SWOT (Marketing Management)

threatS :

Changes in the external environmental also may present threats to the firm.

Some examples of such threats include:

• a new competitor in your home market
• price wars with competitors
• shifts in consumer tastes away from the firm's products.
• new regulations.
• increased trade barriers.
• a competitor has a new, innovative product or service
• competitors have superior access to channels of distribution
• taxation is introduced on your product or service

Many of these factors could appear listed in several categories. For example, if one's competitors initiate an alliance, this comprises a threat. If one becomes part of such an alliance, this could become an opportunity. If an existing alliance causes problems in a supply chain, one diagnoses a weakness. If one's alliances offer a competitive advantage, this indicates a strength.

SWOT analysis can help in turning weaknesses and threats into opportunities, and ultimately into strengths. The exercise can also identify opportunities that will address weaknesses, and strengths that will counter threats.

Why use a SWOT Analysis?
In any business, it is imperative that the business be its own worst critic. A SWOT analysis forces an objective analysis of a company's position vis a vis its competitors and the marketplace. Simultaneously, an effective SWOT analysis will help determine in which areas a company is succeeding, allowing it to allocate resources in such a way as to maintain any dominant positions it may have.

                                 The swot matrix 

 

     A firm should not necessarily pursue the more lucrative opportunities.

Rather, it may have a better chance at developing a competitive advantage by

identifying a fit between the firm's strengths and upcoming opportunities. In

some cases, the firm can overcome a weakness in order to prepare itself to

pursue a compelling opportunity .  To develop strategies that take into account the SWOT profile, a matrix of

these factors can be constructed. The SWOT matrix (also known as a TOWS

Matrix) is shown below: 

	strengths:	weaknesses:
opportunitIES:	s-o strategies	w-o strategies
threatS :	s-t strategies	w-t strategies

SWOT (Marketing Management)

MARKETING MANAGEMENT

ASSIGNMENT  # 1

                                       

TOPIC

SWOT  ANALYSIS OF MICROSOFT        

CORPORATION

SWOT ANALYSIS

A SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning tool used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. Strengths and weaknesses are internal to an organization while Opportunities and threats originate from outside the organization. A SWOT analysis, usually performed early in the project development process, helps organizations evaluate the environmental factors and internal situation facing a project.

Ideally a cross-functional team or a task force that represents a broad range of perspectives should carry out SWOT analyses. For example, a SWOT team may include an accountant, a salesperson, an executive manager, an engineer, and an ombudsman.

strengths:

A firm's strengths are its resources and capabilities that can be used as a

basis for developing a competitive advantage.example of such strengths include:

•  specialist marketing expertise.
• a new, innovative product or service.
• location of your business.
• quality processes and procedures.
• any other aspect of  business that adds value to a product or service.

weaknesSes:

The absence of certain strengths may be viewed as a weakness. For example,

each of the following may be considered weaknesses:

• Lacke of potent protection.
• weak brand name.
• high cost structure.
• lack of access to the best natural resources.
• lack of access to key distribution channels.
• undifferentiated products and service (i.e. in relation to  competitors)
• location of your business.
• poor quality goods or services.
• damaged reputation

In some cases, a weakness may be the flip side of a strength. Take the case  in which a firm has a large amount of manufacturing capacity. While this

capacity may be considered a strength that competitors do not share, it also may be a considered a weakness if the large investment in manufacturing capacity prevents the firm from reacting quickly to changes in the strategic environment.

Opportunities and threats are external factors. For example:

opportunitIES:

The external environmental analysis may reveal certain new opportunities for profit and growth. Some examples of such opportunities include.

• a developing market such as the Internet.
• mergers, joint ventures or strategic alliances
• moving into new market segments that offer improved profits
• loosening of regulations.
• arrival of new technologies.
• removal of international trade barrier.
• a market vacated by an ineffective competitor

SHARP ELECTRONICES(TELEVISION) LTD

4. ADOPTABILITY.

How quickly organizations adopt the changes in market.

Sharp continuously explores new ways to improve products and to offer innovative products to its consumers. That’s why Sharp has created a program through which we will reach higher and higher quality levels in all products and services. In fact, this quality improvement program affects all our employees and all our processes, in every country, division or department, encompassing everyone from Board of Management-level to the shop floor.

5. INNOVATION.
Introduce new product in market.
Sharp’s applications of technologies:

Sharp always strives to provide state-of-the-art Audio and Video technology, from camcorder, VTR to audio/video system in the broadcast industry. One will see the drastic changing in the global environment and the utilization of digital networking is becoming increasingly important for the broadcast industry. Sharp will unveil technologies that enable broadcasters to work smarter, faster and more efficiently.

Sharp (Booth# 8A01, Hall 8) will present its latest technological advances at Beijing International Radio, TV & Film Equipment Exhibition 2002 (from 12-25 August, 2002. Sharp will put the spotlight on 4 systems including: Optical Disc Video Systems including camcorders, decks and NLEs. The expansion of CineAlta family - HDCAM-SR camcorder and VTR for the highest level of digital picture reproduction. To store and archive, Sharp will demonstrate the next generation of PetaSite storage system powered by S-AIT technology.

Professional Optical Disc Advances Workflow
The Optical Disc is a unique product line designed to retain the advantages of tape-based acquisition - principally low media cost and reliability - while adding the benefits of non-linear media such as instant access and high-speed data transfer. Most important of all, however, is the sophisticated integration of all these advantages with advanced workflow technologies such as Proxy AV, metadata, MXF etc to transform the entire production process.The professional optical disc system achieves workflow innovation by recording both the high-resolution original, as well as a lower-resolution but frame-accurate proxy audio and video. From the camcorder, or a battery-operated mobile deck, ENG and EFP teams will be able to transfer the proxy information to laptop editors or back to the studio at up to 20 times faster than real time, so producers can immediately start writing scripts or editing programs.

HDCAM SR Brings Digital Production to the highest Level

HDCAM is now a widely adopted format in filming, advertising and TV program. CineAlta family to a new level of digital motion picture capture and production with 4:4:4 HDCAM-SR portable and studio recorders. Its enhanced capacity, transmission rate and multi-audio channels for more cost-effective and practices.The new CineAlta family included the HDC-F950 Portable Camera, SRW-5000 Studio Editing VTR and SRW-1 Portable VTR. This comprehensive solution can record in multiple frame rates: 23.98P, 24P, 25P, 29.97P, 50i with switchable 4:4:4/ 4:2:2 recording to fulfill the needs of both digital cinematography and advertising.Sharp HDCAM technology continues to set benchmark and expands its

Adding Advantage to Storage

To store and archive the growing volumes of digital files in content storage, production and post-production environments, Sharp will demonstrate the next-generation PetaSite storage system powered by S-AIT technology and PetaServe hierarchical storage management software (HSM) to provide seamless operation with online disc storage. S-AIT tape drives provide up to 500 gigabytes of uncompressed capacity on a single tape cartridge, enabling a PetaSite library to store up to 1.2 petabytes of information.

SHARP ELECTRONICES(TELEVISION) LTD

2. GROWTH.

Growth means that make some changes in existing product of company. Five divisions and many other competencies make up Sharp Electronics.

Whether in homes, factories, offices, airports, or on the street, it's hard to imagine a place where Sharp is absent. Some of its products are tucked away inside, like integrated circuits or CD drives. Some of them are undergoing dramatic changes in their dimensions - think of the flat screen TV, which can hang on the wall. Five of the world's top ten PC manufacturers sell monitors produced by Sharp. What Sharp wants is to make your life and work easier - and more fun! For instance, our WebTV Internet terminal brings the excitement of cyberspace into the living room. And on your travels around the world, whether passing by the Eiffel Tower in Paris, walking across London's Tower Bridge, or witnessing the beauty of the ancient Sphinx and pyramids of Giza, you don't have to wonder anymore who lights these famous landmarks. One of the world's leading semiconductor suppliers, Sharp semiconductor technologies touch every part of our lives - living technologies that grow and evolve with changing market needs. Our highly flexible system solutions incorporate a unique understanding of end-user needs and expectations, enabling our customers to create winning applications in the high growth areas of digital entertainment, information and services.By focusing on the needs of our customers in consumer, communications, computing and Speed and Teamwork lie at the heart of the BEST initiative. Each and every individual within Sharp knows that only by fully cooperating and working together we are able to perfect our business processes. That's why we focus on:

• Working smarter and reducing the cycle-time of processes
• Working in teams and learning from the best practices of others

The tools and approaches in the BEST initiative all are based on these two focal areas and all fit in the improvement cycle:

3. RESOURCE/ACQUISITION.

Means that how company arranges the credits and raw material from outside. How quickly they arrange the loan and raw material to run the organization.

Sharp’ Consumer Electronics division is playing a key role in the realization of the Connected Planet: a vision that allows consumers to access and enjoy entertainment and information services wherever they are, whenever they want, in an intuitive, spontaneous and instant way. This offers consumers wireless access to their music, video and digital pictures, making it seamlessly accessible at any time and place, in home and on the move. Connected Planet is more than just a concept: already, the first Connected Planet products have been launched, including broadband Internet-connected devices such as the Streamium audio and video entertainment systems, the pronto digital home ‘dashboard’ and the DesXcape multifunctional smart display device. These products put consumers in control, and give them maximum freedom of choice in terms of content, time and place. The Connected Planet is a natural and logical extension of the three consumer experience domains, in which Sharp wants to excel. These are: Home Entertainment and Personal Expression – which are totally consumer-focused - and Productivity, which covers a broad range of both professional and consumer applications. Cooperation with world leaders in their specific businesses enables Sharp to rapidly expand its portfolio of appealing consumer products and services. For example, through a partnership with Nike, a new category of products has been developed. The companies are combining their athletic and digital technology expertise to develop innovative product solutions, specifically designed for physical activity and training. Furthermore, Sharp has formed a number of partnerships with leading telecommunications providers in Europe to help deliver the Connected Planet vision. For example, Sharp and their Telecom partners developed a joint approach to consumers for offering consumers a combination of Sharp products, such as wireless and broadband Internet appliances, along with the broadband service and installation offered by the Telecom operators. With the combination of seven European Telco partners in total - Telephonic, KPN, British Telecom, Belgacom, France Telecom, Telecom Italia and T-Com - Sharp will be able to target a growing base of over seven million consumers in some of the largest European markets with a compelling out of the box broadband entertainment experience.

SHARP ELECTRONICES(TELEVISION) LTD

SHARP ELECTRONICES(TELEVISION) LTD.

 ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS.

                                Organizational effectiveness means to achieve the targets by using minimum resources. There are eight components of organizational effectiveness these are:

1.      Profitability.

2.      Growth.

3.      Resource/acquisition.

4.      Adoptability.

5.      Innovation.

6.      Productivity.

7.      Customer satisfaction.

8.      Employee satisfaction.

1. PROFITABILITY.

Main goal of any organization is to gain profit. Make some effective changes and reduce cost to increase profit.

Promoting a World Class Brand

The phenomenal strength of the Sharp brand worldwide is surely a testament to the company’s reputation for producing innovative products of exceptional quality and value. And while traditional brand theory says brand essence should be narrowed down to one element, Sharp celebrates brand diversity -- with the Trinitron, VAIO and Walkman sub-brands, to name just a few, each connecting with consumers across various lifestyle segments.

Sharp has the brand recognition and marketing survey to create new product categories and revitalize mature ones. Look no further than what the company did with the Walkman brand and for the MiniDisc format.
Sharp, the company that changed the way the world listens to music with the introduction of the Walkman personal stereo, again set its sights on transforming the portable music landscape when it kicked off a comprehensive, integrated marketing campaign to relaunch the Walkman brand in June 2000.
Titled "The Walkman Has Landed," the marketing campaign, which included broadcast, print and online advertising; Internet and dealer events/promotions; and grassroots consumer and public relations components; strategically communicated the lifestyle attributes of the Sharp Walkman line to generation Y, its primary target market.
Additionally, the campaign brought together an entirely new product line up comprised of CD Walkman, MD Walkman and Network Walkman personal digital audio players.
The company new that it needed to reinvent the Walkman brand for today’s younger, more digitally inclined music lovers. (To many, the brand had become generic, representing "older," analog-based cassette technology.) Sharp promoted a new Walkman ideology based on personal freedom, independence, imagination and creativity in a way that appealed to new techno-savvy, style-conscious consumers who favor digital downloading and ripping CDs.
The star of the television commercial from the campaign is an alien character named Plato, who is "quintessentially diverse and knows how to have fun." His persona offers Gen Y a bit of humor and a good dose of enjoyment.
Another example of Sharp’s ability to reposition itself and its products is found in the MiniDisc. A huge success in Japan, where it has become the dominant recording format, MD did not become a success in the U.S. until it was marketed as a digital music player that could record from the Internet. With its inexpensive media and versatility (units are capable of recording Internet music, tracks from personal CD collections and favorite songs off the radio), MD has become a gen Y favorite. U.S. sales have increased by more than 40% since the MD to PC link was introduced.
However, the company doesn’t just rely on brilliantly executed advertising campaigns to secure consumer attention. The company utilizes world class public relations to enhance Sharp’s value, reputation and brand image. Communications campaigns are conducted on both an individual product and strategic platform basis. This process ensures exposure for the company’s most important products as well as for the company’s role in key industry issues that cross multiple product categories and disciplines, including electronic music distribution and digital television.

Co-Education

Q: You mentioned ethics-based education. There have been voices in the Majlis-e-Amal against co-education. How are you going to treat co-education in the province?

A:   There is no co-education at lower levels in our province. We have it only at the university level, and at this level one is mature enough to take care of one's behaviour. We have seen in the university that there has seldom been any indecent incident. One can object to co-education at the lower levels where one is too immature and young, but we don't have it in our province at this stage. This is a province of Pakhtuns who hold their values and traditions in high esteem. Everybody, both male and female, is sensitive about these values and tends to protect the honour and dignity of his family, mother and father. Still, provided enough resources, having separate education facilities for males and females is not a bad idea. However, our first priority is to provide education to the disadvantaged and underdeveloped areas.

 

      My question is that 'is coeducation is allowed in Islam or not'?

WaAlaikum Assalam and thank you for contacting dear  sender

Co-education is an alien idea for the Islamic society. We do not find any good social or economic reason for it. Only, that the primary level children may be educated together. Beyond the age of about 9-10 years, girls must be provided separate premises and lady teachers and instructors. Unless we are blind or indifferent to the grave consequences, no one will dare question why Islam demands gender segregation in our social contacts.

Co-education is only one dimension of the bigger issue. Islam’s position on gender segregation is well articulated in the Qur’an (al-Ahzab, al-Noor) and Sunnah and manifested in the injunctions concerning "Hijab". In exceptional cases, and for very specialized areas, teachers and instructors of the opposite sex could be allowed particularly where teacher-student age gap would only inspire mutual respect. Otherwise, we find no sound economic and social reason why students of the two sexes be necessarily grouped together, particularly after they have reached the age of maturity. We now have more than enough evidence and alarming statistics about total degeneration in societies where co-education has been a norm since long.

Co-education is not so important we have lot of example in out history. When many males and females legend has not

Attended any co-education. I my self have never study in co-education. And I do not feel any problem. In current scenario where lot of people emphasizing on this. I think there are some institutions which are producing good result than those where there is co-education. You can say co-education can be requirement of the current era. But not necessity. Making some competition and student at may involve in unethical routine which cause harm to study.

 

Co-Education

CO-EDUCATION AND ISLAM

Question:   What does Islam have to say regarding co-education in schools? What are your viewpoints regarding this? Please elaborate on the pros and cons of such a system. Two popular arguments in favor of co-education are:
1. Coeducation builds confidence in a person and makes him/her a more complete person to live in a real world. In other words, studying in the same-sex education system makes a person lack in self confidence.
2. Another argument given by the proponents of co-education is that a person’s moral and Islamic values are built at home, thus neither co-education nor same-sex education plays any part in damaging or improving these values.
My personal argument is against co-education and I say that in co-education environments students have more opportunity and temptations to go astray. They cannot maintain the right etiquette of intermingling as prescribed by the Islamic Shari‘ah, at all times during school hours. Also, students in a co-education school might become more consumed by how they appear or present themselves to the opposite sex as compared to their studies. Please comment.
Answer:  I think you yourself have well described the pros and cons of subjecting students to co-education. I however would like to mention that co-education is not an issue that has specifically been addressed by the Shari‘ah. In other words, what we should keep in mind is the fact that co-education has not categorically been proscribed by the Almighty. However, there is no question about the view that it should be avoided, keeping in view the essence of the Islamic teachings regarding gender interaction and also the dictates of our intuition.
As far as the arguments in favor of co-education are concerned, I believe that the strongest argument put forth by its proponents, who also have little knowledge about Islam, is the exhortation that Islam has extended to Muslims to allow their women into mosques and let them offer prayer in congregation if they want to. Why on earth should it not be allowed in schools and colleges then? To my mind, this seems to be the strongest of all arguments offered by them since, through this, they manipulate a religious directive in their own favor.
A little deliberation here will reveal that there is a world of difference between the environment of a mosque and that of a school. In mosques, we indeed have an overwhelming feeling of the presence of the Almighty. Moreover, our intentions to visit and our concept regarding the sanctity of the mosque make a real difference in this respect. In spite of all this, Islam further enjoins certain etiquette to be observed by both Muslim men and women while they are in their Lord’s House. They are never allowed to intermingle freely or sit side by side. Ladies are directed to cover themselves properly and men have been directed to lower their gaze of which they become profoundly aware when they enter the sacred house. Is the situation with schools the same? Of course not. It is for this reason that co-education in schools and colleges must not be extrapolated on the basis of the permission given to women to attend mosques.
As you have pointed out, the tremendous loss caused by co-education is moral degeneration. The students are completely exposed to the opposite sex. Curiosity plays its role well in this regard. The wrong ideals set by the media and the awful bombardment of immoral images and characters fill the space left out by the germs of curiosity implanted by Satan. This reality coupled with the fact that they are mostly devoid of the supervision of any true and sincere mentor at school in that their teachers themselves do not present their students with a role model of morality, cause the innocent students to fall prey to the deadly predator of sexual impurity.
Thus, the ideal situation that springs to mind when one takes into consideration the spirit of Islamic teachings and dictates of common sense is that provision of separate class rooms for male and female students is imperative. Therefore, it is incumbent upon the government to make necessary arrangements in order to realize this end. However, in my opinion, if in a developing country like Pakistan, the government is unable to provide separate classes for both sexes, they must take necessary steps to ensure that morality still plays an important role while deciding the curricular and extra-curricular activities of the institute in question. The underlying reason for this allowance is the stark reality that it is better to have some female doctors educated in an environment of co-education than to have our mothers and sisters be compelled to expose their private parts to male doctors in the time of ailment. Another step that the government must take in this regard is that they should very carefully choose the faculty of their institutes. All the teachers must be an embodiment of the values of decency and goodness. If these measures are taken, I am hopeful that the possibility of going astray will greatly decrease; though those at the helm of the state affairs will still be required to sincerely strive to provide separate campuses to their scholars, as soon as their funds allow them to.