Formal Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Formal Report - Essay Example In purchasing equipments like laptops and desktops, it is feasible and good to pick leasing, as it is cost effective. It is good to examine the management of information and technology process of an agency, determine the business needs of the institution concerning information technology and acquit an analysis based on the benefit of cost choice of leasing and purchasing, in the decision whether to purchase or lease equipments. If the decision is made in the correct way and for a good reason, it is effective in terms of cost and efficient to lease than purchasing equipments. It can be harder to manage and expensive to lease than an instant purchase of equipments, if the decisions are handled in the wrong way. Introduction Present value It is hard to compare the same amount of cost between the option of purchasing and leasing in the concept of present value. The cost of the future currency in today’s value of the currency is what referred to as the present value. Money availabl e for future worth less at this time than the money you can use at that particular time. The future money one should use in leasing or purchasing is be converted to the current price to equate the actual cost of each one, when equating the alternative of leasing and purchasing. Information Technology Acquisition The first option of getting information technology in companies and institutions is by the outright purchase, which is gotten through the fund or revenue of any agency. This can only happen if restrictions are applied on the funds. Capital leasing is the second option, which is an accord that spreads the payment terms of equipments. After payment, the person who has bought the equipment, obtains a title to the equipment, but still he has been able to get access of the equipments. The buyer is able to spread the payment of the equipments in a given time to reduce the financial burden due to its acquisition. In an operating lease, one does not get ownership of the equipments. The seller retains ownership of the equipments and the person who has leased the equipments uses the technology for a given period (Taylor, 2003). Management issues The budget of information and technology has changed in all sectors, due to the fast development of information systems. This drastic change has led to the evaluation of the management issues of information technology. To control and understand the environment based on computers, full ownership cost and asset management, is required. Asset management binds the whole information technology ownership. It provides the environment control of computers to allow the director to purchase information technology equipments and price for the maximum cost efficiency. Lease terms should not be over 75 percent of the equipment. If the institution wishes to buy an item after a leasing period, the organization must pay the required price. The value at the starting point of the lease is not equal or greater than 90 percent. At the end o f the lease, the lease cannot give the buyer the ownership of the

Beginning of the slave trade Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Beginning of the slave trade - Essay Example Many countries such as United States, France, Britain and Germany also joined the trade as they continued colonizing Africa to expand their businesses (Rodriguez 81). The trade was massive to the extent that it was traded in a certain triangle across the world. The tremendous growth of the trade led to the emergence of various significant slave-trading routes. For instance, the growth of the trade led to the emergence of the Trans-Sahara slave trade and the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Countries that practiced slave trade developed tremendously; their businesses boomed as they registered incredible profits from their trading activities. This is because they exploited the available cheap labor (slaves) thus significantly reducing their costs of production. However, their wealth did not only come from the slave trade but also from the resources obtained from African countries. These countries traded gold and other mineral substances, which was an extremely lucrative business at that time (Rodriguez 81). After many years passed, late in the 1800, slave trade began collapsing after the public, activists and humanitarian bodies established strong campaigns against the trade. The end of the trade slowly began by certain countries such as United States withdrawing as other countries followed. However, it took some time before European countries such as Portugal to withdraw, despite the United States having done

Nietzsche and the Nazis Essay Example for Free

Nietzsche and the Nazis Essay The word Nazi has been recalled with feelings of regret, fear, horror and the threat of violent crimes throughout human history. However, nothing can conceal or change the reality of the period of Nazi Weltanschauung and its consequences for humanity and culture. It was a deep refreshment of German souls as the Aryan race and a collective movement of intellectuals, writers and social leaders in support of Christian and Protestant society against Jews. Nevertheless, the appealing eccentricity of the growing ideology among anti-Semite writers and thinkers very much attracted the attention of the Nazis. They examined the complex philosophical works of Nietzsche, Hegel, Fichte, Treitschke, and Huston Stewart Chamberlain, and ultimately concluded with the hard philosophy of Nazism, including racist, nationalistic, and anti-Semitic attitudes (Aschheim, 1992, p. 123). It was not very difficult for Nazis to find a way to utilize many intellectuals ideal systems, philosophies and literature as they proceeded in the way that led to the holocaust and racial genocide. For instance, Wagner hated Jews, thus, his operas contained myths, fighting, pagan gods, heroes and demons. As an artist, Wagner had bred the growing hunger of anti-Semitism with his art to a great extent. Besides Wagner, Huston Stewart Chamberlain, the British author who was the composer Richard Wagners son-in-law, deeply influenced Hitler with his fundamentally racist text Foundations of the 19th Century, and understanding this helps to explain why the Holocaust took place (Harms, 2001). Nonetheless, Hegel believed that the state was everything and war was a great purifier. Thus, the idea of restoring the ethical health of people was borrowed from Hegels philosophy by the Nazis. On the other hand, politicians like Georg von Schà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½nerer, a German nationalist and a strong anti-Semite, and Karl Lueger, the mayor of Vienna, supported Nazi Weltanschauung from the heart by their political policies and notions. However, unlike the other cultural icons Nazis utilized, the relationship between Nietzsche and the Nazis developed in an odd, but widely effective manner. Nietzsches influence as a philosopher and a writer was apparently limited to his closest friends and some intellectuals in Austria, France and Denmark (Canada, 1997). His books were not widely read or considered by publishers. However, after becoming insane by the end of the 1890s, his fame immediately spread around Europe and he became a figure of considerable importance in German history. Macintyre states in his book The Forgotten Fatherland (as cited in Canada, 1997) that Nietzsches name started to appear in popular German journals and newspapers as well as numerous books, which collectively promoted him as the philosopher of the time, whose influence is stirring the entire cultural world. This shift in the attitude toward Nietzsche and his work was a bit because of the ideological movement from rationalism and empiricism to romanticism during the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth century, according to Hintons Nietzsche in German Politics and Society (as cited in Canada, 1997). Consequently, suffering the subjugation of Napoleon as well as witnessing the growing strength of the West, the German population, experiencing a sense of inferiority, attempted to assure itself of its innate superiority by glorifying its history and culture with no doubts, according to the point of view Kohn (as cited in Canada, 1997). At this point, Nietzsches mental death made him a prime target for this German myth-making project. Nietzsche and his philosophys affiliation with the Nazi movement occurred as a product of the need for raw material to build a new valid consciousness for humanity under the unity of a superior nation. Hitler and other Nazi leaders made use of Nietzschean philosophy wherever possible. In other words, Nietzsches philosophy was a blueprint for the Nazis war, and they took Nietzsches logic to drive the atheistic world view to its legitimate conclusion (Krueger, 2001). Nietzschean phrases and themes, such as lords of the earth, the will to power, herd instinct, were most often used in public speeches, and written expressions of Nazi leaders, furthermore, appeared even in Hitlers book, Mein Kampf, many times. Nietzsches open-ended philosophy gave big opportunities to Nazis as a means of support for their war. For instance, in The Will to Power, Nietzsche exclaims (as cited in DeLong, 1959): A daring and ruler race is building itself up. The aim should be to prepare a transvaluation of values for a particularly strong kind of man, most highly gifted in intellect and will. This man and the elite around him will become the lords of the earth.' Ultimately, the idea of superior German nation, the idea of superior individuals overmans, in other words as members of that nation and the idea of exerting extreme power over others that were inferior and weak, emerged as the fundamental codes of Nazi culture, and keywords for their aim. Nietzsche played a key role in the development and preservation of the cultural and ideological foundations of the Nazis (Canada, 1997). In short, in terms of political culture, with his peculiarity; Nietzsche had a significant role in German history by having an important effect on the Nazi movement. As Crane Brinton states (cited in Geib, 2001), Nietzsche called for the superman; Mussolini and Hitler answered the call. Nazis and other anti-Semites perceived Jews as scapegoats in every situation, even for their own personal failings. They never forgave the Jews for possessing spirit and money, and named them as underprivileged (Canada, 1997). This notion was very similar to the one that Nietzsche used to describe his overman in Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1967): For that man be delivered from revenge that is for me the bridge to the highest hope and a rainbow after long storms (127). At this point, it is clear that, according to the point of view of the Nazis, Nietzsches open-ended philosophy was working for them and their goal, while making Nazis ideologies concrete and reliable. The Nietzschean overman was the model of the Aryan race, which was destined to conquer other lesser races in the global struggle for racial supremacy (Canada, 1997). Nietzschean heroic idealism embodied the virtues of hardness, masculinity, leadership, courage, power, struggle, and the various other characteristics promoted by the Nazis. By introducing the overman to humanity, Nietzsche advised people to challenge themselves, not to live passively. It was a good reason for anti-Semites to take action and responsibility in the way that led toward creating a higher against reproducing a lower. Having a great willingness to be powerful in order to take possession of the life and destiny of a superior race, Nazis needed the cooperating hand and inspiration of Nietzsches philosophy, and Nietzschean themes and phrases, such as the will to power. Because Nietzsche cried out for the survival of the strongest, thus, a strong world while building his philosophy and creating the overman, at the same time, he supplied Nazis with a strong argument that they later used to reinforce their ideological system and movement. As Nietzsche exclaimed for the masters and slave morality, anti-Semites perceived themselves as the master of the world, commanding the rest as humiliated slaves. They treated people other than anti-Semites as dangerous creatures or obstacles threatening the cultural and racial superiority of the Aryan state. By exerting force on them, Nazis kept themselves safe from the misfortune and curse of declining Jews. They stepped forward in every situation that gave them the chance to realize the Nietzschean slogan: Whatever does not kill me makes me stronger. Moreover, they preferred war and courage to charity, with the illumination of the Nietzschean phrase, Ye shall love peace as a means to new wars (as cited in DeLong, 1959). They fought for years, lived dangerously and tried to become hard in terms of the Nietzschean will to power. War against the lower to attain the higher was a kind of ritual for the purpose of the Nazi movement. Besides all the inner attractive forces of Nietzsches philosophy for the Nazis, Nietzsches Sister Elizabeth (who was a radical anti-Semite), had a vital influence in the affiliation of Nietzsche and the Nazis. She interpreted everything in Nietzsches philosophy as creating a perfect accord with Nazi ideologies and values. In other words, she served Nietzsches philosophy on the ideological plates of the Nazi leaders as the main food of their meal. After the death of Nietzsche, Elizabeth took over the control of Nietzschean ideas and themes, and immediately hurled them upon the Jews with ideal appropriations she could succeed in making legitimate. For instance, as Kaufmann states, Elizabeth published new editions that incorporated her own introductions, which were intended to explain those passages that seemed antagonistic to the pro-German image of Nietzsche she was attempting to create. In many instances, Elisabeth rearranged material and included new passages in her editions of her brothers work (as cited in Canada, 2001). In short, Elizabeth reflected Nietzsche as a German patriot and a heroic warrior in the Nazi movement (Aschheim, 1992, p. 47-48). After all, Elizabeth Nietzsche became an important icon for the Nazis as both the sister and a wonderful follower of Nietzsche. Rosenbergs elaborate funeral service for Zarathustras sister was the best example of Elizabeth Nietzsches importance. On the other hand, anti-Semitism was the mainstay of the Nazi movement, and the structure of the Nazi movement was shaped completely according to the spirit of anti-Semitism. The Nazis built their education and jurisprudence system upon the basis of the Nietzschean philosophy. Heroic idealism and the will to power were the basic themes of the Nazi education system, where they perceived Nietzsche as their teacher (Aschheim, 1992, p.234). In this way, the objective of education was fairly clear: Nazis wanted to manufacture efficient, clever, and brave soldiers and leaders of tomorrows Germany. Under the direction of Rosenberg, Hitlers appointed supervisor of German educational activities, along with Bernhard Rust, the Reich Minister of Education, the Nazi educational system was inundated with Nietzschean literature. Parts from such works as Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil, and The Will to Power were heavily integrated into the school system as required reading (Aschheim, 1992, p.245). Too much of Nietzschean strong, meaningful, encouraging phrases and slogans like whatever does not kill me makes me stronger or I have a why of living and can put up with any how were repeated continuously and drawn into the mainstream thought of Nazi youth. Besides the influence of Nietzschean doctrines in the education system, the jurisprudence and judgment system were inspired by Nietzsches philosophy, as well. Hans Frank, the Reich Commissioner for Justice, once commented, Both personally and objectively, it is of importance to me that Nietzsche of all people has become the mentor of German jurisprudence (as cited form Macintyre in Canada, 2001) As in the case of education, thoughts and writings of Nietzsche were altered and appropriated to the Nazis legal and judicial objectives. In terms of these, violent punishments of anti-Semites were understood as being advocated in the words of Nietzsches philosophy. For instance, having experienced life in the concentration camps of the Nazis, Dr. Victor Frankl asserted (as cited in Geib), I am absolutely convinced that the gas chambers of Auschwitz, Treblinka and Maidanek were ultimately prepared not in some ministry or other in Berlin, but rather at the desks and in the lecture halls of nihilistic scientists and philosophers. As it is clear in the preceding quotation, the educational system based on Nietzschean doctrines was inevitably one of the main points of argument for the reasons of genocide and other violent acts committed by Nazis. Without a question, Nietzsche was perceived by the Nazis as being the intellectual and spiritual pillar of their regime (Canada, 1997). Such a creative policy gave the Nazis an intellectual justification and respectability to their ideology, while being the source of legitimization to their actions as well. Perhaps the most telling explanation of Kohn (as cited in Canada, 1997) concerning the Nazis motivation for appropriating Nietzsche, was that the former were attempting to create a mythical continuity in German history that would serve as a means for legitimizing the Nazi Weltanschauung.. As a result, with the great desire of being the biggest power not only in Germany, but also in the rest of the world, the Nazis made use of everything that would serve their purposes. And building upon a philosophical basis of a very appropriable scheme of Nietzsche, Nazis managed to draw their political culture upon vital foundations of one of the turning points of German history. Bibliography Aschheim, S. E. (1992). The Nietzsche Legacy in Germany, 1890-1990. Berkeley: University of California Press. Canada, G. (2001). Nietzsche and the Third Reich. In Nietzsche [online]. Available: http://student.vwc.edu/~phialpha/%5CGreg.html (December 8. 2001). DeLong, J. B. (1998). William L. Shirers Take On The Relationship Between Friedrich Nietzsche and The Nazis. In Nietzsche and Hitler [online]. Available: http://econ161.berkeley.edu/TCEH/Nietzsche.html (December 12, 2001) Geib, R. J. (2001) Frederick Nietzsche: Religion, Imagery and Politics [online]. Available: http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/nietzsche/nietzsche.html (December 1, 2001). Harms, W. (2001) Bernard Silberman. In University of Chicago Quantrell Award Winner Bernard Silberman [online]. Available: http://www-news.uchicago.edu/resources/quantrell/silberman.html (December 7, 2001). Krueger, D. (1997). A Review of Zachariass A Shattered Visage: The Real Face of Atheism. In That Colossal Wreck [online]. Available: http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/doug_krueger/colossal.html (December 12, 2001). Nietzsche, F. W. (1967). Thus Spoke Zarathustra. New York: Heritage Press.

Digi Telecommunications Sdn

Digi Telecommunications Sdn If there is one defining story in the technology world today, it is most likely the explosive growth of mobile communications. It is more well known that there are more mobile handsets than personal computers and that each of them has more computing power than the NASA computers that placed a man on the moon. This trend is connecting people from all around and across the world and acting as a great leveler as people are able to communicate and collaborate more seamlessly. Leading this trend in Malaysia would be Digi Telecommunications Sdn. Bhd. is a mobile service provider and provides wireless telecommunications services. The company is owned by Telenor ASA of Norway with 49%. On 24 May 1995 DiGi became the first Telco in Malaysia to launch and operate a fully digital cellular network. The company was formerly known as Mutiara Telecommunications Sdn Bhd but changed its name to Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd in January 1999. Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd was founded in 1995 and bs ed in Shah Alam, Malaysia. Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd operates as a subsidiary of DiGi.Com Berhad. Right now, DiGi is listed on the Bursa Malaysia under the Infrastructure category. DiGi Telecommunications Sdn. Bhd. Company provides a variety or broad of mobile communication services. These services include data services to individual and corporate customers, voice under their prepaid plans postpaid plans, SMS, data plans and services, international roaming, international calling card and WAP services. Digi faced challenges understanding the status of opportunities, inputting data manually into multiple systems, tracking proposal approval status and lines activation status, and tracking the success of marketing campaigns. Other challenge faced by Digi would be its directly and indirectly competitors. Competitors which compete directly with Digi are Maxis, Celcom, and U Mobile. DiGi also competes indirectly with broadband services provider such as TM, P1, Redtone, Amax. 3.0 Situation analysis 3.1 General Environment Analysis Political Strong Malaysian Government support: In 2007, Malaysian government has set to achieve 50% Malaysian household with both wired and wireless mobile broadband penetration by the end of 2010. In order to aid service providers further, the government rolls out supplies of broadband infrastructure and services throughout Malaysia. Plus, they also aggressively generate continuous demand in 3 aspects which are awareness, attractiveness and affordability. Malaysian Government discourages the usage of cell phone among school kids: In the year of 2006, Malaysian government banned the usage of cell phone among kids in nationwide school even included the fully residential schools. The decision was taken after many groups especially parents and teachers expressed their concern that allowing the handheld tool to be used by students while in schools could lead to a lot of problems such as affecting students performance in class. Social Influx of foreign worker: Traditionally, Maxis and Celcom have neglected to provide mobile services for this segment on the assumption that foreign workers are unable to afford them. DiGi entered this full of opportunity yet neglected segment after discovering that these migrants were willing to pay for communications to connect with their loved ones back home if they were offered affordable packages without any extras and make it their stronghold. Foreign workers are important in expanding Malaysias economy as they are the ones who willing to work for long hours but only receiving minimum pay. Foreign workers will be willing to work in Malaysia if they could contact their loved ones and family anytime with low cost. Higher standard living among Malaysians: Malaysians are able to enjoy the high-tech tele communication provided. Whether it is to be in touch with their loved ones or family. Communications has improved skills and knowledge among the Malaysian citizens. Globalization The world is now borderless where by economic openness and growing interdependence between countries had spur on increase in movements of people, goods and services. Increasing in Malaysias GDP: The communications and multimedia industry contributed 6.1% in term of revenue to Malaysias GDP. While in 2009, this industry generate about RM40 billion. For 2nd Quarter of 2010, the communication sub-sector registered 8.4% growth, mainly attributed to greater usage of cellular, broadband and 3G services. Economics Offering lower price packages: As economic downturn or during recession, Digi always offer the lowest price compared to its two competitors which are Maxis and Celcom. Therefore, even in the worst economic position, Digi will not lose its market share but more users are switching to Digi for its attracting benefits. Technology Continuous technological advancement in wired and wireless telecommunication: The creation of short messaging service (SMS), multimedia messaging service (MMS), GRPS, and 3G. Demographic Population: With the help of telecommunication services, population in certain areas will be expanding as people are safe to move around since there is a way to communicate with each other. Immigrants who came to Malaysia are able to get in touch with their hometown. Physical The packages offered: There are so many promotions and cheap packages offer by Digi so that people are able to get in touch with each other without paying a large sum of amount. These benefits attracted some populations like students and people with lower salary as promotions offered by Digi could save up money. 3.2 Porters Five Forces Analysis Porters five forces is a framework for the industry analysis and business strategy development that introduced by Michael E. Porter of Harvard Business School in 1979. This theory normally uses to determine the competitive intensity of an organization the overall industry profitability. Therefore, a business has to understand its position in the industry in order to create competitive advantages. There are 5 elements under Porters five forces which are new entrants, bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers, threat of substitute products, and lastly intensity of rivalry among competitors. In telecommunication industry, Digi faces a very stiff competition which come from the main competitor Maxis and Celcom. From the aspect of new entrants, we can see that the capital require to enter this industry is very high, therefore this telecommunication industry is basically owned by 3 big companies. From the perspective of government policy and regulation, The National Telecommunication Policy encourages a healthy and orderly competition. The telecommunications sector has been opened to competition where basic infrastructure and telecommunications services are operated by private enterprises in order to provide a better quality services. In this sector, consumers have a low switching cost between these mobile telecommunication companies. Overall, we can consider a threat to new entrants is medium level. The second element in Porters 5 forces is bargaining power of buyers. In this industry, the bargaining powers of buyers are increasing in these few years. Most of the people need this mobile telecommunication service. Consumers purchase a large portion of industrys total output. Other than that, the switching cost between these companies is very low. Lastly, it is clear to see that the product between Digi and maxis is actually undifferentiated or standardized. Consumers who do not satisfy with the services from Digi can easily switch to other companies. Through these indications above, we can conclude that the bargaining power of buyers is very high. The next element is threat of substitute products. The substitute products may simply increase competition in an industry. When Maxis launch a new package to the market, Digi revenue will decrease due to the stress from its competitors. Therefore, Digi has to introduce some new services to attract consumer attention back. The products in this mobile telecommunication industry is actually undifferentiated, therefore, the threat of substitute products is high. The fourth element is intensity of rivalry among competitors which refer to the major determinant of the competitiveness of the industry. As mentioned earlier, Digi faces a very stiff competition in this sector by equally balance competitors especially Maxis. Basically, the products between these companies are lack of differentiation and the switching cost is low. In order to pursuit an advantage over its rivals, Digi company always adopt some new strategies on changing price and launch a cheaper package such as Digi campus to its users to make sure their customers maintain loyalty to the company. As an overall, level of rivalry that Digi faces can be concluding as high level. The last element in this theory is the bargaining power of suppliers. The bargaining power of suppliers can consists as high because most of the equipment that used to build tower cannot be sources locally, it is highly depend to export from other country. Because of the equipment is unique especially Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), so most of them are imported from other countries. There are only a few suppliers for Digi and the switching cost of Digi to change to another supplier is quite high. 3.3 Descriptive for key stakeholder In term of organizations, DiGi is doing well in preserving the environment, which was being supported and recognized by peoples that all around the world. This may help in improving their brand name and can be a part of advertising strategies too. For example, On 3 June of 2010, DiGi had donated a total of RM98, 211 to WWF-Malaysia to reforest, which is up to 12 hectares of degraded forest as part of the Kinabatangan Corridor of Life (K-CoL) reforestation project. The fund was collected under the four month DiGi Postpaid e-Billing that derived from DiGis Minus campaign, which was started from December 2009 to March 2010. For each postpaid the customer who paid for the electronic billing, which is so called e-billing, DiGi donated Rm3 for the reforestation project. Although it only Rm3, but each contribution of RM3 can help to reforest an area equal to the size of 75 pieces of postpaid bill envelopes placed side-by-side, which is about 3 square meters. In short, the e-billing campaign was one of the activities that being carried out to reduce the paper usage. This is the main purpose that DiGis Deep Green ambition for minimising the environment impact. This is proven as DiGi always try to reduce their carbon footprints; they keep on encouraging customers make payment through e-billing, moreover, they also reduced the packaging and the size of the DiGi reload cards and the SIM packs. Last but not least, DiGi also provides a total paperless personal accident insurance, which the whole procedures will be done through the mobile phone. Besides, DiGi launched the campaign of Yellow Coverage Fellow through a series of television commercials. Originally called Yellow Man, until renamed by DiGis marketing team as YCF. It entitled with the DiGi Yellow, and DiGis WIDEST Coverage always with you. The theme song is I Will Follow You. Obviously the public response to the campaign was very positive. This is because I Will Follow You had become a phrase among the Malaysian public. In term of Product, the products and the services that provided by DiGi is well known by all the peoples around the worlds and is attracting the subscribers to be one of the DiGi users. DiGi is the first to operate the full cellular network and is the first to operate their cellular network in Sabah and Sarawak Besides, DiGi is the First operator in Asia to be part of the International Roaming Platform and to launch the use of the dual-band mobile phones. On the year 1997, DiGi be the first telcomunication company that being listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange Main Board under the Infrastructure Project Companies category, and at that time, DiGi is known as Mutiara Swisscom Bhd. On 1998, Digi also be the first operator in Malaysia that launched the prepaid mobile phone service. The expecting of DiGi continued, to be the first GSM operator in Malaysia to offer Automatic International Roaming service to the United States of America; to be the first telecomuncation to launch a web site in Malaysia, the introduced of e-pay system as mentioned above and the following are the awards of DiGi: Mobile Data Service Provider of the Year by Frost Sullivan Malaysia Telecoms Awards 2005,Mobile Data Service Provider of the Year by Frost Sullivan Malaysia Telecoms Awards 2006,Best Prepaid Telco Service Provider 2005 by IT publications PC.Com, received in 2006,Mobile Operator of the Year, Malaysia by Asian Mobile News, received in June 2006,Malaysias CEO of the Year by Business Times, received in 2006,Malaysias Most Innovative Company survey by the Wall Street Journal Asia, received in October 2006 Mobile Data Service Provider of the Year by Frost Sullivan Malaysia Telecoms Awards 2007, on 24 May, Mobile Service Provider of the Year by Frost Sullivan Malaysia Telecoms Awards 2007, on 24 May and last but not least the Wireless Service Provider of the Year by Frost Sullivan Asia Pacific ICT Awards 2007, on 15 June In addition, DiGi is not only popular with their background but also with the price that they offered for their plan. For example, the prepaid package, DiGi Campus, which is highly demanded by the students that are studying in University. This is due to the low rate of calling and sms rate. Students can enjoy 100 minutes free calls to others DiGi numbers when they meet the conditions of spending RM2 per date. Besides, for the postpaid package, the user is only required to pay as low as 0.15 per minutes. 3.4. SWOT analysis based on stakeholder groups Digi SWOT analysis 3.4.1 Strength 3.4.1.1 Product Innovation Innovation is important because it exploiting new ideas to create a new product, process or service. Innovations become major strength because their research and development had always exceeded customer expectation so that increasing the customer satisfaction toward Digi. For example, innovation product such as Digi Campus for university student and Digi broadband services. Reward system A good reward system can motivate current subscribers and potential subscribers. Good reward system become a strength because Digi have a completely, effective, and efficiency system to service their subscriber. For example, birthday bonus for subscriber, a user can enjoy 50% extra bonus credit when reload before 3 days and after 3 days on the user birthday. 3.4.1.2 Organization Affiliation Telenor ASA now is Digi.Com Berhards first majority foreign-owned telecommunications service provider. Keeping good relationship with Telenor is a major strength of Digi. Affiliation with Telenor is important because Telenors will bring collective strength to Digi such as development of advanced technologies and services and maintaining the Digi status as a leader player in telecommunication sector. For example, Telenor intends to expand DIGIs business and further strengthen and improve the companys market position, with a particular emphasis on mobile product and services. (Arve Johansen, CEO Telenor mobile) Facilities Facilities are important because it bring convenience to customer and save time and cost. Facilities of Digi become strength because it provided many methods to let subscriber easily get what they want. For example, Digi center, reload credit through online banking, online payment and many more. It brings a super convenience to subscriber and will increase the customer satisfaction. Another reason is because too many competitor offering same services, so that Digi must offer facilities that other competitor dont have. 3.4.1.3 Capital Strong financial performance Strong financial performance in Digi becomes strength because Digi have stable number subscribers. An increasing and stable number of subscribers can lead strong financial performance in Digi, Digi are focusing in customer satisfaction, excellent customer experiences and keep attract new subscribers by promoting their product and services. 3.4.2 Weakness 3.4.2.1 Product Late to reach customer in latest information Latest information late to reach end user becomes a major weakness because Digi seldom promote their product and services in society. Latest information late to reach end user will cause lose a lot of potential customer and the sales will start to dropping down. For example, when new product or services release, if no any promoting activities like open booth, promotion to promote product, all the customer will dont know the latest information in Digi. 3.4.2.2 Organization Dependency on strategic sharing Dependency on strategic sharing becomes major weakness in Digi because Digi are still highly depending on product development and RD. They think try through product development can serve the customer better but it may not effectively, too focus on product development will cause the relationship between Digi and customer becomes not strong, they may will ignore the customer feeling and customer satisfaction. Lack of involvement of Digi ambassadors Ambassadors is important because they can lead a company toward successful and influence the telecommunication market. Lack of involvement becomes weakness because Digi ambassador lack of involvement in promoting product and services. Once the ambassador did not showing their responsibility, the latest information cannot be deliver to customer therefore the performances of company will be affected. 3.4.3 Opportunity 3.4.3.1 Product Rising telecommunication demand Higher demand for Digis product and services become an opportunity in Digi because it can lead Digi to produce more product and services to improve their sales and revenue. More people demand for the Digis product and services meaning that the quality of product and services offer by Digi is good and customer willing accept due to larger satisfaction. For example, low cost broadband internet services bring larger demand. Higher standard of living Recently, the Malaysia higher standard of living also becomes an opportunity for Digi Company. Higher standard of living in Malaysia cause the demand for telecommunication increase, many people will start choose the best telecommunication industry to be their communication tool due to the convenient. For example, even nowadays a 7 years old girl has their own mobile phone. 3.4.3.2 Organization Advance technology in human resource Advance technology in human resource are become an opportunity in Digi. Digi must focusing on recruiting new employee and provide training to them so that can maintaining a competent human resources in Digi. 3.4.3.3 Capital High capital investment High capital investments become an opportunity in Digi because of the ultimate holding company, Telenor. Telenor was investing a large amount of capital to expand their business to achieve profitability and enhance shareholder returns. 3.4.4 Threat 3.4.4.1 Product High bargaining power of consumer In telecommunication industry there have a lot of company like maxis, celcom, telekom Malaysia. Consumers are easily to choose and switch to another industry to use. In this case, Digi can offering higher quality of telecommunication services to customer at a lower price so that Digi wont lose their customer. Technology advancement in telecommunication Technology advancement such as in wired and wireless telecommunication becomes a threat in Digi Company. Current level of technology maybe very fast outdated because of other competitor continues offering new product with new technology. So, Digi can keep continue in improving the RD and keep at the lower price of product to compete them. For example, the lower cost of Digi broadband internet services brings a lot of business. 3.4.4.2 Organization High switching cost High switching cost becomes a threat in Digi Company. Switching to another supplier the cost is very high, so, switching to another supplier is very hard. To overcome this problem, Digi must keep a close relationship between the current supplier which is Ericsson and Trisilco Folec. Continue a good relationship with supplier Digi can save more cost in acquiring material to produce product and services. 3.5 Summary of situation analysis Strength Innovation of Digi product Good affiliation with Telenor major foreign service provider Excellent facilities convenience Innovation is very important as every competitor try to innovate in a fast pace to compete with each other. Good innovation will lead to successful or failure of a company. Keeping good relation with major foreign service provider will stabilize the investors investment on the company, which will lead to major profiting in the company for now and future. Providing excellent facilities and service will satisfy customers, and because of that, they will subscribe and be loyal. Weakness Slower in updating latest information Too dependent on strategic sharing Lack of involvement of Digi ambassadors Slowing in updating latest information will cause major loss in long term if the competitor knows the weakness of the company. Everything have to be fast when comes to telecommunication and technology. Focusing or too depending on certain department will influence the environment of the company. It will slowly abandon some important department and cause chaos or blurring of the company organization pattern. Good ambassadors deliver good information to customer, and customer deliver profit to company. Choosing a good ambassador will shape up the message of the company and deliver it to customer clearly. Opportunities Rising of telecommunication demand Higher standard of living High capital investment in expanding business There are a lot of opportunities in telecommunication. As the world moving in fast pace, from 3g to 3.5g and now 4g. The rising of telecommunication demand boost up and open opportunities for existing company to achieve better and stable their company, so that they would not beat down by the new rising advance company. People demand more and create new opportunities as well as idea to satisfy their standard of living. Fast, convenience, save time, save cost, these are the reason people influence the level of living standard. To expand business, we need capital. When we have high capital investment, it shows the how good is the reputation of the company. High investment will influence the size of business, and of course, the profit, and keeping the customers. Threats High bargaining power of consumer Technology advancement in telecommunication High switching cost to another supplier Telecommunication field is full with competitors. Each of the company is very similar to each other. Consumer holds a very strong bargaining power to make their own choice. They choose what they like and what they think it is best for them. They can be switch to A company for today, and maybe tomorrow they will be switching to B company. Current level of technology maybe very fast outdated because of other competitor continues offering new product with new technology. Consumer will go for the company who offer them better technology. Switching to another supplier the cost is very high that makes switching to another supplier is very hard. Keep a close relationship between the current supplier can save more cost in acquiring material to produce product and services. 4.0 The Strategic Option of an organisation (DiGi) Build a powerful competitive advantage The strategic option of DiGi is to build a powerful competitive advantage. DiGi became the first telco in Malaysia to launch and operate a fully digital cellular network on 24 May 1995. On the year 1997, DiGi be the first telecommunication company that being listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange Main Board under the Infrastructure Project Companies category, and at that time, DiGi is known as Mutiara Swisscom Bhd. On the year 1998, Digi also be the first operator in Malaysia that launched the prepaid mobile phone service. The expecting of DiGi continued, to be the first GSM operator in Malaysia to offer Automatic International Roaming service to the United States of America; to be the first telecommunication to launch a website in Malaysia. This is the main competitive advantage due the often establishment of the first time in Malaysia. Hence it is well known throughout the world. Besides, DiGi provided a cheap Digi Plan, which is Happy Plan. This is targeted to those customers that make a lot of calls and sms, it only costs 1sen/second and up to 99sen per call to any number in Malaysia and the in year 2008, DiGi is the first Telco in Malaysia to introduce Mobile Number Selection service. This service enables the users to choose their own number rather than just following the traditional way. For example, in the traditional way, the user will purchase a new SIM that has been pre-assign with fix mobile number but now they can choose the numbers that they prefer. Sometimes, extra charges are needed for some special numbers, such as with the same digit that repeated twice or more. Operational Efficiency Besides, Operational Efficiency also is one of the strategic options of DiGi. Nowadays, many companies are focusing on IT Infrastructure .Technology can be either a great source. The applications of technology should be supported by an IT infrastructure that connects a companys users to each other. By connecting the DiGi company to their subscribers, this can help the users of DiGi always alert of the latest information and the promotions of DiGi. In term of technology, DiGi has provided Wireless, 3G and Internet Broadband services. Moroever, Facebook Zero, this is a light-weight, text -only version of the standard Facebook Mobile site and it is free and is accessible by all the Digi prepaid and postpaid users. It brings convenient to the users, as now the users can still stay connected with their fellow friends of family just by using their small device. Besides, in term of broadband, DiGi now is offering the quota of 3GB, cost RM38 per month, and the modem is free of charge. The op erational efficiency also included the peoples. This peoples is referred to those who working at DiGi departments. A current issue, DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd will continue to invest in customer service amid the economic slowdown to provide better value and build brand loyalty Schnitker, Tom. (2009,February 21). Customer service still tops for DiGi. The Star. DiGi is enhancing their service level DiGi Telecommunications Sdn. Bhd. provides a variety of mobile communication services, such as voice under their prepaid plans postpaid plans, SMS, data plans and services, international roaming, international calling card and WAP services. Besides that, the users of DiGi is provided with the service of friend and family where the customers is allowed to set 6 Digi numbers that they will call more often. The calling rate and sms rate for these 6 numbers are lower than the normal prepaid rate. Personal Accident Insurance also is one of the services provided by DiGi, which is the competitive advantage that will the others networks do not provided and followed. DiGi provided 1 month free trial PA insurance for their users. The PA insurance can be categorized into 3 categories which is the RM50000 personal insurance, RM100000 personal insurance and RM100000 Family Personal insurance. Customers can enjoy the 1 month trial of the RM50000 of PA insurance and after one month, they can still continue to purchase the PA insurance at RM2 for 30 days coverage. Then you will still be protecting under RM50000 PA insurance plan, but with the term and conditions applied. Moreover, DiGiRemit, this allowed an individual to transfer through mobile phones and has remittanced to Indonesia, Phillippines and with more countries are following soon. Customers can just send 2 text messages to complete their transfer. This brought high convenient to their customers due to this remittance can be transferred to anyone with or without the bank account in the destination country. Besides, it is secured due to the administering of Citibank until the money is being delivered to the beneficiary. greater shares for its stakeholders Last but not least, DiGi provided greater shares for its stakeholders.DiGi market share is currently 25.00 per share. Which is much more higher than its competitors such as Maxis, only 5.33 per share. The shareholders of DiGi can increase their wealth by invest in DiGi. 5.0 Key selection criteria Strategies Activities/Tactics Key selection/criteria Build a competitive advantage Happy Plan Mobile number selection Focus on customer Focus on low cost of product Operational efficiency Infrastructure Facebook Zero, broadband Peoples Customer service. Focus on customer Focus on product quality Enhanced service levels Friend and Family Personal Accident Insurance DiGiRemit Focus on customer Focus on low cost Focus on quality of service. Greater market share RM25.00 per share Focus on shareholder wealth 6.0 Recommendation Key Question Recommendation Decision criteria Pros Cons 1. How the Digi be the top in its game? 1. More branding and quality product. 2. Build up the quality segment 3. Potential high dividend -Research and development, innovation, creative. -lowest call rate in different segment, eg. Postpaid segment. -the growth of sales and revenue. -increase sales and revenue -more focus the need of customer in different segment. -increase shareholder wealth -compete with diversification product from competitor -too many segments may cause company hard to focus in one. -capital gains decrease due to the higher profit and tax expense. 2. Can Digi maintain strong relationship with suppliers? 1. Always place order on time. 2. Setting Digi account on time. 3. Communication between Digi and suppliers -The time to deliver the material. -The dateline of payment -the understanding between Digi and supplier -Supplier have enough time to prepare -clear payment on time can maintain the liquidation of company -establishing the relationship between each others -late submitting order will let supplier not

You Will Always Remember Your First Time! :: essays research papers

You Will Always Remember Your First Time!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I wasn't real clear of what actually had just occurred, but I did know that I was in terrible pain. I laid beside the supercross track for at least 20 minutes answering the questions of very eager Emergency Medical personnel.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Leave me alone! I will be all right.† I said to the medical guy that was tugging at my chest protector.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If there is one thing that I can not stand is twenty medical people trying to take all of your clothes off for a little cut or scrape. As I was put on a backboard and taken to the ambulance I couldn't help wondering what had went wrong. All I remember seeing was my body tumbling with my bike to an abrupt halt.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I laid in the ambulance for what seemed like days. All I could hear were engines revving at high Rpm's and the roar of the crowd when someone styled for the crowd. It was very disheartening to know that I was in the back of an Ambulance at my first professional supercross. The only thing I could do was play the past events over and over in my head.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I couldn't believe it as I looked at a shiny gold and silver card. This card signified all of the rights and privileges of a professional supercrosser. Now I would have the right to race with the worlds best.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Dad look it finally came!† I shouted.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My dad looked at me with silly grin and said â€Å"Well you knew it was coming, you won your 25th race last month.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As I stood there with a smile bigger than the sun on my face I said â€Å"I know but I am still excited about it. Just think I will be racing side by side with Damon Bradshaw and Kevin Windham.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  He just smiled and patted me on the back as I turned and walked to my room. I sat dreaming of the race I will enter next month. I had no idea what was in store for me at this spectacular event.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As D-day drew nearer my mind overflowed with anticipation. I gathered my riding gear and my lucky Bart Simpson doll and headed out the door. I won my first race the day I sat my Bart Simpson on my handlebars between races. I have done it ever since to bring me good luck. The ride to Charlotte Motor Speedway was what I thought a trip that would never end. As we entered the pit area I was given a special pass to wear around my neck.

Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman as Epic Tragedy Essay -- Death Sal

Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman as Epic Tragedy   Ã‚  Ã‚   Aristotle's Poetics defines the making of a dramatic or epic tragedy and presents the general principles of the construction of this genre. Surprisingly, over the centuries authors have remained remarkably close to Aristotle's guidelines. Arthur Miller's twentieth century tragedy Death of a Salesman is an example of this adherence to Aristotle's prescription for tragedy. It is significant to test Aristotle's definition and requirements of tragedy by comparison and contrast, against a contemporary tragedy and to make observations with regard to what influence society and culture may have on the genre. This discussion however, will be confined to the realm of plot and the more notable aspects of the construction of the incidents in tragedy because of the complexity of this element. Aristotle's attention throughout much of Poetics is directed towards the requirements and expectations of plot.   Plot, 'the soul of tragedy', Aristotle says, must be an imitation of a noble and complete action. In Death of a Salesman, Miller does provide a complete action, that is it has what Aristotle identifies as a beginning, a middle, and an end. These divisible sections must, and do in the case of Death of a Salesman, meet the criterion of their respective placement. Whether Miller provides a nobel action, however, is an issue of culture. Willy Loman ultimately takes his own life so that his son Biff may benefit from the insurance money that he will receive. The question then, is according to our culture is his suicide noble? Since Willy's suicide is perpetrated for Biff's benefit, one could view this act as sacrifice. Sacrifice is in our culture, a pious and admirable quality, one of... ...ath of a Salesman' Twentieth Century Literature.   January, 1972. 19-24.   Rpt. in World Literary Criticism.   Ed. Frank Magill.   'Arthur Miller' Detroit: Gale Research, 1992.   2366-2368. Hayman, Ronald.   Arthur Miller.   New York: Frederick Ungar, 1972. Hoeveler, D. J.   'Ben's Influence.'   Arthur Miller?s Death of a Salesman: Modern Critical Interpretations.   Ed. Harold Blum.   Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 1988. 72-81. Magill, Frank.   'Death of a Salesman.'   Master Plots.   Englewood Cliffs: Salem, 1976.   1365-1368. Miller, Arthur.   Death of a Salesman.   New York: Penguin, 1949. ---.   Conversations With Arthur Miller.   Jackson: Mississippi UP, 1987. Parker, Brian.   'Point of View in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.'   Arthur Miller: A Collection of Critical Essays.   Ed. Robert Corrigan.   Englewood Cliffs:   Prentice Hall, 1969.   98-107.

Sales Management

What are the pros and cons of Mr. Evans’s e-commerce strategy? What is the best argument that Ms. Miko can make to keep her sales force intact? In your opinion, should Cardinal Connectors Inc. eliminate its sales force? Explain. 2. Assume your company, which sells paper products, has 60 percent of the business at your largest account. What factors would make it relatively easy for you to get a larger share of that customer’s business, and what factors would make it harder? 3. One manufacturer of dictating machines recruits only experienced people and does not recruit among graduating college students.A competitor recruits extensively among colleges in its search for salespeople. How do you account for the difference in sources used by firms selling essentially the same products? Explain your analysis in detail. 4. A manufacturer of small aircraft, designed for executive transportation of large companies, has decided to implement the concept of a selling center. Which pe ople in this company should be on the selling teams? What problems is this firm likely to encounter when it uses team selling? 5. You must choose between two sales recruits.One has scored very high in terms of the quality of his interview, but not very well on the series of psychological tests to predict qualities the firm thinks are necessary for success. Another person did well on the psychological testing, but not very well in the personal interview. All other things being equal, which one would you hire, and why? What do you think the strengths and weaknesses would be of the one you hired? 6. â€Å"Salespeople are born, not made. It’s futile to try to train a person to be a salesperson, so I don’t. How would you answer a sales manager who said this to you if you were trying to get her or him to hire you as a sales trainer? 7. In what respects would a compensation plan differ among salespeople for the following firms? a) the manufacturer of small airplanes used by executives; b) a wholesaler of office equipment and supplies; c) an automobile dealer. 8. Do you approve of Kathryn’s plans of action? If so, why, and how could she improve her plan of action? If not, what changes would you suggest she consider making? Describe your views in detail. 9.A petroleum firm with a sales force of 300 people planned to sell its fleet of company-owned automobiles and have the salespeople use their own cars instead. What problems are involved in this change? What actions should the petroleum firm take to address them? 10. As a sales manager for HighRising Company, Rocky Foster oversees 15 sales reps. Foster is an outstanding transactional leader, but he is hopelessly ineffective as a transformational leader. Is this a problem? Why, or why not? What recommendation, if any, would you make to the Vice President of Sales? 11.What advice would you give Michiko Takanaga on how she should reduce her departmental budgets? Justify your recommendations. 12. What control unit would you recommend in establishing sales territories for each of the following companies? Explained why you picked the control unit you did for each. a) manufacturer of laptops; b) food broker; c) appliance wholesaler; d) manufacturer of outboard motors; e) lumber wholesaler 13. What supporting points could be made over allocation of indirect marketing costs, by the proponents of each side, in the full-cost versus contribution-margin controversy ?Which of the two concepts do you advocate, and why? 14. If a company made a territorial volume analysis and found some subpar territories, how might these facts affect the following activities relating to salespeople? a) supervision b) compensation c) training 15. â€Å"Let’s face it. Our product is no different from that of 20 other competitors. It sells for the same price and for the same terms. We all give the same service. It really doesn’t matter to the buyer which of us gets the order. So the only way we can get an edge is through our aggressive entertainment and gift program.We work hard at making our buyers happy with us. They enjoy doing business with us. † Do you see any ethical problems involved here? What possible consequences are there to the company? What would you do differently, if anything? 16. As a sales manager for a baby food concern, you want to evaluate the ability of your representatives to obtain good shelf space in grocery stores. How would you do this? Before implementing this process, you call a meeting of your reps to explain your evaluation process to them. What would you say? Sales Management One of the major problem facing sales managers is on what criteria to judge a new salesperson when hiring him. In most cases, the sales managers look at the sales person’s past records and his performance in the previous organization but many a times, they see that a successful salesperson in one organization does not perform when hired in the new organization. One of the main reasons for that it is the difference in culture and values. The new recruit might be very good but he might not be compatible with your organization. Another major problem being faced by the sales managers is that even though the sales people meet their targets, they barely ever follow the sales process of their own company. Every salesperson tries his own tactics that he thinks will bring business. When giving bonuses to salespeople, sales managers find it difficult to determine the metrics on which to evaluate the salesperson’s performance. Should they judge the salesperson depending on how much business he brought and in that case, they will have to ignore the ways the business was brought, to what extent was business rules followed and how ethical was the deal, etc. Ethical issues are one of the major problems that are faced by the sales managers. Many sales people bring in a lot of business for the firm but in return, they are being paid kickbacks by the customer which means that unethical behavior is practiced. It is very difficult for a sales manager to oversee any unethical practices taking place in the organization from his office and therefore, they find it extremely difficult for stop unethical practices in the organization. Almost all sales managers face this problem. The sales manager has to evaluate the performance of the sales people and this responsibility makes the sales manager a judge and on the other hand, the sales manager is required to train and coach the sales people and this responsibility makes the sales manager a coach and a helper and both these roles are very conflicting so the sales managers find it difficult to fulfill both roles since both roles require different type of a relationship with the sales person. Many sales managers when evaluating the sales person give more emphasis to whether they like the sales representative or not rather than on the fact that sales person is bringing in business which is not the right thing. Because even if the sales manager does not that sales representative, if the representative is bringing in the expected business, then the manager has to reward him either through commission or bonuses. Sales managers find it difficult to decide whether they want to have a salary plus commission or salary plus bonus. In the first method, the commission is the percentage of the sales made in actual dollar terms whereas in the second method, you give a certain percentage of the sales representative’s salary as a reward to the sales person. Both have their advantages and disadvantages and one method works better for some sales people whereas the other method works better for other sales people and deciding which one to implement is an issue that is faced by sales people on a more strategic level rather than operational level. Sales managers also have to decide whether they assign sales teams or one sales person to each account. And if they have a whole sales team for one account then how do they plan to reward those sales people. Will those sales people be evaluated on the basis of team performance or individual performance and if they will be evaluated on team performance then will the rewards be given to a whole team equally or depending on each sales person’s contribution towards the goal because these things will affect the motivation level of the sales people. Answer 2: The emphasis on training the sales people cannot be emphasized enough. Sales people’ training is very essential for both new and old sales people. Training in communicating with people is important for both old and new sales people since they come across all sorts of customers. For example, a sales person who is selling detergent will be selling the detergent to all sorts of people whether the customer is in higher socioeconomic class or lower, whether he is a man or a woman or whether he is Asian or America. Sales people should know how to communicate with all sorts of people so that they can cater to more customers. Administrative training is really important because the sales people whether old or new should be told to keep all sorts of documentation because safely keeping all sales documents is important therefore, sales people need training about what documents they need to create when a sale is made, how the documents are maintained and how they need to be filled, etc. Sales people also need training regarding knowledge development. They need to be told how to keep themselves abreast about all the products of the company, its competitors and also information about substitute products because the customer of today is very knowledgeable and therefore, to sell to such a customer, a sales person must know everything in and out so that he can convince the customer to buy his product. The new sales people need to be trained regarding the sales practices of the company, the sales culture of the company and also the sales process. You need to have the new recruit get integrated into the new environment so that he can perform well and secondly, all organizations do not have the same way of selling so the sales representative need to be made aware of what is expected out of him so that he can strive to achieve that and in a way that is accepted and practiced by the new organization. The importance of training is also important since the world is becoming global and sales people are transferred from one region to another so they need to be aware of the differences in culture, language, etc so that they can sell to the locals without transgressing the boundaries or offending them in any way. Experienced sales people have to be trained because if they are not trained, they become outdated. They need to be taught about the new ways of selling which are practiced by the big companies so that they can utilize them to sell to the customers. Experience sales people will also have to be made aware of the new technologies. For example, now many companies are using Sales Force Automation systems which enhance the selling of the organization. These are new technologies and the sales people will have to learn these new technologies to remain current and competitive. Training is also essential for new sales people to let them know what they need to do to move higher up in the rung which helps to reduce employee turnover since if they know that doing so and so will lead them to a new destination then they will not look outside the organization for career opportunities. Moreover, it makes it clear to them about what they need to do to get a certain thing so that they can work towards it. Answer 4: The major advantage of building customer relationships via the internet is the cost factor. It is much cheaper to sell, answer queries, and provide customer service to thousand customers on the Internet because very few people can handle all this since most of the work is automated. However, in a brick and mortar environment, it would require hundreds of sales people to manage all these relationships and it will be costly because you need to pay them, you need to train them and secondly, the consistency will not be there. Another major advantage of building customer relationships online is that you can cater to a wide range of audience. The Internet is used by people around the world so if you are selling books on the Internet and your business is in Chicago then you are not just limited to people living in Chicago. People from all around United States and also outside the country can buy from you since all they need is that they have to do is go to your website. The communication becomes very quick when you are handling relationships on the Internet. For example, if the customer is finding some problem with a new appliance he bought from an online store, he can just e-mail them or chat with some online representative who will solve the query faster than in traditional stores. The Internet helps you to display millions of things to a customer who gets to have a wide range which is not possible with traditional methods. So you can display millions of goods to the customer which will keep him happy without increasing your cost since you do not have to buy a huge storefront to keep all those goods. When you are selling an electronic item in a traditional store, you need to train all the sales people so that they know how to operate the item and whenever a customer arrives, the sales person will have to demonstrate to him how the item works. With online websites, you can put videos of demonstration of how the item works which is cheaper plus the customer can view any time and he can watch multiple times even after he has bought the item. However, there are also disadvantages of this method. For example, it is very difficult to attract traffic to your online service or store. Many companies do not have enough funds to pay websites such as Google for advertising them and with online websites; there is no other way of attracting customers. Another problem with this is that customer and sales person cannot see each other And due to that the communication is not as effective as with traditional methods. In all sorts of communication, a communication becomes more effective if the other person can see you so that you can study his body language and facial expressions. Secondly, many people find it uncomfortable talking to a machine. There are many prospective customers whom you can sell but they do not access the Internet either because it is not accessible to them or because they are too busy so there are chances that you can miss out on important customers which results in lost sales. When you have to interact with a customer online, it is much more difficult than using the traditional ways. Therefore, when recruiting people, you need to ensure that they are capable of communicating with someone over the Internet effectively. Moreover, they should be trained well so that they can help the customer properly. Sales Management One of the major problem facing sales managers is on what criteria to judge a new salesperson when hiring him. In most cases, the sales managers look at the sales person’s past records and his performance in the previous organization but many a times, they see that a successful salesperson in one organization does not perform when hired in the new organization. One of the main reasons for that it is the difference in culture and values. The new recruit might be very good but he might not be compatible with your organization. Another major problem being faced by the sales managers is that even though the sales people meet their targets, they barely ever follow the sales process of their own company. Every salesperson tries his own tactics that he thinks will bring business. When giving bonuses to salespeople, sales managers find it difficult to determine the metrics on which to evaluate the salesperson’s performance. Should they judge the salesperson depending on how much business he brought and in that case, they will have to ignore the ways the business was brought, to what extent was business rules followed and how ethical was the deal, etc. Ethical issues are one of the major problems that are faced by the sales managers. Many sales people bring in a lot of business for the firm but in return, they are being paid kickbacks by the customer which means that unethical behavior is practiced. It is very difficult for a sales manager to oversee any unethical practices taking place in the organization from his office and therefore, they find it extremely difficult for stop unethical practices in the organization. Almost all sales managers face this problem. The sales manager has to evaluate the performance of the sales people and this responsibility makes the sales manager a judge and on the other hand, the sales manager is required to train and coach the sales people and this responsibility makes the sales manager a coach and a helper and both these roles are very conflicting so the sales managers find it difficult to fulfill both roles since both roles require different type of a relationship with the sales person. Many sales managers when evaluating the sales person give more emphasis to whether they like the sales representative or not rather than on the fact that sales person is bringing in business which is not the right thing. Because even if the sales manager does not that sales representative, if the representative is bringing in the expected business, then the manager has to reward him either through commission or bonuses. Sales managers find it difficult to decide whether they want to have a salary plus commission or salary plus bonus. In the first method, the commission is the percentage of the sales made in actual dollar terms whereas in the second method, you give a certain percentage of the sales representative’s salary as a reward to the sales person. Both have their advantages and disadvantages and one method works better for some sales people whereas the other method works better for other sales people and deciding which one to implement is an issue that is faced by sales people on a more strategic level rather than operational level. Sales managers also have to decide whether they assign sales teams or one sales person to each account. And if they have a whole sales team for one account then how do they plan to reward those sales people. Will those sales people be evaluated on the basis of team performance or individual performance and if they will be evaluated on team performance then will the rewards be given to a whole team equally or depending on each sales person’s contribution towards the goal because these things will affect the motivation level of the sales people. Answer 2: The emphasis on training the sales people cannot be emphasized enough. Sales people’ training is very essential for both new and old sales people. Training in communicating with people is important for both old and new sales people since they come across all sorts of customers. For example, a sales person who is selling detergent will be selling the detergent to all sorts of people whether the customer is in higher socioeconomic class or lower, whether he is a man or a woman or whether he is Asian or America. Sales people should know how to communicate with all sorts of people so that they can cater to more customers. Administrative training is really important because the sales people whether old or new should be told to keep all sorts of documentation because safely keeping all sales documents is important therefore, sales people need training about what documents they need to create when a sale is made, how the documents are maintained and how they need to be filled, etc. Sales people also need training regarding knowledge development. They need to be told how to keep themselves abreast about all the products of the company, its competitors and also information about substitute products because the customer of today is very knowledgeable and therefore, to sell to such a customer, a sales person must know everything in and out so that he can convince the customer to buy his product. The new sales people need to be trained regarding the sales practices of the company, the sales culture of the company and also the sales process. You need to have the new recruit get integrated into the new environment so that he can perform well and secondly, all organizations do not have the same way of selling so the sales representative need to be made aware of what is expected out of him so that he can strive to achieve that and in a way that is accepted and practiced by the new organization. The importance of training is also important since the world is becoming global and sales people are transferred from one region to another so they need to be aware of the differences in culture, language, etc so that they can sell to the locals without transgressing the boundaries or offending them in any way. Experienced sales people have to be trained because if they are not trained, they become outdated. They need to be taught about the new ways of selling which are practiced by the big companies so that they can utilize them to sell to the customers. Experience sales people will also have to be made aware of the new technologies. For example, now many companies are using Sales Force Automation systems which enhance the selling of the organization. These are new technologies and the sales people will have to learn these new technologies to remain current and competitive. Training is also essential for new sales people to let them know what they need to do to move higher up in the rung which helps to reduce employee turnover since if they know that doing so and so will lead them to a new destination then they will not look outside the organization for career opportunities. Moreover, it makes it clear to them about what they need to do to get a certain thing so that they can work towards it. Answer 4: The major advantage of building customer relationships via the internet is the cost factor. It is much cheaper to sell, answer queries, and provide customer service to thousand customers on the Internet because very few people can handle all this since most of the work is automated. However, in a brick and mortar environment, it would require hundreds of sales people to manage all these relationships and it will be costly because you need to pay them, you need to train them and secondly, the consistency will not be there. Another major advantage of building customer relationships online is that you can cater to a wide range of audience. The Internet is used by people around the world so if you are selling books on the Internet and your business is in Chicago then you are not just limited to people living in Chicago. People from all around United States and also outside the country can buy from you since all they need is that they have to do is go to your website. The communication becomes very quick when you are handling relationships on the Internet. For example, if the customer is finding some problem with a new appliance he bought from an online store, he can just e-mail them or chat with some online representative who will solve the query faster than in traditional stores. The Internet helps you to display millions of things to a customer who gets to have a wide range which is not possible with traditional methods. So you can display millions of goods to the customer which will keep him happy without increasing your cost since you do not have to buy a huge storefront to keep all those goods. When you are selling an electronic item in a traditional store, you need to train all the sales people so that they know how to operate the item and whenever a customer arrives, the sales person will have to demonstrate to him how the item works. With online websites, you can put videos of demonstration of how the item works which is cheaper plus the customer can view any time and he can watch multiple times even after he has bought the item. However, there are also disadvantages of this method. For example, it is very difficult to attract traffic to your online service or store. Many companies do not have enough funds to pay websites such as Google for advertising them and with online websites; there is no other way of attracting customers. Another problem with this is that customer and sales person cannot see each other And due to that the communication is not as effective as with traditional methods. In all sorts of communication, a communication becomes more effective if the other person can see you so that you can study his body language and facial expressions. Secondly, many people find it uncomfortable talking to a machine. There are many prospective customers whom you can sell but they do not access the Internet either because it is not accessible to them or because they are too busy so there are chances that you can miss out on important customers which results in lost sales. When you have to interact with a customer online, it is much more difficult than using the traditional ways. Therefore, when recruiting people, you need to ensure that they are capable of communicating with someone over the Internet effectively. Moreover, they should be trained well so that they can help the customer properly.