One of my friends recently flew Ethiopian Airlines from Mumbai to Lagos; her choice was not Ethiopian Airlines but since she wanted to go urgently, and ticket was available on this airline, she flew.  She was pleasantly surprised as she experienced clean comfortable plane, comfortable seats, good food and service, clean toilets which were regularly cleaned and polite staff on the flight of almost ten hours.

As an airline, safety is everyone’s first priority, Ethiopian is a high performance and learning organization. A learning organization is an organization skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge, and at modifying its behaviour to reflect new knowledge and insights.  This airline tries to continuously improve, innovate on the basis of knowledge-sharing. The airline respects and rewards its employees for their integrity, people skills and team work.  It recognizes creativity and innovation in its people. At the same time, the airline shows Zero tolerance to meaninglessness, inefficiency and bureaucracy. Ethiopian believes treating their customers with best possible way, wanting them to become their loyal customers. Ethiopian’s HR policies are good. 

Emperor Haile Selassie-I of Ethiopia planned to modernize the country. One of his first steps towards modernization was to set up an airline with the help of the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. With Trans World Airlines (TWA) on hand to offer its expertise, operations commenced on April 8, 1946, from Addis Ababa-Asmara-Cairo. Ethiopian Airline’s vision is to become the most competitive and leading aviation group in Africa by providing safe, market driven and customer focused passenger and cargo transport, aviation training, flight catering, MRO (maintenance, repair and overhauling) and ground services by 2025.  Most importantly Ethiopian Airlines, the national airline of Ethiopia, has a good safety record. The airline has taken a number of precautions in order to ensure the safety of their passengers during the flight and at the airport.

By 2035, Ethiopian Airlines aims to have over 207 destinations across the world. In terms of fleet size, the airline currently has 140 planes. It aims to increase it to 271 planes by 2035. Ethiopia has the plan to build a $5 billion worth largest airport outside of the capital Addis Ababa. Despite being 100% government-owned, Ethiopian largely owes its success to the government letting it operate commercially which is unusual in Africa. Ethiopian Airlines is Certified as a 4-Star Airline for the quality of its airport and onboard product and staff service. Product rating includes seats, amenities, food and beverages, in-flight entertainment, cleanliness etc, and service rating for both cabin staff and ground staff.

An adage in commercial aviation is that almost each airline always loses money. Some analysts go as far as to argue that the global industry has collectively never turned a profit. Whatsoever the accuracy of the overall accounting, it is clear that commercial aviation is an industry in which it is difficult to flourish. The industry’s history demonstrates that airline expansion risks, and often overextends, the fundamental strengths of the business. However, despite the many pitfalls, most airlines do explicitly seek to expand. But Ethiopian has managed and mitigated the risks of expansion.

Ethiopian Airlines Group and the Boeing company have signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on positioning Ethiopia as an aviation hub for Africa. Building on the two parties’ seventy years of shared history in aviation, the MoU aims at positioning Ethiopia as Africa’s aviation hub – “Ethiopia for Africa”.   Boeing has recognized Ethiopian as a global aviation leader in the continent. The MoU is indicative of Boeing and Ethiopian Airlines interest to establish a mutually beneficial world class aviation partnership.

Aviation branding establishes the aviation company as a leader/challenger/follower in the industry. For creating a strong brand in the aviation market, the basic duty of an airline is to provide customers with a sense of safety and comfort. Their core job is to provide luxury, ease, customer care quality, right-time arrival, airline’s safety reputation, cabin crew friendliness, ease of booking process, baggage allowance and fastest route to destination.

The Ethiopian Airlines growth story is very impressive.

BCG matrix helps in doing a comparative analysis of business potential and the evaluation of environment. Relative market share shows SBU Sales this year leading competitor’s sales this year and market growth share shows industry sales this year minus industry Sales last year. The analysis requires that both measures be calculated for each SBU. The dimension of business based on strength and relative market share will measure comparative advantage indicated by market dominance. The key theory underlying this fact is existence of an experience curve and that market share is achieved due to overall cost leadership.

BCG matrix has four cells, with the relative market share and the vertical axis denoting market growth rate. The mid-point of relative market share is set at 1.0, if all the SBU’s are in same sector, the average growth rate of the industry is used. For example Nestle India’s all SBU exist in food industry. But, if all the SBU’s are located in different sectors of industries, then the mid-point is set at the growth rate of the economy, for example the Tata group’s SBUs exist in a variety of sectors.

The four cells of this matrix have been called as stars, cash cows, question marks and dogs. Each of these cells represents a particular pattern of business. To clarify each cell of the matrix, we will be discussing examples of Amul’s products. Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF) is India’s largest food product marketing organization with annual turnover (2013-14) US$ 3.0 billion. The word amul is derived from the Sanskrit word amulya meaning rare, valuable. The co-operative was initially referred to as Anand Milk Federation Union limited hence the name AMUL. It has the largest distribution network compared to any FMCG company. It has nearly 50 sales offices spread all over the country, more than 5000 wholesale dealers and more than 700000 retailers. In order to maintain costs at lower levels, Amul India has never spent more than 1% of its budget on advertising. However it has still been successful in creating the same impact. It’s simple yet appealing ad campaigns with its lucky mascot a cute and chubby girl usually dressed in polka dots has not changed so far.

Stars

 Stars represent business units having large market share in a fast growing industry. They usually generate cash because of fast growing market. Stars require huge investments to maintain their flourishing status. The net cash flows of ‘Star’ SBU are usually modest. Please understand that SBU’s located in this cell are attractive as they are located in a robust industry and these business units are highly competitive in the industry. When the industry matures, a successful star will become a cash cow. Amul pure ghee, cheese spread, ice creams, dairy whiteners and flavored bottled milk are examples of ‘star’ in Amul’s product portfolio.

Cash Cows

Cash Cows represent business units having a large market share in a mature yet slow growing industry. Cash cows require little investment but they generate steady cash that can be utilized for investment in other business units. It’s not the stars but cash cow SBU’s which are the key source of cash, and are in particular the core business of a corporation. They are the supporters of an organization. These businesses usually follow stability strategies. When cash cows lose their appeal and move towards descent, then a divestment policy may be followed. Amul butter, fresh milk range, mozzarella cheese are examples of cash cows in their portfolio.

Question Marks

 These SBUs represent business units having relatively low market share in a high growth industry. They require huge amount of cash for maintenance and to gain market share. They require consideration to determine if the venture of the SBU is feasible. Question marks generally possess new goods and services which have a good commercial prospective. There is no specific strategy which can be adopted. If the firm thinks it has dominant market share, then it can adopt expansion strategy, else retrenchment strategy can be adopted. The fact is that most businesses start as question marks as the company tries to enter a high growth market in which there are already existing businesses. If ignored and not rectified in time, then question marks turn into dogs. But, if huge investment is made, then they have potential of becoming stars. Masti dahi, lassi, mithai, tetra packed milk are examples of question marks.

Dogs

Dogs represent businesses having weak market shares and they operate in low-growth markets. They are cash traps. They neither generate cash nor require huge amount of cash. Due to low market share, these business units face cost disadvantages. Generally retrenchment strategies are adopted because these SBUs can gain market share only if they don’t face competition. That means other firms are weaker firms. An SBU can turn into dog because of high costs, poor quality, ineffective marketing, poor strategies etc. A dog is dragged on usually when a firm has strategic reasons to do so. If the SBU has fewer prospects for it to gain market share, it is better to divest the SBU.  The thumb rule is number of dogs should be avoided and minimized in an organization. Amul chocolate, energy drink, infant milk range and pizza are examples of dog.

The BCG Matrix is not free from limitations. The limitations are defined hereby.

• BCG matrix classifies businesses as low and high, but generally businesses run on medium scales too. Thus, the true scale/degree of business needs to be reflected.
• High market share does not always lead to higher profits. The fact is that there are high costs also involved with high market share.
• Growth rate and relative market share are not the only indicators of profitability. This model ignores and overlooks other indicators of profitability.
• Many times, dogs may help other businesses in gaining competitive advantage. The competitive advantage earned by other SBUs because of the dogs is more than cash cows sometimes.

Strategies based on BCG Matrix are as follows:

Build

By increasing investment, the product is given a thrust such that the product increases its market share. For example an organization can push a Question mark into a Star and finally a cash cow.

Hold

A company when cannot invest because it has other investment commitments due to which it holds a product or products in the same quadrant. For example is Amul decides to hold its question mark products in the same quadrant as higher investment to move a question mark into star need to put on hold.

Harvest

This is very well observed in the Cash cow scenario, wherein the company reduces the amount of investment and tries to take out maximum cash flow from the said product which increases the overall profitability. For example, Amul butter has retained its market share for decades. It’s indeed a leader as Amul owns 88 percent share in butter market.

Divest

It is observed in case of Dog quadrant products which are generally divested to release the amount of money already stuck in the business.

This is how the BCG matrix is the best way for a business portfolio analysis. The strategies recommended after BCG analysis help the firm decide on the right line of action and help them implement the same.

Another brand, Evian has an extremely loyal consumer base. The bottled-water brand positions itself as the first mineral water from the French Alps, a place suggestive of all things clean and pure. Evian was the first one to package water in plastic bottles (1969) and it instantly clicked; customers to buy the bottle and use it flexibly.  The brand’s packaging graphics prominently feature the Alps; along with text reinforcing the purity message has outstood the brand for decades. It is rated one among the world’s top 25 brands. That’s what packaging does; it has the fortitude of both making of brand and breaking of brand.

Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also involves the process of design, evaluation, and production of packages. Packaging can be described as a coordinated system of preparing goods for transportation, warehousing, logistics, sale, and end use. Packaging contains, protects, preserves, transports, informs, and sells.

In pharma business, packaging matters mostly. “In the pharma industry packaging does constitute a significant part of the cost and to that extent makes a major difference. However, there is a renewed focus seen in the industry and people are looking for optimum solutions,” comments Debdeep Bhattacharya, Director, Ess Dee Aluminum. For many years pharma companies were making efforts to save costs in packaging, but with the changes in market scenario in pharma business, companies are looking forward to changing their packaging philosophies by making optimum usage of packaging which of course augments the value of the product. Pharma marketers have realized that compromising on the packaging costs is not going to lead them further. Various sensory characteristics such as color, taste, shape, texture either  in isolation or in combination with each other cause array of sensory experiences which range from repulsive to extremely invigorating. Also, human beings, belonging to different age groups, different religions and socio-cultural backgrounds and different genders, perceive and respond to these experiences in different ways.

Packaging becomes the most important technique of delivering the goods, and its cost represents the significantly total cost of the product. Packaging conveys utilities which the marketers want to communicate to attract the consumers. Marketers through packaging send out important information about the product, price, manufacturer and the consumption precautions; if shabbily designed packaging harms the product’s future and affects the life cycle.

Glaxo Smith Kline’s famous brand Boost the health food drink is a leading brand of HFD in India which bags about 23% of the market share. The brand owes its success to its shrink sleeve packaging style. Boost’s packaging style and design won it the famous ‘World Star Award’ in 1999. The product is packed in sporty, convenient plastic bottle structure with attractive graphics. Brand connectivity becomes very easy because of product packaging and design. The product can be easily distinguished on the shelves due to its dazzling design.

Johnson & Johnson established in 1886, a company which is well-known for its ethical practices, has some winner brands which have created solid platform of the company’s product portfolio.  The company’s brands are still going strong in the market because of its innovative approach to redefining the image of certain products through marketing drives that are closely integrated with packaging and product design. Band-Aid was created nearly 90 years ago; its Baby Powder has been sold for well over a century. The more recent but well established painkiller, Tylenol, was launched as a consumer product in 1960. These brands have maintained a youthful look by using packaging array of designs and aesthetics for ages.

A recent study proved that consumers who are more aware on environmental issues are three times more prone to support their purchasing decisions on a company’s or brands environmental and social track record. The study further points out that the well-informed and socially conscious consumers are also twice as likely to say it’s worth paying more for products and their packages which are environment-friendly. Packaging can be used as a vehicle to teach consumers about environmental issues and eco-friendly packaging materials and sourcing, an important step in gaining and reinforcing consumer trust and loyalty. Terms like recyclable, biodegradable, and recycled content have greater influence on customers. However, newer, more expressive sustainability claims and third-party certifications has increasingly become more important in packaging aesthetics. The packaging should be manufactured from the right materials, ensuring that the product inside is not damaged.

Sudafed is one of the leading brands of Pfizer, Australia. It is a double action congestion & sinus pain reliefproduct. Recently Pfizer to convey its quality packaging leadership went in for direct metallising process which is biodegradable, making it more recyclable than traditional film or foil laminated packs. The new packaging process also completely eliminates VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and HAPs (hazardous air pollutants) for a very positive environmental outcome all round. Pfizer not only used the metalizing packaging for giving a new aesthetic look to Sudafed but also showed the world its thoughtfulness in environmental friendliness by doing so.

Several marketing practitioners have opined that packaging plays a better role than advertising does because it can set a brand apart from its competitors. It promotes and strengthens the purchase decision not only at the point of purchase, but also every time the product is used. A well designed and planned packaging using good colour combination with graphics, typography can influence the customer’s perceived value of a product instantly. Logos and symbols are often applied to packaging, especially by companies that regard their products as a ‘brand’. Branded products often have an advantage over non-branded products.

P&G’s innovative approach in maintaining a supple and elastic marketing mix is most admired. The company is famous for using artistic and a flexible packaging for their brands. P & G is very innovative in their packaging of brands. Their Olay product line is getting bigger day by day. The packaging impact is supported of course by the company’s trendy advertisements. This product of P &G showcases the company’s packaging philosophy, which stresses a balance of design aesthetics, functionality and cost effectiveness. Packages for Olay Quench Body Lotion, a product introduced in North America in early 2005, include a trottle and a pump-dispenser bottle. All the packages feature an exclusive sloped shoulder the bottle with periwinkle color. The Olay Quench package design is very distinctive, but it also uses available technology which has helped in pricing the product effectively.

This is how, packaging helps in brand positioning. Effective packaging communicates why to buy the product. It also communicates the usability of the product, while creating a shelf impact; it punctuates the brand’s value statement. It conveys what problem the product is going to solve. A well designed package fits into place instantly when it is picked up, since the feel of the package is the first experience of the product with the customer. The structural design of the package is certainly accountable for the first critical introduction of a product. Packaging optimizes the experience of a product if it is used intelligently by the marketers to enhance the marketing mix.

Companies do not exist in vacuum.  They are responsible for the social well being. The customers today expect and perceive brand value beyond consumption. Packaging thus plays the role of silent salesman to sustain and strengthen brand’s credibility.

A study was carried on by Reputation Institute (RI) in 170,000 companies from 15 countries to find out how customers perceive governance of the companies from whom they buy brands and services. It was found that consumers prefer companies who work towards achievement of a social cause. Also, how companies treat their employees matters consumers’ impression about a company. RI is a global business consulting firm that helps big organizations to build their credibility with their people force. The result of the study was that the world watches organizations closely on their CSR theme. People are concerned whether organizations think of CSR as just a giveaway, or are they really concerned. Consumers watch organizations closely whether they treat their employees respectfully, how ethical they are in operations, and whether the company respects the ecosystem. Consumers prefer companies marketing brand with a cause.

Businesses have to handle societal changes by recognizing its magnitude in effect of its responsibilities for the future of civilization. Businesses do not exist in vacuum. Social responsibility has become increasingly important for companies over the last several years. Whether it is by empowering women, serving the environment, trying to end poverty, towards the cause of education, towards improving healthcare facilities etc. We are seeing more and more companies incorporating social responsibility into their overall business strategy. The social issues may be local, national, or global, but a concern for the health and wellness of others in society cannot be ignored.

For aligning the cause of the CSR, organizations need to match their brand with a cause. A strong alignment between organizational brand’s goals and the cause it wishes to support is very critical to the success of its CSR initiative. If the match is poor, the CSR programme ends up confusing consumers and it makes them feel disconnected. It sometimes even results into the brand’s values slowly falling off the radar. If companies want to look at how to get good value from investing in CSR they should look at aligning it with their brand.

A strong brand offers many different business benefits ranging from the ease of acquiring good talent at reasonable costs and often earning customer loyalty in enhancing their business. All these benefits translate into improving the brand equity. The Coca-Cola Company’s global commitment is to enable the economic empowerment of 5 million women entrepreneurs across the company’s value chain by 2020. It has given facelift to brand Coca-Cola.

An easy way to ensure that CSR matches the company’s vision is to check if there is a logical tie between operations of business and the cause. For instance, Lifebuoy soap and hand wash aims to improve health through better hygiene. This daily use product helps prevent disease and improve people’s health and well-being; ultimately, helping to save lives. HUL’s this product enjoys a robust market share. In another example, two divisions of ITC namely foods and greeting, gifting and stationery work with a strong CSR message. On purchase of Aashirwad, Sunfeast or Kitchens of India products, consumers invariably support issues such as water conservation and tree plantation. How does this happen? A percentage of the sales proceeds get channelized into these areas. Similarly, the sale of ITCs Expressions Greeting Cards helps the cause of SOS Villages that look after orphan children in India. Again, on the purchase of ITC’s Classmate notebooks, Re 1 is donated for the cause of rural development and children’s education.

P&G has been championing the cause of gender equality both inside and outside the company. P&G will expand its supplier development and sourcing from women owned businesses across the world. This imitative of P&G has given boost to millions of women in world.  In India, P&G hires 50% women into entry level management roles and they get promoted in their next assessments at the same progression as men. P&G was the also the first consumer goods company with a license to employ women in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.  It employs 15% women managers in KSA across all commercial divisions including HR, Finance, Operations and IT.

Engage employees in CSR: Global consumers expect companies to do more than make a profit, but also operate responsibly to address social and environmental issues. For developing an authentic CSR programme it is important for organizations to engage their employees in the formation of ideas process. This is helpful in boosting employee engagement and thus helping retention. Some employees at American Express Corporation initiated CSR with the issue of restoration of Statue of Liberty. American Express is known for their smart marketing ideas.

Connect with consumers: Consumers like companies that make the world a better place. Today’s millennials (generation Y) are 66 percent more likely to buy from a company that not just sells a quality product but also gives back to society. Companies use social media platforms to create awareness for an effective cause and for attracting donations. It’s been observed when companies are not honest to their cause and not regular in their efforts, consumers overlook their products.

Partner with other organizations: Partnering with organizations for the CSR cause enhances the achievements of organizations especially when CSR is aligned with the brand’s vision and goals. It is the fastest way to generate more results and goodwill. However, it requires a clear intent and budget in mind to make it work. The process of choosing an NGO partner typically involves a screening process. This includes a credibility test, a field visit, and background checks. It also requires regular assessment from the NGO.

Gradually, organizations all over world are aligning their brand to a worthy cause.

As humans, as organizations, as products, as services and as nations each one makes an effort to create an identity of its own because Identity provides meaning, harmony and purpose in our life. It evolves as we grow through lifecycle. Without identity, it’s almost unfeasible to create meaning and purpose.

A corporate identity or corporate image is the manner which a firm or business presents itself to the public and all stakeholders. Creating a suitable identity is a primary goal of the corporate communication. For positioning a brand in customers mind having a robust and recognizable brand identity is essential for distinguishing it from other products in cluttered market. The identity needs to be crafted in a certain way using particular elements of that brand such as the logo, tagline, tone, or colours, packing, ingredients etc.

Brand identity is the meaning of the brand which the marketer projects and its efficacy can be measured. In 1996, Jean-Noel Kapferer, a professor of Marketing Strategy at HEC Paris, came up with the idea of representing brand identity as a hexagonal prism, with each side standing for one of these essential elements: Physique, Relationship and Reflection are the external factors of a brand whereas Personality, Culture and Self-image are internal factors. Successful brands are the ones in which all of these six facets are carefully intertwined and aligned. Kapferer’s brand identity uses traits of human being for a metaphor of a brand.

Physique: The first facet of the brand identity prism refers to the underlying physical characteristics of a brand. Physique portrays the form, size, and development of a product. The physique of a brand turns abstract and elusive characteristics into something visible. The physique helps consumers get associated with the brand initially. When you see the iPhone of Apple you get attracted to its elegance, style, and aesthetics.

Personality: it is the combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual’s distinctive character. This element is about the character of a brand. Brand personality is developed by attributing human characteristics to it because consumer can relate to the brand easily. Toyota Innova has built a reputation of being rugged, dependable, comfortable, highest level of safety. Brands hire celebrities to endorse the product’s personality.

Relationship: It refers to the relationship between a brand and its customers in terms of what the consumers, think, feel, and how they pursue the brand. Favorable relationship helps managers and stakeholders understand how to create favorable brand approach to drive brand loyalty, repeat purchase, customer lifetime value, customer advocacy, and communities of like-minded individuals organized around brand. The approach adopted by the marketer is important in terms of which human traits describe this relationship.

Netflix – the video streaming company is known for its obsession with customers; Netflix collects a huge amount of data on customers to create hyper-personalized recommendations. It uses that data to help customers find their new favorite shows and to create award-winning original content that is exactly what customers want to see.

Culture: It can be defined as the inherent DNA that runs into the organization. It consists of the values, expressions and interactions the organization creates with the customers, employees, and all stakeholders at every point. The culture consists even of country of origin, the nation where a product is produced or branded. For example, all over world, people favor cars produced in Japan for its culture and values and its demographics. Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Toyota are respected brands in world of automobiles.

Nevertheless, Kapferer also gives another insight on culture; he says that some brands have managed to capitalize on false origination than its original; famous American brand ‘Mars’ has made Dutch people believe that it is originated in their country, Mars has got adjusted to the Dutch culture and values.

Reflection: There is a subtle but sizeable difference between self-image and reflection. While the former is about the customers’ idea of self, the latter is how brands pursue their audience. Reflection can be described as a set of stereotypical notions of a brand’s customer base, used for promotional purposes, and highlighted in ads and commercials. It is a new framework to help brand owners and advertising agencies to understand and communicate brand identity more effectively. Brand Reflections is especially useful for branding by marketing agencies to accelerate the positioning process of a brand in a certain segment. Brand reflection represents the distinctive class of users of a brand.

For example, in an Indian man’s wardrobe, his suits have a special place; nicely dry-cleaned, neatly hung and properly matched with accessories from top to bottom. Among many other brands, at least one of the suits in the wardrobe is a Raymond suit. The tag line “Complete Man” suits the Indian man’s psyche. The Complete Man describes a beautiful soul and a quintessence of individual spirit beyond gender specifics.

Self-image: Is about how customers of a particular brand see themselves; the brands get the benefit from incorporating the unique association created by the customers into creating its own identity. Most youngsters like to be tagged as “cool”, “stylish”, “vibrant” etc; they therefore choose brands which help them ascertain those tags. A research on brand identity has found that people who struggle with identity disorders gain real insight into themselves by choosing the “right” brands. Perfumes help consumers to boost their self worth. Arpege Lanvin a famous French perfume which is used by stylish and classy women. It is known for restoring feelings of self-worth in many women for decades. Its catchy tagline “No bottles to break – just hearts” says it all.

I have seen the most passionate brand loyalists of BlackBerry phones; the phone enjoyed strong fanatics who swore by the brand since 1999 its birth. As for me, I resisted the idea of moving to a Smartphone for a long time, but, nevertheless I had to switch. And, my first Smartphone was BlackBerry-8520. In 2011 I switched to the BlackBerry Curve and in 2014 to BlackBerry Passport. Perhaps BlackBerry kept resisting the superfast Smartphone changing market; it was slow in adapting to the changing market dynamics, be it the growing love for Android, affordable phones, or touch screens. From QWERTY physical keyboards to BBM instant messenger, BlackBerry is now is only nostalgia.

BlackBerry 8520 was the first BlackBerry device introduced in 1999. Supporting email and limited HTML browsing, the small device featured a monochrome screen. The BlackBerry 5810 was the first model with phone capabilities but it required a headset. BlackBerry was considered one of the most prominent Smartphone vendors in the world, specializing in secure communications and mobile productivity. At its peak in September 2013, there were 85 million BlackBerry subscribers worldwide. This happened because during and after the September 11, 2001 attacks, when other phones failed, BlackBerry didn’t. It was one of the few networks that continued to function in New York and that won the phone a generation of loyalists.

I think when most people weren’t even sure if they needed security on their phones, BlackBerry provided it. Today, security and privacy are hot topics for everyone who owns a mobile device. BlackBerry believed making phones with strong security; they believed that   “security is only as strong as its weakest link”. Security is about economics. No system is unfathomable to security; in a Smartphone security is most important. The amount spent on the Smartphone needs to be aligned with the value of all important information stored in the phone and its protection. Hackers follow the path of least resistance. This was the key thread that bonded BlackBerry to its customers. A generation of loyalists of BlackBerry got attached emotionally to its secured phones. However, its punch line “keep moving” seems a bit obscure, because the company resisted moving with times.

Secure foundations make secure systems; effective security needs to be baked into the system from the very beginning. BlackBerry security was not just a feature or enrichment, it was their fundamental property. Security takes time and experience. At BlackBerry, their software and hardware were BlackBerry-built which provides end-to-end layered features.

The sturdy BlackBerry phones were built with long lasting battery, great speed processing, a great camera, clear display, great storage space, of course QWERTY physical keyboards and a great look!  Do you know that Barack Obama in particular refused to give his Blackberry up when he took office in The White House? After winning the election he said that if officials wanted him to stop using it they would have to “pry it out of his hands”. Even, the British Prime Minister David Cameron was a fan and even he continued using BlackBerry. And, model Kim Kardashian was among the celebrities who endorsed the company.

In September 2016, the company declared that it will stop making its own devices. The company, which is famed for its “Qwerty” keyboard mobile phones that were the preference handset for proficient people in world decided to give up the struggle to keep up with market leaders Apple and Samsung as the world has moved to touch-screens. It is an end of the BlackBerry era…..BlackBerry fans all over the world have shown childlike emotionalism to this reality, its ardent fans are still waiting for the Smartphone Company to revive and come with their new phones, they are ready to abandon their iPhones and Android Smartphones for a BlackBerry, after all, and that’s what these users did.

Models of communication are conceptual models used to explain the human communication process. We study models because they make us understand a concept easily and clearly. Through a model one can easily understand a process and draw conclusions from it. In simpler words a model makes the learning simpler. An individual must possess excellent communication skills to make his communication effective and create an impact among the listeners. The speaker must know where to take pauses, where to repeat the sentences, how to speak a particular sentence, how to pronounce a word and so on. The speaker must not go on and on. He should also make a point to cross check with the recipients and listen to their queries as well. An individual must take care of his accent while communicating. A bad accent leads to a boring conversation.

A communicator’s attitude matters. It is rightly said that if one has the right attitude, the whole world is at his feet. There is actually no stopping for the person if he has the right attitude. A person might be a very good speaker but if he doesn’t have the right attitude, he would never emerge as a winner. He must possess knowledge. He must have the clarity of the information which he wants to convey to the listeners. One must be thorough in what he is speaking with complete in-depth knowledge of the subject. Questions can pop up anytime and the speaker must be ready with answers.

Besides the attitude, knowledge the communicator must be aware of the Social System. Especially politicians must be most aware of the social system. A politician delivering a speech where he proposes to construct a temple in a Muslim dominated area. What would be the reaction of the listeners? They would obviously not be interested. Culture refers to the cultural background of the community or the listeners where the speaker is communicating or delivering his speech.

Here are a few communication models:

Aristotle: was the first to take an initiative and design the communication model. According to this model, the speaker plays a key role in communication. He is the one who takes complete charge of the message. The sender first prepares a content which he does by carefully putting his thoughts in words with an objective of influencing the listeners or the recipients. The listeners respond to the thoughts of the speaker positively or negatively depending on the contents. Aristotle model emphasizes on very impressive contents from the speaker; the audience or the receivers need to get convinced. The model says that the speaker communicates in such a way that the listeners get influenced and responds accordingly. The speaker must be very careful about his selection of words and content in this model of communication.

The Berlo’s model of communication:

This model takes into account the emotional aspect of the message. Berlo’s model of communication operates on the SMCR model.

In the SMCR model

S – Stands for Source

M – Message

C – Channel

R – Receiver

The source in other words is also called the sender is the one from whom the thought originates. He is the one who transfers the information to the receiver after carefully putting his thoughts into words. The sender transfers his information to the recipient with the help of communication skills, Attitude, Knowledge, Social System and Culture.

M – Message: When an individual converts his thoughts into words, a message is created. The process is also called as Encoding.

Any message further comprises of the following elements:

C – Content: One cannot show his grey matter to others to let him know what he is thinking. A thought has to be put into words and content has to be prepared. Content is actually the matter or the script of the conversation. It is in simpler words, the backbone of any communication.

R – Receiver: When the message reaches the receiver, he tries to understand what the listener actually wants to convey and then responds accordingly. This is also called as decoding. The receiver should be on the same wavelength as the speaker for smooth flow of information. If the speaker is going to speak on a topic of saving trees, and receiver is a builder who wants to chop trees for his upcoming construction both speaker and listener won’t enjoy the topic because they are on different perspectives.

Shannon and Weaver model: This is the most popular model of communication and is widely accepted all over the world. Shannon and weaver model simply proposes that a message actually originates from the person who gets the thought or has the information. The sender is also called the Source of information or the Information Source. The information then gets transmitted from the brain to the mouth and comes out as a signal which then reaches the recipient after joining hands with several noises and other disturbances. The recipient then further passes on the message to its final destination or other minds of other individuals.

Concepts in Shannon Weaver Model

Sender (Information source) – Sender is the person who makes the message, chooses the channel and sends the message.

Encoder (Transmitter) –Encoder is the sender who uses machine, which converts message into signals or binary data. It might also directly refer to the machine.

Channel –Channel is the medium used to send message.

Decoder (Receiver) – Decoder is the machine used to convert signals or binary data into message or the receiver who translates the message from signals.

Receiver (Destination) –Receiver is the person who gets the message or the place where the message must reach. The receiver provides feedback according to the message.

Noise –Noise is the physical disturbances like environment, people, etc. which does not let the message get to the receiver as what is sent.

This model takes communication as a two way process. It makes the model applicable in general communication.

Schramm’s Model of Communication:

Wilber Schramm proposed the model of communication in 1954. Information is of no use unless and until it is carefully put into words and conveyed to others. Encoding plays a very important role because it initiates the process of communication by converting the thought into content. Encoding means to convert body of information from one system to another system in the form of codes; and code is the system of symbol, sign or letters. When the information reaches the recipient, his prime responsibility is to understand what the speaker intends to convey. Decoding means that communication process is continuous. There is no end in it, because one encodes the message and the other decodes the message. Unless and until the second party is able to understand or decode the information what the sender wants to communicate, the message is actually of no use. Thus encoding and decoding are two most important factors of an effective communication without which information can never flow between two individuals. Schramm’s model also revolves around the above principle. According to the Schramm’s model, coding and decoding are the two essential processes of an effective communication.

The Helical Model of communication:

It was proposed by Frank Dance in 1967 to throw some more light on communication process. Dance thought of communication process similar to helix. What is a helix? A Helix is nothing but a smooth curve just like a spring which if goes upwards also comes downwards. The Helical model of communication was designed by Frank Dance keeping the simple Helix in mind. A child from the very moment he comes to this world starts communicating. When a baby is born, the nurse rubs his back to make the child cry. If the child doesn’t cry, it is an indication of a still born child. A child’s crying refers to his being alive. As the child grows up, he cries whenever he is hungry or expects something from his parents and sometimes simply for his parent’s attention. When the same child grows up and starts going to school, he soon interacts with his parents, teachers, friends in the form of words. Now crying actually gets replaced by words or his speech but one thing which is common is the process of communication which existed since the child’s birth. Thus the child actually started communicating from the very first day of his life and has been communicating all through till the present day.

The concept of the value chain was coined and explained by Michael Porter in his popular book “Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance” in 1985. Value chain is a sequence of activities or practices which aims at creating and adding value to a product or a service. Value is added at every process of doing business. Businesses aim at enhancing their margins and thus they need to work on their operating procedure carefully. Businesses work to change input into an output by adding greater value in it. Thus the logic behind it is simple; the more value a company creates, the more profitable it becomes. When more value is created, the same is passed on to the customers and thus further helps in combining a competitive edge. One happy customers gets ten more customers. Value adds brand loyalty and brand awareness in markets. The primary activities of value chain are inbound logistics, operation, outbound logistics, marketing & sales and after sales service. These primary activities are supported by procurement, technology, human resource management and firm’s infrastructure. Products pass through a chain of activities in order, and at each activity the product gains some value.

Processes that go in primary and supporting activities of value chain are as follows:

Primary activities:

Inbound Logistics: involves relationships with suppliers and it includes all activities required to from placing order for raw material, receiving it, storing it, stacking it and circulate inputs. Inbound logistics is associated with receiving, storing, disseminating inputs for the operation such as material handling, warehousing, and inventory control, vehicle scheduling and servicing the suppliers.

Operations:  involves all the activities required to transform inputs into outputs (products and services). For example machining, packing assembly, equipment maintenance, testing, printing pasting, stacking and facility operations.

Outbound Logistics: is associated with distribution. All activities required to collect, store, and distribute the finished product. It includes reaching the finished goods to the point of consumption.  Warehousing, material handling, routing, selection of routes, mode of transport, order processing and scheduling.

Marketing and Sales: activities include market research, segmenting market, sales promotional activities, developing, positioning and branding. Marketing and sales activities inform buyers about products and services. The activities in marketing facilitate the purchase with advertising, promotion, sales force size, training and developing, channel selection, channel relation and pricing.

After Sales Service:  includes all the activities required to keep the product or service working effectively for the buyer after it is sold and delivered. Such as installation, repair, training, parts supply and product adjustment

Support activities: 

Procurement: is the acquisition of inputs, or resources, for the firm.

Human Resource management: This consists of all activities involved in recruiting, hiring, salary, training, developing, compensating, motivation and performance appraisal. A transparent, ethical Performance Appraisal system is never demoralizing or inhuman. What’s inhumane is failing to make the organization’s standards and values clear and transparent and not letting people know where they stand.

Technological Development: It pertains to the equipment, hardware, software, procedures and technical knowledge brought to bear in the firm’s transformation of inputs into outputs. The digital revolution has created an Information Age.

Company’s infrastructure: this facet shows a company physical infrastructure, intellectual infrastructure, human infrastructure, digital infrastructure etc. In short, it refers to internal strengths of the company and how well connected it is externally.

Example of Starbucks for a better understanding of value chain:  The Starbucks journey began with a single store in Seattle in the year 1971 by three partners who met while they were students at the University of San Francisco: English teacher Jerry Baldwin, history teacher Zev Siegl, and writer Gordon Bowker. To become one of the most recognized brands globally, Starbucks planned a mission statement “to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.” To achieve the mission the organizations concentrates on all primary activities such as:

Primary activities:

Inbound Logistics: The inbound logistics for Starbucks refers to selecting the finest quality of coffee beans from the coffee producers in Latin America, Africa and Asia. In the case of Starbucks, the green or unroasted beans are procured directly from the farms by the Starbucks buyers. These are transported to the storage sites after which the beans are roasted and packaged. The ready beans are sent to the distribution centers few of which are company owned and some are operated by other logistic companies. The company itself does the procurement to ensure high quality standards right from the point of selection of coffee beans.

Operations: Starbucks operates in 65 countries either in the form of direct stores operated by the company or as licensed stores. Starbucks has more than 21,000 stores internationally which includes Starbucks Coffee, Teavana, Seattle’s Best Coffee and Evolution Fresh retail locations. According to its sales figures, the company generated 79% of the total revenue during fiscal year 2013 from its company operated stores while the licensed stores accounted for 9% of the revenue.

Outbound Logistics: There is very little or no presence of intermediaries in product selling. Majority of the products are sold in their own or licensed stores only. As a new venture, the company has launched a new range of single-origin coffees which is sold through some leading retailers in the U.S. such as Guatemala Laguna de Ayarza, Rwanda Rift Valley and Timor Mount Ramelau.

Marketing and Sales: Starbucks invests in superior quality products and high level of customer services than aggressive marketing. However, need based marketing activities are carried out by the company during new products launches in the form of sampling in areas around the stores. At Starbucks at a point in time, some of their executives visited their coffee shops and noticed that good employees were losing their poise when faced with agitated customers. Instead of coming down on the individual employees, they developed new training material that eliminated the stress of these situations. The executives at Starbucks found that when they empowered their employees with tools they needed to serve customers happily, their employees gained their smiles back.

After sales service: Starbucks aims at building customer loyalty through high level of customer service at its stores. The retail objective of Starbucks is, as it says in its annual report, “to be the leading retailer and brand of coffee in each of our target market by selling the finest quality coffee and related products, and by providing each customer a unique Starbucks Experience.”

Support Activities:

Infrastructure: This includes all departments like management, finance, legal, etc which are required to keep the company’s stores operational. Starbucks well designed and pleasing stores are complemented with good customer service provided by the dedicated team of employees in green aprons.

Human Resource Management: The Company’s committed workforce is considered a key attribute in the company’s success and growth over the years. Starbucks employees are motivated through generous benefits and incentives. The company is known for taking care of its workforce and this is perhaps the reason for a low turnover of employees, which indicates great human resource management. There are many training programs conducted for employees in a setting of a work culture which keeps its staff motivated and efficient.

Technology Development: Starbucks is very well known for use of technology not only for coffee related processes (to ensure consistency in taste and quality along with cost savings) but to connect to its customers. Many customers use Starbucks stores as a make shift office or meeting place because of the free and unlimited wifi availability. The company in the year 2008 also launched mystarbucksidea.force.com as a platform where customers can ask questions, give suggestions and openly express opinions and share experiences. The company has implemented some of the suggestions given via this forum. Starbucks also uses Apple’s iBeacon System wherein customers can order their drink through the Starbucks phone app and get a notification when they walk in the store. Thus, Starbuck uses the available technology to their fullest strength.

Procurement: This involves procuring the raw material for the final product. The company agents travel to Asia, Latin America and Africa for the procurement of high grade raw material to bring the finest coffee to its customers. The agents establish strategic relationship and partnership with a supplier which is built up after reconnaissance and communication about the company standards. High quality standards are maintained with direct involvement of the company right from the base level of selecting the finest raw material which is coffee beans in case of Starbucks.

Conclusions: Starbuck’s rivals benchmark their business processes.

The world of marketing is brutally competitive; each brand fighting for mind share of customers. Advertisements can strengthen a product’s existence in the market. There is so much creativity in advertising that it can change the scene for a product in shortest no time.   While creative advertisement might be entertaining, comparative advertisement, one of the aggressive forms of marketing, is a whole new ball game altogether. But are creative ads more effective in inspiring people to buy products? Yes they are.  They certainly outshine ads that simply describe catalogue product attributes or benefits. Numerous empirical experiments have found that creative messages get more attention and lead to positive attitudes about the products being marketed, but there is not sure short evidence that shows how those messages influence purchase behavior. Each individual has his/her unique perception, likes and dislikes. At the same time, some creative campaigns have failed miserably because customers found them too bitchy.

We come across advertisement wars regularly, where brands take on one another. Some brands openly mock the rival brand through print, digital or broadcast media. We have witnessed Apple’s campaign vs. Microsoft’s, TOI’s vs The Hindu’s, Pepsi vs Coke, FedEx vs DHL and many more such. It is marketing, morals and ethics are for book reference, big or small brands are all game in mudslinging at each other and they don’t shy away from getting dirty in this game of ad wars. Such advertisements where companies make direct references to the competition are interesting for the rest of the world to watch. Here are some of the brilliant virtual ads from around the world:

Kingfisher and Jet Airways

Kingfisher and Jet Airways nagged at each other with these billboard advertisements.In its panic, Jet Airways invested Rs. 10 crore in ad campaign to publicize its rebranding through its “We have changed” ad campaign. Jet insisted that they have grown consumer friendly and more services are on offer. But, Kingfisher through “Equus Advertising” resorted to the ways of Ambush marketing and hijacked the campaign from Jet airways. The Jet hoarding at Cadbury Junction, near Jet CEO Naresh Goyal’s residence in Mumbai, was superseded by a Kingfisher billboard saying “We made them Change”.

Though today the scene has changed. Jet Airways has booked profits in the fiscal year 2016, while Kingfisher Airlines is in crisis.

Dove vs Pantene:

This is an ad war of 2010. The story started on July 23, when Mumbai woke up to hoardings that screamed: ‘A Mystery Shampoo!! 80% women say is better than anything else’. P&G, it was later found, was planning to unveil the new Pantene on August 1. When the suits at HUL found out, they saw an opportunity to score a point. They ambushed P&G. On July 28, even as the P&G hoardings stood tall on its skyline, Mumbai woke up to another hoarding that was upfront, and suggestive of its source of inspiration. It said: ‘There is no mystery. Dove is the No.1 shampoo’. Dove is one of the four brands in HUL’s shampoo portfolio. The HUL national campaign took just one day to go from brief to execution, and was handled by Ogilvy & Mather India. This was the quickest advertising turnaround in the company’s history.

Apple vs Samsung:

Two tech giants Apple and Samsung are always seen warring; we have seen their ad wars for last couple of years, we have seen these two rival brands competing for supremacy in the smartphone market. In 2011, Samsung began its ad campaign to promote their then new smartphone, Galaxy S II. In the ad, they showed Apple fans waiting in line for the next iPhone release were ironically checking out the Samsung Galaxy S II of passers-by. The ad not only mocked iPhone users with lines like “Why don’t you guys just get 4G phones?” but also took the opportunity to feature their larger screens.

McDonald vs Burger King:

In a tug of war between McDonald and Burger King, McDonald’s came out with a print ad, backed up by a video, for which it erected a huge roadside sign giving directions to a Burger King Drive 258km away, next to a sign reading ‘McDonald’s Drive 5km’.  In a quick retort, Burger King created a new ending for the McDonald’s video, which shows a French couple driving from the sign to the nearby McDonald’s Drive. They order coffee to sustain themselves on their 258km journey to the Burger King Drive, where as they tuck into their Whoppers the man says to the woman: “It wasn’t that far at all.” The tagline on the ad reads: “Thank you McDonald’s for being everywhere”.

Uber vs Ola:

In India the taxi war between Ola and Uber is benefiting the customers. Uber banks itself as a premium service where the user is paying an affordable price for the experience of travelling in luxury cars, whereas Ola always focused on getting more cars, taxis, and auto-rickshaws on their platform and more riders to use their services. But the lines are increasingly getting blurred with the launch of Ola’s business class service called Ola Prime. In May 2015 both taxi aggregators launched their ride sharing verticals called Ola Share and uberPOOL. With these, users can now share cab rides with others heading to the same destination or in the same direction. It took Ola four years to come out with its nationwide (multi-channel) campaign titled ‘Chalo Niklo’ by Happy Creative Services, which aimed to position Ola as the go-to transport platform of choice for immediate and spontaneous city travel needs, across cabs, autos and taxis. Both Uber and Ola have used social media for their campaigns. While they keep fighting for cutting into each other’s market, while customers are enjoying the rides!

Ford vs General Motors:

The advertising wars between Ford and General Motors started in the first decade of the 20th century and are still going strong more than a century later. The two brands have ridiculed one another over price, features, safety, looks, financing and luxury features. Each advertisement seems to say how their brand is more reliable, harder working, more powerful, and ultimately more American. This rivalry has involved each brand’s fan base, as t-shirts, bumper stickers, and other memorabilia bashing and praising each brand have become extremely popular. Even today, this rivalry continues on and has expanded to social media and the use of YouTube. In fact, GM recently went on the attack releasing a series of commercials featuring demonstrated ability of GM trucks to fare better than Ford trucks in car accidents!

Britania vs Patanjali:

Today, Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali has its presence everywhere and is sweeping away everything in its path. From local stores to Amazon,Patanjali Products have a strong presence on all shelves. The product quality is best in breed, the prices competitive and the distribution chain is probably the first that is surpassing even the Cola majors. FMCG majors are unable to match Patanjali strategies. Britannia is so scared by Patanjali biscuits that they’ve launched their own Baba Ramdev, guess who it is Farhan Akhtar. Britannia NutriChoice has rolled out an ad film featuring Bollywood actor-director Farhan Akhtar conceptualized by Lowe Lintas, the film looks to showcase NutriChoice as the healthy offering among biscuits. This just shows strength of Baba Ramdev as brand ambassador, that Britannia had to hire the versatile and suave Farhan Akhtar – their Farhandev.

Henry Mintzberg is an internationally acclaimed academician and author on business and management. He is currently the Cleghorn Professor of Management Studies in Montreal, Canada where he is been teaching since 1968.  A strategy is defined as a method or a plan chosen to bring about a desired output. Henry Mintzberg suggests there are five factors to be viewed in term of strategy. This perspective of Mintzberg is famously known as ‘5Ps for Strategy’. Strategy can mean a plan, a ploy, a pattern, a position or a perspective.

Strategy as Plan:

Mintzberg notes in this definition that a strategy is an envisioned, or deliberately followed path of action. The strategy is made in advance of its implementation and is followed up by actual implementation and development. Organizations follow a scientific plan or path after designing a strategy.

For example, in its strategic Alliance with Etihad Airways, Jet Airways enhanced its synergies with partners by expanding its codeshare partnership, which has a 24% stake in Jet Airways. The overall codeshare traffic witnessed growth of 28% from 416,816 passengers carried from the third quarter of 14-15 to 534,104 passengers in third quarter of 15-16. The traffic grew by almost 86%. Jet Airways, together with Etihad Airways, now has the largest market share in Indian international traffic. With this strategic alliance, Jet Airways will get more benefits on costs as the financial situation improves and will be able to negotiate better terms on contracts along with Etihad Airways group of airlines.

Strategy as Ploy:

A ploy is a sly plan or action designed to turn a situation to one’s own advantage. A ‘ploy’ is usually a move in a competition or a game, one that is taken to beat the competitor. A ploy takes advantage of opportunities that arise. Business organizations design ploys to undertake or to dissuade competitors from entering the market. But sometimes new entrants come with a ploy    by building new facilities with plenty capacity, or lowering prices.

Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurveda has assessed the scope of the FMCG market in India, it entered the segment by offering products at cheaper prices and using the franchise outlets to gain the reach in far flung markets. Currently, over 4,000 outlets operate and sell Patanjali products.   Going by the popularity of the products, Reliance Retail store, Reliance Fresh entered into agreement with Patanjali and have offered exclusive kiosks for selling it products. And now, the company aims to expand sales to online and bring it on e-commerce majors like Amazon.

Patanjali has grown into a big corporation; it now competes with HUL, P&G, Emami Ltd., Marico Industries Ltd., Pepsi Co. and other such global FMCG giants. The most important factor for the high profits is minimum marketing expenses.  This organization has a strong brand ambassador in Baba Ramdev who enjoys big following.  Their brand ambassador echoes brand’s authenticity and relevance and that’s enough to draw people to adopt the products. The products entered the scene as ‘healthy’ substitutes and are offered at cheaper prices. The brand is entirely pushed into market by baba’s popularity.

Strategy as Pattern:

The way strategies are planned bring out strategic consequences.  While strategies are planned, the outcomes cannot be. The results can be positive or negative. Organizations cannot always be accurate in their plans because the business atmosphere is full of complexities. In some cases it may be possible to look back at what has happened, and describe a company’s strategy in terms of a pattern that emerged.

The merger of Air India and Indian Airlines brought together two unequal entities and created a mayhem; a bloated headcount of 30517 employees, failed leadership, disintegrated human resource practices, poor operations, leaky financials, the problems are too many to list. With Air India grappling with financial crisis, the Supreme Court rapped the government for giving “profitable routes” to private carriers and asked it to plan a turnaround in the national carrier saying it will face extinction if things continued like this. The merger caused more chaos than before. One lesson the government needs to learn from the Air India-Indian Airlines merger fiasco is that combining two sick entities ends up making them sicker than before. The ministry of aviation failed miserably due to lack of leadership.

Strategy as Position:

Strategies are planned for locating or fit a business within its environment, and deciding on what position to adopt; e.g. market position, brand position, product portfolio etc. A position may be a niche, providing low cost or distinctive products, or by exploiting competences to prevent others entering in the market.

Packaged consumer goods firm Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) recently acquired Kerala-based hair oil brand Indulekha for Rs.330 crore for marking a comeback to the segment which it had exited in 2006 by selling its coconut oil brand ‘Nihar’ to Marico. HUL signed the agreement with Kannur-based Mosons Extractions Pvt. Ltd to acquire Indulekha hair oil brand. The acquisition of Indulekha adds a premium brand to HUL’s portfolio. HUL aims at making their presence felt in the hair care category. Indulekha enjoys strong loyalty among consumers. HUL sees an opportunity in leveraging its ‘naturals’ and therapeutic positioning. This move is in line with HUL’s strategy to take on competition in the hair care segment.

Strategy as Perspective:

Understanding the significance of a business’s strategic perspective invariably encourages business leaders to create a stronger strategic perspective in hopes of making better decisions. Strategy can be defined in terms of a firm’s corporate personality and culture a company has adopted over time. Strategy is the way a company views itself in the world, through the eyes of its stakeholders – its management and employees. This can refer to organization culture.

ITC – the Indian multi business conglomerate has transformed itself from a leading cigarette manufacturer to an umbrella group that offers a diversified product mix to enhance its brand image and reduce dependency on tobacco related products. It has forayed into various segments such as the hospitality service industry, FMCG, lifestyle etc. It has become a major player in the hotels segment. Its position in the FMCG business is also on a growth curve; especially its confectionery and biscuits which are slated to achieve the top ranks among its peers. It has made heavy investments to strengthen its information technology segment and to compete with the big players like Infosys and Wipro. Although the ITC group is marketing its image as an ideal corporate citizen and a company that takes its social responsibility seriously, it still earns 80% of revenues from selling cigarettes and other tobacco related products. Its corporate strategy is aimed at creating multiple avenues of growth based on its core competencies. In line with this strategy, ITC’s diverse strengths are leveraged across three product groups – Lifestyle Retailing, Greeting Cards & Gifts and Branded Packaged Foods. The company aimed at generating 40 percent of its total revenues from such diversified businesses. The corporation is pro employee and maintains a healthy employee culture.

Conclusion: Mintzberg’s 5Ps are not mutually exclusive. However, they can and often do complement each other. Each P’s definition adds important elements to our understanding of strategy. The 5 Ps help us to address fundamental questions about organization culture in general. As plan, strategies deal with how leaders try to establish direction for organizations, to set them on determined courses of action. As ploy, strategy takes dive into the realm of direct competition, where competitor’s weaknesses and other maneuvers are employed to gain advantage. As pattern, strategy focuses on action. As position, strategy encourages us to look at organization’s position in context, specifically in their competitive environments. And finally as perspective, strategy raises exciting questions about intention and behavior in a collective context.