Knowledge Management Mastercard Essay

The company MasterCard is a technology company and payments industry leader. For over four decades, the company has been a driving force at the heart of commerce, making the global economy safer, more efficient, more inclusive and more transparent for all. Consumers, merchants, business partners and governments in markets around the world have reaped the benefits of our innovative products and solutions which, simply put, are designed to make life easier. The mission of MasterCard consists in imagining a world beyond cash and their mission is very simple: Every day, everywhere, Master Card uses their technology and expertise to make payments safe, simple and smart. In the last four decades, people and companies worldwide have changed their way of payment for goods and services. The rise of the electronic payments has fueled economic growth while delivering value to consumers, merchants and governments. From the earliest days of credit cards to the contactless and wireless payment options of today, MasterCard Worldwide has led the industry, driving this evolution. MasterCard works in a three channel method. Those 3 channels are: Franchisor, Processor and Consultant. In the Franchisor channel, products such as Maestro ®, Cirrus ® and MasterCard ® PayPassâ„ ¢ appear. With those products, the company affects more than 32 million establishments. The processor area makes operation with other companies and partners around the world in a simple and smart way. The big key point for these attribute is based on the fast network, one of the biggest VPNs of the world, offering not just agility, but also integration and trust. Least, the Consultant channel provides insights and solutions that promote a better and more competitive market. The research Inside the organization, the Product department and the Commercial department are directly linked. The first one is related to the care of the different products in many different categories that are offered by the organization, while the commercial area is primarily responsible for the customer relationship and supply of structured products to the product area. The commercial departments, responsible for all customer relationships, are divided to provide a better service by segmenting customers according to their importance to the business. For example, for Citibank, one of the most important banks for MasterCard, there are more than two, three people responsible for one client, while for minor banks, there is sometimes only one person responsible. This allows the commercial area to meet its customers by giving attention proportional to the size of each account, seeking solutions that fit in each case, so that one can be created, the best care possible. The product department is targeted through the products it offers, that way, the areas are divided by types of cards (traditional types such as debit and credit, corporate, pre-paid and others). Each group works to meet the needs of the commercial area, seeking the best solutions according to the demands. So we have two areas that work together, but have different focuses, which can cause disagreements about the best way to deliver a product to a given customer. That way, we can find a good topic to do our research based on this issue. Question Due to the analyses made on the previous topic, we can come up with the question for the paper. Why knowledge is not used by all parts? What can we do to improve this topic? Products and Commercial Departments Processes As said before, the process that the products department works is different from the commercial’s one. The products process is characterized by the division of groups and teams specialized in a specific product. That way, we can confirm that a wide knowledge is limited inside this department, but on the other hand, those groups have a high knowledge about a specific product. Differently, the commercial process is divided not by products, but by clients, issuers. So, those groups have a good flexibility when it comes to relation with the customers and so can have a wider knowledge. But, once this group works only with one client, it is possible that this client works with a small number of products, that way, the commercial group would not acquire knowledge in those other products. Tasks Within the tasks that the commercial department is responsible for we can highlight the following main topics: * Direct relationship with the issuers (Banks) * Project with issuers to enhance the number of MasterCard cards inside * Promotions * Campaigns * Raffles * Work together with different departments For the products area, we can highlight the following tasks: * Come up with new products ideas * Develop the product for the clients * Track the performance of the products KM Theory To illustrate the knowledge flow within the two departments, we are going to use a KM model that sustains and explains the formulation of a new departmentalization to enhance the performance of the company Figure 1: Observing, the General Knowledge Model (figure 1), we can make a comparison of that theory with the case that we are discussing. The Knowledge Creation associates entry of new knowledge into the system, and includes knowledge development, discovery and capture. For the MasterCard case, the Creation would be for both departments the new ideas of new products and also new ideas for product that already exist. That way, it would have do disparity of how those two departments work. Knowledge Retention includes all activities that preserve knowledge and allow it to remain in the system once introduced. Once the new idea is into the system, both parts have to work together to retain this concept into the system, and the only way for this to happen is if that both of the parts have the same knowledge of the concept (product) Knowledge Transfer refers to activities associated with the flow of knowledge from one party to another. This includes communication, translation, conversion, filtering and rendering. That part would be the most important of the process for the two departments. Here, the knowledge of one part would be transfered to the other, that way, the knowledge of the product would be the same for both parts. Last, but not least, Knowledge Utilization includes the activities and events connected with the application of knowledge to business processes. Data Using the Knowledge Acquisition tool, we can come up with important information and data. To start the KA analysis, is important to find out about the human reasoning process and the human cognitive system with its system constraints. After that step, is important to make a division in task characteristics and cognitive characteristics. That way, we can say that Knowledge Acquisition is about different methods to acquire and elicit knowledge; to make knowledge explicit; to stimulate knowledge transfer; to order, systematize and structure knowledge. That way, we can observe the different types of sources for knowledge acquisition. For the case in study, we can say that the way that knowledge is transmitted and acquire trough communication face-to-face between the product and the commercial department. Moreover, the knowledge about the products is also gain trough handbooks and organizational training. With those information, we can collect a data really important, the fact that knowledge is elicit trough structured (organizational training and presentations) and non-structured (communication face-to-face between commercial department and product department) ways. It is very interesting, that with this tool, we can observe that the knowledge both parts have about the same products is really different sometimes. As already expected, the commercial department has knowledge about sales attributes. On the other hand, the product department has more knowledge about the specific points and technological aspects of the product. To end this disparity of knowledge, a good choice would be to change the working ways in those areas, in other words, it would need a reformulation on the organization structure of MasterCard. Results * With the reformulation that was discussed before, the products would be created jointly, aiming each client and their own segmentation, making products no longer offered by the area of general commercial, but a specific form that would be created, allowing you to create a higher perceived value for the customers, since assembling products would create a synergy that would combine expertise in creating products possessed by product area with full knowledge of the client as the commercial area has. For this, the specialists of the products would have a greater knowledge of each type of product offered, reducing the segmentation of the area in premium products, and upscale retail and other products. So each specialist would be responsible for a niche within each client, allowing maintaining focus on the products he considers the most, rather than generalizing all segments within a specialist. This approach As described above, this approach is a way to get the specialists creating products together with managers of commercial accounts, specific products for customers, improving relationships and creating value for these. Moreover, we can say that with this reformulation, knowledge would be more used in the company and that way, the company would be more successful.

Hn 144 Unit 4 Assignment Essay

You will submit a 2–3 page double-spaced paper which should include a cover sheet and references page where you cite the article and the Code of Ethics. These are the only two sources you will need for this Assignment. If you choose to use additional sources, you will need to cite them as well. The paper should be written in APA format using Times New Roman, 12-point font. It should be no less than 500 words and written in paragraph format. You will need to include in-text citations and references. Part B: Ethics are defined as â€Å"a set of moral principles and perceptions about right versus wrong and the resulting philosophy of conduct that is practiced by an individual, group, profession, or culture† (Barker, 2001, p. 159). In the field of human services you will be interacting with individuals with a variety of needs within many systems. Due to the span of diversity among individuals it is important for you to become familiar with the ethical standards as set forth for human service professionals. The following Assignment will require you to find and discuss the importance of the ethical standards as developed by the National Organization of Human Services (NOHS). A code of ethics is â€Å"an explicit statement of the values, principles, and rules of a profession, regulating the conduct of its members† (Barker, 2001, p. 84). For this part of the Assignment, please complete the following: 1. On the internet, locate the Ethical Standards for Human Service Professionals developed by the National Organization of Human Services. 2. After finding the National Organization of Human Services ethical standards website make sure to bookmark this site as you will continue to reference this website throughout your studies. 3. Based upon the article in Part A, identify one ethical issue that may lead you as a human service professional to review the ethical standards and how you can resolve any ethical concerns. Why are the National Organization of Human Service ethical standards important to follow as you begin to work with individuals, families, groups, and communities? 4. Cite the National Organization of Human Services website and the Halstead article on your reference page. Submitting Your Assignment Put your Assignment in a Word document. Save it in a location, and with a name, that you will remember. When you are ready to submit it, go to the Dropbox and complete the steps below: * Click the link that says â€Å"Submit an Assignment.† * In the â€Å"Submit to Basket† menu, select Unit 4: Assignment * In the â€Å"Comments† field, make sure to add at least the title of your paper. * Click the â€Å"Add Attachments† button. * Follow the steps listed to attach your Word document. * To view your graded work, come back to the Dropbox or go to the Gradebook after your instructor has evaluated it. Make sure that you save a copy of your submitted Assignment. STEVE’S JOURNEY ON THE HERO’S PATH It was a warm afternoon, characteristic of those in New England when one last bit of summer lingers before the emergence of autumn colors. I was a counselor in acollege counseling center, and the afternoon had been quiet as is usual for that time of year when students are first settling in on campus. Our office managerinformed me that a student had just walked in requesting to talk to a counselor about his difficulty sleeping. My first thought was that a student coming forcounseling on a beautiful afternoon and presenting with sleep disturbance would be dealing with the typical issues of a new student adjusting to college. I had no ideajust how atypical my encounter would be. Steve was a tall, slender male student in his early 20s. Upon greeting him, I noticed that his face lacked complete symmetry. The left side of his face was void ofexpression, and when he talked his lips pulled to his right. As we made our way to my office, I also noticed that his gait was unsteady, and he walked cautiously. As Ibegan a standard assessment, Steve told me that he was a junior transfer student who had graduated 3 months earlier from a community college near his home. Hewas away from home for the first time, had taken an apartment off-campus, and was living alone. He explained that he felt nervous about being away at school, washaving trouble sleeping, and needed to address this so that he could do well academically. He told me he had looked forward to attending this school for many yearsand did not want anything to stand in the way of his success. It was Steve’s medical history, however, that revealed the deeper elements of his struggle. At the age of 20, Steve had been a victim of a random violent attack. He had

Adoption and Race

Historically, transracial adoption began to be practiced after the Second World War. Children from war-torn countries – Korea, Vietnam, and even Europe — without families were adopted by families in the United States with Caucasian paThrough the years, as more racial ethnic minority children within the United States were without families, domestic adoption agencies began to place African American, Native American, and Hispanic children with Caucasian families who wanted children.However, in 1972 the National Association of Black Social Workers (NABSW) became concerned about the large numbers of African American children who were being placed with Caucasian families. They condemned the practice of transracial adoption of African American children to Caucasian parents.They cited psychological maladjustment, inferior racial identity, the failure to cope with racism and discrimination, and â€Å"cultural genocide† as the likely outcomes of transracial adoptive placem ents.As an offshoot of this, legislation was introduced in the form of the Multiethnic Placement Act (MEPA) of 1994. MEPA, together with the Interethnic Adoption Provisions (IEP), has been signed into law to reduce the practice of race-matching in adoptive placements for children.These two pieces of legislation, commonly referred to as MEPA-IEP, were designed to decrease the amount of time children wait for adoptive placement, to improve and assist in the recruitment and retention of prospective foster and adoptive parents who are able to meet the distinctive needs of the children to be placed, and to eliminate discrimination in the practice of adoptive and foster care placements on the basis of race, color, or national origin.However, the passage of MEPA-IEP has not resolved the controversy over racial matching policies and transracial adoptions. Controversies still hound transracial adoption. Although the law prohibits categorical assumptions about the benefit of same-race placeme nts, child welfare workers still will have to make decisions about the importance of race in the life of an individual child.They are also tasked to identify reasons that may eventually require for the consideration of race. Those who believe that same-race placements are preferable may feel aggrieved that federal policy now contradicts their conviction and routinely calls for them to place children without giving weight to the child’s race.On the other hand, those who place little value on racial matching may have trouble identifying children whohave a specific need for a same-race placement.It is within this light that this study will take shape.   As issues continue to be raised regarding transracial adoption, it is only fitting to go beyond statistics and find out the feelings of those who are personally involved in the process. As this study will attempt to unravel the issues closest to the hearts of those involved, the approach that will be used will be generally qual itative.Statement of the ProblemWhat is the percentage of interracial adoption, and what are the controversies surrounding racial matching and transracial adoption?Objectives1) To define racial matching and transracial adoption;2) To find out the percentage of transracial adoption in America;3) To find out the various issues related to racial matching and transracial adoption;4) To find out the various legislations designed to address racial matching and transracial adoption.MethodologyThis study will use interview – which entails purposive sampling — as a method for gathering data. The interviews will be conducted with the aid of an interview guide which is an informally prepared unstructured questionnaire. Data will also be collected through numerous secondary sources.Materials and documents such as discourses in books, official publications, position papers, letters, newspapers and magazine clippings will also be utilized. The official websites of various organizati ons will also be used as necessary. Implications of the study will be derived from the analysis of the gathered data and issues raised in the interviews and the various secondary sources.Review of Related LiteraturePracticing social workers, leaders of minority group communities, and scholars have expressed concerns on the effects of transracial adoption (Hayes, 1993). In a study conducted by Kim (1995) on international adoption, he noted that â€Å"transracial adoption of black children stirred up many controversies regarding their psychological development, especially with respect to their ethnic identity, or cultural well-being† (p.141-142).In order to determine the effects of transracial adoption on adoptees, several studies were also conducted on the racial identity of transracial adoptees (Bagley, 1993).These studies conceptualized racial identity in terms of racial group preferences, objective racial self-identification, and knowledge or awareness of one’s racia l group membership. Andujo (1988) also studied racial identity by measuring levels of acculturation, and by assessing the degree of pride in one’s ethnic heritage and appearance.Johnson et al. (1987) found that transracially adopted Black children had greater awareness of their race at an earlier age than did intraracially adopted Black children. As they grow older, however, both groups of adopted children expressed analogous levels of awareness and preference.The findings of the study also indicated that transracially adopted children’s awareness and preference stayed constant over time, while that of intraracially adopted Black children’s both increased more swiftly to exceed that of transracially adopted children.In the end, the study concluded that transracially adopted children were developing differently from intraracially adopted children. This developmental difference could be the springboard of the problems in the transracial adoptees’ racial ide ntity.Shireman and Johnson (1986) likewise reported on the psychological adjustment, racial identity, and sexual identity of transracial adoptees as compared to intraracial adoptees and adoptees of single parents.All of the adoptees in the study were Black children and all of the parents were also Black except for the parents in the transracial placements all of whom were White. Parents and adoptees were interviewed separately. The findings of the study suggested that there were no differences in psychological adjustment among the three groups of adoptees as determined by objective ratings of the interviews.In the end, the controversies hounding transracial adoption, no matter how limited they are, still largely affect those who are involved in the process. Only when these issues are addressed and resolved can the matters be put to rest.BibliographyAndujo, E. (1988). Ethnic identity of transethnically adopted Hispanic adolescents. Social Work, 33, 531-535.Bagley, C. (1993a). Chinese adoptees in Britain: A twenty-year follow-up of adjustment and social identity. International Social Work, 36, 143-157.Hayes, P. (1993). Transracial adoption: Politics and ideology. Child Welfare, 72, 301-310.Johnson, P. R., Shireman, J. F., & Watson, K. W. (1987). Transracial adoption and the development of black identity at age eight. Child Welfare, 66, 45-55.Kim, W. J. (1995). International adoption: A case review of Korean children. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 25, 141-154.National Adoption Information Clearinghouse (2000, August). Adoption: Numbers and trends. Available: http://www.calib.com/naic/pubs/s_number.htmProject 21. (1995, March). African-American leadership group condemns racist adoption practices. (On-line). Available: http://www.nationalcenter.inter.net/TransRacialAdopt.htmlShireman, J. F., & Johnson, P. R. (1986). A longitudinal study of Black adoptions: Single parent, transracial, and traditional. Social Work, 31, 172-176.http://www.transracialadoption .net/inform.htm#Psychological%20adjustment,%20self-esteem,%20and%20racial%20identity

Target Case Study

Case Study: Target Adriana Gonzalez Principles of Marketing Statement of the Problem(s) In this particular case, there is one major dilemma and all other problems seemed to have risen from this one. For the past few years there has been a recession globally. In the year 2008, the recession was at its peak and all industries suffer tremendously. For many years Target grew at a much faster pace than Wal-Mart, but the economy made a radical turn affecting everyone. Target rapidly started to experience low sales as the time pass.As a result, the most important shareholder, William Ackman, demanded a rapid and effective strategy to bring Target’s sales up once again (Armstrong & Kotler, 2012). Summary of the Facts * Target is known for its products in style and fashion. * Numerous designer product lines. * Customers view Target as a retail store with higher prices * Target’s customers went for the lower prices at its competitors retail store * Wal-Mart changed is mission sta tement to â€Å"Save money. Live better. † it mimics Target’s mission statement (Armstrong & Kotler, 2012). While Target’s image of higher quality products remained, Wal-Mart use â€Å"rollbacks† to attract customers. * Target started to greet customers with value messages and big signs promoting sale products (Armstrong & Kotler, 2012). Target’s mission statement has been, â€Å"Expect More. Pay Less. † After the recession the company focused on the â€Å"Pay Less† part of their slogan. At the middle of the year 2008, Target had experienced three quarters of same-store sales growth (Armstrong & Kotler, 2012). Customers did not respond as rapidly as the company hoped.They seemed to be more interested in low prices than quality. Wal-Mart took over Target’s customers during the recession. Analysis The CEO, Gregg Steinhafel, came up with a strategy to help the business. Using the same mission statement, they focused on the â€Å" Pay Less† part of it. On the other hand, Wal-Mart’s new mission statement seemed to fit perfectly with customers during this difficult economy crisis. Target’s competitor closed its quarterly sale-store sales with an increase of five percent during 2008, while Target had no increases (Armstrong & Kotler, 2012).After months of urging the new strategy the company finally got results. New advertising help the company move forward in the industry. Target launched a new brand named â€Å"up & up,† which was a thirty percent lower than comparable brand names. The company also decided to introduce fresh foods that were not as expensive as its competitors. Target’s stock went up twenty-seven percent since 2010, when they introduced fresh foods (Young, 2012). Now customers could to all their shopping at Target without hesitating to make another stop at the grocery store.For the past five years Target and Wal-Mart have been the strongest competitors in the re tail industry. Target suffered the first couple of years, but has climbed up to its competitor’s level. The company was in critical condition when the most important shareholder, William Ackman, demanded effective results. Ackman stated, â€Å"It should be a business that does well, even in tough economic times† (Armstrong & Kotler, 2012). After Ackman’s statement the CEO, Steinhafel, sharpened its strategy by advertising new television commercials with catchy music.Promoting new ads and adding a Target brand helped Target to raise its sales to five percent with profits of fifty-four percent increase (Armstrong & Kotler, 2012). Meanwhile, Wal-Mart focused on low price strategy to save people money. Target on the other hand commits to a higher marketing expenditure and considers its customers guests (Wal-Mart and Target, 2011). After all, many customers continue to shop at Target because of its higher quality products. Recommendations Target is not the only busin ess that was harmed due to the recession. On the contrary, it was one of the businesses that survived those tough years.There were losses in the company, not just financially, it also lost many customers. There were obviously changes that needed to be made quickly and intelligently. The CEO, Steinhafel, made a wise decision when it came to emphasizing differently the current slogan. Customers might have had a different perspective of the store and its products. They may not recognize Target as a high quality and fashionable retail store, but as a retail store that lost its faith in its mission statement. â€Å"Expect More,† is the most important part of the mission statement because customers expect more when they shop at Target.Target’s customers still had that image of better quality but now at lower prices. When it comes to promotion and advertising, the company could have done more on this portion. As the company started to advertise more television commercials and weekly newspaper circulars, the customers soon responded to them. Customers liked the idea of ads showing ordinary people consuming Target’s products (Armstrong & Kotler, 2012). After eighteen long months of pushing forward the strategy Target finally got results. Customers would have responded positively if these promotions were at their reach months earlier.The company’s number one priority needs to be our customers’ demands, wants, and needs. Target’s strategies need to focus around our customers in order to maintain sales and profits. The shortages of concentration on promotion lead to a longer crisis for Target. By researching our customers wants and needs the company can accomplish greater profits. The company cannot set aside the importance of marketing process and marketing mix. Managers have to motivate everyone in the organization to help built customer relationships. Target’s success lies on strong customer-focused and heavily committed to marketing.References Armstrong, G. , & Kotler, P. (2012). Principles of Marketing (pp. 94-95). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Wal-Mart and Target: Strategic Differences. (2011). Retrieved February 19, 2013, from http://www. ftsmodules. com/public/texts/valuationtutor/VTehn3/tonic8/tonic8htm. Young, A. (2012 August, 23). Target Vs. Wal-Mart: Target Wins on Pricing, Barely, And Probably Not for Long. Retrieved February 19, 2013, from http://ibtimes. com/target_vs_wal-mart_target_wins_prining_barely_and_probably_not_long_htm.

Best Buy Culture

Question – 1 Describe the culture of Best Buy Answer – 1 Best Buy culture has changed tremendously. The company’s culture was once to embrace long hours and sacrifice, now the culture is more relaxed. The employees are now really able to run their own schedule as well as their own work progress. Before the ROWE program was introduces to the Best Buy employees would have to work until they found a solution. That means staying at work all night and day if the job or situation requires it. For example the book talks about one employee that was given a plaque for staying up and at work for three days to right a report that was due. He made a sacrifice for his job that made him end up in the hospital. The ROWE program which stands for Results-Only Work Environment program is a way that employees can still work whether in the office, at home, or coffee shop as long as they finish the job. This program has changed the culture of Best Buy as well as the performance. Question – 2 discuss the approach to Organizational change that the ROWE program illustrate Answer – 2 Instead of launching a work-life balance program, Best Buy rethought the very concept of work. Under the Results-Only Work Environment program or ROWE, employees can work when and where they like, as long as they get the job done. The ROWE program is based on 13 principles and rules. The key ones include: * There are no work schedules in the traditional sense. * Every meeting is optional with a few key exceptions. * There is no focus on â€Å"how many hours did you work† * Work is not a place you go, it’s something you do. * As long as work is done, employees do whatever they want whenever they want. In brief ROWE is all about results. No results, no job. The public relations team has papers to make sure someone is always available in an emergency. Many teams realized that they need only one regular weekly meeting, so they eliminated the unproductive ones. By ROWE culture the employees feel happier about their work. They feel more ownership of their work. They feel clearer about what they are doing for the company. Question – 3 discuss the resistance, both organization and individual that the ROWE program had to overcome. Answer – 3 the corporate team led by CEO Brad Anderson, was initially skeptical about the ROWE program and whether it should be expanded. The managers at the Best Buy put up the most resistance. The Best Buy’s legal department has resisted the new way of working, partly because the in-house attorneys are worried that it will reduce their pay. When Thompson proposed extending flexibility to hourly workers, the managers resisted, arguing that â€Å"there are certain people that need to be managed differently than other people. Because we believe that administrative assistants need to be at their desks to serve their bosses. One of the corporate strategists has struggled to figure out how to prove him in new environment. Without children, she had an advantage. She could be the first one in and the last one out. She said she had all this panic and everything she knew about the success was suddenly changing. One of the legal attorney felt that she checks the emails on her day off. She was afraid that the ROWE will push more work into her downtime. Question – 4 discuss the sources of stress that are apparent in the case Answer – 4 Best Buy introduced the ROWE program to reduce stress and overwork in their employees at their headquarters. The program basically allows you to work from anywhere, any hours you choose, as long as the job gets done. The employees at Best Buy’s headquarters generally worked long hours until the ROWE program was introduced. Employee burnout and turnover was high. After the ROWE program’s implementation, productivity has increased and voluntary turnover has decreased. The Culture of Best Buy Prior to the implementation of ROWE at Best Buy, employee morale was low; the turnover rate was high, employees worked very long hours. â€Å"The company’s culture used to embrace long hours and sacrifice†. Employees spent a lot of time in impromptu meetings called by management. Employees were called upon to complete reports with little or no notice. Some employees stated they spent little time with their families and worked even when they were not physically in the office. The system at Best Buy before ROWE was work, work, and more work. Employees seemed to be working 24hrs a day. Now, with more control of their time, employees are more productive. They are able to decide when and where they want to work. The change has also helped them to confront some biases in the workplace. Deciding whether or not to extend the same benefit to hourly employees exposed how some managers felt. They resisted because of their belief that it was not for everyone, some people needed to be held to the old system. Question – 5 discuss whether or not the organizational culture has helped with the change Answer- 5 the ROWE experiment started quietly. While the sample size was fewer than 300 employees, the early results were promising. Turnover in the first three month of employment fell from 14 percent to zero. Job satisfaction rose 10 percent and team –performance scores rose 13 percent. The results from and reactions to ROWE has been encouraging. Productivity increased an average of 35 percent within six to nine months in the units that implemented ROWE. The voluntary turnover has dropped between 52 percent and 90 percent in three Best Buy divisions that have implemented ROWE. As Thompson stated â€Å"the employees feel happier about the work. †They see Rowe as a benefit that’s almost more important than any other. They talk about it as if to say, someone else could offer me more money but I wouldn’t go because I now have control over my time. Ultimately for Best Buy, the new approach to work is about staying competitive, not just helping its employees. Reference- Integrating cases from the Organizational Behavior book [page no – 553]

Target Audience & Competition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Target Audience & Competition - Essay Example Maslow’s Theory of Needs and its Application to Marketing In case where an individual worker like for example needs more money for meeting his needs it is obvious that he needs to work harder for doing so. According to Maslow there are physiological, safety and security, social, esteem and self-actualization needs that happen to be really important (Adair, 1996). By putting in the hard work the individual can try to meet his need and later can also put in the necessary effort and time to win the desired reward. Here we can also use the Expectancy theory where an individual worker puts in efforts to adjust his personal motivational levels to that of her or his colleagues. Maslow's hierarchy of needs identify five basic areas of needs that most humans experience. First is the physiological or the basic life survival needs then comes the safety and security need after that is the social need that includes belongingness and love after which comes the self-esteem and the fifth need is the self-actualization. Maslow found out that a person moves form one need to another after he has met a need. Like if he meets the needs at level one, then he moves toward the next, and then the next and so on. Maslow found out that decision making and human behaviour are motivated by one of any five need levels in the hierarchy model he presented. If we apply these needs to the marketing theory it will not be wrong to say that the marketers by effectively appealing to one of the motivational drivers can be really successful. The social and self esteem needs can be fulfilled by the marketers by using strong marketing campaigns and building a strong brand image. People are in search of recognition so if marketers fulfil this need they can always make good profit out of their businesses. Maslow's fundamental principles link marketing and human psychology. It is important for the marketer to find out the level of need which the customer is looking to meet, and then market the prod uct in a way that convinces him that he particular need will be fulfilled like that. Performing periodic evaluations of the marketing techniques as the target audience are not likely to stay static is very important. It is very important for the marketers to be aware of the place where Maslow's hierarchy of needs of the customer base is and the place where the product fits in. By paying more attention to this marketing can be more effective. Stages of the Consumer Behaviour Model and its Application to Marketing Researchers have proven that that motivation factors play a significant role in stages of purchasing process and possess positive influence on the internal factors that is the information search, alternatives evaluation, and post purchasing and purchasing. All these internal factors can have an impact on each other in positive direction and are strongly correlated. Consumer happens to be one of the very significant and complicated units of the marketing system. As many exter nal and internal factors impact consumer behaviour within this system, the measuring and evaluating of purchasing process proves to be comparatively difficult. Consumer behaviour is not as straightforward as the purchasing of a service or product by paying its price but at the same time it is a procedure that has post-purchasing dimensions. Understanding of the consumer behaviour in all the stage of consumer behaviour model that consist of recognising the problem, searching the information, evaluating the alternatives, purchasing and also

Vertical and horizontal integration strategy Assignment

Vertical and horizontal integration strategy - Assignment Example t the end of this integration is the factory plant at River Rouge, Michigan where all these parts are assembled to become an automobile that will be later distributed in the market and sold. For a time, this strategy became very effective and contributed to Ford’s success. This strategy of vertical integration however eventually became obsolete as supply chain became complex and competition became stiffer. The introduction of new supply chain and inventory control such as Toyota’s Just-in-Time rendered vertical integration out of fashion. The recent recessions also exposed the vulnerability of vertical integration to economic and cyclical downturns. Thus, the strategy evolved to horizontal integration which is more appropriate for its global market. Horizontal integration as a strategy involves the acquisition of the production whose products are the same – either complementary or competitive (www.theeconomist.com, 2009). The classic example of this strategy is buying competitors who sell the same product. In the case of Ford this is the acquisition of Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda, Jaguar, Land rover, Volvo and Aston Martin which was sold as an option of the company’s