Saturday, October 5, 2019
The Financial Collapse of General Motors Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1
The Financial Collapse of General Motors - Essay Example Gm which has funded approximately $103billion towards employee-related obligations proved to be a disadvantage for the company. Not only legacy cost but also due to its poor business strategy. It relied on its old mode of thinking which resisted the offering, and manufacturing capacity. The business suffered decline where its market share fell from 45% to 22%. In addition, the deteriorating strength of the economy and the loss of purchasing power of its consumers resulted in bankruptcy for GM (Estrada, 2011). In 2009, GM announced that the cash reserves amounted to $14billion after losing $30.9billion in 2008. Thus GM was filed bankrupt and its assets were sold off to the new government-owned organization (The New York Times, 2010). It can be said that managerial finance was not applied by GM because if the financial manager would have made proper decisions with respect to cash flows and how much and the type of equity and debt to be used in order to finance the firm. Lack of proper managerial finance led GM to a debt of about $172.8billion as compare to it’s assess which was $82.3 at the time of bankruptcy petition (The New York Times, 2010). The economic impact with respect to the collapse of the auto industry has resulted to be dramatic. As per a survey conducted by Planning Perspectives Inc, reported that about 68% of the participants revealed that companies would downsize if GM declared bankruptcy, 12% of the respondent said that the business would likely to shut down. It was aid that if GM goes into bankruptcy business across the globe would be affected severely. As per the economic downturn, the American, during the financial crises bought few new cars. The collapse of any of the key players in the automotive industry had predicted a troubled economy. Almost about one-third of the suppliers of the automobile industry was deemed at the risk of bankruptcy (Gray, 2008). The auto industry is an important employer and there are many related industries attached to it. The effect would not result in the collapse of the single company, not just America but all of Europe and Japan also.
Friday, October 4, 2019
Online college education vs traditional Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words
Online college education vs traditional - Essay Example The internet revolution has also affected the educational sector. There are many sites which offer online courses especially at the college level and higher. It would be rare to find a university in the U.S. that has no internet connection and reasonable technology infrastructure. However, the use of the internet in classroom teaching is not as widespread as the use of the internet for information, entertainment, communication, and research (Scagnoli, 2005). With the internet the barriers of time and space have been ended. Online education is internet enabled technology driven education that allows you to study anytime, anywhere, as per your convenience. Online education is one of the ways of imparting effective education to the aspiring people, residing anywhere in the world. This has helped people to pursue and advance their learning process, without messing up with their professional responsibilities and duties. Online learning helps to increase the educational experiences irrespe ctive of age and geographical diversity. The World Wide Web empowers the University to deliver training and critical information to its wide spread student base no matter where and what time zone the users are in. The students just access their training materials or start studying whenever they want from home or from office. Online education gives the students the flexibility to go through the programme content at the time that is most convenient to them and thereby achieve an appropriate balance of work, family, community and educational commitments.
Thursday, October 3, 2019
Psychology-Decision Making Essay Example for Free
Psychology-Decision Making Essay Abstract            How does it happen that managers take decisions which lead them to failures? What decision-making mechanisms do they inactivate when they take such decisions? This paper is aimed at analyzing these psychological implications. Psychology Decision Making            Introduction              It is not rare that managers take decisions which lead them to failure. These failures often become the headlines and the top stories of newspapers and magazines. However, has anyone analyzed the psychological implications of such decisions? What psychological theories could explain such managers’ behavior, and what useful recommendations could be drawn from such cases?            Problem identification            The case of Sears, when owned by Edward S. Lampert, is the most recent example of a large managerial mistake, having led to significant financial and economic losses. On January 29, 2008 Lampert pushed out his chief executive, but what is more important, he took decision to distance himself from the day-to-day management of his enterprise. â€Å"Until now, the heads of several major departments, like marketing and merchandising, reported directly to Mr. Lampert, even though he has no background in retailing or advertising†(Barbaro, 2008). It is crucial to understand, how Lampert came to the idea of day-to-day management of his enterprise, although he did not have enough professional skills for that  Theoretical background            It is stated, that â€Å"we are likely, social constructed individuals. Our experiences, our cultures, our social order, shape our motivations, our desires, and our beliefs about the world we encounter†(Plous, 1993). Our management decisions are shaped are also shaped under the impact of business environment and the objectives we expect to meet in our management activity. We tend to take decisions, which are primary based on our perception of the world around us (Connolly, 2000). One of the major problems in management decision making is in that a person can hardly be objective in taking decisions. The lack of objectivity leads to the situation, when we do not take into account multiple environmental factors, impacting our decisions.            Evidently, there cannot be any better explanation to Lampert’s decision, that the self-perception theory. This theory deals with the human perceptions and the ways they incorporate their perceptions into their daily behavior (Plous, 1993). To be clear, Lampert’s expectations and beliefs into his managerial skills and the ability to cope with a large retail enterprise were not justified from the start. In this case, the major question to be answered was â€Å"what am I to do to make this enterprise profitable?†Trying to answer this question, and taking decisions in the discussed framework, Lampert has concluded that the best solution for the situation would be tying himself to the daily company’s activity. Moreover, it was not enough for him to stay ahead; he had to manage, but this decision lacked theoretical and practical foundations. This is how Lampert’s pseudo opinions impacted the overall performance of the company (Plous, 1993). Respondents are influenced by pseudo opinions when they do not know much about the issue or when they know nothing about it (Plous, 1993). In Lampert’s case, attribution heuristics has greatly contributed into the negative decision outcomes: Lampert was obviously justifying his behavior as situationally-produced. As a result, he has underestimated the lack of his managerial skills (Plous, 1993).            Critical thinking is the integral part of the decision making process. â€Å"Most international managers find it extremely challenging to evaluate a written or spoken commentary on a hot topic because both sides of the controversy seem to have good arguments†(Safi Burrell, 2007). Has Lampert’s decision been caused by critical thinking approach? Definitely, it has: for a long period of time, Sears was criticized for lacking a management team with retail experience and for Lampert’s being a micromanager who hampered the business (Barbaro, 2008). As a result, Lampert was driven to the situation in which he had to admit his managerial mistakes due to the two facts: the external criticism, and the objective financial data confirming the $14 million financial losses.            Recommendations            The case of Edward S. Lampert is a brilliant example of a situation, in which successful manager has overestimated his skills and has not applied any critical thinking approach before the decision was made. As a result, numerous pseudo opinions and the lack of objective information have led to significant gaps in the company’s performance. In order to take a good decision, a manager must â€Å"understand, what result is desirable and the tools available to us for making good decisions†(Safi Burrell, 2007). There are several recommendations for a manager in similar situations. First, it is crucial that the manager avoids pseudo opinions. In this aspect, the wording of the question to answer is very important. In order to create effective decisions, managers must be able to formulate the questions. Properly wording the issue crucially impacts the effectiveness of the chosen answers, and as a result, the managerial activities which lead or do not lead to business success. â€Å"Be honest with yourself about the agendas and motives. Are you really gathering information to help you make a smart choice, or are you just looking for evidence confirming your preconceived notions?†(Safi Burrell, 2007). Not only objectivity and evaluation of one’s skills have led Sears to failure. It is also the inability to properly formulate the goals of such actions: what aims did Lampert have in his actions? Did he want to promote his enterprise profitability or himself as a successful manager? He had to answer those questions before he undertook any real actions which later almost pushed the company into the flow of negative consequences.            Conclusion            In his decision to quit day-to-day management of Sears, Lampert has finally come to one of the crucial elements in the decision-making process: he was able to recall the key facts and decision-making variables. The list of these variables included financial indices and persistent criticism of Sears’ performance. As a result, Lampert was finally able to take the best decision possible in the problematic situation. However, it is still unclear whether hiring a new CEO was based on any objective grounds or would require thorough re-consideration in the nearest future. One may hope that this re-consideration will not be caused by a new management decision-making failure. References Barbaro, M. (2008). Sears’ chairman will take a step back. The New York Times. Retrieved February 1, 2008 from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/29/business/29sears.html?ref=businessqG4vaywTPkZypAw Connolly, T. (2000). Judgment and decision making: An interdisciplinary reader. Cambridge University Press. Plous, S. (1993). The Psychology of judgment and decision making. McGraw-Hill. Safi, A. Burrell, D.N. (2007). Developing advanced decision-making skills in international leaders and managers. Vikalpa, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 1-8.
Organisational Dynamics and Culture of Mcdonalds
Organisational Dynamics and Culture of Mcdonalds McDonalds is spread across 31,000 restaurants all over the world and serves over 52 million people in about 119 countries each day. The company can be proclaimed as the worlds largest food retailer. The work culture of McDonalds very much depends upon the manager. The managers do not try and put any vertical barriers between themselves and their employees. They display real concern for the emotions and well being of their employees. McDonalds corporate management focuses on training and leadership which is permeated at all levels through Hamburger University. On the university website, they quote McDonalds founder Ray Krocs ideology which is training-oriented: If we are going to go anywhere, weve got to have talent. And, Im going to put my money in talent. This shows that McDonalds considers its crew members as elements that cannot be replaced. Because training is not limited to just the top-level executives, McDonalds is able to ensure that its culture is spread at all levels and reinforced through education and promote that employees still remain important to the organization. Ravi Sharma, restaurant manager at McDonalds outlet in New Delhi concurs At McDonalds, the work operations are such that Ive been exposed to different aspects of business including finance and leading teams. This is one place where one can get complete orientation and training to lead and develop the organization. McDonalds offers different shift schedules so that everyone can achieve a good balance between their work and their personal lives. Some individuals want to work fulltime while some are part-time workers who have to fulfill some social obligations as well. The job being a low-skilled one, another employee can always step in to fill for a part-timer. This provides a feeling of empowerment to the employees who can always adjust and allows for mutual trust to develop between manager and the employees on the basis of respect for each other. Saurabh Mishra, also a McDonalds restaurant manager at Lucknow agrees Such flexible schedules as well as wages which are competitively benchmarked, superior management training and other opportunities, such benefits help us believe that we are a valued part of our team. The success of McDonalds is based on a simplistic yet very effective formula which involves standardizing the service to the smallest detail, maintaining strict control on the quality of service and developing cost efficiencies by employing cheap, young, unskilled labour who is supervised by managers. The business grows by involving franchisees and entrepreneurs who really look forward to be associated with the brand. McDonalds is characterized by the importance of the system over the individual and breaking down the work into simplistic steps. As an assistant manager at one of the restaurants of McDonalds adds Little do people know that not just the management but even crew members require some talent. I see it everyday in my store and I feel proud at working with such people -the speed, planning of things, solving problems, taking care of hospitality, teamwork, and most importantly, a positive attitude In most organizations, norms do not result due to sharing of values among the members of the organisation; rather the rules and practices of the organization play a much bigger role in defining the culture thus, making both values and practices as the determinants of the culture and norms. With franchisees spread wide and far across the globe, the core values of McDonalds Quality, Service, Convenience and Value are inculcated deeply into managers who are trained at the Hamburger University, so that uniformity can be maintained all around. In performance of each task right from making eye contact to how to smile during transactions, a standard is maintained by the counter staff. Thus, in a system of command and control which is increasingly centralized, culture is characterized as an entity with limits but with definite identity and mannerisms. McDonalds approach is universal when taken in a context where standardization and integration are treated as foundations of the business. It is a methodical approach to doing business where emphasis on established practices and standards is important for smooth operations. This approach, which is somewhat bureaucratic, makes the employees behave in a certain manner during their work hours due to the influence of organizational practices which are under strong control. With their jobs being quite regulated, even employees who do not find favour with such tightly controlled work, adhere to these norms. This match between the ideas of the employee and the business is what acts as a cornerstone of success for McDonalds. VALUES AND PRINCIPLES OF MCDONALDS The core values McDonalds live by McDonalds, worldwide stands for Q,S,C and V i.e. Quality, Service, Cleanliness and Value which translates into providing customers high-quality products which are served pleasantly in a clean environment and at an affordable price McDonalds believes that it is important to invest in people as there are qualified people coming together from diverse backgrounds and it is important that they work together to ensure success for the organization Honesty and integrity to be the cornerstones for all business approaches and strategies Orienting and providing support to systems that ensure success Being proud of achievements but also having the intention to progress further The guiding principles Confidence to exceed customers expectations at every opportunity possible Corporate, Franchisees and Suppliers are the drivers of success for the organization McDonalds considers franchising as a priority and in collaboration with the franchisees, strives to make strategies that are beneficial for the customers VISION AND MISSION OF MCDONALDS To be the best and numero uno global fast food provider The mission for brand McDonalds is to become the customers favourite in defining the way they eat and also try to improve the operations to the level where it surpasses the expectations of the customers FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS OF MCDONALDS ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE Strong organizational culture McDonalds has a very strong sense of its organizational history as they are proud of their single store humble origins which acts as a motivator for employees Globally supports the employment of youth by recognizing their contribution in the growth of the organization Encouraging pro-social initiatives like the Ronald McDonald Foundation for better relations with local communities Focus on retaining promising employees by offering good growth opportunities McDonalds emphasis on the process of Entry Socialization which is an effort at investing into potential leaders and grooming them for organizational excellence McDonalds employee-friendly offerings include flexible shift scheduling, incentive of free meals and provision of McCrew Care an elective health insurance option Frequent opportunities of promotion from within the system and also, more opportunities of a increase in salary DYSFUNCTIONAL ASPECTS OF MCDONALDS ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE Centralized decision-making structure: A very centralized scope of authority means that employee work profile consists of limited responsibility and lack of any opportunity to exercise individual initiatives Most employees are under the age of 20 and for most people, it is their first job. Employees thus, tend to identify more with their coworkers partly due to them not offering any decision-making input and a high-stress, fast-paced environment takes its own toll on the identification of the employees with the organization Tolerance for conflict is very low as it is important for employees to adhere to the work groups , individual initiatives are not encouraged and differing views remain muted to the level of employees and does not figure at the organizational strategy level Not much focus on implementing service motivators and few opportunities for recognition and growth in the present system except for those who plan to stay with the organization for a longer period of time EVALUATION OF MCDONALDS CULTURE: PROCESS CULTURE Procedural Complicity is important for employees Sticking to norms and procedures strictly Punctual and obedient people suit the structure of an ideal employee Authority-Obedience management rules the roost as interference in decision-making is reduced to bare minimum. The scope of authority is more centralized in practice as the decisions are made by top management while the crew members and lower-level staff just follow procedure Horizontal Division of Labor: There is specialization in labour and emphasis is there on conformity in the production of final output HOW CULTURE CAN CHANGE Facilitating the flow of communication in the organization by means of vertical decision-making Make efforts at alleviating job boredom and humiliation of the employees as they are the key for successful running of the restaurants Decentralization should become a more prominent determinant of future strategies of McDonalds Lower level managers should have more responsibility for decisions that are instrumental in bringing changes in the working of their branches Involvement of crew members in development of initiatives at innovating work structure and responsibilities Developing a Work-hard/Play-hard culture where employees derive satisfaction through increased involvement in work and make efforts at ensuring limited risk-taking individually Encouraging subordinates to take on more responsibilities in order to make them self-reliant in decision-making Ensuring that employee tasks are frequently rotated so that they become knowledgeable about different business skills which includes crucial skills like finance and accounting Take on more risks: Each franchisee must be allowed freedom in deciding promotion strategies and service offerings which are instrumental in increasing individual autonomy and improving relations with local community Ask employees to be a part of brand restructuring initiatives. For example Designing more attractive uniforms where employees feel proud in making a brand their own HOW TO IMPLEMENT CHANGE Employee responsibility and inclusion should be the focus for a new management strategy. Brain-storming sessions with employees, especially lower level employees which involves taking their inputs and suggestions for improvements and innovations in service offerings Create a new training program for newly-inducted restaurant employees that will focus on education, growth and responsibility and orientation for different tasks which are important for smooth operation of the business which include inventory control, budgeting, and scheduling Offer plans to help employees in continuing their education even while they work at McDonalds by paying for their education Create an outreach program for new managers, which is voluntary in nature, for 2 weeks a year wherein they go and work in their communities so that when they come back, they can provide insights on their communities to the organization for better offerings
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Reforming the Nineteenth Century Police System :: Law Enforcement
Reforming the Nineteenth Century Police System American cities of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries had problems with crime, vice, and disorder. Some urbanites complained about the extent of prostitution, brawling and robbery. Yet few cities felt cities felt impelled to make subsequent changes in the traditional pattern of night watch and unsalaried police officers before the 1830s. There are many reasons for problems getting worse in American cities. One reason for this is that serious crimes, by the standard of subsequent decades at any rate, were infrequent. Another reason was because there was a good deal of corruption in the old system of policing. The geographical growth of the cities and its population was increased. The crime was happening more frequently. There were a lot of problems in the old system of policing. As a result, in major cities like New York, there was a demand for reforming the police system. By the 1830s, larger northern cities found their problems of crime and disorder overpowering the traditional instruments for dealing with them. The old system was not able to maintain order or prevent crimes. This coincided with a tremendous growth of urban population. America was shifting from a farming civilization to a big business society. Also there was mass immigration into the United States and many men and women settled in cities. For example, cities such as New York, Boston, and Philadelphia underwent rapid social and economic change in this time period. Because of the pace of this change, the policing system could not keep maintain order. Maintaining order seemed imperative and the demands for reform increased as well. Immigration jumped substantially after 1830. The total number of arrivals at the port of New York was more than three times greater in the 1830s than it had been the previous decade and there was a great movement on Manhattan Island as well as many other major cities. From time to time New York State officials extended the city’s lamp and watch district, the area in which the municipal corporation was to provided street lighting and watch protection and to collect taxes to pay for these services.[1] Boston had twice as many people in 1840 as twenty years before. This caused problems in the urban cities.
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
George Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four 1984 :: essays research papers
1984 I think that today's society is a "half version" of George Owell's novel, 1984, in some ways it is similar and in others, uniquely different. The closest we come today to a "Big Brother" is the mob. The people are also controlled by watchful security cameras and subliminal messages. However, something in life today is very different from that of 1984, it is the people. In the words of the famous lyricist, "Power to the People." In analyzing "Big Brother," there are similarities between it and the mob. The Mafia is a crime family that can see everything, there is no going against the mob or else someone is going to die. The Mafia is so widespread that it has operatives all over keeping an eye out for cops or law enforcement, this is the Mafia's "telescreens" (Orwell 6). Another startling similarity between the mob and "Big Brother" is the Mafia's strange way of making someone disappear or "vaporize" (Orwell ). Almost unknowingly a person's identity can be changed, altered, or deleted. Authorities use security and surveillance cameras to observe criminal activities or possibly every day activities. Too much surveillance liberties are given to police or FBI. By using hi-tech cameras which can actually document a person's life. Unknowingly, there may be a cute little camera installed in the bedroom. Another way that today's society controls the masses is subliminal messages. Illegal now, subliminal messages were widely used in the entertainment business, especially during the fifties. An example is that movie makers would add a split-second commercial add for popcorn and soda during a movie. Customers would actually be manipulated into buying these products. Even though, this kind of brainwashing is illegal, it is still very hard to detect, who's to say that we are not bombarded by subliminal messages just by watching commercials on television. This is too risky, to think that a person's actions and emotions can be swayed by someone else's perversion's. Again, this is very similar to 1984. Of all the things there are today that would make it impossible for there to be an inner or outer party, as in 1984, is that there is each other. No matter how hard our government tries, they cannot reach everyone. Contrary to 1984, where they do get everyone, I feel that was extreme and unlikely. I find it highly unlikely that a form of government can find a way to get the whole
Marketing Communication and Branding Essay
Introduction After careful market research of some of the different phone markets in today’s industry; the market that was the most interest to the writer was the disability phone market. Of all the mobile phones researched, none were found to have Braille included; only speaking activated commands – designed to send text messages as well as calling. The idea the writer proposes is a phone for the visually impaired which has a sole purpose for calling people. The keys will be fitted with Braille so that the individuals are able to effectively feel what number they are pressing. SOSTAC – Situation Analysis Upon research it was found the size of the disability phone market is small in comparison to others, such as android where there are thousands of brands available. â€Å"Around 360,000 people are registered blind or partially sighted in the UK†(Action for Blind People, 2011), showing that, with the assumption that everyone needs a mobile phone in today’s society, the key segments that this brand will relate to are the 360,000 potential customers within the visual impairment mobile phone market. The key competing brands include Doro, an established competitor who supply a range of mobile phones for the disabled. They supply too many online retailers, ranging from handheld mobile phone to home landlines. Alternatively, Amplicom is another competitor who develops mobiles with large buttons, aimed at the visually impaired market. These competitors will be the toughest to compete with due to their experience and current market share; a large investment and money will be req uired to make sure that the proposed brand can gain a decent amount of market share. Porter’s five forces is an appropriate model which can be related to overcome such competition, due to its ability to â€Å"†¦evaluate entry barriers, suppliers, customers, substitute products and industry rivalry†(Freitag, 2005). Furthermore Porter’s five forces can determine what the current market is for the brand, as well as the outlining any existing competitor’s positions in relation to the developing product. Moreover, it can also show how a firm’s stakeholders can influence the company with the use of bargaining power (Chee and Harris, 1998). This information would be vital to obtain prior to the launch of the brand to reduce the chance of product failure. The macro-environmental factors will be implemented to the brand through PEST analysis; Political, Economical, Situational and Technological. Political factors which relate appropriately to the disability mobile phone market include the strict laws on the disposal of production ma terials such as batteries and any forms of radioactive waste, as well as any compulsory health and safety procedures during the production and contribution of the developing products. Breaking these rules could result in heavy penalties including fines and even the termination of the company in severe cases. Suitable economic factors include the assessment of the current poor financial climate. This leads to the assumption that it is currently not attractive to place investments as money is generally tight for most, reducing the overall customer base for the developing product. Example solutions for this could include enticing consumers with bargain phone prices or even reduced fixed monthly contract payments which will include a suitable amount of minutes for the target segment. Furthermore by offering all deals at lower end prices will suitably fit the market, as there can be a general assumption that those who are visually impaired may also fit well within the retirement market, a segment that generally has less money spare. Regarding social factors the main issue considered is ethics; relating to how products are developed and distributed, in addition to advertising techniques used to help promote the brand. Equal opportunities and fair working conditions should be issued to all employees involved in the development and promotion of the brand so that the product can represent diversity; relating appropriately to the disabled mobile phone market. Advertisements should be honest and not have any misleading content to confuse any consumers; and all information promoted will be fully implemented into the design of the mobile phone. Technological factors are by large the most relevant and important to consider within mobile phone industries. Due to the constant development of technology within the actual mobile phones, it is an competitive industry to be involved in. Nevertheless within the disability phone market the ‘look’ of the phone is a lesser important factor during purchasing; it is what the phone provides to the consumer to aid their special needs when contacting someone. Simple, up-to-date software is required so that all relevant features are implemented, in addition to having an appropriately sized screen with higher contrast settings so that the visually impaired are able to read clearer. Large number buttons are essential so the Braille fits comfortably and the user is able to identify what number they want to press with ease. Objectives Here are three objectives that are going to be set for the new developing brand: * Increase awareness of the service in disabled people by 50% within 6 months * In three years time production costs should be reduced by 10% * In the next two years revenue should be approximately  £7 million These objectives act as sufficient targets and in turn will motivate staff and drive productively due to the time scaled that these objectives must be achieved. The chosen objectives all appropriately relate to the current disability phone market and the specific areas that could be improved, such as increasing the awareness of service for people with special needs. This could therefore encourage other companies to develop other suitable day-to-day products to suit their needs also, which could furthermore promote the idea of developing a whole new organisation specially aimed at designing products to aid people with special needs. Strategy The push/pull strategy involves creating demand from two aspects; push strategy involves the demand being created by the manufacturer’s distributers, and pull relates to the manufacturer creating demand via their own promotion techniques (Frazier and Summers, 2011). The brand will follow a pull strategy because it is envisioned that demand will be created through advertising and an effective, unique selling point. This is good because through a push strategy, it is sometimes required to distribute a higher volume of goods, which is better related to a mobile phone industry with a larger audience, unlike the niche, disabled market. Another benefit of this is that because the developing brand is unheard of an unproven; preventing stock piling of products if they are not sold, saving money. Although, a pull strategy will require a large investment for advertising, it is estimated that the cost of production and potential stock piling outweighs this in fiscal terms. Relating to the objectives, the pull strategy will aid the accomplishment of said targets with the use of an advertising campaign, creating the demand that will create supply to the blind market. To engage the consumers, advertising campaigns will hosted at specific events which relate to the disability market, such as the Cambridge Disability Sport and Arts festival. By doing this it will allow the promotion of the developing product to be recognised and positively received by the disabled. This will allow potential consumers to try out the mobile phone and leave feedback regarding their thoughts and opinions. The Paralympics 2012 is taking place in London, an excellent occasion which can be related to individuals with special needs. It is a global event which promotes diversity of all sorts within the sponsoring organisations and sport activities; which can be related to the promotion of the brand’s developing product and encourage consumers to try it out to see if it can suit their needs. Combined, by implementing such advertising campaigns during the Paralympics and obtaining a respected and relatable celebrity sponsor can help achieve the completion of the increasing awareness objective. Additionally, after appropriate research, selling the phone at a competitive price will create demand; and furthermore help achieve the  £7 million revenue objective. To achieve the reduced in production costs objective, mass production will need to take place, which will effectively lower production costs, or even investing in a new technology to produce more units at a cheaper rate, over a period of time, may even reduce costs by 10%. Tactics Expanding further within the advertising campaigns aimed to help achieve the awareness and revenue objectives, this will include visual posters on noticeable areas of everyday life such as telephone boxes, buses, taxis and even billboards. To carry out ethical diversity promotions, the advertisements will also be located within care centres for the visually impaired, as well as any social and youth clubs to increase awareness. Radio adverts will also take place as it is fair to assume that a wide diversity range of people listen to the radio, allowing the promotion of the developing product to all audiences. Any user feedback from testing the developing product will be noted down and kept for future improvement, allowing management to raise questions on how to improve the brand and image it represents to consumers. By doing so will potentially improve the awareness of the disability market as well as increasing the possibility of generating revenue due to the improvement of the product to suit the special needs. Ade Adepitan, a wheelchair basketball sportsman and TV presenter can be a suitable celebrity endorsement to help promote the product as he is someone the key segment can truly relate to will help achieve awareness and furthermore create a positive brand reputation which will create demand; and therefore revenue and profits. Issuing the mobile phone with a competitive price of  £60 is suitably competitive and will create demand; helping to achieve the  £7 million revenue objective if 116,666 units are sold within the 2 year time scale. Promoting this product in the UK only can help assess if the product is largely successful to its key segment, and after the 2 year objective is attained, further action can take place to help make the product go global. Lower production costs will occur if an appropriate manufacturer is found; who follows all ethical procedures the brand wants to promote, in addition to supplying the company with great production unit price rates so that the most possible revenue and profits can be generated. Furthermore, a ‘green policy’, known as a policy to help lead greener lives, can promote the brand to be extremely sufficient with its production, enticing customers and portraying the brand image to be ethical and fair. Nevertheless green policies are very expensive, which would mean that either a generous sponsor would have to be applied for, or even a loan would have to take place to implement such activities. Action Firstly, finance will have the overall responsibility of distributing budgets to all departments so that the entire production and launch of the new brand is successful. Once all budgets have been issued the marketing department will be able to effectively form a plan on when the launch will take place and what is proposed to take place during the entire duration. Within the marketing department a market research team will be organised so an investigation of production methods and price rates of manufacturers is performed, as well as making sure all ethical procedures the brand would like to follow are implemented. Relevant findings will be informed to the finance department to see if there are enough budgets to apply any new changes. All tasks taking place for the launch will be managed by a team leader – essential for the success of team member communication and task success. This will then be approved by a main, overall manager of the entire launch, so all task deadlines are met and workloads are of a high standard to boost the quality of the promotion. A time management tool named a Gantt chart will be implemented so all tasks are clearly shown, along with their time deadlines to help guide leaders and encourage team members to strive to complete a task to benefit the brand’s launch. This will be combined with a critical path analysis, where all shortest possible times in which tasks can be completed are shown to avoid delaying the entire launch. Example Critical Path Analysis, Source: http://tutor2u.net Example Gantt chart, Source: www.ganttchart.com/ Control Two things will effectively measure the growth of awareness and gather an accurate estimate. Firstly the sales records will be analysed. A growth in sales indicates the rise of awareness and any initial sales from year one indicate consumer’s knowledge of the product. A questionnaire will also be released to specific geographical locations and the results will give an indication as to how many people and how far spread the awareness of the branch has reached. An appropriate measure to identify whether or not the production costs have been reduced would be to look at energy bills to see if the change in production equipment or manufacturers has been an effective adjustment. To determine whether or not revenue will reach 7 million pounds can be monitored by customer loyalty and re-purchasing. A high customer re-purchase rate is a strong indicator that the brand is respected and trusted with their products and service. References Action for Blind People, (2011), Facts and figures about issues around sight loss, [online] available at: http://www.actionforblindpeople.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/facts-and-figures-about-issues-around-sight-loss/ [accessed 05/05/2012] Chee, H. and Harris, R., (1998), Global marketing strategy, London: Financial Times Pitman Publishing. Frazier, G. L. and Summer, J. O., (2011), Contemporary Views on Marketing Practice, [e-book] Marketing Classics Press. Available at: Google Books http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=eqn23RV52hEC&pg=PA217&dq=push+pull+strategy+definition&hl=en&sa=X&ei=IHeqT7y9DIqw0QWDgOXlAw&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=push%20pull%20strategy%20definition&f=false [accessed 24/04/2012] Freitag, N., (2005), Critical The Impact of Culture on International Marketing Plans and Review of the French Wine Industry, Munich: Grin Publishing, 1(1), p.15. GanttCharts, (2012), [image online] available at: [accessed 04/05/2012] Tutor2u, (2012), [image online] available at: [accessed 01/05/2012] Bibliography Doro, (2011), [online] available at: http://www.doro.co.uk/products/Specialneeds/ [accessed 25/04/2012] Matobmobile, (2010), [online] available at: http://matobmobile.co.uk/index.php?id=elderly_mobile_phones [accessed 25/04/2012] Scribd, (2012), Pest Analysis, [online] available at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/58834389/Pest-Analysis-Nokia [accessed 21/04/2012]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)