Research Articles Base: Labor Cost

Hotel Business of Sheffield

INTRODUCTION The hotel business is among the fastest growing economic sectors in the United Kingdom. In fact, the hotel business by itself is recognized as multi-million dollar and still a progressing business in Sheffield. The hotel business is among the major economic forces in the country as its enables growth and creation of job opportunities. The hotel business has employed over a million workers who were distributed within various hotel establishments, totaling to revenue generation of billions of dollars. From these records, the hotel business has indeed become one of the most competitive businesses in the world. Important changes in the understanding and management of the service quality of most hotel restaurants have been developed in the past 10 to 15 years. Various researchers, practitioners and policymakers now acknowledge that service quality can be conceptualized from a functional perspective and that appropriate interventions involve the development of alternative measures to cope up. It was also noted that the establishment of a conducive restaurant environment for tourists to enjoy and relax have served effectively in lowering the prevalence of un-satisfaction among tourists. At present, this philosophical shift has extended to various settings, including the city of Sheffield in UK. Hotel owners and entrepreneurs here have recognized that some tourists do not appreciate so much the quality of service that their hotels and restaurants offer. Hence, these tourists may have the tendency to shy away from visiting Sheffield and other great cities in England because of this bad impression they have.             For decades, researchers have tried to discover the elements of service quality among tourist establishments such as hotels and restaurants. And while they might have been able to identify certain essential elements of service quality, they have yet to determine the elements that common tourists pay particular attention to. However, it has been shown that negligence of service quality produces consequences that foster bad impressions from tourists. Strong evidence suggests that service quality and its negligence engage in a reciprocal relationship that has a short and long term effect on the tourist’s future opinion regarding the service quality of tourist establishments. One of the criteria for identifying if a tourist establishment such as hotels is of high service quality is whether it has an impressive restaurant with fully operational facilities meant for the relaxation and enjoyment of the tourists and visitors. A deficit in basic services, as well as skills related to making the tourists and guests fully accommodated, significantly impairs a hotel’s ability to encourage more and more tourists to come over to their place. When compared to high quality serviced hotels, low quality serviced hotels have lower performance rates, lower income and are less likely to be known all over the place. As a consequence, low quality serviced hotels often experience a lifetime of problems in employment and publicity, and they are likely to become bankrupted even at a developmental stage.             Take for instance the various hotel establishments in Ireland having difficulty in adapting to the modern standards of service quality. At present, hotel owners in Ireland are facing an alarming acceleration in the occurrence of disruptive and challenging behaviors among tourists that seriously impede the performance and credibility of their hotels. Also, there has been a rapid increase in percentage of tourists who have failed to be impressed by the hotel and restaurant services of some Irish hotels. Unfortunately, many of today’s hotels all over the world have both problems. Behaviors and tourist impressions such as lack of sanitation, boring environment and unfair tourist price accommodation rates have all been rampant nowadays. True enough, these problems are counterproductive towards the effective performance of hotels. Serious impressions of tourists such as aggression, argumentativeness, and defiance are even more of a threat to these poorly serviced hotels, yet common in countries which cannot afford to establish 5 star quality hotels. Impressions and evaluations of tourists, both positive and negative, affect performance outcomes of hotels at the employee and management level. From a tourist perspective, tourists who displayed their un-satisfaction remarks in staying in poorly serviced hotels had a 90% chance of not going back or staying again to the same hotel. They reported that such tourists begin to actively dislike the place itself and actually visit less that particular place. Continuing over years, these tourists are not likely to change their minds after a terrible experience staying on a poorly serviced hotel. Similarly, tourists exhibiting ongoing, serious bad impressions well even after so many years of that terrible experience are increasing. Background of the Problem              In the United Kingdom, specifically in Sheffield, hotels are one the state’s important economic source. People from all parts of the world visit Sheffield in order to see its famous hotels and dine in its fine restaurants. Most of the population in Sheffield is students and there are less tourist places near about. The percentage of people who stay in hotels “related to the university” is (25 %), while Business related cases (50 %) and tourists (25%) complete the statistics.             In spite of the decreasing popularity of Sheffield as an urban tourist destination, certain hotel business issues affect the influx of tourist and the revenue acquired from this business. The problem on competition for example, is one of the growing concerns of the hotel business in Sheffield. In addition, customer satisfaction is one of the highly significant priorities in the business. Being the major source of tourism revenue, hotel business owners in Sheffield are applying various strategies that will enhance the experience of visitors coming to the city.             One of the main issues relevant to the need of assessing visitor experience is the significant transitions that the hotel business in Sheffield must undergo. One of the recognized changes in the hotel business of Sheffield was its restaurants, where the conventional restaurants were converted into modernized ones. This transition implies the apparent increase of small firms providing tourism services at present, while the hotel business used to be dominated by a few producers. In other words, the hotel owners in Sheffield now have a number of accesses to strategies and factors that amplify business competition. While this tendency has in many ways improved the overall state of hotel business of the city, hotel owners also encounter difficulties to operate their businesses successfully, making the evaluation of visitor experience all the more essential. They have also stated that the competition in the hotel business in Sheffield is augmented by new strategies introduced and implemented by various hotels. With the introduction of information and communication technology (ICT) as well as other technological facilities, tourists have more options and control over they type of hotels they want to stay. Hence, with the present advancements, hotel businesses in Sheffield are giving more importance to specialized and enhanced forms of services for tourists, especially the service quality of the restaurants in these hotels. Another issue that is related to the need for evaluating visitor experience is the tendency of consumer behavior to change drastically. This has been observed by several researchers. According to these researchers, the changes in the consumers’ cultural values are among the most influential factors that affect the hotel business in Sheffield. The difference on how consumer responds to products or services given to them is significantly dependent on their cultural origins and values, which naturally affects visitor experience. There are a number of interconnected issues that falls under hotel businesses in Sheffield. Competition, new strategies and changing consumer trends are among these issues. The main focus however, is on the service quality of the restaurants in Sheffield. One way of doing so is by means of assessing the visitors’ expectation and satisfaction. Enhancing the quality of the restaurant services given to the customer or tourists naturally leads to satisfaction. This essential business element is highly significant in combating the problems and issues cited. Hence, consumer studies in the hotel business of Sheffield are very important.             By means of evaluating visitor expectation and satisfaction, developing new strategies or tourist restaurant facilities that will augment customer satisfaction in Sheffield can be done. Sheffield is a popular tourist destination. Nonetheless, tourism issues affect this industry in one way or another. The local government should then adopt strategies and methods that will prepare the city for tourism. The evaluation of the city’s visitor expectation and satisfaction will facilitate the achievement of this objective. In this proposal, focus will be given on the tourists’ expectation and satisfaction upon dining in the restaurants of the hotels in Sheffield. Specifically, this proposed study will evaluate the different restaurant features offered by the hotels in Sheffield and determine the level of satisfaction among randomly selected tourists within the vicinity. In order to evaluate the visitors’ experience, the survey and interview method will be used. These instruments will be used to gather the necessary data, focusing on three main aspects: the restaurant’s facilities, available features and staff services. This particular study will be of significant value to the hotel businesses in Sheffield as it will provide an overview of the current status of hotel industry in Sheffield as well as ways on how its restaurants may be enhanced. Statement of the Problem The hotel industry in Sheffield is placed in a highly competitive business environment. Various strategies and marketing means must then be employed by entrepreneurs in order to enhance the services they provide, specifically their restaurant services. Sheffield is among the lesser popular tourist destinations in the United Kingdom. With the lack of historical tourist spots and archaeological sites, Sheffield is one of the cities in the United Kingdom with the lowest number of visitors. Nonetheless, considering the changing consumer trends as well other tourism-related issues, Sheffield must apply ways on how to enhance its hotel industry and increase tourists’ satisfactory experience. Studying visitor experience is then necessary for this issue. This study will then attempt to answer the following inquiries: <li class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: #333333; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">How did Sheffield respond to the changing trends in the hotel industry? </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: #333333; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">How do tourists describe their experience upon dining in the restaurants of the hotels in Sheffield in general? </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: #333333; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">What restaurant features do they find most satisfying? </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: #333333; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">What restaurant features in the hotels need improvement? </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: #333333; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">In what ways can the facilities, features and services of restaurants in the hotels of Sheffield be improved? </li> Objectives of the Study       The following statement will serve as the objectives of the study: <li class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: #333333; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">To describe the experiences visitors had in the restaurants of the hotels in Sheffield;</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: #333333; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">To identify the different restaurant features in the hotels of Sheffield, including those that are satisfying as well as those that needs improvement; </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: #333333; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">To evaluate the level of customer satisfaction among the tourists that dined in the restaurants of the hotels in Sheffield; and</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: #333333; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">To emphasize the significant role of entrepreneurs in improving the hotel industry in Sheffield</li> Purpose of the Study Various challenges are affecting the hotel industry in Sheffield, particularly the restaurants sector. From competition to changing tourist trends, entrepreneurs must come up with various ways on how to overcome these challenges. Studies on visitor experience are then necessary in helping the hotel owners in Sheffield overcome competition and increase the level of customer satisfaction. Sheffield in UK is one of the lesser important tourist destinations in the country. The lack of historical and scenic spots is among the many reasons why tourists seldom visit the city for. But despite this, Sheffield offers a wide variety tourist features, hotel accommodations and restaurant facilities that will fit differing tastes. Although Sheffield is not a popular city for tourists to visit, it is not exempted from the mentioned challenges being encountered by most hotel businesses in the city. This is indeed an issue that needs resolution. Certain interventions must be implemented so as not to jeopardize the reputation of hotels all over the world, particularly in Sheffield. Thus, this study will be conducted in order to identify the causes of un-satisfaction and satisfaction among tourists and visitors staying at various hotels in Sheffield, with the goal of finding ways or measures to improve somehow their overall services and performances. It is necessary as well to have a better understanding and awareness of the problem regarding hotel restaurants in Sheffield and their quality of service provided to tourists. This study will be conducted to contribute to the many approaches being used in hotels and restaurants in handling similar problems. The purpose of this dissertation is then to assess whether the experience of the city’s visitors upon accessing the services of the restaurants in the hotels of Sheffield are good and satisfactory. Moreover, this study will be conducted for the purpose of identifying the restaurant features in the hotels of Sheffield that are satisfactory as well as those that need enhancement. This study also intends to emphasize the significance of visitor experience in the development of the hotel industry in Sheffield. In addition, this dissertation will be conducted so as to help in promoting the great hotels Sheffield has to offer. Significance This dissertation will generally benefit the hotel business entrepreneurs, particularly those in Sheffield. This study will be significant for the people as it will help them realize the importance of customer satisfaction and visitor experience in the improvement of hotel functions, specifically its restaurants. Furthermore, this study will be useful in encouraging other entrepreneurs in the hotel industry of Sheffield to be customer-oriented continuously. In addition, this will also be significant to restaurant operators in the hotels of Sheffield as it stresses on the significance of prioritizing the changing tourist trends. This study will also be significant in showing the important role of consumer studies in the hotel industry of Sheffield. The development in the hotel sector will in turn benefit the tourists not only in Sheffield but the entire UK as well. As there are limited available studies related to this topic at present, conducting a visitor experience study in Sheffield will add to current knowledge. Scope This study will be deductive in its approach. “[first], a deductive research can be quicker to complete; [second], data collection is often based on ‘one take’; and [third], this approach can be a lower-risk strategy”. Given the time restrictions resulting from the researcher’s other obligations outside of this study, as well as the financial limitations of this research work due to other expenses and projects outside the thesis, the researcher deemed the deductive approach as the most suitable research approach to be undertaken. Meanwhile, a number of respondents will be set, both male and female, and they will be surveyed so that essential data needed for this study will be acquired. The participants will be surveyed by administering questionnaires. The primary strength of this study is that it evaluates individual personnel perceptions and actual behaviors. However, the limitation is that this study is that they findings will be based only on participants’ stated judgments and intentions. The problem with such data is that since perceptions of the respondents “uncountable” and continuous, could be inaccurate. How? For instance, if we are to ask the respondents the question “Do you believe that the quality of service in most hotel restaurants in Sheffield is good?”, maybe out of 100 respondents, 75 will answer in the affirmative and the remaining 25 will answer in the negative. Such result will show that most of the respondents believe that the quality of service among hotel restaurants in Sheffield is excellent. However, there is the possibility that not all of the respondents have disclosed their true feelings (i.e. if they really agree that all hotel restaurants in Sheffield offer high quality services and facilities). More significantly, the researcher will not know if the respondents will behave accordingly to their choice, i.e. if they will really share information and knowledge in the actual practice. Nevertheless, organization members’ perceptions are meaningful in the sense that organizational life is in part based on members’ interpretations. Thus, although the present study is limited by its focus on the perceptions and opinions of most tourists and visitors in Sheffield, those opinions and perceptions are nonetheless important parts of everyday organizational life. Assumptions The research will be based on the following assumptions: (a) all participants will be utilizing the correct procedures as outlined in the guidelines for the specific methodology employed, and (b) all participants will answer questions honestly to the best of their ability. Limitations Time will be the greatest limitation to this research, which could hinder long-term outcome objectives. Environmental factors, such as socioeconomic status, will not be controlled, and this could create many variables within the research. As this study will utilize a small sample of respondents, the results may not effectively represent the general population.    Delimitations The study will involve a sample of 60 guests, 14 staff members and 3 managers staying at 3 different hotels in Sheffield. Because the study will be conducted in a single city using a small sample, the representation may not be superior and can affect the results of this study. Due to time, budget and effort constraints, this study will be conducted over the duration of 4 weeks, and data will be evaluated manually. Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Hotel Business of Sheffield

INTRODUCTION The hotel business is among the fastest growing economic sectors in the United Kingdom. In fact, the hotel business by it...

Presentation, Interpretation and Analysis of Data

This chapter presents the data gathered from the questionnaire; surveys conducted by the researcher from the manager and staff of Coca Cola Company in China. The objective of the study is to show how the market of China affected by the progress of the Coca Cola Company. This is the manner unto which the study accounts the factors and the perception on the criteria themselves. Of particular significance to the achievement of the goals and objectives of the study, which is to be an instrument of analysis of the institution to gauge where it is now and where it is heading, thus what changes are to be made- is to be able to answer the following questions: 1.      What are the factors affecting the promotional styles and strategies of Coca-cola in the market of China? 2.      What are the developments in the Coca-Cola Company in terms of cost, services, manner of selling and the benefits gathered from the China’s market? 3.      Is there any significant correlation between the satisfaction of consumer and Coca-cola marketing style? 4.      How effective and reliable is the promotional strategies employed by Coca-Cola Company and how does it address the needs of progress of the market in China? Demographic Profile             The profile of the respondents is looked upon in terms of age, gender, civil status and educational attainment. Accordingly, majority of the respondents were 25 to 31 years old, showing that most of them were already considered as young adult. On the other hand, there are 30% of the respondents who are in the age of 32 to 38 years old. It was noteworthy that none of the respondents that were under the age of 18 to 24 and 46 above.  The apparent diversity of the maturity of the respondents reflects several implications in the study’s findings. In relation of the age bracket of the respondents, the researcher could presume that in the said percentage, a considerable number could be among the young adult members of the population. It was illustrated that the study were dominated by the single respondents having a percentage distribution of 53% of the total respondents. On the contrary, there is 47% who are married from the respondents. The respondents were asked for their educational attainment and the most of the respondents are college graduate and are engage to the study. The diversity of the population is further asserted when the respondents were asked regarding their professional history. Perceptions of the Managers Regarding Total Quality Management             The respondents were asked which of the following words best describe quality, 75 percent of the respondents answered, “Satisfying external customers,” and 25 percent said “satisfying internal customers.” The respondents were also asked  TQM would be used to improve, 55 percent said increased competitive advantage while 30 percent said customer satisfaction and 15 percent answered customer satisfaction. Perceptions Managers Regarding Customer Relation Management             According to 65 percent of the respondents only key personnel are empowered in Coca Cola Company, while 30 percent said they are fully empowered in the company, 5 percent said they can’t seem to answer the question. Perceptions of the Managers Regarding Coca Cola’s Marketing Strategy             When it comes to marketing strategy, 80 percent of the respondents strongly agreed that Coca-Cola has an excellent marketing style. The remaining 20 percent just agreed with the statement. Perceptions of the Staffs Regarding Overall Management of Coca-Cola          Sixty two percent strongly agreed and twenty eight percent of the respondents agreed to the statement that Coca-Cola management is addressing the need to cope with business changes, while 10 percent disagreed with the statement. When it comes to the statement if the Coca-Cola management is addressing the issues on TQM, CRM and marketing strategies, forty eight percent of the respondents strongly agreed while forty two percent just agreed to the statement and ten percent disagreed. Eighty percent of the staffs agreed that Coca Cola is responding to the needs of their personnel and customers needs. In general, Coca Cola management is handling the current organization well according to 89 percent of the respondents. Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Presentation, Interpretation and Analysis of Data

This chapter presents the data gathered from the questionnaire; surveys conducted by the researcher from the manager and staff of Coca Co...

Product Lifecycle Management

Executive Summary The organization being chosen to carry out such change management process analysis is the computer industry and the organization company in focus is amicably regarding DELL Computers. Thus, change processes in business organizations involves the reality behind every process and is considered as a daily cycle in dealing to various issues and concerns of the organization as it depends on the managements actions and its respected change of nature in dealing with effective change management as directed at overcoming anger and resentment evolving into a program that supports acceptance and internalization. As a consultant commenting on the organizational change process choosing DELL organization as the focal point for discussion and analysis for this presentation, my role to the organization is to have a clear emphasis dealing to the external and internal change drivers and other essential points needed for the realization of purpose for this report presentation for the senior management of the DELL in providing factual information that will be able to give a better substantive spontaneity of understanding of such organizational state needed for selection and the application of the appropriate management models as well as concepts perse.    Introduction Background Information DELL was founded in 1984 by Michael Dell on a simple concept: that by selling computer systems directly to customers, DELL could best understand their needs and efficiently provide the most effective computing solutions to meet those needs. DELL is a premier provider of products and services required for customers worldwide to build their information-technology and Internet infrastructures and is by far the most renowned name in the computer industry for customers worldwide.  The mission of DELL is “to be the most successful computer company in the world at delivering the best customer experience in markets we serve”, by means of meeting customer expectations of highest quality, leading technology and company accountability and support as well as flexible customization capability, and financial stability. General Issues DELL is enhancing and broadening the fundamental competitive advantages of the direct model by applying the efficiencies of the Internet to its entire business. Dell led commercial migration to the Internet, launching in 1994 and adding e-commerce capability in 1996. DELL became the first company to record million in online sales. DELL in the Chinese market is perceived to be a highly competitive environment by strict legislation and different cultural and social values. The Chinese government promotes national PC vendors to foreign companies and strict control of internet usage. The technological advancement is getting better at a quicker pace. The economy of the country is also doing well but the societal view of internet sales is rather blinkered and Dell does not have much success in its online sales.   DELL produces high quality PCs by using their Direct Business Model approach and sells them directly to the customers. DELL’s weaknesses are single sourcing, new product and reliance on corporate clients. DELL has opportunities like the potential growth in overseas markets as the industry is still in growth phase and the entering of the new product markets.   Henceforth, the threats are technological changes that are expected since technology can only get better. Global economy and increased competition in which DELL’s financial ratios identifies that the company is no match for their competitors. The one problem concern faced by DELL is the fierce competition in the industry. If DELL enters into a merge it would not have to spend so much money and time trying to develop a face to face communications, if the local business is already well known. DELL initiated ways to overcome its weaknesses and use its strengths to gain advantages over its competitors by careful analyzing of the factors that contribute to the company’s success in business strategies that had implemented created the path for the company’s  continued success.    Environment and Drivers of Change Environmental Analysis In general, DELL company is dynamic and complex organization because of its proven best quality services and being dedicated in serving the world with its management values that has kept them to be one of the best and most renowned in the computer industry business in relation to DELL’s climb in terms of market leadership which is the outcome of a consistent focus on delivering the best possible customer experience by means of standard based products and services in engaging the global market per se.    The external environment of a company consists of outside conditions that affect a firm’s performance. An analysis of this external environment allows a firm to identify key conditions that are beyond its direct control and those elements on which it can have an affect. Analyzing these areas of the external environment help DELL identify the opportunities and threats in the computer industry.    There are a lot of factors affecting DELL’s business from the external environment. DELL has tight competency with other big computer sellers like Compaq and HP. Thus. social factors also affect the business environment of DELL. Computer companies have to acknowledge that in the Chinese culture, people are still unsure about credit card sales because of the huge expense of computers in China.  Companies, then have to invest in door-to-door or face-to-face operations to gain consumers’ faith and consumers trust in the company and its product. PEST Analysis Political One of DELL’s biggest threats is involving the fourth element of the external environment, the political/legal environment. The Chinese government prefers to promote national PC vendors to foreign companies. There is a lot of red tape involved in securing government contracts. The Chinese government not only favors local firms but also local companies. Government control of internet usage in China is another threat to the growth of the internet. Economic The economic environment refers to the nature and direction of the economy in which a firm competes or may compete. A primary threat that computer companies encounter in China is the problem of software piracy. China has a shortage of skilled labor, even though the country has many economic opportunities. Computer companies have to acknowledge that the average consumer could not afford the investment and very few had a bank account. DELL is aware that Chinese customers go for the cheapest System. Social The socio-cultural segment is concerned with a society’s attitudes and cultural values. The potential for Internet growth is huge in China, giving foreign computer companies, DELL the opportunities to expand into a new market. Computer companies have to acknowledge that in the Chinese culture, people are still unsure about card sales because of the huge expense of computers in China. DELL have to invest in door-to-door or face-to-face operations to gain consumers’ faith and consumers’ trust in the company and product Technological The technological segment includes the institutions and activities involved with creating new knowledge into products, processes and materials. In the computer industry, technology continues to be smaller and faster than ever. Providing access to technologies developed by institutions has proven a key government resource. It was observed that by the year 2000, mainland China’s annual PC production would reach 7.6 million making it the third largest in the world. The internet is a great opportunity for companies to get their name into the public domain as well as a fast way to tailor services to its customer segments. A threat in the technological segment to DELL’s business in China is that access to the Internet is costly. DELL’s product life cycle is very good and being the best among and top company selling PCs, it can be said that DELL is in maturation stage as they are dominatinf the computer world. The internal business environment of DELL is very good and has achieved the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System,    as the organization implemented goals where by the goal is to improve internal environment performance as used to share successes throughout the company. DELL’s direct customer business model is the key to the company’s dramatic growth and success and has focused on selling directly to customers. This helps eliminate the middleman and offers customers more powerful configured systems than most competitors.  The direct model enables DELL to develop a thorough understanding of customer expectations which strengthens customer relationships and increases customer satisfaction and loyalty. Five Forces Model The five forces model of competition expands the arena for competitive analysis and include the threat of new entrants, the bargaining power of suppliers, the bargaining power of buyers, the threat of substitute products and the intensity of rivalry among competitors. Entry Barriers New entrants to a market can threaten the market share of competitors already in the market .New entrants, such as IBM, are interested in entering the Chinese market to try to gain a large market share from existing competitors in the market. DELL is using a different approach to catch the eye of Chinese consumers. DELL’s Just-In-Time (J-I-T) inventory keeps inventory costs to a minimum. A barrier to entry in China is dealing with the governments political and legal issues. Many foreign firms have to depend on Chinese resellers to make their product available to the public. China’s regulations state that if goods were not manufactured in China, they could not be sold directly to the mainland. Despite protectionist tariffs on foreign firms as DELL can still undermine Legend prices. Buyer Power The bargaining power of buyers is an important aspect in the computer industry. The buyer segment is especially powerful in China because computers are so expensive that consumers do everything they can to get the best deal for the cheapest price because of the cost savings derived from cutting out the middleman, DELL believes it can sell computers at lower prices that its competitors can. Supplier Power The bargaining power of suppliers is moderate in the computer industry. Dell Computers is a vertically integrated company. Substitute products are goods or services from outside a given industry that perform similar or the same functions as a product that the industry produces. Substitutes The computer industry has a low to medium threat of substitute products. Alternatives to the PC include written communication. Calculators can compute numbers. Books are an alternate source of knowledge but do not have the amount of information available at the touch of a button like the Internet. The computer is also a form of entertainment as substitutes for entertainment value includes radio, television and movies. Rivalry Competition is intense in the PC market. Legend, a government backed PC company is the market leader in China. Legend has a domineering presence in Mainland China. Other foreign firms include IBM Hewitt-Packard and Compaq. Success requires foreign companies to partner with Chinese companies to gain distribution-channel and market access while they also operate their own independent subsidiaries. Analysis of Issues People DELL has approximately 39,000 employees around the globe and has a large and diverse corporate organization. DELL company has lot of computer systems in many locations such as Austin, Texas and Nashville that could be of high staffing cost and value that has contributed in maintaining sales to over thirty four offices around and then serve as the front line in terms of selling its products and services worldwide.  In human resource side, DELL conducts training for all employees in order to reduce absenteeism and human errors as well because the high-quality staff is required in enhancing the best quality performance of the company. System DELL has positioned to extend its brand name beyond mainstream computer products by leveraging its reputation as an e-commerce leader. In the year 2000, Dell began to redefine itself as the company that knows how e-business works. It has shared its online sales expertise with a few large customers as they developed their E-commerce capabilities. DELL faces some forces from its competitors in terms of Information Technology as the EDI tool gives very effective opportunities in reducing costs and it can establish the tight linkage between DELL with its suppliers and DELL with its customer.  DELL started selling its own brand of handheld computers, called the Axim, at low price which can be considered as high potential and CEO, Mr. Michael Dell stressed how DELL’s success lay in making it as easy as possible for someone to buy a computer. There are some applications that are currently being used by DELL and they are critical to the core operations of DELL business and the DELL direct which are its operational factors for success. Some applications that are currently being used by DELL that are valuable but are not considered for certain critical success. Source: Internal Growth Model DELL’s internal growth model can be related to their profitability management as it intends to coordinate the company’s daily activities through great management at the core of DELL’s growth in critical period. Thus, DELL had created an aligned growth model that enabled it to manage within the need for its stages for their growth in the business. The stages of the growth model are as follows: Account selection DELL company developed a core competence in targeting customers and kept a massive database of DELL’s business from corporate relationship accounts, customers having predictable needs closely tied to their budget cycles. DELL developed powerful customer-specific intranet sites with predetermined custom specifications and has used higher price-points and the latest technology products to target buyers who had regular upgrade purchase patterns. Demand management DELL developed the crucial function of matching incoming demand to predetermined supply and that the functional department leaders balanced and agreed on internal product strategies and competitive factors. DELL’s pricing had reflected demand management that varies from week to week as the company modified its prices to push products beyond its prescribed levels. Product lifecycle management DELL’s customers rapidly adopted new technology and its marketing focus on managing product lifecycle transitions which has provided customer feedback, which led to product development and crisp lifecycle timing. DELL has become AN expert at curtailing the end of its product cycle. Supplier management DELL manufacturing system have a combination of build product to order and buy component to plan processes, the company worked with its suppliers to introduce flexibility in its system. DELL has concentrated its supplier base into the suppliers accounting for the enough percent of its purchases Liquidity management The liquidity management of DELL has generated a huge amount of liquidity that helped finance the company’s rapid growth and limited its financing needs and was the underlying factor that enabled DELL to earn extraordinarily returns. Current Cultural State DELL organization has succeeded because of a culture adapts well to a changing market as DELL’s current state of their culture has “moved from being built around stock price to a culture of accountability, doing a job well and reaching one’s full potential as a business leader’’, as DELL is empowered to take responsibility for “owning” their career which allows the company to take fast action in the workplace. The atmosphere of employee accountability and responsibility influences DELL’s outlook on ethics and corporate responsibility, as ethical people create ethical companies not ethical companies create ethical people. It’s been a challenge to get DELL people to understand global shift, will help build management ranks as employees are encouraged to be critical of underperforming management. DELL’s current culture state is still a somewhat squishy way to describe all the things that lie beneath the rational and measurable surface of an organization. But most management theorists agree on some variation of this basic definition: DELL’s culture is made tangible by corporate lore and institutional comportment, as well as company’s goals, strategies, management processes, structure and methods of allocating resources. Sources of Resistance DELL’s source of resistance is focused on its strengths and ooportunities as it involves internal resources and capabilities that have the potential to be the core competencies. DELL’s core competencies are their cost strategy. In consistent to being an integrated cost leader, DELL also produce high quality PCs by using their Direct Business Model approach and sells them directly to the customers.  DELL has many opportunities such as potential growth in overseas markets, the industry is still in a growth phase and the entering  to the new product markets. DELL provides the mode to custom the computers of the customers’ choice and taste and deliver the system to the customer as it is the most crucial and critical success factor behind DELL Computers. DELL’s strategy is collapsing profit margins throughout the PC market, a dire development for rivals who cant keep up. DELL is pricing its machines not so much such as high technology products but is more like of an airline tickets and low margin commodities. Sources of Leadership The existing style of leadership DELL uses is the ‘’transformational leadership style’’ as the CEO Michael Dell applies this particular style of leadership that involves inspiring employees to transcend their own self interests and work for the lagrer good of DELL company. DELL articulates a vision that convinces subordinates to make important and positive changes in business process and management and relates to profound belief on beliefs and values that goes beyond its changes and achieving ways to transcend proper decision making engaging through such utilization factors as DELL utilizes the IT as a factor for the successful running of its business.  The acquisition by means of using some of the leadership styles as DELL will make sure to value their customers and business partners in a form of interpersonal style of expressing to a level of virtually integrated as if they’re inside the company and by having customer information as used for analyzing and forecasting customer demand and achieving the mass customization.  DELL expect that the success would be forever and they expect that other companies might implement such leadership models and believed that Information Technology would play a vital role in the success of the business as well as the centerpiece of the business perse. Scenario No Change Scenario  The risks associated in focusing much on DELL’s direct selling process as a means of steady product distribution can be applied as a no change scenario. As always as it is a routinary cycle, DELL comprises a report about a new development in the unfolding current business situations within the competitive aspect. There has been confrontation in many ways that involves a range of customers and partners of DELL: computer industry representatives fighting to retain control of business matters, computer buyers arguing to protect sharing of products and services strategies as struggling to avoid legal liability for computer business organizations which are seeking to safeguard the rights of computer providers as well as customers respectively. A Change Scenario  It is crucial that in every scenario, DELL will have to encourage the proper adaptation of possible solutions that involves certain stagnation of the strategic development of the overall business transaction as well as the consideration of ways in deciding for such changes in the external and internal environment as it serves as the main structure in maintaining business growth and stability encompassing issues and concerns brought about by the reality of organization competition involving the center for business implementation and that DELL as a matter of change scenario, should engage more on strategic principles for growth and expansion in terms of providing standards of business quality among its computers that will aim in increasing morale in the faces of satisfied customers trusting the services offered to them by DELL company amicably. Conclusion DELL decided to change in many aspects regarding its business status in the society like in Chinese society as DELL need have to be aware of the change process, they are working to realize, how it will be realized and ensuring the appropriate amount of management resources to obtain such purpose as the company relies on their reputation in the US market in terms of giving high quality products to uplift customer values. Therefore, DELL needs to have a certain change of agenda as necessarily needed in relevant assumptions for DELL organization to overcome future changes that could possibly affect negatively on the business industry DELL belongs. Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Product Lifecycle Management

Executive Summary The organization being chosen to carry out such change management process analysis is the computer industry and the ...

Business Channels

A market system pertains to any organized process that allows several market players to operate. In general, this is a system that enables both bidders and sellers to communicate and conduct business deals. In the field of economics, this can be clearly explained through various market forms. Some of the most common examples of these market forms include perfect competition, imperfect competition, oligopoly and monopoly. Basically, these market forms have distinct features based on the amount of consumers and producers in the market, the types of goods or services offered as the level at which information can freely flow. These market systems, though different from each other, have the ability to contribute to efficient resource allocation.             For instance, for monopolistic market systems, producers are able to provide the consumers’ specific needs. In a competitive market system, better resource allocation is observed. In one article, it was indicated that increased competition within the market can result to one-time as well as ongoing gains within the MFP or multi-factor productivity. This can be obtained by the combined productivity of the workforce and the allocation of capital. As more companies are competing with one another, business organizations are more efficient in responding to various performance pressures; moreover, they tend to work extra hard in preventing slack in inputs. In turn, resource allocation becomes more efficient; specifically, companies are more after cost-effective strategies that will allow efficient capital allocation. In addition to this, resource allocation is also enhanced to competitive market forms as business organizations become more innovative. The objective of the companies within a competitive market environment is to provide the best to the consumers; this in turn is achieved through innovation. With this strategy, companies will be able to make their products stand out in the market and eventually overcome threats of rivalry. Consumers are given with quality goods, resulting to efficient resource allocation. In addition to innovativeness, efficient resource allocation is also achieved through competitive market reform by means of diverse products and services that consumer can benefit from.             Although, these market systems enable the efficient allocation of resources, market failure is a related concept that is inevitable. One of the causes of market failure is externalities. Although externalities can be beneficial in some cases, external costs can cause adverse effects to people, leading to market failure. One example is the external costs of production, which include the adverse effects caused by the manufacturing firms during production. This can occur when for instance, chemicals are dumped into the river or given off into the air by the manufacturing plant. In this case, the marginal social cost of chemical production goes over the marginal private cost. Other examples of this cause of market failure is the production of acid rain due to smoke produced by firms powered by coal, destruction of wildlife due to extensive farming as well as nuclear wastes given off by nuclear plants. This problem causes market failure mainly because natural resources are not placed under any legal ownership. The lack of control then initiates the failure of the market.             People or the consumers can also be the cause of market failure due to externalities; specifically, this is through the external costs of consumption. One good example is the noise and pollution caused by using motor vehicles for transportation. Other examples can be the use of radios that causes noise pollution, smoking cigarettes that leads to pollution and diseases as well as the use of packaging materials that results to garbage problems. In this form of externality, market failure happens as the marginal social benefit is less than the marginal private benefit.             Aside from the externalities, the power of the market form may also a cause for market failure. This is the case especially if the existing markets are imperfect such as pure monopoly or imperfect competition. This is because despite the lack of externalities, the market will not be able to equate the marginal social benefit and the marginal social cost. If the monopolistic environment will be considered, the production of less efficient social output due to lack of competition is the main cause for the equation failure. Market failure may also be caused by the uncertainty and ignorance of both the producers and the buyers. In the perfect competition for instance, the consumers and the producers both assume that they are knowledgeable about benefits and costs; but in reality, both are unable to equate marginal benefit with marginal cost. For instance, consumers can be easily misled by advertisements due to ignorance. Producers on the other hand are uncertain of what the future may bring to the industry; thus, strategies and decision may not effectively support the business’ success.             In spite of the multiple causes of market failure, certain steps and options can be done in order to address these imperfections. For this purpose, the government and the development of policies play important roles. Subsidies and taxes are examples of policies that are useful for resolving market failures. Subsidies are useful policies as it encourages desirable activities to occur within the market. These are often placed on goods that are not produced in mass volumes. In energy consumption for example, subsidy schemes may come in the form of tax credits for energy-conserving practices and solar energy use. Subsidies may also be given to unproven technology through warrantees rather than price subsidies. In this way, consumers will be more attracted to buy these new technologies. Buyback programs, lease programs as well as performance guarantees are also similar examples of subsidies.             Taxes are the opposite of subsidies. If subsidies are policies that help in encouraging desirable activities to happen in the market, taxes on the other hand is used to address market failure by preventing undesirable activities from happening. In general, when the market produces too much of a particular commodity, taxes are placed for control. Taxes and subsidies are advantageous policies as they force companies to be fully responsible of the social cost and benefits of their actions. It also allows firms and the government to address market failures depending on their severity. For instance, if a production resulted to greater external costs, bigger taxes can then be given. Furthermore, these policies make firms more resourceful and innovative particularly in terms of the processes they use in manufacturing. For example if taxes are placed for pollution, firms try to find alternative means of production that will not cause as much pollution. The use of these policies on the other hand can also be disadvantageous. For instance, it will be administratively difficult to charge every offending firm with taxes due to the number of operating firms under multiple industries. In addition, if the government uses the concept of charging taxes to offending firms based on marginal external costs, it will be very difficult to accurately measure the right amount of taxes depending on each offense. This is particularly true if taxes are charged for pollution when the cost or damage by pollution is difficult to assess. Though marginal external costs may be difficult to measure, tax and subsidy policies are useful especially in promoting control in production and consumption of various goods.             Direct regulation or implementation of laws that can control undesirable behavior or structures in the market may also be used to resolve market failure. Laws had long been used in addressing market imperfections, which in general can be used to prevent firms from giving misleading information, to prevent of control behavior that inflicts external costs and to prevent or regulate monopolies or oligopolies. Restrictive laws that address market failures are beneficial mainly because in general, they can be developed and implemented easily; compliance can also be ensured easily as well. Moreover, the production of harmful pollutants for instance can be controlled by laws that will prohibit or ban all similar activities, which is far simpler than charging taxes based on damages caused by different pollutants. Noted that the use of restrictive laws or policies for market failure is also more effective especially if monitoring costs are costly as well as during the occurrence of emergencies where restrictive laws can lead to faster and more efficient outcomes. A good example of this is the case of Athens wherein during a chemical smog emergency, the government found it easier to control the situation by banning the use of private cars rather than charge taxes to the users.             Information dissemination is also one good way of controlling market failure. For instance, by informing the people of certain job openings or opportunities, increase in elasticity in labor supply can be achieved and labor market problems will be prevented. Informing the public about the health effects of inhaling smoke from cigarettes or throwing wastes in rivers can also be used to control the effects of market failure. Information about prices, employment, sales trends and costs can also be used to help companies develop better business strategies and plans. TASK 2:             It is difficult to describe the market form existing within the UK grocery retail industry as there are different features observed in its market environment. Perfect competition, imperfect competition, oligopoly and monopoly are some of the most common market forms. Perfect competition is a market form where there are several firms competing within an industry. In this type of market structure, firms are price takers, free to enter the industry and produce identical products. With these features, the UK grocery retailer industry cannot be considered as a perfect competition. This is because while there are a number of firms operating within the industry, there are major companies that dominate the sector. In addition, the grocer stores offer different products and brands, though they have similarities. As products offered vary among individual grocery stores, the companies then have control of the product prices. This is one of the main features of the imperfect competition.             Imperfect competition is in some ways similar to perfect competition as it is also characterized by several operating firms and freedom of entry. However, the firms in an imperfect competition offer differentiated products; this feature then allows each firm to set the prices of their products. Oligopoly on the other hand is very different from the two mentioned market forms. Oligopoly is one of the prevalent market structures in the business industry. In this structure, a few firms dominate a specific industry. Businesses within an oligopolistic structure may either produce an identical or differentiated product. When the competing firms produce identical goods or services, the competition is only limited to the price aspect. However, when differentiated products are involved, rival firms would have to compete on product quality, price and marketing strategies. In oligopoly, each member is subjected to sufficient inter-company rivalry, which in turn prevents others from owning the market demand curve. Oligopoly is usually the dominating market structure in modern economies. The members of an oligopoly are referred to as oligopolists.  Since there are a few members or participants in this market form, each member is interdependent of the actions of other members. This type of market is mainly characterized by interactivity. In this market structure, all the members’ decision is mainly influenced by other members in an oligopoly.  Moreover, in this type of market form, the responses of other members towards strategic planning are always taken into consideration so as not to create internal conflict. Sufficient barriers are also erected within this market form, hindering new firms from entering the industry easily. Based from these mentioned features, the market environment of the UK grocery retailer industry is more patterned after oligopoly. For instance, the presence of a few major firms in the industry such as Morrisons, Tesco Sainsbury, Asda and Safeway, is a distinct feature of an oligopoly. In a research done by John Bridgeman, the director general of Fair Trading, the results showed that significant barriers had already been put up in British grocery retailing, preventing new competitors from entering the industry. This finding had been supported by the fact that sites for new stores are becoming less; this in turn, is advantageous for existing grocery stores. Another barrier for new grocery operators is the development cost of the sites; due to the amount, larger stores often outbid the smaller competitors. Bridgeman noted that while this cannot be considered as a problem on planning policy, he stated that the presence of these major barriers significantly limit the effect of new business entrants to the behavior of the existing major grocery operators. In its purest form monopoly is defined as a market structure where there is a lone producer of a product that has no close alternate producer and that is protected by consequential, if not prohibitive, barriers to entry. Accordingly, the pure monopolist faces the market demand for its good and is capable of choosing among the various price-quantity combinations on its demand curve with the single-minded goal of maximizing firm profits. A profit-maximizing monopolist will, of course, invariably price above marginal cost. This market structure is very different from the competition types as these market structures not only have a number of competing firms but barriers of entry are not present. Compared to other forms, the monopolistic market structure is the least apparent market structure in the UK grocery retailing industry. However, the takeover that occurred between Safeway and Morrisons placed the UK grocery retail sector closer to a monopolistic environment. The acquisition struggle for Safeway lasted for years until Morrisons was able to won over the bid battle with 2.9 billion pounds offer for the company. Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda, major grocery retailers in UK had all made offers for Safeway; as Morrison won over the bidding, the company will then have a greater access on the market located in southern England. This in turn threatens Sainsbury in terms of the UK grocery rankings. The joint grocery business planned to operate with 550 retail stores and change Safeway brands into Morrisons. Moreover, the company also intends to transform Safeway’s 180 medium-sized stores as Morrisons’, which will rival the stores of Sainsbury and Tesco that typically operate is smaller outlets. In one article, several analysts had been curious as to why several grocery companies, even American-based retailer, Wal-Mart, had been interested in taking over Safeway. Analysts revealed that the fight over Safeway is a fight for a very tempting opportunity that no retailer giant will pass. In addition, the permission for planning new supermarkets had been difficult; vacant lots in the city had been rare as well. In addition, out of town shopping stores had been spreading rapidly. Due to these difficulties, retailers will grab opportunities that will provide them with existing retail space, such as the one offered by Safeway. As this is a very rare business opportunity, it is a common reaction for retailers to join the bidding. Aside from business opportunity, giant retailers also fought over Safeway as it will be a great loss for them should they lose the bidding. The great loss is connected to the intensive competition observed within the grocery retail sector. If other retailers will lose the chance of taking over Safeway, companies that lost will be under great pressure and competition. Naturally, the winner of the bidding will almost double in size in terms of market access, sales and number of stores. With these important business elements, the winner of the bidding will be at a great advantage while the other retailers will be placed under constant threat. As no retailer wanted to be in an uncertain business position, every giant retailer then joined the fight for the Safeway takeover. The takeover for Safeway had been under debate due to a number of factors. One of which is the anti-competitive policy in UK; this means that a 25% market share is the only range allowed for companies so as to comply with the policy. The analysis of the government revealed that most of the bidders will violate this legislation should they takeover Safeway. For instance, Sainsbury already had 17% total market share while Safeway is at 11%. Sainsbury then claimed that it will not affect the market as it plans to sell 90 of Safeway’s total stores once it had taken over the company. Wal-Mart also has the same problem; should the company takes Safeway, Wal-Mart will have a total market share of 26%. The same matter also applies to Asda that already has a strong market share within northern UK and Scotland. Tesco already had a market share that is more than 25%; the company then tried to convince the competition authorities that taking 75% of Safeway will not cause any market distortion. Competition authorities in UK are concerned about this matter considering the nature of the current grocery industry in the country. According to analysts UK’s grocery sector is highly competitive and concentrated on price. If this is the case, there will be a thin margin between success and failure among similar businesses. With this kind of business environment, it is very likely that only the largest companies will succeed. If this will continue, a monopolistic environment can take place. Moreover, this tight market environment will make all retailers edgy over slight business or economic changes, making competition even more cutthroat. Basically, the central point of worry among competition authorities over the Safeway takeover is the possibility of sudden transition of the market form. Probably, the authorities do not want to significantly reduce the level of competition among organizations operating in the grocery industry. As indicated by Bridgeman, the diversity of stores and products offered by grocery retailers had given the buyers tremendous amount of power, which in turn motivated the companies to deliver goods at their best quality and at lower prices. UK also recognizes the vitality of the retailers’ role not only for the consumers but also to the national economy. Should the sector be controlled by a single large grocery retailer, competition will no longer be observed, diverse product choices will no longer be available and control for product prices will not be accessible anymore. These possible outcomes of the takeover are the main reasons why fair trading authorities are concerned about this business matter. John Bridgeman of UK’s fair trading committee showed that with the data gathered from the country’s major grocery, there is indeed a possibility that major companies will overthrow new and smaller retailers. Aside from the significant reduction of new grocery establishment, records show that these major retailers often outbid smaller stores on various business elements. In addition, cost of vacant sites are far too expensive for the smaller companies that major retailers are the ones who are able to but this sites for additional stores or business expansion. With this present competition between small and large retailers, the fair trading committee must really act on the matter so as not to completely remove new entrants from the industry. In line with this problem, Bridgeman then suggested that it is imperative to investigate further on the different barriers observed in the industry, the cost of land for business establishment, the price competition and its intensity in various market levels as well as the relation of the companies with the suppliers. TASK 3:             In the article the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England had played a significant role in the success of the UK’s economy for the past five years. In particular its fiscal and monetary policies had resulted on the independent setting of the country’s interest rates. It has been said that the development of the MPC was attributable to UK’s economic success. One of the evidences of this success was the country’s inflation rate, which has remained stable at 2.5%. This in turn increased MPC’s credibility. In comparison to the European Central Bank and the US Central Bank that regulate the interest rates, the MPC promotes the establishment of interest rate through independent means. The efficacy of the MPC is also said to be attributable to the ability of the organization to discuss its policy decisions.             The economic success of UK for the past five years was characterized by low unemployment levels; the establishment of the MPC contributed much to this important outcome. With the presence of the MPC, wage demands had been less compared to previous reports. Because of this, the prices of the products had not been increased drastically to cover the employees’ higher wages. This in turn enabled the bank to maintain lower interest rates even with low rates of unemployment. Despite the recognized efficacy of the MPC, the success of the country’s economy is still unpredicted. In particular, reports had revealed that the forecasting model used by the Bank of England had been slightly inaccurate; thus, unexpected changes in house prices and exchange rates will put the interest rate system out of balance Schifferes (2002). In spite of this, it has been noted that other options must be done; otherwise, the policies themselves will be the cause of UK’s economic downfall. In a more recent analysis for instance, it was indicated that the UK economy looks unbalanced due to the rapid rise of output, which will result to increased inflation rate. The deterioration of the current account is expected and the borrowing of the government has significantly risen. The imbalance has also been attributed to the increased spending of the government for the past two years; the administration even has plans of increasing this further. This is a problem considering that taxes are not being increased.       Although there are identified problems that could affect the country’s economy, the economic success of UK had resulted to a number of benefits for the grocery retailers. For instance, the stability of the inflation rate allowed the retailers to sell their products at regular prices. This then helped in generating sales for the companies as well as in positioning their businesses in the market. As a result of sales opportunities, businesses are able to enhance their services for the customers. In 2000, the success of the economy has been clear in the UK grocery market as it was on a 96 billion pounds sterling value; a total retail market of more than forty-seven percent was generated at that same time. The rise of sales and market opportunities brought about by economic success was also followed by the rise of communication technology utilization or online shopping sites among grocery retailers in the country. This in turn paved the way for various business opportunities.  The use of information and communication technology in the business has led to a number of advantages. For instance, the firms are able to develop a direct relation with its consumers. The rise of technology also allowed the companies to overcome their competitors within the value chain. Online access also enables the businesses to create and distribute products to new markets. The use of technology has also led to other companies to become major players in business through digital business channels. Aside from the rise of technology, UK businesses had also become more aware of the importance of having the best people in the operations. The UK retailers in particular, had noted that employees are becoming more selective in the nature of their jobs as well as the opportunities related to it. Thus, it has been a common occurrence for employees to transfer from one job to another after being trained intensively by others. With this trend, the UK retailers had become more active in improving the career direction and trainings that their employees receive. In addition, companies had become more conscious of their recruitment practices; thus, information technologies that could improve this aspect of the human resource had also been employed by the businesses. From this perspective, the UK retailers had been able to relate economic success and business with workforce efficacy. From these significant business developments, it can be said that the success of the UK economy had a positive impact to the UK grocery retailers. In general, the impact of the economic success in UK for the grocery retailers led to the improvement of their operations, both in the technical and human aspect. With these improvements, the industry was able to achieve other important benefits including greater market opportunities, increased sales and better market positions. TASK 4:             The creation of the single European currency also known as the European Monetary Union (EMU) has been an important element of the Maastricht Treaty of 1992. This particular transition of the region’s economic and monetary union primarily aims to designate euro as the single currency for the entire European Union. This policy change was led by the European Central Bank; the main objectives of this monetary policy include the elimination of exchange rate uncertainty as well as the allowance of easier investment and convergence of interest rates. In order to become part of the EMU, each country in the European Union must meet certain economic criteria. In particular, the members must converge substantially with specific economic targets such as interest rates, exchange rate stability, inflation as well as general government debt and deficit.             The implementation of the EMU has caused great impacts to the UK retail grocery industry; some of which are advantageous while others are not. The benefits of the EMU are concentrated primarily to retail stores that depend heavily on import and export activities. This is because the employment of the single European currency has a direct impact on the country’s interest and exchange rates. As supermarkets and retail stores import and export their goods to other members of the EU, the use of the single currency helped in creating a more stabilized macro environment. Negative effects of international trade to profit margins has been significantly reduced by the single currency, encouraging other UK companies to conduct trade and business deals to other members of the EU. As UK retailers begin to operate in other countries, the industry is also exposed to greater competition. This in turn helps individual companies to develop effective business strategies as well as access diverse target markets. Standardizing products is also an easier activity for some product manufacturers with the single European currency, which help in eliminating more supply chain expenses.             The use of the single currency in the EU however, also has some downsides. For instance, as the use of pounds will have to be changed into euros, the cash systems of the grocery retail sector need to be renovated completely. As this change will require financial support, the transition costs had then resulted to significant effects to UK businesses. Naturally, business organizations and the consumers need to make the necessary adjustments by paying the cost incurred by the changeover through higher taxes and product prices. It is also a natural reaction from the customers to question the differentials observed on euro-based prices. Specifically, UK retailers changed its cash systems into metric. Customers then started to become suspicious whether the familiar price points would totally disappear, giving the retailers the opportunity round up prices for extra profit.                In addition to possible negative reaction of the consumers due to pricing changes, individual UK retailers also had to make various significant operational changes, which will require financial allocation. For example, the companies’ human resource departments would have to inform their staff regarding the possible effect of the single European currency to their salaries. Employment contracts had to be renewed while pension details would have recomputed. The staff also went through trainings so as to answer typical questions of the customers regarding the new monetary policy as well as to operate the new cash systems. In general, the awareness about euro had to be increased in order to handle important business activities such as financial reporting, supplier negotiations and pricing.             In addition to training the staff, the UK retailers also need to install new hardware. During the transition process, the retailers must have the cash handling facilities that can accommodate both currencies. Computer programs, automatic vending and telling machines as well as systems for forgery detection also require changes. As the transition stage resulted to a greater number of queries and slower transaction times, extra staff members have to be employed. All of these requirements would have to be done in order to prevent the change from affecting the normal busy trading operations.             From these identified effects, it is clear that the disadvantage of the single European currency is mainly on the business side. In order to ensure that the new monetary policy works, the retailers would have to make the initial changes in its operations. The main downside of these changes is clearly the need of making substantial financial allocations. The impact of the single European currency to the companies’ IT and cash handling systems is also an important consideration. Furthermore, the customers need to be educated properly and sufficiently in order to prevent negative reactions towards the policy. It is also important that the retailers support customer education with the provision of quality products and services. Nonetheless, if the cited effects will be analyzed, the disadvantages of the single European currency are concentrated on implementation costs. On the other hand, the monetary policy indicates clear long term and significant benefits for the retailers including market growth, increased sales opportunities and reduced sourcing costs. As retailers become more adjusted to the new system, the costs incurred during the implementation phase will eventually be covered through fast return of investment. Once investments had been regained, retailers will be prepared to take on new opportunities that will help them overcome future business challenges. From this perspective, it is apparent that the single European currency can provide more benefits to the retailers than disadvantages. While the EMU has certain effects to the UK retail grocery industry, this has also lead to significant effects to the UK economy. There are actually four main sources of economic benefits from EMU to the UK economy. One of which is the decrease of exchange risk, which in turn resulted to greater foreign investment and trade all throughout the European region. The transaction costs of changing currency have also been reduced through the EMU. Price comparisons had become more transparent as well. Finally, the EMU had provided certain political gains which encouraged the establishment of a more established cooperative relations among the members of the EU. With a single or common market, the countries in the region were able to develop a union that promotes economic stability. Similar to the case of the retailers, the EMU also resulted to certain downsides for the UK economy. One of these problems is the difficulty of handling shocks in the absence of independent exchange and interest rates. As UK joined in the EMU, its interest rate is then established by the European Central Bank, which will be based on the needs of the entire EU. This can be disadvantageous especially in times when the economic status of UK is not the same as the rest of the euro-zone. For example, if UK is in economic recession for example while other countries are not, the depression period can take a longer time or result to even worst outcomes as interest rates cannot be adjusted. With this possible effect, UK is then likely to encounter greater inconsistencies with its output, prices and unemployment rates. Others also argue that that the employment of the single European currency in order to harmonize countries within the EU can just be a cover up. Analysts raised the possibility that while EMU was implemented for harmonization, the development of union among countries will be done for the purpose of establishing central federal institutions that would control all revenues. This then suggest of the possibility of using the EMU as a stepping stone for achieving state authorities. The problems on state pension deficits are also likely downsides of the EMU for the UK economy. This is mainly because other countries may be used to bail neighboring regions out of their financial problems. The problem is then directed to the likelihood of placing the financial liabilities of others to the British taxpayers. With the pressures of the political and economic union, UK has no choice but to respond to these financial needs. Otherwise, economic fallout can result to indirect losses of trade, contamination of one’s debt status and other negative effects due to the establishment of coordinated activities. The implementation of the single European currency has a number of benefits for the UK economy as a whole. In particular, this monetary policy will enable UK businesses to offer its goods to other neighboring nations with less hassles and risks. Moreover, the political and economic union developed by the EMU also helps in strengthening the stability of the macro environment of the UK economy. Nonetheless, the major drawback of this monetary policy is the lack of control over revenues as well as exchange and interest rates at times when economic crisis occurs. The lack of control over these important economic elements can result to major problems for the UK economy. From this point of view, it is difficult to say whether UK will truly benefit from the utilization of the single European currency. In a way, it can be said that UK and its businesses can do without the EMU considering that there are a number of other methods or strategies to achieve the benefits this policy can provide. TASK 5:             Tesco is a UK retail giant operating in the grocery industry. It is known for its mission, which stresses that the purpose of the company is to create value for its customers so as to earn their lifetime loyalty. In its official website,  the company’s corporate responsibility is focused on the value of giving the best for the customers and treating them the way the company wants to be treated. Through this popular slogan, Tesco clearly positions itself as UK retailer that provides everything the customer needs so as to gain their patronage. The company believes that by means of working together, the company will be able to achieve its goals and make a difference.             As the objectives of the company are customer-oriented, their conflict with the shareholders, employees and customers is not as extensive. As Tesco provides quality goods to the consumers, the buyers then become more loyal to the retailer. With a greater hold on the market, sales opportunities for the company become higher while market share become stronger. The objectives of Tesco are then beneficial to its shareholders due to these important outcomes. Perhaps, the customers are the ones who are to find Tesco’s objectives as beneficial. The company had been applying various business strategies and programs that will promote effective customer relations so as to fulfill its objectives. In addition, the provision of quality products and services directly benefits the consumers as they are able to get the worth of their money.             The employees of the company are perhaps the ones who will find conflict with the identified objectives. Naturally, as Tesco is gearing towards quality production and service, employees will have to go extensive trainings and performance appraisals. Efforts to give the best performance are placed on the employees’ responsibility. These pressures are the possible main causes of conflict with the employees and Tesco’s objectives. Despite the conflict, the company can conduct techniques or strategies that will prevent internal conflicts. One way of doing so is by means of making the employees realize their role in the company’s success. It is also important that the employees’ competency and confidence level in relation to their individual responsibilities are increased as well. This can be done by recognizing their hard work for the company. Promotions, monetary rewards and other relevant methods of employee recognition should be done by the company.             Trainings and seminars are also possible ways of preventing internal conflicts due to the company’s objectives. This is mainly due to the ability of these strategies to encourage the employees. If employees are able to gain something out of the company’s strategy, employees are naturally more satisfied with their jobs and are more willing to handle their responsibilities. In turn, customers are provided with products or services that are of quality and delivered in a timely fashion. With motivated employees, product and service errors are also reduced significantly. This in turn will help in obtaining higher customer satisfaction, the ultimate end result of Tesco’s objectives.             The responsibility of Tesco to the customers is centered on the provision of products and services that suit their needs. The company employed a number of ways on how to meet this responsibility. One of which is the development of Tesco.com. The company is aware of the increasing number of individuals going to their respective workplaces, making it impossible for most people to allocate time for grocery shopping. The online shopping site is then made to target busy employees or working parents who are too busy to do actual grocery shopping. Before carrying out this strategy, consumer studies are necessary. Surveys or interviews can help in identifying the preferences and specific needs of the consumers. This will help in optimizing the effects of the company’s strategies.             For this purpose, Tesco designed a consumer research focusing on the buyers of its health and beauty items. Through this effort, Tesco has successfully created an environment that is different from other retail stores. In the consumer research, customers are observed browsing and taking their time in choosing product items as they enter the grocery aisle. By following this consumer-led route, Tesco was able to ensure the delivery of exactly what the customer wants or needs; thereby leading to increased sales at the counter. With the availability of the online shopping site, consumers are now given more time to browse with the products offered by Tesco during times that are most convenient for them. As the company wanted to make shopping easier for the customers who are too busy to shop, Tesco also allows consumers to access the Tesco.com portal and shop online anywhere through Tesco Access. This feature enables users to access its online shopping directory through Pocket PC devices and Smartphones. Through this additional access, Tesco hopes to enhance the company’s online experience by means of attracting current customers as well as attract potential buyers. This strategy of the company also intends to allow users to access the company who do not have the access capability through other communication channels. Potentially, the addition of mobile access to its online services enables Tesco.com to extend its present base of one million users in the UK to over 90 percent of the country’s online population within one year. Tesco.com already commands 70,000 online orders per week in a marketplace that analysts expect will swell to over GBP1.2 billion in Europe within two years.             Aside from the development of Tesco.com, the company also fulfilled its responsibilities to the consumers through programs that generally strengthen company-consumer relations. Specifically, these programs include the reward program and the incentive program. Clive Humby differentiated these two programs and explained how these can help in fulfilling the company’s responsibilities to the consumers. With the reward program, the objective is to target customers to essentially represent profit-sharing with the customers. Tesco’s reward program maintains an even-handed balance with its very best consumers. In this case, no additional inputs are expected on the part of the consumers. If these loyal customers do provide additional inputs, such as recommending the store to other potential buyers, Tesco recognizes this input and provides a fair value for advocacy in the form of rewards.             The incentive program on the other hand, works in the same way as the reward programs. However, in this case, the program is more focused on giving incentives so as to cause consumer behavioral changes. With this program, Tesco motivates regular or potential customers to change what they are presently doing. What should be kept in mind is that such incentives will continue to be necessary until the customer experiences other value as a result of changing stores or shopping behaviors and, thus, no longer requires the incentive to buy from Tesco. The value exchange moves to the equilibrium state where both parties benefit from the new behaviors. Despite the differences, both of the programs help in causing positive effects both for the customers as well as for the company. These are some of the ways how Tesco fulfill its responsibilities to the customers. Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Business Channels

A market system pertains to any organized process that allows several market players to operate. In general, this is a sy...