11 Synonyms for Tres Bon to Say Great in French

11 Synonyms for Tres Bon to Say Great in French French has many ways to say great. Many  students use trà ¨s bon  (very good), but bon in French is really just a basic adjective. It means good and can seem a bit weak, just like very good or great would be in English. Using a synonym, instead, will make your French sound much more eloquent. As we examine the various synonyms for  trà ¨s bon, we will look at two sentences. The first will use the appropriate French  great  and the second  will include the synonym. This will allow you to really see the impact it has on your meaning. Agrà ©able (Nice, Pleasant) This is a very good synonym for bon  since agrà ©able essentially has  the same strength as bon. Nous avons passà © une trà ¨s bonne soirà ©e.  We had a very good evening.Nous avons passà © une soirà ©e trà ¨s agrà ©able.  We had a very pleasant evening. Chouette (Cool, Pleasant, Friendly, Nice) Chouette is common slang. It has the same masculine and feminine. Cette fille est trà ¨s sympathique.  This girl is very nice, is great.Cette fille est trà ¨s chouette. This girl is awesome. No  Trà ¨s Here Now we will look at adjectives that are already at the highest degree of their meaning. This means that  you cannot use trà ¨s  (very) with them. You could, however, use vraiment (really) which is extremely popular, though it may be a bit overused at times. Excellent (Excellent) When something is really, really good, the word good simply cannot express that. This is why we have a word like  excellent  in both French and English. Ce repas à ©tait vraiment trà ¨s bon.  This meal was really very good.Ce repas à ©tait vraiment excellent.  This meal was really excellent. Formidable  (Wonderful) Watch out for the word  formidable as it is a false cognate. Formidable  is positive in French, it does not mean terrible as formidable does in English. Nous avons vu un trà ¨s bon spectacle.  We saw a very good show.Nous avons vu un spectacle formidable.  We saw a wonderful show. Extraordinaire / Exceptionnel (Exceptional) In English, extraordinary doesnt necessarily mean great as it can also mean out of the ordinary. In French, we would say hors de lordinaire or, more frequently, trà ¨s diffà ©rent for that meaning. Nous avons bu un trà ¨s bon vin.  We drank a very good wine.Nous avons bu un vin extraordinaire/ exceptionnel.  We drank an exceptional wine Fantastique (Amazing) When youre traveling, you will come across many eye-catching places. Yet, are they really just pretty or are they amazing?  Fantastique  is a perfect word for such a scenario. Nous avons visità © des endroits trà ¨s beaux.  We visited very pretty places.Nous avons visità © des endroits fantastiques.  We visited amazing places. Merveilleux (Marvelous) Merveilleux  is much like  fantastique  in that it takes a mediocre description and adds pizzazz.   Ce massage à ©tait vraiment trà ¨s bon.  This massage was really great.Ce massage à ©tait vraiment merveilleux. This massage was really marvelous. Remarquable (Remarkable) You should have no problem with the French  remarquable  because it bears a remarkable resemblance to the English. Son travail est trà ¨s bon.  His work is great.Son travail est remarquable.  His work is remarkable. Gà ©nial (Brilliant) There are great ideas and there are brilliant ideas. When you want to distinguish the two, turn to  gà ©niale. Il a eu une trà ¨s bonne idà ©e.  He had a great idea.Il a eu une idà ©e gà ©niale.  He had a brilliant idea. Super (Terrific) Super may be a bit old-fashioned in English, but it is used often in French. Its also invariable, meaning it doesnt change with number and gender. Mes vacances à ©taient trà ¨s bonnes. My vacation was great.Mes vacances à ©taient super.  My vacation was terrific. Note that les  vacances is plural feminine in French. Top Cool (Really Cool) The phrase top cool  is popular among a really young French crowd. Dont use it if you are over, say, 20! Je  kiffe  trop  cette  meuf. Elle  est top cool.  I dig this girl. Shes really awesome.

Short Essay on Nelson Mandela

Short Essay on Nelson Mandela Short Essay on Nelson Mandela Nelson Mandela was a popular figure not only in South Africa but in the whole world, and this was mostly because of what he stood for and symbolized in life. Nelson Mandela, or Rolihlahla Mandela, was born on the 18th day of July in the year 1918 and adopted the name Nelson after he was named so by a teacher in the school where he was learning as a young boy. Nelson was born in the Transkei area of South Africa. Transkei is an area characterized by numerous mountains, grasslands and valleys. The area is located on the southwestern part of South Africa. Mandela’s father, Henry Mandela, was a tribal chief of the Tembu tribe and together with his wife and Mandela’s mother, Fanny, were related to the royal family of Tembu. Mandela, however, grew up without his father because his father passed on when he was only 9 years old. After which, an acting chief of the Tembu tribe raised him. Mandela received his basic education in a mission school where he excelled in his education and later attended college. While in school and college, Mandela enjoyed a variety of sporting activities, including running and boxing. While at the University of Fort Hare, Mandela trained as a lawyer and among his friends in law school was Oliver Tambo. Mandela, however, moved away from the law school in 1939 after students held a series of demonstrations in protest of the way the law school was run. Even though the custom required that his parents select for him a wife, Mandela did not want to abide by this custom of arranged marriages and he therefore left his home area and went to Johannesburg. It is in the city of Johannesburg that Mandela completed his studies and eventually became a qualified lawyer. It was after his education that Mandela decided to become more involved in finding solutions to the many problems that plagued the South Africans, in particular, the black-skinned South Africans. South Africa comprises mostly black individuals but there are also some European and Asian people in the South African community. The Dutch, also known as the Boers, came into South Africa in 1652 and it is they that colonized the nation up to 1815, when Britain took over the nation and made it part of the then expanding British empire. Even though the foreigners brought a lot of improvement to South Africa, the natives and the foreigners did not always live in peace and there were many instances when war broke out between the two communities. Often, the blacks did not have any say in the way South Africa was ruled and were heavily segregated under what came to be known as apartheid. It was this unfair treatment of blacks that drove Mandela to join and become an active participant of the ANC party in 1944. Mandela, Tambo and many other individuals then used the ANC as a vehicle to fight apartheid and finally give South Africans much needed freedom. How to write a short essay about Nelson Mandela: One of the ways of writing a short essay is to, first, draft a regular sized one and then make it more concise when rewriting it into the final draft. There is no need in wordy descriptions and long introductions; be straight to the point in all your arguments. It is also recommended, when writing a short essay, to address your argument to the general audience, rather than a specific group of people. This way, you can predict what questions your audience might have, while reading your essay. Our essay writing service is developed to provide students with custom written essays of the highest quality. All you need is to contact our website now!

Analysis of an Individual Comic Strip Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analysis of an Individual Comic Strip - Essay Example The point Franklin is trying to get across is that America is divided and therefore ineffective against enemies unless the colonies unite together. The phrase, â€Å"Join, or Die† means that unless the colonies unite, they will be attacked and wiped out. It is a simple statement that is trying to point out that the only option for the Colonies is to unite. The individual segments of the snake are the American colonies. Franklin chose New England to be the head of the snake. New England, especially the city of Boston, would definitely be considered the â€Å"head of the snake† at this time. Many influential politicians lived in Boston including Sam and John Adams. Boston is also where many pre-revolution events occurred including the Boston Tea Party and the Boston Massacre. Franklin draws the head of the snake with its forked tongue sticking out. The snake is coiled and looks like it is ready to strike. The analogy of America to a coiled snake ready to strike is a very interesting one. But in considering what animal one would use to symbolize a divided America, a snake would be the logical answer. Snake’s have a lot of symbolism surrounding them. Often a snake represents wisdom and healing, even though many people associate snakes with evil.

Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucioism Research Paper

Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucioism - Research Paper Example This was around the 6th and 4th centuries, but the religion has many branches as teachings. The religion has various books about each of the practices, which are observed by different followers depending on the station within the faith. Buddha was born in Nepal and an astrologer foretold that he would become a great king or a holly man. His father wanted him to be a king but at the age of 29, he went out of the palace and saw the suffering that people went through especially the sick, common people and also he met one holly man who was at peace with the world. This experience made him to abandon the royal life and to take up a spiritual life (Jinpa, 7). He went to learn from the religious leaders of his tome and he mastered how meditate but and when he discovered that it could not cure suffering permanently he continued searching and engaged in pronged fasting, breath-holding and exposure to pain. He almost starved himself to fatality inn the process, but he decided to settle for med itation to avoid the extremes. At the time, he ended his suffering and received rebirth he claimed to have received enlightened. He then attracted followers at the age of 35 years, he spent the rest of his life teaching the enlightenment, and He died at the 80 in India Means action called Karma and work and is the force that drives the cycle of suffering and rebirth of every being. It holds that there exist good work and bad works in society. Each action good or bad produces sees in the minds, which also bear fruits in this life or the next life after rebirth. It appeals to people to have ethical works in the body speech and mind. All intentions come from which later bear fruits from that mind. The forgives for ones conduct is not allowed in some teaching of Rebirth holds that all being go through a series of stages in different lifetimes starting from life to dearth. That one does not have a permanent self. Since rebirth is, a continuous process determines by the actions of an indi vidual. Every rebirth takes place within hell, ghosts, human beings, low deities, and gods. However, any Buddhist practitioners can obtain rebirth into higher levels. It teaches individuals to have good morals and perform good works so that they may be reborn into a good state in the next stage in life. It holds that all beings crave pleasure while at the same time avoiding pain from birth to death. The Buddhist helps in eliminating the pain and conditions that may lead to rebirth into pain. The causes of suffering and their solutions in life itself lead to pain and suffering in one way or another. It teaches that to avoid suffering is usually caused by craving for what does not exist; one should stops the illusions or attained the enlightenment The Noble truth that prevents suffering and attains wisdom, which purifies the mind and living in the reality. Morality and ethics is possible by abstaining from bad deeds, by avoiding harming others. Mental discipline achieved through medit ation, which helps one to master the mind and making effort to improve. It shapes on to live better life by being occupies with good deed that leads to a better rebirth. The religion assists individuals on how to avoid pain and how to leave better, not only in this life but also

Personal Case Study Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Personal Paper - Case Study Example Role conflict can come in various forms. Role conflict usually comes in the form of status, role, and expectation. There are a number of academic researchers that have been carried out with regard to role conflict. This paper aims at discussing how academic research relates to role conflict. There is always a variance in opinions when it comes to how role conflicts should be handled. However, what is certain is that the manner in which you manage role conflict determines how it will affect your organization. Regardless of the roles played or the individuals involved in a conflict both sides are always negatively affected by the conflict. Berko, Aitken & Wolvin asserts that when interdependent individuals or groups happen to have views, opinions, values, and goals that are conflicting it will be hard for them to work for a common course (Berko, Aitken & Wolvin, 2010). People who ignore role conflicts have a higher possibility of failing as compared to those who acknowledge their existence and work towards solving them. To make sure that role conflicts are put under control roles of the various individuals and groups that are interdependent should be defined. This will help everyone understand the boundaries of their roles and the importance of their role to the common purpose. When choosing or allocating roles you should make sure that people or groups are given the roles that they are best in. This will be in the bid of making sure that everyone is comfortable with the roles that they are supposed to play (Settles, Sellers & Damas Jr, 2002). This will mean that by the end of the day everyone would have played their roles and since the common course is dependent on the individual roles the common course will be achieved. However, Beaucham and bray asserts that letting people and groups play the roles that they are best in will reduce the possibility of there being complaints from the other individuals or groups involved in the course (Beauchamp &

Indias Construction Equipment Industry Analysis

Indias Construction Equipment Industry Analysis Abstract This research was an attempt to assess the current status of Indian construction equipment industry and the underlying opportunities and challenges. However, the aspects and objectives that were dealt in the research are; the current structure, status, competition, financing opportunities and challenges of Indian construction equipment industry. The research was conducted wholly based on secondary data. Following are the key findings of the research. Indian construction industry has entered into a new phase, where prospect of the industry appears extraordinary bright. Indian construction equipment industry is passing through a phase of hurried renovation, where the shifting is taking place from low volume concentrated use of equipment structure to high volume explicit one. Apart from these, the current and future trend also shows that the key segments of construction equipment that will have potential market prospects are excavators, loaders, dozers, dumpers and cranes. The growth of Indian construction equipment industry is the outcome of the fast liberalization and globalization of the Indian economy and the construction sector. The real competition in Indian construction equipment industry has been created by foreign players such as Volvo, Komatsu and many others. These companies are leaving no stone unturned to exploit the opportunities in Indian industry. The industry is at the critical juncture (particularly for domestic players) and therefore companies need to equip with safety measures in relation to post WTO market setting. Introduction (Chapter 1) 1.1 Indian Construction Equipment Industry Background Historical Trends Construction and mining equipment cover a variety of machinery such as hydraulic excavators, wheel loaders, backhoe loaders, bull dozers, dump trucks, tippers, graders, pavers, asphalt drum / wet mix plants, breakers, vibratory compactors, cranes, fork lifts, dozers, off-highway dumpers (20T to 170T), drills, scrapers, motor graders, rope shovels etc. They perform a variety of functions like preparation of ground, excavation, haulage of material, dumping/laying in specified manner, material handling, road construction etc. These equipment are required for both construction and mining activity. With a wide production capacity base, India is perhaps the only developing country, which is totally self-reliant in such highly sophisticated equipment. India has only a few, mainly medium and large companies in the organized sector who manufacture these. The technology barriers are high, especially with respect to mining equipment and therefore the role of SME’s is restricted to manufacture of components and some sub-assemblies. Prior to the 1960s, domestic requirements of mining and construction equipment were entirely met by imports. Domestic production began in 1964 with the setting up of Bharat Earthmovers Ltd. (BEML), a public sector unit of the Ministry of Defence, at Kolar in South India to manufacture dozers, dumpers, graders, scrapers, etc. for defense requirements under licence from LeTorneau Westinghouse, USA and Komatsu, Japan. In the private sector, the Hindustan Motors’ Earthmoving Equipment Division, was established in 1969 at Tiruvallur, near Chennai with technical collaboration from Terex, UK for manufacture of wheel loaders, dozers dumpers. This factory has since been taken over by Caterpillar for their Indian operations. The machines manufactured by Caterpillar in the Tiruvallur factory are marketed by TIL and GMMCO. In 1974, LT started manufacturing hydraulic excavators under license from Poclain, France. In 1980 and 1981, two more units, Telcon and Escorts JCB commenced manufacture of hydraulic excavators (under license from Hitachi, Japan) and backhoe loaders (under license from JCB, UK) respectively. Escorts JCB has been taken over by JC Bamford Excavators Ltd. U.K. in 2003 and is now called JCB India Ltd. Volvo and Terex Vectra is the most recent entrants in the Indian market. Volvo has set up their manufacturing unit in Bangalore. At present they are only manufacturing tippers and the other equipment are imported from their parent company and marketed in India. Terex Corporation USA and Vectra Ltd. U.K. have formed a joint venture, which has started manufacturing construction equipment like backhoe loaders and skid steer loaders from May ’04 at Greater Noida with an investment of USD 12 million. Other equipment in the Terex range are being sold through their agents in India. Most of the technology leaders like Case, Caterpillar, Hitachi, Ingersoll-Rand, JCB, John Deere, Joy Mining Machinery, Komatsu, Lieberr, Poclain, Terex, Volvo are present in India as joint venture companies, or have set up their own manufacturing facilities, or marketing companies. The industry has made substantial investments in the recent past for setting up manufacturing bases, despite small volumes and uneconomic scales of production compared to global standards. 1.2 Aims and Objective and of The Study This research was aimed to assess the current status of Indian construction equipment industry and the underlying opportunities and challenges. The research was conducted on the foundation of following objectives To assess the current structure, status and direction of the Indian construction equipment industry. To assess the competition in Indian construction equipment industry To assess the financing of Indian construction equipment industry To assess the opportunities and challenges of Indian construction equipment industry To develop strategies for competitors (domestic players) in Indian construction equipment industry. To assess the technology, managerial, operational, of the Indian construction equipment industry. Literature Review Chapter 2 2.1 Introduction Construction equipment is machinery used to build and demolish bridges, buildings and other structures. These machines usually save labor, time and money. One of them can do more work in an hour than a hundred of workers using hand tools could do in a day. The chief kinds of building machines include earthmoving machineries hoisting, material handling machines and pumping machines. Other construction machinery used are for preparing the land and materials for construction. Demolishing machines are used to demolish structures and buildings. The Indian construction equipment industry today faces stiff competition, great opportunities and challenges, but India has a total command over all these things as according to confederation of the Indian industry report, 2005 as for engineering and capital goods base. The Indian engineering manufacturing sector has been growing at the rate of about 5.9% in the nineties. India today produces a variety of machinery whose range is quiet wide and deep. Rapidly increasing construction sector has been the indication of good times for companies manufacturing construction equipments. This project discusses the Construction Equipment industry in India. The structure of Construction Equipment industry in India has been well and truly detailed and mentioning all the requisite facts and figures. Also mentioned are all the factors influencing the Construction Equipment industry in India. A special mention of the suppliers list is made as suppliers are the inseparable part of the Construction Equipment industry in India. The important suppliers are JCB, Atlas, BEML, Caterpillar, Ditchwitch, Komatsu , Ashok Leyland, Escorts, Greaves Cotton, Ingersoll Rand, TETRA, Volvo, Besides all these Indian Equipment Financing companies such as Business Financing, SREI, HDFC , GE Capital, Indian Financial Services have also received requisite expression in this project. Also discussed at the end is about Construction Equipment industry in India facing problems, challenges and opportunities and its future. What India need is better infrastructure in order to progress. The government has also embarked upon massive road and pavement construction projects such GOLDEN QUADRILATERAL connecting / interlinking all four metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai. Kolkatta and Chennai The government decision to throw open the construction of roads, bridges, ports and airports to private sector and to allow 100% FII / FDI (Foreign Investments) in real estate projects like (EMAAR) has provided a boost to the industry thereby generating demand for construction machineries. Housing and infrastructure projects are expected to grow about 20% per annum for the next 15 years. 2.2 Current Status of The Industry Ramping up quality and quantity The Construction equipment industries are the biggest beneficiaries of the construction boom. Although the past few years have seen increased levels of mechanization and improved quality, Indian construction equipment and materials are still below international standards. The current status of the construction equipment industry is discussed below. The size of the construction equipment market current stands at between $2.5 billion and $3 billion and it is growing at an average rate of about 30 per cent year on year. It is expected that the industry will expand to $12-13 billion by 2015, including $2-3 billion of exports. This implies annual compounded growth rates in excess of 50 per cent between 2008 and 2015. The largest share of that growth will come from the domestic market driven on the demand side by increased infrastructure spending and on the supply side by the industry’s drive to increase mechanization and equipment penetration. The rest of the growth will come from the exports of components, services and equipment. The key infrastructure sectors that are expected to drive demand are roads, urban and residential construction and mining. Amongst the three modes of procuring equipment in India –that is, buying, leasing or renting – leasing is the most popular. While renting is suitable for projects of shorter duration, buying involves huge upfront payments. Constructions and mining equipment is manufactured by a few medium and large companies in the organised sector. The role of small and medium enterprises is restricted only to manufacturing of components and some sub-assemblies. Domestic production began in 1964 with the setting up of Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), which is engaged in the manufacturing of dozers, dumpers, graders, scrapers, etc., for defence requirements. Some of the key players manufacturing equipment for the Indian market are LT, Telcon, Escorts, JCB India Limited, Ingersoll Rand, Greaves, Caterpiller, Komatsu, Joy Mining Machinery, Case, John Deere, Lieberr, Poclain, Volvo and Terex Vectra. These companies are present either through joint ventures, or have set up their own manu facturing facilities or have a marketing presence. BEML supplies equipment to nearly half the total market. Companies such as BEML and Caterpillar are leaders in dumpers and dozers while Larsen Toubro – Komatsu and Telcon lead in excavators and JCB India in backhoe loaders. In the last few years there has been some restructuring through acquisitions and joint ventures, which in turn, has reflected the interest of international majors in the domestic market. Many international players have also appointed selling agents for importing and selling equipment in India. Despite the growth, there are some inherent problems faced by the construction equipment industry. In India, the demand for construction equipment is more than the supply. Hence, most leading manufacturers have invested in India for manufacturing to meet this gap. The industry is trying to induct international levels of technology as demand and the scale of operations increases. However, the levels of mechanisation continue to be low compared to the international market. This is primarily because the Indian market cannot absorb the cost of latest technology. Since most the construction equipment is hydraulically operated, the Indian construction equipment industry has to predominantly depend on imports, primarily from European countries. The fluctuations of foreign exchange rates and the non-availability of adequate quantities of equipment are other constraints. Construction equipment manufacturers also struggle to cope with the low availability of trained manpower, not only for producing equipment but also for operation and maintenance. Manufacturers are doing their best to train not only their own employees but also customer’s operators and services technicians. Indirect taxes on construction equipment are quite high. These range between 21 and 38 per cent, based on interstate differences, compared to 20 per cent in France and Germany and between 12 and 17 per cent in Indonesia. The government could reduce this tax burden by eventually replacing all indirect taxes such as excise, sales tax, octroi and entry tax with a single tax. It is true construction companies have ramped up significant capacities in terms of equipment over the past few years. However, due to rapid growth, there is still a mismatch of supply and demand in terms of construction equipment. Delays in deliveries of equipment result in delayed mobilization and completion of projects. Further, prices of construction equipment have steadily increased over the past few years, partly due to the high demand, and partly due to increase in input costs. Domestic equipment has a 10-15 per cent higher downturn than imported machines. There is also a lack of skilled manpower to operate and maintain machines as the industry is largely dependent on unskilled labour. Another major issue that has becomes apparent is the financing of construction equipment. The concept of renting equipment has been mooted but the rental market in India is not very well developed. At present, there are very few players and tax issues also play a major role in this industry. The very first equipment bank in India –Quipo- has been fairly successful. However, with more world leaders expected to enter the renting domain and various models being worked out by rental companies, the situation is expected to improve in the future. In the future, one can expect major global manufacturers to enter the equipment arena by producing India-specific products while addressing factors such as quality, cost to customer and delivery. It is also essential to make available the easy hiring of equipment through a ready stock of good quality equipment. The last few years have witnessed a phase of restructuring in the industry through acquisitions and joint ventures. This also reflects the active interest of international majors in the domestic market. Many international players have also appointed selling agents for importing and selling complete equipment in India. The construction and mining equipment industry is dominated by a few large manufacturers in each product segment. BEML supplies to nearly half the total market. BEML and Caterpillar lead in dumpers and dozers while LT-Komatsu and Telcon lead in excavators and JCB India in backhoe loaders. 2.3 Structure of The Industry 71% of the sector comprises of public limited companies including PSU’s and 29% private limited, or joint ventures including closely held private limited companies.75% of the companies manufacturing in India were involved in the entire range of activities like design and engineering, manufacturing, erection, servicing and commissioning. There are only a few companies who act as selling agents for international players. There are others who manufacture and also import complete equipment or in SKD condition from their principals abroad and market them. Since each piece of the equipment in this product category has substantial value, a number of companies have a turnover of over 100 crores and the larger ones have a turnover above Rs.1000 crores. The technology barriers have made the industry less fragmented in the mining machinery sector whereas it is fragmented in the road construction equipment and the material-handling segments. The international trend in the earthmoving and mining segment is one of consolidation. This trend is also beginning to be seen in India. Some international companies are looking at the prospects of enhancing their market presence based on higher investment in mining and infrastructure and also using their Indian operations to meet demand in South and South East Asia. The industry’s expectations of the likely future evolution in this sector is represented here in graphical form. Most of the current players expect that new players will enter the Indian market. There is great need for improving infrastructure as it has been accentuated by the rapid growth in economy. Of late many development authorities, State government and even companies have started investing in infrastructure development projects. Though the volume of construction equipment in India is far too small compared to countries like china and also by global standards, India does produce a variety of construction equipments such as the earthmoving machinery used to excavate, land and level earth and rock, tractors, trailers, wagons, crawler tractors, bulldozers, scrapers, shovels, draglines, heisting and material handling machinery such as cranes and derricks, material lifts, pumping machines, demolition machinery and machinery used to prepare land and materials for construction. Today, there is much emphasis on infrastructure development. The government spends very little on infrastructure with the result India sells very little of any category of construction equipment. It is shocking to learn that china sells 10,000 excavators energy year but in India, we sell only about 1500. In terms of volume, the construction equipment industry is worth Rs. 4,000 crore. Whether it is roads, bridges, ports, airports, urban infrastructure, or power plants- civil construction has a very important role to play. The use of modern tools enables productive work. The rapidly increasing construction sector has been the forerunner of good times for companies manufacturing construction machineries and equipment. There has been a flow of demand for transit concrete mixers, bar- bending and cutting machines, excavators and backhoes and earth rammers on account of the substantial increase in real estate and construction activities. New and expanding housing and infrastructure construction ventures have generated a considerable demand for construction machinery manufacturing and servicing together with erection, commissioning and maintenance. More and more multinational companies are now entering the Indian market on their own strength, whereas previously the trend was to forge joint venture associations with Indian companies. Also, a major portion of the annual budget has been invested by the Central government in infrastructure, irrigation and mining projects across the country. Due to all these factors these has been a substantial increase in the utilization of construction machinery. The boom in the requirement of construction machinery has brought us several large orders from west Asian and African countries. Thus the exporters of construction machineries too have a boom period. Most of them have made huge profits due to the threefold increase. The demand for construction equipments has also risen because of major Indian construction works working on overseas projects. 2.4 Technology The construction equipment sector has a wide range of products The technology leaders in the construction equipment sector are: Komatsu,Caterpillar, Hitachi, Terex, Volvo, Case, Ingersoll-Rand, HAMM, Bomag, John Deere, JCB, Poclain, Bitelli, Kobelco, Hyundai and Daewoo. Except for the last 3, all the other companies are present in India either as joint ventures, or have set up their own manufacturing facilities, or marketing companies. In the mining sector, the leaders are: Wrigten, Atlas Copco, Liebherr, Joy Mining Machinery, Hitachi, Komatsu, Terex, Ranson Rappier, Bucyrus Erie and DBT. Out of these companies, DBT does not have any technology transfer and neither is it manufacturing in India. Joy Mining Machinery has a small operation in India to manufacture spares and provide sales support. However, these are the two leaders in continuous mining and long wall equipment in the world. In the construction equipment sector, the level of technology prevalent internationally can be made available in India through joint ventures. However, the equipment currently being manufactured in India is not of the same size. For example for a 15 Cu.M. hydraulic shovel, the manufacturers do not feel the need to bring in the technology due to low volumes and uncertain demand though the companies have the manufacturing facilities and design capabilities to manufacture the same in India. Some of the other reasons for not manufacturing the latest equipment are: The Indian market cannot absorb the cost of the latest technology If manufactured in India for export markets, most of the components will have to be imported Equipment adhering to the latest emission norms cannot be used since the quality of fuel required for them is yet to be made available here. At the same time, off highway construction and mining equipment do not need stringent emission norms in India. The construction equipment sector in India has evolved over the years and is at present in an intermediate stage of development. The industry is trying to bring in international levels of technology as demand and the scale of operation increases. The users are now not looking at only the initial cost of the equipment, but focusing on total costing, or cost per ton of usage. It is anticipated that 5 years hence, the need for more and more mechanization and enhancement of scale may lead to change in the level of technology in use. Advances in technology have allowed an increase in haul truck and rope shovel size. For example haul trucks are now being manufactured upto 400 tons capacity. Here the increased machine size has provided an opportunity for increased production. 2.5 Management Effieciency The industry is quite mature in terms of marketing abilities as compared to the other sectors of the capital goods industry. Majority of the companies have strategic planning programmes in place and have well chalked out business strategies at all levels. In order to enhance their market share, companies need to improve quality and service followed by reduction in costs, increase in product range and finally adopt more aggressive marketing strategies. The competitive edge lies in satisfying customers by delivering higher quality products at lower prices. Strategic alliances are already in place among 60% of the companies surveyed. These are primarily focused on developing and combining competencies with the help of other organizations in terms of marketing, after sales service etc. Only 45% of the companies are interested in growth through mergers and acquisitions. The level of quality consciousness is on an average higher than the other sectors probably ecause the companies are larger and many of them are associated with international companies either for manufacturing or marketing their products. Another reason for higher quality consciousness is that more companies in this sector are well versed with the soft technologies being used worldwide for enhancing competitiveness and quality. Approximately 90% of the companies covered under the study have either implemented, or are implementing soft technologies like six sigma, lean manufacturing etc. 100% of the companies manufacturing in India are ISO certified. It was noticed that the percentage of scrap due to errors in manufacturing is between 2% 5% and the percentage of labour hours spent on reworking was 4%. All the manufacturing companies train their workers on quality concepts. However the percentage of workers who received company sponsored training on quality concepts in the past two years varied from 20% to 100% in some companies. The average number of hours per person of training provided was approximately 16 hours per person varying from 6 hours to 35 hours per person per annum. Most of the companies were quite responsive to customer complaints and the average number of days taken to respond varied from  ½ a day to 5 days in some companies. More than 70% of the companies have undergone business process reengineering for higher customer satisfaction. It has been observed that the majority of the companies in this sector are between medium and high users of computerization. This level of computerization is also comparatively high compared to the other sectors of the capital goods industry. Yet the percentage of IT expenditure to sales in the last one year i.e. 2004-05 was a meagre 0.5% of the total sales i.e. Rs.32 crores was invested by the industry towards computerization either for ERP / SCM / CRM. ERP or enterprise resource planning is an industry term for the broad set of activities supported by multi product application software that helps a manufacturer to manage the important functions of its business including product planning, parts purchasing, maintaining inventories, interaction with suppliers, providing customer service and tracking orders. Supply Chain Management (SCM) is the management of the entire value added chain, from the supplier to manufacturer right through to the retailer and the final customer.SCM has the primary goal of reducing inventory, increasing the transaction speed by exchanging data in real time and increasing sales by implementing customer requirements more efficiently. CRM (Customer Relationship Management) entails all aspects of interaction a company has with its customers, whether it be sales or service related. CRM is an information industry term for methodologies, software and usually internet capabilities that help an enterprise manage customer relationships in an organized way. Companies need to be in constant touch with their customers over the electronic media. The percentage of companies using ERP solutions is high with quite a significant number also using CRM for better customer relationship management. However, all the players need to be better integrated with both their suppliers and customers to strive to be the market leader. After-sales service is an important aspect of a company’s successful business strategy because all customers would like higher productivity and utilization from their machines in order to be cost competitive. Hence this is an area no company can afford to ignore or accord a lower priority to. All the companies surveyed whether manufacturing, or trading, offered after-sales service to their customer and it was also noted that 70% of them have entered into this field in the last ten years. Equipment manufactured by the industry is mostly mobile and hence subjected to higher wear and tear and consequently maintenance requirements are higher. Users rate machines with lower downtime higher. Hence, training of maintenance personnel both of manufacturers as well as users’ is a very important aspect of managing customer relationships. This is also evident from the fact that all the companies spent on training and the majority of them (60%) spent more than Rs.1 lakh per month. O nly 40% of the companies spent less than Rs.10 lakh per annum on employee training. The average response time for responding to customer calls is 24 to 48 hours and in premium service contracts it varied between 12 to 36 hours. 91% of the maintenance calls were completed within the specified time frame. From the user feedback, it emerged that the deliveries of most of the companies were delayed. Hence many customers preferred to import second hand machines. Scheduling is therefore required to be strictly followed by all the companies for manufacturing, and approximately 90% of them use one, or the other software to enhance efficiency in manufacturing. Yet the percentage of companies where the shipments are before/within the due date is very low at only 50%. A clear distinction was noticed in terms of reasons for late delivery. Companies predominantly manufacturing construction equipment have attributed more than 70% of their late deliveries to delay in customer clearance. The reason for late deliveries is attributed mainly to the growth in domestic demand, which was not foreseen earlier by the companies. Delays were therefore mainly attributed to capacity constraints. A fall out of delayed delivery has been higher imports both for new machines, as well as second hand machines. This issue can be tackled by enhancing capacity of both the manufacturers and their sub-suppliers, tighter monitoring and scheduling and by greater usage of ERP / SCM. Benchmarking With International Companies Some broad indications in terms of benchmarking of the industry on the basis of financial parameters have been done against a few global players. The companies against which Indian companies have been benchmarked are Caterpillar, Komatsu and Volvo. They are the leaders in their respective fields. 2.6 Operational Efficiency Financial Parameters The CII survey results showed that there has been a good growth rate in terms of sales due to the higher investments by the user sectors. Though exports have also risen, the percentage of exports to sales is low due to lack of competitive advantage of machines built with indigenous technology. Wherever machines are built under technology transfer, companies face restrictions on the export market territory from the technology provider. The power consumed to sales has shown a decline because all companies are now conscious about energy conservation and use various methods like automatic switching of systems and higher efficiency / low consumption electrical appliances etc. Value added for an industry is the difference between the value of the output and the value of the input namely raw materials bought outs. In other words we can attribute this difference to the value added to the product by the company. The value addition has risen over the years because more manufacturing has taken place in 2003-04 in place of trading as compared to the earlier years. It has again shown a fall due to the rising raw material prices in 2004-05. Inventory on an average was found to be 26 percent of net sales. Average Turnover of Inventory for 2004-05 was found to be 4. The international benchmark is between 5 7. The number of days sales outstanding is on an average within 90 days, which is at par with the engineering industry. This is also in keeping with international trends. Cost of wages to sales was found to be 11.8 percent in 2004-05. The range varied from a low of 3 percent to a high of 28 percent. For Caterpillar Inc. the ratio was 19.8 percent. The employee productivity is fairly low as compared to international companies. Sales per employee on an average for the industry was found to be Rs.35 lakhs but for the manufacturing companies it was found to be Rs.32.5 lakhs. This is the reason why though the cost of wages per employee is very low at Rs.4 lakhs, the lower productivity of the employee offsets the advantage. The value added per employee was only Rs.11 lakhs. The global standards for employee productivity i.e. sales per employee is in the range of Rs.160-175 lakhs. Profitability The industry in India witnessed a tremendous jump in profitability in 2004-05 over 2003-04. The return on capital employed is 24 percent and has increased by 85 percent over 2003-04. The PBIT has increased Indias Construction Equipment Industry Analysis Indias Construction Equipment Industry Analysis Abstract This research was an attempt to assess the current status of Indian construction equipment industry and the underlying opportunities and challenges. However, the aspects and objectives that were dealt in the research are; the current structure, status, competition, financing opportunities and challenges of Indian construction equipment industry. The research was conducted wholly based on secondary data. Following are the key findings of the research. Indian construction industry has entered into a new phase, where prospect of the industry appears extraordinary bright. Indian construction equipment industry is passing through a phase of hurried renovation, where the shifting is taking place from low volume concentrated use of equipment structure to high volume explicit one. Apart from these, the current and future trend also shows that the key segments of construction equipment that will have potential market prospects are excavators, loaders, dozers, dumpers and cranes. The growth of Indian construction equipment industry is the outcome of the fast liberalization and globalization of the Indian economy and the construction sector. The real competition in Indian construction equipment industry has been created by foreign players such as Volvo, Komatsu and many others. These companies are leaving no stone unturned to exploit the opportunities in Indian industry. The industry is at the critical juncture (particularly for domestic players) and therefore companies need to equip with safety measures in relation to post WTO market setting. Introduction (Chapter 1) 1.1 Indian Construction Equipment Industry Background Historical Trends Construction and mining equipment cover a variety of machinery such as hydraulic excavators, wheel loaders, backhoe loaders, bull dozers, dump trucks, tippers, graders, pavers, asphalt drum / wet mix plants, breakers, vibratory compactors, cranes, fork lifts, dozers, off-highway dumpers (20T to 170T), drills, scrapers, motor graders, rope shovels etc. They perform a variety of functions like preparation of ground, excavation, haulage of material, dumping/laying in specified manner, material handling, road construction etc. These equipment are required for both construction and mining activity. With a wide production capacity base, India is perhaps the only developing country, which is totally self-reliant in such highly sophisticated equipment. India has only a few, mainly medium and large companies in the organized sector who manufacture these. The technology barriers are high, especially with respect to mining equipment and therefore the role of SME’s is restricted to manufacture of components and some sub-assemblies. Prior to the 1960s, domestic requirements of mining and construction equipment were entirely met by imports. Domestic production began in 1964 with the setting up of Bharat Earthmovers Ltd. (BEML), a public sector unit of the Ministry of Defence, at Kolar in South India to manufacture dozers, dumpers, graders, scrapers, etc. for defense requirements under licence from LeTorneau Westinghouse, USA and Komatsu, Japan. In the private sector, the Hindustan Motors’ Earthmoving Equipment Division, was established in 1969 at Tiruvallur, near Chennai with technical collaboration from Terex, UK for manufacture of wheel loaders, dozers dumpers. This factory has since been taken over by Caterpillar for their Indian operations. The machines manufactured by Caterpillar in the Tiruvallur factory are marketed by TIL and GMMCO. In 1974, LT started manufacturing hydraulic excavators under license from Poclain, France. In 1980 and 1981, two more units, Telcon and Escorts JCB commenced manufacture of hydraulic excavators (under license from Hitachi, Japan) and backhoe loaders (under license from JCB, UK) respectively. Escorts JCB has been taken over by JC Bamford Excavators Ltd. U.K. in 2003 and is now called JCB India Ltd. Volvo and Terex Vectra is the most recent entrants in the Indian market. Volvo has set up their manufacturing unit in Bangalore. At present they are only manufacturing tippers and the other equipment are imported from their parent company and marketed in India. Terex Corporation USA and Vectra Ltd. U.K. have formed a joint venture, which has started manufacturing construction equipment like backhoe loaders and skid steer loaders from May ’04 at Greater Noida with an investment of USD 12 million. Other equipment in the Terex range are being sold through their agents in India. Most of the technology leaders like Case, Caterpillar, Hitachi, Ingersoll-Rand, JCB, John Deere, Joy Mining Machinery, Komatsu, Lieberr, Poclain, Terex, Volvo are present in India as joint venture companies, or have set up their own manufacturing facilities, or marketing companies. The industry has made substantial investments in the recent past for setting up manufacturing bases, despite small volumes and uneconomic scales of production compared to global standards. 1.2 Aims and Objective and of The Study This research was aimed to assess the current status of Indian construction equipment industry and the underlying opportunities and challenges. The research was conducted on the foundation of following objectives To assess the current structure, status and direction of the Indian construction equipment industry. To assess the competition in Indian construction equipment industry To assess the financing of Indian construction equipment industry To assess the opportunities and challenges of Indian construction equipment industry To develop strategies for competitors (domestic players) in Indian construction equipment industry. To assess the technology, managerial, operational, of the Indian construction equipment industry. Literature Review Chapter 2 2.1 Introduction Construction equipment is machinery used to build and demolish bridges, buildings and other structures. These machines usually save labor, time and money. One of them can do more work in an hour than a hundred of workers using hand tools could do in a day. The chief kinds of building machines include earthmoving machineries hoisting, material handling machines and pumping machines. Other construction machinery used are for preparing the land and materials for construction. Demolishing machines are used to demolish structures and buildings. The Indian construction equipment industry today faces stiff competition, great opportunities and challenges, but India has a total command over all these things as according to confederation of the Indian industry report, 2005 as for engineering and capital goods base. The Indian engineering manufacturing sector has been growing at the rate of about 5.9% in the nineties. India today produces a variety of machinery whose range is quiet wide and deep. Rapidly increasing construction sector has been the indication of good times for companies manufacturing construction equipments. This project discusses the Construction Equipment industry in India. The structure of Construction Equipment industry in India has been well and truly detailed and mentioning all the requisite facts and figures. Also mentioned are all the factors influencing the Construction Equipment industry in India. A special mention of the suppliers list is made as suppliers are the inseparable part of the Construction Equipment industry in India. The important suppliers are JCB, Atlas, BEML, Caterpillar, Ditchwitch, Komatsu , Ashok Leyland, Escorts, Greaves Cotton, Ingersoll Rand, TETRA, Volvo, Besides all these Indian Equipment Financing companies such as Business Financing, SREI, HDFC , GE Capital, Indian Financial Services have also received requisite expression in this project. Also discussed at the end is about Construction Equipment industry in India facing problems, challenges and opportunities and its future. What India need is better infrastructure in order to progress. The government has also embarked upon massive road and pavement construction projects such GOLDEN QUADRILATERAL connecting / interlinking all four metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai. Kolkatta and Chennai The government decision to throw open the construction of roads, bridges, ports and airports to private sector and to allow 100% FII / FDI (Foreign Investments) in real estate projects like (EMAAR) has provided a boost to the industry thereby generating demand for construction machineries. Housing and infrastructure projects are expected to grow about 20% per annum for the next 15 years. 2.2 Current Status of The Industry Ramping up quality and quantity The Construction equipment industries are the biggest beneficiaries of the construction boom. Although the past few years have seen increased levels of mechanization and improved quality, Indian construction equipment and materials are still below international standards. The current status of the construction equipment industry is discussed below. The size of the construction equipment market current stands at between $2.5 billion and $3 billion and it is growing at an average rate of about 30 per cent year on year. It is expected that the industry will expand to $12-13 billion by 2015, including $2-3 billion of exports. This implies annual compounded growth rates in excess of 50 per cent between 2008 and 2015. The largest share of that growth will come from the domestic market driven on the demand side by increased infrastructure spending and on the supply side by the industry’s drive to increase mechanization and equipment penetration. The rest of the growth will come from the exports of components, services and equipment. The key infrastructure sectors that are expected to drive demand are roads, urban and residential construction and mining. Amongst the three modes of procuring equipment in India –that is, buying, leasing or renting – leasing is the most popular. While renting is suitable for projects of shorter duration, buying involves huge upfront payments. Constructions and mining equipment is manufactured by a few medium and large companies in the organised sector. The role of small and medium enterprises is restricted only to manufacturing of components and some sub-assemblies. Domestic production began in 1964 with the setting up of Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), which is engaged in the manufacturing of dozers, dumpers, graders, scrapers, etc., for defence requirements. Some of the key players manufacturing equipment for the Indian market are LT, Telcon, Escorts, JCB India Limited, Ingersoll Rand, Greaves, Caterpiller, Komatsu, Joy Mining Machinery, Case, John Deere, Lieberr, Poclain, Volvo and Terex Vectra. These companies are present either through joint ventures, or have set up their own manu facturing facilities or have a marketing presence. BEML supplies equipment to nearly half the total market. Companies such as BEML and Caterpillar are leaders in dumpers and dozers while Larsen Toubro – Komatsu and Telcon lead in excavators and JCB India in backhoe loaders. In the last few years there has been some restructuring through acquisitions and joint ventures, which in turn, has reflected the interest of international majors in the domestic market. Many international players have also appointed selling agents for importing and selling equipment in India. Despite the growth, there are some inherent problems faced by the construction equipment industry. In India, the demand for construction equipment is more than the supply. Hence, most leading manufacturers have invested in India for manufacturing to meet this gap. The industry is trying to induct international levels of technology as demand and the scale of operations increases. However, the levels of mechanisation continue to be low compared to the international market. This is primarily because the Indian market cannot absorb the cost of latest technology. Since most the construction equipment is hydraulically operated, the Indian construction equipment industry has to predominantly depend on imports, primarily from European countries. The fluctuations of foreign exchange rates and the non-availability of adequate quantities of equipment are other constraints. Construction equipment manufacturers also struggle to cope with the low availability of trained manpower, not only for producing equipment but also for operation and maintenance. Manufacturers are doing their best to train not only their own employees but also customer’s operators and services technicians. Indirect taxes on construction equipment are quite high. These range between 21 and 38 per cent, based on interstate differences, compared to 20 per cent in France and Germany and between 12 and 17 per cent in Indonesia. The government could reduce this tax burden by eventually replacing all indirect taxes such as excise, sales tax, octroi and entry tax with a single tax. It is true construction companies have ramped up significant capacities in terms of equipment over the past few years. However, due to rapid growth, there is still a mismatch of supply and demand in terms of construction equipment. Delays in deliveries of equipment result in delayed mobilization and completion of projects. Further, prices of construction equipment have steadily increased over the past few years, partly due to the high demand, and partly due to increase in input costs. Domestic equipment has a 10-15 per cent higher downturn than imported machines. There is also a lack of skilled manpower to operate and maintain machines as the industry is largely dependent on unskilled labour. Another major issue that has becomes apparent is the financing of construction equipment. The concept of renting equipment has been mooted but the rental market in India is not very well developed. At present, there are very few players and tax issues also play a major role in this industry. The very first equipment bank in India –Quipo- has been fairly successful. However, with more world leaders expected to enter the renting domain and various models being worked out by rental companies, the situation is expected to improve in the future. In the future, one can expect major global manufacturers to enter the equipment arena by producing India-specific products while addressing factors such as quality, cost to customer and delivery. It is also essential to make available the easy hiring of equipment through a ready stock of good quality equipment. The last few years have witnessed a phase of restructuring in the industry through acquisitions and joint ventures. This also reflects the active interest of international majors in the domestic market. Many international players have also appointed selling agents for importing and selling complete equipment in India. The construction and mining equipment industry is dominated by a few large manufacturers in each product segment. BEML supplies to nearly half the total market. BEML and Caterpillar lead in dumpers and dozers while LT-Komatsu and Telcon lead in excavators and JCB India in backhoe loaders. 2.3 Structure of The Industry 71% of the sector comprises of public limited companies including PSU’s and 29% private limited, or joint ventures including closely held private limited companies.75% of the companies manufacturing in India were involved in the entire range of activities like design and engineering, manufacturing, erection, servicing and commissioning. There are only a few companies who act as selling agents for international players. There are others who manufacture and also import complete equipment or in SKD condition from their principals abroad and market them. Since each piece of the equipment in this product category has substantial value, a number of companies have a turnover of over 100 crores and the larger ones have a turnover above Rs.1000 crores. The technology barriers have made the industry less fragmented in the mining machinery sector whereas it is fragmented in the road construction equipment and the material-handling segments. The international trend in the earthmoving and mining segment is one of consolidation. This trend is also beginning to be seen in India. Some international companies are looking at the prospects of enhancing their market presence based on higher investment in mining and infrastructure and also using their Indian operations to meet demand in South and South East Asia. The industry’s expectations of the likely future evolution in this sector is represented here in graphical form. Most of the current players expect that new players will enter the Indian market. There is great need for improving infrastructure as it has been accentuated by the rapid growth in economy. Of late many development authorities, State government and even companies have started investing in infrastructure development projects. Though the volume of construction equipment in India is far too small compared to countries like china and also by global standards, India does produce a variety of construction equipments such as the earthmoving machinery used to excavate, land and level earth and rock, tractors, trailers, wagons, crawler tractors, bulldozers, scrapers, shovels, draglines, heisting and material handling machinery such as cranes and derricks, material lifts, pumping machines, demolition machinery and machinery used to prepare land and materials for construction. Today, there is much emphasis on infrastructure development. The government spends very little on infrastructure with the result India sells very little of any category of construction equipment. It is shocking to learn that china sells 10,000 excavators energy year but in India, we sell only about 1500. In terms of volume, the construction equipment industry is worth Rs. 4,000 crore. Whether it is roads, bridges, ports, airports, urban infrastructure, or power plants- civil construction has a very important role to play. The use of modern tools enables productive work. The rapidly increasing construction sector has been the forerunner of good times for companies manufacturing construction machineries and equipment. There has been a flow of demand for transit concrete mixers, bar- bending and cutting machines, excavators and backhoes and earth rammers on account of the substantial increase in real estate and construction activities. New and expanding housing and infrastructure construction ventures have generated a considerable demand for construction machinery manufacturing and servicing together with erection, commissioning and maintenance. More and more multinational companies are now entering the Indian market on their own strength, whereas previously the trend was to forge joint venture associations with Indian companies. Also, a major portion of the annual budget has been invested by the Central government in infrastructure, irrigation and mining projects across the country. Due to all these factors these has been a substantial increase in the utilization of construction machinery. The boom in the requirement of construction machinery has brought us several large orders from west Asian and African countries. Thus the exporters of construction machineries too have a boom period. Most of them have made huge profits due to the threefold increase. The demand for construction equipments has also risen because of major Indian construction works working on overseas projects. 2.4 Technology The construction equipment sector has a wide range of products The technology leaders in the construction equipment sector are: Komatsu,Caterpillar, Hitachi, Terex, Volvo, Case, Ingersoll-Rand, HAMM, Bomag, John Deere, JCB, Poclain, Bitelli, Kobelco, Hyundai and Daewoo. Except for the last 3, all the other companies are present in India either as joint ventures, or have set up their own manufacturing facilities, or marketing companies. In the mining sector, the leaders are: Wrigten, Atlas Copco, Liebherr, Joy Mining Machinery, Hitachi, Komatsu, Terex, Ranson Rappier, Bucyrus Erie and DBT. Out of these companies, DBT does not have any technology transfer and neither is it manufacturing in India. Joy Mining Machinery has a small operation in India to manufacture spares and provide sales support. However, these are the two leaders in continuous mining and long wall equipment in the world. In the construction equipment sector, the level of technology prevalent internationally can be made available in India through joint ventures. However, the equipment currently being manufactured in India is not of the same size. For example for a 15 Cu.M. hydraulic shovel, the manufacturers do not feel the need to bring in the technology due to low volumes and uncertain demand though the companies have the manufacturing facilities and design capabilities to manufacture the same in India. Some of the other reasons for not manufacturing the latest equipment are: The Indian market cannot absorb the cost of the latest technology If manufactured in India for export markets, most of the components will have to be imported Equipment adhering to the latest emission norms cannot be used since the quality of fuel required for them is yet to be made available here. At the same time, off highway construction and mining equipment do not need stringent emission norms in India. The construction equipment sector in India has evolved over the years and is at present in an intermediate stage of development. The industry is trying to bring in international levels of technology as demand and the scale of operation increases. The users are now not looking at only the initial cost of the equipment, but focusing on total costing, or cost per ton of usage. It is anticipated that 5 years hence, the need for more and more mechanization and enhancement of scale may lead to change in the level of technology in use. Advances in technology have allowed an increase in haul truck and rope shovel size. For example haul trucks are now being manufactured upto 400 tons capacity. Here the increased machine size has provided an opportunity for increased production. 2.5 Management Effieciency The industry is quite mature in terms of marketing abilities as compared to the other sectors of the capital goods industry. Majority of the companies have strategic planning programmes in place and have well chalked out business strategies at all levels. In order to enhance their market share, companies need to improve quality and service followed by reduction in costs, increase in product range and finally adopt more aggressive marketing strategies. The competitive edge lies in satisfying customers by delivering higher quality products at lower prices. Strategic alliances are already in place among 60% of the companies surveyed. These are primarily focused on developing and combining competencies with the help of other organizations in terms of marketing, after sales service etc. Only 45% of the companies are interested in growth through mergers and acquisitions. The level of quality consciousness is on an average higher than the other sectors probably ecause the companies are larger and many of them are associated with international companies either for manufacturing or marketing their products. Another reason for higher quality consciousness is that more companies in this sector are well versed with the soft technologies being used worldwide for enhancing competitiveness and quality. Approximately 90% of the companies covered under the study have either implemented, or are implementing soft technologies like six sigma, lean manufacturing etc. 100% of the companies manufacturing in India are ISO certified. It was noticed that the percentage of scrap due to errors in manufacturing is between 2% 5% and the percentage of labour hours spent on reworking was 4%. All the manufacturing companies train their workers on quality concepts. However the percentage of workers who received company sponsored training on quality concepts in the past two years varied from 20% to 100% in some companies. The average number of hours per person of training provided was approximately 16 hours per person varying from 6 hours to 35 hours per person per annum. Most of the companies were quite responsive to customer complaints and the average number of days taken to respond varied from  ½ a day to 5 days in some companies. More than 70% of the companies have undergone business process reengineering for higher customer satisfaction. It has been observed that the majority of the companies in this sector are between medium and high users of computerization. This level of computerization is also comparatively high compared to the other sectors of the capital goods industry. Yet the percentage of IT expenditure to sales in the last one year i.e. 2004-05 was a meagre 0.5% of the total sales i.e. Rs.32 crores was invested by the industry towards computerization either for ERP / SCM / CRM. ERP or enterprise resource planning is an industry term for the broad set of activities supported by multi product application software that helps a manufacturer to manage the important functions of its business including product planning, parts purchasing, maintaining inventories, interaction with suppliers, providing customer service and tracking orders. Supply Chain Management (SCM) is the management of the entire value added chain, from the supplier to manufacturer right through to the retailer and the final customer.SCM has the primary goal of reducing inventory, increasing the transaction speed by exchanging data in real time and increasing sales by implementing customer requirements more efficiently. CRM (Customer Relationship Management) entails all aspects of interaction a company has with its customers, whether it be sales or service related. CRM is an information industry term for methodologies, software and usually internet capabilities that help an enterprise manage customer relationships in an organized way. Companies need to be in constant touch with their customers over the electronic media. The percentage of companies using ERP solutions is high with quite a significant number also using CRM for better customer relationship management. However, all the players need to be better integrated with both their suppliers and customers to strive to be the market leader. After-sales service is an important aspect of a company’s successful business strategy because all customers would like higher productivity and utilization from their machines in order to be cost competitive. Hence this is an area no company can afford to ignore or accord a lower priority to. All the companies surveyed whether manufacturing, or trading, offered after-sales service to their customer and it was also noted that 70% of them have entered into this field in the last ten years. Equipment manufactured by the industry is mostly mobile and hence subjected to higher wear and tear and consequently maintenance requirements are higher. Users rate machines with lower downtime higher. Hence, training of maintenance personnel both of manufacturers as well as users’ is a very important aspect of managing customer relationships. This is also evident from the fact that all the companies spent on training and the majority of them (60%) spent more than Rs.1 lakh per month. O nly 40% of the companies spent less than Rs.10 lakh per annum on employee training. The average response time for responding to customer calls is 24 to 48 hours and in premium service contracts it varied between 12 to 36 hours. 91% of the maintenance calls were completed within the specified time frame. From the user feedback, it emerged that the deliveries of most of the companies were delayed. Hence many customers preferred to import second hand machines. Scheduling is therefore required to be strictly followed by all the companies for manufacturing, and approximately 90% of them use one, or the other software to enhance efficiency in manufacturing. Yet the percentage of companies where the shipments are before/within the due date is very low at only 50%. A clear distinction was noticed in terms of reasons for late delivery. Companies predominantly manufacturing construction equipment have attributed more than 70% of their late deliveries to delay in customer clearance. The reason for late deliveries is attributed mainly to the growth in domestic demand, which was not foreseen earlier by the companies. Delays were therefore mainly attributed to capacity constraints. A fall out of delayed delivery has been higher imports both for new machines, as well as second hand machines. This issue can be tackled by enhancing capacity of both the manufacturers and their sub-suppliers, tighter monitoring and scheduling and by greater usage of ERP / SCM. Benchmarking With International Companies Some broad indications in terms of benchmarking of the industry on the basis of financial parameters have been done against a few global players. The companies against which Indian companies have been benchmarked are Caterpillar, Komatsu and Volvo. They are the leaders in their respective fields. 2.6 Operational Efficiency Financial Parameters The CII survey results showed that there has been a good growth rate in terms of sales due to the higher investments by the user sectors. Though exports have also risen, the percentage of exports to sales is low due to lack of competitive advantage of machines built with indigenous technology. Wherever machines are built under technology transfer, companies face restrictions on the export market territory from the technology provider. The power consumed to sales has shown a decline because all companies are now conscious about energy conservation and use various methods like automatic switching of systems and higher efficiency / low consumption electrical appliances etc. Value added for an industry is the difference between the value of the output and the value of the input namely raw materials bought outs. In other words we can attribute this difference to the value added to the product by the company. The value addition has risen over the years because more manufacturing has taken place in 2003-04 in place of trading as compared to the earlier years. It has again shown a fall due to the rising raw material prices in 2004-05. Inventory on an average was found to be 26 percent of net sales. Average Turnover of Inventory for 2004-05 was found to be 4. The international benchmark is between 5 7. The number of days sales outstanding is on an average within 90 days, which is at par with the engineering industry. This is also in keeping with international trends. Cost of wages to sales was found to be 11.8 percent in 2004-05. The range varied from a low of 3 percent to a high of 28 percent. For Caterpillar Inc. the ratio was 19.8 percent. The employee productivity is fairly low as compared to international companies. Sales per employee on an average for the industry was found to be Rs.35 lakhs but for the manufacturing companies it was found to be Rs.32.5 lakhs. This is the reason why though the cost of wages per employee is very low at Rs.4 lakhs, the lower productivity of the employee offsets the advantage. The value added per employee was only Rs.11 lakhs. The global standards for employee productivity i.e. sales per employee is in the range of Rs.160-175 lakhs. Profitability The industry in India witnessed a tremendous jump in profitability in 2004-05 over 2003-04. The return on capital employed is 24 percent and has increased by 85 percent over 2003-04. The PBIT has increased

Owen Meany Essay -- essays research papers

"Watch out for people who call themselves religious; make sure you know what they mean-make sure they know what they mean!" (572). In the novel written by John Irving, A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY, the protagonist, Owen Meany, developed an unusual religious significance. Owen experienced visions of future events, he had a unique type of faith in God that most do not attain, and Owen spoke endlessly to inform people about God. Throughout Owen's life he demonstrated the same characteristics as a prophet through his actions and his words. Thus one could conclude that Owen Meany is a prophet. Similar to a prophet, Owen was given precognitive powers that allowed him to see into the future. Owen's first prophecy came to him on New Years Eve 1953 during the community production of 'A Christmas Carol'. The most obvious inference concerning the play was that Owen played the part of the ghost of Christmas yet to come. In reaction to Owen's portrayal of this character, the audience's faces which were "so amused, so curious, so various-were rendered shockingly similar; each face became the model of each other's fear" (42). Owen had dehumanized this character to the point that children were leaving the theater crying and some were even wetting their pants. One reference which could be made concerning Owen and Scrooge was that "GOD HAS ALLOWED [them] TO KNOW MORE THAN MOST PEOPLE KNOW-†¦" (366). Both of them were told their futures, however Scrooge made an effort to change his, where as Owen did not. Owen's revelation came through a vision he experienc ed during the graveyard scene of the play. He immediately fainted. The curtains went down, and members of the production all ran to Owen's aid, yet he seemed ungrateful, "He appeared to be sullenly embracing his 'vision' like the typically doubtless prophet he so often seemed to be†¦" (246). Owen believed he had seen his name on a gravestone along with the date of his death. No one could convince him otherwise. The fact that Owen was correct about the date of his death confirmed that he had visions; this proved he had qualities of a prophet. A prophet uses prophecies to not only prove they have powers, but also to benefit others. The second prophecy came to Owen in his dreams when he envisioned the reason and the way his life woul... ...n God but knowing he exists to the point of putting love, faith and destiny in one power. Owen marked his place within the hearts of those who surrounded him with his teachings, strong words of advice and encouragement. Owen Meany demonstrated many characteristics of a prophet, and could be linked to a prophetic figure. On more than one occasion, he had visions of future events which affected other people around him physically and spiritually. Throughout his life he also maintained a special relationship and strong faith in God. Many of Owens morals and values that he voiced became strong teachings about life. Although everyone in the world did not know him, many believed he was special for his wisdom at such a young age. Through these accomplishments, Owen leads himself to the stage of being a prophet. Today, prophets could be all among us, yet society turns away from the idea. The idea of a teacher for the subject of life fascinates many, but the idea of God sending messengers to us repels those who lack faith. What would it take for you to recognize a prophet? Many prophets may go unrecognized in the world and yet the only way they can exist is if someone will believe in them. Owen Meany Essay -- essays research papers "Watch out for people who call themselves religious; make sure you know what they mean-make sure they know what they mean!" (572). In the novel written by John Irving, A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY, the protagonist, Owen Meany, developed an unusual religious significance. Owen experienced visions of future events, he had a unique type of faith in God that most do not attain, and Owen spoke endlessly to inform people about God. Throughout Owen's life he demonstrated the same characteristics as a prophet through his actions and his words. Thus one could conclude that Owen Meany is a prophet. Similar to a prophet, Owen was given precognitive powers that allowed him to see into the future. Owen's first prophecy came to him on New Years Eve 1953 during the community production of 'A Christmas Carol'. The most obvious inference concerning the play was that Owen played the part of the ghost of Christmas yet to come. In reaction to Owen's portrayal of this character, the audience's faces which were "so amused, so curious, so various-were rendered shockingly similar; each face became the model of each other's fear" (42). Owen had dehumanized this character to the point that children were leaving the theater crying and some were even wetting their pants. One reference which could be made concerning Owen and Scrooge was that "GOD HAS ALLOWED [them] TO KNOW MORE THAN MOST PEOPLE KNOW-†¦" (366). Both of them were told their futures, however Scrooge made an effort to change his, where as Owen did not. Owen's revelation came through a vision he experienc ed during the graveyard scene of the play. He immediately fainted. The curtains went down, and members of the production all ran to Owen's aid, yet he seemed ungrateful, "He appeared to be sullenly embracing his 'vision' like the typically doubtless prophet he so often seemed to be†¦" (246). Owen believed he had seen his name on a gravestone along with the date of his death. No one could convince him otherwise. The fact that Owen was correct about the date of his death confirmed that he had visions; this proved he had qualities of a prophet. A prophet uses prophecies to not only prove they have powers, but also to benefit others. The second prophecy came to Owen in his dreams when he envisioned the reason and the way his life woul... ...n God but knowing he exists to the point of putting love, faith and destiny in one power. Owen marked his place within the hearts of those who surrounded him with his teachings, strong words of advice and encouragement. Owen Meany demonstrated many characteristics of a prophet, and could be linked to a prophetic figure. On more than one occasion, he had visions of future events which affected other people around him physically and spiritually. Throughout his life he also maintained a special relationship and strong faith in God. Many of Owens morals and values that he voiced became strong teachings about life. Although everyone in the world did not know him, many believed he was special for his wisdom at such a young age. Through these accomplishments, Owen leads himself to the stage of being a prophet. Today, prophets could be all among us, yet society turns away from the idea. The idea of a teacher for the subject of life fascinates many, but the idea of God sending messengers to us repels those who lack faith. What would it take for you to recognize a prophet? Many prophets may go unrecognized in the world and yet the only way they can exist is if someone will believe in them.

Corporate Identity Essay

Explained by Balmer and Soenen (1999). The International Corporate Identity Group (ICIG), therefore, came up with a statement of corporate identity, The Strathclyde Statement, to describe it. Please refer to Appendix B for the ICIG statement. A commonality between all attempts to define corporate identity, as well as, The Strathclyde Statement, indicates its characteristics which are concluded to be: 1. Collective. 2. Central. 3. Enduring. 4. Identifying of corporate. 5. Manageable. 6. Manifested by corporate-level strategy (vision and mission). 7. Affecting corporate image and affected by corporate image. Can be a source of competitive advantage. In spite all the variations in defining the concept, a clearer image of what corporate identity is emerges after studying its constructs and dimensions. This will be explored in the next section. Corporate identity: The structure What meant by structure is the components that constitute the corporate identity. Regardless of the difference i n categorizations, researchers have more in common when it comes to studying the construct of corporate identity than they had in its definition. Different views were offered of the construct of corporate identity. From a orporate communication paradigm, Birkigt & Stadler (1986) in (Balmer, 1998) have introduced corporate identity mix that focuses on the means by which corporate identity is communicated. Their mix includes corporate personality, behaviour, communication, and symbolism. Birkigt & Stadler mix has been given a good deal of attention by many authors (van Riel, 1995; Balmer, 1998; van Rekom, 1997). Communication is considered an important factor in shaping corporate identity, where it is stated that messages are communicated through behaviour of organization members (Balmer & van Riel, 1997). In 1995, Schmidt’s mix was introduced; it adds external environmental factors and also includes corporate culture to the corporate identity mix. It is composed of corporate culture, corporate behaviour, market condition and strategies, product and services, and communication ; design. Melewar ; Karaosmangolu (2006) suggest a â€Å"seven dimensions† construct for corporate identity that is very similar to Schmidt’s mix. These are corporate culture, corporate behaviour, and corporate communication, corporate structure, corporate strategy, corporate design, and industry identity. Balmer and Soenen (1999) have proposed a corporate identity mix that is composed of three of the human senses; these are soul, mind, and voice, see figure 1. The mind is the vision and philosophy, strategy, products and services, corporate performance, brand architecture, and corporate ownership, the soul consists of values, cultures, employee affinity, and internal images, and the voice consists of the corporate uncontrolled communication, controlled communication, symbolism, personnel and corporate behaviour, and indirect (external/ third party) communication. Figure [ 1 ] [ 1 ] Corporate Identity Mix – Adopted from [ (Balmer & Soenen, 1999)] Corporate culture Corporate culture was devoted proper attention since the early stages in expanding the corporate identity concept beyond the visual identity (Baker & Balmer, 1997; Hatch & Schultz, 1997; Stuart, 1999; Dowling, 1986; Markwick & Fill, 1997; Stuart, 1999; Melewar & Karaosmangolu, 2006). Culture epitomises the consensus within a company about how activities should be accomplished and is conceived as a result of a group’s shared experience and learning with respect to atters of external adaptation and internal integration† (Schein, 1985) in (Melewar & Karaosmangolu, 2006). It is therefore, represented in the shared values and beliefs among corporate members and also includes corporate philosophy, mission, and subcultures (Melewar & Karaosmangolu, 2006). Baker & Balmer (1997) consider culture as the most important element in the corporate identity mix. However, in their explanation for corporate identity mix, Balmer & Soenen (1999) consider culture as a different concept from values but they place both of them in the Soul category in their organically inspired categorization. All researchers in the topic state that corporate culture is an important factor in influencing corporate identity. Dowling (1986) puts corporate culture on the same ontological level as corporate identity and argues that culture, identity, and image are related components of a system that defines organizations, while Markwick & Fill (1997) consider corporate culture as part of corporate personality, which directly influence the corporate identity. Bernstein (1984) considers corporate personality as the total characteristics that generate corporate identity. Abratt and Shee (1989) agree to the ame opinion and consider these characteristics as the totality of behavioural and intellectual characteristics of the corporate. Melewar & Karaosmangolu (2006) found that culture is usually communicated to stakeholders through employees’ behaviour. Therefore, culture can be considered as a context in which employees’ behaviour is formulated (Stuart, 1999). Corporate Behaviour Many commentators suggest that the actions of a corporation are a fundamental element of its identity (Balmer & van Riel, 1997; Hatch & Schultz, 1997; Kiriakidou & Millward, 2000; Topalian, 1984; Olins, 1995). While Balmer & Soenen (1998) consider behaviour as part of the voice in their categorization, Melewar & Jenkins (2002) gives more attention to the behaviour as described by â€Å"the body language†. Behaviour is one of the most important aspects in corporate identity since corporate identity is rooted in the behaviour of its members (Balmer & van Riel, 1997). This importance comes from the fact that behaviour can be an important media to communicate messages to different stakeholders (Melewar & Jenkins, 2002). Olins (1995) contends that everything that corporate does or ay communicates. Therefore, it is important to align employees’ behaviour totality or the corporate behaviour with the values, philosophies and communication to effectively contribute toward building the targeted identity. Van Rekom (1997) argues that actions that are deliberate are more important than spontaneous ones. Markwick & Fill (1997) argues that the visual cues can be misleading; they rely on other cues such as behaviour, communication, and values to understand corporate identity. It is important, then, to indicate that corporate behaviour has to e managed and aligned with the messages communicated by corporate to enforce its identity. Management behaviour is an important aspect of behaviour since the former are more exposed to stakeholders. Hatch and Schultz (1997) argue that identity and image are influenced by the management behaviour. Melewar & Jenkins (2002) argue that management behaviour should be consistent with the values and vision of the organization not to create confusion or communicate faulty messages. Van Rekom (1997) emphasizes the importance of centrality in corporate identity and suggests that employees’ efforts and behaviour should collaborate owards confirming the organization goals and objectives. Communication and design The purpose of creating a favourable corporate identity is to project a positive image to stakeholders and consequently a good reputation for the organization. Corporate identity has to be communicated in order to be able to take this advantage. Therefore, all communication media’s have to be aligned and coordinated in order to create a consistent corporate identity. Van Riel (1995) considers succession in communicating corporate identity as a factor to measure the effectiveness of corporate communication. Controlled Communication Ind (1992) describes corporate communications as the â€Å"process which translates corporate identity into image†. Where Ind include uncontrolled communication in his definition, van Riel (1995) distinguishes between controlled and uncontrolled communication in his definition of corporate communication as â€Å"an instrument of management by means of which all consciously used forms of internal and external communications are harmonized as effectively and efficiently as possible, so as to create a favourable basis for relationships upon which the company is dependent†. Controlled communication can be classified to include management communication, marketing communication, and organizational communication; which are controlled type of communication (van Riel, 1995). Management communication is vital in communicating the corporate objectives and goals to employees (Melewar & Jenkins, 2002). It is defined as an attempt to â€Å"communicate the vision and mission of the company in order to establish a favourable image and ultimately a good reputation amongst its internal and external stakeholders† (Olins, 1989). Marketing ommunication is generally associated with the 4Ps of product, price, place and promotion, and is aimed at supporting the sales of an organisation’s products or services. Marketing communication include, advertising, public relation activities and direct marketing. Van Riel (1995) puts organizational communication as the one with stakeholders that has an interdependent relationship with the organization; this includes internal and external stakeholders. Uncontrolled Communication Cornelissen (2000) contends that perceived corporate identity is formed by controlled and uncontrolled communication. Olins (1995) and Balmer (1995) agree on that everything the organization does or say communicates. Uncontrolled communication usually occurs by organization’s members dealing with external stakeholders (Moingeon & Ramanantsoa, 1997). It can be concluded that uncontrolled communication mainly occurs through behaviour; therefore, behaviour of corporate members should be aligned with corporate philosophies, values and strategies as mentioned earlier. Melewar & Karaosmangolu (2006) suggest that the corporate members’ commitment to the corporate values and goals will reduce the negative uncontrolled communication. A dynamic interrelationship between culture and communication (controlled and uncontrolled) can be concluded from the earlier argument. Corporate culture is usually communicated through employees’ behaviour (uncontrolled communication) (Melewar & Karaosmangolu, 2006). Corporate Design Corporate design is consisted of the organisation’s name, slogan, logotype and symbol, colour and typography (Melewar & Saunders, 1998). Bernstein (1986) and Dowling (1986) consider the messages communicated through the symbol have more value than the symbol itself. Therefore, it is the communication done by the ymbol that makes the visual identity important to corporate identity. Melewar and Saunders (1998) attest on the importance of visual identity of corporation in influencing purchase decisions by consumers due to the rapid change in technology. The visual manifestation of corporate identity can communicate the corporate values and support the other forms of communication (Baker & Balmer, 1997). Melewar & Karaosmangolu (2006) also found that the slogan has powerful effect on stakeholders’ perceptions of the organizations. Structure Corporate structure is fundamental component of corporate identity (Olins, 1986; Melewar & Karaosmangolu, 2006). Brand structure Organizations develop branding strategies in order to distinguish itself from competitors (Melewar & Karaosmangolu, 2006). Olins (1986) have introduced three different brand structures: 1 . Monolithic structure: in this structure, the corporate uses consistent design and name. 2. Endorsed structure: where the names and designs of the subsidiaries are associated with the parent corporate. 3. Branded structure: indicates that the design and name of the parent company is less exposed to customers and different products have separate brands. Organisational Structure Organizational structure refers to the hierarchy in the organization, lines of reporting and communication. The degree autonomy of the managers is determined by the degree of centralization within the organization’s structure. The more decentralize the structure is, the more autonomy managers have, (Melewar & Karaosmangolu, 2006) which may lead to the emergence of new brand structure (Olins, 1986). Strategy All literature reviewed has made a link between corporate identity and strategy. There are different views on the relationship between corporate identity and trategy. The first view indicates that strategy provides a context to encapsulate corporate identity (Markwick & Fill, 1997; Stuart, 1999). The second view argues that as corporate identity encapsulates corporate values and mission and vision, it makes a reference point for the corporate strategy (Balmer & Greyser, 2009). He (2006) suggests a dynamic interrelationship between corporate identity and strategy which can be bidirectional. He (2006) suggests that corporate identity and strategy should have a big enough gap to allow change and enough alignment to maintain onsistency. Melewar & Karaosmangolu (2006) have highlighted two strategy types that are: Differentiation Strategy Differentiation strategy is the aspect of the corporate strategy that focus on the corporate strength and competitive advantage which is linked to the basic identity of the corporate (Melewar & Karaosmangolu, 2006). Positioning strategy Positioning strategy which is, according to Melewar & Karaosmangolu (2006), linked to the desired identity for the corporate. Corporate identity management Several models were introduced by academics to manage corporate identity. In the following sections, some of these models are described and analysed. Kennedy (1977) Kennedys model has focused on the creation of a positive corporate image (See Figure 2). She has realised the ability to influence corporate image through behavioural projections of the company. Kennedy has realised that based on the reality behaviour, or as per her wording â€Å"policies operating within the company’, an enduring and robust positive image can be obtained. In this model, Kennedy has acknowledged the importance of the effect of employees perception of the corporate n their behaviour and consequently on the projection of the corporate image to other stakeholders. In other parts of her article she declares the importance of employees in the process of company image formation. Also, there was no mentioning of visual identity of the corporate, as we know it is part of the corporate identity mix. Although her model hasn’t handled corporate identity in its new shape, her model was a starting point for several further models. Kennedys model main contribution was her awareness of the ability to influence corporate image based on corporate reality and behaviour. Figure [ 1 ] [2] Kennedy model for managing corporate image – Adopted from Stuart (1999) Dowling (1986) As seen in Figure 3, Dowling has elaborated on the role of communication in forming image of the corporate. Dowling considered that interpersonal communication represents the images of the firm held by these groups, and that mass media communication represents the company’s perception of itself. His argument is in contrast with the later literature reviewed which distinguishes between corporate identity, which communication is part of, and the corporate image that can be influenced by communication. Van Riel (1995) suggests that corporate communication should be consistent with corporate strategy, corporate identity, and corporate image. Figure [ 1 ] [3] Dowling model for managing corporate image – Adopted from Stuart (1999) In the conception of corporate culture, Dowling has dealt with culture as a determinant where he placed it at the same level with identity (Hatch & Schultz, 1997). However, Hatch and Schultz didn’t share the same opinion with Dowling where they have considered culture as a context of identity rather than being a determinant. Also Dowlings model were criticised for his underestimation of the role f management communication in influencing employees’ behaviour and internal images. Abratt (1989) Abratt’s model has introduced the concept of corporate personality. He argued that from the corporate personality, corporate philosophies can be developed, where the latter include values and culture of the corporate. The strategy was also included in the corporate personality in the model as showed in Figure 4. However, Abratt has defined corporate identity as â€Å"an assembly of visual clues-physical and behavioural by which an audience can recognise a company and distinguish it from others and hich can be used to represent or symbolise the company’ (Abratt & Shee, 1989).