Wall Street Journal Strategic Management News Best Practices: Posting Due this Module Due Date: Sunday, June 12, 2022 at 8:00 PM ——————————-

Module 02, Wall Street Journal Strategic Management News Best Practices: Posting Due this Module Jul 12, 2019 2:52pm

Alleyne, Kizzy

In this article PepsiCo has figured out a way to increase revenue in their previous quarter by introducing new products, increasing spending on marketing and advertising (Chin & Maloney, 2019). One of the driving factors to this turnaround was the hiring of their new CEO Ramon Laguarta who is interested in understanding PepsiCo’s consumer and expanding into new markets. He essentially digested the external environment to determine what should come next. PepsiCo conducted a SWOT analysis of what was working, what was not, what their competitors were doing and how they could compete in the same space if needed. PepsiCo introduced new products but in specific markets because they are aware of their consumers sociocultural needs, such as more natural ingredients in food/beverage, as well as their competitive environment. PepsiCo understands that they must grow and pivot with the market in order to keep earnings up and to remain relevant in today’s market.

References

Chin, K & Maloney, J. (2019, July 9). PepsiCo Rides New Flavors and More Ads. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from https://www.wsj.com/articles/pepsicos-sales-rise-as- brands-resonate-with-consumers-11562669049

PepsiCo Rides New Flavors and More Ads Quarterly revenue rises in both its snacks and drinks business PepsiCo says its earnings climbed to $2.04 billion in the latest quarter. PHOTO: MARIO ANZUONI/REUTERS By Jennifer Maloney and Kimberly Chin Updated July 9, 2019 10:30 am ET PepsiCo Inc. posted higher quarterly profit and sales as the food-and-beverage giant rolled out new products such as Pepsi Mango and ramped up marketing for some of its more established brands. Under Chief Executive Ramon Laguarta, who took over from longtime chief Indra Nooyi in October, the company has been increasing spending on advertising and distribution networks, broadening its product lines and changing its packaging. “We’re trying to understand much better the consumer,” Mr. Laguarta said Tuesday on a conference call with analysts. Revenue in the company’s North America beverages division increased 2.5% in the second quarter, as volume rose in ready-to-drink coffee and water brands such as Lifewtr and Bubly. The Pepsi and Mountain Dew brands, which slumped last year, continued to turn around, executives said. In April, the company introduced three new Pepsi flavors made with real juice and available at Target and Walmart stores in the

U.S. Drinks UpAdvertising and new products have givenPepsiCo a lift.North America beverages, quarterly changein revenueSource: the company %2016’17’18’19-6-4-202468 Gatorade continues to struggle, analysts say. Gatorade Zero, which was introduced last year, has been expanding the consumer base for the brand, Mr. Laguarta said. PepsiCo is also launching a new sports drink called Bolt24 with more natural ingredients such as electrolytes from watermelon—an answer to BodyArmor and its acquisition last year by rival Coca-Cola Co. Increased marketing spending also helped boost the company’s Quaker oats business, including a return to volume growth for Aunt Jemima syrup and ready-to-eat cereals, the company said. Sales of those packaged foods had sagged in recent years as consumers spent less time in the center aisles of the supermarket browsing packaged foods. Coca-Cola also has been experimenting with new variants of its flagship brand. The launch in February of Orange Vanilla Coke, its first new flavor in a decade, helped drive 6% growth in U.S. retail sales for the Coca-Cola brand in the first quarter. The soda giant is also expanding distribution overseas of coffee-flavored and energy-drink versions of Coke. It is slated to release second-quarter earnings later this month. PepsiCo is opening a digital talent hub in Silicon Valley, aiming to create more personalized interactions with consumers through e-commerce. Meanwhile, its New York-based e-commerce team is experimenting with bringing to market quickly such products as grain-and-date bites and Izze Fruit Snack gummies. Overall, the soda-and-snacks giant’s revenue rose 2.2% from the year-earlier quarter to $16.45 billion. Organic revenue growth, which excludes currency fluctuations, acquisitions and divestitures, rose 4.5%. As public concern mounts over plastic waste, the company last month said it would reduce the use of virgin plastic in the packaging of its water brands by offering Lifewtr in 100% recycled plastic and testing an aluminum-can option for Aquafina. It is also rolling out a high-tech water fountain that adds bubbles and flavors. PepsiCo reported earnings of $2.04 billion for the quarter ended June 15, up from a year-earlier $1.82 billion and in line with analysts’ estimates. Excluding one-time items, earnings were $1.54 a share, beating analysts’ expectations for adjusted earnings of $1.50 a share. Sales in the company’s North America Frito-Lay division rose 4.5% in the second quarter. Sales in its Latin America division rose, but fell in its Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa division as well as its Asia, the Middle East and North Africa division. The company, which affirmed its guidance for the full year, said it would make substantial investments in areas that would boost its manufacturing capacity, advertising and marketing.

Module 04, Wall Street Journal Strategic Management News Best Practices: Posting Due this Module Jul 25, 2019 11:07am

Munoa Inguanzo, Crisbel Link (Links to an external site.)

A controversy has come up with the decision of increasing the minimum wage from $15 to $16.30 in Emeryville California. Local businesses are concern about this decision and feel nervous about their financial stability. However, the article continues to provide information on the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $2,840, the median home price is more than $560,000 in the area of Pixar Animation Studios. Maria Moreno a community organizer with the Restaurant Opportunities Center of the Bay explains that “the Bay Area is more expensive than any other part of the country,” and as a result to that many workers find it really hard to pay such high rents with a low minimum wage salary.

The problem begins, when as a result of the increase of the minimum wage salary, many business will have to also raise their prices on the food. In addition, many jobs will be lost as owners will begin to cut down on employees in order to make up for the increase. For the most part it seems like the restaurant industry has been more affected then retailers. Many Business owners have request the city exemptions to better cope with the increase minimum wage. As an employee, I feel that this decision will definitely help the lowest paid workers who seems to struggle to cover their regular living expenses, but as a business woman I will be very concern to the possibility of major layoffs and possibly an inflation in the economy of the city and state of California.

References

Carlton, J. (2019). America’s Highest Minimum Wage Sparks Fight in Small California City. The Wall Street Jounal . Retrieved from https://www.wsj.com/articles/americas- highest-minimum-wage-sparks-fight-in-small-california-city-11563960603

Module 04, Wall Street Journal Strategic Management News Best Practices: Posting Due this Module Jul 24, 2019 6:44pm

Paul Santiesteban

Wall Street article: Women Take the Helm on Cruise Ships

In this article, women are center stage and are highlighted as part of a growing movement to not only diversify the cruise ship workforce, but also to address a growing need to fulfill labor needs. Capt. Serena Melani will become the first female to captain a cruise liner. For far too long, the cruise industry has been a male dominated workforce in its management ranks, with the numbers simply staggeringly skewed with as little as 3% at Celebrity Cruise Lines just 3 years ago. That number has now risen to 22% and continue to grow. Since the majority of officer's coming from the cargo-shipping industry which is male-dominated, that same practice had carried over to the cruise-line industry with many professional maritime academies not accepting women until the 1970s. The global success of tourism via cruise ships has created a labor crunch since the industry was essentially working with access to half a population. Human capital is an essential piece to the success of any organization and the cruise line industry is especially affected by this. A strategic shift in the industry's major players should address not only gender inequality, but the current labor demands as well.

Reference:

Al-Muslim, A. (2019). Women Take the Helm on Cruise Ships. Retrieved from https://www.wsj.com/articles/women-take-the-helm-on-cruise-ships-11563975210

Capt. Serena Melani—set to become the first woman to helm a new major cruise ship at launch—is used to charting new waters.

Out of nautical school in the early 1990s, Capt. Melani spent five years trying to get work on a ship. Some companies, she said, told her flat-out that they wouldn’t hire her because she wasn’t a man. She finally landed a job as a cadet on a cargo ship but was the only woman on deck for years. After joiningNorwegian Cruise Line Holdings (Links to an external site.) Ltd. NCLH 2.08% (Links to an external site.)’s Regent Seven Seas Cruises line in 2010, she became the line’s first female master captain in 2016.

Capt. Melani hits a new milestone for women on the high seas this February, when she takes command of Regent’s new Seven Seas Splendor as the 750-passenger luxury ocean liner embarks on its maiden voyage. One of the roughly dozen women commanding big cruise ships today, she is part of a female vanguard the industry is cultivating to address a growing shortage of maritime officers and freshen its image among consumers, particularly female travelers.

“More women recognize seafaring as a viable career choice for them,” said Despina Panayiotou Theodosiou, president of the Women’s International Shipping & Trading

Association. “At the same time, companies realize that limiting officer positions to men does nothing but limit the potential of their workforce.”

Until 12 years ago, when Royal Caribbean Cruises (Links to an external site.) Ltd. RCL 1.42% (Links to an external site.)’s Celebrity Cruises (Links to an external site.) RCL 1.42% (Links to an external site.)line appointed its first female captain, no woman had ever commanded a major cruise ship. Many of the cruise industry’s officers come from the cargo-shipping industry, another male-dominated realm, and it wasn’t until the 1970s that many professional maritime academies started admitting women.

Virgin Voyages named Wendy Williams captain of its first ship, the Scarlet Lady, which sets sail next year in April. PHOTO: VIRGIN VOYAGES

The number of women working on cruise ships is increasing, though they still make up a fraction of senior ship staff, and an even smaller number are master captains. The female captain ranks include Kate McCue, who in 2015 became the first American woman to command a cruise ship, Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Summit. In June, Virgin Voyages—Richard Branson’s new adults-only cruise line—named Wendy Williams, a Canadian with 28 years’ experience on various ships, as captain of its first ship, the Scarlet Lady, which sets sail next year in April.

“There is a huge weight I feel as captain,” said Capt. Williams, who worked six years as a staff captain, a ship’s second in command, for Royal Caribbean before joining Virgin Voyages. She said she feels the pressure “because every single person on that ship is under my responsibility to keep safe.”

ALL ON DECK

• Carnival Corp. Cruise brands: 9 Total ships: 104 New ships on order to be delivered: 19 through 2025

• Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Cruise brands: 6 Total ships: 61 New ships on order to be delivered: 15 through 2026

• Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. Cruise brands: 3 Total ships: 26 New ships on order to be delivered: 11 through 2027

Virgin Voyages said it has signed up nearly a dozen other female senior officers to staff the Scarlet Lady as part of its “Scarlet Squad” program, an initiative launched last year to recruit and groom more women for leadership roles in the cruise industry. The program’s goal, Virgin Voyages said, is to have women in 50% of its shipboard jobs. Overall, women make up 20% to 25% of cruise ship staff, the majority working in hospitality roles, according to the International Transport Workers’ Federation.

Walt Disney (Links to an external site.) Co. ’s Disney Cruise Line began a campaign this spring to encourage girls and young women to pursue cruise-industry careers. It includes a maritime scholarship and apprenticeship program and onboard youth events featuring a “Captain Minnie Mouse.” Other cruise lines, including the three largest— Carnival (Links to an external site.) Corp. , Royal Caribbean and Norwegian—said they are also stepping up efforts to recruit more women into their officer ranks from nautical institutes and other shipping companies. Over the last three years, “we have worked very hard to go from just over 3% of women on the bridge [of our ships] to now over 22%—and we are not done,” said Lisa Lutoff Perlo, chief executive of Celebrity Cruises.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

What has been your experience with cruises? Did a captain make or break it? Join the conversation below.

Women are key to mitigating a labor crunch as cruise lines bring more ships into operation to meet projected demand, and commercial shipping companies also plan fleet expansions, industry and labor officials said. Across the global maritime industry— which includes cargo ships and other commercial fleets—the gap between supply and demand is expected to widen, to an estimated shortfall of 147,500 ship officers by 2025 from 16,500 in 2015, according to a recent report by the Baltic and International Maritime Council and International Chamber of Shipping.

Despite the industry’s new efforts, Capt. Melani said the work schedule of a ship officer still keeps many women from maritime careers. Her job typically requires spending 10 weeks straight at sea, followed by several weeks off—an especially tricky logistical challenge for mothers, she said.

While some female ship officers have worked for stretches with their children on board, Capt. Melani said she decided not to have children.

“I’d want to stay with my children full-time for at least a few years and felt it would be selfish to leave them for several months at a time,” she said. “When you choose this kind of career, you don’t choose a job, you choose a lifestyle.”

Write to Aisha Al-Muslim at [email protected]

Corrections & Amplifications Kate McCue became the first American woman in 2015 to command a cruise ship, on Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Summit. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said it was on the Celebrity Splendor.