Measuring Performance

Measuring Performance Introduction The purpose of this essay is to assess whether measuring an employee’s performance is an essential tool for managers within organizations. Most managers and human resource directors view performance management and measurement to be a time wasting activity given the belief that they have hired skilled and experienced workers to perform organizational activities.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Measuring Performance specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More These managers fail to understand the fact that recruitment, selection and development of employees are important activities that lay the foundation for performance management and measurement. Performance measurement is defined as the sampling of an employee’s current work performance after which the sampled information is measured against a desired result to determine whether the employee is achieving the set out objectives and goals of the compan y (Carlaw et al 2003). Performance measurement is also the management of work outcomes to reduce any variations that might exist in the work performance process. Performance management is seen to be an important activity for many organizations and managers as it allows them to determine whether the employees are achieving the goals, objectives and mission of the organization. Performance measurement provides a sense of direction to employees by showing them what progress they have made in terms of personal goals as well as organizational goals. It provides employees with a gauge of how they have been performing their duties and what they need to do to make their performance better. Performance measurement ensures that employees are motivated to perform their work because of the reward programs that exist for employees who have performed their duties in the appropriate way (Carlaw et al 2003). Performance measurement is the process where an organization sets out the measurements that need to be analysed against the desired results. The main reasons for conducting performance measurement include evaluating how well a company is performing, controlling the performance of employees within the organization by providing managers with the authority to ensure their subordinates are performing their work activities in the right way and also improve the performance of the organization to achieve the organizations goals and objectives (Howell 2006).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Process of Performance measurement Performance measurement is an important activity for organizations since all managers want their employees to perform their jobs well. Measuring job performance ensures that the organization’s resources have been optimally utilised. It also reduces any expenses that might arise due to poor job performance and employee underperformance of work activities. Measuring performance identifies, communicates and rewards the employees who have met the desired organizational results. Performance measurement programs usually originate from the needs and expectations of an organization. Every employee within an organization has a specific need that they should meet to ensure that the organization’s objectives have been met (Mathis and Jackson 2008). The first step in the performance measurement exercise is to identify the expected performance levels that every employee is expected to achieve in their work activities. This will involve conducting a joint discussion between the employees and managers to determine what needs to measured. There are many business processes that require performance measurement and the most important processes are deemed to be those that are important to the organization and its customers. In determining which work activities need to measured managers and employees should ask questions such as what goals and objectives need to be achieved within the organization, what business processes is the organization involved in and what operations are needed to conduct these processes (Platts and Sobotka 2010) After identifying the organization’s business activities, the next step will be to identify the critical activities that need to be measured. This will involve examining the critical activities that are involved in each of the business processes. Critical activities are described as those that have a major impact on the organization’s overall process efficiency, effectiveness, quality and productivity. To determine the critical activities, the organization has determined whether these activities have a direct or indirect relation to the customer’s satisfaction and whether the employees and management view the activity to be critical to the organization. Once the critical activities have been identified, the next step will involve establishing the perfo rmance goals or standards that will be used in the measuring exercise (Hatry 2006) Performance goals and standards are deemed to important in the measurement exercise as they help in determining the desired result of the performance measurement exercise. Goals are usually determined by managers or by customers through their feedback, inquiries or complaints. This will require the organization to know its customers in order to identify their needs and expectations.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Measuring Performance specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More For every critical activity that has been chosen for measurement, a goal or standard has to be established to measure this activity. The performance measurement goals should be designed in a way that they can easily be attainable and applicable in the existing environmental conditions of the business. The goals should also be legitimate, measurable and easy to understand (Hatry 2006). One the performance goals have been established the next step will involve establishing performance measurements. Performance measurements are usually defined units of measure that are composed of numbers and units of measures. These numbers and units are usually represented by multidimensional units such as work hours, dollars, and number of errors, meters, and number of projects completed in a given time. To develop appropriate performance measures, managers need to identify raw data that can be used to generate performance measures as well as identify what tools and approaches will be used in implementing these performance measures. This stage involves using what the manager wants to measure by using the critical activity to derive a performance measure. Critical activities that have quantifiable goals can be used to easily derive the performance measures for the exercise. If the critical activities lack quantifiable goals, the performance goals can be derived from raw data needed for the performance measurement program. Raw data could be in the form of customer orders, customer complaints or the number of sales that an employee has made (Hatry 2006). Once the performance measures have been identified the next stage will involve identifying the employees to be measured and the people to conduct the performance measurement activities. Appropriate people need to be chosen to conduct data collection as well as analyse employee performance by comparing the collected information to the desired performance. The person required to conduct the performance measurement activity should also be capable of determining whether any corrective action is necessary to improve performance within the organization. The people or person to conduct this process should know what the goals of the exercise are as well as know what the actual performance of an employee is. They should also have the authority to implement necessary changes after the exercise has been co mpleted (Hatry 2006). After the people to measure and be measured have been chosen and identified, the next step will involve collecting the actual employee performance data. The person conducting the performance exercise will have to look at both descriptive and quantitative data related to the performance of the employee. This will include number of sales that the employee has made, number of errors they have made while performing their jobs and the number of hours they have worked.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Once this data has been collected, the next step will involve analysis and evaluation. Data analysis and evaluation determines whether the results of the measurement compare to those of the actual performance or standard. If there are inconsistencies, then the people responsible need to determine whether any corrective action needs to be undertaken to improve performance (Hatry 2006). Importance and Role of Performance Measurement Approaches for Companies While many personnel and human resource specialists concur that performance measurement is an important activity for an organization, some people hold a different opinion on the importance of performance measurement. The generalist view of performance measurements is that they are the tools that managers use to evaluate the performance of an organization and its employees so as to gain understanding of what has been achieved and what needs to be achieved. Performance measures are important for managers as they help them know how th e organization is doing, whether the employees are meeting the organization’s goals, whether the company’s customers are satisfied with the products and services or whether any improvements are necessary for the company’s business operations (Mathis and Jackson 2008). Platts and Sobotka (2010) hold a different view of the importance and role of performance measurement to an organization. The two based their views on a study they conducted on a German gas and electricity company, the results of which revealed that the managers did not use any performance measures on their employees. The results showed that the company used operational excellence instead of performance measurements where the operational excellence depended on organizational mechanisms such as trust and employee responsibilities. The company also used incentives, rewards and inspiration to motivate employees to perform their work effectively (Platts and Sobotka 2010). Conventional research has show n that performance measurement activities within organizations are important activities that help an organization to determine whether it has achieved its goals and objectives and what changes have to be implemented to ensure that the organization achieves its goals and objectives. The traditional roles of performance measurement have been divided into three roles which are inspiration, incentives and accountability where accountability involves the monitoring and reporting of an employee’s performance against the previously determined performance goals (Platts and Sobotka 2010). According to their research, the authors found that an alternative view existed on accountability in performance measurement where the employees in the German company had to prove themselves to be compliant to the principles and guidelines that underlined the operations of the company. They determined from their research that organizations that had a flat structure did not require any performance mea surement metric to drive the performance measurement process. With regards to incentives, the authors observed that the employees working in the German gas and electricity company viewed their clean and healthy working environment as an incentive and motivation for them to perform their work and achieve the set out goals of the company. They also viewed the public recognition of the work efforts to be a more important incentive than monetary rewards (Platts and Sobotka 2010). When it came to inspiration, the authors noted that it came from a desire that the employees had to achieve the stated performance measures. This desire also came from an awareness of the employee’s efforts that contributed to the overall achievement of the organization’s objectives and mission. The alternative view of inspiration that the authors derived from their assessment was employees who identified with the company were motivated to perform well in their work because they had a sense of bel onging. Inspiration within the company was instilled by charismatic leaders and the practice of management allocating more responsibilities to employees (Platts and Sobotka 2010). Platts and Sobotka’s (2010) research noted that the German company practiced alternative means of achieving high employee performance which were through offering inspirational leadership, providing a positive working environment for the employees and encouraging employees to provide their suggestions and opinions on how the company can improve its performance. The authors concluded their research by stating that formalized employee performance measurements were not required in achieving high performance standards within an organization (Platts and Sobotka 2010). Platts and Sobotka’s analysis of the German company showed that performance measurement was not a fundamentally important activity in organizations. A case study of Lloyds TSB Bank showed that the company practised the traditional app roach of performance measurement for its employees since it was involved in a company merger with TSB Group in 1995. The performance measurement program used by the bank was mostly a checklist that assessed the performance of employees within the bank after a given period of time. Performance measurement in the bank was not directed towards the achievement of the company’s goals but it was directed towards the completion of tasks by the bank’s employees. This demonstrated that performance measurement within the bank was more of a bureaucratic process instead of a performance enhancing activity (Houldsworth and Jirasinghe 2006). This reinforced Platts and Sobotka’s view that performance measurement was not an important activity for organizations. The Lloyds TSB Bank incorporated the use of the balanced scorecard in its performance measurement activities where the approach was used to balance the bank’s strategic priorities to its business processes, financ es and its customers. The balanced scorecard did not however measure the performance of employees within the bank effectively because the objectives of the individual scorecards were viewed to be no more than the banks repackaged objectives and goals. There was also a general lack of understanding on how the balanced scorecards worked when it came to measuring employee’s performance within the organization. Such challenges presented an opportunity for the bank’s management to seek new ways of enhancing performance amongst the bank’s employees. These saw the incorporation of five new areas which included franchise growth, contribution, customer satisfaction, risk and people (Houldsworth and Jirasinghe 2006). While the above case studies showed that performance measurement was not an important activity for organizations, the general conception that exists about the activity is that it is important for organizations and managers. Performance measurement is viewed t o be an important key in the success of a business because it communicates the established goals of the organization to the employees. It outlines the activities that need to be achieved by an organization’s employees and it also provides a sense of direction for organizations. Without conducting performance measurement a company cannot be able to determine where it’s going. It also cannot determine whether the set out goals and objectives have been achieved. Performance management therefore becomes an important activity and tool for managers who are determined to achieve the goals and objectives the company (Howell 2006). Conclusion The essay has focused on the aspect of whether measuring employees performance is an important activity for managers. The assessment of the performance measurement process has revealed that the activity is in important in terms of providing a sense of direction to the organization as well as determining what objectives and goals have been achieved by the organization’s employees. The essay also revealed the varied opinions that existed on whether performance measurement was an important activity for an organization. A review of various case studies showed that the activity did not in any way improve the performance of a company meaning that it was just another human resource program that did not add any value to the organization. The case studies revealed that the company’s management practised other activities that were meant to improve the performance of employees within the organization such as using inspirational and charismatic leaders, encouraging employees to take up more responsibilities and encouraging employee loyalty to the organization. While these activities worked for these organizations, the same cannot be applied for other organizations. Despite these variations in opinion, the general consensus was that performance measurement was an important activity for most organizations. References Carlaw, M., Carlaw, P., Deming, V.K., and Friedmann, K., (2003) Managing and  motivating contact centre employees. New York: McGraw Hill. Hatry, H.P., (2006) Performance measurement: getting results. Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute Press Houldsworth, E., and Jirasinghe, D., (2006) Managing and measuring employee  performance. London, UK: Kogan Page Howell, M.T., (2006) Actionable performance measurement: a key to success. Milwaukee, US: American Society for Quality (ASQ) Quality Press Mathis, R.L., and Jackson, J.H., (2008) Human resource management. Ohio, US: Thomson higher education Platts, K., and Sobotka, M., (2010) When the uncountable counts: an alternative to monitoring employee performance. Business Horizons, Vol.53, No.4, pp 349-357

Basics of Chemical Weapons and Warfare Agents

Basics of Chemical Weapons and Warfare Agents The Basics of Chemical Weaponry A chemical weapon utilizes a manufactured chemical to incapacitate, harm, or kill people. Strictly speaking, a chemical weapon relies on the physiological effects of a chemical, so agents used to produce smoke or flame, as herbicides, or for riot control, are not considered to be chemical weapons. Although certain chemical weapons can be used to kill large numbers of people (i.e., as weapons of mass destruction), other weapons are designed to injure or terrorize people. In addition to having potentially horrific effects, chemical weapons are of great concern because they are cheaper and easier to manufacture and deliver than nuclear or biological weapons. Types of Weapons The earliest chemical weapon wasnt an esoteric chemical concoction. During World War I, chlorine gas  was used as a chemical weapon, released in massive clouds by the German army to cause lung damage and terror downwind of its release. Modern chemical weapons include the following types of agents: Choking Agents (e.g., phosgene, chlorine)Blister Agents (e.g., nitrogen mustard, Lewisite)Nerve Agents (e.g., Tabun, Sarin, VX) How Chemical Weapons Work Chemical agents may be released as tiny droplets, similar to the action of a bug bomb used to release insecticide. For a chemical weapon to cause harm, it must come in contact with the skin or mucous membranes, be inhaled, or be ingested. The activity of the chemical agent depends on its concentration. In other words, below a certain level of exposure, the agent wont kill. Below a certain level of exposure, the agent wont cause harm. Protective Measures The best protective measure you can take against chemical weapons is to become educated about them. Most of us dont have gas masks or atropine (an injectible used in cases of nerve agent exposure) and wont be on a battlefield, so the recommendations presented here are intended for the general public. Dont PanicYes, chemical weapons are more likely to be used in a terrorist scenario than nuclear or biological weapons. However, there are several steps you can take to minimize exposure and protect yourself in the event you encounter a chemical agent. Realistically speaking, you are more likely to witness an accidental chemical spill than a chemical attack. Your best defense is to face the situation with a level head. Seek High GroundChemical agents are denser than air. They sink to low-lying areas and will follow wind/weather patterns. Seek the highest story of a building or the top of a natural land formation. Seek Open Spaces or Seek a Self-Contained Air SupplyFrom the point of view of a terrorist, a heavily populated area is a more attractive target than a sparsely populated region. Therefore, the threat of a chemical attack is lessened in rural areas.In the event of an attack, there is some sense in isolating your air supply. Most chemical agents disperse after a certain amount of time (a notable exception is VX, which is designed to persist), so refraining from contacting exposed air may be a good protective measure. Use Your SensesHow do you know if you have been exposed to a chemical agent? You may not be able to see or smell one. In their pure forms, most chemical weapon agents are clear liquids. Impure chemicals may be yellowish liquids. Most are odorless and tasteless, but some have a slightly sweet or fruity smell. Skin irritation, respiratory distress, and gastrointestinal upset all may signal exposure to a chemical agent. However, if you dont die within minutes, you probably wont die at all. Therefore, if you believe you have been exposed to a chemical agent, wait until you feel secure before seeking out medical attention (but do seek it out). Use Common SenseHave a radio (with batteries) and keep up with the news. Pay attention to civil defense advisories and think before acting.

The Role of Micro-simulation in Intelligent Transportation Assignment

The Role of Micro-simulation in Intelligent Transportation - Assignment Example Base case is usually used to cover and acts as the irreducible minimum for all the dynamics that may occur or accrue ion the course of the actualization of the project. For instance, there are chances that the communications lines along the simulated road models would be erected are. Thus, the base case is critical and beneficial because it would bear in mind the structural changes that are highly likely to be pursued in the due course of time (Khan, Armstrong, & Munir, 2006). Similarly, base case is also techniques that cover in and factors all the things and issues that are considered as eventualities in human life and aspect such as an accident.Why Adding New Capacity on Highway 417 is Ineffective This stems from the fact that highway 417 was expanded from a four lane to a six lane Highway and road network. This was done and factored in due to the comparison that was done and completed on the chances of expanding it relative to the traditional building capacity projects. For insta nce, during the simulation, it was postulated that an accident in this Highway may lead to a closure for close to twenty minutes before the spill heavy traffic spills over to the other lanes. This adds new capacity to highway 417 may to be as effective.Comparing the Effectiveness of Freeway-arterial Integrated Corridors and Ramp MasteringRamp metering seems to be more effective as compared to the free-arterial integrated corridors due to the fact that the former may be most effective over a short period of time.

Information Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Information Systems - Essay Example The CDMS is not only required to manage these activities but also required to provide decision support to Chief Executive. Moreover, it will serve as the first impression for the client at web. By building a web interface we mean, building a web enabled application. At application level we have to build various forms and reports in web page format. In our case we will make web pages in dotnet using C# at backend and ASP.net as the front end language. Our database in SQL Server 2000 will be connect be connected to our application through a connection object in application. We will be build web pages for the employees of the company; these pages will only be accessible through authorized login in to the application. SSL will be implemented to ensure the security of the information while accessing the application from web. However, clients of the company can access various informational pages without establish and secure channel and login. The level of user input will be kept to an absolute minimum in order to avoid typo errors from the user. Wherever possible, user input shall be facilitated with components that reduce possibilities of input-errors. CDMS is a mini Web Application on donNet platform. The application is designed for a small Computer Dealer and business requirement for big organizations are not catered for in this document. The database design is kept as simple as possible to avoid complexity. However, it provides all basic functionalities required for the implementation of a mini web application. SQL queries are provided only for example purposes and are not test over SQL Server 2000, which is the proposed database server for the application. Only few important functional requirements of the system are enlisted for the purpose of conciseness, however the design of the system can support many other functionalities which can be implemented while actual development of the system. This design

Reaction Paperon Overthrow by Stephen Kinzer Essay

Reaction Paperon Overthrow by Stephen Kinzer - Essay Example The second part involves overthrows that were because of covert actions. During this time, the world’s big countries were involved in a cold war. Kinzer argues that the reasons for the overthrows were mainly to assist anti-colonial elements in some of the affected countries, make changes in the democratic system, and to protect the U.S. security. However, the principal objectives of carrying out the overthrows were to establish U.S. business that acts as desired as stipulated. The U.S. also had in mind the ambition to expand and access needed resources necessary for the expansion. The need to obtain new markets and strengthen the U.S. economy at the expense of its competitors also contributed to this. In part one of the Overthrow, the U.S. carried out the overthrows with the purpose of protecting its citizens and companies operating in these affected countries. For example, the Nicaraguan president was overthrown because he compromised the American security and did not promote democratic principles. The then president of the U.S. ordered the Nicaraguan president to be overthrown with the idea of defending the right of American companies to operate as they wished in Nicaragua. The same case applied to Hawaii, the government was overthrown to help American companies get access to the sugar plantations. This was an opportunity to invest in those plantations for the benefit of the Americans. When the U.S. joined hands with the rebels in Cuba to fight the Spanish rule, they did not realize that the U.S. was doing this to help itself. Immediately after the government was overthrown, the U.S was given the right to maintain military bases in Cuba. The U.S. government gave Cubans permissi on to rule themselves as long it had to be consulted before Cuba made any decision. During this Imperial period, the U.S. government also overthrew the Puerto Rico government. Puerto Rico was under the Spanish rule and the U.S. was not happy about this. Kinzer urges

The Strategies to achieve competitive positions

The Strategies to achieve competitive positions Choose one of the four competitive positions mentioned in the strategy lecture and discuss, using examples, the marketing strategies an organisation would employ to achieve that position. Competitive strategies are chosen by firms depending on their roles in the market leader, challenger, follower or nicher. This essay will focus on firms who are market leaders and what marketing strategies are used to help them achieve that position. Every industry has its own market leader. Kotler, P. (2005) believes the market leader is one that has the largest market share or highest profitability margin in a given market for goods and services. Market leader often leads other firms in product innovation, price changes; distribution channels and promotion strategies. Good examples of market leaders would be Apple with their ranges of IPod, touch phones and tablet computer, Google with its search engine, social networking Facebook and Tesco (supermarket chains). Market leadership is extremely important. Almost every firm wants to be the first in the market. The reason is not only the revenue but it is because most customers prefer to buy from leaders. They perceive leaders to be better and they perceive leaders to be a safer purchase. Reference groups are great in influencing consumers behaviour. People tend to buy from where everyone else buys, this helps strengthening the leaders position. To become a market leader, a firm needs to own and control the relevant technology in whatever market it is in either through the use of patent or other proprietary protections. Moreover, it needs to adopt and implement better technologies directly, whenever they become available, regardless of whether or not any other organisations are currently using them. It is critical to be the first to use a technology or create a category for a product. Then make it an industry standard. Baines, P., Fill, C. Page, K. (2008) defined the two main strategies used by firms to achieve market leadership position are: Attack the market Defend the position Apart from expanding the total demand and protecting market share, the market leaders should try to expanding market share, even if market size remains constant (Kotler Gary, 2005). Forth strategy is proposed by Brassington, F Pettitt, S. (2006) who believed that companies should also seek stability and retention of customer base. In this essay, the four strategies will be analysed with appropriate examples of firms that applied those strategies successfully and firms that failed during competition. Attack the market Attack the market can be operated in different ways. The firms can create new uses, new consumers categories or increase frequency of use. This strategy is extremely popular as the dominant firm normally gains the most when the total market expands. In general, the market leader should look for new customers or more usage from existing customers. Every product has the potential of attracting buyers who are unaware of the product or who are still under consideration because of price or the products do not have some certain features. A company can search for new users among three groups: those who might use it but do not (market-penetration strategy), those who have never used it (new-market segment strategy), or those who live elsewhere (geographical-expansion strategy). Example: Johnson Johnson baby shampoo was losing market share due to birth rate declining, they had expand their customers segmentation, targeting adults which helped them regain their leader position. (New user) Kelloggs Crunchy Nut has expanded their ranges and introduced snack bars which increase frequency of use, relatively increase sales of the product. Defend the position/Protect market share The leader must constantly monitor the market because the market challenger is persistently trying to take away market share or worse, to replace the leaders position in the market. The firms can defend their positions in the market and their market share by monitoring their position, regular innovation; eliminate any weaknesses, price cutting and discount, increases promotion. Defend the position in the market is a difficult task for market leaders since they may be under attack from numbers of different competitors small to medium firms in the existing market or big players want to expand from a completely different industry. Although defence strategies may require a deployment of resources to defend different parts of the operation, it is hard of a challenger brand to dislodge a market leader if the market leader is actively defending territory. There are six different ways in defense strategy which are: Position defense (purely defensive is not enough, firms must take offensive counter-measure). It is considered as the least successful in the defense strategies. This defense was use by Mercedes until Toyota launched a frontal attack with its Lexus. Mobile defense (more than aggressively defend, stretches domain over new territories) E.g.: Legend Holdings, the top China PC maker Legend has announced a joint venture with AOL to broaden its business to provide Internet services in the mainland. Flanking defense (guarding territory is not enough, firms must create outposts/flanks to protect weak front and invasion base for counter attack) E.g. Gold Eagle is a flanking brand introduced by San Miguel in the Philippines as a defense against APBs Beerhausen. Contraction defense (strategic withdrawal: give up weak territories, concentrates strength and resources at more dependable areas). The market leader must make its own assessment to prioritise the importance of territories and should be willing to relinquish those that are not important to defend for those that are. E.g. Indias TATA Group sold its soaps and detergents business units to Unilever in 1993 or Ford retired T-birds and Probe to focus on Contour and Taurus. Pre-emptive defense (Detect potential attacks and attack the enemies first) Seiko with 2,300 watch models is considered as a successful example for this category while Heinz proved failure as they did not respond to Hunts attack which leaded to Hunt established a rival brand. Counter-offensive defense (Respond to competitors head-on attack by identifying the attackers weakness and then launch a counter attack) E.g. Toyota launched the Lexus to respond to Mercedes attack. Continuous innovation is considered as the best way to protect market share and is required for long-term leadership. When leaders become self-satisfied with their products or services, it becomes easier for the challenger to make progress. In large markets, small increases in market share can turn into great sales increases; a one-point gain in market share can be worth hundreds of millions of pounds. However not every firm understands the importance of continuous innovative process and often failed in retaining their positions in the market. Companies are hindered from investing and following through with innovation because they fear cannibalising established products (Tellis Golder, 1996). In order to protect mainframe sales, IBM obstructed its development of minicomputers and workstations while competitors kept making inroads into the mainframe market. Another reason why companies are less worried about innovation is that they are satisfied with their progress. Yahoo was satisfied with its social networking Yahoo 360Â  [1]Â  until the company started to lose market share to Facebook and Friendster in Asia. Thirdly, large bureaucracies can discourage innovations or slow the progress when companies bring new products to market. GM and IBM are well-known examples for this problem. Despite their technological strength and financial resources, both companies were slow to bring out new products because of their bureaucratic approval process. Firms that do well in continuous innovation are Apple, Procter Gamble. Apple was certainly not the first manufacturer to MP3 players but its iPod was totally different to anything else on the market at the time of its release. Apple has a large range of IPod from IPod shuffle, IPod Nano with stylish shapes or IPod classic for music lovers as they can hold a great number of files and IPod touch for multifunctional uses. The firm also introduced to its customers a range of IPhone from 2G-3GS and promising the new version of IPhone (IPhone 5) in 2011. Procter Gamble the worlds largest consumer products company- takes innovation seriously which shown in their heavily investment in innovative process. They outspend competition in Research and Development believing if they provide branded products of superior quality and value that improve the lives of the worlds consumers, consumers will reward them with leadership sales, profit and value creations. They are well-known for their open innovation outlook. As not all brilliant ideas are coming from internal, it is critically for firms to seek new ideas, innovations from outside. PG has introduced three different networks in which they encouraged their employees to interact with outside world or link different companies in different part of the world working towards a same goal. By doing this, they have received exceptional amount of new ideas, innovative products to increase sales and market share in consumers market. Expand market share Expand market share can gain great profits for the company but there is a drawback. Too many customers can put a strain on the firms resources, hurting product value and service delivery. Example: America Online experienced growing pains when its customer base expanded, resulting in system outages and access problems (Kotler Keller, 2006). Consumers may also infer that bigger is not better and assume that growth will lead to a deterioration of quality. If exclusivity is a key brand benefit, existing customer may resent additional new customers. (Kotler Keller, 2006) This strategy can be operated via the marketing mix. However this strategy can provoke antitrust action or anti-dumping charge. Vietnamese rice export market has received multiple charges on dumping issues in European market trying to gain more market share in short period of time. Economic cost such as legal costs needs to be taking in consideration. Wrong marketing mix strategy is also one of the problems firms face when expanding market share (for example: focus on unattractive segments). Successful example of firm in expanding market share is Starbucks. The company plans to continue to rapidly expand its retail operations, grow its specialty sales and other operations, and selectively pursue opportunities to leverage the Starbucks brand through the introduction of new products and the development of new distribution channels. Seek stability and retention of customer base Tesco is a great example for applying this strategy. They try to retain customers loyal via promotion and Club card which customers can save as they shop and spend the points on various products. Tesco seeks stability, it competes on prices with rivals such as Sainsburys and Asda, although it also focuses on customer service, how to deliver good service with reasonable price to the customers. It is important that leader firms understand their strengths and weaknesses, also have a clear view of their competitors in the market. Choosing the right defense strategy is critical in order to retain their position as leaders and continue to expand the total market and market share, as well as profitability. Market leaders should take innovation seriously in order to stay in the leading position.

Criminological Theories Essay -- Legal Issues, Crime

Many of the traditional criminological theories focused more on biological, psychological and sociological explanations of crime rather than on the cost and benefits of crime. More conservative approaches, including routine actives, lifestyle exposure and opportunity theories have clearly incorporated crime rate patterns as a fundamental part of analyzing the economics of crime. Crime statistics are important for the simple reason that they help put theories into a logical perspective. For example, a prospective home owner may want to look at crime rates in areas of potential occupancy. On a more complex level, it helps law enforcement and legislators create effective crime reduction programs. Furthermore, it also helps these agencies determine if crime prevention programs, that have been in effect, have been successful. There are many factors that influence the rates of crime including socio economic status, geographical location, culture and other lifestyle factors. More specifical ly, Messner and Blau (1987) used routine activities theory to test the relationship between the indicators of leisure activities and the rate of serious crimes. They discussed two types of leisure actives, the first being a household pastime, which primarily focused on television watching. The second type was a non-household leisure event which was consisted of attendance to sporting events, cinemas, and entertainment districts. The focus of this paper will be to study the effects that substantial amounts of leisure activities have on the offender and the victim. Leisure activities not only make a crime more opportunistic for offenders, it may also provide offenders with motivation to engage in criminal activity. On the other hand, it may also be argue... ... such as walking in well lit areas, abstaining from areas know as â€Å"hot spots†, and letting someone know your whereabouts, are suggested. Also, these individuals should be aware of the risks that come with certain types of activities. In conjunction to awareness, individuals should be involved in family leisure activities so that their idle hands do not become the devils workshop. Parents provide the primary foundation in the children’s socialization; if this process is not effective or neglected the result could be detrimental. It may lead children to transition into adulthood without the fundamental skills that prevent the development of a criminal disposition. Now that routine activities theory has created a clear understanding of the economics of crime, let’s focus our research on which parenting methods could prevent criminality or crime before if ever develops.