Compare and contrast discontinuous change Research Paper - 1

Compare and contrast discontinuous change - Research Paper Example Factors causing the discontinuous change in business can be grounded in different fields that may include but are not limited to politics, religion, technological advancement, and literacy rate. Discontinuous change affects family-businesses more as compared to other types of businesses primarily because the former are less formal in terms of system and organization, and accordingly less likely to increase the resources to help the business sustain as compared to the latter (Kumar, 2012). End of the cinemas and entertainment industry in a region because of a strong religious movement, closure of projects started by the previous government by the new government after it takes the charge, drastic reduction in the scope of manual sewing and embroidery of clothing because of the use of machines for the same purposes, rapid decline in the market value of palmists and magicians with the rise of people’s belief in science and technology as a result of more education and improved literacy rate, and decline in the readership of books with the availability of online reading sources on the

Value configuration of argos Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Value configuration of argos - Research Paper Example shopping very accessible to their clients with the accessibility of sets for surfing earlier to visiting the stores ,the collections are accessible as hard copies for example, the low price DVDs and CDs.This suitability of shopping with the Argos lengthens to the establishment of home distribution for mobile orders and online acquisitions at lowered prices. The clients who are registered to Argos website benefits from 5% discounts on the complete Argos variety and some monies to use in Argos and site stores obtainable on their loyalty cards. Argos deals in merchandises care to the client such as breakdown care, equipment care and replacement produce care. For easy admittance of the company’s features and produces, Argos has established beta Widget which delivers a quicker and easier access to the main features of Argos.co.uk which comprised the pursuit of their up-to-date offers, costs and the wide merchandise range. To advance rates of exchange, drive produces sales and progress their enactments, Argos linked with the Zoocha to cultivate the customer proficient design. Argos has capitalized meaningfully in digital contribution and establish new ways to influence its vast store collection in a retail atmosphere, this is due to the just launched five-year revolution plan which marks Argos as a digital front-runner in the corporate market. This has led to the improvement of Argos products purchase since clients could visit the Argos website through mobile devices and surf for products and conducts purchase .It appeals to the clients because of the endowment of 16% discount of the general purchases directed through the phones. , Argos announces a digital version of its Christmas gift guide that exploits new expertise and rich content to deliver collaborating ways of spending for its customers (www.argos.co.uk ,2014). In addition, the catalogue type of the gift controller is using augmented reality to lift arrangement stages further.Interms of expertise Argos

Apples Ethics And Supplier Code Of Conduct

Apples Ethics And Supplier Code Of Conduct Apple, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. Apple surpassed the software giant Microsoft, in May 2010 and secured the reputation of the largest and one of the most valuable companies of the era. The company operates 301 retail stores scattered across ten different countries as per August 2010. Its traditionally well known for its Mackintosh line of personal computers. As years passed by, Apple has gained a significance amount of reputation in the global market by the introductions of products such as iPad, iPhone and the latest introduced iPad. The following throws light on Apples supplier responsibility program, its code of ethics and also the controversy it was recently involved with electronic leader, Foxconn. Company Perspectives Apple Inc. is devoted to creating the finest music and personal computing experience for every single one of its users, from students to educators, business professionals to government officials and other consumers by means of ground-breaking hardware, software, internet offerings, peripherals, and services. Apples business approach powers its distinctive ability, through the design and progression of its personal operating system, hardware, and countless technologies and software applications, to provide its customers with the latest creations and simple solutions through outstanding innovative industrial design. Company History Before being able to produce some of the finest computer products we have nowadays, Apple went through countless processes and hurdles. Apple was established in 1976 by two college dropouts, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Also part of the team was Ronald Wayne, who was older and had personal assets of his own. Waynes uncertainty of the company worried him about the risk of investing his assets, and resulted with him selling his share back to Wozniak and Jobs for $800. That same share of the company would be worth over 3 billion dollars today (Linzmayer, 2011). The main objective of starting the company was to sell their first invention, The Apple I, which took place on January 3rd, 1977. It was successful for use at the time as it only included the most important parts: a straightforward motherboard plus CPU, RAM and very simple textual-video chips. Only a few months later, The Apple II was released during April, 1977. By the end of 1978, the United States saw Apple to be one of the fastest-emerging companies having its products available through 100 dealers. Apples development continued to grow with more and more developments and by December 1980, the company went public. Within only minutes, 4.6 million shares were sold at $22 each (Linzmayer, 2011). The company was formerly recognized as Apple Computer Inc., for the first 30 years, but later removed computer from its name to reflect its expansion into consumer electronics and wanted a better portrayal as a lifestyle powerhouse rather than just personal computers. It continued to produce some of its popular products today including the Macintosh line of computers, iPod, iPhone and the iPad. Apples attitude towards comprehensive artistic design as well as its unique advertising operations is just a few of many reasons why the company has created a distinctive reputation in todays computer industry (Linzmayer, 2011) Products Apples super stylish and exclusive product line has allowed it to create a distinct name for itself. Some of the popular Apple products include: iMac It is the vibrant and stylish all-in-one Macintosh desktop computer that offers a variety of features including a very rich desktop experience. The first model of the iMac that was released was the G3, and the latest iMac released towards the end of 2009. The new iMac comes with a smooth, professional look that redefined Apples known all in one model. iPod Touch The main turning point for Apples iPod line was the iPod Touch. It has been a massive success and customers are loyal to this brand as the company continues to update the device with the latest features. iPod Touch 3G is the latest of the model. iPhone The entire smart phone industry was revolutionized on June 29, 2007 when the iPhone was released. It was labeled by many to be the years best invention. Since the launch of the iPhone 4, 3 million units have been sold. Within the first weekend, 1.7 million were sold. iPad The product causing a lot of todays buzz is the iPad. 300000 units for sold on day one. It would be classified somewhat between a phone and a laptop. Users no longer have to choose between toys or tool as the iPad has all the technologies and features for both work and fun. Apples ethics: Controversies exist whenever a firm becomes big. We cannot really judge the actions of a firm as its just not one person who is in control. A firm consists of ethical and unethical employees. One of the most famous ethical dilemmas faced by apple was the Foxconn case. We would be looking at what apple has done to fix it in the next segment while right now we would be looking at some of the ethical and unethical practices at apple. Apple has raised its ethical standards due to a lot of pressures by outside parties. Apple was not considered ethical due to the issues that arose in china. However there were ethical standards that applied to people working at apple as it didnt flourish and become a billion dollar company just like that (Hyatt, 2010) Ethical codes of conduct are the basis of a company a company cannot exist without it as there would be no direction, motivation or discipline. Apple has separate ethical standards for employees at different rankings due to the fact that every position requires something different and each has specific criteria. Apple targets reasons that lead to unethical behavior and works on them so that they dont arise in the company. The code focuses on: Conflicts of interest, confidentiality, proper use and protection of the companys records and assets, insider trading, fair dealing, and reporting of illegal and unethical behavior .All the points are self explanatory. One of the main things that are encouraged at apple is feedback. Supervisors are expected to help workers understand and require them to provide feedback as it not only helps the supervisor understand the areas at which the workers lacks comprehending but also encourages and in turn motivates them (ILO, 2008). While the responsibi lity of officials like the president, chief executive officer and senior financial officers is to make sure that the company runs in accordance to the legal requirements and also to make sure that each violation is dealt with in an appropriate manner so as to make sure that the mistake is not made again (ILO, 2008). Apple is constantly changing so its policies get updated. It applied a policy called ranking and rating in which the sales metrics of the employees were hung up so that everyone could see. Even though the salary of the employees was not commission based it helped senior officials, as they could now see which workers werent selling much (Spence, 2010). The officials then tried looking for the root cause of the problem and provided training to those workers. This was one approach by apple to motivate but obviously some critics did think that it is not very effective. But the idea of trying and coming up with ways to make this better should be admirable (Hyatt, 2011)Â   Apples supplier code of conduct: Apple is holding suppliers accountable The reputation of apple has been drastically bruised due to its suppliers. Foxconn is one of the major supplier of apples products and the management practice there was put into the spotlight when workers started committing suicide. Steve Jobs was put a lot of pressure due to this as the public demanded an answer. He responded to this by the formation of a detailed supplier code of conduct. It covered expectations in these areas: management systems, labour and human rights, impact on the environment, ethics, health and safety (Hyatt, 2011). Management systems: Workers are required to be trained and well informed. It should be made sure that they provide feedback. Third party audits to eliminate chances of fraud and also to implement new and improved policies. A corrective action process in which mistakes are corrected and the process is then again followed up (Hyatt, 2011). Documentation and records are required to be checked by the management regularly and company policies are to be applied to the suppliers (Spence, 2010). Labor and human rights: Suppliers should make sure that they do not discriminate labor on the basis of things like sexual orientation or race. They should not hire underage workers, provide benefits and incentives, protect juvenile workers, be fair in treatment and do not require them to work for long periods as this is the main cause of strain and demotivation. Works should also not be required to pay large sums of money to employment agencies and wages should be sufficient. Impact on the environment: Suppliers are required to take permits when dealing with something that requires permission from the government. They should also dispose of their air, water and solid waste in such a manner that it doesnt harm the environment. And make sure that they do not dispose of toxic or hazardous substances (Hyatt, 2011). Health and safety: Workers should not be required to do things would be looked at as a health or safety risk for them. They should be given proper food as well as living space. There should also be worker health and safety committees on the premises (ILO, 2011) Ethics: Important documentation should be protected and there should be a degree of conditionality between the company and the supplier so they can easily disclose information to one another. Complaints should be taken into account and action should be taken immediately. Foxconn International Holdings Ltd. Foxconn International Holdings Ltd. is a multinational subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision Co Ltd., a Taiwanese company that is the worlds largest maker of electronic components (The Circuit Assembly Top 50 EMS Companies, 2009). According to the 2010 Fortune Global 500 Companies, Foxconn secured the 112th rank overall earning a profit of 2,291.7 and revenue of 59323.9 million dollars (Fortune Global 500, 2010). The companys primary focus was on providing vertically integrated manufacturing services for the handset industry. Foxconns employee count reaches more than half a million in China alone (Eyck, 2010). The founder of the company is Terry Gou, a billionaire, and has made Foxconn the worlds largest manufacturer of printed circuit boards spreading all over Asia, Europe and America. The majority of the companys sales to Asian customers is attributed to the Peoples Republic of China. The operational activities of the company are primarily located in China, then the United States, Mexico and other countries (Buetow, 2010). Foxconn Controversies Foxconn in the recent past has been involved in manufacturing in large quantities products for Apple viz., the iPod, iPad and the iPhone. Being one of the most renowned companies in the world, Foxconn has been involved in controversies mainly on how to manage employees (Jones, 2010). These initiated with the set-up of the Apple factory in Shenzhen, China. Apple was all over the news around the first week of Feb 10 not only for its sensational launch of the iPad, but also because of the high number of worker suicide in its Foxconn factory. Amidst all this, 12 Foxconn workers have already ended their lives this year, by jumping of the multi-story dormitories they live in or from the building during the very short duration of rest which they were given (Eyck, 2010). This crisis has urged the company to install safety nets in between the buildings as 20 more were stopped from killing themselves by the company authorities. At Longhua, there was a highly charged. This is because approximately 350,000 workers eat and otherwise live there, and during their protests, they had started chanting an insulting chant at Foxconn. The president of Foxconn, after heavy negotiations, said that the company would plan to move a significant portion of its workforce to a Western part of China, where they will be closer to their families. The case had become so out of control that the people who lived on the company premises had started calling the factory a Death Express. Management also had taken some steps toward controlling this phenomen on, such as creating a suicide hotline, and bringing monks to counter forces of evil. The Foxconn Empire employs about a million people, in the city of Shenzhen, across the city of Hong Kong. The premises of the industry contain 15 manufacturing buildings and they have dedicated one building to each customer. It was in these buildings where the suicides took place. The company made public a statement where it said that they have avoided a further 20 suicides. Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple upon hearing about the tragedy said that he found this incident very troubling and also mentioned that Apple always strives to provide the best jobs in a company with regard to understanding the working condition under the companys supply chain. There has been an alarming increase in the number of suicides, whose reasons are still not apparent. The culture of the workforce at Foxconn has been described as being run similar to a military. (Moore, 2010). Foxconns Unethical Management Working conditions The main reason for Foxconn being under the spotlight was because of its unethical management and working conditions which has been considered as the root cause of the deaths and suicides in the past one year. A report recently explains the toiling and the exhaustion caused by 12-hour shifts, workers prohibited from talking or interacting with co-workers and the pressure of just-in-time production in order to meet the high demand (Eyck, 2010). SACOM held a protest on the 8th of June which was the same day Apple launched its iPhone4. The demand of the protests initiated by the activists was to boycott all the Foxconn products (Eyck, 2010). Furthermore, a Chinese undercover team, filtered through the Longhua plant and gave the reporters they entire scenario of the industry. They reported by stating that the facilities were adequate but highly criticized their management. Hundreds of people work in the workshops and did not have the permission to even talk to their colleagues.. If so found, they would get a black mark on their record, be shouted at by their manager or even be fined. The report was followed adding Foxconns laying off of more than ten thousand workers due to the financial downturn and had been pressured to meet up with the demand for the Apple iPad due to its monumental success (Moore, 2010). The iPad appears to have placed immense strain on Foxconn workers which resulted in them in quitting jobs at the rate of 15,000 a month (Robins, 2010). The workers in the factory need practice to become really efficient and the new staff has to keep up. The workers that were asked about the working conditions stated that their hands would still keep on twitching when they are not working and mimic the motion as they were not able to relax their minds (Chang, 2010). The workers worked for an average of 120 hours per month, exceeding the limit set by Apply by 70 hours (Moore, 2010). Foxconn management style was regarded as severe and obstructed the code of ethics for managing employees. Apple therefore was urged upon to take appropriate steps if they were concerned about the health and safety of the workers (Crothall, 2010). Nevertheless, Apple has taken this issue into strict consideration and has urged Foxconn to do the same. These tragedies threw a very undesirable spotlight on the labor practices of Foxconn. After a few months of this incident, Foxconn has pledged to enhance work conditions, increase the pay, take into consideration of allowing workers to live closer to their homes aswell as reduce overtime hours. Conclusion Apple Inc. regardless of the recent controversies with Foxconn has reacted well and taken action in this regard under the guidance of Steve Jobs. After tremendous pressure from the labor organization in China, Steve Jobs has given this matter of utmost importance and high priority. Nevertheless, the situation in the province of Longhua has shown to improve. The Labor Department has agreed upon increasing the wages and to provide better facilities to the workers all around. Apple has lived up to its reputation of living up to its strong supplier responsibility program and its supplier code of conduct.

Disability and the Theatrical Event :: College Admissions Essays

Disability and the Theatrical Event    When I was 10, I was hit by a car. Actually, I was 9 years old, got hit by the car and turned 10 in hospital.    I was walking home with my friends after school. It all happened in the blink of an eye. Someone was driving. Someone didn't look. Someone was careful but not careful enough. They ran. I waited. Not in the right place. And I was hit. Just like that. A piece of glass from the headlight pierced my skull and entered my brain. My brain was damaged. They call it ABI. Aquired Brain Injury. I was meant to die.    My fist did come down from my chin. I learnt relaxation processes by living and practicing Yoga in an Ashram. Yoga also helped me learn to walk with a reduced limp. I toned and strengthened my body through Yogic practice. I recommend Yoga to anyone who wants to work with his or her body. And I discovered theatre.    In the theatre I was magical. I could create a world where I was good enough. Moving my body to music was empowering. And when I feel empowered, disability and difference do not matter.    I become one with the music. I transcend to a plane of just . . . being. In drama my difference doesn't have to matter. But -- if I want it to matter -- my difference is treasured. I can use my difference to my advantage to say something to the world. I decided to help others through counseling work and began a Social Work degree at the University of South Australia. I graduated from my social work degree in 2000.    I have finally realized that only by celebrating disability and difference -- -- only by making our disability visible -- can we get out of the trap. We reconstruct ourselves through theatre and make choices. We create new opportunities. We turn the situation around.

Walt Disney World

Case Study: Walt Disney World Question 1: Suppose competing attractions, such as Sea World and Universal Studios, lower their prices of adminission. How should WDW respond? The issue of competitive price is close to the supply and demand one. As long as people willing to pay whatever the price parks set, especially WDW, why would they change? WDW provides such a high-quality offer than it is impossible to lower his prices; it could try to keep them steady. Even if the company decides to lower prices, it should do it in a significant way in order to attract more customers.For instance a $5 reduction in the price of admission would provoke any major changes. They would probably have to drop price below their competitors to make true gain. Besides, from a branding stand point, lowering prices sends a mixed message to consumers (adults with purchasing power) : indeed in customers mind, it would signal something goes wrong. Actually the price is an essential part of firms positioning and it would be difficult for WDW to position itself as the premiere theme park with lower prices than competitors; it is also un-strategic to re-position.WDW strategy has not to do with the credo â€Å"cheapest always win†. The corporation has to play on differentiation and keep playing its leadership positioning; it means making your product unique in some ways to maintain your competitiveness. The following paragraph deal with all WDW differentiation factors. WDW uniqueness criteria -Marketing: WDW propose a complete offer for adults and/or children (families). The variety of this offer (several theme parks such as EPCOT or Animal Kingdom, other activities such as golf or wildlife, several hostels and prices segments†¦) makes customers able to customize their vacations.WDW provides multi-experience. -Communication: the firm must keep using a multi-channel and multi-media strategy to spread its marketing messages including as many new technologies as possible. -Innovation & Ideas generation: WDW must preserve theâ€Å"environnement for supportive conficts† it created through its meetings: Gong Show, Charettes with architects and theme park designers, Movie Development meetings. – Common sense & Discipline: This is the practical part of WDW uniqueness because necessary to test ideas, especially from a fiscal and financial point of view. Indeed ood ideas need time that is the reason why WDW creative process goes against quick actions and audience research. -Creativity: As M. Eisner said â€Å"Together conflict & common sense yield creativity†. We can add that WDW culture of diversity and fun take parts in the creative process: diverse point of views and individualism lead to frictions, conflicts, debates that are essential to get great solutions. -Facilities and Employees: in facts, WDW employees competent, well-trained and friendly. That is a crucially important factor because most of them are directly in contact with customers.No need to justify how essential the sense of contact is in business. Furthermore, all the attractions in theme parks are totally safe; all the facilities (hostels, restaurants included) are clean, linked each other (monorail, boats†¦) and electrically connected.. We notice also that WDW is technologically competent: it is a leader in product development, equipments design and maintenance, industrial engineering†¦for instance WDW design and manage perfectly attractions waiting lines: customers are sensitive about the time they have to use rides. All these aspects are visible for customers Branding Image: all the previous criteria are parts of the branding image; WDW brand is the amount of thousands and thousands small actions (â€Å"pointillist painting†). In particular Mickey and Disney characters, the castle are the symbol that contains all the stories the company created, the dreams and thoughts it suggest to children. Thus, if competitors lower their p rices, WDW should not change its prices and by the same time keep guarding its brand trough all the strategic decisions especially for marketing: WDW messages should be focused on the quality of the product.Question 2: How can WDW utilize customer information better to increase its volume of business? First and foremost, we should have in mind the term â€Å"forecasts† when we deal with customer information topics. Indeed WDW, due to his forecasts department, accumulates data on consumer’s attendance but also consumer’s behavior. All the other departments of the firm (like Labor Management, Maintenance, Finance, Park Theme Design) have access to this precious information which will be used for a set of management decisions to increase volumes and profits.That information can be predicted daily, weekly, monthly or for several years (till five years). In order to understand how customer information is utilized, a look at the forecasting process is necessary; 1- Wh at are the data sources? There are 3 main sources: -The guests in theme parks, hostels, restaurants†¦this is the more direct source. -The employees. For this category we could say that it has nothing to do with consumer information.Actually it has for at least two reasons: first employees can be directly in contact with guests and their recommendations are precious; secondly we could see each employee as a consumer into the firm and improve their working environnement leads to improve final customer satisfaction. – The travel industry professionals because they have their own data bases. 2- How WDW get them? Through surveys (questionnaires, interviews, focus group techniques†¦). All kind of topics could be dealt with but the two most important are customers experiences future Travel Plan. 3- How WDW process these data?Thanks to such models as judgmental, economic, moving-average models, regression analysis, monthly forecasting mode. Each model take into account a ce rtain number of variables like gross domestic product, cross-exchange rates, airline specials†¦ 4- Forecasts This is a major step in the decision- making process. All these consumer information and their analysis by models enable WDW to forecast consumer behavior (attendance in particular). Thus WDW can manage demand taking proper decisions about the capacity planning, the number of required employees, the due quantity of food and beverage†¦Question 3: What weaknesses or limitations do you see in WDW strategy? Ops Strat s WDW strategy is coherente but we can observe some accurate failures especially in operations strategy. Let’s remind the operations process framework and colour in blue the specific â€Å"failing fields†: Product Design Process Design Location/ Layout Cap. planning/Forecasts Work Organization Operations execution Of course other fields like merchandising or Facilities development are concerned. In the following paragraphs we focused on all of those black points. Prices of admissionFirstly, we can put forward the fact that WDW does not compete on prices (especially price of admission). From a positioning point of view it is logical: WDW is a leader in entertainment industry and bet on quality, innovation and uniqueness. But in time of global economical crisis, customers may desire a lower cost product; and there are serious competitors able to propose such offer: Sea World, Universal Studios†¦Of course children are attracted by WDW and can convinced relatives but the final decision remains to adults who get the purchasing power. Hotel development strategyThen we should notice the expanding strategy for WDW hostels: it does not deal with short term demands. Long term demand is not so much reliable when economy is disrupted. Thus Disney occupancy rates above 90% much of the year which is not sufficient anymore. Synergies & organization -Another point is the fact that WDW meet some difficulties to create synergies because of its top management. It is a problem of hierarchy, organization, authority delegation and culture. Actually the main problem could be that it is hard to delegate autonomy, to create empowerment among the group. We should notice that the hierarchy reorganization tends to create duplications (cf: example of a person running movies in Italy reporting to two executives): several hierarchical levels are added. Actually WDW is a hybrid structure; it is in time of mutation or transition.Profits & Losses – WDW experienced losses in home-video earnings because of strategic decisions that lengthen the release cycle for certain animated movie classics. It could be a problem of product development (cf: The product Development Funnel and especially Products Design step) or process engineering. The consumer products department also knew difficulties. Actually it is a matter of merchandising, especially concerning licensed-characters. This problem deals directly with consumer behavior (in-store purchases, on-line purchases†¦). -Concerning the Interactive media division, Disney experienced huge losses (source: Disney Fiscal Year Results). Actually the group invested in self-published video games (video games that are published by their author) and it needs more times to be profitable. -It goes the same for Internet (Go. com, Disney. com, ESPN. com†¦).It is s a crucial business field but investments cost a lot. To conclude we could qualify WDW weaknesses and limitations as mainly cyclical strategic problems . They are not structural even though it could deal with the organization (organization chart) and we can afford to say that those difficulties are temporary. The only structural change that has affected deeply the company concerned consumers attitude. â€Å"Disney still knows how to sweep people off their feet†, better than anyone else but the corporation needs to take into account new habits and expectations. Walt Disney World Case Study: Walt Disney World Question 1: Suppose competing attractions, such as Sea World and Universal Studios, lower their prices of adminission. How should WDW respond? The issue of competitive price is close to the supply and demand one. As long as people willing to pay whatever the price parks set, especially WDW, why would they change? WDW provides such a high-quality offer than it is impossible to lower his prices; it could try to keep them steady. Even if the company decides to lower prices, it should do it in a significant way in order to attract more customers.For instance a $5 reduction in the price of admission would provoke any major changes. They would probably have to drop price below their competitors to make true gain. Besides, from a branding stand point, lowering prices sends a mixed message to consumers (adults with purchasing power) : indeed in customers mind, it would signal something goes wrong. Actually the price is an essential part of firms positioning and it would be difficult for WDW to position itself as the premiere theme park with lower prices than competitors; it is also un-strategic to re-position.WDW strategy has not to do with the credo â€Å"cheapest always win†. The corporation has to play on differentiation and keep playing its leadership positioning; it means making your product unique in some ways to maintain your competitiveness. The following paragraph deal with all WDW differentiation factors. WDW uniqueness criteria -Marketing: WDW propose a complete offer for adults and/or children (families). The variety of this offer (several theme parks such as EPCOT or Animal Kingdom, other activities such as golf or wildlife, several hostels and prices segments†¦) makes customers able to customize their vacations.WDW provides multi-experience. -Communication: the firm must keep using a multi-channel and multi-media strategy to spread its marketing messages including as many new technologies as possible. -Innovation & Ideas generation: WDW must preserve theâ€Å"environnement for supportive conficts† it created through its meetings: Gong Show, Charettes with architects and theme park designers, Movie Development meetings. – Common sense & Discipline: This is the practical part of WDW uniqueness because necessary to test ideas, especially from a fiscal and financial point of view. Indeed ood ideas need time that is the reason why WDW creative process goes against quick actions and audience research. -Creativity: As M. Eisner said â€Å"Together conflict & common sense yield creativity†. We can add that WDW culture of diversity and fun take parts in the creative process: diverse point of views and individualism lead to frictions, conflicts, debates that are essential to get great solutions. -Facilities and Employees: in facts, WDW employees competent, well-trained and friendly. That is a crucially important factor because most of them are directly in contact with customers.No need to justify how essential the sense of contact is in business. Furthermore, all the attractions in theme parks are totally safe; all the facilities (hostels, restaurants included) are clean, linked each other (monorail, boats†¦) and electrically connected.. We notice also that WDW is technologically competent: it is a leader in product development, equipments design and maintenance, industrial engineering†¦for instance WDW design and manage perfectly attractions waiting lines: customers are sensitive about the time they have to use rides. All these aspects are visible for customers Branding Image: all the previous criteria are parts of the branding image; WDW brand is the amount of thousands and thousands small actions (â€Å"pointillist painting†). In particular Mickey and Disney characters, the castle are the symbol that contains all the stories the company created, the dreams and thoughts it suggest to children. Thus, if competitors lower their p rices, WDW should not change its prices and by the same time keep guarding its brand trough all the strategic decisions especially for marketing: WDW messages should be focused on the quality of the product.Question 2: How can WDW utilize customer information better to increase its volume of business? First and foremost, we should have in mind the term â€Å"forecasts† when we deal with customer information topics. Indeed WDW, due to his forecasts department, accumulates data on consumer’s attendance but also consumer’s behavior. All the other departments of the firm (like Labor Management, Maintenance, Finance, Park Theme Design) have access to this precious information which will be used for a set of management decisions to increase volumes and profits.That information can be predicted daily, weekly, monthly or for several years (till five years). In order to understand how customer information is utilized, a look at the forecasting process is necessary; 1- Wh at are the data sources? There are 3 main sources: -The guests in theme parks, hostels, restaurants†¦this is the more direct source. -The employees. For this category we could say that it has nothing to do with consumer information.Actually it has for at least two reasons: first employees can be directly in contact with guests and their recommendations are precious; secondly we could see each employee as a consumer into the firm and improve their working environnement leads to improve final customer satisfaction. – The travel industry professionals because they have their own data bases. 2- How WDW get them? Through surveys (questionnaires, interviews, focus group techniques†¦). All kind of topics could be dealt with but the two most important are customers experiences future Travel Plan. 3- How WDW process these data?Thanks to such models as judgmental, economic, moving-average models, regression analysis, monthly forecasting mode. Each model take into account a ce rtain number of variables like gross domestic product, cross-exchange rates, airline specials†¦ 4- Forecasts This is a major step in the decision- making process. All these consumer information and their analysis by models enable WDW to forecast consumer behavior (attendance in particular). Thus WDW can manage demand taking proper decisions about the capacity planning, the number of required employees, the due quantity of food and beverage†¦Question 3: What weaknesses or limitations do you see in WDW strategy? Ops Strat s WDW strategy is coherente but we can observe some accurate failures especially in operations strategy. Let’s remind the operations process framework and colour in blue the specific â€Å"failing fields†: Product Design Process Design Location/ Layout Cap. planning/Forecasts Work Organization Operations execution Of course other fields like merchandising or Facilities development are concerned. In the following paragraphs we focused on all of those black points. Prices of admissionFirstly, we can put forward the fact that WDW does not compete on prices (especially price of admission). From a positioning point of view it is logical: WDW is a leader in entertainment industry and bet on quality, innovation and uniqueness. But in time of global economical crisis, customers may desire a lower cost product; and there are serious competitors able to propose such offer: Sea World, Universal Studios†¦Of course children are attracted by WDW and can convinced relatives but the final decision remains to adults who get the purchasing power. Hotel development strategyThen we should notice the expanding strategy for WDW hostels: it does not deal with short term demands. Long term demand is not so much reliable when economy is disrupted. Thus Disney occupancy rates above 90% much of the year which is not sufficient anymore. Synergies & organization -Another point is the fact that WDW meet some difficulties to create synergies because of its top management. It is a problem of hierarchy, organization, authority delegation and culture. Actually the main problem could be that it is hard to delegate autonomy, to create empowerment among the group. We should notice that the hierarchy reorganization tends to create duplications (cf: example of a person running movies in Italy reporting to two executives): several hierarchical levels are added. Actually WDW is a hybrid structure; it is in time of mutation or transition.Profits & Losses – WDW experienced losses in home-video earnings because of strategic decisions that lengthen the release cycle for certain animated movie classics. It could be a problem of product development (cf: The product Development Funnel and especially Products Design step) or process engineering. The consumer products department also knew difficulties. Actually it is a matter of merchandising, especially concerning licensed-characters. This problem deals directly with consumer behavior (in-store purchases, on-line purchases†¦). -Concerning the Interactive media division, Disney experienced huge losses (source: Disney Fiscal Year Results). Actually the group invested in self-published video games (video games that are published by their author) and it needs more times to be profitable. -It goes the same for Internet (Go. com, Disney. com, ESPN. com†¦).It is s a crucial business field but investments cost a lot. To conclude we could qualify WDW weaknesses and limitations as mainly cyclical strategic problems . They are not structural even though it could deal with the organization (organization chart) and we can afford to say that those difficulties are temporary. The only structural change that has affected deeply the company concerned consumers attitude. â€Å"Disney still knows how to sweep people off their feet†, better than anyone else but the corporation needs to take into account new habits and expectations.

Community Assessment Essay

A community assessment gives emphasis on evaluating agencies, community members and systems so as to learn more about circumstances within such community. The goal of community assessment is to gather pertinent information from a personal walk or drive through the community, from different people and groups within the community as well. This paper will focus on a community in the state of New Jersey called Parsippany Troy Hills aka Troy Hill Parsippany, Parsippany. The goal of this paper is to assess the Parsippany Troy Hills community and the assessment will focus on aspects of the community including health and safety. Parsippany Troy Hills lies in the Newark piedmont basin in a county called Morris county. The community was first formed by European settlers in the 18th century which before was occupied by Native Americans. The name Parsippany came from a Native American word â€Å"parispanong†, which means â€Å"the place where the river winds through the valley. Parsippan y-Troy Hills township is located at 40 °51†²35†³N 74 °25†²24†³W40.859636 °N 74.423348 °W (40.859636,-74.423348). According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 25.394 square miles (65.771 km2), of which, 23.563 square miles (61.029 km2) of it is land of which is covered with city streets, restaurants, parks, shopping centers, schools, houses that range from old and condemned to new and expensive and 1.831 square miles (4.742 km2) of it (7.21%) is water. As of 2010, the population of the community was 53,238 reflecting an increase of 2,589 from the 50,649 counted in the year 2000 census which had in turn increased by 2,171 from 48,478 counted in the 1990 census. As of the year 2000 which marked the total population mentioned above, 19,624 households and 13,167 families were residing in the community. The population density was 2,115 people per square mile. There were also 20,066 housing units with the density of about 838.1 per square mile. The Township usually has a humid climate with cold winters and very warm hot summers. It is usually cooler compared to other communities in the state of New Jersey at night and early in the morning with record lowest temperature recorded at -29 Í ¦ F and record high of 104 Í ¦ F. The township of Parsippany has everything a community needs to survive so most people do not even travel outside the community. Most of the businesses in the community are independently owned and run by the members of the community. Troy hills have been a very quiet and peaceful community according to community members apart from the issue of domestic violence among a focused group in the community. My overall impression about the community is a positive one because my family owns a house there and I visit there often and from my experience, it is very peaceful and quiet compared to my other community in New York. Most people have lived in the community for years without travelling outside their township. When I asked some â€Å"why†, the response I got was there is everything in Parsippany so why go outside the community to get something. There is pretty much every store and restaurant that one can think of in the township, lining up along the towns major street (route 46). Driving along route 46 I came across supermarkets like Shoprite, Wall mart, Costco, Bravo and a couple of other small supermarket s. There is also a long stretch of department stores like TJ max, marshals, Sims, Burlington coat factory and many others. There is also a mall (Morris Hills Mall) which is 10 minutes drive that has other shops like clothing stores, and movie theaters. Also along route 46 and Beverwyck road which are the 2 main roads of the community, I came across some Laundromat’s and dry cleaners where some members of the community do their laundry. There weren’t many people in these Laundromat’s because most people in the community own washers and dryers in their homes so they do their laundry at their homes which I think was very good because it prevents overcrowding in the Laundromats. I also came across some beauty salons and barber shops in the community where some people were getting their hair cut and done and others were getting their nails and feet done (manicure and pedicure). Parsippany also has multiple parks where people go exercise, play sports, host picnics and barbeques and also hung out. At one of the parks that I visited, I saw a group of Indian residents playing volley ball and another mixed race group of blacks, Latino and Chinese young adults playing basket ball which I joined to play with them. There were other people also exercising, some running others doing push and pull ups. Parsippany also has a lot of organizations whose leaders are stakeholders in the community. Most of these organizations are there to offer help and support to community members in need. Three out of the many organizations that really gained my interest were the Women’s Club of Troy hills, Puzzle Pieces – A divorce and separated support group and the Panic and Anxiety club. I became very interested in these three organizations because they hosted a joint meeting at the united Methodist Church which is located at 903 S Beverwyck road, to talk about issues on domestic violence. I found it very shocking that host of the leaders and members were actual victims of domestic violence. I had the opportunity to attend that joint meeting and was very shocking to hear some of the stuff these women actually go through. They were very supportive of each other. In terms of religion, Roman Catholicism is the largest faith followed by Anglican Church and other Christian faiths including Baptist, Church of God and Pentecostal. Other religions include Islam, Hinduism, Jewish, Buddhism, and some Eastern religions. The community has incorporated all these different faiths and has helped provide places of worship for these various religious groups. When it comes to the issue on transportation, the main means to get around is by driving so therefore most residents own a car. The community also has a free transit system for residents which operates Monday to Friday from 9am to 4pm. Two buses run on the hour starting from the main shopping center (Morris Hills Mall) to Brookside senior center. The buses run both East and West routes respectively. Troy Hills Parsippany host educational facilities starting from elementary level to college level. These are some of the schools I came across in the community: Troy Hills elementary school, Rockaway Meadow elementary school, North Vail elementary school, Mt Tabor elementary school, Mt Tabor elementary school, Lake Parsippany elementary school, Littleton elementary school, Knollwood elementary school, Lake Hiawatha elementary school, Intervale elementary school, Central middle school, Brook lawn middle school, Parsippany High school, Parsippany Hills high school and Morris County Community college. Also the community has an adult learning center which provides adult and community. In Parsippany, health authorities see to it that they provide quality service to ensure quality life among the residents. Parsippany benefits from an extensive medical area, world class medical institutions and research facilities. The objective of Parsippany healthcare system is to ensure the health of its residents. Parsippany public health system conducts different programs and activities to integrate relevant health indicators. Parsippany has two major healthcare facilities which are the Hillside Medical center and the Morris Town medical center. Hillside medical center provides great care in cardiac services that includes heart stat, an interactive heart center and arrhythmia treatment center. They also have an emergency department that handles level 2 trauma cases. The Morris town medical center is a facility that provides urgent care, workers compensation and a board range of occupational health and preventative services. They also specialize in burns, wound healing, animal bites and dermatological problems. The community also has other healthcare centers which focus on specific areas of health. I came across health centers like Immediate Care Psychiatric Center and Greystone Park psychiatric center which focuses only on issues related to mental health. The community also has agencies both private and government run who provides care for the elderly and sick in home settings and nursing homes. As mentioned earlier, the community covers about 29.394 square miles of city streets, shopping centers, parks, schools, healthcare facilities and houses. Parsippany is a unique area because of the diversity of land usage. Most of the houses have large yards and are neatly kept by landscaping companies. Going west, the houses reduce in size but still appear well kept. In the northwest area which is along route 46, the houses turn into stores and fast food restaurants. Almost every street I came across or drove on in the community was tarred and the sidewalks were neat and well maintained. Sanitation in the community was a big problem 5 years back according to one local resident due to the increase in restaurants along N Beverwyck road which is occupied mostly by the Indian population in the community. According to a resident who lives among the Indian population, â€Å"there has been a rapid increase of the Indian population which led to increase in businesses being opened, most of which are restaurants†. This led to increase in roaches and rats around that vicinity due to left over foods form the restaurant not being properly disposed and less garbage pickups. The usual trash pickup in the community used to be twice a week (Mondays and Fridays). This problem was brought to the mayors (Mayor Barberio) office and a meeting was conducted with restaurant owners and policy makers which led to a decision being made to increase pickups. The community was the divided into 6 districts and a schedule for pickup was developed. The schedule changes month to month. Below is the actual schedule for garbage pickup for the month of December; The Parsippany police department is a civic service organization consisting of over 100 sworn in police officers. The department is divided into four main divisions: Patrol, investigative, support services and professional standards. Each division is led by a captain and supported by the following chain of commands: lieutenants, sergeants, patrol officers and civilian personnel. According to one police officer I spoke to, most calls the department receives were linked to domestic violence which he mentioned is high among the Indian population in the community. The Parsippany fire department is also working 24/7 to protect the lives and properties of the people of Parsippany and surrounding communities as well. The primary responsibility of the Fire Prevention Bureau is to enforce the New Jersey State Fire Code, ensuring that the residents and firefighters of Parsippany are given the proper level of protection. The Bureau, through public education, code enforcement and emergency respo nse, provides the public with protection of life property and the environment. Troy Hills Parsippany is a multiracial and very cosmopolitan in many ways. The racial makeup of the community is about 74% white, 4% African Americans, 0.5% Native Americans, 18% Asians (mostly Indians), 2% pacific Islanders and about 3% Hispanic. Herein English is the official and most common language and other languages spoken include Hindi, Bengali, Chinese, Spanish, French and Akan. The most people I men in the community were adults between the ages of 22 to about 45. I also met some teenagers who were between the ages of 13 to 18 and also children ages 3 to about 8.Most of these people were among the group of people I met on the playground. I walked to one of the community’s playgrounds and I met a large group of adults (mostly Indians) playing volley ball. I also saw a group of African American and Hispanic teenagers and adults playing basket ball which I joined to play with them. In Parsippany the difference in economic status lies in a wide range of educational levels income and occupation. About 68% of the population is employed with about 2 1,000 males and 12,000 females holding some form of employment status. The most popular profession if the community is in management of professional occupations. Second largest career field is in sales and secretarial work. Other occupations include maintenance, healthcare, transportation e.t.c. The median household income is about $107,144. According to the residents, living in the community makes them feel safe and secure. In addition to the financial stability of the community, the residents are enjoying a state of the art with regards to their healthcare facility needs. Each service offered is given efficiently and responsible healthcare workers see to it that patients or healthcare seekers are satisfied with service offered. According to one senior citizen I came across, living here has given him the security when it comes to assuring health and quality living. Most of the local business owners (restaurant owners) were also happy with living in the community because business is good as most of the m responded due to the increase in the population a long the location of their businesses. Troy Hills Parsippany offers numerous service organizations in the community. Mew Directions in an organizations that helps with providing housing and career developments for the unemployed and needy to find jobs whiles Partners in placement another organization helps everyone over 18 years in finding employment. The Upper room Empowerment helps senior citizens with low income, nursing home residents and orphanage children by providing financial assistance, food and clothing. The Parsippany Troy hills women’s club offers assistance to women in the community especially victims of domestic violence or abusive relationships. Puzzle Pieces – A divorce/ separated support group also helps people faced with divorce and separations in their marriages who were mostly victims of abusive relationships. Other organizations consist of Lifeblood, Lupus foundation of America, National alliance of the mentally ill (NAMI), YMCA and YWCA. Not only are these service organizations but most of these organizations are also allowing community volunteer. For example, vo lunteers can be counselors to help guide the YMCA and YWCA, The Upper room for Empowerment and the New Directions. These organizations bring to the attention issues in the community and make change by involving the community. One organization that has a large impact not only on the Parsippany community but communities all over is Lifeblood. Lifeblood is a nonprofit blood center with objectives to reduce dependency on paid donors, establish a pre deposit blood assurance program, work toward a more even flow of donations and develop roster of donors with rare types of blood. The two main healthcare facilities which are The Hillside Medical center and Morristown Medical center are being operated by the state government. So is the Graystone park Psychiatric center. There are also a large variety of privately owned and operated clinics and agencies that also provide care for the community. The Song Medical clinic owned and run by an Asian physician Dr Song who also is a resident of Troy hills. The mobile diagnostic testing of NJ LLC is also a private organization whose main focus is diagnostic testing . There is also a private rehabilitation center called the Morris rehabilitation and physical therapy center which specializes in chiropractic, physical, speech and occupational therapy, automobile accident care. They also provide treatments for lower back pain, neck pain, headaches, motor vehicle accident injuries, sports related injuries etc. The Morris Pediatric Care LLC is another healthcare agency found in the community which is committed to providing excellent medical care for infants, children and adolescents. This healthcare facility is privately owned and run by Dr Aradhana Rajkumar. The facility although is privately run, has affiliations with other hospitals. There are also homecare agencies that help provide assisted living and total care for older adults both in nursing homes and patient homes. Some of these agencies are A Place for mom and dad, Synergy home care, Brookside senior center, Cheshire home etc. There is also a door to door and fixed route transportation offered by the Morris area paratransit system (MAPS) to senior citizens and the sick for them to go up and down, to doctor’s appointments and so on. There is also Access a Link transportation system offered by the NJ transit which operates in the same manner. Being able to live in a community which is considered to be a quality and stable community not only in the state if NJ but the country as a whole is a great honor for its members. With great healthcare system which sees to it that the community members and neighboring communities receive quality care. Even though the residents are happy in their community, there is one big problem which causes a strain on the community and that is the rise in domestic violence among a specific focused group which happens to be the Indian population in the community. Domestic violence in short has been part and fabric of many societies and culture worldwide. It is so commonplace, in fact, that is has often gone unnoticed and failed to receive the level of attention it deserves in light of the devastating effects it can have on children and families. It is normally hard to get a clear picture when it comes to issues on domestic violence since most cases go unreported in the community with common reason relating to issues like immigration status and cultural beliefs. According to the Parsippany police department, the number one crime in the community is domestic violence. Between 06/12/0212 and 10/28/2012 there has been 12 reported cases leading to three deaths which were linked to domestic violence. Domestic violence is rising so rapidly to the extent that the next lines of businesses are law firms focusing on cases of domestic violence. Just by walking through the community, I came across about 15 different law firms with their banners stating almost the same thing â€Å"We specialize in domestic violence and abuse cases†. Most of the cases in the community have to do with physical forms of abuse but domestic violence in general can be psychological, emotional and sexual as well. As a nurse in this community, working with victims of domestic violence to resolve and eradicate this strain will be my number one priority and this can be done using the different levels of population health care (primary, secondary and tertiary prevention) and health promotion. Primary Prevention: The goal of primary prevention is to intervene before domestic violence occurs by removing the cause and preventing the development of risk factors. This is mostly done through teaching. My main focus will be introducing the Indian population in the community to new thinking processes, coping mechanisms (since stress is a causative factor), and relationship skills that does not incorporate violence and that’s will promote healthy non violent, trust and supportive growth of relationships. Also using the media and hosting forums in schools, churches and community centers to create awareness and the effects of domestic violence and also to show community how to respond to domestic violence situation if they should face it. Secondary Prevention: This level of prevention is very beneficial because as a nurse in the community I would arrange home visitations high risk families and provide support for family members identified as being at high risk of preparing or becoming victims of domestic violence. Also offering crisis support and individual counseling to individuals exposed. Also identifying exposed individuals at earliest possible level and providing appropriate services essential. Provision of services for children exposed to domestic violence, including age-appropriate counseling, supportive services, and services for the nonabusing parent that support that parent’s role as a caregiver, which may, as appropriate, include services that work with the non-abusing parent and child together. Also providing assistance in developing safety plans, and supporting efforts of victims of domestic violence, to make decisions related to their ongoing safety and well-being is very essential. Tertiary Prevention: At this level, special services will be offered for those identified with domestic violence example home visitations with abuse victims and their children, and also providing temporary housing for victims and protection orders against abuser because they need some time off from those abusive relationships to heal emotionally. Children who bear witness to domestic violence often show emotional and behavioral problems and it is my responsibility as a community nurse to provide mental health services to address underlying trauma. Also involving the community is very relevant to addressing issues on domestic violence. Intensive police, court and community collaboration to address situations on domestic violence is very beneficial. Also referring victims to support groups in the community such as the Women’s Club Troy Hills, Puzzle pieces and The Panic and Anxiety groups which provides support for domestic violence victims. I strongly believe that with these measures in place, domestic violence which it the biggest strain of the people of Troy Hills Parsippany will be a thing of the past just like the sanitation issues on the community has become.

Customer Satisfaction Tesco Essay Example

Customer Satisfaction Tesco Essay Example Customer Satisfaction Tesco Essay Customer Satisfaction Tesco Essay Chapter 1. Introduction Chapter 1. Introduction â€Å"Satisfying the customer is a race without finish. † (Vadim Kotelnikov). Many researches and academicians have defined customer’s satisfaction in their own way. Satisfying customers is always a challenging job for anyone. Customer satisfaction means providing goods and services to the customer which meets their level of expectation. So, neglecting customer and their demand can be dangerous for the existence of the organisation. That is the significant reason why companies are paying attention to the customer satisfaction today (Harkiranpal Singh, 2006). Similarly, researcher here tries to measure customer satisfaction and efforts to put to recognise its importance in development of the organisation. Introduction Introduction Background of the research Background of the research Background of the organization to be studied Background of the organization to be studied Research purpose Research purpose Scope of the research project Scope of the research project Brief overview of the research methodology Brief overview of the research methodology Structure of the report Structure of the report Figure 1. 1 Structure of Chapter 1: Introduction 1. 1 Background of the Research Customer satisfaction is the buzzword of the 1990s. Unfortunately, till the date numerous amount of managers consider satisfying their customer is a good practice to do rather than crucial element of success (Dianne S. Ward, 1993). Current economic conditions have encouraged many firms to review their approach regarding customer satisfaction management (Jonathan Parkes). Satisfaction is a crucial measure of an organisation’s achievement and it is considered as a great influencer of attitude, word of mouth communication, profit, and repurchase; in long run, lead to customer loyalty; to be appropriate predictor of buying behaviour in the future. Customer satisfaction gained by any organisation results in loyalty of customers, repeated visits and use of wide range of services and goods offered. Therefore, it is found that greater customer retention can be achieved when customer satisfaction is taken care of, while it is also found that customer with high satisfaction received, were ready to pay higher prices (Patricia Huddleston, Judith Whipple, Rachel Nye Mattick and So Jung Lee, 2009). Customer’s satisfaction on their buying is important factor that take business towards success. In current period, customer satisfaction has received new attention within the environment of the paradigm shift to relationship marketing from transactional marketing. (Aurimas Dapkevicius and Borisas Melnikas, 2009). . 2 Background of the organization to be studied This research is based on the customer satisfaction at Tesco PLC. Tesco is the leading retailer in Britain, and one of the top three in the world. It has over 3700 stores globally and employs approximately 440,000 people. It operates in 13 other countries except UK, which are Republic of Ireland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slova kia, Turkey and Poland in Europe, China, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and India in Asia and U. S. A. â€Å"Everyday life keeps changing and the Tesco team excels at responding to those changes. Tesco has grown from a market stall, set up by Jack Cohen in 1919. The name Tesco first appeared above a shop in Edgware in 1929 and since then the company has grown and developed, responding to new opportunities and pioneering in many innovations. † â€Å"By the early 1990s it faced strong competition and needed a new strategy. Tesco were good at buying and selling goods but had begun to forget the customers. Sir Terry Leahy, who became Chief Executive in 1997, asked customers the simple question â€Å"what are we doing wrong? . Tesco then invested in the things that matter to customers. For example, it launched its loyalty scheme Clubcard and Tesco. com, its internet home shopping service. † â€Å"Going the extra mile for customers has been key to its growth. It wants to make customers lives easier and better in any way it can. It wants to appeal to every customer and give them a reason to come back to Tesco. † (www. cn. tesco. com/en/aboutus/aboutus_history. htm) Tesco UK Tesco in UK is operating more than 2700 stores. The supermarket giant of Britain has registered the pre-tax profit of ? 3. 4bn for the year 2010 (Graeme Wearden, 2010). Headquarter of Tesco is in Hertfordshire, UK. In UK, Tesco is the leading supermarket with small sized grocery stores named as Tesco Metro; outside cities they developed big supermarkets (Tesco Extra), and 24-hour stores. In Britain, Tesco is the king of supermarkets, apart from being national leader in food sector, it is proud of retailing every goods that satisfies the needs of the customers which includes household appliances and hi-fi, books, household equipment, CD/DVD/mini-discs, flowers, apparel, wine, liquors and so on. Keeping in mind the future, Tesco has improved rapidly with the changes in the technologies. Introduction of online sales through its website named www. esco. com has benefited the company with an attractive profit. Tesco; a joint venture with the Royal Bank of Scotland facilitates it to sell general insurance (car, home, travel, pet), and life insurance, saving schemes and credit cards. Besides, it has also started owning gas (petrol) stations in many places for continuing support to its customers (Tesco PLC Company, 2010). Tesco has a largest geographic market in UK. It stocks around 40,000 food products. Apart from selling other brands, it has its own labels categorized in three levels: value, normal and finest (Company Spotlight: Tesco PLC, 2006). Non-food sales of Tesco’s in UK operations are small in margin compared with the food products, but still it holds substantial potential growth. In order to improve customer service Tesco has heavily invested in self-service checkouts which carry out quarter of all its transactions. Such steps help ensure the cost accuracy and reduced waiting time in queue for customers, which makes their in-store experience pleasant. CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is getting introduced in every companies and Tesco has also implied it in its company to get closer with the customers and understand their needs. For the convenience of the customers and continued improved quality of the service, Tesco has introduced a free downloadable application on iphone like Tesco loyalty card and the Clubcard, where any customer with the application stored in their iphone can use their phone instead of the card while making payment at the till (Tesco PLC, 2010). According to the recent survey; Tesco, the Britain’s largest retailer is ranked 7th in terms of customer satisfaction with the rating of 49%. 1. 3 Research Purpose It is said that most companies lose 45% to 50% customers every five years if the companies do not meet the expectations of the customer and if such happens then it would be at least 20 times expensive to make new customers than to retain the existing customers. Moreover, a 5% reduction in the customer defection rate can increase the customers by 25% to 85%. (B2B International, Market research with intelligence, white paper: using market research for product development by Julia Cupman) ‘Customer satisfaction nowadays is considered a main concern by the business and is the critical element of its profitability’. Vadim Kotelnikov) Now business firms are investing more than ever in customer satisfaction. The purpose of the research is to measure and to detect the importance of customer satisfaction. Many factors influence the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of the customers and play an important role in satisfying the customers. In this research we will try and include all those factors that affect customer satisfaction, where customers would be the key asset for this research as they are the one who has experienced the service and goods of Tesco. A proper survey would be conducted in a real market to best know the real vision of the customers towards goods and services of Tesco and also would outline their opinions in this research and eventually a conclusion would be drawn based on the undertaken survey. 1. 4 Scope of the research project Tesco Plc. is quite large to conduct a survey on customer satisfaction, hence Tesco at some places are only taken into consideration assuming the same level of customer service and goods are provided in all the other stores within UK and other countries. In other words, the research is limited to the customers of some places in London, UK only. The respondents of the survey are the people who are currently residing in London and only few physical stores in London are included to conduct this research. 1. 5 Brief overview of the research methodology Methodology as the term; refers to the way in which individual approach problems and search for answers. In short, how research is conducted (Steven J. Taylor and Robert Bogdan, 1998). The purpose of the research is to inform action. It is essential for the researcher to design a methodology or an approach on how to solve the problem. It helps any individual to stay on track and follow the steps of the methods in solving a particular problem. (S. Rajasekar, P. Philominathan, V. Chinnathambi, 2006). As per the research questions, researcher has utilized the deduction approach, for satisfying the purpose of data collection and medium of questionnaire in survey adopted by researcher. Both primary and secondary data are used and when it comes to type of research used in this case, it is known as applied research. All the further information on research methodology is mentioned in chapter 3. 1. 6 Structure of the report The structure follows this way: Chapter 2 talks about literature review which lets reader know the relevant work that is already published on researched field. Chapter 3 is about the methods used during the research. Chapter 4 is about the data analysis and discussion, means broadly explains the how data were analysed and the techniques used to do it. Chapter 5 is the conclusion and recommendation drawn by the researcher. Chapter 2. Literature Review Chapter 2. Literature Review 2. 1 Introduction In the current era, customer is considered as king, not only king sometimes referred to as a god. It means to be successful in any business, customers are given the most priority and their needs to be fulfilled at any cost, which make those customers to repeat again for more products, recommend the goods and services of that particular business to others. What we have heard is that in any kind of business, customer is always right and we always have to meet their expectation, indeed by hook or by crook. If not done so, would be a loss in business. In a successful business strategy, customer satisfaction plays a key role that is recognised by retailers. It is very important for any retail company to satisfy its customer at the best because customers bring revenue for the company. Satisfied customer always comes back to you so customer satisfaction is very crucial part for retail companies. Customer satisfaction definitions have been discussed widely from the viewpoint of various researchers and organisations who wish gradually to measure it (Chapter 2- Literature Review- Customer satisfaction in call centre, 2009). Research on customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction has predominantly concentrated upon evaluation of customer regarding particular goods and services consumed. Various investigation has took place related to incidence of satisfaction and dissatisfaction through product and service categories, efforts to identify the psychographic and demographic correlates of satisfaction and dissatisfaction with products, and theoretical models test to describe the satisfaction level that customers recognize from products (Robert A. Westbrook, 1981). Introduction Introduction Customer Satisfaction Conceptual and Operational Definitions Why Customer Satisfaction is Important? Models of Satisfaction Customer Satisfaction Measurement Process Consequences of Customer Satisfaction Customer Satisfaction in Retail Customer Satisfaction Conceptual and Operational Definitions Why Customer Satisfaction is Important? Models of Satisfaction Customer Satisfaction Measurement Process Consequences of Customer Satisfaction Customer Satisfaction in Retail Summary Summary Figure 2. Structure of Chapter 2: Literature Review 2. 2 Customer Satisfaction The first question that arises in mind is, â€Å"What is customer satisfaction? † In simple words, the goods and services that satisfies the customer needs. Customer satisfaction is monitored by business for the sake of determining how to maximise their profits, customer base, revenue, market share, customer loyalty, and survival. Although the primary driver is greater profit, exemplary business concentrate on the customer and her/his experience with the company. Company does work to make their consumers happy and consider customer satisfaction as the crucial part to achieve profit and survival. Customer satisfaction in turn hinges on the quality and effects of their experiences and the goods or services they receive. The definition of customer satisfaction has been widely debated as organizations increasingly attempt to measure it. Customer satisfaction can be experienced in different types of situation and connected to both services and goods. It is a highly personal assessment that is greatly affected by expectations of customer. Satisfaction; also depends on the experience of customer on both; contact with the firm and personal outcomes. Customer satisfaction differs depending on the situation and the product or service. There is a possibility that customer may be satisfied with a product or service, an experience, a sales person, a purchase decision, service provider, store, or an attribute or any of these. Customer satisfaction is a highly personal assessment that is reatly influenced by expectations of the individual (Customer Satisfaction, 2007). Despite the abundance of customer satisfaction literature acknowledge that customer satisfaction definition which is generally accepted has not been established (Patricia Huddleston, Judith Whipple, Rachel Nye Mattick and So Jung Lee, 2009). 2. 2. 1 Conceptual and Operational Definitions in Consumer Satisfaction Literature Conceptual Definition | Source | Focus| Response | T ime| The consumer’s fulfillment response. It is a judgment that the product or service itself or product or service feature, delivered (or is delivering) a delightful level of purchase –related fulfillment, comprising levels of under-or over fulfillment | Oliver 1997| Product or service | Fulfillment response/judgment | During consumption | Causing from the consumer’s product performance comparison to particular pre-purchase standard | Hartman, and Schmidt 1994 | Product performance compared to some pre-consumption standard | Affective response | During or after consumption | (Product satisfaction) is an attitude like post-purchase evaluative judgment varying along the hedonic continuum | Mano and Oliver 1993 | Product | Attitude evaluative judgment Varying along the hedonic continuum | Post consumption| An overall post-consumption evaluation | Fornell 1992 | Post-consumption perceived product performance compared with pre-consumption expectations | Overall evaluation | Post purchase | Examined whether satisf action was an emotion. Concluded that satisfaction is a summary attribute phenomenon co-existing with other consumption emotions | Oliver 1992 | Product attributes | Summary attribute phenomenon coexisting with other consumption emotions | During consumption | A post-choice evaluative judgment concerning a specific purchase selection | Westbrook and Oliver 1991 | Specific purchase selection | Evaluative judgment | Post choice | No conceptual definition. (with the salesperson) a function of fairness, preference, and disconfirmation | Oliver and Swan 1989 | Salesperson | | During purchase | The consumer’s response to the evaluation of the perceived discrepancy between prior expectations (or some norm of performance) and the actual performance of the product as perceived after its consumption | Tse and Wilton 1988 | Perceived discrepancy between prior expectations (or some norm of performance) and the actual erformance of the product | Response to the evaluation | Post consumption | Conceptualized as a feeling developed from an evaluation of the use experience | Cadotte, Woodruff and Jenkins 1987 | Use experience | Feeling developed from an evaluation | During consumption | Global evaluative judgment about product usage/consumption | Westbrook 1987 | Product usage/consumption | Global evaluative judgment | During consumption | the evaluative response to the current consumption event the consumer’s response in a particular consumption experience to the evaluation of the perceived discrepancy between prior expectations (or some other norm of performance) and the actual performance of the product perceived after its acquisition | Day 1984 | Perceived discrepancy between prior expectations (or some other norm of performance) and the actual performance of the product | Evaluative response | Current consumption event †¦ particular consumption experience †¦ after its acquisition | No conceptual definition. A function of consumer expectations operationalized as product attribute beliefs and disconfirmation. | Bearden and Teel 1983 | | | During consumption | Postpurchase evaluation. Cited Oliver’s (1981) definition: An evaluation of the surprise inherent in a product acquisition and/or consumption experience| LaBarbera and Mazursky 1983 | Surprise | Evaluation | Postpurchase Product acquisition and/or consumption experience | An emotional response to the experiences provided by and associated with particular products or services purchased, retail outlets, or even molar patterns of behavior such as shopping and buyer behavior, as well as the overall marketplace. An emotional response triggered by a cognitive evaluative process in which the perceptions of (or beliefs about) an object, action, or condition are compared to one’s values (or needs, wants, desires). | Westbrook and Reilly 1983 | Experiences provided by and associated with particular products or services purchased, retail outlets, or even molar patterns of behavior such as shopping and buyer behavior Perceptions of (or beliefs about) an object, action, or condition are compared to one’s values | Emotional response | Postpurchase | Conceptually, an outcome of purchase and use resulting from the buyer’s comparison of the rewards and costs of the purchase relative to anticipated consequences. Operationally, similar to attitude in that it can be assessed as a summation of satisfactions with various attributes. | Churchill and Surprenant 1982 | Comparison of the rewards and costs of the purchase relative to anticipated consequences | Outcome | Implies after purchase and use | An evaluation of the surprise inherent in a product acquisition and/or consumption experience. In essence, the summary psychological state resulting when the emotion surrounding disconfirmed expectations is coupled with the consumer’s prior feelings about the consumption experience. | Oliver 1981 | Surprise Disconfirmed expectations coupled with the consumer’s prior feelings | Evaluation Summary psychological state Emotion | Product acquisition and/or consumption experience | A conscious evaluation or cognitive judgment that the product has performed relatively well or poorly or that the product was suitable or unsuitable for its use/purpose. Another dimension of satisfaction involves affect of feelings toward the product . Swan, Trawick and Carroll 1980 | Product has performed relatively well or poorly or that the produ ct was suitable or unsuitable for its use/purpose Toward the product | Conscious evaluation or cognitive judgment Another dimension involves affect of feelings | During or after consumption | Refers to the favorability of the individual’s subjective evaluation of the various outcomes and experiences associated with using or consuming it (product). | Westbrook 1980 | Outcomes and experiences | Favorability of the individual’s subjective evaluation | During consumption | A kind of stepping away from an experience and evaluating it. . . the evaluation rendered that the experience was at least as good as it was supposed to be. | Hunt 1977 | Experience was at least as good as it was supposed to be | A kind of stepping away from an experience and evaluating it | During consumption experience | The buyer’s cognitive state of being adequately or inadequately rewarded for the sacrifices he has undergone. Howard and Sheth 1969 | Being adequately or inadequately rewarded f or sacrifices | Cognitive state of being | | Table 1. Conceptual and Operational Definitions in Consumer Satisfaction Literature Source: Joan L. Giese and Joseph A. Cote (2002) Customer satisfaction can mean virtually anything. It can include such variables as price, conformance, lead time, reliability, responsiveness, convenience and professionalism and it’s sometimes a complicated mix of all of these and more. Industry by industry, and even across product lines, the importance of each variable can differ drastically (Craig Cochran, 2003). The formal definition of customer satisfaction is the consumer’s fulfilment response. It is a judgement that a product or service feature, or the product or service itself, provided (or is providing) a pleasurable level of consumption-related fulfilment, including levels of under or over fulfilment (Richard L. Oliver, 1997). Understanding of the concept of customer satisfaction is easy. Satisfaction is simple. If one gets what he/she wanted, if ones requirement met, then he/she is satisfied. If they’re not met, then he/she will not be satisfied. â€Å"Customer satisfaction is a measure of how your organization’s ‘total product’ performs in relation to a set of customer requirements. † This definition tells us something fundamental about customer satisfaction-it’s not absolute concept; it’s relative one. It’s relative to what the customer expected in the first place (Nigel, John and Rob, 2003). Customer care’s nature is mostly oriented by service as most of the goods are consumed at the similar time as services are experienced. In order to satisfy customers, the supplier requires the services which customer wants. If the consumer in a certain way perceives a service, but expected less, then it ends up with satisfied customer, as the formula shows in Figure 1. Anticipation made by customer regarding products and services like how it will be performed and that is added to his/her expectation. Customers have earlier experiences and based on those experiences, they look forward to receive a service in a particular way, which can be considered as company controlled expectation creators. Uncontrollable creators are action word of mouth and the competition. Over the time, customer’s standards form by such company uncontrollable and controllable expectations creators. Services compared by customers according to particular standards with which they are familiar and those don’t necessarily relate to the service that is performed (Heikki Koskela, 2002). CUSTOMER CUSTOMER CUSTOMER = SATISFACTION PERCEPTION EXPECTATION CUSTOMER CUSTOMER CUSTOMER = SATISFACTION PERCEPTION EXPECTATION Figure 2. 2 Formula of Customer Satisfaction The customer satisfaction theories developed to date, mostly subjected to notice with the Expectancy-Disconfirmation mode. This model originally presented by Oliver where the satisfaction antecedents are expectations and disconfirmation, at that stage, the expectance disconfirmation model was generally adopted. The most immediate influence on satisfaction in this model is disconfirmation. Later on, Churchill and Suprenant clearly comprised performance in the model as an antecedent of satisfaction and included expectations and performance effects on disconfirmation and expectations effects on performance. Accordingly, Oliver and DeSarbo mentioned that there are three factors, expectations, performance and disconfirmation, which have influence on customer satisfaction (Chih-Chung Chen and Dr. Su-Chao Chang, 2006). 2. 2. 2 Why is Customer Satisfaction Important? In any business you always look for a repeat customer, if a customer walks unhappy then they look for goods and service somewhere else. Therefore customer satisfaction is very important which would end up for repeated customers and that’s what business need today. So repeat business base is very much crucial because of that gaining and losing of short-term and new customers does not have greater impact. In an increasingly competitive marketplace, significant differentiator among gaining customers or losing customers to firm’s competitors could be customer satisfaction (What is Customer Satisfaction? ). Repeat business is very huge part of organization’s business. Words of mouth are considered as one of the biggest assets to grow or destroy any organizations. If customers are happy with the organization, they will have a word with other people who will listen to them and on contrary if customers are unhappy, still they will tell other people and such things will lead to gaining or losing new customers all because of words of another (Melissa B. Evans, 2009). All the types of organizations should strive for customer satisfaction, in good times and bad times (Manto, 2010). Because satisfied customers buy more. If customer receives full satisfaction from the goods and service of the company in terms of quality, price and the other services, then they will spend more with same company. If they don’t receive such kind of satisfaction, then they will go away with the purchase that they already made and never return to same company for next purchase (Melissa B. Evans, 2009). The advantages of creating and maintaining customer loyalty within existing consumers have been studied in various fields. Researchers agree that by enhancing customer loyalty companies diminish marketing costs and increase profits. In case of engagement of word-of-mouth, loyal customers are more likely to be part in positive one than non-loyal. First and foremost, customer loyalty largely depends on customer satisfaction (Heepup Han and Kisang Ryu, 2009). 2. 2. 3 Models of Satisfaction For understanding and evaluating consumer acceptance and satisfaction, a great variety of methods and frameworks are utilized in various disciplines. 2. 2. 3. 1 Confirmation / Disconfirmation Model An individual can have various degrees of satisfaction and dissatisfaction at one particular time; for instance, an individual may be happy with the service he receives from the staff of a retail outlet but at the same time he might be unhappy with the business hours of the same retail outlet. To best describe customer satisfaction, â€Å"confirmation /disconfirmation† paradigm is the widely used model. According to this model, the difference between the expectations (E) of customers regarding particular product or service and their perception regarding actual performance (P) supplied by this product or service determine satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Fulfilment of customers’ expectations will lead to their satisfaction; if such thing doesn’t happen then it will result in dissatisfaction. The customers’ satisfaction (S) can be expressed in the terms of mathematical equation as below, where S is Satisfaction, E is Expectation and P is Performace. S = E – P In addition to the above mentioned three variables (S, E, and P), Locke’s general satisfaction model comprises of a third variable which is not included in the confirmation/disconfirmation model. Importance (I) of the service or product attribute under consideration is the fourth variable. This variable is related because not all attributes are equally significant to consumers; for example, a customer of the bank is likely to rate financial success as being one of the greater importance to satisfaction than, say, staff members friendliness. If the Locke model’s importance variable is included in the mathematical expression mentioned above, then following formula expresses satisfaction in mathematical terms: S = (E – P) ? I There are some problems with both of these satisfaction models. Both the models mentioned above are plausible, but both of them show conceptual problems. One of the problems is that it is unclear what should be understood by the term â€Å"expectation†. An â€Å"expectation† might correspond to a customer’s pressing need, or an ideal, or a desire, or even a norm. Such various forms of â€Å"expectation† apparently represent various qualities, but â€Å"confirmation/ disconfirmation† model doesn’t take into consideration such distinctions. In the Locke’s model, such distinctions are at best considered only indirectly in the form of the variable of â€Å"importance†; for example, it could be assumed that the fulfilment of an ideal is of lesser importance than the fulfilment of a norm. Not paraphrased). The second problem is that each models indicate that dissatisfaction occurs when performance is less than expectation (P ; E). Although this appears to be plausible, there is possibility that sa tisfaction might occur if performance matches expectation (P = E). Where, it is not clear whether the â€Å"over-fulfilment† of expectation (P ; E) will produce satisfaction or dissatisfaction. For example, a consumer might be annoyed by over-friendly service at the counter of a cashier in the retail outlet, while at the same time pleased by receiving good savings on the purchase of a particular goods or service from the same retail outlet. There is also possibility that a plateau is reached in terms fulfilment of expectations, beyond which a ‘better’ performance does not result to any further growth in satisfaction. The confirmation/disconfirmation or Locke’s model doesn’t consider any of those cases. Third problem with the satisfaction model, basing satisfaction on the difference among expectation and performance neglects the absolute expectation and performance level. If both expectations and performance are quite high, the difference among the two can be identical as when both expectations and performance are quite low. Basing satisfaction only on the relative difference means that information about absolute performance is lost, even though this might have an influence on the overall satisfaction of the customer. Indeed, it has been plausibly argued that the same difference might be associated with a greater level of satisfaction if performance is at a higher absolute level. Finally, it is assumed that both model consider equally significant both performance and expectation in producing satisfaction. However, numerous studies have displayed that the ‘performance’ variable is more crucial than ‘expectation’ variable in predicting customer satisfaction (Uwe Peter Kanning and Nina Bergmann, 2009). 2. 2. 3. 2 SERVQUAL Model In any business, high level managers are in increasing pressure to demonstrate their services are highly customer focused and the continuous performance improvement is being delivered. Given the financial and resource constraints under which organizations must manage it is essential that customer expectations are properly understood and measured and that, from the customers’ perspective, any gaps in service quality are identified. To study this gap, SERVQUAL model assists any managers the best in fulfilling those gaps in a cost effective ways. Hence the SERVQUAL model shows the difference between management perceptions of what customers expect and what customers really do expect, the difference between management perception and service quality specifications, the difference between service quality specifications and actual service delivery and the difference between service delivery and what is communicated externally. SERVQUAL model is one of the popular models regarding service quality. Perception gap between the obtained quality of service and the expected quality of service is the main base of SERVQUAL, and adopted widely for explaining customer perception of quality of service. Originally proposed dimensions of service quality were 10 (reliability, competence, responsiveness, courtesy, access, credibility, communication, understanding the customer, security, and tangibles). Later on the number dimensions reduced to five (tangibles, assurances, empathy, responsiveness and reliability) (K. Ravichandran, B. Tamil Mani. S. Arun Kumar, and S. Prabhakaran, 2010). The key five dimensions are: * Tangibles the appearance of the physical facilities, equipment, personal and information materials. Reliability – the ability to perform the service accurately and dependably * Responsiveness – the willingness to help customers and provide a prompt service * Assurance a combination of competence, courtesy, credibility and security * Empathy – a combination of access, communication and understanding the customer However, there has been an extensive debate whether the perception-minus-expectations specification would be appropriate or assessing perception alone would be sufficient. Many authors showed concerns about SERVQUAL instrument. The argument of authors was that there are severe conceptual and operational disadvantages connected with the SERVQUAL model. Conceptual model of Service Quality (SERVQUAL) In the above model, we could see five gaps where there are problems in delivering the service quality to the customers. Gap 1 illustrates not knowing what customers expect. Gap 2 shows the wrong service quality standards. Gap 3 is the service performance gap. Gap 4 is when promises do not match actual delivery and Gap 5 is the difference between customer perception and expectation. Tangibility Tangibility Reliability Reliability Customer Satisfaction Customer Satisfaction Service Quality Service Quality Responsiveness Responsiveness Assurance Assurance Empathy Empathy Price/CHS Price/CHS Figure 2. 3 SERVQUAL Model Source: K. Ravichandran, B. Tamil Mani. S. Arun Kumar, and S. Prabhakaran (2010) 2. 2. . 3 Kano model Customer satisfaction model of Kano classifies attributes of product based on how customer perceived it and its effect on customer satisfaction. For guiding design decisions, these classification are useful which direct when good is good enough and when more is better. Prod uct attributes divided into three categories by customer satisfaction model of Kano divides and that is threshold, performance and excitement. High Excitement Customer Satisfaction Absent Fully Implemented Performance Threshold Low Product Function Figure 2. 4 Kano Model Source: Kano Model Analysis Threshold attributes are the attributes which is expected by consumers or â€Å"musts† of the product, and do not supply any chance for differentiation between products. Rising the performance of above mention attributes deliver decreasing returns concerning customer satisfaction. Whereas these attributes nonexistence or weak performance lead to high level of customer dissatisfaction. Performance attributes are those for which more is generally better, and will be enhance customer satisfaction. An absent or poor performance attribute decreases customer satisfaction. Performance attributes closely tied by the price for which consumer is ready to pay for the product. Excitement attributes are unexpected and unexpressed by consumers but can lead to high degree of customer satisfaction, nevertheless their nonattendance does not result into dissatisfaction. In the era of stiff competition, where producer of product and service provide product with similar performance, providing excitement attributes can be competitive advantage (Kano Model Analysis) 2. 2. 4 The Customer Satisfaction Measurement Process Producing reliable measures of customer satisfaction is very important, as well as the requirement regarding things needs to be done if those measures are to be successfully utilized as the basis for effective action. Dramatic growth has been registered in customer satisfaction measurement in last few years. Many of the firms devote as much as 50% of their budget of research on measuring customer satisfaction (Alan Wilson, 2002). Let’s first have an overview of the customer satisfaction measurement process (see figure) Objectives Objectives Project planning Project planning Update Update Exploratory research Exploratory research Mid-term reveiw Mid-term reveiw Questionnaire Questionnaire CUSTOMER SATISFACTION MEASUREMENT CUSTOMER SATISFACTION MEASUREMENT ACTION ACTION Sampling Sampling Feedback to customers Feedback to customers Feedback workshops Feedback workshops Main survey Main survey Mirror survey Mirror survey Presentation to management Presentation to management Analysis and reporting Analysis and reporting Figure 2. 5. An overview of the Customer Satisfaction Measurement Process Source: Nigel, John and Rob, 2003 The beginning point of any project work is to set objectives and for the exercise, plan a detailed critical path. Research’s first stage is to clarify with the customers what they exactly require and supplier selection criteria are so that suitable questionnaire can be designed, which ask the appropriate questions. This is done by utilizing focus groups (typically in the consumer market) or one-to-one depth interview (the norm in business market). It is consumers’ most significant requirements, as it was indicated by the consumers themselves, which must create the basis for a customer satisfaction measurement questionnaire and should not be assumed by one about what one think might be important to customers. There are two major determinant factor of the accuracy in the customer satisfaction measurement (CSM) study. The first one is asking the right questions; second one is asking the right people. Right people are the sample of customers that reflect ones customer base. To determine the accuracy of the samples three things requires and that is; it must be large enough, it must be representative and it must be randomly selected. One can start designing the final questionnaire and start the main survey as one gets the confidence that he or she will be asking the appropriate questions to appropriate people. How the survey will be carried out is the main question here. Survey can be done by doing self-completion questionnaires or interviews, and latter can come in various forms, containing postal, electronic and point of sale. After selecting the type of survey, researcher will carry out the next big thing which is to design questionnaire. Finally, at this point survey can be carried out quickly followed by the results analysis. Mirror survey is a worthwhile addition to the CSM study where similar questions set administered within the firms employees to discover whether they realize what’s significant to consumers and how closely they are fulfilling the requirements of customers. Feedback should be provided quickly to employees and customers after analysing the data and producing a report. Common reason behind unsuccessfulness of various organizations to reap the full rewards of their CSM process is inadequate feedback. Only if workforces completely understand the results of survey and their implications; will effective action be taken (Nigel, John and Rob, 2003). There may be chances of occurrence of weakness in the measurement of satisfaction. Score regarding satisfaction may differ according to particular situation, because of temporary and unstable conditions customer get influenced that they happen to be in at the moment they finish the assessment. One thing should always be kept in mind regarding satisfaction measurement and that it is not a standardized process; there may be variance in terms of the scales used to gather data, questions format may vary and the methods of data collection (personal interview, telephone, self-completion); therefore generalizing about the customer satisfaction measurement value is often very tough (Alan Wilson, 2002). 2. 2. 5 Consequences of Customer Satisfaction Many benefits can be fetched from the customer satisfaction. Customers, who are satisfied become less sensitive regarding price, buy additional products, whereas also get less influenced by the competitors and stay longer as loyal customer. Business firms must have knowledge about how well or badly its consumers are treated. Complains are rarely done by customers, but when someone does, it might be possible that it is too late for retention of that customer. In the concept of satisfaction, there is one crucial component and that is compl aint management. It is found in the study that customer satisfaction increased when they are encouraged to make complaints, and this was especially the case for the most customers’ dissatisfaction. Management of complaint not only led to customer satisfaction, but also resulted into improved financial performance and operational improvement. Customer retention increases by customer satisfaction, and the substance of the relationship between parties is the backing of customer retention. Properly served and satisfied customers are more likely to come back to your firm than are dissatisfied customers who could simply choose to go to another firms. Sometimes customer who is satisfied may unexpectedly take a decision to switch company. A satisfied consumer may or may not aim to come back to a firm, which is the reason that it is not necessary that satisfaction always results into retention. While retention levels remain unchanged customer satisfaction still can rise. Not all of the retained customers are satisfied, there may be one reason behind staying with that firm is lack of alternatives. They might not get the products that they require somewhere else or may have to travel a long distance for that particular product, so despite of worse customer service, the consumer would come to that place for that particular product (Ove. C. Hansemark and Marie Albinsson, 2004). There may be severe consequences in case of dissatisfaction of customers. For example, dissatisfied customers can select to stop buying goods or services, get into negative word of mouth communication, and make complain to the firm or third party and may return the purchased item (Harkiranpal Singh, 2006). Consequences of customer satisfaction in the case of satisfied customer may turn out good for company and in case of dissatisfaction may not good. So it is very important for companies to take care of customer satisfaction for the betterment of their future. 2. 2. 6 Customer Satisfaction in Retail In any retail, consumers are the target upon which all the activities are targeted. There are lots of factors which have to be taken into consideration in meeting those targets. Creating a brand image and enjoying the benefits of being the leader does not come so easy. An organization can succeed in its mission only by taking care of its targeted consumers and maximizing their satisfaction level. Some of the factors that influence the consumers’ satisfaction in retail business are: * Accessibility – Providing the product and services at the nearest and most convenient location. * Need satisfying product – providing the product that meets the need of the consumer. * Value – The price and cost of the products and services should be reasonable and satisfactory. * Assistance – ensuring the advice and assistance when needed. * Ambience – the store should maintain an ambience which is likely to affect for the repeat of the consumer. After sales service – Proper follow up services at the end of the day to all the consumers. In past few decades, significant changes have been experienced by retail industry which is very highly competitive and challenging (Patricia Huddleston, Judith Whipple, Rachel Nye Mattic k and So Jung Lee, 2009). The sector of supermarket is characterized by improved competition, a better chance for analysis of markets, and greater expectations of shopper. All these aspects advice that management of customer satisfaction is specifically critical. Variety of goods and services are simultaneously offered by supermarkets; so that, for the consumer, there is more to visit a store than just purchase of products. Dissimilarities in the experience during shopping among retail outlets (e. g. store services, and store ambience) are often as significant to the consumer as differences in the offered goods physical features (e. g. , quality, price) (Miguel I. Gomez, Edward W. McLaughlin, and Dick R. Wittink (2004). Different consumers have different shopping motivations such as getting information about new products or trends, diversion from daily routine, or enjoyment of bargaining. There are some customers who are more of an activity oriented and other are more of a task oriented. Meaning of such differences is that the customers will get value in and also from diverse pieces of the shopping experience receive satisfaction. These differences must have kept in mind by retailers in order to form the formats of store and offer related features that fulfil the requirement of their target segment. Expectations of customer regarding retail experience may differ across stores and products of retail which means that satisfaction will also differ by the sort of retailer and/or sort of product retail offer (Patricia Huddleston, Judith Whipple, Rachel Nye Mattick and So Jung Lee, 2009). Frequency and intensity of customer traffic is another critical characteristic of the supermarket sector. According to the Food Marketing Institute, in supermarkets, customer traffic is approximately around two times per person per week. The presumed low costs of switching because of proliferation of supermarkets and competing retailers with same merchandise offerings, motivates customers who are unsatisfied to switch. Even customers may immediately shift to another store after receiving single unsatisfactory experience, so customer satisfaction can affect the sales performance of store in a short period (Patricia Huddleston, Judith Whipple, Rachel Nye Mattick and So Jung Lee, 2009). 2. 2. 7 Determinants of Customer Satisfaction Research suggests that physical surroundings and price perception has strong influence on customer satisfaction (Heepup Han and Kisang Ryu, 2009). Physical Environment According to the environmental psychology research, there is strong association between human behaviour and physical environment. There are two opposite ways in which individuals generally react to the environment and that is approach and avoidance. Whereas approach behaviour can be considered as positive responses towards the physical environment of a particular place (e. g. , wish to stay, buy, and affiliate), avoidance behaviour which can be termed as negative response (e. g. , wish not to stay, buy, and affiliate). Companies always ask for diminish avoidance behaviours and increase in individual approach behaviours (Heepup Han and Kisang Ryu, 2009). Physical environment contains various elements like layout of the store, arrangement of goods and services, the location, store design (like ambience and lighting), visual merchandising, visual communication (like graphics and signage), and so on. The appropriate store layout facilitates efficiency and flexibility to the customer. Technical Aspects Functional Aspects Decor and artefacts Spatial Layout Ambient conditions Price Perception 2. 3 Summary Customer satisfaction is the key to customer retention (Aurimas Dapkevicius and Borisas Melnikas, 2009). Companies have to make efforts to satisfy customers but for dissatisfaction no efforts required. To satisfy a customer is an on-going and never ending process, where the efforts has to be put on in every steps in achieving the goals and objectives set by the companies. Unfortunately, satisfaction is phenomenon which lives for short time. Surveys have produced the results that even customers who are satisfied leaved the company on a regular interval (Aurimas Dapkevicius and Borisas Melnikas, 2009). The customer might be satisfied about some product for some time frame and once they are dissatisfied with something or the other in the same place, then there would be an excuse for the customer to look for other options and alternatives. Right service at the right time is very essential to have a customer forever. In some cases, one particular factor becomes source of satisfaction for one individual and dissatisfaction for another individual for example opening and closing time. With the development of customer satisfaction measurement models, Customer satisfaction studies with retailers have also been prosperous, such as theories of service quality considered as the base of customer satisfaction measurement. Chapter 3. Methodology Chapter 3. Methodology 3. 1 Introduction In common parlance, research refers to a search for knowledge and the term method refers to techniques and procedures used to obtain and analyse data. Methodology is the system of methods followed by particular discipline. Research methodology is the way how we conduct our research. Research can be defined by one as a scientific and systematic search for information which is relevant for a particular topic. Research is considered as an academic activity and as such the term should be used in a technical sense. According to Clifford Woody, research consist of defining and redefining problems, framing hypothesis or suggested solutions, collecting and analysing data, summarising data and making conclusions; and at the end cautiously testing the conclusions in order to decide whether they fit in the formulating hypothesis (C. R. Kothari, 2008). Business research is a systematic inquiry that supplies information in order to guide decisions of management. More specifically, it is a process that contains the various stages of activities like planning, acquiring, analysing, disseminating relevant information, data and insights to the person who has the authority to make decision which provide mobility to firm to make a right decision regarding actions which lead to help organisation to maximize its performance (D. R. Cooper, P. S. Schindler, 2006). METHODOLOGY METHODOLOGY Introduction Introduction Research Approach Research Approach Validity, Reliability and Credibility Validity, Reliability and Credibility Research Methods Research Methods Questionnaire Designing Questionnaire Designing Sampling Sampling Data Analysis Data Analysis Ethical Issue Ethical Issue Summary Summary Figure 3. 1 Structure of Chapter 3: Methodology Most of the research textbooks supply information about research as a multi-stage process which one has to follow for undertake and complete research project. The precise number of stages varies, but it normally contains formulating and clarifying a topic, reviewing the literature, designing research, collecting data, analysing data and writing up (M. Saunders, P. Lewis and A. Thornhill, 2007). As one can see in the Figure 1. 1 normally researchers target to produce knowledge which is necessary and improve human understanding. There are various nine stages in these process and each and every stages has its own importance to carry out trustworthy outcomes from this study. Write your project report Write your project report Analyse your data using one or both of: Analyse your data using one or both of: Quantitative methods Quantitative methods Qualitative methods Qualitative methods Questionnaires Questionnaires Secondary data Secondary data Semi-structured and in-depth interviews Semi-structured and in-depth interviews Sampling Sampling Plan your data collection and collect the data using one or more of: Plan your data collection and collect the data using one or more of: Negotiate access and address ethical issues Negotiate access and address ethical issues Formulate the research design Formulate the research design Understand your approach Understand your approach Critically review the literature Critically review the literature Formulate and clarify your research topic Formulate and clarify your research topic Wish to do research Wish to do research Figure 3. 2 The research process Source: Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2007 3. 2 Research Approach Without any prejudice in mind a researcher observes and faithfully records what is seen. Few of these observation statements are form as true and assist as the basis for laws and theories. Two approaches for establishing what is true or false and to reach conclusions are there, and that are induction and deduction. Empirical evidence is the base of induction, while ogic is the base of deduction (Pervez Ghauri and Kjell GrOnhaug, 2010). Deduction owns various significant characteristics and that is, there is the search to describe causal relationships among variables (M. Saunders, P. Lewis and A. Thornhill, 2007). One can understand by deduction that individual draw conclusions thro ugh logical reasoning. Often this kind of research is associated with the quantitative type of the research. In the induction, we draw conclusions from our empirical observations. Often this kind of research associated with the qualitative kind of research. This process move to conclusions from assumption (Pervez Ghauri and Kjell GrOnhaug, 2010). This research has deductive approach as it is specified since the theories which are related will be utilized and data will be collected accordingly. Basically starting point of research is what type of research employed and that is applied research. To answer the practical problems of the modern world applied research is designed, rather than getting knowledge for the sake of knowledge (Basic vs. Applied Research). Every company involves in applied research. Exploratory research is conducted to clarify and define the problem’s nature. General problems may have find out by management, but there is a necessary of research in order to receive proper understanding of the dimensions of the problems. Exploratory studies supply information which can be used in analysing circumstances, but uncovering conclusive evidence to decide kind of action is not the motive of exploratory research. The main motive of descriptive research, as term indicates, is to describe characteristics of a phenomenon or population. Descriptive research strive for determine the answers to who, what, when, where, and how questions. Unlike exploratory research, descriptive studies are based on few previous understanding of the nature of the research problem (William G. Zikmund, 2003). In this case researcher has selected descriptive research. Here, researcher has a certain strategy on how researcher will go about answering the research questions that has been set by the researcher. It will contain clear objectives, derived from research questions, specify the sources from which researcher intends to collect data and consider the constraints that researcher will enviably have such as access to data, time, location and money, ethical issues (Thornhill et. al. , 2003). Most important condition for selecting research strategy is to identify the type of research question being asked. â€Å"Who†, â€Å"What†, â€Å"Where†, â€Å"How† and â€Å"Why† are the categorization schemes for the types of research questions. Two Possibilities needs to investigate by asking the â€Å"What† question. First, some types of what question are justifiable for conducting an explanatory study and the goal is to develop pertinent hypotheses and propositions for further inquiry. The second type of what question actually forms a â€Å"how many† or â€Å"how much† line of inquiry and the outcomes from a particular situation. Hence the survey is more favourable than any other research strategies. It is popular and common strategy in business research. Survey allows the collection of large amount of data from a sizeable population in a highly economic way. Questionnaires, structured observation and structured interviews often fall into this strategy. In this research, survey has been used. A dummy test was conducted to detect weakness in design and instrumentation and to provide proxy data for selection of a probability sample. It should, therefore, draw subjects from the target population and stimulate the procedures and protocols that have been designed for data collection (Cooper and Schindler, 2003). The basic idea of sampling is that by selecting some of the elements in a population, researcher may draw conclusions about the entire population. There are several compelling reasons for sampling, including: lower cost, greater accuracy of result, greater speed of data collection and availability of population selection (Cooper and Schindler, 2003). 3. 3 Validity, Reliability and Credibility Whatever the method selected for gathering data, it should be critically examined in order to assess to what extend it is likely to be reliable and valid. Reliability refers to the extent to which a test or process yield same results under constant conditions at all the incident. Validity tells us whether an item describes or measures what it is supposed to describe or measure. If an item seems unreliable, then it must also lack in terms of validity, but it is not necessary that reliable item is also valid (Judith Bell, 1993). Construct validity is essential for interpretable and meaningful findings and in various ways it can be assessed (Pervez Ghauri and Kjell GrOnhaug, 2010). The study is both valid and reliable as there is real cause to belief that gathered data is representative and also can be proven. 3. 4 Research Methods Research methods are rules and procedures, and can be seen as ‘tools or ways of proceeding to solve problems’ (Pervez Ghauri and Kjell GrOnhaug, 2010). 3. 4. 1 Types of research Three types of research design are available and that is qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods. Both kinds of approaches, qualitative and quantitative should not be seen as dichotomies or opposites; instead, they signify different ends on a continuum (John W. Creswell, 2009). Qualitative research is a tool for exploring and understanding the meaning groups or individuals ascribe to a human or social problem. There is an involvement of various elements in this process of the research and that is emerging questions and procedures, data gathered typically in the setting of participants, analysis of data inductively building from particulars to general themes, and the interpretation of the meaning of the data by the researcher. Those researchers involve in this type of inquiry support a style of looking at research that honours an inductive style (John W. Creswell, 2009). One of the main concerns of the qualitative researchers is the meaning individuals attach to stuffs in their lives and another concern is how people think and act in their normal lives. In qualitative studies, a flexible research design is followed by researchers (Steven J. Taylor and Robert Bogdan, 1998). Quantitative research is a tool for testing objective theories by examining variables relationship. In turn, these variables, typically on instruments, can be measured, so it will lead to analysis of that data by utilizing statistical procedures. As the qualitative researchers, those researchers involve in such kind of inquiry have assumptions regarding testing theories deductively, against bias building in protections, controlling regarding alternative explanations, and being able to replicate and generalize findings (John W. Creswell, 2009). One of the tough decisions which are faced by researcher during conducting this research is selection of research design. Where it was difficult to make up his mind regarding making selection of quantitative or qualitative design of research. Researcher consider both quantitative and qualitative approach are most suitable for conducting this research, as there is structured questions in the research and the research practising more of a survey form. Research methodology contains list regarding data collection methods which are as shown below. 3. 4. 2 Data Collection Methods Various approaches for collecting data are available to the researcher and selection of approach will be based on the strategy of research and tactics being followed whereas research questions itself (Dan Remenyi, Brian Williams, Arthur Money and Ethne Swartz (1998). In order to fulfil requirement of research, researcher need to collect primary data and secondary data or both. Primary data is the data observed or collected directly from first-hand experience and secondary data is the data which is in the past collected and published (Primary data, 2010). Secondary data is like existing primary data that someone else collected or collected for a different purpose than current one (Secondary data, 2010). Most of the research questions are answered by the combination of primary data and secondary data (Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill, 2007). A numerous amount databases are available which comprises of beneficial evidence and information for research in business and management studies, and the Internet and World Wide Web are speedily growing as a crucial source of secondary data (Dan Remenyi, Brian Williams, Arthur Money and Ethne Swartz, 1998). Secondary data comprise of both data which is raw and published summaries. Both qualitative and quantitative data are part of secondary data (Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill, 2007). Primary data gathering techniques are the means of generating secondary data. One person’s primary data become another’s secondary data. Secondary data are not only beneficial to discover information to solve one’s research problem, but also helpful in terms of source of better understanding and explaining one’s research problem. The major advantage of using secondary data is the huge saving in terms of money and time. One of the leading difficulties is that such data are gathered for another study with different objectives and they may not fit properly in one’s problem. The several kinds of secondary data are available and they are books and articles, industry statistics, general statistics, and research report, etc. Pervez Ghauri and Kjell GrOnhaug, 2010). In this research, researcher will use books, journals, and internet as a source of collecting secondary data. When secondary data are not available or cannot answer research questions, one have to gather the data which is relevant to one’s research. These kinds of data are known as primary data. There are numerous of options available for collecting primary data, like surveys (questionnaires), observations, experiments, and interviews. The key benefit of primary data is that they are collected for the specific research. That means data are more consistent with that particular research questions and objectives. The leading disadvantage of primary data is that it takes lots of time and cost to collect primary data. One other major disadvantage is that the quality and scope of information collected from primary sources is big question for researcher because he or she is completely dependent on ability and willingness of respondents (Pervez Ghauri and Kjell GrOnhaug, 2010). Survey (questionnaire) method has been selected as the most suitable tool for gathering primary data in a research project of this nature. Since, survey strategy has been chosen for this research, we would be using the primary data as it delivers more specific results than secondary data and moreover, surveys are the most popular way of collecting primary data. Survey strategy, the tool questionnaire which we are using for the research provides us with the current, present and factual data, hence we are using primary data to conduct this research and know the position and stand of Tesco’s customer satisfaction in the real world. Whereas secondary is the past data or someone else’s primary data which doesn’t give us the actual status of Tesco on customer satisfaction. 3. 4. 3 Types of Questions Various types of question classification in questionnaires available and it is as under. The