19 janvier 2012 | 
Auteur: Le calcul du ratio d’endettement : Il ne doit pas être supérieur à 33%. Il se calcule ainsi : (somme des charges / sommes des revenus)*100 = ….< 33%. Ce calcul permet à la banque de savoir s’il est en capacité de rembourser son futur emprunt, en prenant en compte ses dépenses mensuelles et le reste à vivre pour les personnes du foyer fiscal.
Les banques demandent une assurance-emprunteur qui permet de protéger l’emprunteur en cas de décès (DC), perte totale et irréversible d’autonomie (PTIA), voire même en option Incapacité Temporaire (ITT) et Invalidité Permanente Totale (IPT). Avant toute souscription l’assureur ou le banquier demande au client de répondre à un questionnaire de santé afin d’évaluer le risque. Il est à savoir qu’il y a des exclusions de garanties souvent négligées lors de la lecture de la police. En effet dans le cas des garanties d’incapacité et d’invalidité de travail, peuvent être exclus les risques liés aux compétitions sportives et entraînements (hippiques, sport de combat, courses motocyclistes, automobiles…), les risques dus à l’alcoolisme, stupéfiants, médicaments hors prescription médicale… Mais aussi les risques provoqués par une dépression nerveuse, mal de dos (sciatique, lombalgie, lumbago… Concernant les garanties Décès et Invalidité Absolue et Définitive, sont exclus les risques suivants : suicide (dans la ou les deux premières années), sport aérien, acrobaties, fait intentionnel causé ou provoqué par l’assuré, « effets directs ou indirects d’explosions, de dégagements de chaleur, d’irradiations provenant de la transmutation des noyaux d’atomes ».
La loi n’exige pas du client d’être assuré pour le décès, contrairement au banquier. Cette assurance correspond donc à un coût supplémentaire aux frais de garantie, d’hypothèque. La banque l’exige car « il est plus facile de faire jouer une assurance que de lever une hypothèque ». De plus, « le prix de vente d’un bien hypothéqué peut se révéler insuffisant pour couvrir le capital restant dû sur le prêt ». Il est à savoir que depuis la loi MURCEF (Art. L. 312-1-2) de 2001, les banques n’ont pas le droit d’accorder un prêt sous condition de souscrire une assurance-emprunteur. Le client a la liberté contractuelle de choisir son cocontractant en matière de services bancaires. En 2008, la loi a renforcé cette liberté via l’article L. 312-8 du code de la consommation : « l’emprunteur peut souscrire auprès de l’assureur de son choix une assurance équivalente à celle proposée par le prêteur ». L’assurance-emprunteur est donc le dernier élément à contracter avant l’obtention de l’accord définitif du prêt. Par la suite, le dossier est transmis à la banque qui le fait approuver auprès de la direction. Si celle-ci est satisfaite du dossier au niveau du taux d’endettement, du patrimoine possédé par le client, etc., elle émet un accord de principe qui une fois accepté, donne lieu à l’édition d’une « offre de prêt ». Celle-ci doit être transmise au notaire qui appelle les fonds en vue de la signature de l’acte authentique.
Quant à l’assurance-vie, elle est un placement et non une épargne. Le placement correspond à bloquer une certaine somme d’argent dans une opération financière. Ce montage a pour vocation d’optimiser une rentabilité. Alors que l’épargne désigne la partie de revenu non consommé. Autrement dit, c’est le fait « de renoncer à une consommation immédiate pour l’effectuer dans le futur ». L’assurance-vie est essentiellement destinée aux personnes possédant de l’épargne. Lors de la souscription de celle-ci, il faut bien regarder s’il s’agit d’un contrat à versements libres ou réguliers. En effet si ce sont des versements réguliers imposés par mois, trimestre ou annuel, il faut prévoir la somme correspondante. Il n’y a aucune limite quant au nombre de souscriptions. Avant toute souscription au contrat, il est demandé à l’assuré de remplir un questionnaire de santé afin de mesurer les risques de celui-ci. L’assureur demande aussi l’origine des fonds employés afin de se prémunir contre le blanchiment (TRACFIN). Le souscripteur doit toujours prêter attention à la rédaction de la clause bénéficiaire. Il est fortement conseillé d’écrire plusieurs rangs de bénéficiaires au cas où le premier serait décédé, disparu ou refuserait le capital du contrat lors de la survenance du décès du souscripteur. Il est à noter que les assureurs ont généralement des exemples types de clause bénéficiaire. L’assurance-vie est un placement, ce qui suppose de placer une certaine somme pour plusieurs années. Même si on peut effectuer des retraits partiels ou totaux, l’objectif est quand même de faire fructifier l’argent déposé.
Publié dans 
Media in France: radio, television, internet (2006) Introduction “Media represent the biggest power in our contemporary society“. (David Lodge in Le Monde de l’éducation – February 2000). The Radio in France “The nomadic medium above all others, freed from any spatial constraint, radio is moving, radio is entirely made of movement.” Radio was, for many decades the mass medium par excellence in France. At the dawn of the 21st century, radio is listened to regularly by over 80% of the French population. In addition to the three public radio stations (Europe 1, RMC, RTL), there are 1103 private stations (regional, thematic, generalist, independent and associative stations) broadcast on 3229 frequencies. A Brief History It is particularly difficult to determine an exact date regarding the appearance of Radio in France. However, in spite of some attempts at the end of the XIX Century, it is clear that mass radio developed in France mainly during the inter-war period. At that time, radio was strictly limited to military and maritime uses (the Eiffel Tower being the first post where transmitters were placed by the army), and was coordinated by the postal and telecommunications authority (PTT). The beginning of radio allowed the creation of private stations, mainly under the initiative of the French radioelectric Company (SFR). In the mid-thirties, the appearance of the first « presenters », generally former actors or artists, clearly improved the image and the attractiveness of radio, which progressively turned into a mass leisure activity through the arrival of the first spoken news, sports reports on line, and even debates, serials and broadcast publicities. In provincial France, the phenomenon also developed, through the efforts of the public sector, by the intermediary of the PTT, and the private sector (generally the SFR) created powerful stations such as Radio Lyon (1924), Radio Grenoble (1926) and in a more recent time the local radios of France Bleue (created by the public group of Radio France). The German invasion of June 1940 put an end to this period of development. After WWII, radio in France faced a huge nationalization process, which established a State monopoly on all stations (Radio France being the main public service radio broadcaster), that led to the development of several pirate channels. The monopoly would finally end in 1981, giving more freedom to radio operators in France. Radio Programmes and their audience With time, structural changes and technological progress, with the example of the displacement from Long Wave to the FM Wave band, considerably shifted the radio audience. The increasing development of radio stations in the private sector has led to more competition between the radios and offered more diversity of programs through radio broadcasting. The progressive fragmentation of the audience reduced the domination of general stations in favour of thematic stations that tend to base their programs on music and news. According to that, it seems obvious that the French audience is mainly divided up by age. Music Radios such as Skyrock, Fun Radio and NRJ tend to focus on the young generation (under 25), Cherie FM, and Europe 2 sharing mainly the 25-45 audience, with Nostalgie capturing the over-45 market. Moreover, it is easy to see the increasing development of community radio, especially in the big cities, aiming to promote the recognition of oppressed minorities (Fréquence Gaie, Beur FM) or promoting religious and cultural values (Fréquence Protestante, Radio Notre Dame, Radio Shalom). Television in France The history of the French television goes back to the 1930s when the first channel was launched (Radio PTT-Vision) and France introduced television as the 4th country in the world. The first channels in France were state channels. The Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (ORTF) was the national agency charged, between 1964 and 1974, with providing public radio and television in France. The introduction of private channels in 1984 and the privatisation of TF1 in 1987 meant a real boom of TV channels and brought with her a very competititive environment. Today there is hundreds of TV channels in France. The cable and satellite are very developed. The most important TV channel in France is TF1. TF1 is a private HYPERLINK « http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France » \o « France » French TV network, controlled by HYPERLINK « http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TF1_Group » \o « TF1 Group » TF1 Group, whose major share-holder is HYPERLINK « http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouygues » \o « Bouygues » Bouygues. TF1′s 31,8% average market share makes it the most popular domestic network. The second biggest TV channel group in France is France Televisions. France Télévisions is the French public national television broadcaster. It is funded mostly by television licences and advertising. Because of France’s geographical and cultural diversity, local and regional programms are broadcasted on France 3 for the metropole and France Ô for the oversea departments by France Televisions. Apart from these two major media groups, another media group that should be mentioned is Metropole Television. Their channel M6′s current on-air image suggests that it tailors its service to adolescent and young-adult demographics. Finally, there is Canal+ channel, a premium pay television channel launched in 1984. France also takes part in international TV projects such as TV5 (together with Belgium, Switzerland and Canada), the global television network in French language or Arte (together with Germany), a channel dedicated to cultural programmes. The most watched programmes according to the French audience measurement company Médiamétrie are the TV News (Journal télévisé) and sport programmes such as the football matches. The greatest French TV celebrities are Patrick Poivre d’Arvor, Thierry Ardisson, Marc-Olivier Fogiel. All the programs in France are watched by the CSA (The Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel) whose role is to regulate the various electronic media in France, such as radio and television, including eventual censorship. France is now looking forward to the day of December 6, 2006 when the long-awaited HYPERLINK « http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France » \o « France » French government-backed global 24-hour HYPERLINK « http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language » \o « French language » French language HYPERLINK « http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_TV » \o « Satellite TV » satellite TV HYPERLINK « http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_channel » \o « News channel » news channel France 24 will be launched. The internet in France The Internet revolution occurred in 1995 in France. In the history of Internet, 2003 was a great year for all the world but 2004 was also a special year for France. During this year, the progression of the number of people in France who bought an Internet connection was the biggest in the world. Now, approximately one French of two is a net surfeur (internaute) now with a high speed connection. The use of Internet in France is usually to buy a train ticket, send many e-mails to friends and family, download mp3 and movies, see videos (the most important french site is dailymotion), chat by Msn, meet people with meetic.com (who was created by a French), listen to radios, read newspapers (we can mention the famous website www.lemonde.fr) and sometimes pay taxes. Moreover, French is the second most popular language in the blogopshere, French people like to express themselves and debate their views. Many blogs are associated with newspapers, particularly in the view of presidential elections in 2007. We can quote the blog of Mr. Jupé, former Prime Minister and mayor of Bordeaux. The rap music radio called Skyrock was the pioneer in France promoting blogs (skyblog.com). Now there are around 3 million french kids blogging. So blogging is big in France. The French bloggeur revolution is being spearheaded by precocious youngsters. Three million of schoolchildren are bloggers. Many teens use cell phones to post diary entries and pop-culture news flashes to their skyblogs on the move. (But that portability is ruffling feathers in the classroom, where provocative adolescents use their journals to lampoon teachers and classmates with embarrassing camera-phone snaps and abusive remarks like “il pue le vin” — “he stinks of wine.” ) A spate of blog-related suspensions culminated last month in the expulsion of 10 pupils from high schools, four of whom also faced legal action; and new school rules were created to punish those insults. According to the CEO of Skyrock. “The classroom was formerly a closed place but, with mobile phones, it becomes a recordable, open place. The adults do not like it and are lost there.” The internet is the most important medium for school kids in France, and the young people are not used yet to traditional media. They were already sharing everything on instant messaging, so blogs are just natural for them. The problem is, nobody told them they could not criticize their teachers. Bibliography The Early Days of Radio Broadcasting par George H. Douglas (Broché – 31 mars 2002) Television Broadcasting in Contemporary France and Britain par Michael Scriven et Monia Lecomte (Broché – 1 mai 1999) Bouygues is a HYPERLINK « http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France » \o « France » French industrial group founded in HYPERLINK « http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1952″ \o « 1952″ 1952 by HYPERLINK « http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bouygues » \o « Francis Bouygues » Francis Bouygues. In October HYPERLINK « http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005″ \o « 2005″ 2005 it had over 113,300 employees in 80 countries. In 2004, it generated €23.4 billion in sales.
Best medias 2011-2012 radio/internet for 15-25 years old:
The BBC
Everybody, even one who has never seen or listened to an anglophone broadcast, has once heard of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the famous ‘BBC’, or the nicknames ‘Beeb’ or ‘Auntie’. In fact, the BBC is the biggest broadcasting company in the world, with 26,000 employees in the United-Kingdom and nearly a £4 billion budget.
Created in 1922, the company has one motto (=short sentence or phrase that expresses the aims or beliefs, and is used as a rule of behaviour (according to the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary) : “Nation Shall Speak Peace Unto Nation”. Thus, it broadcasts on radio, television and Internet.
First, let’s talk about its history, and the new challenges the BBC has to face ; then, we will see how the Corporation is run and what services it proposes.
I. A brief history of the BBC, and the current situation
The beginnings of telecommunications
The invention of the radio broadcasting is attributed to Guglielmo Marconi, who realised the first transmission in 1922. It was the foundation of the British Broadcast Company ; it became the BB Corporation in 1927 with a Royal Charter. Then, it played a large variety of programs: plays, concerts, talks…; however, it couldn’t broadcast news before 7 p.m. in order not to infer in the newspaper industry. The guiding line remained taste and decency.
The main novelty is television, that started in November of 1936.
The success of the BBC after the WW II
Nevertheless, the BBC Television Service have been stopped for nearly seven years because of the Second World War. During that period, the BBC radio played a very important part, particularly with its journalists of the War Reporting Unit : they have taken a great number of risks in order to give to the population a honest and serious information. Thus, Goebbels has been said to have declared that “the BBC has won the intellectual invasion in Europe”.
The coronation of Queen Elizabeth the Second in 1953 can be considered in England as the first mass broadcasting, with 22 millions viewers !
However, the BBC encountered competition first in 1955, with ITV, but it has rapidly revealed itself of better quality than its rival.
This success was followed with the birth of a second TV channel : BBC 2 in 1964, and the start of local radio stations in 1967. Within that same year, colour appeared on BBC channels.
The difficulties of the media nowadays
The eighties have been marked with a difficult and tense context, whether in the Northern Ireland, or in the international relationships, a real challenge for the BBC journalists. Thus, when the Board (the governors of the Corporation) was asked by the government to make changes in a program about extremists in Northern Ireland, a strike broke to defend the editorial independence.
A scandal broke with the Hutton Enquiry in 2004, referring to the conflict that opposed, during the previous year, the BBC to the government; it started in May 2003 when Andrew Gilligan, a Radio 4 journalist, like other journalists on BBC One and Two, reported the words of an anonymous government official who would have said that the dossier on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq have been ‘sexed up’ (= made seem more exciting and interesting (OALD)) by the government, especially by the Prime Minister. The government positively denied this information. But a rumour spread in newspapers that a scientist from the Ministry of Defence, Dr Kelly was the author of this declaration. When the Doctor suicided, the Hutton Enquiry strongly criticized the journalist Gilligan, declaring that the rumour was “unfounded” and that the BBC was “defective”: then, it conduced to the resignation of the leading figures of the company : Chairman Gavyn Davies and Director-General Greg Dyke.
Nevertheless, the BCC has to keep up-to-date with its website BBC Online, launched in 1999, a leader in Europe. The nineties have also known the birth of the fifth radio channel of the group, and after 2000 were launched BBC 3 and 4.
II. How the BBC is currently organized and run, and what services it offers
The BBC legal status
It is very specific ; indeed, the BBC is state-owned and incorporated since its Royal Charter of 1927 (= an award given by the British Privy Council to certain organizations or institutions which are recognized as the leading authorities in their field. Organizations with royal charters include the BBC, the British Academy and some British universities (according to the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary)), but it is also independent “from both political and commercial influence”.
The running of the Corporation
According to its website, the BBC is “run in the interests of its viewers and its listeners”.
The organization of the BBC is going to change next January ; until this date, there has always been a Board of twelve governors appointed by the King or by the Queen. From January, it will be a “BBC Trust”, that is to say still twelve persons, the trustees, more independent from the BBC management than before, whose aim will be to check that it respects its role of public service obligations and will represent the interests of the licence fee payers (= the cost of the TV licence which is a piece of paper giving the permission to own a television. The money collected in this way is used to pay for BBC television and radio programmes (according to OALD7); currently, it costs £11 a month). However, they remain free from governmental interventions. Their term lasts four years and they choose a Director-General who is both chief-executive and editor-in-chief. The current Director-General is Mark Thompson.
There is also a ten persons executive board, led by the Director-General ; for example, the Director of Journalism Group, the Director of Finance, or the Director of BBC Worldwide and Resources. They have to answer to the governors.
What you can watch or listen on the BBC
We have already said that the BBC represents several radios, TV channels and online resources.
First of all, the BBC has many radio stations, but the most important are the five national stations : Radio 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 Live ; each one is more specialized in one area in particular, for instance 1 in “new music”, 3 in specialist-interest music, 5 Live in 24 hours news ; Radio 2 is the most popular one with nearly 13 millions listeners a week. Moreover, there are many local stations and other stations on Digital radio service (for instance 1Xtra, 6 Music…)
Besides, the BBC World Service broadcasts radios in 43 languages and is received in 139 capitals all over the world.
Secondly, the two main TV channels are BBC One and Two ; the first one in regionalized, while the purpose of the second is more highbrow (that is to say more concerned in culture and less mainstream). The other two channels, BBC Three and BBC Four are new, and only receivable by digital, like BBC News 24, BBC Parliament and the two channels dedicated to children, which are CBBC and Cbeebies.
There are also TV channels all over the world, such as BBC Prime (in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia); there are also a BBC America, Canada and even a BBC Japan. It sells several magazines in the UK, especially supporting BBC programming.
What’s more, the former BBC Online, which is currently the bbc.(dot)co.uk is said to be the 23rd most popular website in the world. You can find there archives of radio or TV programmes from the past seven days. There is also additional information. It is advertisement-free.
To recap, we could say that the BBC is definitely a reference in the world of the media. If it has faced many difficulties in the past years, that is surely the lot of any independent media. Thus, the status of the corporation, guarantees editorial independence against both commercial, because it is state-owned, and political influence, because the governors have to catch an eye on it.
If the BBC has been a pioneer in its field, its has managed to stay at the top for always a more objective information, a larger variety, and more people who can reach it. Could TV5 Monde, the first global channel in French do so well?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/heritage/story/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). Hudson Bay Company’s Next Great Competitive Advantage
Executive Summary
The hype around Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology – a revolutionary information-gathering method whereby information in a tag can be read from up to 300 feet away – has caught the attention of many retailers in North America. Retailers such as Wal-Mart and Tesco (in the U.K) have begun piloting the technology: in 2006, Wal-Mart’s RFID trial lead to a 16% reduction in product stock-outs (Sullivan, Online).
The Canadian retail environment is constantly changing: factors such as the growth in the relative purchasing power of the Canadian dollar, increasing competition from discount rivals and shifting consumer trends provide Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) with new challenges as well as opportunities for growth. In order to deal effectively with constant change, HBC has developed five strategic initiatives through which it hopes to achieve an additional $1.5 billion in incremental sales from existing operations. HBC’s overall strategic direction is to provide consumers with a more augmented shopping experience; the implementation of RFID technology can be instrumental in achieving this objective.
At a macro-level, RFID technology will provide HBC with the two key benefits: a higher operational efficiency and a reduction in costs resulting from an improved inventory management system. Using the financial feasibility of the project, ease of integration and affect on the overall customer experience as the decision criteria, our analysis illustrated that the implementation of RFID would benefit Designer Depot the most. In particular, the store would benefit from an improved ability to track detailed information about each unique purchase, from the corporate buyer to the end customer. Additionally, employees would be able to gather information about when a product was purchased, if it is located in the right section of the store, or even verify its price. Such improvements would lead to a drastic improvement in the operational efficiency of the store and a reduction in costs. While other segments of HBC may also benefit from RFID, it is strategically important to implement a pilot before a full-scale implementation in order to mitigate risk.
Like any technology, RFID technology has its limitations. Items with low margins may not be able to justify the incremental cost of the RFID tag; any metal or magnetic goods may affect the read-rate of the tag; if a tag is destroyed, inventory count may not be 100% accurate; and some security concerns may arise if unauthorized parties are able to intercept radio communications between tags and readers. Though these limitations exist, it is definitely possible to avoid them with careful planning and taking some of the steps suggested in detail within this report.
We suggest a twelve-month pilot project with Designer Depot is realistic, and should lead to the collection of valuable data that will help the entire firm to justify a firm-wide rollout. RFID badges will be placed into a plastic anti-theft ‘inking’ device: these tags will serve to discourage theft and are also easily removed upon check-out to be used again. With some modifications to existing Electronic Data Interchange systems, HBC will be able to integrate the knowledge gleaned from these tags into its already-powerful information systems to better understand its customers and gain an edge over its rivals.
Given the large supplier base of HBC (over 3,500 trading partners), it is very unlikely that it will be successful anytime soon in convincing all suppliers to adopt RFID technology. The lack of industry standards and the existence of regional differences in this technology make it far from perfect. That said, HBC is facing an opportunity to become one of the first-movers with this emerging technology, and through implementing RFID into its front-end it stands to benefit from drastic cost reductions, improved customer satisfaction and higher profitability.
Introduction
The gradual evolution of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags in recent years has been extremely promising, and has made the successful implementation of this technology one of the next great opportunities for the retailing industry. Although this technology was first discovered in the early 20th century, the production costs of each tag have decreased exponentially in recent years. Furthermore, the size of each tag has been reduced to the point where it can be easily implanted on retailed items and still store a significant amount of information. The time has come to test the overall viability of this technology, and potentially think about a long-term investment. This technology will play a major role in reshaping the efficiency, service, and success of key players in the industry over the next decade. The implementation of RFID will eventually represent an important positive shock in the economy of the industry, and it is vital not to fall behind on this and lose this key first-mover advantage. In fact, some major competitors are already piloting the tags in some of their stores, and it is now HBC’s time to test the technology in its branches.
Technology Definition
Radio Frequency Identification technology is used to transmit information from an electronic tag to a reader using radio waves. A typical RFID system consists of three components: an electronic transponder, or tag, which contains information identifying the item or specifying its condition or state; a reader which communicates with the tag; and technology-specific infrastructure, such as hardware or software required to operate the system (Fact Sheet, Online). RFID technology offers many physical advantages over bar codes – its precursor – which make it better suited for automated data collection. For a photo of an RFID tag large enough to store all required data and maintain security functionality, please see Exhibit 4. Advantages of RFID over barcodes include: larger storage capacity (up to 8 Kbytes, or 8,000 bytes, vs. 10 bytes on a bar code), non-contact readability, with no direct line of sight required; a longer read range of 100 feet or more, readability despite dirt or other substances accumulated on a tag, and tag reusability (Roberti, Online). In this section, we will examine the technology from a business perspective.
In a practical sense, there are many vendors and suppliers of RFID technology available to Hudson’s Bay Company. Vendors of the tags include: Alien Technology, Checkpoint Systems, Intermec Technologies, Motorola and Sensormatic (Ferguson, Online). Recent successful implementers of the technology include: Harley-Davidson, Volkswagen, FedEx, and Thomas Buses. Large retailers such as Wal-Mart and Tesco conducted a pilot test with RFID tags in the late 1990’s which were observed carefully by many retailers who were interested in understanding the return on investment of the technology (Swedburg, Online). However, the relatively high unit cost, implementation limitations, and underlying security concerns mean that a large-scale adoption has not yet occurred in the retail industry. Other industries which have successfully implemented the technology include the transportation industry, the health-care industry, and select libraries.
It should be noted that if RFID technology is fully adopted, it will inevitably affect the structure of an organization. Less time will be required to take inventory or to determine correct re-ordering quantity for a given retail outlet. However, the final testing, maintenance and process improvement aspects of RFID will require new skill sets, creating new jobs. Other issues from a supplier side with early adoption of this technology include a current lack of standards, a significant start-up cost, and lack of definable metrics to determine ROI. From a customer perspective, the primary concerns are the privacy and security of the technology.
Industry Analysis
A common theme of the Canadian retail industry is its rapid pace of evolution. External factors, such as the growth in the relative purchasing power of the Canadian dollar; increasing competition from discount rivals such as Wal-Mart; shifting consumer trends; and the emergence of the retail industry in Western Canada provide Hudson’s Bay Company with new challenges as well as opportunities for growth (Industry Analysis, pg. 9). The clothing industry, which The Bay depends on, faces stagnant demand compared to the rest of the industry, while Home Outfitters may see a decline in sales as the Canadian housing market cools off. Substitutes to the traditional shopping experience such as e-commerce and mail-order products are growing rapidly and offer advantages which HBC cannot replicate in-store.
However, while the retail industry may be becoming more competitive, HBC has recently been taken private and is free from the short-term focus which can often hamper turnaround strategies. The Company has outlined six key areas of improvement which show great promise. Through improving service and focusing on the most profitable customers, HBC can provide a shopping experience which offers value to consumers over shopping at a purely cost-focused outlet. Furthermore, the firm is making its presence felt in the emerging ‘off-price’ designer clothing market in Canada through its Designer Depot stores. Hudson’s Bay Company remains a major player in many segments of the Canadian retail market, and through harnessing the right information system innovations to couple with their turnaround strategy, should remain a dominant player for years to come.
It should be noted that HBC has a number of different core competitors and substitutes throughout each of its brands (Industry Analysis, pgs. 5-7):
Competitors Wal-Mart Wal-Mart is a convenient, low-cost department store targeting the general public that provides relatively low-quality items at consistently lower prices than all competitors. They have been experimenting with RFID technology for some time.
Canadian Tire Canadian Tire is a mid-range department store with a focus on automotive parts, house wares and power tools. They focus on bringing unique products to market, and rely on the “Canadian image” to give them a patriotic edge.
Sears The Sears brand is a direct competitor for The Bay, offering a similar product line and targeting the same segments, and is best known for their catalogue business and orientation towards appliances and clothing.
Target Target is a discount department store operating currently solely from the U.S. which focuses on providing trendier, higher quality products compared to Wal-Mart with a relatively upscale ambiance. This is a formula similar to the direction in which Zellers is headed.
K-Mart Much like a Wal-Mart or Zellers, K-mart is a U.S. based retailer focused on providing a low-cost, low-quality products to consumers, but has a tainted brand in Canada from its liquidation to Zellers and is unlikely to return to Canada.
Note that other substitute markets are also growing rapidly, such as the on-line auction market and e-commerce retailers in general. These markets have not been examined in-depth for this report as they do not have the potential to affect RFID technology, but they are making the industry more cut-throat than before. This competitive marketplace means that it is necessary for Hudson’s Bay Company to strategically differentiate itself from other players in the industry.
HBC Analysis
Before RFID should be examined as a potential ‘fit’ with HBC, the overall strategic direction of the company should be discussed. The firm has been recently taken private, allowing them to rapidly adopt new technologies without much of the short-term time horizon that a public company tends to adopt to please shareholders. In 2003, the Company outlined a plan to achieve $1.5 billion in incremental sales growth from its existing operations (HBC, 2003, pg. 1). According to this plan, increases should come equally from all divisions of HBC. These were analyzed in-depth for the Industry Analysis, but remain relevant when designing top-level strategic recommendations for the firm. These objectives are as follows:
Big Ticket / Home Items Increase current market share from 3.5% in 2003 to 8% in 2008 in the furniture, mattress, and electronics business by leveraging HBC’s IS systems capabilities and customer service platform. $430M Merchandise Continuum Enable HBC to align its product offering with the customer demand in each market. $415M Opportunity Buy Capture 7% of Canadian ‘off-price’ market in North America, which try to provide high-quality products in a low-price environment. $350M Store Service Improve productivity through role specialization and increasing incremental sales using determined sales associates $175M Customer Relationship Management CRM is expected to drive profitable behaviour from HBC’s top customers, through servicing key segments based on demonstrated needs and shopping patterns. $130M Merchandise Movement/Supply Growth Improve working capital through improving in-stock rates, gross margins and inventory turnover by streamlining into a single HBC merchandise pipeline $165M
With these concepts in mind, HBC is redefining its position in the overall retail industry. Their stores offer products spanning many sectors – from clothing, to furniture, to groceries; from low-price to premium quality – but what HBC is really looking to offer is an augmented shopping experience. As will be outlined below, Radio Frequency Identification tags will directly allow the firm to better achieve its Merchandise Continuum, Store Service, Customer Relationship Management and Merchandise Movement goals.
Decision Criteria
In addition to the goals outlined in the previous section, our team has decided upon three additional goals that would apply to the implementation of a new emerging technology. Those criteria are as follows:
Fit With Company Through examining company values, we must ensure that the technology fits with HBC. This will be examined both on a micro and macro scale by looking at the larger HBC company as well as the brands it operates. This decision criterion will differ depending on which brand we choose to launch RFID with, and will also vary widely if we choose to launch the technology under multiple brands. For a ‘fit’ analysis of the technology using the popular IT Interaction Model, please see Exhibit 1. Financial Viability In deciding financial viability, we must first look at if financial return is one of the major goals of the project. Certain projects are run as courtesy services to the customer and are expected to lose money. Other projects are run as alternate revenue streams and must be able to make profit for the organization during their lifespan. RFID technology is likely to lead to cost savings for the company, but may not affect revenue. The cost-benefit analysis may be costly to conduct, as the quantification of concepts such as ‘convenience’ can be difficult. Customer Experience In order for RFID technology to be valuable to the business, it should be adding value for the customer. This can take many forms, from improved customer service to lower overhead and lower prices. This is where much research on RFID technology goes astray, as by looking at only the cost savings of the technology, often a very positive project is rejected. By maintaining a focus on the customer, HBC will be able to ensure that its adopted technology is improving the overall business.
By examining the above criteria, combined with the criteria defined in the previous section, we can establish a good sense of what objectives to set when determining the viability of any technological implementation within HBC.
Alternatives
There are four main decisions that HBC must make when deciding if, when, and how to implement a new technology. These decisions must be made in the following sequence:
Go/Wait/No-Go Based on the criteria listed in the previous sections, as well as the general opportunities for implementation, a decision must be made regarding if to move forward with RFID technology with HBC. One option would be to immediately begin the preliminary stages of RFID, going forward as quickly as possible. Another would be to determine that RFID is entirely useless to HBC and to forget about using the technology. Note that a third option exists: to conclude that the technology is a good fit for the business overall, but certain key factors prevent current implementation. In this case, a decision to wait would be made. Full/Partial Implementation A decision must also be made surrounding the overall scope of any RFID project. In a full implementation, HBC would use this technology in every way possible. For RFID tags, this would mean that every product in the store would be tagged, and as much information as possible would be stored on these tags. This would require the tags to effectively replace barcodes and be placed on products which would not likely make full use of the technology (such as candy bars) for the benefit of needing only one ‘tagging’ system instead of two. Alternatively, a partial implementation may take the form of tagging only higher price or margin items, which means a lower up-front investment, but potentially greater future costs as employees must be trained in the use of two systems, and these systems must be made to integrate effectively. Furthermore, opportunity costs are incurred with a partial implementation strategy, since one cannot realize all of the benefits a store-wide strategy would offer. Gradual/
Immediate HBC must also make the decision on how quickly to introduce RFID tags within their stores. An immediate introduction would entail employing the technology in all potential stores at once. A gradual introduction would entail piloting the technology in a specific geographic region or brand, and then implementing the technology on a broader scale should that pilot be successful. The pilot strategy is the one used by Wal-Mart and Tesco, and is an appealing option due to its low-risk nature. Issues surrounding the tags can be easily identified and addressed before a large amount of resources has been committed to the project. However, a gradual implementation strategy means the duration of HBC’s first-mover advantage will be reduced. Front-End/Back-End/Both Certain technologies are better suited towards back-of-house operations, while other technologies lend themselves to implementation on the store floor. RFID tags are unique in that they provide benefits for both the warehousing side and the customer-facing side. In order to use the technology most effectively, HBC must decide if they want to implement RFID tags in the front-end or back-end portion of the store, or may decide to implement the technology in both.
By analyzing each of these alternatives, Hudson’s Bay Company will be in a position to choose how to implement RFID technology in their business.
Analysis of Current System
The current Point of Sale (POS) system at HBC collects information via bar codes. Given the memory of a bar code (8 bytes), this information is limited to the price, item ID and the date/time of sale. With the implementation of the RFID tag, the system will be able to collect much more information (Goldman, Online). Examples include the size, weight, color, brand, condition of the item, and more, all at the point of sale. Better information mining will allow HBC to assess consumer trends and improve their forecasting ability. This transparent forecasting would result in fewer stock-outs, a higher product availability tailored towards the needs of the consumer, and a higher level of customer-satisfaction. These resonate strongly with HBC’s stated growth objectives.
Company-Level Feasibility Analysis
While the most basic RFID badges have reached a point of nearly $0.15 per tag, the cost for a high-security, rewritable tag with a high read range is closer to $0.40 per tag (Schuman, Online). This technology is therefore not feasible to be placed on many items in a store, where margins can often be razor-thin. Examples include food products and bargain-priced items. The required tag will be relatively conspicuous in size as well, and so could not easily be integrated onto a product the size of a pack of gum. Therefore, we suggest:
RFID tags not be placed on items retailing for less than $10.
RFID tags not be placed on items measuring less than 5’’x 5’’ in two of their three dimensions.
However, we also see the possibility of a re-usable tag if these criteria are met. The tag could be integrated into a device which is removed upon checkout and then reused for another item. This would ease customer concerns regarding monitoring, greatly reduce tag costs, and still provide many in-store benefits. These benefits are further outlined below.
Benefits and Limitations of RFID Technology at HBC
It is noteworthy to mention that the implementation of RFID technology at HBC will only be at the HBC-level. Many large retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Tesco, have tried to implement RFID technology throughout their supply chain. However, the idea has been incredibly unpopular among the suppliers/manufacturers as they have had to bear the implementation and switching costs of the RFID tag and many have not been convinced of the benefits of this implementation. However, by implementing the technology at the store level only, benefits can still be reaped, even though supply chain visibility may not be improved. Two of the most obvious benefits are as follows:
Analytics-Driven Retail Operations Management
RFID technology can enable retailers to put real-time operational decision support tools on the store floor. In many cases today, real-time data about the condition of the retail floor — its inventory, personnel, customers, fixtures, assets and equipment are not available (Woods, pg.2). With RFID technology, a given store will be able to manage its operations using real-time data about what is actually happening across the store. Real-time data provides two benefits: it helps to improve inventory management, and it provides employees with the information they require to dispatch tasks and help manage work processes, based on the optimal allocation of the work that needs to be done; taking into account the real-time, real-world conditions of the store (Woods, pg.3). For example, a fully integrated storefront RFID system could detect that a large number of customers are picking up items from a certain shelf based on the displacement of RFID tags, and dispatch employees to serve those customers.
Better Inventory Management
Another major advantage of Radio Frequency Identification technology is that manual counting will no longer be necessary: instead, a scanner will be able to do a product count in seconds (Goldman, Online). Therefore, RFID technology will be useful for high-volume, higher-margin items that currently require manual counting. The technology can also be applied to apparels, as well: employees often have to identify many different garments that are haphazardly stacked or thrown together — a typically labor-intensive process. Using RFID, they can determine with ease the quantity of garments in an area, their brand, size, and any other details deemed relevant to the company.
Limitations
There are also some limitations associated with our suggested implementation and use of RFID technology. Items with low margins may not be able to justify the incremental cost of the RFID tag, even if re-used. Moreover, due to the metallic nature of an RFID tag, any goods that are made of metal or magnetic in nature may result in a poor read-rate due to reader interference (Adams, pg. 1). However, larger RFID badges such as the one in Exhibit 4 are less susceptible to this effect. If a tag is destroyed by mistake, inventory count may not be 100% accurate, so the tag must be placed in a hard-to-reach area, such as inside a plastic sheath. Finally, some security concerns arise if unauthorized parties are able to intercept radio communications between tags and readers, through either unauthorized reading of the tags or unauthorized access to the network or database. To avoid potential security concerns, HBC should consider the following principles prior to the implementation of the technology (Privacy Best Practices, Online):
Technology Neutrality: RFID technology in and of itself does not impose threats to privacy. Rather privacy breaches occur when RFID, like any technology, is deployed in a way that is not consistent with responsible information management practices that foster sound privacy protection.
Privacy and Security as Primary Design Requirements: Users of RFID technology should address all privacy and security issues as part of its initial design. Rather than retrofitting RFID systems to respond to privacy and security issues, it is much preferable that privacy and security should be designed in from the beginning.
Consumer Transparency: There should be no secret RFID tags or readers. Use of RFID technology should be as transparent as possible, and consumers should know about the implementation and use of any RFID technology (including tags, readers and storage of PII) as they engage in any transaction that utilizes an RFID system. At the same time, it is important to recognize that notice alone does not mitigate all concerns about privacy. Notice alone does not, for example, justify any inappropriate data collection or sharing, and/or the failure to deploy appropriate security measures. Notice must be supplemented by thoughtful, robust implementation of responsible information practices.
HBC Supply Chain Analysis
Given Hudson Bay Company’s position as Canada’s oldest corporation and most diversified department store retailer, it isn’t surprising that it has more than 3,500 trading partners. HBC’s suppliers range from manufacturing and raw materials suppliers to private-label suppliers. The company operates a very complex supply chain, which varies based on commodity, such as major home fashions, according to Mark Warren, HBC’s Information Systems General Manager for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). Efficient supply chain management is therefore critical to HBC competitiveness in the long-term.
HBC has used Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) – the transfer of information between companies via networks – to communicate with its suppliers for years. While its large suppliers have long taken advantage of EDI, the majority of its small trading partners have not had the resources to follow suit until recently (GXS Press Release, Online). In 2001, HBC offered its suppliers easy access to online transaction processing through a Microsoft software platform. In doing so, HBC has enabled its smaller vendors to automate key processes and improve productivity without making huge investments. HBC therefore manages an automated, end-to-end, online supply-chain. In 2005, HBC contracted with the business-to-business (B2B) services provider GXS to further improve its supply chain processes and meet its current e-commerce demands (GXS Press Release, Online). The GXS solution combines messaging and data synchronisation to automate the flow of information to and from trading partners, minimizing overall data exchange costs and ensuring B2B communication. The ultimate goal is to enhance suppliers’ relationships.
What does this mean for the firm’s adoption of RFID technology? With over 3,500 trading partners, it will be very unlikely for HBC to leverage its relationships to get each supplier on board. However, if the tags are placed on items upon arrival at an HBC warehouse, a method must be designed to transmit the information gathered by the current supply chain processes onto the tags. However, many RFID tags have more than enough capacity to store this information and can be re-written using a secure reading device connected wirelessly to the GXS server. The tags need only then be updated on a full-batch basis as they progress through the distribution channel to store shelves (ie: a variable on all tags can be changed to reflect that they have moved from Warehouse A to Warehouse B on date C). While full-scale RFID implementation across the full supply chain may be impossible, the system could be well integrated with existing systems to increase benefits without reducing the value obtained from HBC’s large investments into its other technologies.
Note also that Wal-Mart, HBC’s main competitor, is currently conducting a pilot program with RFID tags and has set many deadlines to ensure its top suppliers are RFID-enabled. In fact, its top 300 suppliers have been forced to adopt the technology since early 2006 (Birchall, Online). Given Wal-Mart’s negotiation power in the retail industry, it is likely that the adoption of this technology will only continue. As Wal-Mart and HBC have hundreds of common suppliers, the future holds much promise for RFID technology in the retail industry. Although it may not be possible for HBC to go for a full implementation plan currently, in ten years the retail landscape may look much different.
Let us now look on the other side of the supply chain, at the buyers in a given HBC store. RFID promises to make inventory management easier and thus increase the probability that a customer has the product they desire. Furthermore, the technology can lead to decreased checkout times and increased information about a product – a customer could take place a garment under an RFID reader in a store and learn its fabric composition, when it was made, etc. However, there are downsides to this technology. For example, there is increasing levels of paranoia surrounding the potential monitoring of customers outside the store through RFID technology. Customers also want to be sure that the information stored on each tag cannot be modified by malicious customers. However, each of these issues would be mitigated if the RFID tag was removed during purchase and remained in-store.
Strategic Analysis of RFID’s Application to Designer Depot
Designer Depot is one of the most exciting branches of HBC, and has grown rapidly to represent nine stores across Canada, with an average store size of 32,000 square feet (HBC Briefing, Online). This store operates in the ‘off-price’ discounted clothing market with great potential, with an estimated size of approximately $5 billion in Canada alone. Garments are acquired at a 25-60% discount through HBC’s extensive buyer network (HBC Website, Online). This business would not function were it not for a very powerful and integrated inventory and accounting system, as thousands of new items arrive independently in each store each week. This lack of uniformity increases the probability of error at some point during the internal process, which could diminish overall visibility into what currently sits on the shelves at a Designer Depot.
This potential issue is one which RFID technology can easily fix. Complete integration of the tags across all relevant business units of Designer Depot would mean that the tags could track detailed information about each unique purchase, from the corporate buyer to the end customer. From dozens of feet away, a staff employee could gather information about when a product was purchased, if it is located in the right section of the store, or even verify its price. As HBC continues to move towards a ‘merchandise continuum’ with products geared toward customer demand, improved accuracy of information flow is a certain benefit (HBC Briefing, Online). While this information could be already keyed into a system and tied to a barcode, the RFID solution is more elegant for the following two reasons:
A bar coding system requires a centralized database to store all information, while individualized information can be stored on RFID tags and updated as they progress through the distribution channel. This reduces the overall risk of a disaster or malfunction eliminating inventory transparency, but also allows for the central database to be ‘cross-checked’ with the tags to quickly identify any errors on either side.
As RFID tags can be read from a significant and distance, many issues involving inventory can be rapidly solved, such as the location of an item or the number of a certain product in the store. This will lead to decreased labour costs and increased customer service.
Designer Depot, however, is a venue which seeks the lowest possible prices on its products in order to maintain a ‘depot’ atmosphere. There exists an option where secure, high-range, re-writable RFID tags are still economical in this instance. By implanting the tags onto a removable ‘inking’ anti-theft device, such as are placed on many garments throughout the world, the tags may be removed upon purchase and re-used on a new item. This also means that the successful HBC Rewards customer tracking system need not be dismantled; instead, the information on the RFID tag can be transferred to the system upon purchase and actually improve the data collection of that program. The re-usability of these tags means that the only variable cost per garment would be the re-programming charge, which would have had to have been incurred had a new tag been purchased anyway.
Overall, Designer Depot is the best alternative for a ‘test pilot’ of RFID technology. It seems to fit with the stated decision criteria, and since there are only nine stores, the rollout cost would be relatively low. Once the system and process can handle thousands of different items on the shelf each week at a low cost, the program could be rolled out nationally to other HBC business units at low risk. This technology presents a method for Hudson’s Bay Company to give designer-value service at depot-level costs, and should be investigated very seriously. For a financial analysis of expected cost of this pilot project, please see Exhibit 2.
Strategic Analysis of RFID’s Application to Zellers
Zellers operates in the ‘discount-value’ segment of the market, operating in a market where the product margins can be quite thin (HBC Briefing, Online). Can this company continue to offer “Every Day Low Prices” while embracing the benefits of Radio-Frequency Identification? There appears to be some evidence in Zellers’ recent growth strategies that it can. The company is increasingly moving upscale in its clothing offerings, and so an RFID application designed for the clothing at The Bay and Designer Depot could also apply to Zellers products. However, when a company-wide $10 threshold is applied in terms of the minimum price which justifies a high-quality, secured re-writable tag, many products in the store become not compatible with this constraint. Furthermore, the logistics of applying the tag to many items may not be possible due to the wide variety of different types of products in the store. For example, a clamp-on anti-theft tag with RFID technology attached will function well with clothing, but may not attach appropriately to a toaster. The lack of uniformity can potentially lead to confusion with both employees and customers, eliminating a significant portion of both the inventory and convenience benefits. As Wal-Mart continues to roll out RFID-enabled stores worldwide, Zellers should seriously examine if it should follow suit. For now, it remains a less attractive pilot option than Designer Depot.
Strategic Analysis of RFID’s Application to The Bay
The Bay is the department store division of HBC and has 94 locations from coast-to-coast in Canada (HBC Website, Online). It is a full line department store chain concentrating on exclusive fashion merchandise in apparel, accessories and ‘soft home’ categories. The merchandise is priced at mid-to-upper price points accompanied by traditional department store services. The average store size is 135,000 square feet, representing a significant opportunity for the use of RFID technology in the store (HBC Briefing, Online).
Given the sheer size of each store, RFID tags can be instrumental in locating, counting and measuring the real-time condition of items. While not all items (such as small, inexpensive cosmetic and fashion items) can be tagged, The Bay has a relatively high percentage of items which can be tracked via RFID. Reduction in theft, improvement in retail operations management and superior inventory management would be the three key benefits of RFID technology (Harmon, pg. 3). However, The Bay remains the flagship store of the HBC brand. A failure to adequately implement the technology could lead to slow-downs or even less product visibility than before. All issues should be therefore ironed out with the pilot project before RFID technology is considered for The Bay.
Strategic Analysis of RFID’s Application to Home Outfitters
Home Outfitters is Canada’s largest specialty superstore home goods chain, with 60 stores across the country selling small appliances, bed, bath, kitchen, furniture and décor goods. The average store size is 32,000 square feet, which is large enough to benefit from the use of RFID technology (HBC Briefing, Online). Home Outfitters has the largest proportion of ‘big ticket’ items of all of the HBC business units, with high enough margins to support the implementation of RFID technology. Leveraging IS capabilities to increase the sale of these big-ticket items is one of HBC’s most important initiatives, and so effective RFID integration into existing systems will lead to positive benefits aligned to the firm’s strategic direction. This is therefore a firm well-positioned to adopt RFID technology, but again faces a similar problem to that presented in the analysis of The Bay above. With over 60 stores, a failure of the technology could lead to a large dent in the firm’s profits. The technology should be first piloted with Designer Depot before expanding to this business unit.
Technology Implementation
Considering the relatively new state of RFID technology, we would not recommend a full-scale implementation, but rather a pilot project with Designer Depot. This branch would be particularly appropriate as a pilot as it has only 9 stores nationwide, and because shoppers in the ‘designer’ segment tend to be more trendy and so will be more responsive to a leap forward in shopping technology. This program should be implemented and monitored quickly, as one of its biggest competitors, Wal-Mart, has already made significant progress with the technology. For a Gantt chart showing all required implementation steps, see Exhibit 3. HBC will need to gain experience with RFID quickly to not fall behind the technology curve. A twelve-month pilot program should give enough time to implement the technology, reengineer processes, see the employees’ and the customers’ reaction, obtain feedback, and improve the process to implement it in all the branches.
The RFID badges will be discreetly placed on re-usable anti-theft ‘inking’ devices as seen on many designer garments from other retailers. These devices launch ink on a garment if tampered with, making the garment unusable if not removed. This will have the combined effect of reducing theft, and providing a reusable medium for the RFID tags which will lower the overall tag cost.
The implementation process should have an entirely internal focus, with the tags placed upon arrival in an HBC warehouse from a given supplier. The goods will then be tracked throughout the distribution channel until they are checked out by the customer. Rewritable and secure RFID tags should be used, which are significantly more expensive but can be re-used with little risk. The tags must be secured so that a random customer equipped with an RFID writer cannot change the information on the chip before checking the item out. Software already exists that would allow a customer to do this (Gao, Online). An encrypted RFID tag would therefore attached to an antitheft device upon purchase, then added to a garment with all the EDI information embedded on it, and perhaps more. This garment would then go on the shelf at Designer Depot, and when a customer takes the product to checkout, they will have the tags removed by the cashier, who will then collect all tags in a box that can be shipped back to the warehouse where the tags could be re-written for another garment.
This implementation will require a few changes in affected stores:
First, in regards to the equipment needed, the stores will need to be equipped with RFID writers and readers to use the purchased tags. These writers will require RFID software to function, an effective encryption system, and connectivity to existing information systems which store product data. As shown earlier in the report, this will be a major investment, and limiting the size of the project to nine stores will cut down the cost in case of a failure.
Each store will need to be provided with enough tags for all the items since partial implementation across the clothing line at Designer Depot would not lead to real information-gathering benefit. It could also lead to confusion with employees and customers, who aren’t sure what procedure to follow with which types of garment. Note that for stores like Zellers which offer a variety of product lines, RFID could be restricted to high-margin lines and still see some benefit, such as increased visibility and information flow into that region of each store.
The tags would then be attached to the antitheft devices to reduce the costs of attaching the tags to the items themselves. This should not cost more than affixing a tag onto a garment normally. Moreover, placing the tags on an item removed during check-out will clear up most of the privacy problems that clients could raise, since the items are effectively ‘deleted’ after purchase. Note that the information gathering presented by the ‘HBC Rewards’ system would still apply, so the specific customer information from that program would simply be augmented by the information from the RFID tag.
The tags must be hidden inside the antitheft tag so that they are not removable. The anti-theft inking tag could also be set to go off if subjected to a strong magnetic impulse, so as to prevent any disabling of the RFID tag using a disabling device. The tag would therefore safely remain with the antitheft tag all of the time.
Most of the jobs in the store will be affected by this implementation, and it is therefore vital that the employees be provided with appropriate training so that full efficiency with the RFID devices can be obtained, and so that time is not lost trying to implement a technology that people don’t know how to use.
This technology being very recent, the transition must be as seamless as possible so that it does not raise customer concerns. The employees will complete a one-day training session explaining to them what the technology is about, so that they can answer questions from customers about how the tags are used and managed.
Jobs in the HBC warehouse will also be affected, and new responsibilities will have to be created such as the attachment and programming of tags. All employees handling inventory must learn how to properly use an RFID tag reader and how to handle an anti-theft inking device, so that the customer purchasing process does not take any more time than it would have had the store not implemented the technology.
All employees must be made aware of safety measures with regards to the fact that the technology is not easily removable, that it must be handled with care, not be let in the sun, and kept under certain conditions of humidity and temperature, to ensure stability of the anti-theft device and RFID tag.
Another required step in the implementation process is to have the customer informed of this new technology being implemented in their store. This is a major advance for the retailing industry and customer must not feel as if this new technology is limiting their freedoms.
To expand customer education, we suggest adding signs at the entrance of each pilot store, informing customers that they are entering an RFID pilot store, with brochures explaining the technology and what it is being implemented to do.
Employees must be able to briefly answer questions that customers might ask. It is also important that the store collects feedback from customers on the use of this new technology so that it can be adapted and changed to fit each individual business unit as it is rolled out nationwide, if this is what HBC determines to do at the end of its pilot.
The customer should have an opportunity to fill out a survey about their experience in the pilot store, with a possible incentive such as a discount coupon for his next visit so that HBC gets a significant amount of information to work with. This will also aid HBC to generally collect more information about Designer Depot shoppers.
Feedback from employees is also important, and focus groups should be made with a variety of employees across different functions, who can give their advice on the current benefits of the technology and potential improvements.
Conclusion
RFID technology may become the next great productivity booster for the retailing industry. The evolution of this technology must be closely followed, because to lead the industry in RFID could lead to the growth of a powerful competitive advantage Hudson’s Bay Company. RFID technology can be integrated into the advanced systems currently in place to control distribution with the company, providing additional information to improve decision making and management control. This is an opportunity which warrants immediate investigation by key decision makers at Hudson’s Bay Company. Gartner Research estimates that effective RFID capability will separate the winners from the losers in the same way that collaborative logistics technologies has done for the last ten years. It is time for HBC to jump aboard this bandwagon.
Exhibit 1: The IT Interaction Model
Excerpted from “The Information Technology Interaction Model: A Foundation for the MBA Core Course”. See References.
This model details some of the important elements that must be considered when introducing RFID to Hudson’s Bay Company. When initiating the project, the technology should be built around the firm strategy, existing business processes, the structure and culture of the organization, and existing IT infrastructure. Decisions must be made regarding whether to build or buy the RFID information system. When introducing the technology, the consequences must be examined in terms of the effect on cost, people, and linkages throughout the organization. After responding to these issues, the technology can be adapted to fit these consequences. Finally, the external environment will have an impact on all steps of the process and should be monitored closely.
Exhibit 2: Financial Analysis of Pilot Project at Designer Depot
Cost Analysis of Designer Depot Pilot Project Number of Designer Depot Stores 9 Average Square Footage Per Store 32,000 Estimate of Clothing Items Per Square Foot* 3 Estimate of Warehoused Items Per Store (%)** 10% of Total Clothing Items Number of Clothing Items 950,400 Number of RFID Tags Needed 950,400 Estimated Cost of RFID Tag (see report) $0.40 Estimated Cost of Ink Tag*** $0.60 Reusable Materials Cost $950,400 Number of Check-Out Counters per Store 6 Total Number of Check-Out Counters 54 Cost of Inking Removal Device*** $50 Total Cost of Anti-Theft Removal Devices $2,700 Cost of RFID Reader**** $350 Esimated Number of RFID Readers Required***** 45 Total Cost of RFID Reader $15,750 One-Time Training Cost: $150,000 Estimated Cost to Integrate RFID Data Into System
International marketing: The strategic plan to introduce the MTV’s radio in the French market
The music industry is facing great challenges for the next few years. Due to new technologies and especially Internet, the industry has to find new ways to “sell music” and make the customers interested by their product.
The main issue in the music industry is the development of the digital music or the MP3. Now it is common to download music on Internet even if it is illegal. We can find peer to peer website and download thousand of music that you like. This phenomenon began 10 years ago with the website Napster. This website has been the first to allow Internet users to share music on Internet. Now this first version of the website is closed but Napster has adapted the website framework to the law.
Like a said the phenomenon began 10 years. At this time the music industry and especially the music major were prosperous and were selling many CDs or other format (physical). Customers had few choices but they were satisfied by the CD format. Now we can say that this is the customer who controls the marker and not the music industry and the music major. Peer to peer website, I mean those which are not legal but the most used, are controlled by amateurs and not professionals. Internet is such a big field that this is impossible to check what people is doing or not.
Consequently, the sales of CDs have decreased as the music major profits. Apple has created the ITunes website where you can download music legally, it is quiet a success but not as much as than illegal website which are free.
Music companies are trying to find solutions, they sell many spin off product, they develop the number of shows, they offer their music on internet…The problem is that as long as people will have the possibility to download music internet for free they won’t pay for it. This is even more important for the last generation. Kids and teenagers from 10 to 20 years old only know MP3 music. I mean that they know the CDs but they have not been accustomed to buy a CD to listen to music. They only know the process to go on Internet and “click” to get thousand of music.
So the music industry is at the end of an economic life cycle. This industry has to find solutions to adapt its offer to the new customer behaviors. MTV is one of the main actors in the music industry. The channel has been created in 1981 and its original purpose was to play music video. Today, MTV still plays music video but has developed its activity in all the entertainment industry. MTV has revolutionized the music industry with the music video, the music events, the promotion, TV channels, films, books…
MTV exists in France and the channel is diffused through the cable. The channel is also popular in France but does not play such an important role according to its position in US. What I would like to do is to develop the influence of MTV in France. My goal is to develop the MTV notoriety through a radio. I am going to set up to create a MTV radio which will compete with NRJ, Fun Radio and Skyrock. Those are the three main radios listen by the people between the age of 15 and 25. The MTV radio will use the MTV image to attract young people and develop a complete network with the television and the radio.
So I am going to analyze the French market and then I will explain my strategy to reach the market.
The marketing audit: the MTV situation
The MTV presentation
The presentation
MTV is an American cable television which has been created in 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play video music mixed by VJs (Video Jockey). The channel is very popular with young people, especially teenager and young adults. MTV has revolutionized the music industry with slogans such as “I want my MTV”. The reason why MTV revolutionized the market is because the channel gathered all the things dedicated to the music. There are music events, news and promotion around the artists and all the music industry.
MTV is a member of the MTV networks owned by Viacom. The group has developed a wide range to TV channels with MTV2, MTV hits, MTV Jams…
MTV is famous for its creativity and its fashion programs. The channel is such a success since its creation that we call the MTV’ audience the MTV generation. At the beginning, MTV was focused on rock music. But now the channel plays several kinds of music such hip-hop, alternative rock or Pop.
Nowadays, MTV plays less video music but more TV shows and real TV. In 2000, the channel was playing 8 hours of video music instead of 3 hours in 2008. The development of Internet where you can watch video music has helped this reduction. So now the music is no more the centerpiece of MTV. The American channel plays non-musical related television shows which target 12 to 34 year old people. Indeed, the channel is still very popular. I might add that the MTV video music awards or MTC music awards are very popular worldwide. In fact, the channel has a great history of organizing live music events in which awards are given to artists. 20 music awards are organized every year.
MTV is such a success that the channel has some moral issues. The channel has been several times at the center of debate over the cultural and moral influence of television on teenagers.
MT is also present all around the world. The group has launched MTV France in 2000. The channel was set up to reach the French market and also compete with MCM.
The marketing mix
The product
MTV is specialized in the entertainment industry and especially the music. MTV has many partnerships with artist such Snoop Dogg, Justin Timberlake, Xzibit.
MTV was originally focused on playing music videos. It still plays music video but also a lot of TV shows such real TV. Nowadays, MTV has developed a wide range of TV channels which are specialized in particular areas. Let’s see some of the channels:
MTV MTV2 MTV hits MTV jams VH1 VH1 classic Nickelodeon Spike MTV UK, France, Germany…
MTV is diffused through the cable and television satellite network. It works 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
The channel also produces music shows, films, websites and books.
The price
MTV is diffused through cable and television satellite networks. So, customers have to subscribe and then they can watch MTV.
We can take the example MTV France which is diffused through Canalsat or TPS.