Fruit Juice Industry Strategies

Fruit Juice Industry Strategies There are a number of drinks, in the beverage industry. They are divided into various branches. Talking about the fruit juice industry, they include natural juices and artificial juices or the man made ones. People have a number of tastes and they vary from person to person. The fruit juice industry has a number of companies. They include Vadilal, Jumpin, Kissan, Real, Onjus, Kool Kokum, Frooti, Appy, Joly Jely, Yo Fruity, Noga, Midland, Goldcoin, Druk, Tropicana etc. as the market is growing and so is the demand from the public, therefore it compels the companies to bring out new and new products from time to time in order to cater to the demands and requirements of the public. Parle Agro, which introduced the concept of mango fruit juice, named it as Frooti. In the beginning it was a huge success, with the company earning profits and at that point of time, the company did not even have much of the competitors. It positioned itself as a drink for kids. But later on, as the market saw the entrance of new and new players and the market got saturated with the number of companies providing fruit juices with a number of variants. This made parle to reposition itself and change the perception of the public. It had to change itself from drinks for kids to a drink for adults. For that it came out with a number of marketing campaigns and other strategies in order to sustain itself in the market and protect frooti from getting into the declining stage of product life cycle. A tremendous number of food items like: beverages, alcohol, bread biscuits, frozen food, saffron, snacks, spices seasonings etc. all are included under the category of Food Beverages. The food and beverage industry consists of high level of market segment, huge variety of products, huge number of companies and many other characteristics. The food and beverage industry represents a diverse set of products and processes: fresh, frozen, chilled, and long shelf-life food and beverage products are manufactured, distributed, imported, and marketed to consumers, retailers, catering services, and other manufacturers. Food and beverage manufacturing facilities use large amounts of energy for cooking, cooling, freezing, and cold storage and transport. The manufacture export of food beverage has been constantly increasing since past few years. Food beverage industry has become a big factor and has been constantly adding to the revenues of the countries. While all beverages hydrate, few of them also provide various important nutrients that our body needs. Few of them relax us, few energize us and few just satisfy our natural taste for sweetness, maybe with or without calories. Some help us to perform our best, on the other hand, some can help us in managing our health. Any beverage can be part of a weight-maintenance diet. For many people who enjoy sweetened coffee drinks, soft drinks and other beverages with calories, this requires using good judgment when it comes to how much (portion size) and how often these beverages are consumed. Fortunately for those who watch their weight, there is also a wide variety of low-calorie thirst-quenching beverages, including waters, teas, coffee, and diet soft drinks. India being the second largest market for fruits and vegetables in the world. The overall and the total production of fruits and vegetables is estimated to be around 148.5 million tones, out of which around 48.5 million tones is accounted by fruits only and the rest for vegetables which is around 100 million tones. However, the fruit juice market has not been fully tapped because of poor infrastructure, poor storage facilities, and highly unorganized market, chiefly constituted by road side vendors. Consumers still prefer to buy juices from road side vendors even if the juices are unhygienic. The major growth drivers in fruit juice market are, increase in health consciousness among consumers, increase in disposable incomes, and more sophisticated cocktail culture.1 Indian fruit juice market It is a newly developing and an unorganized market. Only recently this sector is getting more organized and attracting more players in the market. Though the unorganized corner shop vendors dominate this market, Indian consumers are moving towards branded fruit juice because of their improvement in health consciousness. Indian fruit juice market is having a net-worth of 275 crores as of now and increasing at a rate of 35% to 40% per year. This study was conducted to identify the existing market structure, industry trends, existing players and their status in the market, growth possibilities and consumer behavior of existing fruit juice consumers. The study was conducted to understand the total market intelligence so that it can guide any new entrant in this sector in Indian market would get befitted. The study includes both primary and secondary research. Primary research was conducted across India. Primary research involves collecting information from both consumers and retailers so as to get better understanding about the market. This research report can serve as a guide for any new entrant who wants to enter in this fruit juice market in India. The report can also serve as a basic industry information resource. The branded fruit juice market in India is estimated to be worth Rs 500 crore organised fruit beverage market (nectars, drinks and juices combined) and the segment is growing at about 30 per cent per annum. Big players like Dabur, Pepsi, Godrej and Parle Agro are already in the market and in view of the swift growth in the market, newcomers like Surya Foods and Agro, Mother Dairy, Ladakh Foods, Pioma Industries have come into the market with new products in the recent years. Chief Executive Officer of Dabur Foods told Food Beverage news in an interview that the market share of Daburs Real Fruit juice is now 60 per cent. No doubt Daburs Real Fruit juice is the market leader followed by Pepsis Tropicana. The two major fruit juice makers in India, Tropicana and Dabur are going all out to tease Indian taste buds with ethnic flavours. However, Godrejs Jumpin is slowly achieving its space in the fruit juice market. Godrej Industries Foods Division has introduced fruit juices under the Xs brand, which earlier only consisted of nectars. Parle Agros Frooti and N-Joi too are doing well in the market. Delhi NCR-based Surya Foods and Agro Ltd, manufacturers of Priyagold biscuits, has forayed into the juices segment. Mother Dairy has recently launched the Safal brand of juices. Safal is currently available in orange, mixed fruit, grape and an orange-apple combination. Ladakh Foods, makers of the Leh Berry seabuckthorn berry drink, has now launched an apple-peach com bination juice and a mixed fruit variant. Ahmedabad-based Pioma Industries, makers of the Rasna brand of soft drink concentrates, test marketed a diluted mango juice in Andhra Pradesh recently. There are now racks filled with fruit juices, nectars and drinks. Traditionally, the Indian life style has a predilection for fresh fruits and vegetables or those processed at home. There is a sea change. People, are now increasingly going in for fresh fruit vending from kiosk fountains, which produce instant juices from fresh fruits in the presence of the consumer. It could be due to the non-availability of hygienically produced and well-preserved products with the use of preservatives. That is why some of the real but branded fruit juices launched in the late 1980s and early 1990s did not succeed. There has been a steady rise in the capacity, production and capacity utilisation in the fruit processing units. The processing capacity had gone up from 0.9 mn tonnes in 1990-91 to 2.1 mn tonnes in 1999-00. The capacity utilisation improved from 31% to 47%, with the production in 1999-00 estimated to have increased to 980,000 tonnes. The official reports do not show any substantial increase in total output although branded drinks do show a healthy improvement. There is no general acceptance of the product forms in the fruit drinks market. The consumer is basically concerned that it is a fruit juice and not a synthetically constituted product. Accordingly, the first segmentation is between real fruit drinks and synthetic drinks. The former are based on natural fruit pulp or juice. The others are synthetic products containing fruit flavours. Among the fruit juice beverages are fruit juices (Pepsis Tropicana), nectars (Daburs Real) and fruit drinks (Frooti and Slice). All these are re al, reconstituted from fruit pulps or concentrates. The leading fruit juice brands include Real, Onjus, Tropicana, Frooti, Jumpin. The fruit drinks are mainly based on oranges, mangoes, pineapples, grapes, apples, guava and tomato. They only differ in pulp content: the juices have over 85%, nectars (20% to 85%) and fruit drinks (less than 20%). The branded fruit juices market inclusive of nectars is placed at about Rs 10 bn. The pure fruit juices are the preferred drink among the fruit drinks. This segment is growing at around 10% annually. The market for fruit juices is expected to grow to Rs. 7.50 bn by end 2009-10 from nearly Rs. 4.75 bn presently. Dabur Foods has launched Real Junior, a 125 ml pack of apple and mango drinks for children below 6 years of age. Pioma Industries, the maker of Rasna brand of soft drink concentrate, was negotiating a joint venture with Del Monte Foods of the USA. Del Monte is the largest producer of canned fruits and vegetables in the US. Rasna has set up its first production unit in Himachal Pradesh, with an installed capacity of 350,000 cases a year. The Prakash Chauhan-controlled Parle Agro was to launch two new fruit beverages, besides widening its product portfolio by getting into jams and ketchups. The poduction units were planned in Maharashtra. The company slashed the prices of Frooti and Appy to gain market share. Merisant India, a subsidiary of Merisant USA and makers of Equal, the low calorie sweetener, has introduced a powdered soft drink under the brand, Fix, in the Indian market. The drink is low in calories and will be sold in different flavours peach, orange, mango, pineapple and lemon. Juice is the liquid naturally contained in fruit or vegetable tissue. Juice is prepared by mechanically squeezing or macerating fresh fruits or vegetables without the application of heat or solvents. For example, orange juice is the liquid extract of the fruit of the orange tree. Juice may be prepared in the home from fresh fruits and vegetables using variety of hand or electric juicers. Many commercial juices are filtered to remove fiber or pulp, but high-pulp fresh orange juice is a popular beverage. Juice may be marketed in concentrate form, sometimes frozen, requiring the user to add water to reconstitute the liquid back to its original state. However, concentrates generally have a noticeably different taste from that of their fresh-squeezed counterparts. Other juices are reconstituted before packaging for retail sale. Common methods for preservation and processing of fruit juices include canning,pasteurization, freezing, evaporation and spray drying. Theoretical background Positioning In marketing, positioning has come to mean the process by which marketers try to create an image or identity in the minds of their target market for its product, brand, or organization. Re-positioning involves changing the identity of a product, relative to the identity of competing products, in the collective minds of the target market. What most will agree on is that Positioning is something (perception) that happens in the minds of the target market. It is the aggregate perception the market has of a particular company, product or service in relation to their perceptions of the competitors in the same category. It will happen whether or not a companys management is proactive, reactive or passive about the on-going process of evolving a position. But a company can positively influence the perceptions through enlightened strategic actions. Positioning is about how you differentiate your product or service in the mind of your prospect. The Essence of Positioning Positioning is a new approach to communication, advertising andmarketing. It is an organized system for finding a window in the mind of your prospect in order to position effectively over there a product a merchandise, a service, a company, or a person against its main competitors. This system is based on the concept that communication can only take place at the right time and under the right circumstances. The mind accepts only that new information which matches its current state. It filters out everything else. In other words, positioning is a process by which a psychological anchor has been placed into the minds of prospects so that they come to choose one specific person or company over another. Positioning is what you do to the mind of the prospect you look for the solution of your problem inside the prospects mind. Anyone can use positioning strategy to get ahead in the game of life. Positioning is a process that focuses on conveying product value to buyers, resulting in a family of documents which drive all outbound communications. Yet in recent years, it seems as if positioning has devolved into a document of vague superlatives that convey nothing as they attempt to trick the customer into buying the product. The best positioning clearly states how the product will solve specific customer problems. Positioning a Brand in the Marketplace Without the ability to de-average a companys consumer base, marketing activities would wander off in the general direction of a theoretical average consumer. Yet too often, segmentation efforts dont lead to business actions that create value Many customer analytic models and segmentation systems provide insight into who should be targeted or what message to deliver; but the models themselves rarely offer an optimum long-term contact strategy. What can you do to attain ongoing and consistent profitability from your customer segments? A brands position is the set of perceptions, impressions, ideas and feelings that consumers have for the product compared with competing products. Marketers plan positions that give their products the greatest advantage in selected target markets, and they design marketing mixes to create these planned positions. In planning their positioning, marketers often prepare perceptual maps that show consumer perceptions of their brand versus competing brands on attributes that are important to the consumer, whether functional or symbolic. Perceptual Maps are useful for these key reasons: * Assessing strengths and weaknesses relative to competing brands along certain criteria important to the customer. o This is revealed by the positions of the marketers brand and competing brands along the axes. http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/brand_positioning/ 5 Factors of Brand Positioning Last week, I wrote about how to break through branding clutter by defining yourbrands unique value proposition then owning it in the the marketplace thereby establishing your brands position. Today, lets take a look at the 5 main factors that go into defining a brand position. 1. Brand Attributes What the brand delivers through features and benefits to consumers. 2. Consumer Expectations What consumers expect to receive from the brand. 3. Competitor attributes What the other brands in the market offer through features and benefits to consumers. 4. Price An easily quantifiable factor Your prices vs. your competitors prices. 5. Consumer perceptions The perceived quality and value of your brand in consumers minds (i.e., does your brand offer the cheap solution, the good value for the money solution, the high-end, high-price tag solution, etc.?). http://www.corporate-eye.com/blog/2008/07/5-factors-of-brand-positioning/ Positioning concepts More generally, there are three types of positioning concepts: Functional positions Solve problems Provide benefits to customers Get favorable perception by investors (stock profile) and lenders Symbolic positions Self-image enhancement Ego identification Belongingness and social meaningfulness Affective fulfillment Experiential positions Provide sensory stimulation Provide cognitive stimulation Product Positioning Process Generally, the product positioning process involves: Defining the market in which the product or brand will compete (who the relevant buyers are) Identifying the attributes (also called dimensions) that define the product space Collecting information from a sample of customers about their perceptions of each product on the relevant attributes Determine each products share of mind Determine each products current location in the product space Determine the target markets preferred combination of attributes (referred to as an ideal vector) Examine the fit between: The position of your product The position of the ideal vector Position. Measuring the positioning Positioning is facilitated by a graphical technique called perceptual mapping, various survey techniques, and statistical techniques like multi dimensional scaling, factor analysis, conjoint analysis, and logit analysis. Repositioning a company In volatile markets, it can be necessary even urgent to reposition an entire company, rather than just a product line or brand. Take, for example, when Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley suddenly shifted from investment to commercial banks. The expectations of investors, employees, clients and regulators all need to shift and each company will need to influence how these perceptions change. Doing so involves repositioning the entire firm. This is especially true of small and medium-sized firms, many of which often lack strong brands for individual product lines. In a prolonged recession, business approaches that were effective during healthy economies often become ineffective and it becomes necessary to change a firms positioning. Upscale restaurants, for example, which previously flourished on expense account dinners and corporate events, may for the first time need to stress value as a sale tool. Repositioning a company involves more than a marketing challenge. It involves making hard decisions about how a market is shifting and how a firms competitors will react. Often these decisions must be made without the benefit of sufficient information, simply because the definition of volatility is that change becomes difficult or impossible to predict. A strong strategic plan with a new and powerful dynamic can help you get there. Strategic Planning with a major emphasis on Strategic Repositioning harnesses your unique strengths to achieve success in the marketplace. Strategic Repositioning is a process by which your company identifies its strategic competencies and discovers ways to exploit those strengths in order to propel your firm into a more prosperous and competitive future. Incorporating this element into the strategic planning process can help turn a struggling business around or guide an already successful enterprise into new and profitable territory. http://jobfunctions.bnet.com/abstract.aspx?docid=379140tag=content;col1 Brand Repositioning is changing the positioning of a brand. A particular positioning statementmay not work with a brand. For instance, Dettol toilet soap was positioned as a beauty soap initially. This was not in line with its core values. Dettol, the parent brand (anti-septic liquid) was known for its ability to heal cuts and gashes. The extensions beauty positioning was not in tune with the parents germ-kill positioning. The soap, therefore, had to be repositioned as a germ-kill soap (bath for grimy occasions) and it fared extremely well after repositioning. Here, the soap had to be repositioned for image mismatch. There are several other reasons for repositioning. Often falling or stagnant sales is responsible for repositioning exercises. After examining the repositioning of several brands from the Indian market, the following 9 types of repositioning have been identified. These are: Increasing relevance to the consumer Increasing occasions for use Making the brand serious Falling sales Bringing in new customers Making the brand contemporary Differentiate from other brands Changed market conditions. http://drypen.in/branding/brand-repositioning-and-types-of-brand-repositioning.html Frooti : Fresh N Juicy By: Parle Agro foods Background of Parle Agro foods Parle Products Pvt Ltd based in Mumbai, India has been Indias largest manufacturer of biscuits and confectionery, for almost 80 years. Makers of the worlds largest selling biscuit, Parle-G, and a host of other very popular brands. Its reach spans even to the remotest villages of India. Many of the Parle products biscuits or confectioneries, are market leaders in their category and have won acclaim at the Monde Selection, since 1971. With a 40% share of the total biscuit market and a 15% share of the total confectionery market in India, Parle has grown to become a multi-million dollar company. They have recently entered the snacks market. Biscuit Snacks: Parle-G (Largest selling biscuit in the world.) Krackjack Monaco Hide Seek Hide Seek Milano Cheeslings Musst Bites Digestive Marie Parle Marie Milk Shakti Musst Chips Musst Stix Monaco Smart Chips parle twenty-twenty Hippo Confectioneries: Poppins (Sugar based candies in various fruit flavours.) Melody (Chocolate candy) Xhale (Mint) Mango Bite Kaccha Mango Bite Kismi Toffee Mintrox Butter cup Orange Candy Drinks: Mango Frooti (mango juice) LMN (lemonade) Saint Juice (flavoured juices sold in tetra-packs) Appy classic Appy fizz Bailey V3 fitness About Frooti Frooti is Indias legendary and iconic mango drink. It has been around for over two and a half decades now. Pretty much what Nike or McDonalds or Guinness or Ikea is to the world, Frooti is to India. Theres not one person in India who hasnt had a Frooti. By sheer numbers and its depth of distribution in India and availability in more than 20 countries, Frooti is perhaps one of the largest selling mango drinks in the world. During the brand study, here are a few things we realized. When Frooti came into existence over 2 decades ago, it came in as a really contemporary and youthful drink. Frooti brought Tetra Pak into India. It was cool to have a Frooti. Even the imagery in Frooti communication was way ahead of anything else the Indian society was exposed to. Who can forget classic Frooti commercials in early 80s with pretty girls in mini skirts, hula-hoop, use of CG, people diving into a pool of Frooti, etc., All these, India hadnt seen before. We realized being cool wasnt alien to Frooti, it was just about reinstating the cool factor. Relevantly. However, there was a little something we had to tackle going further. Over the years Frooti was blessed with a lot of child and adolescent loyalists. There have seldom been birthday parties without a Frooti. Can we without alienating them create a similar cult following with youth? With about 60% of India being a part of that segment. We were aware that frooti had made attempts in the past. Digen Verma by Everest and Bindass campaign by Grey, were both tried. While they did create an initial buzz, they lacked a long term strategy or longevity perhaps. We concluded. So, the exercise was essentially to arrive at a strategic idea thats much sharper and a thought or a philosophy Frooti can own and reinvent itself for years. Frooti is the first tetrapak fruit juice in India. Launched in 1984, Frooti still holds a dominant position in the Rs300 crore tetrapak fruit juice (TFJ) market. Frooti over these years have carved out a niche for itself in the market. Frooti instantly caught the fancy of Indian consumer with its tetrapak and some smart campaigns. Initially the drink was positioned as a kids drink. The product was perceived as a healthy fruit drink by the mothers . So within a short span of time ,the brand was an alternative to the unhealthy colas. The tetrapak had other benefits also . Fruit juice is a perishable product and tetrapak have extended the shelf life of Frooti because tetrapaks have 2 layers of paper and a plastic coating that ensured tamper proof and enhanced shelf life. Lured by the success of Frooti, there was a lot of new launches in the TFJ market. Players like Godrej with Jumpin, kissan etc tried their luck in this market but failed to dislodge Frooti. Frooti Faltering Frooti was launched by Parle Agro in 1984. It was the first tetrapak drink to be introduced in the Indian market. By 2000, Frooti had a majority market share of the Rs. 300 crore tetrapak fruit drink market. However analysts felt that this 16-year-old brand had been losing its appeal over the years. The brand, which scored a 100 on product likability and quality and a 95 on product recall, had dropped in the top-of-the-mind ranking to 60, from 95 two years ago. The sales of Frooti also had dropped over the years. The situation worsened with the increase in competition. In addition to the threat it faced from soft drinks marketers, Frooti witnessed heightened competition in its own segment tetrapak fruit drinks2 and juices. With pressure mounting from all sides, Parle Agro was forced to rethink its strategy. To revive the sagging appeal of the brand, it decided on a major relaunch strategy, which focussed on changing its positioning. The relaunch of Frooti aimed at positioning Frooti as a fun, trendy and modern drink targeted at the youth segment, a marked change from its initial positioning as a drink for kids. Said, BL Venkateshwar, Parle Agro vice-president: There has been a change in the consumer psychology. Today sub-segments have been created with the 12-15 year olds calling themselves teenagers and 9-12 year olds as pre-teens. These segments are turning into decision-makers of today with an increase in pocket money. The segment of 16-19 years olds is the new impulse category we are targeting. This segment was therefore strategically very important for Parle Agro. Challenges Frooti is basically a nectar based drink so it is not 100% fruit juice, it also has some preservatives added to increase the shelf life. Although Frooti did not face much competition in the category it created, competition came from a slightly different category, 100% fruit juices. Parle saw the emergence of the 100% fruit drink market and launched Njoy brand but it did not click. Parle could have extended Frooti to this market also . The brand Real from Dabur is the main player in this category. Real effectively positioned itself as a premium healthy drink for adults. Frooti was not able to appeal to adults and was considered as a mango drink while Real is not restricted to any flavour. Frooti also changed its positioning statement from Fresh-N-juicy to Juice Up your life which have not clicked with the customers. Although Frooti enjoys a commanding (75%) market share , Frooti is facing stagnation. May be some serious steps should be taken to increase the usage of the product. The launch of PET bottle Frooti is a step in this direction. Recently Frooti also launched a Green mango variant just to create some hype in the market. Frooti may have to reposition itself again to appeal to cola drinkers. Repositioning of the brand Frooti Frooti was positioned as a mango drink that is Fresh-n-juicy For over a 7 years, the company promoted the product using that famous baseline. The product has tried to create excitement in the market through a series of new variants and packing. But in late ninetees the brand was facing stagnated sales. The company tried to excite the market with an orange and pineapple variant but both the variant bombed. The came the experiment with packaging . The YO! Frooti variant came with a slim paper can aimed at the college going youth. Worried by the stagnating sales, Parle tried to reposition the brand to appeal to youth aged between 16-21. The positioning changed to be more fun based. The package also changed. The old green color of the bottle changed to more bright mango color with lot of graphics added to it. Frooti has come out with a new campaign. The brand had gone in for a complete makeover. The packaging and the positioning has changed. Infact Frooti for the past few years has been trying to catch hold of a consistent theme. It had earlier moved away from the FreshNJuicy positioning . From there onwards, the brand was on a sticky wicket and was not quite settling on a positioning. It had the Bindaas positioning and later Frooti- another name for Mango theme. But the brand was not quite stable on those platforms. Reasons of Repositioning à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Loosing market appeal à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Sales were dropped à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Increase in Competition à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Threat from soft drink marketers à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Same segment Competition, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Tetra pack fruit drinks juices Various moves as part of repositioning New packaging The new Frooti has a new modern packaging. The choice of colors and the logo has been tweaked to make the brand more contemporary. Now the packaging is lot more neat and cool. What is more stiking is the change in the positioning of Frooti. Last year, the brand tried to pitch itself as an alternative to mango. Now the brand is trying to be more radical and a little mad. The new campaign is based on a simple consumer observation. Most of us which drink Frooti Tetrapack will try to chase the last drop of Frooti. This habit has been continuing for generations. Knowingly or unknowingly we make funny sounds using the straw when indulging with Frooti. And we all had the habit of breaking those packs for that sound. The agency had tried to capture all these in the new communication. New tagline The brand also has adopted a new baseline Why Grow Up. I think this positioning is a powerful idea which can be sustained for many years provided the creatives are able to think fresh. Even in the new avatar, the brand is retaining the old famous tagline Fresh N Juicy which is good since Frooti has a very strong association with that tagline. Emotional icons Another interesting move by the brand is the creation of Mango-emotions. The brand will now be using mangoticons in its communication which is a really smart idea. The brand using emoticons c

How Organisations Manage Their Culture Strategically Essay

Recent reviews of the relationship of organisational culture to Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) suggest that culture plays a significant role in strategy implementation for sustaining competitive advantage and contributing to firm performance (Dyer & Ericksen, 2005; Roberts & Hirsch, 2005; Roehling et al. , 2005). A search of the literature reveals only two empirical studies examining organisational culture from an SHRM perspective. The first study was a micro SHRM analysis examining the relationship between organisational culture and HR practices. An international study was conducted using Hofestede’s model to examine each participating country’s cultural characteristics at a national level. The findings from this study showed support for a stronger relationship between HR and internal communication practices and a weaker association with rewards (Papalexandris & Panayotopoulou, 2004). A second study of companies in Asia used a contingency approach to examine the effect of culture and HR on firm performance. A content analysis of public documents was carried out to assess cultural values for each organisation. The findings suggested that organisations with â€Å"elite† or â€Å"leader† value profiles with a complementary HR system achieved higher financial performance (Chew & Basu, 2005). Although both studies had a number of limitations, both also provided preliminary empirical support for examining organisational culture as an important factor in SHRM research. From the practical viewpoint, different organisations while implementing their strategic vision of organisational culture pursue different strategic HRM objectives: to create trusting environment highlighted by cooperation and openness, to gain new market share and reaches targets, to achieve operational efficiency, to look for new opportunities and welcomes new challenges, etc. The most prevalent and cited quantitative approaches to strategic assessment and management of culture in organisations are Hofstede’s (1983) GLOBE dimensions model, Kets de Vrie’s five dysfunctional types model (DeVries & Miller, 1986) and Cameron and Quinn’s (2006) competing values framework (CVF). From both practical and critical perspective, managerial literature has relied heavily on the competing values framework, which as a result, has been empirically validated (Cameron & Quinn, 2006; Kwan & Walker, 2004). CVF has also been tested in various ways in the HR literature using both quantitative (Prajogo & McDermott, 2005) and qualitative (Boggs, 2004) approaches, such as in studies showing that certain culture values are positively associated with HR outcomes including organisational commitment, job involvement and empowerment, and employee outcomes including job satisfaction (Goodman, Zammuto, & Gifford, 2001), operational practices (TQM) and productivity outcomes. Cameron and Quinn’s (2006) competing values framework offers the most compatible practical framework for organisations for several reasons. First, CVF links to strategy implementation and resource-based view (RBV) through the integration of both values and dimensions in the model. The values framework allows for an assessment of organisations based on competing dimensions, which draw out the characteristics of organisational cultures. Second, it provides a level of assessment that tie to RBV’s social complexity of managerial style and leadership, along with its emphasis on organisational capital (i. e. , organisational administration and coordination). Third, the framework has been empirically tested and shown to be valid (Cameron & Quinn, 2006; Igo & Skitmore, 2006; Kwan & Walker, 2004). Fourth, the framework is measured using the Organisational Cultural Assessment Instrument (OCAI), which assesses an organisation’s overall cultural profile through a self-reported survey method. The survey is easily transferable to a format that respondents can interpret and respond to. The competing values framework differentiates organisational cultures on the basis of four culture types. Using the Organisational Cultural Assessment Instrument (OCAI), an organisation’s overall cultural profile and dominant characteristics can be assessed through a self-reported survey. The model considers two sets of competing values. The first set represents the contrast between the degree of control an organisation exercises on the one hand and the degree of flexibility it offers on the other. In other words, where one dimension shapes the values for organisations that provide a flexible environment with discretion, the other dimension shapes values around a controlled environment with stability. The second set of competing values is represented by the contrast between the degrees to which an organisation has an internal versus an external focus. Organisations that value an internal focus are interested in the ways in which the organisation integrates and operates internally, whereas organisations with an external focus are more interested in examining and responding to the forces outside. These competing dimensions serve as the basis to develop characteristics that shape four organisational culture types, which are measured by the OCAI. Each of these four main culture types has notable distinguishing characteristics. Studies using this approach to examine organisational culture have revealed that a company often has one dominant culture type but demonstrates varying degrees of each of the other types (Goodman et al. , 2001; Kwan & Walker, 2004; Prajogo & McDermott, 2005). The four organisational culture types are briefly described below. Clan: social environment in which employees work well together in teams. Leaders focus on mentoring employees and facilitating group problem-solving. A strong emphasis on ooperation and openness is evident, highlighted by a concern for people and customers. High levels of employee loyalty are often found in clan-dominant cultures. Market: results-oriented approach emphasizing growing the market and customer base. Leaders are hard driving and competitive with a high demand for achievement. Emphasis is on being a market leader, which is pursued through goal orientation. Hierarchy: environment with a strong emphasis on rules and processes. Leaders in such environments are typically good coordinators and organisers. The focus of this culture ype is to develop a stable environment with job security and conformity to rules by employees. Dependability and efficiency are key to its success. Adhocracy: innovative, creative environment that encourages risk-taking. Leaders in this culture type are entrepreneurial and encourage others to take risks and innovate. Employees motivated by challenges and new opportunities to create products and services are drawn to adhocracy-dominant cultures. Organisations depending on their existing or potential organisational culture type can employ specific organisational methods to achie ve their objectives.

Thea Astley’s It’s raining in mango

A literary text often acts as a reflection of the society of the time in which it was written. The particular value systems or ideologies of the characters and character groups represented in the text inform the reader of those characters' cultural identities. In Thea Astley's it's raining in mango, the author offers many representations of cultural identity. Through the story of the Laffey's, Astley provides an alternative to the mainstream society's representation of cultural identity and challenges traditional beliefs regarding Australia. It's raining in mango is set in Australia, and follows the story of the Laffey family from 1860 to 1980. The characters endure some of the major events in Australia's history, such as the gold rush of the 1860s, the depression, both World Wars, and the horrific treatment of the Aboriginal population. From these events came the ‘Australian identity'; what mainstream society believed to be the traits and characteristics unique to the ‘typical' Australian. From the First World War sprung the legend of the heroic ANZAC, and Australians were regarded as the resilient ‘battler' with a strong sense of humour and laid-back attitude. Camaraderie and mateship were highly valued. The patriarchal ideologies of the society meant that women were expected to be submissive, and function solely in the domestic sphere, while men were the providers and â€Å"bread-winners†. Aboriginals and other minority groups were marginalised or silenced. The value systems and ideologies that inform the representation of mainstream Australian society's cultural identity are represented in Astley's text by characters such as the diggers, who believe that the Aboriginal people are â€Å"not human† and the pub owner â€Å"who hated blacks, but loved their pay checks†. Other characters who represent the patriarchal values of the society are the priests with whom Jessica Olive and Connie conflict with. However, the strongest representation of the values and ideologies of this society are reflected through the police, the figures of authority who find it â€Å"in order to blame a blackskin. The easy way out†. All these characters, along with the men looking for work during the Depression, reflect the values and ideologies of mainstream society, which inform representations of the cultural identity of Australians. However, through the Laffey family and other character groups, Astley offers an alternative representation of cultural identity. The women in Astley's text offer an alternative to the cultural identity of women in mainstream society. Unlike the women represented in the ideologies of this patriarchal society, the female characters in mango display strength and independence. Jessica Olive begins as the passive, submissive wife and mother idealised by mainstream society, however moves to challenge this notion after Cornelius leaves and she is left to become the â€Å"manageress extraordinaire†. She shows strength, passion and determination when facing hardships, or challenges to her values from characters such as the boarder at her hotel, and Father Madigan. Connie also proves her independence and strength of character throughout the text. As a child in a convent, Connie has difficulty suppressing her sexuality â€Å"and for one silly week she flattened her gently erupting breasts with a broad ribbon band†, and then as an adult she goes on to become a strong, self-reliant single mother. Connie, like Jessica Olive, displays passion and determination when she conflicts with another priest, Father Rassini. Mag is another character whose values and beliefs give an alternative to the mainstream notion of cultural identity. When she hides Nelly and her baby from the authorities, Mag displays courage and defiance, and the fact that she speaks for George, her husband, reflects power and strength of character. The prostitutes in the text also show very strong independence and courage, and their value systems and ideologies inform a representation of cultural identity that challenges the identity ascribed to prostitutes by mainstream society. The value systems and beliefs of the female characters in this text create a very different representation of women's cultural identity in Australia than that ascribed to women by the mainstream patriarchal society of the novel. They create a new cultural identity for women, that of the strong, independent woman. These women have a very strong connection to the land, and place family at the centre of their value system, as do most of the main characters in the text. The centralisation of family in the story of the Laffey's is very important in the construction of an alternative cultural identity. Unlike the characters that represent mainstream society, whose families are not mentioned, the Laffey's have a strong, profound bond. They represent values and attitudes similar to those found in Aboriginal culture, those of respect for, and reliance on, the family. Connie recognises that â€Å"only the family as she knows it has cohesion, provides a core†. She understands the unbreakable bond between her family throughout the centuries, and the fact that they are inextricably linked to each other by the knowledge that they are Laffey's. The bond between Connie and Will reminds the reader of the importance of family in a time when many families were being ripped apart by the tragedy of the Second World War. For the main characters, the family home in Mango is their place of return, a place to come back to for sanctuary and security. This emphasis on strong family values informs the reader of a cultural identity that is very different to the one offered by mainstream society, in the text. Along with a strong family connection, the main characters also have a strong connection to the land. While the settlers in the text saw the land as something to be battled with, the Laffey's learnt to harmonise with the land, and see it as something to be protected. Reever represents the values of the Laffey family through his acting out as a conservationist, and Clytie and Harry's struggle to save their farm during the Depression displays their concern for the land. It is this connection to the family and the land, similar to Aboriginal values, that sets the Laffey family's representation of cultural identity apart from that of mainstream society. The value system and ideologies of the Aboriginal characters, and other characters, inform the reader of the cultural identity of the Aboriginal people. The mainstream society of the text views Aborigines as savage, â€Å"no-hoper(s), river-tribe layabout(s)†. This view is clearly expressed throughout the text; by the diggers who callously slaughter the â€Å"blackskins†, the pub owner, the police, and especially by the gang in the bar who beat Billy and his family. The Aboriginal population is marginalised by mainstream society. However, Astley, by privileging the point of view of some of the Aboriginal characters, and creating main characters who sympathise with, and share some beliefs and values with the Aboriginal people, has created a cultural identity that is different from that of mainstream's society's beliefs. Aboriginal culture places great emphasis on the unity of the family, and this value is evident in Astley's text. Nelly is willing to run, and risk being hunted down, to keep her child, and Billy's first concern is his father when they are attacked in a bar. The very strong Aboriginal connection to the land is also evident in it's raining in mango. The way the land is described by the Aboriginal characters is beautiful and serene, with it's â€Å"hill(s), grey scrub against blue, the long grasses dry before the big rains†, and shows an understanding of the nature of the earth. Bidiggi automatically reaches for the earth to comfort him when his tribe is slaughtered, hiding in the water grass and falling asleep under a paperbark. These Aboriginal notions of family, and their connection to the land, provide a representation of cultural identity. The attitudes of other characters also affect the representation of Aboriginal cultural identity in this text. The Laffey family, who are centralised in the text, sympathise with the plight of the Aboriginal people. Cornelius is fired because he writes an article exposing the shocking treatment of Aboriginal people, the child George believes that Aborigines are just the same as white people, Mag and George protect Nelly and her baby, and Will tries to help Billy in the bar brawl. Because these characters are all centralised, and the reader is encouraged to agree with their values and attitudes, the reader is positioned to see the Aboriginal people as humanised, which provides an alternative representation of cultural identity to that offered by mainstream society. Other character groups are also represented in it's raining in mango, and their value systems and ideologies inform the reader of their cultural identity. These groups are the soldiers, the hippies, and the cult members. The myth of the resilient, laid-back Australian soldier is destroyed in Astley's text, and replaced instead with the image of a shattered, broken man, plagued by what he has seen. Will's experience of the war, and how he deals with it, are not the same as the romanticised identity created by main stream society. Will is instead constantly disturbed by the horrific images of his experiences at the front, and though awarded for bravery, he throws the medal in the rubbish because he does not believe that he deserved it. Thus, through Will's reaction to the war, Astley again offers an alternative to the cultural identity created by mainstream society. The hippies are represented as lazy, careless, and free. They believe in love, peace, and freedom, and regularly smoke marijuana. The hippies don't have real names, and they are constructed as drifters, travelling and moving whenever the mood seizes them. The values and ideologies of the hippies create their cultural identity, however their attitudes and actions are hypocritical, and position the reader to question the validity of the hippies' cultural identity. The members of the cult are constructed as surreal, surrounded by a blue haze. The reader sees them through the point of view of Connie, and the odd characters are almost satirised. Astley uses the cult to make another attack on institutionalised religion, suggesting that they are no better than the Father Madigans or Father Rassinis of the world, as they place their absolute faith in the intangible. Their inability to act in an emergency, such as when Connie saves the drowned man, highlights the ineffectiveness of their beliefs. The cult members' representation of cultural identity is informed through their value systems and ideologies, and is used by Astley to comment on the ineffectiveness of having faith solely in the divine, and no faith in self. In Thea Astley's it's raining in mango, the author has revealed several representations of cultural identity. She has revealed the cultural identities created by the mainstream society of the text, and then offered alternatives to these assumptions through the story of the Laffey family and other surrounding characters. The value systems and ideologies of these characters are what create the cultural identities for these groups.

The Millennium Goal 3 Promote Gender Equality And...

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