Surrogacy :: social issues

Surrogacy In today's society, couples with breeding problems and homosexual couples have been increasing. There are a lot of reason which causes them not to be able to breed any child. There can by body problems, or other problems. Those couples will feel lonely and isolated, it will make them envy other parents who have a group of children. There are many alternatives that would allow these couples to have a child. There is Adoption, Fostering, etc. But the main particular method this essay is chosen to discuss is Surrogacy. Surrogacy, is known as a act of substitution and replacement in the dictionary. But, people define surrogacy as a egg donation to a surrogate mother, a surrogate mother may carry a child for someone whom she may not have never previously known. She agrees to become artificially inseminated or undergo IVF treatment to carry a child and then after the birth give the child to the intended parents. Therefore, in our terms of reference surrogate motherhood is defined as an arrangement under which a woman agrees to breed a child for another couple. While there are two main types of surrogacy, gestational surrogacy and traditional, there are also different types of arrangements, agency arranged and independently arranged. Also surrogacy may be done between strangers who never meet, persons who meet only a few times, persons who meet and become quite close over the course and often after the surrogacy, and those who are friends before ever entering a surrogacy arrangement or are family membe rs. The procedures of surrogacy the couple have to follow are firstly, to interview intended parents or surrogate mothers and egg donors, then they will have to choose a match and complete all medical and psychological screening, lastly, they will begin medicated cycles and attempt pregnancy. It would take around a minimum of 12 months to complete any surrogacy program. The cost of surrogacy programs are surely expensive, but to the couples it may not be an important issue. The cost of a first time surrogate mother is around $30,000, and with a second time surrogate mother would cost around $40,000. Altogether, the cost is approximately $75,000 for a singleton birth plus medical expenses. This includes the surrogate's expenses fee, IVF transfer fee, cycling allowance, pregnancy allowance, surrogate's attorney fee, maternity clothing allowance, multiple fetus expense, retainer fee, the intended parent's attorney fees, court filing fees, maternity costs and the costs of delivery and hospital, maternity costs of OB/GYN, the stepparent adoption/parentage establishment fee, and finally, the surrogate's fee.

The American Express Card

9-509-027 REV: APRIL 22, 2011 JOHN A. QUELCH JACQUIE LABATT The American Express Card Marketing is fully integrated into our overall strategy. Our largest investor, Warren Buffett, is very focused on brand health and customer metrics. — Kenneth I. Chenault In April 2008, Jud Linville, president and chief executive officer of U. S. Consumer Services at American Express Company, was preparing for a meeting with Ken Chenault, American Express’s chairman and chief executive officer since 2001, and Al Kelly, president of American Express Company.The purpose of the meeting was to discuss further growth prospects in the United States for the American Express consumer card business while maintaining the brand’s premium positioning. The performance of the American Express card, launched 50 years earlier in 1958, had been remarkable. By 2008, there were 52 million American Express cards in circulation in the U. S. , held by 41 million â€Å"cardmembers† (see Exhibit 1). American Express commanded nearly a 24% share of U. S. credit card payments. 1As Linville prepared for the meeting, he wondered whether he could continue to rely on the same business growth drivers that had served American Express well in the past. With the U. S. economy slipping into recession, the proliferation of cards in the market required American Express to deepen its consumer understanding to provide innovative, value-added products that would attract and retain cardmembers. Company Background The American Express Company was a leading global payments and travel company with revenue net of interest expense of $27. 7 billion in 2007, up 10% from 2006. American Express’s principal products and services included charge and credit card payment products and travel-related services offered to consumers and businesses around the world. American Express was the world’s largest issuer of charge and credit cards as measured by the annual value of purchases charged o n these cards. 3 Yet American Express maintained a â€Å"best-in-class† credit quality, reflecting in part the company’s traditional focus on the affluent segment, its expertise in evaluating the credit risk of individual consumers, and its ongoing commitment to investing in risk capabilities. In 2007, around 70% of American Express’s revenue net of interest expense and 85% of its pretax income from continuing operations5 was generated in the United States. The global diversity of the business included 86 million cards in force worldwide, more than 115 card-issuing or merchant-acquiring ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Professor John A. Quelch and Research Associate Jacquie Labatt prepared this case. HBS cases are developed solely as the basis for class discussion.Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective ma nagement. Copyright  © 2008, 2011 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-5457685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to www. hbsp. harvard. edu/educators. This publication may not be digitized, photocopied, or otherwise reproduced, posted, or transmitted, without the permission of Harvard Business School..This document is authorized for use only by YUJIE SUN in Intensive in American Business taught by Robert Calamai from September 2012 to December 2012. For the exclusive use of Y. SUN 509-027 The American Express Card arrangements with banks and other institutions, and over 650 American Express network branded products. 6 Fortune magazine ranked American Express the â€Å"Most Admired† megabank/credit card company in its 2008 annual survey. 7 American Express’s roots date back to 1850, when Henry Wells, William Fargo, and John Butterfield founded an express deli very company.The very nature of handling and transporting customers’ assets depended on security and trust, core attributes that had remained at the heart of the company and brand. In the late 1800s, American Express introduced financial products such as money orders and Travelers Cheques. The company later expanded into the travel business to further support its Travelers Cheques customers who were increasingly going abroad. The First Card The first American Express card targeting the business traveler was launched in 1958. The decision to enter this new business â€Å"faced strong opposition within the company with senior leaders evenly divided on the issue. 8 The debate began when the Diners Club card was introduced in 1950. American Express recognized the card as a potential threat to the company as consumers began using this card as a substitute for Travelers Cheques. 9 Some argued that a charge card would cannibalize the Travelers Cheque business, while others believed competing cards would hurt those sales regardless. There was further concern that launching a card would upset the American Automobile Association (AAA), one of American Express’s largest distributors of Travelers Cheques. At the same time, AAA was known to be considering launching a card of its own.Finally, with the economy in recession, many executives argued that it was a risky time to be launching a charge card. Nevertheless, in December 1957, American Express president Ralph Reed decided to launch such a card without further delay, stating at the time: â€Å"All we have to sell is service. † When word of the card’s imminent launch leaked, the company was inundated with calls from potential applicants. Further, the American Hotel Association approached American Express regarding forming an alliance, which gave the company an immediate customer base of 150,000 cardmembers and 4,500 participating merchants. 0 By the official launch date of October 1, 1958, Am erican Express had already issued 250,000 cards at an annual fee of $6 each, $1 higher than the fee for a Diners Club card. The first American Express card11 was targeted at businessmen on expense accounts, offering them a convenient method of payment rather than a means of financing purchases. This American Express card was a charge card that required the user to pay off the balance monthly. It was not a credit card that offered the user the option of paying interest on the balance as if it were a cash loan.The Gold (1966), Corporate (1966), and Platinum (1984) cards followed despite concerns over cannibalizing the original American Express card. This hierarchy of cards with progressively higher annual fees and services offered business travelers the aspirational prospect of being invited to move up from Green to Gold to Platinum. (In 1999, American Express added an unadvertised, byinvitation-only product, the black Centurion card. Equipped with VIP benefits such as a personal conc ierge, the Centurion card was offered by invitation only to a small, elite group of Platinum card customers.Celebrities and the very rich clamored for the right to carry this new card. ) American Express launched its first credit card, Optima, in 1987. The Optima card was the first American Express card to allow customers to carry a balance and pay interest. It was marketed only as a â€Å"companion† card to existing American Express cardmembers. A downturn in the economy in 1991 resulted in unexpected losses as some Optima customers failed to make their payments.As a result, American Express deferred plans to expand its credit card business and tightened its existing 2 This document is authorized for use only by YUJIE SUN in Intensive in American Business taught by Robert Calamai from September 2012 to December 2012. For the exclusive use of Y. SUN The American Express Card 509-027 credit modeling programs and controls. In addition, American Express â€Å"card suppression,à ¢â‚¬  whereby merchants tried to dissuade consumers from using their American Express card, began with the 1991 â€Å"Boston Fee Party. † Boston estaurateurs were upset with what they viewed as American Express’s excessive discount rate, the percentage fee American Express charged merchants on consumer purchases made with American Express cards. This practice of not honoring the American Express card gained momentum and discouraged some consumers from using their American Express cards. Scale was viewed as a key competitive success factor in the payments industry; American Express considered its 16%—and falling—market share of the U. S. payments market in the early 1990s too low.With too few cards in circulation and too few merchants accepting the American Express card, American Express management faced a â€Å"chicken and egg† dilemma in trying to determine which aspect of the problem to address first. Turnaround Harvey Golub’s appointment as chairman and chief executive officer in 1993 set the stage for restoring health to the American Express business and brand. Golub became the â€Å"vocal guardian† of the American Express brand as he outlined his vision for the company: â€Å"To become the world’s most respected service brand. 12 American Express’s purpose was to manage, market, and promote the core attributes of the American Express brand, â€Å"trust, security, integrity, quality and customer service,† through educating employees, incorporating these attributes into card products and services, and reflecting them in all marketing communications. Future chief executive officer Ken Chenault, who was then running the card business, laid down three guiding principles: to provide superior value to customers, to achieve best-in-class economics, and to direct all activities to support the American Express brand.In addition, Golub established long-term goals as the guiding metrics for the b usiness: earnings per share growth of 12%–15% per year, revenue growth of at least 8% per year, and return on equity of 18%–20% on average over time. With a business strategy built on the company’s brand, Golub refocused American Express on the card business. Starting in 1981, American Express had purchased brokerage and financial advisory firms in an effort to become a â€Å"financial supermarket. † This strategy proved to be a distraction.By 1993, Golub had divested American Express of most of its non-core businesses. Concurrently, the U. S. card business underwent a significant review under the leadership of Chenault. He identified three issues: Costs were too high compared to American Express’s most efficient competitors; the division was too slow to change and adapt, particularly in introducing new products; and the organization was not sufficiently flexible to meet the needs of specific, more targeted consumer segments. 13 By 1995, signs of a turnaround were evident in the American Express card business.New card products began to appear with increased frequency, including proprietary and co-branded cards. A co-branding strategy was initially opposed by branding purists who argued that the American Express brand was too precious to be shared with a partner. This had led American Express to turn down an opportunity to co-brand air-miles-earning AAdvantage credit cards with American Airlines in the mid-1980s. The company came to regret this decision as American Airlines and, later, United Airlines both launched co-branded cards with Visa and MasterCard.The launches of the co-branded Hilton Optima card (1995) and the Delta SkyMiles American Express card (1996) marked the company’s new willingness to partner with other strong brands. In future years, agreements were also struck with Costco, Starwood, and JetBlue. In 1996, Golub decided to open the American Express network and invited other banks and institutions to is sue cards on its network. Doing business with other card issuers that were often competitors was a significant shift for the company. But, by carefully choosing the right partners who 3This document is authorized for use only by YUJIE SUN in Intensive in American Business taught by Robert Calamai from September 2012 to December 2012. For the exclusive use of Y. SUN 509-027 The American Express Card would tailor American Express products for their high-spending customers, the company could efficiently supplement its own efforts to grow the number of cards-in-force, cardmember spending, and merchant acceptance. The Global Network Services (GNS) division was formed in 1997 to build these relationships.By 2007, there were more than 750 different American Express cards (including cards co-branded with merchants and banks) available around the world. Exhibit 2 lists the principal American Express card offerings and features in the United States as of 2008. In evaluating prospective produc t offerings, Linville asked whether the company was, first, â€Å"removing friction† from the system— making everyday life easier in some way for consumers such as with a â€Å"contactless† card—and, second, â€Å"providing special recognition,† or badge value, to cardmembers.Linville sought to make the American Express brand available more broadly while ensuring that it retained its premium status. Organization As of 2007, the company was organized into two major customer groups: Global Consumer Services and Global Business-to-Business Services. The Global Consumer group contributed 67% of the company’s revenues net of interest expense and 52% of its income from continuing operations. 14 Its range of products and services included charge and credit card products for consumers and small businesses worldwide, consumer travel services, and prepaid, stored value products such as Travelers Cheques and Gift Cards.Business-to-Business Services con tributed 29% and 38%, respectively, to the company’s revenue and income, and offered business travel, corporate cards, expense management products and services, network services, and merchant acquisition and processing for the company’s network partners and proprietary payments businesses. (See Exhibit 3 for a breakdown of company revenues by operating group and division, and see Exhibit 4 for income statement data on the company’s U. S. card business. ) U. S. Payments Industry Payment SystemsAmerican Express competed against all forms of payments for consumer purchases, a market that exceeded $7 trillion in the U. S. in 2008. 15 Payments could be divided into three broad categories: paper-based payments (checks, cash, money orders, official checks, Travelers Cheques); card-based payments (credit, debit, prepaid, electronic benefits transfer); and electronic-based payments (preauthorized and remote). Consumers were shifting from paper-based payments toward cards and electronic methods (see Table A).Converting even a small portion of the paper market to American Express payments represented a big opportunity. Many of these transactions were cash/check-based because either they were low-value transactions (at mom-and-pop stores) or high-value captive transactions where there was little incentive for the merchant (for example, a utility company or apartment landlord) to accept charge/credit cards and absorb the discount fees charged for the service. American Express estimated that around 25% of the cash/check segment represented high-value transactions such as car purchases, tuition fees, and rent/mortgage payments. This document is authorized for use only by YUJIE SUN in Intensive in American Business taught by Robert Calamai from September 2012 to December 2012. For the exclusive use of Y. SUN The American Express Card 509-027 Credit and Debit Credit cards held a leadership 26% share of the payments market and had grown 45% in dollar terms since the year 2001. Debit cards, which were issued by banks and allowed a purchase payment to be deducted immediately from the cardholder’s bank account, held a 14% share of the payments market and had grown 162% over this same period.Since American Express was not a bank, it did not offer debit cards. The average purchase per debit card in the U. S. was $39 compared to $87 per credit card purchase. 16 While debit card transactions were projected to exceed credit card transactions by 2011, the average purchase per credit card transaction was expected to remain higher. 17 Table A U. S. Consumer Purchases by Payment Type—2006 Method of Payment Paper Checks Cash Other $3,365 1807 1439 119 Cards Credit Cards Debit Cards Other Source: % Change Versus Previous Five Years Market Share -4 % -19 +23 -3 47% 25 20 2 3,048 1,871 ,010 167 +77 +45 +162 +209 43 26 14 3 751 443 307 +177 +136 +270 10 6 4 7,165 Electronic Preauthorized Remote Total Consumer Purchases (billions) +30 100 Adapted from The Nilson Report, Issue 890, October 2007. The average American adult carried 4. 4 payment cards in his/her wallet, be they debit, credit, and/or charge cards. 18 Competitors in the card payments business were either card networks that processed transactions (Visa, MasterCard), card issuers (primarily banks), or organizations that both issued cards and processed transactions (American Express, Discover Financial Services).Charge cards for specific retail chains were declining in importance. American Express aimed to increase its â€Å"share of wallet† by making American Express the payment card of choice for all transactions. This was especially important, as recent evidence showed the average number of cards per wallet falling rather than increasing; 20% of consumers shed payment products in 2007 versus 16% in 2004. 19 Further, only 31% of consumers were adding new payment products to their wallets, a drop from 56% three years earlier. 0 Many American consumer s â€Å"compartmentalized† their spending, using different cards for different types of payments. For example, some long-standing American Express members still used the American Express card just for travel and entertainment, and used a Visa or MasterCard credit card for other purchases. 5 This document is authorized for use only by YUJIE SUN in Intensive in American Business taught by Robert Calamai from September 2012 to December 2012. For the exclusive use of Y. SUN 509-027 The American Express Card Competitive Card NetworksPayment networks operated under two business models. â€Å"Open-loop† payment networks, as employed by Visa and MasterCard, were multiparty. Processing a payment typically involved connecting two financial institutions: one that issued the card (issuer) and one that serviced the merchant (acquirer). The open-loop network managed the information and transfer of value between the two banks. In a â€Å"closed-loop† network, as used by Americ an Express and Discover, the network â€Å"owned† the relationship with both the cardholder and the merchant.Leading payment networks are listed in Table B. Credit Card Networks—U. S. Market Share 2007 Table B Share of Credit Card Purchases Visa MasterCard American Express Discover Source: Share of Credit Card Transactions 42. 2% 28. 7 23. 8 5. 3 43. 8% 30. 5 18. 3 7. 4 Adapted from The Nilson Report, Issue 889, 2007. Visa, Inc. Visa operated the world’s largest retail electronics open-loop payment network. Visa provided financial institutions, their primary customers, with product platforms, including consumer credit, debit, prepaid, and commercial payments (see Table C).Visa operated a data-processing network that transferred transaction data and managed payment flow between issuers and acquirers. Visa generated revenue primarily from financial institutions based on fees calculated on the dollar volume of payment activity on Visa-branded cards (service fees) a nd from fees charged for providing transaction processing (data-processing fees). In 2007, Visa USA generated 82% of its gross operating revenue from service and processing fees combined. 21 U. S. Results for Visa, Inc. , Annual Product Performance (June 30, 2007) Table C Payment TypeConsumer Credit Consumer Debit Commercial and Other Total Payments Volume Cash Volumea Total Volume Total Transactions (in millions) Source: Payment Volume (billions) Share of Payment Volume by Payment Type $ 624 637 188 34% 35 10 1,449 79 382 1,831 21 100% 25,942 Adapted from Visa, Inc. , Form 10-K, December 2007. a Cash volume includes cash access transactions, balance transfers, and convenience check transactions associated with Visa. 6 This document is authorized for use only by YUJIE SUN in Intensive in American Business taught by Robert Calamai from September 2012 to December 2012.For the exclusive use of Y. SUN The American Express Card 509-027 Visa went public on March 18, 2008, raising $19 bill ion in the world’s second-largest initial public offering (IPO). 22 The IPO created a cultural and business challenge: Visa had to shift its focus from delivering benefits to its partner banks toward maximizing profits for long-term shareholder value. 23 As stated in Visa’s 10-K report, â€Å"Many of our employees have limited experience operating in a profit-maximizing business environment. †24 Further, the proceeds of the IPO bought out the interests of the partner banks.As a result, the banks were no longer Visa’s partners and co-owners but were now Visa’s customers. MasterCard MasterCard (MC), which successfully went public in 2006, was a global payment solutions company that was similar to Visa’s open-loop network. MC’s primary sources of revenue were transaction service fees, data-processing fees, and assessments on gross dollar use (purchases, cash disbursements, balance transfers) of MC-based cards. In 2007, transaction fees a nd assessments represented approximately 74% and 26%, respectively, of the company’s net revenues. 5 Discover Financial Services Discover Financial Services (DFS) was the consumer credit and financial services division of Morgan Stanley until it was spun off to shareholders as an independent closed-loop payments network company in July 2007. Founded in 1986, DFS was the only issuer whose wholly-owned network operations included both debit and credit card capability. 26 DFS also offered a range of banking products, such as personal and student loans, certificates of deposit, and money market accounts. DFS’s primary source of revenue in its U. S. ard business was interest income earned on revolving cardmember balances. Other sources of revenue included late-payment, over-the-limit, and merchant discount fees. Like American Express, the company offered a rewards program to cardholders; under the Discover program, card users earned a cash-back discount on the value of thei r transactions. Competitive Card Issuers Competitive card issuers (largely banks) issued credit and debit cards, predominantly under the Visa and MasterCard brands, and were responsible for the pricing, positioning, and marketing of their co-branded cards.The top three banks accounted for more than 60% of outstanding bank-issued credit card purchases, as indicated in Table D. Card issuers competed on the basis of card features and quality of service, including rewards, number of cards issued and quality of users’ credit and spending, number of establishments accepting the card, success of target marketing and promotional campaigns, and the ability of the issuer to manage credit and interest rate risks through economic cycles. The primary revenue source for bank issuers was interest income earned on outstanding credit card balances.They acquired new cardholders by cross-selling cards to the customers of their retail branch networks and, increasingly, targeted high-spending con sumers, offering premium cards with enhanced services such as larger lines of credit, cash rebates, lower interest rates, and co-brand benefits with airline frequent-flyer programs. 7 This document is authorized for use only by YUJIE SUN in Intensive in American Business taught by Robert Calamai from September 2012 to December 2012. For the exclusive use of Y. SUN 509-027 The American Express Card Table D U. S. Credit Card Volumes by Card Issuer in 2007 Volume of Purchases billions) American Expressa JP Morgan Chase Bank of America Citigroup Capital One Discovera U. S. Bank HSBC Wells Fargo GE Money Other Sources: $459 317 263 222 106 90 65 41 37 27 87 Adapted from The Nilson Report, Issue 896, February 2008, except for American Express (American Express Annual Report 2007). a Do not include third-party business. Emerging Payment Networks New entrants offering nontraditional, convenient, technology-based payment methods were growing in number and importance. It was estimated that cr edit and debit cards generated approximately $200 billion in purchase volume from online bill payments in 2006. 7 New payment methods included online â€Å"aggregator† networks, such as PayPal and Google Checkout, and telecom providers that leveraged new technologies and customers’ existing charge and credit card relationships to create mobile payment solutions where the plastic card would not need to be presented to the merchant. PayPal used encryption software to allow consumers to make financial transfers between computers. 28 Similarly, Google Checkout, which accepted and processed existing payment methods such as American Express, Visa, and MasterCard, aimed to offer buyers a fast, safe, and convenient purchase experience.American Express Card Business Model The American Express â€Å"spend-centric† business model (see Exhibit 4) depended on increased cardmember spending. American Express’s primary source of income was â€Å"discount revenue,† revenue earned from fees charged to merchants for processing purchases made using an American Express card. The fee charged represented a percentage of the dollar value of these transactions. In 2007, discount revenue and card fees accounted for more than 70% of U. S. Card Services’ revenue net of interest expense (see Exhibit 5).The average American Express cardmember charged more each year than the average Visa or MasterCard credit card user. In 2007, the annual average purchase volume per American Express card of $8,360 in the U. S. was substantially higher than that for Visa ($2,470/card) or MasterCard ($1,960/card). 29 By accepting American Express cards, merchants benefited from attracting as patrons the higher-spending American Express consumer. As a result, American Express could justify a premium discount rate from merchants over its competitors.American Express invested this price premium in information systems that studied the purchase habits and inclinations of c ardmembers. These insights led to the development of targeted 8 This document is authorized for use only by YUJIE SUN in Intensive in American Business taught by Robert Calamai from September 2012 to December 2012. For the exclusive use of Y. SUN The American Express Card 509-027 promotions, connecting merchants with interested American Express cardmembers who were in turn motivated to spend even more on their American Express cards.In this way, the spend-centric model became a virtuous cycle, benefiting cardmember, merchant, and company alike. From the outset, American Express targeted the affluent, high-spending consumer. â€Å"High-wallet† consumers were defined by American Express in 2007 as those who spent more than $30,000 annually using cards. Affluent consumers represented roughly 10% of card users but accounted for half of U. S. charge/credit card consumer spending. 30 American Express’s target consumer typically liked to travel, liked to be different, and lik ed special access to exclusive experiences.For many years the American Express consumer skewed slightly toward affluent, older men, a reflection of the company’s early targeting of the male business traveler. The company had successfully increased American Express brand penetration of affluent younger and female consumers. Unlike its transaction-oriented competitors, Visa and MasterCard, the American Express card always emphasized an aspirational lifestyle. An early example was the 1985 launch of Departures magazine for Platinum cardmembers who were active, affluent consumers.The Departures editor defined luxury not as status and privilege but in terms of quality and authenticity. Membership in a Lifestyle From the outset, American Express executives emphasized that the company sold not just a card but a relationship. The relationship involved a â€Å"membership† in which the company committed to providing the member with the following: Access (premium and exclusive ac cess and enhanced experiences for cardmembers), Advocacy (in merchant disputes, for example), Accountability (privacy of information, fairness in billing), and Affiliation (a sense of belonging to a community).Every American Express charge card included the â€Å"Member Since† designation on the front followed by the year the consumer became an American Express cardmember. To underscore the membership status of American Express consumers, the company in 1991 launched the Membership Miles program to motivate customer sign-ups, customer retention, and more frequent card usage. At launch, the Membership Miles program gave cardmembers one point for every dollar charged on the card and the ability to redeem points with seven airlines. The program was renamed Membership Rewards (MR) in 1995.Spending on American Express cards linked to MR averaged four times higher than that on cards without rewards activity. 31 Seventy percent of cardmembers used the MR program. Cardmembers enrolle d in the program were found to be lower credit risks as well as more profitable. 32 The company’s â€Å"data-mining† capabilities helped shape the MR program into an industry-leading loyalty program. For these reasons, American Express’s marketing spending on MR had grown at a compound annual growth rate of 24% since 2001, compared to an average 12% increase in marketing and promotion spending. 33 The MR program in the U.S. had more than 160 redemption partners34 and featured 29 airlines among its 250 merchandise brands. Analytics not only helped to determine whom to reach and with what offer, but also how rewards influenced loyalty. In 2005, the MR analytics team analyzed which members were more likely to redeem, in which categories, how many points they would redeem, and at what cost to the company. This research enabled American Express to craft a more appealing mix of reward offers, to predict more accurately the volume of demand for particular offers, and t o negotiate better deals with suppliers.Innovations such as â€Å"First Collection,† a luxury tier exclusively for U. S. Platinum and Centurion cardmembers that included redemption partners such as Tiffany and Lamborghini, and â€Å"Bonus Points Mall,† an online gateway to more than 100 retailers, were 9 This document is authorized for use only by YUJIE SUN in Intensive in American Business taught by Robert Calamai from September 2012 to December 2012. For the exclusive use of Y. SUN 509-027 The American Express Card examples of how American Express increasingly tried to match the nature and the level of rewards to what its members sought and expected.Data-Based Marketing As a card issuer and network provider, American Express had direct relationships with both its cardmembers and its merchants. â€Å"Data-based marketing† became a competitive advantage at American Express. Analyses of cardmember purchases enabled American Express to develop offers that boosted spending with particular groups of merchants. Open-loop competitors Visa and MasterCard could not match American Express’s data-driven capabilities because they controlled access to either the cardholder or the merchant data, not both.The purpose of data-based marketing was to develop insights and offers that would match members’ interests, drive charge volume, and increase loyalty to American Express. 35 The company did not use individual consumer data for marketing purposes but rather clustered cardholders into segments based on personal, financial, and lifestyle characteristics evident in the patterns of their transactions. Cardmember clusters might have greater than average spending in, for example, entertainment, dining, home, fashion, electronics, or automobiles.Cardmembers whose spending showed them to be more â€Å"passionate† about their homes might then receive offers from local homeimprovement retailers. The company also researched correlations across spending categories to identify potential partnerships. For example, research indicated that affluent consumers who owned at least one luxury automobile brand had a strong affinity not only to other luxury brands but also to consumer electronics brands, an above-average tendency to engage in skiing and antiquing, and a strong likelihood of owning a second, more practical vehicle.Data mining also enabled American Express executives to predict how spending behavior evolved through various â€Å"life stages† and increasing levels of affluence. For example, the company’s predictive model indicated that non-affluent cardmembers who made a single luxury purchase, such as a first-class airline ticket, were three times as likely to become affluent. Card upgrade offers distributed following a cardmember’s first luxury charge purchase resulted in response rates over 50% above normal. 36 Emerging ChallengesBy 2005, competitors had begun to imitate American Express’ s lifestyle platform with premium product offerings (e. g. , Visa Signature, MasterCard World Elite), exclusive experiential rewards (e. g. , MasterCard’s Unique Experiences program), and lifestyle advertising. Visa’s â€Å"Life Takes Visa† advertising campaign emphasized the â€Å"brand’s promise to deliver innovative products and services that empower cardholders to experience life and business their way and on their terms. †37 The quality of a card’s rewards program was increasingly important to higher-spending consumers.No longer did they evaluate rewards programs just on ease of earning and redeeming points. The variety and frequency of unique rewards (such as backstage access at a concert) were more and more critical. American Express had an edge over Visa and MasterCard owing to its cumulative expertise in arranging special events, but bidding wars for such opportunities were increasingly common. While continuing to emphasize relation ship and lifestyle over transaction, American Express had to broaden its merchant network to maintain its share of consumer spending.In 1990, 64% of 10 This document is authorized for use only by YUJIE SUN in Intensive in American Business taught by Robert Calamai from September 2012 to December 2012. For the exclusive use of Y. SUN The American Express Card 509-027 American Express U. S. billings came from the travel and entertainment (T&E) sectors and 36% came from retail and other sectors. 38 This reflected the company’s belief that spending could be segmented into â€Å"business† and â€Å"personal. † American Express’s focus on T&E concerned Chenault and Kelly.They believed that, in the interests of scale, American Express had to expand its presence in the â€Å"everyday† retail market. This change in strategy was opposed initially, partly because it would necessitate launching more new products and, in the eyes of some traditionalists, weaken the brand. However, by 2007 the sources of cardmember spending had more than reversed, with everyday retail spending representing more than 69% of U. S. American Express card billings. 39 Marketing Communications Advertising CampaignsAmerican Express had a long history of successful, distinctive advertising that consistently stressed prestige, inviting consumers to join an exclusive club of cardmembers. One of the first TV campaigns, â€Å"For People Who Travel† (1969–1974), demonstrated how the American Express card is â€Å"All You Need† for your travel and entertainment needs. This was replaced by the â€Å"Do You Know Me? † campaign, which that ran for more than a decade, produced 125 commercials, and marked the beginning of the company’s strategy of using famous American Express â€Å"members† to sell cards to consumers. Do You Know Me? † used a variety of celebrities to highlight the special treatment and recognition cardmembers enjoy, the premise being that people with famous names don’t always have equally famous faces; anyone who carried an American Express card would be immediately identified as someone of note. In 1987, American Express premiered the â€Å"Membership Has Its Privileges† campaign, which highlighted the company’s superior service and showed how the card â€Å"not only facilitated the variety and enjoyment of a cardmember’s lifestyle, but that membership is also invaluable when emergencies arise. 40 To complement this television campaign, the â€Å"Portraits† print campaign was launched. Portraits underscored the message that â€Å"superior customer service, security, and convenience† were important American Express qualities that cardmembers relied on. Shot by celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz, â€Å"Portraits† focused on a unique group of high-profile cardmembers. The company’s first global advertising campaign, â€Å"Do Mo re,† was launched in 1996 and emphasized brand attributes such as trust, customer focus, travel relevance, and financial insight.A variety of â€Å"product† commercials highlighted individual card benefits such as no preset spending, purchase protection, and global assist, while talent-driven â€Å"stories,† such as Tiger Woods’s â€Å"Manhattan† commercial in which he plays the world’s toughest â€Å"island† course—Manhattan—were intended to drive emotional relevance. In an effort to encourage everyday usage of the card, the â€Å"Do More† campaign introduced a series of ads showing comedian Jerry Seinfeld using the American Express Card in supermarkets and drugstores. In 2004, a new global campaign with the tagline â€Å"My Life. My Card. featured snapshots of the lives of celebrities, including Robert DeNiro, Tiger Woods, and Ellen DeGeneres. The campaign portrayed American Express cardmembers as exceptional pe ople no matter where they lived or what they did. The campaign was also the first to support both American Express’s proprietary and network businesses. John Hayes, American Express’s chief marketing officer, believed that the company’s history of tastefully portraying the rich and famous had provided it with an edge in attracting A-list talent. DeGeneres purportedly pointed to Seinfeld’s ads before signing on to do her own. 1 11 This document is authorized for use only by YUJIE SUN in Intensive in American Business taught by Robert Calamai from September 2012 to December 2012. For the exclusive use of Y. SUN 509-027 The American Express Card American Express launched its most recent campaign, â€Å"Are You A Cardmember? ,† in 2007. Hayes explained: â€Å"The new campaign continues the tradition of defining the value of belonging to the American Express community by showcasing some of our most exceptional cardmembers and the ways in which membersh ip works for them.But our latest campaign not only reaffirms for existing members why they belong, it also calls on nonmembers to consider becoming a cardmember. †42 See Exhibit 6 for a summary of American Express’s U. S. card advertising campaigns. Expenditures The company’s mix of marketing spending had changed to reflect the growing importance of targeted communication over mass mailings and the emergence of the digital world. Over time, spending on direct mail, while still large, had decreased along with spending on television advertising.Event/experiential marketing and Internet spending had both grown. American Express used direct marketing both to acquire new customers and to motivate existing members to upgrade. Traditionally, American Express sought new customer applications from outbound telemarketing, â€Å"Take Ones† (applications placed in restaurants and other retail establishments), and direct-mail efforts. By 2008, only 40% of successful ne w applicants still came from direct-mail solicitations and response rates had slipped well below 1%.By contrast, a significant portion of applications came from new channels such as the Internet, co-branded partner channels, and consumer-initiated phone calls to American Express customer service. The American Express website had become one of the company’s largest sources of new member applications. It allowed the company to leverage its datamining expertise to provide real-time consumer rewards and offers. The Web simplified the card selection/application process by guiding the applicant through card choices.Based on the applicant’s stated card feature priorities (fees, rewards, payment terms), the American Express website provided card product comparisons and recommended the most appropriate card options from American Express’s portfolio. The growing importance of the digital world was reflected in the company’s shift in media spending, as shown in Tabl e E. American Express Company—U. S. Card Media Spending Table E Share of Media Spend 2003 Media Type Online Share of Media Spend 2007 7% Television 19% 48 57 14 10 Print 23 13 Radio 2 Non Traditional Source: Mediaa Company records. a Non Traditional Media includes billboards, transit, cinema, and other out-of-home media Investing in the website reduced American Express’s costs and built brand presence and prestige. By 2008, 38% of American Express applications, payments, and reward redemptions had migrated to the Web at cost rates 53%, 84%, and 86% lower, respectively, than offline. 43 The Internet allowed the company to attract new customers faster (one application every eight seconds) and more 12This document is authorized for use only by YUJIE SUN in Intensive in American Business taught by Robert Calamai from September 2012 to December 2012. For the exclusive use of Y. SUN The American Express Card 509-027 economically. The website, serving as a virtual service cen ter around the clock, increased the frequency with which the company was in contact with its customers, making it a powerful marketing channel. Claiming the americanexpress. com site â€Å"gets more traffic than the Wall Street Journal online,† the company noted that its members used the Web primarily for checking statements and cashing in rewards.With more than 50% of American Express payments left to migrate online, upside opportunity existed for further cost savings and deeper relationships with customers. Bank and Merchant Partners As of 2008, American Express obtained customers in two ways: through direct company solicitations and communications that resulted in consumers being issued proprietary American Express cards; and through third-party financial institutions that solicited their customers to sign up for American Express cards through them, a business managed by the company’s Global Network Services (GNS) division.Bank Partners American Express’s GNS business was set up in 1997 to build partnerships with banks and other institutions to issue American Express–branded products. GNS products were designed to help issuers develop products for their highest-spending, most affluent customers and to support the value of American Express card acceptance with merchants. GNS enabled American Express to broaden its cardmember base internationally at relatively low cost. By 2008, GNS had over 120 partners in more than 125 markets and accounted for nearly 25% of American Express’s overall cardsin-force.American Express particularly wanted to help each bank design card products for their highspending, affluent private banking clientele, and to benefit from new distribution channels that included each bank’s website, direct-mail capabilities, and retail branch network. For their part, the banks were interested in partnering with American Express because of its superior marketing expertise as a card issuer and the higher-s pending profile of American Express cardmembers. Merchants stood to benefit from more American Express cards in circulation.For American Express, expanding the GNS business required little capital; the banks owned the receivables and therefore absorbed the consumer credit risk. While consumers could choose between American Express proprietary cards and those issued under GNS partnerships, cannibalization of direct sales appeared to be minimal. While GNS began building a healthy international business, it was effectively barred from doing business in the U. S. by Visa and MasterCard’s policies preventing their U. S. member banks from issuing other card brands. In 1998, the U.S. Department of Justice filed suit against Visa, MasterCard, and eight of their member banks, charging anticompetitive practices. The suit charged that Visa and MasterCard prohibited their U. S. partner banks from issuing American Express–branded cards on the American Express network. Discover card s were affected similarly. The legal battle was resolved in 2004 when the U. S. Supreme Court let stand a court ruling that Visa and MasterCard had violated antitrust laws. Visa settled for $2. 25 billion. MasterCard later settled for $1. 5 billion.American Express soon signed Network Card License Arrangements (NCLs) to issue American Express–branded cards with seven leading U. S. banks. MBNA was the first, followed by Citibank, Barclaycard U. S. , USAA, GE Money, HSBC, and Bank of America. Though the banks were licensed to issue American Express–branded cards, American Express owned the relationships with merchants. 13 This document is authorized for use only by YUJIE SUN in Intensive in American Business taught by Robert Calamai from September 2012 to December 2012. For the exclusive use of Y.SUN 509-027 The American Express Card This meant that GNS earned discount revenue from both the bank issuer and the merchant acquirer, a sum that represented roughly one-third o f total GNS revenues. This design feature underscored the importance of the continued focus on the high-spend segment. American Express developed strong account-management teams to manage the relationships with these major banks. Two major banks that had not yet signed on to issue American Express cards were JP Morgan Chase and Capital One. Merchant Partners In addition to U. S. anks, American Express depended on relationships with merchant partners, seeking always to expand its merchant coverage. These relationships were managed by the Merchant Services Group. Despite American Express’s premium discount rate, American Express believed that merchant coverage was not a function of price alone; if it were, Kmart and Walmart, for example, would not have chosen to accept American Express. Further, the Discover card discount rate was less than American Express’s yet Discover had a much lower merchant penetration. (See Table F for fees paid in 2005 by U. S. erchants to accep t card payments. ) American Express account managers and third-party sales organizations aimed to convince merchants of two benefits to offset American Express’s higher discount rate: that American Express cardmembers would spend more with them than with competitive cardholders and that American Express data mining could target promotional offers that would drive business their way. To persuade reluctant merchants to sign up, the Merchant Services Group might target members who were likely shoppers at a new merchant with double points promotions for an inaugural period.Since 2000, American Express increased merchant acceptance of its cards in many categories, especially quick-serve restaurants, mass transit, and health care. American Express card acceptance also increased in industries where cash, checks, or bank transfers were the predominant forms of payment, including apartment rentals, private jet travel, and destination clubs. By 2008, the American Express card was accep ted at millions of merchants in the U. S.. Management estimated that U. S. ocations where the American Express card was accepted covered more than 90% of American Express cardmembers’ general-purpose charge and credit card spending. 44 Table F Fees Paid by U. S. Merchants to Accept Card Payments—2005 Payment Card Brand Visa/MasterCard Credit Cards Visa/MasterCard Debit Cards American Express Discover Source: Fees Paid (billions) Weighted Averagea $25. 13 9. 76 8. 51 1. 46 2. 19% 1. 75 2. 41 1. 76 Adapted from The Nilson Report, Number 862, August 2006. a Fees vary according to merchant category, volume, and type of card. ConclusionBy the spring of 2008, American Express was strategically focused on the payments and travel businesses, having sold off the last of its banking interests. Michael O’Neill, senior vice president of corporate affairs and communications, explained this transformation: â€Å"We narrowed the business and broadened the brand. † Warre n Buffett, who was the company’s largest shareholder, described 14 This document is authorized for use only by YUJIE SUN in Intensive in American Business taught by Robert Calamai from September 2012 to December 2012. For the exclusive use of Y. SUN The American Express Card 509-027American Express’s â€Å"powerful world-wide brand† as â€Å"an enduring moat that protects excellent returns on invested capital†45 and Chenault as one of the â€Å"giant-company managers whom I greatly admire. †46 In March 2008, Barron’s named Chenault as one of â€Å"The World’s Best CEOs† for having â€Å"positioned American Express well to withstand turbulence. He hasn’t compromised credit standards to gain new cardholders, nor has he cut back on marketing spending to prop up earnings. His loss rates on cards remain among the industry’s best. †47 In the second half of 2007, a U. S. housing downturn and credit crunch slowed U . S. economic growth.American Express issued a profit warning in early 2008. Chenault explained that the slowdown in cardmember spending that had come on suddenly in December 2007 was broad-based and was expected to continue into 2008. â€Å"Now we’ve been through slowing economies before, but none of us can recall such a dramatic drop over such a short time frame, except for the event-driven decline of 9/11. †48 Past-due loans and write-offs also rose, especially in parts of the U. S. that had experienced a housing price bubble. However, superior risk management and credit controls at American Express meant that it was less affected than competitors. 9 It was in this context that Jud Linville prepared for his meeting with Ken Chenault and Al Kelly. How could the American Express consumer card business continue its growth while maintaining the company’s premium positioning? Were there opportunities for his organization to serve U. S. consumers and merchants in n ew ways while continuing to turn in the profits that shareholders had come to expect? 15 This document is authorized for use only by YUJIE SUN in Intensive in American Business taught by Robert Calamai from September 2012 to December 2012. For the exclusive use of Y. SUN 509-027 The American Express CardExhibit 1 American Express Card Business Statistics: 2006–2007 Years Ended December 31 (billions, except percentages and where indicated) 2007 2006 Card billed businessa United States Outside the United States $459. 3 188. 0 $406. 8 154. 7 $647. 3 $561. 5 52. 3 34. 1 48. 1 29. 9 86. 4 78. 0 40. 9 29. 2 37. 1 25. 4 70. 1 62. 5 Total b Total cards-in-force (millions) United States Outside the United States Total Basic cards-in-force (millions) b United States Outside the United States Total Average discount ratec Average basic cardmember spending (dollars)d Average fee per card (dollars) d Source: 2. 56% $12,106 32 2. 57% $11,201 $32 Company documents. a Card billed business inc ludes activities (including cash advances) related to proprietary cards, cards issued under network partnership agreements, and certain insurance fees charged on proprietary cards. Card billed business is reflected in the United States or outside the United States based on where the cardmember is domiciled. b The number of cards that are issued and outstanding. Proprietary basic consumer cards-in-force includes basic cards issued to the primary account owner (â€Å"cardmember†) and does not include additional supplemental cards issued on that account.Proprietary basic small business and corporate cards-in-force include basic and supplemental cards issued to employee cardmembers. Non-proprietary basic cards-inforce includes all cards that are issued and outstanding under network partnership agreements. c Designed to approximate merchant pricing, the percentage of billed business (both proprietary and Global Network Services) retained by the Company from merchants it acquires, prior to payments to third parties unrelated to merchant acceptance. d Average basic cardmember spending and average fee per card are computed from proprietary card ctivities only. 16 This document is authorized for use only by YUJIE SUN in Intensive in American Business taught by Robert Calamai from September 2012 to December 2012. For the exclusive use of Y. SUN The American Express Card Exhibit 2 509-027 Selected American Express U. S. Charge and Credit Card Products: 2008 CARD TYPE SELECTED FEATURES AND BENEFITS CHARGE CARDS Green (1958) Gold(1966) —Preferred Rewards Gold (2002) —Rewards Plus Gold (1994) Platinum (1984) Centurion (1999) One from American Express (2005) 1% of purchases deposited to high yield savings account CREDIT CARDSBlue (1999) —Blue (1999) —Blue Cash (2003) —Blue Sky (2005) —Blue for Students (2001) Optima (1987) —Optima Platinum (1997) City Rewards —In New York City (2004) —In Los Angeles (2005) —In Chicago (2005) Clear (2005) No annual fee, flexibility to pay over time, free additional cards No annual fee, earn up to 5% cash back, unlimited cash rewards No annual fee, earn points redeemable on airline, hotel or cruise services. No annual fee, flexibility to pay over time, Membership Rewards No annual fee, transfer balances for free, Membership Rewards No annual fee, earn Inside points to at, drink and play in New York No annual fee, earn Inside points to eat, drink and play in L. A. No annual fee, earn Inside points to eat, drink and play in Chicago. No fees of any kind, automatic rewards, flexibility to pay over time PARTNER CARDS Airlines —Gold Delta Sky Miles (1996) —Platinum Delta Sky Miles (2002) —JetBlue Card (2005) Hotels —Starwood Preferred (2001) —Hilton HHonors (1995) Costco—True Earnings Card (2004) Lifestyle Cards —The Knot (2005) —The Nest (2005) Earn Sky Miles on every dollar spent, earn double m iles on some purchases Earn Sky Miles, earn 1 companion ticket each yearEarn points towards JetBlue flights Earn points towards free hotel stays, upgrades, even flights Earn HHonors points on every purchase Earn cash back on purchases Membership Rewards, no annual fee, get special offers from The Knot Membership Rewards, no annual fee, get special offers from The Nest FOR CORPORATE CLIENTS American Express Corporate Cards (1966) Business ExtrAA Corporate Card (2003) Comprehensive reporting to track spending and increase compliance Savings through airfare rebates, free travel awards FOR SMALL BUSINESS Business Gold Rewards (2005) Business Platinum Card (1995) Plum (2006)Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card (2001) Business Cash Rebate Credit Card (2003) Source: Membership Rewards, no limit, year-end summary Membership Rewards, access to special events Membership Rewards, access to special events, 5 free additional cards Airport Club access, 24 hour concierge service, by Invit ation Only events Save 3-25% on business expenses at selected partners (e. g. : FedEx, Delta) Access to airport lounges, professional office space, personal concierge Trade terms, pay within 10 days, get 2% off or defer payment Free awards nights at Starwood Hotels, awards flights on over 30 airlines Earn 2. % on all purchases and up to 5% for certain business purchases. Company documents. 17 This document is authorized for use only by YUJIE SUN in Intensive in American Business taught by Robert Calamai from September 2012 to December 2012. For the exclusive use of Y. SUN 509-027 The American Express Card Exhibit 3 Source: American Express Company Overview: 2007 Company records. 18 This document is authorized for use only by YUJIE SUN in Intensive in American Business taught by Robert Calamai from September 2012 to December 2012. For the exclusive use of Y. SUN The American Express Card Exhibit 4 509-027American Express: Spend-Centric Model The American Express spend-centric busines s model focused primarily on generating revenues by driving spending on its cards, and secondarily finance charges and fees, allowing the company to grow market share in the payments industry. Source: Company documents. 19 This document is authorized for use only by YUJIE SUN in Intensive in American Business taught by Robert Calamai from September 2012 to December 2012. For the exclusive use of Y. SUN 509-027 The American Express Card Exhibit 5 American Express U. S. Card Services—Selected Income Statement Data Year Ended December 31 (millions)Revenues Discount revenue, net card fees and othera Cardmember lending revenueb Securitization income Excess spread, net Servicing fees Gains on sales from securitizations Securitization income, net:c 2007 2006 $10,435 4,762 $9,421 3,434 1,025 425 57 1,055 407 27 $ 1,507 $ 1,489 Total revenues Interest expense Cardmember lending Charge card and other $16,704 $14,344 1,518 964 957 767 Revenue, Net of Interest Expense $14,222 $12,620 Exp enses Marketing, promotion, rewards and cardmember services Human resources and other operating expenses Total Provisions for lossesd Pretax segment income Income provision 5,140 3,354 $ 8,494 $ 2,998 $ 2,730 $ 907 $ 4,445 3,227 $ 7,672 $ 1,625 3,323 $ 1,171 Segment Income $ 1,823 $ 2,152 Source: American Express Company Annual Report 2007, p. 53. a Discount Revenue represents revenue earned from fees charged to merchants with whom the company has entered into a card acceptance agreement for processing cardmember transactions. b Cardmember Lending Revenue represents the outstanding amount due from cardmembers for charges made on their American Express credit cards, any interest charges and card-related fees and balances with extended payment terms on certain charge products. Securitization Income, Net includes non-credit provision components of the net gains from securitization activities; excess spread related to securitized cardmember loans; and servicing income net of related dis counts or fees. d Provisions for Losses include credit-related expenses. 20 This document is authorized for use only by YUJIE SUN in Intensive in American Business taught by Robert Calamai from September 2012 to December 2012. For the exclusive use of Y. SUN The American Express Card Exhibit 6 509-027 Major American Express Advertising Campaigns in the United States 1958–early 1960s Good As Gold.The World Around! Establish prestige image for AmEx card and provide application instructions. 1969–1974 For People Who Travel Show how the American Express card is â€Å"all you need† for your travel and entertainment needs. 1975–1987 Do You Know Me? Show celebrities receiving the special treatment and recognition cardmembers enjoy around the world. Tagline, which continued through 1995, is â€Å"Don’t Leave Home Without It. † 1987–1992 Membership Has Its Privileges Introduce notion of â€Å"membership† and showcase the benefits of res pect, recognition, unsurpassed service as well as Global Assist, Buyers Assurance. 996–2000 Do More/Seinfeld Highlight individual card product benefits such as no pre-set spending, purchase protection, global assist. Talent-driven â€Å"stories† drive emotional relevance and recognition benefit. Use Jerry Seinfeld in a larger than life manner to increase awareness and use of the American Express card at everyday spend locations. Sub-campaign uses everyday moments to highlight individual product benefits such as retail protection and roadside assistance. Make Life Rewarding 2002 Relaunch American Express brand post 9/11 using charge card as the face of propriety.Sub-campaign introduced â€Å"revitalized† charge card with membership reward programs built in. 2004–2007 My Life. My Card. Demonstrate the company’s belief that American Express cardmembers are exceptional people no matter where they live or what they do. Featured extraordinary individuals including Robert DeNiro, Tiger Woods, Ellen DeGeneres, and Laird Hamilton, revealing snapshots of their lives. Acclaimed director Martin Scorsese and celebrated photographer Annie Leibovitz were commissioned to lend their vision to elements of the campaign creative.While the creative direction varied from ad to ad, the campaign theme was consistent: achievers of all types choose American Express. 2007–2008 Are You A Cardmember? Entice prospective cardmembers to apply and join the American Express community and reinforce the membership benefits to current cardmembers via showcasing the advantages American Express offers versus competition. Celebrities such as Beyonce Knowles, Ellen DeGeneres, Tina Fey, and Diane Von Furstenberg are featured within a lifestyle and access theme. Source: Company documents. 21This document is authorized for use only by YUJIE SUN in Intensive in American Business taught by Robert Calamai from September 2012 to December 2012. For the exclusive use of Y. SUN 509-027 The American Express Card Endnotes 1 Adapted from The Nilson Report, Issue 902, 2008. 2 American Express Annual Report, 2007, inside front cover. 3American Express Fixed Income Presentation, March 12, 2008, http://media. corporate-ir. net/media_files/ irol/64/64467/DebtInvestorPres. pdf, accessed June 12, 2008. 4 American Express Financial Community Meeting 2/16/2008 K.Chenault speech, texthttp://media. corporateir. net/media_files/irol/64/64467/KCSTalkingPoints020608. pdf, accessed June 12, 2008. 5 American Express Annual Report, p. 110. 6 American Express Fixed Income Presentation, March 12, 2008, ir. net/media_files/irol/64/64467/DebtInvestorPres. pdf, accessed June 12, 2008. 7 American Express Fixed Income Presentation, March 12, 2008, ir. net/media_files/irol/64/64467/DebtInvestorPres. pdf, accessed June 12, 2008. http://media. corporatehttp://media. corporate- 8 Americ

Foreign Direct Investment Essay

The main purpose or objective doing this report is 1. To study what is actually Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and their types. 2. To study the FDI trends and how it influences to India 3. To study the advantages and disadvantages also importance FDI to India and their investors itself. 2. Introduction Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is capital provided by a foreign direct investor, either directly or through other related enterprises, where the foreign investor is directly involved in the management of the enterprise. According to International Monetary Fund (IMF, International Monetary Fund, 2013), Foreign Direct Investment or simply as FDI refers to an investment made to acquire lasting or long term interest in enterprises operating outside of the economy of the investors. It can simply define as the allocation by a multinational firm of capital, managerial and technical asset from its home country to a host country. In FDI it had three components whereas: equity capital, reinvested earning and intra-company loans. Inflows of FDI stated as a net basis meanwhile outflow of FDI is the reporting economy comprise capital provided by a firm from host country. There were several types of foreign direct investment which is Multinational Corporation, transnational corporation, strategic alliance, and also joint venture. For Multinational Corporation it was operate or handling from their home country even it actually operating in several country. The transnational corporation is the country that maintains the significant operation in more than one country but regionalize management to the local country. Meanwhile the strategic alliances was an approach to going global that involve partnership between an organization and a foreign company in which both share knowledge and resources in developing new products or building production facilities. It was common place in the biotechnology, information technology and the software industries. The joint venture FDI is an approach to going global that is specific types of strategic alliance. There was the partner had agreed to form an independent organization for some business purpose. For the joint venture types is divided into two types hich is contractual joint venture and equity joint venture. The contractual joint venture was between firms usually for a specific project, such as manufacturing a component or other product for a fixed period time. Meanwhile the equity joint venture was when a firm holds an equity stake in the setting up the joint subsidiary such as produce goods or services. 3. History of FDI in India It is false if people advocated that India is a fresh country joining foreign direct investment (FDI). It is totally wrong. Actually India already joined or more accurate received the FDI since 1947, more early than other countries (Kapur, 2005). It was concentrated in primary sectors and services whereas foreign country like British conquers India’s mining, plantations, trade and manufacturing base. In early post-Independent years, FDI contributed and shows significant role as India turned abroad for both technology and capital. Late 1950s, foreign capital was invited in various sectors by Indian government (Kapur, 2005). The sectors was pharmaceutical drugs, aluminum, heavy electrical and chemicals. The results, during the 1960s, the capital flow concentrated on manufacturing especially technology-intensive industries. End of 1960 approximately 60 percent capital from FDI flows to manufacturing industries. Reverberation from food crisis and depreciation of the Rupee in 1960, the hardening of policy was there. Early 1970, foreign oil majors were publicly owned. The government of India never rules out the new foreign investment but now it wanted to be in restrictive term. In 1973, the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) had introduced an article that obligatory firms to dilute their foreign equity holdings to 40 percent if they wanted to treat as like Indian companies. By the mid-1980, growing concern about stagnation and technological uselessness in India industry led to push for economic reform and deregulation (Kapur, 2005). On the 1990s, it started with major crisis. In the middle of Gulf War, and the consequent removal of Indian emigrant from the Middle East, foreign exchange payments fell. The panicked withdrawal of funds happened in India by Non Resident that occurred not balance of payments. As agreed with the IMF, the Rupee was devalued, and the fresh attempts were made. That will to liberalize the trade rule and the guiding framework.

How to Raise Leaders at Every Level to Achieve Extraordinary Results?

How to Raise Leaders at Every Level to Achieve Extraordinary Results? Alaa Ahmed MBA Candidate Introduction Leadership is an important concept in every sector, in family, school, organization, company, and in every community. The secret behind the success of any organization is its leadership. Academic analysis has given us more than 850 definitions of leadership (bennis, 1997). All of them have the same factors but in different formulations. After I read many of these definitions, I saw leadership as guiding a group of people toward achieving a specific goal.Scholars researched and studied leadership styles, and leadership patterns, whereas Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner studied leadership from a different perspective. They dealt with leadership as a challenge and the leader who succeeds in facing the challenge and gets extraordinary result is considered exemplary. As a result, Kouzes and Posner started their journey since 1983 looking for how the leader becomes exemplary and achieves extraordinary results. Their study covered leadership in all sectors and on all the continents of the world. They collected data from different people and mangers during 25 years and analyzed them.They found that in order for a leader to be exemplary and able to get extraordinary results, he/she has to be able to transform values into actions, visions into realities, obstacles into innovations, separateness into solidarity, and risks into rewards (Kouzes & Posner, 2002). To get all this done, they outlined a mechanism that they called â€Å"The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadershipâ€Å" ; there are two commitments that go along with each practice which are the subject of our research. Model the way Model the way is aligned with two commitments .The first one is find your voice by clarifying your values. A leader must clarify the values that he believes in, look for the common values, and have the ability to transfer these values into actions. A clear guiding principle is necessa ry to follow and to gain the consensus about these principles from to be easily applied. These values must be reflected in the leader’s behavior to emphasize credibility which as Kouzes and Posner said is the foundation of leadership. Leaders’ clear values help them to practice the second commitment which is â€Å"set the example by aligning actions with shared values†.Telling stories helps others think about how to bring values alive. Giving rousing speeches is not enough; a leader has to go first and participate by doing what he asks others to do. Also a leader has to be (dwysywd) which is the acronym of (do what you say you will do). Followers will believe not what they hear from the leader but what they see the leader consistently do. For example, the director general of the company that I work for issued a decision that all employees must wear their ID on their chests as long as they were inside the company during the formal working time.The next day, we sa w him standing at the entrance wearing his ID as an example or a model for us. Undoubtedly, model the way is not enough to complete the picture of the exemplary leadership, consequently; leaders need to follow another practice in order to share the vision. Inspire a shared vision Leaders to inspire a shared vision with their employees, have to practice two commitments. The first one is to envision the future by imagining exciting and ennobling possibilities. Think for yourself and imagine the future that you wish for your organization.Ask, listen, and adapt mentally and emotionally the employees’ vision, their future imagination, and what they aspire for the organization. The second commitment is to enlist others in a common vision by appealing to a shared aspiration. A leader needs to analyze and discuss both aspirations to create a common aspiration which contributes in strengthening the work relationship and enlisting others to work on achieving the common aspiration. Welc ome any opinion or thoughts and give attention because innovation is created in this way. Francisco Magalhaes gives us an example through a story of his experience.When he had just started his new job at a railway workshop, he thought about something related to his job and concluded that there was a way to reduce the cost by more than half. He told his colleagues about that, but he did not get their attention. His colleagues’ reaction did not stop him; he went to his leader and told him about his idea. The leader immediately began analyzing Francisco’s proposal, discussed it with him and found that what Francisco proposed was correct. This direct leader continued supporting Francisco in order to implement this thought on the ground and he told the director general about Francisco (Magalhes, n. . ). This leader shared Francisco’s thought and gave him more attention. Without his leadership Francisco’s original idea would have failed. Inspiring and supportin g the innovative ideas of employees is what leaders have to do if they want to be exemplary; however, this exemplarity will not be completed without challenging the process. Challenger the process There are two commitments that can be used as strategies by the leader to challenge the process (Kouzes & Posner, 2002). One of these commitments is searching out challenging opportunities to change, grow, innovate, and improve.Leaders, who stay leading in the same way for a long time, will lose their employees’ enthusiasm. The great leader has to look for and create new ways to challenge the routine and encourage the team toward achieving its goals. Chip Perry, a president and CEO of AutoTrader. com, says that one of his powerful leadership techniques is to tell their employees that one of their main responsibilities is to challenge the status quo and work constantly to improve anything that may be used to get the work done (Yaverbaum, 2004)The second commitment is experimenting, t aking risks, and learning from the accompanying mistakes.The employees like to work with a leader who ventures into unfamiliar and uncertain situations and transfers risks into rewards because the best solutions are often found in these cases. Likewise, wisdom is gained through pain and reflection (Bennis, 2003, p. 134). Andy Stanly highlighted that if leaders stop challenging the process, they cease to be leaders and they become managers (Andy, 2006). This pushes us to split between leader and manger by saying that the leader is someone who guides and the manger is someone who drives.Besides, Bennis observed that â€Å"the manager is a copy; the leader is an original, the manager administers, the leader innovates, and the manager relies on control; the leader inspires trust† (Bennis, 2003, p. 45). However; leaders who search out opportunities, step into the unknown, are willing to take risks, and are prepared to meet whatever challenges may face them, are not always consider ed exemplary. The leader needs to empower others and support them, too. Enable others to act For leaders to enable others to act,they need to start with fostering collaboration by promoting cooperative goals and building trust.Create spiritual cooperation between all the organization’s members by emphasizing that you trust them and believe that they can do the best. Donald Evans, Secretary of U. S. Department of Commerce says â€Å"Nothing is important to being and effective leader that having an unshakable trusting relationship with those whom you work with and those you lead† (Yaverbaum, 2004, p. 232). Great work does not occur without active involvement and support. Achieving the purpose of the organizations must be everyone’s responsibility, and good leaders promote teamwork rather than competition as the road to success.Competition, which is trying to beat others, is vastly different in purpose from collaboration which is trying to do well. The cooperative relationships between members are assets of the organization. Leaders must know how to nurture them. In building a strong team out of people with diverse and sometimes conflicting interests, leaders must develop cooperative goals, seek integrative solutions and build trusting relationships. There is a truth that you cannot do it alone. A leader will ever get anything extraordinary done without the talent and support of others.You need others and they need you. Then, the second commitment to fulfill this practice is to strengthen others by sharing power and discretion. When you intend to make a decision, ask employees about their ideas and listen. Involve them in the decision-making process. Zenger and Folkman mention that leaders can find best recourses by asking people in work about their ideas and seeking details. Fell others that you are concerned about their ideas and opinions (Zenger & folkman, 2007). Enable others to act is considered a major forward step to the five practice which is encouraging the heart.Encourage the heart Encouraging the heart is the fifth practice set by Kouzes and Posner. Leaders who want to get extraordinary results should recognize contributions by showing appreciation for individual excellence. Thank employees who did a great job, surprise them by giving moral and financial support. Let them feel that what they did is considered something magnificent in order to push them to give more, at the same time, to encourage others who do not have contributions to compete with employees who have contributions. Continue by elebrating the values and victories by creating a spirit of community. Celebrate team success and pride in the accomplishments. There is a strategy to be a good leader is to explore and expect leaders around you (Zenger & folkman, 2007). By looking for leaders around you and giving them the feeling that they might be future leaders; you encourage them to do better. Credibility is the foundation of leadership The five pr actices that we have reviewed paint a partial picture of leadership. These practices are like a body without soul, so there is no benefit from this body.They are like pillars built on the sands which quickly will fall down. According to research done by Kouzes and Posner for more than two decades, they were looking for what people admire in their leaders. Findings were that credibility is the characteristic that employees admire in their leaders, as the research showcase that the top four characteristics that employees look for in their leaders are; honesty, forward-looking, inspiring, and competent, consequently; these four characteristic are the core of the credibility. The research ranged across the world and years .It shows that honesty is the number one trait then forward looking, competent, and inspiring (Kouzes & Posner, 2002). Employees follow you as a leader when they believe and trust you. But without credibility which is the foundation of the leadership, there is an uphil l battle will face you because you will try to pull the employees to your site and as you are the only pulling, soon both sites are being weary and give up (Brown, 2011). Without credibility, you as a leader will fail to transfer your values into actions then you will lose your employees’ trust.Table 1 Characteristics of admired leaders Percentage of Respondents selecting that characteristic Characteristic| 2002 edition | 1995 edition | 1987 edition | Honest | 88| 88| 83| Forward looking | 71| 75| 62| Competent| 66| 63| 67| Inspiring | 65| 68| 58| Intelligent | 47| 40| 43| Fair-minded | 42| 49| 40| Broad-minded | 40| 40| 37| Supportive | 35| 41| 32| Straightforward | 34| 33| 34| Dependable | 33| 32| 33| Cooperative | 28| 28| 25| Determined | 24| 17| 17| Imaginative | 23| 28| 34| Ambitious | 21| 13| 21| Courageous | 20| 29| 27| Caring | 20| 23| 26|Mature | 17| 13| 23| Loyal | 14| 11| 11| Self-controlled | 8| 5| 13| Independent | 6| 5| 10| Source: The Leadership Challenge by Ji m M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner , 2002. The Five practices of exemplary leadership are distinctive When we review all studies and research about leadership, we will find that Kouzes and Posner studies and findings are different. What distinguish their findings are the followings: 1- The length of the study period which more than two decades. 2- Collecting data from different people (employees, managers, CEO’s, leaders). – They made their research more than one time in different periods in order to determine the constants. 4- Their surveys covered the world. (Africa, North America, South America, Asia, Europe, and Australia ) 5- They transferred their findings into clear concepts. The five practices of exemplary leadership Exemplary Leadership Encourage the Heart Enable Others to Act Challenger the Process Inspire a Shared Vision Model the Way Credibility Conclusion: The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership Make Extraordinary ResultsTwo recent research reports confirm the importance of the five practices of exemplary leadership (Kouzes & Posner, 2002). One of those reach was done by Richard Roi (2006). He asked the executives of 94 companies to rate their company’s senior leaders on the five practices of exemplary leadership. He analyzed those leaders with strong consistent application of the five practices; their companies had significant growth in net income and stock price by comparison with companies that has leaders with weak implementation for the five practices.There is a direct proportion between the five practices and the financial performance for the company. The second research consisted over 66,000 survey responses completed over the past two years. The finding is that the organizations that their leaders engaged in the five practices of exemplary leadership have significantly high levels of important employee attitudes (International leadership associates , 2007). The evidence is clear that the main reason behind the success of any organization is the strength of its leadership.Also, the evidence is strong that what make the leadership strong are the five practices of exemplary leadership. By these practices, leaders get extraordinary results and make significant differences in performance of their organizations. References Andy, S. (2006). challenge the process. ministry today magazine . bennis, w. (1997). leaders. new york: harper Business. Bennis, W. (2003). On becoming a leader. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Pub. Brown, M. (2011, 9 23). Credibility: A Critical Foundation of Leadership. Retrieved 2 23, 2012, from http://www. brownassociates. com/Blog/about International leadership associates . (2007). The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership. International leadership associates. Kouzes, J. M. , & Posner, B. Z. (2002). the leadership challenge. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. Magalhes, F. B. (n. d. ). Leaders and Followers. Emerging Leader . Yaverbaum, E. (2004). leadership secrets of the world's most successf ul CEOs. chicago: dearborn trade publishing a kaplan proffessional company . Zenger, j. , ; folkman, j. (2007). the handbook for leaders.

How Marketing And the Communications Industry Transformed to the Research Paper

How Marketing And the Communications Industry Transformed to the Digital Marketing Era - Research Paper Example Introduction Publicis group is a multinational company based in Paris. The group provides media services, traditional and digital advertising, marketing services and consulting services to the clients. In the era of globalization the medium of advertisement has been changed and the type of advertisement also getting modernized. In the marketing and communications industry there was a transformation seen from the 1990s decade. The agencies change their campaign approaches. They are trying to communicating with the customers instead of communicating at the customers. The Publicis group wants to transform the group’s operation as they have bought Digitas. They have begun to identify a new model and for this they have to change the company’s agencies. Vivaki is a new strategic initiative designed to improve the advertisers’ marketing investments and thus boost the growth of the Publicis group. In this modern era of marketing and communications industry needs some inn ovative approaches for retaining the market share. The approach of Publicis group was innovative as four agencies came under one umbrella through which Vivaki can provide good services to the clients. Since launch Vivaki has not performed well but because of the financial crisis. The paper is an attempt to research about the problems with the group using various tools of analysis like TOWS and strategy tripod. The researcher has tried to provide some recommendations that what the company should do in this situation for their long term and short term profit. Analysis The strategy tripod model is the tool a company with respect to three major perspectives of strategy. The three perspectives are industry based view, resource based view and... This paper stresses that marketing and the communications industry has transformed to the digital marketing era from the traditional marketing. Till 2006 there were no digital shops in the top ten spots so the group has acquired Digitas. Digitas is an integrated digital advertising agency. In 2007 Digitas was in the first spot in the ranking of the top digital stores. After that the chairman of the company feels the needs to integrate the agencies that were under the group and then provide products to the clients. So the management has launched a new venture Vivaki which offers the combined scale of operations of four different agencies of the group. The author of the essay declares that At the inception the group has not performed well because of financial crisis. In this report the researcher has analyzed the situation. This report makes a conclusion that the firm should take care of the cultural issues arising as this company is multinational. The company should allocate the responsibility of the agencies who are working in collaboration so that the group can avoid the events like AT & T. They should use the balance scorecard for review the feedback of the clients and employees. As the approach of the company is innovative it can be said from the analysis that the group will be able to increase its market share if they apply the suggestions made by the researcher.

Branding and product life cycle Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Branding and product life cycle - Essay Example In this stage the products are newly launched in the competitive market place by the organizations. In this product life cycle stage, monopoly can be developed based on the demand and efficiency of the product. The organizations generally achieve losses rather than profit during this product life cycle stage. The organizations generally implement aggressive promotional strategies in order to create awareness about the newly developed product. This introduction stage has two characteristics, such as low competition and low sales growth rate. Growth Growth stage is the second common stage in the product life cycle model. This stage comes with the recognition in the competitive market. Profit of the products starts to flow from this stage. The organizations can try some new innovative ideas in order to maintain the sales growth of products. This growth stage is considered as the appropriate time to develop new competitive and effective price in the competitive marketplace. This strategy helps the organizations to develop a potential customer base for the products. Maturity Maturity is the third stage in the product life cycle model. ... It affects the sales of product. Several organizations try to redesign their products to secure market share and customer loyalty towards it. However, low profit margin, limited sales growth rate and implementation of new innovative models are the major characteristics of this maturity stage. Decline Decline is the last stage of product life cycle model. Generally, majority of the products dies in this decline stage due to huge low sales growth rate. Several organizations share the same market for a single product class. It is difficult for these products to compete with the new entrants. It is true that, market demand and needs of customers change constantly due to the organizations’ product differentiation strategy (Lamb, Hair and MacDaniel, 2008, p.30). This strategy reduces the demand of the existing products. Target customers generally perceive these products as the old and ineffective products. Therefore, people try to experiment with newly developed products in the mark et place. It is not necessary that, every product would go through this specific product life cycle stage. It highly depends upon the category of products, scope of that particular product and market competition. Question 2: Branding Strategies Branding strategy can be defined as the long term plan for a particular brand. It includes determination of potential target audiences and a significant understanding of the market demand and needs of target customers. Effective branding strategy helps to identify the brand and its experience. There are several branding strategies that have been implemented by the organization. This part of the essay will discuss about Company Name Branding, Individual Branding, Attitude Branding,

Some historians feel that James VI was a successful king of Scots Essay

Some historians feel that James VI was a successful king of Scots before 1603 but that he sqandered that success after he became king of England. Do you agree - Essay Example His father Henry Stewart but widely known as Lord Darnley. Darnley, he lost his life in a mysterious explosion at his residence. Just seven months after this Mary Queen of Scots was forced to surrender her throne as she was beaten by rebels. Mary went away and James was left alone. James was given the throne of Scotland at the age of fifteen months this is when he became King James VI of Scotland (Harris& McDonald 2006 ). Today, James I of England also known as James VI of Scotland has addressed to Parliament on the divine right of kings. This was very disappointing to Parliament after many conflicts between it and King James. King James made a horrible statement to all religious eyes that kings are a figure like God himself. "Kings are fairly known as Gods, for that they use a manner of likeness of divine power upon this planet." This surprised the listeners as he spoke regarding the similarity of kings and God. This sent awe throughout the square where the speech was made. Many have said that this will send the king straight to hell with no judgment what so ever. The king made some over the edge of the earth similarities between the power of God and the power of kings. This is an exert from his speech showing the similarities: "God has the power to create, or destroy, make, or unmake at his pleasure, to give life, or send death, to judge all, raise low things, and to make high things low at his pleasure, and to God are both soul and body due. And the like power have Kings; they make and unmake their subjects: they have the power of raising and casting down: of life, and of death: judges over all their subjects, and in all causes, and yet accountable to none but God only." (www.thedukeofyork.org/files/pdf/jamesi) This statement surprised a lot of church officials at the time and numerous protesters were there in opposition to the King. One protester held up a sign