Kaizen – Understanding the Japanese Business Philosophy of Continuous Improvement

Operations Management

Role of Leaders in Shaping Organizational Culture

Management Principles

Organizational Culture – Development and Importance

Management Principles

Five Important Organizational Cultural Models

Management Principles

The Customer Satisfaction Model – Based on American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI)

Marketing Management

Profits and Gains of Business or Profession

Meaning of Business and Profession                               Business simply means any economic activity carried on for earning profits. According to Sec 2(3) business is “any trade, commerce, manufacture or any adventure in the nature of trade commerce and manufacture”. Any transaction with a motive of selling at profits included under this concept. It is not necessary that there should be a series of transaction in a business and it should be carried on permanently.                             Profession is an occupation requiring purely intellectual skills or manual skills controlled by the intellectual skill of the operator. e.g. Lawyer, doctor, engineer etc.   So profession refers to those activities where the livelihood is earned by the persons through their intellectual or manual skill.         Continue reading

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Levels of International Strategy

The globalization of the economy, internationalization of businesses and emergence of new markets are all key themes in contemporary business. Whereas international business may once have been the province of organisations with sufficient scale and reach, these types of companies — typically multi-national corporations – no longer have a monopoly on this kind of business. Increasing numbers of firms, of varying scale, are confronted with compelling reasons for expanding their activities across multiple national boundaries. In some cases, such motivation includes the knowledge that success in international markets is a pre-requisite for survival; if competitor organisations succeed in international markets, they may achieve the scale and liquidity which affords them sustainable competitive advantage. There are mainly three levels of international strategy. They are; Corporate Strategy Business Strategy Functional Strategies Short description of these three are given bellow, 1. Corporate Strategy: Corporate strategy attempts to define the domain of businesses the Continue reading

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Variable Compensation Program – Types, Pros and Cons

Performance Related Pay is a kind of a payment system which relates the wages and salaries with the performance of an employee. It includes incentive payments, merit pay, etc. Performance Related Pay is also known as Variable Compensation. Variable compensation programs are customized in such an order that, as said before, the performance of the employees depicts their incomes. It does not depend on his/her designation in an organization. These programs are designed to motivate individuals and groups that contribute effectively, as they differentiate between performers and non-performers. Many companies believe that a variable compensation program enhances productivity and motivates employees. The American Management Association, based on a study of 83 companies, concluded that grievances had dropped by 83%. absenteeism by 84% and lost – time by 64%, after variable pay programs were introduced in these firms. Variable compensation is also one of the employee involvement programs. Such programs make Continue reading

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Sensory Branding

In today’s highly competitive global environment, companies, on a constant basis, have to find new ways to position their brands in consumers’ mind. No amount of advertising and sales promotions can do any good if a brand does not confer a distinctive benefit. Brands need to be geared up to provide a complete package of functional, sensory and emotional experiences. Touching and triggering all the five senses of the consumers–touch, smell, sight, sound, and taste — creates a compelling brand experience. The more multi-sensory appeal that a brand has, the higher is the number of sensory triggers activated and resultantly, higher the bonding between the brand and the consumer. Sensory branding attempts to foster a lasting emotional connect between the brand and the consumer, using a deliberate design and deployment of interaction with the senses. In brand communication, all the five senses need to be evoked to create optimum impact Continue reading

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Definitions of Key Terms in Integrated Marketing Communications

Integrated means that combine or coordinate separate elements so as to provide a harmonious, interrelated whole. In other word, when all marketing communication tool work together, it will be more effective than work as a single component. It will create more competitive advantages, boost sales and profit, while saving cost, time and stress if this concept is incorporated in marketing strategy. So, if the marketing communication tools are combined as a group it will produce more powerful outcome in the process of delivering customer superior value. Marketing The root word for marketing is market. Market is defined as a place for consumer and sellers to carry out transaction that required cash as an exchange medium for obtaining a product or service. Marketing can be defined in two perspectives which include old view or new view of marketing. From the new view of marketing, it is all about the creation of Continue reading

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Managing the Sales Force Effectively

The face of any organization is the sales force. Companies spend a considerable amount of time and money on managing the sales force rather than on any other promotional activity. However, sales force is expensive and companies are looking forward to managing them in an efficient and effective manner.  The  management of sales force consists of following: Compensating the Sales Force A compensation plan should constantly stimulate the salesman to put in their best efforts, quantitatively and qualitatively, to achieve the desired and planned levels of sales. Compensation must be fair to the management and the salesmen. It should enthuse efficient salesmen and help remove inefficient ones. It should be simple, flexible, easy to administrate, economic and capable of achieving the personal selling objectives of the firm. Periodic review and vision of the compensation plan is essential. Motivating the Sales Force It is the crunch of sales force management. The Continue reading

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