Avon Case Analysis Essay -- Avon Cosmetics Make Up Essays

Avon As of November 1999, Avon was experiencing economic troubles. Avon’s growth rate of annual sales was less than 1.5 percent during the greatest economic boom in history. This prompted a transfer in leadership which appointed Andrea Jung as CEO. Since that time, Avon has experienced remarkable growth. Under the direction of the new CEO, a new strategy was developed to reinvent Avon’s image, improve customer satisfaction, and to increase profit margins and market share. Avon has gained an outstanding reputation as the best direct seller of beauty products. Through the continued efforts and achievements of its sales representatives, Avon is now known worldwide. Avon’s core competence has mainly been its direct selling busniess model. This led Jung and the management team to implement a Sales Leadership program that provided incentives to acquire, train, motivate, and retain the number of active sales representatives it needs to sustain significant growth. Avon also has a representative development program that focuses on the professional training of representatives. This enables the representatives to provide valuable information on Avon brand products. Avon also keeps its superior customer service in other ways of distribution such as the Internet and in the departmen t store sales by having a timely and correct order delivery, one on one information exchange and personalized professional advice. Forces of Competition Rivalry among competing sellers in the CFT industry is strong. The creation of innovative products is crucial to success. This industry focuses on continually developing cutting edge products using the latest science and technology. Rivalry is stronger when customer’s costs to switch brands are low. Switching costs in the CFT industry are very low, due to the large amount of different brands of similar products. This cost is due to the higher number of competitors in the CFT industry and their tendency to copy new products in order to stay competitive. Another Avon objective that aims to alleviate pressures coming from competing sellers includes consists of reinventing their antiquated image. The organization had been a major player in the CFT industry for decades. However, Avon’s management took a reactive approach and failed to evolve with the changing times. Because the CFT industry centers on mage conscious consumers, Jung d... ...na. Also, because the only sales in China are generated through retail outlets, Avon should further develop their Beauty Advisors training. Europe should also be a continued focus for Avon. Industry leader, L’Oreal’s attributes 50% of their total sales to the European market. Avon has had a successful growth rate in Europe but only 23% of the total 2003 sales came from Europe. There is still room to expand in this market. Based on one of the industry’s key success factors, product innovation, Avon should focus even more resources on R&D especially in the areas of anti-aging products and teen products. Because 23 million teenagers have an average weekly disposable income of $85, Avon should continue with innovative teen marketing such as the current â€Å"mark† brand but also work on products for problem teen skin. Being ahead of the industry in introducing new products combined with the company’s already strong market position could further improve Avon’s brand equity and therefore revenues. In particular, Avon should continue to integrate sales representative into all aspects of sales. This is Avon’s own key success factor and what sets them apart from their competitors.

Why People Attend College Or University?

While some people prefer to find a job right away after graduation from school, others make a decision to continue their education at college or university. This way is not easy because it requires some sacrifices – financial and personal. But people choose this road in spite of high expenses and other obstacles. For many people, attending educational institutions such as college or university is a path to obtain knowledge, skills, and contacts for realizing (in order to realize) their professional dreams and ambitious.First of all, by taking courses or program at college, students gain strong knowledge in their fields of professional interest. They comprehensively study subjects including theories, laws, regulations, and practical exercises. Also, practically, all colleges and university organize workshops and seminars where recognized experts from particular field share their experience with participants. In addition, all students have an access to a wide range of learning r esources such as libraries, special internal databases, additional courses, experiential classes and much more.Beyond knowledge, students should learn several important skills which allow transferring well-built theoretical knowledge into the professional life. One of such skills is ability to present ideas clearly, and every college and university train students to make a presentation and speak on public. Another essential skill is ability to communicate with different people properly. That is why during educational process students have a lot of discussions and do several group projects. Besides, working together, students encounter some problems which take place in a real workplace and learn to solve them.Undoubtedly, one of the most significant reason for attending college or university is an opportunity to build professional network and get a job in the future. Because educational institutions organize many events with professionals and often offer a placement, students have a chance to demonstrate their abilities and get in touch with potential employer. This is the one sure way to find a job. Moreover, student who has already found a job might recommend his or her former classmate if his or her company needs to hire one more.Thus, contacts made at college or university help students to enter into the professional field. It might take a lot of time and efforts to become a professional and achieve career goals. However, college or university can make this road significantly easier and smoother. By getting a fundamental theoretical and practical basis, training communication skills, and establishing a professional network, future professionals obtain an excellent start which makes their dreams closer.

Illicit Drug Use during Pregnancy Essay

Drug exploitation in pregnancy is an elaborate public health problem with conceivably serious conflicting effects for the mother, the fetus and spreading to the developing child. When a mother becomes pregnant, it is important to her baby’s health that she has a healthy lifestyle. This includes eating plenty of nourishing foods, getting a decent amount of rest and exercising normally. For a pregnant woman, pregnancy substance abuse is twice as dangerous because not only is it affecting her, its also affecting the baby that’s inside of her. Drugs may harm her own health, which will intervene with her ability to support the pregnancy; also some drugs can directly reduce prenatal development. All illegal drugs pose a danger to pregnant woman, Even legal substances such as tobacco, alcohol, and prescription drugs are dangerous to woman that are expecting. As many as one in ten babies may be born to woman that use illegal and prescription drugs while being pregnant. ( Kallen, Bengt; 2009) Alcohol consumption and illegal drug abuse is intensely precarious during pregnancy and therefore pregnant woman should admire their value to their child and never exploit them. Studies shown in 2008 that the amount of babies born to drug addicted mothers has almost doubled since 2003. Pregnant mothers have been using drugs during pregnancy for decades without knowing the effects it can have on their child. Even though many people assume that illicit drugs used by pregnant mothers cause no harm to the fetus there have been studies shown otherwise. If a mother uses cocaine in the early stages of pregnancy it can increase the risk of a miscarriage, when it is used later in pregnancy cocaine usage can lead to muscle spasm, feeding difficulties and sleeplessness. Cocaine has many street names such as crack, blow, snow, and coke. It is highly addictive and it is a central nervous system stimulant.  Cocaine comes from a plant that has been used for thousands of years in the most parts of the world, it comes from the coca leaf and it is the most dangerous stimulants of the natural origin. The drug can be injected, snorted, or smoked. It increases the addictâ€⠄¢s blood pressure, body temperature and heart rate. The risks that cocaine may cause to a pregnant woman are respiratory failure, heart attacks, nausea, seizures and also abdominal pain. Sudden death may also occur to first time users, because the body is not use to the adrenalin the drug is giving it. When a pregnant woman uses cocaine it crosses through the placenta and circulates through the fetus’s body, fetuses eliminate cocaine from their bodies more slowly then adults do. In assertive rare chances perinatal cerebral infraction associated with cocaine use has also been known to happen, this drug decreases uttering blood flow and increases maternal blood pressure. When placental abruption happens it can lead to preterm birth, severe bleeding and even a fatal death. Studies show that woman who use cocaine during pregnancy are at least twice and likely as other woman to have a premature baby, since cocaine cuts the flow of nutrients and oxygen to the fetus, the baby may be much smaller at birth than it would be otherwise. Physically cocaine exposed babies tend to have smaller head which indicates a smaller brain. Post pregnancy babies of woman who use cocaine regularly during pregnancy are between three and six times more likely to be born at a low birth weight, less than 5.0 pounds than babies who do not use the drug. Pre-mature birth is caused by low birth weight and can be caused by poor growth before birth. Low-birth weight babies are 20 times more likely to die in their first month than normal weight babies are. The babies that actually survive are at an increased risk of lifelong disabilities such as mental retardation, cerebral palsy, visual and hearing impairment. In the USA, the 2004 Survey on Drug Use and Health showed that 5% of American women reported the use of an illicit drug during pregnancy. In the UK, national estimates for pregnant drug users are lacking, but studies report that approximately a third of drug users in treatment are female and over 90% of these women are of childbearing age (15–39 years of age). A study comparing the profiles of pregnant drug users presenting to a perinatal addictions service in London (UK) found illicit heroin use (38%), followed by cocaine use (24%) as primary drugs of abuse, with poly substance use common. (Rashekhar Moorthy  Madgula, MD ; 2011) Pregnancy should be taken seriously and one should implement a healthy lifestyle to keep them and their unborn child safe. A pregnant woman’s lifestyle habits as well as her partner’s can severely affect the health of their unborn baby. If the pregnant woman and her spouse have already taken these actions into consideration it should be continued throughout the entire pregnancy. It is never too late for a pregnant woman to start thinking about making behavioral changes or having withdrawals. Staying acting during pregnancy can only have a positive effect on the baby and the expecting mother with providing her feeling more energy and developing a healthy lifestyle. References BabyCentre Medical Advisory Board (2014, July). Illegal drugs in pregnancy – BabyCentre. Retrieved from http://www.babycentre.co.uk/a541318/illegal-drugs-in-pregnancy Health and Pregnancy (n.d.). Drug Use and Pregnancy. Retrieved 2009, from http://www.webmd.com/baby/drug-use-and-pregnancy Kà ¤llà ©n, B. (2009). Drugs during pregnancy. New York: Nova Biomedical Books. Narconon (2013). Drug Use During Pregnancy. Retrieved from http://www.drugrehab.co.uk/drug-use-pregnancy.htm Using Illegal Drugs During Pregnancy | American Pregnancy. (2011, May). Retrieved from http://americanpregnancy.org/pregnancyhealth/illegaldrugs.html