Marketing Strategies In Life Insurance Services Marketing Essay

Marketing Strategies In Life Insurance Services Marketing Essay The study is designed to evaluate the marketing strategies in life insurance service sector how these strategies boost sales marketability of a product which ultimately lead to customer satisfaction. The insurance scenario faces multiple challenges such as increased costs of operation, regulatory pressures, and inflexible technology infrastructure. These pressures are compounded by low to moderate premium growth the increasing burdens of regulatory compliance. Keeping all the above problems around the study would attempt to study all the factors that contributed to the effective marketing strategies. This paper presents different marketing strategies that are taken up in life insurance services keeping in view external and internal environment of the firm. Marketing strategy is the basic approach that the business units will use to achieve its objectives, and it consists of broad decisions on target markets, market positioning and mix, and marketing expenditure levels. As the finan cial services sector has become more competitive, financial institutions need to consider ,ways of developing relationships with their existing customers in order to defend their market share. Strategic dimension of marketing should focus on the direction that an organization would take in relation to a specific market or set of markets in order to achieve a specified set of objectives. Every insurer must recognize that its strategic posture depends partly on the competitive environment, partly on its allocation of marketing resources. An insurance firm strategy is a plan for action that determines how an insurer can best achieve its goals and objectives in the light of the existing pressures exerted by competition, on the one hand, and its limited resources on the other hand. Key words: Customer satisfaction,Insurance,Innovation,Marketing Strategies,Services, Introduction: In todays economy, the financial services industry is exposed to increasing performance pressures and competitive forces (Goergen, 2001). Modern media, such as the internet, have created new challenges for this industry (Fuchs, 2001).New business concepts, a change in client sophistication (Davis, 2006), and anincreasing number of new competitors entering into the market, such as independent financial consultants, have changed the business models and the competitive forces that established financial services organizations are facing today worldwide.A marketing strategy serves as the foundation of a marketing plan. A marketing plan contains a list of specific actions required to successfully implement a specific marketing strategy. A strategy is different than a tactic. While it is possible to write a tactical marketing plan without a sound, well-considered strategy, it is not recommended. Without a sound marketing strategy, a marketing plan has no foundation. Marketing strategies serve as the fundamental underpinning of marketing plans designed to reach marketing objectives. It is important that these objectives have measurable results.A good marketing strategy should integrate an organizations marketing goals, policies, and action sequences (tactics) into a cohesive whole. The objective of a marketing strategy is to provide a foundation from which a tactical plan is developed. This allows the organization to carry out its mission effectively and efficiently. The following techniques are implemented to device the Marketing Strategy for the product/service: Segmentation Targeting Positioning Market segmentation is the process in marketing of grouping a market (i.e. customers) into smaller subgroups. This is not something that is arbitrarily imposed on society: it is derived from the recognition that the total market is often made up of submarkets (called segments). These segments are homogeneous within (i.e. people in the segment are similar to each other in their attitudes about certain variables). Because of this intra-group similarity, they are likely to respond somewhat similarly to a given marketing strategy. That is, they are likely to have similar feeling and ideas about a marketing mix comprised of a given product or service, sold at a given price, distributed in a certain way, and promoted in a certain way. Segmentation: Market segmentation is widely defined as being a complex process consisting in two main phases: identification of broad, large markets Segmentation of these markets in order to select the most appropriate target markets and develop marketing mixes accordingly. Positioning: Simply, positioning is how your target market defines you in relation to your competitors.   A good position is: 1. What makes you unique? 2. This is considered a benefit by your target market   Positioning is important because you are competing with all the noise out there competing for your potential fans attention.   If you can stand out with a unique benefit, you have a chance at getting their attention.   It is important to understand your product from the customers point of view relative to the competition.   Targeting: Targeting involves breaking a market into segments and then concentrating your marketing efforts on one or a few key segments. Target marketing can be the key to a small businesss success. The beauty of target marketing is that it makes the promotion, pricing and distribution of your products and/or services easier and more cost-effective. Target marketing provides a focus to all of your marketing activities. Marketing Mix: Marketing professionals and specialist use many tactics to attract and retain their customers. These activities comprise of different concepts, the most important one being the marketing mix. There are two concepts for marketing mix: 4P and 7P. It is essential to balance the 4Ps or the 7Ps of the marketing mix. The concept of 4Ps has been long used for the product industry while the latter has emerged as a successful proposition for the services industry. The 7Ps of the marketing mix that are used to frame marketing strategies of life insurance companies can be discussed as: Product It must provide value to a customer but does not have to be tangible at the same time. Basically, it involves introducing new products or improvising the existing products. A product means what we produce. If we produce goods, it means tangible product when we produce generate services, it means intangible service product. A product is both what a seller has to sell buyer has to buy. So, insurance companies sell services services are their products. Apart from life insurance as product, customer not only buys product but also services in the form of assistance advice of agent. It is natural that customers expect reasonable returns for their investments insurance companies want to maximize their profitability. Hence while deciding the product mix services or schemes should be motivational. Price Pricing must be competitive and must entail profit. The pricing strategy can comprise discounts, offers and the like. The pricing of insurance products not only affects the sales volume and profitability but also influences the perceived quality in the minds of the consumers. There are several different methods for pricing insurance, based on the insurance marketers corporate objectives. They are the survival approach, the sales maximization approach, and the profit maximization approach. To determine the insurance premium, marketers consider various factors such as mortality rate, investment earnings, and expenses, in addition to the individual risk profile based on age, health, etc., and the time period/ frequency of payment. In insurance business the pricing decisions are concerned with: -The premium charged against policies -The interest charged for defaulting the payment of premium credit facility. -Commission charged for underwriting consultancy activities. The pricing decisions may be high or low keeping in view the level or standard of customers or the policyholders. Mainly, pricing of insurance is in the form of premium rates. The three main factors used for determining the premium rates under a life insurance plan are mortality, expense interest. The pricing of insurance is in form of premium rates. The three main factors for determining the premium rates under life insurance plan are: Mortality: Average death rates in a particular area. Expenses: The cost of processing, commission to agents, registration is all incorporated into the cost of installments premium sum forms the integral part of pricing strategy. Interest: The rate of interest is one of the major factors which determine peoples willingness to invest in insurance. People would not be willing to put their funds to invest in insurance business if the interest rates provided by other financial instruments are higher than the perceived returns from the insurance premiums. Place It refers to the place where the customers can buy the product and how the product reaches out to that place. This is done through different channels, like Internet, wholesalers and retailers. This component of marketing mix is related to two important facets- -Managing the insurance personnel -Locating a branch The management of insurance personal should be done in such a way that gap between the services promises-services offered is bridged over. In a majority of service generating organizations, such a gap is found existent which has been instrumental in making down the image problem .The insurance personnel if not managed properly would make all efforts insensitive. They are required to be given adequate incentives to show their excellence. They should be provided intensive trainings to focus mainly on behavioral management. Another important dimension to the place mix is related to the location of insurance branches. While locating branches, branch manager needs to consider the number of factors such as smooth accessibility, availability of infrastructural facilities and management of branch offices and premises. Thus place management of insurance premises needs a new vision, distinct approach an innovative style. The branch managers need professional excellence to make place decisions productive. Promotion It includes the various ways of communicating to the customers of what the company has to offer. It is about communicating about the benefits of using a particular product or service rather than just talking about its features. The insurance services depend on effective promotional measures, so as to create impulsive buying. Promotion comprises of advertising other publicity tactics. The promotion is a fight not only for market share, but also for mind share. The insurance services depend on effective promotional measures, so as to create impulsive buying. Promotion comprises of advertising other publicity tactics. Due attention should be given in selecting the promotional tools. Personnel should be given adequate training for creating impulsive buying. People People refer to the customers, employees, management and everybody else involved in it. It is essential for everyone to realize that the reputation of the brand that you are involved with is in the peoples hands. Understanding the customer better allows to design appropriate products. Being a service industry which involves a high level of people interaction, it is very important to use this resource efficiently in order to satisfy customers.Training, development strong relationships with intermediaries are the key areas to be kept under consideration. Process It refers to the methods and process of providing a service and is hence essential to have a thorough knowledge on whether the services are helpful to the customers, if they are provided in time, if the customers are informed in hand about the services and many such things. The process should be customer friendly in insurance industry. The speed accuracy of payment is of immense importance. The processing method should be easy to convenient to the customers. Installment schemes should be streamlined to cater to the ever growing demands of the customers. IT Data warehousing will smoothen the process flow. IT will help in servicing the large no. of customers efficiently and bring down overheads. Technology can either complement or supplement the channels of distribution cost effectively. It also helps to improve customer service levels helps to find out profitability potential of various customers product segments. Physical (evidence) It refers to the experience of using a product or service. When a service goes out to the customer, it is essential that you help him see what he is buying or not. For example- brochures, pamphlets etc serve this purpose. Evidence is a key element of success for all insurance companies. Physical evidence can be provided to insurance customers in the form of policy certificate and premium payment receipts. The office building, the ambience, the service personnel etc. of the insurance company and their logo and brand name in advertisements also add to the physical evidence. To reach a profitable mass of customers, then new distribution avenues alliances will be necessary.Initally insurance was looked upon as a complex product with a high advice service component. Buyers prefer a face to face interaction they place a high premium on brand names reliability. Review of literature: Sankaran M (1999) studied the measures that would help domestic players in financial services sector to improve their competitive efficiency, and thereby to reduce the transaction costs. The study found that the specific set of sources of sustainable competitive advantage relevant for Financial Service Industry are: product and process innovations, brand equity, positive influences of Communication Goods ,corporate culture, experience effects, scale effects, and information technology. Trevor Watkins (1989) while studying the current state of the financial services industry worldwide identified four major trends: the trend towards financial conglomeration, globalization , information technology in service marketing; and new approaches to financial services marketing. These trends, it was concluded, will affect the marketing of banks and other financial services in the 1990s. Marisa Maio Mackay (2001) examined whether differences exist between service and produc t markets, which warrant different marketing practices by applying ten existing consumer based measures of brand equity to a financial services market. The results found that most measures were convergent and correlated highly with market share in the predicted direction, where market share was used as an indicator of brand equity. Brand recall and familiarity, however, were found to be the best estimators of brand equity in the financial services market. P. Kotler rightly states that a companys marketing strategy depends on many factors, one of which is its size and position in the market. From this assertion he suggests that one method of classifying marketing strategies is to place the firm in accordance with its competitive position; namely as to whether they are market leaders, challengers, followers, or nichers. In effect these are behavioural strategies ordered in relation to the companys market share. Impetus for marketing strategy: India is a jumbo-sized opportunity for life insurance need hardly belaboured. Here is a nation of a billion people, of whom merely 100 million people are insured. And, significantly, even those who do have insurance are grossly underinsured. The emerging middle class population, growing affluence and the absence of a social security system combine to make India one of the worlds most attractive life insurance markets. No matter how you look at it whether in terms of life insurance premiums as a percentage of GDP or premium per capita the market is under penetrated and people are under-insured. In a country where there is high unemployment and where social security systems are absent, life insurance offers the basic cover against lifes uncertainties. India has traditionally been a savings-oriented country and insurance plays a critical role in the development of the Indian economy. The role of insurance in the economy is vital as it able to mobilize p remium payments into long-term investible funds. As such, it is a key sector for development. So marketing strategies are important and inevitable phenomenon to tap huge untapped potential. Effective selling of insurance policies depends to a large extent on the marketing strategies selected. As the market for insurance is dynamic and accompanied by rapid changes in the environment due to advancements in technology and uncertain economic conditions, coupled with inflation, increased attention must be given in the future to the selection of marketing strategies. Components of marketing strategies: Pricing Personal selling Advertising Word of mouth selling Institutional image Quality control Marketing orientation New approaches to strategize the productization of life insurance services: Latest tools and techniques are used by marketers of life insurance products to boost the sales to ensure customer satisfaction and brand building. Some are the approaches to survive in this scenario are as under: Innovation: Innovation in the delivery system refers to the internal organizational arrangements that have to be managed to allow service workers to perform their job properly, and to develop and offer innovative services. All the insurance companies have a structured internal organization team with customer service teams for the delivery of the service. Extensive training is given to the service contact personnel who are called the financial consultants or Agent advisers. Service development, service design and delivery are intricately intertwined. All parties involved in any aspect of the new service must work together at this stage to delineate the details of the new service. (Valarie A Zeithmal and Mary Jo Bitner, 2003). The need and importance of the customers involvement in the service innovation process is considered to be of prime importance by all the life insurance companies as the current market for life insurance is customer centric. They also express their opinion that t he new services developed currently are based on customer focus. The degree of involvement of the customer has gradually increased in the last five years. In the last two years customers are involved in the new service process as information providers. Product/Service differentiation: In case of product differentiation, new products, customized products, tailored products, bundled products can be introduced and new target segments can be identified. For example, life, health and personal accident insurance can be bundled together. Similarly Home Loan and insurance covering fire and burglary can be put together. The life insurance companies provides only packaged policies whereas new players have been providing several Riders. Rider in insurance parlance is an option that gives the policyholder additional coverage without disturbing the fundamental risk coverage. The service in the field of life insurance has improved greatly with the entry of multinationals and rising competition. The customer should have the option to continue or to switch over or to come out of the given policy. The service in the field of life insurance has improved greatly with the entry of multinationals and rising competition. The customer should have the opt ion to continue or to switch over or to come out of the given policy. Advertising and sales promotion: Advertising and publicizing have a positive effect on the prospective customers as well as personal selling. Both the direct and indirect strategies have to be balanced and mixed well to get the desired result. Discounts and incentives promised along with the policy have to be presented in detail to the customers. The companies must provide a tangible and rational reason to the customers to buy a particular policy. Unity and honesty must be maintained by the company and the frontline executives at any cost to attract the customers in the long term. Various creative and innovative strategies should be developed to promote various different life insurance policies. Finding an ideal mix of customers with high disposable income and targeting them with specific policies is another good promotional strategy. Life insurance may be one of the most difficult products to sell, but with an effective promotional strategy it can be sold easily. Technology: Information Technology progress is a major driver behind the structural change in the Life insurance industry to enhance risk transfer efficiency. Ebusiness opens up new ways to reduce costs while lowering market entry barriers and facilitating the break-up of the traditional insurance value chain. Insurance clients will benefit from greater transparency, lower prices and improved services not just in the sales area, but also in claims management. New information and communication technologies are making it easier for insurers to break up the value chain and outsource individual functions to specialized providers. In the long-term basis the information technology units control the potential for new service delivery since all new products represent a more sophisticated delivery of the service. Although it is argued that service innovations are often non technological, this is still the center of much analysis and debate (Kandampully, 2002). Customer relationship management: Insurance companies experiencing competition from within and abroad. Making this problem-situation into an opportunity lies always on the prudent management adopting or adapting tactics and strategies. In line of this, customer relationship management is a measure of winning competitiveness as it is the information-driven approach to customer analysis and process automation; and thereon supplement customer-value proposition. An action on tangible services prompt and accurate issue of document, prompt and fair settlement of claim ,good listening mechanism, better problem solving approach, reliable manner of service and meet requirement of customers on time every time in lieu of intangible promises would give utmost satisfaction to customers, the customer relationship management provides better service to the insured protecting him against perils or risks and the insurer enabling to retain the existing customers and bringing in new customers in his a mbit of business Distribution channels: The distribution network is most important in insurance industry. Insurance is not a high cost industry like telecom sector. Therefore it is building its market on goodwill and access on distribution network. We cannot deny that insurance are not bought, it is sold. The market has a great scope to grow. This can be better done by more innovative channels like a super market, a bank, a post office, an ATM, departmental store etc. these could be used to increase channels of insurance. But such growth in channels shall increase with time. Till then agents seem to be the most important distribution channel in this industry. Agents connect with people and influence them to buy any insurance policy. For the same such agents charge commission on the policies they get for the company. There is a fixed percentage of commission for which these agents work. In the field of distribution channels, many innovative techniques can be adopted. For example, Bancassurance and sel ling through postal network will make a great deal of difference. In Europe 25 percent of insurance policies are sold through banks. Bancassurance, as a package of financial services that can fulfill both banking and insurance needs, if implemented correctly can bring vast benefits to stakeholders such as banks, insurance companies, shareholders and consumers.Bancassurance will facilitate mass selling of insurance products through banks. Banks can act as large financial supermarkets. Distribution of insurance will be smoother through wider number of branches of the banks. Customer database, personalized service, rural penetration, cross-selling of products (e.g. car loan along with car insurance), being cheaper than agents are some of the greatest advantages of Bancassurance. At present the distribution channels that are available in the market are listed below: Direct selling Corporate agents Group selling Brokers and cooperative societies Bancassurance Mallassurance Conclusion: Life insurance industry requires new strategies in order to survive and survive successfully .To tap the insurance potential to maximum industry needs to frame such plans and strategies that will help to capture the market. Companies instead of focusing only on improving the variety of products needs to focus on targeting new segments and implement innovative strategies in order to achieve sustained growth and ensure profitability of business as well as growth of insurance coverage.

Obesity Crisis Speech

Thesis/Central Idea: Obesity Crisis Introduction: Obesity has become a controversial and great medical issue within today’s society. It is defined as a disease in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that health may be negatively affected. In other word, an increase of body fatty tissue mass. It can also be defined as a body mass index of around 30 or above (Mathur, 2007). Many studies show an association between excessive body weight and various diseases, particularly cancers and heart problems which directly relate to increased mortality and lower life expectancy.Body I. Main Point: In many countries, obesity has become a major problem. Obesity is rapidly rising especially in developing countries. A. Subpoint: Statistics indicate that obesity is a high-risk national malaise. 1. According to the World Health Organization, in year 2005, 400 million adults were obese. 2. And predicts that there will be more than 700 million adults will be obese in the world b y 2015. B. Subpoint: Childhood obesity is also at an all time high 1. According to the U. S.Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the percentage of obese children has increased by 54 percent in 6 to 11 year olds and 39 percent among 12 to 17 year olds. 2. That is to say that 16 to 33 percent of Americans within the ages of 6 to 17 are considered obese. 3. Unfortunately for children of the age of 7 who are obese, 40 percent of them will struggle obesity throughout their adulthood and be faced with many health complications. As for the obese adolescents, 70 percent of them will remain obese throughout their adult life. . Another statistic figures children between the ages 10 and 13 have an 80 percent chance of battling through the torments of an obese life as an adult. Transition: What causes obesity?II. Main Point: Genes, eating habits and a slow metabolism rate may all play a part. A. Subpoint: Most often, obesity tend to run in family which leads to genetic cause (Myers, 2004) 1. In one study, adults who were adopted as children were found to have weights closer to their biological parents than to their adoptive parents. . In this case, the person's genetic makeup has more influence on the development of obesity than the environment in the adoptive family home. B. Subpoint: Apart from hereditary factors, obesity also occurs when there is a combination of unhealthy eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle. 1. According to the American Academy of Child ;amp; Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), unhealthy weight gain due to poor dieting and lack of exercise is responsible for over an incredible 300,000 deaths a year. 2.Nowadays, most people indulge in static mental exercise such as surfing the internet, watching television and reading rather than physical activities. 3. This would lead to an increase in the rate of obesity as more and more people become lazier (Myers, 2004) C. Subpoint: Eating habits are essential in maintaining a healthy lifestyle and preven ting the degenerate diseases in which are hand and hand with obesity. 1. The fast-food revolution and the carbohydrate-laden two-minute noodles as convenient substitutes for wholesome food also contribute to weight gain. .This is especially to those who have the eating habits of consuming a big portion of oily and fatty foods all at once. 3. Besides that, too much alcohol may also cause obesity because most alcoholic drinks are high in calories and this can lead to consuming more calories than we should. D. Subpoint: Obesity could also be caused by the slow metabolism rate of a person (Mathur, 2007) 1. Researchers found more metabolic and digestive disorders resulting from over consumption of trans-fats and refined white flour carbohydrates, combined with low fiber intake. 2.These eating patterns are known to interfere with food and energy metabolism in the body, and cause excessive fat storage. Transition: The effect of obesity is that people are getting fatter III. Main Point: Gro wing evidence shows that if you are overweight you are more likely to develop health problems, such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, certain types of cancer, gout and gallbladder disease. A. Subpoint: Being overweight can also cause problems such as sleep apnoea (interrupted breathing during sleep) and osteoarthritis (wearing away of the joints) B.Subpoint: Type 2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes which reduces our body's ability to control blood sugar. 1. Therefore, a person’s blood glucose level will increase and later become obese 2. It is also a major cause of early death, heart disease, kidney disease, stroke, and blindness. C. Subpoint: Heart disease and stroke are the leading causes of death and disability for both men and women. 1. This is because overweight people are more likely to have high blood pressure, a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke, than people who are not overweight 2.Very high blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides (blo od fats) can also lead to heart disease and often are linked to obesity. 3. Being overweight also contributes to angina (chest pain) and sudden death from heart disease or stroke without any signs or symptoms (Mathur, 2007) Transition: There are many things we can do to control obesity IV. Main Point: Becoming more active is the best way to burn more calories and lose weight. A. Subpoint: As a citizen, we could help by walking or running at least 20 minutes a day. This will ensure that our heart stays healthy. . Also, if we know someone who is overweight, we should always try to support and encourage them to exercise. Quite often, people who are overweight will shy away from society, so any support we can give them will be greatly appreciated.2. We should be a role model for the younger generations to follow on how a healthy lifestyle is like. Also, a child could develop a healthier eating habit when they are still young as that’s their best learning time. B. Subpoint: It is imperative that the Government prioritize disease prevention and health promotion. . The government could organize health talks on obesity and publish advertisements through the media to show the damaging effects of obesity. 2. Measures have already been taken thanks to The Health Ministry’s Healthy Lifestyle campaign for promoting physical activity since factors such as environment, sports and recreational amenities influenced people’s inclination in this direction (Crawford, 2004) Conclusion: Obesity has a strong negative effect on the society and therefore, it is harmful.If society can take steps to solve the challenges faced, obesity will decline and people would have a healthier lifestyle. If obesity gets bad, then problems that come with it may be irreversible. Problems such as diabetes and heart conditions are common illnesses suffered by people who are obese. Therefore, there is a need to stop it from becoming a serious threat.Bibliography Crawford, Lester M. à ¢â‚¬Å"Government's role in combating the nation's obesity epidemic. Health & Human Services, June 2004 Mathur, R. â€Å"Obesity†, http://www. medicinenet. com/obesity_weight_loss/article. htm Myers, M. D. â€Å"Causes of obesity†, http://www. Weight. com. World Health Organization http://www. who. int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/index. html U. S. Center of Disease Control and Prevention http://www. cdc. gov/obesity/index. html American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry http://www. aacap. org/cs/root/facts_for_families/obesity_in_children_and_teens

Nx448 Business Game Report

Contents Part 1 Introduction3 1. 1 Business Objective3 Part 2 Company Performance4 2. 1 Round 14 2. 1. 1 Discrepancy analysis4 2. 2 Round 26 2. 2. 1 Business Strategy6 2. 2. 2 Round 2 Forecast7 2. 2. 3 Discrepancy Analysis7 2. 3 Round 38 2. 3. 1 Business Strategy8 2. 3. 2 Round 3 Forecast9 2. 3. 3 Discrepancy Analysis9 2. 4 Round 49 2. 4. 1 Business Strategy9 2. 4. 2 Round 4 Forecast10 2. 4. 3 Discrepancy Analysis10 2. 5 Key Performance Indicators11 2. 6 Performance Evaluation Comments12 Part 3 Learning14 3. 1 Financial Management14 3. 2 Human Resource Management15 3. 3 Operation Management16 3. Marketing Management17 Part 4 Team Performance18 4. 1 Team18 4. 1. 1 Management Team18 4. 1. 2 Decision-making Process19 4. 1. 3 Leadership19 4. 1. 4 Team Role19 4. 2 Individual20 4. 2. 1 My Contribution20 4. 2. 2 My learning about effective teamwork and decision making20 4. 2. 3 Suggestions for Improving My Performance21 Part 5 Conclusion21 Part 6 Reference22 Part 7 Appendices23 7. 1 Design and Options23 7. 2 Warranty Cost24 7. 3 Other Key Performance Indicators25 Part 1 Introduction This report will give a clear analysis and explanation of the company performance during the business game.Learning about four main business functional areas (Finance, Marketing, Operation and Human Resource) will be discussed in part 3. Team performance and individual assessment will be critically evaluated in part 4. 1. 1 Business Objective Moon Star Motors aims to provide customers with the ability to own a car and lead the customers to experience comfort and quality at an affordable price. We intend to create a distinctive place in the market for our products and build up brand value of quality and reliability in the mind of customers.The initial business objectives set up by management team is: * Increase sales annually * Maximise our profit * Sell out 98% of our cars for every round * Obtain 16% return on investment by the end of round 4 | City Car – TIKI| Large Car – C RUISER| Total| Forecast Production (Units)| 85,000| 35,000| 120,000 | Sales Income (? m)| 850| 833| 1,683| Post Tax Profit (? m)| -| -| 20| Bank Balance before Loan (? m)| -| -| -74| Closing Bank Balance (? m)| -| -| 26| Table 1. 0 Forecast for year 1 Part 2 Company Performance 2. 1 Round 1 2. 1. 1 Discrepancy analysisUnsold stock In round 1, we forecast to sell out both TIKI and CRUISER. However, only 80% of TIKI is sold, with 17,393 units left. We concluded three main reasons as following: * Supply over demand. We are over confident to sell big volumes with low price, but the market actually reached saturation. * Unattractive and inflexible options. In order to maintain low material cost, we only offer two options for customers to select. It might affect the popularity of our TIKI and make it less competitive compared with other car manufacturers. * Not enough promotion.We invested 23 million on market promotion via television and internet, which is about ? 200for every single car . We didn’t invest too much for this round because we want to firstly evaluate the effect of advertisement. Net profit We forecast 20 million net profits and actual figure is minus 116 million. This is mainly due to the large amount of unsold stock and ineffective pricing strategy. The total contribution is unable to recover our fixed cost. In other words, the break-even point is set up too high and our sales volume did not reach BEP.Meanwhile, some overheads such as professional charges and warranty claims are not properly calculated. Gross margin The difference between forecast and result for gross margin of TIKI and CRUISER is 3. 21% and 7. 08% respectively. It is mainly caused by the unexpected extra direct cost. For example, the worker strike increase our labor cost of both models and the option take-up is more than our estimate. Market share Our target market share is 1. 5% for TIKI and 1. 2% for CRUISER. We sold out all our CRUIER and hit the large car sales target. Ho wever, market share for TIKI is around 0. % less than we expected due to our unsold stock. 2. 2 Round 2 2. 2. 1 Business Strategy New Pricing Strategy The management team decided to adapt average pricing strategy in round 2 for two main reasons: * We already access successfully to target market. * Low price high volumes strategy did not make profit. Sales income must be increased in order to recover all overheads in this round and most of the loss in previous round. Based on this, TIKI gross margin increased 2% to 14. 24%, while CRUISER gross margin increased 4. 3% to 25. 25%. ProductionProduction for TIKI in this round has to decrease due to 17,393 units in stock, and we try to sell them out in round 2. Meanwhile, results of round 1 indicated that CRUISER won thepopularity in the market so we intend to increasethe production by 10,000 units. Based on the production adjustment and market predictions, the market share of CRUISER will increase from 1. 2% to 1. 5%, while TIKI maintains 1. 2% market share. Under this situation, our forecast sales will reach ? 2058 million in round 2. Redundancy The harshest decision made by management team is to cut down 574 workers.Even though we understand this have negative effects on industrial relations, it is far beyond our business objective to over produce the cars and keep unsold stock by the end of the year. Therefore, we forecast a 2. 4 million of redundancy cost within total overheads. 2. 2. 2 Round 2 Forecast round 2 forecast| TIKI| CRUISER| Total| production/ units| 51,000 | 45,000 | 96,000 | selling price ? | 11,800 | 27,800 |   | gross margin %| 14. 24%| 25. 25%|   | sales income ? m| 807| 1,251 | 2,058 | total overhead ? m|   |   | 262| post tax profit ? |   |   | 82| closing bank balance ? m|   |   | 12| 2. 2. 3 Discrepancy Analysis There are three main differences between round 2 forecast and results: (1) production (2) Sales (3) pre-tax profits. Production Production (units)| TIKI| CRUISER| tota l| Target| 51,000| 45,000| 96,000| Actual| 49,668| 44,467| 94,135| Difference| | | 1,865| Our target production is 96,000 units but we actually produced 94,135 units, with 1,865 units missing. This is mainly because the redundancy decision initiated serious worker strike, which is recorded as 41 days in our company report. Thus, the actual production did not hit our target.Sales Sales (? m)| Total| forecast| 2,058 2,058 | actual| 2,017 | difference| 41 41 | The discrepancy between forecast sales and actual sales is 40 million. We have 387 units CRUISER in stock which could increase our sales by 11 million if we can sell them out. And we will get 29 million more if we are able to hit the target production of 96,000 unites and sell them up. Pre-tax profit The actual pre-tax profit is less than the forecast due to wrong calculation on current account interest and loans interest. We have closing bank balance of minus 270 million last round.According to overdraft facility, we forecast to pay 11% of 270 million as overdraft interest which is around 30 million, but it actually is 15% of that amount and cost us 40 million. Besides, an extra 8 million is deducted as the interest of 100 million bank loans of round 1 and is ignored when we did financial forecast. 2. 3 Round 3 2. 3. 1 Business Strategy Personnel Decisions Management team decided to maintain the size of workforce and to increase wages by 8% and training investment by 25% in order to improve worker satisfaction and commitment, especially after we suffer a great loss caused by 41 days strike.We hope to effectively control the strike in this round and expect the improvement of productivity. Automation Investment Management team made a decision of doubling the automation investment due to two main reasons. Firstly, it is recognized that automation can effectively increase the productivity and decrease the high wage bill. Secondly, the profit we made in previous round increases our confidence and financial capa city to introduce new equipment. 2. 3. 2 Round 3 Forecast round 3 forecast| TIKI| CRUISER| Total| production/ units| 65,500 | 40,500 | 106,000 | selling price ? 12,270 | 28,600 |   | gross margin %| 15. 25%| 28. 98%|   | sales income ? m| 804| 1,169 | 1,973 | total overhead ? m|   |   | 281| post tax profit ? m|   |   | 118| closing bank balance ? m|   |   | 158| 2. 3. 3 Discrepancy Analysis Gross profit Gross Profit| forecast| actual| difference| Sales (? m)| 1,973| 1,973|    0| cost of sales (? m)| 1,512| 1,577|    65| gross profit (? m)| 461| 396| 65| The actual gross profit is 65 million less than our forecast, even though our sales reach the target. This is mainly caused by exceeded materials costs.It is indicated on company report that design and options cost for CRUISER is ? 7572 per unit, but we only count it as ? 6186 when we forecast. In this situation, we are charged ? 1386 more for producing every CRUISER. It reflects that the options we offer to cust omers are of great popularity and we should enlarge option take-up percentage when doing the material cost forecast for next round. 2. 4 Round 4 2. 4. 1 Business Strategy Sales target Encouraging by the good financial performance of last round, management team decided to increase the sales by 32% in round 4 in order to further satisfy our shareholders.However, we do not plan to increase the gross margin for both models because we guarantee customers of good value for money. Thus, we expect the high volumes sales bring us profit. Design and options To make our cars competitive, we add more options to both models for customers to choose based on the popularity indicators (see appendix). Since the very beginning, both 3/5 door hatch with small engine (city car) and MPV with diesel engine (large car) are most popular designs for our target age group. So, the adjustment is focused on the alternative options. Promotion ExpenditurePromotion expenditure will increase by 34% to ? 40 million. This decision is made by management team with attempt to make our products sold better. Market predictions indicated that city car market and large car market will shrink by 12% and 9% respectively. That is to say, risk of keeping stock is high if we increase our production in round 4. Thus, we hope the promotion and advertisement could help reduce that risk. 2. 4. 2 Round 4 Forecast round 4 forecast| TIKI| CRUISER| Total| production/ units| 70,000 | 44,550 | 114,550 | selling price ? 13,900 | 26,800 |   | gross margin %| 15. 34%| 30. 73%|   | sales income ? m| 973| 1,639 | 2,612 | total overhead ? m|   |   | 308| post tax profit ? m|   |   | 235| closing bank balance ? m|   |   | 412| 2. 4. 3 Discrepancy Analysis Unsold Stock We expect to achieve zero closing stock but actually have 12,853 units unsold which worth ? 246 million. As a result, we are unable to reach target sales, post-tax profit and target market share. Market Share| TIKI| CRUISER| round 3 result| 1. 20%| 1. 51%| round 4 target| 1. 46%| 1. 80%|After evaluation, we conclude two possible reasons which contribute to this result: * We over estimate our capacity and are hurry to expand the market share. As shown on the table, we increase 0. 26% for TIKI and 0. 34% for CRUISER. It seems better if we execute market expansion step by step. * The competitors’ price might have negative impact on our sales. In final round, in order to offer more alternative choices and high quality experience to customers, we added more popular and high cost options for both TIKI and CRUISER, which increase our direct cost per car and make it hard to decrease the selling price. . 5 Key Performance Indicators Performance indicators| round 1| round 2| round 3| round 4| Sales | 1509 | 2017 | 1973 | 2274 | Sales growth (decline) %| -| 34%| -22%| 15%| Cost of sales| 1333 | 1599 | 1577 | 1700 | Cost of sales ratio %| 88%| 79%| 80%| 75%| Profitability| Gross profit margin %| 12%| 21%| 20%| 25%| Operating profit %| -7%| 6%| 6%| 12%| Net profit %| -8%| 3%| 5%| 9%| Return on assets %| -24%| 12%| 14%| 26%| Return on investment %| -23%| 21%| 18%| 36%| Liquidity| Current ratio| 0. 64| 1. 26| 3. 52| 3. 24| Quick ratio| 0. 13| 1. 1| 3. 52| 1. 45| 2. Performance Evaluation Comments In general, sales increased from ? 1509 million in round 1 to ? 2274 million in round 4 – an increase of 51%. Over this period, we did not launch any new model and enlarge the sales volumes too much. The main reason for sales increase is the growth of our selling price. Direct cost of sales decreased yearly from 88% in round 1 to 75% in round 4. Even though inflation raises material costs and we offer a pay rise to our workers, we are still able to handle the cost/sales ratio efficiently by adapting smart and efficient pricing strategy.Profitability: Gross Margin % The gross margin has doubled from 12% (round 1) to 25% (round 4). In real money terms, our gross profit increased from ? 176 million to ? 574 mi llion. This trend indicated that return on sales improved. Although direct cost of sales increased year by year, we adjust our pricing strategy in order to make our business more profitable. Operating Profit % Operating profit margin improved from minus 7% (round 1) to 12% (round 4) indicatingmore efficient operation management. To be specific, stock upkeep cost and redundancy cost are well managed.The R&D investment and warranty costs are effectively controlled. Even though the investment on promotion and training increase yearly, this cost is balanced by the decreasing depreciation cost due to the book value of our fixed assets reduced yearly. Net Profit % Net profit margin shows an increasing trend from minus 8% (round 1) to 9% (round 4). Our company remains profitable since round 2. This indicated that our business is successful in consistency of earning. Return on Assets % The return on assets grows dramatically from minus 24% (round 1) to 26% (round 4).This indicates that mana gement is more and more efficient in using business assets to generate profit. Return on Investment % The return on capital employed shows a similar trend, except a slight decline of 3% in round 3. The ROI is 36% by the end of round 4, which has actually achieved our business objective. Liquidity: From round 1 to round 3, the current ratio increase from 0. 64 to 3. 52 times, and the quick ratio increase from 0. 13 to 3. 52 times. The increasing ratio indicates that we have more cash flow to pay our creditors (quick settlement) and meet our short-term obligations.In round 4, the current ratio drop slights to 3. 24 times and the quick ratio drop greatly to 1. 45 times. This trend looks good because high ratio does not mean a healthy cash position of the business. It indicates that we do not use our capitals properly and efficiently. In conclusion, according to our current liquidity situation, our company is suggested to reduce the stock levels and to invest surplus cash in longer term investments. Market Share From round 1 to round 4, market share of TIKI increased from 1. 21% to 1. 35%, despite a slight decline in round 2.Market share of CRUISER increased sharply in round 2 compared with round 1, then showed a tiny increase trend year by year. It indicated that we are successful in persistently and steadily supplying products to the market. Overall, our company’s performance has been improved in several ways, (e. g. sales, profit, creditors, market share, etc. ) In addition, it would have been more helpful for the further financial performance evaluation if the industrial average figures and key competitors’ information had been made available (Behn 2003). Part 3 Learning 3. 1 Financial ManagementIn the field of financial management, cost-volume-profit analysis is a powerful tool that helps managers identifies the relationships among cost, volume and profit (Banfield, Newcastle Business et al. 2008). It focuses on how profits can be affected by th e following variables: selling price, sales volume, unit variable costs, total fixed costs, etc. (Banfield, Newcastle Business et al. 2008). Break even analysis and margin of safety is the important part of cost-volume-cost analysis. The formula is shown as following: Formula: BEP = Total Fixed Cost = (in Units) Contribution per unitMargin of Safety = Forecast Demand – BEP Forecast Demand In round 1, we forecast our total fixed cost and depreciation charge is 241 million, and the contribution per unit is 2316. By using formula, the forecast BEP is 104,000 units. So we decided to produce 120,000 units after evaluating market demand. Our forecast margin of safety is therefore around 13. 3%. However, we underestimated the total fixed cost and overestimated our sales volumes. Thus, we suffered a loss of 116 million in the first round. In round 2, we re-evaluate the cost, volume and profit, and then set up 32. % of margin of safety. Financial performance is improved in this round so we adapted the similar approach for round 3 and 4, in which our margin of safety is about 39. 1% and 52. 8% respectively. It has been proved that high margin of safety makes profit less vulnerable to demand drops (Jacobs 2002). Even though we have 12,853 units unsold stock, we still make a profit of 198 million in round 4. From the business game, we have practiced how to price products and how much volume of products we must sell in order to make a profit. 3. 2 Human Resource ManagementWhen we practice the Human Resource function in business game, we put emphasis on rewards, in particular worker wage. High wage will not always improve the work performance from long-term perspective, but annual pay increase works (Banfield and Kay 2008). Based on this learning, we decide to pay our worker ? 355 weekly in round 1 and to increase that wage annually. However, we suffered a loss due to bad company performance in round 1, so wage did not increase even though inflation rate is around 3% . In round 2, company performance is improved and we make profit. Thus, wage increase by 9% ahead of 4% inflation rate in round 3.In round 4, wage increase by 5% to ? 404. Overall, from round 1 to round 4, wage increase by 14%, but the strike days only reduced 1 day (8 days in round 1 and 7 days in round 4). It is indicated that a reward cannot help to improve work performance if the pay increase does not meet the employee expectation (Corby 2009). According to data on competition, EMPIRE, our key competitors, pays their worker ? 500 weekly in round 4 and the strike day is controlled as 2 days. From the business stimulation, we realized the importance of monetary rewards and the link between rewards and productivity.On the other hand, poor management of employee relations often end up with strikes (Blyton and Turnbull 1998). With this learning, we could have found another solution to allocate our workers instead of redundancy. There are some limitations of business game in terms of HR management. High wage and training investment seems to be the only way to motivate productivity. And some other important HR functions such as recruitment and selection, promotion and employee engagement are not covered in the game. Learning experience will improve if those issues are made available in the game. 3. 3 Operation ManagementQuality management refers to the management activities involved in determination of quality policy and its implementation through means such as quality planning and quality assurance (Gitlow 2005). High quality puts costs down and revenue up (Banfield, Newcastle Business et al. 2008). Based on this learning, in order to control product quality, we focus on the R&D (Research and Development) and skills training when we practice the operation function during business game. From round 1, we keep investing on projects of fuel efficient engine and low emissions in order to detect and control the quality of engines.Both of them are successful after 3 ye ars of research and development. This help to reduce our warranty cost efficiently (see appendix). Due to safety factor, we started to invest on the project of advanced safety systems. We expect the continuous R&D investment bring us long term financial benefit. Meanwhile, we continuously invest on skills training based on the knowledge that investment in skills training can significantly improve product quality (Gitlow 2005). From the business game, I got better understanding about quality management and how quality influences customers’ buying decision.We also learn how to define the quality characteristics, set quality standard and measure the quality of our products. One of the limitations in stimulation process is that it is unavailable to evaluate and select the suppliers by ourselves. If this is made available, I believe that the operation cost would be controlled autonomously and learning experience of students about supply chain would be improved. 3. 4 Marketing Mana gement Marketing management is the art and science of choosing target markets and getting, keeping, and growing customers through creating, delivering, and communicating superior customer value (Kotler and Keller 2011).In carrying out the marketing functions, the company needs to have a marketing program or strategy. This is known as the marketing mix (Marc 1997). The conventional view of the marketing mix consisted of four components: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. It is indicated that 4Ps constitute the cornerstone of any sound business (Marc 1997). Based on this learning, we tried to use the right marketing mix to reach our target market during the business game. Product: In round 1, 3/5 door hatch and small engine are chosen for city car (24-40 market), while MPV and diesel engine are chosen for large car (41-55 market).Options are selected due to the factors such as safety, comfort and style. From round 2, we detect the popularity index and aim to offer the most appropria te products to our customers (see appendix). Price: We use market penetration in round 1. In the next three round, we adapt average pricing strategy. The economic trend and income status of our target customers are also taken into account as well. Promotion: We keep increasing our promotion investment from 23 million to 40 million via various media. In round 1, we invest ? 200 for every car and it increase to ? 450 in round 4.Through business game, I got better understanding about marketing mix. However, innovation and new product strategy, as another important marketing strategy, is failed to be used in our game. We could have learned more about finding customer value opportunities and creating an innovation culture in our team if we had launched new model. Part 4 Team Performance 4. 1 Team 4. 1. 1 Management Team We distributed our team into four groups in order to cover the four main functional areas of business organization: Finance, Marketing, Operation and Human Resource. Base d on personal interests and experience, I take the charge of Finance.Dorothy and Kira take the responsibility of managing marketing. Operation is taken charged by Michael and Jayson. Adetoro is responsible for HR. It does not mean that we make decisions and take responsibility separately. Actually, those functional areas are linked with and supported by each other. And everybody of the team is required to know exactly the whole process of our business. In reality, the main purpose of functional areas is to ensure that all important business activities are carried out efficiently. This is essential for a company to achieve its business objectives (Marcouse 2010). . 1. 2 Decision-making Process The overall decision-making was a collective process. During the business game, we discussed and evaluated all feasible solutions and make sure every decision is made to help settle the current problems and lead to business objectives. The controversy, however, is sometimes unavoidable. For ins tance, Dorothy, marketing manager, proposed to launch new model in round 3 due to market attractiveness. I cannot agree with that because we are still experiencing financial difficulty. Our net cash position is minus ? 371 million with poor ability to pay our creditors.Adetoro is standing by my side, thinking from a long-term perspective. He suggested our team not to launch new model until we gain a reasonable market share. The further discussion and communication led to unanimous approval of the final decision. The similar situation happened when we discussed whether or not to adept price skimming strategy for our products. The dispute finally is settled properly. 4. 1. 3 Leadership I was nominated as the leader in business game due to my ability to manage market information and provide direction to my team members at the very beginning.Under my leadership, our company is driven to achieve business objectives (execution). I make clear that all my team members are enjoying the game and have learned how to run a business in a real world. 4. 1. 4 Team Role Through my observation, I have identified the strengths/weaknesses and work preference of my team members: * Jayson and Michael prefer to analyze the current situation and raise the issues that we have to face (analysis). Michael is a good team worker who communicates and cooperates effectively with others.Jayson, as a monitor evaluator, has a high critical thinking ability but lacking of expression. * Dorothy and Kira are intuitive about the market information, and they often give the creative ideas (plan). Both of them play as plant. Dorothy prefers change and innovation. She can work more effectively when cooperate with the people who are identified as implementer in Belbin team role framework. * Adetoro used to reflect all our decisions we have made for every round and make everything reasonable and explainable (reflection). He is enthusiastic and logic thinker. 4. 2 Individual . 2. 1 My Contribution I hav e little knowledge about car industry when I take this project, but I quickly realize that I have special interest on costing and budgeting due to my previous work experience. So, I went through the user menu and market research then finish the finance forecast sheet before attending the group meeting. In round 1, I am responsible for both Finance and Marketing. During the group meeting, I proposed my ideas about cost/price, most of which are accepted by my team members and I therefore am nominated as manager of Finance. We suffered a loss in round 1.After analysing the discrepancy between forecast and results, I suggest to adapt new pricing strategy and set a higher gross margin. The strategy is adapted by management team and makes profit for our company by the end of round 2. I am nominated as team leader due to my hard-working, efficiency and reliability. And I actively build up team relation and motivate our team members. I play the role of implementer successfully. I monitor ev ery process of the game and every detail of our decisions, and put emphasis on improving efficiency of every group meeting, and record the minutes. 4. 2. My learning about effective teamwork and decision making Through business game, along with the knowledge I learn from Developing Self module and the experience of residential weekend, I have better understanding about: * An effective teamwork involves in a group of people with common objectives and being able to build up trust and cooperate relationship with each other. * An effective teamwork involves in a group of people who have complementary strengths/weaknesses with each other. * An effective team should have a leader who is able to provide direction, open mind to different opinions, ake right decision and take risks. * An effective decision should create the competitive advantage for organization and bring short term profit along with long term development. * An effective decision builds up the core competency of organization and turn competitive advantage into sustainable competitive advantage. 4. 2. 3 Suggestions for Improving My Performance * If the game could be played again, I would like to think twice before adapting market penetration strategy in round 1 and try to avoid that loss as much as possible. I would like to pay more attention on developing my leadership capability and making better use of the abilities of my team members in order to build up a powerful and effective team. Part 5 Conclusion Overall, our company is successful in the achievement of business objectives. By the end of round 4, our sales have increased by 50%, and our profit is showing a trend of growth. Even though the unsold stock percentage is larger than what we expect, we are still able to control the inventory and keep profitable. Return on investment in round 4 is 36% which is much more than our target.Part 6 Reference Banfield, P. and R. Kay (2008). Introduction to human resource management. New York, Oxford Universit y Press. Banfield, P. , S. Newcastle Business, et al. (2008). Managing for competitive advantage, McGraw-Hill custom publishing. Behn, R. D. (2003). â€Å"Why Measure Performance? Different Purposes Require Different Measures. † Public Administration Review 63(5): 586-606. Blyton, P. and P. Turnbull (1998). The dynamics of employee relations. Basingstoke, Macmillan. Corby, S. (2009). Rethinking reward. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan. Gitlow, H. S. (2005). Quality management. New YorkLondon, McGraw-Hill. Jacobs, T. (2002). â€Å"The margin of safety. † NATURE BIOTECHNOLOGY 20(12): 1191-1191. Kotler, P. and K. L. Keller (2011). Marketing management. Harlow, Pearson Education. Marc, L. (1997). â€Å"Marketing mix customization and customizability. † Business Horizons 40(6): 39. Marcouse, I. (2010). â€Å"BTEC First Business. † 1. 4 The main functional areas within business organisations Ed. Retrieved 06/01, 2012, from http://www. teachmebusiness. co. uk/pag e29/page16/page18/assets/Functionalareas. pdf. Part 7 Appendices 7. 1 Design and Options TIKI (City Car)  | | round 1| round 2| round 3| round 4| /5 Door Hatch| Y| Y| Y| Y| Small Engine (4 Cylinder)| Y| Y| Y| Y| Multi Location Airbags|   |   |   | Y| Alloy Wheels|   | Y| Y| Y| Parking Sensors| Y| Y|   | Y| Air Conditioning| Y| Y| Y| Y| Superior Sound System/iPod|   | Y| Y| Y| Security Package|   |   |   | Y| Safety Package|   | Y| Y| Y| CRUISER (Large Car)  | | round 1| round 2| round 3| round 4| SUV| Y| Y| Y| Y| Diesel Engine| Y| Y| Y| Y| Multi Location Airbags|   |   | Y| Y| Alloy Wheels|   |   | Y| Y| Security Tracker|   |   |   | Y| Cruise Control| Y| Y|   |   | Automatic Transmission| Y| Y|   |   | Parking Sensors| Y| Y| Y| Y| Electronic Stability Control| Y| Y|   |   |Panoramic Sunroof| Y| Y|   |   | Heated Elec Wing Mirrors|   |   |   | Y| Electric Adjustable Seats|   |   |   | Y| Air Conditioning| Y| Y| Y| Y| Superior Sound System/iPod| Y| Y| Y| Y| Bluetooth Phone Preparation|   |   |   | Y| TV/DVD Player| Y| Y|   |   | Metallic Paint|   |   | Y| Y| Security Package|   |   | Y| Y| Safety Package| Y| Y| Y| Y| Luxury Package|   |   |   | Y| 7. 2 Warranty Cost Warranty Cost| round 1| round 2| round 3| round 4| TIKI per car ? | 173| 170| 140| 155| CRUISER per car ? | 400| 353| 295| 348| Total Warranty Claims ? m| 26| 27| 21| 23| 7. 3 Other Key Performance Indicators

Classical Operant Conditioning Case Study - 1686 Words

Introduction In the last decade alone there has been such a progression when using the CBT approach when it comes to dealing with individuals who have a substance abuse problem. There is a link between Cognitive therapy and behavior therapy which works well together. CT has to do with thoughts, beliefs, values, and opinions where behavior is emotions, family, social relationships, cultural influences and biological factors (Rohsenow, 2016). Each of the case studies that are talked about the CBT approach and how it applies to a substance related disorder. This paper talks about classical, operant conditioning, social learning as it applies to a substance disorder. As well as the CBT approach and how it applies to someone who has a†¦show more content†¦One thing that must be understood is that when any individual uses cocaine it s for important and a particular reason. 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The Definitive Guide to Academic Writing Research Paper

The Definitive Guide to Academic Writing Research Paper The Do's and Don'ts of Academic Writing Research Paper Whether you're writing an assignment or a research paper, a fantastic writer is somebody who can engage an audience without a lot of difficulty. If you're writing a journal article that'll be read by researchers, you are probably able to utilize higher-level terms and data. Regardless of what source you require, the author will review it and compose a highly effective argumentative paper dependent on the valuable evidence. Our writers try their very best to compose error-free coursework the very first time. The New Angle On Academic Writing Research Paper Just Released Essay writing has been a significant part the educational system. For that reason, it's better if you go for a recommended freelance writer. Organizing the info in your paper is crucial to crafting a compelling, well-written document. 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Descriptive Essay - Original Writing - 930 Words

I couldn’t imagine that I would have ever seen a tractor flying through the air, let alone a tractor landing just inches away from the room where my family was taking shelter. All of those childhood memories just gone just like that. My little sister Harper was crying to my mother saying â€Å"Mommy Mommy can it stop can it stop?† she wailed. I know this might seem crazy but that moment it just felt like time paused. And then my mother was crying to my father saying â€Å"Honey we lost her!† my mother cried. James and I yelled â€Å"Lost what?† â€Å"Your sister!† Mom cried â€Å"What?† Asked James and I. â€Å"Your sister!† Mom bawled. â€Å"How?† Asked James and I. â€Å"I don’t know, but let s look for her. Okay?† Dad and mom announced. â€Å"Okay.† James and I alerted It just felt like a blur for a few days. We have looked for her for days we even didn’t even go to school but no sign of Harper. I think my mother knew that she had died but mother didn’t want to amite it. James didn’t talk to me for about a month. Was it my fault that she’s lost? Mom and dad was packing my sister s items. Now everyone knew even my friend Layla and her little brother Hunter that’s six. Everyone thought she was gone forever but for some reason James didn’t think she was gone. My brother James he’s kind of stubborn. He never believes anything I say he has to find out on his own. Well I guess that’s just a typical thirteen year old, I guess. My friend Layla would had a two year old sister but one year ago her baby sister SkylerShow MoreRelatedDescriptive Essay - Original Writing1110 Words   |  5 PagesI don’t know how I got to where I am, but I’m here now, and I have to win if I want to live. I am in a game, and in order to live, I have to escape. That’s the thing, though: I don’t know how to escape. I was running for my life around this old house that looked like it came straight out of a horror movie. I doubled over and held my head in pain as I saw the static, which meant it was coming. I was being chased by what looked like a person but in no way acted like one. Just as it was about to appearRead MoreDescriptive Essay - Original Writing1102 Words   |  5 PagesIt is on days like this when we stop to think about our life. Small drops of rain begin to dapple the cobblestone pavement as people whip out their umbrellas for cover. I continue sauntering down the busy street, relishing the feeling of a light shower. Moving with the mass of pedestrians, I stop at a crosswalk where I wait for the stoplight to turn green. A flower shop employee across the street scurries to bring in the numerous bouquets and close the doors as rain starts rolling down the displayRead MoreDescriptive Essay - Original Writing914 Words   |  4 PagesDreamy I thought. Standing on the corner is a young guy with a smile. I see him here almost every day, so I linger for a while. 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I swallowed, climbing out of bed. Sleep well? Caireann asked me, starting out the door. Yeah, I said, going over to our small dresser. I had the bottom two drawers. Andy had the middle two, and Caireann had the top. I pulled open the drawers, pulling on a colorful tank top and a grayRead MoreDescriptive Essay - Original Writing1345 Words   |  6 PagesLater that night, I was behind the wheel of my G-Wagon with Melissa in the passenger seat. She didn’t feel like driving since she was on the road all day and I understood so I didn’t mind when she asked me to. I had been tight-lipped. She kept eyeballing me as if she detected that something was bothering me but I just kept singing to my India Arie as if I was carefree. â€Å"So are you going to tell me what’s going on or no† Melissa said disrupting my own personal concert. 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Enhancing Product Safety Policies Applied †Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Product Safety Policies Applied Enhancing? Answer: Introduction Product quality is a dominant factor of customer loyalty and is considered as an important aspect in management theory (Foschia et al. 2013). The research mainly aims for evaluating the impact of products safety policies on customer loyalty. This research study highlights the fact that in order to attain more customers, an organization should offer safe and quality products to their customers. The organization that is taken into consideration is Woolworths, the largest supermarket chain in Australia. The concept of product quality encompass a variety of drivers and implications for business performances and one such aspect is the brand reputation as customer prefer the brand compared to any other organization. The research paper comprises of six chapters that describes background of the problem, problem definition, literature review, research design and method, additional issues and conclusion. The details about the chosen methods to conduct the whole research is describes in this pr oposal. Background of the problem In Australia, unsafe products are banned under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (CCA) imposed by Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), so that correct information regarding the products can be incurred (ACCC.gov.au 2017). Goetsch and Davis (2014) depicted that this legislation is especially appropriate for the traders but local marketers should also adhere this legislation. Moreover, if any breaching of the mandatory standards is observed by any marketers, legal actions are taken against them. In this research the scenario of Woolworths is considered where they mislead their consumers through wrong information of the products safety. Woolworths is the largest retail industry in Australia that operates in over 1000 stores, 968 supermarkets and 19 convenience stores across the nation (Woolworths.com.au, 2017). Three of their products that are Abode 3L Stainless Steel Deep-Fryer, Homebrand Safety Matches and Woolworths Select Drain Cleaner consists of false or misl eading representations that results in malfunctioning and explosion (ABC News, 2017). The customers were affected from nose bleeding and burns. Moreover, another products that is the folding chair also contain false information that the chair is capable to bear weight of 115kg though it only has the capability of bearing 92kg weight (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, 2017) Purpose of the proposal The project thus aims to highlight the significance of the correct information of the products on ensuring the loyalty of a consumer and brand loyalty. Thus, two research variables are taken- product safety regulation being the independent variable; while, the customer loyalty is the dependent variable. Scope and sources of information used This investigation worth a research so that accurate scenario can be evaluate whether or not larger organizations adhere all the legislations and follow all the management concept through which customer loyalty can be assessed (Jahanshani et al. 2014). Thus, this research will highlight one of the important cases of product safety regulation that is breached by a leading organization, Woolworths. The impact of the same on customer loyalty will be highlighted through this research. The boundaries of this research is that only one management issue is researched and that also for one organization only. Thus, not considering more than one organization or sectors for assessing the impact of products safety regulation on loyalty of the customer can be the delimitation of this research study. Research Aim The major aim of this research study is to evaluate the factors that are liable for driving the loyalty of the customers regarding a product and its image. The case study that is considered is the Woolworths in which there several products do not follow the products safety regulation and consists of misleading information. Information Objective To find out the aspects the Woolworths has included in the products safety requirements To determine the quality of the existing product. To examine the impact of false safety guidelines on organizations image and customer loyalty. To identify the factors that can help Woolworths to improve their brand loyalty. This section describes different theories and concept that explains the all the research variables. The detail about perceived quality and perceived risk is discussed in this chapter. Moreover, the determinants of the perceived quality and risks and impact of products safety regulation on customer loyalty is also illustrated in this section. Perceived Quality Choi and Kim (2013) stated that the concept of perceived quality refers to the customers perception for assessing quality or superiority of a product. These qualities can be based on three kinds of perceived quality- actual or objective quality, product-based quality and manufacturing quality. Shi et al. (2014) furthermore depicts that perceived quality of a product is also based on what customer think is important to them. This quality is intangible and shows the actual image of the brands reliability and performance. There are some dimensions of perceives quality in terms of products context- performance of the products, features that makes the products different from other products, conformance with specifications, reliability and durability of the products and adherence to the products safety regulations (Oh et al. 2017). The uncertainty that a customer posses in buying an item and is especially witnessed for the products that are expensive like home appliances. There are four categories of perceived risks- functional risks, social risks, financial risks, physical risks and time risks. This risk highlights the situation of fear and hesitation when a customer purchases an expensive product (Chang and Tseng 2013). Slovic (2016) stated that the fear is regarding whether or not the products will function properly and they have to pay for extra financial resources in preparing the same product. Martin et al. (2015) portrays that this risk resembles the fear of not being able to be accepted in society or community. Mitchell (2015) furthermore affirms that in this aspect, people, who belongs to a wealthy social class never intends to buy things that are less expensive as it might impact their social status among their peers. Petersen and Kumar (2015) depicted that this kind of risk arise when a customer desire to purchases such a costlier things that it might left them with no money in future and consumes all their savings. Thus, customer always prefers a reliable brand from where their investment gets valued. The product that can cause physical harm is the major reason for the physical risks (Wu and Ke 2015). This can be explained through two situations, firstly, when the customer purchased objects like- gun and weapons that can cause an accident. Secondly, if some products physically harm people like bursting of some appliances or malfunctioning of the gadgets (Mitchell 2015). Hong (2015) stated that people always desires to buy products that is durable and can be used for longer time. Thus, the risk that the products may break or fails to perform within a few days of purchase highlights the situation of time risks. Determinants of the perceived quality and risks Beneke et al. (2013) portrays that if a products is every expensive, there might be some unethical proceedings supported by organization. In such cases, the customers started doubt on the quality and services of the products and may not prefer the same brand from the next time. It is evident that based on a products warranty, people intends to purchase a products from some organization (Baxter et al. 2013). The greater the warranty for a product, the more the customer will believe on the durability of the products. Sethuraman and Gielens (2014) stated that prior to purchase any products especially the expensive products, customer research about the items from other resources so that they can buy the best products. In that time, people often prefer reputed organization as they can rely on them easily. Liao et al. (2014) stated that to a consumer, product safety means family protection and in this case theories of perceives quality and perceived risk can be witnessed. These regulations are established so that a consumer can invest in safe products. The warranty and guaranty on products allows people to realize that the products that they are purchasing are durable and safe. However, in case, products safety is breached, customer has the right to ask for refund and regulatory actions are also performed against the organization, which represents ethical business approach. Government in all nations develops products safety guidelines that assure the quality and durability of the products (ACCC.gov.au 2017). However, these regulations also lead to provide a minimum standard of the products. According to ACL, two mandatory notification are established that is a products must be recalled if it cause harm to any human being and secondly, a mandatory reporting within two days in case the supplied products cause serious injury, illness and even death. Effective brand reputation Sethuraman and Gielens (2014) stated that product safety issues can damage the business reputation that on the other hand affects the customer loyalty. Thus following all the governing rules and have lawyers in their organization to handle all the legal matter, the safety concern of the products can become high. Thus, this help an organization to gain faith of their customers towards their brand. Objectives Relevant External Secondary Data Findings Gaps Requiring Primary Data To find out the aspects the Woolworths has included in the products safety requirements ACCC.gov.au., 2017 Woolworths does not follow product safety regulation in the past Several customers get affected from the misleading information None To determine the quality of the existing product. Website of the organization Newspaper articles regarding recent products quality The quality of the products does not met the standard Penalty has been imposed on Woolworths The details of the products quality of the exact products is not present in details even in the newspaper articles and the companys website To examine the impact of false safety guidelines on organizations image and customer loyalty. Martin et al. 2015 Wu and Ke 2015 Hong 2015 It is found that customer possess the quality of perceived quality and perceived risk. Determinants of the perceived quality and risks are also identified that are- Warranty on the purchase products Brand reputation that drives customer Loyalty Unjustified additional charges The details are not only related to the electronic products that is selected for the organization Woolworths. Details of different products are also given. To identify the factors that can help Woolworths to improve their brand loyalty. Jahanshani et al. 2014 Liao et al. 2014 Shi et al. 2014 Satisfied customers Adherence to standards Effective brand reputation Only the ideas from these ideas are taken that can be implemented by Woolworths so that they can get more satisfied customers Table 1: New Research Objectives, Relevant Secondary Data Findings and Knowledge Gaps (Source: Created by Author) Research design This section shows the research techniques that will be used in the research so that desired outcome can be obtained that can satisfy the research objectives. Objectives Needed Knowledge Research Approach Research Technique To find out the aspects the Woolworths has included in the products safety requirements Only the Woolworths website and sustainability report is sufficient to answer this question N/A N/A To determine the quality of the existing product. The difference between the previous a d present products quality The gap between the products safety adherence in past and present Positivism Descriptive Questionnaire To examine the impact of false safety guidelines on organizations image and customer loyalty. The result analysis from the customer survey provides the idea of the actual situation of the organizations image. Descriptive Questionnaire To identify the factors that can help Woolworths to improve their brand loyalty. The plans and ideas that the managers of the Woolworths are planning to consider for improving the quality of their products Descriptive Questionnaire And interview from managers Table 2: Research Approach (Source: Created by Author) First Stage- Exploratory Stage Hair (2015) stated that exploratory research is chosen when the problem has not been highlighted or explained in any research papers. In this research paper, exploratory design will be first used so that in-depth knowledge can be attained based on the product safety regulations. In this research, the impact of the breaching of products safety will be analyzed based on the case studies of Woolworths. There are many researches on employee motivation or job performance for the same organization but studying the legislations related to the misleading information is never researched before. Thus, it can be said that the exploratory stage will help to test the main concept of research. If, the exploration is successful, hypothesis based on the research topic can also be drawn. However, in this research no hypothesis will be formulated and the research will be explained concerning the research objectives and questions. Silverman (2016) also depicted that, exploratory research is often selec ted when secondary research is followed and in this case, this research can be obtained while developing the literature for the research. Justification of the chosen research design This research design is considered so that exact scenario of the Woolworths case study can be observed in support with literature based on the case study. In addition to that, several factors of breaching the product safety regulation can also be observed in a preliminary stage of investigation, which will help in gaining insights and familiarity for later investigation. Second Stage- Descriptive Stage The main purpose of choosing a research design is to gather knowledge and understanding of the research variables. Blumberg et al. (2014) stated that there are two types of research design- explanatory and descriptive. In explanatory research design, the major focus is to evaluate the association between the two research variables; on the other hand the descriptive research design emphasis on the proper explanation of the research study. Descriptive design mainly emphasizes on the primary research question that explains the data of the research with proper justification. In this research study, the descriptive research design will be used. The data collected for the research is primary and thus survey data is analyzed through quantitative methods. The questions asked by the customers are collected and evaluated quantitatively and the analysis related to the brand loyalty will be then properly described. The questions are constructed properly and comprehended aligning with the research objectives. Thus, descriptive design is considered to get the actual explanation of the research topic and finding the proper association between the research variables. In order to assess the outcome of the research topic, data are collected for the research based on which a conclusion is drawn. Palinkas et al. (2015) stated that there are two kind of data collection- primary data collection and secondary data collection. The data that are collected directly from the research respondents is known as primary data collection. The greatest strength of this primary data collection is that it represents the current scenario regarding the research topic (Wahyuni 2012). Terrell (2012) stated that since the respondents answers based on their perception and experience; thus, the accuracy of the obtained research outcome is greater than any other data collection. On the other hand, secondary data collection focuses on the collection of data through different articles, journal, peer research papers, authentic sites like companys website and government sites (Bryman and Bell 2015). Bryman (2015) stated that the secondary data has the advantages that are the inf ormation is always authentic but suffer from the greatest disadvantage that is the data is outdated. In secondary data, there is no chance of respondents and administration error. However in this research study, the primary data collection will be taken into consideration. The main reason for this selection is that the research is based on one particular organization and thus questioning from the employees and managers of the organization can provide the relevant answers to the research question. Sampling technique Fowler Jr (2013) depicts that there are two kinds of sampling techniques- probability and non-probability sampling technique. In probability sampling technique, all the research respondents get the equal chance to participate in this study or the probability of all the respondents to get selected is equal. On the other hand, Hair (2015) describes that when all the research respondents are not getting the equal chance to participate in the research refers the non-probability sampling. In this research study, both the sampling methods that are probability and non-probability sampling techniques will be taken into consideration. The selection of all the employees for the survey is based on the probability sampling techniques; whereas, the selection of the managers of the interview will be accomplished based on the non-probability sampling techniques. Bhattacherjee (2012) explains that the total number of research respondents participated in the research is known as sample size. In this research only 53 respondents will be taken into consideration among which 50 respondents will be the employees of the organization; on the other the remaining three respondents will be the managers of the organizations. In addition to that, only those managers will be selected that are liable for handling the product safety regulation. Data analysis techniques The data that is collected during the research is finally assessed so that desired research outcome can be obtained. Silverman (2016) depict that data analysis methods are of two types- quantitative data analysis method and qualitative data analysis method. In quantitative data analysis, only the numerical data are analyzed in order to get the research outcome. On the other hand, in qualitative data analysis only the theoretical data are analyzed. No numerical or statistical calculations are considered in this method (Flick 2015). In this research study, both quantitative and qualitative data analysis method will be used. The survey questions asked by the research respondents will be analyzed quantitatively; whereas, the question that is asked from managers of the company will be analyzed quantitatively. Conclusion The conclusion of the entire research will be based on the data collection. It is expected that the research shows a positive relationship between the research variables that is the products safety regulations drives the customer loyalty. It is expected that the final data that is obtained from central tendency will be in favor of the fact that all the organizations should follow products safety regulation for better brand recognition and stable customer loyalty. All the research ethics will be followed effectively and accurate scenario of the Woolworths in terms of following the products safety regulations will be accomplished properly. Evidences from the Australian Government will also be considered in order to explain the accurate scenario. In addition to that, authentic research articles, websites details and research papers along with the journal articles is used for completing the entire research. It is also expected that all the research objectives can be properly justified fr om the obtained research results and based on which appropriate recommendations can also be suggested. The major limitation of this research is that only primary research will be considered; if secondary research is also included, the part and current scenario related to research topic can be evaluated properly. In addition to that, another research limitation is the sample size that is only 50 and it will be better if more employees can be taken into consideration. As mentioned above, considering only one organization and one sector is another research limitation as this research will only be significant for the selected organization. Miller et al. (2012) stated that research ethics is crucial to adhere as it provide the permission to conduct the research effectively. In this research also, number of ethics followed. Firstly, all the respondents are provided with a consent form that is duly signed from them. This will be a proof that all the respondents will be willingly participate in the research. Moreover, all the collected data will be protected by adhering the legislation of Data Protection Act 1998. In addition to that, all the data will be utilized for research purpose only and not for other research benefits. All the details of the respondents will not be disclosed without their permission. In this research study, no research respondents will be influenced or force to change their answers for the research questions. Proposed time schedule Main activities/ stages Week 1st and 2nd Week 3rd and 4th Week 4th and 5th Week 5th and 7th Week 8th and 10th Week 11th and 12th Topic Selection Data collection from secondary sources Framing layout of the research Literature review Selection of the Appropriate Research Techniques Primary data collection Analysis Interpretation of Data Collection Conclusion of the Study Submission of Final Work Table 3: Timeframe of the research (Source: Created by Author) Reference List ABC News., 2017. Woolworths ordered to pay $3m over product safety concerns. [online] Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-05/woolworths-ordered-to-pay-3m-over-product-safety-case/7144442 [Accessed 13 Aug. 2017]. ACCC.gov.au., 2017. Product Safety. [online] Available at: https://www.accc.gov.au/business/treating-customers-fairly/product-safety#selling-safe-products [Accessed 12 Sep. 2017]. Baxter, R., Bedard, J.C., Hoitash, R. and Yezegel, A., 2013. Enterprise risk management program quality: Determinants, value relevance, and the financial crisis. Contemporary Accounting Research, 30(4), pp.1264-1295. Beneke, J., Flynn, R., Greig, T. and Mukaiwa, M., 2013. The influence of perceived product quality, relative price and risk on customer value and willingness to buy: a study of private label merchandise. Journal of Product Brand Management, 22(3), pp.218-228. Bhattacherjee, A., 2012. Social science research: Principles, methods, and practices. Blumberg, B.F., Cooper, D.R. and Schindler, P.S., 2014. Business research methods. McGraw-hill education. Bryman, A. and Bell, E., 2015. Business research methods. Oxford University Press, USA. Bryman, A., 2015. Social research methods. Oxford university press. Chang, E.C. and Tseng, Y.F., 2013. Research note: E-store image, perceived value and perceived risk. Journal of Business Research, 66(7), pp.864-870. Choi, E.J. and Kim, S.H., 2013. 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