MÁS ALLÁ DE UNA TAZA DE CAFÉ…

Conocer el proceso  “del árbol a  la taza”,  reconocer el esfuerzo  y dedicación que realizan centenares de millones de personas  por asegurar la mejor calidad,  y  pertenecer a una cultura que disfruta profundamente de una  buena taza de  café hace que mi marca favorita sea “Juan Valdez-Café”.

Si bien es cierto que la tierra del café en Colombia no sólo se destaca por poseer  condiciones extremadamente favorables para producir un café de montaña de alta calidad, detrás de cada taza de café Premium Colombiano existe una historia de cómo la gente se une para alcanzar retos  y objetivos en común, donde la sinergia logra lo que la invidualidad no alcanza, es por esto que para mí  esta marca se constituye en  un ejemplo de unión de trabajo, dedicación y esfuerzo.

¿Pero cómo inició Juan Valdez? La Marca Juan Valdéz nació en 1959,  cuando la  Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia encargó la creación de una campaña publicitaria para el café de Colombia. La agencia responsable, Doyle Dan Bernbach, creó un personaje llamado Juan Valdez. Desde entonces la figura de este caficultor junto a su mula Conchita han recorrido el mundo e identificado el mejor café del mundo.

 

Hoy en Día la Marca Juan Valdéz ha  potenciado una imagen tan importante a nivel internacional que en el 2005 fue elegido como el ícono publicitario más importante en Estados Unidos. Quienes disfrutamos consumiendo 100% café colombiano sabemos que detrás de un producto de alta calidad hay un esfuerzo común y unos valores de sacrificio, honestidad y acción colectiva que hacen del producto el icono de un país y el despliegue de acciones colectivas en búsqueda de objetivos comunes.

Juan Valdez a diferencia de muchas marcas de café en el mundo, cuenta con autenticidad  y legitimidad  y gracias a sus campañas publicitarias, se conoce a  Colombia como un país productor de café de altísima calidad, es una marca diferenciada que gracias a su reconocimiento logra que los consumidores mas exigentes estén dispuestos a pagar un precio mayor por la  calidad, generando ventajas competitivas.

A todos los  que les guste el café deben probar una taza del café de más alta calidad JUAN VALDEZ para catar como en los mejores vinos el mejor aroma, y balance de sabor en esta categoría.

 

Comentarios desactivados en MÁS ALLÁ DE UNA TAZA DE CAFÉ… / 13 Dic 2011 por Maria Angelica De la Torre Esmeral
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SABER HACER

 

Si dividimos las áreas del conocimiento en tres (Ser, Saber y Saber Hacer), los contenidos de la materia de Habilidades Directivas se enmarcan claramente dentro del último área, el de SABER HACER.

Esto significa que más allá del contenido teórico de los diferentes módulos que forman parte de la asignatura, lo principal es entenderlos y hacerlos “propios” para usarlos en la medida en que sean necesarios. Como señalan alumnos que cursan el Master, al final son las situaciones las que demandan la necesidad de tener que utilizar las técnicas que se ven en el aula. De ahí, que sea el principio de un camino que uno ya no abandona y que confiemos esté lleno de más éxitos que fracasos y de más alegrías que tristezas.

Lógicamente, el módulo que más uso tiene a corto plazo es el de Presentaciones Eficaces, porque el propio Master está lleno de momentos en los que el alumno debe hablar en público para defender su trabajo, exponer su proyecto, etc.

A este módulo se añaden los demás, como son Liderazgo, Toma de Decisiones, Negociación y Gestión del Tiempo para configurar un amplio abanico de recursos y herramientas, que se suman al del resto de materias para ir “llenando” la mochila del alumno y que esté bien preparado para el desembarco en la vida profesional. Y a partir de ahí, la mochila se irá llenando también de experiencias y emociones, que irán configurando la trayectoria profesional de cada uno.

Un aspecto destacado de esta materia, es el apartado de la metodología. En todos los módulos, se trabajarán casos prácticos para clarificar las herramientas y su puesta en escena. Igualmente, se potenciará el trabajo en equipo como forma de resolver dichos casos. Al final, todos aprendemos de todo y de todos de una manera u otra.

Por último, me gustaría terminar con una imagen que refleja el proceso por el que pasamos las personas ante situaciones nuevas, desconocidas o que nos generan estrés. Está claro que la escalera hay que subirla. Habilidades Directivas persigue contribuir a que esta escalada se haga  de la manera más rápida y con el menor número de tropezones posible.

 

Oscar Cerro Aguirre

Profesor Habilidades Directivas

Comentarios desactivados en SABER HACER / 12 Dic 2011 por Mónica López
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Empezamos la materia de Project Management

Todos los que leéis esta introducción estaréis usando un portátil, un tablet o bien un smartphone. Sin embargo, nadie se suele preguntar cómo se desarrolló ese dispositivo y se hizo realidad, llegando finalmente a nuestras manos.

Aunque no lo parezca, el Concorde, el Sputnik, la casa donde vives, la carretera por donde pasas todos los días o simplemente la bombilla de bajo consumo que alumbra tu habitación, fueron una vez un proyecto.

Pero no sólo estamos rodeados de cosas que alguna vez fueron un proyecto, sino que en nuestra vida desarrollamos numerosos proyectos aunque no seamos conscientes de ello: comprar un coche, ir de vacaciones….

Durante las cinco sesiones en las que se imparte la asignatura, podréis descubrir todo lo que encierra la palabra Proyecto y especialmente las herramientas y técnicas empleadas en el Project Management o Gestión de Proyectos, mediante las cuales las empresas son capaces de competir en un entorno cambiante y muy competitivo donde el éxito de sus proyectos se mide por la rapidez en llegar al mercado, la calidad y el coste del producto.

El gran dinamismo del mercado provoca la rápida obsolescencia de los productos, lo que se traduce en el progresivo abandono del modelo de gestión tradicional centrado en operaciones repetitivas por la gestión dinámica que proporciona la gestión por proyectos.

Miguel Angel García Urbano. Profesor Project Management EOI.

Comentarios desactivados en Empezamos la materia de Project Management / 12 Dic 2011 por evacurto
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Starting the Project Management subject

Welcome to the Project Management course.

The objective of this course is to take you through the basics of Project Management, covering Project Planning, Project Scope Management, Time Management, Resources Management, Risk Management and Project Monitoring and Control.

The course will follow the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)© contents and methodology, developed by the Project Management Institute (PMI) and recognised by the American National Standard Institute (ANSI) and by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

My personal objective for the course is that students learn by discussing practical and real life examples in class and having fun!. Project Management is the discipline that brings all the other disciplines together to create something that did not exist before. In consequence, I will be supporting the course with real practices in companies that I have worked for, mainly in the Aerospace and Engineering sectors. I hope that, besides the know-how you can get in Project Management, you also get a good flavour of the “real life” inside any business these days.

In line with this latter objective, we have designed a case that you will need to solve in your groups. The goal of this case is to launch a new product to the market: the ePad 3D – does it sound familiar?. We hope it will be fun to solve it and work with your colleagues simulating a real company environment.

I am looking forward to starting the course with you. Just in case you still wonder why we need Project Management, here you have a first taste: A380 Assembly.

Francisco Javier Sánchez-Segura. EOI PM teacher.

Comentarios desactivados en Starting the Project Management subject / 12 Dic 2011 por evacurto
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MARS, “The ice-cream market”

I would like to begin this post saying that I’m not a concerning consumer of ice-creams but before reading this case I didn’t know about the presence of MARS in this sector. I told about this with some of my collegues and most of them agreed with me, so, it’s assumed that nowadays its major competitors, Nestlé and Unilever, have a higher path covered ans Mars still have a long road ahead and have to fix a clear strategy (new policies of logistic, marketing and environment) to reach them  and make a real step change in coming years.

In the business case, the two questions we were asked are:

1.- How would you resume the strategies adopted by Mars to launch its ice-cream products?

2.-Do you think that Mars will ever make significant profits from its ice cream operations?Why?How?

As the two questions are related to each other I will divide my explanation in the different key principles taken and from my point of view how they should be developed to conclude with a great balance between them.

BRANDING: Mars already has a well-known name in terms of snacks, then it’s a good idea to take advantage of it but at once you get into a new market such as the ice-cream one, you must take into account that the “rules” and policies change, so with being good snacks sellers is not enough. New strategies must be defined (why not new ice-cream brands).

HICH-QUALITY INGREDENTS: I think this is the key principle of Mars’ success. The fact of taking a sweet is somehow a whim, so, if we are talking about a low cost product, the consumer seeks that one which satisfies him more. That is the reason why a different, caracteristic and desirable taste takes on high importance.

COST: It’s known for all of us the current crisis that almost all the world is going through, and perhaps some people can consider that this fact doesn’t affect too much to the ice-cream sector, as they are cheap and people buy sweets as good moments as bad ones. However, this is not true at all, and customers pay more attention to prices, making in this sense competitiveness  higher and higher.

A big competitor that is taking more and more a wider market range is the house brands, as they have an incredible low cost, and its quality is increasing and being more appreciated, making  people side more towards them than to pay the overprice for “higher quality” brands.

DISTRIBUTION: As it’s said in the information which was given to us, this is the main weakness in terms of the new grocery trade carried out by Mars. As we discussed in class, when you are not an expert in one issue, it’s simply better to delegate it (subcontract) that to be involved in an uncertain future (which we don´t know their keys).

For a good distribution, first of all, we have to know where is located my market and which are my clients, so as far as possible,  coming up as close as we are able to them, making the transport cheaper. We shouldn’t just take this into account  regarding to the final customer (distribution), but also in terms  of our suppliers.

In this sense the eastern France is a good location (supply of raw materials), but as the main ice-cream consumption occurs in tourist, beach and hot areas, the construction of a new factory in a key place like the Mediterranean can mean a big profit for the company on the long-term.

Another porpose is to negotiate agreements with second ans third competitors. Looking through the report, it’s explained how these kind of deals achieved by Nestlé and Unilever meant big profits, so, Mars must look for something similar and share the losses involved in the distribution.

HEALTH: Is the most repeated word in terms of food and diet, so it must be included in our strategy. Nowadays people really care about health and nutrition, then it’s vital the constant product development increasingly healthy, reformulating them with a low-fat and low-sugar, reducing the amount of sodium and saturated fat in them.

A good campaing (clear and easy to understand) to the people to get the  nutritional benefits of products becomes very important.

On the other hand, ice-creams require a higher importance in a certain period of the year, the spring and summer, in such a way during a hot day we feel like an ice-cream, and it must be fresh and light. If it has the same name as the snack, we can associate each other (less healthy, more stodgy), making that the client chooses another option.

MARKETING: Many times marketing makes the difference. The fact of buying and eating an ice-cream is related to desire, greed, taste, and that also goes by the view (“entra por la vista”). It always comes to my mind the Frigo’s spot of Eva Longoria and the seven cardinal sins. This is just the point!, because for people the fact of eating an ice-cream is like to commit a sin, but at the same time it is irresistible. A goos campaing should aimed in that direction…Attract us to commit the sin!!

Also, doing (as our competitors have always done) endless promotions, like gifts, “two for one”, etc. can mean profits, overall, in the children sector.

All these factors are important, and not each one by itself, but the combination of all of them is essential.

When you come in a candy shop there are plenty of things to choose (many substitute products), but if we did a good cost-quality-attractive balance, it’s more likely to tip the scale in our favor (meaning profits for Mars in this case).

 

 

 

 

Comentarios desactivados en MARS, “The ice-cream market” / 05 Dic 2011 por Alfonso Medal Rendal
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MARS ICE CREAM Strategy Case

 

1. How would you resume the strategies adopted by Mars to launch its ice cream products?

Mars Strategies carried out for the introduction of his product Mars Ice Cream was based on two fundamental premises:

a) The quality of the product, something really good and high quality, which gives confidence to consumers who want healthy products and to know that they are eating something good. Another good strategy was the creation of premium-price category, which gave more emphasis to the union quality-price, something difficult to overcome. Although this implies a lower marginal benefits of the product, which must be compensated by sales volume, strengthening it with a heavy investment in advertising and marketing, the initial bet was strong and good.

b) The geo-strategy: Operation in Europe was marked by competition with Unilever and Nestle, which followed a policy based small retailers in the gift of refrigerators in return for exclusive sales of their products, making it impossible to mars be included in them. For which purpose, Mars took a different way that was talking to 2nd level brands in important countries like UK and France to take advantage of its distribution facilities. Another good strategy was to fill their fridges with substitutional elements requested the small retailers, because if mars wanted market share, should make concessions before. Thanks to this agreement with the small retailer could reach all possible outlets.

2. Do you think that Mars will ever make significant profits from its ice cream operations? Why? How?

Over time they will. They have a good product, good price and quality and by now maintain a market share that leads them to offset costs. They need to keep going up slowly but with the same idea of ​​their product, something good and cheap. One thing that sets them apart from others is they are not ice cream for dessert, as Nestle and Unilever focus on desserts. Having passed the defense line of its competitors, Mars must relaunch a marketing and advertising campaign to avoid falling into the oblivion of consumers. Once  the sales increases and a loyal clientele is created , other strategies may be taken with respect to theircompetitors to gain market share.

Comentarios desactivados en MARS ICE CREAM Strategy Case / 05 Dic 2011 por Álvaro Rodero Bermejo
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Mars Strategy

Mars Ice cream is distributed in Spain by Wrigley, a subsidiary of Mars Inc., company that owns brands like Boomer, Orbit or Sugus. The difficulties Mars is facing when trying to get a considerable market share in the ice cream sector are due, among other factors, to the big power of its three main competitors:

-Helados Nestlé (Nestlé): With more than 50 years in the market, Helados Nestlé has a long history in Spain. It is the result of many brand fusions (Avidesa, Camy and Miko), that took them to the second place in the ice cream market in Spain.

-Frigo (Unilever): The leader. Founded in Poblenou in 1927, Industrias Frigoríficas de Alimentación (Frigo) is the main ice cream seller, competing closely with Helados Nestlé. It was bought in 1973 by Unilever, the multinational corporation.

-Kalise: The last entirely Spanish Ice crem company. It owns three factories and a market share of aproximately 20%, mostly in Canary Islands.

Mars strategy has always been the creation of high quality products, using natural ingredients. The main problems have always hit the distribution part of the value chain. A frozen product requires a series of vehicles and storage that makes selling it even harder. The competitors obviusly have their own freezers and they don´t let Mars products to use them. The fact that the market is concentrated in those three main companies makes an agreement almost impossible. Mars tried to rent or buy frozen cabinets to sell their products, but no success has been achieved.

From my point of view, Mars profit from ice cream operations will come if they differentiate from its competitors either in price or in products. People need to perceive that they are offering something different, specially when Frigo has been selling ice creams for almost 100 years. The distribution issues must be solved, in order to boost the potential consumers. Perhaps start selling only in supermarkets would be a good idea, where an investment in freezers is not compulsory. Bars and kiosks could be the second step. All of this supported by a huge marketing campaign.

I am sure there is room for Mars in the ice cream sector in a sunny country  like Spain.

 

Pablo González Viña

Strategy 2011-2012

Comentarios desactivados en Mars Strategy / 05 Dic 2011 por Pablo Gonzalez Vina
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Strategy case

How would you resume the strategies adopted by Mars to launch its ice cream products?

Mars’s strategy since its inception is distinguished from its competitors by using high quality ingredients and setting a price premium that distinguish it from its competitors, high quality, and higher price. Also a factor in which invested much effort and money was frozen distribution. All the production of ice cream is placed in a factory at the eastern of France

Do you think that Mars will ever make significant profits from its ice cream operations? Why? How?

Yes I do, if they change their strategy. If they really want to differentiate they self from the competitors in this sector, should be more widely known their own products. Taking into account that the company have several problems to distribute ice cream to small shops,  they should abandon this types of shops and  substitute for own stores (franchise mode) in which where sell only ice cream brand Mars.  Otherwise they should consider the possibility of change the distribution strategy, in my opinion they should develop transfers centres well distributed on Europe, this could help to reduce the costs and the time of distribution. Also for making know the Mars ice-cream I would put cheap prices during  promotional time.

 

 

 

Comentarios desactivados en Strategy case / 04 Dic 2011 por Ruben Pardo Hernangomez
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Mars’ Ice-Cream Strategy

 

 1. How to resume the existing strategies adopted 

   After studying the case of the strategy implemented by Mars for the new product they were going to launch, my opinion is that the team who did the market research did not have in mind the part of the primary of the value chain arrangement, especially the issues regarded with the external logistics.

 

   The products quality is great, the brand is known, the flavor new and on the market was no other product with the same taste or properties. In order to gain the customers attention also in summer-time, because chocolate is like sickly sweet, the product would be refreshing, but still with the same taste as a normal Mars bar. So the niche of customers was expected to be compound by the people whom already loved the brand and to probably implement by the ice-lovers.

   The main fail came when the brand was about to distribute the product. Since it is a very susceptible product to heat and it can melt and you have to transport and storage it at very low temperatures.

   In order to achieve the desired result it is needed to implement a net of warehouses where to stock the product in order to be distributed after to the final stores. It is vital to implement this net, or at least to bargain with the competitors in order to use theirs. This last one is very difficult since we want to enter their market so they are not going to be disposed to let us enter.

2. Will Mars-ice ever be profitable? Why? How?

   Mars ice bars give the company percentage between 10 and 20 % of the total amount of revenues at the moment, so the product has a great potential of growth.

   If the company is able to achieve an efficient distribution of the product, the revenues from it will be even higher, and the product much more profitable.

Comentarios desactivados en Mars’ Ice-Cream Strategy / 04 Dic 2011 por Alexandru Nicolae Cosor
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Mars IceCream Strategy

How would you resume the strategies adopted by Mars to launch its ice cream products?

Mar s strategy can be resumed in two main concepts: take advantage of your strengths, and be innovative to overcome your weaknesses.

 

Taking ad vantage of strengths

Mars had a highly consolidated brand position in the sweet snacks business, and followed the tactic of translating this image to its new ice-cream goods. How? Basically by making products similar to the snacks, resembling them. This, with the use of quality material to make very tasty products, allowed it to establish a new premium price for them.

Customers will not be willing to pay a high price for what they don’t know. But as they know Mars, and like it, they try it, and since it’s made of high quality materials, keep on consuming them. Something “tasty” for the investors: a high growth market with high prices.

Also, another clear example of exploiting your strengths is the use of the excellent and long-standing relationships with the grocery trade for distribution.

Fighting your weaknesses

Main weakness was logistic, with a clever entry barriers imposed by the two main competitors: Unilever and Nestle. They provided with free freezers to small shops, but only their items could be showed in them.

Mars came up with an innovative idea for this: they financed and sold freezers to the shops, but allowing them to show other products in them. This allowed to come across a business scale problem in the beginning of the operations. And for a small shop is more attractive to have this kind of deal, as they can show different items in the same freezer.

It also partnered with many small but considerable national companies, to gain strength in each local market.

 

Do you think that Mars will ever make significant profits from its ice cream operations? Why? How?

Mars will make a singinifant profit in the long run. Considering that they have a premium product price, their unitary contribution is higher than the one of their competitors. They have come up with an innovative tactic to fight their main problem and cost (logistics) and they have won a considerable market share as a result of that. If they continue with this increase, they will have the necessary volume to reduce logistics cost and have a huge profit.

However, they should consider that their main customers pay a premium price for their products. With the current on-going crisis in Europe, customers may be willing to consume cheaper products. And new customers may not be a easy to seduce as they used to be. This should be considered in order to evaluate a “roof” for their sales.

If this maximum achievable sales does not give the necessary volume for the expected profit, then they should consider new strategies: one can be reducing prices (which will lead to new volumes, and related necessary investments); the other producing second-brand products, with lower costs/prices. The second strategy will keep the high contributions of the main brands, and these can reduce logistic costs as synergy with the second-brand products. Investments will be necessary as well.

7 comentarios / 04 Dic 2011 por Federico Camino
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