TUFS Value Proposition Essay Example for Free

TUFS Value Proposition Essay The Technical Underwriting Financial System (TUFS) (McKeen Smith, 2012), like any Information Technology (IT) project requires a value assessment. This value assessment is intended to help business leaders weigh the possible benefits and risks associated with the project. In the case of TUFS, some of the anticipated benefits included financial savings through improved efficiency and e-business capabilities. As noted in the case, the company had not made use of the e-business feature two years after it was released. This may point to an IT failure, but it may be as likely that a communication failure among those responsible for defining company strategy produced the unused feature. The anticipated benefits represent expectations, which in this case don’t appear to have been clearly defined by IT or their business counterparts. It may be of more interest in this case to ask how the project fit into the company strategy. One reason this is important is that the expectations (benefits) mentioned are tactical in nature. In other words, improved efficiency and e-business may be good business tactics, but in the absence of a clear strategy, it’s difficult to say how these features would give the company an advantage . External Investment and Commitment IT projects require buy-in from stakeholders. There are several reasons to get buy-in before starting an IT project, some of which include investment during development and commitment to transition away from old processes to the new system upon completion. Unilateral IT projects often lack the level of investment and commitment required for a successful IT project. This becomes even more critical as the scope and size of the project increases. The TUFS project had low stakeholder involvement in the beginning and early stakeholder abandonment when issues arose. In IT projects, there is a risk of going to one of two extremes: analysis paralysis or inadequate requirements planning. In some projects, the analysis phase can reach a point  at which no work is getting done and stakeholders are moving away from consensus rather than toward it. This situation may signal a project that’s poorly aligned with company strategy or even a faulty strategy. For example, a strategy may be to improve the reception of new products by targeting tighter integration between sales and research and development (RD) organizations. In such a scenario it could be plausible to devise an IT project that would synchronize the efforts of sales and RD. However, with two very different groups, salespeople and engineers, consensus may be difficult to reach. In this case, the lack of consensus may be a good sign that either a modified strategy or a different tactical approach would be preferable to pursuing the project. The alternative of inadequate requirements planning may indicate a lack of strategy altogether. Projects that lack careful requirements are often conceived and executed unilaterally. This presents significant risks when original time lines require modification. There are other risks associated with adoption and adaptation. Failure to view the system as a whole, which must include training, support and feedback mechanisms, may be another indication that the project is being pursued unilaterally or that analysis is failing to  achieve consensus. When there is lack of investment and commitment, the safest, although sometimes frustrating, course of action is to pause the IT project and return to strategy discussions for better alignment with all stakeholders. Monolithic, All or Nothing Systems Many significant IT projects have the objective of replacing systems that have been in place for years. In most cases, those systems have evolved over time to become what they are. As the business grew, so did the systems that enable that business. A significant implication of this is that the current systems in use by a company required many years and significant financial investment to become what they are. Surprisingly, many business people believe that a complete replacement of such a system is possible in a very short period of time. The amount of effort and cost involved in implementing a new system is underestimated. The required changes to existing business processes is underestimated. The amount and duration of required training is underestimated. This tendency to underestimate creates a set of unrealistic expectations, which can product tension between IT and other departments. The result is that many attempts to put a new, monolithic system in place fail. Furthermore, monolithic systems will rarely satisfy the requirements of the broad spectrum of stakeholders who have an interest in its outcome. The human tendency to view desired changes as all or nothing sometimes makes opportunities for incremental replacement of functionality difficult to sell. It is often true that there is a minimum viable product (MVP) required for an initial release of a new IT system. One factor in the success of an IT project is in accurately identifying that MVP and limiting the scope to only essential functionality. After that, continuous improvements are much lower risk and more likely to be prioritized based on actual business needs  and value. One way to approach this is to think in terms of segmented job functions rather than think monolithically. Define the intersection of job functions and allow systems to develop independent of one another with well defined interfaces between them. Role Myopia A common pitfall in IT projects relates to a narrow view of job role. This myopia of roles within a company interferes with communications and subverts accountability. When this occurs, technologists and business participants are at risk of relying on false assumptions about who is qualified and accountable for making key decisions about functionality. Narrow views of roles defeat the synergy that is desired in large projects. On the other hand, when technologists show a willingness to learn other job functions before attempting to create IT solutions for them, the outcome is often more relevant. Similarly, when individuals in key business functions take time to understand the capabilities and limitations of key technologies, the solutions they request are more likely to meet relevant needs. Define Key Success Metrics First A final observation from the case is that the postmortem discussion in which the CFO asked for the metrics that would determine success for future projects should have been discussed before the TUFS project began. A careful identification of pain points and deficiencies up front may even reveal quick and easy solutions that can be applied to existing systems. Even when quick solutions aren’t possible, this is a key step in establishing measurements for the execution of the IT project that will follow. Measurements must be able to quantify losses and gains. References McKeen, J. D., Smith, H. A. (2012). It strategy issues and practices (second ed.). Pearson.

Organizational Change And Innovation

Organizational Change And Innovation Organizational change and innovation are essential for an organizations growth and development. Upon understanding the importance organizational change and innovation, many researchers have formulated theories related to change management. Theories have critically analysed with an example of British Airways. Compare strategies with the external and internal environment. The changes taking place in British Airways explores the understanding of change management is implemented in organizations. The case study explains the dimensions of business travel and tourism and its social, economic and environmental consequences. The case study elaborates the easier approach of organizational change in right method with mutual trust and obligation between the employee and employer. Strategy: Strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long-term: which achieves advantage for the organization through its configuration of resources within a challenging business environment, to meet the needs of markets and to fulfil stakeholder expectations. Johnson and Scholes (Exploring Corporate Strategy) Organizational Strategic planning process: According to the todays high rivalry in business environment, the large corporations not only follow the budged-oriented planning and forecast-based planning methods to survive and prosperity, but also engage in strategic planning which clearly describes objectives and assess the both internal and external situation to formulate strategy, implement the strategy, evaluate the progress, and make adjustments to make necessary to stay on track. Mission Objectives: The organizations mission is expressed in the form of a mission statement that projects the organization image to the consumers. Organizational leaders can define measurable financial and strategic objectives guided by the business vision. Environmental Scan: Scanning of the internal and external environment of an organisation is known as environmental scanning. The internal analysis reveals strengths and weaknesses and the external analysis reveals opportunities and threats of an organisation. Strategy formulation: Once the clear representation of an organisation has been achieved, specific strategy can be devised. Michael Porter identified cost leadership, differentiation and focus as three generic strategies can be used while formulating strategy. Strategy Implementation: For effective implementation, high level intangible terms and priority of strategy needs to be translated into more detailed policies for clear understanding at functional level of organization. Evaluation Control: After implantation, the results need to be measured and evaluated, with necessary changes made as required to keep on track. SWOT Analysis: SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. SWOT analysis is a strategic planning method, which helps organizations in identifying and understanding their strengths and weaknesses, explore opportunities and minimise threats. It is helpful in identifying areas of development in any business. Strengths: Organizational strengths are skills and capabilities which makes possible to conceive of and implement its strategies. Examples include strong tie-ups with the suppliers, healthy relations with the customers, reputed brand name, etc. Weaknesses: Organizational weakness is deemed as an opposite of strength, which is important to overcome their weaknesses as it is highest importance to strive in the market. Examples include weak tie-ups with the suppliers and distributors, poor reputation among customers, weak brand name, etc. Opportunities: Opportunities are favourable circumstances, an area or duration in which an organization can work towards higher performance and profits. Examples include unfulfilled customer needs, up to date with new technologies, favourable changes in the international trading regulations, etc. Threats: Threats are unfavourable changes in the internal and external environment. Examples include new regulations, not able to manage the new technologies; products are not able to reach the customer satisfaction level, trade barriers, etc. By utilizing the SWOT analysis in strategic planning towards the organizational growth, a matrix can be developed which provides an accurate understanding of organizations strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. SWOT Matrix Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities S-O strategies W-O strategies Threats S-T strategies W-T strategies In conclusion, SWOT analysis is the most important method in analysing and formulating strategy. With this, the managers can assess the internal strengths and weaknesses as well as external opportunities and threats for overall development of the organization. (Ricky Griffin, 2008) (http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/swot/) Micro Macro Environment: PESTEL Analysis: PESTEL analysis means analysing the political, economical, social, technological, environmental and legal factors, which may play a big role in an organisation processes. Using these key factors organizations can identify the attractiveness of a particular industry for investment, customers expectations, recognise the strategic gap and opportunities in the market. Political factors include political stability, taxation policies, legislation and regulation, government grants and fiscal incentives, and environmental regulations, and etc. Economic factors include interest rates, inflation rate, currency exchange rates, globalization, economic growth, and etc. Social factors include demographic change, emphasis on safety, lifestyle development, healthy management, and etc. Technological factors include research and development activity, communication technologies, automation, operation technologies, and etc. Environmental factors include climate, weather, and etc. Legal factors include discrimination law, consumer law, employment law, health and safety law, and etc. In conclusion, PESTEL analysis is a method of understanding external environment in which an organization operates and this is very important for overall development and success of an organisation. (Ricky W. Griffin, 2007) Change Management: Change management is an organized, systematic application of the knowledge, tools and resources of change that provides organizations with as key process to achieve their business strategy. (http://www.lamarsh.com/approach/managed) Michael E. Porter developed a five forces tool called porters five forces to understand the industry in which a firm operates. According to the Michael E. Porter, competition is often looked at too narrowly by managers and the five forces say that competing with direct competitors. The five forces give a holistic way of looking any industry and understanding the structural underlining drivers of profitability and drivers. With clear understanding of this model, an organisation can develop the competitive edge over its rivals and identify whether new products or businesses have the potential to be benefit or not. The five forces are supplier power, buyer power, competitive rivalry, threat of substitution, and threat of new entry. These five competitive forces give a frame work for identifying the most important industry developments and for foreseeing their impact on industry attractiveness. Michael E. Porter (On Competition) Source (http://www.visual-literacy.org/periodic_table/pix/porter-five-forces.png) Framework for Change: The job role of senior managers is to take decisions in favour of achieving the goals and make sure that the formulating strategies are implemented in the appropriate manner. The above-mentioned theories help the senior managers to approach change in a more structured way. Nevertheless, rather than sticking of organisational theories, managers have a broad range of choice and prudence. Resistance in Change: Change tends to be resisted when it affects interpersonal and job relations, but the manner of change is often important than the change itself. Change will not be effective unless the affected areas are committed to change. By creating supportive atmosphere, close working with affected areas by the change must work out a new value system we can reach the goal of successful change. According to the Lewins model, change means three stages: unfreezing, transition and refreezing. Unfreeze supporting people to replace the old behaviour with new one, which provides a sense of psychological safety and motivated to change. Transition people start looking at things in a different way and may learn new concepts or behavioural models in this stage. Refreeze stabilization of change via integration of changed behaviour into the normal way of doing things. Change will fall back to prior level unless the change is internalized and institutionalized after execution. Some of the organisational resistance factors are inactive structure, inactive group, threat to expertise, poor power relations, and limited forces of change. (http://www.consultpivotal.com/lewins.htm) There are number of organizations in the world in which there has been constant change and innovation. British Airways is one such organisation that has constantly changes in its strategy, structure, culture, management and technology. It has also employed various techniques to deal with such changes. Case Study: Background Information: In 1919, Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited (ATT) launched worlds first daily international air service. In 1924, four major airline companies in Britain Handley Page, Instone, ATT and British Air Marine Navigation merged together into a single airlines company called Imperial Airways. This airline grew in size and gained rapid reputation. The airlines not only dominated the operations in Britain, but also dominated across the different parts in the world encircling routes to Australia and Canada. In 1935, British Airways Ltd was formed with the merger of three airlines and extremely competed with the Imperial Airways. However, in 1939, British government nationalised the two airlines and formed British Overseas Airways Corporation. The BOAC separated into two entities as British European Airways (operates within Europe) and BOAC (operates rest of the world). With the rising oil prices and industrial concerns, BOAC and British European Airways decided to m erge into British Airways in 1976 and a Concord was introduced. This was referred as to as the new supersonic era. In April 1984, British Airways was made into British Airways Plc by shares offered to public. Now, British Airways is the United Kingdoms largest international scheduled airlines and operates more than 550 destinations across the world. British Airways has more than 280 aircrafts and has more than 40,000 employees. The corporate headquarter is located in London and its main hubs are Heathrow and Gatwick. British Airways has owned around 240,000 shareholders including 50% of shares owned by the BAs existing employees. (http://www.britishairways.com/travel/history) Strategies of British Airways: New strategies were adopted at each level of the organisation. British Airways top managers are certainly reviewing their strategies to identify the areas of improvement. Functional strategies aim at providing British Airways products with competitive advantages in terms of superior quality, innovation, efficiency and customer responsiveness. In airline industry, formal corporate strategy was that of vertical integration with lack of independent providers for specialized activities brought about the creation of in-house services with secure markets, therefore lacking up-to-date technology or cost efficiency. With the new corporate strategy, outsourcing activities to reduce costs and elevate competitiveness, and on developing partnerships with major airlines to increase the use of each partners assets and better serve customers. SWOT Analysis of British Airways: Strengths: British Airways strength includes purchased fast-rate new fleet of aircrafts to praise comfortable travelling of customers. British Airways operational research declared that level of knowledge and analytical skills performed by the organization and employees becomes it strength. Strong focus in customer areas while in purchasing high-end technology for air service strengthens the business orientation. Weaknesses: Lacking marketing strategy is one of many weaknesses on organizations business and service. Even though the great infrastructure hosted British Airways need to attract more customers with better market schemes. Furthermore limited knowledge of simulation technology, knowledge lost through internal staff moves, and difficulty to enhance specialist airline technology are the weaknesses. Threats: Threats are seen in centralized management, bureaucratic system and poor decision making. Rapid changes on technology and customer behaviour can also be a threat if not interpreted quickly. Major threats are trade union strikes. Opportunities: Availability of vast services and products create an opportunity to utilize them properly. In British Airways virtual reality could provide a new use for simulation, getting network software and sharing knowledge through special groups are opportunities, which can be utilized further enhance the companys growth. Online check-in for families with Fast Bag Drop facility, introducing baggage policies by standardizing the size of baggage to reduce queue time in airports are some of opportunities for British Airways. (http://www.thinkingmanagers.com/companies/british-airways) Porters five forces model applied to British Airways external environment High Risk of Entry Considerable start-up capital High financial risks Large economies of scale Control through Airport slots Low Power of Supplies BA sets terms and conditions, e.g. takes 130 days to pay suppliers High Rivalry Rises with Industry stakeout and operators will complete on cost and differentiation High Power of Buyers Due to a weaker demand while the number of operator stabilises Substitute Products Eurostar, new communication means, e.g. teleconferencing Political-legal Technological Macro-economic socio-cultural Source: Adapted from Michael Porters model. Change Management British Airways By signing the joint business agreement in revenue and cost sharing and with Iberia British Airways spread the choice of air timings, better connections and short journey timings for customers travelling between London and Spain. British Airways has changed the uniform for more than 25000 staff and the new uniform will cost 30% less than the previous one, which continues to generate long term cost savings while bringing a new smart look to the staff. Expanding the operations through launching BA CityFlyer and operating from the Docklands to six UK and European destinations in 2007. In 2008, introduced Online Boarding Pass (OBP) along with technology enabled PDF with e-fax and mail services to customers convenience and time saving. Formerly, passengers would need to have access to a printer at the time of online check-in to produce their boarding pass. The Online Boarding Pass facility helped the customers in a great way as they did not have to wait in queue. Now they can take advantage of the freedom of online check-in. British Airways also aims on cutting down 95% of energy consumption on air handling by installing in-flight stimulator cells at its training centre in Heathrow Airport and new technology equipment also being used to reduce the noise emission. Cost cutting on staff pay Nearly 7,000 British Airways staff have taken an early opportunity to apply for voluntary pay cuts in support of the airlines cost reduction programme. Of the 40,000-strong workforce, 6,940 employees had volunteered for unpaid leave, part-time working or unpaid work by June 24. Their actions will save the company up to  £10 million. Willie Walsh, British Airways chief executive, said: This is a fantastic first response. I want to thank everyone who has volunteered to help us pull through this difficult period. This response clearly shows the significant difference individuals can make. Options were made available for staff to volunteer for between one and four weeks unpaid leave or unpaid work, with the pay deduction spread over three or six months. The options also included switches to part-time working or longer periods of unpaid leave. Staff will have further opportunities to take part in the programme later in the year. Contingency plan British Airways is to increase its flying schedule for the period of Unites strikes as larger volumes of cabin crew call the airline to offer to work in support of the companys contingency operation. Following Unites decision to call strikes for March 20, 21 and 22, the airline published its flying schedules for the affected period on Monday, aiming to fly 60 per cent of its customers as planned. Since Monday, the number of cabin crew offering to work as normal has increased significantly and is expected to grow further. British Airways is also pleased that the number of other airlines offering their help for the strike period through charters or provision of spare seats has increased from 50 on Monday to more than 60. These developments have enabled the airline to reinstate some previously cancelled flights and provide extra capacity for both longhaul and shorthaul destinations. For example, this will allow the airline to fly home more competitors and supporters from the Winter Paralympics in Vancouver. Willie Walsh, British Airways chief executive, said: The determination of our colleagues across the whole business to keep the flag flying this weekend is increasing. I am delighted by the numbers of cabin crew who have been getting in touch with us to express their disillusion with Unites position. Our crews just want to work as normal, do their usual terrific job and look after our customers. We will now have the potential to fly more than 4,000 additional customers per day and serve more destinations. We believe this is a helpful move at a time when customers are facing rising fares with alternative carriers. Morale among our operations teams is high. Yesterday was our most punctual day at Heathrow for months, thanks to the efforts of all parts of the airline. Technological changes and innovation have been witnessed in British Airways from the past five years. British Airways has invested large amounts in new technology and terminal facilities. Exploring the knowledge and facilitation commencements in British Airways supported the decisions and management process. Another major technological change introduced by British Airways was implementation of management solutions from Calidris in 2007, which helped to create industrys first Order Data Stores (ODS), which stores the customers information in improving the level of customer service and minimising the duplicate bookings. Conclusion:

Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

After four years, we are finally gathered on the steps of what we thought we'd never come to. We are graduating, finally shedding the familiar and embarking on a world of "what's-next?" Despite that, though, today is perhaps most importantly a day to remember our past. In the entire childhood of memories that each of us has accumulated, beginning roughly when we were still young enough to believe braces are cool, some of the most vivid and influential are from this campus. The high school years are mainly those in which a person leaves off building their lives around what they have been shown, and begins to select the path they will take for themselves. It is fair to say that these last four years have seen immense changes in each and every one of us. And today is also a day to...

Visitor and The Speckled Band Fitting into the Short Story Genre :: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Roald Dahl Essays

Visitor and The Speckled Band Fitting into the Short Story Genre The aspects of a typical short story genre are a misleading title, an unsure opening, little knowledge of characters, short time scale, little setting and a typical ending. In the two short stories ' Visitors ' and ' The Adventure of The Speckled Band ' there are aspects of both stories which show a typical short story genre. In ' Visitor ' the title is suggesting that the story will have a visitor of some description but this could be a relative, friend or even an unexpected guest. Also it may be a planned visit but either way the title is a misleading one. The visitor in ' Visitor ' is robber yet in this story a robber isn't an unwanted guest but an expected one. In reply the police are unwanted guests who not expected. " This is a robbery ", this is not the sort of thing we would call normal but in ' Visitor ' it is. The robbers in ' Visitor ' are " professional people " where as the police are not. With the police being described as " young men " something which normally would be described as robbers. The roles have been reversed in ' Visitor ' with the robbers being the usual visitors and the police being the unwanted visitors. The opening of a short story is always very unsure and brief. " Not again, not so soon! " here the audience is thrown straight into the story without really knowing anything about what is going on. The very start of ' Visitor ' is anonyous " she saw the mini bus ", gives the story a scared and nervous beginning. " The knocking was confident but not intimidating. Civilised ", This being unexpected as you wouldn't expect this of a robber but more of somebody you were expecting or somebody you were aquainted with.The thought of 3 men, 2 well proportioned, 1 normal size would normally be quite threatening but not in ' Visitor '. The characters in ' Visitor ' are normal yet unauthodox yet methodically they worked. The roles have been reveresed. With the robbers being civil and the police being unprofessional. There is no real main character and all of the characters are only briefly described. The universal figure in ' Visitor ', Mrs Morrison is somebody we as the audience find little about. Also with it being a short story there is not much time to envolve that many characters in it so there are only very few. The timescale of a short story is only very short and this can create

Organization and Environmental Analysis Essay

Huawei Technologies technical diversification of its portfolio and value addition to its existing products is highlighted by Huawei being ranked amongst the top 5 in the world in terms of essential UMTS patents. By June 2008, Huawei had filed 30,569 patent applications. (Huawei Corporate Information-Huawei Media release). The big inclination towards R&D and strong cost differentiation has enabled Huawei Technologies to achieve what the other dominant players in the telecom industry have been struggling to achieve- customization! .This strong customer focus is also the face of Huawei Technologies projected through its brand logo. The Huawei Technologies brand logo reflects its core principles of â€Å"customer-focus, innovation, steady and sustainable growth, and harmony, conveying Huawei Technologies sincere commitment to helping its customers realizing their potential to launch a variety of competitive services through continuous innovation and an enterprising spirit. † (Huawei Corporate Information-Huawei Media release). The Huawei Technologies logo was recently changed and modified to reflect harmony as also one of its key elements, so as to convey its social responsibility. Huawei Corporate Information-Huawei Media release). This has brought in the much needed image change required by Huawei Technologies primarily being seen as a Chinese vendor. Figure1: Huawei Contract Sales (Source Huawei Corporate Information-Huawei Media release) Opex & Capex leverage which Huawei Technologies has been able to offer its customers has enabled it to demonstrate cost leadership which is evident as 72% of its cont ract sales were from overseas market in 2007. Let alone in 2007, it had 45% increases in its contract sales revenue. See figure 1. Huawei Corporate Information-Huawei Media release). The strong hold which Huawei Technologies is being able to maintain also comes from the socio-political environment it works in as the labour cost in China is one sixth of that of United States or Europe. Thus it has become a key external environmental factor . Internally Huawei Technologies has capitalized on human resource and R&D. But has the cost differentiation been enough, will it still promise growth and more market share? These are the biggest questions which need to be addressed for a guaranteed continuous growth. This question has made Huawei Technologies rethink its marketing strategy towards value proposition, and to value chain analysis (Porter 1985) for a bigger market share. Before that however lies another hurdle of poor quality perception a question mark on the quality of Chinese branding. Issue 2- The dragon brand wagon. With the FMCG market taking blows after blows because of adulterated Chinese raw materials, the general consumer perception on Chinese quality is struggling to establish a stand. Though it specifically affects as said the FMCG market or the business dealing in B2C but the general perception affects all including B2B. And this has been one of the prime challenges. From 1998 to 2001 Huawei was looked at with distrust & doubt . With the Cisco lawsuit the market penetration in the developed economies had become more difficult and required 1000 times more effort as compared to its American or European counterparts. (The Economist, Nov 2007). I believe that the focus needs to be shifted towards creating a strong brand if Huawei Technologies needs to keep its foothold in the global telecom market. Thus strengthening of the Huawei brand has become even more important. Remodeling to establish Huawei as a brand has been now the new focus to develop a better perceived quality & create brand equity. The need of brand recognition has also become very vital to be seen as a valued collaborator for its customers. Brand development has never been big in China; with large volume market brand recognition never existed in the Chinese market. Hence it becomes more essential as well as difficult for Huawei to develop its brand image to compete in the global economy. The strong need for branding and change for the marketing orientation to move towards the service sector becomes more vital when we look into the 5C’s of Huawei Technologies. Issue 4- The 5C’s. Exploring the 5 C’s of Huawei Technologies highlights the core competencies of Huawei and helps us in understanding why a new orientation approach is required . As discussed earlier Huawei Technologies dominates in cost differentiation and is armed with a strong R&D to achieve customization in a high barrier industry and it has been a key strength of Huawei Technologies. But a quick SWOT analysis brings out the lack of perceived quality in the market as one of the greatest threats Huawei Technologies faces. Its major competitor Ericsson currently leading the market share comes with a very strong branding and high perceived quality. The dilemma is not just the market perception but also the perception of the employees themselves despite the fact that human capital is a key resource & strength of Huawei Technologies which also drives to low labor costs.

Principles of Marketing Exam Notes

Principles of Marketing Study Guide Mid-term Exam Fall 2012 Chapter 1 1. What is Marketing? a. The activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, capturing, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. It requires thoughtful planning with an emphasis on the ethical implications of any of those decisions on society in general. 2. Marketing requires Product, Price, Place and Promotions decisions. b.The four Ps, or marketing mix, are the controllable set of activities that the firm uses to respond to the wants of its target markets. 3. What is value-based marketing? a. Value reflects the relationship of benefits to costs, or what the consumer gets for what he or she gives. In a marketing context, customers seek a fair return in goods and/or services for their hard-earned money and scarce time. They want products or services that meet their specific needs or wants and that are offered at competitiv e prices. 4. Marketing Impacts Various Stakeholders . Supply chain partners, whether they are manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, or other intermediaries like transportation or warehousing companies, are involved in marketing to one another. Manufacturers sell merchandise to retailers, but the retailers often have to convince manufacturers to sell to them. 5. Marketing Enriches Society * Our people: Committed to excellence, passionate about achieving our goals, eagerly embracing new challenges. * Our strategy: Focused and consistent, delivers sustainable and dependable performance. Our business model: Resilient and proven, relevant in all economies, drives long-term health of the company. * Our brands: Recognized and loved around the world, in strong categories, responsive to advertising and brand building. Chapter 2 6. What is a Marketing Strategy? d. Identifies (1) a firm's target market(s), (2) a related marketing mix—its four Ps—and (3) the bases on which the fi rm plans to build a sustainable competitive advantage. 7. Building a Sustainable Competitive Advantage e. An advantage over the competition that is not easily copied and thus can be maintained over a long period of time.A competitive advantage acts like a wall that the firm has built around its position in a market. This wall makes it hard for outside competitors to contact customers inside—otherwise known as the marketer's target market. 8. The Marketing Plan f. a written document composed of an analysis of the current marketing situation, opportunities and threats for the firm, marketing objectives and strategy specified in terms of the four Ps, action programs, and projected or proforma income (and other financial) statements.The three major phases of the marketing plan are planning, implementation, and control. g. Step 1 of the planning phase. The part of the strategic marketing planning process when marketing executives, in conjunction with other top managers, (1) define the mission or vision of the business and (2) evaluate the situation by assessing how various players, both in and outside the organization, affect the firm's potential for success. , marketing executives, in conjunction with other top managers, define the mission and/or vision of the business. (Step 2). In the implementation phase.The part of the strategic marketing planning process when marketing managers (1) identify and evaluate different opportunities by engaging in segmentation, targeting, and positioning (see STP) and (2) implement the marketing mix using the four Ps. , marketing managers identify and evaluate different opportunities by engaging in a process known as segmentation, targeting, and positioning (STP) (Step 3). They then are responsible for implementing the marketing mix using the four Ps (Step 4). Finally, the control phase. The part of the strategic marketing planning process when managers evaluate the erformance of the marketing strategy and take any necessary corrective actions. Entails evaluating the performance of the marketing strategy using marketing metrics and taking any necessary corrective actions (Step 5). 9. Growth Strategies h. A market penetration s growth strategy that employs the existing marketing mix and focuses the firm's efforts on existing customers. Such a growth strategy might be achieved by attracting new consumers to the firm's current target market or encouraging current customers to patronize the firm more often or buy more merchandise on each visit. i.A market development growth strategy that employs the existing marketing offering to reach new market segments, whether domestic or international. International expansion generally is riskier than domestic expansion because firms must deal with differences in government regulations, cultural traditions, supply chains, and language. j. Product development growth strategy that offers a new product or service to a firm's current target market. k. A diversification gr owth strategy whereby a firm introduces a new product or service to a market segment that it does not currently serve.Diversification opportunities may be either related or unrelated. In a related diversification growth strategy whereby the current target market and/or marketing mix shares something in common with the new opportunity. In other words, the firm might be able to purchase from existing vendors, use the same distribution and/or management information system, or advertise in the same newspapers to target markets that are similar to their current consumers. l. In an unrelated diversification growth strategy whereby a new business lacks any common elements with the present business.Unrelated diversifications do not capitalize on core strengths associated either with markets or with products. Thus, they would be viewed as being very risky. Chapter 3 10. Why People Act Unethically m. All of us vary in the way we view more complex situations, depending on our ethical understan dings. 11. Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility n. Corporate social responsibility refers to the voluntary actions taken by a company to address the ethical, social, and environmental impacts of its business operations and the concerns of its stakeholders. o.This notion goes beyond the individual ethics that we've discussed so far, but for a company to act in a socially responsible manner, the employees of the company must also first maintain high ethical standards and recognize how their individual decisions lead to optimal collective actions of the firm. Firms with strong ethical climates tend to be more socially responsible. 12. A Framework for Ethical Decision Making p. 13. Integrating Ethics into Marketing Strategy q. Marketers can introduce ethics at the beginning of the planning process simply by including ethical statements in the firm's mission or vision statements. . In the implementation phase of the marketing strategy, when firms are identifying potential markets a nd how to successfully deliver the 4Ps to them, firms must consider several ethical issues. Chapter 4 14. The Immediate Environment s. t. In the immediate environment, the first factor that affects the consumer is the firm itself. Successful marketing firms focus on satisfying customer needs that match their core competencies. Competition also significantly affects consumers in the immediate environment.It is therefore critical that marketers understand their firm's competitors, including their strengths, weaknesses, and likely reactions to the marketing activities that their own firm undertakes. Few firms operate in isolation. For example, automobile manufacturers collaborate with suppliers of sheet metal, tire manufacturers, component part makers, unions, transport companies, and dealerships to produce and market their automobiles successfully. Parties that work with the focal firm are its corporate partners. 15. Macro-environmental Factors u. Macro environmental factors Aspects o f the external environment that ffect a company's business, such as the culture, demographics (age, gender, and race), social issues, technological advances, economic situation, and political/regulatory environment. 16. Corporate Social Responsibility v. Chapter 5 17. The Consumer Decision Process w. x. 18. Factors Influencing the Consumer Decision Process y. The consumer decision process can be influenced by several factors. First are the elements of the marketing mix, which we discuss throughout this book. Second are psychological factors, which are influences internal to the customer, such as motives, attitudes, perception, and learning.Third, social factors, such as family, reference groups, and culture, also influence the decision process. Fourth, there are situational factors, such as the specific purchase situation, a particular shopping situation, or temporal state (the time of day), that affect the decision process. 19. Involvement and Consumer Buying Decisions z. Consumers engage in two types of buying processes/decisions depending on their level of involvement: extended problem solving for high-priced or risky goods; and limited problem solving, which includes impulse buying and habitual decision making. {.Involvement is the consumer's interest in a product or service. Chapter 6 20. B2B Markets |. 21. The Business to Business Buying Process }. 22. Factors affecting the Buying Process ~. The Buying Center i. The buying center is a group of people typically responsible for the buying decisions in large organizations. Participants can range from employees who have a formal role in purchasing decisions (i. e. , the purchasing or procurement department) to members of the design team that is specifying the particular equipment or raw material needed by employees who will be using a new machine that is being ordered.All these employees are likely to play different roles in the buying process, which vendors must understand and adapt to in their marketing an d sales efforts. ii. One or more people may take on a certain role, or one person may take on more than one of the following roles: (1) initiator: The buying center participant who first suggests buying the particular product or service. , the person who first suggests buying the particular product or service; (2) influencer: The buying center participant whose views influence other members of the buying center in making the final decision. the person whose views influence other members of the buying center in making the final decision; (3) decider: The buying center participant who ultimately determines any part of or the entire buying decision—whether to buy, what to buy, how to buy, or where to buy. , the person who ultimately determines any part of or the entire buying decision—whether to buy, what to buy, how to buy, or where to buy; (4) buyer: The buying center participant who handles the paperwork of the actual purchase. the person who handles the paperwork of t he actual purchase; (5) user: The person who consumes or uses the product or service purchased by the buying center. , the person who consumes or uses the product or service; and (6) gatekeeper: The buying center participant who controls information or access to decision makers and influencers. , the person who controls information or access, or both, to decision makers and influencers. . Organizational Culture iii. ———————————————— A firm's organizational culture reflects the set of values, traditions, and customs that guide a firm's employees' behavior. The firm's culture often comprises a set of unspoken guidelines that employees share with one another through various work situations. . Buying Situations In a new buy a purchase of a good or service for the first time; the buying decision is likely to be quite involved because the buyer or the buying organization does n ot have any experience with the item.A modified rebuy refers to when the buyer has purchased a similar product in the past but has decided to change some specifications, such as the desired price, quality level, customer service level, options, or so forth. Straight rebuys refers to when the buyer or buying organization simply buys additional units of products that have previously been purchased. A tremendous amount of B2B purchases are likely to fall in the straight rebuy category. Chapter 9 23. The Marketing Research Process . The first step is to define objectives and research needs, which sounds so simple that managers often gloss over it.But this step is crucial to the success of any research project because, quite basically, the research must answer those questions that are important for making decisions. In the second step, designing the research project, researchers identify the type of data that is needed, whether primary or secondary, on the basis of the objectives of the project from Step 1, and then determine the type of research that enables them to collect those data. The third step involves deciding on the data collection process and collecting the data.The process usually starts with exploratory research methods such as observation, in-depth interviews, or focus groups. The information gleaned from the exploratory research is then used in conclusive research, which may include a survey, an experiment, or the use of scanner and panel data. The fourth step is to analyze and interpret the data and develop insights. The fifth and final step is to develop an action plan and implementation. Although these steps appear to progress linearly, researchers often work backward and forward throughout the process as they learn at each step. 4. Secondary Data and Primary Data . Primary: Data collected to address specific research needs. . Secondary: Pieces of information that have already been collected from other sources and are readily available. 25. Explor atory Research . Attempts to begin to understand the phenomenon of interest, also provides initial information when the problem lacks any clear definition. 26. Conclusive Research . Provides the information needed to confirm preliminary insights, which managers can use to pursue appropriate courses of action.

Mathematics for Early Childhood Education Coursework

Mathematics for Early Childhood Education - Coursework Example Consequently, it is the responsibility of the teachers and the parents to encourage and build the enthusiasm of children with regard to learning mathematics (California Department of Education, â€Å"Preschool Curriculum Framework†). The study intends to provide a guideline for parents, which will assist them to maximize the development of the children related to mathematics. Furthermore, the study will also explain the application of mathematical foundations and frameworks for its development. It will further provide an insight to teachers regarding the principles on partnering with the parents for mathematical development of a child. Correspondingly, this study will provide a reflective understanding of my learning along with findings with regard to mathematical development and its application. Young children naturally possess an inborn sense related to informal mathematics. In recent years, with the increasing evidences related to the mathematics capabilities of the children, it can be ascertained that they tend to absorb mathematical concepts from the surroundings at a very small age. This segment will provide a vivid description of the guidelines that are mentioned and framed for the parents. In this regard, it can be said that these guidelines will assist the parents to maximize the development of their children’s knowledge related to mathematics. In terms of mathematical development of children, there lie certain imperative guiding principles for the parents to follow. These guiding principles have been explained in the subsequent discussion (California Department of Education, â€Å"Preschool Curriculum Framework†). In recent surveys, it has been observed that young children are naturally competent, enthused and are interested in mathematics. They find it amusing to explore the mathematical concepts along with creative ideas. In this context, the parents must take initiatives to recognize the children’s