Taste Trends of the Coffee Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Taste Trends of the Coffee Industry - Essay Example Resource based view to management asserts that the management must prioritize the effective management of both tangible and intangible assets at the firm thereby optimizing productivity. The production of agricultural products is seasonal a feature that influences the patterns of both the supply and demand of such products including coffee. Such factors present marketers with numerous operational challenges as they seek to develop competitive brands in such markets. Among the leading coffee markets in the world are Brazil, Philippines, India and Europe. The availability of the products in the market especially during particular seasons results in increased supply of the product thereby resulting in reduction of the prices of the product. Introducing a new product in such a market therefore requires effective analysis of the industry with the view of understanding the intricate feature of the industry. Marketing is a function of the management mandated with the establishing, anticipating and satisfying customer demands. Marketers of coffee brands thus face myriad challenges arising from the structure of the market. Key among the challenges is competition. As one of the oldest industries in the world, the industry attracted numerous entrepreneurs who specialize in similar functions thereby competing for the same markets in South America, Europe and parts of Asia. Competition influences the demand and supply thereby influencing the productivity of the industry as the numerous players target the same market. The players must therefore develop effective strategies in order to position their products effectively thereby safeguarding their profitability. While the size of the market has remained constant throughout, the supply changes depending on the prevailing factors thereby influencing the number of marketers who operate in the industry.

Cooking to Become a Chef Essay Example for Free

Cooking to Become a Chef Essay Cooking for me is my way of expressing myself. It gives me a chance as a person to show my friends and family what I’m good at and what I love to do. I haven’t always enjoyed the art of cooking. With cooking, I have learned to prepare different types of meals using different methods, ingredients, a potpourri of equipment and seasonings. Food seasoning is a personal trademark you create and eventually it classifies you to either be prominent as a chef or just a plain Jane Suzy homemaker who cooks for her family only for the fact that we all need to eat. Experimenting is what got me where I am at today. My mother was a diabetic so the meals were prepared with a bland taste, no seasonings, with just a tad bit of pepper, nothing more. When I started cooking I hated it for the simple fact I didn’t know how. I had to follow recipes even for macaroni and cheese. It wasn’t until I met my husband and his family that I started to enjoy cooking because the meals were starting to taste better and I was learning how to make them taste better. He and his family slowly taught me how to cook and when to use seasoning and how much to use. At first, my meals were a work in progress. As the years went on, I have learned to use my eyes and taste buds for measuring cups and spoons. That’s what helps create your own â€Å"cooking signature†. As you learn to cook, you learn to shy away from some or all of the exact measurements in order to create your signature. For some, cooking is just another everyday back breaking chore, a necessity to always haven to follow a recipe, precisely measuring each ingredient, to the point of the great inventor of the microwave ovens. For others it comes natural, a passion they thrive to live on by creating their own â€Å"cooking signature†. Coming to mind are a couple of brilliant and extraordinary chefs that are indulgingly reliable. These two men have countless awards, degrees, own restaurants, shows and cookbooks to show and prove their overwhelming credibility’s. They are Wolfgang puck and Bobby Flay. Neither of the two were born to cook, none of us are. Some talents came naturally while the rest they learned and were taught. Both men attended Le Cordon Bleu and both men are featured on the food network. I may not have earned any degrees or awards such as a Michelin star or chef of the year and did not attend a culinary institute like they have, however, my cooking now exceeds my friends and families expectations. The qualities of an excellent educational resource would have to include tips and the breakdowns of recipes or step by step instructions for them. Pictures or video tutorials are also very helpful to one who’s learning the art of cooking. Tutorials show you step by step from preparing to serving the dish or meal. I have found two out of thousands of resources that have all the educational resources needed as well as countless credibility and qualifications to help you succeed as a prominent chef. These two would be, Le Cordon Bleu, a culinary institute and the Food Network a television show on cable and the food network also has a very useful website, www. foodnetwork. com . The food network website is filled with a massive amount of information that is accurate and full of every resource there is needed for and about cooking. The food network is a unique lifestyle network and Web site that endeavors to be more than just cooking. The network is devoted to exploring new and different ways to tackle food through pop culture, contests, adventure, and travel while also increasing its repertoire of technique-based information. Food Network is strewed to more than 96 million U. S. households and averages more than seven million Web site users monthly. With its headquarters in New York City and branches in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit and Knoxville, Food Network can be seen internationally in Canada, Australia, Korea, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Monaco, Andorra, Africa, France, and the French-speaking territories in the Caribbean and Polynesia. Le Cordon Bleu, www. LeCordonBleu. com, is an extremely accredited culinary institute. The school is constantly keeping their courses up to date and actively adapting to current and future needs of culinary services. The schools graduates leave the school with a diploma that is acknowledged around the world. That has been proven by both Flay and Puck. The culinary institute is solely dedicated to the appreciation and mastery of culinary arts to the their students who study there from over 70 countries around the world. This is where I would want to further my culinary learning, to gain more knowledge; they are one of the top culinary institutes. Qualifications of the resources should include Awards, culinary degrees, owning of their own restaurants with worldwide recognition. They should be well respected, well known with credibility too. Trademarks and copyrights also makes these resources important and credible. We want to make sure our resources are also current and up to date. However, cooking has been a part of our lives undoubtedly forever. Resources such as cookbooks are for the most part revised after some time, but not always. So see, there are numerous and countless educational and reliable resources out there for everyone, from beginner to expert. With a little bit of research one could capture the success of becoming an artistic cook. Learning new ideas and tricks, or just wanting to better yourself in your own kitchen, whatever the case may be, No one should ever have to struggle with cooking. With a little bit of patients anyone can learn how to cook.

Effectiveness of Loyalty Schemes for Supermarkets

Effectiveness of Loyalty Schemes for Supermarkets Chapter 1 Introduction It is necessary for organisations to carry out market research before they can come up with a good quality marketing strategy no matter how big or small the company is. Market research is when an organisation studies their customers buying habits and gathers information about the market. The information they find is then analysed to determine the expectations of customers. Market research is necessary because organisations should aim to be marketing orientated and meet the wants and needs of their customers. As well as meeting the wants and needs of customers marketing orientated companies welcome change. This means they can react to external factors and changes in the market like changes in consumer spending patterns. It is a lot easier for an organisation to put together a good marketing strategy if they are marketing orientated and have carried out the appropriate market research to identify the wants and needs of their target market. It is essential for an organisation to satisfy its customers. Meeting customer needs will improve the organisations reputation amongst its customers which will result in a higher profit and could make potentially make customers loyal to the brand. In 1995 Tesco introduced their Clubcard. This was the first customer loyalty card introduced in the UK and there are now 13 million Clubcard members. (MIS Quarterly Executive Vol.8 No.2/June 2009, Leveraging Multichannel retailing: the experience of Tesco.com) Loyalty programs are not just used by companies to offer benefits to regular shoppers and reward customers for their loyalty. Every time a customer uses their loyalty card in store organisations record what products that customer has purchased to find out their specific wants and needs. If the research shows that a product is more popular with customers in a certain area then an organisation could introduce offers to meet customer needs. Therefore loyalty programs are used as a form of market research. The majority of major retailers in the UK now offer loyalty programs. Therefore the purpose of this research is to examine the benefits and drawbacks of these programs to both organisations and customers to see weather actual loyalty can be obtained through one of these programs. There must be major benefits of Loyalty programs otherwise they would not be so popular. However not every organisation like Asda does offer a loyalty program so the purpose of this research is to determine whether they are worth investing in. If the majority of customers who shop in an organisations store own loyalty cards is the company able to process all of the information they have gathered. A loyalty card will also only show the retailer what a customer spends in their specific store and not their general buying habits. A customer may buy their weekly shopping in Tesco and use their Clubcard yet may buy meat from another supermarket or from a local butcher. If Tesco knew this they could introduce offers to encourage customers to buy meat in their store. The Clubcard however would not provide Tesco with this information. Despite this Tesco could use their Clubcard to identify changes in consumer buying patterns. A customer can however own as many loyalty cards as they want which means they can supply information to many different organisations. When customers sign up to a loyalty program they have to provide name, address, age group and often email address allowing the organisation to contact them regularly with offers. With this information the organisation offering the scheme can understand what kind of person is buying certain products. This helps them segment the market and identify the target market for any product. This research is important and of value because organisations will benefit from it if they are considering investing in a loyalty scheme. This research will also help companies understand the advantages and disadvantages of loyalty programs and identify ways they can make the most of the large amounts of data they gather from customers. This research will also be off interest to customers who have signed up to loyalty programs and people involved in business. There are many aims and objectives of this research. The first aim is to understand what loyalty actually is and the importance of loyal customers. Is it actually possible for an organisation to obtain loyalty with a customer? If so can this be achieved through one of these programmes? Also is it possible to measure just how loyal customers are? The second aim is to study the history of loyalty cards and programs and find out which organisations along with Tesco where first to introduce loyalty cards and gain an understanding of how rapidly the trend has grown since both in the UK and internationally. This information will help organisations understand how loyalty cards became so popular with retailers. The third aim of this research is to find examples of how the information gathered from customers using their loyalty card in store has benefited organisations when they determine their marketing strategy. This research will determine whether it is possible for a retailer to process all the information provided by loyalty programs considering how popular they are with customers. Is there any reason why a major retailer like Asda does not offer a loyalty program when a lot of its direct competitors do? This study will also help identify how organisations can benefit from loyalty kiosks. The fourth aim of this research to understand whether loyalty programs really benefit customers or whether its just organisations that get the main benefits. In a lot of cases customers have to spend a lot of money in the retailers store to gain loyalty points and money off products. Despite this organisations can use loyalty programs to determine which products are popular with customers and introduce offers. Therefore being part of a loyalty program could benefit the customer without them really realising it. This study will also help identify how customers can benefit from loyalty kiosks. The final aim is to investigate the different types of loyalty programmes organisations offer and the advantages and disadvantages of the various programmes. This information will hopefully help organisations determine which type of loyalty scheme is most appropriate for them to invest in. All the aims of this project will be achieved by gathering information obtained through secondary research. A large proportion of this research will be gathered from the academic journals. Research will also be gathered from relevant information found in books, articles, newspaper reports and case studies. Previous literature will be reviewed and critically analysed. After this the research methods will be described and results of this research will be discussed, analysed and related back to relevant theory shown in the literature review. The study will then be concluded showing any limitations. The main lessons learnt from this study will be described showing what future research should be conducted. Chapter 2 Literature Review What is loyalty? Can it be purchased? The word loyal is defined in the oxford English dictionary as being â€Å"true to obligations of duty and love† although it is hard to imagine the average consumer feels this way about the supermarket where they buy their groceries. (Uncles, Dowling and Hammond 2003) argue that it is not possible for a consumer to have an emotional attachment towards a brand of tomato soup. Even if customers are not loyal many retailers may have their personal information stored in their computer database. (Rowley 2000) understands that it is very difficult for supermarket to encourage actual loyalty and claims that â€Å"the very technology that supports innovations such as loyalty cards may serve to undermine the concept of loyalty.† Many people believe that true loyalty is not actually attainable through loyalty programs and that the main purpose of these programs is to provide management with information. (Jenkinson 1995) strongly believes this and claims that: â€Å"The customers loyalty is simply not for sale. It cannot be bought for ever by companys ordeals. Real brand loyalty results from an emotional bond created by trust, dialogue, frequency, ease of use and a sense of value and added satisfaction. Loyalty is the reflection of a customers subconscious emotional and psychological need to find a constant source of value, satisfaction and identity.† (Jenkinson 1995) does make a valid point but it is still possible to obtain loyalty through loyalty programs its just not very easy. (Stone et al 2004) believe that customers are unlucky to become loyal to an organisation just from being part of one of these schemes. However they understand that a scheme could produce information that could help an organisation find ways to offer suitable rewards to meet the needs of customers which is likely to lead to loyalty amongst customers. (OBrien and Jones 1995) extend this theory and understand that the only way an organisation can obtain loyalty through a loyalty programme is if the organisation offers rewards that are of value to the customer. They claim there are 5 elements that determine value. (see appendix) Even though loyalty can be obtained through loyalty programmes it is necessary that every employee at the organisation is fully committed to the program. Therefore as well as any initial financial investment there also needs to be an investment in staff training when an organisation introduces a loyalty card. (Omar 1999) understands this and believes that a loyalty program will not be successful unless everyone within the organisation is committed. This includes the cashier who simply smiles and asks a customer if they own a loyalty card. (OConner 1996) shares this opinion and understands that customers will come back to a store and become loyal customers if employees are friendly. As well as being fully committed to their loyalty program organizations need to be sure that customers are not just signing up to their loyalty program just for the sake of it. (Omar 1999) understands that some customers may sign up to a loyalty scheme just to get the discounts and may not be actually loyal to the organisation. It is important that Organisations are aware of this when starting up a loyalty program. Even though (OBrien and Jones 1995) have already shown that an organisation can obtain loyalty through a loyalty programme if they offer rewards that are of value to the customer there are also many other factors that can affect how loyal customers are. (Wright and Sparks 1999) have identified that it is possible to achieve customer loyalty through a number of means. This includes where the store is located and how easy it is to access. Also the loyalty of customers very much depends on the quality and price of the goods being sold. (Bellizi and Bristol 2004) understand that a consumer that is part of a lot of loyalty schemes is more likely to be affected by other factors and judge a supermarket on the speed of its checkout lines and its variety of fresh produce. (Gounaris and Stathakopoulos 2004) extend this theory and suggest that customer loyalty is something that can be influenced by a combination of 3 factors. These are the reputation of the brand and the amount of choice available in the market, social influences and recommendations from peers and the degree of risk aversion from the consumer themselves. According to them these influences can create four types of loyalty: No loyalty Covetous loyalty: This is when a consumer has a strong attachment to a brand possible due to social influences yet there is no purchase. Many customers may be interested in premium brand products but choose to buy a less expensive alternative to save money. Inertia loyalty: This is when a customer purchases a certain brand due to habit or convenience but has no emotional attachment to the brand itself. A customer may choose one supermarket over another simply because it is closer. Premium loyalty: This is what every organisation should aim for. It is when a customer regularly buys a companys products due to a high attachment to the brand. However customer loyalty is obtained it is important not to under estimate the value of having loyalty customers. Every organisation should be aiming to encourage loyalty. (Omar 1999) understands the importance of customer loyalty and points out that a store is likely to be unsuccessful without loyal customers because they are likely to buy more products and will be willing to pay more. They are also more likely to recommend the organisation to friends and family which will bring in new customers. Organisations usually have to spend a lot of money on promotions to try and attract new customers to a business. It costs a less money for an organisation to obtain customers then it does to attract new ones. Also once customers are loyal to an organization they are less likely to be interested in the promotions other companies are offering. (Christopher and McDonald 1995) therefore understand that by retaining customers an organization could stop new companies from wanting to enter the market. (Halowell 1996) has also found evidence to show that there is a definite connection between the loyalty of customers and the amount of profit an organisation makes. (Oliver 1997) correctly sums up customer loyalty by defining it as. â€Å"A deeply held commitment to re buy or re patronize a preferred product/service consistently in the future, thereby causing repetitive same-brand or same brand-set purchasing despite situational influences and marketing efforts having the potential to cause switching behaviour.† (Whyte 2004) suggests that loyalty programmers may just create customer loyalty for short amount of time that may not result in full commitment. This however isnt true because there are major differences between loyalty schemes and incentive schemes. (Hirshman and Goldstucker 1978) understand that loyalty programs are more long term and can help an organisation improve its reputation amongst customers and establish a relationship. This is definitely true as general incentive schemes are likely to be short term promotions or offers to make customers interested in a specific product or just to draw their attention to the brand. Loyalty programmes are therefore a lot more expensive to run then simple incentive schemes but a lot more beneficial at the same time. Loyalty schemes can even help organisations come up with appropriate short term offers and promotions which can be directly issued to the target market. (OConner 1996) has identified that incentive schemes are usually a final resort for organisations if their loyalty scheme fails. Even though (OBrien and Jones 1995) have already shown that an organisation can obtain loyalty through a loyalty programme if they offer rewards that are of value to the customer it is still very difficult for an organization to measure how loyal its customers are. (Omar 1999) identifies that Store loyalty is a function of customer satisfaction. This is definitely true as satisfied customers are more likely to keep coming back to the store and become loyal customers. However (Omar 1999) goes on to suggest that a number of variables can be used to determine how loyal a retailers customers are. (See appendix) The variables listed above could definitely be used to measure the satisfaction of customers. Despite this customers may appear to be satisfied and still decide to shop somewhere else if they are attracted by promotion. Therefore it is very difficult for an organisation to measure actual levels of loyalty. The History of Loyalty programs and Loyalty cards Organisations have been aiming to encourage customer loyalty for a long time and the introduction of loyalty cards has definitely helped them achieve this goal. Loyalty cards are now very popular both in the UK and internationally. (Sharp and Sharp 1997) have identified that since loyalty cards have been introduced, they have been used effectively by organisations to increase levels of satisfaction amongst customers. Further research will be conducted to show examples of this. Today the majority of retailers now offer loyalty schemes. (Rowley 2007) is aware of the popularity of Loyalty schemes and identified that they are now â€Å"an established feature of the retail and services landscape.† (Uncles, Dowling and Hammond 2003) suggested that competitors are likely to copy a loyalty scheme if it appears to be successful. This seems fairly understandable as organisations are often influenced by the activities of the competition. OMalley (1998) realises that there is a chance customers may begin to expect a reward every time they visit a store as loyalty cards have led to them being bombarded with promotions and money off vouchers for products they regularly buy. The above literature suggests that the introduction of loyalty cards is the only reason for organisations being so obsessed with obtaining the loyalty of customers. It is obviously a major factor but (Omar 1999) has identified that loyalty schemes have been growing in popularity for a lot longer than this and suggests that â€Å"such a remarkable shift to loyalty-building activity has been made possible because the cost of recruiting each consumer into a loyalty scheme has fallen substantially in real terms since the early 1970s.† (Omar 1999) also believes that the popularity of loyalty schemes may lead to their downfall by understanding that the majority of loyalty schemes are now run in pretty much the same way. He is therefore able to identify that the differentiation these schemes provided when they first became popular is slowly being lost. This could well be the reason why Asda have chosen not to invest in loyalty scheme even though the majority of their direct competitors have. (Omar 1999) even suggests that: â€Å"loyalty cards could start a more sophisticated round of mark-down wars which held the high street stores to ransom in the late 1980s and early 1990s.† However this seems unlikely. How loyalty programs benefit the organisation: (Walters and Hanrahan 2000) have been able to identify the numerous benefits for organisations that use loyalty programmes to store the purchasing details of their customers. Loyalty schemes can help an organisation decide where it places its products and how they allocate their space in store. They can also use the information they have stored in a database to introduce in store promotions and offers on products where they have identified interest from customers. Loyalty programmes can also more importantly help an organisation find out who its target market is. Tesco have had a lot of success since launching their very successful Clubcard scheme. (Uncles, Dowling and Hammond 2003) have identified that Tesco have been able to use their Clubcard to aid brand extension. Tesco have definitely shown that they understand the importance of customer loyalty. (Turner and Wilson 2006) were however able to identify Clubcard is not the only reason for Tescos loyal customers and major market growth. It is necessary for an organisation to know who its target market is and offer rewards to the right customers. (OBrien and Jones 1995) understand that it is important for organisations to consider the value of their customers. If they fail to do this an organisation may waste time and money satisfying the customers of less value whilst the greater value customers are not satisfied and loose loyalty as a result. An article by (Media Week 2009) suggested that loyalty schemes with the most members may not be the most successful ones. The article described how â€Å"todays loyalty efforts are more concerned with the quality of membership and not just the quality.† This makes sense as organisations are aiming to obtain loyalty and therefore dont just want customers to sign up for loyalty schemes just to get the discounts. It is still difficult to understand how a retailer is able to process all the information provided by loyalty cards considering how popular they are with customers. (Uncles, Dowling and Hammond 2003) identify that a popular loyalty scheme is likely to gather a lot of unnecessary data which is of no use to anyone. (Omar 1999) therefore suggests that â€Å"any loyalty scheme must be driven by a database to ensure that it adds a significant new element rather than being simply another promotional activity.† (Omar 1999) makes a very valid point although organisations are still dealing with a very large amount of information.. Loyalty cards have become increasingly popular within the last few years due to advances in technology like the growth in computer memory capacity (OConnor 1996) believes that it is therefore now possible for an organisation to track, identify and respond to the buying behaviour of customers. Also with this information a retailer can contact customers through direct mailing. (Passingham 1996) argues that not all customers who shop in a retailers store will sign up to a loyalty scheme so some of the data that is being stored may be inaccurate. Loyalty schemes also dont provide retailers with information about customer buying habits outside of that specific store. However a large proportion of regularly shoppers are likely to be part of the organisations loyalty scheme so this is unlikely to be a serious concern of organisations as they will still be able to get an overview of the buying habits of specific groups of customers. One of the main reasons that customers may refuse to sign up to a loyalty scheme is because they are worried that the organisation may give out their personal information to third parties. (Sarathy and Robertson 2003) have identified that customers may be concerned about their privacy when it comes to loyalty schemes due to recent corporate mismanagement scandals. However customers will be less likely to worry about this if they are attracted to the rewards being offered by the scheme. The following research by (Schriver 1997) which was carried out just as loyalty cards were becoming popular in the UK. He was able to identify 6 factors that surprisingly made consumers less loyal today than in the past. He also identified that the 6 factors can increase consumer doubt leading to more complaints and a lower level of loyalty as well as greater price sensitivity. How loyalty programs benefit customers (Potter 1998) identifies that customers deserve to be treated well by organisations. This is true as they are unlikely to come back and re visit a store if the experience they received was not a pleasurable one. It is clear that loyalty cards benefit organisations but how much do they benefit customers. (Schultz and Bailey, 2000) believe the rewards that customer receive are simply given to them as compensation for the information they provide. This section proves that this is not entirely correct and that loyalty programs can benefit customers. Despite this (Uncles, Dowling and Hammond 2003) have identified that the main reason organizations invest in loyalty schemes is because they expect the program to benefit them. This is because the main aim of any business is to make a profit and being marketing orientated and meeting the needs of customers is the main way of achieving this aim Rowley (2000) has identified that loyalty style kiosks are becoming an increasingly popular way for organisation to encourage loyalty amongst customers in the USA. She describes how the kiosks themselves are placed at the front of stores and she is able to identify that they offer a lot more benefits then simple promotional leaflets. By offering one of these kiosks organisations are therefore likely to increase the satisfaction of their customers. This is because they are likely to feel valued as they get to choose their rewards instead simply being given a voucher they could potentially discard. Omar (1999) has already identified that loyalty is function of customer satisfaction. Despite customers receiving points every time they use their card in store (Omar 1999) believes that a number of schemes are purely set up to provide retailers with a database so that they can advertise their products directly to customers via emails. This is definitely a valid opinion. Therefore research will be carried out to find examples of how organisations have used their schemes in order to contact target groups of customers directly. If customers dont benefit from an organisations loyalty scheme the business is unlikely to be successful (Dowling and Uncles 1997) point out that this may make customers frustrated resulting in them losing loyalty. Different types of Loyalty Programs: There are many different types of loyalty programmes which can be used by organisations offering a wide variety of products and services. There is no single type of loyalty programme that is guaranteed to be successful. A study from (Wanswink 2003) showed that brand managers believe that all loyalty programmes can have an impact on the buying behaviour of customers. The study also showed that the most cost-effective loyalty programmes were the low and moderate ones. However another study by (Gordan and Mckeage 1997) showed that loyalty programmes are more likely to be successful if the organisation is offering a product or service that the customer considers to be high involvement because of the financial, social and physical risk involved. American express also offer a club yet they charge a fee to join. Although this could prevent customers from joining the loyalty programme (Shiffman and Kanuk 2007) can see a benefit of this by suggesting that â€Å"this increases the customers investment in the relationship which may lead to greater commitment and increased usage loyalty† Some companies reward loyal customers by giving them points so they can gain more goods or services from the organisation. This kind of point system is very popular with hotel chains and airlines. (Shiffman and Kanuk 2007) believe that this could act as an exit barrier because customers would have to give up the points if they started a new relationship. Chapter 3 Methodology Now that the relevant literature has been reviewed further research has been conducted to examine the benefits and drawbacks of loyalty programs to both organisations and customers. The purpose of this research was too help organisations who offer loyalty cards identify ways in which they can make the most of the information they gather whilst benefiting organisations that dont currently offer a scheme by helping them identify if loyalty schemes are beneficial or not. Customers who are part of loyalty programs and people involved in business will also benefit from this research. Several aims and objectives of this research were established before the research was carried out. The first aim was to find out what loyalty actually is and whether actual loyalty can be obtained through a loyalty scheme. After this the history of loyalty cards and loyalty programs were researched to identify how rapidly the trend grew in the UK and internationally. This was followed by research into the benefits of loyalty programs for both organisations and customers and research into the different types of loyalty programs in which customers can sign up for. In the end all research that was conducted was secondary and not primary. This was partly due to insufficient funds as it would cost a lot of money and take a lot of time to arrange interviews with members of the major organisations that were studied. There were also plans to hand out questioners to people in supermarkets although these never went ahead due to ethical reasons. Despite there being some limitations of this study all the information found from the secondary research did relate to the aims and objectives and therefore will be of benefit to the reader. The research process consisted of examining several articles, various figures and company websites in order to achieve the aims and objectives. The majority of this research was taken from journals, newspaper articles and from The Grocer magazine. A number of case studies were also examined during the research process. An article in the Grocer from the 18th April 2008 entitled â€Å"Service with a smile† was examined because it described some of the various ways organisations could encourage loyalty amongst customers. However one of the main purposes of this research was to identify if loyalty can be obtained through loyalty schemes. Are loyalty schemes able to reach large groups of shoppers? Another article in The Grocer from the 6th February 2010 entitled â€Å"retailers need to work harder to increase loyalty card appeal† was examined in order to answer this question. Research was conducted to find out how many loyalty cards are currently in operation in the UK and internationally. This will help gain an understanding of how rapidly loyalty schemes have grown in popularity over the last 15 years. A number of sources where found which featured sections that showed exactly how popular loyalty schemes were on a national and global basis in different years and the relevant figures are shown and analysed in the results section. One of the sources used is an article from (University Of Minnesota 2009) entitled Leveraging Multichannel Retailing: The experience of Tesco.com which describes how Tesco have grown to dominate the UK market. Figures were also taken from a case study in a book by Omar (1999) entitled Retail Marketing. An article from Media Week entitled â€Å"the brave new world of loyalty marketing† featured results from a state by state analysis by the COLLOQUY Loyalty Census which describes the popularity of loyalty cards on a global scale and by how much this has increased since 2007. Several major organisations were researched to find out which loyalty schemes had been successful and the reasons for this. Most major organisations now offer a loyalty program. How do independent retailers encourage loyalty? An article in the Grocer from the 5th February 2010 entitled â€Å"Independent chains seek to win loyalty with card schemes† helped to answer this question. Organisations value the customers loyalty and their purchasing activity data. However a lot of money is spent on loyalty schemes and therefore research was carried to find out whether loyalty schemes are worth investing in. An article from the BBC written on the 17th February 2003 entitled â€Å"The cost of Nectar loyalty† explains why this may not be the case. Dispute this many organisations have benefit from loyalty schemes and Tesco is definitely an example of this. A lot of research was therefore based around Tesco as they currently dominate the UK market. Page 17 of the Walters D, Hanarahan J (2000) book entitled Retail Strategy described some of the major benefits loyalty club members at Tesco receive. The article by the (University of Minnesota 2009) was also examined again because it described why Tesco had been so successful. Page 94 of this article described how Tesco were able to manage customer relations and use their ClubCard to aid direct marketing. Why Asda do not offer a loyalty scheme? The answer to this question can be found in the results section. The answer was taken from an article in the Grocer from the 7th November 2009 entitled â€Å"Why Asda rejected launching its own loyalty card scheme† explains exactly why. However another article in the Grocer from the 20th February 2010 entitled â€Å"Is Asda paying the price for not joining the loyalty club? Suggests reasons why this decision made by Asda may have been a mistake Asda are owned by Wal-Mart which is a major American retailer who currently has the 2nd largest database in the US behind the US government. T

Competition in the Hearing Aid Market

Competition in the Hearing Aid Market Managerial Economics The number of Americans who have hearing difficulties is too many and is still expected to rise as time goes on. This is a challenge that most people undergoing the same ordeal are expected to face under all the circumstances that aid may be available if not totally to cure hearing loss. Hearing aid is a device that can lessen the burden of auditory impairment but it can only do so much. There are still implications that the use of such can be rather viewed as a supplement only and not a corrective tool. This view alone stands actually as a deficient selling point, as people who already have the difficulty will not always depend on these aids and most probably diverge themselves from buying the product. Hence, this situation definitely hurts the sale capacity of the hearing aid industry. Lowering the Price Naturally, as the demand may not be as considerably successful, the prices of hearing aids remain static as against its normally opined high pricing. The idea of lowering the price is a positive idea but not totally a remarkable one. To take for consideration, marketing plays a pivotal role. Product innovation is still under watch as the product continues to address misconceptions about its use and its price. It can be assumed that people who need such may have to be considered based on their actual individual needs. Lowering the price is not only and always the best solution at whatever product is being marketed. Apart from the actual study conducted, it must be analyzed there upon that actual users must be first educated of the many facets of its use and the impact that it may have if chosen as a summative solution to their auditory problems. It has already been mentioned that the implication of social stigma is above the issue of purchase and poor market reception. In as much as g oing through the usual and most careful market analysis, the firms should maintain a higher standard of psycho-social research to come up with a market campaign that is devoted to curing the disease of social stigma for those who use the product if not to give false hopes of entirely curing the malady of their situation. There are market theories available to stand up as resolution before the poor market reception of hearing aids among its target users. However, there should be a critical analysis between price indices and the actual consideration of buyer’s behavior apart from all the equations and variables given as a cardinal rule. The sensitivity to the issues whether they are psychological, social, or economical – must be placed under a more profound handling of the situation. Firms must take a firm hand on the derivation of serious market analysis before any insinuations that price variability is a stand alone solution to the predicament they are experiencing at the time being. Conclusion A regular consumer still considers product innovations such as unique features and warranted efficiency and necessity. Therefore, elasticity in the demand is considerable in effect that demand answers upon these mentioned industry quantifiable. It can be summarized that since economic recession is still in the midst of all considerations, lowering prices is definitely attractive but in foremost opinion product assurance of quality and effectiveness remains to be the most potent market solution in any given situation. 2. Evaluate different possible strategies that companies could implement to gain a sound position among their competitors in this hearing aids market. Use relevant theoretical concepts discussed in chapters The industry of hearing aids is said to be inelastic for most identifiable factor that it does not have too many options and features. But in the advent of market competition, market shares continue to reward the much needed product options – meaning, there are indeed sensible market campaigns that need to be launched to rise above the competition. To understand this point of view, it is already introduced and implied earlier that price variability is a matter of fact the most convenient solution to be competitive in any given market. On the other hand, the real competition begins when a firm understands thoroughly the purchasing behavior of target consumers. It is to be understood that price indices are not only the deciding factors to be considered if firms desire to be at front of the market line. There are still aspects, which include market segmentation and full market analysis, which can only be attained through accurate SWOT analysis. Market Strategies Strategies can be indicated based on the given practices that identify with the rapport involving standard value and capacity which in turn have the maximum probability to improve its market reception and therefore increase its takings. It is also recommended that firm’s standard industry applications can evaluate the magnitude and outlay needed to capitalize on their income prospective, as specified by the price inelasticity of requirement in the market.  While studying the basic product mix in the market of hearing aids, it is also most helpful to introduce new features and innovations in order to entice users and buyers to purchase with loyalty and assurance. This idea will definitely maximize the growth potential and leadership in the market. Gaining a sound and comfortable position is no easy task as it takes a lot of hard work and patience. In realizing this endeavor, it should be analyzed thereon the sensitivity of the target consumers of the implications and sustaina bility of the product upon consumption. Therefore, a creative and definitive market research is important to establish a rapport among consumers and the improvement of the product itself. As stated above, lowering the prices is just one of the solutions but it cannot withstand the whole competition given all the variables of market and the social behavior of the target consumers. Recommendation Like any market competition, SWOT analysis is much reassuring. To depend on more focused research is actually being guided by the tried and tested steps and factors that will handle all the given situations if the market remains stiff and uncontrollable. Perhaps, one example that can be listed is the principle of managerial economics, which employs a wide variety of economic concepts, tools, and techniques in the decision-making process. These concepts are incorporated to be congruent in the following: the theory of the firm, which describes how businesses make a variety of decisions; the theory of consumer behavior, which describes decision making by consumers; and the theory of market structure and pricing, which describes the structure and characteristics of different market forms under which business firms operate. It can be learned that profit maximization also naturally follows when competition gets in to the right mode of market potentiality. 3. What  economic conditions  are relevant in managerial decision-making and how they are related with the typical types of risk faced by a firm? Briefs Economic conditions Basically, managerial economic is about decision-making. It is what managers decide on the matters that make the atmosphere critical for the success of firms. In this light, it is important to stress that economic conditions truly affect the disadvantage that most firms may encounter as they carry on with the principles of economics and business. Definitely in this bracket are issues regarding market structure, conditions of supply and demand, technology, government regulations, international dimensions, future conditions, and macroeconomic factors. On the other hand, profit maximization is adherent to the idea that it can be liable to different concerns about restrictions encountered by the firm such as supply insufficiency, machinery, contractual clauses and liabilities, and laws and government policies. In their attempt to maximize the present value of profits, business managers must consider not only the short-term and long-term implications of decisions made within the firm, but also the many facets of external limits that their firms may experience on their way to achieve its organizational goals. Scarcity issues concern essential inputs (including skilled labor), key raw materials, energy, specialized machinery and equipment, warehouse space, and other resources. Managers naturally experience situations that may limit their ability to sustain balance in the plant capacity, which is worsened by the lack of enough resources that can make a difference in innovation, expansion and market intensification. Contractual obligations also restrict managerial decisions. Labor contracts, for example, may constrain managers flexibility in worker scheduling and work assignment. Finally, laws and regulations have to be observed. The legal restrictions can constrain decisions regarding both production and marketing activities. Examples of laws and regulations that limit managerial flexibility are: the minimum wage, health and safety standards, fuel efficiency requirements, antipollution regulations, and fair pricing and marketing practices. When it was first argued that perfect competition is the idealized version of the market structure that provides a foundation for understanding how markets toil in a capitalist-based economy, it is also understood primarily that conditions are desired to be reached and accomplished. This is in order to consider that market structure is aggressive: product mix and versatility in the market, well-developed and realized consumers and trader’s condition, and a veritable flow of economic mode of production and its all aspects therein. For example, it is required that the product uniqueness must not at full deny their identical nature with other lines as consumers will become oblivious of brand concerns if everything else seems to be the same from one product to another – this is also true with the same price competitions. When a good number of trade participants prevail, this follows through a significant effect on the revenue as the idea that the population of buyers or sel lers cannot make such a significant effect and therefore will not hurt the price control in any given condition. Finally, resources and materials have already become a staple in most competitive business as agricultural products do. This in conclusion, closes the arguments about having a perfect economic condition regardless of any situation. 6. Analyze the effects of the  law of diminishing returns  to a modern-day business. Why this law is considered a short-run phenomenon? Use appropriate examples Briefs The law of diminishing returns is definitely a short-term success, if not totally a phenomenon. It is a matter of theories between labor and capital and how things go at hand with the aspects of demand and supply. It is real and understandable that when a variable resource (labor) is added a fixed resource (capital) will dramatically augment manufacture quantity for a short time. Understandably, at a given time expected the rate of increase will fluctuate and is expected to turn more abysmal.  This is to explain that diminishing returns impinge on both the manufacture of labor and cost of production. As an example, duplication of labor and overproduction only descend to more unfavorable result as mode of production goes in the direction of surplus value. When Malthus postulated that land becomes a variable input when population becomes erratic and unstable, hence, the Law of Diminishing Returns explains further that when a fixed input like land and machineries, is joint in assembly with a changeable input, using a given technology, is expected to amplify the magnitude of the variable input, and therefore will eventually lower the efficiency of the variable contribution. One good example that can be given is the problem of overproduction in the industry of cars and other automobiles. The capitalist ideals about putting more production output each time to arrest the higher market demands come to a lull when the economic condition deepens and starts to affect the consumer behavior. In this event, it could be noted upon that the conversion of inputs into outputs is only realized based on the technology available in use. As a result, inadequate amount of inputs will produce only narrow number of productivity. Another example that can be stated herein is the labor-to-produce inputs as against the number of days and materials exhausted. Supposed that there are numbers of labor force working in a firm and produce a result given, additional input will just approximate a divisive response as against the total produce. Diminishing returns is exact in thought that it plays an important component in the proficient distribution of capitals. This is by significant turn the real concern of firms and that it ultimately desires to bestow more resources to the use in which they are more prolific. Although, as production outlays more resources to an exacting use, it can be observed that diminishing returns presents itself in which it becomes less productive. This is actually a disappointing outcome but in reality it reveals important aspects of arresting difficulties of resourceful provision of capitals. In the time of economic slowdown, it is important to establish the practical facts that diminishing returns are not what the macroeconomic future of any country needs as of the moment. This in fact argues strongly that excesses in times of recession and unscrupulous economic postulations are definitely unhealthy. However, given enough market analysis and putting more confidence to product and technological innovation, all doubts about this particular economic principle will in turn come out advantageous for the full recovery of the economic force. As strongly as it is exact with its intention, allocation of resources must be critically scrutinized in regular runs so as not to receive more losses than the expected outcomes. It is very much possible that the firms as a guiding thought and principle must not bank too much on economic principles that have no material and realistic basis.

ClockWork Orange :: essays research papers

â€Å" Listening to the J.S. Bach, I began to pony away to the brown gorgeousness of the starry German master, that I would like to have tolchocked them both harder and ripped them to ribbons on their own floor. (34) â€Å" Young Alex, naà ¯ve, unloving, and uncaring to the world he lived in. The screaming decade of the 70’s is the setting of when the story takes place. A group of young teenage boys out and about looking for a good time but by what definition is a good time? If some people see a good time as hanging out at the movies and talking on the phone, then their imagination is far off from what Alex and his droogs are plotting. Walking around in a small clique of 4 wearing and dressing in their own fashion and style. Alex is the leader of his small army and friends. He first introduces his strange behavior by walking the streets in search for some action and by means of action meaning fights, drinking, and sometimes in search of young girls to ravage. Alex’s venture is to change his life around without realizing what he once was to a new beginning or becoming an adult. The beginning of his teenage life was being a young violent seeker and having a certain love for immoral acts against people or any living subject that he could find a way to hurt. Like young teenagers or youths there is a stage that they go through where they believe they are infinite and nothing can harm them or create a recognizable danger. There is a journey to becoming an adult and it may not be as violent or as sad a journey as young Alexs’ but there is that road that teenagers travel down where they may learn their mistake and right they wrongs. Alex may not realize what his quest is in the beginning but it becomes clear once he has undergone the worst of his punishment that in return to fit the crimes he had committed. Alex begins his journey of departure when he challenges another group of boys to a duel, which resulted in near death to one of the members of the opposing gang. Alex and his droogs get away clean without remorse of fear from authority. They go out once again on their spree of violence in search of new ways to receive entertainment that meets their definition.

Wernher Von Braun :: essays research papers

Wernher Von Braun was the second of three sons born to Baron Magnus von Braun and Baroness Emmy von Quistorp. He was born on March 23, 1912 in Wirsitz, Posen. Wernher was always a visionary, and when he was ten years old he decided his goal in life would be to "help turn the wheel of time." His interests led him to do many things in his early life including composing several pieces of music and recycling old automobile parts to build a new car. Because of spending so much of his time building a car, he flunked in mathematics and physics. However, it was his decision to explore rocketry that led to his great impact on history. Von Braun, at the age of 16, organized an observatory construction team. His volunteers built a complete observatory in their spare time, working as diggers, bricklayers, and carpenters. In 1930, when he was 20, he enrolled at the Berlin Institute of Technology. He received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, and was offered a grant to conduct and develop scientific investigations on liquid-fueled rocket engines. A few years later Wernher received his PhD in physics from the University of Berlin. In the mid 1930's, rocket clubs sprang up all over Germany. One of these clubs, the Verein fur Raumschiffarht had engineer Wernher von Braun as a member. By 1934 von Braun had a team of 80 engineers building rockets in Kummersdorf. With the launch of two rockets, Max and Moritz, in 1934, von Braun's proposal to work on a jet-assisted take-off device for heavy bombers and all-rocket fighters was granted, But Kummersdorf was too small for the work he needed to do, so a new facility had to be built. Peenemunde, on the Baltic coast, was picked as the new site. Peenemunde was large enough to launch and monitor rockets over ranges up to about 200 miles, with observing instruments, with no risk of harming people and property. He was then arrested by the SS and the Gestapo for crimes against the state because he kept on talking about building rockets which would go into orbit around the Earth and perhaps go to the Moon. His crime was indulging in frivolous dreams when he should have been concentrating on building bigger rocket bombs for the Nazi war machine. After arriving back, von Braun immediately assembled his planning staff and asked the m to decide how and to who they should surrender to.

The Medieval Crusades Essay -- essays research papers

Through out time, history has had a tendency to repeat it self. It has done so in good means as well as bad. People learn from the past and apply it to their every day lives. Although people try to do the right thing and not follow mistakes that have been already made, they just seem to come about. This day in age, out country is experiencing a situation that is extremely similar to that that occurred in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries, that which is the crusades. Crusades now can be defined as all wars undertaken in pursuance of a vow, and directed against infidels. But back in the middle ages it was known as any military expedition under taken by the Christians of Europe (Random House Webster’s 318). On September 11,2001 the people of America as well as all other free countries in our nation experience a new feeling that we have not know of. We were being attacked for our beliefs, for the way we live our lives. This what we were feeling, was being fought for during the time of the Crusades. The Christians and the Muslims were fighting against one another in order to spread their religion, or end the other. The people who were the leaders of the attack were Muslims. Muslims are people who follow the religion of Islam. Islam is a religion that was founded by a man named Muhammad. The followers of Muhammad believe that he received messages from God. Those messages all established into the rules that the Muslims live by, and they are all recorded in the Koran. Some of the laws forbade Muslims to eat pork, drink alcohol, gamble or lend money for interests. But the main beliefs of the Muslims are â€Å"The Five Pillars†. Which are to have faith in God (Allah). To pray five times a day facing in the direction of Mecca. For a person to ... ...Although they had realized that it was not the end of the crusades. Other types continued. There were five crusades against the Hussites. Also there were crusades that weren’t aimed at capturing Jerusalem but trying to stop the Turks from getting more powerful.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion we have seen how the crusades took place and what affects they left on world history. In this present day we can still see some of the same ideas that lay behind the crusades. The horrific tragedy of September 11th is justified by some Muslim groups as a strong statement on behalf of the one and only god- Allah (or so they think). It is scary to consider that The Holy War of the 11th-13th century has a chance of reawakening in the 21st century. That is why we must know the facts and their consequences about world history, to prevent its occurrence in the present day.