Sales

Many mall and medium sized organizations are ill-equipped to monitor and manage the security of their networks. Yet, to be competitive, organizations continue to seek a seamless technology environment that allows them to provide voice, data, and video services to exchange documents, to collaborate, and to deliver products and services in cost effective ways. Problem Statement This year’s TITER Case Study challenges participants to develop a technology solution for a company that will create a telecommunications network to support their staff of 50 salespeople and a five person central office staff located in Manchester, NH.

The rent system is a hodgepodge of unique solutions that are not integrated. Management has made the decision to scrap the current model and replace it entirely with one that is reliable and sustainable. The sales staff works from offices in their personal homes at locations scattered throughout the continental United States, selling products and services to clients located around the world. The central office staff provides traditional accounting, marketing, and management support services and limited clerical support. The sales force receives ongoing training to remain knowledgeable about the company’s products and services.

Clients require very little product support; management’s strategy Is to have the sale force provide required support as a means to stay In touch with clients. Salesperson collect receivables from their customers, some customers have house accounts, and others must pay for their order when it is processed. A centralized proprietary package for pricing/ quotation management is utilized by everyone in the company. Centrally managed tablet computers and cellophanes are provided to all employees, supported by a single IT staff person.

The current level of IT support is unsatisfactory as perceived by users. Problems take too long to be resolved. The technology solution must be designed to enhance the business’ competitiveness by providing high-quality telecommunications services that appropriately link the business’ sales staff with each other, with the central office resources, and with customers. The service package must be engineered to allow all employees to function from their home office, from the central office, and while traveling to evils customers.

It must Meltzer the business’ vulnerability to attacks and other unplanned service interruptions. It must provide for the safe storage and transport The technology business plan must include an architecture that is scalable over time as the company grows. Current growth calls for the addition of 3-5 sales persons per year and one central office staffer every third year. The Case Study solution must take into account the Gardner Group’s statement from the perspective of the company and should create a solution that offers a network- based solution to the firms’ business needs.

The proposed service offering should be one that the company can fully migrate to within six months once a solution is selected. The solution should consist of an overarching architecture that is scalable and sustainable over the next 5-7 years at a minimum. The products within the architecture can have varying life expectancies, the cost of which must be described more fully within the solution’s budget. Case Study teams have discretion to augment the following list of minimum capabilities required as they see fit, consistent with the goal of adding value to the overall solution: 1 .

Voice Telephone (core baseline services required) a. Individual and company direct inward dial lines with call management services to handle all voice communications; b. Conference calling, automatic call routing, vocalism, and similar related features; c. Worldwide long distance voice and fax services; d. Features to transparently link clients’ cellular phones with the company’s voice services to create a seamless communications environment 2. Data and Productivity Software services (core baseline services required) a.

Word processing, spreadsheet, database, text messaging, e-mail, video conferencing, and other related/similar services; b. Secure backup and storage for data on client-owned PC’s, tablets, and phones; c. Hosting for the company’s public and internal websites . Network Services Support (core baseline services required, ) a. Simple ‘Help Desk style support available on-line and via phone access; support for the order processing and accounting software packages is handled by a separate vendor b. Configuration management support for all company owned (tablets, PC’s, and phones) equipment; c.

Disaster backup capabilities and a business continuity plan for all central office provided services in the event they are unavailable; d. A training strategy for new employees and to refresh existing employees’ ability to use your solution effectively. 4. Other features and services – Teams can elect to differentiate their solution from the pack by offering unique features and services that would provide the company with a competitive advantage at affordable costs. Deliverables: The company’s executives require a written proposal (see detailed formatting and us benison requirements below).

The executives are not technologists, but do have a businesses understanding of telecommunications which implies that proposals must provide a moderate level of explanation for technical issues and topics. Diagrams are often helpful. The current IT staff support errors will be involved in the review of proposals and will attend the presentation, b UT won’t be specifically identified to your group. Your written proposal must include the following: A detailed list and description of the services and functions included with your solution on; 2.

One or more scenarios (use- cases) that describe how particular employees would use your solution to conduct business more efficiently and effectively; 3. Any technical requirements that potential customers would have to meet to use your system; 4. A description of the support plan, including backup and disaster recovery plans for y our solution; . Financial information showing for at least five years. Proposals m ay extend projections to include seven total years, at their option, to assist in explaining the us attainability of their solution.

For the purpose of this paper I have selected M/s. Apple Inc as an organisation. M/s. Apple Inc are considered to be one of the most competitive organisations in the globe who operate in a very fast environment of technology and computers, where the developments are so rapid and fast that the management are expected to revisit their strategies and implementation plans on a continuous basis to stay competitive and maintain that technological edge in the market place. The world of computers and electronic gadgets is so fast paced that newer technologies are launched in a fast pace.

The top level management is expected to undertake regular feedback from the market and also scan the environment for the needs and plan their strategies accordingly. Hence, I have selected M/s. Apple Inc for carrying out the study on strategic planning and implementation. The study would focus mainly on the strategy adopted by M/s. Apple for the launch of their much famed computer model ‘Macintosh’ in the year 1984. The other major reason for selecting this organisation in specific is that this organisation has faced multiple threats to its survival and faced numerous competitions but the organisation survived and grew in adversity.

This shows the planning and resources implemented by the management team to grow this organisation and their strategic resolve can be seen from the above. All this illustrate that this would be the perfect organisation to study the scope and the depth of strategic planning and the intricate implementation plans undertaken by this organisation for achieving this extraordinary turnaround and improving the confidence of the stakeholders and also the customers with their innovative products.

The company got incorporated on 03rd Jan 1977 in the state of California in United States of America.  Major Stakeholders The major stakeholders in the company are listed below:

• Steve Jobs, Chief Executive Officer
• Timothy D Cook, Chief Operating Officer
• Peter Oppenheimer, Chief Financial Officer
• Philip W Schiller, Senior Vice President
• Mark Papermaster, Senior Vice President
• Jonathan Ive, Senior Vice President
• Bertrand Serlet, Senior Vice President
• Ron Johnson, Senior Vice President

Steve Jobs: The charismatic CEO of Apple Inc, was born on 24-Feb-1955, he is also the co-founder of Apple Inc, who was one of the founding members of Apple Inc, is one of the major stakeholders in the organisation.  Timothy D Cook: Cook is the Chief Operating Officer he is one of the important stakeholders from the viewpoint of management as he heads all the operations and sales of Apple Inc. He is also the head of Apple’s Macintosh division.  Peter Oppenheimer: Mr. Peter Oppenheimer is the Senior Vice President and also the Chief Financial Officer.

In this position he heads the treasury, investor relations, tax, information systems, internal audit and facilities functions. With such responsibilities his consent is imperative for undertaking any management planning or strategic initiatives.  Philip W Schiller: Mr. Philip W Schiller is the Senior Vice President of worldwide Product Marketing. He is part of the Apple’s Executive Team and is also responsible for the product marketing. In this role he becomes a key player for any management and strategic initiatives. Mark Papermaster: Mr. Mark Papermaster is again another Senior Vice President who handles the key portfolio of new product development in this role he plays a key role on the marketing strategy with his valuable inputs. Jonathan Ive: Mr. Jonathan Ive in his role as the Senior Vice President of Industrial Design plays a key role in the marketing of new technologies with his innovative designs. As such most of the Apple’s product’s designs are considered to be of remarkable art pieces.

Bertrand Serlet: Mr. Bertrand Serlet is the Senior Vice President of Software Engineering in his role as the developer of software for all the systems launched by Apple Inc. He is regarded as a major stakeholder in the management.  Ron Johnson: Mr. Ron Johnson as the Senior Vice President of Retail has a major stake in any marketing strategy plans that are being developed and planned for implementation. His inputs and consent are important for implementing any strategic decisions in the organisation.

All the above mentioned people are the major decision makers in the organisation and they form the first line of stakeholders for implementing the strategy and providing guidance to the organisation. Hence, it would be imperative that they be considered as major stakeholders from the point of strategy and implementation of marketing philosophies. The above mentioned people collectively or at times individually take decisions on the kind and type of strategy to be implemented to ensure maximisation of profits to the stakeholders of the organisation who are the general shareholders and other firms.

Hence, the agreement for any decision and implementation would be required from this peer group before going ahead with any management decision on strategy. We will review a scenario of the how the management of Apple Computers effectively implemented the launch strategy and placement of IPOD in front of the customer which is considered to fill the gap in the market between the net-books and multimedia phones. In this respect the strategy adopted by the think tank of the management is commendable we will now have a glimpse of the introduction strategy adopted by M/s.

Apple Inc. Management Strategy Review

The entire management strategy is based on the development of new technologies as M/s. Apple Inc are renowned to be market leaders in innovation. The launch of every new product is eagerly awaited by the general public. And M/s. Apple has capitalised on this advantage and create a buzz in the market before any launch of the product which helps them to introduce the new product in the market with minimum amount of risk. Traditionally it can be observed that Ms/ Apple Inc launches’ the new products in home market (i. e. United States of America) as the customers over there are considered to be of ‘low uncertainty avoidance’ culture as per Hofstede’s framework on assessing culture. This helps M/s. Apple to test their new inventions in the market as the customers are more inclined towards buying and testing new products. Once, the markets accept this product then it is launched on global basis when the new product has already created a cult status in the home market. This kind of strategy has been followed by M/s. Apple in most of their launches and has proven to be quite successful.

From the above it can be seen that M/s. Apple Inc has always strived on creating world class products with stylish design and the same are launched in low uncertainty avoidance cultures where the general acceptance levels are high and once they are successful in those markets they then are replicated in other markets. Which in turn ensures the success of the product launch on a global scale, now we will understand the situation of the launch of the Ipod, which everyone were sceptical at the time of the launch of this product. Marketing Strategy M/s.

Apple Inc created a new product which was supposed revolutionary in design and the characteristics’ were very innovative at that time. M/s. Apple Inc packaged the IPOD with such an enviable design that the competitors were left lurching. At that time the market was seen heavily bent upon to cut costs and make the mp3 player faster and better. Apple came up with this ultra modern design and had positioned the product in the line of designer segment and there by created a different marketing strategy altogether for this product and created new ways of interacting with the media with the launch of this device.

The IPOD was conveniently programmed to function well and fast the Macintosh systems that ensured that the sale of Macintosh also would be taken care off when the IPOD is launched in the market. This kind of strategy ensured the success of M/s. Apple Inc as an organisation all together. The market was studied for relevant trends in the music industry and appropriate tie-ups with the music bands and market players involved in music industry would be required to ensure availability of the music through the iTunes software which was to be installed in the computer for synchronising with the iPod.

Apart from that as most of the computers are running on windows operating system a compatible version of iTunes which would work in windows environment would need to be developed to ensure that the product reaches the target customers and can be marketed to all the segments of the customers irrespective of the computers that the customers are using. However, the differentiating factor of iTunes compatible with windows was that the upload and synchronising was not so robust as with any other Apple Macintosh product.

This would create a demand for other related products from the Macintosh stable. The other part of the launch strategy was that the product alone would not succeed unless proper support is derived from all available channels. These include likes of music companies, internet groups, bundled packages, customised playlists, and it also created a cult status for the product by maintaining the exterior of the product consistently which can be seen in different products which attained a similar nature like the Beetle (Volkswagen) and Mini (Cooper) etc. As we have seen the strategy let us now go ahead and understand the organisation’s business objectives, culture, ethics and how they are related to this particular scenario. Apple’s Business Objectives, Culture, Ethics The objectives and the measurements adopted by the company are as follows. The company’s main objective is well elucidated in its mission and vision statements itself which imbibe that the company would like to be the leading innovator of the century.

Accordingly in-line with this objective the company has embarked on a challenging sphere where in it has developed newer and customer friendly brands and launched them in the market place at regular intervals. Which has placed Apple Inc in a different sphere altogether. The culture in the organisation is open ended and encourages lot of innovation that was one of the reason why the company is at the edge of technological advances and innovates a lot of new products which are launched on regular basis in the global market place.

A brief description of the ethics would build a comprehensive look of the organisation and also provide appropriate guidance in this regard. Hence, I would like to explain the ethics followed by M/s. Apple Inc, like defining and implementing a program on greener environment and also providing an option for the general public to air their innovations and suggestions the company can be seen is very keen and receptive to ideas and innovations which in turn helps the organisation tap the potential and grow their businesses. Vision, Mission, Objectives and Measures

The mission statement of M/s. Apple Inc as per their website is “Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone”

The vision of the M/s. Apple Inc is ‘Man is the creator of change in this world. As such he should be above systems and structures, and not subordinate to them’. As can be seen from the above that M/s. Apple Inc is deeply involved in the creation of world class products and deploy them in the global market place and also create a sustained culture based on independence rather than dependence on the systems, which would enable the humans to be more resurgent and independent and have command over the systems they deploy in their homes / organisations.

As we have understood the organisation’s vision, mission and objectives now we will move forward and discuss the strategy deployed by M/s. Apple for the launch of IPOD which would create an understanding and how it could have been differentiated. Launch Timelines The original IPOD was launched way back in 23rd October 2001[11], however it can be seen that the growth of the iPod sales did not hit the expected numbers at the beginning as the market was not conducive to this kind of product. It would have been perfect if the launch was positioned when the elated infrastructure like availability of broadband network and other items are in place. It can be seen that the sales of iPod started to gain momentum only after M/s. Apple Inc ensured the compatibility of its iTunes software with the windows operating system and also the availability of the broadband networks that the product took on and the sales improved dramatically. Hence, it is inevitable that the markets are understood and a suitable and conducive environment created before launch of a new and advanced product in the global market place. Dissemination Process

At the launch of the iPod the market was not provided with the right information and the features were not available for everyone to understand and then use the same. Hence, in the beginning years of the iPod it was not successful as it is now. This can again be attributed to the lack of clear and systematic information flow from the organisation. This can be best avoided by ensuring that the process and infrastructure are available and compatible for the usage of the product before launching any product to ensure that the product sustains its expected sales targets.

Apple failed to create to environment before the launch. It took such a long time for the iPod sales to reach astronomical levels which it has now reached. At any launch of new product it is to be ensured that suitable and possible information on the product are widely available and the same is marketed using different channels of marketing to gain the marketing advantage. This kind of strategy was deployed by M/s. Apple in the later part of the iPod life cycle which ensured that the product sustained the S curve and continued its growth momentum.

It can also be seen that M/s. Apple Inc then embarked on a detailed mission of pooling in different vendors and suppliers for developing relevant content for the product which ensured that new and updated information is flowing from different channels and new ideas were used to build and sustain the product. And the information and the content were gathered from different cultures and different geographical locations thereby ensuring market penetration to different markets. Monitoring and Evaluation Strategy

The monitoring and evaluation strategy deployed by M/s. Apple Inc was a constant business intelligence thereby they understood the flaws in their initial strategy which ensured that the iPod was compatible with only Macintosh machines. As the same was reversed by ensuring its compatibility and other similar nature of tweaks in the strategy are to be undertaken and ensured that the feedback received from the market place is constantly analysed to ensure that the product is sustained with new and improved versions of the product.

As can be seen from the developments undertaken by the organisation to ensure that the product stays in the limelight by opening different channels of sales and distribution and also opening of different channels of supply chain, in this case the supply chain would be the availability of music online in the iTunes store for which constant tie-ups with different bands and music companies would be required to ensure that the product is usable and the same can be purchased by the customers online without any hassle.

By this way more and more customers can be retained and new customers attracted which would ensure the sustainability of the product in the long run. Apart from that the technology would need to be relooked on constant terms and a eye on the market place and competitors development would ensure that the product is successful. With regards to the evaluation strategy, the best way to understand whether the strategy deployed is successful or not in this regard would be to see the growth in sales and the amount of sales at the iTunes store which would definitely provide the right information whether the strategy deployed is successful.

References

1. Apple Investor Relations Investor FAQ, FAQ, Available at: http://phx. corporate-ir. net/phoenix. zhtml? c=107357&p=irol-faq [Accessed on 11-02-2010]
2. Telegraph, Steve Jobs, Apple’s iGod: Profile Available at: http://www. telegraph. co. uk/technology/apple/4242660/Steve-Jobs-Apples-iGod-Profile. html [Accessed on 15-01-2010]
3. Apple Press Information, Timothy D Cook, Available at: http://www. apple. com/pr/bios/cook. html [Accessed on 11-02-2010]
4. Apple Press Information, Peter Oppenheimer, Available at: http://www. apple. om/pr/bios/oppenheimer. html [Accessed on 11-02-2010]
5. Apple Press Information, Philip W Schiller, Available at: http://www. apple. com/pr/bios/schiller. html [Accessed on 11-02-2010]
6. Apple Press Information, Mark Papermaster, Available at: http://www. apple. com/pr/bios/papermaster. html [Accessed on 11-02-2010]
7. Apple Press Information, Jonathan Ive, Available at: http://www. apple. com/pr/bios/ive. html [Accessed on 11-02-2010]
8. Apple Press Information, Bertrand Serlet, Available at: http://www. apple. com/pr/bios/serlet. html Accessed on 11-02-2010]
9. Apple Press Information, Ron Johnson, Available at: http://www. apple. com/pr/bios/ronjohnson. html [Accessed on 11-02-2010]
10. The Poverty of Management Control Philosophy Geert Hofstede The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Jul. , 1978), pp. 450-461  (article consists of 12 pages) Published by: Academy of Management Stable URL: http://www. jstor. org/stable/257536
11. Apple Press Information, Apple presents iPod Available at : http://www. apple. com/pr/library/2001/oct/23ipod. html [Accessed on 15-02-2010]

Sales management involves great expertise due to its sensitive nature of controlling and motivating salespeople working independently. Salespeople are not supervised directly resulting in an increased ego among them. Enhanced ego drives among salespeople cause difficulty for sales managers for motivating them to perform the tasks they are responsible for. Interaction levels between salespeople and sales managers differ according to various types of sales positions and thus resulting in enhanced complication to motivate them.

Various studies (Alonzo 1999; Marchetti 1998, 1999) emphasize on rewarding compensation in the form of money for motivating the ego-centric salespeople. These studies consider money as an important motivating factor for salespeople. For this matter, large number of sales organizations plan and implement numerous incentive plans for motivation and money is used as the motivating tool in most of them.

On the other hand, several studies (Kohn 1993; Deci & Ryan 2000; Deckop & Cirka 2000) have disqualified the idea of using money as a motivator because for them, money only cannot act as a motivating tool though financial incentives are appreciated by salespeople. Financial incentives not always motivate them; instead they sometimes result in contrasting results by declining the motivation level of salespeople.

The present paper debates that the use of money does not act as a motivator for salespeople though arguments favoring the use of money as a motivator are also presented.

The Higher the Compensation The Higher the Motivation

This section provides arguments in favor of the use of money as a motivating tool for salespeople.

Compensation is an important method to incorporate the efforts of sales managers and salespeople to accomplish organizational goals. Incentive compensation system is an important part of high-performing organizations. Carlon et al. (2006) pointed out that most commonly acquired form of compensation in high performing organizations is financial incentive. Walker, Churchill and Ford (1979) explained that commissions, high pay and other financial incentives are employed in large number of organizations as motivating tools to increase the productivity of employees.

Studies (Summers 2005; Widener 2006) strongly advocate the effectiveness of money as a motivator for salespeople. It is insisted that every hard work needs to be paid well and cash incentive is a very good way to do so because salespeople are humans too and being humans, they also have to fulfill their basic needs that require money. Salespeople can be motivated to increase sales by introducing effective cash incentive plans.

Compensation can be related to performance. For example, cash incentives reserved for salespeople proved to increase the sales can motivate them to work efficiently in future. Bonus programs also prove to be effective in enhancing motivation among employees.

The Higher the Compensation Does Not Always Increase the Motivation

Alfie Kohn (1993) analyzed the negative impacts of cash incentives and reported that money is not the target of people nor they work to receive cash rewards. Instead, the happiness gained by performing well motivates them. Gellerman (1963) emphasized on the motivation factors of workers and found that money is not the only factor they work for; rather they expect intrinsic motivational factors such as performance appraisal, inclusion of employees in decision-making process etc.

He continued that money may be regarded as a driving force to motivate salespeople because money drives them. However, it was found that only ten percent of cases had reported the effectiveness of money as a motivational factor in salespeople and it remains ineffective in the rest of the ninety percent cases to motivate salespeople.

Deci and Ryan (2000) performed an experiment to find out the impact of monetary rewards on motivation to work. They asked a group of college to work on a puzzle. Researchers paid some of the students for this work while some of the students were remained unpaid. The results obtained from the experiments had shown breathe-taking results in which students who were not paid had performed better on the puzzle and spent more time than the paid students.

The results of the experiment encouraged the researchers to perform the same research among employees of an organization. Same results were obtained with the explanation that monetary reward had made employees felt of them as dehumanized and alienated. The researchers suggested that employees’ motivation would decrease if they would ever be rewarded to perform certain tasks. It was also observed that cash rewards ensure employees to be paid every time they would be asked to perform a task.

Cash rewards also found to serve as negative reinforcement because the expectations of employees of receiving cash incentives are strengthened every time and they automatically expect an increase in the amount of the incentive which if not given gives rise to decreased motivation and finally work performance is badly affected.

Deckop and Cirka (2000) conducted a study to observe the impacts of cash incentive programs on the levels of intrinsic motivation in workforce of some non-profit organizations. Cash incentive programs are perceived as a way to increase employees’ performance in non-profit organizations. Several internal benefits seem to compensate the financial benefits among the employees. However, intrinsic motivation outweighs the cash incentive programs.

The study observed the impacted of a freshly executed cash incentive plan in a private college for religious studies in the United States. The intrinsic motivation was kept strong with the help of great emphasis on the religious activities as the pay scale was quite low and insufficient to motivate them. All the employees were paid the same prior the implementation of the new pay scale. The new pay plan involved the salaries of employees solely based on their performance. So, high performing employees were expected to perform even better as a result of the new plan whereas low performing employees would not even receive the basic pay.

The result of the study was quite unexpected because the motivational level of most of the employees had shown decline. Most of the employees were performing very well prior to the implementation of the cash incentive plan because intrinsic motivation had led them perform well.

Cash incentives that serve as extrinsic motivator were found to increase extrinsic motivation among only a few employees but it was also impossible for the college to keep a balance between the provision of intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors because the college was a non-profit organization. It was not possible for the college to pay cash every time to make their employees work on a task. Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation can show decline if the employees do not perceive the performance appraisal fairly.

Conclusion

The present paper strongly disqualifies the idea of using pay as a motivator to enhance the performance of salespeople. Previously published studies were explored in this paper to find out whether employees perceive intrinsic motivation as more effective to motivate them than extrinsic cash rewards. The pre-existing literature has provided the evidence in support of intrinsic motivation as an important factor in motivating employees.

 Extrinsic motivation in the form of cash incentives actually serve to decrease the motivation among employees. Most of the firms utilize the method of cash incentives to motivate their employees because young people looking for a job are mostly attracted by huge cash incentives but the effect of this method is short termed. The attitude of an employee towards work performance is greatly affected by his/her desires to meet his/her needs.

All employees in general and salespeople in particular are quite self-determined and they have complete control on their behavior. Their level of intrinsic motivation decreases when they find their employers to control their behavior and thus taking away their freedom to work by increasing extrinsic motivation in terms of cash incentives.

Salespeople reject the idea of extrinsic motivation through cash incentive because they want to be responsible for their own behavior. They want to work independently to be beneficial for their organizations. They want to have freedom enough to make choices for them. Salespeople should be praised, encouraged and respected to perform their jobs effectively. In the end, money does not motivate salespeople.

Bibliography

Alonzo, Vincent. Motivating Matters. Sales & Marketing Management (June1999): pp 26-28.

Carlon, D.M., Downs, A.A. and Wert-Gray, S. Statistics as fetishes – The case of financial performance measures and executive compensation, Organizational Research Methods 9(4), (2006): 475–490.

Deckop, J. & Cirka, C. The risk and reward of a double-edged sword: Effects of a merit pay program on intrinsic motivation. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 29(3) (2000): 400-418.

Deci, E. & Ryan, R. The what and why of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, (4) (2000): 227-269.

Gellerman, Saul. Motivation and productivity. United States of America:VailBallou Press, Inc., 1963.

Kohn, Alfie. 1993. Why incentive plans cannot work. Harvard Business Review, 71(5), 54-61.

In this part I will talk bout how the functional areas of Morrisons work together. The Finance and Accounts department works a lot with other departments especially with Human Resources. They work a lot with Human Resources because of the remuneration and recruitment of staff. The Human Resources department work out the most reasonable wage for each staff member and the Finance and Accounts department pay them. The Finance department will let Marketing and Sales know how much they can spend by producing a budget for the year.

The Finance department produce documents showing how much has been spent on a particular promotion so its cost effectiveness can be gauged. The Finance department produces budgets and accounts for the Operations department. The Finance department also deals with any high value purchases made by the Operations department for example new office furniture. Finance also work with Research and Development. They tell the Research and Development how much they have in their budget and how much the department can spend.

The Research and Development team need a lot of money in order to do their research properly, if they don’t do their research properly and spend all the money from their budget it would be very costly for Morrisons. Marketing and Sales have to do a lot of research, they cover most of their own market research but they also need a little help from the Research and Development to do outdoor research for them. In Morrisons the Marketing department also work with Administration.

The Administrative staff deals with the mail so if the Marketing staff needs to send some mail the Admin staff would have to do it for them. The Administrative staff also arranges meetings so if the Marketing staff needs to hold a meeting the Admin staff would have to arrange that aswell. Marketing also interacts with the Production department, because they need to make sure that the product they are going to produce will satisfy the Morrisons customers’ wants and needs.

This interaction that the Marketing department have made could have been a crucial one because if they didn’t tell Production this information the wrong products may have been produced, which would have been very costly for Morrisons. Marketing also interacts with the finance department, which allows the business to perform effectively. Finance will need to know information from marketing to make sure the business had sufficient capital in order to finance any materials or equipment for new products etc.

Administration work with all of Morrisons’ functional areas because they the Administrative staff are in charge of arranging meetings, all functional areas need to hold meetings this is why it is very essential for the Admin staff to do their job correctly, this includes booking a room, organise refreshments, preparing any paperwork, notifying everybody when and where the meeting will be held, taking notes at the meeting and sending copies of these notes to everyone who was invited to attend.

Admin are also in charge of collecting and distributing mail so if any other functional area would like to send mail the Administrative staff would have to do it for them. This is an important function to carry out because if urgent mail is not received then it could affect the overall outcome of Morrisons. The Administration department also interact with all functional areas on the health and safety. They train all departments on the basics of health and safety, in order for them to know what to do in case of a real incident.

Also making sure it is a secure place will make customers feel more comfortable entering the doors, which will increase the number of customer visits in Morrisons and more profit. The Administration department is also a very valid member of the Morrisons team because they make sure that all the paperwork is in order and that whatever the other department need they get. I think that without this department none of the other departments would be able to function properly and efficiently like they are now. Part Two In this part I will talk about the role of each functional area and how they work to achieve the aims and objectives of Morrisons.

Finance and Accounts role in the business is simple, they calculate all the money that comes in and out of the business. It is important to have a Finance team because they work hard in setting budgets and producing the overall calculation, seeing if they have made profit or not. So Finance and Accounts help in the aim to gain market share because they add up everything to see if they if they are moving up the ladder. The Human Resources function takes care of everything that has to do with the staff in the business, remuneration, retention and recruitment.

One of Morrisons’ aims is to make a safe environment to work in, this is exactly what the Human Resources function intend to do. Customer Service includes all aspects of interaction with a customer and speaks to the organization’s image in the mind of a customer. One of Morrisons’ main aims is to provide a good customer service and if the Customer Service does their job properly they would achieve this aim. The role of the Marketing and Sales staff is like putting themselves in the shoes of the customer, knowing what they want and providing it for them.

This is important because the one aim for all businesses, including Morrisons is to satisfy customers and producing what they want would definitely please them. The purpose of Research and Development is to design new products or improving an existing one, they also carry out a lot of surveys to the general public to find out how we would like our products and how should we improve them. Knowing what the customer wants will increase their visits which will add up to more profit which is the main aim for most businesses like Morrisons.

Administrations’ role is to only do one thing, to make sure the business is running smoothly. And that is why they are in charge of the clerical, security and cleaning staff, having these functions carried out to help other functional areas to work makes them meet their aim which is to make sure the business is running smoothly. Productions role in the business is to obtain resources required to produce the goods or provide the service offered by the organisation then to organise these resources so that they are used in the best way to achieve the aims and objectives of the organisation.

The research is to be conduct how each company has performed in sales and the improve effectiveness of selling process. Research objectives and aims are to compare the performance of the AVIVA and HDFCSLI. As this research studying based on the Indian market, the research is proceeding in Bangalore, which is one of the main city in India.

Research mythology is proceeding under collecting data of the current status of the both company and from the people to know the brand awareness and the purchasing behaviour when buying life insurance policies.

THE BACKGROUND OF THE INDUSTRY

Companies rating can be identified as follows:- A++,A+ are superior companies. A or A- good companies B. is growing company C- means position is not good. D is below the standard (minimum). E rate is company is taking the help from the state to run the business.

LITERATURE VIEW

Sales management and customer satisfaction: Influence of Advertising on Sales: This is a very important fact in life insurance industry as, their most of sales advertising by the salespersons. Draw back of a company can be happen due to the lack of communication and the problems in communicating with the consumers. Influence of Sales promotions on sales Sales promotions has taken an increasing share of the marketing budget, at the expense of advertising,because promotion can achieve a measurable increase in short term sales , which advertising cannot.

There is a tension between the short term effects of promotion and the long term . This results in confusion in marketing community. How ever, there is a desirable effect on sales market from promotions. The main intention to promote sales is to attract the customers attention. Doing promotions in life insurance industry is can be following To extend the user base To reward and retaining existing customers To introduce trail of new product and by cashing and on the establish brand To counter competitor’s offer

To clear inventory To enhance brand value To survive under the high pressure of competition, companies tend to do more and more creativity on their sales promotions by adding promotion tools. Promotions tools which can be use in life insurance industry are, Games and contests Lucky draw Gifts Attractive offers for the policies

STUDY AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

• To analyze the potential of Life Insurance in Investment Industry.
• To get the better understanding of various Life Insurance Product.
• To compare the performance of the AVIVA and HDFC

To evaluate various need of customers for Life Insurance and their To study the brand awareness of the AVIVA and HDFCSLI The levels of trade support achieved, such as point of sales display.

IMPORTANT OF THE STUDIES RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

• Research Design: Research Design that is followed in this report is sampling which is the most appropriate technique because Bangalore is a big city.The sample numbers were not overlapping in areas & then these selected with ultimate sample consisting of all units whole Bangalore 10 potential areas ere selected and are picked randomly from these area. Thus the total sample of 300 was taken and analyzed.
• Research Methodology: Research methodology is mainly concentrating following questions. Evaluating the sales and marketing methods, personnel sellings , telephone selling ,postal orders, etc , that each of the retailer’s used , as well as determining the effectiveness of these sales methods. Determining how effective these methods were in supporting and communicating each company’s product and company image Determining who are the customer and potential customers in each company.

This is to establish their perception of the company , as well as their attitudes to its image in comparison to those of its competitors. Determining the intermediaries in the market place This is to establish why these intermediaries selected the company and its services, rather than the services of its competitors. In addition, the research evaluated how the company image enhanced the over all sales processes , through all the company communications.

Contact with head office, agents and inspectors , promotional material sent to intermediaries , and information on new products , proposal forms , company information, etc Determining the insurer’s own agents and sales force This was to determine whether those members of the sales team were communicating the right image and sales message effectively. In addition, this research is designed to determine whether their sales techniques and methods were ‘synergistic’ with other aspects of the marketing mix, such as advertising and promotions All the findings are based on the survey research method.

REFERENCES

1. Richard M SwILSON , Colin Gilligan with David pearson (1992) David jobber, Geoff Lancaster – 7thedition ‘’ selling &sales management’’
2. Carl McDaniel , Roger Gates (1999) ‘’ marketing research’’ Robin Birn (1992) ‘’The effective use of marketing research (1992) David jobber ‘’ selling & sales strategy ‘’
3. Gorden wills (1974) ‘’ strategic issues in marketing ‘’ Colin Mclver (1984) ‘’case study in marketing’’ Journal of marketing (2009) volume 25
4. Cunliff bolling (1969) ‘’sales management’’
5. Giep Franzen (1999) ‘’Brand & Advertising’’
6. William G. Zikmund (2003) ‘’ Exploring marketing research”
7. Bill Donaldson (1998) ‘’ sales management’’
8. Martin lindstrom (2005) ‘’ Brand sense’’
9. Bill Donaldson (1988) ‘’ sales management’’
10. Terence A. Shimp ‘’ Advertising and promotion’’
11. www. AVIVA. co. in
12. www. hdfcsli. co. in

At a time when large cheque sizes has taken a backseat, Byju Raveendran’s  company  BYJU’s has managed to grab eyeballs of investors twice this year. The company, which secured $75 million in funding from marquee investors in March, is currently in talks to raise another $50 million in new rounds of funds.

The funds in Byju’s company is expected to fuel international expansion for the company, which started out as coaching classes for students taking up competitive exams like GRE and CAT.

Teacher and entrepreneur Byju Raveendran was present at Entrepreneur India Summit 2016 last month, where he spoke about the company’s international route.

International ambitions

Talking about the much talked about expansion plans of the company Byju said, “There will be huge focus on continuing to grow inside India itself but from the product development point of view, the capabilities that were built over the years in terms of content, media and tech capabilities, we think it’s also important to be in products that can be big in international markets. So the initial markets which we have indentified are the US, UK and other Common Wealth countries.  We have just started marking products in the same segment for those countries where we are bringing in some of the topmost celebrity teachers from those countries, where they will come and does the delivery part for our modes.”

Raising money in tough times

Spilling the beans on what startups need to do to secure funds during a dry phase, Byju said that it’s a function of a solid revenue and profitable model. “Business in India is already profitable and it is 100%  our revenue. Product is completely made in-house and the fact that we have been able to acquire students who come on to the annual subscription model and the first sale itself is making it profitable, very high-renewable rate makes it even more attractive. Our business is built on a solid foundation and before launching the product it’s important to have enough products so that you can have good amount of marketing strength.”

“It’s like if you have ten different products which can be taken to the market, it brings down your cost of acquisition by one-tenth. Having enough products in your portfolio, starting from grade four up to grade 12 across multiple subjects is helping us to keep that acquisition cost very low. The fact that we are creating a new segment, I’ve been able to have very high conversion rates on our downloads have excited our investors,” he added.

Has edtech arrived, at last?

Byju said that even though edtech is not a new segment as education is a core segment, tech and internet data is yet to make its real intervention in the education space. “Students are slowly warming up to the idea of learning online. But again, the focus I believe has to be on education first and tech as an enabler then you will be able to make a big impact in terms of how students are adopting  tech-enabled learning,” he said.

Byju said that there still exists a challenge in terms of infrastructure around how students can consume content. “Online as such is still at its early stage if you go out of the metros. You got to have a hybrid model where students can consume most of the data offline with online being just for data as well as reports and assessments,” he said.

(With inputs from Sandeep Soni)

Managerial Economics August 15, 2007 The key points underpinning the economics of a profit maximizing firm Neoclassical model of the firm states that organization will have the main objective of maximizing its profit within a given period of time. Maximum profit was achieved at the output at which marginal cost is equal marginal revenue. There are several factors which need to be considered when talking about the profit maximizing firm: 1. The assumption of the profit maximizing firm is that there is no segregation between managers and owners of the firm.

Owners economically depended on their firms and therefore tried to make the biggest profit from their businesses. The effectiveness of their firm was measured by the profit declared. In the real world the ownership of the firm (especially for the larger firms) is different from the management. Managers become responsible for all day-to-day operations as well as finance objectives. Those can be different for management and for the owners. Managers tend to satisfy their own well being rather then acting on the best interests of the owners.

Shareholders would like to see the increasing value of the stock from year to year. The separation of ownership from control lead to less power of shareholders over the manager’s behavior as well as less awareness of how efficient the decisions are made. 2. Profit maximizing firm assumes the horizontal marginal revenue curve and U shape marginal cost curve. This means that the market conditions are always ideal, not very competitive and the revenue cost declines as a result of discounts made to encourage the customers to purchase the products.

In reality it is difficult to accurately measure the cost and revenue within organization and therefore difficult to determine the optimal, profit maximizing level. There are a lot of constraints and conditions which need to be evaluated at any given period of time to determine the cost and revenue curves. Rapidly changing conditions will make it difficult and sometimes impossible to make the accurate measurements. 3. Another assumption is that the organization short-term objectives are the same as its long term objectives leading to profit maximization.

In reality, as in long term objective may be to maximize the firm stock value and increase the shareholders profit, the short term objective may be to keep investing in a firm to establish a better position for the future. Other constraints like social responsibility of the firm, imperfect or changing market conditions, demand versus supply curves etc. will affect the objectives of the firm. 4. One of the assumptions of the neoclassical model is that the organizations have a perfect knowledge of the operating conditions.

It is recognized in the modern firm that they operate under the uncertainty level, which, however can be reduced by increasing the knowledge for market, competition and environment. With these factors the conclusion is that the profit maximization cannot be the sole objective of a firm. The factors need to be taken into consideration to determine the optimum firm strategy and firm objectives. Critical evaluation of Baumol management model. Baumol model is a sales revenue maximization model. Baumol model is the alternative to the profit maximization model.

The main idea of Baumol model is that the objective of a firm is the sales revenue-maximization rather then profit maximization. The most important points supporting Baumol model are: – The is recognition of separation between firm ownership and management. Managers have discretion to pursue personal goals to maximize their own utility. Therefore a minimum profit constraint on management is set up by shareholders to address shareholders concerns and interests. – Manager’s more focuses on their own tangible benefits rather then on profit maximization for the company.

Salary increases are likely related to the level of sales rather then organization level of profit. – Investors interest in the level of sales and trend of sales rather then level of profit. Growing sales tend to give better picture of company potential and therefore attract refinancing. – Rising level of sales recognizes organization’s success and therefore leads to good human relations within the organization. – Direct relation between market share and the level of sales means that the organization is raising its position on the market if its sales level increases.

In other words the market share of the firm goes up. In Baumol model there is an assumption is that the organization using the Baumol model is operating in an oligopolistic market with no true competition. Baumol thinks that it will take longer for the large organizations, which most likely to be competitors, to arrive to the decision making and decision implementation point due to the competition within the oligopolistic market. However it is also said that within the market there is collision between organizations just to maintain an agreed position where everyone can have their share of the market.

This is certainly an assumption which cannot be applied to every kind of markets. There are two models of sales revenue-maximization which both work under above assumption: the static model and the dynamic model. Static model is a single period model for organization assuming that no competition with other companies exist. In static model a minimum profit constraint is imposed by shareholders regardless of the sales and other conditions of the organization to protect their interests. The excess of maximum profit level over the minimum profit level constraint is the measure of managerial discretion.

There is also an assumption of the U-shaped cost and ? -shape for revenue curves. By looking at the Baumol’s static sales revenue-maximization model chart we can see that the quantity produced by the sales revenue maximizer will be the quantity which satisfies the minimum profit constraint and yet allows the greatest level of sales (quantity) to be achieved. The sales revenue maximizer will earn a lower profit, but produce a greater quantity then the profit maximizer. Therefore the sales revenue maximizer will better capture the market share then the profit maimiser.

However in the static model Baumol does not analyze the relationship between price, advertising, total cost and quantity of the produced output. When talking about advertising cost Baumol suggests that the advertising expenditures are constantly grow as a straight line and that the sales revenue increases as increases the advertisement cost. In the real world advertisements are made from time to time depending on the organization’s marketing studies. Sales revenue also depends on many factors like market conditions, managerial talent and knowledge, firm pricing strategy, quantity produced, total operating cost etc.

In Baumol model we see no attempts to take these factors into consideration. In its dynamic model where the idea is that over the lifetime organization will continue to gain the sales revenue and reinvest the profit into the future organization growth. At a certain point of growth, however, the growth potential will decrease and the level of sales will go down. Even though Baumol raised a point of uncertainty, he failed to place the time within his model and therefore limited the options of explaining the firm behavior.

Baumol model shows that the sales revenue maximizer will produce more output then the profit maximizer. The profit level is also more stable in the Baumol model then in traditional profit-maximizing model. The sales maximizing firm will also have a lower price then the profit maximizing firm. Low cost airline example. Let’s take an example of the low-cost airline to outline the points of Baumol model. At a glance it may seem that a logical step to maximize the airline profit in order to reinvest more money into the new flights and expand the company.

But it may not be profitable for an airline in a long run as the customers may loose the loyalty to an “always low price” airline because of their quality of service or inconveniencies caused during travel. Actions like flying from the lower cost airports away from the major hubs; reducing the number of flight attendants per flight; introducing a cheaper meals or no meals at all, offering meals at a separate price; cut on entertainments on board; overbooking of the flights to make sure the flight is always full; buy cheaper older aircrafts, improve maintenance procedures to reduce the cost would lead to short term profit maximization.

On a long run the airline may start loosing customers due to the poor services and inconvenience caused. For example, flying from a low cost airport may result in additional cost for the passengers trying to reach that airport or having a connecting flights from other airports. Significant number of luggage lost would also lead to loosing the customers. Overbooking the flights may cause many passengers not being able to fly at the desired time and therefore loose the loyalty for the airline. Cutting cost on airline maintenance may jeopardize safety procedures and result in catastrophe.

American Airlines Flight 191, a McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 aircraft crashed on May 25,1979 after taking off from Chicago airport. Investigation showed that it was a result of an improved maintenance procedure imposed by American Airline and saving then over $200 000 a year. For a low cost airline it is vital to fulfill the flight capacity and sell as much tickets as possible because the flights the cost of flying would remain the same whether the plain is flying full or not. This means that the main objective of the low-cost airline is to maximize their level of tickets sold.

The actions like: – reducing inefficiency across the board of the airline, putting innovative and creative business concepts, promoting the teamwork, empowering the employees to encourage their personal involvement in day-to-day customer service improvement – monitoring the airline market, dynamically determined ticket price per seat, studying customers needs – introducing new routs to popular destinations, organizing convenient connecting flights – have faster connectivity time, faster turnarounds point-to-point flights rather then flying through major hubs, using less congested airports – internet booking, e-tickets – no pre-assigned seat numbers etc. maybe more appropriate for helping to have a low cost operation yet with the high quality standards. The price of the ticket should be determined dynamically (hopefully by specialized software) based on customers demand and supply on a particular route at a particular time. Ideally the ticket price should be the highest with maximum filling of flight capacity.

For example, early booking price may be lower and raised towards filling the flight capacity. Therefore sales maximizing model fits better for the low cost airlines and gives them more chances to succeed in the market. References: Mark Cook, Corri Farguharson (1998) “Business Economics”, Pearson Education Limited Patrick McNutt (2007) “Study Guide Unit 1. Management Objectives and Stakeholder Value”, Business & Management Education Limited, UK