Saturday, August 31, 2019

Christopher Columbus a Villain Essay

Should a man whose actions created a wave of genocide and killed thousands of innocent natives be considered a hero? In today’s time, Christopher Columbus is known through the United States as the one who found the country we currently live in. But is that actually true? Over many years, his history has sparked a day that is a remembrance of his â€Å"discovery†. I believe that he is the mastermind behind the genocide of over 250,000 Native Americans, while others believe that he was only a man with a passion for exploring. I personally believe that Christopher Columbus had not a single good intention when he first stepped foot on the Americas back in his time and showed negative glory for his nation, discovery and personal glory. Christopher Columbus found the Americas, but today he takes credit for discovering a new world. Native Americans had been living in civilizations across North and South America long before Columbus had â€Å"discovered† it. This journey has now ruined many of those enslaved, and impacted as well as his precious reputation. With his expedition, he exposed countries to new disease, violence, and slavery. His â€Å"discovery† led him to ruin the America’s of its natives and its resources. These horrible actions should be added to Columbus’s reputation, which shows him to be a villain in American history. Christopher Columbus had evil intentions from the start of his voyage when he promised to repay, Spanish monarch and founder of Columbus’s travels, with gold, spice, and other servants. When he first arrived in what he thought was Asia, he quickly gathered the natives and introduced them to slavery. He also returned to Europe with the Native American’s possessions. In a resource I studied clearly and bias freely I read the following:† †¦, a sailor called Rodrigo saw the moon shining on white sands, and cried out. It was an island in the Bahamas, in the Caribbean Sea. The first man to sight land was supposed to get a large reward, but Rodrigo never got it. Columbus claimed that he had seen a light the evening before. He got the reward. We humans today know that when something new comes into the picture, something old must come out. No matter which side people choose, they all agree that Columbus made a major impact on the Americas.

Marketing Segmentation Essay

Market segmentation is the process of dividing up a market into more-or-less homogenous subsets for which it is possible to create different value propositions. At the end of the process the company can decide which segment(s) it wants to serve. If it chooses, each segment can be served with a different value proposition and managed in a different way. Market segmentation processes can be used during CPM for two main purposes. They can be used to segment potential markets to identify which customers to acquire, and to cluster current customers with a view to offering differentiated value propositions supported by different relationship management strategies. In this discussion we’ll focus on the application of market segmentation processes to identify which customers to acquire. What distinguishes market segmentation for this CRM purpose is its very clear focus on customer value. The outcome of the process should be the identification of the value potential of each identified segment. Companies will want to identify and target customers that can generate profit in the future: these will be those customers that the company and its network are better placed to serve and satisfy than their competitors. Market segmentation in many companies is highly intuitive. The marketing team will develop profiles of customer groups based upon their insight and experience. This is then used to guide the development of marketing strategies across the segments. In a CRM context, market segmentation is highly data dependent. The data might be generated internally or sourced externally. Internal data from marketing, sales and finance records are often enhanced with additional data from external sources such as marketing research companies, partner organizations in the company’s network and data specialists (see Figure 5.2 ). The market segmentation process can be broken down into a number of steps: 1. identify the business you are in 2. identify relevant segmentation variables 3. analyse the market using these variables 4. assess the value of the market segments 5. select target market(s) to serve. Sales forecasting: Slide #6 (p. 136-8) The second discipline that can be used for CPM is sales forecasting. One major issue commonly facing companies that conduct CPM is that the data available for clustering customers takes a historical or, at best, present day view. The data identifies those customers who have been, or presently are, important for sales, profit or other strategic reasons. If management believes the future will be the same as the past, this presents no problem. However, if the business environment is changeable, this does present a problem. Because CPMs goal is to identify those customers that will be strategically important in the future, sales forecasting can be a useful discipline. Sales forecasting, some pessimists argue, is a waste of time, because the business environment is rapidly changing and unpredictable. Major world events such as terrorist attacks, war, drought and market-based changes, such as new products from competitors or high visibility promotional campaigns, can make any sales forecas ts invalid. There are a number of sales forecasting techniques that can be applied, providing useful information for CPM. These techniques, which fall into three major groups, are appropriate for different circumstances. ââ€"  qualitative methods: customer surveys sales team estimates ââ€"  time-series methods: moving average exponential smoothing time-series decomposition ââ€"  causal methods: leading indicators regression models. Qualitative methods are probably the most widely used forecasting methods. Customer surveys ask consumers or purchasing officers to give an opinion on what they are likely to buy in the forecasting period. This makes sense when customers forward-plan their purchasing. Data can be obtained by inserting a question into a customer satisfaction survey. For example, ‘In the next six months are you likely to buy more, the same or less from us than in the  current period? ’ And, ‘If more, or less, what volume do you expect to buy from us? ’ Sometimes, third party organizations such as industry associations or trans-industry groups such as the Chamber of Commerce or the Institute of Directors collect data that indicate future buying intentions or proxies for intention, such as business confidence. Sales team estimates can be useful when salespeople have built close relationships with their customers. A key account management team might be well placed to generate s everal individual forecasts from the team membership. These can be averaged or weighted in some way that reflects the estimator’s closeness to the customer. Account managers for Dyno Nobel, a supplier of commercial explosives for the mining and quarrying industries, are so close to their customers that they are able to forecast sales two to three years ahead. Operational CRM systems support the qualitative sales forecasting methods, in particular sales team estimates. The CRM system takes into account the value of the sale, the probability of closing the sale and the anticipated period to closure. Many CRM systems also allow management to adjust the estimates of their sales team members, to allow for overly optimistic or pessimistic salespeople. Time-series approaches take historical data and extrapolate them forward in a linear or curvilinear trend. This approach makes sense when there are historical sales data, and the assumption can be safely made that the future will reflect the past. The moving average method is the simplest of these. This takes sales in a number of previous periods and averages them. The averaging process reduces o r eliminates random variation. The moving average is computed on successive periods of data, moving on one period at a time, as in Figure 5.10 . Moving averages based on different periods can be calculated on historic data to generate an accurate method. A variation is to weight the more recent periods more heavily. The rationale is that more recent periods are better predictors. In producing  an estimate for year 2009 in Figure 5.10 , one could weight the previous four years’ sales performance by 0.4, 0.3, 0.2, and 0.1, respectively, to reach an estimate. This would generate a forecast of 5461. This approach is called exponential smoothing. The decomposition method is applied when there is evidence of cyclical or seasonal patterns in the historical data. The method attempts to separate out four components of the time series: trend factor,  cyclical factor, seasonal factor and random factor. The trend factor is the longterm direction of the trend after the other three elements are removed. The cyclical factor represents regular long-term recurrent influences on sales; seasonal influences generally occur within annual cycles. It is sometimes possible to predict sales using leading indicators. A leading indicator is some contemporary activity or event that indicates that another activity or event will happen in the future. At a macro level, for example, housing starts are good predictors of future sales of kitchen furniture. At a micro level, when a credit card customer calls into a contact centre to ask about the current rate of interest, this is a strong indicator that the customer will switch to another supplier in the future. Regression models work by employing data on a number of predictor variables to estimate future demand. The variable being predicted is called the dependent variable; the variables being used as predictors are called independent variables. For example, if you wanted to predict demand for cars (the dependent variable) you might use data on population size, average disposable income, average car price for the category being predicted and average fuel price (the independent variables). The regression equation can be tested and validated on historical data before being adopted. New predictor variables can be substituted or added to see if they improve the accuracy of the forecast. This can be a useful approach for predicting demand from a segment. Activity-Based Costing: Slide #7 (p. 138-40) Customer Acquisition costs Terms of Trade Customer service costs Working capital costs Activity-based costing The third discipline that is useful for CPM is activity-based costing. Many companies, particularly those in a B2B context, can trace revenues to customers. In a B2C environment, it is usually only possible to trace revenues to identifiable customers if the company operates a billing system requiring customer details, or a membership scheme such as a customer club, store-card or a loyalty programme. In a B2B context, revenues can be tracked in the sales and accounts databases. Costs are an entirely different matter. Because the goal of CPM is to cluster customers according to their strategic value, it is desirable to be able to identify which customers are, or will be, profitable. Clearly, if a company is to understand customer profitability, it has to be able to trace costs, as well as revenues, to customers. Costs do vary from customer to customer. Some customers are very costly to acquire and serve, others are not. There can be considerable variance across the customer base within several categories of cost: ââ€"  customer acquisition costs : some customers require considerable sales effort to move them from prospect to fi rst-time customer status: more sales calls, visits to reference customer sites, free samples, engineering advice, guarantees that switching costs will be met by the vendor ââ€"  terms of trade : price discounts, advertising and promotion support, slotting allowances (cash paid to retailers for shelf space), extended invoice due dates ââ€"  customer service costs : han dling queries, claims and complaints, demands on salespeople and contact centre, small order sizes, high order frequency, just-in-time delivery, part load shipments, breaking bulk for delivery to multiple sites ââ€"  working capital costs : carrying inventory for the customer, cost of credit. Traditional product-based or general ledger costing systems do not provide this type of detail, and do not enable companies to estimate customer profitability. Product costing systems track material, labour and energy costs to products, often comparing actual to standard costs. They do not, however, cover the customer-facing activities of marketing, sales and service. General ledger costing systems do track costs across all parts of the business, but are normally too highly aggregated to establish which customers or segments are responsible for generating those costs. Activity-based costing (ABC) is an approach to costing that splits costs into two groups: volume-based costs and order-related costs. Volume based (product-related) costs are variable against the size of the order, but fixed per unit for any order and any customer. Material and direct labour costs are examples. Order-related (customer-related) costs vary according to the product and process requirements of each particular customer. Imagine two retail customers, each purchasing the same volumes of product from a manufacturer. Customer 1 makes no product or process demands. The sales revenue is $5000; the gross margin for the vendor is $1000. Customer 2 is a different story: customized  product, special overprinted outer packaging, just-in-time delivery to three sites, provision of point-of-sale material, sale or return conditions and discounted price. Not only that, but Customer 2 spends a lot of time agreeing these terms and conditions with a salesperson who has had to call three times before closing the sale. The sales revenue is $5000, but after accounting for product and process costs to meet the demands of this particular customer, the margin retained by the vendor is $250. Other things being equal, Customer 1 is four times as valuable as Customer 2. Whereas conventional cost accounti ng practices report what was spent, ABC reports what the money was spent doing. Whereas the conventional general ledger approach to costing identifies resource costs such as payroll, equipment and materials, the ABC approach shows what was being done when these costs were incurred. Figure 5.11 shows how an ABC view of costs in an insurance company’s claims processing department gives an entirely different picture to the traditional view. ABC gives the manager of the claims-processing department a much clearer idea of which activities create cost. The next question from a CPM perspective is ‘ which customers create the activity? ’ Put another way, which customers are the cost drivers? If you were to examine the activity cost item ‘ Analyse claims: $121 000 ’ , and find that 80 per cent of the claims were made by drivers under the age of 20, you’d have a clear understanding of the customer group that was creating that activity cost for the business. CRM needs ABC because of its overriding goal of generating profitable relationships with customers. Unless there is a costing system in place to trace costs to customers, CRM will find it very difficult to deliver on a promise of improved customer profitability. Overall, ABC serves customer portfolio management in a number of ways: 1. when combined with revenue figures, it tells you the absolute and relative levels of profit generated by eac h customer, segment or cohort 2. it guides you towards actions that can be taken to return customers to profit 3. it helps prioritize and direct customer acquisition, retention and development strategies 4. it helps establish whether customization and other forms of value creation for customers pay off. ABC sometimes justifies management’s confidence in the Pareto principle, otherwise known as the 80:20 rule. This rule suggests that  80 per cent of profits come from 20 per cent of customers. ABC tells you which customers fall into the important 20 per cent. Research generally supports the 80: 0 rule. For example, one report from Coopers and Lybrand found that, in the retail industry, the top 4 per cent of customers account for 29 per cent of profits, the next 26 per cent of customers account for 55 per cent of profits and the remaining 70 per cent account for only 16 per cent of profits. Lifetime Value Estimation: Slide# 8 (p. 141-2) The fourth discipline that can be used for CPM is customer lifetime value (LTV) estimation, which was first introduced in Chapter 2. LTV is measured by computing the present day value of all net margins (gross margins less cost-to-serve) earned from a relationship with a customer, segment or cohort. LTV estimates provide important insights that guide companies in their customer management strategies. Clearly, companies want to protect and ring-fence their relationships with customers, segments or cohorts that will generate significant amounts of profit. Sunil Gupta and Donald Lehmann suggest that customer lifetime value can be computed as follows: Application of this formula means that you do not have to estimate customer tenure. As customer retention rate rises there is an automatic lift in customer tenure, as shown in Table 2.2 in Chapter 2. This formula can be adjusted to consider change in both future margins and retention rates either up or down, as described in Gupta and Lehmann’s book Managing Customers as Investments. The table can be used to assess the impact of a number of customer management strategies: what would be the impact of reducing cost-toserve by shifting customers to low-cost self-serve channels? What would be the result of cross-selling higher margin products? What would be the outcome of a loyalty programme designed to increase retention rate from 80 to 82 per cent? An important additional benefit of this LTV calculation is that it enables you to estimate a company’s value. For example, it has been computed that the LTV of the average US-based American Airlines customer is $166.94. American Airlines has 43.7 million such customers, yielding an estimated company value of $7.3 billion. Roland Rust and his co-researchers noted that, given the absence of international  passengers and freight considerations from this computation, it was remarkably close to the company’s market capitalization at the time their research was undertaken. Clustering (144): slide #9 Clustering techniques are used to find naturally occurring groupings within a dataset. As applied to customer data, these techniques generally function as follows: 1. Each customer is allocated to just one group. The customer possesses attributes that are more closely associated with that group than any other group. 2. Each group is relatively homogenous. 3. The groups collectively are very different from each other. In other words, clustering techniques generally try to maximize both within-group homogeneity and between-group heterogeneity. There are a number of clustering techniques, including CART (classification and regression trees) and CHAID (chi-square automatic interaction detection).7 Once statistically homogenous clusters have been formed they need to be interpreted. CRM strategists are often interested in the future behaviours of a customer: segment, cohort or individual. Customers ’ potential value is determined by their propensity to buy products in the future. Data miners can build predictive models by examining patterns and relationships within historic data. Predictive models can be generated to identify: 1. Which customer, segment or cohort is most likely to buy a given product? 2. Which customers are likely to default on payment? 3. Which customers are most likely to defect (churn)? Data analysts scour historic data looking for predictor and outcome variables. Then a model is built and validated on these historic data. When the model seems to work well on the historic data, it is run on contemporary data, where the predictor data are known but the outcome data are not. This is known as ‘ scoring ’ . Scores are answers to questions such as the propensity-to-buy, default and churn questions listed above. Predictive modelling is based on three assumptions, each of which may be true to a greater or lesser extent: 1. The past is a good predictor of the future †¦ BUT this may not be true. Sales of many products are cyclical or seasonal. Others have fashion or fad lifecycles. 2. The data are available †¦ BUT this may not be true. Data used to train the model may no longer be collected. Data may be too costly to collect, or may be in the wrong format. 3. Customer-related databases contain what you want to predict †¦ BUT this may not be true. The data may not be available. If you want to predict which customers are most likely to buy mortgage protection insurance, and you only have data on life policies, you will not be able to answer the question. Two tools that are used for predicting future behaviours are decision trees and neural networks. Decision trees (145): slide #9 Decision trees are so called because the graphical model output has the appearance of a branch structure. Decision trees work by analyzing a dataset to find the independent variable that, when used to split the population, results in nodes that are most different from each other with respect to the variable you are tying to predict. Figure 5.12 contains a set of data about five customers and their credit risk profile. We want to use the data in four of the fi ve columns to predict the risk rating in the fifth column. A decision tree can be constructed for this purpose. In decision tree analysis, Risk is in the ‘ dependent ’ column. This is also known as the target variable. The other four columns are independent columns. It is unlikely that the customer’s name is a predictor of Risk, so we will use the three other pieces of data as independent variables: debt, income and marital status. In the example, each of these is a simple categorical item, each of which only has two possible values (high or low; yes or no). The data from Figure 5.12 are represented in a different form in Figure 5.13 , in a way which lets you see which independent variable is best at predicting risk. As you examine the data, you will see that the best split is income (four instances highlighted in bold on the diagonal: two high income/good risk plus two low income/poor risk). Debt and marital status each s core three on their diagonals. Once a node is split, the same process is performed on each successive node, either until no further splits are possible or until you have reached a managerially useful model. The graphical output of this decision tree analysis is shown in Figure 5.14 . Each box is a node. Nodes are linked by branches. The top node is the root node. The data from the root node is split into two groups based on income. The right-hand, low income box, does not split any further because both low income customers are classified as poor credit risks. The left-hand, high-income box does split further, into married and not married customers. Neither of these split further because the one unmarried customer is a poor credit risk and the two remaining married customers are good credit risks. As a result of this process the company knows that customers who have the lowest credit risk will be high income and married. They will also note that debt, one of the variables inserted into the training model, did not perform well. It is not a predictor of creditworthiness. Decision trees that work with categorical data such as these are known as classification trees. When decision trees are applied to continuous data they are known as regression trees. Neural Networks (147): slide #9 Neural networks are another way of fitting a model to existing data for prediction purposes. The expression ‘ neural network ’ has its origins in the work of machine learning and artificial intelligence. Researchers in this field have tried to learn from the natural neural networks of living creatures. Neural networks can produce excellent predictions from large and complex datasets containing hundreds of interactive predictor variables, but the neural networks are neither easy to understand nor straightforward to use. Neural networks represent complex mathematical equations, with many summations, exponential functions and parameters. Like decision trees and clustering techniques, neural networks need to be trained to recognize patterns on sample datasets. Once trained, they can be used to predict customer behaviour from new data. They work well when there are many potential predictor variables, some of which are redundant. Case 5.2 Customer portfolio management at Tesco Tesco, the largest and most successful supermarket chain in the UK, has developed a CRM strategy that is the envy of many of its competitors. Principally a food retailer in a mature market that has grown little in the  last 20 years, Tesco realized that the only route to growth was taking market share from competitors. Consequently, the development of a CRM strategy was seen as imperative. In developing its CRM strategy, Tesco first analysed its customer base. It found that the top 100 customers were worth the same as the bottom 4000. It also found that the bottom 25 per cent of customers represented only 2 per cent of sales, and that the top 5 per cent of customers were responsible for 20 per cent of sales. The results of this analysis were used to segment Tesco’s customers and to develop its successful loyalty programmes. SWOT and PESTE (p. 154-5): slide# 10 SWOT is an acronym for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. SWOT analysis explores the internal environment (S and W) and the external environment (O and T) of a strategic business unit. The internal (SW) audit looks for strengths and weaknesses in the business functions of sales, marketing, manufacturing or operations, finance and people management. It then looks cross-functionally for strengths and weaknesses in, for example, cross-functional processes (such as new product development) and organizational culture. The external (OT) audit analyses the macro- and micro-environments in which the customer operates. The macro-environment includes a number of broad conditions that might impact on a company. These conditions are identified by a PESTE analysis. PESTE is an acronym for political, economic, social, technological and environmental conditions. An analysis would try to pick out major conditions that impact on a business, as illustrated below: political environment : demand for international air travel contracted as worldwide political stability was reduced after September 11, 2001 economic environment : demand for mortgages falls when the economy enters recession. social environment : as a population ages, demand for healthcare and residential homes increase technological environment : as more households become owners of computers, demand for Internet banking increases environmental conditions : as customers become  more concerned about environmental quality, demand for more energy efficient products increases. The micro environmental part of the external (OT) audit examines relationships between a company and its immediate external stakeholders: customers, suppliers, business partners and investors. A CRM-oriented SWOT analysis would be searching for customers or potential customers that emerge well from the analysis. Th ese would be customers that: 1. possess relevant strengths to exploit the opportunities open to them 2. are overcoming weaknesses by partnering with other organizations to take advantage of opportunities 3. are investing in turning around the company to exploit the opportunities 4. are responding to external threats in their current markets by exploiting their strengths for diversification. Five forces The five-forces analysis was developed by Michael Porter. 17 He claimed that the profitability of an industry, as measured by its return on capital employed relative to its cost of capital, was determined by five sources of competitive pressure. These five sources include three horizontal and two vertical conditions. The horizontal conditions are: competition within the established businesses in the market competition from potential new entrants competition from potential substitutes. The vertical conditions reflect supply and demand chain considerations: the bargaining power of buyers  the bargaining power of suppliers.  Porter’s basic premise is that competitors in an industry will be more profitable if these five conditions are benign. For example, if buyers are very powerful, they can demand high levels of service and low prices, thus negatively influencing the profitability of the supplier. However, if barriers to entry are high, say because of large capital requirements or dominance of the market by very powerful brands, then current players will be relatively immune from new entrants and enjoy the possibility of better profits. Why would a CRM-strategist be interested in a five-forces evaluation of customers? Fundamentally, a financially healthy customer offers better potential for a supplier than a customer in financial  distress. The analysis points to different CRM solutions: 1. Customers in a profitable industry are more likely to be stable for the near-term, and are better placed to invest in opportunities for the future. They therefore have stronger value potential. These are customers with whom a supplier would want to build an exclusive and well-protected relationship. 2. Customers in a stressed industry might be looking for reduced cost inputs from its suppliers, or for other ways that they can add value to their offer to their own customers. A CRM-oriented supplier would be trying to find ways to serve this customer more effectively, perhaps by stripping out elements of the value proposition that are not critical, or by adding elements that enable the customer to compete more strongly. Strategically Significant Customers (157) slide #11 The goal of this entire analytical process is to cluster customers into groups so that differentiated value propositions and relationship management strategies can be applied. One outcome will be the identification of customers that will be strategically significant for the company’s future. We call these strategically significant customers (SSCs). There are several classes of SSC, as follows: 1. High future lifetime value customers : these customers will contribute significantly to the company’s profitability in the future. 2. High volume customers : these customers might not generate much profit, but they are strategically significant because of their absorption of fixed costs, and the economies of scale they generate to keep unit costs low. 3. Benchmark customers : these are customers that other customers follow. For example, Nippon Conlux supplies the hardware and software for Coca Cola’s vending operation. While they might not make much margin from that rela tionship, it has allowed them to gain access to many other markets. ‘ If we are good enough for Coke, we are good enough for you ’ , is the implied promise. Some IT companies create ‘ reference sites ’ at some of their more demanding customers. 4. Inspirations : these are customers who bring about improvement in the supplier’s business. They may identify new applications for a product, product improvements, or opportunities for cost reductions. They may complain loudly and make unreasonable demands, but in doing so, force change for the better. 5. Door  openers : these are customers that allow the supplier to gain access to a new market. This may be done for no initial profit, but with a view to proving credentials for further expansion. This may be particularly important if crossing cultural boundaries, say between west and east. One company, a Scandinavian processor of timber, has identified five major customer groups that are strategically signi ficant, as in Figure 5.22 . The Seven Core Customer Management Strategies (158-9) slide # 12 This sort of analysis pays off when it helps companies develop and implement differentiated CRM strategies for clusters of customers in the portfolio. There are several core customer management strategies: 1. Protect the relationship : this makes sense when the customer is strategically significant and attractive to competitors. We discuss the creation of exit barriers in our review of customer retention strategies in Chapter 9. 2. Re-engineer the relationship : in this case, the customer is currently unprofitable or less profitable than desired. However, the customer could be converted to profit if costs were trimmed from the relationship. This might mean reducing or automating service levels, or servicing customers through lower cost channels. In the banking industry, transaction processing costs, as a multiple of online processing costs are as follows. If Internet transaction processing has a unit cost of 1, an in-bank teller transaction costs 120 units, an ATM transaction costs 40, telephone costs 30 and PC banking costs 20. In other words, it is 120 times more expensive to conduct an in-bank transaction than the identical online transaction. Cost-reduction programmes have motivated banks to migrate their customers, or at least some segments of customers, to other lower cost channels. An Australian electricity company has found that its average annual margin per customer is $60. It costs $13 to serve a c ustomer who pays by credit card, but only 64 cents to service a direct debit customer. Each customer moved to the lower cost channel therefore produces a transaction cost saving of more than $12, which increases the average customer value by 20 per cent. Re-engineering a relationship requires a clear understanding of the activities that create costs in the relationship (see Case 5.3). 3. Enhance the relationship : like  the strategy above, the goal is to migrate the customer up the value ladder. In this case it is done not by re-engineering the relationship, but by increasing your share of customer spend on the category, and by identifying up-selling and cross-selling opportunities. 4. Harvest the relationship : when your share of wallet is stable, and you do not want to invest more resources in customer development, you may feel that the customer has reached maximum value. Under these conditions you may wish to harvest, that is, optimize cash flow from the customer with a view to using the cash generated to develop other customers. This may be particularly appealing if the customer is in a declining market, has a high cost-to-serve or has a high propensity-to-switch to competitors. 5. End the relationship : sacking customers is ge nerally anathema to sales and marketing people. However, when the customer shows no sign of making a significant contribution in the future it may be the best option.You can read about strategies for sacking customers in Chapter 9. 6. Win back the customer : sometimes customers take some or all of their business to other suppliers. If they are not strategically signifi cant, it may make sense to let them go. However, when the customer is important, you may need to develop and implement win back strategies. The starting point must be to understand why they took their business away. 7. Start a relationship : you’ve identified a prospect as having potential strategic significance for the future. You need to develop an acquisition plan to recruit the customer onto the value ladder. You can read about customer acquisition strategies in Chapter 8.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Are professional athletes paid too much? Essay

The Right to Bear Arms Is the right to bear arms needed for U.S. citizens today? Should we have the right to retaliate if other freedoms are seized? Should we have the right to hunt? Should we have the right to protect our belongings and families? If you said yes to any of these questions, then you probably believe that we do need protection, hunting, and other freedoms that are vital. First, U.S. citizens have the right to protect themselves. For example, robberies and other crimes occur every day and people are entitled to protect themselves. If we don’t have the right to bear arms, then gas-station cashiers would not be able to protect themselves and the money in the cash register. Another example is that if someone breaks into your home to steal from you or hurt you, how are you going to protect yourself and your belongings? The police take too long to get to your home, so we need our right to bear arms! While it is important to protect ourselves, it is also important to hunt. It has been a sour ce of food since the beginning of time. Unless hunters are able to use guns there will be less food on the table for many Americans. Hunting is also a sport and a hobby to many Americans. Teenagers, adolescents, and young adults are always complaining about being bored. Hunting is an important activity to this age group, so the government does not need to take this away from U.S. citizens. While protection and hunting are very important, it is also important to remember that when the government takes one freedom they can also take others. In fact, once the government seized our right to bear arms, they could take away our freedom of speech. We would not be able to retaliate if they took our right to bear arms, so they would have full power and dictatorship over all U.S. citizens. Another freedom the government could take is our freedom of religion. It would be easier for them to control how we did everything, because we can’t do anything about it without guns. Finally, these three reasons are excellent reasons for why I support the right to bear arms. All of these reasons are proof for how we would not have much freedom at all without the second amendment. Our ancestors put this amendment in the Bill of Rights for many reasons, but these are just a few. Even if you don’t support the right to bear arms,  these reasons could persuade anyone to support it. Protection, hunting, and freedom of speech/religion for American citizens are the reasons for why I support the second amendment.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Indian Economy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Indian Economy - Research Paper Example Another feature of an emerging market is proper governance and India is being governed by a very rational and open-minded parliament. Some credit also goes to Indian army for that as India has never faced Military coups or any other embarrassing situation like that where power is snatched from the representative of the people and given to one sole dictator. This economics stability has earned India a title of "Largest democracy in the world". One must keep in mind is that economic stability is imperative for fast growth. The reason behind why countries around India who are blessed with the same natural characteristics as India and high populations have never been able to reach the level of India, when it comes to economic growth. Almost all countries surrounding India suffer from instable political system and periods of military coups occasionally, but the real credit goes to patriotic Indian army, which has never been temped into launching a coup against their own people. This has e arned India a escalated position not only in the Asian economics but also in the world economics, where Indian case studies adorn the history, present and future. (theindianpolitics, 2009) A land of around 1.5 billion people, India's climb in the social and economic spheres has been tremendous over the past few years. During this time, India has grown from strength to strength. Proving all its doubters wrong, India is reaching great new heights at a very fast pace. This growth of India is not confined only to their economy, but let it be any facet; India is growing rapidly in an attempt to escalate to nadir. India is leaving its mark on just economic progress and development but all sphere of life or all fields where it can grow any further. For example, social growth of India can be judged by the fact that entire Asia is intimating European culture, but Europe and Western Nations are intimating India's culture. India's film industry, "bollywood" has penetrated western market and became the second largest film industry of the world after Hollywood. This great success of bollywood and Indian culture has given India exposure to far flung areas and contributed heavily in the recognition of India all around the world. As a result of all this factors and blessed with tremendous amount of useful natural resources, such as cheap and skilled labor, tropical climate, great fertile land etc. (Vyas, 2003) India has become a business hub and all trading and business activities are diverting towards India. Owing to all these factors and great trust shown by the foreign investor towards India, Bombay Stock Market is growing around 17% annually which is comparable to the richest stock markets like New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) etc. Apart from the rise in Money markets such as stock exchange, India has also grown four-fold in its retail sectors. Almost every product whether big or small, technological or manual, mechanical or electrical is being produced in India and is being distributed through a well-developed chain of proper infrastructure and distribution channel. This organized retail sector is dominated by industrial and manufacturing giants like Tata, Pantaloons, Reliance and AirTel. These firm have made India recognizable allover the world. India's recent economic trends have forced even the most cautious of the economists to believe that India is going to be the next big economy of the world. The economy has been a star in the last few years growing from

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Role of Political Parties in Japan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Role of Political Parties in Japan - Essay Example The Japanese political system has been subject to various political changes since the time the constitutional government has emerged. Political Parties emerged in Japan after the Meiji restoration in 1868. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica after 1868 a number of political parties emerged and some of them did get some share in forming the government. According to Hayes the first political party was founded in 1874 and the second one in 1882. The first party was called â€Å"Liberal Party’ and the second one kept on changing its name and finally settled as the Democratic Party. As stated in Encyclopedia Britannica there was a period of inactivity among political parties in the 1930s and 40s due to the war. However total liberty for the formation of political parties was given after the promulgation of the 1947 constitution. Strict rules were followed and any organization which expressed its wish to nominate a person for political posts was to be registered as a political party. As such Japan saw thousands of political parties out of which only a few managed to get a place in the spot light. At present there are five major political parties in Japan. Political system in Japan is based on the leadership provided by the Liberal Democratic Party and the opposition by other parties. Japan owes its success to the policies adopted by the LDP. Indeed LDP has made Japan an economic success on the map of the world. Today Japan is an important member of all the important organizations of the world. Its worth is valued all over and it is all due to the successful policies of the LDP. Other opposition parties have to work hard to bring about a real change in the Japanese political system.

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Mortgage and Depreciation Expense and Tax Analysis Essay

Mortgage and Depreciation Expense and Tax Analysis - Essay Example However, although the mortgage rate rises from 5% to 10% in the current scenario, the appreciation of houses that consumers can buy rises from 2% to 9%. This implies that demand for consumers wanting to purchase a house goes down. With such deliberations, it is apparent that an investor will find it difficult getting customers willing or able to buy a house. This becomes tricky unless the investors have some other sources of obtaining funds to service the mortgage. To many investors, availability of consumers to purchase their house is a vital factor to consider when mortgaging a house because rents collected from them highly help pay for the mortgage (Lank, 2003). In another dimension, it is argued that in any investment, it is important to venture into business when prices are low, and exit or dispose when prices are high. However, in this scenario, both interest rates and prices of housing are high. In this regard, investors need to consider other factors such as growth in the eco nomy, local employment rates, and the growth of population in the area they wish to invest in. this means that if predictions about these factors turns out to be in his favor, the investor can go ahead with the mortgage. Second scenario If interest rates were able to be deducted from investor’s income, it is an option that many people would like to go for. However, since every investor aims at making a profit and avoid making losses, having interest rates for the mortgage being deducted from their income poses a great threat in servicing the mortgage and meeting other needs that are planned to be addressed by the income (Lank, 2003). Obviously, the investor has other obligations to meet with the income. So when his income starts servicing the mortgage, this means that some of his other projects would be at haul. However, this option is only applicable to first real estate investors who have not experience on serving their mortgage. When this happens, there is a possibility of the investor to service the mortgage on his own as he awaits such a time when prices goes up for him to dispose the house. However, this being the only option the investor has to service the mortgage; it is risky because unlike when the investor would have other means of servicing the mortgage, if consumers are unable to pay or even decides to move to other houses, the investor risks loosing the house unless they turn into their personal income to pay for it (Lank, 2003). All in all, if the income generated from the house can be able to pay for the mortgage, the better. This ensures that an investor’s other businesses or incomes are not disrupted to service the mortgage. Third scenario Deducting taxes from the income earned from the property can be argued to be the best option. The deduction is partial recovery of the cost of the property. Generally, when the property is able to take care of taxes, investors are assured of effective payment of the mortgage. This is unlike wh en they have to pay for the taxes from other sources. In fact, when taxes are deducted from the income generated from the property, the investor is in a better position to claim a tax reduction whenever there is depreciation of the property that generates the income (Lank, 2003). More importantly, when taxes are deducted from the income, the investor can take advantage of the internal revenue services provisions in the area where the property is located. Fourth scenario Every investor would be happy to have

Monday, August 26, 2019

The feminization of love, How men and women are portrayed by society Research Paper

The feminization of love, How men and women are portrayed by society and the media - Research Paper Example On the other hand, love is a multi-faced movement, which varies based on situations, as well as one’s individual motives. There are many types of love, possibly as numerous as do several persons, who are loved and are in love. It entails a wide diversity of feelings characterized by some set behaviors (Robert 88). These components range from the one we feel for our parents, acquaintances, siblings, and kids to the ones we are feel for our wives or husbands. Currently love is connected to sexual relationships, a boy girl relationship may be termed as love, but, in most circumstances, it is infatuation or lust. However, what we are thinking, as love in the society is determined by women, and not by men (Gelsthorpe 53). Society in the past, viewed men and women from different perspectives. Their roles were well defined by the norms and taboos of a given society. Crisscrossing of duties was prohibited, and penalties were put in place to handle any uncouth behavior. However, changes occur every day with respect to the roles men and women play. In fact, today, their roles are reversed. This has seen the society change drastically within a short duration of time. With the transition of society, men and women continue to modify their lifestyles and way of living. In the field of administration, women are now heading countries, big organizations and small ones at the grass root level. Academically, women are now studying technical courses, which were only left for men. Women have now moved from kitchen and bedroom materials to the head of the families. Their duties and responsibilities have changed from caretakers to economically productive people in the society. Gender equity has now chipped in, and with the company of love, men can now share duties with their partners. Mode of life has further changed considerably. To some extra ordinary scenario, it has proved to be slightly complicated to allow women to participate actively. This is not due to discrimination, but the view of the society in some circumstances, women are viewed as vulnerable. For instance, a war situation. In the negative side, the society terms women as the weaker sex because occasionally, they feel annoyed if the other partner shows love with masculine behavior. They claim that it is invisible to them (Mark 36). How society view men and women culturally vary from place to place, ideas of appropriate behavior based on gender are varying among cultures along with the era. Although some aspects receive extra widespread attention than some others, Masculinities and Feminism claims that there are traditions where it has not been a taboo for men to contain homosexual relations, while there are others, who term as a vi ce, based on cultural beliefs and customs. In the 'Western' account age, when the modern caucus stated that men showed suppressed feelings of not relating, men were emotional about their feelings for their friends. â€Å"Companionship in the outback of Australian previous century is a situation in point" (Hutter 35). Further aspects, though, may differ noticeably with time plus place. In the then times, women were normally associated with roles correlated to medicine and even healing duties. As a result of the coming up of witch-hunts over Europe together with medicine institutionalization, these responsibilities finally ended up under the domination of men. Women turned to have no voice on whatever happened. In the last recent few decades, though, these responsibilities have become for the most part gender-neutral in Western civilization (Mark 178). The element of conference or traditions seems to play a leading role

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Business Response to Climate Change Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Business Response to Climate Change - Assignment Example However, the physical impact of climate change and opportunities and risk associated with it are incorporated by fewer businesses in their planning (Britton, 1997). Once the climatic trends become clear and the reduction in uncertainty surrounding the future changes is observed, business then will be in a better position to decide that weather actions should be taken on the projected changes now or not. This decision by businesses helps them in turn to develop effect business strategy to for proper risk mitigation as well as taking advantage of the opportunities arising from the changes. However for many businesses, climate change can be a new or probably scary topic to discuss (Britton, 1999). This challenge is composed of variety of projections which may include temperature change, change in patterns of precipitation, other events and many other effects. In this essay we will discuss and will outline the sensible approach that can be used by businesses to analyze and adapt to the physical risks of climate changes and to take advantage of opportunities arising. A few of the physical changes associated with climate changes do not only bring risk but can provide the opportunities as well. For example, in some location disruption to location sites can be faced by the construction industry. They may further face problems in delivering materials to those locations as an extreme event and may damage the infrastructure. Workers can be restricted to work in limited amount of time, in tasks like roofing, due to the higher temperature. On the other hand this industry may get benefited by the opportunities like frost as it may reduce work stoppage hence the portion of year in which construction takes place can be easily extended. New products market can be created by adaptation, like climate proofing materials and building designs, or may result in shifts of market; this can be done by making materials that is locally sourced more attractive in order to

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Fur elise, song created by beethoven Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fur elise, song created by beethoven - Essay Example Such actions is apparent and deeply believed because as it goes, there’s nothing to lose. Many revered artists are known for different rituals that they do for their craft. Among the most unusual include the great composer Ludwig Van Beethoven. There are many recorded anecdotes that pertain to how he goes about composing his music. This includes the composer supposedly dipping his head in cold water before writing his songs. This is said to be helpful in stimulating his brain so that he would be able to compose the many great music that we take advantage of even to this day. His love story is also something that is shrouded with mystery and romance. This creates more ambiguity and interest towards him. There comes this notion that with genius also comes the tragedy of loneliness. Like the way that poets are said to have shorter life than all other artists and people in general, it is a gift and a curse all at once. There is the apparent thought that misery goes with the extent of gift that only few are given. The pressure that people may advertently or not impose on these people. Consequently, the anxiety that the gifted themselves impose on their self to meet all expectations. Love is most often synonymous with art. The most beautiful works are born out of love. Elizabeth Barrett Browning created the most poignant poems for her love one in as much as Robert Browning did the same thing. Beethoven and his great love is one of these, a love story for the generations. One of the most recognizable music from the classic era, FÃ ¼r Elise, which literally translates to ‘For Elise’ contains the most interesting stories for its composition. Something more interesting is that the manuscript for it was found 40 years after Beethoven’s death. Its publication in 1865 immediately shot it to fame. The deep and emotional subtext of the music provokes empathy among its listeners. As a matter of fact, historians could not

Friday, August 23, 2019

Healthcare Costs Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Healthcare Costs - Assignment Example A look into the year 2005, expenditure on health care was about $2 trillion or $6,697 per capita, which correspond to 16% of the GDP. The continued rise in health spending over the last four decades is going to go higher, and the expenditure will reach $4trillion, which is 20% of the GDP, by the year 2015. For many years, the continued increase in health care expenditure has been the center of heated debate in the US for many years. Research work and anecdotal reports influence further concerns. This points out that the rise in the health care expenditure is likely to harm the US economy. Expenditures on health care have the potential to affect an economy in a number of diverse and complex ways. In addition, the emerging effects may vary across all sectors of an economy as well as across population groups. One notable impact of increased expenditure on health care is the decline in the general economic growth. However, the same effect has the potential to boost economic growth in som e sectors of an economy. Therefore, gaining an understanding of how increased expenditure on health care affects the economy requires an evaluation through various dimensions (Eaton et al, 2002). The state, Federal, and the local governments have the duty to collect taxes from households and business premises. The tax collections help to finance public health insurance programs as well as providing direct health care to households. On the other hand, the businesses are responsible for providing employment to households and health insurance to their employees. Therefore, the households emerge as the final consumers of the health care and at the same time bear some costs on health care (Eaton et al, 2002). It is worth noting that the impacts of health care on a single sector are likely to affect results from other sectors. An example is a situation where the government reduces its expenditure on health care by reducing the eligibility for public health insurance. This action by the go vernment leads to an increase in un-insurance rates among households. At the same time, an increase in health care expenditure in also likely to cause an increase in taxes, reduction on investments on other critical sectors or increased government borrowing. It is also likely that companies will cut down employment and investment as a result of increased expenditures on health care (Eaton et al, 2002). The other likely effect of increased health care expenditures is inflation on the US economy. This will cause goods and services from the US to be less competitive in the international market because increased expenditures on health care will lead to an increase in product prices. Finally, increased expenditure on health care is likely to make health care inaccessible to many, produce bankrupt consumers, and reduce peoples’ retirement savings (Pauly et al, 2009). Impacts of the affordable health care for America Act HR 3962 On November, 2009, the House of representatives passed the Affordable Health Care for America Act with a vote of 220 to 215. The aim of this Act is to offer affordable, quality health care to all Americans. The bill is a multifaceted one and addresses diverse issues concerning the improvement of the health care system. Improvements on the health system include expansion of health insurance coverage, amending Medicare payments regulations in both traditional and advantage plans.

European States in 18th century, The French Revolution Assignment

European States in 18th century, The French Revolution - Assignment Example There was an attempt to rationalize the monarchial system and its laws. In France, there was a dilution of the monarchy, followed by the French Revolution, whose Jacobin program saw the end to church power, and changes in the metric, financial and legal systems, based on rational thought and the ideal of social equality. Enlightened Politics, for the most part, was manifested in ‘Enlightened Despots’ in Europe, whose power rested not on divine right, but on the necessity of orderly government for the welfare of the people. Frederick the Great of Prussia introduced greater religious freedom, spurred economic improvements and codified the legal system. Joseph II of Austria also embarked on state-sponsored improvements and curtailed the powers of the Catholic Church. In the eighteenth century, the Industrial Revolution saw Britain emerge as a global power, with distinctive advantages over the continental states. A major factor was British success in building up large colonies, particularly in the East and West Indies, and North America, which provided goods for trade with continental Europe and also a market for domestic goods. The stability of overseas trade was guaranteed by Britain’s naval power, which prevented war-time disruptions, unlike France. Population growth and urbanization, and rising standards of living led to increased mass consumption and encouraged mass production. In contrast to the ancien regime and feudal structure prevalent in continental Europe, Britain’s prosperous middle class participated in the political and economic system. An emerging democracy and the curtailment of absolute monarchial influence over property promoted economic growth. Britain’s transport network was more advanced than that of the continent. This facilitated the cheap transport of the products of the Industrial Revolution. Britain’s Agricultural Revolution converted small family land holdings, or

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Abortion All Sides of the Issue Essay Example for Free

Abortion All Sides of the Issue Essay When you think of abortion, the first thing that comes to mind is the death of an unborn child. Trying to identify all possible sides of the issue of abortion is a difficult task. Choosing a side is even harder. Although abortion issues are not recognized and discussed any longer, it is still a serious matter and continues today. The research that has been done on the sensitive subject of abortion has been going on for quite some time now. The Definition of Life In the dictionary, abortion regularly defined as removing a fetus or an embryo from the uterus to end a pregnancy. When completing research this past week, I found out that when abortions were first starting out, they were only performed on women who were not capable of carrying a child or the fetus was incapable of surviving. Now, women are given the choice to carry, give the child up for adoption or having an abortion no matter what the situation is. The Issues of Abortion There are plenty of health risks and issues that come along with abortion. â€Å"One woman from an unnamed clinic had a partial abortion performed in which half of the baby was never removed. (Rendon, 2002). See more: Social process essay Just like any other procedure, abortions come along with not only the physical effects, but also the mental stress of it all. After having my abortion in June of 2005, I was in complete distress. Being in that types of situation made me want to curl up in a small ball and cry all day. Being that I have chosen the topic of abortion, I was gradually trying to observe and view all different sides of abortion. Of course, we have all seen in the news when abortion first became an issue, â€Å"there were many people pro-life and many others, pro-choice. (Scheidler, 2002). I still feel that even though abortion is not talked about much today, it is still a serious issue and still continues as the days pass. Which Side Do You Choose? When reading the different articles from ProQuest and seeing how the supporting and differing viewpoints made me feel, I began to take the position as a pro-life supporter. One of the issues I have is with the abortion of fetus’ after the 24 week period. I feel that if you know in the beginning that you aren’t going to want to keep the child, then why wait so long for the abortion. Some babies are able to survive after only twenty-eight weeks of being in the womb. This is another reason I am pro-life. Another issue that I can identify with related to my hypothesis is the religious viewpoint of abortion. Like most people, in whom I have researched upon, feel that abortion is a form of death. We all know that one of the Ten Commandments in The Bible states that â€Å"thou shall not kill†. If death is a sin, then why is abortion legal? The third issue that I have related to abortion is the act of â€Å"partial abortion†. After reading further on this partial procedure, which I was not to familiar with, I found out that the abortion is only halfway done and the doctor performing finishes killing the fetus. Just thinking about this situation makes me angry because abortion, in my eyes, is already wrong and performing it partially is just as bad. Being a Pro-Life Supporter My position on the issue of abortion is someone who is pro-life all the way. On June 13, 2005, I had an abortion. It was one experience I swore to never have again. I have a ten month old son now and I am so grateful for him and I am glad that God allowed me to have another child. I was in just getting out of college at the time when I had my abortion. I was young and scared and was not stable enough to bring a child in the world, or so I thought. Women need to realize that they do have a choice in situations like these. Many married couples or women longing for, who are unable to conceive, want to have children. Why not choose to give the gift of an adoption over abortion? At least knowing that a child was not killed and made someone else happy would be a better option. Adoption can be a good thing for someone not wanting to have a baby that they knew they couldn’t raise and support. You Have a Choice Another choice that women have is the option to keep the child. Starting your family is great and what better joy than to bring a baby into the world. Deciding whether to abort or keep the child is a difficult decision when it comes down to it. I know that from past experience, I was not able to really care for a baby the way I am now. I was in college, as an on-campus resident; during my first year when I found out I was pregnant. Not wanting to put my future in jeopardy, I chose the option of abortion. Personal Experience from the Heart When I first found out that I was expecting, I did not tell anyone but a close friend of mine at North Carolina Central University. She was very excited and was encouraging to me. She gave great influential advice and was there to offer me a helping hand. But, after thinking it over, I decided and knew that this was something that I just could not do. After getting out of school in May of 2005, I began to think about it even more. Going through the all-day sickness and being tired was no joke. I was really going through and I thought I just could not take it anymore. I talked things over with my cousin and she assured me that everything would be okay. After setting up my scheduled appointment, I felt a sense of relief. I was sad at the same time because I knew that I was killing a life. A few people living around me had seen my pregnancy glow and knew that I was indeed pregnant. But when they did ask, I simply told them no and walked the other way. On the day of my appointment, I was nervous and scared all at the same time. I was having these mixed feelings go through my mind one after another. I didn’t know what to do. When we arrived, I thought about telling my boyfriend and cousin, who traveled with us for support, that I would rather take the three hundred and eighty dollars I was holding in my hand and go buy a crib. I wanted my baby and I didn’t want to go through with it. After the procedure was finished, I was escorted to a room where the nurses and staff were in such a good mood and being so nice to me. All I could think was, â€Å"What did I just do? † I could not believe that I had just gone through with the procedure. I stared in aw looking at these nice nurses who were just so happy when all I could do was cry. Now, looking back on that day, I still feel the hurt and pain of going through that entire day. I know that I felt relief in mind but sorrow in my heart. I am now a proud mother of an eleven month old son and I know that God made me a mother for a reason. Being a mother is the greatest thing that has happened to me and if it wasn’t for my son, I don’t know where I would be right now. Abortion is indeed a very controversial topic with issues that people do recognize sometimes, but not most of the time. Yes, there have been plenty accounts of where abortion issues were in papers, but it’s not as recognized as â€Å"Paris Hilton goes to jail†. This is the type of situation I am discussing. Today, indicating from my research, the number of abortions has increased from the past two decades. Sometimes I feel that women choose abortion because it is the easy way out. You may fail to realize that not only girls, but also boys are very advanced these days. All kids from the age of fourteen and up are sitting at home playing video games and playing with dolls. More and more pregnancies are happening to girls who haven’t even reached the age of eighteen. â€Å"Women never really realize the great joy they have until going through the clinic walls and giving their baby up for a small price. † (Rothstein, 1995). This statement is so true because you do not know the great joys of being a parent until you have your own. People everywhere should take a stand to get abortion laws passed so that they will only be performed if necessary. Taking a stand is important because we all stand somewhere in this world. There are many ways to support abortion foundations and groups.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Reflective Essay About Moving And Handling Skill Nursing Essay

Reflective Essay About Moving And Handling Skill Nursing Essay This reflective essay will be about moving and handling skill, which took place during my placement where I was supposed to learn and practicalised my nursing skills. In describing the event, I will be using Gibbs reflective cycle (1988) (see appendix: 1) to analyse my actions and feelings. For the purpose of confidentiality, the name of the service user and place where the event took place as been made anonymous (Nursing and Midwifery Council 2009). Description I was on placement in a nursing home when my mentor asked me to transfer John from his bed to a wheel chair. John is 60 years old man, who suffered from osteoarthritis. Before I carried out the task, my mentor had explained to me what I need to do when transferring a service user from the bed to the wheel chair. My mentor was also present at the scene to provide me with guidance and support; as the procedure required more than one person. When I approached John room I closed his door in order to maintain his dignity and privacy. Having done that, I obtained his consent and explained to him what I was going to do. However, I assessed the task ahead of me by completing a moving and handling assessment form. This enables me to provide for the appropriate equipment (wheelchair and full body hoist sling) needed to transfer John. I ask my mentor to assist me to fix the sling on John, as the task required more than one carer. I then required John to tilt to one side of the bed so I can fix the sling under his body and the same process was carried out by my mentor on the other side putting Johns independence into consideration. The full body sling hook was attached to the hoist stand and John was carefully transferred from the bed to the wheelchair with maximum care without causing him further pain. When John was finally comfortable on the wheelchair, I asked him if he had experienced any pain as a result of the transfer he replied that the task was perfectly executed. Feelings At first, I was nervous about causing John any further pain knowing that his osteoarthritis condition is severe. However, I was pleased that John was satisfied at the end with the way the task was carried out as he appraised our effort. In addition, I felt piteous for John knowing his condition could be very painful. Evaluation It was good that I completed a moving and handling assessment form, as this enables me to transfer John with the appropriate equipment without causing him any pain. Dougherty and Lister (2009) postulated that the risk of injury to both carers and service users can be reduced by fully assessing the task and identifying the right equipment and procedure. They further warn that moving service users in bed without using appropriate equipment can cause friction and shearing to their skin, which is a common cause of pressure ulcers. Haslam et al (2007) supports the above view and went on to say that for moving and handling to be considered successful, the carer needs to employ minimal effort and the service user needs to experience minimal discomfort. However, Iggulder et al (2009) affirmed that assessment of task and training are not sufficient on their own to minimise the incidence of back pain. I was also satisfied that I obtain Johns consent and explained to him what I was going to do, which makes him to be cooperative throughout the task. Hogston and Simpson (2002) suggest that service users should be asked of their informed consent before administering any form of treatments to them. He further emphasised that this will allow the service users to have adequate information about their treatment and also promote a sense of independence. However, it was bad that I did not wear personal protective equipment before carrying out the task. According to the Department of Health (DH 2006) and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE 2003) state that using protective equipment will reduce the risk of acquiring contamination from potentially infectious body fluids and transmitting microorganisms through hands or clothing. Health and Safety Executive (2004) supports this and went on to say that disposable apron and gloves should be worn for all direct care procedures with service user when there is likelihood of contact with blood, secretions and excretions or body fluids. Analysis The Health and Safety Executive (HSE 2004) describe moving and handling as any transporting or supporting of a service user (including sliding, rolling and tilting) with suitable equipment and technique. As a result, I used a full body hoist sling to transfer John to the wheelchair, due to his inability to stand on his both knees. Mandelstam (2003) affirmed that service users with painful knee injury such as osteoarthritis often have difficulty with mobility. Alternatively, I could have used a sliding board to transfer John as proposed by Pellatt (2005), but the nursing home has not got such equipment available. I required John to tilt as much as possible in order to maintain his independence while I affixed the full body hoist sling round his body. Gibson (1991) explains that empowering service users has benefits which include positive self-concept, increased personal satisfaction, a sense of control and improved quality of life. I was satisfied to have adopted the appropriate techn ique and used the right equipment to transfer John, as my mentor was present to support and guide me throughout the procedure. Royal College of Nursing (RCN 2007) states that mentor is a key support for students in practice in order to facilitate competence for registration. On reflection, if the appropriate equipment had not been used to transfer John, he could have secured further injury. The Health and Safety Executive (2004) supports this view and states that service users are at risk of shoulder injury, musculoskeletal disorder and tissue injury from inappropriate lifting into the sitting or standing position, or lowering them into the sitting position. However, Chell (2003) warns that undertaking unsafe handling practice could be construed as a form of abuse. Conclusion John was comfortably transferred without causing him any further pain which was the initial motive. On reflection, there is nothing significant I could have done differently as regards to moving and handling skill, my mentor was present to provide me with guidance and support throughout the task. However, I need to reflect on similar situation and develop my moving and handling skills so that I can independently carry out such task should the need arise again. In addition, It is imperative for me to wear protective clothing during such task in order to prevent cross infection (DH 2006 and NICE 2003). Action plan In future situation as such, I will ensure that the service user is transfer without causing him/her any form of injury. However, it is imperative for me to reflect on similar event and further develop my moving and handling skill by taking part in annually training. As this will facilitate a better practice in the future and also make me an independent expert practitioner (Benner 1984). In addition, should the situation resurface again I ensure that I wear protective clothing, so as to protect myself and the service user against infectious diseases.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Customer Lifecyle Case Study: Toyota and HP

Customer Lifecyle Case Study: Toyota and HP Let us raise a question what is the main goal of a business company? What is the common aim of all its internal units? The answer did not change from the old times till nowadays its simply a profit or the rise of the wealth owned by its shareholders. But as the years went by, the business theories improved, and the ways to approach companys goals developed as well. During the years of experience smart entrepreneurs understood, that there is something behind seeking the profit, something more then numbers and rational decisions. That something turns out to be a companys relationship with customers. Customer relationship management is a concept that became very popular during the 1990s. It offered long term changes and benefits to businesses that chose to use it. The reason for this is because it allowed companies to interact with their customers on a whole new level. There are few different strategies of CRM. We are going to discuss more specifically about one the customer lifecycle. Customer lifecycle is the behavior of a customer with a company over the time. A high knowledge in this theory of CRM is a great tool for a company to reach its goals and surpass the competition. We have chosen this topic because we see a great importance of it in business life and it is very handy for us as business students to expand our knowledge in this specific subject. For grounding the theory and our ideas we have chosen two different companies HP and Toyota. HP is providing other enterprises with CRM decisions. We are going to disclose briefly the background of HP enterprice services as a company and talk a bit more specifically about their services and attitude about the importance of CRM and customer lifecycle. Toyota is a multinational automaker. We are going to present its CRM strategy and show their practical experience of following the customers lifecycle. Customer lifecycle and CRM theory As mentioned before, in this part we are going to briefly answer the question what is Customer Relationship Management, and talk more specifically about the Customer Lifecycle. What is Customer Relationship Management? In few steps we can assume that Customer Relationship Management is about finding new customers, collecting info about them along the way and using that info to enhance their experience and foster long-term relationships. The focus on the customer is the main characteristic of CRM and two are the most important questions that a Customer Relationship manager has to keep in mind: what are the customers needs? And do we offer programs/products in response to their needs? Customer relationship management is a widely-implemented strategy for managing a companys interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes (principally sales activities, marketing, customer service, and technical support). The overall goals are to find, attract, and win new clients, nurture and retain those the company already has and reduce the costs of marketing and client service. Customer Relationship Management designs t he company business strategy including customer -interface departments as well as other departments. CRM is a term that is often referred to marketing. However, there is no complete agreement upon a single definition. This is because CRM can be considered from a number of perspectives. In summary, the three perspectives are: Information Technology (IT) perspective Business Strategy perspective The Customer Life Cycle (CLC) perspective Whereas our topic is focused on Customer lifecycle, we are going to explain and go deeply inside only in the third perspective. Customer Life Cycle For a better explanation about the Customer Lifecycle, we want to introduce firstly the concept of a Product Life Cycle: PLC is the process of managing the entire lifecycle of a product from its conception, through design and manufacture, to service and disposal. Here is the general product lifecycle which normally follows these 5 steps: Research Development, Introduction, Growth, Maturity and Decline. The graphic (shown in illustration 1 below) shows how the sales change during the PLC. Ilustration 1. Product Life Cycle The PLC can also be divided in 5 stages which represent the kind of customers who makes use of the product during the lifecycle: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards. So what is a Customer Lifecycle? Just like a product of a certain company, a company itself has a lifecycle as well. It is simply the behavior of a customer with a company over the time. Customers begin a relationship with a company, and over the time, either decide to continue this relationship, or end it. The Customer Life Cycle (CLC) has obvious similarities with the Product Life Cycle (PLC). However, CLC focuses upon the creation of and delivery of lifetime value to the customer (looking at the products or services that customers need throughout their lives). It is marketing orientated rather than product orientated, and embodies the marketing concept. Essentially, CLC is a summary of the key stages in a customers relationship within an organization. The problem is that every organization offer different product, which makes it impossible to draw out a single Life Cycle that is the same for every organization. The illustration below shows the course of the relationship between customer and supplier: Ilustration 2 Due to the graph, there are four phases in a customer lifecycle: exploration, growth, saturation and decline. During the Exploration phase the customer starts to see the promises made during communication for the first time; the level of satisfaction is relatively low, the customer have no experience about the products and the services offered by the supplier and the switching costs are still low in this stage. During the Growth phase there usually is a sharp rise in purchases; the customer now knows the advantages offered by the supplier, satisfactions with goods and services increase; the supplier is examined more for its performance than for its reputation or image. The Saturation phase is characterized by the highest number of purchases and the highest degree of commitment (function of satisfaction, attractiveness and switching costs); the relation has taken shape. Satisfaction is still increasing in all the aspects and so do the trust. The appeal of the relationship improves and the switching costs increase slightly. The Decline phase starts as soon as the number of transactions starts to drop; This phase can occur at any time (even after the exploration phase); the most common reason is the reduction in the need for the products and services provide by the suppliers. At any point in this Lifecycle, the customer is either becoming more or less likely to continue maintaining a relationship with a company, and demonstrates this likelihood through their interactions with you. If a company collects data from these interactions, it can use this data to predict where the customer is in his Lifecycle (is the customer becoming more or less likely to maintain a relationship?) If a company can predict where the customers are in the Lifecycle, it can maximize ones Return on Investment (ROI) by targeting customers most likely to buy, trying to save customers who have declining interest, and not wasting money on customers unlikely to continue relationship. Toyota Case Toyota Motors Corporation, commonly known simply as Toyota, is a multinational automaker headquartered in Toyota City, Japan. The company founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937 has snatched the title of worlds largest automaker from General Motors in 2008 for the first time in 77 years. TMC workforce around the world is about 320.590 people (total in affiliated companies in 2009). Toyota is also known by has revolutionized the automotive production with the Just-in-Time system, the quality of its products and the healthy relationship with the stakeholders. These aspects have made Toyota a reference within the automotive manufacturing environment and its personal approach over the customers during the last years seems keeping Toyotas brand in the spotlight of the automotive business. A huge part of the success of Toyota is credited by the obsession with its customers. Beyond the manufacturing strategy it is needed to take care about the non-manufacturing environment. Everything Toyota does is done with customers in mind and it is clear to all staff that totally satisfied customers are the source of good results. It made TMC develop the Lean CRM in response to the growing volume of customer information collected at the many touch-points during the customer lifecycle. The Lean CRM allows Toyota to sense changes in individual customers behaviour, following their current lifecycle status and responding in a way to increases customer satisfaction. It has enabled Toyota to predict what customer wants even before the customer knows he wants it, to sell significantly more vehicles, with a shorter trade cycle and higher repurchase rate (over 60%), at significantly lower costs. CUSTOMER PULL By knowing how often a typical customer use to replace his vehicle, Toyotas process guides how different touch-points over customer lifecycle are delivered and how employees should respond to customer-initiated touch-points and deliver Toyota-initiated ones. The process starts when the customer is thinking about buying a new vehicle. It is a job to the marketing department to guide these prospective buyers to the Toyota website and gather as much information as possible. The process of requesting information is an example of customer pull, where the company responds directly to the customer. It is the first contact at which the customer becomes known to Toyota, and it triggers a check to see if Toyota already knows the customer. The gathered data about the customer provides information to manage how future touch-points to that customer will be delivered. TOYOTA PUSH What Toyota already knows about the prospective customer will determine how Toyota communicates with that customer. Vehicle information which is sent out is tailored to the prospective customers known preferences. Toyota may even offer a customized deal or pre-approved credit to the prospective customer. Where the prospective customer is not previously known, Lean CRM uses statistical models and data analysis to determine which models are likely to be most appealing to each prospective customer, as well as the type of information each person is likely to value. At the moment the customer buys a new Toyota vehicle and enters the ownership lifecycle, Toyota keep trying to sense customer to pull and maintain a conversation with the company along the years. At this way, it is possible to offer the right product at the right moment to the customers. It is this combination of pull and push that guides each customer step by step during the customer lifecycle and toward the customers next purchase. It is the backbone of the lifetime conversation between the customer and Toyota. CUSTOMER DNA Just as a real DNA influences how an individual behave in determined environment, Customer DNA influences how each touch-point between Toyota and the customer is carried out. It defines the relationship that Toyota and its customers will hold along the years and how each touch-point will be faced. The touch-point trigger, the touch-point delivery process, previous or subsequent touch-points, the roles and responsibilities involved and the business rules that control how the touch-point is executed are all contained within the touch-point definition. The best way to execute the touch-points which depends of persons Customer DNA is assigned as soon as the customer is identified. Using the Unica Affiniun Campaign Management System (CMS) is possible to Toyota to manage the variability of customers, the distinct touch-points and their implementation. This process automatically reviews the data about each customer and decides whether a touch-point should be trigged. If more than one touch-point is appropriate at the same time, it also decides which one has priority and what should happen to the other. Similarly, if the customer requests information about a new model, the request will automatically trigger a review process to identify the best touch-point and which touch-points should be triggered as a follow-up. INCREASING SALES AND FREQUENCY, AT LOWER COST This Lean CRM approach has been developed in close cooperation with one of Toyotas European sales companies and its dealers and has been piloted in touch-points during the customer lifecycle. Comparing a recent before and after marketing campaign it is found a 70 percent reduction of non-target customers being mailed, an 80 percent reduction in campaign costs, a 50 percent reduction in campaign development time and a 60 percent increase in campaign ROI. In other words, the Lean CRM approach has enabled Toyota to sell significantly more vehicles, with a shorter trade cycle and a higher repurchase rate, at significantly lower cost. This strategy of approaching the customer according his lifecycle will contribute between $5 million and $10 million (in U.S. dollars) of additional revenues each year to the sales company. And also, Toyota has shown clearly that Lean CRM really provides benefits for customers and for itself despite the doubts about the functionality of lean principles developed in manufacturing to sales and marketing. As it was said in the beginning, Toyota knows that its success depend of total customer satisfaction and staff does not save efforts to reach this goal.Formularbeginn HP Enterprise Services Nowadays more and more successful companies are trying to implement CRM strategies in order to build the customer loyalty. In order to improve your companies CRM strategy you can use the services of certain enterprise service companies, such as HP enterprice service. We are going to disclose briefly the background of HP enterprice services as a company and talk more specifically about their services for enterprices. HP Enterprise Services (HP ES) is the global business and technology services division of Hewlett Packards HP Enterprise Business strategic business unit. It provides enterprices with CRM solutions, which help to support the customers through the entire customer life cycle. It was formed by the combination of HPs legacy services consulting business and the integration of acquired Electronic Data Systems, which had defined the outsourcing business when it was established in 1962 by H. Ross Perot. As the saying goes, all customers are not created equal. Some are no doubt more valuable than others and represent a reliable source of profitable revenue, while others do not justify the cost of attracting or retaining them. And then there are all those other diverse segments of customers somewhere in the middle. As HP ES states, a company must address the unique needs and preferences of all members of these customer segments as they proceed through the different stages of the customer life cycle. Each company is therefore challenged to strike a delicate balance in running its business: minimize the cost of attracting, retaining and rewarding their best customers and maximize the customer experience from Marketing through Sales to Customer Service to create loyal and satisfied patrons and advocates. Companies who achieve this balance are rewarded with profitable growth and increased market share. For those who struggle with this, HP Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Services provides a proven approach to catch and surpass the competition. As shown in a picture below, the customers progress through the steps of this life cycle (inner blue) as they engage with a company through the various interaction channels they choose (gray). Successful companies support each life cycle step with reciprocating front office functions (green) to optimize the customer experience. Ilustration 3 For over 30 years, HP ES has been successfully designing and delivering to clients around the world CRM solutions ranging from customer-facing operations management, contact center technology management, and global fulfillment and logistics. The companys solutions are based on this comprehensive suite of offerings: 1. Contact Center Outsourcing Services Contact Center Outsourcing Services is a tool which provides you to reached outcomes such as growth, cost reduction, improved customer retention, and mitigated risk. Ilustration 4 HP has more than 30 years of Contact center experience which supports entire customer life cycle. HP Contact Center Outsourcing Services ensures the management and operation of your outbound and inbound contact centers handling high value, complex customer interactions. Whether embedded in an industry-specific solution or standalone, companys contact center services support customers with multiple channels for voice and non-voice interactions throughout the entire customer life cycle from marketing to sales to service. 2. CRM Managed Services CRM Managed Services is a universal hosted and managed contact center infrastructure service that enables clients to virtualize their telephony and contact center technologies and springboard off end-of-life and disparate systems environments to a state of the art, world class, stable and secure platform. 3. Consumer Direct Services Consumer Direct Services is a tool with which you can provide an end-to-end solution that facilitates the flow of information from order to delivery. The HP Company uses this tool for trying to keep it customer. Hewlett-Packard Company captures customer intelligence, handles sales and service inquiries, works with sales requests and warehouses, and distributes products for direct-to-consumer companies around the globe. It is also possible that company integrates online, catalog, direct media and other channels a seamless environment to give you a single view of your customers. Plus, no matter where you go or how fast you move, HP has the scale to grow with you. 4. Software Publishing Services Software Publishing Services offers a complete business processing solution for logistics of software publishing and distribution. As it is mentioned before, HP has about 30 years of experience in delivering full product lifecycle management services, so it offers the most state-of-the-art solutions in the software publishing industry today. The company provides a fully integrated solution that includes end-to-end order processing and fulfillment from service delivery centers. HP also operates contact centers, distribution centers, payment centers and technology centers on a global basis. Key Features of HP Software Publishing Services include: Software kit replication and fulfillment (CDs, documentation and licenses) Physical software kit fulfillment and electronic software distribution (ESD) services Training materials/kit printing and fulfillment Documentation printing and fulfillment (marketing collateral printing and fulfillment) Physical fulfillment Global facilities Kitting Strong inventory management/controls Electronic fulfillment 5. Warranty Services Warranty Services provides a comprehensive, Web-based solution for reliable, real-time warranty claims management. HP services include claim processing, extended warranty management, parts order and tracking, service effectiveness reporting, swap stock management, and RMA creation and tracking. HP CRM offerings address your critical customer-related business outcomes. Moreover, by exploiting the synergies of HPs customer analytics services, you can refine your customer segmentation schemes and use predictive analytics to fine tune marketing campaigns and cross-sell promotions and offers to the most receptive customers. These powerful CRM solutions enable you to: Refocus critical and scare resources away from tactical operations issues and toward more strategic business opportunities Increase revenues and accelerate growth through improved cross- and up-selling based on optimized segmentation and personalized treatment Improve customer satisfaction, retention and share of wallet Enhance brand recognition and equity Reduce operational costs and capital avoidance Scale your business up or down to meet fluctuating business demands Better manage end-of-life or disparate contact center technology environments supporting in-house and/or multiple outsource providers. Conclusion Nowadays modern and successful companies are able to see beyond simple ways of seeking the profit and be creative in building a relationship with its customers. As one can see from the Toyota case, which we took as an example, this way of thinking and focusing on customer relationship management is a beneficial method for building a clever strategy. Following the customers lifecycle has become more and more handy tool of CRM. If a company can predict where the customers are in the Lifecycle, it can maximize ones Return on Investment (ROI) and rise the profit. We mentioned the HP services to show, that CRM can be provided as a service and we have been basically grounding the theory with the case of Toyota, which is following the customer lifecycle very carefully and gaining success. During the process of working on this report we raised ourselves a goal, which was to expand our knowledge in a very interesting and handy topic. Successfully, at the end we can say we truly reached our goal with a help of literature research, productive work, and good team. Literature http://www.toyota.com/ http://www.toyota-global.com http://www.customerthink.com/article/lean_crm_toyota_strategy_that_works http://www.helium.com/items/1869467-a-look-at-toyotas-customer-retention-strategies http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/21/AR2009012101216.html http://h10134.www1.hp.com/services/contactcenteroutsourcing/ http://www.jimnovo.com/CRM-Lifecycles.htm http://marketingteacher.com/lesson-store/lesson-customer-life-cycle.html Customer Relationship Management, Ed Peelen, Prentice Hall, 2005

Monday, August 19, 2019

Adam Sandler :: essays research papers

Adam Sandler is a well-known comedian, musician, actor, screenwriter, and singer. He is known throughout the nation for his accomplishments in the entertainment business.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Adam Sandler was born on September 9, 1966, in Brooklyn, New York. He was educated at New Hampshire’s Manchester Central High School during the early 1980’s. He later went to New York University and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in 1991 (“Celeb-Site';). Adam’s first time in the spotlight was when he was 11, and he sung “16'; by Ringo Starr at his sister’s wedding (Arnold 110). Yet, his career of being a comedian began at age 17, when he got up on stage at a Boston comedy club. He really had no influences; he spontaneously got on stage. After that he performed regularly at the University and at clubs. Adam also got a spot on The Cosby Show as one of Theo’s friends. He was also featured on MTV’s Remote Control, and on Saturday Night Live during the 1990-91 season (“dAvYgRaVy';). His performances caused an article to be posted in the L.A. Times, which said that he was “the most talentless, juvenile, and offensive of the current cast…'; Obviously, not everyone felt this way because he continued to get jobs in the entertainment field. Adam’s early career stretched to different areas, but he was really discovered during his first season on Saturday Night Live (“Celeb-Site’). Adam also worked on productions other than sitcoms, like movies. In fact, Adam has made many movies throughout his career. His films include Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, The Water Boy, and many others (“WBR';). Adam also had his hand in the music career. His albums include “They’re All Gonna Laugh At You';, “What the Hell Happened to Me?';, “What’s Your Name?';, and “The Lonesome Kicker';. Adam’s talent showed through when he was nominated for a Grammy Award for the album, “They’re All Gonna Laugh at You'; in 1993 (“WBR';).