Competitive Advantage Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Competitive Advantage - Assignment Example Barnes & Noble has the greatest product variety in the industry in both books and e-books. Due to the size of the company the firm is in a better position to offer lower prices. The company is able to lower costs in its purchases because the company achieves economies of scale. Small scale bookstores have to become more proactive in their operational and marketing efforts in order to compete with Barnes & Nobles. A way for a small bookstore to differentiate itself is by providing superior customer service. Special services such as ordering any book the customer wants even if the company does not make its normal profit is an effective way to increase customer retention. Another way to boost the business of a small bookstore is by designing a good website that offers the entire inventory of books available at the store. The use of cellular advertising is one of the hottest marketing channels of

Success Factors in key accounts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Success Factors in key accounts - Essay Example The main purpose of these developments was to develop products that could be used in everyday life. The research involves finding potential problems in the present applications used and resolving them by updating them or using new products. The researchers found the flexibility of a product enables it to be used by more clients. Another important factor probably the most important one is the cost. If the final product is expensive there will be only few takers for it. Therefore research has been done to use cost effective products. Qualitative research methods are more often used as it involves observation of data that helps in finding solutions to the problems. Qualitative research has been categorised into three categories named as positivist, interpretive and critical. Positivist research methods involves attempt to test theory that to understand the predictive element of the phenomena. It involves formal propositions, hypothesis testing, measuring of quantifiable variables, etc. In this type of research it is assumed that the objectives are given in reality and can be measured by their properties. Interpretive research method involves sharing of information and social constructions such as language. Interpretive method is used to understand the meaning of the given information that was assigned to the researchers. Critical research as the name implies concentrates more on the critical view of the subject. It highlights the critical viewpoint of the situation that has to be analysed. Action research and Case study research methods are as important as above-mentioned methods. The action research method describes what problems an organization is facing; what appropriate steps should be taken to resolve these kinds of situations. It is more often action-oriented method. Case study method involves studying the main object of the organization, how the situation is related to the real life context, etc. Case study can be positivist, interpretive and critical. Planning In any marketing sector key account marketing plan is considered to be very important and a thoughtful business plan cannot be overemphasizes because much hinges on it: financial support, management of the available resources like operation and finances, credit from suppliers, promotion and marketing and last but not the least company's goals and achievements. Before writing a key account marketing plan some of the important questions that has to be addressed are: 1. What service does the business provide to the clients 2. Who are the potential customer and reasons for purchasing the service or product 3. What are the steps or ways you reach the potential customer 4. From whom or where the funds come The important elements of marketing plan are to precisely define the business, identify the goals and serve as the firm's resume. Pro forma balance sheet, an income statement, planning precise strategies and cash flow analyses comprises the basic components of a marketing plan. Preparing a marketing plan helps in the allocation of resources properly, making good decisions and handling of unseen or unexpected complications that may become hurdle in the future development of the business. One of the important aspects of marketing plan is that it provides organised information about the company and importantly a good business plan helps in attaining a loan

Analysis of the U.S. Health Care System

Analysis of the U.S. Health Care System U.S. Health Care System Radhika Chhabra Healthcare within the United States has captured different people within the field such as business leaders, policy makers, and health experts to give the system a reformation. Within the year of 1993 and 1994 the United States government has changed over the course of the year and made sure that the reformation of the nation’s health care system stays intact. There are many underlying issues within the health care system and they need to have problems fixed as soon as possible and provide care to patients that are needed. â€Å"Unlike many other issues, the polls of American health care could be defined simply: health care costs too much and too many Americans go without needed care. Yet agreeing on a cure for those ills proved to be exceedingly difficult† (Cloyd, 2014). The United States carries on different ideas to improve their healthcare system and it seems like the way of expansion they need to have the proper access to provide the correct services that are needed within the U.S. health care system. Within the U.S. healthcare system the costs need to be lowered because the prices are tending to escalate within different organizations and the delivery of healthcare. The United States has been tied up within their problems and their main concern is the financial resources that are unable to be provided to them. This is one of the reasons why the U.S. depends on other countries to look for cures and other solution to provide medical care for patients. With different accesses that should be able to guarantee the control of costs within a health care facility. It tends to make it more difficult at times when they do not know what to expect and that ends up being risky and uncertain. The U.S. health care system needs to be successful with changing the system and the way they approach patients in the delivery. â€Å"Therefore the right question is whether measures exist that can improve conditions substantially within a reasonable amount of time. Different health care systems meet different needs and set different priorities. Each health care system tries to meet priorities, and in doing so each has disadvantages and advantages† (Cloyd, 2014). By reforming the healthcare system the U.S. should follow other countries institutions and making decisions what is best for their patients and their facilities. The consideration is that the country adopted other conditions from other countries and that makes it clarify that that it cann ot be possible to transition into another nation’s health care system. The people that are involved within the transition are the ones that are interested with specific features of other medical equipment and what they system provide to help patients out with their care. The U.S. system has different companies around the country that will provide medical care to their patients but have adaptation from different Japanese manufactures that will provide high quality techniques. The reason why the United States can adopt different aspects of different countries healthcare systems is because they can learn from each other on their culture and technology. People are showing the same and or different challenges that they face within a medical facility and for those reasons they are able to learn off one another. â€Å"Thus, the search for solutions has become global in scope, as the United States looks beyond its borders to examine how other industrialized nations provide and finance health care. Such lessons from abroad are made possible by cross-national comparisons and analyses of the extensive comparative data and information available† (Cloyd, 2014). There are different challenges that people tend to face within the American health care system and those are: the pressure of populations, the medical increases in costs and expensive procedures that are being done. Different nations are having a hard time of balancing these issues and making sure that they get resolved in a timely matter to making sure that everything works best for the patients. â€Å"There’s a bright side, to be sure. The U.S. leads the world in health care research and cancer treatment, for instance. The five-year survival rate for breast cancer is higher in the U.S. than in other OECD countries and survival from colorectal cancer is also among the best, according to the group (Kane, 2012). The US and other countries need to show an interest in another and see the benefits from each country and what they can provide for one another. Medical facilities need to feed off one another from different countries and see what they can provide and bring to the table that way their expansion can be bigger and better. Furthermore, there are different industries that have been approachable for these types of concerns that happen within the industry. The U.S. health care system and other industries need to discover in which ways to adapt and strengthen the industry to make sure it is a successful one. There have been different methods that have been involved to make sure that the international health care systems and the U.S. health care system are on the same page. The reason why it has become such an issue is because the different system has become a failure at the points of demonstrating the delivery of health care. The United States health care system is facing different challenges that show a clear enough indication to show the urgency of changing the delivery of the system. â€Å"Attention has rightly focused on the approximately 46 million Americans who are uninsured, and on the many insured Americans who face rapid increases in premiums and out-of-pocket costs. As Congress and the Obama administration consider ways to invest new funds to reduce the number of Americans without insurance coverage, we must simultaneously address shortfalls in the quality and efficiency of care that lead to higher costs and to poor health outcomes† (Brennan, 2009). The cast of the system is on a doubt because of it being feasible and reliable for coverage of the expansions that makes sure that the U.S. health care system will continue not to have large gaps within the industry. This means having people with access to their own insurance coverage(s). By improving the health care delivery system is to show the different improvements of the quality and the value of delivery that patients do receive. They do have to deliver the different issue of the escalated costs, the poor quality that is being delivered and the rising increase numbers of people who are without health care insurance. Medical professionals need to keep patients in a healthy state and making sure that they prevent any common illnesses. â€Å"Thoughtfully constructed reforms would support greater access to health-improving care — in contrast to the current system, which encourages more tests, procedures, and treatments that are at best unnecessary and at worst harmful† (Brennan, 2009). The health care quality gap is described as a gap of certain things within the population such as racial and ethnic groups. This gap is between the actual care that is being provided to what the best quality of care can be given or received. â€Å"The landmark Institute of Medicine report Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century challenges all health care organizations to pursue six major aims of health care improvement: safety, timeliness, effectiveness, efficiency, equity, and patient-centeredness† (Mayberry, 2006) . The equity in quality care is to show that all availability within the industry makes people not show the difference within race, ethnicity or other characteristics that can relate to patients care. The Baylor Health Care System is in a position that they can delivery health care that can lead to a system that provides equity research. Their organization provides different leadership involvement will make the employees achieve the bes t care possible. Furthermore, their access use and the way health care is delivered has to be more moral, ethical and deal with the economic issues that are raising questions for them to create a goal that needs to be achieved in a timely matter. By eliminating different problems within the health care industry they need to be strategized in a way where it will show the quality of improving the delivery of health care. â€Å"Quality performance indicators currently collected and evaluated indicate that Baylor Health Care System often performs better than the national average. However, there are significant variations in care by age, gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status that indicate the many remaining challenges in achieving â€Å"best care† for all. There is a significant gap between the quality of care the US health care system is capable of achieving and the quality of care it currently delivers† (Mayberry 2006). Healthcare safety and the quality that is being delivered make problems exist because of the different systems that are being provided to show the different levels that implement the care. By having the persistence in healthcare will also raise concerns in the overall quality of the care and have different impacts in the health care facility. There is a greater equity and insurance within the health care system to show the importance of it growing capability for business and individual people who are investors within the field. Different companies show the investment within the field by paying for their employee’s health insurance planes and they are showing an increase for concern. The reason for the concern is the quality of care that their employees are receiving from their providers that are showing a negative impact and the poor quality of care. The persistence of a medical gap is within the health care access and shows the outcomes by the different races and ethnicities the question the equity of health care. This also shows differences unfairness, the justice behind the discrimination within the U.S and different society struggles that people face. The gap in the quality of care shows the challenges to achieve the best care possible and they are the following: the increase of awareness and the importance in clinical quality and operations and showing the achievement of best care, showing a creating of cultural transformation in which people show the abilities to provide the best care possible. There should also be a cultural transformation where the equity has to be an important more of a clinical transformation, the creation of health care operation will overall improve the quality of health care practices. The effort and commitment to approve healthcare is the achievement of best practices possible that will fit the organization and fit that facility to show equitable care. There will always be issues that come up within the healthcare industry because at the fact it is always changing. There can be results that can help minimize the problems within the industry and a big resolution is implementing the EMR system into each medical facility within the United States. The electronic medical record will only provide better medical attention to patients that are receiving care. This also helps out different medical physicians in regards to accessing patient records within a timely matter and that way they can provide the patient with the best medical attention possible One of the strengths of having and EMR within a medical facility provides less paper and storage because everything is electronic and the country would save a lot of money on the paper use. â€Å"Reduced redundancy in record-keeping efforts and improved operational efficiency. EMRs have superior capabilities for storing, processing, and retrieving information and computerized methods are sign ificantly faster than paper-based methods† (Kumar Aldrich, 2010).The communication level between physicians and patients would be a lot stronger because the EMR system has a way of providing pictures of patient’s exams and it would be a lot more legible than a paper record and this gives the physician to able to give more time to patient and their needs for medical care. The EMR system improves the data accuracy and shows the services of billing and coding to be done easier and show a method of information that will prevent medical errors. EMR provides a better mechanism for analyzing and reviewing patient outcomes. Its flexible output formats could be customized to meet the needs of patients, payers, referral sources, and other parties who use health information† (Kumar Aldrich, 2010). With strengths there always comes weaknesses and the fact the EMR System is so expensive will put a damper on the government and the medical facility that will be implementing them into their facility. There have been estimated costs of $28 billion a year over a ten year development and then a $16 billion spread over the course of the implementations. Along with the costs there is also the system complication of how to navigate it and use it with the information that is given. There would always need to be a staff training and making sure that the staff clearly understands on how the system works and needs to be comfortable enough to navigate throughout the departments (Kumar Aldrich, 2010). Through the EMR systems they show the capability of giving healthcare initiatives of the governments showing the clinical research for policymakers, sponsors and researchers. â€Å"Research à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ndings and the medical discoveries must be converted into useful products and services for physicians, patients, and health care providers. Clinical decision support systems (DSS) are vital components to enable this and can also substantially reduce the time of submission of higher-quality research data to the FDA for clinical trials† (Venkatraman Bala, 2008). The development Developing and improving the EMR system is to make sure that all the components are working smooth and sufficient and making sure that the public health is away from any danger, diseases and etc. Combining the EMR system with any type of clinical component will show the electrical tracking system of any indicators that need to be fixed. By fixing these issues will only help health care professional treat p atients for their medical needs rather than processing the medical records on their own needs. In conclusion the U.S. Healthcare industry needs to make some changes and needs to make them fast that way there can be great benefits involved for patient care. The implementation of the IT systems such as the EMR will only help out different medical facilities, medical physicians, medical personals and even patients to provide better health care. One of the main reasons the EMR system will provide better healthcare to patients is to show that the healthcare industry needs to provide to their patients and they need to provide the best healthcare possible. â€Å"The new health reform law will bring about sweeping changes to the American health care system, not the least of which involves extending health insurance coverage to millions of Americans that have previously gone without (Zamosky, 2014). People are now required to have health insurance and this will only help them and be beneficial to them when medical attention is needed. References Brennan, N. (n.d.). Improving Quality and Value in the U.S. Health Care System. The Brookings Institution. Retrieved April 27, 2014, from http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2009/08/21-bpc-qualityreport Cloyd, C. (n.d.). Health Care Systems: Three International Comparisons. Health Care Systems: Three International Comparisons. Retrieved April 27, 2014, from https://www.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/soc_sec/health.htm Kane, J. (2012, October 22). Health Costs: How the U.S. Compares With Other Countries. PBS. Retrieved April 26, 2014, from http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/health-costs-how-the-us-compares-with-other-countries/ Kumar, S., Aldrich, K. (2010). Overcoming barriers to electronic medical record (EMR) implementation in the US healthcare system: A comparative study. Health Informatics Journal, 16(4), 306-318. doi:10.1177/1460458210380523 Mayberry, R., Nicewander, D., Qin, H., Ballard, D. (n.d.). Abstract. National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved April 28, 2014, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1426185/ VENKATRAMAN, S., BALA, H., VENKATESH, V., BATES, J. (2008). Six Strategies for Electronic Medical Records Systems. Communications Of The ACM, 51(11), 140-144. Zamosky, L. (2010, September 23). Health Reform Summary and Facts: Changes and Benefits That Affect You. WebMD. Retrieved April 28, 2014, from http://www.webmd.com/health-insurance/health-reform-summary-benefits

Child Case Study :: Psychology Psychological children Essays

Child Case Study Who?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  5-year old boy (Friends Nephew) Name? â€Å"JD† Where? In the Family Room and the Kitchen How many family members are present? Brother(3) Aunt (20) Grandma (60) (PEER SETTING) 30-minute observation Friday 2/25/05 4:00PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Child sitting on floor in front of TV getting ready to watch Ed, Edd, and Eddy. 4:02PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lying down on pillow. 4:04PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Asks aunt for banana. 4:06PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Eats banana in kitchen 4:08PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Eating and watching from kitchen. 4:10PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Finishes banana and sits in family room watching cartoon. 4:12PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sitting and watching TV with little brother. 4:14PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Commercial and brother and him reenacting cartoon. 4:16PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cartoon is back on and both are still playing rough. 4:18PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Aunt tells them to stop and they don’t. They are still playing rough. 4:20PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Child stops playing rough with younger brother and sit down watching TV. 4:22PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Watching Ed, Edd, and Eddy. 4:24PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Watching Ed, Edd, and Eddy. 4:26PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Laughing and still watching Ed, Edd, and Eddy. 4:28PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Show is over child begins to play with Aunt’s Boxer Dog. 4:30PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Child continues to play with dog (brother joins in later). Who?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  5-year old boy (Friends Nephew) Name? â€Å"JD† Where? In the Kitchen How many family members are present? Brother(3) Aunt (20) Grandma (60) Sister (6) (FAMILY INTERACTION) 30-minute observation Monday 3/1/05 2:00PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kids come over. 2:02PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Child pulled homework out right away and Aunt sits to help. 2:04PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Aunt helps child with reading for reading log. 2:06PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Child practicing reading skills with his reading book. 2:08PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Child finished reading book 2:10PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Child worked on his writing skills. JD writes two sentences every three days. 2:12PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Child is still working on his writing skills. 2:14PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Child is still working on his writing skills, he is almost finished. 2:16PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Child finishes his sentence writing and works on his math homework. 2:18PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Child works on math problems. 2:20PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Child is counting with his fingers. 2:22PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Child is still counting with his fingers on another problem. 2:24PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Child finishes his homework. JD sits on couch and watches Jimmy Neutron. 2:26PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Child watches TV still. 2:28PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  TV Show ends and child tries to read his dinosaur book. 2:30PM  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Child gives up on reading and goes back to watching the next episode on Nicktoons.

Industry Analysis of Pharmaceutical Industry in Bangladesh

Industry Analysis of Pharmaceutical Industry in Bangladesh In Bangladesh the pharmaceutical sector is one of the most developed hi-tech sectors which is contributing in the country's economy. After the promulgation of Drug Control Ordinance – 1982, the development of this sector was accelerated. The professional knowledge, thoughts and innovative ideas of the pharmaceutical professionals working in this sector are the key factors for these developments. Due to recent development of this sector it is exporting medicines to global market including European market.This sector is also providing 97% of the total medicine requirement of the local market. Leading pharmaceutical companies are expanding their business with the aim to expand export market. Recently few new industries have been established with high tech equipments and professionals which will enhance the strength of this sector. Two organizations, one government (Directorate of Drug Administration) and one semi-governme nt (Pharmacy Council of Bangladesh) control pharmacy practice in Bangladesh.The Bangladesh Pharmaceutical Society is affiliated with international organizations International Pharmaceutical Fede The Bangladesh pharmaceutical market in 2004 stood at approximately US $ 560 million, which is very small when compared to the population base of the country, which currently stands at about 140 million. To put this number on a proper perspective, the total global pharmaceutical sale in 2004 was $430 billion. This is expected to grow at 8. 1% to about $530 billion in 2005.Of course the majority of the sale in 2004 was in brand products, the market segment where Bangladesh does demonstrate safety and efficacy through clinical trials, rather they would have to demonstrate that the drug products that they are filing are therapeutically equivalent to the Reference Listed Drug. One of the major barriers that pharmaceutical companies must overcome to enter the regulated market is to be fully compl iant with current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs).Although many of the firms are ISO certified, it is a fact that virtually none of the pharmaceutical manufacturing plants that are currently in operation in Bangladesh fully complies with cGMP regulations as described in the US Code of Federal Register (CFR). FDA inspections of manufacturing operations are meant to evaluate a firm's cGMPs, and to verify documents, data and manufacturing records submitted in the ANDA. This inspection is a critical part of the drug application approval process.The firms must demonstrate substantial compliance to the satisfaction of the FDA investigators if they are to avoid receiving FDA observations (483's) and approval of their ANDAs. Ration and Commonwealth Pharmaceutical Association. Cross sectional Analysis Pharmaceutical industries are an important means of bringing drug information to health care professionals (1). Their primary goal is to convince clinicians to prescribe their products. Th ese ads often cite external documents in support of their claims (2).Pharmaceutical companies worldwide are heavily involved in aggressive drug promotions through advertisements. But the scientific claims made for drugs are often inaccurate and not based on proper scientific evidences (2, 3, 4). As with many countries worldwide, drug promotion and marketing make up a very large part of the activities of pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh. It is generally believed that overstatements and misinformation are common promotional activities of drug companies in Bangladesh (5).In a study, drug promotion through industry in promotional brochures showed 50 per cent of claims were based on debatable scientific evidence, while 12 per cent were fake (6). The MediMedia Index of Medical Specialities (MIMS) Bangladesh is an index of important information of available drugs in Bangladesh, mostly used by physicians as a practical reference for daily prescribing. It is a widely available commerci al source published two times a year by MediMedia, Singapore. Beside drug information, each issue of MIMS Bangladesh contains a large number of advertisements, mostly on drugs and medical devices.The extent and types of these advertisements vary in content and size. We conducted a descriptive study to investigate the sources of drug information or claims presented in the advertisements of MIMS Bangladesh. * Materials and methods We selected a convenience sample of the MIMS Bangladesh second issue (2006) for this descriptive study. At first, advertisements on all drugs were separated on the basis of their allocation in the pages. Advertisements containing at least one medical or pharmaceutical claim were considered for evaluation.Other pharmaceutical advertisements containing only drug and company names with no medical or pharmaceutical claims were excluded. Also, some industry on herbal medicines was excluded as well. The competent industry was analyzed for the sources of informatio n provided in support of their claims. The relevant extracted data were presented in the predesigned data forms in a personal computer. Descriptive statistical analyses were performed using Microsoft Excel 2002 on Windows XP Professional. * Results This descriptive study was conducted to measure the sources of information in drug in industry Bangladesh.Advertisements containing at least one medical or pharmaceutical claim were extracted from a convenience sample of the second issue of MediMedia Index of Medical Specialities (MIMS) Bangladesh in 2006. Descriptive statistical analyses including frequency distribution and percentage were performed for data analysis. Of the total 112 industry about 82 per cent did not provide any references in support of their claims. Only 17. 9 per cent did; of which 65 per cent of the references included journal articles, which was followed by â€Å"data on file† in 25 per cent of cases.Superlative claims were commonly used without any scientif ic evidence. The study reported that medical or pharmaceutical claims made in the drug industry in MIMS Bangladesh are mostly not supported by scientific evidence. * Discussion Our study reported a high number of industries with no scientific evidence to substantiate promotional claims. Journal articles were found to be most cited sources of drug information in the advertisements, which was followed by â€Å"data on file†. Books and other sources are rarely used.Extreme claims were frequently used in most of the advertisements, which were not substantiated by proper scientific evidence. In an analytical study, 62. 1 per cent pharmaceutical industry did not cite references for their claims (7). Villanueva and colleagues showed about 44 per cent unsubstantiated claims in Spanish medical journals’ advertisements (8). The most striking report of unsubstantiated pharmaceutical advertisements was found in Germany where 94 per cent of the industry materials were reported to h ave no scientific evidence (9).A cross-sectional study reported the figure for the US to be 61 per cent (10). Drug advertisements in Russian medical journals showed quite a small number (2 per cent) with references (11). We also found quite a large number of advertisements in MIMS with no scientific basis to support their claims. Journal articles are the major source of drug information in pharmaceutical industry. In an Indian study journal articles accounted for 76 per cent of the sources, whereas books and â€Å"data on file† accounted for 15 and 2 per cent respectively (7).Another similar study from Canada showed figures of 98 per cent for journal articles, 86 per cent for books, and 20 per cent for â€Å"data on file† as references (2). This study also reports journal articles as the most cited sources of drug information. In contrast to others, the use of books as references was found insignificant in our study. We also report significant use of â€Å"data on fil e† information as major evidence of information. Besides unsubstantiated information, unnecessary adjectives were commonly used in the advertisements without proper scientific basis.Major players of the world pharmaceutical industry The pharmaceutical industry is characterized by a high level of concentration with fifteen multinational companies dominating the industry. Table 1. 1 contains information about these major pharmaceutical companies that are sorted in the order of their 2004 revenues from the sales of pharmaceutical products. Numbers provided in this table include sales of all subsidiaries and affiliated companies that are consolidated in annual reports of the corresponding companies.In order to facilitate a comparison of different companies revenues of all of them are shown in US dollars; financial data of the companies with headquarters outside of the U. S. was converted to US dollars using average 2004 . Table 1. 2. Company| Revenue of pharmaceutical segment, (tk . 000)| Total sales, (Tk. 000)| Beximco Pharmaceutical Ltd| 46,133| 52,516| Square Pharmaceutical Ltd| 31,434| 37,324| Aristo Pharmaceutical Ltd| 22,190| 47,348| Glaxco Pharmaceutical Ltd| 21,494| 22,939| Opsonim Pharmaceutical Ltd| 21,426| 21,426| Acme Pharmaceutical Ltd| 18,497| 28,247| ACI Pharmaceutical Ltd| 17,861| 18,711|Key Challenges The main challenges for drug companies come from four areas. First, they must deal with competition from within and without. Second, they must manage within a world of price controls that dictate a wide range of prices from place to place. Third, companies must be constantly on guard for patent violations and seek legal protection in new and growing global markets. Finally, they must manage their product pipelines so that patent expirations do not leave them without protection for their investment. * Competition The pharmaceutical industry currently represents a highly competitive environment.One can distinguish three layers of competition for à ¢â‚¬Å"Big Pharma† companies: First, obviously, â€Å"Big Pharma† companies compete among themselves. Although not all leading pharmaceutical companies cover all segments of pharmaceutical market, almost all of them are active in R;D and production of drugs in the segments with the highest potential – such as treatment of infectious, cardiovascular, psychiatric or oncology diseases. Secondly, â€Å"Big Pharma† companies experience significant profit losses due to competition from the generic drug manufacturers.Opposite to the research-oriented pharmaceutical companies, which invest significant financial resources and time to develop new medicines, generic drug manufacturers spend minimum resources on R;D, and start manufacturing already developed by other companies drugs after their patent expiration. Because generic drug manufacturers do not have to recoup high R;D costs, prices of their products are usually much lower then those of major pharmaceutical co mpanies; as the result, after patent expiration, generic drugs manufacturers capture significant market share, dramatically decreasing revenues of the â€Å"Big Pharma† companies.Finally, the whole pharmaceutical industry competes with other health care industries. In this case, pharmaceutical companies should not only demonstrate high efficiency of their products, but also provide obvious proof of cost advantages in comparison with other forms of care. * Protection of patents Generic drugs manufacturers represent a significant threat to research-based pharmaceutical companies. Moreover, generic drugs manufacturers sometimes start production of patent-protected drug analogues even before a patent expires. Although research-oriented companies in many cases are able to rotect their patents, they do suffer from lost revenues. Therefore, protection of patents is one of the key conditions necessary for further development of the pharmaceutical industry. At the same time, non-effic ient legislation that does not provide the necessary level of patent protection is one of the factors that hamper expansion of â€Å"Big Pharma† companies to the developing countries. * Drugs portfolio management Drug portfolio management is one of the most important determinants of long-term prosperity of research-oriented pharmaceutical companies.First, it takes an extremely long time to develop a new drug, and only a very small portion of all projects is successful. Projects that the company starts today will determine its financial performance 10-15 years later. Therefore, careful planning of R;D projects is very important for the long-term stability of the company. Second, insofar as patents keep exclusivity of drugs only during a limited time, and soon after the expiration of the patent the sales of the drug sharply go down, the company has to carefully monitor its patent expiration dates, and insure that new products become available by that date.Definitely, planning e rrors or rapidly changing demand in the industry can be corrected by acquisition of smaller research companies or patents from competitors, but in any of these cases the company will have to pay a premium price, thus reducing its profitability. Bangladesh in the World Market for Pharmaceuticals In 2004 Bangladesh’s Pharmaceutical exports reached $971 million. That made it Indiana’s sixth largest export industry – accounting for about 5% of all Indiana exports.Between 2002 and 2004, BANGLDESHI Pharmaceutical exports increased by $425 million – an increase of 78%. The key components are described as medications, hormones, and antibiotics. Bangladesh exports most of these products to Europe – the leading destinations in 2004 were France, Spain, the UK, and Germany. Those four countries took almost 59% of bangladeshi’s Pharmaceutical exports that year. The remaining top 10 destinations were Canada, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Ireland, Mexico, and Austria.Indiana’s Pharmaceutical export profile is very similar to the nations – the United States and Indiana are almost totally focused on NAFTA partners and Europe. Who buys the world’s Pharmaceutical products? The United Nation’s Statistics Division publishes annual values for Pharmaceutical imports and exports for most countries. The key world importers include the United States and Europe. Below we report statistics for 2003 for these two areas as well as for other key areas and countries. There are several things to note from this table.First, the United States is the largest importer of Pharmaceutical products followed by EU15 (the fifteen countries that comprised the European Union before the recent expansion to 25 countries) and Switzerland. Japan and Canada are important destinations but each import less than Switzerland. China imported less than $2 billion in 2003 but remains an interesting destination because of its remarkable growth and development. Table 1. 3. Pharmaceutical industry – international trade Importer| 2003 imports, thousands| Exporter|USA| 31,739,624| 79% from Europe; 13% from Asia; 7% from North America| EU15| 28,351,731| 52% from North American; 35% from Europe| Switzerland| 9,718,628| 88% from Europe; 10% from North American| Japan| 6,193,127| 69% from Europe; 23% from North America| Canada| 6,064,628| 49% from Europe; 48% from North America| China| 1,705,632| 65% from Europe;8% from North America| Table note: These data refer to Standard Industrial Trade Classification (SITC Rev: 3) data for codes 54. 1 and 54. 2. These two codes cover what is traditionally thought of as Pharmaceutical products.EU15 refers to the 15 members of the European Union – those that were members before the increase to 25 members. Europe refers to a very large and wide definition of countries in western and east/central Europe. Switzerland is part of Europe but is not a member of the EU. The data is in thous ands of dollars. The next table shows the largest changes that occurred in Pharmaceutical imports between 1995 and 2003. The largest change was the almost $22 billion increase of imports to the United States from Europe. The United States also received large inflows of Pharmaceutical products from Asia ($3. 5 billion) and North America ($1. billion). EU15 also shows up three times in the table with a total of about $28 billion – from N. America, Europe, and Asia. Canada has two entries showing increased Pharmaceutical imports from Europe ($2. 5 billion) and the N. America ($2 billion). Switzerland, Japan, and China’s largest imports came from Europe. Table 1. 4. Changes in pharmaceutical imports between 1995 and 2003, dollar change Imports to| Imports from| Dollar Change In thousands, 1995 to 2003| USA| Europe| 21,968,851| EU15| N. America| 14,786,491| EU15| Europe| 10,041,165| Switzerland| Europe| 6,853,882| USA| Asia| 3,518,057|EU15| Asia| 3,024,816| Canada| Europe| 2,465,464| Canada| N. America| 1,969,847| USA| N. America| 1,904,983| Japan| Europe| 1,601,565| China| Europe| 859,540| While the above table shows where most of the goods are going, the next one features the hot flows – those that have grown the fastest between 1995 and 2003. Notice that this list is a lot different from the one above. Japanese imports from Africa showed huge percentage growth, as did China’s imports from Central ; South America and Africa. The United States is listed four times with triple digit import growth from Europe, North America, Asia, and Oceana.It is interesting that Europe15 is not on this list. Switzerland is mentioned once with rapidly growing imports from Asia. A look at the second column is instructive. Africa shows up three times – suggesting that Africa is becoming a more important exporter of Pharmaceutical products. Africa has had good luck selling to Japan, China, and Canada. Asia is also included with strong exports  œ primarily to the U. S. and Switzerland. Table 1. 5. Changes in pharmaceutical imports between 1995 and 2003, percent change Importer| Exporter| Percent Change, 1995 to 2003| Japan| Africa| 270,477| China| C;S America| 16,370|China| Africa| 11,256| Canada| Africa| 1,036| USA| Europe| 487| USA| N. America| 431| USA| Asia| 395| China| N. America| 386| Switzerland| Asia| 382| USA| Oceana| 367| The Business Cycle and Industry Sectors Economic trends can and do affect industry performance. By identifying and monitoring key assumptions and variables, we can monitor the economy and gauge the implications of new information on our economic outlook and industry analysis. Cyclical changes in the economy arise from the ups and downs of the business cycle. Structure changes occur when the economy undergoes a major change in organization or how it functions.Rotation strategy is when one switches from one industry group to another over the course of a business cycle. Economic Variables and Diffe rent Industries are:- * Inflation: Higher inflation causes a negative impact for pharmaceutical industries because it increases the market interest rate and uncertainty of future costs. It reduces the purchasing power of the buyers. * Interest Rates: The higher bank interest rate causes a adverse effect on the borrowing of the pharmaceutical industry. * International Economics: To some extend the ups and downs of international economics effects the pharmaceutical industry. Consumer Sentiment: Now a day’s consumer sentiments also make a great impact on the pharmaceutical industry. As a result they introducing herbal products to meet the huge demand Environmental Analysis (PEST) Technological advancements, tighter regulatory-compliance overheads, rafts of patent expiries and volatile investor confidence have made the modern pharmaceutical industry an increasingly tough and competitive environment. Below is an analysis of the structure of the pharmaceutical industry using the PE ST (political, economic, social and technological) model? Economic Value Added:In the decade to 2003 the pharmaceutical industry witnessed high value mergers and acquisitions7. With a projected stock value growth rate of 10. 5% (2003-2010) and Health Care growth rate of 12. 5% (2003-2010), the audited value of the global pharmaceutical market is estimated to reach a huge 500 billion dollars by 2004. Only information technology has a higher expected growth rate of 12. 6%. Majority of pharmaceutical sales originate in the US, EU and Japanese markets. Nine geographic markets account for over 80% of global pharmaceutical sales these are, US, Japan, France, Germany, UK, Italy, Canada, Brazil and Spain.Of these markets, the US is the fastest growing market and since 1995 it has accounted for close to 60% of global sales. In 2000 alone the US market grew by 16% to $133 billion dollars making it a key strategic market for pharmaceuticals. Structural Economic Changes and Alternative Industri es: Structural Economic Changes and Alternative Industries is influenced by the factors: * Demographics * Lifestyles * Technology * Politics and regulations But our pharmaceutical Industry of Bangladesh is only affected by demographic and technological forces, which we discuss in the below. Demographic Growing health awareness among the population has also had an influence on market expansion. Unlike in other markets, the Bangladesh pharmaceutical distribution network tends to be more retail-orientated and the bulk of distribution is done by the companies themselves. However, despite the country possessing huge manufacturing capabilities which supply 96% of domestic need, the complete lack of R;D in domestic companies could cause the market to stagnate, especially if companies have not evolved by the time the TRIPS agreement comes into effect.Multinationals should view Bangladesh as a possible manufacturing base. The balance of pharmaceutical trade remains negative, but it is diffic ult to project how the balance will change throughout the forecast period. * Technology While a particular new technology may either increase or decrease health care spending, researchers generally agree that, taken together, advances in medical technology have contributed to rising overall Bangladesh health care spending. Whether a particular new technology will increase or reduce total health expenditures depends on several factors.One is its impact on the cost of treating an individual patient. Does the new technology supplement existing treatment, or is it a full or partial substitute for current approaches? Do these changes result in higher or lower health spending for each patient treated? In looking at the impact on cost per patient, consideration needs to be given to whether the direct costs of the new technology include any effect on the use or cost of other health care services such as hospital days or physician office visits.It is not possible to directly measure the impa ct of new medical technology on total health care spending; innovation in the health care sector occurs continuously, and the impacts of different changes interrelate. The size of the health sector (16% of gross domestic product in 2005) and its diversity (thousands of procedures, products, and interventions) also render direct measurement impractical. Economists have used indirect approaches to try to estimate the impact of new technology on the cost of health care.    In an often-cited article, New house estimates the impact of medical technology on health care spending by first estimating the impact of factors that can reasonably be accounted for (e. g. , spread of insurance, increasing per capita income, aging of the population, supplier-induced demand, low medical sector productivity gains). The continuing flow of new medical technology results from other factors including the desire by professionals to find better ways to treat their patients and the level of investment in b asic science and research.Direct providers of care may incorporate new technology because they want to improve the care they offer their patients, but they also may feel the need to offer the â€Å"latest and best† as they compete with other providers for patients. Health care professionals, like people in other occupations, also may be motivated by professional goals (e. g. , peer recognition, tenure, prestige) to find ways to improve practice. Commercial interests (such as pharmaceutical companies and medical device makers) are willing to invest large amounts in research and evelopment because they have found strong consumer interest in, and financial reimbursement for, many of the new products they produce. In addition, public and private investments in basic science research lead directly and indirectly to advancements in medical practice; these investments in basic science are not necessarily motivated by an interest in creating new products but by the desire to increase human understanding. Industry Life Cycle Life cycle models are not just a phenomenon of the life sciences. Industries experience a similar cycle of life.Just as a person is born, grows, matures, and eventually experiences decline and ultimately death, so too do industries. The stages are the same for all industries, yet industries cycle through the stages in various lengths of time. Even within the same industry, various firms may be at different life cycle stages. Strategies of a firm as well as of competitors vary depending on the stage of the life cycle. Some industries even find new uses for declining products, thus extending the life cycle. Others send products abroad in hopes of extending their life. The growth of an industry's sales over time is used to chart the life cycle.The distinct stages of an industry life cycle are: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. Sales typically begin slowly at the introduction phase, and then take off rapidly during the growth phase. A fter leveling out at maturity, sales then begin a gradual decline. In contrast, profits generally continue to increase throughout the life cycle, as companies in an industry take advantage of expertise and economies of scale and scope to reduce unit costs over time. Industry life cycle has five stages : * Pioneering development * Rapidly accelerating industry growth Mature industry growth * Stabilization and market maturity * Deceleration of growth and decline Our pharmaceutical industry in Bangladesh is in Rapidly Accelerating Industry Growth Stage in industry life cycle. * Rapidly accelerating industry growth This stage starts when the product of the industry is accepted by the market. Further demand increases rapidly. The number of firms in the industry is limited at this stage and hence the firms can experience substantial backlogs of orders. Hence prices can be increased or discounts can be decreased and therefore profit margins are high.The capacity utilization goes up and eve n though productive capacity is increased, sales increase more rapidly. Hence high profit margins occur simultaneously with high sales growth. Profits explode. Sales growth can be high up to even 50 percent year and profits can grow over 100 percent a year as a result of the low earnings base and high profit margins and increasing efficiency of the firms. The growth potential of pharmaceutical industry is enormous. As urban population is increasing and people are getting educated, they are now more concerned about healthcare.So the demands of medical products are rising. In Bangladesh unhygienic conditions and poor health maintenance plans provide vast scope for the pharmaceutical firms to sell their products. On the other hand, the constant natural disasters provide opportunities to pharmaceutical companies to boost its sales. The industry is growing the protection of national Drug Policy 1982. But after the GATT regulation, changes are bound to take place. Furthermore, the trend & growth of this industry tends to be positive as the demand of medicines is rising, which have mentioned earlier.Analysis of Industry Competition Competition and Expected Industry Returns, Porter’s concept of competitive strategy is described as the search by a firm for a favorable competitive position in an industry * To create a profitable competitive strategy, a firm must first examine the basic competitive structure of its industry * The potential profitability of a firm is heavily influenced by the profitability of its industry * Porter's five forces Porter's five forces is a framework for the industry analysis and business strategy development developed by Michael E.Porter of Harvard Business School in 1979. It uses concepts developing, Industrial Organization (IO) economics to derive five forces that determine the competitive intensity and therefore attractiveness of a market. Attractiveness in this context refers to the overall industry profitability. An â€Å"unattr active† industry is one where the combination of forces acts to drive down overall profitability. A very unattractive industry would be one approaching â€Å"pure competition†. For our pharmaceutical Industry Competition we use porters five forces model in the below: Threats of new entrants is low because- Capital requirement is high. * Hard to have access to the distribution channels of excising companies. Bargaining power of buyer is low because- * Undifferentiated or standard product offering competitive price * No potential threats of backward integration by buyer * Customers are fewer prices sensitive. Bargaining power of supplier is high because- * There is little number of suppliers who regulate the market according to their own association. * Lack of substitute product (raw materials) * Credible threats of forward integration by suppliers Threats of substitute are low because- There is minimum substitute product such as herbal products. Industry rivalry is high because- * The market is large. * Industry is growing at a slow rate and yet to attain its best so supply gap is evident. * Fixed costs are high which make it hard for exiting from the market. * Strong capital based and technologically company is in operation and grabbing major market shares. Growth & Trends: The growth potential of pharmaceutical industry is enormous. As urban population is increasing and people are getting educated, they are now more concerned about healthcare.So the demands of medical products are rising. In Bangladesh unhygienic conditions and poor health maintenance plans provide vast scope for the pharmaceutical firms to sell their products. On the other hand, the constant natural disasters provide opportunities to pharmaceutical companies to boost its sales. The industry is growing the protection of national Drug Policy 1982. But after the GATT regulation, changes are bound to take place. Furthermore, the trend & growth of this industry tends to be positive a s the demand of medicines is rising, which have mentioned earlier.Company Analysis Libara Infution Ltd Libra Infusions Ltd – At a Glance Board of Directors: †¢Ã‚  Begum Shamsun Nahar Ahsanullah – Chairperson | | †¢Ã‚  Dr. Roushon Alam – Director & Founder | | †¢ Begum Ayesha Alam – Managing Director| | †¢ Saira Mariam Alam – Director| | †¢ Monami Alam – Director| | Company Secretary: †¢Ã‚  M. A. Rashid | | Auditors: M/s. Muhammad Shaheeddullah & Co. | | Chartered Accountants | | 19 Bangabandhu Avenue | | Dhaka House (2nd Floor)| | Dhaka-1000. | | Bankers: Agrani Bank | Amin Court Branch | 62-63 Motijheel C/A, | Company ProfileThere was always a scarcity of Intravenous (I. V. ) Fluid in the market as Govt. could not manufacture enough to fulfill the local demand. Before 1985, the major portion of the local demand was being covered by the imported I. V. Fluid. To overcome this situation LIBRA made its debut in Feb ruary 1985 under the strong leadership of Dr. Roushon Alam with a view to provide quality products. The company is situated on approx. 2 acres of land at Mirpur I/E, Dhaka . The factory is housed in a centrally Air Conditioning modern building having all necessary facilities. I. V.Fluid, the product of the company is a life saving and a basic medical necessity used in all medical situations involving diarrhoeal disease, surgical operation, loss of blood, weakness and hospitalization in general. LIBRA's I. V. Fluid being a quality product has a tremendous demand in the market. The technology has been supplied by M/S Vifor S. A. , Geneva , Switzerland under a Technical Collaboration Agreement. In addition, implementation of ISO 9001 Quality Management System has ensured customer satisfaction by guaranteeing good design, reliable product quality, safe performance, prompt delivery and efficient service.LIBRA employed a team of highly qualified and motivated staff. Since LIBRA came first in this segment of pharmaceuticals, the company had to struggle with a lot of adverse situations. But today, LIBRA is known to the medical profession and general public as the best and largest manufacturer of I. V. Fluid in Bangladesh. Quality Policy | We at â€Å"LIBRA† are committed to provide total customer satisfaction for all products formulated ; processed. This is achieved by: †¢ Implementing defined quality management system Continuous up gradation of technology †¢ Creating quality awareness ;active participation of   Ã‚  Ã‚  employees at all levels | | Manufacturing Technology | Libra always uses modern technology for manufacturing I. V. Fluid a life saving product. The production is based on imported raw ; packing materials our Quality Assurance System ensure full quality control testing in accordance with product requirements Technical support including LAL test, validation and stability studies are available as a part of our commitment to quality. | | Human Resource |Libra has a experienced dedicated staff members which included pharmacists, chemists, doctors, engineers, accountants and other professionals. Libra’s success depends on sincerity, hard labor and team efforts of employees at all levels. Libra invests in personal and professional development of its employees through training and workshop. | Vision  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   All of our activities should benefit the society to take health care. We strongly believe that in the final analysis we are accountable to our employees, our customers, citizen of our country and shareholders. | Mission To attain Vision will devote its resources to m manufacture world class products using modern technology. | | Commitment * Committed manufacturing world class Quality Products using modern technology. * Committed maintaining Quality Management System (QMS) through documentation of all ac tivities of the Company complying with International standard require ment of ISO 9001 through developing employees at all levels by regular training participation. *   Committed customer satisfaction through service upto their level of expectation. Libra reviews activities and performance of its operation to ensure compliance with commitment| SWOT Analysis: This section identifies the main strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with the Libra Pharmaceutical Company LTD. It involves monitoring the internal (strengths ; weaknesses) and external (opportunities ; threats) marketing environment. Strength The main strengths of Libra Pharmaceutical Co. LTD are: * Higher quality product with lower price. * Focused on the Customer’s satisfaction. * To meet the required specification it maintain the standard and quality. Using modern technology * To enrich the systems they appoint a huge experienced, motivated professionals * It is already been recognized by WH O and ISO 9001 certified as world class manufacturer of I. V. fluid. * To increased sales thy introduced new product every year. * To ensure high quality control facilities they has installed state of art equipment. * The company continuously focusing on expanding sales networks to meet the demand. Weakness The main weaknesses of Libra Pharmaceutical Co. LTD are: * High risk of facing losses, in case of purchasing raw materials in advance, as price is unstable. They can not increase the selling price as the cost of product increased. * Supplier has ultimate control over the material market * Government initiative or incentive in this sector is very insufficient. * The increase of bank interest rate. * The cot of fuel and oil, promotional expenses, transportation expenses are increasing day by day. * Law and order restrictions are quit alarming. Broad environmental analysis Competitive analysis Internal organizational analysis Strengths ; weaknesses of an organization Opportunities f or ; to an organization Need for strategic actionOrganizational long-range objectives Opportunities: The main opportunities faced by Libra Pharmaceutical Co. LTD are: * Company can introduced new product line or improved quality product. * Available customers. * Demand is huge and increasing day by day. * Profit percentage is high. * Company can invest their rest of retain earnings in other projects. * International trading scope is increasing specially in Middle East. * Expand their activities to the root level of the county Threats: The main threats faced by Libra Pharmaceutical Co. LTD are: * Change in technology (i. e. quipments, sharing and cutting machine change). * Threat of new entrance. * Political unrest. * Labor problem * Increasing Tax rate * Increasing cost of product * Increasing bank interest rate * Lower competitive power Market Condition Libra Infusions Ltd Price Change % Change Open High Low Business Segment LIBRAINFU Financial Performance Year| Earning per share | Net Asset Value Per Share   | Net Profit After Tax (mn)  | Price Earning Ratio   | % Dividend   | % Dividend Yield   | 2009| 34. 93  | 689. 13  | 4. 37  | 45. 81  | 15. 00  | 0. 94| 2008| 51. 25  | 671. 70  | 6. 41  | 28. 24  | 17. 50  | 1. 1| 2007| 48. 14  | 637. 95  | 6. 02  | 11. 00  | 17. 50  | 3. 3| 2006| 47. 36  | 589. 81  | 5. 93  | 10. 20  | 17. 50  | 4| 2005| 45. 46  | 559. 94  | 5. 69  | 12. 34  | 17. 50  | 3. 12| 2004| 43. 30  | 531. 99  | 5. 42  | 14. 81  | 17. 50  | 2. 73| 2003| 36. 33  | 550. 38  | 4. 55  | 8. 08  | 15. 00  | 5. 11| 2002| 30. 36  | 530. 55  | 3. 80  | 11. 20  | 15. 00  | 4. 41| 2001| 21. 82  | 515. 18  | . 73  | 10. 08  | 12. 50  | 5. 68| 2000| 18. 42  | 510. 86  | 2. 30  | 10. 59  | 5. 00  | 2. 56| Analysis of Financial Statement Of Libra Infusion Common-Size Statement Analysis: Common-Size Statement of Balance SheetLIBRA INFUSIONS LTD partic ular| 2007(tk in %)| 2008(tk in %)| 2009(tk in %)| Assets| Non-current assets| 62. 87| 64. 12| 66. 66| Property, plant and equipmentAt cost/ Revaluation| 96. 64| 97. 43| 91. 78| Accumulated deprecation| (33. 77)| (33. 31)| (25. 12)| Current Assets| 37. 14| 35. 89| 33. 34| Inventories| 18. 57| 17. 59| 19. 17| Account Receivables| 7. 50| 5. 68| 7. 06| Loans , Advance and Deposits| 9. 46| 10. 51| 5. 31| Cash and Cash Equivalents| 1. 61| 2. 11| 1. 80| Total Assets| 100%| 100%| 100%| Share holders Equity| 27. 97| 27. 50| 20. 31| Share Capital| 4. 38| 4. 19| 2. 95|General Revenue| -| 1. 31| 0. 94| Revaluation Reserve| 13. 03| 12. 17| 8. 76| Retain Earnings| 10. 55| 9. 93| 7. 66| Non-Current Liabilities| 26. 40| 29. 75| 31. 37| Term Borrowings| 11. 68| 14. 73| 20. 96| Due to-directors| 7. 55| 7. 97| 5. 03| Other Liabilities| 7. 17| 7. 05| 5. 38| Current Liabilities| 45. 63| 42. 74| 48. 32| Shot term Borrowing| 32. 62| 27. 53| 37. 65| Creditors and others payable| 9. 90| 11. 51| 8. 97| Taxa tion Payable| 3. 11| 3. 70| 1. 70| Total Liabilities and Shareholders Equity| 100%| 100%| 100%| LIBRA INFUSIONS LTD Common-Size Statement of Profit and Loss AccountParticular| 2007| 2008| 2009| Net Sales RevenueCost of Goods SoldGross ProfitOperating ExpensesAdministrative Exp. Selling, Marketing ; Distribution ExpProfit from OperationFinance Cost. NP before Contribution to WPPFWelfare fundsProfit Before TaxProvision for Income TaxNP After Income Tax| 100%(64. 91%)35. 08%(26. 96%) (3. 64%)(23. 32%)| 8. 12%(5. 22%)2. 90%(0. 13%)2. 77%(0. 82%)1. 95%| 100%(67. 01%)32. 99%(26. 15%) (3. 05%)(23. 10%)| 6. 84%(4. 59%)2. 25%(0. 11%)2. 14%(0. 58%)1. 56%| 100%(63. 64%)36. 36%(28. 75%) (3. 38%)(25. 37%)| 7. 61%(5. 88%)1. 73%(0. 09%)1. 64%(0. 45%)1. 19%| Ratio Analysis:A: Internal Liquidity Ratios| Liquidity refers to the ability of a firm to meet its short-term financial obligations when and as they fall due. The main concern of liquidity ratio is to measure the ability of the firms to meet th eir short-term maturing obligations. Failure to do this will result in the total failure of the business, as it would be forced into liquidation. Current Ratio The Current Ratio expresses the relationship between the firm’s current assets and its current liabilities. Current assets normally include cash, marketable securities, accounts receivable and inventories.Current liabilities consist of accounts payable, short term notes payable, short-term loans, current maturities of long term debt, accrued income taxes and other accrued expenses (wages). 2007| 2008| 2009| .79| 1. 50| 1. 41| Comments: 2007: The current ratio of . 79:1 means that for every taka of current liabilities Libra Infusions Ltd. has . 79 taka of current assets, which is unacceptable comparing to the standard 2:1. 2008: The current ratio of 1. 50:1 means that for every taka of current liabilities Libra Infusions Ltd. has 1. 50 taka of current assets, which is unacceptable comparing to the standard 2:1. 009: The current ratio of 1. 41:1 means that for every taka of current liabilities Libra Infusions Ltd. has 1. 41 taka of current assets, which is unacceptable comparing to the standard 2:1. Quick Ratio/ Acid Test Ratio Measures assets that are quickly converted into cash and they are compared with current liabilities. This ratio realizes that some of current assets are not easily convertible to cash e. g. inventories. The quick ratio, also referred to as acid test ratio, examines the ability of the business to cover its short-term obligations from its â€Å"quick† assets only (i. . it ignores stock). The quick ratio is calculated as follows Ouicke Ratio=(Cash+Marketable securites+Recivables)/ Current Libilities 2007| 2008| 2009| .20| . 18| . 18| Comment: 2007: The quick ratio in 2007 of Libra Infusions was . 20:1 which is unacceptable for the company o comparing the standard of 1:1 2008: The quick ratio in 2007 of Libra Infusions was . 18:1 which is unacceptable for the company o co mparing the standard of 1:1 2009: The quick ratio in 2007 of Libra Infusions was . 18:1 which is unacceptable for the company o comparing the standard of 1:1 Cash ratio:The most conservative liquidity ratio is the cash ratio, which related the firm’s cash and short-term marketable securities to its current liabilities as follows: Ouicke Ratio=(Cash+Marketable securites)/ Current Libilities 2007| 2008| 2009| .035| . 049| . 037| Receivable Turnover: This ratio shows the number of times accounts receivable are paid and reestablished during the accounting period. The higher the turnover, the faster the business is collecting its receivables and the more cash the client generally has on hand. The formula is: Net Annual SalesAccounts Receivable 2007| 2008| 2009| 16. 86| 21. 86| 15. 2| Average Receivable Collection Period The average collection period measures the quality of debtors since it indicates the speed of their collection. The shorter the average collection period, the bett er the quality of debtors, as a short collection period implies the prompt payment by debtors. The average collection period should be compared against the firm’s credit terms and policy to judge its credit and collection efficiency. An excessively long collection period implies a very liberal and inefficient credit and collection performance. The delay in collection of cash impairs the firm’s liquidity.On the other hand, too low a collection period is not necessarily favorable, rather it may indicate a very restrictive credit and collection policy which may curtail sales and hence adversely affect profit. The calculation is follow: Average Receivable Collection Period = (365/ average account receivable turnover) 2007| 2008| 2009| 21. 65| 17. 10| 23. 51| Comment: 2007: Average collection period of Libra Infusions Ltd. in 2007 was 21. 65 days. That means the company had to wait 21. 65 days after making a sales before it receives cash. This is comparatively lower than th e industry average of 45. 5 days. That means the customers are paying their bill in time. 2008: Average collection period of Libra Infusions Ltd. in 2007 was 17. 10 days. That means the company had to wait 17. 10 days after making a sales before it receives cash. This is comparatively lower than the industry average of 45. 45 days. That means the customers are paying their bill in time. 2009: Average collection period of Libra Infusions Ltd. in 2007 was 23. 51 days. That means the company had to wait 23. 51 days after making a sales before it receives cash. This is comparatively lower than the industry average of 45. 5 days. That means the customers are paying their bill in time. Inventory Turnover This ratio measures the stock in relation to turnover in order to determine how often the stock turns over in the business. It indicates the efficiency of the firm in selling its product. It is calculated by dividing the cost of goods sold by the average inventory. The ratio shows a relat ively high stock turnover which would seem to suggest that the business deals in fast moving consumer goods. 2007| 2008| 2009| 5. 65| 5. 16| 2. 87| Comment: 2007: Inventory turnover ratio of Libra Infusions Ltd. in 2007 was 5. 5 which are comparatively higher than the industry average 1. 26. That mean the company have maintained liquidity of its inventory and I is productive. 2008: Inventory turnover ratio of Libra Infusions Ltd. in 2007 was 5. 16 which are comparatively higher than the industry average 1. 26. That mean the company have maintained liquidity of its inventory and I is productive. 2009: Inventory turnover ratio of Libra Infusions Ltd. in 2007 was 2. 87 which are comparatively higher than the industry average 1. 26. That mean the company have maintained liquidity of its inventory and I is productive.Cash Conversion Cycle The Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC) measures how long a firm will be deprived of cash if it increases its investment in resources in order to expand custom er sales. It is thus a measure of the liquidity risk entailed by growth. However, shortening the CCC creates its own risks: while a firm could even achieve a negative CCC by collecting from customers before paying suppliers, a policy of strict collections and lax payments is not always sustainable. Payable Turnover= COGS/Average Trade Payable 2007| 2008| 2009| 12. 91| 14. 99| 10. 03| Payable Payment periodA payment period to average inventory period above 1:1 (100%) indicates that the inventory is sold before it is paid for (inventory does not need to be financed). the average inventory period is also known as the inventory holding period. . Payable payment period = 365 day / payable turnover 2007| 2008| 2009| 28. 27| 24. 35| 36. 16| B. Evaluating operational Performance| The ratios that indicate how well the management is operating the business can be divided into tow subcategories: * Operation Efficiency Ratio * Operation Profitability Ratio These two ratios are discussed in the b elow:- * Operation Efficiency Ratio Total Assets TurnoverAsset turnover is the relationship between sales and assets:- * The firm should manage its assets efficiently to maximize sales. * The total asset turnover indicates the efficiency with which the firm uses all its assets to generate sales. * It is calculated by dividing the firm’s sales by its total assets. * Generally, the higher the firm’s total asset turnover, the more efficiently its assets have been utilized. Total asset turnover = Net Sales / Total assets 2007| 2008| 2009| 1. 17| 1. 39| 1. 01| Comments 2007: Total assets turnover ratio of Libra Infusions Ld. In 2007 was 1. 17, which is higher than the industry average of 1. 5. That means the company is generating sufficient level of business. 2008: Total assets turnover ratio of Libra Infusions Ld. In 2007 was 1. 39, which is higher than the industry average of 1. 15. That means the company is generating sufficient level of business. 2009: Total assets turn over ratio of Libra Infusions Ld. In 2007 was 1. 01, which is lower than the industry average of 1. 15. That means the company is not generating sufficient level of business. Fixed Asset Turnover The fixed assets turnover ratio measures the efficiency with which the firm has been using its fixed assets to generate sales.Generally, high fixed assets turnovers are preferred since they indicate a better efficiency in fixed assets utilization. It is calculated by dividing the firm’s sales by its net fixed assets as follows: Fixed asset turnover = Net Sales / Average Net fixed asset 2007| 2008| 2009| 3. 90| 4. 92| 4. 26| Comments: 2007: Fixed assets turnover ratio f Libra Infusions Ltd. in 2007 was 3. 90, which is higher than the industry average of 3. 06. That means the company is generating sufficient level of business. 2008: Fixed assets turnover ratio f Libra Infusions Ltd. in 2007 was 4. 2, which is higher than the industry average of 3. 06. That means the company is generati ng sufficient level of business. 2009: Fixed assets turnover ratio f Libra Infusions Ltd. in 2007 was 4. 26, which is higher than the industry average of 3. 06. That means the company is generating sufficient level of business. Equity Turnover Equity Turnover is a firm's annual sales divided by its average stockholders' equity. Equity turnover is used to calculate the rate of return on common equity, and is a measure of how well a firm uses its stockholders' equity to generate revenue.The higher the ratio is, the more efficiently a firm is using its capital. Also known as capital turnover. Equity Turnover = Annual Sales / Average Equity 2007| 2008| 2009| 4. 05| 5. 05| 4. 31| Comments: 2007: Equity turnover ratio of Libra Infusions Ltd. In 2007 was 4. 05. Which is lower than the industry average of 6. 88. that means the company not efficiently using its capital. 2008: Equity turnover ratio of Libra Infusions Ltd. In 2007 was 5. 05. Which is lower than the industry average of 6. 88. t hat means the company not efficiently using its capital. 009: Equity turnover ratio of Libra Infusions Ltd. In 2007 was 4. 31 which is lower than the industry average of 6. 88. that means the company not efficiently using its capital. * Operation Profitability Ratio Gross Profit Margin * Normally the gross profit has to rise proportionately with sales. * It can also be useful to compare the gross profit margin across similar businesses although there will often be good reasons for any disparity. Gross profit Margin=Gross profit/ Net Sales 2007| 2008| 2009| 35. 09%| 35. 36| 32. 98%| Comments: 2007: Gross profit margin of Libra Infusions Ltd in 2007 is 35. 9% which is lower than the industry average 55. 75%. That means the firm is not profitable. 2008: Gross profit margin of Libra Infusions Ltd in 2007 is 35. 36% which is lower than the industry average 55. 75%. That means the firm is not profitable. 2009: Gross profit margin of Libra Infusions Ltd in 2007 is 32. 98% which is lower th an the industry average 55. 75%. That means the firm is not profitable Operating profit Margin ratio Analysis The operating profit margin indicates how much profit a company makes after paying for variable costs of production such as wages, raw materials, etc.It shows the efficiency of a company controlling the costs and expenses associated with its business operations. Operating profit margin = Operating income ? Net sales 2007| 2008| 2009| 8. 13%| 6. 84%| 7. 60%| Comments: 2007: Operating profit margin of Libra Infusions Ltd in 2007 is 8. 13% which is lower than the industry average 11. 02%. That means the firm is not satisfactory at all. 2008: Operating profit margin of Libra Infusions Ltd in 2007 is 6. 84% which is lower than the industry average 11. 02%. That means the firm is not satisfactory at all. 009: Operating profit margin of Libra Infusions Ltd in 2007 is 7. 60% which is lower than the industry average 11. 02%. That means the firm is not satisfactory at all. Net Profit Margin This is a widely used measure of performance and is comparable across companies in similar industries. The fact that a business works on a very low margin need not cause alarm because there are some sectors in the industry that work on a basis of high turnover and low margins, for examples supermarkets and motorcar dealers. What is more important in any trend is the margin and whether it compares well with similar businesses.Net profit Margin= Net Income/Net Sales 2007| 2008| 2009| 1. 93%| 1. 55%| 1. 19%| Comments: 2007: Net profit margin of Libra Infusions Ltd in 2007 is 1. 93% which is lower than the industry average 8. 30%. That means the firm is not profitable. 2008: Net profit margin of Libra Infusions Ltd in 2007 is 1. 55% which is lower than the industry average 8. 30%. That means the firm is not profitable. 2009: Net profit margin of Libra Infusions Ltd in 2007 is 1. 19% which is lower than the industry average 8. 30%. That means the firm is not profitable. Return on paid up capitalThis ratio shows the profit attributable to the amount invested by the owners of the business. It also shows potential investors into the business what they might hope to receive as a return. The stockholders’ equity includes share capital, share premium, distributable and non-distributable reserves. The ratio is calculated as follows: Return on paid up capital =Net Income+Gross InterestAverage Total Capital 2007| 2008| 2009| 48. 10| 51. 25| 34. 93| Risk Analysis of Libra Infusion: * Risk analysis examines the uncertainty of income for the firm and for an investor * Total firm risks can be decomposed into two basic sources: Business risk: The uncertainty in a firm’s operating income, highly influenced by industry factors * Financial risk: The added uncertainty in a firm’s net income resulting from a firm’s financing decisions (primarily through employing leverage). * liquidity Risk : it considers another aspect of risk from an investor†™s Business Risk Variability of the firm’s operating income over time. It can be measured by calculating the standard deviation of operating income over time or the coefficient of variation. In addition to measuring business risk, we want to explain its determining factors.Two primary determinants of business risk: * Sales variability * The main determinant of earnings variability * Cost Variability and Operating leverage * Production has fixed and variable costs * Greater fixed production costs cause greater profit volatility with changes in sales * Fixed costs represent operating leverage Greater operating leverage is good when sales are high and increasing, but bad when sales fall. Business risk =( cofficient of variiation of operating earning) =( OE-OE)2/nOE/N ( OE-OE)2/n| 3636504| OE/N| 25498574| ( OE-OE)2/nOE/N| 14. 26%| Operating leverage= %? oe%? sn %? e%? s| 2. 08739| n| 3| %? oe%? sn| . 70| Financial Risk Interest payments are deducted before we get to net income, these are fixed obligations. Similar to fixed production costs, these lead to larger earnings during good times, and lower earnings during a business decline, fixed financing costs are called financial leverage. The use of debt financing increases financial risk and possibility of default while increasing profitability when sales are high. Two sets of financial ratios help measure financial risk * Balance sheet ratios * Earnings or cash flow available to pay fixed financial chargesAcceptable levels of financial risk depend on business risk. A firm with considerable business risk should likely avoid lots of debt financing. * Proportion of debt (balance sheet) ratios: Long-term debt can be related to Equity (L-t D/Equity) how much debt does the firm employ in relation to its use of equity? And Total Capital [L-t D/ (L-t D +Equity)] How much debt does the firm employ in relation to all long-term sources of funds? Debt to Equity Ratio =Total long term debttotal eqity 2007| 2008| 2009| .94| 1. 08| 1. 54| * Total debt Ratio : Total debt ratio refers to Assessment of overall debt load, including short-term.The formula of calculation is: Debt to Equity Ratio =current Liabilities+Total Long term debtTotal Debt-Total equity 2007| 2008| 2009| .720| . 725| . 975| Comments: 2007: We analyze debt ratio of company from its balance sheet and found that year 2007 company’s debt ratio is 72% this value indicates that the company has financed more than half of is assets with debt. The higher this ratio greater he firms degree of indebtedness and the more finance leverage it has. 2008: We analyze debt ratio of company from its balance sheet and found that year 2007 company’s debt ratio is 72. % this value indicates that the company has financed more than half of is assets with debt. The higher this ratio greater he firms degree of indebtedness and the more finance leverage it has 2009: We analyze debt ratio of company from its balance sheet and found that year 2007 company’s debt ratio is 97. 5% this value indicates that the company has financed more than half of is assets with debt. The higher this ratio greater he firms degree of indebtedness and the more finance leverage it has. * Earnings or Cash Flow Ratios It is Relate operating income (EBIT) to fixed payments required from debt obligations, higher ratio means lower risk.Interest Coverage or Times Interest Earned Ratio Measures the number of times Interest payments are â€Å"covered† by EBIT Interest Coverage = EBIT/Interest Expense. May also want to calculated coverage ratios that reflect other fixed charges Lease obligations (Fixed charge coverage). Interest Coverage =EBITDebt Interest Change 2007| 2008| 2009| 1. 53| 1. 47| 1. 28| * Cash flow ratios Fixed financing costs such as interest payments must be paid in cash, so these ratios use cash flow rather than EBIT to assess the ability to meet these obligations, Relate the flow of cash available from operations to: * Int erest expense Total fixed charges * The face value of outstanding debt Cash flow coverage of fixed financial cost=Net cash flow provided by operating activities+Interest Expense+Estimated Lease Inertest ExpenseInertest Expense+Estimated lease Interest expense 2007| 2008| 2009| 1. 51| 2. 49| 2. 29| Comments: Cash flow is used o determine whether a borrower is going to be able to service interest payment on a loan. Generally lender prefers a cash flow ratio more than 1. Here we can see that the cash flow ratio of Libra Infusion Ltd. in 2007 was 1. 51 and it increases 2. 9 in 2008. and decrease in 2009 at 2. 29. Liquidity Risk Market Liquidity is the ability to buy or sell an asset quickly with little price change from a prior transaction assuming no new information. External market liquidity is a source of risk to investors. The most important factor of external market liquidity is the dollar value of shares traded. This can be estimated from the total market value of outstanding secu rities. It will be affected by the number of security owners. Numerous buyers and sellers provide liquidity. Analysis of Growth Potential:Want to determine sustainable growth potential Important to both creditors and owners, * Creditors interested in ability to pay future obligations, * For owners, the value of a firm depends on its future growth in earnings, cash flow, and dividends. Determinants of Growth * Sustainable Growth Model: Suggests that the sustainable growth rate is a function of two variables: * What is the rate of return on equity (which gives the maximum possible growth)? * How much of that growth is put to work through earnings retention (rather than being paid out in dividends)? g = Percentage of Retain earning * Return on Equity|Formula: year| Percentage of Retain earning=1-Dividend DeclearedOperating earnig After Tax| ROE=Net Income After TaxShareholdres Equity| g = Percentage of Retain earning Return on Equity| 2007| . 64| 7. 55| 4. 83| 2008| . 66| 7. 57| 4. 50| 2009| . 57| 5. 10| 2. 91| DuPont Analysis DuPont Analysis is A method of performance measurement that was started by the DuPont Corporation in the 1920s. With this method, assets are measured at their gross book value rather than at net book value in order to produce a higher return on equity (ROE). It is also known as â€Å"DuPont identity†.DuPont analysis  tells us that ROE is affected by  three things: – Operating efficiency, which is  measured by profit margin – Asset use efficiency, which is measured by total asset turnover – Financial leverage, which is  measured by the equity multiplier year| EBIT/Sales (%)| Sales/ Total Assets (Times)| EBIT/ Total Assets (%)| Interest Expense/ Total Assets (%)| NBT/ Total Equity (%)| Total Assets/ Common Stock Equity (times)| NBT/ Common Stock Equity(%)| Tax Retention Rate| Return On Equity (ROE)| 2007| 8. 13| 1. 09| 8. 86| 5. 85| 3. 01| 3. 58| 1078| 0. 70| 7. 55| 2008| 6. 84| 1. 35| 9. 23| 6. 34| 2. 89| 3. 64| 10. 52| 0. 72| 7. 7| 2009| 7. 60| 0. 07| . 53| (. 89)| 1. 42| 4. 92| 6. 99| 0. 73| 5. 10| It is believed that measuring assets at gross book value removes the incentive to avoid investing in new assets. New asset avoidance can occur as financial accounting depreciation methods artificially produce lower ROEs in the initial years that an asset is placed into service. If ROE is unsatisfactory, the DuPont  analysis helps locate  the part of the business that  is underperforming. Comparative analysis Ratio| Formula| Years| IndustryAverage| Evaluation| | | 2007| 2008| 2009| | Cross Section| Time Series| Overall| Current Ratio| Current assets/ current liabilities| . 9| 1. 50| 1. 41| 1. 11| Poor| Ok| Ok| Quick Ratio| (Cash+Marketable securites+Recivables)/ Current Libilities| . 20| . 18| . 18| 0. 56| Poor| Poor| Poor| Cash ratio| Cash+Marketable securites)/ Current Libilities| . 035| . 049| . 037| 0. 12| Poor| Poor| Poor| Receivable turnover| Net Annual Sales/ Accounts Receiva ble| 16. 89| 21. 35| 15. 52| 13. 42| Good| Good| Good| Average Receivable Collection Period| 365/Average A/R collection period| 21. 65| 17. 10| 23. 51| 45. 45| Poor| Poor| Poor| Inventory Turnover| cost of goods sold /average inventory| 5. 65| 5. 16| 2. 87| 1. 6| Good| Good| Good| Cash Conversion Cycle | COGS/Average Tra

Research on Ginger in Meghalaya

Report on the field study of Ginger and Turmeric in Meghalaya PREFACE Meghalaya is a state which is rich in natural resources, be it from flora to fauna to the mineral resources, the state has it in abundance. Agriculture, including crop and animal husbandry, fisheries, forestry and agro processing constitutes the very basis of socio economic lives of India. One of the major activities in the state is cultivation of horticulture crops which includes that of Ginger and Turmeric.Ginger is being predominantly grown in Ri Bhoi District while almost the whole belt of Jaintia Hills, the best quality of Turmeric found in the whole country with the reported cucurmin content up to 7. 6%. However amidst plenty of what we have, there are too many missing links in between for the state to realize the full potential in terms of commercial activities in revenues and most importantly to address the issues of the farmers to increase the income for better livelihoods in the villages.Therefore the mar ket access team from MBDA along with the staffs of Appropriate Technology India (ATI) made a visit to some of the important cultivation belt of ginger and turmeric of Ri Bhoi District and West Jaintia Hills District for assessment of production which includes cultivation practices as well as understanding the organic practices for the potential of organic certification for premium pricing of the products, post harvesting and processing aspects as well as marketing aspects for improving livelihood security in the state.The visit was spanned in six days and within these six days; the program was conducted in the following order: 12th February 2013 On this day the team comprising of three interns from MBDA and five ATI workforce under the supervision of Mr Iai Majaw, the Horticulture Officer with the Government of Meghalaya, left Shillong at around 10 AM and visited the Ginger belt of Ri Bhoi District. Firstly we visited the farm house which is located next to the Highway to Guwahati a t Umsning. There we met and interacted with around twenty five ginger cultivators in and around Umsning.These villages are located within the distance of 1 to 3 kilometers from Umsning. The farmers start sowing ginger from the last week of April throughout the month of May. We came to know that they inherited the ginger cultivation practices from their fore fathers seeing that the climate is conducive for the crop to thrive and that there is a market for all of their produce from year to year. The main area of concern for them is that, the plant is frequently getting infected with root and stem rotting, thus spoiling their effort in time and money.Stem rot is more frequent than root rot and occurs in between the months of June to September. They don’t have any solution to tackle these kind of infections, the only activity that they do is to uproot the whole crop and throw it as far as possible from the cultivation land and sometimes even burning that particular crop but it se ldom help the cause as the infection will start to spread to the whole row and even at times the whole field. They practiced Jhum cultivation with the belief that it softens the soil and helps in the ploughing activity.They also have a fair idea of the reason behind crop rotation and practiced it once in 3 years. They do give manure to the crop once in a while in the form of poultry, pig and cow droppings. They said that they have received training from the horticulture officers but most of the time they apply those methods being taught to them in the beginning phase but revert back to their traditional method of cultivation. They stored the seed in a proper way and have no problem with the occurrence of seed spoilage before the cultivation period.The nearest market for them is the Umsning market which is being held once a week. At the weekly market, traders which are middle men come to purchase their crop at rates of 1,100 – 1,200 rupees per 40 kgs which is a standard unit o f weight being applied in terms of ginger and turmeric in the whole area. However, when they feel that a better price is available at Iewduh market in Shillong or when there is a need to go Shillong for personal work, they carry along the ginger which fetched them a price of around 1,500 – 1,600 per 40 kgs.From there the team moved to Sohpdok village which is approximately 5 kms from Umsning. Here we interacted with the headman of the village and around 15 farmers in the processing unit which is next to the SSA school premises and found out that the ginger cultivation was enlarge by the intervention and help of RRTC, Umran. There are 3 driers, 2 slicers and 1 pulveriser at the processing unit which is not yet functional as they have just received the machines from North Eastern Hill University.The problems and practices regarding the cultivation practices are the same as the ones which have been described above. However, the people said that they rate of ginger that they sell at the village when traders come to collect from the village is around 900 – 1,000 rupees per 40 kgs. The last visit for the day was at Regional Resource Training Centre (RRTC) Umran, which is run by the Catholic Church and presently headed by Father James.The center spans around 400 acres campus and facilitates in imparting training to various livelihood and entrepreneurship program and one of the main activities is the food processing centre which includes turmeric and ginger processing. The ginger after undergoing a series of treatment which includes peeling, trimming, weighing, washing, and processing by boiling with citric acid is then mildly dried and mixed with fine sugar in specific proportions and then properly dried and added with sugar to add as topping. It is then packed and labeled as Ginger Candy.The ginger candy is retailed at an MRP of 35 rupees for 100gms. When asked about the costing, the staff who is taking care of the processing unit said that the whole c ost of labour and various activities from start to finish is around 120 – 150 rupees/kg, while the retail cost is 350 rupees/kg thus making a profit of 200 rupees/kg. The ginger is also converted into powder form firstly dipping the dried ginger in Sodium Carbonate solution to increase the shelf life of the product and then grind to powder and packed.The same goes for turmeric which is simply grind into powder form and retailed at the stores. Their main area of concern is marketing, which they say they have a limited penetration to the market through their retail outlet next to the national highway and some retail shops in and around Shillong. 13th February 2013 The team left for Nongpoh and along with the existing ERPs of MBDA went to Umkon village which is 23 kms away from it. Here we interacted with just around 5 farmers as there is a funeral in the village. Almost each and every ousehold practice ginger cultivation in large scale and turmeric cultivation for their own con sumption on a lower scale. Almost all of the households exceed 500 kgs of ginger production in a year with some of them going up to 3 or 4 tonnes. The main market is at Umden in which the price of the ginger is around 1,000 rupees/40 kgs while the seed is being sold at 35 rupees/kg. The seed is being sold among the farmers from nearby areas and new farmers while the raw ginger is being bought by middlemen and commission agents who then supply either to Guwahati or Kolkata directly.The main areas of concern for the farmers is again the same issue of their inability and lack of knowledge how to tackle diseases such as stem and root rot. However, they shared their success story of how ginger cultivation has improved the general living conditions in and around the area. There is no value added activity for the ginger being produced in the area. Then at around 4 pm we left for Byrnihat to visit the North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Ltd (NERAMAC).There is a process ing plant to extract ginger oil from fresh or raw ginger. The plant capacity is around 3 to 5 tonnes per day, yielding 1. 5 liters of oil which retails at 7000 – 9000 rupees/liter. The major problem that they are facing is the availability of raw ginger as most of the ginger which is produced within the region is being sold to middlemen at a higher rate. 14th February 2013 The team left Shillong at around 8 AM for the turmeric belt of West Jaintia Hills District.We stationed at CTC hotel and then under the supervision of Mr Lyngdoh, a horticulture officer with the Govt. of Meghalaya, proceeded to Wahiajer village where we interacted with 2 farmers, one farmer just started the ginger cultivation activity since he saw that there is a market and the soil is very good for ginger to grow, so keeping in mind of the above factors he started cultivating ginger and after harvesting the produce, decided not to sell any of it but to keep it as seed for the next year.When we arrived ther e we interacted with him and asked him to show us the place where the seed is being store and when he dug up some of the seed, even though the ginger quality and size is good, it was found that the whole ginger is moist and wet and infected with fungus, budding has also begun to take place. He said that he has received no training on how to cultivate, harvest and store the ginger so he is not aware of what procedures and process to follow.Then we told him to take out the whole lot of ginger stored there and to dry it in the shade and treat it with organic chemicals which might be available at the horticulture office in the block. Being a starter in the activity he is unaware of the whole system, except the price that he might get if he is to sell the product at the local market. He also practices slash and burn cultivation like the rest of the farmers are doing in the whole area.We then met with another farmer who has been practicing the ginger cultivation activity for quite some ye ars but he confessed that he is quite disheartened with the activity as there is no help from the government side in monetary terms nor in training facilities, so he is contemplating of shifting his cultivation activity from ginger to that of tomato as there is a better market currently prevailing in the whole area. The horticulture department is also neglecting the ginger farmers in the area while promoting that of the tomato.We then proceed to Laskein grinding and processing centre which has a Federation comprising of 9 clusters, 30 villages and around 100 SHGs. The Unit was set up in 2007 with the objective of improving livelihood and income within the area. The processing unit was set up with the help of MRDS which also helps in the training of man power as well as marketing activities. The unit is well equipped with Dryers, Slicers, Pulverisers and for the first time this year an Oil extractor machine is being set up which will be functional from this year onwards, the staffs a lso are yet to get training how to utilize the machine.The steps in the processing of ginger in the unit here are as follows: WASHING BOILING SLICING DRYING GRINDING PACKAGING The production of turmeric powder last year was around 3 tonnes and this year they aimed at a higher quantity. Each and every cluster of villages which falls under the association have a commitment to bring the produce of raw turmeric to the processing centre and the Federation buys it at a rate of 30 rupees/kg, when the turmeric is being sold in powder form at 250 rupees/kg as of last year, 230 rupees is being given back to the farmer and 20 rupees is being kept by the federation.The packaging is done in quantities of 1/4th kg, ? kg and 1 kg for the local market while it is packed in gunny bags of 40 kgs each for the lot which is supposed to be transported to Guwahati. 15th February 2013 The team accompanied by Mr Remi from MRDS went to Umsalait village which falls under Iakitlang cluster, comprising of two v illages, Umsalait and Umsaroo which has 245 and 70 households respectively. There are 6 SHGs in the cluster, out of which 5 groups consist of women and 1 group that of men.The team interacted with around 30 farmers and learnt that they have been practicing the cultivation of turmeric from generation which they inherited from their forefathers but increased the activity to a larger scale as soon as they see that there is a market and it contributes to the generation of income activity. The problems faced by the farmers are almost the same throughout the state in which the major issues are that of diseases and not knowing how to tackle them.They are quite grateful to MRDS which helped them in imparting knowledge and funds even if it’s in small mount, the intervention has helped them to increase their income for a better living conditions. 16th February 2013 The team visited Mr W. Nongspung processing centre situated at Laitkor which is roughly 12 kms from Shillong. Mr Nongspung took advantage of the PMEGP scheme from DIC, Shillong and set up his processing centre there.However, fewer spices products are being processed at his unit since he only supply dry turmeric to a company in Guwahati known as Amalgamated Plantations, located at Christian Basti on a commission basis. His commission stands at 20 rupees/kg. He supplies around 30 tonnes of dry turmeric in a year and the company financed the money entirely in advance. Owing to this, he processed dry turmeric at a very less amount. He then started processing fruit juices such as star fruit, cherry as well as pickling of ginger, radish, chillies and bamboo shoots.His products have Organic tags along with them, while there is no proof of paper work that his products are organic certified. He sources the packaging materials from Industrial estate in Guwahati and get the label locally printed in Shillong. According to him, the major difficulty he is facing is that he doesn’t know how to market his produ cts in a big way and he has no idea about branding at all OBSERVATIONS Below are the few parameters of observation prevailing in the production areas where the team has visited a) AREA AND PRODUCTIONMost of the households in the villages which fall under the area that we have visited do not have a fair idea of the size of their respective plot under ginger and turmeric cultivation. From the conversation that we had we could make out that the minimum area of cultivation per family is around 1 acre up to 4 to 5 hectares. As far as production is concerned, the quantity that each household produces ranges from 750 kg to 5 tonnes. b) LAND USE The land that is used is normally rotational and at times shifting and bun cultivation is a normal practice which is traditional in nature.The area to be cultivated is first covered with the soil on top of the leaves and then slowly burned and often left overnight so as to soften the soil in the ploughing process thus easing the tilling process. Thi s practice also helps in sterilization of the soil. The agricultural land is mostly owned and controlled by individual farmers and some of them have been leased by people who are not engaged in agricultural activities who are mostly traders or government servants or who have migrated from the village on a nominal fee or in exchange for the products the cultivate. ) LAND PREPARATION Ginger and turmeric is normally cultivated in slopes and terrains under the shade of some trees. The land is normally not ploughed but just holed and dug up to 6 to 7 inches for the seed to be buried inside. Very few farmers added manure of animal dung to the crop while the rest just leave it as it is. There are no proper irrigation facilities to retain the water content during the rainy season, thus leaving the crop to absorb as much water as ossible during the rainy season and dried throughout the rest of the months. d) SELECTION OF SEED After the harvest is done, rhizomes which are large, healthy, free from any injury spots and more buds are selected to be stored as seed. The seeds in the case of turmeric are simply stored under the shade above the ground and normally very few infections would occur on turmeric seed, whereas in the case of ginger it is more complicated as the seed is normally infected with fungus and budding usually takes place before the sowing season.The method of storage is traditional in practice as the seed is stored under a pit dug below the ground and simply covered with a thin layer of soil thus attracting moisture and fungus to infect the seed. There are many cases in which farmers have complained that the seed gets spoiled before the sowing season starts. e) PLANTING Planting is usually done in the month of April to May just at the start of the rain. The rhizomes are planted in about 6 inches apart from each other and 6 to 8 inches deep and then covered with soil. During plantation the rhizomes are broken and make sure that they at least have 4 to 6 bud ding sprouts.The turmeric and ginger is normally cultivated along some other vegetables in the field such as beans, maize and pumpkin. f) HARVEST The harvest is done in when the crop attains maturity, the sign given by the death of the stem and leaves. It usually starts from early November and goes till the end of January. The seed is normally left till end of February to attain maximum maturity. Farmers also sometimes look at the market demand and when they know that there is a demand for the product in the market, they normally harvest the crop as and when required. ) MARKETING The marketing of ginger and turmeric usually happens in weekly local markets which are near to the villages and sometimes at Iewduh, in Shillong. Commission agents, middle men and traders purchase the products at a wholesale rate from local markets and then sort out and grade the lot according to the quality and packed them in gunny bags to be transported outside the state. In case of turmeric, trade happen s mostly as a dry material in the form of slices or in powder, whereas in case of ginger trade happens at the raw or fresh ginger state.Thus we can see that the middlemen control the market of ginger and turmeric in the whole state. h) COSTING 1) Cultivation-(umsalait) For 1 hectare land, they need around 10 people for 60 days and labour cost is Rs 200/day. (a) Labour 10 x 60 = 600 (b) Labour Cost 600 x 200 = Rs 1,20,000 (c) Seed Cost Rs 30 x 2000kg = Rs Rs 60,000 ————————————————————————– DIRECT TOTAL COST = Rs 1, 80,000The production from 2000kg seed is around 5 tonnes. And the cost of raw turmeric is Rs 30/kg PRODUCTION OUTPUT= 30 x 5000 = Rs 1, 50,000 Therefore we can see that the expenditure exceeds sale, thus instead of benefitting from the agricultural activity, the farmers are suffering losses, which th ey cannot understand as there is no costing method being followed. 2) Processing-(laskein) Cost of raw turmeric is Rs 30/kg. if 100kg is taken for processing, then cost of procuring raw turmeric will be Rs 3000. kg of raw turmeric when dried will produce only 1kg. Therefore 100kg will produce 17kg of dried turmeric. a) Cost of dried turmeric = 3000 / 17kg = Rs 176/kg b) Other Indirect Cost = Rs 100/kg (sorting, washing, drying, slicing, grinding, packaging, transportation, electricity bills and other miscellaneous fee) ___________________________________________________________ TOTAL COST PER KG = Rs 276SELLING PRICE OF 1kg POWDERED TURMERIC = Rs 250 Thus over here we can also see expenditure exceeds sale which results in a loss for the farmers. From the above analysis, it can be concluded that there is a need to reduce the DIRECT COST and to increase the Seed to Production Output in order to generate higher revenue. Interventions like introduction of power tillers, is not feasible because the cultivated areas are located in far away terrain and slopes, which are not motorable. ORGANIC PRACTICES AND SCOPE OF CERTIFICATIONAs the method of cultivation in the whole state is mostly organic in nature and with the awareness on importance of organic certification that organic products fetches a premium price in the market, there is a need to promote and to create awareness among the farmers to opt for organic certification so as to increase their income from selling their products. While discussing with various farmers, it is found out that organic farming, although practiced, is mostly done using traditional methods which consist mainly of slash and burn and composting.However, the â€Å"slash and burn† method is not considered as organic method because it kills the microbes which fertilize the field. Also, they have no access or awareness about organic pesticides like Trichogramma which is available from the State Biological Control Laboratory in Shillong. And Trichoderma which is use mainly for Ginger and Turmeric is still in the testing stage and will be available shortly. Some of the reasons that the farmers have not under gone organic certifications are mentioned below- 1) No awareness about organic certifications and its potential. ) The farmers have not received any training methods regarding organic farming. 3) They are also not aware of the market and its demand for organic products. 4) The certification process is quite long which takes up to three years. On top of that, the certificate has to be renewed every year. 5) It is also quite expensive. PROBLEMS FACED BY THE FARMERS/ PRODUCERS AT PRODUCTION LEVEL 1) Low yield of the horticultural crops in which the ratio is 1:2. ) Prevalence of bacterial and fungal infections which affect both stem rot as well as root rot 3) Unsuitable farming practices with poor drainage system to retain water 4) Very seldom crop rotation to replenish soil nutrients 5) Jhum cultivation in which the soil microorganisms died in the process 6) No organic manure is being given to the crops 7) There is no treatment of the seed before sowing 8) There is no capacity building measures being taken to tackle infections and other diseases.POST HARVESTING AND PROCESSING ASPECTS 1) 99% of the farmers sell ginger as a raw produce while turmeric is often converted to dry slices or at times into powder form but at a lower scale. 2) The market is being dominated by the middle men 3) There is no system of grading the ginger based on size and quality 4) The seed to be stored is not harvested at the right time so as it is mature enough to resist spoilage and not properly dried to resist fungal infection 5) Lack of knowledge and training how to store the seed ) Lack of knowledge regarding value addition activities which will fetch a premium price 7) Lack of appropriate technology and infrastructure in many aspects of modern storage. SUGGESTIONS FOR TRAINING/MBDA INTERVENTION CULTIVATION LEVEL 1) Treatment of the seed with organic chemicals such as Trichoderma, one day before sowing to control any seed infection later on. 2) Use of organic compost manure to increase the yield and productivity 3) Proper inter-culture activities from month to month ) Digging of horizontal drain-like pit of about ? ft depth perpendicular to the cultivation rows in terrain areas for water and manure retention. 5) Training in capacity building measures to tackle infections and diseases of both root and stem. 6) Practicing rotation cultivation of turmeric and ginger with leguminous plants on a yearly basis to replenish the nitrogen content of the soil 7) The seed which has to be stored needs to be harvested when it has matured. POST HARVESTING ) Grading and segregating the harvest if needed 2) Proper drying of the seed for a week under the shade to avoid moisture content in order to prevent fungus infection during storage. 3) Modern method of storage to maintain the health and freshness of the see d, by digging a hole up to 1 ? ft deep inside the ground and covered with lumps of soil up to 1 ft height and then plaster with a thin layer of wet mud to prevent entry of moisture. 4) Costing method should be taught. 5) Record keeping and internal assessment. ) Awareness of the importance of value addition process post harvesting. 7) Exposure visit. 8) The officers at various levels in District headquarters should play a pro-active role in imparting training and looking at various aspects where there could be an intervention. CONCLUSION In both cases of Turmeric and Ginger, there is hardly any value addition that is being done in the State. Middlemen control the market and influenced the fluctuation in price of both these items.In the case of Ginger alone, except for a meager percentage which gets converted into Ginger Candy at Regional Resource Training Centre (RRTC), Umran and North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Ltd (NERAMAC), Byrnihat, there is no other val ue addition activity being practiced in the State. The whole amount of raw ginger is being packed into sacks of gunny bags of 40kgs and transported directly to Guwahati and Kolkata, thus we are deprived of the real value of what ginger could have fetched if proper knowledge, skills and machineries are being set up for value addition activities within the state.Whereas in terms of Turmeric, people are more aware of the better price which powder turmeric fetches in the market. Beside few turmeric processing units at the village level which were set up by Self Help Groups (SHG) at the cluster or village level, such as one at Laskein Block in West Jaintia Hills and smaller individual Grinding units at Shangpung and Laitkor, there are many small entrepreneurs who take their produce of dry turmeric to grind at any of these grinding units and sell at local markets as well as in the main market, Iewduh in Shillong.Of what we observed, most of the farmers involved in cultivation of turmeric and ginger, are women which comprises of around 70 percent workforce, the men are usually involve during ploughing activity which is more related to strength but as soon as the sowing season started they shifted to other kinds of works or migrated to other villages in search of work. Thus there is a lot desired and to be done in order to improve livelihood security through integration in growth value chains and market linkages in Meghalaya. ______________________________________________________________________