Human-centered Management Philosophy

LG cellular phone has been positioned 2nd after Sony-Ericson in satisfactory survey conducted in the US. According to survey conducting firm JD Power, the satisfactory point of LG Electronics was 721 out of 1000 in 2006 American cellular phone survey. 1st place Sony Ericson had 740 points, Samsung Electronics 706 and Motorola and Sanyo, Kyosera 705 and 701 respectively. Nokia, the world’s best selling cell-phone maker, gained 699 points, making the last of 7 on the list.
18,000 people participated in this survey across the United States and evaluated on design, LG Electronics gained its motivation through this survey so it has started to take 21% of the cell phone market, almost catching up Motorola (25.1%) and Samsung (22.1%). LG’ was 15.2% in the 4th quarter of last year. Meanwhile, LG’s new product “Secret Phone”, aimed to target the premium cell phone market, was disclosed in Europe last month, and followed by Brazil, Mexico and Central America.
LG’s has had a good strategy in targeting the sentiment of the people. Instead of showing the only technology part, they have well combined both technology and the design. Different from past where only technology was focused, they have added the design to give a warm image. It was able to be a market leader because instead of just being superior in technlology, they have a basis of sentimental marketing where various analysis and innovation took place. I think that LG’s customer centered marketing and management has enlightened, thus making it different from other firms’ ones.

Source : http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/, LG's cell phone march goes on, By Lee Sunyoung, June 12 2008

Student # : 20300489_Entry14

Euro 2008 Kicks Economies Up a Notch

Euro 2008 has kicked off and it is really beginning to be a big hit worldwide. The 3rd most watched sporting event, next to Summer Olympics and World Cup, over 8 billion people is estimated to watch the games. The event is held between June 7 and June 29, and over 100 million people are expected to visit the website, and its impact on UEFA’s (Union of European Football Association) 52 members across Europe could top 2.15 billion dollars. This includes the tourism revenue for the hosting nations, Switzerland and Austria, multi-million dollars TV licensing agreements, and increased food and beverage sales as fans go to bars and restaurants in support of their home teams. One analysts predicted that it will bring about 358 million dollars to the Switzerland economy. In Austria also, fans staying overnights and spending money would contribute tremendously to its economy. Sponsors will also benefit a lot for they’ll show their brand names worldwide on TV or on field. Through this event, Europe’s economy will generally benefit a lot. It is because many companies will invest money and gambling organizations will bet the winning teams for each game.
I know that Hyundai-Kia Automotive is one of the leading sponsors in this event. I think Hyundai-Kia has really grasped the chance to flourish and input a strong brand image worldwide. As mentioned above, Euro soccer event is one of the most famous sporting events in the world. Many people watch on the pitch or on TV and many firms will invest money to gain something out of it. If actively taking part in this kind of event by distributing players with transportation and putting its brand name across the stadium and on TV will let people experience and see the product and brand name. This way, later, after the event, the product and the name of the brand will be put into the people’s minds, subconsciously looking for that brand.

Source:http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jun2008/gb2008065_999043.htm?chan=globalbiz_europe+index+page_top+stories

Studetn ID#: 20400542 - Entry# 13

Lotte Internet mall to open Supermarket

Lotte opened the virtual supermarket on online, www.LotteiMall.com. Lotte Shopping Co. said the customers can now be conveniently shopping by a click of a mouse. Online outlet helps the customers to save their gasoline cost and reduce pressures due to soaring food costs because of global inflationary. Lotte Super, which has a distribution network across the whole country, will officially open on June 9 at 4 p.m. They will offer free home delivery services on all purchases without having to spend a minimum. They are willing to deliver even for the purchase of one bottle of water. Purchases made by 4 p.m. each day will be delivered before 8 p.m. the same day. There are 89 Lotte Super stores nationwide and they will offer the same products and prices as the offline outlet. They expect the addition of online Lotte Super since the number of online shoppers is growing. They also hope that virtual mall will become an effectively interconnected and all encompassing on and off line distribution channel.

Opinion.
Lotte Group is Korea's largest department store chain, which is the country's only retailer to have all major distribution channels like home shopping, department store, hypermarket, discount supermarket, and internet mall under Lotte. The benefits to have all distribution channels are creating synergy between its major retail lines including department store, home shopping, online shopping, and discount super store, placing Lotte Shopping in a unique position in the local online market. I might use online grocery but not often because I am not sure about the freshness of food. I like to shop other products, which do not affect by the temperature or date. It is certainly convenient to customers but they also have to have the solutions for problems that I mentioned before.

Lotte Internet mall to open Supermarket

By Yoo Soh-jung
2008.06.07

The Korea Herald

20600225_ Entry 14

Samsung's Mobile Fashion Statement

The Giorgio Armani P520 is handsome enough to make iPhone owners look twice, but it doesn't exactly put the "smart" in smartphone

"Looking for a phone that will inspire oohs, aahs, and, dare I say, a little envy?"

The Samsung Giorgio Armani P520
This phone has everything that defines ‘de rigueur’ in the design for mobile phones. It is a nonflip, nonslide ‘candy bar’ handset with its front surface as a screen covering the whole area. It is extremely small with the surface about the size of a credit card, and as thick as a pencil. Taking the design perspective like an Armani suit, the designs on the phone are minimal and elegantly understated. Also, there are only two buttons on the lower part of the front surface – the ‘call button’ and the ‘on/off button’. The 2.6 inch touch screen covers the rest of the functions including the dial pad and various menus, protected by the leather case that comes with the phone. Despite the simplicity of the phone, it does not fall behind in features, including a 3 mega pixel camera that also takes video. The video playback in impressive considering it is a mobile phone.

However,
Compared to a competitor, the iPhone, it lacks in the web surfing feature. The main noticeable problem is that there is a need to type in addresses, search words, user’s names etc but the P520 does not provide a fully expanded touch screen like the iPod. To type words, you need to double-tap or even triple-tap on the phone’s numeric touchpad. This creates a hassle for users, and it is also a observed fact that the P520’s web browser is awkward to navigate.

Overally:
Pros- A sleekly designed touch-screen device in an elegantly small package
Cons- Pricey; multitap text entry on a dialpad is a pain when Web surfing; not available in U.S. stores
Comment- Pricey; multitap text entry on a dialpad is a pain when Web surfing; not available in U.S. stores


Comment:
I think that if design envy is what you're after, this touch-screen device is worth getting your hands on. You may even see some lustful looks from iPhone owners.

Samsung's Mobile Fashion Statement
Business Week (.com)
March 5, 2008, by Catherine Holahan
#20600392
Entry_#14

The iPhone 3G Unveiled

Introducing New features
Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Co. introduced the iPhone 3G. The iPhone 3G will sell for $199 for and 8GB version and $299 for a 16GB version. This is half prices of iPhone 2G which were introduced a year ago. Apple's chief operating officer Tim Cook is expected that the people who has wanted to buy iPhone 2G but they couldn't because of price will buy iPhone 3G.
The new phone is armed with lots of new features. First of all, it downloads Web pages as much as 36% faster than comparable phones from Nokia and Palm. Second, it lets users know their location using GPS satellites. Third, there is the MobileMe which allows to use Mac web service and Macintosh computers.

Alliance
To create this iPhone 3G, Apple cooperate with several companies. First, they cooperated with AT&T to provide the wireless service. With AT&T's subsiding, the price can be half. Second, they provide to use Microsoft's office. Third, The iPhone 3G can use Google's online photo albums. Finally, new applications include an auction program from eBay, a series of game from Sega and Pangea Software, a friend locator from wireless startup Loopt, and a pair of medical programs from Modality.

Opinion
There were 3G wireless phones in the market already. It is not easy to enter when a product is not the first product in a market. To enter the market, Apple Co. uses their innovative images. They try to put new features in the iPhone 3G to differentiate with others. To use new features, they cooperated with other companies, even Microsoft which is competitor in PC industry. Even though there are not many new features in iPhone 3G for me, I would like to use the phone because of Apple's image. It seems different with other phones and looks fun to use it.

Source: Arik Hesseldahl, The iPhone 3G Unveiled, BusinessWeek, June 9, 2008

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2008/tc2008069_946161.htm?chan=rss_topStories_ssi_5

Student#: 20400152 - Entry 14

Apologizing for the inconvenience this causes..

I am truly sorry for the inconvenience that my lack of concern causes.
The article about Wal-Mart is by:
#20600392
Entry number 13