Strategic Marketing of The North Face Case Study

Strategic Marketing of The North Face - Case Study Example The company obtains a competitive position of the market and a strong band image. Its innovations and product development strategies support its further growth and open new market opportunities. When product life cycles are short (or consumers demands are changed) technological improvement becomes an essential requirement of company strategy. The aim of strategic marketing is to meet the needs and expectations of customers, and the organization's ability and capacity to satisfy them. For this matching process to take place successfully, a company must understand who is the customer and what value is required, and how best to deliver this value on a sustainable basis in line with the organization's overall corporate objectives. The North Face is one of the companies which develops unique strategies and marketing approach in order to compete on the market and increase sales. The North Face is a specialty retailer which 'designed, manufactured and sold high quality outdoor equipment and clothing" (Mezzatesta and Cook 743). The mission of the North Face is to reach wider target market and expend its activities to new markets. The strategic aim is a continuous growth and expansion into new products. High quality is used as a strategic weapon and the aim of The North Face is to maintain high quality standards at costs lower than competitors. The current objective of the company is to find the best way to distribute the new skiwear line. Also, the objective is to remain a market leader and strengthen its dealer structure around the world. 3.2. External Environment The North Face operates on the dynamic market where the main objective is to maintain successful marketing communication strategies, implement high product quality and develop strategies to improve customer relations and manufacturing. The purpose of the North Face is to get and keep a customer proposing high quality innovative products. Political-legal forces acting upon the North Face allocate power and provide constraining and protecting laws and regulations. The company does not influenced greatly by political and legal changes. In spite of the fact that the North Face is a US-based company, it is affected by international trade regulations and laws. Environmental changes suggest that the opening up of the market and the resultant increased competition has widened the perspective of the planning framework with profound implications. Thus, the main threat for the North Face is that its competitors begin to copy its products. The social environment includes general forces that do n ot directly touch on the short. Economic forces regulate the exchange of materials, money, energy, and information. This environment proposes great challenges for the North Fac

Assess 'Reformasi' and the democratic transition in Indonesia Essay

Assess 'Reformasi' and the democratic transition in Indonesia - Essay Example An assessment is made of the ideals and goals of Reformasi and how these compare with the present reality. The conclusion identifies key issues facing the country. Indonesia is a Southeast Asian archipelago of over 12,000 islands, with a total population of 270 million, making it one of the largest Islamic nations in the world (CIA, 2007). A Dutch colony for over 350 years, it gained independence in 1945 under Sukarno, a nationalist leader who established a parliamentary government with him as its first President. By 1959, the government was struggling to contain three challenging threats: Islamism, communism, and militarisation. Sukarno established a â€Å"Guided Democracy† characterised by military-backed authoritarian rule, a non-aligned foreign policy, and socialist anti-modern economic policies, all of which proved chaotic and difficult to manage (Smith, 1999). Due to growing threats to peace and stability, the army staged a coup d’etat in 1965 under the leadership of Army Minister Suharto, who justified it as the only way to protect the nation from communism. Sukarno was deposed and on house arrest until his death in 1970. In 1967, Suharto was declared President and ruled Indonesia until his resignation in May 1998, succeeded by his hand-picked successor, B.J. Habibie, who initiated the period of reform in Indonesian politics. During his short term, he allowed parliamentary elections, granted independence to East Timor, and in October 1999 handed the Presidency to Abdurrahman Wahid, who in July 2001 stepped down on charges of corruption and handed power to Megawati, Sukarno’s daughter. When her term ended in late 2004, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono or SBY, a retired Army general who played a key role in 1998 became the country’s first democratically elected President (Soesastro et al., 2003; McGibbon, 2006). Indonesia’s recent history could be divided into three