Saturday, February 29, 2020

Analyze Macro Environment of Australian

Marketing environment refers to the forces, which impact the ability of an industry towards building and maintaining its success (Broberg, Umans and Gerlofstig 2013). This study will be based on the scenario, where a large company wishes to invest in the retail book industry of Australia. In this context, the study will analyze the macro environment of the industry through PESTLE and Porter’s Five Force Analysis. Apart from that, the study will also analyze the segmenting variables of the industry. The purpose of the study is to explore the opportunity and threats of the industry, which will ultimately impact the new company. The study will also suggest some segmenting variables for the new company. PESTLE Analysis of Australian Retail Book Industry  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Free trade agreement imposed by Australian Government assists smooth business operation of Australian retail book industry  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As per Australian copyright act, Australian booksellers are obligated to purchase bulk orders from Australian rights holder. They are restricted to purchase orders from overseas suppliers (Booksandpublishing.com.au 2017). It is ultimately pushing up the price of local book sold in retail shops and increasing the overall revenues of the industry.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Reduced tax rate on retail book industry has ultimately increased its profit potential.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Strong economic condition of Australia has enhanced the business potential of book retailers  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Fluctuation in inflation rate sometimes hamper book retailing industry.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Currency fluctuation rate also impact on the profit level of the industry  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Increasing social activity among the people towards sharing interest through book reading has increases the sales potential in the industry  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Increasing purchasing power of the consumer has enhanced the sales potential of this industry (Parsons and Descatoires 2016)  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Increasing numbers of retirees in this country has increased the demand for books  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Advanced technology helps the industry to keep constant relation with the customers  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Technological advancement can help in building strong relationship with the book suppliers (Efendioglu 2015)  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The industry comply with all the legal standards of consumer law  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The industry also comply with all the Australian labor law  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Book retail industry of Australia is highly concerned about protecting the environment  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It uses environment friendly packaging   technique for all its products Table 1: PESTLE Analysis of Retail Book Industry in Australia The retail book industry of Australia faces low barriers from the localized small entrants. However, it faces significant barriers from the international entrants. Their established competition has created negative growth of the industry (Wehner et al. 2017). Moreover, the percentage of trade book sales was quite low in Australian till 2015 (Referred to Appendix 1). However, the industry has used price cutting strategy for beating the treats of new entrants and started to regain the sales volume. Retail book industry of Australia faces high level of threats from the media and entertainment industry. Recently, consumers spend more time on watching TV and chatting in social media. It has reduced the demand of books, which is ultimately impacting the retail book industry (Pons et al. 2016). The total value of boo sales has been demonstrated in Appendix 2. The retail book industry of Australian faces tough competition from the online retailers like Amazon and The Book Depository. It forced the industry to set cheaper prices for all of their books, which has increased its market share. However, the sales of the industry have been declined by 2.2% by the year 2016 (Ibisworld.com.au 2017). On the other hand, the recent revenue of the industry demonstrated an amount of 4 billion, which is a moderate amount (Ibisworld.com.au 2017). The sales channels of the Australian book have been demonstrated in Appendix 3. In the local market, the industry faces tough competition from Booktopia and Dymocks. Retail book industry faces high bargaining power of buyers. Moreover, the online bookselling companies are more likely to offer discounts on the books, which they sell to the customers through online channels (Barnard 2016). Hence, customers have more power to switch in those online booksellers. It can ultimately reduce the sales potential of the industry. The copyright act of Australian Government has restricted the bookselling companies to buy bulk amount of book only from local book publishers. They are not allowed to get supply of the book from any foreign suppliers. It has ultimately increased the bargaining power of suppliers over the retail bookselling industry (Gray 2013). However, share of trade and educational books have increased the overall market share of the industry (Referred to Appendix 4). Figure 1: Porter’s Five Force Analysis of Australian Retail Book Industry (Source: Stephens and McGowan 2015) Segmenting Variables in Australian Retail Book Industry Age: 6 year to Above: Almost all age groups having reading habits are targeted by this industry. Gender: Both Male and Female: Readings are not restricted to any gender in today’s market. Hence, both male and female customers are selected. Marital Status: Both Single and Married: Single customers will be segmented to offer action and adventure books, science fiction, horror and mystery books. On the other hand, married customers are segmented to offer romance, diaries, religious and history books. Education: Mostly educated person: Books are valued to only educated customers. Students are offered by the book within their syllabus and others by different types of books. Occupation: Can be any type and even the retired persons: All types of professional are segmented by the industry. Income: Moderate income level: Books are kind of luxury goods. Hence, the customers having moderate income are selected. Attitude: Positive attitude towards life: Customers having fantasy and positive attitude towards life are selected by the industry.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Customers having strong personality  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Customers having hobbies of book reading Customers seeking high level of benefits are segmented by the industry  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Occupation: Business persons, school students, college students, job holders and even unemployed  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Customers having moderate income  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Customers having positive attitude over life  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Wide collection of books in the bookstores  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Various types of books including education, trade, entertainment and others  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Moderate price range attracts the readers  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Convenient stores of the book stores Table 2: Segmenting Variables of Australian Book Retail While concluding the study, it can be said that Australian book retail industry gets huge support from the government. On the other hand, the increasing reading habits of the customers have also enhanced the sales potential of the industry. The recent revenue of the industry is 1 billion, which is quite moderate. However, the industry is facing tough completion from the online book selling companies both from domestic market as well as international market. Hence, the industry has become forced to cut the price range of the books. It has ultimately declined the profit level of the industry. However, with the increasing popularity of trade and educational books, there is still hope in this industry. The new retail book company should target adult groups for selling their books. Recommendation on Segmentation and Target of Book Retail Company Age: 18-Above: All the adults customers will be segmented by this company, as they are mostly associated with the hobbies of reading Income: Moderate Income Group: The company will sell books having high prices like popular novels, Fictions, Non-fictions and many more. Hence, it will segment customers having stable income Occupation: College Students will be segmented, as they needs various types of books included in their syllabus. Business persons will be selected for selling trade books. On the other hand, retired persons will also be a significant segment of this company, as they mostly need book readings for spending their time. Marital Status: Both single and married customers will be segmented for their differing needs of books Education: All educated persons will be selected by the company. Even the educated household will be the customers of the company, as they may need books on getting ideas of cooking and foods. Attitude: Both having positive and negative attitude towards life. People having negative attitude can also buy books for overcoming their pain in life.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Customers having both positive personality in life will be selected  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Customers having hobbies of reading and entertainment will be selected Customers seeking extra benefits over their purchase will be selected  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Customers between the age of 18-above will be selected  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Education: All types of educated Customers  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Occupation: Businesspersons, college students, media professionals and others  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Customers having moderate income  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Customers having both positive and negative attitude towards life Wide variety of books will attract different types of customers Affordable prices of the books will attract huge range of customers Discounts offered to the customers will attract them a lot Convenient store location will enhance numbers of customers Table 3: Recommendation on Segmentation of New Book Retail Company Barnard, S., 2016. Retail or e-tail? Brick or click? Is e-tailing the ideal solution for all industries?: opinion.  The Retail and Marketing Review,  12(1), pp.89-91. Booksandpublishing.com.au. 2017.  The market down under | Books+Publishing. [online] Available at: https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2016/09/30/74713/the-market-down-under/ [Accessed 7 Apr. 2017]. Broberg, P., Umans, T. and Gerlofstig, C., 2013. Balance between auditing and marketing: An explorative study.  Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation,  22(1), pp.57-70. Efendioglu, A.M., 2015. State of information technology in small retail and service businesses: an exploratory study.  Journal of Small Business Strategy,  8(2), pp.13-24. Gray, D., 2013. Out of the Box and into the Bookstore: Non-Traditional Use of the Bookstore.  Against the Grain,  15(3), p.10. Gump, S.E., 2014. Everyday Book Marketing: Promotion Ideas to Fit Your Regularly Scheduled Life by Midge Raymond (review).  Journal of Scholarly Publishing,  45(4), pp.409-413. Ibisworld.com.au. 2017.  Book Stores in Australia Market Research | IBISWorld. [online] Available at: https://www.ibisworld.com.au/industry-trends/specialised-market-research-reports/consumer-goods-services/book-stores.html [Accessed 7 Apr. 2017]. Ibisworld.com.au. 2017.  Newspaper and Book Retailing in Australia Market Research | IBISWorld. [online] Available at: https://www.ibisworld.com.au/industry-trends/market-research-reports/retail-trade/other-store-based-retailing/newspaper-book-retailing.html [Accessed 7 Apr. 2017]. Parsons, A.G. and Descatoires, E., 2016. Retail marketing: A novel research agenda.  Australasian Marketing Journal (AMJ),  24(2), pp.102-107. Pons, F., Giroux, M., Mourali, M. and Zins, M., 2016. The relationship between density perceptions and satisfaction in the retail setting: Mediation and moderation effects.  Journal of Business Research,  69(2), pp.1000-1007. Stephens, P. and McGowan, M., 2015. Service Convenience: On-Line versus Brick and Mortar Bookstores.  International Journal of Information Systems in the Service Sector (IJISSS),  7(3), pp.1-14. Wehner, C., Wehner, C., Wehner, C., Wehner, C. and Wehner, C. 2017.  Bookselling Industry Analysis for Australia - Porter's Five Forces & PEST. [online] bluetrain. Available at: https://bluetrainenterprises.com.au/blog/2016/11/18/industry-analysis-australian-print-bookselling/ [Accessed 7 Apr. 2017].

Thursday, February 13, 2020

The Cylindrospermopsin Alkaloids Literature review

The Cylindrospermopsin Alkaloids - Literature review Example This review is initially focused on isolation of these natural products then moving on to environmental concerns regarding cylindrospermopsin alkaloids contamination before finally describing methods used in their synthesis (Murphy and Thomas, 2001) Figure one. The cylindrospermopsin alkaloids of cylindrospermopsin (1), 7-deoxy-cylindrospermopsin (2) and 7-epi-cylindrospermopsin (3). II. Isolation and Characterization Cylindrospermopsin (1), was extracted in 1992 from the cyanobacterium Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii and characterized by Moore and co-workers. The characterisation was done using a combination of NMR and mass spectroscopy. (Ohtani, Moore and Runnegar, 1992) In 1999 during routine purification of cylindrospermopsin using HPLC 7-deoxy-cylindrospermopsin (2) was discovered and characterised (Norris, et al., 1999). It was also believed that the newly discovered cylindrospermopsin derivative could exist in the form of two tautomers. The conclusion was drawn from the fact th at the vinylic proton of the uracil ring was not detected using 1H NMR technique (Figure two). However, the presence of the uracil group in (4) was proven by investigating the absorbance maximum (?max) that was observed for every sample of 7-deoxy-cylindrospermopsin (2). It was obvious that the natural material existed as a mixture of compounds but it was not possible to estimate the quantity of (2) (Looper, et al., 2005). Figure two. Proposed tautomeric forms of 7-deoxy-cylindrospermopsin (2). Discovered in 2000, 7-epi-cylindrospermopsin (3) initially was found to be synthesised by Aphanizomenon ovalisporum (Banker, et al., 2000). Taking into account the unusual tautomer enol existence of the uracil D ring, estimation of the relative stereochemistry of cylindrospermopsin (1) was made. The uracil D ring was intramolecularly hydrogen attached to a nitrogen terminus of the guanidine group as described in structure 6. The produced configuration was in correlation with the NMR evidence which led the research group to the structure 7 as the most likely description of cylindrospermopsin (1) (Figure three) (Heintzelman, et al., 2001). The correct stricture for cylindrospermopsin (1) and its epimer, 7-epi-cylindrospermopsin (2), were deduced by thinking about these alkaloids as uracil tautomers (Figure one). Figure three. Proposed structures of cylindrospermopsin (1) and 7-epi-cylindrospermopsin (3). III. Occurrence and Production of Cylindrospermopsin After the first isolation of cylindrospermopsin (1) from C. raciborskii in 1992 a number of cyanobacteria species have been found to produce cylindrospermopsin alkaloids in various quantities. These alkaloids were found in Asia, North and South America, Europe, South Pacific and Middle East. However, the leader is Australia. Most cyanobacterial species can be found on that continent. Therefore the concentration of cylindrospermopsin in that country is the highest. In connection with that, the outbreak of hepatoenteritis on Palm Island Australia is worth mentioning. The disease affected one hundred and forty eight people the majority of which were children (Prociv, 2004). It is presumed that treatment of algal blooms with copper sulfate caused the lysis of the cyanobacterial cells with further release of the toxins into the drinking water. The toxin was also found in Poland (Kokocinski, et al., 2009), however, the cyanobacteria responsible for its synthesis was not reported. There are cases where it was possible to isolate the toxin without detecting

Saturday, February 1, 2020

Intercultural communication (Porter, Samovar, and Penington) Essay

Intercultural communication (Porter, Samovar, and Penington) - Essay Example It was a friendly dig at each other's culture. Culture is the way we live, the air we breathe, the thoughts we think, the clothes we put on, the glasses we wear and look through (Monippally 2001, p 44-45). Culture is what shapes our perception. It is defined as the complex system of values, traits, morals and customs shared by a society. From 1967 to 1973, while working at IBM as a psychologist, collected and analyzed data from over 100,000 individuals from 50 countries and 3 regions. From the initial results, Hofstede developed a model that identifies four primary dimensions to assist in differentiating cultures: Power Distance1, Individualism2, Masculinity3 and Uncertainty Avoidance4. Hofstede added a fifth Dimension after conducting an additional international study with a survey instrument developed with Chinese employees and managers. That dimension, based on Confucian dynamism, is Long-Term Orientation5 and was applied to 23 countries. These five Hofstede Dimensions can also be found to correlate with other country (See figure 1) and cultural paradigms (Geert Hofstede, 2003). people communicate varies widely between, and even within, cultures. One aspect of communication style is language usage. Across cultures, some words and phrases are used in different ways. For example, even in countries that share the English language, the meaning of "yes" varies from "maybe, I'll consider it" to "definitely so," with many shades in between. Another major aspect of communication style is the degree of importance given to non-verbal communication. Non-verbal communication includes not only facial expressions and gestures; it also involves seating arrangements, personal distance, and sense of time. In addition, different norms regarding the appropriate degree of assertiveness in communicating can add to cultural misunderstandings. For instance, some white Americans typically consider raised voices to be a sign that a fight has begun, while some black, Jewish and Italian Americans often feel that an increase in volume is a sign of an exciting conversation among friend s. Thus, some white Americans may react with greater alarm to a loud discussion than would members of some American ethnic or non-white racial groups. 2. Different Attitudes Towards Conflict: Some cultures view conflict as a positive thing, while others view it as something to be avoided. In the U.S., conflict is not usually desirable; but people often are encouraged to