Explain the Various Elements of the Marketing Process

Explain the Various Elements of the Marketing Process Introduction This paper explains the strategic marketing planning process illustrating the discussion with examples from the low cost airline, Easyjet. The paper proceeds in five parts. In the next section of the paper, the concept of market segmentation is described and discussed. Next, the concept is located in the overall positioning, segmentation, targeting (PST) organisational strategy. Porters’ Generic Strategy is then outlined, as a supplementary paradigm to market segmentation. The concept of the marketing mix is discussed and applied to the case study company. A brief conclusion closes the paper. Before examining the marketing process, however, it is necessary to provide an overview of the case study company. Easyjet is an airline company that has been operating in the United Kingdom since 1995 (Easyjet, 2014). Like many other low-cost carriers, the company initially modeled itself on the business model of a successful American carrier, Southwestern Airlines (Yip, 2004). That airline had experienced unprecedented success by cultivating and exploiting a low cost operating model – Easyjet sought to implement this model in the European context, launching a flight between London and Amsterdam that was half the cost of the fare at the time offered by national carrier British Airways (Sull, 1999). In the years that followed, Easyjet rapidly expanded its route network to include hubs in some of the major British cities: Glasgow, Manchester and Liverpool, and routes to popular European destinations including Rome, Brussels, Milan, Barcelona, Frankfurt, Oslo and Stockholm. Today, Easyjet is â€Å"Europe’s leading airline†, specialising in short haul, point-to-point flights between Great Britain and Europe (Easyjet, 2014, online). The carrier operates some 600 routes serving 30 countries, and had firm plans to expand its network further afield in the future. Marketing as a concept Marketing can be thought of as a strategic philosophy which holds that assessing and meeting the needs of customers is a complex and multifaceted activity, so that organisations are required to take a holistic, customer-focused approach to all of their business activities (Svensson, 2001). In practice, marketing involves collecting, recording and analysing data about customers, and using this data to establish a strategy for meeting their needs. The marketing process covers a myriad of business activities that enable companies to meet the needs of consumers. Three key activities form the backbone of the marketing process. In the first instance, the customer base is segmented on the basis of demographic or other characteristics. Secondly, apositioning, segmentation, targeting (PST) strategy is developed in order to target goods and services to the correct market segments. Thirdly, a marketing mix is developed. Considered together these three elements form the basis of the firm’s overall marketing strategy (Kotler and Keller, 2006). Market segmentation Populations, and hence markets are potentially large and heterogeneous (Dibb, 1998). Marketers would find it impractical to target every member of such a diverse grouping, and thus market segmentation is a key activity in the marketing process (Kotler and Keller, 2006). Market heterogeneity can be defined as â€Å"the extent to which groupings of customers based on operational descriptor variables respond differentially to the choices of both offerings and the way they are marketed† (Wensley, 1995, p. 78). So, market segmentation refers to the activity in which this large heterogeneous market is segmented or divided into smaller, more homogeneous groupings of individuals with similar demographic characteristics or similar needs (Kotler and Keller, 2006). Segmentation recognises that it is neither practical nor profitable to attempt to satisfy the needs of a large heterogeneous population; ultimately, its aim is to identify the business’ most profitable customers, to understand them, and to target them. Each portion of the market is known as a market segment. Segments can be identified on the basis of consumer characteristics (e.g. socio-economics such as wealth or social class, demographics such as gender or geographical location), psychographics (that is, interest, attitudes or opinions), product-related behavioural characteristics such as purchasing or consumption habits, or, in the case of business to business (B2B) marketing, business characteristics such as business size, location or level or turnover (Wedel and Kamakura, 2000). Easyjet uses two consumer characteristics to segment its market: level of wealth, and hence, the degree to which customers are price conscious, and purpose of travel (i.e. leisure or business) (Sull, 1999). The way in which this is evident is through the pricing strategy of the company, which is discussed in greater detail below. For now, it is important to note that Easyjet’s business model differs from conventional carriers who typically drive sales towards the more lucrative business class passengers, filling the remainder of their seats with low-paying leisure passengers. In contrast, Easyjet, â€Å"does not serve the business consumer first and use the tourists as a buffer in case it has some excess capacity, but rather restricts the demand of both segments (by raising the appropriate prices) so as to equate capacity to expected demand† (Koenigsberg, Muller, and Vilcassim, 2004, pp. 16-17). In other words, the company recognises two distinct customer segments but uses similar market capture strategies for both. Segmenting, Positioning and Targeting the market Identifying the target market does not end with segmentation: after segmentation has been undertaken, organisations must target the market, and position themselves. This is known as the segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP) process (Sausen, Tomczak, and Herrmann, 2005) Targeting refers to the way in which marketing efforts are aimed at the segment while positioning refers to the â€Å"designing of the company’s image so that the target customers understand and appreciate what the company stands for in relation to its competitors† (Hooley and Saunders, 1993, p. 8). Two broad strategies can be identified. Functional positioning refers to positioning on the basis of product characteristics (e.g. price or quality), while expressive positioning refers to positioning on the basis of consumer characteristics (Johar and Sirgy, 1989). Easyjet, established in 1995, entered the air travel industry specifically to address the needs of low income passengers, as exemplified by the emphasis placed on the prices of its fares (Sull, 1999; Dobruszkes, 2009). Accordingly, the segmentation strategy used by the company was essentially an income-based, or price-conscious strategy: it met the needs of individuals wishing to travel throughout Europe that were not willing, or able to pay the airfares charged by full service airlines. However, more recently, the carrier has begun to be used by business passengers (Lu, 2009). For instance, from March 2013 to March 2014, the airline transported 12 million business passengers (almost fifty percent of its fleet’s seat capacity was taken up by business passengers), representing a growth in this market by 8.5 per cent over the previous year (The Guardian, 2014). This development has been attributed to the introduction of allocated seating. Previously, Easyjet, like many other Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) was able to keep airfares low because passengers were not able to select their seats prior to travel. However, the company abandoned this policy in November 2012, with the firm’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Carolyn McCall, remarking that â€Å"I think allocated seating has been the single most popular thing we have ever done for our passengers’ (cited in The Telegraph, online). The introduction of allocated seating is tantamount to a market repositioning and has enabled the airline to capture a greater share of the business passenger market. Repositioning is a normal part of the marketing process, for as Baines, Fill and Page (2012, p. 131) have noted â€Å"most marketers need to be alert and be prepared to reposition their brands as the relative position occupied by brands, in the minds of customers, will be challenged and shifted around on a frequent basis†. Detractors have argued that the STP process is inadequate at fully explaining business’ repositioning activities because it does not take into account the positioning strategies of competitors. To combat this, strategist Michael Porter (cited in Kotler and Keller, 2006) developed his generic strategies framework. This concept identified three positioning strategies available to firms: cost leadership, differentiation and focus. Under acost leadership strategy, the organisation seeks to offer its product or service at the lowest costs relative to competitors. Under the differentiation strategy, the firm seeks to differentiate itself from its competitors on the basis of product features such as quality. The third approach, the focus strategy, describes a stratified approach to positioning. Organisations using the focus strategy target concentrated or niche markets by seeking to understand the unique needs of that segment and tailoring well-specified products to them. It is generally argued that organisations that do not adopt a strategy are unsuccessful (Kotler and Keller, 2006). Easyjet has been vastly successful in relation to its competitors since its inception. In 2014, it became the largest British airline, in terms of passenger volumes, outstripping those of the national carrier, British Airways (Euromonitor, 2014). In Europe, in terms of market share, the company is second only to its Irish competitor, Ryanair. The fact that the company is competing on two fronts (with similar, low cost-carriers and conventional full-service carriers) suggests that it is pursuing a differentiation strategy. Easyjet has differentiated itself from low-cost carriers by introducing aspects which are typically absent from the services provided by those airlines (allocated seating is a good example), but it is differentiated from full-service airlines through, for example, its pricing strategy. The marketing mix An essential element of any company’s marketing strategy is the marketing mix (Brassington and Pettitt, 2009). This concept was developed to explain the factors influencing the demand for a product. Typically, the marketing mix is operationalised in terms of the ‘4 Ps’ Product, Place, Price and Promotion. Product In services marketing, product refers to all aspects of the services offered by the organisation including the level of the quality of the service, any guarantees or warranties, product lines or packaging (Kotler and Keller, 2006). Easyjet aspires to offer its business and leisure passengers safe and simple flights to a myriad of European destinations (Easyjet, 2014). To meet these aspirations, the company operates a large, modern fleet comprised of 220 Airbus A320 and A319 (ADS Advance, 2014). Despite media claims, the airline is one of the safest and most punctual airlines in Europe, and has invested significant amounts of cash in boosting the quality of its product. For instance, the company is investing in drone and robots that will be used to carry out safety checks on the aircraft, and the airline is working towards the provision of ‘paperless planes’ which it says will improve efficiency (ADS Advance, 2014). Flexibility is a major feature of the airline’s product. While full service airlines adhere to a business model that discriminates between airfares with different levels of flexibility (for example, non-refundable tickets and fully refundable tickets), Easyjet does not differentiate between tickets in this way (Nair, Paulose, Palacios, and Tafur, 2013). Furthermore, it is conventional in the industry for one-way tickets to cost passengers more than round-trip tickets. Carriers prefer passengers to make return flights because selling tickets in this way builds convenience into their flight scheduling processes. Passengers who purchase one-way flights make it difficult for carriers to set schedules and make staffing decisions (Nair et al, 2013). Easyjet utilises a different business model, which makes it more straightforward for customers to understand the product offering and enables it to build flexibility into its scheduling systems. Place Place refers to the distribution strategy of a company (Brassington and Pettitt, 2010). Easyjet aims to make travel on its fleet as widely available as possible, highlighted by its presence in almost every Western European country (Easyjet, 2014). The company is particularly proud of the extensiveness of its network, with its marketing materials claiming that â€Å"over 300 million people [reside] within a one hour drive of an easyJet airport† (Easyjet, 2014, online). Not only is the airline the leading carrier in Europe, it also holds strong positions in several major markets, including Edinburgh, Venice, Nice, and Naples, where it is the largest carrier, and Lisbon, Lyon and London Stansted, where it is the second largest carrier (Easyjet, 2014). However, the companys stated efforts to capture a growing share of the business passenger market share might be hindered by its choice of airports. Despite the firm’s claims that it serves ‘convenient’ locations, in many cases, the airline serves not the primary airport in a city, but smaller, supplementary airports that are typically in out-of-the-way locations. For instance, most Easyjet flights to Paris land at the city’s Orly airport, rather than the more popular Charles de Gaulle. Serving smaller airports is a key characteristic of the LCC business model, for larger airports tend to carry greater landing fees (O’Connell and Williams, 2005). Place also refers to the outlets through which customers can purchase the product or service. When it was first established Easyjet first offered passengers the opportunity to purchase flights only through its own website, via its telephone booking system and at the airports from which it operates (Euromonitor, 2013; 2014). The purpose of this model was to build the brand, and to keep costs low. Over time, however, the company has extended its distribution model to include third party intermediaries like lastminute.com and travelsupermarket.com. This enables customers to be creative in building their journeys (for example, booking an outward flight with one carrier and a return flight with another), and has allowed the airline to boost its market share, because the growth of specialist search engines means that travellers need only visit one website when they are searching for flights (Euromonitor, 2014). Promotion The telephone booking system that the company used to drive sales at its inception is also slowly being phased out, moving the company every further towards to an Internet-only business model (Euromonitor, 2014). When the company was first established, it relied on its web facilities, fleet and personnel branding (a trademark orange) and word-of-mouth to drive sales. It took the company 17 years of trading before it invested in a directed marketing campaign (Marketing Magazine, 2012). The company even featured in a London Weekend Television documentary, or ‘docusoap’ which, contrary to the fears of some analysts, turned out to be an enormously successful promotional exercise. As noted by Kilborn (2006, p. 201) â€Å"while Easyjet knew that there were certain risks involved in opening themselves up in this way, these were seen to be more than offset by the perceived opportunities for keeping the Easyjet brand name in front of the consumer. In the estimation of the company’s PR advisors, even those incidents of delays and other problems associated with air travel, could be turned to the companys advantage. The fact that Easyjet staff would be seen to be so actively involved in smoothing out problems and assisting in making alternative travel arrangements was regarded as a useful exercise in company public relations† In addition, the company has recently adopted a more aggressive marketing and branding strategy. In October 2011, the airline invested some  £50 million into its marketing strategy, recruiting an external advertising agency to establish a strong European-wide promotional campaign (Marketing Magazine, 2012). Although the resulting campaigns ‘Europe by Easyjet’ and ‘Where Are Young Going?; were panned by critics, analysts attributed a massive boost in the firm’s revenues per seat and passenger numbers to this aggressive promotional strategy (Marketing Magazine, 2012). Price There can be no doubt that the pricing strategy of the airline is the cornerstone of its business model. Although the company has shifted some of its focus to other elements of the marketing mix in recent years, the low prices offered by the company are probably its best-known feature among consumers. As the companys Chief Executive, Carolyn McCall remarked in a 2012 interview with Marketing Magazine (2012, online). â€Å"Well never move away from price – it is the cornerstone of what we do. But now we communicate destination and service†. This focus on low price and low costs is tantamount to what strategist Michael Porter (1985) termed a cost leadership position. It is interesting that analysts have argued that such a position is untenable in the long run. For example, the CEO of US airliner Skytrax Edward Plaisted has argued that low-cost airline models rarely guarantee success – he pointed to the fact that half of new carriers go bust because they cannot maintain the low cost strategy (Kah, 2012). Porter (1985) did argue that for such as position to be sustained, services must be perceived by customers to be good value for money. The empirical evidence does seem to suggest that Easyjet’s customers do believe that the carrier offers value for money, as highlighted by its improving punctuality record and growing passenger numbers (Euromonitor, 2014). The company has even outperformed competitors following a similar business model: for instance, the British low cost airline Flybe has reported large annual losses since 2012 (Euromonitor, 2014). For this reason, the airline’s chief has argued that there is a lot of blue water between us and Ryanair, and very little between us and British Airways† (Marketing Magazine, 2012, online). The way in which the carrier has been able to consolidate its competitive advantage is by balancing its low price strategy with high peripheral prices (Euromonitor, 2014). For example, although passengers are able to find flights for as little as 9 euros, there are additional charges for printing off boarding cards, checking in at the airport, selecting a seat and taking hold luggage. Clearly, the growth in passenger numbers and the growth in the airline itself means that customers do view, even the high prices of peripherals as value for money. It must therefore be concluded that Easyjet’s cost leadership strategy is a fruitful one. Conclusion This report has outlined the marketing process, using the low cost airline Easyjet as a case study. The case study shows that the company has embraced the idea of marketing as a holistic, organisation-wide philosophy, and its recent successes can be attributed – at least partly – to well thought out segmentation and PST techniques, and an appropriate marketing mix. References ADS Advance (2014). Easyjet applies innovative tech to improve efficiency. Online at http://www.adsadvance.co.uk/easyjet-applies-innovative-tech-to-improve-efficiency.html . Date accessed: 17 October 2014 Baines, P., Fill, C. and Page, K. (2012). Essentials of Marketing. Oxford: Oxford University Press Brassington,F. and Pettitt, S. (2000) Principles of Marketing. London: Prentice Hall Dobruszkes, F. (2009). New Europe, new low-cost air services. Journal of Transport Geography, 17(6), 423-432. Dibb, S. (1998). Market segmentation strategies for success. Marketing Intelligence and Planning. 16(7), pp. 394-406. Easyjet (2014). About us. Online at http://corporate.easyjet.com/about-easyjet.aspx?sc_lang=en_$ja=tsid:31245|cat:101248RefID=EJH_AFFWINcallwinid=101248awc=3550_1413547041_0c47faefc4e3a8d5b7f288863c6c2a29 . Date accessed: 17 October 2014 Euromonitor (2014). Low-cost carriers: Exploring new territories. London: Euromonitor Euromonitor (2013). Easyjet Airline Co. Ltd in Travel and Tourism. London: Euromonitor Hooley, G. J., Saunders, J. A. (1993). Competitive positioning: The key to market success. Hemel Hempstead, England: Prentice Hall. Johar, J. S., Sirgy, M. J. (1989). Positioning models in marketing: toward a normative-integrated model. Journal of Business and Psychology, 3(4), 475-485. Kah, S. (2012). The Cost of Poor Quality. Retrieved from http://www.improvementandinnovation.com/features/article/the-cost-of-poor-quality-what-will-customers-give-up-in-exchange-for-low-costs/?isFeature=1 on 19 October 2014 Kilborn, R, (2006). A Marriage Made in Heaven or in Hell? Relations Between Documentary Filmmakers. In L’Etang, J. (ed). Public Relations: Critical Debates and Contemporary Practice. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum, 187-204 Koenigsberg, O., Muller, E., Vilcassim, N. J. (2004). Easyjet Airlines: Small, lean and with prices that increase over time. Mimeo. Centre for Marketing Working Paper 04-904. London Business School. Kotler, P. and K. L. Keller (2006). Marketing Management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. Lu, C. (2009). The implications of environmental costs on air passenger demand for different airline business models. Journal of Air Transport Management, 15(4), 158-165. Marketing Magazine (2012). Industry View: Is Easyjet’s Marketing Makeover Working? Online at http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1131167/industry-view-easyjets-marketing-makeover-working . Date accessed: 16 October 2014 Nair, S., Paulose, H., Palacios, M., Tafur, J. (2013). Service orientation: effectuating business model innovation. The Service Industries Journal, 33(9-10), 958-975. O’Connell, J. F., Williams, G. (2005). Passengers’ perceptions of low cost airlines and full service carriers: A case study involving Ryanair, Aer Lingus, Air Asia and Malaysia Airlines. Journal of Air Transport Management, 11(4), 259-272. Porter, M E. (1985). Competitive Advantage. New York: The Free Press Sausen, K., Tomczak, T. and Herrmann, A. (2005). Development of taxonomy of strategic market segmentation: a framework for bridging the implementation gap between normative segmentation and business practice. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 13(3), 151-173. Sull, D. (1999). Easyjets $500 million gamble. European Management Journal, 17(1), 20-32. Svensson, G. (2001). Re-evaluating the marketing concept. European Business Review, 13(2), 95-101. The Guardian (2014). Easyjet business travel takes off with success of seat booking. Online at http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/may/13/easyjet-business-travel-allocated-seating . Date accessed: 16 October 2014 The Telegraph (2013). Easyjet boosted by business passengers. Online at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/10826571/easyJet-boosted-by-business-passengers.html. Date accessed: 16 October 2014 Wedel, M. and Kamakura, W. (2000). Market Segmentation: Conceptual and Methodological Foundations. Norwell: Kluwer Wensley (1995). A critical review of research in marketing. British Journal of Management, 6(1), 63-82. Yip, G. S. (2004). Using strategy to change your business model. Business Strategy Review, 15(2), 17-24.

Organizational Behavior – Jean Lewis at Staples Case Study

LDP1 July 17, 2007 The interchange between task behavior, relationship behavior, and follower readiness is the foundation of situational leadership. Different focus on relationship or task behavior is applied to followers on different readiness levels. Task behavior is the degree of detailed direction given by a leader to a follower or a group for them to perform a task. Included in these directions are specifics of the methodology to perform the task as well as the place and the parties involved.Relationship behavior is the grade of interaction between the leader and the follower or group. Readiness is the degree of willingness and capability that a follower demonstrates. â€Å"The two major components of readiness are ability and willingness† (Hersey, Blanchard, & Johnson, 2001) Ability is composed of the follower’s qualifications for a particular task. Hersey (2001) catalogs these qualifications as knowledge, skill and experience. Willingness is the level of confiden ce, commitment and motivation that someone shows.Willingness is not a personal attribute as it varies from a task to another. Confidence is the expressed belief that one is able to perform a task. The fact that an individual is confident does not necessarily make him capable of completing an assignment, as it is a mental state rather than a measure of skills. Commitment is an established dedication to undertake a responsibility, and motivation is the expressed desire to do it. Based on the degree of ability and willingness an individual can be classified into four levels of readiness as follows: R1 – Unable and UnwillingR2 – Unable but Willing R3 – Able but Unwilling R4 – Able and Willing R1 individuals do not have either the necessary level of skill or the commitment to perform a task. R2 individuals are not qualified, yet have the willingness to undertake the responsibility. R3 individuals have the ability to perform the task but are reluctant to execut e it. Finally, R4 individuals have the ability and the willingness to complete a task. The situational leadership model institutes four different leadership styles to pair with each of the four readiness levels.These styles are characterized by the different combinations of relationship and task behavior and are defined as follows: Style 1 or S1 – This style of leadership characterized by a high amount of task and low amount of relationship behavior should be used on individuals on the first level of readiness. It is also known as crisis leadership as it is a good practice on a critical situation when the leader doesn’t have the time to explain the â€Å"whys† of the objectives to the followers or research the readiness level of the group.For instance during a fire the fire department personnel is likely to use this type of leadership to evacuate a building. Style 2 or S2 – Typified by high levels of both, task and relationship behaviors, this style shoul d be used in individuals on the second level of readiness. These individuals lack the skills to complete a task, therefore a great deal of direction (task behavior) is needed. Since they are trying, it is important to encourage them to continue their progress (relationship behavior).Style 3 or S3 – Low task and high relationship behavior set this leadership style apart, and should be used on followers on readiness level 3. These individuals have the skill level necessary to complete a task, therefore high amounts of direction are unnecessary. However, since they are unwilling the leader must spend time participating in bilateral communication to encourage them and facilitate decision making. Style 4 or S4 – Characterized by low levels of both relationship and task behaviors. Hersey (2001) describes this leadership style as delegating.R4 individuals are able and willing to undertake a task, reducing the leader’s participation to monitoring progress. As we can see in this model, the readiness level of an individual is what determines the leadership style to be applied. Consequently, it is the follower and not the leader that establishes the leadership style. In her time at Staples, Jeanne Lewis applied different leadership styles to accommodate the different readiness levels of her employees. Until she started working in the marketing department she experienced different levels of rejection from her staff that translated into unwillingness.Jeanne describes her experience in operations as â€Å"managing a group of people who had ‘been there, done that’ for years. † And yet, she continues, â€Å"we had a situation where the stores weren’t performing well, and I had to tell them to make money and grow sales. †(Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc, 2001) From her words we can perceive that her staff was in a R1 readiness level. Unwilling because they did not think Jeanne had the experience necessary to run the departmen t, and unable at some level because the stores were not performing well.Jeanne used a S1 leadership style to match the readiness level of her staff. This leadership style, characterized by high task and relationship behavior, has been described as crisis leadership. Jeanne made many changes in the department in a short period of time, so abundant clear and concise direction was necessary. Also due to the reluctance of the operations staff, high levels of multi-way communication were needed. This leadership style is used to help followers advance in their readiness levels, and should only be used in times of crisis.We can presume from her direct report’s description of Jeanne’s management style that she did exactly that. â€Å"She tended to manage tightly at first,† he said, â€Å"then loosened the reins† I think it is safe to assume that her â€Å"loosening the reins†(Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc, 2001) was caused by an upwards variation of her sta ff’s readiness level which in turn we can attribute to her management style, and personal charm, and hard-working attitude to elevate follower’s willingness, and clear direction and new training programs to raise ability.A similar situation happened in merchandising. We can learn much of Lewis’ progression of management style by her report’s statement that â€Å"at first impression he worried that Lewis might be a micro-manager, but he soon realized that she liked to inspire dialog and debate to ensure that they dug deeply in their decision making† (Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc, 2001). We cannot discard that his first impression was correct, and it is not his erception of Jeanne’s personality that changed, but her management style. When Jeanne was transferred to the marketing department, she found a different situation. She found a talented staff, able and willing to do the job that was requested of them, so she took the passenger sit and le aded them using low task and low relationship behavior (S4). Much to her surprise the followers started experiencing a regressing in their readiness level, going from an able-and-willing group to an able-but-insecure state.Perhaps the distress of the failed merger caused the insecurity. Jeanne needed to adjust her leadership style to include more participation and multi-directional communication (relationship behavior), but running between floors and â€Å"changing hats† all the time did not leave her enough time thus she insisted that her replacement in merchandising be appointed in order to free her schedule. I think Jeanne Lewis is a perfect example of a situational manager.During the whole time I spent reading the case study I could not help but see how she adjusted her management style precisely as the situation required it. Works Cited: Hersey, P. , Blanchard, K. H. , & Johnson, D. E. (2001). Management of organizational behavior: Leading human resources (8th ed. ). New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Pp. 171-203. Suesse, J. M. (2000). Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (A) (Abridged). Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing. Pp. 1-14 (78-91).

Penn Foster Principles of Management Final Exam Essay

1. In order to implement an organizations commitment to social responsibility it is necessary to identify what social problem the organization intends to address, develop policies on what the organization plans to do to successfully fulfill its obligation and ensure stakeholder buy-in. The main obstacles an organization faces when implementing socially responsible policies is pressure from stockholders and business analysis who want steady increase in earnings. Without steady increase in profits, it becomes difficult to reinvest money in these areas. The following actions can be taken toward increased social responsibility: 1. Examine expectations and past responses 2. Set objectives and prioritize 3. Plan and implement strategies 4. Set budgets for resources needed for social action 5. Monitor progress 2. Departmentalization is the practice in which grouping or combining jobs that are related to form a specialized area that is distinct from other areas in an organization. Work or functional departmentalization is a method of separating the activities performed within an organization into groups by the nature or function of the work they perform. For example, functional departmentalization would tend to group together staff members that perform a specialized function in an organization, like accounting. Product departmentalization is the grouping of business activities that are necessary to produce a particular product and/or market a product or service line under the direction of one manager. An example of product departmentalization would be a large multiproduct organization like an automotive distributor. Geographic departmentalization is when organizations are physically isolated to geographical regions. An example of geographical departmentalization is a manufacturing company that has locations in Northern and Southern locations that deal with consumers within their region. Customer departmentalization is when an organization is divided into units that handle specific customer needs. Examples of customer departmentalization in a manufacturing plant are: Assembly, shipping, billing, etc. 3. The acronym SWOT stands for an organizations strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. A SWOT analysis is strategic planning method that evaluates the internal and external performance of an organization to see if it’s favorable or unfavorable to achieve whatever objective you are set out to accomplish. Strengths and weaknesses usually arise from the internal aspect of an organization, whereas opportunities and threats evolve from external components. By performing a SWOT analysis it provides information to managers to help formulate a successful strategy to achieve goals. PART B 1. Six Sigma is a management philosophy that sets objectives, collects data and analyzes results as a way to remove wasted expenses from its processes and help reduce the number of defective products produced. Six Sigma uses quality measures to strive for near perfection by eliminating errors and variables. 2. The balance of trade is the point where the difference between exports and imports is favorable for the country. When the country imports more than it exports, it results in a trade deficit and when the country exports more than it imports, the country runs into a trade surplus. The balance of trade for a countries economy is a very fine balance. The economic condition can change and a deficit or surplus may be an ideal situation. 3. In the context of communication, perception is based on the individual that is on the receiving end of the information. Perception is a process in which stimulation of the senses, whether written, verbal or non-verbal, is translated into a meaningf ul experience. Each person perceives the same information differently and they tend to only listens to part of the message before perception distorts the intended message. 4. The term organizational decentralization refers to the increased amount of authority given to lower level management by upper level management. By allowing lower level management to be involved in decision making, it enables actions to happen in a timelier manner and promotes higher employee morale, as well as relieves upper management from time consuming projects. 5. Simon’s theory, principle of bounded rationality as it applies to satisficing can be summarized as a decision making strategy that selects the best alternative rather than continuing to search for the optimal solution to any given situation. 6. In relations to leadership, consideration and initiating structure both contribute positively to staff motivation and satisfaction, as well as, effectiveness. 7. Positive reinforcement is to add a positive outcome as a result of a desired behavior. Negative reinforcement is to give the person the opportunity to avoid a negative consequence by increasing the likelihood that the desired behavior will reoccur. Both are used to increase the frequency of the desired behavior. 8. Planning – The manager sets objectives and decided what needs to be done to meet those goals. Organizing – The manager divides work into manageable activities and selects people to accomplish the task that need to be done. Staffing – The manager determines how many and what kind of staff is needed to meet the organizations goals and then recruits and trains the appropriate people. Leading – The manager motivates and communicates with staff and also directs them towards meeting the organizational goals. Controlling – The manager measures and analyzes the organizations performance, and makes changes if financial standards are not being m et. 9. A manager would use the critical-incident appraisal method for assessing employees’ written record of both satisfactory and unsatisfactory work performances. Performance is documented as it occurs and can aid in preparing performance evaluations to identify strengths and areas that need improvement. 10. Group norm is an informal set of rules a group takes on to regulate group behavior, whereas group cohesiveness is the overall attraction each member has for the group. Group norm example: Employees that work on assembly line #1 at the local factory always sit at the same lunch table and don’t interact with others. Group cohesiveness example: Employees on assembly line #2 have beaten the monthly production record for the 10th month in a row.

Holocaust Survivor Essay - 871 Words

One of the many important and most memorable incidents of World War Two would be the Holocaust. During the Holocaust, the Germans who were known as the Nazis, considered the Jews to be â€Å"enemy aliens†. As part of this, the Nazis thought that â€Å"Aryans† were a master race. Therefore, they decided to destroy the Jewish race, and created genocide. The Jews were put into unbearable torture at many concentration and death camps. In fact, 6 million Jews were killed in this incident; however, there were many victims who survived this anguish. One of the many survivors was Simon Wiesenthal, who survived the Nazi death camps and began his career as a Nazi hunter. Simon Wiesenthal was born on December 31, 1908 in Buczacz (Lvov Oblast, Ukraine) and†¦show more content†¦After many struggle, Wiesenthal finally escaped, weighing only 99 pounds and in a very fragile state. Simon Wiesenthal was not only an honorable survivor, but also a contributor the Holocaust, that happened in World War Two. After his horrible incident at the concentration camps, Wiesenthal’s health was back to normal and he began research on possible evidences to prove the Nazi’s atrocious behaviours toward the Jews. Wiesenthal worked in many legal and corporate offices, to gain his status, along with conducting his research. After leaving the United States Army in 1947, Wiesenthal and other volunteers opened the Jewish Historical Documentation Centre, which assisted with the evidence for war crime trials. Yet, as the Cold War began, the association collapsed. All of the documents and research evidence were given away, except for one important document about Adolf Eichmann, who was the one that supervised the â€Å"Final Solution† technique during the war. Eichmann was never heard of after the war and he remained incognito. At last, in 1959, Germany informed th at Eichmann was in Buenos Aires, and was found guilty for mass destruction of the Jews. This brought more and more successes to Wiesenthal. He later organized another Jewish Documentation Centre and hunted war criminals such as Karl Silberbauer, who arrested an innocent Jewish girl.Show MoreRelatedThe Survivors Of The Holocaust1552 Words   |  7 PagesElizabeth Feldman –de Jang and Nathan Nothman are both survivors of the Holocaust, but just like every individual survivor, they share different stories. One of the few things that may unite them is the specific fact that they are both Jewish and despite all odds, they managed to survive and share their stories. Elizabeth Feldman- de Jang was born December 19th of 1916 in Amsterdam. Both of her parents were deaf and because of their disability, they were not observant Jews; it was simply too difficultRead MoreEffects Of Holocaust On Holocaust Survivors Essay920 Words   |  4 PagesBernat, Meghan Composition Writing 1, Session 1 Mrs. Rose Nov. 13, 2014 Effects on Holocaust Survivors When people hate, destruction is the result of their hatred. 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