Ducati - Consumer Decision Making Process

The Consumer’s decision making process is based upon how they conduct themselves when purchasing products or services. The decisions they make are laid out into five steps. Before the steps however, there are some other factors that can be taken into account. The first factor to take into account is psychological factors. This influences the consumer’s decision and is based upon a person’s personality traits. It’s these traits like self-confidence, dominance, sociability, defensiveness, adaptability, and aggressiveness that help decide whether the consumer will go through with the decision making process in the first place. The traits also help determine different feelings toward products and services and ultimately shape what type of buyer you are. “The relationship of basic personality variables to buying behavior has been investigated across a fairly wide range of products and services. In probably the best-known such study, Franklin B. Evans used the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule to test for personality differences between Ford and Chevrolet owners. His basic conclusion was that personality is of little value in predicting whether an individual owns a chevrolet or Ford” (Thomas et al., 1969). Although Evans discovered that there was little contribution from a personality point of view; researchers later on found that individual personality types would have a profound impact when conducting the decision make process. When comparing the Ducati Superbike to its competitors we get a similar picture to Evan’s study with the Ford and the Chevrolet. With the Ducati However, there is a predominantly different target market. The Ducati is a top of the line motorcycle that attracts thrill seekers all around the world who want to feel the roar of the italian made engine. Straight off the cuff Ducati customers are prepared to pay more for a premium product as they feel the need to want to push their thrills to the limit.

The buyer decision making process is split up into 5 steps. Need recognition, Information Search, Evaluation of Alternatives, Purchase Decision, and Post-Purchase Behaviour. This is the order in which a consumer will typically run through when making a purchase of some sort. Needs Recognition is the first step in the consumer decision making process and occurs when the consumer feels that are not satisfied and a need must be filled. Consumer’s feel that they need products and services in their life to fulfil certain needs, such as entertainment and pleasure. The first stage is considered ‘the problem stage’, as the need or want is missing and the product or service is ‘the fix’ to the problem. Someone who has a strong desire to buy the Ducati Superbike will be willing to pay extra because they feel that their need is worth the cost of the bike’s superior design and quality. Once the consumer has figured out that they need the Super Bike they move onto the second stage of the buyer’s decision making process. Information search is the second stage and consists of the need (Ducati Superbike) and also the alternative options or competitors in the market. In this case the Ducati is a speciality item that does not have many competitors, however, you can compare the Ducati Superbike to a Supercar like a Ferrari Lamborghini. If someone is willing to pay a large amount for the superbike they are probably also likely to purchase a fast car as well. This alternative product has a similar need to the Ducati Super bike.

The third stage involves evaluating the options or alternatives and outlines the differences of each options and the benefits of each as compared to each other. “So how does a consumer choose among these alternatives? The truth is that there are several processes at work inside the consumer's mind, forming beliefs and attitudes about all of the products to choose from. However these processes all "evolve" based on the individual's buying situation. The situation evolves from the set of attributes the consumer is choosing to evaluate products by” (The Market Media Life, 2015). “An Evaluation of Alternatives is the stage of the buyer decision process in where a consumer uses the information gathered in the Information Search to evaluate alternative brands in the product category” (The Market Media Life, 2015). When it comes to buying a Ducati you cannot undermine their superior quality and performance. “The Ducati Superbikes are the most advanced, most powerful twin-cylinder motorcycles ever built. They are the product of a team of designers and engineers who have combined their Ducati Motogp and World Superbike technologies to create the finest sport bikes in the world. From race-level engine specifications to World Championship-winning traction control, the results are pure excellence” (Fraser Motorcycles, 2011).

The fourth step of the consumer buyer decision making process is the actual purchase decision itself. The decision comes down to the previous three steps deducting your options down to one and considering you're motivated enough and still have the need to buy the purchase will take place. “The decision will depend on the information and the selection made in the previous steps based on the perceived value, product’s features and capabilities that are important to the consumer” (The Consumer Factor, 2011). The actual final decision still depends on other external factors like the quality of service from the place of purchase, the return policy and also any existing promotions for the product. Ducati is renowned for their great customer service. “In April of 2015 was the best sales month in Ducati's history. The company delivered 7,309 units to customers. For that kind of duty, the Ducati delivers the best combination of style and fun at a reasonable cost” (MacDonald, 2015).

After the purchase there is a post purchase evaluation which looks at the “original needs (those who caused the buying behaviour). And whether he has made the right choice in buying this product or not” (The Consumer Factor, 2011). The consumer will most likely feel a sense of satisfaction for the product and the choice, or otherwise feel disappointed with the product. If the product has satisfied the need and the consumer is satisfied with the final product then he or she will minimise the stage of information search. This is because there is no need to go back and look for other products to fulfill that need. However, if the consumer was dissatisfied then they will need to repeat the 5 stages of the consumer buying decision process with alternative products so that they can fulfill that need properly. “Positive or negative, consumers will also be able to share their opinion on the brand. Whether in their family or by word-of-mouth. Or on a much broader scale now with social networks or on consumer product review websites. A tendency not to be overlooked because now with the Internet, an unhappy customer can have a strong power to harm for a brand” (The Consumer Factor, 2011). The importance for companies like Ducati to have the proper awareness of influencing the consumer in a positive manner is paramount to the buyer’s final decision. If the customer service is sub-par then the customer might think twice before purchasing the product. “That’s why it’s important for companies to optimize the customer experience, a guarantee an efficient customer service and a specific call centre are some of the assets that can be developed to improve post-purchase behaviour if there is any trouble with the product” (The Consumer Factor, 2011). Companies with a successful history like Ducati are renowned for their products quality and unique design. Ducati makes some of the best looking motorbikes with the most powerful engine in the world. This sets them apart from their competitors and allows the consumers to be sure they are purchasing a higher quality motorbike for the higher premium. “At Ducati, interest in business-to-business trade is slow because 85 percent of Ducati components are self-designed and ordered from suppliers in the Bologna region. But a percentage of parts, including spark plugs, chains, tires and lamps, may be purchased by joining Moto clusters, an online procurement system for the motorcycle industry that was set up last year by Giuseppe Narducci, Ducati's former head of purchasing” (Tagliabue, 2001). The Ducati Traction Control (DTC) system further underlines Ducati's technology flow from racing to production and demonstrates how solutions developed for the track can be applied to enhance safer performance on the road (Fraser Motorcycles, 2011).




References:

"Ducati." Marketing 2 Nov. 2011: 16. Academic OneFile. Web. 4 Sept. 2015.

Fraser Motorcycles, 2011, About Superbike: Ducati Superbike, viewed 2 September 2015, <http://www.frasermotorcycles.com.au/ducati/superbike>.

Hoffman, E. (1988). The right to be human: A biography of Abraham Maslow. Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc.

Kenrick, D. T., Neuberg, S. L., Griskevicius, V., Becker, D. V., & Schaller, M. (2010). Goal-Driven Cognition and Functional Behavior The Fundamental-Motives Framework. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 19(1), 63-67.

McLeod, S. A. (2014). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Retrieved from www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

Tagliabue, J 2001 "How Ducati roared onto the Internet. (marketing motorcycles)." New York Times 18 Apr. 2001: H14. Academic OneFile. Web. 7 Sept. 2015.

The Consumer Factor, 2011, The 5 stages of Consumer Buying Decision Process, viewed 2 September 2015, <http://theconsumerfactor.com/en/5-stages-consumer-buying-decision-process/>.

The Market Media Life, 2015, Marketing 101: The Buyer Decision Process, viewed 2 September 2015, <http://marketmedialife.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/marketing-101-buyer-decision-process.html/>.

Thomas S. Robertson and James H. Myers, 1969, 'Personality Correlates of Opinion Leadership and Innovative Buying Behavior', American Marketing Association, vol. 6. no. 2, pp. 164-168.

MacDonald, S 2015, Rev Zilla: Why the Ducati scrambler is the bike for you, viewed 2 September 2015, <http://www.revzilla.com/common-tread/the-ducati-scrambler-is-the-best-bike>.

Microsoft Lumia - Situational Recap + Marketing Mix

4.1 Situational Recap

The Microsoft Lumia has a broad price range. The Lumia 550 and 650 are the budget range, and the Lumia 950 is the top-tier model. The Lumia 950 is loaded with Windows 10 operating system, 20MP camera and a device-pairing function called Continuum. Continuum can turn the Lumia into a desktop, and when paired with the increasing trend of cloud storage subscriptions, is beneficial to the portable lifestyle of the modern consumer. The Lumia 950 also comes with a unique system called Windows Hello, which scans your iris as a password substitute. An aspect like this is part of Microsoft’s unique selling proposition regarding the product. Statistics vary, but it is said between 79-89% of Australians own a smartphone, and 8% of that figure are using Windows phones. This can be considered an opportunity for Microsoft since it is projected that with each year more Australian’s will buy a smartphone. Microsoft’s two main competitors are Apple and Samsung, who collectively control 73% of the market share. Other lesser known competitors include Chinese brands Huawei and Xiaomi.

4.2 Marketing Mix

Product Lumia is a smartphone Unique operating system, Windows 10	Promotion Point-of-sales through retailers Advertising Social media
Price Affordable budget models – Lumia 550 and 650 High priced model – Lumia 950 and 950XL	Place Social media Online and magazine reviews Mobile phone retailers

4.3 SWOT

Strengths Strong grasp over businesses and educational institutions Windows is the primary operating system taught in schools Windows holds the majority of the market share for the most popular desktop operating system	Opportunities Appealing to a younger demographic, targeting ages 18-44 Point-of-sales commissions schemes to encourage retailers Emphasis on new features and use of own operating system Emphasis on interconnectivity via the Windows 10 OS. Appeal to price-sensitive consumers
Weaknesses Significantly low number of Windows            phone users in comparison to Google            Android and Apple’s iOS. Weak innovativeness in the smartphone field, not attracting customers.	Threats Losing more market share to competitors (Apple and Samsung) Competitors copying and potentially expanding on Microsoft’s ideas Negative reviews and press regarding the Lumia smartphone range

Managing Capacity and Demand

It is very important to match demand and capacity as it would allow the organisation to maximise on profitability and utilise resources efficiently. If capacity and demand are not matched, issues can arise such as failure to smooth the peaks and valleys of demand and overuse of the capacity (Kossmann 2006, p. 39).

Failure to smooth the peaks and valleys of demands is caused by failing to match the supply to the demand (Kossmann 2006, p. 39). It could get really busy before lunch time in Canary Jane’s Flowers with up to five customers all at once. Ms. Stacey, the owner and manager, is aware that during this time and also the morning that it can get very busy so they ensure they have enough stock and staff to match for the day because of the uncertainty. In addition, seasonal changes can affect the demand. For example, weddings tend to happen a lot more in the spring and therefore this increase the demand for flowers more in comparison to winter. This means, for Canary Jane’s Flowers that they would need to increase the capacity to match the demand in spring time and reduce it in winter where it's not as busy. Another method to match the capacity and demand is shifting demand which focuses on customers and involves stretching capacity by using strategies to either attract or detract customers at certain times (Zeithaml, Bitner & Gremler 2013, p. 385). For instance, at Canary Jane’s Flowers on slow days they modify their hours of operation. On busy days such as Valentine’s Day they promote the benefits of ordering earlier than on the day to shift the demand since they know capacity will be too low. For more information on methods to shift demand please refer to Figure 8.1.

Overuse of capacity in the Canary Jane's Flowers scenario would refer to the ratio of staff to customers. Adjusting capacity focuses on the supplying side to fix the difference between capacity and demand (Zeithaml, Bitner & Gremler 2013, p. 388). Ms. Stacey usually has two florists in during the busiest days of the year, for instance Valentine’s Day and Mother’s day. To decrease demand during peak times they rely on students who are on work placements for extra hand when it is necessary. In the winter time where demand it too low employees have a holiday and Ms. Stacey would only keep one person in the store while she would drop in every now and then to give a hand if necessary. For more information on methods to adjust capacity please refer to Figure 8.2. Therefore, there isn’t much overuse in the capacity for Canary Jane’s flowers since adjusting capacity strategies are utilised effectively.

If capacity and demand aren’t matched this means there is both excess demand and business can be lost, or an excess in capacity and resources are wasted. It is very important for Canary Jane’s Flowers to understand their capacity and demand because on top of this they also need to stock the freshest flowers, not have stock sitting there for days. Therefore, capacity and demand should be recognised as an important way for Canary Jane’s to maximise on profitability. Capacity and demand levels will also be influenced by the organisation's communications.

References: 

Kossmann, M 2006, Delivering excellent service quality in aviation, Ashgate, Aldershot, England.Zeithaml, V, 

Bitner, M & Gremler, D 2013, Services marketing, McGraw-Hill Irwin, New York.

Monitoring and Researching Service Success and Failure

Monitoring and evaluating service performance is important because it allows for improvement throughout the service profit chain. Measurement and analysis allows businesses to make decisions based on data, lowering their exposure to risk and providing more predictable results (Gale 1992). Small businesses such as Canary Jane’s Flowers have less need and means to monitor performance, due to smaller sample sizes and more intimate existing knowledge of the business and customers, but such research still holds substantial value for service improvement.

It is common and natural for business operators to self-assess their performance against their past performance and objectives, but it is generally unreliable when done without structure, analysis and impartiality (Parker 2012). Canary Jane’s currently has unstructured performance measurement without formal metrics, consisting of a personal awareness of repeating customers, and reviews on external websites. The business is incidentally reviewed extremely well, with an average 4.9 star rating from 35 reviews on Facebook, Yelp, Yellow Pages, and Etsy. Reviews and ratings are currently the only impartial measurement of Canary Jane’s performance.

Measurement of returning customers is important as it is much cheaper and easier to retain customers than it is to attract new ones (Hennig-Thurau & Klee 1997). As such, customer retention rates are a very important metric to measure. Measuring retention rate is a simple calculation comparing a quantity of new customers to existing customers, but requires those two points of data. Returning and new customers can be counted simply by asking all customers if they have shopped at Canary Jane’s before, with figures stored and compared and monthly intervals to assess retention and attrition rates. A services success or failure will also be impacted by the organisations ability to manage capacity and demand.

References: 

Parker, D 2012, Service Operations Management, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham: UK, pp. 285-287.

Hennig-Thurau, T & Klee, A 1997, 'The impact of customer satisfaction and relationship quality on customer retention: A critical reassessment and model development', Psychology and Marketing, vol. 14, no. 8, pp. 737-764.

Gale, B 1992, Monitoring customer satisfaction and market-perceived quality, American Marketing Association, Chicago.

Service Quality and Service Guarantee

Service quality defines the level a customer is satisfied because it is the critical element customers use to evaluate service (Zeithaml, Bitner & Gremler 2013, p. 87). Therefore in a consumer service experience within a store, service providers must reach out to customers and listen to their desired fulfilments while also assisting their journey from enquiries, selection process, purchase process through to the possible post purchase issues. Ensuring service quality and eliminating the need for service recovery is “doing it right the first time”, this shows the business is reliable (Zeithaml, Bitner & Gremler 2013, p. 201). Canary Jane’s Flowers is a floral service combined with highly priced yet small sized gift goods, for example candles, rosedale hankies and hand creams. The higher costs of the small gift products would naturally create an implied higher service quality. “The intangibility and unpredictability of services generally cause consumers to perceive a higher risk associated with a service” (Sharma & Varghese 2013). Customers can have uncertainty and be unconfident of the service quality for particularly high priced stores, like Canary Jane’s (Sharma & Varghese 2013).

A method to reduce consumer’s uncertainty with the quality of a product is guarantees, which ensure the customer is 100% satisfied (Hart 1988). “A service guarantee is a promise by a company to compensate the customer in some way if the defined level of service delivered is not met.” (Sharma & Varghese 2013). There are several characteristics of effective guarantees that will be explained relating to Canary Jane’s Flowers and the benefits of having an effective guarantee will be illustrated. Effective guarantees should be unconditional, meaningful, easy to understand and easy to invoke (Zeithaml, Bitner & Gremler 2013, p. 202). Canary Jane’s guarantees that the flowers will last at least 4 days after buying them, this is unconditional because it “promises customer satisfaction unconditionally, without exceptions” (Hart 1988). This guarantee is meaningful because it covers the aspects of the service that is important to the customer, which is the freshness and quality of the flowers. It is also meaningful financially; a full refund or replacement is given. The guarantee is easy to understand as it is simple and pinpoints the promise (Hart 1988). A guarantee must be easy to invoke, as explained by Hart (1988) “A customer who is already dissatisfied should not have to jump through hoops to invoke a guarantee.”

“Service guarantees have been advocated as a potentially powerful weapon today in trying to differentiate between services and gain the competitive edge” (Sharma & Varghese 2013). Another benefit of service guarantees is maintaining quality (Zeithaml, Bitner & Gremler 2013, p. 204).The organisation can maintain quality as the guarantee is an indicator of what the service should provide, for instance at Canary Jane’s Flowers they guarantee same day delivery if you order before 2pm. By having this benchmark an employee knows the minimum needs that need to be met for the customer, which in this case is getting the flowers delivered to the customer on the same day. Canary Jane’s Flowers uses Murphy Alan Johns for the delivery of their orders and if for any reason there is a disruption with the process, then the staff will assist with the delivery to ensure that the guarantee is met. Small to medium enterprises often bestow less service guarantees due to less workers to help achieve promises, avoiding over promising is considered safe in the employer's eyes. The low number of apparent written and verbal guarantees from Canary Jane’s will ultimately impact the “willingness of the customer to make frequent visits” (Sharma & Varghese 2013). Ensuring the guarantees are used effectively, they will benefit the business. Canary Jane’s will increase loyal customers through the use of guarantees, which equates to profitability in the long run. Guarantees are irrelevant if the organisation does not monitor whether they are successfully delivering a quality service.

References: 

Zeithaml, V, Bitner, M & Gremler, D 2013, Services marketing, McGraw-Hill Irwin, New York.

Sharma, K & Varghese, M 2013, 'Influence of Service Guarantee on Consumer Behavior in organized retail stores', Romanian Journal of Marketing, vol. 1, pp. 10-17.

Hart, C 1988, 'The Power of Unconditional Service Guarantees', Harvard Business Review, vol. 66, no. 4, pp. 54-63.

Microsoft Lumia - SWOT Analysis by Mitchell Formica

Strengths

Microsoft is world leader of software development, holding the title as the world’s biggest supplier of computer software. “According to Steve Ballmer Microsoft Chief Executive (2013), Microsoft’s Windows occupy 91.49% sharing of the global PC operation system. Nokia has had powerful hardware design concept and abilities of manufacturing, also Nokia’s Lumia occupied approximately 82% of the market. So, acquisition of Nokia was a great record for Microsoft’s corporate strategy”.  (Microsoft Corporation’s Strategy, 2015).  See Appendix 1.1 for further details.

Weakness

Microsoft jumped into a market that was already occupied by two other large scale organisations with considerable market share. At the time most of the market shares have been taken by Apple and Android. “According to Bamburic (2013), in 2013, Window Mobile only occupied 2.9 % from the smart-phone market share, it is a bad record which compare with Apple’s 18.2 % and Android’s 74.4 %. (Bamburic, 2013).  See Appendix 1.1 for further details. Another weakness for Microsoft is that it is considerably hard to get people to change from an already existing phone with OS to a totally different format. Although everyone is most likely familiar with windows operating system it’s still not the norm to be using it on a mobile device and therefore makes for a harder substitute change option from the consumer’s point of view.

Opportunities

Following on from some weaknesses there are some opportunities for Microsoft. Whilst Android occupies a large amount of the market the loyalty from android users is considered unstable and can shift. Apple on the other hand are too expensive for some consumers offering no value option at the Lumia and Galaxy S7 level. “Window mobiles get a chance to attract those customers. Functional With the developing Information Technology, people see mobile as a necessity, and mobile phone is not just a communication tool, consumers concern about the multi-function and the brand of mobile phone” (Microsoft Corporation’s Strategy, 2015).  

Threats

Lastly we have some threats. Obviously we look to the competitors Apple and Samsung and even Google as they own Android. HTC is also a small competitor but a competitor none the less. They all are trying to gain market share and will therefore try to innovate work on new ideas and market their own brands tirelessly. See Appendix 1.1 for further details.

References:

Bamburic, M. (2013). What we know about Windows Phone 8.1 so far? [Online] Available From:http://support.techlogic.net/index.php?/News/List/Index/134. [Accessed: 28th February 2014].

‘Microsoft Corporation’s Strategy’ 2015, http://studymoose.com/microsoft-corporations-strategy-essay.

Is Henri Fayol’s management theory relevant today?

Henry Fayol is seen as a French pioneer, an industrialist thinker who took the world by storm with his management theories. Throughout the twentieth century and to this day, his ideas and theories are still well known and are used by management text authors and teachers who strive to keep the heritage of management alive. They use his theories and keep teaching the same business morals and knowledge that was originally taught by Fayol and many others, but in revised ways so that it fits in with current day situations and scenarios.

The business world of today comprises of many factors that managers need to take into account before stepping up to the task of running a department, or an organisation has a whole. These factors control how well an organisation runs and operates, and over time managers develop skills and knowledge based on the work of theorists such as Max Weber and Abraham Maslow who were motivators and pioneers of management principles in the 19th century. Among these theorists you will also find Henri Fayol, a strategist who was responsible for the corporate turnaround and who founded the six functions of management and 14 principals of management. He was instrumental in demonstrating new ways for mangers to guide their employees towards being more efficient in achieving goals. These theories are still used today in contemporary management all around the world. Even though over the years changes have been made to the theories and so today we see original six functions of management have been modified to become the five functions of management. The classic theories have been adapted to suit the new class of workers and their needs in the workplace.

The studies of management based on Henri Fayol’s theories are still relevant in today’s society, and are evident in almost every organisation. In almost every job there is an employer who delegates tasks and an employee to complete them. Fayol’s principles are relevant to the way in which these tasks are completed and the communication methods used to delegate them. In present time, managers have become less authoritative and are moving towards a newer style of management that is based on more two-way, collaborative communicate to employees. In recent times employees are allowed to make a bigger contribution to how tasks are completed and are even allowed to make decisions on behalf of the management. This move is a result of adaption and modification of management styles over time. Although changes have occurred, Fayol’s teachings still have significant relevance in the work place today.

Origin Energy Stakeholder Analysis

Trade Associations

The two biggest trade associations of Origin Energy include The Australian Service Union, and The National Electricity Market. The ASU is one of the largest in Australia in the energy/electricity industry. The ASU operate as an agency for Origin Energy and will outline certain standards for safety and fair work practice. This may include the conditions of employment, superannuation, wages and salaries, occupational health and safety. The ASU help to sustain a good working environment for all employees whilst also negotiating with companies to establish your benefits.

‘The National Electricity Market or NEM is a wholesale market that helps to deliver electricity to almost 10 million homes and business in Australia, the NEM is responsible for the buffer between energy companies like Origin and the consumers. The transmission of energy and its distribution networks deliver the needed electricity from power stations anywhere in the system at all times of the day and night. The NEM is a wholesale electricity market in which generators sell electricity and retailers buy it and sell it onto you. There are lots of generators and retailers participating in the market so it’s highly competitive and therefore relatively competitive electricity prices in the wholesale market. The financial market sits alongside the NEM and involves retailers and generators entering into hedging contracts to buy and sell electricity. These contracts set an agreed price for the electricity and help to manage the risk of price volatility’ (The Natural Electricity Market, May 2013).

‘So why does an energy company use the NEM? Origin uses NEM so that the electricity can be stored in these generators and that electricity is available when its needed, this is the most efficient way of producing electricity’ (The Natural Electricity Market, May 2013).

Employees

Employees of Origin Energy will need to be notified when there is a change undergoing within the company. The change that is going to occur, decrease in carbon emissions and moving toward a more sustainable future by the use of renewable resources will be driven by the employees. The employees will firstly need to be notified by a manger of this change and how it will affect them. Then the company as a whole will need to realign their goal and ultimately bridge the gap between senior executives and the day to day operations of the business. This is very time consuming as each person in the company needs to have an idea of the change occurring and also be able to motivate themselves enough for the change to become successful. The change from the company’s point of view needs to be sold to them employees of the business; the employees will need a monetary benefit shown or some other kind of benefit to them that will come about by the change.  Origin Energy could show that by making this change, not only will carbon emission decrease; escalating health but it will also boost sales by public satisfaction in the long run. Origin could also relate back to the employees and reward them for their change initiative.

References:

The Natural Electricity Market, May 2013, originenergy.com, viewed 1 April 2015,

<http://www.originenergy.com.au/resources/national-electricity-market-infographic.jpg>.

The Natural Electricity Market, May 2013, originenergy.com, viewed 1 April 2015,

<http://www.originenergy.com.au/resources/national-electricity-market-infographic.jpg>.

Car Park Innovation - By Mitchell Formica & Alana Cuce

The Car Parking industry is a relatively old one, however, there is room for innovation through the use of mobile technology we have create a way for people to find parking spots easily. Whilst the demand for car spots is increasing we are hoping to get in early on a slowly developing industry so we can build up our company before others enter the market. (Parking Association of Australia Inc, History of the Parking Association, 2012).

The car parking industry involves the implication of technology to easily access and obtain information on car parking facilities so that you can locate and acquire a car parking spot. This innovation uses the subscription based business model which allows people to enter in their details so that they can be later used to further help develop our business. This vital information people are giving us is ultimately used for car parking purposes but has other useful uses.

The cost for innovation is small in the car parking industry as there isn’t a lot of technological implementations, this is good as there won’t be much spending or investments needed but also bad because there are little barriers to entry and any company could take us over.  The innovation is unlike any on the market and will fill a gap or a niche that people can utilise. The use of E-business today is a vital part of communication within and between business, as it allows more information and knowledge to pass through on to others that might be interested in the given industry. This enhances investments and ultimately allows for collaboration and more ideas. (Berthon, et al, 2008).

With this we hopefully aim to increase the company’s market share and long term think of other cities that we distribute our product to, Australia is our oyster and we need to branch out into new areas and try to get our product into more people’s pockets and phones. Through the use of E-business by using the technology to communicate with others around us it will help our product get out there onto the market, while also open up the idea of collaboration with business partners and geographically distribute our product. (Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations, January-March 2011).

Reference list:

Berthon, Pierre, Pitt, Leyland, Berthon, Jean-Paul, Campbell, Colin, Thwaites, Des,  Industrial Marketing Management. Jan 2008, Vol. 37 Issue 1, p83-91. 9p.

Parking Association of Australia Inc, 2012, History of the Parking Association, viewed 29 August 2013

Communications of the ACM. Jul2012, Vol. 55 Issue 7, p22-24. 3p. 1 Color Photograph.

Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations; Jan-Mar2011, Vol. 9 Issue 1, p17-37, 21p, 1 Diagram, 1 Graph

Managing bullying and harassment in the workplace - By Mitchell Formica

Our early days as a child on the playground may unearth memories of bullying and harassment by our peers; those memories are now being re-lived by a new bullying and harassment phenomenon that is making its way into the workplace. Nowadays it is estimated that “as many as 53 per cent of UK employees have been bullied at work at some point during their working life”, (Anas Khan, Riad Khan, 2012), and others have estimated more. On top of this, “some studies have revealed that nearly 95% of employees have had some exposure to general bullying behaviours in the workplace over a 5 year period” (A.-K. Samnani, P. Singh, 2012). This profound evidence demonstrates the seriousness for action and a growing problem that is emerging in the work environment for all employees. The issue needs to be recognised in the workplace as a serious problem and one that needs to be dealt with in a number of ways. This will help to ultimately stop bullying and harassment in all forms of working life. 

Bullying and harassment comes in many forms. It may be through the use of emails, social networking, day to day communication with peers, and may even arise from autocratic management styles, all of which can be seen as an issue in today’s business world. Simple interactions with other co-workers can cause bullying and harassment issues. But what is bullying and harassment and how can we stop it? These are the un-answered questions that need to be identified before we can start to solve the issues. Bullying “involves negative acts that occur repeatedly, regularly (systematically) and over a period of time, and the person targeted has difficulties in defending him/herself. In some definitions, the aim of harming the target or intentionality of the behaviour is included”. (Maarit Vartia-Väänänen, 2013). Bullying and harassment are much the same in many ways, although harassment differs from bullying in some instances. Bullying mainly refers to the negative acts by co-workers, supervisors or managers or subordinates, while harassment arises when one or more worker or manager are repeatedly and deliberately abused, threatened or humiliated in circumstances relating to work. So how do we manage workplace bullying and harassment and what are the rules that clearly define where they are taking place?  These are the underlining factors that need addressing in every workplace today.

The role of the Human Resource Manager is to undertake the management of the employees that make up the organisation. “Soft HRM places an emphasis on managing employees as humans instead of resources, suggesting that employees need to be treated with “consideration and a personal touch” in order to attain favourable outcomes” (Carson, 2005; Truss et al., 1997).

“It emphasizes the ability of HRM to satisfy employees’ needs, which is hypothesized to generate favorable HRM outcomes (e.g. commitment) and subsequently improved organizational performance" (Elise Marescaux, Sophie De Winne, Luc Sels, 2013). Employees can use this human resource as a way of speaking out about an issue in the workplace.

In the case of John McPhilbin who appeared in the article “A Slow Poison” by Jane Faure-Brac, workplace bullying is an everyday activity. (Jane Faure-Brac, 2012) John spends his day talking to people like him that are victims of workplace bullying and harassment, he tries to get an understanding of their situation and help them in any way he can. McPhilbin was bullied at work and knows how these people feel, he can associate himself with them and tries to get an understanding of their issues and helps them in any way he can. Although John’s efforts seem admirable, the reality is that “Roughly one in three employees in the workplace has experienced some form of bullying or poor behaviour and one in two has witnessed it” (Jane Faure-Brac, 2012). As a result, more and more people are becoming increasingly aware of the issue in the workplace and are implementing strategies to combat it.

In today’s global economy, managers are gathering employees from all parts of the world, with different cultures and characteristics. While this may seem like a bad thing, in reality, diversity has impacted the workplace in a positive manner. Diversity allows for a change in the vibe of the workplace, it exposes people to new cultures and beliefs for people to understand and accept. It also encourages a fair working environment where all employees can work together towards a common goal. On the negative side, sometimes different characteristics can make people stand out and thereby create a target for others to perpetrate their bullying tendencies towards.

An “employee experiencing the status inconsistency can become either a perpetrator or a target”; “researchers have found that the feeling of uncertainty resulting from status inconsistency can produce aggression in employees” (A.-K. Samnani, P. Singh (2012). This leads to workplace bullying or harassment and for the targets this means that they are consequently bullied because of a difference in characteristic or personality. For effective diversity workplace practices to be successful there needs to be policies and practices in place for the employees so that rules can be follow accordingly. This will help to prevent people from becoming the perpetrator or the target in any given situation. These policies and practices will shape the culture of an organisation and provide employees with the guidelines for proper etiquette in the workplace.

While the business world today may have a greater understanding of the effects on people that are bullied or harassed, there is still a lot of work to be done on the issue. The overall awareness of the problem has not filtered into every industry, with some HR departments not even bothering to look into and follow up on employee’s complaints. Larger organisations are taking on board this issue as a serious matter as they see the value of cultural differences and how they can help with the survival of their business. These organisations are generally watched more closely by the public and therefore would suffer negatively if unsafe environments were provided. Smaller business are more likely to be able to ignore disgruntled employees and may choose to ignore bullying or harassment complaints as they are less exposed to public opinion. If there is going to be a change for the future, it will require all employers and employees to gain knowledge of the detrimental effects of bullying and harassment in the workplace and to see how they can work together to solve this important issue.

Reference list:

Jane Faure-Brac, 2012, A Slow Poison, http://www.aph.gov.au/~/media/05%20About%20Parliament/53%20HoR/537%20About%20the%20House%20magazine/46/PDF/Poison1.ashx

A.-K. Samnani, P. Singh / Aggression and Violent Behaviour 17 (2012) 581–589http://ac.els-cdn.com/S1359178912000912/1-s2.0-S1359178912000912-main.pdf?_tid=0481b1ce-0f7e-11e3-bef6-00000aab0f26&acdnat=1377652146_d28eea41c15dd5d3dba6c587d8fed152

Anas Khan and Riad Khan, 2012, Understanding and managing workplace bullying, pg. 85 http://www.emeraldinsight.com.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/journals.htm?issn=0019-7858&volume=44&issue=2&articleid=17019188&show=html&PHPSESSID=6q6c74vnjlq086ketaa6fm7d94

Maarit Vartia-Väänänen, 2013, Workplace Bullying and Harassment in the EU and Finland http://www.jil.go.jp/english/reports/documents/jilpt-reports/no.12.pdf

Elise Marescaux, Sophie De Winne, Luc Sels, (2013) "HR practices and HRM outcomes: the role of basic need satisfaction", Personnel Review, Vol. 42 Iss: 1, pp.4 – 27 http://www.emeraldinsight.com.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/journals.htm?issn=0048-3486&volume=42&issue=1&articleid=17068391&show=html

Truss, C., Gratton, L., Hope-Hailey, V., McGovern, P., Stiles, P. (1997), "Soft and hard models of human resource management: a reappraisal", Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 34 No.1,.

pp.53-73

The external marketing environment (Socio-cultural) - By Mitchell Formica

Socio-cultural and the environment it encompasses involves a number of different factors such as the beliefs, customs, practices and behaviour within a population. We perceive forces in society and culture as influences on our thoughts, feelings and behaviour. For some people drinking beer is an activity that encourages good feelings and it is their belief that they it must be a part of their everyday life.

The link between the socio-cultural environment and the consumption of beer is a part of our every day’s lives. ‘The pub and bar have been geographically widespread social settings in many societies, symbolically as well as physically and socially central to popular culture, and yet in many ways they are unique leisure locations, warranting more attention than the sparse research to date’, (Northcote, J, 2011). Nowadays more and more places are accepting BYO beer and allowing consumers a wider range of beer products available for purchase. This change in society is due to a demand for the product, as more and more people are starting to drink socially the businesses that don’t cater for this are at a disadvantage and may even lose customers.

In today’s society there are many festivals and public activities like markets that involve beer in their social circle. It is becoming a part of our culture to incorporate whatever we are doing with alcohol. Opportunities such as these will envelope the beer products within our society as not a bad health risk but a more of a social pleasure that can be consumed without risk.

However in future there may be more opportunities for beer as technology changes and through automation and robotics we could see the beer industry redevelop itself in-terms of producing the overall product.

There have always been threats for the beer industry as they are seen as a bad health risk for consumers. Ad campaigns for beer have recently moved away from promoting their product with perfect videos of the beer just sitting there, to a different setting that involves younger diverse groups sipping away on a nice beach somewhere with the sunset in the background. This change is due to negative influences on beer and the ad campaigns are trying to move away from promoting the beer to instead promoting a place that you would rather be in with a beer.  

References

Northcote, J, 2011, ‘Young adults’ decision making surrounding heavy drinking: A multi-staged model of planned behaviour’, Vol.72 (12), pp.2020-2025.

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