Smuckers Case Study

Scope of competitive rivalry- Competition among the industry is dominated by larger more diverse companies offering many efferent products in the processed foods industry. Number of Buyers – The number of users has been steadily increasing over the past few decades. With consumers looking for ways to simplify creating meals and snacks they are more apt to purchase processed foods in order to quickly prepare and serve foods when eating at home or eating meals on the go. Degree of product differentiation- Rivals in the processed foods market are fighting for more of the market.Without either expanding or acquiring new lines some of these businesses are having a hard time keeping their share of the market. Product innovation; The industry is always looking to innovate. This is pretty easy to see from just browsing the grocery store aisles. There are always new and improved products or existing products that are just packaged better for easy on the go eating. Demand-Supply Conditi ons- Processed foods are, plus or minus, 70 percent of what most of us eat. 2) The demand for processed foods does not look like it is going to subside any time soon. There are many suppliers out there but they are also dealing with negotiations to get their products into the top five grocers in America who have the power of choosing hat products they can negotiate for the lowest price, this can be detrimental to smaller manufacturers. Pace of Technological Change- Technological advances in producing these products can help cut costs over time, therefore making more profit on the foods that they are making.Vertical Integration- With acquisitions becoming a necessity of staying in the processed foods playing field these companies need to integrate any way that they can in order to stay competitive in the growing market. Economies of Scale- The processed foods industry is dominated by the top five brands. These brands are making it harder for the smaller companies to gain more of a ma rket share without acquiring more businesses or increasing their product line to gain a share of the market.Learning/Experience Curve Effect- Processed foods make up about 70% of an average Americans diet. It is imperative for their survival that they try to gain a cost advantage over their competitors in order to maintain or increase their share of the processed foods market. Competitive Analysis S. W. O. T. Analysis Strengths Started back in 1897 by Jerome Monroe Smacker, this has been a well-known ND recognized brand for over 115 years. (4) With the acquisitions they have made they are climbing up the processed foods top 100 list.Strong Financial Standings – from 2009 to 201 3 Income before expenses went from $ 396. 1 Million to $ 817. 3 Million. Innovation- they are always looking for new ways of presenting their product in order to make the consumers life easier. Company was listed in the top quartile of Fortune's â€Å"1 00 Best Companies to work for† every year since the magazine created the ranking in 1997. (1) Weaknesses Smaller size in the processed foods market may limit their bargaining power tit grocery retailers.Peanut Butter and Jelly – with most schools now banning any peanut products because of allergies the days of bringing a BP to school for lunch are almost extinct. Volume declined 6% and 1 1 % for Jiff and Smacker's fruit spread respectively. (6) Opportunities Innovating their products to appeal to more consumers such as their creation of the Jiff To Go Lunchbox snacks. More acquisitions of smaller processed food companies when their finances allow. Expanding more internationally pushing the products that have a successful presence in other countries. The retreatsCompetition from larger processed foods manufactures. Lesser bargaining power with the top five grocery retailers who make up about 40% of the grocery sales in the United States. Fear of a decreased market share could lead them to make bad financial decisions in regards to pricing, acquisitions and other expenses that they can control. Healthier Eating habit by people in the U. S. May lessen the already smaller share of their stake in the processed foods market. Financial Analysis Gross Profit Margin- The profit Margin was increasing from 2009 to 2010.Since 201 0 it has gone down a little bit to now being . 457 in 2013. This should be a concern for Smacker's even though over the past two years it has stayed stealing and also slightly increased in 201 3 so far, this is something that they should be putting great attention into. Current Ratio- With a Current Ratio oaf mere 1. 3181 in 2009 transforming into a current ratio in 2013 being 2. 6729 it is showing that Smacker's is financially sound and the fluctuations have not been too severe over the past five years again reiterating their stability in the processed foods market.They are sufficiently able to pay current liabilities without concern. Long Term debt-to-equity Ratio- Smacker's Lon g Term Debt to Equity ratio has fluctuated some over the past five years. In 201 1 the ratio was at its lowest indicating that during that time they were at a better standing to borrow funds if needed. In January 2012, the company closed its purchase of a foddering coffee and hot beverage business from Sara Lee. (7) Without this acquisition to show the jump in ratio from 201 1 to 2012 the company would seem to be in financial distress.Working Capital- The working capital was rapidly increasing from 2009 to 2011. In 201 2 the company saw a decrease in working capital. With the gain of the Sara Lee acquisition there was more funds being used for day to day operations, while this went down it does not mean that the Company is failing – it just means that they have more operating costs than previous and need to work more on the cost of manufacturing these goods to increase revenues more in the future.Strategic Recommendation Smaller Market Share – With the bigger processed foods companies such as Kraft and Nestle gaining a large portion of this market I would recommend that Smackers continue to acquire smaller companies or subsidies of already established companies to continue the growth and success that they have over the more than a century that they have been in business. Peanut Butter and Jelly- With the Healthy and Natural Foods movement going on and also the increase in schools banning peanut butter Smacker's two most well- known products are now fighting for 2nd and 3rd place for the company's sales contributions by product line.They are remaining steady over the past 3 years. In 201 3 Peanut Butter was at 13% (a 1% gain over 201 2) and Fruit Spreads went from 8% in 201 1 to 6% in 2013. One of their newer acquisitions f coffee is booming with a 4% gain over the past 3 years going from 44% in 2011 to a whopping 48% in 2013. I would recommend focusing more advertising and marketing dollars on the products with a decrease in product line sales in order to save what they had originally started their company with.Increasing International Expansion – With the well-known brand name and similarity Of products that people use in other countries I believe that by exporting more of their products Smackers can grow in to a larger and better recognized brand globally. If they started out just shipping and not creating acclivities overseas they could save money in the beginning by not having the overhead of a brand new facility and all of the expenses that come along with it. Also they could easily pull out of the markets that they are not able to penetrate successfully.

Baroque and Rococo Art Periods Essay

The Baroque Art era is classified by many as Early Baroque, High Baroque, and Late Baroque periods. The Rococo Art era is often said to be part of the Late Baroque period. The time frame of the Rococo era and whether it is one and the same as the Late Baroque period have been in debate through the years. Although the Baroque Art and the Rococo Art periods are sometimes classified as one in the same, they are actually quite distinct and unique. The Baroque Art period was between 1600 and the mid 1700’s, and originated during the Catholic Reformation in Rome, Italy, and quickly spread throughout most of Europe. During the late 1500’s, the Protestant reformation started to attack the Catholic Church on doctrine. In response to these attacks, the Catholic Pope started a movement within the church to reaffirm and spread Catholic beliefs. During this time, most people were uneducated and illiterate so the church had to devise a way to spread the gospel message so everyone wou ld understand. It was decided that the message would be spread through art. â€Å"This art was to be direct, emotionally persuasive, and powerful-designed to fire the spiritual imagination and inspire the viewer to greater piety. The church felt that God of greatness and power should be worshiped with the kinds of rituals, ceremonies, and churches befitting these divine qualities.† (McKay & McKay, 2010) So began the Baroque movement with it’s dramatic use of color in paintings and architecture that was forceful, emotional, and extravagant. The Rococo art period emerged in the mid-17th century as a continuation of the Baroque art period. â€Å"By the end of his seventy two-year reign Louis XIV led his country victoriously through numerous wars and France had long replaced Spain as the continental power. He is known in history as one of greatest French kings but also as a â€Å"micromanaging control freak.† (Zaky. n.d.) The Baroque style during his reign represented the Catholic faith and the monarchy with art that was â€Å"direct, obvious, and dramatic.† (McKay & McKay, 2010) Louis XIV was succeeded by Louis XV who reigned during the height of the â€Å"Age of Enlightenment† era, a time where attitudes and morals loosened. The enlightenment movement was in opposition to the established church, as it promoted thinking for oneself and not following a deity. The art of this time period centered around a carefree lifestyle rather than the symbols and rules of the church. It had â€Å"no place for morality, saints or heroes, painting were neither didactic nor devotional.† (Zaky. n.d.) The  art was meant to please the eye of the viewer with no real meaning behind it. The art also portrayed the everyday life, not just important moments in history. The Baroque art movement was stern and originated from the Catholic church wanting to spread religion. The Rococo art movement came about from the â€Å"Enlightenment† era where people wanted to think for themselves instead of being told what to think by the church or monarchy. The Baroque style â€Å"depicted heroism, martyrs, and biblical stories,† but Rococo painters showed themes of love, youth, and playfulness. (Zaky. n.d.) The Baroque artists used dark, stormy colors, whereas Rococo used light, soft opalescent colors. Baroque art was made to be seen and used as propaganda for the Catholic church, and the artwork and architecture was large and bold. The Rococo art was smaller in scale to be enjoyed by a person or family as a decoration. The change from the Baroque period to the Rococo period was significant in that it shows the transition of the society at that time. The Monarchy and C atholic Church were both under scrutiny for excessive spending and what people viewed as political tyranny. The change in attitude by the people not only affected the political environment but also the arts. Tired of oppression, they revolted politically by beheading King Louis XV and by changing the way they created and viewed art. The painting, â€Å"Descent from the Cross,† by Rembrandt is a classic example of the Baroque style. His use of dark colors and shadowing depicts the death of Christ and creates a dramatic scene. He uses light to reveal Christ’s body, Mary, and the cloth that he will be buried in. The painting depicts the religious scene so that the viewer can understand the significance of the event and contemplate its meaning. In contrast â€Å"The Swing,† by Jean-Honore Fragonard, is of a woman swinging carefree in a garden. Fragonard uses pastel colors and illuminates her from the surrounding trees. He places cherubs in the painting another characteristic of the Rococo style. This painting is interesting in that at first glance it seems that this is nothing more than an innocent day in the garden. Upon further inspection, one can see the way Fragonard was bold enough to mock the Baroque style and time period. The man sits at a place where he is able to see up the woman’s skirt as she swings above him symbolizing the free spirit and sexuality of the time. The servant is almost completely hidden, symbolizing the church no longer being as important in society. One area  of art from the Rococo period that is often overlooked is the furniture form of architecture. During this time period a shift was made from large and grand rooms to small, intimate, and personal spaces. The furniture was redesigned to reflect this change and the desire for comfort. The Bergà ¨re chair was designed with â€Å"cushioning in the seat and arms which made it comfortable and kept out drafts†. (Azzarito. n.d.) The painting, â€Å"A Reading of Moliere† by Jean Franà §ois De Troy, depicts this idea of comfort showing women lounging in the Bergere chairs. (Troy. 1728) The Bergà ¨re was â€Å"a favorite chair of the most fashionable women of the day† and is still one that is used in homes today making it a surprising example of a work of Rococo art that has survived through the years. (Azzarito, n.d.) The artists of the Rococo period experimented with color, light, and illusion, and mastered the technique of layering paints to make a object l ook opalescent in color. They created the sense of texture in their paintings, which was not done during the Baroque period. The artists of the Rococo art period mastered new techniques, giving important significance to the time period. Although the Baroque Art and the Rococo Art periods are sometimes classified as one in the same, they are distinct and unique.

Find your own topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Find your own topic - Essay Example This law protects the interest of businessman, government, society and all the stake holder to that interest. This law is procured by the congress to regulate certain interstate commerce. All the statutes put in the codified form in the United States Code. Also many statutes give the power to executive branch agencies to create regulation which generally published into federal register and codified into Code of federal regulations. Under the Chevron doctrine regulations carry the force of law. Under the principle of stare decisis many lawsuit turn into meaning of a federal statue or regulation. Legal force been carried out on judicial interpretation of such meaning. In federal constitution like the military, money, foreign affairs (especially international matters), tariffs, intellectual property (generally copyrights and patents), mail there were an express grant of power to the federal government, this was specially focused during 18th and 19th century. After the start of 20th cent ury broad interpretation of commerce and spending clauses applied on various sectors like aviation, telecommunications, railroads, pharmaceuticals, antitrust and trademarks. Certain areas like railroads, aviation federal government has developed some comprehensive schemes that interpret virtually all kind of state law, but in case of family law relatively small number of people interacts with large amount of state law in interstate and international situation. For employment law, trademark and antitrust case both federal and state law coexist. But for some areas like insurance congress refused to enact any laws as those areas are covered by state laws. II. LEGISLATION. Federal regulation are created by the method called rule making. Public consult is necessary for creation, modification or if deleting is necessary for any rules from the Federal Regulation Code for federal agencies. Code of Federal Regulation is a yearly publication where complete list of the Regulations of Federal A gencies available. When a regulation needs to be add, change or delete then the consecutive agency should published a propose rule in the Federal Register for the public opinion. After an agency verified the public opinions and changes been implemented then that agency can publish the new rules of federal register and mention the dates from when law should be effective and enforceable. But after final rule of comment agency should always response and describe to any public queries. On the other hand state laws are different types, it only applicable to the people who lives in the state. Here state legislatures create a bill and pass it to governor for sign it, and when governor sign it transform into a law. Again there are state court who can reject the law if they do not agree with the state’s constitution. The Law Library of Congress having a library guide for each and every state which helps public to find different state’s individual laws and regulations. III. RATI ONALE. Congress has the power to regulate interstate and international commerce. That is why they had to prevent any deceptive or fraudulent action been taken by one to achieve economic advantage in a particular market over others. This is a reasonable approach from congress to undermine the free-market economy of the United States. Business has a direct impact on society and cultural values. Every business in any given market has the equal right to develop a unique product or service

Terrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

Terrorism - Essay Example This implies that terrorism has been used by left-wing and right-wing political parties, religious groups, nationalistic groups, ruling governments, revolutionaries, among others (Malisow and French 24). This paper shall seek to explain the moral and political aspects of terrorism as well as the issues that define and conceptualize the terrorism phenomenon. There are several documentaries and films that have been created to explicate the origin, as well as the issues that revolve around terrorism. Some of these documentaries include; The Weather Underground by Sam Green and Bill Siegel, The Power Nightmares by Adam Curtis, among others. These two documentaries extensively explore the concept of terrorism, how it came into being, its existence and how it is perceived by people of different cadres. First and foremost, it is worth noting that the two documentaries concur that terrorism came into existence as a form of revolution against issues that were the masses assumed were against h umanity and peaceful co-existence among people. In the documentary, The Weather Underground, Sam Green and Bill Siegel have explicated the manner in which a group of students revolted against some of the issues they felt the government was not addressing. The students, under an umbrella body known as Students for Democratic Society, protested against unequal rights of the African American people and the Vietnam War (Green and Siegel). After realizing that their peaceful demonstrations were being taken for granted, they resorted to terror. For instance, the smashed windows of government buildings and even set blew some with bombs. While blowing the government buildings, they passed word for people to vacate the buildings to ensure that no one was hurt (Green and Siegel). In this case, they respected the sanctity of life while agitating for their rights. This documentary plays an integral part in giving the history of American terrorists. On the hand, The Power Nightmares documentary explicates the rise and growth of Islamic terrorism and the perceived war on terror. Just like in The Weather Underground, Curtis’s documentary demonstrates that resentment and dissatisfaction with the state of things led to the rise of terrorism. However, according to Curtis, terrorism began with the Sayyid Qutb, an Egyptian civil servant and the founder of modern Islamist school of thought, resentment of the western society’s morals and virtues (Curtis). Having stayed in America and witnessed the rot in the western morals as perpetrated by individualism, he opposed Gamal Abdel Nasser’s westernization of Egypt. Therefore, he aims at saving the society by restructuring it along Islamic lines. Additionally, he is convinced that his wish can only be achieved by creating an elite vanguard to facilitate a revolution. Consequently, he creates the Muslim Brotherhood of which he becomes the leader. He motivates other Islamists such as Ayman al-Zawahiri, who later becom es the mentor of Osama bin Laden (Curtis). They have a strong notion that westernized leaders can be killed in order to remove their corruption in the society. Curtis also reveals the rise of disillusioned liberals such as Paul Wolfowitz and Irving Kristol in America. They were agitating for th

Quickbooks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Quickbooks - Essay Example The company would have also opted to obtain loans from other financial institutions, this would have helped in increasing the companies gearing ratio which is very low. The company current ratio is also negative this is as a result of its payables being more than its receivables; the company has incurred a lot of accrued debts which are to be settled in the next financial year. These incurred debts tend to lower the companies gearing ratio thus putting it in a bad financial position. The company has no retained earnings as per the end of the month of December. This is quite evident on its financial statements because the little amounts that it has it uses it in paying its declared dividends and some money in paying out its debtors whose debt periods are almost maturing. The company has also used most of its funds in the purchase of assets as evident in the financial statements. The company should reduce the amounts of expenditure on assets and put much of its funds in generating additional income that will help in increasing its financial position a bit higher (Brown, Beekes & Verhoeven 2011). The company should also adopt a much more cost saving strategy that will help in reducing its rate of depreciation. The management should adopt measures that are much better that the policies adopted on the month of

Weekly Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Weekly Discussion - Essay Example In this regard, the reason why Klein and Zeljka have to respond to the counter-arguments posed to the original study was to further make the issue clear. Klein published the article I Was Wrong, and So Are You in The Atlantic, and objected to publishing in The Wall Street Journal. This can be considered as a deliberate attempt of ensuring that the information is tailored to the appropriate audience. In doing this, Klein must have been aware that The Atlantic and The Wall Street Journal command different audience. It is widely argued that The Wall Street Journal is most read by policy makers, including the politicians. On the other hand, The Atlantic is read by the general public, which may not necessarily counter as policy makers, but inform the decision making process. These include parents, students and businessmen. In my view, the reason why information as well as the media should be changed is to assure information objectivity. This is in reference to the fact that people have different points of view and interest. This means that for the objectives of the information to be realized, adjustments for inclusivity should be

Pre-Hospital Fluid Replacement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Pre-Hospital Fluid Replacement - Essay Example Although road accidents form a major part of the accident pie chart, there are still other zones apart from roads where people are accident prone. Workers in factories, fire fighters, miners and virtually all blue collared working force in UK are under constant threat of accidents. Most of the deaths that result due to accidents have been identified to be due to excessive blood loss, a term, in medical terminology known as hemorrhage. Mainly two types of injuries are identified. In 'Penetrating Injuries', the skin is breached by sharp objects such as a knife and leads to potential internal bleeding. In 'Blunt Injuries', the skin is not deeply penetrated and generally remains unbroken. However the magnitude of the injury damages the internal organs. The bleeding that is caused by these injuries must be controlled. If the bleeding exceeds the normal bounds, it leads to the reduction in blood volume, technically known as 'hypovolaemia'. This may even lead to 'shock' which is a state of circulatory failure. In such a state the perfusion of necessary fluids and blood to vital internal organs is hampered. This consequently leads to multiple organ failure. Generally the first crew to reach the scene of accident is the ambulance crew. Apart from the driver and attendant in most ambulances also have a paramedic. According to the JRCALC guidelines for pre hospital fluid replacement, only a paramedic can administer fluids on the site to the injured. In an email communication with the authors of 'Clinical Effectiveness and Cost Effectiveness of pre hospital intravenous fluids in trauma patients', trauma.org told that, "All patients would be considered for fluids. (Perhaps not all should receive but currently in the UK almost all will) [The] approximate percentage of trauma patients who receive fluids [is] currently 100%" (Dretzke et al, 2003). Administration of intravenous fluids on - site is a traditional approach to handle injuries. This method was supported by early animal studies. The theory behind fluid replacement methodology is that, fluid replacement therapy attempts to reverse the effects of excessive blood loss by increasing circulatory blood volume and blood pressure back to the normal levels and maintains the perfusion of vital organs thereby reducing the risk of death from multiple organ failure (NICE, 01/04). Methodology and Technology The physiological state of the victim of injury is analyzed by the paramedic to identify which pre - hospital fluids are needed. Certain factors are analyzed such as degree of blood loss and whether the hemorrhage is controlled or uncontrolled. The Technology Appraisal of NHS identifies the other indicators of hemorrhage in adults as tachycardia, peripheral vasoconstriction and reduced blood pressure (NHS, 01/04). The shock levels are categorized according to the severity. Intravenous fluids are considered on similar lines as medicines, and are broadly classified as crystalloids, colloids, or combination fluids. Combination fluids consist of hypertonic saline with starch or dextran. According to the JRCALC regulations only paramedics may administer crystalloid and colloid solutions. Crystalloids pass through cell membranes into different body fluid compartments, thereby making up for the fluids lost due to