Because of my Law assignment, I have a chance to search the cases of Contract Law, and finally my kind classmate gave me a nice case which is "so relevant" to my case. And I turned out revealed that law is so much helpful to me, or doubtlessly helpful to everyone who has a lot of curiosities on the business world.
The fact (a very brief one or sometimes omission :) for Great Bright Limited v Triangle Motors Limited, Mr. Wong (Director of Great Bright Limited, the Plaintiff) entered contracts with Lin, a sales rep. of Triangle Motors Limited (the Defendant) to procure 4 vehicles to importing to PRC. Mr. Wong intended to import the vehicles to PRC border before 1 Oct 1994 to avoid the custom duty levied for car import. Lin assured to Mr. Wong the vehicles would be properly imported to PRC before that date which Mr. Wong believed in it and placed the orders with Lin. Mr. Wong paid the considerations for the vehicles and carrying fees on time. However, Triangle Motors Limited failed to deliver all of the vehicles before 1 Oct 1994, and stored 3 vehicles which are failed to be delivered due to traffic congestion. As the orders stated nothing about the delivery date and place, the Defendant claimed that their obligations had been performed.
The judge hold that Lin, the Sales Representative of the Defendant orally assured Mr. Wong that delivery to the border would be done before 01 Oct 1994 which is a decisive influence on the transaction to Mr. Wong. Such statement made by Lin is binding on his company - Triangle Motors Limited. It takes the priority over any printed condition.
In conclusion, oral committment is much more legally effectively than the written ones. So taking a good care of your commitment is crucial.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Trader Joe's - Your Neighborhood Grocery Store
Well, as told by my lecturer of intensive marketing course (which has been finished in 3 lessons for 8 hours each!), Trader Joe's, a localised American grocery store. Faced to the competitions from well-known grocery store "7-11", Trader Joe's made changes and differentiate himself from other grocery store. Trader Joe's lures the shoppers with novel and intriguing items. Trader Joe's does not rely on advertising. Instead, it uses a combination of outstanding employees, carefully selected merchandise, and attractives prices to draw in shoppers.
The employees those Trader Joe's selected are "ambitious, adventurous, enjoys smiling, adn has a strong sense of values." TJ's hires employees with ougoing personalities and a good sense of humor who commit to maing every customer experence fun. By the way, the store employees in TJ's are indeed the shopping consultants. The shopper is allowed to taste the foods by asking the cheerful store employees to unseal the food before they buying them. Store employees are encouraged to tell customer what they think of products, even ones they don't like. The store manager (called "Captains") have considerable autonomy in decidin gwhat their stores will stock. By instructing to the employees to please, to serve, to listen to the customers, this is the way the TJ's management implemented the "marketing concept".
All merchandise stocked in TJ's has been tasted and tested by the company's tasting panel. Also TJ's management concerns the quality of what they are selling, this is what "product concept" mentioned.
TJ's keeps costs down with low-rent locations, volume buying, and hard bargaining with suppliers, all to make attractive prices possible. Keeping the price down which the customer is affordable. "Production concept" is the idea that consumers will favor products that are available and highly affordable.
Thus, the marketing philosophy of TJ's adopted is the combination of "production concept", "product concept" and "marketing concept", where "marketing concept" takes the first priority in the business.
At the heart of TJ's success is an upward flow of informat from the customers through the store employees to the management. By formally monitoring what customers are buying and infomally tapping into what they are saying to employees, Tj's constantly adapts its offerings. This is the facts that TJ's adopted the market-oriented approach to marketing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqDGorQHyhE&feature=related
The employees those Trader Joe's selected are "ambitious, adventurous, enjoys smiling, adn has a strong sense of values." TJ's hires employees with ougoing personalities and a good sense of humor who commit to maing every customer experence fun. By the way, the store employees in TJ's are indeed the shopping consultants. The shopper is allowed to taste the foods by asking the cheerful store employees to unseal the food before they buying them. Store employees are encouraged to tell customer what they think of products, even ones they don't like. The store manager (called "Captains") have considerable autonomy in decidin gwhat their stores will stock. By instructing to the employees to please, to serve, to listen to the customers, this is the way the TJ's management implemented the "marketing concept".
All merchandise stocked in TJ's has been tasted and tested by the company's tasting panel. Also TJ's management concerns the quality of what they are selling, this is what "product concept" mentioned.
TJ's keeps costs down with low-rent locations, volume buying, and hard bargaining with suppliers, all to make attractive prices possible. Keeping the price down which the customer is affordable. "Production concept" is the idea that consumers will favor products that are available and highly affordable.
Thus, the marketing philosophy of TJ's adopted is the combination of "production concept", "product concept" and "marketing concept", where "marketing concept" takes the first priority in the business.
At the heart of TJ's success is an upward flow of informat from the customers through the store employees to the management. By formally monitoring what customers are buying and infomally tapping into what they are saying to employees, Tj's constantly adapts its offerings. This is the facts that TJ's adopted the market-oriented approach to marketing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqDGorQHyhE&feature=related
Marketing Concepts
5 concepts which organizations conduct their marketing activities:
The concepts of marketing has changed and evolved over time.
Production Concept:
The idea that consumers will favor products that are available and highly affordable.
The business focuses on reducing cost by mass production.
The management may:
· Situation 1: Demand exceeds the supply - Increase the production to meet the demand of the market.
· Situation 2: The product cost is too high - Improve the productivity to lower the cost ultimately the sales price which consumer is could afford. Example: Ford “perfect the production” to lower the price that consumer could afford.
Product Concept:
The idea that consumers will favor products that offer the most quality, performance, and features. Example: Some manufacturers believe that if they can build a better mousestrp, the world will beat a path to their door. The organization then devotes its energy to making continuous product improvements, but overlooked the real needs of consumers.
This concept can lead to marketing myopia.
For example:
1. Railroad management once thought that the user wants “trains” rather than “transportation”, overlooked the challenge of airlines, buses, trucks, and automobiles.
2. Kodak assumed that consumers wanted photographic film rather than a way to capture and share memories and at first overlooked the challenge of digital cameras.
Selling Concept:
The idea that consumers will not buy enough of the organization’s products unless the organization undertakes a large-scale selling and promotion efforts. The organization focuses on the selling to the target market. However, the problem could be that the consumers do not like the good being sold to them.
Many organizations practice the selling concept when they face overcapacity. They sell what they make rather than make what the market wants. Such marketing carries high risks. It focuses on creating sales transactions rather than on building long-term, profitable customer relationships.
Marketing Concept:
The marketing management philosophy that holds that achieving organizational goals depends on determining the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions more effectively and efficiently than competitors do.
Organization practices Marketing Concept leads to the path of sales and profits.
a.k.a Customer-centered “sense and respond” philosophy. Put the customer at the heart of the business.
Many successful and well-known companies have adopted the marketing concept. E.g. Disney, Wal-Mart, Marriott. The goal is to build customer satisfaction into the very fabric of the firm
Societal Marketing Concept: The idea that the organization should determine the needs, wants, and interests of target markets and deliver the desired satisfactions more effectively and efficiently than do competitors in a way that maintains or improves the consumer’s and society’s well-being.
Example: Fast-food industry. Giant fast-food chain offers tasty and convenient food at reasonable price. However, these foods contain exceeding fat and salt that would harm to the health of the consumer. Packaging of the food leads to pollution to the environment.
Thus, in satisfying short-term consumer wants, the highly successful fast-food chains may be harming consumer health and causing environmental problems.
The concepts of marketing has changed and evolved over time.
Production Concept:
The idea that consumers will favor products that are available and highly affordable.
The business focuses on reducing cost by mass production.
The management may:
· Situation 1: Demand exceeds the supply - Increase the production to meet the demand of the market.
· Situation 2: The product cost is too high - Improve the productivity to lower the cost ultimately the sales price which consumer is could afford. Example: Ford “perfect the production” to lower the price that consumer could afford.
Product Concept:
The idea that consumers will favor products that offer the most quality, performance, and features. Example: Some manufacturers believe that if they can build a better mousestrp, the world will beat a path to their door. The organization then devotes its energy to making continuous product improvements, but overlooked the real needs of consumers.
This concept can lead to marketing myopia.
For example:
1. Railroad management once thought that the user wants “trains” rather than “transportation”, overlooked the challenge of airlines, buses, trucks, and automobiles.
2. Kodak assumed that consumers wanted photographic film rather than a way to capture and share memories and at first overlooked the challenge of digital cameras.
Selling Concept:
The idea that consumers will not buy enough of the organization’s products unless the organization undertakes a large-scale selling and promotion efforts. The organization focuses on the selling to the target market. However, the problem could be that the consumers do not like the good being sold to them.
Many organizations practice the selling concept when they face overcapacity. They sell what they make rather than make what the market wants. Such marketing carries high risks. It focuses on creating sales transactions rather than on building long-term, profitable customer relationships.
Marketing Concept:
The marketing management philosophy that holds that achieving organizational goals depends on determining the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions more effectively and efficiently than competitors do.
Organization practices Marketing Concept leads to the path of sales and profits.
a.k.a Customer-centered “sense and respond” philosophy. Put the customer at the heart of the business.
Many successful and well-known companies have adopted the marketing concept. E.g. Disney, Wal-Mart, Marriott. The goal is to build customer satisfaction into the very fabric of the firm
Societal Marketing Concept: The idea that the organization should determine the needs, wants, and interests of target markets and deliver the desired satisfactions more effectively and efficiently than do competitors in a way that maintains or improves the consumer’s and society’s well-being.
Example: Fast-food industry. Giant fast-food chain offers tasty and convenient food at reasonable price. However, these foods contain exceeding fat and salt that would harm to the health of the consumer. Packaging of the food leads to pollution to the environment.
Thus, in satisfying short-term consumer wants, the highly successful fast-food chains may be harming consumer health and causing environmental problems.
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