Integrated Marketing Communications Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Integrated Marketing Communications - Essay Example The increased demand supply dynamics has also helped in increasing the prices of the products which has boosted the bottom line profitability of the participants of the timber industry. This also represents a challenge as higher price of products may lead to instances where the customers would switch over to the alternate products. The benchmark index of the timber industry namely the Softwood Wood Fiber Price Index (SFPI) and the Hardwood Fiber Price Index (HFPI) showing increase of 16.5 percent and 17.7 percent respectively in the year 2010. The increase in prices was uniform across all the regions of the world with the exception being Southern United States. USA, Sweden, Brazil and Spain were among the regions where the margins or price rise were the highest. The financial crisis had its negative impact on the products and profitability of the timber industry. ... Certain formidable challenges for the timber industry include repositioning of the image of the industry. In addition to these certain other issues include handling issues of climate change and carbon footprint. The nature of the industry makes it prone to criticisms with regards to environmental issues. Deforestation and greenhouse effect which are directly linked to deforestation lead to severe challenges for the participants of the industry with regards to compliance with the environmental laws and other legislations (Urtubey, n.d.). A report by the United Nations states that approximately 13 million hectares of the land in forests were being deforested and used for other purposes (Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, 2011). The challenge for market players emerges as to devise strategies that would help in convincing the suppliers as to maintain compliance with legislations and to generate profitability and sustainability. Another formidable and important iss ue is the threat from substitute products. The advent of electronic communication and internet has eroded the attractiveness and the usefulness of the participants of the timber industry. Moreover with widespread campaigning against use of paper has again emerged as a formidable challenge to the market players. It remains a challenge for the market players to ensure product modifications and formulation of strategies that would help in projecting the image of the product as an eco friendly and un-substituted product. Diversifying into areas like packaging can help the organizations gain new market opportunities and generation of long term

MGM600-0803B-02 Applied Managerial Decision-Making - Phase 4 Essay - 1

MGM600-0803B-02 Applied Managerial Decision-Making - Phase 4 Discussion Board - Essay Example The equation for a regression analysis analyzes the relationship between one dependent variable and one or more independent variables (Curvefit 2008). In the regression equation, the dependent variable is modeled such that it is a function of the independent variables, constant, and an error term which is an estimation of the variations in the independent variable. A simple regression equation is one which tries to explain the dependent variable with a single explanatory for variable. For example, we know that the level of income of an individual can be explained by education, position, race, gender, and even age. When we would like to isolate the effects or relationship of income with race alone, this is called simple regression. However, when we take two or independent variables such as education, age, and race, then it is called multiple regressions (Curvefit 2008). Regression analysis has been a very useful tool in economists who are closely watching the relationship between variables. Regression analysis is used to forecast the GDP growth of the country by looking at the historic GDP data (Regression Analysis 2008). It is also used to determine the relationship between foreign exchange rate and the money supply in a given country. In business organizations, regression analysis is frequently utilized in order to make important decisions like pricing strategies (Regression Analysis 2008). WidgeCorp’s entry to the cold beverage sector should further be assessed by looking at the attractiveness of the market and the potential that it has in serving the customers. The company’s decision of coming up with a forecast of its monthly sales will be beneficial in decision of production levels. The monthly sales can be forecasted by using monthly sales as the dependent variable. In the regression equation, independent variables should include the amount investment in advertising, season, and time. The amount investment in advertising is important