TechWatt Value and Risk Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

TechWatt Value and Risk Management - Case Study Example These are TechWatt's presently known five requirements. First, fulfil the perception of value in making such a move. Second, provide enough space for 15 people working in a laboratory and light manufacturing. Third, provide enough office space for 12 managers and administrative staff. Fourth, provide space (e.g., a conference room) to accommodate visiting customers and prospects. Two conference rooms are preferable so when visitors use one, TechWatt employees have the other as needed. Fifth, TechWatt has 5 million to make a headquarters. These pre-project objectives are an incomplete "preferred solution". It's an 'initial brief' with too little information to proceed to Strategic Briefing. TechWatt makes software-hardware products. Constructing a headquarters facility is new with many unknowns. TechWatt will rely strongly on its Architect to be the Lead Consultant (LC) responsible to apprise the company of occurring new developments at each step, and giving good advice. Using the LC's experience is the smart approach to manage and try to optimise value and minimise risk, and do a Strategic Briefing. TechWatt must more thoroughly define value. The Architect/LC is in the best position to help clearly and concisely define and communicate value priorities and measurable expectations. This joint-effort Study uses RIBA's Plan of Work to clearly define value. Using RIBA methods, the LC shall guide TechWatt's work to identify and develop requirements (value), as well as identify constraints possibly blocking development. This is 'Work Stage A' or the inception of the Headquarters Project (HQP). Stage A / Inception requires careful considerations, or appraisals of as many things as it is possible to see about the HQP. The output of the Inception/Appraisal is a Strategic Briefing which is 'Stage B'. The Strategic Briefing shall define measurable value for the HQP. To make these determinations TechWatt shall work in conjunction with the LC. For now, all parties are evaluating the initial brief. Needed: Strategic Briefing with clarity - RIBA Work Stages A and B TechWatt needs to clearly determine future goals and scope of the HQP. Between now and the future, there is a gap to bridge. Management perceives value of the HQP as a bridge across the gap. TechWatt management has a Business Case mindset to support the aim to make a new headquarters. Business factors must stay in focus. Emotions must not override them. TechWatt's executive management team and front-line management (hands-on software and hardware experts) are best suited to clarify ideas for a Strategic Briefing about headquarters. To successfully launch the HQP, management must clearly define but not be limited to: - expected value added to TechWatt by the new headquarters, - 'must have' resources (accommodations, capabilities, etc.) in the new headquarters, - 'nice to have' resources (but possible to live without), - people and machines to make headquarters run well into the future, - trade-offs - pros and cons to of creating headquarters or not (cost of "Doing nothing"), - actual costs (Quantity Surveyor with input of Production, Purchasing and Accounting), and - opportunity costs (money lost by not doing certain opportunities; brainstormed largely by

Context and Discourse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Context and Discourse - Essay Example Such technicians proceed to use this information to create context-aware software. Close attention to these several definitions and explanations might, however, reveal a common ground upon which a universal concept of context might be built. Though context is often used and understood, it is such a broad and encompassing term that it can hardly be properly defined in a sentence or two. Though it deals with the surrounding condition of a situation, those conditions can take the form of several things, and perhaps that is why context shows up in so many disciplines. And, as it regards discourse analysis, it will be seen that reliance upon context is indispensable in gaining a complete and comprehensive understanding of the intricacies of any text, passage, speech, or other of the forms in which discourse presents itself. In education, especially reading, context is tangled up with prior knowledge and schema, and the study of it is in an effort to determine its use in the decoding of passages. Here, context is placed in relation to the written word, and it is defined by one as "the belief-revised integration of the reader's prior knowledge with the reader's internalized (co-)text" (Rappaport, 4). Here co-text refers to written text that surrounds the problematic word or phrase whose meaning the reader currently struggles to decode. In this discipline, experts often refer to "context clues," which direct the student to the passage being read, delineating it as the context. One researcher cites six kinds of context clues in what is known as contextual analysis. Students are expected to gain insight into the text using hints provided by the context, and those hints come in the form of definition clues, synonym or comparison clues, contrast clues, example clues, and explanation clues. In addition to thes e clues from the text, context (as mentioned before) is extended to include inferential clues, which come not from the text being read but from the prior experiences of the reader (Doyle). So that context according to this view has both an internal and external aspect. However, once the text becomes internalized, context may be considered to be in the domain of the mind. In engineering, some consider context a "filter" that determines the meaning to be applied to certain terms or actions in a given situation. In fact, according to Yaser Bishr who seeks to prepare a foundation on which to base a contextual theory of geospatial applications, any definition of context must include such measures as follow. Contexts should define what is common to any input in a given situation. It should be restrictive, in that it allows only certain meanings of any vocabulary involved to actually be admitted as meaning to be derived from the situation. The truth of any statement of fact should depend upon "a collection of assumption which implicitly define context" (Bishr, 2), and all "facts" are understood to be factual only when a context is defined. Therefore, though the statement "all birds can fly" is untrue in Antarctica, it is true in the context of Brazil, where no penguins exist. This view of context also asserts that thought and interpretation across contexts is allowable; however, "when several contexts occur in a discussion, there

The Effects of Social Networking Essay Example for Free

The Effects of Social Networking Essay A social network is a theoretical construct useful in the social sciences to study relationships between individuals, groups, organizations, or even entire societies (social units, see differentiation). The term is used to describe a social structure determined by such interactions. The ties through which any given social unit connects represent the convergence of the various social contacts of that unit. This theoretical approach is, necessarily, relational†¦(Wikipedia, pars.3). In the late 1800s, both Émile Durkheim and Ferdinand Tà ¶nnies foreshadow the idea of social networks in their theories and research of social groups. Tà ¶nnies argued that social groups can exist as personal and direct social ties that either link individuals who share values and belief (Gemeinschaft, German, commonly translated as community) or impersonal, formal, and instrumental social links (Gesellschaft, German, commonly translated as society)( Wikipedia, pars.4). Major developments in the field can be seen in the 1930s by several groups in psychology, anthropology, and mathematics working independently (Wikipedia, pars.5). Communication Studies are often considered a part of both the social sciences and the humanities, drawing heavily on fields such as sociology, psychology, anthropology, information science,biology, political science, and economics as well as rhetoric, literary studies, and semiotics. Many communications concepts describe the transfer of information from one source to another, and can thus be conceived of in terms of a network (Wikipedia, pars.26). Social Networking is the practice of expanding one’s social contacts by making connections through individuals. Social media has changed the way people interact (Frazier, pars.1). Although it is possible in person, it is most popular online, with the use of the internet. The internet is filled of billions of individuals who are looking to meet new people, to gather or  share informations, they even use it in their businesses. Social Networking isn’t new at all, But, it keeps on expanding. From Friendster, one of the first Social Networking website in the World Wide Web, to Facebook, which is still popular now. Twitter, Google, Tumblr, Youtube are in Social Networking and everyone will keep finding more ways to use it. â€Å"In general, here’s how it works: you join one of the sites and invite people you know to join as well. Social networks are everywhere. Friends, colleagues, neighbours[sic] and family make up most people’s network of social contacts, and they have a powerful effect on our behaviour[sic] (COIN PIRC) . Those people invite their contacts to join, who in turn to invite their contacts to join, and the process repeats for each person. In theory, any individual can make contact through anyone they have a connection to, to any of the people that person has a connection to, and so on.† Social networking sites now reach 82 percent of the world’s online population, representing 1.2 billion users around the world. The social networking adoption trend largely mirrored the global Internet adoption curve, and grew proportionately, showing that as people began to get connected, they immediately began connecting with one another(). We are aware of the use of Social Networking. We use it as a tool of communication nowadays. It can be very useful to get in touch with people who you know in person. With Social Networking, we can express ourselves in ways we never dreamed of doing face to face. We don’t have to leave the house to purchase products. We don’t need to buy books because there’s a lot of source material in the Internet. We can make friends with people in different countries. We have a lot to do with it. If we’re aware of its uses, we should be aware of the dangers and harm associated with Social Networking. It includes online predators or what they call â€Å"posers†, theft and viruses. We should be aware of its effects on ourselves especially in our habits, routine and in our behavior. In how we manage our time spending in Social Networking because sometimes we’re abusing it. We have limitation, you must know it. Because we never know, it already destroyed you. We are the product of our environment. In Social Networking, many will influence you. In addition, Our own behavior, actions  and habits are likely to be more largely influenced and impacted by Social Networking. â€Å"Social Networking is one of the most active web-based activities in the Philippines†. Filipinos we’re declared as the most active users of the web-based social network sites. The Philippines has been marked as â€Å"The Social Networking Capital of the world†. Filipinos are very expressive with their thoughts or opinions. Sometimes, they’re abusing the use of Social Networking. Because of that, there are some laws or acts that the Philippines implemented. The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, which is officially recorded as Republic Act No. 10175, it aims to address legal issues concerning online interactions and the internet in the Philippines. Cybercrime offenses include Cyber squatting, Cybersex, child pornography, identity theft, illegal access to data and libel. The Senate Bill No. 1798 by Senator Compaà ±era Pia S. Cayetano, which is an act stating the prohibition of Computer Shops from accepting students in their shops during school hours. There’s also a legal bases regarding the distance of Internet Cafà © from school in the City of Manila. It is the Ordinance No. 8168 provided for 25 to 200 meters distance between a school gate to the nearest gaming i-Cafà ©. While, the non-gaming Cafà ©s are allowed any distance from school gate or even inside the school. As a Computer Science student, we are engaged in computer, especially in Social Networking. We’re glad with what Social Networking’s uses. It gives us a lot of benefits. We get updated. But, we observe some changes in some individual. We didn’t like the fact that Social Networking has effect in other individual’s behavior. We want to solve the Why and How questions` in our heads. What are the factors causing these problems? This thesis will explore and find out if Social Networking has an effect on the behavior of some Computer Science freshmen students in PUP Mabini Campus. This aims to know the activities, sites that are affecting the behavior and how Social Networking changed their behavior. The statement of the Problem The aim of this research is to find out the effects of social networking on the behavior of BSCS freshmen in PUP Mabini Campus S.Y. 2012-2013. Further, it answers the following specific questions. 1. Does Social Networking have an effect on the behavior of BSCS freshmen of PUP? 2. What Social networking site/s do the respondents frequently use? 3. What activities in Social Network do the respondents usually engage themselves in? 4. What activities on Social Networking change the behavior of the respondents? 5. How has social networking changed the behavior of the respondents? 6. What behavioral changes do the respondents experience in their social networking? Scope and Limitation This study is about the effects of Social Networking on the behavior only in Bachelor of Science in Computer Science Freshmen in College of Computer Management and Information Technology at Polytechnic University of the Philippines Mabini Campus School year 2012-2013. The study didnt covered other related issues to the effects of Social Networking like class standing of a student or effects of it on the physical health and etc. Its only conducted on Bachelor of Science in Computer Science Freshmen not on higher years, other colleges and before and after the School year 2012-2013 Definition of terms Social Networking The development of social and professional contacts;the sharing of information and services among people with a common interest.(Dictionary.com) Cybercrime Any use of a computer as an instrument to further illegal ends, such as committing fraud, trafficking in child pornography and intellectual property, stealing identities, or violating privacy. Cybercrime, especially through the Internet, has grown in importance as the computer has become  central to commerce, entertainment, and government. (Webster) Cybersex Cybersex, also called computer sex, Internet sex, netsex, mudsex, TinySex and, colloquially, cybering or conversex is a virtual sex encounter in which two or more persons connected remotely via computer network send each other sexually explicit messages describing a sexual experience. In one form, this fantasy sex is accomplished by the participants describing their actions and responding to their chat partners in a mostly written form designed to stimulate their own sexual feelings and fantasies.(Wikipedia) Facebook-is a social networking service launched in February 2004, owned and operated by Facebook, Inc. As of September 2012, Facebook has over one billion active users,more than half of them using Facebook on a mobile device.(Wikipedia) Twitter- Twitter is an online social networking service and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based messages of up to 140 characters, known as tweets. It was created in March 2006 by jack Dorsey and launched that July.(wikipedia) Friendster- is a social gaming site that is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was previously known as a social networking website. Before the site was redesigned, the service allowed users to contact other members, maintain those contacts, and share online content and media with those contacts. Research Methodology Research Design The descriptive method of research was used for this study. To define the descriptive type of research, Creswell (1994) stated that the descriptive method of research is to gather information about the present existing condition. This study were the activities of respondents in Social Networking and the effects of these activities. Respondents The target population consisting of 30 students in Computer Science freshmen. There are 5 section in Computer Science 1st year; hence the respondents will be 6 students per section. Research Instrument The survey questionnaire was used as the main data-gathering instrument for this study. It is an interview, where in the researchers prepared a list of questions to be answered by the BSCS freshmen students. Other data was based on the researchers observation. Data-Gathering procedure The information was gathered from the 6 freshmen students per section of Computer Science department of PUP Mabini Campus who were surveyed by the researchers. The researchers conducted a survey on separate date and time of interview and it is recorded individually.

The Behavioral Segmentation Examples Marketing Essay

The Behavioral Segmentation Examples Marketing Essay According to Philip Kotler Market segmentation is sub-dividing a market into distinct and homogeneous subgroups of customers, where any group can conceivably be selected as a target market to be met with distinct marketing mix. In other words, Market Segmentation is a method of dividing a market into smaller groupings of consumers or organizations in which each segment has a common characteristic such as needs or behavior. Finding the most revealing way to segment a market is more an art than a science Any useful segmentation scheme will be based around the needs of customers and should be effective in revealing new business opportunities. Peter Doyle All markets are heterogeneous. This is evident from observation and from the proliferation of popular books describing the heterogeneity of local and global markets. Consider, for example, The Nine Nations of North America (Garreau, 1982), Latitudes and Attitudes: An Atlas of American Tastes, Trends, Politics and Passions (Weiss, 1994) and Mastering Global Markets: Strategies for Todays Trade Globalist (Czinkotaet al., 2003). When reflecting on the nature of markets, consumer behavior and competitive activities, it is obvious that no product or service appeals to all consumers and even those who purchase the same product may do so for diverse reasons. Effective marketing and business strategy therefore requires a segmentation of the market into homogeneous segments, an understanding of the needs and wants of these segments, the design of products and services that meet those needs and development of marketing strategies, to effectively reach the target segments. Thus focusing on segments is at the core of organizations efforts to become customer driven; it is also the key to effective resource allocation and deployment. The level of segment aggregation is an increasingly important issue. In todays global economy, the ability to customize products and services often calls for the most micro of segments: the segment of one. Following and implementing a market segmentation strategy allows the firm to increase its profitability, as suggested by the classic price discrimination model, which provides the theoretical rationale for segmentation. The most common B2B segmentation techniques used by software companies are: SEGMENTING BY HORIZONTAL DISTINCTION A horizontal market is a market so diversified that its products and/or services are broad enough to meet the needs of multiple industries. The audience for horizontal markets shares characteristics across industries. Based on the scope of horizontal markets, the marketing efforts that support them must reach this spectrum of buyers and prospective buyers. Because horizontal markets are broad, marketers often segment them into subsets. These groups are typically based on demographic factors such as the prospects income, location or job title. Horizontal Segmentation Example To use telcos as an example they will even further segment their buyers and prospects to address specific needs. To increase sales of home Internet services, they can target a specific subgroup, such as senior citizens, low income users or parents with school-age children. SEGMENTING BY SIZE Because the demands of business-to-business customers are so polarized, a common tactic is to segment markets based on company size. Companies do this because the thinking and strategies behind a larger company is typically radically different from the approach of a smaller business. Larger businesses typically employ a more formal procurement process seeking the lowest bid possible. Small businesses tend to learn towards a more personal and inclusive type of business arrangement. Sometimes, leveraging basic information like the size of the company, its annual revenues, or the business own clientele roster will tell you how you may or may not work together. In some case you can be even more specific and count the number of installs of your software the company could potentially buy. Size Segmentation Examples   Targeting companies who see $500 million/year in revenue. Only targeting the largest companies in your region based on number of employees. I spent a long time in the contact center software space. We sold by number of agent seats. If a company had more than 500 agent seats they were enterprise and if they had less than 500 seats, they were mid-market. SEGMENTING BY VERTICAL If a product fulfills a common need thats widely seen across an industry then vertical segmenting is used. Ineffective for most consumer markets, vertical segmenting is an effective strategy when working with a niche product geared for a niche industry. Single industries like that and other industries commonly identified by Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system are often identified as vertical segments. Determining the end function of business customer tells how and at what level in the supply chain a companys product will be used. And this knowledge drives how the company positions and marketsits product. Its a simple question how and by whom will my product be used? A hanger warehouse may only target companies in the retail industry, a graphic software firm may only target design departments or design houses, while a supply chain management developer may count freight companies among his prospects. Vertical Segmentation Examples   A navigation software vendor that only focus on the cruise or trucking industries. A gauge manufacturer that only services the automotive industry Selling exclusively to wholesalers in a vertical industry (combined segmenting) Identifying a department function within a larger corporation SEGMENTING BY GEOGRAPHY While geographic segmenting is often used to leverage characteristics shared by a population living in the same region, small businesses, those with capacity limitations, and consumer-driven companies often use geographic criteria to target prospects. As a Silicon Valley-based company, you may not be able to service prospects west of a designated time zone. Or even more specific, you may segment your prospects to a select number of surrounding zip codes. Very plainly, where are your customers concentrated? Once you understand this data, youll no longer want to focus on any other geographic information. These same criteria can (and should) be applied to other geographic factors including population growth rates, economic factors, and isolated spoken language. Geographical Segmentation Examples   Introducing a unique product for the same unique geographic segment. A promotional campaign targeting one region to increase sales. SEGMENTING BY BEHAVIOR Very simply, this segmenting targets prospect groups based on their buying behavior. How are your customers using your product, how often are they using it, and what is the challenge your prospects face? Those questions, coupled with the propensity of your prospect to actually pull the buy trigger, are the cornerstone of behavioral segmenting. Other behavioral segmenting rules may include brand loyalty, order sizes, and any purchase procedure requirements. Behavioral Segmentation Examples A software company that releases a product geared for early technology adopters. A travel agency targeting travelers who prefer vacationing during the Christmas holiday. Between 80 and 90% of software startups fail within the first three years, depending on how failure is defined. While they mostly run out of money, the root of the problem is often poor marketing, specifically poor segmenting and targeting. Most people think of marketing as promotion through events, advertising, social media, direct email, or viral methods. But those activities, correctly and collectively known as marketing communications, are the very last marketing activities that should be done. Marketing is better described as bringing the right product to the right market at the right price at the right place. If this function is executed poorly, nothing else matters and nothing else can be done to fix the problem. No amount of promotion or creative sales technique will save a company that practices poor segmenting and targeting. A common mistake, made by open source and proprietary software companies alike, is to create something and then look for a market that will buy it. The company that designs a product and then enters the market looking for a customer will struggle. The company that first asks potential customers about their most pressing problems and then designs a compelling product to solve one of these problems is far more likely to succeed, even more so if the problem is a priority to the customer. Unfortunately, software companies tend to have a technology bias rather than a market bias. Why do so many software companies get this wrong? And more importantly, what can they do to get it right, or at least as right as possible? There are a number of reasons why poor marketing is prevalent, including technology arrogance, lack of market information, indecision, and ignorance of segmenting and targeting. The latter is particularly common, and in open source and other software communities, it generally takes the form of creating differently priced product feature sets, licensing, and support packages for different target segments. That kind of segmenting only starts to be successful after a company becomes well established and has enough customers that meeting their differing needs becomes a priority. A new open source company trying to go to market for the first time should instead focus on developing a clear idea of who they are selling to, what their customers problems are and why the customers would use this product over any other. Pricing models should clearly serve t he needs and preferences of that single target. Ideally, a company should identify their target market and the value they bring to it before their product even enters the design stage. But that rarely happens. At a minimum, they should have a market in mind before they take the product to market. It is less important that the target market is the absolute right one than it is to have a target market that is more or less in the right direction. If there is no target to aim for, there is no way to measure progress or success. If there is no target market, it is impossible to build critical mass or penetration. And, trying to sell into multiple segments to see which one works the best usually fails as the company will run out of time and money before finding the answer. Segmentation Challenges In Business-To-Business Market Business-to-business markets are characterized in a number of ways that makes them very different to their consumer cousins. Below summarizedare the main differences between consumer and business-to-business markets, and set out the implications for segmentation: B2B markets have a more complex decision-making unit:  In most households, even the most complex and expensive of purchases are confined to the small family unit, while the purchase of items such as food, clothes and cigarettes usually involves just one person. Other than low-value, low-risk items such as paperclips, the decision-making unit in businesses is far more complicated. Segmenting a target audience that is at once multifaceted, complex, oblique and ephemeral is an extremely demanding task. Do we segment the companies in which these decision makers work, or do we segment the decision makers themselves? Do we identify one key decision maker per company, and segment the key decision makers. In short, who exactly is the target audience and whom should we be segmenting? B2B products are often more complex:  Just as the decision-making unit is often complex in business-to-business markets, so too are b2b products themselves. Even complex consumer purchases such as cars and stereos tend to be chosen on the basis of fairly simple criteria. Conversely, even the simplest of b2b products might have to be integrated into a larger system, making the involvement of a qualified expert necessary. Whereas consumer products are usually standardized, b2b purchases are frequently tailored. This raises the question as to whether segmentation is possible in such markets if every customer has complex and completely different needs, it could be argued that we have a separate segment for every single customer. In most business-to-business markets, a small number of key customers are so important that they rise above the segmentation and are regarded as segments in their own right, with a dedicated account manager. Beneath these key customers, however, lies an array of companies that have similar and modest enough requirements to be grouped into segments. B2B target audiences are smaller than consumer target audiences:  Almost all business-to-business markets exhibit a customer distribution that confirms the Pareto Principle or 80:20 rule. A small number of customers dominate the sales ledger. Nor are we talking thousands and millions of customers. It is not unusual, even in the largest business-to-business companies, to have 100 or fewer customers that really make a difference to sales. Personal relationships are more important in b2b markets:  A small customer base that buys regularly from the business-to-business supplier is relatively easy to talk to. Sales and technical representatives visit the customers. People are on first-name terms. Personal relationships and trust develop. It is not unusual for a business-to-business supplier to have customers that have been loyal and committed for many years. There are a number of segmentation implications here. First, while the degree of relationship focus may vary from one segmentation to another, most segments in most b2b markets demand a level of personal service. This raises an issue at the core of segmentation everyone may want a personal relationship, but who is willing to pay for it? This is where the supplier must make firm choices, deciding to offer a relationship only to those who will pay the appropriate premium for it. On a practical level, it also means that market research must be conducted to provide a full understanding of exactly what relationship comprises. To a premium segment, it may consist of regular face-to-face visits, whilst to a price-conscious segment a quarterly phone call may be adequate. B2B buyers are longer-term buyers:  Whilst consumers do buy items such as houses and cars, which are long-term purchases, these incidences are relatively rare. Long-term purchases or at least purchases, which are expected to be repeated over a long period of time are more common in business-to-business markets. In addition, the long-term products and services required by businesses are more likely to require service back up from the supplier than is the case in consumer markets. A computer network, a new item of machinery, a photocopier or a fleet of vehicles usually require far more extensive aftersales service than a house or the single vehicle purchased by a consumer. Businesses repeat purchases (machine parts, office consumables, for example) will also require ongoing expertise and services in terms of delivery, implementation/installation advice, etc that are less likely to be demanded by consumers. In one sense this makes life easier in terms of segmentation. Segments tend to be less subject to whim or rapid change, meaning that once an accurate segmentation has been established, it evolves relatively slowly and is therefore a durable strategic tool. The risk of this is that business-to-business marketers can be complacent and pay inadequate attention to the changing needs and characteristics of customers over time. This can have grave consequences in terms of the profitability of a segment, as customers are faced with out-of-date messages or benefits that they are not paying for. B2B markets drive innovation less than consumer markets:  B2B companies that innovate usually do so as a response to an innovation that has happened further upstream. In contrast with FMCG companies, they have the comparative luxury of responding to trends rather than having to predict or even drive them. In other words, B2B companies have the time to continually re-evaluate their segments and CVPs and respond promptly to the evolving needs of their clients. B2B markets have fewer behavioral and needs-based segments:  The small number of segments typical to b2b markets is in itself a key distinguishing factor of business-to-business markets. A review of over 2,500 business-to-business studies shows that B2B markets typically have far fewer behavioral or needs-based segments than is the case with consumer markets. Whereas it is not uncommon for an FMCG market to boast 10, 12 or more segments, the average business-to-business study typically produces 3 or 4. Part of the reason for this is the smaller target audience in business-to-business markets. In a consumer market with tens of thousands of potential customers, it is practical and economical to divide the market into 10 or 12 distinguishable segments, even if several of the segments are only separated by small nuances of behavior or need. This is patently not the case when the target audience consists of a couple of hundred business buyers. The main reason for the smaller number of segments, however, is simply that a business audiences behavior or needs vary less than that of a (less rational) consumer audience. Whims, insecurities, indulgences and so on are far less likely to come to the buyers mind when the purchase is for a place of work rather than for oneself or a close family member. And the numerous colleagues who get involved in a B2B buying decision, and the workplace norms established over time, filter out many of the extremes of behavior that may otherwise manifest themselves if the decision were left to one person with no accountability to others. It is noticeable that the behavioral and needs-based segments that emerge in business-to-business markets are frequently similar across different industries. Needs-based segments in a typical business-to business market often resemble the following: A price-focused segment, which has a transactional outlook to doing business and does not seek any extras. Companies in this segment are often small, working to low margins and regard the product/service in question as of low strategic importance to their business. A quality and brand-focused segment, which wants the best possible product and is prepared to pay for it. Companies in this segment often work to high margins, are medium-sized or large, and regard the product/service as of high strategic importance. A service-focused segment, which has high requirements in terms of product quality and range, but also in terms of aftersales, delivery, etc. These companies tend to work in time-critical industries and can be small, medium or large. They are usually purchasing relatively high volumes. A partnership-focused segment usually consists of key accounts, which seeks trust and reliability and regards the supplier as a strategic partner. Such companies tend to be large, operate on relatively high margins, and regard the product or service in question as strategically important. Some Common Traps of Segmenting Customers Segmentation is the action not the objective Segmentation has to stem from clear objectives and strategy. All too many businesses are still picking through the leftovers of static, research-based segmentation projects based on little more than executive philosophy. With no financial modeling to back them up, no wonder these projects failed. The Smart Marketers Handbook (circa 1970) may well say segment or die but that doesnt mean segmentation works or that it has to be the same for every business. Too big to handle To make segmentation easy to grasp, its all too tempting to split the marketplace into a few simple customer segments. For instance, five to ten segments makes it all straightforward enough for a business to understand, and large enoughà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¨to allow economies of scale in product development. However, its no help with customer management or value engineering. After all, for any large business, some of the segments could contain millions of consumers. Thats hardly getting close to the customer! The frozen state Another key requirement of most legacy segmentation approaches is stability. If an organization is going to create a few large segments and develop propositions for them, the last thing they want is a customer jumping from one segment to another. That means segments are designed to be static, or frozen. Businessesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¨can then measure performance over time and be confident about returnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¨on investment. But the awkward customers keep getting in the way. They will insist on changing: age, jobs, homes, marital status, parental status, consumption to name but a few. Fixed state segmentation fails to reflect the dynamic behavior of customers and becomes increasingly irrelevant in marketing campaigns. Problems with referencing Market research can be a wonderful thing, but when an individual focus is needed it becomes less helpful. Unfortunately, many companies rush into segmentation by starting with market research. Customers and prospective customersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¨are asked what they want, need and do, and the research project then builds segmentation models. However, once a company starts referencing these segments back to the existing and prospective customer databases it hits some serious problems: The only way to create references, within the rules of the Marketing Research Society on respondent anonymity, is to set up algorithms using common data and recreates the segments on the database. However, if you didnt start with the database itself, there will be very few common items to draw upon. The scoring process therefore becomes very unsophisticated and insensitive, and the chance of placing more than 50% of customers into the right segments with anything above 70% probability are quite slim. That means companies can spend years (and millions) picking up the pieces. The solution is to start with your own data, and any data from a third party, to build the segmentation upwards. Once youve identified the key variables, then you can do the market research. Differentiation or just different colored envelops? The best segmentation framework in the world will still not deliver a return if a business cannot conceive and execute worthwhile strategies. After all, whats the point in having segments if the customer experience is hardly different across each one? All too often organizations think the best use of segmentation is in creating different communications for different groups of people. Frankly, if thats the only reason for segmentation, its not worth the expense. It creates minimal difference, and wont justify the cost. At the end of the day segmentation can only pay for itself by delivering lower conversion costs, higher prices and improved margins. True segmentation means different propositions for different customer groups, not just different colored envelopes in their direct mail. Poor resource allocation and ROI assessment All too often organizations allocate resources by product or business function. Yet if you are serious about segmentation, you need to follow a scientific method to allocate resources and assess returns across different segments. One challenge to this is, of course, the fact that segments are not stable. How can you allocate suitable resources if customers shift segments? The answer for many organizations is to only segment at the macro level, for example: By geography By sector By consumer / B2B Segment bleed this sector is not for you Segmentation may look good on paper, but customers are forever breaking out of their segments. If someone from the Medium Size segment takes a shine to a proposition developed for Small Size Segment, you dont want to turn their business down. Yet this can ultimately damage a brand, particularly in a mature market. Segmentation isnt monotheism Segmentation is most powerful when it addresses a specific problem. Moreover, as most businesses face many problems, segmentation must be multi-dimensional. Value, needs, behavior, product, demographics, customer state, preference, credit segmentation can take any number of approaches, making your organization as flexible as possible to meet business challenges. One hurdle to overcome is the senior executives preference for simpler, easy to understand concepts. Todays marketer has to be able to explain and demonstrate the benefits of multi-dimensionality against seductively simpler segmentation. Some examples of failed products because of faulty segmentation: BPL Contributor Jim Lawless. The product BPL Batch Programming Language Interpreter. Why it was judged a commercial failure I sold about 10 copies. What went wrong I didnt really do enough research to find out if the target market was in existence. I was hoping that network admins and support staff members would find it easier to use than batch files and less complicated than any of the free scripting language options available. So, I just rushed to get the MVP  [1]  (Minimum Viable Product) out the door. I never did provide a compiler that would build a stand-alone EXE. I think that might have met with more success. I didnt do much as far as advertising the existence of the product. Time/money invested I only spent a few weeks coding and documenting it in my spare time. Support issues sometimes took a whole evening, but nothing major. It did not have any impact on my finances, as I had invested nothing but my time. Current product status I will still address support issues with this product for registered users, but I dont actively sell it. Ive open-sourced the program and it still really isnt seeing heavy use. Comments: Here the contributor does recognize that there was a need for a proper market analysis before investing time and efforts in developing the product. The product developed did not have a clear market to cater to and had some essential features missing which the segment to which it was marketed needed. Another reason for the failure of the product could be that it was focused on a very small niche. DRAMA Contributor Andy Brice. The product DRAMA (Design RAtionaleMAnagement) was a commercialization of a University prototype for recording the decision-making process during the design of complex and long-lived artifacts, for example nuclear reactors and chemical plants. By recording it in a structured database this information would still be available long after the original engineers had forgotten it, retired or been run over by buses. This information was believed to be incredibly valuable to later maintainers of the system, engineers creating similar designs and industry regulators. The development was part funded by 4 big process-engineering companies. Why it was judged a commercial failure Everyone told us what a great idea it was, but no one bought it. Despite some early funding from some big process engineering companies, none of them put it into use properly and we never sold any licenses to anyone else. What went wrong? Lack of support from the people who would actually have to use it. There are lots of social factors that work against engineers wanting to record their design rationale, including: The person taking the time to record the rationale probably isnt the person getting the benefit from it. Extra work for people who are already under a lot of time pressure. It might make it easier for others to question decisions and hold companies and engineers accountable for mistakes. Engineers may see giving away this knowledge as undermining their job security. Problems integrating with the other software tools that engineers spend most of their time in (e.g. CAD packages). This would probably be easier with modern web-based technology. It is difficult to capture the subtleties of the design process in a structured form. A bad hire. If you hire the wrong person, you should face up to it and get rid of them. Rather than keep moving them around in a vain attempt to find something they are good at. We took a phased approach, starting with a single-user proof of concept and then creating a client-server version. In hindsight it should have been obvious that not enough people were actively using the single-user system and we should have killed it then. Time/money invested At least 3 man-years of work went into this product, with me doing most of it. Thankfully I was a salaried employee. But the lack of success of this product contributed to the demise of the part of the company I was in. Current product status The product is long dead. Comments: In addition to what the entrepreneur mentioned about what went wrong with the product, we can see that the early adopters (4 companies) are not stable customers. From what the entrepreneur has mentioned, it does seem that the four big companies were approached without having a product. How do you measure the effectiveness of the segmentation process? Net Marketing Contribution Marketing profitability is based on an investment in marketing and sales required to achieve certain levels of sales and gross margins. Net marketing contribution is a financial measure of marketing profitability and is computed as shown below: Net Marketing Contribution = Segment Size x Market Share within Segment x Product Price x Product Margin Marketing Expenditure Net Marketing Contribution for Segment NMC for segment = Segment Size x Market Share within Segment x Product Price x Product Margin Marketing Expenditure Marketing Return on Sales for segment = NMC for segment/Sales for Segment Marketing ROI for Segment = NMC for Segment/ Marketing Expenditure for Segment How exactly are companies segmenting? The trends in the product development process of companies as per our survey results is shown below If we see the result according to the size of the respondent companies the small and medium companies show the below trend The large companies showed the below trend The two most important factors when deciding a segment for all the companies were the value proposition fit and then the revenue potential of the segment, the size of the segment in terms of importance came after the aforementioned factors. The general trend across companies shows that Vertical and Horizontal segmentation are the most important basis for targeting segments, the next most important basis is the size of the clients. However, there is a clear variation in this trend according to the size of the companies. For the large companies the most important basis for targeting segments is the business vertical, Horizontal distinction and size of the clients share the position of being sec

Existentialism and Theatre :: Existentialism

Existentialism and Theatre Existentialism is a concept that became popular during the second World War in France, and just after it. French playrights have often used the stage to express their views, and these views came to surface even during a Nazi occupation. Bernard Shaw got his play "Saint Joan" past the German censors because it appeared to be very Anti-British. French audiences however immediately understood the real meaning of the play, and replaced the British with the Germans. Those sorts of "hidden meanings" were common throughout the period so that plays would be able to pass censorship. Existentialism proposes that man is full of anxiety and despair with no meaning in his life, just simply existing, until he made decisive choice about his own future. That is the way to achieve dignity as a human being. Existentialists felt that adopting a social or political cause was one way of giving purpose to a life. Sartre is well known for the "Theatre engage" or Theatre 'committed', which is supposedly committed to social and/or political action. On of the major playwrights during this period was Jean-Paul Sartre. Sartre had been imprisoned in Germany in 1940 but managed to escape, and become one of the leaders of the Existential movement. Other popular playwrights were Albert Camus, and Jean Anouilh. Just like Anouilh, Camus accidentally became the spokesman for the French Underground when he wrote his famous essay, "Le Mythe de Sisyphe" or "The Myth of Sisyphus". Sisyphus was the man condemned by the gods to roll a rock to the top of a mountain, only to have it roll back down again. For Camus, this related heavily to everyday life, and he saw Sisyphus an "absurd" hero, with a pointless existence. Camus felt that it was necessary to wonder what the meaning of life was, and that the human being longed for some sense of clarity in the world, since "if the world were clear, art would not exist". "The Myth of Sisyphus" became a prototype for existentialism in the theatre, and eventually The Theatre of the Absurd. Right after the Second World War, Paris became the theatre capital of the west, and popularized a new form of surrealistic theatre called "Theatre of the Absurd". Many historians contribute the sudden popularity of absurdism in France to the gruesome revelations of gas chambers and war

Order of Importance in Goulds Nonmoral Nature :: Nonmoral Nature

Order of Importance in Gould's Nonmoral Nature  Ã‚   Many things can be put into order. Time, people, and events can all be placed in a logical order. The way that things are put into order can greatly affect the impact that they have. In Gould's Nonmoral Nature, the order in which he presents the different points of view is very important. He uses scientists who have been dominant in their profession but that are not commonly known in the begining and middle of his writing. However, to close out his work, he uses the prominent scientist Darwin to leave a lasting impression on the reader. Gould's use of order greatly affects the way that people perceive his work.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Gould's order has two effects on the reader. First, by putting Darwin last, he allows the reader to get acquainted with the ideas of some great minds whom the reader may not have been exposed to before. The reader can then think about these ideas that have ben presented to them and compare them with their own thoughts and ideas. Darwin is known for his theories, therefore people are more apt to assimilate their ideas to his. If Gould were to put Darwin's point of view first, the reader may be less likely to agree with some of the other ideas that are presented in Nonmoral Nature. By putting Darwin last, Gould allowed the reader to form their own opinion and then compare this to Darwin's ideas in the conclusion of the story.   Ã‚  Ã‚   The second effect of Gould's use of order is that the reader, having read Darwin last, may be more inclined to believe the other evidence that in presented in the story. Darwin is a man who is well known and held in high esteem for his studies. With these attributes to his name, Darwin leaves a lasting impact on the reader. After the reader has formed their own thoughts and ideas on the matter of Nonmoral Nature, they are given the chance to Darwin's ideas for the benefit of their own thought.

The Beginnings of Industrialization

The Beginnings of Industrialization A. Perceiving Cause and Effect: As you read this section, make notes in the chart to explain how each factor listed contributed to an Industrial Revolution in Great Britain Factor Contribution to the Industrial Revolution 1 . Agricultural Revolution- boosted demand for products and provided labor led to an increase of population increased Food supplies. 2. Abundant Natural Resources- Surplus of natural resources such as coal, ore harbors and ports. 3.Political Stability- allowed Britain to devote its energy and resources to the economic expansion. 4. Factors of Production- Britain had most the resources to produce products. 5. Technological advances- had improved the quality and speed of cloth production Higher profits. 6. Entrepreneurs- they had provided organization skills and took financial risk in creating a business. 7. Building of factories- allowed the industry to move in and out of the home into a main location. 8. Railroad boom- gave an in expensive solution to transport materials created new jobs. B.Enclosure: the enclosure of the agriculture produce to contain u rope rotation: the rotation Of crops to industrial industry Explain how both paved the way for an agricultural revolution. Both of these paved the way for agricultural revolution by the growth of the crops and the enclosure that the agriculture needs C. Define the following terms: Industrial Revolution- the revolution for agriculture use. Industrialization- the change of agriculture to man made products. Factors of production- factory, place, time, management Factory- a place that produces or builds products for a profit Entrepreneur- a type of business person.