The Australian legal system

The Australian legal system has 2 main sources of law, namely the Parliament-made law and the case law or the common law. The primary source of law in Australia is the Parliament-made laws. As the representatives are elected to the House by the people, statutes and laws can be made keeping in mind the needs of the people. Case laws on the other hand are made by the judges in the courts. Once the court gives its decision, the same would apply for similar circumstances or instances (precedent).The decision would be binding on courts in the future. Another source of law that can be considered in the Australian legal system is the international law that would be applicable in case Australia is a signatory to an international convention, or a bilateral/multilateral agreement (Governments of Australia and South Australia, 2007). Judges are usually, unable to make laws. The law-making capabilities are usually done by the Legislation. The judiciary would be interpreting laws and filling up t he gaps that have been left by the legislation.However, there may be instances in which a strong judiciary can create a new law that may have a strong impact on the society such that it would place the importance of the rule-making authority on the judiciary. Such instances include old, inappropriate and laws that go against human rights. There may be several areas of law such as contract laws, tort laws, negligence, etc, which need to be decided on a case-by-case basis, and develop judicial precedents for future cases. If the statues are so rigid and unclear, then it becomes important for the judge to develop new laws.In some instances common laws may also be difficult to apply. However, there is another school of thought that believes that judge-made laws do not exist, and the statutes would be providing principles upon which case laws which would be developed. Any kind of a judge-made law would be a trespass on the powers of the legislation (Sackeville, 2001). Another reason why judges cannot make laws is that often if a judge creates a law that applies in a particular case, it would apply retrospectively, which destroys the basic purposes of the law.Thirdly, all the Statutes would overrule the case laws. There may be three kinds of relationships between the legislation-made laws and the common law. Firstly, common laws may supplement the legislation-made laws and in this way strengthen the legal process. Secondly, Parliament-made laws may replace a common law. Thirdly, if a particular Parliament-made law is outdated or is threatening the basic human rights, then the Court can decide that the same should be scrapped. Hence, it can be said that judges can state the law within the limits of the legal world.There are two ways in which laws can be interpreted by the advocate or the judge. One way is to determine what the statute might allow. The second way is to determine what the statute would definitely permit (Gleeson, 2001). Often the appellant courts and t he constitutional courts would be creating laws. If any statute would be impeding the Constitution, the same statute can be invalidated. A court may also implement a new rule or principle if it feels that the result of just implementing a law would not have desired results. This could even be in non-constitutional areas (Sackeville, 2001).

Essay on Managing Operational Risks in Financial InstitutionsEssay Writing Service

Essay on Managing Operational Risks in Financial InstitutionsEssay Writing Service Essay on Managing Operational Risks in Financial Institutions Essay on Managing Operational Risks in Financial InstitutionsHistorically, RBS was one of the most reputable and renowned banks of the UK, which though used to operate in Scotland mainly. However, the changed economic environment opened large opportunities for RBS to expand its business throughout the UK first, and then internationally. The 2000s marked the unparalleled growth of the bank with acquisitions, which do not always related to the banking industry. As a result, within less than a decade, from 2000 to 2007, RBS became one of the largest banks in the world. However, such expansion eventually resulted in the crisis that led RBS to the bailout. At the same time, one of the major factors that contributed to the downfall of RBS was the poor operational management which prevented the bank from the adequate assessment of risks and threats. Acquisitions made by the bank in the 2000s were too large for the bank to complete them successfully and safely, but the bank’s operatio nal risk management failed to uncover any threats.Operational risks and problems faced by RBS in 2008The moment, which sealed RBSs fate, came in October 2007, with the  £49 billion takeover of ABN Amro, the biggest bank in the Netherlands. However, this acquisition was a big but not the only one within less than a decade. In this regard, it is worth mentioning acquisitions of Royal Insurance, Churchill Insurance and Charter One were among the major deals which followed (seven in 2003 alone) as RBS steadily climbed the league table of Big Banks (Boonstra Gravenhorst, 2008).However, the problem of RBS was that the bank was buying companies when their share price was at its peak, rather than when shares were at rock bottom (Crosby, 2009). As a result, the bank paid the possibly higher price but could not manage the purchased companies properly. In fact, often acquisitions were close to failures. At any rate, the restructuring and integration of new companies into the bank’s s tructure became extremely challenging and almost always caused a considerable downturn in the performance of companies acquired by RBS. RBS, in its turn, also deteriorated its performance, while risks grew stronger as the bank continued to acquire new companies, while deals grew more and more costly.In December 2007, RBS eases investor fears when it reveals lower-than-expected write-downs of  £1.5bn for both RBS and ABN Amro following the meltdown in the US sub-prime mortgage market. The bank offsets  £250m of the write-downs by using its own cash reserves instead of turning to the increasingly expensive wholesale credit markets (Hamel Prahalad, 2009).However, by April 2008, RBS reaches the extremely high level of credit crunched write-downs which have reached UKP 5,9 billion (Hamel Prahalad, 2009). In actuality, the overall losses of the bank turned out to be much more significant and totaled with a loss of  £28 billion, the biggest in British corporate history (Hamel Prah alad, 2009). After such a loss, RBS’ share prices collapsed from  £6.03 in March 2007 to 11.6p in 2008 (Hamel Prahalad, 2009).In such a situation, the bank faced considerable financial problems by that time and the disaster was just coming up. In this regard, the major problem of RBS was the fact that the share of high-risk assets owned by RBS became too high, while top executives of the bank failed to notice the upcoming disaster that reveals the ineffectiveness of operational risk management of the bank. At any rate, top executives of the bank should have noticed that every new acquisition becomes more and more challenging and the larger the acquisition is the more difficult it is for the bank to complete the acquisition successfully. In this regard, the acquisition of ABN Amro was the last straw, while the financial crisis in the US and bankruptcy of largest American banks trigged the disaster that had to happen because of too risky policies conducted by RBS in regard t o its assets. In 2008, it became obvious that RBS failed to balance its assets and high risk assets became the unbearable burden that led RBS to the bailout.RBS’ response to the problemsIn response to the obvious threat of the rapid and steep downturn, RBS asks shareholders to pump in UKP 12 billion. Europes biggest rights issue forces chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin on the defensive, although he dismisses talk of him resigning (Hamel Prahalad, 2009). Nevertheless, the bank’s troubles became obvious and the urgent need for the government support became essential for the survival of the bank.In 2013, RBS still had  £54.6bn of what it calls non-core assets (RBS Key Financial statistics, 2014). Therefore, even five years after the crisis that put the bank on the edge of survival, the share of non-core assets, which are potentially risky is still very high. More important, the problem of those non-core assets is not just risks associated with them but it is rather the risk that such a large share of non-core assets will prevent RBS from the successful recovery.Experts (RBS Key Financial statistics, 2014) recommend to manage the run-down of high-risk assets of around  £38bn by the end of 2013. The goal is to remove 55-70% of these assets over the next two years (RBS Key Financial statistics, 2014). However, the bank has not done it so far.In such a way, the current financial position and policies conducted by RBS show that the bank is recovering but its recovery is too slow and uncertain. In this respect, the poor operational management of the bank is evident since the bank cannot get rid of high risk assets and non-core assets, which are often all the same. Probably, the government involvement prevents the bank from the effective management of operational risks that would allow RBS to sell off its risky assets fast, even if it resulted in job cuts and possible negative effects on certain companies or local economy. Instead, the board and execut ives of the bank are currently taking cautious decisions and cannot cut off high-risk assets immediately.Recommendations to RBS to manage operational risksOn analyzing roots of the problem of RBS and its deepest crisis in 2008, it is important to place emphasis on the fact that the major problem of RBS was the poor operational risks management. The bank pursued fast growth and leadership in the industry at cost of purchasing high risk assets at the peak of their price, when they were the most expensive. However, these assets did not bring the bank desirable effects. Moreover, the accumulation of such assets made the bank incapable to resist to the negative impact of the financial crisis. Therefore, it is non-core, high risk assets that are the primary cause of the operational risks and problems of the bank at the moment.Hence, willingly or not, the bank will have to get rid of all of its high risk, non-core assets. This step may confront the opposition within RBS as well as from the part of the government but this decision is essential to help RBS to recover faster. Otherwise, RBS will keep stumbling until its final downfall since any new downturn in the economic development of the world or financial markets of the US, the UK or the EU, and RBS will be on the edge of survival again with its high risk assets.Furthermore, the bank should enhance its operational risk management through regular auditing and monitoring of its assets to identify immediately risky assets. At the same time, auditing and monitoring will help to assess the actual potential of the bank. In other words, auditing and monitoring will help the bank to assess adequately its resources and position in the market. Therefore, the bank will not take risky decisions, which may lead to uncertain effects, because executives will be aware that those decisions will be unaffordable for the bank.At the same time, it is possible to recommend changing the system of control over top executives. In fact, the downfall of RBS in 2008 was, to a significant extent, the result of policies conducted by Sir Fred Goodwin. In this regard, the model of decision making needs changes since the CEO of the company should not take decisions one-sidedly. Instead, it is the board that should participate in the decision making process that means that all top executives should conduct the marketing analysis and the analysis of existing risks and threats before taking the final decision of the board.Finally, the bank should consider options to change its asset policies. What is meant here is the fact that the bank should integrate acquired assets or sell them off (Brown, 2003). There are no other alternatives for RBS so far. The bank cannot spend substantial resources on the maintenance of assets that pulling the bank down and the bank may eventually sink, if it fails to optimize its assets not only through sales but also through organisational changes that will help the bank to integrate non-core assets and make them either core or just refuse from those assets.ConclusionThus, the financial crisis of 2008 revealed the vulnerability of RBS to numerous risks and threats associated with the unreasonable investment into non-core assets, many of which are high risk and, therefore dangerous for the stability of the bank. Moreover, the main problem of RBS was and, to a significant extent, remains the problem of the large share of non-core assets which the bank cannot fully and successfully integrated into its organizational structure. As a result, after making an expensive acquisition, because RBS often made acquisitions at the peak of share price of target companies, the bank acquired high risk assets that required substantial financial resources, while their performance and the performance of the bank deteriorated consistently. The bank is trying to recover but it fails so far because of its non-core assets that still comprise a large share of the bank’s total assets. In such a s ituation, it is possible to recommend RBS to sell off non-core assets finally. At the same time, the bank should conduct changes in its operational risk management introducing auditing and monitoring policies to control top managers of the bank and to assess adequately the current position of the bank as well as to forecast decisions that the board is going to take. Finally, the bank should consider ways of optimization of its complex organisational structure with the possibility of integration of existing assets that still can be used effectively by the bank.

Facts About Phrasal Verbs

Facts About Phrasal Verbs Facts About Phrasal Verbs Facts About Phrasal Verbs By Mark Nichol A phrasal verb consists of a verb and a preposition, a verb and an adverb, or a verb, an adverb, and a preposition the verb’s partners are collectively known as particles that combine to produce a figure of speech. (Phrasal verbs are common in idiomatic expressions, such as â€Å"add insult to injury† or â€Å"scared them out of their wits.†) Examples include â€Å"call back,† â€Å"check up,† and â€Å"give in.† Note that phrasal verbs can be converted to adverbs or nouns, and when they are, they are either hyphenated or closed up: â€Å"Call back in a few minutes,† but â€Å"Dial the callback number.† â€Å"She’s going to check up on it,† but â€Å"I’m going for a checkup.† Not every phrasal verb has a converted form: â€Å"Give in† never appears as give-in, though it’s plausible: â€Å"He has a give-in attitude† and â€Å"I’ve been guilty of a give-in now and then† make grammatical sense, but those idioms have not been adopted into English. (If the noun form were part of the language, although such forms are generally closed up, give-in would be an exception because the first element of the phrase ends with a vowel.) Phrasal verbs are easily split by pronouns, nouns, and noun phrases, as in â€Å"I’m making it up,† â€Å"Put your toys away,† and â€Å"I poured the soup mix in.† Note that a phrasal verb can be split or kept together when used with a noun (â€Å"Put down your pencils† or â€Å"Put your pencils down†) but no such choice is possible with a pronoun: You can write, â€Å"Put them down,† but â€Å"Put down them† isn’t considered grammatically correct. Often, though both options may be correct, a phrasal verb may read better with an intervening word or phrase than left intact, and may even more clearly indicate the correct meaning in the former format: The headline â€Å"Mom Scares Off Attacker† seems awkward somehow, but move the particle to the end, and it flows more smoothly: â€Å"Mom Scares Attacker Off.† Likewise, â€Å"He passed around a fruit-and-cheese hors d’oeuvre plate† suggests that the subject veered to avoid the plate, whereas â€Å"He passed a fruit-and-cheese hors d’oeuvre plate around† clearly conveys that he participated in the movement of the plate. Also, not every phrasal verb lends itself to splitting: â€Å"Gave off,† as in â€Å"It gave off a foul odor,† could conceivably be split (â€Å"It gave a foul odor off†), but such syntax looks awkward. In other cases, the elements never appear together, as in â€Å"I can’t tell them apart,† in which tell and apart must be separated by, not followed by, them. When an additional adverb is included with a phrasal verb, whether the adverb can be inserted within it depends on whether a pronoun or noun has already been inserted. All these variations are correct, including the third one, in which picked and at are separated by gingerly: â€Å"Gingerly, she picked at the food.† â€Å"She gingerly picked at the food.† â€Å"She picked gingerly at the food.† â€Å"She picked at the food gingerly.† (Only â€Å"She picked at gingerly the food† and â€Å"She picked at the gingerly food† are ungrammatical.) But in the variations of the following sentence, because a pronoun, not a noun, is involved, the third option is invalid: â€Å"Carefully, he looked it over.† â€Å"He carefully looked it over.† â€Å"He looked carefully it over.† â€Å"He looked it over carefully.† Because of the rich variety of forms possible for phrasal verbs, you are advised, when in doubt, to consult a dictionary’s usage note for the root verb of the phrasal verb, or another usage resource. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:When to Capitalize Animal and Plant Names3 Cases of Complicated Hyphenation50 Musical Terms Used in Nonmusical Senses

Comparison of The Uniform Commercial Code and UCITA Essay

Comparison of The Uniform Commercial Code and UCITA - Essay Example Commerce clause which was founded in article 1,section 8 of the U.S. constitution was the one of the first and most significant attempts of the U.S. government to promote uniformity in commercial laws from state to state. Two key factors in section 8 are: "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes" and "To establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States". The National Conference of commissioners on uniform state laws (NCCUSL) on July 29 adopted Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA) after revising the proposals again and again. The (UCC) Uniform Commercial Code is intended to promote uniformity in the area of (CIT) Computer Information Transactions. Here the question arises â€Å"What is computer information transactions?† "commercial agreements to create, modify, transfer or distribute computer software, multimedia interactive products, computer data and databases [and] Internet and online information† all these things are included in computer information transactions under the model act.

Growth MatrixWestinghouse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Growth MatrixWestinghouse - Essay Example First, it is important for the company to consider its cost of products and services. A drastic reduction in prices of similar goods and services is sure to yield massive impact because of prevailing economic situation. It is common knowledge that economic hardship presently prevails in most economies where Westinghouse has offices. To this end, any move to make customers save little monies would be highly appreciated by them. Secondly, it is important to focus on customer satisfaction. The reason why this cannot be overlooked is that the competitive advantage that needs to be built will be built mainly to attract customers. If these customers are given services that make them satisfied then surely their first option among existing companies is going to be Westinghouse. Unlike market penetration, market development has to do with the creation of new market. This may be quite costly for Westinghouse as compared to the penetration of existing markets. However, this has its own merits. For instance after studying the prevailing market for a while, the creation of new market gives marketers the opportunity introduce new line of products that meet the demands of customers. The challenge however has to do with the cost of starting the business and market research analysis to identify new customers. On the introduction of new line of products and services, Westinghouse as a multi-purpose company may have greater advantage. It is important however to go about this with a common strategy that has to do with the integration of advanced technology. Looking at the fact that the line of products of Westinghouse has to do with electronics, the introduction of new line of products that integrate modern and advanced technology would score lots of points for the co mpany (Business Ball, 2012). For example it is common knowledge that the ordinary user of a tape recorder would today want a technological advancement that features the use of a USB port that will make

The Importance of Being Earnest Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Importance of Being Earnest - Essay Example In this case, Jack is portrayed as an emotional (Wilde, 54). In addition, the second comparison that shows a large difference between the play and the film concerns timing and passage of time. The story is covered within a course of three days which represents a day for each play. In the initial act, the readers are introduced to all the actors except of Miss Prism, Cecily, and Mr. Chausable. In this act, the film and the story show Jack proposing to Cecily and having her mother objecting the proposal. In the story, act two shows new characters such as Chausable, Cecily, and Miss Prism. However, in this case, the film does not separate the acts and the introduction of these new characters is done earlier that they were presented within the story (LightShadeMovieV, n.p). Act three in the story shows that a happy ending is inevitable as Cecily and Algernon get married. The film also has a similar ending but various flashbacks that lack in the story – an example is the dialogues between Jack and Earnest concerning Lady

The Social Expression Industry In The Uk Marketing Essay

The Social Expression Industry In The Uk Marketing Essay Carte Blanche, a renowned player in the social expression industry in the UK and worldwide, is set to introduce a new product, e-greeting card, on January 1, 2011. This report therefore covers the new product and brand development strategy and their associated activities that may ensure the success of the brand from development up to the first 3 to 4 years of its life cycle. The strategy is broken down into 3 objectives, namely: to develop a new social expression product to the selected target market; to develop new area of brand strategy toward achieving set sales target; and to position Carte Blanche through the activities above to deliver excellent growth rate. The product shall serve young people and their families and shall be distributed intensively on the internet while employing competitive pricing to ensure market penetration. Table of Contents Introduction Carte Blanche Greetings Ltd is one of the key players in the social expression industry in the UK, and globally. The social expression industry is associated with greeting cards, notes and stationery, gift wrap, and other socially expressive products (Berkowitz and Hill, 1996, p. 41). The best seller of all the products produced from the social expression market is the greeting card. It accounts for a sizeable portion of the over $4 billion worth of the social expression market, globally (Berkowitz and Hill, 1996, p. 41). The global annual growth rate of the industry is estimated to be an impressive 7 percent (Berkowitz and Hill, 1996). The developed countries including the UK and other Western European countries, North America, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan account for a disproportionately high percent of the market demand (Berkowitz and Hill, 1996). Carte Blanche Greetings was founded by Stephen Haines over more than twenty years ago and he still serves as its Chairman (Carte Blanche, 2010). Carte Blanche is a global player in the social expression industry with a reputable brand and product portfolio which span the different available categories of the industry (Carte Blanche, 2010). Carte Blanche currently boasts of recognized brands and a reputable product portfolio. The products are currently published in 14 languages, and distributed in more than 60 countries employing multiple channels of distribution (Carte Blanche, 2010). The social expression industry is characterized by constant change (Berkowitz and Hill, 1996) and cultural sensitivity (Keegan, 1969). This report is necessary in defining a path for ensuring the growth of Carte Blanche in the highly competitive, constantly changing, and culturally sensitive social expression industry over the next three to five years. Audit SWOT and PEST analyses will be carried-out here as models are particularly valuable in ensuring logical consistency and exploring the subtle interactions involving a limited number of variables (Porter, 1991, p. 98). SWOT analysis SWOT framework that encompasses the strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats of a company in relation to its internal and external environment respectively, and it is a reliable process for strategy selection (Barney, 1996; Novicevic et al., 2004). The framework as applied to Carte Blanche is as below: Strength Carte Blanche boasts of recognized brands and a reputable product portfolio that the consumer is already familiar with and trust. The Carte Blanche products are currently published in 14 languages worldwide taking into cognizance the cultural sensitivity of the social expression industry. The company already has global presence as it is found in over 60 countries and ensures effective distribution through multiple distribution channels. Carte Blanche employs the use of local licensee to reap such benefits as minimal asset commitment in physical assets such as inventory and human resources (Berkowitz and Hill, 1996, p. 46). Weaknesses Limited global coverage. Lack of financial muscle. Opportunities Carte Blanche possesses good prospects for product transfer to other countries not presently covered. The prospect for product transfer is said to be greatest for nations with characteristics similar to that of the originating countries (Berkowitz and Hill, 1996, p. 42), whereas the UK, Carte Blanches home country, shares a lot with many of UKs former colonies such as India. There is great potential for further internalization of Carte Blanche products as only 60 of the many countries in the world are currently covered. Threats The industry is characterized by heavy weight competitors both in the UK and abroad with global outreach such as Hallmark, American Greetings, and Gibson Greetings (Berkowitz and Hill, 1996, p. 40). The industry is laced with cultural sensitivity and could lead to lost sales and considerable corporate embarrassment (Ricks, 1983 as cited by Berkowitz and Hill, 1996, p. 40) for an industry player who commits a cultural blunder. PEST analysis Political Legal regulations require different methods of packaging for the social expression products in different environments (Berkowitz and Hill, 1996). The government and its regulatory agencies often regulate the type of different materials that may be used in product manufacturing, and this may vary from one country to another (Berkowitz and Hill, 1996). Government regulations may also place restrictions and set standards for product labeling (Berkowitz and Hill, 1996). For advertising, PR, and trade promotion with their associated financial cost are often highly regulated by the government (Berkowitz and Hill, 1996). Export to other countries may be restricted or hampered by inter-government relations, trade accords, and policies (Berkowitz and Hill, 1996). Environmental Variations in climate and/ or weather of the Carte Blanche home country from its export countries may requires product adaptation(Berkowitz and Hill, 1996). For example, the tropics do not experience snow fall during the Christmas season. Workers or employees in the target countries for internationalization may generally possess lower expertise than in the UK and hence may require some training with its associated cost (Berkowitz and Hill, 1996). To take full economic advantage of new markets, products should be developed to meet the different occasions, celebrations, and festival found there (Berkowitz and Hill, 1996). Social The different social celebrations such as festivals found in different environments often necessitate the need for different customize products and may lead to increased revenue (Berkowitz and Hill, 1996).. The industry is laced with cultural sensitivity and could lead to lost sales and considerable corporate embarrassment (Ricks, 1983 as cited by Berkowitz and Hill, 1996, p. 40) for an industry player who commits a cultural blunder. But, it is also a huge opportunity to meet need demands. Technology The industry players require relatively extensive investment in technology in improving on their efficiency, effective, and general performance (Berkowitz and Hill, 1996). Carte Blanche makes use of innovative supply chain associated technology in ensuring effective and efficient distribution of its productive for a competitive advantage (Carte Blanche, 2010). SMART objectives To give concrete direction and make the success of the new product development measurable at the end of the day, we have set the following SMART objectives. To develop a new social expression product to be launched by January 1, 2011 to the selected target market; Develop new area of brand strategy toward achieving sales target of  £500,000 by December 31, 2011; and Position Carte Blanche through the activities above to deliver excellent growth rate of 10% per annum and market share of 40% over the next 3-5 years. The objectives above contain elements of long-term strategy although they have been set for the first 12 months of the new product life cycle, but their achievement may ensure that the long-term objectives are realized. Huan et al. (2007, p. 277) citing Doyle et al. (1985), Hooley and Lynch (1985), Shaw (1995), Siu (2000), Baker and Leidecker (2001), and Siu and Liu (2005) argues that successful companies set longer term strategic objectives (i.e. short-run profits are not sought at the expense of longer run strategic objectives). New product and strategic brand development plan and implementation Considering a brand development plan for Carte Blanche is critical as many researchers such as McWilliam (1993), Tauber (1981), Economist (1990; 1991), and Ambler and Styles (1996) recognized that brand and line extensions is now a popular growth strategy, especially noticeable in saturated fast-moving consumer goods industries. However, developing brand or line extensions is one type of new product development (NPD) (Ambler and Styles, 1996, p.13). The new product development process shall follow that which was outlined by Kotler (1991). The eight point sequence that will generate the NPD plan is as discussed below: 1. Idea generation A thorough process of idea generation that involved contributions from the different stakeholders resulted in the birth of a variety of ideas concerning the new products that may be developed and how these may individual strengthen the market position and profitability of Carte Blanche. Some of these ideas include the extension of the current and different product lines, the extension of the current Carte Blanche brand(s), and the creation of a new product and brand altogether. With respect to the categories of ideas mentioned above, unique product offerings were also generated. 2. Idea screening: The generated ideas were further screened to isolate those that may most closely support the stated objectives of the new product and brand development strategy, and the overall Carte Blanche strategy (Kotler, 1991). Both line and brand extension have the advantage of reduced cost and risk as opposed to developing a totally new brand (McWilliam, 1993; Tauber, 1981; Economist, 1990; 1991). Also because the line and brand extensions have the advantage of standing on the foundation of an existing brand positioning, the risk of their failure is also minimal (Boush and Loken, 1991; Sunde and Brodie, 1993) compared to establishing a totally new brand. Hence, the strategy to be adopted is brand extension. According to Aaker and Keller (1990), brand extensions may be defined as entry into a new product category using an brand name that is already firmly established. The new product is electronic greeting cards that the customer may order for, be supplied with, and he may forward to his contact, all through the Internet. This is because consumers of social expression products are uniquely younger in many country like in the UK where record number of cards are given for 21st birthday celebrations (Berkowitz and Hill, 1996, p. 45). Furthermore, there is enormous growth potential in the internet world dominated by young people and in countries such as India and China with teeming young internet users. (ITU, 2010) This new product line may also benefit from the ubiquitous nature of the internet for easy commerce and widest distribution (ITU, 2010). 3. Concept development and testing A sample of what the online greeting card will be like and how it may be ordered for and received was developed. The concept having been tested with a randomly selected representative group of the target market gained favorable interest and commendation indicating possible product approval and adoption by the overall target market (Kotler, 1991). This way, the attitude of the target market to the new product was ascertained before embarking on any expensive and time consuming further product development (Kotler, 1991). 4. Marketing strategy development The new product(s), electronic greeting cards, is targeted at the families, especially the young people in the UK and abroad. Young people are easily accessible through various electronic media and channel, especially the Internet, and are quite savvy in its use for many activities such as for purchases and communications (Marketing Teacher, 2010). Products in the fast moving category such as social expression products like greeting cards and food if supported by appropriate and effective advertisement have been shown to be successful with this target market (McDonalds, nd). Statistically for the UK, 19% of the population is made up of age 16 and below; 14% of the population is made up of age 16 to 24. Furthermore, 63% of the UK children live with their parents; 6% of age 20 to 24 are married; and 19% cohabit or live with their parents (UK Office for National Statistics, 2007A; 2007B). These represent a huge market of Internet savvy individuals. 5. Business analysis ( ¬Ã‚ nancial) Such factors as cost and demand projections; level and impact of competition; required investment; and the profitability of the new brand have been carefully considered. Figure 1 below represents a graphical representation of how the target market of the e-greeting card brand of Carte Blanche is envisaged to position the new product/ brand. However, the graph is based principally on personal perception derived from experiences and knowledge of the social expression industry. Key: blue bar: Carte Blanche current product offering; Red bar: e-greeting card; Green bar: competitors products Figure 1 A Market Positioning Map illustrating the position of the e-greeting card brand against competitors. Cost of production is expected to be much lower than in the production of hard greeting cards as there will be no expenses associated with purchase of materials such as card board and printing. However, significant initial investment will be required in the acquisition of IT infrastructure and training of designers in their use. Demand is expected to soar as there is a huge waiting market to exploit based on the statistics of the target market offered earlier. Also, the high return on investment that is associated with e-commerce is also anticipated in this case (ITU, 2010). 6. Physical product development (includes branding decision) Product Core-product: the core product represents the benefit of the new product to the consumer. It is in the category of social expression. It feels emotional needs and provides pleasure to both the sender and receiver. Tangible product: This represents the tangible or physical product but it is in the electronic form in this case, and primarily refer to the electronic or e-greeting cards. Brand name: Brand name selection is a part of the branding strategy and exercises a crucial role in a firms overall marketing strategy (Douglas et al., 2001). Many companies that are maintaining excellent growth despite intense competitions often rely on their well established brand in maintaining this revenue and market share growth demonstrating the importance of the choice of a brand name (McWilliam, 1993; Tauber, 1981; Economist, 1990; 1991; and Ambler and Styles, 1996). Hence, two basic categories of brand names were considered for the e-greeting card. They are: Totally new names such as Mayors and Feel me that does not reflect Carte Blanche or any of its well established brands at all, and Names that are based on Carte Blanche and any of its well established brands. However, the name Carte Blanche e-Card was chosen. The choice comes with some relative advantages (Kotler and Pfoertsch, 2006) such as: 1. Rest on the good position of the Carte Blanche brand; 2. Carte Blanche offers trademark protection; 3. Ease of pronounce, remembrance, and recognition; and 4. It is attractive. Promotion A combination of both pull and push strategy will be employed here. The pull strategy will be designed to stimulate demand from the target market. Active public relations, viral marketing, personal selling, and public interviews will be used to create a visible brand and encourage the target market to seek out the new product. The push strategy will form the primary promotion strategy to be employed as the product is being introduced to the target market newly. Therefore, an initial push strategy may be effective in creating awareness and familiarity for the new product (Berthon et al., 2003). The push strategy will make use of a media-mix strategy (Ephron, 2000) using paid advert in magazines, newspaper, TV, and radio and outdoor advertising, and on the internet, for maximum impact. Pricing Penetration strategy shall be employed. This is because the product is new and its survival at the market entry stage is critical (Penn state University, 2007). The price will hence be kept as low as possible at the market entry stage but shall remain dynamic and respond to the different stages of the product life-cycle and market forces. The rationale behind this strategy is demonstrated in the Figure 2 below: Economy Premium Skimming Penetration Low Low Quality Pr ice High Figure 2 Pricing strategy matrix (Source: Marketing Teacher, 2010) High Distribution Intensive distribution of the product shall be the distribution strategy. The product shall be distributed principally over the internet using all electronic gadgets with Internet connection capability. Kotler and Pfoertsch (2006) are of the opinion that revenue generated from similar products is often a function of the intensity of the distribution, and intensive distribution is critical for market recognition and penetration, and gaining market share for a new product. 7. Market testing Before the full commercialization of the product is carried-out, it shall be offered for sale on Carte Blanche website and other well-known outlets on the internet. This will enable the monitoring of consumer reaction to it; the products performance based on the designed marketing plan; and the response of the competitors to it. 8. Commercialization The final stage of product and brand development. After testing and analysis, the firm finally introduces the product to its target market. This also involves implementing a total marketing plan and full production. Measurement of SMART Objectives The realization or not of the SMART objectives shall be evaluated using measures and metrics from Kokkinaki and Ambler (1999) and Kurtinaitiene (2005) that have been validated in literature. There are 6 categories of available metrics under this framework, however, the most relevant shall be applied to the measurement of the SMART objectives in this case. These categories are: Financial measures (as turnover, contribution margin and profit) Competitive market measures (as market share, advertising and promotional shares) Consumer behaviour measures (as consumer penetration, loyalty and customer gained) Consumer intermediate measures (as brand recognition, satisfaction and purchase intention) Direct customer measures (as distribution level, profitability of intermediaries and service quality) Innovativeness measures (as products launched and their revenue) The performance of the new product shall be evaluated against the above metrics so that effectiveness of the marketing and brand strategy can be determined. Conclusion There exist enormous potential in the e-greeting card segment of the social expression industry that the industry players may tap into. This report as shown the challenges of the social expression industry such as cultural sensitivity and constant change. However, Carte Blanche, a well known industry player in the UK with tentacles in most part of the world may ensure continuous growth over the next three to five years by tapping into the opportunity that IT and Internet offers for production and distribution of products respectively. Following the recommendations of this report may help ensure that Carte Blanche position itself and its brand(s) for the prospective steady growth.