Protein Energy Malnutrition Essay

The article’s subject concerns the protein deficiency among infants in the Osun state of Nigeria. Nursing frequency and duration experienced a reduction during complementary food were introduced to infants in Osun. Mothers tend to be complacent in feeding their babies with complementary food, which result to the minimized breast-feeding of mothers that hinders the natural nutrition that these infants need.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In a study conducted among Osun infants, they discovered that it was not a advisable for children at this age to be fed by such synthetic food. Consumption of such tends to halt the natural nourishment the babies need from their mothers. As early as two years old, babies were exposed already to complementary food, which is against the requirement of the World Health Organization (Ogunba, 2004). According to WHO, the amount of protein and calories (energy) that were consumed by infants were not above standard levels because these foods contain excess amount of carbohydrates alone (Ogunba, 2004). Obviously, the nutritional requirement of an infant is not met due to the outcome of early supplementation of these synthetic food. Infants’ natural diet should require constant breast-feeding in which they are enable to consume protein from milk. Unfortunately, this apt nutritional nourishment is ignored by the mothers in Osun (Ogunba, 2004).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In a study conducted among Osun infants, protein energy malnutrition was discovered that it was in constant depletion. The lack of protein among the infants resulted to â€Å"stunting†. Stunting   has a significant presence in the rural areas, which is an indication of chronic under-nutrition in these areas (Ogunba, 2004). It was discovered that stunting was among the culprits of infant growth faltering, as a result from the consumption of complementary food, children from one to six months of age were experiencing a decrease in growth and health progress (Ogunba, 2004). Stunting is the most prevalent of the different manifestations of PEM (33.9 per cent), followed by underweight (21.0 per cent) and wasting (9.2 per cent) (Ogunba, 2004). Children need protein more than adults do because they are constantly growing and developing. The protein requirement of infants is per unit of body weight higher than those of adults. Reference Ogunba,B. (2004). Protein energy malnutrition in complemented breast-fed babies: implications of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   the timing of complementary feeding. Nutrition & Food Science. Retrieved February 10,   Ã‚  Ã‚   2008, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://swtuopproxy.museglobal.com/MuseSessionID=af57a678251afeca8c38cca61826cae/   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   MuseHost=www.emeraldinsight.com/MusePath/Insight/ViewContentServlet?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Filename=Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Articles/0170340504.html

Tata Travel Trailer

The purchase budget and cash budget are lot simpler, since the amount related to production Is the same every month. The budgets assuming stable production benefit the production department, the purchase department, and the human resource department. It helps all these departments easily manage all kinds of resources and activities on a stable level. Disadvantage of preparing master budgets assuming stable productions: 1. If sales are seasonal, stable productions may cause inventory under stock during the best sales season and may cause inventory overstock during the poor sales season.It would Increase the Inventory and additional finance needed. Data should plan the production budgets based on sales forecast. In order to encourage the manager's to work as a team, Tat's bonus system could set an overall goal, for example, the net Income. The bonus will be earned 10% If overall goal Is reached. Second, Data should prepare flexible budgets to estimate total cost for the different level s of satellites. For example, to access purchase budget performance, compare the actual purchase with the budget recess on ten same production level.It could Aviva punishing ten purchase manger in order to keeping the amount of raw material on hand policy set by production manager. Using flexible purchase budget holds responsibility for variances only under purchase manager's control and truly reflect the efficiency and actual performance. Third, other measurement should be in a place in order to attain the organization's overall performance. For sales manager, the percentage of retiree customers in total sales is used to measure the continuing sales growth for Data.For production manager, the warranty expense and customer's complaints for poor quality can be used to measure how well Tat's products meet the market expectation. For the purchase manager, handling material in time can be used to measure to ensure Tat's production is under schedule. Also the Just-in-time vendor contract can be used to measure the performance of purchase manager, since it would lower the material cost. For finance manager, loan management can be used to measure the performance, since Tat's uneven sale, managing cash inflow and outflow are important for Data to meet payments due.

Why Fairy Tail Is a Bad Manga

Why Fairy Tail is a Bad Manga One of the most popular manga in circulation today is Fairy Tail. It is about a wizard guild named Fairy Tail, and the adventures of two of its members, a boy named Natsu and a girl named Lucy. In all, it seems like it could be a good story, but the writer could just not pull it off. Fairy Tail has one of the worst plots and character backgrounds of all the mangas still going today. To start off, we can review the problems with the main characters. Natsu, a boy who uses â€Å"Dragon-slayer† magic was found in the woods and brought up by a dragon.The dragon taught him too read, speak, and learn a secret technique that could be used too kill dragons! Not only does the author, Mashima Hiro, ruins the character background with an almost alternate version of â€Å"Tarzan† he also screws up the girl, Lucy, role in the story. She can’t really do anything. She just has a set of keys that summon magical spirits that she sends to fight for her . But, usually they are useless since she can only use each key on certain days. Her spirits also hardly ever follow her directions, so her whole character I completely useless.Her only real contribution too the story, is the comical situations that she is put in, and her figure, which consists of blond hair, brown eyes, and large breasts, which add sex appeal. Natsu on the other hand gains the ability to â€Å"eat† and control fire, from his â€Å"dragon-slayer† magic. The next problem in the story is the character development. In most well written mangas, the main characters either, mature or get considerably stronger while the story goes on. Yet, in for Fairy Tail, this is not the case. Instead, the main character remains the exact same way throughout, most of the story.For instance, Natsu, only gets stronger for brief periods of time every now and then, before going back too his normal level. Lucy acquires more keys, yet is still at the same level she started off a s, because her spirits hardly ever do anything right so she still ends up becoming useless. In other famous manga, the main sometimes, goes off for a couple years in the story, too do some kind of intense training, then comes back, extremely strong, like One Piece or Naruto. However in Fairy Tail the main characters disappear for seven whole years, and still don’t get stronger, as they were supposedly frozen in time!Finally, we have to look at the emotional aspect. Mashima Hiro, fails too bring out emotion in the reader. Whenever a bad something bad happens, it is almost immediately resolved. For instance, in volume 25 chapter 257, Lucy finds out her father has died, after the time skip. She starts crying, but not three pages later, gets over it, and goes on another adventure. Fairy Tails only good point in the whole manga, is its entertainment factor. If anything, it is funny and again, has a certain sex appeal, since most of the women in the manga have large breasts and wea r revealing clothing.It has a more upbeat kind of theme, were the villains practically say, â€Å"O well. You beat me too a pulp. I have now found the error in my ways and am going too join you/be good. † Besides its entertainment factor, there is no way; Fairy Tail would be as popular as it is now. The character development majorly lacks, the backgrounds of different characters are unsophisticated, and the author fails at creating emotion. So if you enjoy a manga, with a good plot and story line, please do not choose to read Fairy Tail, as you will be extremely disappointed.

Specific fatty acids and disease Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Specific fatty acids and disease - Assignment Example However, n-3 fatty acids have antithrombin, antiinflammatory, hypolipidemic and vasodilatory properties (Higdon 34). Benefits of n-3 fatty acids are known for the preventive measures of coronary heart diseases. Studies have shown that during chronic fish oil feeding, concentrations of postprandial triacylglycerol decreases and this causes an increase in plasma cholesterol concentration hence a low rate of coronary artery diseases found in fish eating population. New research findings show Leukotrienes are thought to play an important role in pathology of asthma. Increasing n-3 fatty acids intake decreases the formation of AA-derived leukotrienes (Reisman 6). A number of clinical trials have been used to examine the effects of a long-chained n-3 fatty acid supplementation on asthma. Although there is evidence that n-3 supplementation decreases the inflammatory mediators production of in asthmatic patients meaning the clinical trials have been having inconsistent results. Random control trials of the long-chain n-3 fatty acids supplements in asthmatic children and adults found no consistent effects on clinical measures including asthmatic symptoms, pulmonary function tests or bronchial hyper

Describe the relationship between the controlling function and other Essay

Describe the relationship between the controlling function and other managerial functions - Essay Example This essay will discuss the relationship between managerial control and other managerial functions, explain some of possible reasons why many people view controls negatively, and discuss the three primary steps involved in the control process. There is a very close relationship between managerial control and the other functions of management namely planning, coordinating, organizing, and directing. For instance, without proper planning, controlling activities in an organization can be baseless, while ineffective controlling can make planning a meaningless exercise. Proper management involves starting with planning or laying down strategies, organizing the available resources, coordinating the various departments in an organization, and finally implementing proper controlling measures (DuBrin, 2012). All these managerial functions reinforce each other and they can only be said to be inseparable. Employees in an organization usually view controls negatively with some going to an extent of claiming that managements should not exercise any type of control whatsoever. Most people claim that managements should be supporting employees’ efforts to be productive members of an organization, rather than imposing control systems for them, which they believe are counterproductive to both the employees and the general management. Research studies focusing on establishing people’s reaction towards the management control indicate that most people find management control as a way of dominating them, being coercive as well as heavy-handed (Daft, 2011). Setting performance standards is the first and most crucial step of any control process. In this context, standards refer to the targets or plans that have to be accomplished in the course of a business function, or the criterion for judging the overall performance in an organization. The standards set can either be measurable (tangible), or non-measurable (intangible) (Newton, 2011). Tangible standards refer to

Reading reflection 7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reading reflection 7 - Essay Example However, I agree that to the issue that there calls for reform since zero-tolerance policies have done little to help the countrys troubled youths (Springer & Roberts, 2011). Yes, these juvenile are all troubled teens. There is scientific confirmation that the teen years are a time of significant transition. Adolescents tend to have significant neurological deficiencies that result in limitations of judgment. Research proposes that when teens are exposed to risk factors such as neglect, abuse and poverty among others, they are psychologically predisposition to violence. Adolescents as compared to competent adults are less morally culpable for what they do and are more capable of change and rehabilitation. However, let us look at the broad picture. We have a moral obligation to sustain our established institutions because they have created and they help maintain law and order. The Institute for Juvenile Research was founded on the basis of aiding in dealing with this issue on a psychological basis. This has gone a long way in assisting the juvenile court systems since they come up with prevention strategies (Springer & Roberts, 2011). We are not in colonial times anymore so that we send youth home for a court-observed whipping. Today’s youths are highly sophisticated and with generally inadequate funding and fluctuating public support, the juvenile justice system has fallen short of meeting the challenge presented during the past decade. The juvenile justice system needs to be revitalized so that it will reverse juvenile trends, offer effective treatment, ensure appropriate sanctions and once again rebuild public confidence. Since the first juvenile court was established in 1899 in Chicago, 1L, a variety of strategies has been pursued to address the particular issues posed by juvenile offenders. Results have been mixed and it’s critical for young people to be aware that they

Assignment 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Assignment 4 - Essay Example The general taking in conclusion of our drawing activity is that separated from looking into their own particular pictures of pioneers and initiative, learners comprehend that their certain authority speculations have a singular and social segment that others could possibly impart. Taking into account the hypothetical underpinnings of implied initiative hypotheses sketched out, a key conclusion of showing verifiable authority speculations is that understudies see there might be no general substantial truth to what successful or "great" administration is, and that it depends all the more on singular, social, and social developments than on the attributes and practices of the pioneer thusly. Understanding this idea includes to begin with, getting a feeling of ones certain administration hypotheses; second, seeing how and why we discern pioneers in a particular. Amidst the aftermath of the Great Recession and current political gridlock in Washington, the need for seeing how to lead in times of emergency is more excellent than any other time. Heading under Pressure offers accommodating schema and a far reaching audit of research that develops our understanding of compelling emergency administration techniques and strategies. Emergency administration is recognized from the general area of authority. Their meaning of emergency initiative is excessively prohibitive in its concentrate on "the firm" frustrating its requisition to government pioneers who are distressful in need of bits of knowledge. Qualitatively, they recognize an "emergency" from a routine "issue" as a focal contention for why emergency authority is special. Probably, pioneers take care of routine issues, yet emergency pioneers intention emergencies (Hayes & Perry, 2010). The aspect of leading under pressure is evidenced by the cutting loose the dirty dozen case study 3 whereby, Marisa Munson who is

Applying Bradshaws model of river characteristics to the Barranco Del Essay

Applying Bradshaws model of river characteristics to the Barranco Del Rio, Tenerife. With the focus on the impact of landslides - Essay Example in the introductory parts of the paper for the better understanding of what will be discussed and linked with the hypothesis as well as the Bradshadow model (Arthur, 2007, page 391). The methodology used in the study has included the designs, the various equipments used in testing and experimenting as well as measuring, and the instruments. This study is therefore aimed at determining the drinks’ possible effects. It is also important to highlight that this paper has specified coherently the procedures and the results of the study. The study has been summarized with a clear conclusion. It is therefore important to highlight that the report is therefore quite detailed with the facts that were collected and the truths about Tenerife (Christine, 2001, page 281). It is important to highlight that this paper delves in the discussion of the Application of Bradshaw’s model of river characteristics to the Barranko Del Rio, Tenerife. The paper as well focuses on the impact of landslides. In the paper, there will be various diagrams that illustrate the various stages at the distinctive stages of the river. This is a report of a fieldtrip undertaken to Tenerife where variables of Bradshaw’s Model of River Characteristics were tested on a Barranko (river valley), focusing on the hypotheses that are listed below (Donald, 2008, page 518). Tenerife Island has a land of 2034.38Km2, the most densely populate is and in Spain. This as well makes it to be the largest island of the Canary Islands archipelago. It is important to highlight that it is one of the Canary Islands. It is connected using two airports that well developed for the enhancement of the accessibility of the island. These are the Tenerife north airport and the Tenerife south airport. The island was formed due to volcanic eruption and nearly visited by above 10 million tourists every year because of the scenic beauty in the island. The soils I this area are therefore the permeable volcanic type of soils that

Facquier Gas Company Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Facquier Gas Company - Case Study Example On top of that an additional 10 miles had to be planned for the following year. Murphy was tasked with the supply of gas distribution materials like pipes, meters, and fittings and basically all the materials required to make the project a success. The vice-president of the organization was in charge of supply, designing and construction organizations. While having lunch at the company cafeteria in January, Murphy overheard the Mr. Clive Byers (construction project manager) talking of a new Fauquier Gas Company project. The company had to start construction of a new 3.5 miles gas line in June and it had to be ready by September. For the project to be completed at the expected time, murphy requested Byers to furnish him with the purchase request so he could tender the same to the mills that would be able to accommodate his schedule. However, Byers told him he had to first get Sam Law (design engineer) to complete pipe specification after which Pat Wilson (construction project engineer) approval would give the green light for the start of the project. Only then would Byers send Murphy the purchase request. This consequently required consultation for the project to be completed in time. The specifications of the pipe that Pat Wilson gave Murphy were a diameter of the pipe being 24 inches with a wall thickness of 0.75 inches with a length of 57 feet. Previously, the pipe used to have wall thickness used to be 3/8 inches while the length was 40 feet plus or minus 5 feet. The new specifications were intended to reduce the stringiness by having a thickness of  ¾ inches thickness while increase in length to 57 foot would reduce welding cost. Wilson had to decide on the wrapper to use on the pipe by making economic considerations. Previously, Fauquier contracted two companies which used coal and pry-tech and were located in Philadelphia and Atlanta respectively. What worried Mr. Murphy the most is that by April 14th; he had not received the

Assignment-Oppression-Race, Class.And Gender in United States Coursework

Assignment-Oppression-Race, Class.And Gender in United States - Coursework Example The oppressed are treated cruelly and unjustly by those who have authority over them. For example, the poor continue to be oppressed as they have no means of getting out of their predicament. Tatum (2010) defines racism as a system of advantage based on race. Based on their color, the blacks are considered inferior than the whites due to racial prejudice. They are considered as not able to achieve much of the superior race of whites have been able to achieve hence are discriminated in all aspects; they cannot get good jobs, housing, and education among other aspects. Furthermore, the whites claim their privileges and advantages are biological in nature hence not racist; it is not their fault that they are advantaged. The blacks are blamed for their predicament in most cases as they are stereotyped as not willing to improve themselves and lack initiative. According to Hubbard (2010), human sexuality is not natural but a social construction in which children are socialized from birth. Traditionally, family roles were divided according to gender type. Some roles like hunting were solely for men while others like kitchen work was reserved for women and men were regarded as superior than women. Sexism is therefore the belief that one sex (male) is superior to the other (female) hence has the right to dominate almost all aspects of life. Women are discriminated against based on their sex due to gender stereotyping. For example, even with more women acquiring similar education levels as men, women still get absorbed in the lowly paid service sector while men join highly paid sectors such as engineering. Classism refers to the differences that exist between different groups in the society such that the dominant group oppresses the lower classes (Mantiosis 2010). He asserts that the society is divided into the wealthy class, middle class and the poor and acknowledges the fact that a wide gap exists between the rich and the poor in America contrary to a

Steve Jobs Leadership at Apple Essay Example for Free

Steve Jobs Leadership at Apple Essay The organization Apple Inc. has a flat hierarchy with six levels. This makes it possible for the CEO and the Board of Directors to have a larger overview of the company. The departments at Apple Inc. are functionally grouped. Some (e.g. Global Communication) are then grouped geographically. The organization is divided into specialized departments or teams, who all report to a team leader. All team leaders then meet with the CEO to discuss matters. Within theses teams are people who the CEO trusts to do their part. This means the CEO has a quite narrow span of control, as he does not have the responsibility for all departments, but he has selective influence on them. On a daily basis, Jobs had direct contact with about 50 people, out of the about 10.000 working at Apple Inc. For the organization to run as smoothly as possible, Jobs let those of a higher status (â€Å"A-players†) have a lower formalization, as he feared that if he did not let these very qualified people do their job, they would leave the company. Those of a lower status have higher formalization, as Steve has little trust in them. At the same time, it can be said that the organization has a centralized structure, as for instance, no product is ever released without it being approved by the CEO. In many situations though, decisions have to be made without his approval. A reason for this can be found in the wise words â€Å"No brain can effectively control more than 6-7 other brains† (General Sir Iain Hamilton) Who is Steve Jobs as a Leader? It is interesting to discuss whether Steve Jobs can be defined as a leader, or if he is in fact â€Å"just† a manager. Leaders can be said to be visionaries who drive new initiatives, which makes them likely to take risks. They seek to create positive or dramatic change. Managers on the other hand seek to achieve stability and predictability. It cannot be denied that Jobs has never hesitated to take a risk with his ideas and products, which would therefore make him a leader. â€Å"Managers do things right, leaders do the right thing† is another perception of the two terms. With undeniable success, Jobs has definitely done things right, which would make him a manager. Of course, there has been failure on his road to success, but if we take the firing from Apple (1998) as an example, his comeback only made him seem even more important in his role as CEO of the company. It is difficult to define him as one or the other. According to Mintzberg, management and leadership overlap. However, although most CEO’s must be a manager, not all posses the traits of a leader. The leadership ability to inspire is not easily acquired, and it was perhaps this trait, which made him not only a manager, but also an exceptional leader. Besides his inspirational qualities, there are other personality traits that define him as a leader. Through his commencement speech at the Stanford University graduation, he made use of his great rhetorical skills and charisma. According to Cannel (2008) typical traits of good leaders include ability to inspire and listening, sharing and delegating skills, and these boxes can therefore be checked off. In addition to this, an appealing trait is technical or professional knowledge and competence in a particular field. Jobs had an ability to connect art and technology, which led to e.g. the iPod. Taking the traits above into consideration, Jobs can be defined as what we call a Transformational leader, which is a term in new leadership. A such leader is typically charismatic, inspiring and motivates others to perform â€Å"beyond their contract†. According to Tichy and Devanna (1986) Transformational leaders have three main roles: Recognizing the need for revitalization Creating a new vision Institutionalizing change Jobs fulfils all three roles, as he had the ability to figure out what customers wanted, before they knew they wanted it. The creation of the iPod was on of the first examples of this. The iPhone and iPad kept Apple competitive on the market. Jobs has always been very involved in these inventions and has always aimed for the highest possible standards in his products. His way of incorporating art into technology, is what made the products of Apple unique and competitive. Examples of new ideas are the white iPods, Macs etc. and touch-screens. Even though other brands have attempted to use the same, it has now become a part of the Apple brand. The concept of New Transformational Superleader combines the ultimate traits of a leader in the 20th century. Such leaders must be in possession of specific traits, style-counselling and a context-fitting leadership. In the first category is appearance. In relation to this, it is interesting to notice that Steve Jobs always dresses in a black turtleneck, round glasses, jeans and sneakers. This characteristic outfit has become a symbol of his personality as it reflects his characteristic style. (Steve Jobs, p. 411 Walter Isaacson 2011) In the style-counselling category we again find that inspirational and visionary qualities together with risk-taking is valued. In an interview with ABC news, his former partner Steve Wozniak explained how Jobs was never afraid to take a chance on what he believed in, and he deliberates on the meaning of Jobs’ quote in the Stanford university commencement speech â€Å"Stay hungry, stay foolish†: â€Å"Like his other words (†¦) â€Å"follow your dreams, follow your internal passion, what’s in your heart, believe in yourself even when a lot of people are saying â€Å"No, this is not right, it’s not going to be worth anything, it’s not going to go anywhere, you’re off the right track,† and that’s very important.† Last we find the context-fitting category. Jobs is a very situational leader. As the world changes the products need to change too. An example of his context-fitting style was the personalization of the computer or the invention of the iPod. He did not invent these, but his creations so fundamentally changed the market, he might as well have. Today, many people do not have mp3 players, they have iPods, and so he created a whole new concept for a whole new time. Again, Jobs’ way of seeing what people wanted before they knew they wanted it, paved the way for great success on a new market. Later on, as the iPod almost became a necessity, and smartphones became popular, Jobs again fitted his products with the situation and found a way to combine the iPod, the computer (Mac/iOS) and the smartphone into one – the iPhone. The future of Apple Inc. The death of Steve Jobs had great impact on the organization of Apple. Having identified what made him so successful as a leader, it has become obvious that the new CEO has much to live up to. The stocks of Apple fell the day Jobs died, which provokes the idea that people connect Jobs’ death with Apple Inc.’s failure. (See attachment 1) It has come to show that people have dreaded what will now happen to Apple. There is a fear that Cook lacks the creativity and innovativeness that Jobs possessed. When the iPhone 4s came out instead of an iPhone 5, it cannot be denied that many were disappointed. Even though Jobs was in on the development of the 4s, it was Cook who presented it to the world, and so many have linked this ‘lack of renewal’ with Cook. Cook has yet to prove to Apple customers that he too has the required skills to be as successful as Jobs. Even though people may have doubts about Jobs’ successor, he has in fact done a lot to make Cook as capable as himself: Weve got really capable people at Apple. I made Tim [Cook] COO and gave him the Mac division and hes done brilliantly. I mean, some people say, Oh, God, if [Jobs] got run over by a bus, Apple would be in trouble. And, you know, I think it wouldnt be a party, but there are really capable people at Apple. And the board would have some good choices about who to pick as CEO. My job is to make the whole executive team good enough to be successors, so thats what I try to do. Tim Cook may be a capable CEO, but he has yet to prove his creative skills. He was a perfectionist and may have had more passion for his products than Cook has. A great leader should always leave behind a company, which is independent of them, and will flourish without them. When Jobs was fired in 1985 the company proved to be dependent on him, and it most likely would have gone bankrupt, had he not been rehired. The last time Jobs ‘left Apple’ it all went downhill†¦ will it happen again? Conclusion In conclusion, the organization of Apple has a flat structure, which gives the CEO a possibility for a high level of involvement, while delegating responsibilities to teams he trusts to do their part. Steve Jobs has personally contributed a great deal to the success of Apple with his creativity and innovative mind. As a leader he has made the organisation very functional by attempting to create an independent company, but still staying as involved as possible. He can be defined as a New Transformational Superleader, who is an inspirational person with the anility to motivate followers to higher levels of achievement and at the same time lead others to lead themselves. His ability to know what customers want before they know it themselves has transformed Apple from a minor computer company to a worldwide brand. His role in the creation of unique products was big, and as a front figure of the company the success of Apple has been linked to him, and made him a memorable leader, who will very likely go down in history. The future of Apple is yet to be defined, but if his successor possesses some of the same qualities as himself, it is likely that the success of Apple will continue for many years to come. Stay hungry, stay foolish – Steve Jobs References Litterature: Andrzej A. Huczynski and David A. Buchanan, Organizational Behaviour (7th Ed.) Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs – En biografi om manden bag Apple, Gyldendal 2011 Webpages: Steve Wozniak on Steve Jobs’ risk taking: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/steve-wozniak-death-steve-jobs-146801955 Independent leadership: http://www.gordontraining.com/leadership-training/no-steve-jobs-at-apple-how-dependent-should-an-organization-be-on-a- single-charismatic-leader/ Steve Jobs at the D8 Conference 2010: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrS7JQv-zgY Jobs on whether Apple could live without him: http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fortune/0803/gallery.jobsqna.fortune/5.html The biography of Steve Jobs: http://allaboutstevejobs.com/bio/short/short.html : Steve Jobs as a leader: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/steve-jobs-proudest-achievement-14801246 Attachment 1: Organizational Chart: http://www.theofficialboard.com/org-chart/apple Attachment 2: Apple Stocks http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=AAPL+Interactive#chart6:symbol=aapl;range=20110701,20111209;indicator=volume;charttype=line;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=on Attachment 1 Attachment 2

Communication Exersise Formal Report Essay Example for Free

Communication Exersise Formal Report Essay By Business Consultant Executive summary: Mirror Image needs an overhaul in communication between management and workers. After collecting information collected through the CEO and a resent staff survey, it is apparent that certain things are restricting good communication. With the help of great pre-existing research this report identifies several major issues. Distrust of management has led to limited communication, as the workers feel this protects them. I suggest this course of action: 1. Create a transparent workplace and reassure staff about future redundancies. 2. Invest in communication courses for managers that deal with open conversation. 3. Actively encourage ‘two way’ communication between managers and workers. 4. Promote team leaders (foremen) that communicate well. This report was commissioned by the CEO and will help identify the communication problems at Mirror Image, particularly between factory workers and managers. Firstly the report will bring together relevant information on the subject, secondly identify the problems with provided information and lastly it will suggest some causes of action to help improve communications at IM. 2.0 Analysis of communication: 2.1 Literature review: Communication Managers need more than technical skills, communication is a leaders main channel for inspiration and engagement, whilst helping avoid serious problems. Communication classes for management have been proven effective by large pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, large amounts of evidence suggest educating managers about communication is very beneficial (Walters Norton 2007). Communication classes for management can be tailored to address concerns. It’s usually hard to identifying issues resulting in poor communication. Luckily there is a wealth of information on the subject. Newberry Conrad (2010) delivered a journal dedicated to improving communication skills in the workplace. Relevance established, the authors list twenty four key communication guidelines to aim for. Relevant key ideas: * Initiate open Discussion(Organizational communication) * Create information networks â€Å" * Provide feedback â€Å" * Building trust(Interpersonal, involve positive verbal/non-verbal communication) Trust is gained by a manager, when subordinates have certainty about events. Certainty gained from open discussion, where both parties have a say. Trust leads to increased productivity (Bach, 2006). â€Å"The best disinfectant is sunshine (Allen, 2012)† Power Bases Gupta and Sharma (2008) believe Power bases play a pivotal role in worker compliance. They make a distinction between harsh power bases (HPB) and soft power bases (SPB). They conclude that SPB are more effective in conjunction with quality communication then HPB. The SPB categories are expert, referent, information and dependence legitimacy. The HPB categories are coercion, reward, position legitimacy (French Raven 1959). Silence The theory ‘the spiral of silence’ by Noelle-Neumann (1974) talks about how in groups, individuals will not raise comments or arguments, when they feel their views aren’t shared by the other members. The idea is important when considering employee involvement in the decision making process. Silence also occurs when there are trust issues. If someone believes what they say will be used against them, they will remain silent. Comment made by UK charity ‘Public Concerns at Work’, in a UK newspaper: The knowledge that there is a culture of silence in the workplace both encourages and shields the corrupt and dishonest (stern, 2008). In this instance the negligence of management was extreme. However silence can still facilitate negligence in management, no matter the severity. Therefore, silence in its adolescence is bad, if left untreated it could turn into something much worse. When participants in an organization discuss issues at meetings, certain points should be taken into account. Levasseur (1995) provides ten points, the relevant ones are: 2. Agree on a shared purpose. 4. Record ideas, issues and agreements. 6. Manage tasks and teamwork simultaneously. 7. Answer 4 key questions about every agenda topic. 8. Decide on next steps as a group. This list highlights the fact that communication is a ‘two way street’. Silence occurs in Organisations when these recommendations are not met. 2.2 Staff survey: (full results can be found in the appendix) The staff survey highlighted serious problems, with MI’s factory workers. The majority of workers gave a negative response to nearly every question. The workers seem to be more aware of the issues then the managers. The survey provided an anonymous outlet for factory workers where there previously wasn’t one. The survey should therefore be regarded as an accurate representation of worker/manager views. However some questions contain results that suggest ‘attribution errors’. Attribution errors effect perceptions of positive or negative situations, and whether it’s internalised or externalised (Philip, 1985), evidence will not be taken from these afflicted questions. Figure [ 1 ]~ 60% of workers believe they are insufficiently educated on their job role. Workers don’t receive enough instruction about their specific role in the company. This leads to enormous inefficiencies, as workers are left to pick up the pieces. Figure 2 ~60% of workers do not have confidence in management. The lanes of communication needed are not there. A workplace without trust is inefficient. Figure [ 3 ] ~80% of workers are prevented from voicing their concerns. Workers are scared that what they say will be viewed favourably. They are also worried about getting fired. They are already inherently disadvantaged, because their only form of vertical communication is ‘logical persuasion’. Figure 4 A lot of managers don’t involve workers. Decisions are probably made without them knowing. The workers probable feel helpless. Figure 5 All managers consider themselves approachable. Question three was the most unanimous result from the entire survey. This suggests managers don’t openly discourage communication. They most discourage communication other ways. They are in positions of power, making them more accountable then individual workers. 2.3 Case Study: Mirror Image shows a general lack of communication between management and their respective subordinates, brought about by distrust and fear. Management is distrusted because the workers fear clear communication will ultimately leave them jobless. Fear keeps what little interpersonal communication they have focused on safe subjects, like the ‘Rugby world cup’. Fear is a powerful tool used by harsher power bases. Managers at MI resort to harsh power bases because they come with the job (legitimate and coercive bases). Softer more progressive bases require reform and effort. The need for softer bases is evident in the formation of several factory leaders. One mentioned was ‘Rick’ who became a ‘go between’ for workers. Workers like Rick display reverent power that managers and the foreman lack. This is an obvious inefficiency. Effectively doubling the time spent communicating. The ‘spiral of silence’ impacts employees, because their ideas are not considered my management. Previously efforts in communication where hampered by an uninterested CEO. Relying on memo boards is extremely impersonal and should only be used for functional information. This lack of effective communication set a low standard for workers and managers, this caused the distrust between them. Managers didn’t involve workers and don’t ask for their opinions, while workers used inefficient mediums of exchange. The loss in productivity isn’t easy to quantify, however managers being disinterested in workers activities may further decrease productivity (Mayo, 1930). 3.0 Conclusion: MI has significant issues between factory workers and management. Brought about by lacklustre communication, the issues were mostly caused by distrust. When analysing the workers survey it was obvious that they sore serious problems with the way MI was run. NOT FINISHED 4.0 Recommendation: These recommendations will help managers and workers communicate more efficiently, remembering as CEO you should lead by example. Transparency should be deployed in every facet of the organisation, to tackle the large trust issues hampering communication. Start by reassuring staff that jobs will not be going under your leadership, making shore you don’t promise something you can’t keep. Try having reviewable performance evaluation  systems. If transparency is achieved certainty will result, certainty in time will bring a trusting workforce. Use communication classes to teach the basics, from subtle nonverbal communication to lifting the level of communication entirely (extensive list provided in index). Include shifting manager’s power bases from harsh to soft. Only bother teaching the managers as it will cost less, while achieving more. Managers should be encouraged to show an interest in the workers and the work they are doing. Managers should encourage ‘two way’ communication, make them answer employee questions fully. If they are not receiving questions have them rhetorically answer some of their own. Enforce these measures by increasing the transparency down the chain of command. Ask for updates on progress regularly. Removing the memo board is a good idea, in favour of orders being communicated down the chain of command, to ensure ‘two way’ communication. Only process information should be distributed through other mediums. Goals should be produced by both the workers and managers. This should reduce some of the ‘spiral of silence’ effects. Finally the team leaders (foremen) have proven to be a bottle neck in communication. Seek to promote workers who display natural ability to communicate. For example ‘Rick’ the employee mentioned by you would be a fine candidate. These leaders will hopefully bridge the gap between workers and management. 5.0 List of references: 1. Allen, Christopher J,D.V.M., J.D. 2012, 4 Ways to Provide Transparency in the Workplace, DVM, vol. 43, no. 10, pp. 54-55. 2. Bach, P. 2006, Workplace trust hard to gain, but consistency, transparency key, Washington, United States, Washington.(ProQuestID- 463161676) 3. Daniel A. Wren, Arthur G. Bedeian, John D. Breeze, (2002) The foundations of Henri Fayol’s administrative theory, Management Decision, Vol. 40 Iss: 9, pp.906 918 state: It was not until the Storr’s translation that Fayol’s (1949) 4. French, J. R. and B. Raven (1959). The bases of social power. Studies in social power 150: 167 5. Gupta, B. Sharma, N.K. 2008, Compliance with Bases of Power and Subordinates Perception of Superiors: Moderating Effect of Quality of Interaction, Singapore Management Review, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 1-24. (ProQuestID-226850816) 6. Levasseur, R.E. 1995, Breaking the silence, Successful Meetings, vol. 44, no. 13, pp. 61-61.(ProQuestID-206037363) 7. Mayo, Elton (1930). Hawthorne and the Western Electric Company. The Social Problems of an Industrial Civilisation. Routledge. 8. Newberry, R. Conrad, D. 2010, Identification of Outcome Based Business Communication Skills, Allied Academies International Conference.Academy of Organizational Culture, Communications and Conflict.Proceedings, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 28-32.(ProQuestID- 807539416) 9. Noelle-Neumann, E.(1974) â€Å"The spiral of silence†: A theory of public opinion. Journal of Communication, 24, 43-3 10. Philip E. Tetlock. Sept 1985, â€Å"Accountability: A Social Check on the Fundamental Attribution Error†, Social Psychology Quarterly, Vol. 48, No. 3, pp. 227-236 11. Stern, S. Sept 9 2008, Pssst . . . get smart and wipe out whistleblowing, The Financial Times, United Kingdom 12. Walters, D. Norton, D. 2007, Leadership communication the AstraZeneca way, Strategic Communication Management, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 16-19. (ProQuestID-203 573719) | | 6.0 Appendix: 6.1 Question from Survey: Factory Worker Questions 1. I have a clear idea about my job role. 2. I am satisfied with the performance evaluation system. 3. Sometime I’m given tasks without the required resources (including time and knowledge) to complete them. (possible attribution error) 4. I have confidence in the intentions of the top management team 5. I feel comfortable voicing my concerns to senior managers. 6. I have a voice in the organizational decision making process. 7. I trust the people with which I work 8. I am treated fairly at work 9. I am satisfied with my work. 10. I feel committed to this organisation Management Questions 1. I try to seek employees’ input when making decisions. 2. I tend to closely supervise my subordinates. 3. I consider myself an approachable manager(possible attribution error) 4. I tend to customize my communication with employees to fit specific situations 5. I consider my workplace as rather political 6. I am satisfied with my work. 7. I feel committed to this organisation 6.2 Results from Survey: | Workers n=100| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | q1| q2| q3| q4| q5| q6| q7| q8| q9| q10| Completely Disagree| 20| 15| 10| 35| 60| 72| 36| 23| 0| 5| Mostly Disagree| 40| 45| 15| 25| 20| 24| 25| 32| 19| 55| Neither| 20| 20| 10| 25| 10| 4| 30| 28| 52| 25| Mostly Agree| 10| 20| 40| 15| 10| 0| 9| 7| 23| 10| Completely Agree| 10| 0| 25| 0| 0| 0| 0| 10| 6| 5| | | | Managers n=20| | | | | | | | | q1| q2| q3| q4| q5| q6| q7| | Completely Disagree| 2| 0| 0| 3| 1| 0| 0| | Mostly Disagree| 7| 2| 0| 5| 2| 2| 3| | Neither| 10| 3| 0| 4| 3| 3| 3| | Mostly Agree| 1| 4| 0| 3| 5| 5| 5| | Completly Agree| 0| 11| 20| 5| 9| 10| 9| | 6.3Newberry Conrad (2010) extensive list of valuable communication skills â€Å"Organizational Communication Skills 1. Initiating open discussion the ability to create the act of discussion and dialogue exploring opposition by individuals who advocate their positions and convince others to adopt those positions through logic, argument, or debate 2. Resolving conflict the ability to employ a range of processes aimed at alleviating or eliminating sources of conflict through processes including negotiation, mediation, and diplomacy 3. Creating information networks the ability to design and institute formal or informal systems for managing the flow of information and providing person-to-person relationships through which information flows 4. Teaching important skills the ability to provide skill remediation to employees in areas such as job performance, technical competency, interpersonal  communication, and problem solving 5. Using information technology the ability to employ equipment (usually computers) that enables managers and staff to access ongoing and relevant company information including reports, planning data, and employee and customer feedback 6. Providing performance feedback the ability to assess employee performance and provide performance feedback as a review of the performance of employees, which helps to set targets for future performance targets 7. Negotiating the ability to produce an agreement upon courses of action, to bargain for individual or collective advantage, or to craft outcomes to satisfy various interests. 8. Writing business correspondence the ability to produce written communication used in business including letters, memos, bulletins, and reports 9. Making convincing presentations the ability to provide informal or formal talks delivered to decision making groups to convey information or make a point Leadership Communication Skills 1. Arousing enthusiasm the ability to inspire a whole-hearted devotion to an ideal cause, study or pursuit, or merely being visibly excited about what ones doing 2. Being a change catalyst the ability to initiate change through provision of information to employees that will convince them of why a change is necessary and will compel them to embrace it 3. Creating group synergy the ability to compel organizational members to interact and produce a joint effect that is greater than the sum of the members acting alone 4. Building team bonds the ability to establish team cohesiveness, which is the extent to which members stick together and remain united in the pursuit of a common goal 5. Expressing encouragement the ability to provide support and confidence raising or increasing ones self-esteem and confidence to make choices and decisions 6. Providing motivation the ability to move a person or group toward desired goals by increasing their willingness to exert effort and energy to achieve the goals 7. Being persuasive the ability to guide people toward the adoption of an idea, attitude, or action by rational, and logical means relying on appeals rather than coercion 8. Building optimism the ability to create a disposition or tendency to look on the more favorable side of events or conditions and to expect the most favorable outcome despite obstacles and setbacks Interpersonal Communication Skills 1. Active listening the ability to employ an intrapersonal and interactive process to actively focus on, interpret, and respond verbally and nonverbally to messages 2. Building rapport the ability to create a harmonious relationship, bond, or kinship based on mutual respect, friendship, camaraderie, or emotional ties making someone feel comfortable and accepted 3. Demonstrating emotion self control the ability to display balanced moods through retaining, mastering, and dominating ones reactions provoked by pleasant or unpleasant emotion 4. Building trust the ability to construct the reciprocal faith in others intentions and behavior through a shared belief that you can depend on each other to achieve a common purpose 5. Relating to people of diverse backgrounds the ability to recognize and respect differences in people and communicate appropriately in verbal and nonverbal exchanges 6. Demonstrating respect the ability to show esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person, a personal quality or ability, or something considered as a manifestation of a personal quality or ability 7. Building relationships the ability to establish a relatively long-term association between two or more people based on liking, trust, and respect creating regular business interactions, interdependence, or some other type of social commitment (Newberry Conrad 2010)†

Looking At Presales Bid Management Information Technology Essay

Looking At Presales Bid Management Information Technology Essay This topic s not a primary focus of this book but this is included here for greater awareness. The chapter has a major real-time case study at the end. This chapter takes you through the preliminary concepts and then introduces the third party consultants and their role in large deals. Role of onsite relationship managers is also discussed here. What Is Presales Bid Management? Presales involves lead generation follow-ups, solution preparation, final proposals, product demonstrations, proof of concepts (POC), and many other marketing related activities till the customer is acquired. Bid Management is a vital Presales support service that provides copywriting, administrative and technical resources to ensure the quality of proposal documentation and presentations. A bid managers role is to present a proposal to client that meets their business and cost objectives, while minimizing business risks and maximizing profit margins (to her parent organization). Bid manager is the owner of proposal making process. She studies the request for proposal (RFP docs) from the client, which can be very comprehensive and legal in nature. She plans the whole proposal making like any other project and is solely responsible for keeping quality, costs and schedule for the whole bidding process. She needs to work very closely with sales, technical, delivery and commercial teams to co-ordinate the preparation of a winning proposal. The sales, delivery and technical teams can belong to different verticals and might be scattered across the globe, so the effective coordination and inter personal skills are the key here. A bid manager may not have any direct control over any of the teams, she is working with. For participating executives from different verticals, proposal making may be an extra add to their already tight day-to-day schedules, so getting quality time from them can be one of the biggest challenge in the process. The term winning proposal is very important here; because if we dont win, the whole exercise will be just a big overhead to the organization and how many such overheads your organization can absorb without significantly affecting the bottom line? Following are the main functions that can be categorized under presales and bid management. Qualification and prioritization of proposal and tenders. Co-ordination with sales, solutions, delivery and finance departments To ensure the availability of complete and quality information from each source within set timelines. Proposal documentation. Final presentations to the client with sales team that may involve technical consulting and product demonstrations. Who Fits? A good fit here would be a person who knows the company and its offerings inside out. Good communication, co-ordination, presentation, and interpersonal skills are usually required. It will help if the person for the bid manager post has work in similar projects/ products (as required by RFP) and can appreciate their commercial as well as technology aspects. She will be required to do a lot of number crunchings say for schedule, cost and scope and quick what-if computations to deal with variations in these factors. A thorough understanding of industry segment in which she is working will be a big plus. Not to forget stress and round the clock working under extreme pressures of dead lines is an integral part of this job. The Organization For Presales And Bid Management This will vary from company to company. In IT services companies there may be a few people marked working for presales function at each vertical/ department level. Typically it is headed by a manager presales. For large deals there can be a presales group working at corporate level that helps presales managers at different verticals. The corporate level presales group might involve very senior and seasoned professionals as far as the whole process of bid management is concerned. Whenever the organization receives a RFP (Request for Proposal), pre sales group may need to draw people from different verticals as per the expertise required in making proposal. Technical writers, commercial and legal managers are invariably required in case of large deals. There can be a bid manager designated for every individual RFP depending upon the size of the deal. In case of smaller deals, a single bid manager might takeover multiple bids. A bid manager is like a project manager with a responsibility of complete bid process. The bid manager typically belongs to the presales organization but there can be variations; if the stakes in proposal from a particular vertical are more, they may like to appoint the bid manager in consultation with pre sales. Once the bidding process is complete, expert from other verticals may go back to their regular assignments. Role Of Third Party Consultants In Execution Of Bids Companies typically specialize in their line of business; floating a tender and managing the whole process may altogether be a different ballgame. Its true especially when the stakes on the buyer side are high and tenders floated globally. The buyers side may find it an uphill task to manage the whole bidding process and fortunately consultants are there to help. In the whole process of bid management, consultants can be employed by both buyers as well as sellers. On buyers side they help in writing documents for RFP (Request for Proposal) and manage the whole bid process till the right vendor is selected. RFP document is important as it tells exactly what goods and services are required along with location, price, constraints and other terms and conditions. Its a legal document and forms the base for writing proposal on the suppliers side. Similarly on buyers side, third part consults help in evaluating the proposal. Typically they can take the role of a bid manager on the suppliers side and do coordination with verticals as required, and manage the whole bidding process. When third party consultants are engaged by the buying organization, they are the sole contact points for vendors for the whole bid-life-cycle. For buyers, they ensure quality of RFP and supporting documents, the right placement of the RFP (putting to select qualified vendors), the assessment of vendor capabilities and fit, the the documentation is as per agreed standards and finally help the buyers to rate the vendor proposals to conclude the bidding process. They may also monitor the transition and change management for buyer and typically oversee steady stare operations for an agreed period. Role Of Onsite/ Customer Relationship Managers (RM) Its often onsite relationship managers, who are first to know yes! Some thing right is going on there. They may bring in the lead; much before the official tender is floated. They help to ensure, their company is also a party to the bidding process. In many strategic deals the tender may not be floated publicly but the buyers place it to select companies, who they believe, have the capabilities to deliver as per their requirements. Onsite coordinators can bring in vital information about buyer groups, managers and their motivation behind floating such a tender. Some time approximate budget is also known. All this information can be vital in upbringing of a winning proposal, in fine-tuning the commercials and other details in last minutes if required. Post win onsite managers play a lead role in transition and ensure required levels of co-operation from clients end. Its the familiarity of onsite coordinators with client managers and their business (and also on what will fly) that ma kes them a crucial link in the whole process. Section B: Sales marketing of IT Companies Definitions Many of us do not appreciate the fact that sales are an important sub-part of marketing. Marketing is everything you do to promote your business. If you have an apt marketing strategy, most of the job is done. If the customer values your product services, she will herself make an effort to buy them. And you need little or no sales effort at all. The primary job of marketing is to create interest of the customer in your companys products and services. Marketing strategies deal with business development, selling techniques, communication and customer relationships. Marketing creates value for your customers as well as the company. With this, I think we understand the difference between sales marketing. Now; when we talk of IT we are generally concerned with marketing selling our solutions. For the purpose of this discussion; a solution is a mutually agreed-upon answer to a recognized problem that should provide some measurable improvement. So whats different here? We have two processes in any business scenario purchase and sale. The solution sales processes depends more on the buyer, who must feel the need for value from the organization, beyond its standard product or services being sold. The buyer must also perceive the prospective seller as having the credibility to deliver that expertise. At the same time the buyer must feel trust in supplier to discuss a problem share information that may be crucial for his survival. After that only a supplier may be allowed to do due-diligence and offer a solution and associated commercials (to the buyer). So we can make out the difference between a buyer in two situations solutions selling and selling standard products services. Fair enough! Critical Success Factors In Solutions Selling Already so much has been written on this topic in the management literature. We will discuss only a few of key points for the sake of completeness. Believing the emotional value and benefits of solution offerings: It is important to get an emotional understanding of your service offerings along with technical and business aspects. You need integrity and a strong belief in your offerings. For making a sale you should be able to transfer all this into the hands of buyer. Ability to find qualified buyers: Meaningful selling happens when you can find people who have a certain need and you can fill that need. Establish trust: Selling always requires building relationships and determining the buyers true needs. If trust cant be established; selling a solution might be extremely difficult. Match needs/wants to product benefits: It is critical to understand the buyers true needs and be able to match them with the solutions benefits. Ability to ask for the sale and deliver: Simply presenting the benefits of solution isnt enough. You must be able to ask the prospect to take an action in the form of placing an order. Once the order is placed you must be able to deliver on what you proposed. This is directly linked with your credibility to make next sale to the same customer or in the greater market place. How Technical Background Helps? It is very difficult to find people who are well-versed in selling solutions. Companies are investing a lot many $ in training qualified people with relevant technical backgrounds so that they are able to find the right solution for the customers. An effective solutions sales executive should be capable of processing a potential clients business needs, comprehend the technologies available and help designing a solution that delivers desired value to the customer and maximize the profits for her company. Most successful solution sales profiles have good engineering and business backgrounds. They have the right soft-skills, and thorough understanding of market. The key soft-skills that count here are business communication, public speaking, conflict management, and negotiation. Challenges Faced By A Customer Relationship Manager (RM) One of the most important skills RM needs is the ability to multitask and utilize various skill sets depending on the assignment at hand. Each day can bring its own set of unique responsibilities and challenges. For example it is anchoring a series of client meetings to discuss a large proposal for outsourcing their infrastructure ERP maintenance. It can well be a networking event to congregate the important stake holders, both from business and IT for a big project. Managing several different tasks at the same time might be challenging. The variety of responsibilities a RM has, to keep the business and relationship running can be very interesting at times. Back in office, there can be reviews of ongoing projects in onsite- offshore model with a couple of meetings per week. There can be one-on-one meetings with the client and other stake holders. Other meetings can be with the offshore teams late in the evening. Effective presentation and negotiation skills are very important for a RM. It can be periodic presentations to clients CIO on overall engagement or it can be presentation regarding resolution to a major break down in IT services. At times RM is there only to listen and make a compromise or mediate difference of opinion on project scope between project owner and the offshore project manager. One major task for RM is Bids and new initiatives as we have discussed in earlier sections. RM is one of the very few persons present on client side (from vendor) so she is the one who takes the first reaction from the client for both good and bad of offshore teams. She needs to be a true diplomat if you want to say it short! RM vs. BRM We are very much familiar with the role of customer relationship managers (RM) in solutions selling. The role of Business Relationship Manager (BRM) is a relatively new role in IT organizations. The BRM is an important link between IT and the business. The BRM needs to have significant knowledge pertaining to both technology and the commercials. BRM generally talks for the business within an IT organization, without any additional responsibilities to sell products or work on upcoming business deals. BRM role was actually created by CIOs in IT as a solution to what business sees IT as a barrier. Many times business doesnt understand how swiftly IT organization can respond to their fast changing needs or simply doesnt appreciate the capabilities of IT? BRM is supposed to fill this communication gap. BRM needs to know both business and technology to a reasonable level. This position also requires an ability to understand the business adequately to communicate the substance of projects t o the technology teams. On the other hand, BRM also needs to comprehend the technology sufficiently to communicate its complexity in simple terms for the business. Case Study: A Complete Bidding Cycle for a Multimillion $ IT Outsourcing Deal Y Inc. is a US based IT outsourcing company dealing in Information Technology products and services. It has marketing and development offices in more than 50 countries all over the world with sales revenue running in multi billion dollars from services alone. The services IT portfolio covers almost every segment ranging from high end ERP consulting, internet, mainframes to legacy applications. Y Inc. has development centers in all Indian metros with total staff exceeding 40,000 in India alone. ERP services and Web Applications are the most revenue earning activities throughout the globe. Y Inc. had received a request for proposal (RFP) from a European conglomerate (AtoV inc.) for managing their IT operations worldwide. They wanted to outsource their entire IT operations in order to achieve better operational efficiencies, substantially , reduce IT operations costs and get an ability to focus more on their core manufacturing and retail business. AtoV Inc. has diverse interests throughout the world that include heavy engineering, consumer goods, house hold electronic equipment, electric distribution grids, automobiles and retail businesses. They also have a fully owned IT company (IT Ltd.) that is supposed to manage IT operations for all their group companies. The group IT Company (IT Ltd.) is seriously short of skilled manpower to support other group companies in a cost effective manner. Also there is a lot of interference in the operations of IT Ltd. itself by the corporate (AtoV Inc.) and its not free to price its services as per market standards. Many a times IT Lt d. is forced to give resources free of cost or at nominal rates to other companies in the conglomerate to manage their IT operations. Appointments at top level in IT Inc. are also dictated by the corporate (AtoV Inc.); and there are many more such reasons, this group IT arm (IT Ltd.) is fast becoming economically not-so-viable for providing IT services to the group. The corporate was forced to look outside for better options (vendors) that are market driven and can be held responsible incase of non performance. This was the first occasion in past several decades where AtoV Inc. had floated a RFP outside to its group empire for outsourcing IT operations. They were extra cautious and are taking every possible effort to make it a success. The RFP was not advertized publicly but only a few major players across the globe were invited to put forward their proposals. AtoV Inc. thought these were the IT services companies who could sale up to their standards in terms of quantity, quality and reliability. Total nine global IT service providers were invited to participate in this prestigious worldwide bidding exercise. Each one of the participants had annual sales revenues well exceeding $ one billion. All were global players. They all had expertise build up over the years in the areas desired by AtoV Inc. These nine service providers were selected based upon a comprehensive research project undertaken as a part of preparing formal RFP documents. The selection of final vendor would depend upon how well these service providers understand the requirements of AtoV and present a customized solution. Pricing and other commercials of the proposal were to play an important role. However the contract could be awarded to a vendor who se quality and solution perfectly suited the needs of AtoV. In that case the pricing could be second or even third best (amongst all the bids submitted). We see therefore, the pricing was not the sole criteria. The total pricing of goods and services asked by AtoV Inc. was likely to run into several hundred million $, spread over the contract period. Depending on the annual performance reviews, the contract was likely to be extended up to 5 years. As expected, this bidding exercise attracted the attention of business press, the worldwide. In India it was in headlines in national business news papers, as much of the contract was likely to be executed from India (that is perceived a low cost region). Almost all the contestants for this contract had major back office presence in India. Executives of AtoV had no prior experience in dealing with the bidding processes of this magnitude and geographical spread. So they engaged a third party consultant (TP Con.), specializing in bid management for large deals, to manage the selection of most suitable vendor for them. TP Cons were given complete responsibility from concept to closure. The selection of a suitable vendor was the closing point of the bidding process. TP Cons were also supposed to monitor the transition and work out a plan for change management. Both AtoV Inc. and TP Cons were headquartered in California. TP Cons started talks to various department heads and CXOs of companies within AtoV group that were likely to be parties in this off shoring exercise. It required almost a months due diligence for TP Cons to figure out the IT needs of various participant companies. It was decided to contract out IT operations in phases. For the first phase Infrastructure Services (IMS) and ERP were chosen. These services ba dly needed an overhaul and they were the ones, consuming the maximum portion of IT budget; almost in all the cases (Companies). After everyone agreed in concept for inviting proposals in order to contract ERP and IMS services, the first step was to write a request for proposal (RFP) document. RFP is a comprehensive document that mainly focuses on the scope of goods and services requirements and conditions governing the bidding process and the contract there after. As stated earlier this was to be a multimillion $ contract spanning over 5 years. The RFP document itself was running close to hundred pages including many annexure. The main document had many sections. The first section included company back ground (AtoV Inc.) and the intentions behind floating the RFP. Various acronyms used in the main RFP document and its annexure were defined. It had contact points for the purpose of proposal from AtoV side. It also had proposal submission timelines and terms and conditions governing the whole process of proposal making. It also had the general requirements that a vendor and its proposal needs to fulfill as a prequalification note. It had executive summary of the overall scope being outsourced. And as main content it had two sections on the detailed scope of goods and servi ces sought from prospective vendors. One section contained detailed description on ERP services and the other one detailed infrastructure service (IMS) outsourcing requirements. It had a NDA (non disclosure agreement) to be signed by prospective vendor as AtoV was sharing a lot of confidential information regarding their applications and infrastructure. All this information was vital to the prospects for an accurate proposal making. The RFP also had a template (an outline format) for proposal and broad guidelines on what proposal would contain terms of solution and commercials. Apart from the said details in the main body of RFP; there was a number of supporting annexure documents in including some detailed spread sheets. They included NDAs, formats for commercials, legal terms and conditions governing proposal, application landscape and their interface details with multiple ERPs in the scope of proposal, details of servers and diagrams of network architecture and many other details to work out the solution and commercials of the proposal as accurately as possible. After issuing RFP, the suppliers were given a chance to raise their questions regarding proposal and bid processes. The proposal was to be submitted by email before a stated due date (fixed) and time that was to be followed very strictly. After two weeks of making proposal, each one of the 9 prospects was to be given a chance of oral presentations to a selection committee comprising of senior executives from AtoV and TP Cons. The period between floating of RFP and final award of contract was approximately 2 months that is typical to deals of this magnitude. After the contract award date, there was a transition period of 3 months to transfer application and Infrastructure services to the bid winner, Y Inc. in our case. TP Cons were to chalk out and execute a plan for transition and change management. During transition all expenses were 50-50 between Y inc. and AtoV. Expenses included salaries for Y Inc. and AtoV, all overheads, software/ hardware and whatever it takes for smooth trans ition of services to Y Inc. The transition was to work under an onsite/offshore model from India as offshore base. Main onsite locations were spread in North America, UK, Germany, Japan, Singapore and Australia. After all transition is done TP Cons were to monitor the steady state operations for an additional quarter. Once Y Inc. officially received the RFP; a RFP response team was to be formed. First member, the bid manager was from presales team as it happens in many cases. He was the project manager for this mega proposal making exercise. The team members were required from infrastructure group and ERP competency. Almost all the elements of IT infrastructure like mobile devices, phones, copiers, PCs, servers, data centres, software, networks and the processes including help desk were involved and IMS was the biggest component of RFP. Three to four senior experts were needed to cover all the areas of IMS required in the proposal. As usual the resources were already busy doing other billable projects. Making a proposal was important to organization but it cant be billed to any client obviously. So taking a project manager out from his billable role for a couple of month was a difficult call for any functional head. For ERP stream we required experts from SAP, Oracle Apps and People Soft HRMS syst ems both technical and domain experts. Though the size in terms of $ value of ERP stream was smaller but we needed many more members there because of diverse nature of functionalities involved and we had 3 core ERPs to support. In ERP stream also the story was the same all designated members for proposal making were busy in billable roles. To start with, the members in both the streams were put in dual roles of working in their regular work and contributing in proposal making s well. All the team members including bid manager were busy in study and analyzing the RFP documents from the client. Legal and finance teams also studied the proposals. Around 35 questions from all the streams were sent to the client for clarifications. Sending too many questions is considered as if you have not done your home work in analyzing information supplied in RFP and at the same time sending too few (of them) may be taken as if you have not studied the RFP in the depth required for making the proposal (so its a fine balancing act). All the nine prospects sent in their list of questions to AtoV for getting more information and clarifications, which they thought were required to make a decent proposal. AtoV executives took about one week to get back with answers. QA from all the 9 prospects was combined and this combined list was circulated to each participant. This is a typical practice to make sure each prospect is benefitted by the questions raised by others and all of them have maximum possible information (right information) before they start working the proposal. AtoV along with TP Cons also hosted a pre-bid face-to-face meeting in whic h all the prospects could discuss the answers and ask on any remaining questions. This was the last chance for all the participants to raise their questions or ask for more information. After closing of this meeting till the submission of final proposals, any officials from the potential vendors (9 prospects) were not supposed to talk to ANYONE from the client (AtoV). Any such attempt could disqualify the prospect from making a proposal. With all this information now it was imperative for Y Inc. to work on proposal on a war footing. They had 40 calendar days time left and team was not in place yet. Except bid manager himself nobody else was confident on content, clauses and scope of the proposal. Y Inc. decided not to engage a third party consultant for writing a proposal. Being an IT services major, making such proposals was routinely done. More over they had a specialized team under presales for such large deals. Even with large deals team, the experts were to come from respective team of ERP and IMS competency verticals. Including bid manager and two members from the large deal group a total of 14 members were identified for making this proposal. All had prior experience in making such proposals. Two technical writers were also included in the team. One of the team members from large deals group was of the level of general manager. The day came when all designated proposal team members were detached from their regular work and they were all packed in a conference hall of the corporate office. No land lines in the conference hall (conf hall) and all mute cell phones only hot discussions! They were sometimes useful and sometimes not so useful. But great, all team members were available in a room to exchange ideas and technical writers standing, to take notes and make things presentable. First bid manager presented a schedule on how to make it who will do what by what date? A net 30 calendar day program no offs; not even weekends. Start by 7:30 or 8:00 AM till half past mid night sometimes but no compulsions. Breaks for tea and smoke; snacks made available inside the room; all make to order. The motto only one, get it done whatever it takes. You can take your offs later. Some model proposals were studied and things start taking shape. 0.1 draft versions was ready first everybody is seen disappointed. A senior member from the large deals wanted everything to be redone. The onsite manager insisted inclusion of everything as per ITIL standards as it was very important from the clients perspective. One ITIL expert and one graphics designer were also added to the team now. First draft was ready. Technical writers had to compile 485 pages for it. But finally things started taking shape. Suddenly a new policy decision came from the client side. Written proposal was OK but more emphasis was now on the oral presentations. So everything was redone on power point slides. Thanks to the timely inclusion of a graphics designer in the team. Commercials, the heart of proposal was still under making. Commercials took about a week but they occupied only two slides in the final proposal. It was close to $300 Million proposal. Real strategic for the company! Need to win it any cost. Nearly 8 to 10 what-if scenarios were worked out using different combinations in schedules, effort, resources, onsite-offshore ratio, scope and rates. Approval for all of them was taken from the corporate and the finance department in advance. These scenarios were for accommodating last minute changes prior to or during live proposal presentations. Excel work sheets were kept ready to work out any more custom scenarios if required. In the last minutes inputs from sales team become very important and y ou might need to change the commercials accordingly. The final day in a San Francisco hotel witnessed three different committees from consisting of client and TP Con officials. And the final presentations made. Written proposals were submitted a couple of days advance in emails and seven print copies in sealed envelopes. All dropped in a designated physical mail box. AtoV wanted a month to study different aspects of the proposals made. They came back in just two weeks. Now its up to you to guess who was the winner? TP Con made evaluation matrices and criteria and the whole process was transparent only to AtoV. Now it was transition of a huge number of applications and infrastructure. TP Con was the boss. They explained the process to transition team. They gave around 30 elaborate templates and forms to be filled for each stream at each step. All this was to be loaded in an orderly fashion on a web portal, designated for this transition. The progress of transition in real time was now available to everyone including top management of Y Inc. and AtoV, one more challenge, probably tougher than making the winning proposal. Main transition sites were offices and plants in Texas and New York. A couple of them added from Germany, UK and other places too. Y Inc. roped in 4 transition managers one each in California, Texas, Chennai and Noida. The transition team structure was 50-50 for offshore and onsite. More onsite presence was required to cover the learning curve and attend face to face learning sessions with AnV subject matter experts. Later the onsite offshore was to be reduced to 80 20 an d finally 90 10 in the long term. TP Cons deployed not more than 3 members from RFP till the transition was over. A total of 6 months; end to end! As it was learned later TP Cons walked away with a handsome consulting fee. Much better than one could have imagined in the starting! Want to manage bids as third party consultant Summary RFI, RFQ, RFP, Bid manager, Large Deals, raising a Team For Proposals, Proposal making, What Ifs, Commercials, legal,

Cuisine Essay -- Health, Food

A cuisine cannot simply be defined as a particular group of food associated with a geographic location. To understand a cuisine equal understanding of the culture to which it belongs must exist. A culture, such as the population of Italy, manipulates the presentation and substances of a cuisine to something representative of that culture. This makes a cuisine much more than food on a plate; a cuisine includes history, both of those making the dish and the ingredients and cooking styles that form the final product. A cuisine includes pride of nationality and personality. Similarly culture is more than a geographic location; it is a way of living and a respect for a group of beliefs and traditions. To understand this relationship between culture and cuisine certain information must be addressed; information such as the demographic figures surrounding a culture, the specific effect Italian culture has on Italian food, as well as the ingredients and cooking skills applied in the Italian cuisine. Consequences of the Italian cuisine will also be identified, both nutritional value and health detriments and how these effects may continue into the future. Cuisine can be split into two stages: pre-swallow and post-swallow (Crotty 1995). Pre-swallow is based around social aspects of cuisine (Gallegos 2011) such as who does the cooking and why people eat the food that they eat. Post-swallow is concerned with the effects food has once eaten; post-swallow also deals with the nutritional and health impacts that food has on consumers. When deconstructing a cuisine it becomes clear that demographic information plays an important role in the pre-swallow stage. Gender, age, location, religion and government influence all have a contribution to s... ... continue to rise. A symptom of obesity, cardiovascular disease, remains the highest cause of death in Italy at 16% (World Health Organisation 2006) followed by cerebrovascular disease, better known as a stroke, at 14%. Both of these diseases are caused by diet, particularly a high cholesterol diet and with western food chains such as McDonalds becoming more entrenched in Italian culture it is reasonable to believe these causes of death will remain the same into the future unless a regression into healthy local Italian cuisine is taken. To conclude, Italy is a diverse location both in terms of geographic regions and cultural traditions, it is only fitting that it has a diverse cuisine, full of history, religion and most important of all the soul of the Italian people. Its mark on world cuisine through innovation and passion last a long time.

The furture of early childhood education Essay -- essays research pape

The Future of Early Childhood Education   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If you ask someone to list for you the most important jobs of our society, teachers always make the list sometimes beating out careers like doctor or lawyer. Ironically, for a career we value so much, teaching has never been a well paying profession. But times are about to change. Due to an increasing demand and a fixed supply, salaries for early education teachers are expected to increase within the next decade. The United States Board of Labor ranks this career as one of the highest paying of the next ten years, with an expected median tenure salary of over ninety thousand by the year 2012. Even taking into account inflation, working conditions, and different people’s preferred lifestyle, it is reasonable to say that a career in early childhood education can provide a very comfortable living.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The law of supply and demand helps us understand how price is set in our society. It states that if the supply of a good increases, or if the demand of a good decreases, then the price of the good drops. The opposite is also true, if the supply decreases and the demand increases, than a good becomes more expensive. The theory of supply and demand is very powerful, and can be applied to many different things. In this paper, it will be used to explain why teachers’ salaries are expected to increase a great deal. The number of teachers will be the supply, the need for teachers will be the demand, and salaries will be the price that will be affected. In 2002 there were over two million positions for early education teachers in the United States. Of the teachers in those jobs, â€Å"about 1.5 million were elementary school teachers, 424,000 were preschool teachers, and 168,000 were kindergarten teachers†(Outlook). The majority of these teachers worked for the local government educational services, with about ten percent working for private schools. While the majority of preschool teachers are employed by child daycare services. Geographically, teaching positions vary with the population. Highly populated areas have more employment opportunities. Every year, a greater number of students enroll into the United States school system. More students increase the need for more schools and qualified teachers. In addition to the population growth, a number of initiatives have been impl... ...their families.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  State employed teachers will not have to worry about retirement, because they are guaranteed a pension salary once they retire. Teachers will not have to stress or fear for the future like some other members of the workforce who were relying on social security.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Early childhood teachers also have the satisfaction of having a career in one of the most respected professions in our society. They will have to fulfillment of knowing that what they do makes a difference. Works Cited Case, Karl E. †Principles of Macroeconomics† Sixth Edition. Prentice Hall Van Dalen, Deobold B. â€Å"Looking Ahead To Teaching† Allyn and Bacon, Inc. Boston. Kahn, Alfred J. â€Å"Child Care: Facing the Hard Choices† Auburn House Publishing Company. Massachusetts. â€Å"Occupational Outlook Handbook† U.S. Department of Labor http://stats.bls.gov/search/ooh.asp?qu=teachers&ct=OOH (2005) â€Å"Critical Issues Facing the Teaching Profession† The South Carolina Center for Teacher Recrutement (2004) http://www.cerra.org/sectionone.pdf Cameron, Bruce â€Å"New municiple fund may well be the shape of things to come† August 14, 2004 Personal Finance Magazine

Is Our Money Safe? :: essays research papers

<a href="http://www.geocities.com/vaksam/">Sam Vaknin's Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign Affairs Web Sites Banks are institutions wherein miracles happen regularly. We rarely entrust our money to anyone but ourselves – and our banks. Despite a very chequered history of mismanagement, corruption, false promises and representations, delusions and behavioural inconsistency – banks still succeed to motivate us to give them our money. Partly it is the feeling that there is safety in numbers. The fashionable term today is â€Å"moral hazard†. The implicit guarantees of the state and of other financial institutions moves us to take risks which we would, otherwise, have avoided. Partly it is the sophistication of the banks in marketing and promoting themselves and their products. Glossy brochures, professional computer and video presentations and vast, shrine-like, real estate complexes all serve to enhance the image of the banks as the temples of the new religion of money. But what is behind all this ? How can we judge the soundness of our banks ? In other words, how can we tell if our money is safely tucked away in a safe haven ? The reflex is to go to the bank’s balance sheets. Banks and balance sheets have been both invented in their modern form in the 15th century. A balance sheet, coupled with other financial statements is supposed to provide us with a true and full picture of the health of the bank, its past and its long-term prospects. The surprising thing is that – despite common opinion – it does. The less surprising element is that it is rather useless unless you know how to read it. Financial Statements (Income – aka Profit and Loss - Statement, Cash Flow Statement and Balance Sheet) come in many forms. Sometimes they conform to Western accounting standards (the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, GAAP, or the less rigorous and more fuzzily worded International Accounting Standards, IAS). Otherwise, they conform to local accounting standards, which often leave a lot to be desired. Still, you should look for banks, which make their updated financial reports available to you. The best choice would be a bank that is audited by one of the Big Six Western accounting firms and makes its audit reports publicly available. Such audited financial statements should consolidate the financial results of the bank with the financial results of its subsidiaries or associated companies. A lot often hides in those corners of corporate ownership. Is Our Money Safe? :: essays research papers <a href="http://www.geocities.com/vaksam/">Sam Vaknin's Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign Affairs Web Sites Banks are institutions wherein miracles happen regularly. We rarely entrust our money to anyone but ourselves – and our banks. Despite a very chequered history of mismanagement, corruption, false promises and representations, delusions and behavioural inconsistency – banks still succeed to motivate us to give them our money. Partly it is the feeling that there is safety in numbers. The fashionable term today is â€Å"moral hazard†. The implicit guarantees of the state and of other financial institutions moves us to take risks which we would, otherwise, have avoided. Partly it is the sophistication of the banks in marketing and promoting themselves and their products. Glossy brochures, professional computer and video presentations and vast, shrine-like, real estate complexes all serve to enhance the image of the banks as the temples of the new religion of money. But what is behind all this ? How can we judge the soundness of our banks ? In other words, how can we tell if our money is safely tucked away in a safe haven ? The reflex is to go to the bank’s balance sheets. Banks and balance sheets have been both invented in their modern form in the 15th century. A balance sheet, coupled with other financial statements is supposed to provide us with a true and full picture of the health of the bank, its past and its long-term prospects. The surprising thing is that – despite common opinion – it does. The less surprising element is that it is rather useless unless you know how to read it. Financial Statements (Income – aka Profit and Loss - Statement, Cash Flow Statement and Balance Sheet) come in many forms. Sometimes they conform to Western accounting standards (the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, GAAP, or the less rigorous and more fuzzily worded International Accounting Standards, IAS). Otherwise, they conform to local accounting standards, which often leave a lot to be desired. Still, you should look for banks, which make their updated financial reports available to you. The best choice would be a bank that is audited by one of the Big Six Western accounting firms and makes its audit reports publicly available. Such audited financial statements should consolidate the financial results of the bank with the financial results of its subsidiaries or associated companies. A lot often hides in those corners of corporate ownership.

Marketing Research and Promotional messages Essay

Marketing messages are a key component to attracting attention and lead the targeted consumer through the sales cycle and to purchase (Consumer Behavior and Targeting Audience). When a company is looking to create a marketing communication message it is important to understand the type of consumer they are marketing towards. The company needs to look at the type of consumer they are targeting then analyze their needs, perceptions and attitudes. These three things will help a company develop an effective marketing communication message to target their consumer. Consumer Women are the number one consumers in the United States, influencing over 80 percent of the goods and services purchased (Murray Skoloda , 2009).They are big spenders whether it is household, corporate or small business. In the last decade women have become more educated, are working harder and making more money than years past. If a women is earning at least half of the household income then she has a large say involving household purchases. Women are juggling more at work and home, marketing has become more media based. There are more women using multi-media than ever like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Consumer Needs When looking at consumers purchasing trends, wants and needs drive the marketing decisions. Looking at a women’s aspirations can help understand the wants and needs behind a purchase. Examples of wants and needs: Make a better home Help and want kids to be successful Have time to do what you want Travel more Look more attractive Be healthy Be healthier and have a nice body Look younger Women need to take care of themselves, their families and their household duties. When targeting women with marketing strategies the focus should be on getting ahead, having fun, looking fabulous and taking care of household duties. You have to market around the consumers needs, for example, Pantene shampoo commercials focus on how shinny, soft and healthy the hair will look after using the product. Victoria Secret focuses on the look and feel of their products. All of these marketing and promotional strategies focus of what the consumer wants and needs. Perceptions Consumer perception is the understanding behind the motivations that drive buying behaviors. Understanding consumer motivations help companies create marketing strategies. Women are motivated by emotion, intuition and experience (Blank, 2014). Finding what makes them happy, what they are proud of, and what they cherish and enjoy will help create a marketing strategy that will help promote and sell the product. For example, women that have small children will always look at products that are safe, and sometimes even look at safety ratings before purchasing. This means the marketing strategy should be built around safety. Another example, women are always looking to feel and look younger so it would be smart for the cosmetic industry to focus on anti-aging and blemishing products. Usually when women have a great experience or find a product that they like, they will stay loyal, and tell their friends. Over all you need to market the product toward the targeted consumer and their needs. Attitudes Attitude plays an important role in marketing strategies, it is the attitude towards a product, group or brand that drives the consumers decision to purchase the product. Consumers have pre formed attitude towards some of the product and brands and once formed it is hard to change those attitudes (Masterman & Wood, 2006). Women are very open to trying new products and brands but once they have a bad experience or customer service experience, that will change their attitudes towards the product and it will be hard to rebuild the trust. It is important to thinking about the marketing  strategies when looking to change attitudes and bias options on products. Looking at marketing communication it is important to consider the consumer you are targeting and their needs. Learning about the consumer and their needs helps build a strong marketing strategy that can drive the purchase of the product. Understanding the consumer and how they perceive information helps with the sale of the product. Looking at the consumers attitudes will help build strong relationships and help brand the product. Reference: Masterman, G., & Wood, E. H. (2006). Innovative Marketing Communications: Strategies for the Events Industry . Burlington, MA: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann. Blank, C. (2014). Consumer Perception Theory. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/consumer-perception-theory-40176.html Murray Skoloda , K. (2009). TOO BUSY TO SHOP Marketing to â€Å"Multi-Minding† Women . Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. (CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR AND TARGET AUDIENCE DECISIONS). Retrieved from http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/