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Internship Manual KUST
Internship Manual KUST
1. INTRODUCTION
Internship is a scheme of arrangements, requiring a student to work in an organization for a
specific period of time. In line with the degree requirements for the award of MBA and BBA
(Hons) degree, the students are required to spend 6-8 weeks in an organization so that the
students could gain an understanding of the real business practices. The students have to start
search for an organization of their choice well before the start of their internship as the final
approval of the student usually takes time. It is advised that students should start searching an
organization for internship some 3-4 months before their internship starts.
To facilitate the students in the organization search process, the Research and Development
section at the Institute of Management Sciences, KUST will take a proactive step and inform the
BBA and MBA students well in advance of the start of their internship to start search of
organization for their internship. Specifically, the students of BBA and MBA will be informed at
the start of the semester subsequent to which their internship will start, preferably at the start of
7th semester in case of BBA students and 3rd semester in case of MBA students respectively. The
internship letters will be handed over to the concerned advisors / students so that the students
may start searching for organizations of their choice.
Students should send their internship letter to the Human Resource Departments / Head of the
organization and try to pursue their case as the number of students is quite large compared to the
number of organizations. Since, Internship is a golden opportunity for a student to join that
respective organization in future; therefore it is highly advised that the students should select an
organization which they think will be suitable for their future appointment. These organizations
usually offer jobs to the internees as the internees become more trained in two months
internships as compared to new people who have no relevant experience for the respective
organization. It is very important that besides some of the general part in his internship report
(such as incase of introduction part and industry analysis section of the internship report),
students must focus on his own area of specialization while working in an organization (e.g.,
Finance, Marketing, Human Resource etc).
1.1
Selection of Supervisor
The students will be given either an option to select the internship supervisors of their choice or
the supervisors will be allotted to students by the R & D section, depending upon the prevailing
circumstances as deemed suitable by the department. Once a supervisor is chosen, the students
will be allowed to change his supervisor within one week maximum period after which no
change of supervisor will be allowed. A supervisor may be allowed to supervise a stipulated
maximum number of students which will be decided by the Research and Development section
from time to time depending upon the maximum number of internship students and the available
faculty members. In case a supervisor is having less number of internees (than the stipulated
number), the concerned supervisor may be asked to provide the list of excessive students which
he / she is willing to be allocated by R & D to other supervisors who are short of the stipulated
number of internees.
1.2
Every student (internee) will be required to have a close interaction with his / her supervisor
during the internship period. Every student will be required to submit a bi-weekly progress report
to his concerned supervisor on a proforma which will be provided by the concerned supervisor to
his student. The student must report to his supervisor about the progress on the stipulated task
assigned to him during this period. The supervisor has to submit the progress report received
from the student to R & D at the end of each month subsequent upon which a detailed report
about the progress report of students will be produced and forwarded by R & D to the director.
To provide a guide map to the supervisor as well as the student, the Internship Report
Completion Plan covering a period of 8 weeks will be provided. This will follow the following
pattern:
Duration of Internship
Task to be Completed
The relevant Industry Analysis
Bi-Weekly Reports
The student has to
provide a bi-weekly
report to his / her
supervisor about the
progress so far made
on the internship task
for
that
period
respectively.
1.3
Writing a report on each section of internship report (that is, industry analysis or company
analysis) is much easier than writing an entire internship report once the internship duration is
over. Therefore, the internship students are highly advised to present the parts of his / her
internship report which they complete during each progress report period to his / her concerned
supervisor. This will help the student to write down the information which is quite fresh in their
memories about each part of their internship report; otherwise, they will forget much valuable
information that they obtain during their internship period. Once a student completes his / her
internship report, they have to submit a draft copy of the internship report to the concerned
supervisor.
Internship report should contain 10-15 typed pages (excluding annexes). A report would not be
evaluated by its thickness but by quality of work especially its industry analysis, company
analysis and the final recommendations based on the preceding sections. A good report is
supposed to be very comprehensive in terms of materials for its industry analysis and company
analysis sections particularly. (A colorful report is not a guarantee of securing top score).
Substance and organized presentation of report improves the quality of report. In case the report
is not up to the prescribed standard, the student would be asked to improve it as per comments of
the respective supervisor. The students who successfully submit the final report will be allowed
to appear for presentation of his report / viva voce.
1.3.1
There is no hard and fast rule for the format of the internship report. The start pages containing
the students name and the supervisor name as usually practiced in the students semester
assignments may be used. The only point to remember is to give Header and Footer and any
References if required at the end of the report. The header should include: Concept paper on
------------------------- (write the company name in blanks). In footer, write the Institute name).
The students should strictly follow the following format requirement:
1.3.2
Plagiarized Report
It is very important to note that reproduction of any report or document shall not be accepted. In
such cases, the student will be strictly penalized. This may include writing the entire report
different than the one submitted or repeating the whole activity of internship in some other
organization assigned by the institute. The R & D section upon receiving a plagiarized case of
any student will evaluate the case and recommend to the Director for final action. It is therefore
highly recommended that the concerned supervisors should inform the students about the
consequences of such immoral act. While taking some material from the organization website,
internet etc, the student must provide the exact references.
1.3.3
Internship report should contain 10-15 typed pages line spacing 1.5 (excluding annexes). A
report would not be evaluated by its thickness but by quality of work especially its industry
analysis, Company analysis and recommendations. A good report is supposed to be very
comprehensive in terms of presentation of its substance. (A colorful report is not a guarantee of
securing top score). Substance and organized presentation of report improves the quality of
report. There is no need to attach organization brochures and pamphlets with internship report.
In this part, the student should discuss some basic information regarding the process of
preparation of the report. It is very important to note that the background information of the
organization in which the student is doing internship should not be discussed in this section. The
background information of the organization should be discussed in the company analysis section
of the report. This part should contain discussion about the following topics which should cover
not more than a single page.
2.1.1 Purpose of study
In a few lines, purpose of the study should be included in this section. For example, the students
can say that the main purpose of this study is to analyze a particular company (such as Kohat
Textile Mill) as well the textile industry of Pakistan so that useful recommendations for future
could be given to the respective company.
2.1.2 Methodology of Report
In this section, the students have to discuss how they will be analyzing the particular company in
which the student is doing his internship. That is, the student has to state whether he / she has to
collect primary data or secondary data. While collecting data and other relevant information,
internees use certain methods.
2.1.3
In this section, the student should state about the scheme of the entire internship report. For
example, the student may state that this report contain four sections / parts. That is, the
introduction part, industry analysis, company analysis and recommendations. Then in each
section, the student should discuss about the sub-parts. For example, the introduction part
includes purpose of the report, methodology of report and scheme of report.
2.2
In this part / section, the student has to analyze the respective industry / sector. The main
objective of an industry analysis is to understand the size of the industry, its rate of growth, its
level of profitability, attractiveness and opportunities, the major types of distribution channels
structure being used in the industry and the Key success factors (KSF) which every company
should consider important. In order to guide the students in a better direction while analyzing a
particular industry, the following points may be adopted so that the student should easily write
the industry analysis section. These points are:
Industry Analysis
Market Profitability
Distribution Channels
Market Trends
2.2.1
The key success factors are those elements that are necessary in order for the firm to achieve its
objectives. A few examples of such factors include:
The student should discuss with the senior members of the organization (for example marketing
managers / brand managers etc) that what are the important and key success factors for a
company operating in that particular industry. Moreover, the student should also get this
information that how the particular company (in which the student is doing internship) is acting
or managing these key success factors. For example, about the some of the key success factors as
above, the student should know the following:
For key success factor 1, if a company can easily get access to unique resources and get a
competitive advantage over other companies.
For key success factor 2, the student should discuss with the management of the company
whether it is possible for the company to start large scale production, minimize the per unit cost
and search other markets for increase of sale?
For key success factor 3, the student should discuss with the management that is it difficult in the
industry to access to the existing members of distribution channels (that is, distributors, retail
shops or company agents). That is, whether the existing members of distribution channel will
easily agree to sell the products of the company
Besides the above key success factors, there can be so many other key success factors which the
student should identify while discussing with the management of the company (managers etc).
Overall, the student should understand that if a company is managing these key success factors
and giving it much care, then it is more expected that the company is performing well and this
will be evident from the company sales and profitability analysis.
2.2.2
Market Size
The size of the market can be evaluated based on present sales and on potential sales if the use of
the product were expanded. The following are some information sources for determining market
size:
The concerned trade associations (e.g., All Pakistan Textiles Mills Associations etc)
(Students can easily get the data of relevant industry from the relevant trade association which is available on net. The
trade association website contains all type of data for the entire industry and companies).
Government data
Financial data from major players(by looking at the sales data of some 10 major companies in the annual
reports of these companies which are available on stock exchange websites)
2.2.3
Here the student has to look at the total industry sales figures of the last years (may be last 10
years or more) and then extrapolate / forecast for the total industry sales in future years (may be
up to next 5 years). Besides this straight forwarward method of calculating the market growth
rate for future, it is important that students should also look at the market and growth of other
complementary products (e.g., if the student forecast on the basis of previous years data that the
industry sales volume for mineral water will increase, it is more likely that the total industry
sales volume for cold drinks including juices etc will also increase).
2.2.4
Market Profitability
Here the student has to state that how much easier or difficult it is for a new company to start
business in this industry (the industry in which the student is doing internship, like Textile
industry, Banking sector etc). simple it means that how much this industry / sector is attractive
and profitable for new businesses. For this purpose, to know about the profitability of an
industry, the student has to work according to Micheal Porter Five Forces Model which contain
five forces that influence the industry profitability. The five forces / steps to be covered by a
student are:
Buyer power
Supplier power
Barriers to entry
There are many reports available on Michael Porter Market Profitability analysis which can
easily obtained from internet. For students guidance and ease, the Market profitability analysis
of UK Music industry is included in Annexure (A). The student should consult these and
understand how to analyze the profiyability of an indtsrry and how to relate this profitability
analysis with the overall industry and company analysis. It is very IMPORTANT to note that the
student should apply / relate the discussion of each section of the market profitability (such as,
buyer power) to the overall industry analysis and not just state for example that the buyers have
more power in the industry.
2.2.5
Market Trends
Changes in the market are important because they often are the source of new opportunities and
threats. The student should discuss with the senior members of the organization (for example
marketing managers / brand managers etc) that what are the new trends which are currently in
practice as well as the trends that they are expecting to affect the industry in near future. For
example, in case of mineral water, the trend of people may show that people are becoming more
health conscious and they demand clean water. Moreover, this trend may be affecting the
household consumers and thus the company may have to think about offering mineral water for
household consumers in big jars. Another example may be related to internet and Telecom sector
in which the company may realize that how households internet consumers have changed from
using prepaid cards of internet (e.g., Panga internet cards) to households now using permanent
DSL connection in homes. The new trend is now related with the use of internet through mobile.
2.3
In the company analysis, the student has to adopt the following pattern:
2.3.1
Company Introduction
In this section, the student has to introduce the company to its readers. The main points to be
followed are:
Missions, Visions, Values, Goals: These are usually available on the company Web site
under "About us", "About the company". Reference must be given for the material taken
from the company website.
History: How the company started its journey and the significant developments that the
company has made since its inception. That is, how many products were the company
offering in the start, how the company expanded its overall product mix. For example, in
the start the Cocal Cola / Pepsi Company were offering carbonated beverages, but they
have also started juices, energy drinks, snacks etc. This information may also be obtained
from company website, or the history of the company may be available on internet (if the
company is international Co) or may discuss about the history with the management of
the company.
Note: It is advised to the students that they must ask from the company management about the
success / journey of the company towards its mission and vision. That is, what they have done or
doing to pursue its mission and vision. From, here, the student can get a sharp clue about the
general performance of the company.
2.3.2
In this part, the student has to analyze the company from the perspective of his / her area of
specialization. Thus a marketing student will analyze the company marketing position, the
finance student will analyze the financial perspective of the company where as the student
specializing in human resource will analyze the human resource practices of the company. The
respective students will follow the following pattern in their internship report:
2.3.2 (a)
Students will be doing Financial statement analysis of the company corresponding to last four
years (student will be needing two most recent annual statements). It is IMPORTANT to note
that the student MUST interpret the meaning of the financial analysis as well as discuss about the
reasons of week areas of financial analysis. For instance, the low Gross margin ratio (Cost of
Goods Sold / Sale) might be due to less amount of sale. The student should then discuss with the
management of the company why the sale of company has down. For writing a meaningful
financial analysis report, the students can get help from the financial analysis of any company
which the student can search through internet. It is IMPORTANT that the student after looking
at the different financial ratios of the company should reach to the main cause due to which the
company sale / profit etc has gone down. For instance, if the financial analysis of a company
shows that the gross margin ratio of the company has gone down, other financial analysis by the
student shows the following information: the industry analysis shows that it is growing at a fast
rate, the sales figure of the company also shows that it has increased, inventory turnover ratio is
also satisfactory (meet the industry standard), then possible conclusion would be that greater
chances of poor gross margin ration may due to increase in the cost of the products. The student
should then recommend to the management an appropriate way of action to control over the
increasing cost of input which may involve purchase of raw material in bulk etc.
Note: In addition to above financial analysis, the concerned finance teacher may ask the internee
to do additional financial analysis which the concerned teacher consider necessary.
2.3.2
In this part, the finance student in addition to general strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats of the company, has also to include the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
on the basis of the company financial analysis / discussion with the management regarding the
financial aspect of the company. The main objective of the SWOT analysis is to analyze the
position of the company, to understand how it can obtain any advantage of the existing
opportunities or respond to the threats in the industry. In other words, the student should look /
compare the company Strengths and Weaknesses with the Threats and Opportunities faced by
the company and in the light of this SWOT analysis, the student should recommend to the
company what steps the company should take. That is, whether the company should develop
more strength in order to get advantage of an opportunity in the market or the company can avail
the benefits of an opportunity with its existing strengths. For example, if the company is
operating at 60 percent capacity and the market size is growing, this would mean that the
company should utilize its existing production capacity by further 40 percent to increase its sales.
Similarly, the student should also look at the weaknesses and threats of the company to know
whether the coming threats for the company can be handled with the existing strengths and
whether the existing weaknesses are preventing the company from achieving of its objectives? In
short the student should deeply understand the application of SWOT analysis.
IMPORTANT: The student is not supposed to write down only the strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats in just 4 quadrants / parts. The students must interpret and derive
meaning of the SWOT analysis such that the students should apply it to the company and
industry analysis as discussed.
2.3.2
The marketing student has to discuss with the management of the company about the different
aspects of marketing regarding its products. It is important to note that if the company is offering
so many different products, the student may take only one product among the many products
which the company offers and write a marketing report about that product only. However, the
number of products being considered for analysis will depend on the importance of the product
among the total product mix of the company. For instance, a student doing internship in Habib
Cooking Oil may take only the Oil products of the company and not its Ghee products. Similarly,
a student doing internship in a local telecom franchise may analyze the main / leading services of
the franchise. In other words, such services / products should form the major source of income of
the franchise.
The marketing student should follow the following pattern of analysis:
Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning of the selected Product (s)
In this section, the student has to carry out segmentation, targeting and positioning analysis for
the selected products. First of all, the student should discuss about the available segments for the
selected type of product in the entire industry (it means that what other companies have
segmented the market for such product and on what basis) and then state how the company has
segmented its own product (s) for different markets. The company website can also provide
guidance to the student to understand about the segments of consumers which the company
target for its product(s). Similarly, the student should also state how the company has positioned
these selected product(s). Thus, Pulpy orange juice has totally a separate positioning as compared
to other packed juices available in the market. That is, pulpy juice is positioned as pure juice of
orange PULPS as compared to other juices which contain only the juice essence. The student is
advised to consult the marketing analysis section included in the Annexure B.
Sales Analysis
The student should compare the sales of the selected product (s) of the company and including
the sales of its various pack-sizes with the 4 or 5 major competitors. The sales figure should
cover a period of 4-5 years. It is IMPORTANT to note that sometimes sales figures are
confidential. In this regard, the concerned manager should be asked to provide you sales figure
which is 10-20 percent less than the actual sales figure. Thus if the company actual sale of Dalda
Cooking Oil (5 liter) is 1oo, ooo ton per year, it should be presented in the student report as
80,000 ton. At the same time, while comparing the company sales with its major competitors, the
company management knows a rough sales figure of its major competitors as they know about
the market share of the major competitors. By applying the market share percentage of a
particular company to the total industry sales (industry sales is known from the website of the
concerned association, for instance, the total industry sales of oil can be obtained from the
website of All Pakistan Ghee Association), the sales figure of each competitor can be obtained.
Regarding the pack-wise sales figure of each competitors, the marketing manager or any other
knowledgeable management person can roughly calculate the pack-wise sales (e.g., Dalda
Cooking Oil, 5 liter, 2.5 liter, 1 liter). The student should follow the format as shown n
Annexure C for sales analysis.
Promotional Strategy
The student is advised to look into the different promotion methods that the company is using.
The easiest way for student is to see what type of Below the Line (BTL) and Above the Line
(ATL) promotions are used. All those promotions which the company is doing in the local
markets like pamphlets, sign board, bill boards, in-store displays like wobblers, Point of
Purchase (POP) Display etc are BTL promotions. The television advertisements, print
advertising and nationwide promotional campaigns forms the ATL promotions. The student
should also state the purpose and targets of such promotions. For segmentation, targeting and
positioning; promotion, and distribution strategy of the company, take help from Annexure B.
student is critically analyzing the company marketing position, certain opportunities as well as
threats would have already been identified. Similarly, the student can also obtain information
about the strengths and weaknesses of the company from the company management. Once the
student identifies the SWOT of the company, the student has to analyze it. That is, derive some
meaning out of the SWOT analysis. Just writing of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and
Threats is of no use unless it is discussed in the report that what it means for the respective
company. That is, whether the company should develop more strength in order to get advantage
of an opportunity in the market or the company can avail the benefits of an opportunity with its
existing strengths. For example, if the company is operating at 60 percent capacity and the
market size is growing, this would mean that the company should utilize its existing production
capacity by further 40 percent to increase its sales. Similarly, the student should also look at the
weaknesses and threats of the company to know whether the coming threats for the company can
be handled with the existing strengths and whether the existing weaknesses are preventing the
company from achieving of its objectives. In short the student should deeply understand the
application of SWOT analysis.
IMPORTANT: The student is not supposed to write down only the strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats in just 4 quadrants / parts. The students must interpret and derive
meaning of the SWOT analysis such that the students should apply it to the company and
industry analysis as discussed.
1. Staffing Practices
Employees training
Employees Development
Organizational Development
Career Development
2. Motivational techniques
Salary and compensation policies
4. Maintenance
Safety and Health policies
Communication policies
Performance Appraisal
Grievance Procedures
(The student can get this data from HR-Score Card which they can discuss
with the management of the company).
2.3.2 (c) SWOT Analysis of the Company based on HR Analysis
The HR student, in addition to general strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the
company, has also to include SWOT on the basis of his observations / discussion with the
management regarding the Human resource aspect of the company. The rest of procedure for
SWOT analysis (that is, analyzing and deriving a meaningful recommendation from the analysis
of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the company) is the same as for finance
and marketing students.
IMPORTANT: The student is not supposed to write down only the strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats in just 4 quadrants / parts. The students must interpret and derive
meaning of the SWOT analysis such that the students should apply it to the company and
industry analysis as discussed.
Annexure A
Analysis of Industry attractiveness - Porter's five forces in UK music Industry
Dear Student,
This is a guideline as to how to use porter five forces. Hope you' will give some 15 minutes to
understand it and apply it during your internship.
INTRODUCTION
The music industry in UK in the past years has experienced a significant growth. With the
growth of online digital music and the replacement of traditional methods of storage such as CDs
with portable music devices, the industry has transformed significantly. Currently, the UK music
industry is ranked third in the world, which accounts for 9.2% of global sales in 2009 and is the
second largest repertoire in the world behind USA. The major players in the UK music scenario
are EMI music, which is also the fourth largest recording company in the world, Sony music UK
(Subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment) and Virgin media. The total revenue recorded in 2009
was 3.9 billion which was a 4.7% increase when compared to 2008
(http://musically.com/blog/2010/08/04/uk-music-industry-revenues-2009/).
The following analysis attempts to evaluate the attractiveness of the UK music industry using
Porters five forces model of industry competition.
PORTERS FIVE FORCES
The five forces framework by Michael Porter (1980) is an industry analysis and business strategy
development tool which allows marketers to ultimately create shareholder value through
business operations. It analyses the market/industry attractiveness which means the ease with
which a player can expect to make profit that needs to be compared with the level of risk
involved in transacting in the market. The main determinants of attractiveness are demand &
supply of goods in the market, number of competitors currently in the market & their
strengths/weaknesses, rate of growth and margins offered. Undertaking the analysis has
managerial implications to evaluate which industries a firm needs to enter or leave, how much
competitive influence it can exert on the already established players in the market and how are
competitors differently affected by the influences in the market.
This analysis usually comes under micro environment analysis and is used along with other
analysis such as PESTEL and SWOT. Since this considers the factors which closely relate to the
business, a change in any of the factors may affect their ability to serve customers effectively and
therefore will require the business to re-assess their situation. A graphical representation of the
five forces framework is below.
Bargaining power of customers is another aspect which helps in assessing the industry
attractiveness. In this scenario the customers for the UK music industry can be two fold,
individual and corporate.
Corporate customers in the music industry include online & offline retailers who purchase
albums in bulk from the music label. They may include stores such as HMV & Game and online
music stores such as iTunes, AmazonMP3 & Zune. The bargaining power of the corporate
customers can be said to be low due to prices being agreed between them and the labels at the
time of contract signing.
Individual customers in this industry can be identified as the music listeners who purchase music
either online or offline. The bargaining power of individual customers has been rising in recent
years due to piracy which has forced the whole music industry to drive down album prices. In
addition, with intense competition in the industry, price cutting is evident especially in online
music sales. Therefore bargaining power of customers can be assumed to be very high.
3) Threat of new entrants
The next force in determining industry attractiveness is threat of new entrants which, to a great
extent depend upon the barriers to entry or the ease of entering the competitive sphere. The
barriers to entry are created by the following factors;
- Level of expertise required for successful operation
- Access to resources & distribution network
- Industry contacts
The music industry is a highly specialized sector. Typically selection of a talented artists and
turning him/her to a success requires a lot of skilful application of marketing, talent management
and investment. Established music labels spend millions in undertaking image development
campaigns, recording and test marketing before the work of an artist is released to the public.
These areas require specialist skills and having access to money. In addition they might need an
extensive distribution network, including online partners for online distribution, which is handy
in immediate distribution of albums to points of sale. Industry contacts are handy in organising
concerts and shows for promotion of albums and creating a buzz for the artist.
It will be difficult for a new entrant to the music industry to undertake all above activities and
beat the competitors in a short time. Due to the experience of industry giants such as EMI and
Sony music and their financial power in the industry, it is very difficult for a new entrant to
capture a significant share of the UK music market. Therefore it can be said that the threat
A substitute product or service can be identified as a rival product or service which meets the
same customer needs approximately in the same way as the product or service of the firm. In
music industry the substitutes for paid music purchases or downloads can be identified to be free
streaming music online, pirated music downloads online and the TV & Radio channels playing
24 hour music.
Pirated music sites which offer music free of charge are the clearly identifiable substitute for the
music industry. The choice of a customer to purchase music or to download it remains to be a
battle in their conscience. Therefore the threat of this substitute is very high.
Free streaming music such as those on My-space allows customers to listen to tracks unlimited
number of times without purchasing the tracks. Although they dont receive the luxury of
downloading it for free and listening on the move, it still can be considered as a substitute as it
allows the entertainment of customers.
Extra industry effects have a part to play when it comes to 24 hour TV & Radio music channels
as the requirements for activating those services such as TV set top boxes and monthly
subscriptions are quite expensive compared to price of an album. But with added facilities of
recording and choice of other channels on offer, they may have better price to performance ratio
when compared to a music album.
As part of the entertainment industry, music can also be substituted by other channels of
entertainment such as movies and games. Although they may not be direct substitutes for music,
they still provide similar services in entertaining the consumer. It may be said that compared to
music, movies and games have a larger utility although the prices are set higher than music. In
terms of gaming, the complementary products required such as game-stations are higher priced
than a regular MP3 player, but the price to performance ratio is still higher as the utility is higher.
Therefore it can be said the threat of other entertainment sources are also posing a
mid to low level of threat of substitution to music industry.
5) Rivalry among the Competitors
This section shows the level of competition among the different competitors in the industry. It
means that if the competition in an industry is week, then companies may be able to raise prices
or provide less product for the price and earn more profit. That is, if competition is week,
customer will be at disadvantage. On the other hand, if completion is high, then those companies
will be able to earn profit which is providing quality products to customers.
The following are some of the important factors which affect the level of competition among the
competitors:
1. If the product is not differentiable, that is, the customers perceive the
products of every company as the same, then competition among the
companies will be high. They will mostly compete on price basis.
The UK music industry has been competed for by the big three recording studios for decades.
Although there is fierce competition among these players, their market shares remained stable for
years as new competition rarely entered the market due to high entry barriers. The industry is
flourishing when comparing online and offline sales put together, according to RIAA statistics
(http://76.74.24.142/44510E63-7B5E-5F42-DA74-349B51EDCE0F.pdf).
The product differentiation achievable in the music industry is very low due to all genres
being represented by artists being common. The differentiation may be achieved through the
formats of music provided such as CD, DVD, Blue-ray and online formats such as MP3, WMV,
etc. With digital downloads being more popular than the regular visit to the music store, music
industry has continuously reduced number of outlets and focused on developing an online
strategy. Through that they have been able to reduce high fixed costs such as outlet rentals and
salaries of high number of outlet staff which has helped with their margins.
In terms of the attractiveness, the industry can be said to be highly attractive due to
prospects of music boom which began in the 1990s. With more and more talent coming out
through reality shows such as X-factor in UK, more and more prospective artists may be
introduced to the market.
Annexure B
Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning
TR is positioned as Americas Candy, a niche American iconic confection in the nontraditional
chocolate category, (Toops, 1996). The company website states that the TR brands resonate strongly
among every age group, culture and demographic; for every occasion and event; and during every
economic climate, qualifying them as truly enduring, iconic American confections. TR has two
different market segments: Children and Adults. For children TR is positioned towards fun and for
adults it is positioned towards the health benefits and the nostalgia reminiscent of childhood.
centers in more than 75 countries. The products are distributed by the company and through
approximately 100 candy and grocery brokers to approximately 15,000 customers throughout the US
with Wal-Mart being TRs largest customer at
23.9% of net sales in 2009 (Soleil Securities, 2010). TR not only participates in mass distribution to
supermarkets, warehouses, membership stores, vending machines and drug stores, but is also able to
specialize and focus distribution in smaller venues such as theaters, dollar stores and convenience
stores.
TR is currently looking at Lean operations to minimize the costs of operations and waste. It owns its
own sugar refineries, printing presses, advertising agency, rebuilds machinery in-house and produces
its own sticks for Tootsie Pops. Recent investments in operations include projects for state of the art
plant installations, ERP and Oracle system upgrades and execution to integrated and automate key
supply chain processes. These initiatives will help predict and shape market demand, increase
inventory turns and reduce logistics costs.
Annexure C
Annual Sales of Dalda and its main Competitors (in Tons)
Pack
sizes
Pouch
pack
1 liter
2.5 liter
5 liter
Total
Dalda
Kissan
Meezan
Sufi
Shan
5 liter
Total
Pouch
Pack
1 liter
2.5 liter
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Dalda
Kissan
Meezan
Sufi
Shan
In addition to above, the student may analyze the company and its
Competitors sales data from the perspective of urban / rural areas.
Annexure D
Suggestions and Recommendations
Following are the suggestions and recommendations for Nestle Milkpak Ltd.
1. The company should introduce its UHT brand for the price sensitive segment of UHT
milk market in order to counter the market of Dairy Queen.
2. The company should also start to manufacture powder milk in order to meet the domestic
demand and so that it can be helpful in saving the foreign exchange that is expensed in
importing the powder milk from foreign countries.
3. The company should explore the market potential in a way, so that it can utilize its full
capacity in order to gain economies of scale in the production.
4. At the moment the company is using focus marketing approach that only that segment is
approached which highly attractive for the company but it should also develop the
marketing program that distinguishes the characteristics of existing available substitutes
to their highly quality & hygiene oriented product.
5. The company should also position its products to the middle income group like
Everyday and NIDO have been positioned after their new small packaging launch.
6. The company should also develop an integrated awareness plan in order to aware the
people about the quality of the UHT milk as compared to other pasteurized or loose/fresh
milk.
Annexure E
Student and Organization Profile
(Once the student has joined the organization, he / she should provide the
following details to Concerned Supervisor)
Students Information
Student Name: ____________________________________________________
Email: ________________________________________
Internship Site
Name of organization/Company: __________________________
Address ___________________________________
Phone: __________________________________
Annexure F
Student Two Weeks Progress Report
(The student will provide a bi-weekly progress report to Concerned
Supervisor)
Period of Progress Report ____________________________
Task Completed
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Remaining Task to be Completed (state the time when will you complete the
remaining task)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________