service to customers. Fourth, alternative beverage companies always try to follow the state law and regulations. Try to avoid risk ingredients. Fifth, to pretend the health risk, some companies placed warnings on their products labels. Sixth, because many people and organizations are focus on environment issues, alternative beverages’ plastic bottles and cans are really concern by these people. To solve this problem, beverage companies recycle plastic bottles and cans to keep pollution away. I also have some recommendations to alternative beverage companies to grow bigger and faster in the global market. First, try to make innovation on the local taste in different countries. Do research on people’s taste in various countries. McDonald’s is a good example in promoting global market. McDonald’s knows Indian people don’t eat beef and pork and love spicy food, so McDonald’s over there never have any product with beef or pork but with more spicy taste. Again, don’t put sensitive ingredients in the drinks. People are more curious about health and drink ingredients. Many organizations are strict with it, too. Try to produce healthier and more nutritious drinks to the market. Moreover, drinks’ function attempts to everyone, but not only for a small group of people. Nowadays, teenage boys always buy energy drinks, people who do sports, fitness, or other strenuous activities bought sports drinks; adult consumers are interested in buying vitamin-enhanced beverages (Gamble, 2010, p. C-77). What I recommend is alternative beverage companies should develop beverages suitable for most people. White collar can drink energy drinks; sports people also suitable to buy some kinds of vitamin-enhanced beverages. Additionally, don’t publicize the function too powerful. Some alternative drinks have some special effects, but not like what the advertisement said. If the company wants to operate for a long time running, it should be honest and act in good faith. Last but not least, incumbents of alternative drinks use strong brand preferences, high degrees of customer loyalty, significant cost advantages to keep new entrants out of the market. References: Gamble, John E. (2010). Competition in Energy Drinks, sports Drinks, and Vitamin-Enhanced Beverages. Crafting & Executing Strategy. p. C-77. Gamble, John E. (2010). Competition in Energy Drinks, sports Drinks, and Vitamin-Enhanced Beverages. Crafting & Executing Strategy. p. C-79. Gamble, John E. (2010). Competition in Energy Drinks, sports Drinks, and Vitamin-Enhanced Beverages. Crafting & Executing Strategy. p. C-83. Gamble, John E. (2010). Competition in Energy Drinks, sports Drinks, and Vitamin-Enhanced Beverages. Crafting & Executing Strategy. p. C-84.

Psychology †Nature/Nurture Debate Essay

â€Å"Outline and comment on the two schools of thought involved in the study of the nature-nurture debate in psychology. Explain, using examples, why this debate gives rise to so much controversy.†Ã‚  The debate concerning the influence of nature and nurture (or heredity and environment) on human behaviour is one of the longest running, and most controversial, both inside and outside psychology. It deals with some of the most fundamental questions that human beings ask about themselves, such as ‘How do we come to be the way we are?’ and ‘What makes us develop in the way we do?’ (Gross 2005, P.900) There are three sides to the debate: on the nature side are the nativists or ethologists who believe that children develop almost entirely as a result of genetic influences, with their environment having little effect; on the nurture side are the behaviourists or empiricists who believe people are born as a blank slate which is ‘filled-in’ over a lifetime through learning and experience; and in the middle are the interactionists who, hence the name, believe children develop as a result of an interaction between biology and environment. I will now look at the arguments in more detail. Genetic transmission is the way we acquire characteristics through inheritance. Each cell in the body contains a nucleus, which contains a substance called DNA. The main role of DNA molecules is the long-term storage of information. DNA is organised into long strands called chromosomes, and each chromosome is made up of thousands of genes. Genes are the basic unit of hereditary transmission and direct the way that growth and development happen within a plant or animal. Just after an animal is conceived, it is made up of a tiny group of cells. As these grow and divide, each gene acts as a code or set of instructions for making a particular protein. These proteins control the cell’s internal chemistry and tell the cell what to do, giving the organism particular characteristics and determining the way its body functions. We inherit 23 pairs of chromosomes from our parents, 46 in all, half from our Mother and the other half from our Father. They combine to produce all the information an embryo needs to develop biologically. Since we inherit particular chromosomes through the egg and sperm, we also inherit the particular characteristics coded for by the genes on those chromosomes. Arnold Gesell, a pioneer of developmental psychology, was an extreme nativist. He believed all individuals pass through the same genetically programmed series of changes, with the instructions for these changes being passed on at the moment of conception. â€Å"Gesell was mainly concerned with infants’ psychomotor development (such a grasping and other manipulative skills), and locomotion (such as crawling and walking)† (Gross 2005, P.901). Gesell established a research institute devoted to identifying ‘normal’ ages for a wide variety of behaviors and characteristics; he used a motion picture camera to film thousands of children in various stages of development. This genetically programmed series of changes is called maturation. It is important to look at maturation as we try to understand genetic influences on behaviour. Some genetic influences are obvious at birth such as hereditary illnesses or abnormalities such as Down’s syndrome, but the things we inherit don’t necessarily show up all at once. â€Å"The physiological changes which take place during puberty, for example, arise because of genes that are present at conception, but they only happen when the body is mature enough for them to take place. In the same way, certain forms of behaviour may only emerge once the individual is mature enough† (Hayes and Orrell 1998, P.7). In 1938 Lorenz and Tinbergen put forward four characteristics to identify directly inherited behaviour in animals. These are: stereotyped behaviour, which always occurs in the same way because behaviour which is directly caused by genetic influence can’t be affected by the environment; species-specific behaviour, because each species has its own genetic make-up the behaviour should differ to that of other species; the behaviour should appear in animals raised in isolation, because if it is truly inherited there should be no need to learn it; and the behaviour should appear complete even if the animal has not had chance to learn it.

The Importance of E-Commerce in Our Lives - 1061 Words

With rapid change of technology in social web, e-commerce is become one of important think in our life. E-commerce is the use of internet and the social web to do business, when focus on digitally enabled commercial transactions between among of firm and individuals involving information systems under the control of the firm it takes the form of e-business. Nowadays, e-commerce is gaining momentum and most of the things if not everything is getting digitally enabled. Therefore, it becomes very important to clearly draw the line between different types of commerce or business integrated with the e factor. Based on the type of relationship between different sides of commerce, it can be categorized in different types. 2.1.1 B2B Business-to-business is one type of business model that buyer sell product or service to buyer. Usually business to business describes ecommerce transactions between businesses, such as between a manufacturer and a wholesaler, or between a wholesaler and a retailer. Contrasting terms are business-to consumer which type of business model that usually between retailers to customers. The volume of business-to-business transactions is much higher than the volume of business-to consumer transactions. The mainly reason for this is that in a usual supply chain there will be many business-to-business transactions involving sub components or raw materials, and only one business-to consumer transaction, specifically sale of the finished product to the endShow MoreRelatedElectronic Commerce ( E Commerce )1286 Words   |  6 Pagesopportunities (E-business, eEurope, n.d). More and more companies have discovered the advantage of using the Internet as a communication tool to reach consumers at any place and at any time. 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Buying Research Paper Outline Sample

Buying Research Paper Outline Sample Where to Find Research Paper Outline Sample You could also see absolutely free outline. You could also see resume outline. Outline could possibly be final or draft. You can also see presentation outline. As soon as you've already decided what topic you'll be writing about, the following thing you need to pay attention to is the range of your paper or what you're going to be including in your discussion. You might also want to suggest additional research or comment on things that it wasn't possible that you discuss in the paper. You can also state what sort of approach it is that you will use in your paper for the full discussion of your topic. Now you know how to begin your research paper, you're probably thinking about how to keep going. Using Research Paper Outline Sample An outline is going to be a reminder for you to include all the essential subtleties in it. 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Students who must do part-time jobs discover that it's extremely hard to provide time to writing their research paper outline example. Always keep in mind that the teacher i sn't likely to mark you on the grounds of the difficulty level of your paper but on the grounds of its relevance. Where to Find Research Paper Outline Sample The one difference is the true content presented in the paper. Nobody will argue that It's quite challenging to compose an academic paper if there's no structure for it. Other option, you can find the Proposal Paper Template on the web. What is Truly Happening with Research Paper Outline Sample To utilize APA paper outline or a different style, you should read many samples of such documents. The post covers its primary elements and offers valuable examples. Making an APA outline is the very first issue to do in developing a structure on what is going to be written in the paper and the way it's written. 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Benefits of Social Networking on Youth - 652 Words

A social net working is the way that people are interested to make a social relations among people who, for example share activities and backgrounds.Social network service consists of each user often a profile, his or hair social links. Social networking allow individuals to create a public profile, to create a list of users with who they want to connect with .Most social network services are provide means for users to interact over the Internet, such as e-mail and instant messaging.Social network sites are emigrating new information and communication tools like mobile connectivity, photo, video andsharing.Now a day social networkinghas been used around the world and by using the internet we are commonly used the social sites. It is the heart of people’s online life. We can say that social networking is a good way to interact with your family and your friends , but as it is a good way to enter act as it is bad way to use. In my assignment, I will talk about the definiti on of social networking, two types of it and the benefits of social networking on youth. Social networking!and what is mean for everyone ; we can define it as a grouping of individuals being in a specifics groups . Social networking is possible ina person, especially in the universities, workplaces, and high schools .It isthe most popular online. These groups of million individuals are using social net working for many reasons and one of these reasons are sharing information, developingShow MoreRelatedThe Effects Of Social Media On Youth Essay1016 Words   |  5 PagesThe Effects of Social Media on the Youth of Today Studies have shown that the average person now spends more time each day on their phone and computer than they do sleeping according to Nick McGillivray (â€Å"What are the Effects of Social Media on Youth?). Social has become part of our social society, especially for the many youths. There are positives to being on social media and also equal amounts of danger that come with using social networking sites, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etcRead MoreShould Parents Enforce The Usage Of Social Networking From Youth? Essay1518 Words   |  7 PagesShould parents enforce the usage of social networking from youth? For some youth and parents, the answer is clear - social networking does more harm than good. Not everyone thinks the same, however. For example, many people believe that allowing kids to utilize technology into kids’ or teens’ lives allows positive outcomes and new opportunities. Yet, what people have not realize is that some people are so busy on soci al networking that they do not comprehend the damage that it is doing to you children’sRead MoreSocial Networking And Its Effects On The Life Of The Youth1115 Words   |  5 PagesMaria Ruiz Ms.VanWagenen AP English Language and Composition 11 March, 2016 Period 7 Social Networking Vs. Social Skills Growing consternation exists among researchers on how social networking is affecting the life of the youth. Social media is the collectivity of online communications that allows users to create a profile, upload images, videos, and share memorable moments with friends and colleagues. Since this phenomenon was created, it has been a revolutionary medium that has affected everyRead MoreImpact Of Social Networking On Students917 Words   |  4 Pagesefficiencies. New kinds of entertainment and social media. Access to information and the ability to give a voice people who would never have been heard† (Bill Gates). Technology has progressed throughout the years, and has created many opportunities for student, business and adults to succeed. Almost everyone in the world has access to the Internet or soon will have access to the Internet. This topic is important because many have the image/ believe that social network is bad, for kids, students andRead MoreSocial Networking Good o r Bad?964 Words   |  4 PagesProgessor Swellander English 1023 5 February 2012 Social Networking: Good or bad? In a recent poll of 1,200 registered voters on Poll Position regarding their view on social media, 53% voted harmful. (McNamara 1) Today’s world has incredibly evolved around technology, especially with the emergence of social networking. Through the sudden rise in social networking, the question that has been called recently in concern is whether social media/networking is bad or good? The Bad: the increase in onlineRead MoreSocial Networking Sites On Today s Society1245 Words   |  5 PagesSOCIAL NETWORKING SITE FACEBOOK ON TODAY S SOCIETY Introduction With the increased connection and speed of internet connection, users of social media have increased exponentially in the recent past. 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Since the advent of social networking sites such asRead MoreThe Mainstreaming Of The Internet And Social Networking Sites1122 Words   |  5 PagesThe mainstreaming of the internet and social networking sites has facilitated bullying and seen the evolution of the cyberbully. NSW Department of Education and Communities (2011b), define bullying as â€Å"repeated verbal, physical, social or psychological behavior that is harmful and involves the misuse of power†¦ towards one or more persons†. However, bullying becomes cyberbullying when the perpetrator uses technology to execute the attack (Bryce and Fraser, 2013). Bullying is considered to be one ofRead MoreWhy Sns May Affect One s Self Esteem And Well Being904 Words   |  4 Pagespositively associated with well-being since most of people who engage in self-disclose are interested in creating and maintain social ties. A study suggests that by engaging in honest self-presentation, people increase their social perspective and wider their need of social support. This indeed influence one’s well-being (Lee et al., 2013). On the other hand, social networking also may also have a negative impact on well-being; SNSs are platforms that mostly incentive narcissistic behavior (Chiou etRead MoreSocial Networking Sites1614 Words   |  7 PagesSocial networking sites Online social networking site is a very common tool for communicating and socializing with each other. Nowadays, most of the adolescent like to use Facebook. There is a rapid growth of the number of user of social networking sites. According the recent research, Kreutz (2009) stated that â€Å"starting from 1997 to 2010 there are some 1.5 billion users of social networking websites† (p.222). This shows that how popular the social networking site is. Although many parents think

Entertaiment Youth Club free essay sample

Executive Summary This marketing plan was designed for a entertainment club , which is a small, cozy, family owned club specializing in authentic and traditional acoustic Jazz music. In addition to the music and the upscale atmosphere, youth clubs offers a wide selection of alcoholic beverages and appetizer.This plan outlines in the following pages, a renewed vision and strategic focus of what it will take to run a successful and profitable entertainment youth clubs is one of the only clubs In the KILL area to consistently offer live music six nights a week, which gives it a competitive advantage and leaves plenty of room for it to grow in this relatively small market. Youth clubs strategic decision to locate the business in downtown Cocoa Village Is also a real asset to the marketing mix. A careful evaluation of the weekly customer flow and entertainment schedule served as the foundation for this analysis and the following marketing plan. The demographics of the target markets are somewhat varied and the customer attendance is unpredictable, but research indicates that Jazz club clientele are extremely loyal. The plan focuses on youth club s future growth strategy in: media advertising, increasing public awareness, developing and maintaining customer loyalty, improving the acoustic and functional design of the interior, maximizing future profits by promoting the club within Its specific niche market, and emphasizing the music clubs superiority in the live entertainment music market.Because youth clubs promotional budget is rather limited, free exposure like press releases and emails will be sent out on a regular basis to announce the entertainment schedule and cooperative advertising will be pursued for all future ring media. A part-time marketing director will be hired to assist the owners with creating ad layout and content, as well as helping with public relations. Because youth clubs has relatively weak marketing and financial resources, it has relied heavily on extensive word-of-mouth advertising.Fortunately, this approach has helped to achieve a limited degree of success thus far i n the clubs existence, but this method will not achieve the type of profit margin the owners are hoping to obtain or sustain any type of business for very long. In the meantime, the employees ill have to make a major effort to ensure that once they gain new customers, that they dont lose them by consistently delivering quality products and services at must work hard to establish long-term relationships with its clientele.The most similar competing club has been around for 5 years and been highly successful using this approach. II. Environmental Analysis Founded as a specialty music youth club s opened for business on December 16, 2004. Youth club s principal manager, one man, owns the club with his wife and the. As acting manager, he has permission to use his discretion for expenditures under 1,000, but must consult with the other owners for larger purchases.After an extensive construction and planning phase, the owners have successfully transformed the 1 , 100 square foot 2nd story space above Belle Mound into a cozy nightclub with character. A. The Marketing Environment 1. Competitive Forces The competition in the club and lounge industries is rather weak on a local basis in Bread County, but somewhat stronger on a regional and national basis. There are currently twenty-two night clubs listed in the Bluebells yellow pages for the city, but only one of those other clubs offers weekly live Jazz entertainment.This void gives youth clubs a natural competitive advantage. However, taking the music and the entertainment out of the equation, the local bar competition is much stronger, as there are numerous lounges, bars, and pubs with a variety of atmospheres. 2. Economic Forces Worldwide, the entertainment club market has dramatically changed in recent years, with entertainment budgets being cut at many venues that previously offered quality live music. As a result of this pay reduction, entertainers have been forced to pre-record part or all of their performances and eliminate musicians. In addition, the rise in popularity of Karaoke Bars has also negatively affected the amount of money spent to hire live musicians because hiring a DC to entertain a club is cheaper than hiring a live band. And finally, many companies nationwide have reduced their general overall budgets in anticipation of the recession that seems imminent in our economy. 3. Political Forces There are no expected political influences or events that could affect the operation of youth club s at this time. . Legal and Regulatory Forces business a club might receive, there are no current proceedings in the state glistered to change SOLS legal drinking age from twenty-one years old. This club liquor license renewal is also critical to the success of the club. Other considerations which could affect youth club s future are the strict zoning laws, which is a small, quaint, business district situated right off of the Indian River intercalates waterway and State Road 520.This type of historic area is typically difficult with regards to building permits and all of the various city codes that need to be adhered to. 5. Technological Forces There are not many technological trends or technologies to be utilized in a small entertainment club of this size other than the maintenance and operation of the clubs internal sound system, overhead lighting, heating and cooling system. 6. Coloratura Forces In todays modern culture, many Jazz music fans come to clubs for the music first, the atmosphere and clientele second,.Most popular in the sasss and sasss, Jazz music in the last decade has had a resurgence especially with the younger generation. It is now considered cool and hip to listen to acoustic Jazz and this original American artwork exemplifies intellectual sophistication and style for people f all ages and genders. B. Target Market(s) youth club s has effectively implemented a niche market strategy in a somewhat diverse marketplace by focusing on live acoustic Jazz entertainment, coupled with a classy atmosphere and extensive drink selection.This club has separated itself from other establishments offering similar products and services through its unique choice of musical style, interior decor, and its artsy location. Youth club s ability to differentiate itself from other local nightclubs has contributed to a successful soft opening and a steady stream of regular customers. Its target market consists of middle class, upper middle class, and upper class patrons that dress nicely wearing appropriate evening attire. Even though the club is relatively small in size (approximately 1,100 square feet) cigarette smoking is permitted. Pipe and cigar smoking is also allowed but only on specific nights. The principal image concept of youth clubs marketing approach is to specifically attract the market segment that likes traditional acoustic Jazz. Another identifiable concept of the nightclub is the fact that many people come to Just listen to the music, paying full attention to the artistry of the performers, rather than talking over them, which distinguishes and classifies the Jazz club as a real listening room. Also, as a result of situating the club on the 2nd, youth club s most profitable product is the imported beer on tap, but it also sells wine, liquor, liqueurs, finger foods, and cigarettes. By offering live Jazz music six nights a week (which is extremely music and unwind after work. Monday through Thursday evenings have live entertainment from 6-pm and cater to the happy-hour crowd while Friday and Saturday evenings offer music until midnight, catering to the after dinner crowd, specially couples. C. Current Marketing Objectives Performance Since opening last December, youth clubs has marketed itself primarily on a word-of-mouth basis. In addition, the clubs entertainment schedule is listed in the free calendar section of the paper. Inside the club there are tabletop menus with drink prices and the entertainment schedule. Flyers have also recently been placed at two Malaysia tourist centers, local hotels, Breakfasts, , which is due to be released this month. In addition, a whiteboard at the entrance of the club shows weekly drink specials and promotions.At the end of the first full fiscal quarter, youth clubs monthly revenues were 30% higher than the opening figures from last December. The average mark-up on beverages is 74%, which is considered an excellent profit in the industry. Ill. SOOT Analysts A. Strengths youth clubs product and service differentiation strategy is the result of a strong marketing focus on the Jazz club being authentic with a classy ambiance. This strategy enables the club to deliver a sophisticated listening experience to its customers.The combination of providing live entertainment six nights a week and exclusively offering traditional Jazz music has enabled youth clubs to attract exactly the type of clientele that it prefers. The monthly overhead is controlled through cost reduction methods like word-of-mouth advertising, a small two person staff, sharing expenses of the liquor license, and a debt-free financial position. As a result, a significant amount of drive-by business is generated from the general traffic of this busy business district B. Weaknesses Perhaps the biggest weakness of the club overall is the choice of entertainment. Due to its small entertainment budget , youth clubs is unable to attract the quality Caucasians one would expect from a club of this caliber, thus damaging the clubs reputation. The musicians are hired three months at a time, which is very unusual in the industry. Most nightclubs rotate their entertainment much more frequently. The limited advertising budget of $5000 per year has also prevented the club from being discovered by many potential new customers.One other general weakness of the club is its poor acoustics. Due to the parallel placement of the brick walls and windows, and the lack of any absorptive material (I. E. Drapes, thick carpet, sound foam, etc. , the sound emanating from the stage is reflected in all directions and bounces around the audience with no where to escape. As a result, the customer heard over the audience. The listener should optimally have the option to sit away from the band and be able to talk softly and still hear the band without raising their voice.Another problem with the layout of the small club (maximum occupancy = forty-four people) is the fact that there is only one unisex bathroom. There is often a waiting line to use the rest facility, which blocks the waitress access to the bar as well as the entrance to the club. The small interior also makes it difficult to have a real piano, which many critics consider a pre-requisite to being classified as a real Jazz club. In addition, the club is closed every Sunday, which is typically a popular night for similar local businesses.Another minor weakness is that the house sound system controls and CD player are located next to the band and can only be operated from the stage, which looks awkward and cumbersome. C. Opportunities Jazz music has grown in popularity in recent years with a significant increase in worldwide CD sales and internet downloads. The potential for youth clubs business Roth is promising when one considers this major change in our cultures musical taste. D. Threats Competition from other entertainment clubs opening in the area is a very real possibility, but they would not likely compete directly with a Jazz clubs business.Other local nightclubs in the area that do offer live entertainment, offer different musical styles that would not affect youth clubs customer base. The clientele that seek out Jazz music will always prefer professional live music rather than to have it pre-recorded or performed by amateurs. E. Matching Strengths to Opportunities By forming an alliance with Jazz-friendly organizations like the Central Florida Jazz Society, school Jazz programs, and Jazz radio stations like WIFE, this club could quickly enhance its public exposure through direct association with members of these organizations.Becoming a corporate sponsor of local Jazz festivals would also be a wonderful opportunity to introduce the nightclub to thousands of potential Jazz fans. The best selling products at youth clubs are the mixed drinks and the dome stic bottled beers while the most profitable items are the well drinks with an approximate 5% profit margin. Clearly, alcohol sales are the clubs main revenue and they should be watched carefully because of the potential profit that can be made. F.Converting Weaknesses Threats Entertainment youth clubs should eventually consider expanding the size of the club and adding another bathroom if the business is to grow. Many potential busy weekend nights due too lack of seating. It is unlikely that another Jazz club will open in the same area, but if one did, and it provided more space for the musicians and the audience it could be considered a competitive threat. IV. Marketing Objectives out clubs is in business to sell drinks and food to its customers while they listen to live Jazz music. Besides developing and initiating a marketing-oriented and customer focused mission statement,youth clubs should establish an objective to: ; Achieve continued steady growth of its customer base ; Increase the advertising and entertainment budgets ;Improve its image and exposure to the public through the consistent use of its logo and sale of novelty items Increase total sales by 20% by the end of the fiscal year To accomplish its marketing objectives, youth clubs should develop benchmarks o measure its progress. Regular reviews of these objectives will provide feedback and possible corrective actions on a timely basis.The major marketing objective is to gain a better understanding of how to better satisfy the customers needs. Since the clubs opening last December, occupancy on weeknights has remained low. Friday and Saturday nights are consistently Jam-packed and should be examined further. There must be a concerted effort on attracting more customers during the week. Another object ive is to analyze other nightclubs and learn what marketing strategies ark best for them to attract business during the week. We must learn from their successes and failures and incorporate the best new ideas into the marketing mix. V. Marketing Strategies A.Target Market(s) Exact definitions of these market segments are not necessary for our marketing planning purposes here; general descriptions will suffice. On average, there is a 70-30 percentage ratio of couples to singles and the main audience is the working professional in the middle to upper thirties. Target Market 1: Adult Jazz music enthusiasts (age 21-65) who enjoy listening to vive music in an intimate cozy setting. Target Market 2: Middle to upper class working professionals, (sometimes referred to as yuppies) who want to unwind with a drink and/or appetizer after work and avoid the typical crowded and loud happy-hour setting. Target Market 3: Married or dating couples that want a dark and romantic venue for an after dinner drink or cocktail after eating dinner, B. Marketing Mix 1. Products and Services youth clubs markets not only alcoholic beverages from its full liquor bar and continental finger-food type appetizer, but also live music entertainment to its customers. out clubs intangible attributes are its ability to meet or exceed its customers desire for quality live music six nights a week, and its on-going commitment to supporting the American art form we call Jazz.These attributes are difficult for competitors to copy, thereby giving youth clubs a competitive advantage in the limited niche market that it exists in. Based on the decor and dress code, youth clubs is striving to portray an upscale image to attract upscale customers who expect superior service. However, many customers have complained about how long it takes to order a drink and the difficulty in getting prompt refills. . Pence youth clubs provides a quality listening, drinking, and eating experience in a clean and comfortable environment.The atmosphere is authentic, reminiscent of a larger big city club. The value of their products and service is reflected in their medium prices, which are competitive and reasonable. As a result, the prices are in line with their upscale image. Admission during the week is free, with a small cover charge during the weekends. 3. Distribution youth clubs products and services must be experienced in person and cannot be shipped or enjoyed outside of the club, other than the occasional live recording of he music played there, which will be released on CD and distributed in the club and off of the website. 4.Promotion youth clubs cannot survive or flourish Just waiting for customers to come to it. Instead, youth clubs must get better at focusing on the specific market segments whose needs and desires match the clubs offerings. VI. Marketing Implementation A. Marketing Organization Because youth clubs customer groups are so similar, for the purposes of this analysis, we will focus on all three target markets together as a whole. Youth clubs flexible in introducing the club to the community. These new approaches will attempt o overcome the current lack of diversification in the products and services offered.Also, this new marketing approach will give youth clubs a better opportunity to monitor the activities of its competitors. B. Activities, Responsibility, and Timetables for Completion All implementation activities are to begin at the start of the next fiscal year. Unless specified, all activities are the responsibility of youth clubs primary owner and manager. ; A part-time marketing director will be hired the first week in January to manage marketing activities, media exposure, and public relations. This person will referable be a college student or intern with desktop publishing and internet ; Membership to the Cocoa Chamber of Commerce will be applied experience. For as soon as possible and major efforts will be made to attend all the events. Youth clubs should immediately offer to host a Jazz society concert and stay open an extra day to accommodate the Sunday performance. Creative flyers should be printed by the end of January and distributed bimonthly at local colleges, music stores, and record stores. In addition, a full-color brochure should be designed to display the menu items and photographs of the interior.This brochure will be mailed to individuals who ask for more information over the phone or from email ; Custom novelty items like bumper stickers, shot glasses, mugs, inquiries. Matchboxes, and hats will immediately be printed up and on sale at the club and off of the website. ; Business Cards will be designed and printed immediately. They will occasionally be used as an alternative vehicle to generate customers by offering free admission and free drinks on an as needed basis. ; Display advertisements will be run with the next edition of Bluebells and Sprint Yellow Pages. Additional stings will be run under the headings: restaurant, music, pub, club ,entertainment, etc. ) By the beginning of the 2nd quarter after the initial print media campaign is concluded, a Jam- night for aspiring musicians to sit-in and play a song or two will be established on the slowest night of the week. An email sign- up sheet will be posted immediately in the club for customers that would like to be added to the mailing list. Entertainment schedules, drink specials, and other local jazz music events will be sent out on a regular basis (to be determined by the marketing director). By the radicals quarter, Jazz radio stations like WHICH and WIFE and their Dads will be approached for paid plugs and press releases to be read over the air. Radio is an extremely powerful medium and by targeting those specific stations. Sponsoring or co-hosting a Jazz show is another possibility. ; By the beginning of the 3rd quarter, an announcement will be made that youth clubs will be sponsoring a compilation Jazz CD project containing some of the best Jazz musicians that have played at the club. The project will take six months to complete and be offered for sale at the club and off of the website.By the 4th fiscal quarter, out clubs should become a corporate sponsor of a Jazz festival like the Jazz Series. Another strategy for youth clubs to pursue during the Spring. VI. Evaluation Control A. Performance Standards and Financial Controls A comparison of the financial expenditures with the plan goals will be included in this report. B. Monitoring Procedures To analyze the effectiveness of this club marketing plan, it is necessary to compare its actual performance with plan objectives. To facilitate this analysis, monitoring procedures should be developed for the various activities required to bring the marketing plan to fruition.