Beckett Organics

John Beckett enjoys vegetables, so much so that he has given up his full-time job as a lawyer to concentrate on growing and marketing organic vegetables. He started growing vegetables 20 years ago in his back garden and eventually became fully self-sufficient in supplying vegetables for the family. Partly bored with his legal job and tempted by an attractive severance package, John decided he would try to establish his own vegetable supply business. Eighteen months ago he looked around for two fields to lease in which he could grow organic vegetables.

Organic products including vegetables, is a growth market in the UK. Growers must adhere to strict guidelines in order to gain organic certification. Increasing awareness of the problems associated with many pesticides and fertilizers, coupled with an increased interest in healthy eating habits and ‘wholesome’ food, has meant that many consumers are now either purchasing or interested in purchasing organic vegetables. This is true not only of household customers, but in addition, many restaurants are using the lure of organic produce to give them a distinctive edge in the market place.

All this has meant that many of the larger supermarkets in the UK have begun to stock more and more organic produce from what was a relatively specialized market in the 1990s; the market has grown to where overall organic produce accounts for some 12% of the total UK grocery market and in worldwide terms as of January 2010 it accounts for approximately 3% of all food sales. The market for organic vegetables has grown more rapidly than other organic products and it is estimated that by 2014 some 25% of all vegetables marketed in the UK will be organic. This growth has been sustained at a rate of around 20% per year in developed countries. However, organic yields are between 10% and 20% lower than conventional agriculture, with crops like potatoes some 40% lower. Unsurprisingly, this makes organic produce on average around 40% more expensive than non-organic produce.

A.C.Nielsen Co. cite the case of the United States where organic sales eased in the second half of 2009 as middle- and upper-income families have felt the strain of layoffs and declining investment portfolios. Sales in December 2009 were up 5.6 percent, year on year, against a 25.6 percent rise a year earlier.

Organic vegetables offer several advantages over their non-organic counterparts:

• They are generally tastier, and because they are not treated in the same way, are usually fresher than nonorganic products.
• They are good for a healthy lifestyle as they contain no pesticides and chemicals.
• The fact that no pesticides or herbicides are used in their production means that they are much ‘greener’. For example, they help to reduce the problems associated with nitrates in the soil and water supplies.
• On the downside, organic vegetables are generally less uniform, and as far as some consumers are concerned, are less attractive in appearance. This lack of uniformity has also been a problem in the past with supermarket buyers who have traditionally looked for uniformity in fresh products to aid merchandising and marketing in retail outlets.

• Generally, organic vegetables are more expensive than their non-organic counterparts. Currently, on average they are somewhere in the region of 40% more expensive.

In the UK, anyone wishing to claim that their produce is organic, and market it in this way, needs to obtain the approval of the Soil Association, which checks the organic credentials of a supplier. For example in this case, they check the conditions under which the produce is grown and how the seeds used.

Two interesting developments are taking place in the organic produce market. One is the growth of home supplies. This is where the producer supplies direct to the householder. There are a variety of ways of doing this. Some smaller growers use mail-shots and leafleting to build up a client base. They then deliver locally to customers who order from a list. Very often the supplier will simply make up a box of a pre-determined value or weight containing a selection of vegetables which are in season and ready for picking. Other suppliers are using a similar system, but take their orders via the Internet. This is particularly suitable for this type of product as customers can check on a regular basis what is available and order from home. The produce is then delivered at a pre-arranged time.

The second development in the organic produce market is the growth of farmers’ markets. These markets are usually run by local authorities, often on Saturdays or Sundays. Local and other producers attend these markets, paying a small fee for a stall and then sell their produce direct to the consumer. These farmers’ markets partly came about as a result of the frustration felt by many farmers and growers at the way they were being treated by retailers and at the margins they were receiving. In addition, such markets have been successful because consumers feel they are getting fresh produce at lower prices than they might be able to obtain through supermarkets.

Despite the growth in the market for organic vegetables, after 18 months in his business, John is worried. Quite simply, his business has not been as successful as he envisaged it would be, and as a result he is not earning enough to make a living. The real worry is that he is not sure why this is the case. His produce, he believes, is as good as anything in the business. He is a very good grower and the land he has leased is perfect for the range of produce he wishes to grow. Starting with organic potatoes he now produces a range of organic vegetables including beans, sprouts, carrots, lettuce and his latest venture organic tomatoes and corn grown in poly-tunnels. Although customers he currently supplies are very loyal to John, indeed many are friends and acquaintances he has known over the years when he grew vegetables in his back garden, there are simply not enough of them.

As a result, his turnover which increased rapidly over the first year of the business has for the last six months has stagnated. He mainly supplies locally and has tried to increase his customer base by taking leaflets out and posting them through letterboxes in the area. He has done this by dividing up the housing areas in a ten mile radius around his growing area and dropping leaflets throughout the area to as many houses as he can cover on a systematic basis. Only some 2% of customers have responded with an order, usually contacting by telephone. These customers seem to come from the middle class areas. He has considered taking a stall at one of the farmers’ markets, the nearest of which is some 40 miles away and operates one day per month, but he realises this would not be enough to reach the turnover levels he requires. He has in the past supplied one or two local restaurants and hotels, but usually only when they have contacted him because they have had a problem with their existing supplier.

He has never followed these up. His growing area is currently too small to supply a major retailer, although he has been approached on an informal basis by the buyer of a voluntary chain of local grocers representing some 40 retail outlets in the county.

John is wondering where he goes from here. He cannot understand why his superior products are not selling well. A friend has suggested that John needs a more strategic approach to marketing. John is not convinced. He feels his business is too small to warrant any kind of marketing, never mind strategic marketing, and he has always felt that a good product should sell itself. He is, however, anxious to grow the business and become a leading organic vegetable supplier.

Questions 4:

What in your opinion should be the marketing strategy that an organization of this type should indulge in? Bring out the advantages and disadvantages of the strategy

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It was noted in the text that big data makes it harder to keep secrets. Provide examples (e.g. a person undergoing genetic testing for dementia markers, an unfaithful partner using a ride service to visit their paramour), both good and bad, where individuals may prefer to keep secrets? Analyze the potential impact of exposing this private information to the individuals and businesses.

Using the Home Depot company, how could strong team cohesion at the firm both enhance and hinder performance.

Describe in detail the several common entry strategies for international operations (The most common entry approaches are: wholly owned subsidiaries, mergers and acquisitions, alliances and joint ventures, licensing agreements, franchising, and basic export and import operations).

Thank you!

This week Ifti Majid, acting Chief Executive at Derbyshire NHS Foundation Trust is interviewed on Project Management Paradise on how they use ProjectVision to manage their projects in comparison to how they were managed previously.

This is a case study interview where we discuss how Cora’s Project Management solution, ProjectVision, is used by Derbyshire Healthcare, what project management was like before implementing Cora’s solution and what it is like now.

Derbyshire NHS Foundation Trust, is a community and mental health services provider, with over 2,500 staff provide a range of services from alcohol & drugs substance abuse to learning disability services. With 25-30 projects live at any given time as well as continuously evaluating projects from last year, Derbyshire NHS Foundation Trust often run up to 60 projects at one time.

Some of these projects are transactional while others are concerned with transformation and highly complex change projects. There can be a number of different factors driving a project to succeed from financial to changes in quality or even dealing with a higher volume of people coming through the door.

To find out more about Cora’s Project Management software, which are live in 51 countries around the world, visit corasystems.com where you can request a free demo, and discover first hand how Cora helps its clients gain control, governance and insight into their project portfolios.

1. How did the company diversify their company?

2. Did the service changes impact the company?

3. What systems were set in place "before" the Derby Shire Healthcare?

4. What systems were set in place "after" the Derby Shire Healthcare?

5. How would you relate this case study to your industry?

Write paragraphs on each question:

1) Checks and balances among the three branches of government, with their main functions.

2) Transaction cost analysis of the Articles of Confederation and changes in the US Constitution

Apply the case on facebook or Microsoft.

Regarding the notion of organizational culture, structure and styles of management from the perspectives of Handy’s (1976) and Miles & Snow (1978). These authors provided their frameworks that are different from each other’s. What you have to do:

Take an organization with which you are familiar or imaginary organization and evaluate & relate or apply Handy’s and Miles & Snow’s typologies (scientific/logical classification/steps of organizational culture, structure and styles) that they provided in their approaches or framework.

Write a paper that discusses the seven global privacy principles that most companies have included in their self-regulation for data privacy. Why do companies include them? Is this enough? Why or why not?

After reading the article in the Oklahoma Law Review, describe your c

oncerns about the risk of employment discrimination through the use of Big Data. How do you see this impacting employers and employment seekers in the future?

Define and give examples of the four types of organizational culture found in MNC’s (family culture, Eiffel tower culture, guided missile culture and incubator culture). Include advantages/disadvantages of each.

Thank you!

Draw the three layers of the client-server architecture of a chocolate company or Hershey and including the content of each layer.

1.Describe a Current State problem (hypothetical or actual) in bullet format.

2.   Identify the causes that are leading to the current state problem.

3.   Select 1 cause and conduct a 5 why(or less) exercise to get down to the Root Cause

4.   Once the Root Cause is identified, identify Countermeasures that specifically address the Root Cause.

5. Future State is what the outcome/process will look like when the Countermeasures are implemented and successful.

thank you.

Use the information in the table and assume that a worker is expected to devote half-time (four hours per day) to this project with work taking place on a 5-day-per-week basis. Which week has the highest resource usage?

The five basic components of promotion include advertising, sales promotions, social media, publicity, and personal selling. All five components of the retailer’s promotion mix need to be managed from a total systems perspective.

All non-essential retail businesses are closed due to the COVID-19 lockdown. At some point (hopefully in the near future) we will return to normal and these businesses will reopen.

While these businesses will be receiving financial support from the government, many are going to be in a tight situation, and fighting for every dollar when the doors finally open. So, they will need to rely on sales promotion, publicity, social media and personal selling to succeed. Those that don’t get out of the gate strong may not survive.

Choose one of the following retailers: Hair Cuttery; Hand and Stone Massage; Modell’s; Caesars casino; or Outback Steakhouse.

Describe the best way your retailer choice can use the four promotional components (sales promotion, publicity, social media and personal selling) to be successful when the lockdown is over.