David and Goliath World Trade Organization Case Study Essay

David and Goliath World Trade Organization Case Study Assignment 4-3 Prepared for Prof. Stephen Millett MBA 711, H4FF Fall 2010 Prepared by Gary Cooper December 2, 2010 David and Goliath World Trade Organization Case Study Jay Cohen and two friends established an online gaming site on the islands of Antigua and Barbuda; they named the organization World Sports Exchange (WSE). Mr. Cohen was prosecuted by the U.S. government; his conviction resulted in a battle between the U.S. and the two small Caribbean islands of Barbuda and Antigua. The epic battle of David and Goliath was mediated by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and raised a lot of interesting questions about international trade and internet gaming (Steiner,†¦show more content†¦In regards to online gaming, horse racing is a legal sporting event where betting is allowed to take place online and across state lines. That fact alone makes the U.S. government’s argument of morality null and void. There is no difference between gambling on a horse race and betting on a sporting event. Legislation that attempts to control individual choice is an infringement on civil liberties and has not proven successful in the past, particularly w ith prohibition on gambling and alcohol. Mr. Cohen lost a significant amount of his life because he was convicted on a ridiculous charge. Where is the morality in that? Gambling continues to gain in popularity and many states are embracing the industry in order to boost tourism, increase revenue, and create jobs. This trend will probably continue as people begin to realize that the government should not decide whether or not a person can gamble. This is a prime example of too much government; the country has more pressing issues to deal with and should focus on problems that truly affect the American people. Technological Environment Technology is a huge factor in this case because all WSE’s transactions where conducted online, telephonic, or via wire transfer. The online forum is specifically the issue that the U.S. government had with WSE’s profits generated from U.S. consumers. The country’s position was that Mr. Cohen was in violation of the WireShow MoreRelatedOrg Behaviou3091 Words   |  13 PagesTable of Contents 1.0 Introduction 2 2.0 Initial Situation – Case Analysis 2 2.1 The History of Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) 2 2.2 Peter R. Dolan 3 2.3 What is Plavix? 3 2.4 Plavix Generic Drug Agreements 4 2.5 Dolan’s Fate 5 3.0 Questions and Answers 6 3.1 Q1) What principles of distributive Negotiation did Sherman use to gain his advantage? 6 3.2 Q2 ) Do you think Sherman behaved ethically? 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How Jah Should Expand Between Now And 2017 - 985 Words

JAH should expand between now and 2017. With the current state of the U.S. economy and the housing market’s predictions, JAH can make an abnormal profit. Currently, the unemployment rate, inflation rate, and GDP growth rate are 5.8%, 1.88%, and 3.9%, respectively (Fred). The unemployment rate is higher than the full employment rate and the inflation rate is lower than the targeted 2% inflation. However, the positive GDP growth rate indicates that the economy is recovering. The current recovery is different from any other recoveries. The current recovery is a â€Å"lackluster recovery.† According to Joel Naroff, there are two reasons. The first reason is â€Å"the collapse of the housing and finance sectors† and the second reason is â€Å"domestic hiring did not occur as it had previously† (Naroff). Even though the economy recovered, â€Å"the unemployment rate was always going to fall slower,† because of the globalization of the labor supply (Naroff ). During the early-1980s recovery, payrolls rose by 1.1 million and the manufacturing added 137,000 workers, in September 1983 alone (Naroff). However, this would never happen in current recovery because jobs go to both domestic and global workers (Naroff). Therefore, Fed continued expansionary monetary policy. With the low interest rate, more projects will initiate, thus, investments will increase. Simultaneously, lower interest rate is discouraging the foreign investments for U.S. bonds, encouraging the U.S. investment for foreign bonds,

The Enron and Worldcom Scandals Free Essays

E. Boos – Week 2 – Assignment February 17, 2013 The Enron and WoldCom Scandals ENRON 1. The segment of Enron’s operations that got them into difficulties had several parts. We will write a custom essay sample on The Enron and Worldcom Scandals or any similar topic only for you Order Now They published misleading financial reports. They could not meet their bridge financing commitment with Barclay Bank because outside investors were not found. Because of this, they restated activities of JEDI and Chewco SPEs so they could be retroactively consolidated into Enron’s accounts. The SPEs helped to hide the inaccurate accounting records. Enron’s legal department wrote contracts that helped provide a cover for misuse of funds regarding the SPEs. Future revenue was reported as current revenue. Stocks were paid with promissory notes instead of cash. They also engaged in off-the-books activities and excessive executive compensation. Enron’s board of directors allowed the executives, accountants and legal department to use Special Purpose Entities (SPEs), a type of partnership, in an attempt to camouflage their debt and create a facade of financial stability (Brooks, 2007). 3. Enron’s directors understood how profits were made. They also knew management’s activities were dishonest. Andrew Fastow was active in forming the SPE partnerships and his affiliation with LJM2 was a conflict of interest. When Enron began experiencing financial problems in October 2001, the board of directors began holding special meetings. They were paid with cash, restricted stock, phantom stock units and stock options. The Senate Subcommittee Report, dated July 8, 2002, found that the Enron board of directors was aware that employees participated in management of the SPEs which was a conflict of interest. The directors ignored the inaccurate accounting, extensive unrecorded activities and excessive executive compensation. The Senate report discovered that the board of directors knew of financial activities between Enron and some of the board’s members. The board permitted consulting services, internal audits, and external audits to be performed by the same company, namely, Arthur Andersen (Brooks, 2007). 5. Ken Lay was chairperson of the board. He reassumed the position of CEO after Skilling resigned. As CEO he oversaw all of Enron’s activities. Lay and Whaley directed Causey to sell the Raptor SPEs. The sale price of was privately negotiated between Fastor, on behalf of Enron, and Kopper on behalf of LJM2. Lay did not interfere when Arthur Andersen directed Enron to record the buyout excess money as income. He knowingly allowed fraudulent activities and false information to be included in the financial reports. This was unethical. The Powers Report identifies seven questionable accounting issues concerning the sale of the Raptors (Brooks, 2007). 6. The board of directors did not insist that full disclosure of Enron’s earning be made available to the public and the shareholders. They allowed inaccurate reports to be published. Since they did not challenge management involvement in fraudulent activities, this meant the shareholders interests were not protected (Brooks, 2007). 9. Conflict of interest concerning SPE activities occurred because Enron employees were active in managing certain SPEs. Losses were not reported in end of year reports to offset other nonprofitable dealings. Arthur Andersen did not report all of the earnings and helped Enron cover up losses. When Andrew Fastow, wanted to manage the SPE, Chewco, he was advised by Jeffrey Skilling who was on the board of directors, that he should not manage Chewco because it would be a conflict of interest. Instead, Fastow appointed Michael Kopper who worked for him at Enron, to manage Chewco (Brooks, 2007). WORLDCOM 1. To inflate their profit in the current period, WorldCom created overstatements of cash flow and income by inaccurately reporting line costs. Line costs were a major expense to WorldCom. They were payments WorldCom made to third party telecommunicator network providers for the right to access their networks. These costs should have been shown as an expense rather than appearing on the income statement (Brooks, 2007). 2. WorldCom’s board of directors could have prevented the manipulation of revenue that management used if they had not been intimidated by Bernie Ebbers. They allowed themselves to be intimidated by Bernie Ebbers when he did not want their questions answered or give them more definitive explanations. Eventually, they demanded Bernie Ebber’s resignation and he resigned. The board of directors scheduled periodic meetings with WorldCom. The directors should have been more involved and familiar with WorldCom’s activities and efforts to manipulate expenses and decreased income (Brooks, 2007). 4. Bernie Ebbers was the CEO of WorldCom, the CFO was Scott Sullivan and David Myers was the Controller. Prior to working for WorldCom they had worked for Arthur Andersen. Arthur Andersen was the auditor for WorldCom. That is why the accountants did not say or do anything to prevent Ebbers’ manipulation of WorldCom’s financial reports (Brooks, 2007). . Ebbers received $408. 2 million dollars as a loan to buy WorldCom stock or for margin calls as the stock price fell. Instead of using the money for the purpose he received it, he used it to buy a cattle ranch in Canada, build a new home, pay for personal expenses of a family member, and provide loans to family and friends (Brooks, 2007). Reference: Brooks, L. J. (2007). Business professional eth ics for directors, executives, accountants (4th ed. ). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database. How to cite The Enron and Worldcom Scandals, Papers

Wartsila Supply Chain Management Essay Example For Students

Wartsila Supply Chain Management Essay A global leader and a provider of lifestyle power solutions in the energy and marine market. They began their operations in the year 1834 With the manufacturing Of large combustion engines. As the company started progressing they diversified their portfolio by including power plants that range up to 500 Maws, oil and gas industry solutions and support services to better serve their customers. The company has spread their operations across 70 countries and has employed more than 18900 workers with annual revenue of ? 4. 72 billion. Wrists main aim is to improve the environmental and economic performance of its power plant by focusing on the latest technological innovation and incorporating them to attain efficiency in their operations. It wants to provide its customers with products that are highly efficient and are reliable tort long-term usage, To manufacture products those are low on emission and suitable for grid stability and effective services. Its environmental solutions cover scrubber, selective catalytic reduction, oxidation catalyst, water treatment system and condition monitoring which proves that the company is echo-friendly. They have now started to focus a lot on the services industry by building a service network Of over 5000 professionals to improve the performance Of their and based power plants and ship installations. It provides services, spare parts, maintenance, upgrade and fuel conversion solutions for medium and low speed gas and diesel engines. Inventory Management It is common knowledge in all organizations around the world that if you want to form a successful supply chain management networks then the companies should mainly focus on inventory and inventory control. Wrists was facing a similar problem with regards to the inventory management so they were now focusing on reducing the logistic cost along with examining the supply chain cuisines of their archival in the market. They emphasized a lot on the customer service, as they wanted to be differentiated from their competitors so they withheld inventory for two main reasons i. E. To reduce cost and improve customer service. Now the company had to balance the problem of having too much inventory that could lead to high cost v/s too little inventory which could lead to losing a current customer or sale. The shared perception and experience offertories upper management formulated a belief that the company was able to save a lot when they ever able o manage their inventory efficiently. They had an effective transport system to support their goals of managing inventory and satisfying their end customers. The deregulation also lead to further reducing the inventory cost and transportation cost. The company also came up with a strategy were they tried to understand the nature Of the product and supply chain capabilities to bring down their inventory cost. In addition they were also concerned with production scheduling and used flow management, which increases their responsiveness to changes and helps in reducing the inventory on hand. Flow Management helps n getting the inbound inventory associated with the changes in demand, supply and inventory policies. It manages the ever-changing inventory policies and aligns it with allocation and warehouse execution process. The advantages of using flow management within your supply chain are: k Demand Forecasting: Optimizes the demand prediction of a product and helps in better managing the inventory across all the channels. It eliminates the product proliferation which makes it easier for Wrists to predict the demand for their products. * Replenishment: There is collaborative planning and strategy ruination in the company which certifies that you have the right amount of inventory at all levels thus depleting any cost with regards to additional inventory. It ensures there is faster flow of inventory during the product lifestyle. Supply Chain Visibility: A single and real time view of the entire global supply chain improves inventory control, optimizes the fulfillment channels and reduces variability in the time of the product lifestyle hence encourages lower safety stocks. Warehouse Cost: As inventory is efficiently managed the cost Of storing it reduces which increases the profitability Of the company . In he year 2008 Wrists came up with their most expensive project till date that was to centralist their distribution and storage centre to improve their flow management process. This reduced their cost and gave them an edge over other competitors Who were not focusing on the warehouse management. Demand Forecasting Demand forecasting is the activity of estimating the quantity of a product or service that consumers will purchase. Demand forecasting involves techniques including hot informal methods, such as educated guesses, and quantitative methods, such as the use of historical sales data or current data from test arrests. Demand forecasting may be used in making pricing decisions, in assessing future capacity requirements, or in making decisions on whether to enter a new market. Few points on Writers demand forecasting: for Wrists when it comes to demand, forecasts are made based on the past trends and accordingly growth projections are made to meet the expected demand. An example of efficient forecasting by Wrists: India had been one of the global economic best performers: in 2006, GAP growth was 9. 6%, in 2007 it was 9. 2% in 2008 it was 6. 6%, in 2009 it was 9. 2%, in 2010 it was 10% and in 2011 12%. The forecast for 2012 was more than 7%. To maintain such a rate of increase, India had to invest heavily in infrastructure especially power generation. Electricity is certainly one measure of todays quality of life. Modern society simply cant function Without it, and a solid foundation is essential. Growth in power generation was a record 2. 68% in India last year. But thats nowhere near sufficient to satisfy the voracious appetite for power. The majority of the electrical power generated in India (153 GO on 31 July 2012) is produced using coal (53%), followed by hydrophone (24%), gas (1 1 and renewable (10%). And while India is the worlds fifth largest electricity producer, the energy shortfall recorded in 2008 was 85 billion kHz and it keeps increasing every year. The value associated with so many lost opportunities is enormous. To eradicate poverty, Indians GAP has to grow at an annual rate tot 8-10% for the next 25 years. And electricity generation capacity will have to increase by five or six times to almost 800 GO by 2031. Until now, Wrists has been a fairly small player in the oil and gas sector, focusing mainly on electricity generation and occasionally participating in pipeline and storage projects. The forecasts indicating growth in investments in oil and gas distribution facilities have led Wrists to the conclusion that there is a substantial growth opportunity in pumping and compression applications. So without losing its hold on power generation it has now decided to expand its operations to oil and gas sector as well. And looking at their efficient forecasting in the past, the probability of this decision of expansion might work in the companys favor. Procurement: Supply Chain Management Wrists has pre-defined criteria for selecting its suppliers, determining their acquirement and developing supply relationship. It Offers mutually beneficial partnership to its suppliers, which strengthen the market standing of both parties. Wrists believes in maintaining an open and transparent dialogue With its suppliers to ensure fair business dealings. The company also collaborates with universities for its research and development activities. As a supplier it is important to meet the requirements set by Wrists in order to get a supplier status. These requirements include general features and issues related to environment management, occupation health and safety, quality, product pacific requirement. Wrists makes sure that the suppliers abide by these requirements by monitoring their performance on a regular basis. The company also uses its Supplier Management System to manage and assess its suppliers wherein it evaluates the supplier based on three parameters: pre assessment is done for new suppliers before supplier relationship begins, Audits are carried out for new suppliers and for those whose performance is not up to the companys standards and lastly, performance reviews are done in order to find out and solve any deviations from the set requirements. In 2012, three suppliers were banned due to non-compliance vivid Writers requirement for occupational health and safety, environment and legislation. The company has more than 3,700 active suppliers most of which are located in Europe where they have their main production unit. Supply Chain Collaboration In order to widen its global capabilities, Wrists entered into a joint venture with Handy to produce and assemble engines in South Korea. Mentors EssayOne of the worlds leading logistics company, CAVE manages the storage floor operations. Even though many operations are managed by CAVE Wrists personnel have frequent quality checks of the parts and also manage the handling of the more restricted goods. Due to the enormous expanse of the inventory, having an outsider manage the quality checks and control would not he feasible. Not to forget, that because of the CO, and having the entire inventory at one place, quality control is all the more important. A few facts about the Central Distribution Centre at Sampan k Built-up area of 37,000 mm * Possibility to expand k Warehouse for all parts from very small to extremely large, such as engine arts over keg * Partly automatic and partly manually operated k Over 60,000 pallet locations and over 60,000 totes in mini-load *Wrists has its own quay at the Extraordinaire, with sea transport possibility * Next to NON highway and the river Sessile, for road transport k Total Investment of approximately RUE 70 million k Good logistics connections to Rotterdam, Hamburg and to Siphon (Amsterdam) airport * Location Will reduce emissions from transportation Customer Service The key element indicating Writers performance is customer satisfaction. It customizes it services according to the customer preferences and needs when t comes to designing, Start up and operation Of the equipment and systems it delivers. Engaging with customers is of prime importance when developing its products and services. Wr ists aims at maintaining and strengthening relations with its customers. It customizes it services according to the customer preferences and needs when it comes to designing, start up and operation of the equipment and systems it delivers. Engaging with customers is of prime importance when developing its products and services. Their customer initiatives include organizing Customer Days (performance-management-SCM)existing and attention customers. In order to strengthen their customer-focused mindset Warts use an integrated customer feedback process (CROP), It aims at achieving an excellent long-term relationship by listening to the customers and acting upon their feedback, Also, they have a program called Voice of the customer in which they conduct in depth analysis of customers need and expectation. Every year they receive almost 3000 feedback forms during various interfaces and out of those suggestions are sorted out and directly sent to front line personnel. Wrists measures customer satisfaction by maintaining regular contact with he customers, providing after sales services throughout the life Of a product. In order to stay updated with the changing customer needs, they organize seminars and conferences where they get an opportunity to interact With their customers in person. They have customer interaction forum on their website where the customer can be in touch with the company regarding all the updates and issues regarding the product. Performance Management Planning and target setting forms an integral part of performance management in Wrists. The achievement of targets and related activities are continuously viewed every month by board of management. With an integrated reporting tool called International financial reporting standards (IF-RSI) they have ensured the reliability and accuracy totalitarian reports through a centralized system. Writers offers a distinct method of supply chain management for its suppliers in order to develop a vigorous relationship. They offer an open dialogue partnership to suppliers, which help them in research and development, With the inclusion of an ERP i. E. Supplier Management System it is much easier for them to conduct supplier assessment. In this program, audit is conducted for ewe supplier so as to match the suppliers performance with Writers requirement Later, performance reviews are conveyed to recognize and resolve deviations, if any. Ultimately, these all factor contribute in Writers high performance and quality standards with respect to health and safety, environmental, quality plans and social performance. The responsibility of sustaining the performance lies on the shoulders Of board Of management Who issue the basic guidelines of principles and review them on regular basis. Their basic role is to set targets and invigilate the performance. However, coordination teen different levels of organization is also essential. As human resource, legal, quality, compliance, supply management also plays in supporting functions while forming the guidelines. Technology Technology plays a very vital role in Writers operations, from marine engine deployments to power plant management and even in their service solutions in energy sector. With experience in the industry and technical know it has become technological leader in energy industry, However, when it comes to Supply Chain Management even technologically advanced Wrists face few challenges, especially in their Italian plant. As companys operations were continuously growing in 2005 at rapid pace, it was unable to meet the increasing demand for their products. This resulted in supply chain shortcomings due to inconsistent production planning internally and erratic performance externally by their suppliers. Ultimately due to all these factors, the shipments were delayed and Writers reputation was at stake due to decreasing market share. At this point Wrists used their in house developed SAP solutions for supply chain management along vivid other Legacy tools, which were not integrated into Collaboration of Technology for better SCM After seeing the shortcomings at Italian plant the executive team decided to team up With Accentuate in management Of Supply Chain Technology at Wrists in late 2005. Accentuate focused primarily on Writers key areas to develop their IT solutions, they concentrated on production, planning procurement and material management. Accentuate was able to determine the root cause, which was lack of collaboration and communication between internal departments for which resulted in repetitive work at different levels. Accentuate created one forecasting tool, which was interconnected with all departments and later integrated with SAP system of Wrists. Accentuate also assisted Wrists IT department in making various other cross-functional collaboration tools for better production planning, scheduling, internal communication, which again were later integrated into companies ERP system. This resulted in cross-attitudinal involvement in every important area of business including Planning, purchasing, Strategic- Sourcing Accounts Receivables, Payable and Marketing as well. This technological advancement tremendously helped Wrists in boosting their productivity along with being efficient. 2008 numbers shows double production f engines in Italian plant compared vivid 2005. How Supply Chain Practice Changed Poor Wrists Services, the major change in their supply chain management in the last few years has undoubtedly been the transition from having eight different localized spare parts warehouses to one centralized distribution Center for most of their spare parts. The project has not just been Writers biggest investment project (Of 70 million ELLS), it has also been a gigantic task for the consolidation Of the processes, inventory and data. Thanks to the new CDC at Sampan, Netherlands, the company can now manage he entire flow of spare part materials right from order confirmation, sourcing to delivery to customers doorstep from one point. It is not just much more efficient for the company, it also shortens the transport distances for the materials and thus, in the end, a value add for the end customer as well, The company accepts that delivery times have reduced considerably as theres no problem spare parts traffic between different warehouses now, From the quality control aspect as well, the company can have a uniform quality assurance ranging trot very small parts like special screws to huge pistons for the combustion engines in the ships. Further Improvement Writers target is to be the leader in complete lifestyle power solutions for the global marine markets and energy markets. It does have that potential to achieve these targets considering their existence in over 60 countries as of today. As company expands its market, supply chain management becomes more complex and also crucial with increasing demand. Thus it has to look out for continuous improvements not only in their product and service lines but also in their supply chain management System, so that goods and services are delivered at right place and on right time. Extensive use of RIFF in Supply Chain Radio Frequency Identification also known, as RIFF is an automated tag identifying technology can benefit a lot in SCM. It can create real-time automation of reincarnating process through sensors-connected in manufacturing plant. By adding RIFF tags to every spare part, tools, resource and item of materials handling equipment, manufacturers are able to get better demand signals from customers and the market.

Reflective Essay free essay sample

As nervous as I was when I walked into Saint Joseph Catholic School (K-8) for my first day of kindergarten, I never thought I would be able to leave after 6th grade and enter the world of middle school. In a small school of about 400 kids, I was familiar with every face that passed by me in the hallway. I got to know the kids in my grade so well and we all knew each other’s life stories. By the time I was in 6th grade at Saint Joseph, some of my friends were planning on going to Kinard middle school in 7th grade. At this point in my life, I was not completely content with where I was going to school. The realization came to me that it was time to move on. It was time for me to try something new. Every individual needs a testing experience to help them become stronger. We will write a custom essay sample on Reflective Essay or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page I may not have believed this at the time, because I was so nervous to step outside my comfort zone and become a part of a whole new group of people. On the first day of school, it was difficult for me to accept the fact that I was going to be â€Å"the stranger in the village†. I knew I was making the right decision because it was going to prepare me for stepping foot in an even bigger village in the future, high school. As I walked into Kinard on the first day, I pretended like I knew what I was doing as I walked to my locker and my first class. Although no one stared at me like I was the only new student, I felt alone and isolated because I had never experienced anything like it before. The one time during my first day that I truly felt like â€Å"the stranger in the village† was during lunch. I could not find any of my friends from Saint Joseph and I felt like a little kid that was lost from her mom in a crowded mall. I did not know anyone and no one knew me. My7th grade year showed me that I can take on challenges and learn how to cope with change. Although being in a new place with new people is not the easy, it is one of the many challenges of life every person will face. Whether it is going to your first year of college or moving to a different state, everyone experiences being â€Å"the stranger in the village† at least once in their life or even on a daily basis. The experience of being â€Å"the stranger in the village† can be life changing and shape who you are as a person because of what lessons you choose to take away from it.

Free Essays on Carmen Jones

How A Widow Grieves At 28, Nicole Reda is learning that letting go of the pain over losing Greg means letting go of him. So she's adopted a few of his habits Nicole Reda's house is spotless. She has two young children and no hired help, but there isn't a Tonka truck in sight. The one sign of clutter is basket after basket of warm, crisply folded laundry. You can see your reflection in her living-room floor. Nicole used to be the messy half of her marriage. Her husband Greg was the family maid, quietly picking up other people's stuff. He wiped the bathroom mirror with Windex after his morning shower and gently insisted that he and Nicole rotate which chairs they sat in so no single cushion sagged from overuse. He actually enjoyed changing diapers. Ever since the Tuesday when Greg, 33, did not return from his 95th-floor office at 1 World Trade Center, Nicole has been the one sweeping and scrubbing. "I think that by cleaning and leaving his clothes in the closet and keeping things just the way he had them, it's like some part of him is still here even if the time is passing," she says. The meat loaves and pasta from the neighbors arrive on Nicole's doorstep just once a week now. A month ago, she spentand slept throughher first night without either her brother or her mother camped out on the futon in the computer room. Nicole stopped praying that the rescuers would turn up a wisp of Greg's DNA; on Sept. 22 she buried him without a body or a casket. Nicole is just 28, but she had already spent nearly half those years with Greg. Both born and raised in Brooklyn, they met the first week of her freshman year at Pace University. They watched Ghost on their first date. Defying the marriage-and-kids-can-wait trend, they bought a starter house on Long Island almost three years ago. Nicole quit her job as a speech therapist to stay home with the children. Greg's hour-and-a-half commute to the insurance brokerage firm Marsh ... Free Essays on Carmen Jones Free Essays on Carmen Jones How A Widow Grieves At 28, Nicole Reda is learning that letting go of the pain over losing Greg means letting go of him. So she's adopted a few of his habits Nicole Reda's house is spotless. She has two young children and no hired help, but there isn't a Tonka truck in sight. The one sign of clutter is basket after basket of warm, crisply folded laundry. You can see your reflection in her living-room floor. Nicole used to be the messy half of her marriage. Her husband Greg was the family maid, quietly picking up other people's stuff. He wiped the bathroom mirror with Windex after his morning shower and gently insisted that he and Nicole rotate which chairs they sat in so no single cushion sagged from overuse. He actually enjoyed changing diapers. Ever since the Tuesday when Greg, 33, did not return from his 95th-floor office at 1 World Trade Center, Nicole has been the one sweeping and scrubbing. "I think that by cleaning and leaving his clothes in the closet and keeping things just the way he had them, it's like some part of him is still here even if the time is passing," she says. The meat loaves and pasta from the neighbors arrive on Nicole's doorstep just once a week now. A month ago, she spentand slept throughher first night without either her brother or her mother camped out on the futon in the computer room. Nicole stopped praying that the rescuers would turn up a wisp of Greg's DNA; on Sept. 22 she buried him without a body or a casket. Nicole is just 28, but she had already spent nearly half those years with Greg. Both born and raised in Brooklyn, they met the first week of her freshman year at Pace University. They watched Ghost on their first date. Defying the marriage-and-kids-can-wait trend, they bought a starter house on Long Island almost three years ago. Nicole quit her job as a speech therapist to stay home with the children. Greg's hour-and-a-half commute to the insurance brokerage firm Marsh ...

Given the existence of corporate governance codes, based presumably on Essay

Given the existence of corporate governance codes, based presumably on some ethical considerations, among British PLCs why do we still observe crises and failures of, for example, the Northern Rock type - Essay Example In like manner, Bear Stearns an upper tier US investment bank was only rescued from the crises by the Federal Reserve Bank. (Avgouleas, 2008). In addition other major investment banks such as Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, UBS, and JPMorgan have all announced negative earnings in their last financial reports as well as plans to lay off a significant number of workers. The paper first of all looks at the regulatory environment of Northern Rock; Corporate social responsibility (CSR) refers to the awareness, acceptance, and management of the implications and effects of all corporate decision†making, taking particular account of community investment, human rights, and employee relations, environmental practices, and ethical conduct. (Park, 2007). According to Hsueh (2008) CSR has received much attention in recent years and more and more businesses are taking CSR to improve their corporate image. CSR activities show consideration for the environment, consumers, charity, minority groups, employee welfare, community development, women empowerment, etc. (Hsueh, 2008) For example car manufacturers across the globe are responding to the major global concern of Carbon dioxide (CO2) emission which is tremendously depleting the ozone layer and increasing the risk of cancer and other diseases that come as a result of ultraviolet light. The next section looks at the banking code in relation to corporate social responsibility. â€Å"The practice of CSR is subject to much debate and criticism. Proponents argue that there is a strong business case for CSR, in that corporations benefit in multiple ways by operating with a perspective broader and longer than their own immediate, short-term profits†. (Sacconi, 2004) â€Å"Critics argue that CSR distracts from the fundamental economic role of businesses; others argue that it is nothing more than superficial window-dressing; still others argue that it is an attempt to pre-empt the role of governments as a watchdog over

Determining acceleration due to gravity using a simple pendelum Lab Report

Determining acceleration due to gravity using a simple pendelum - Lab Report Example ttl 19). This is due to earth’s radii changes caused by both altitude and latitude variations as one moves to the poles whereby distance to the crust continues to decrease. This is because at the poles the surface is flattened compared to the equator where there is bulging due to a large radius, which is the reason behind an individual’s location being the determinant of g. In quest to find g, this experiment utilizes the following formula, T = 2? / ? = 2? v (L/g) = 2? v (L/g) by rearranging g = 2?L / T2 Methodology Experiment Materials required Piece of string, which is lighter such that its weight is negligible Hook Pendulum or bob Stopwatch Meter rule or tape measure Supporting board for hook Steps to perform experiment The first step entailed setting up the experiment. This is by hanging pendulum or bob using a string from the supporting board where there is a hook, then adjusting L to approximately 50cm or appropriate length that will act as the initial value. Then displacement of a pendulum using a certain angle before released to swing back and forth took place. It was essential to ensure motion in this case was vertical instead of erratic elliptical, which mostly develops due to inappropriate displacement. Timing was at intervals of 10 oscillations for each chosen L until it reached about 125cm and having at intervals of 15cm, then tabulating obtained data. Data values were L, T and angles. After tabulation, calculation commenced to ascertain T2 and g values. Recording of data included g and its mean values besides standard error deviations. The last step encompassed plotting of L vs. T2 graph with the intention of ascertaining its slope, which was the value for g (Serway, Jewett & Vahe? 465). Results Table 1: Data Results L (M) T50 (S) T (S) T (S) T (S) T (S) T2 (S2) g (M/S2) 50 65 80 95 110 Discussion Formula and effects on experimental accuracy Based on the experimental results, error in L prompts a linear relation error in any resultin g value of g. This implies suppose there was a 10% error in value of l, it will reflect an erratic value of g having a margin of 10%. In addition, an error in g exhibited a squared or parabolic relationship with error evident in the value of T. Suppose T had an error bearing a margin of 10%, this will reflect 21% value of g. This is because 1.10 x 1.10 = 1.21 Controlling and measuring length String used in this experiment was light together with heavy mass. The purpose of the latter was to ensure the center of pendulum’s oscillation system was as close as possible to the center of the mass of fishing sinker. Then calculating mass of the string compared to that of the sinker commenced. There was also a need to increase the length of the string to ensure less percentage error restricted by 8m measuring tape (stairs were approximately 15m high). Accuracy’s margin was set at  ±5 or approximately 0.07% over 7.5m. It entailed one hour to wait for effective completion of st ring’s stretch and twist caused by the suspended mass, which was a lot of time. To rectify this problem in the next experiment, it would be essential to use a light string as well as measuring stretch before starting. Calculation of maximum centripetal acceleration commenced with the aid of angle created by pendulum (where PE converted to KE). However, this affected both string and accuracy of the data due to unknown stretch

Globalization Influences Poverty And Income Inequality Research Paper

Globalization Influences Poverty And Income Inequality - Research Paper Example This study attempts to provide some intuitions in the affiliation amongst income inequality, poverty, and globalization. Certain studies indicate that globalization leads assists the less fortunate whereas other have claims contrary to that. Various income inequality and poverty measures are applied to show how they are connected to globalization. Poverty is decreasing globally and inequality after 100 years is flattening off, this is a worthy result; however, it is not an indication that all is good in our fresh globalized economy. Even with certain improvements, there remain abundant reasons for distress. This are the debt issue of Africa’s exposed economies, the big number of nations where development is minimal and the inequality is on the rise, the susceptibility of the developing nations, and the nations that have incorporated the liberalizing developments of the Washington consensus. This paper makes a conclusion that concerning poverty, globalization decreased it; this is an explanation of the faster and frequent development of integrated economies. Whereas the low-income nations try to penetrate the global services and good markets, industrial corporations are formed, in the direction, which, individuals beneath the poverty line can alleviate searching for a better life and a good paying job. Additionally, the total number of those who live on one dollar a day has less plummeted in the past years, but the access to public spending on health, education, and the average life expectancy at birth have augmented.

Role of Mirror Neuron System (MNS) in Autism

Role of Mirror Neuron System (MNS) in Autism Mirror neuron system (MNS) plays an important role in the specific behavioral features of people with autism. In this paper the central aspects, such as neuropathology, etiology and prevalence, of autism and related disorders will be discussed. In addition the Empathizing-Systemizing (E-S) theory and Theory of Mind (ToM), two theories linking the autistic brain with the specific behavior of the disease, will be discussed. The next two chapters are dedicated to the MNS and the consequences of its dysfunction in autism. Important are the two main functions facilitated by the MNS: imitation and action understanding. Several studies show that dysfunction of the MNS in autism, might be a reason why these abilities are underdeveloped in autistic individuals. Autism was first described in 1943 by the Austrian-American psychiatrist Leo Kanner. He noted 11 cases in which kids werent able to relate in usual ways to people and showed unusual responses to the environment including stereotyped motor mannerisms, resistance to change and reduced communicative skills. The condition of these kids was termed Autistic disturbances of affective contact. Nowadays stricter definitions of the disorder have been proposed and clinical indications have been set up for diagnosis.1 Autism is defined by several clinical manifestations, including qualitative impairment in social interaction, qualitative impairment in verbal and non-verbal communication and restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests and activities.2 These characteristics of the neurological disorder begin before the age of three, although it is not always recognized at this age. Autism, along with Asperger syndrome and PDD-NOS, belongs to the family of pervasive developmental disorders (PDD). This family includes a broad range of disorders associated with underdevelopment of social and communicative skills particularly. These deficiencies may be caused by mental retardation (Retts syndrome) but thats not always the case. Cases of Autism and PDD-NOS are not always linked with mental retardation and Asperger syndrome is even associated with normal level of intelligence. This shows that the members of the PDD family are very heterogeneous in their behavioral manifestations, degree of affectedness and etiology. This heterogeneity has lead to the term Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). ASD refers to the fact that several neural developmental disorders (Autsim, Asperger syndrome, PDD-NOS) are linked to each other in various ways, which makes it difficult to develop clear-cut diagnostic boundaries. This linkage is highlighted in family members of patients whom mostly do not meet the criteria for a clinical diagnosis but do show (in lesser extent) some of the manifestations present in the patient.1 Figure 1: Specific behavior observed in persons with autism due to social and communicative impairment and restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests and activities. 1: Difficulty in mingling with others. 2: Inappropriate laughing or giggling. 3: Little or no eye contact. 4: Apparent insensitivity to pain. 5: Prefers to be alone; aloof manner 6: Spins objects. 7: Inappropriate attachment to objects. 8: Noticeable physical overactivity or extreme underactivity. 9: Unresponsive to normal teaching methods. 10: Insistence on sameness; resists changes in routine. 11: No real fear of dangers. 12: Sustained odd play. 13: Echolia (repeating words or phrases in place of normal language). 14: May not want cuddling or act cuddly. 15: Not responsive to verbal cues; acts as deaf. 16: Difficulty in expressing needs; uses gestures or pointing instead of words. 17: Tantrums displays extreme distress for no apparent reason. 18: Uneven gross/fine motor skill (may not want t o kick ball but stack blocks). 3 There are, as mentioned above, four main characteristics of autistic disorders (including the age of onset). First there is qualitative impairment of social interaction. Young children learn their communicative and social cognitive skills by interaction with caregivers. Autistic kids often pay little attention to the smiling face or highly intonated voice of their caregiver and have more interest in the inanimate environment. This will cause a delay in the development of social interaction and also impedes the kid to get attached to a person. The social skills of patients could get better during time but even then the complexity of social interaction (e.g. showing emotions, empathy) will make it hard for the autistic person to have a normal, animated conversation. 1 Another manifestation of autism is qualitative impairment in verbal and nonverbal communication and play. Around 20-30% of patients with autism never speak. There is also no attempt to engage in communication or to compensate the inability to speak by nonverbal communication. These individuals for example do not make eye contact. When autistic persons do speak, their language has often typical features. They often speak with a monotonic voice and might say things not meant for communication (i.e. non-reciprocal communication). They can show echolalia as well, which makes them repeat what is said to them or what they hear in their environment (e.g. from the radio). Next to that the social uses of language, such as humor and irony, is difficult to understand for patients with autism. Another feature typically seen in individuals with autism is pronoun reversal.1 A third characteristic is a markedly restricted repertoire of activities and interests. This is expressed by several stereotyped movements, including toe walking, finger flicking and body rocking. Another way in which this characteristic emerges is the interest of the individual in repetitive activities such as collecting certain objects or repeating certain words or numbers. This urge for steadiness and sameness makes it hard for autistic persons to tolerate change and variation in their daily routine and to deal with stress. 1 At last the age of onset is always before three years.1 In 2006 the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder was estimated around 1 percent worldwide4, with two to four times more affected males than females5. An increase in the prevalence of autism and related conditions has been observed worldwide. The adoption of broader definitions of autism and greater awareness among clinicians and parents are most likely the main reasons for this growth. 1 The etiology of autism is not always known. In most cases individuals develop autism without an identifiable cause and are diagnosed with idiopathic or non-syndromic autism. About 70% of these patients dont show any physical abnormalities and are said to have essential autism. The other 30% of the patients can suffer from dysmorphic features such as microcephaly (i.e. an abnormally small circumference of the head) and structural brain malformation.5 Autism is associated with a range of other disorders and impairments. In 5-10% of cases, Individuals with Autism are also diagnosed with disorders such as Rett syndrome, Down syndrome, Fragile X syndrome and tuberous sclerosis. Epilepsy is suffered by 33% of the patients and 44,6% of children diagnosed with autism were reported to have intellectual impairment, defined by an intelligence quotient (IQ) score less than 70.5 The phenotypic heterogeneity in autism patients is a major challenge in research. Individuals with autism seem to have a unique combination of symptoms and show very divergent behavior. This makes it hard for researchers to find a common cause or treatment for the syndrome. A lot of research is done to clear up the genetic background of autism. The different features of autism suggest that a set of different genes is involved with the disease.2 Alterations in gene sequence could have an impact on the function of several parts of the brain. With use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) major types of pathology have been detected which, most possibly, contribute to the behavioural features of Autism patients. The abnormal brain patterns found include an abnormal acceleration of brain growth in early childhood, minicolumn (local network that contains elements for redundancy and plasticity) pathology, curtailed neuronal development and brain structure-specific delays of neuronal growth. 2 How these brain pathologies lead to the changes in the behavior described in autistic individuals is still not known. A (new) theory is proposed by Baron-Cohen to explain the connection between the autistic brain and the correspondent behavior of an autistic individual. This theory is called the Empathizing-Systemizing (E-S) Theory. It is based on the E-S model, which states that the social and cognitive skills of a person are based on an Empathizing Quotient (EQ) and a Systemizing Quotient (SQ). People with autism are said to have an extreme Systemizing brain and thus show little empathy. 6 The E-S theory is closely related to another theory namely the theory of mind (ToM). This theory is an innate mechanism by which a person can interpret and attribute mental states to oneself and others and to understand that another person could have other intentions, desires and beliefs. It makes it possible for people to see the world through another persons eyes. It has been hypothized that a theory of mind deficit, so-called mind-blindness, is one of the main causes of the impairments in social interaction. It has been proposed that children with autism fail to employ a theory of mind, which makes it difficult for them to see things from another persons perspective.7 The Mirror Neuron System Mirror neurons were first discovered in a specific region of the premotor cortex of monkeys, the F5 area. These special type of neurons appeared to discharge when monkeys did a particular action as well as when they just observed another individual doing the same action. It didnt matter if the other individual was a human or a monkey or if the subject was rewarded afterwards: responses were equally. 8 Figure 2: A piece of food is grasped by the experimenter (upper panel left), the tray is moved to the monkey and the monkey grasps the food (upper panel right). Activation of neurons in F5 area both during observation of the experimenters grasping movements, and while the same action is performed by the monkey (Lower panels). 9 After the discovery of these visuomotor neurons in monkeys, research was done to find evidence for existence of the same neurons in human. By the use of neuropsychological and brain-imaging experiments some results were found that could indicate the existence of a Mirror Neuron System (MNS) in human.8 First evidence for the MNS in humans was found using electroencephalography (EEG). With this technique was demonstrated that the mu rhythm, which is present during motor rest and disappears during motor activation and somatosensory stimulation9, disappeared during both execution and observation of hand actions10 This shows that not only by executing a task, but also by observing of someone else doing a task, motor neurons are stimulated. Although motor neurons of the observer are stimulated, no movement is made. The mechanism that prevents this unnecessary movement is still unknown. One of the possibilities might be the existence of regulatory mirror neurons or super mirror neurons.11 After this first evidence for the existence of a MNS in humans, more clues were found using other techniques such as Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) and functional Magnetic Insoncance Imaging (fMRI). These studies showed that during action observation, cortical areas of the brain involved in motor control were activated.9 Activation was particularly observed in posterior inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), also known as pars opercularis, and adjacent ventral premotor cortex (PMC). In addition mirror neurons were found in the rostral part of the inferior parietal lobule. Activation was also found in the superior temporal sulcus (STS), which is believed to be the region responsible for visual input to the MNS (figure 3).11 Figure 3: Schematic overview of the neural circuitry for imitation. Visual input enters via the posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS). Visual information is passed on to the rostral inferior parietal lobule(IPL) (orange arrow). The red arrow represents the information flow from the parieral lobule to the ventral MNS, i.e the ventral premotor cortex (PMC) and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), concerned with the goal of action. Efference copies of moter imitative commands that are sent back to the STS are represented by black arrows. This allows matching between the senory predictions of imitative motor plans and the visual description of the observed action.11 Based on these findings, two hypotheses have been proposed that give the possible function of mirror neurons. The first hypothesis states that mirror-neuron activity mediates imitation 12 Humans are one of the few species that can learn by imitation. Studies show that 12-month-old infants can imitate facial and hand gestures and by this mechanism learn these movements themselves.13 Next to that the infants were also able to predict the action of goals by other people. This introduces the second hypothesis that says that mirror neurons are the basis of action understanding.9 For people to interact with each other, they must be able to understand the actions of another person. So action understanding plays a key role in the organization of social behavior of humans. An interesting experiment has been done by Umilta et al, showing that mirror neurons became activated even when visual stimuli were hidden.14 So different studies show that most likely both hypotheses are true, although there is still some discussion by which mechanism the mirror neurons execute these functions.9 Autism and the Mirror Neuron System Recently it has been proposed that dysfunction of the mirror neuron system could have an influence on the development of autism.15 Defects of these neurons early in development are believed to interfere with the development of normal social actions such as imitation, theory of mind and language. 11 Several studies are done to test this hypothesis. Testing the IQ of children with autism shows a negative relationship between the activity of the mirror neurons and the scores of the children on the social subscales. This means that a higher activity in de mirror neuron system is accompanied with a high score on the social domain. This gives one of the first indications of a link between the dysfunction of the MNS and the development autism.11 One of the functions that is thought to be impaired by the dysfunction of the MNS is imitation. Imitation is one of the most important mechanism by which young children learn their social and communicative skills. Different experiments demonstrated that children with autism have difficulties performing imitation.17 Studies using fMRI supported the hypothesis by showing a reduced MNS activity in children with autism during imitation and observation of facial emotional expression. These results all suggest that mirror neurons play indeed an important role in imitation and early dysfunction of MNS may be at the core of the social limitations observed in children with autism. 16 Rizzolatti and Arbib have proposed that the part of the monkey brain which contains mirror neurons dealing with hand actions, has evolved to subserve speech in humans. 17 This would suggest that hand gestures and mouth gestures are linked in humans. A defect in this specific part of the MNS could result in an inability to speak, like some of the persons with autism do. However, to date no research is done to prove this possibility. Another possible effect of mirror neuron dysfunction could be underdevelopment of ToM. It has been demonstrated that children with autism have difficulties perceiving the world from another persons eyes, suggesting that they have a reduced ToM. However, a study showing a correlation between the dysfunction of the MNS and ToM has still to be done.15 Conclusion Although the discovery of mirror neuron system is just recently done, already a lot of research is dedicated to this interesting part of the brain. The specific neurons first found in monkeys, are most probably also an important part of the human brain forming a basis for functions such as imitation and action understanding. In autistic persons, who show to have difficulties with these abilities, reduced activity of mirror neurons has been found. This would suggest that the MNS is a key factor that influences the degree of social and communicative impairments in these individuals. Still a lot of research has to be done to find strong evidence for the dysfunction of the MNS and its relationship with reduced speech, social interaction skills and theory of mind. Referenties 1 Kiln A (2006): Autism and Asperger syndrome: an overview. Rev. Brasil de Psychil. 28: S3-S11 2 Wegiel J, Kuchna I, Nowicki K et al. (2010): The neuropathology of autism: defects of neurogenesis and neuronal migration, and dysplastic changes. Acta Neuropathol. 119: 755-770 3 Chen, E (2004): Checklist autism. Available on: http://www.elainechen.com/illustration_template.php?page=autism (Geraadpleegd op 4 juli 2010) 4 Baird G, Simonoff E, Pickles A et al. (2006): Prevalence of disorders of the autism spectrum in a population cohort of children in South Thames: the Special Needs and Autism Project (SNAP). Lancet 368: 210-215 5 Pennington BF, Ozonoff S (1996): Executive Functions and Developmental Psychopathology. J. Child. Psychil. Psychiat. 37: 51-87 6 Baron-Cohen S (2009): Autism: The Empathizing-Systemizing (E-S) Theory. Ann. of NY Aca. of sci. 1156: 68-80 7 Baron-Cohen S, Leslie AM, Frith U (1985): Does the autistic child have a theory of mind? Cognition 21: 37-46 8 Rizzolatti G, Craighero L (2004): The mirror-neuron system. Annu. Rev. Neurosci. 27: 169-192 9 Rizzolatti G, Fogassi F, Gallese V (2001): Neurophysiological mechanisms underlying the understanding and imitation of action. Nature Rev. Neurosciences 2: 661-670 10 Hari, R et al. (1998): Activation of human primary motor cortex during action observation: a neuromagnetic study. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. 95: 15061-15065 11 Iacoboni M, Dapretto M (2006): The mirror neuron system and the consequences of its dysfunction. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 7: 942-951 12 Jeannerod M (1994): The representing brain. Neural correlates of motor intention and im- agery. Behav. Brain Sci 17: 187-245 13 Meltzoff AN, Prinz W (2002) The Imitative Mind. Development, Evolution and Brain Bases. Cambridge Univ. Press 14 Umilta MA, Kohler E, Gallese V, Fogassi L, Fadiga L, et al. (2001): I know what you are doing: a neurophysiological study. Neuron 32: 91-101 15 Williams JH, Whiten A, Suddendorf T, Perret DI (2001): Imitation, mirror neurons and autism. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 25: 287-295 16 Dapretto M, Davies MS, Pfeifer JH et al. (2005): Understanding emotions in others: mirror neuron dysfunction in children with autism spectrum disorders. Nature Neuroscience 9: 28-30 17 Rizzolatti G, Fadiga L, Matelli M, Bettinardi V, Paulesu E, Perani D, Fazio F (1996): Localisation of grasp representations in humans by PETà 1: observation vs execution. Exp. Brain Res. 111: 246- 252.

Mother Daughter Relationships - Learning from Mother in Amy Tans The J

Learning from Mother in The Joy Luck Club      Ã‚   "I have already experienced the worst. After this, there is no worst possible thing" (Amy Tan 121). Throughout The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan tells stories of how mothers use the misfortunes in their lives, to try to teach their daughters about life. Many of the mothers had bad experiences in their pasts and do not want to see their daughters live through the same types of problems. They try to make their daughters' lives as easy and problem free as possible. However, the daughters do not see this as an act of love, but rather as an act of control. In the end, the daughters realize that their mothers tried to use their experiences to teach them not to give up hope, and to look at the good of an experience rather than the bad.    Amy Tan starts The Joy Luck Club with the daughter, Jing-mei, and mother, Suyuan Woo. Suyuan lived through a hard life in Kweilin during the war and teaches her daughter to keep her head up and have faith, even though things may seem hard at the time. When Suyuan lived in Kweilin, she had many things that could depress her, "but to despair was to wish back for something already lost. Or to prolong what was already unbearable" (11). Suyuan's wishful thinking reveals that she did not want to think of all the bad things happening around her. Rather, she wanted to focus on the fact that she "had luxuries few people could afford" (10). The ability to find the good when others see only bad helped Suyuan center her attention on the superior things that she had, such as the Joy Luck Club and her friends. Later, when Jing-mei goes to meet her sisters in China, she becomes "so nervous [she] can't even feel [her] feet"(331). The uneasy emo... ...to keep trying. Although Rose believes that she has "no hope," inside she has a nengkan as powerful as her mothers, which makes her wish her marriage would last, just as her mother wishes Bing would still be alive.    Overall, each mother in The Joy Luck Club went through something emotionally exhausting and saddening in her life. The mothers use their experiences to try to direct the course of their daughters' lives, to make them simpler and more carefree. Initially, however, the daughters only see that their mothers want to make decisions for them, not to help them. Ultimately, the daughters realize their mothers' intentions, but not all accept them. The important thing, however, is that each daughter learns a valuable lesson and comes to peace with her mother.    Work Cited Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club. New York: Ivy Books, 1989.   

Creating Customer Value: General Concept Questions

Chapter 5: Creating Customer Value, Satisfaction, and Loyalty GENERAL CONCEPT QUESTIONS Multiple Choice 1. ________ are adept at building customer relationships, not just products; they are skilled in market engineering, not just product engineering. a. Profit-centered companies b. Customer-centered companies c. Production-centered companies d. Sales-centered companies e. Promotion-centered companies Answer: bPage: 119Difficulty: EasyAACSB: Reflective Thinking 2. The opening vignette on Ritz-Carlton shows that successful marketers are the ones that fully ________. a. understand promotional strategy b. diversify their product line . divorce themselves from a production mentality d. satisfy their customers profitably e. understand the sales concept Answer: dPage: 120Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Reflective Thinking 3. In the modern customer-oriented organizational chart, which of the following is considered to be at the top of the organizational pyramid? a. Sales b. The president c. Front-line people d. Customers e. Middle management Answer: dPage: 121Difficulty: Medium 4. ________ is the difference between the prospective customer’s evaluation of all the benefits and all the costs of an offering and the perceived alternatives. a. Perceived usefulness . Failure avoidance rate c. Report rating d. Customer-perceived value e. Competitors’ market share rate Answer: dPage: 121Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills 5. Total customer benefit is the perceived monetary value of the bundle of economic, functional, and ________ benefits customers expect from a given market offering. a. psychological b. intangible c. realized d. fabricated e. advertised Answer: aPage: 121Difficulty: HardAACSB: Analytic Skills 6. The bundle of costs customers expect to incur in evaluating, obtaining, using, and disposing of the given market offering is called the ________. a. rganizational expense ratio b. shopper’s fatigue c. total customer cost d. analysis paralysis e. comparison shopping to comparison buying ratio Answer: cPage: 121Difficulty: MediumAACSB: Analytic Skills 7. In applying a customer’s perceived value to a decision, a seller who is at a disadvantage with respect to customer-perceived value has two alternatives: to increase total customer benefit or ________. a. increase a cash-back bonus b. decrease total customer cost c. lose the sale to the competitor d. advertise more frequently e. offer an extended warranty Answer: bPage: 123Difficulty: MediumAACSB: Analytic Skills 8. The final step of customer value analysis is to ________. a. identify the major attributes and benefits that customers value b. assess the company’s and competitors’ performances on the different customer values against their rated importance c. examine how customers in a specific segment rate the company’s performance against a specific major competitor on an individual attribute or benefit basis d. monitor customer values over time e. assess the quantitative importance of the different attributes and benefits Answer: dPage: 122Difficulty: Medium 9.The ________ consists of the whole cluster of benefits the company promises to deliver; it is more than the core positioning of the offering. a. customer promise b. mission statement c. corporate pledge d. corporate-perceived value e. value proposition Answer: ePage: 123Difficulty: MediumAACSB: Analytic Skills 10. A company’s ________ includes all the experiences the customer will have on the way to obtaining and using the offering. a. value proposition b. value delivery system c. customer-value analysis d. total customer benefit e. total customer cost Answer: bPage: 123Difficulty: EasyAACSB: Analytic Skills 11. Total customer satisfaction is measured based on the relationship of ________. a. anticipated and real performance b. perceived performance and expectation c. advertised outcomes and real outcomes d. past experience and present experience e. customer attitude and salesperson’s attitude Answer: bPage: 124Difficulty: HardAACSB: Reflective Thinking 12. The ultimate goal of the customer-centered firm is ________. a. high customer satisfaction b. high profits c. low costs d. maximum stakeholder satisfaction e. none of the above Answer: ePages: 124–125Difficulty: HardAACSB: Reflective Thinking 13.Buyers form their expectations from all of the following EXCEPT ________. a. past buying experience b. friends and associates advice c. marketers’ information d. competitors’ information e. governmental newsletters Answer: ePage: 125Difficulty: EasyAACSB: Analytic Skills 14. A customer’s decision to be loyal or to defect is the sum of many small encounters with the company. In order for all these small encounters to add up to customer loyalty, many companies, such as Joie de Vivre Hospitality, strive to create ________. a. a reward program b. a comprehensive customer database c. a branded customer experience . strong word-of-mouth promotions e. a top-notch advertising campaign Answer: cPage: 125Difficulty: HardAACSB: Reflective Thinking 15. One key to customer retention is ________. It would be wise for a company to measure this factor frequently. a. heavy promotion b. deep discounts for intermediaries c. to have an ethics officer d. customer satisfaction e. to have customers on the board of directors Answer: dPage: 125Difficulty: MediumAACSB: Reflective Thinking 16. ________ can track customer satisfaction directly and also gauge consumers’ willingness to recommend the company and brand to others. . Periodic surveys b. Mystery shoppers c. Customer loss rates d. Customer focus statements e. All of the above Answer: aPage: 126Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills 17. Studies of customer dissatisfaction show that customers are dissatisfied with their purchases about 25% of the time, but only about ________ complain. a. 1% b. 5% c. 10% d. 15% e. 20% Answer: bPage: 128Difficulty: Hard 18. Of customers who register a complaint, ________. a. the majority will do business with the company again because they are unwilling to dedicate the effort required to find another vendor b. one will do business with the company again c. customers whose complaints are satisfactorily resolved spread more word of mouth than those who continue to be dissatisfied d. the speed of resolution has no impact on the likelihood of repeat business e. between approximately half and three-quarters will do business with the company again if their complaint is resolved Answer: ePage: 129Difficulty: Hard 19. ________ is the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs. a. Performance b. Value c. Quality d. Customer retention e. Ð ¡ustomer loyalty Answer: cPage: 129Difficulty: EasyAACSB: Analytic Skills20. Total quality is the key to value creation and customer satisfaction. A marketing manager has several roles to play in a quality-centered company, including ________. a. participating in cross-functional team building b. correctly identifying customers’ needs and requirements c. ensuring costs are adequately controlled during order fulfillment d. setting expectations both internally and externally e. working closely with the sales team to create a dynamic sales message Answer: bPage: 130Difficulty: HardAACSB: Analytic Skills21. The 20–80 rule reflects the idea that ________. a. the top 20% of customers often generate 80% of the company’s profits b. the top 20% of customers are highl y satisfied and 80% of customers will recommend the company to a friend c. 20% of customers are unprofitable, and 80% make up a company’s profits d. 20% of the company’s profits are generated by the top 80% of customers e. any new product offering will be accepted by 20% of the customers immediately, but 80% of the customers will be up for grabs throughout the product’s life cycle Answer: aPage: 130Difficulty: HardAACSB: Analytic Skills22. Most companies have learned that the ________ are often the most profitable because of service expectations and their willingness to pay almost full price. a. large-size customers b. midsize customers c. small-size customers d. niche customers e. target market customers Answer: bPage: 130Difficulty: Medium23. A(n) ________ customer is a person, household, or company that over time yields a revenue stream that exceeds by an acceptable amount the company’s cost stream of attracting, selling, and servicing that customer. a . profitable b. semiprofitable c. unprofitable d. niche e. target Answer: aPages: 130–131Difficulty: EasyAACSB: Analytic Skills24. Customer profitability analysis (CPA) is best conducted with the tools of an accounting technique called ________. a. input-output analysis b. factor analysis c. revenue-based costing (RBC) d. activity-based costing (ABC) e. future date costing (FDC) Answer: dPage: 131Difficulty: MediumAACSB: Reflective Thinking25. ________ describes the net present value of the stream of future profits expected over the customer’s lifetime purchases. a. Activity-based costing b. Customer profitability analysis c. Customer value analysis . Customer-perceived value e. Customer lifetime value Answer: ePage: 132Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills26. The aim of customer relationship management (CRM) is to produce high customer ________. a. value b. loyalty c. profitability d. satisfaction e. equity Answer: bPage: 133Difficulty: Medium27. A customer touch point in the airline industry would include an item such as ________. a. reservations b. mechanics’ ability to service the airplanes c. ease of access to the airport d. the value of air travel versus surface transportation e. competency of a travel agent Answer: aPage: 133Difficulty: MediumAACSB: Reflective Thinking28. Customer relationship management enables companies to provide excellent real-time customer service through the effective use of _______. a. reports from mystery shoppers b. survey data from customers who have defected c. market research into overall consumption trends d. individual account information e. demographic trend data Answer: dPage: 135Difficulty: HardAACSB: Reflective Thinking29. All of the following would be among the Peppers and Rogers’s four-step framework for one-to-one marketing that can be adapted to CRM marketing EXCEPT ________. . customizing products, services, and messages to each customer b. interacting with individual customers to l earn their needs c. always offering the lowest price d. differentiating customers in terms of their needs and value to the company e. identifying your prospects and customers Answer: cPage: 135Difficulty: HardAACSB: Analytic Skills30. Winning companies improve the value of their customer base by excelling at each of the following strategies EXCEPT ________. a. retaining all customers regardless of profitability b. reducing the rate of customer defection c. ncreasing the longevity of the customer relationship d. making low-profit customers more profitable or terminating them e. focusing disproportionate efforts on high-value customers Answer: aPage: 136Difficulty: MediumAACSB: Reflective Thinking31. Harley-Davidson sells more than motorcycles and accessories. Its dealerships also sell branded clothing and licensed goods. This expansion of dealership sales offerings is an attempt to increase the value of the customer base by ________. a. reducing the rate of customer defection b. incr easing the longevity of the customer relationship . enhancing the growth potential of each customer through cross-selling d. making low-profit customers more profitable e. terminating low-profit customers Answer: cPage: 136Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Reflective Thinking32. Although actual costs vary from business to business depending on the complexity of the sales process, the most expensive customer acquisition method based on cost per solicitation is ________. a. personal selling b. direct mail c. telemarketing d. banner advertisements e. e-mail Answer: aPage: 137Difficulty: MediumAACSB: Analytic Skills33.Another term for high customer ________ is customer churn. a. retention b. defection c. value d. perception e. belief Answer: bPage: 137Difficulty: EasyAACSB: Analytic Skills34. People with the motivation, ability, and opportunity to make a purchase are known as ________. a. potentials b. advocates c. members d. prospects e. partners Answer: dPage: 137Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Ana lytic Skills35. Customers who enthusiastically recommend the company and its products and services to others are known as ________. a. potentials b. advocates c. members d. prospects e. partners Answer: bPage: 137Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills36. Satisfied customers constitute the company’s ________. a. customer relationship capital b. customer churn c. prospects d. high-value customers e. customer touch points Answer: aPage: 138Difficulty: Medium37. Acquiring new customers can cost ________ times more than satisfying and retaining current customers. a. two b. three c. five d. seven e. 10 Answer: cPage: 138Difficulty: Hard38. All of the following are methods to form strong customer bonds EXCEPT ________. a. creating superior products, services, and experiences for the target market b. aking it easy for customers to reach the appropriate company personnel and express their needs, perceptions, and complaints c. organizing and making accessible a database of informati on on individual customer needs, preferences, contacts, purchase frequency, and satisfaction d. running award programs recognizing outstanding employees e. concentrating the planning and management of the customer satisfaction and retention process within the marketing department Answer: ePage: 138Difficulty: HardAACSB: Reflective Thinking39. When companies provide rewards to customers who buy frequently and in ubstantial amounts, this is referred to as ________. a. benefit programs b. frequency programs c. satisfaction programs d. loyalty programs e. quality programs Answer: bPage: 139Difficulty: EasyAACSB: Analytic Skills40. Typically, ________ gains the most benefit from introducing a frequency program. a. the first company to introduce a frequency program in an industry b. the fast follower, who is second to introduce a frequency program in an industry, c. the industry sales leader d. the niche player in the industry e. the low-cost leader in the industry Answer: aPage: 140Diffi culty: MediumAACSB: Reflective Thinking41. All of the following are CRM imperatives EXCEPT ________. a. acquiring the right customer b. crafting the right value proposition c. instituting the best processes d. motivating employees e. learning to make profits through marginal customers Answer: ePage: 141Difficulty: HardAACSB: Analytic Skills42. CRM technology can help motivate employees by ________. a. analyzing customer revenue and cost data to identify current and future high-value customers b. better targeting the company’s direct marketing efforts c. racking customer-service satisfaction levels d. aligning employee incentives and metrics e. developing new pricing models Answer: dPage: 141Difficulty: Hard AACSB: Reflective Thinking43. According to Stanford’s business guru Jeffery Pfeffer, â€Å"the best companies build cultures in which frontline people ________. † a. can refer serious problems to senior management b. have strictly limited freedom to deviate f rom standard operating procedures c. are also consumers of the company’s products d. are empowered to do what’s needed to take care of the customer e. ive in the communities they serve Answer: dPage: 142Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Reflective Thinking44. An organized collection of comprehensive information about individual customers or prospects that is current, accessible, and actionable for such marketing purposes as lead generation, lead qualification, sale of a product or service, or maintenance of customer relationships is called ________. a. a customer database b. a customer mail list c. target market segments d. customer segments e. relationship markets Answer: aPages: 142–143Difficulty: MediumAACSB: Analytic Skills45.The process of building, maintaining, and using customer databases and other databases for the purpose of contacting, transacting, and building customer relationships is called ________. a. data warehousing b. datamining c. database marketing d . custom marketing e. electronic marketing Answer: cPage: 143Difficulty: EasyAACSB: Analytic Skills46. A _____________ is simply a set of names, addresses, and telephone numbers. a. customer database b. customer mailing list c. call-waiting list d. psychographic list e. demographic list Answer: bPage: 143Difficulty: Easy47. A customer database should contain all of the following EXCEPT ________. a. customer’s past purchases b. demographics c. psychographics d. mediagraphics e. an assessment of competitive strengths and weaknesses Answer: ePage: 143Difficulty: MediumAACSB: Reflective Skills48. A ________ would contain such items as past volumes, prices, profits, buyer, status of current contacts, and an assessment of competitive strengths and weaknesses. a. customer mailing list b. contact list c. customer database d. business database e. general corporate database Answer: dPage: 143Difficulty: EasyAACSB: Analytic Skills49. Savvy companies are capturing information every time a customer comes into contact with any of its departments. As a marketing manager all of the following would be available customer touch points for your consideration EXCEPT ________. a. a customer purchase b. an online query c. a mail-in rebate card d. an ad run on a national television network e. a customer-requested service call Answer: dPage: 143Difficulty: Medium50. Using his company’s ________ lets a telemarketer respond to customer inquiries more effectively because he or she can see a total picture of the customer relationship. a. data warehouse b. call back list c. call rejection list d. corporate database e. Better Business Bureau contacts Answer: aPage: 143Difficulty: Medium51. Through ________, marketing statisticians can extract useful information about individuals, trends, and segments from the mass of data. a. data accumulation b. target market information supplied by the government c. datamining d. data management e. data marketing Answer: cPage: 143Difficulty : MediumAACSB: Analytic Skills52. ________ involves the use of sophisticated statistical and mathematical techniques such as cluster analysis, automatic interaction detection, predictive modeling, and neural networking. a. Data management b. Data marketing c. Target market analysis d. Data accumulation e. Datamining Answer: ePage: 143Difficulty: MediumAACSB: Analytic Skills53. In general, companies can use their databases in all of the following ways EXCEPT ________. a. to predict competitive strategies and plans b. to identify prospects c. to decide which customers should receive a particular offer d. to deepen customer loyalty e. to avoid serious customer mistakes Answer: aPages: 143–145Difficulty: MediumAACSB: Analytic Skills54. Susan Lefferts’ company advertises widely. Ms. Lefferts uses business reply cards attached to her company’s magazine ads to build her company’s database. In which of the following ways would Ms. Lefferts most likely use the dat abase? a. To deepen customer loyalty b. To reactivate customer purchases c. To avoid serious customer mistakes d. To determine if up-selling is appropriate e. To identify prospects Answer: ePage: 143Difficulty: HardAACSB: Reflective Thinking55. Phil Langston has just ordered a number of expensive executive gifts that he will be sending as an appreciation token to a select few customers from his client database. In which of the following ways is Mr. Langston most likely using his database? a. To identify prospects b. To decide which customers should receive a new sales offer c. To deepen customer loyalty . To avoid serious customer mistakes e. To beat the competition to a sale Answer: cPage: 145Difficulty: MediumAACSB: Reflective Thinking56. Royal Caribbean uses its ________ to offer spur-of-the-moment cruise packages to fill all the berths on its ships. It focuses on retired people and single people because they are more able to make quick commitments. a. advertising b. database c. mail catalogs d. public relations department e. radio advertising Answer: bPage: 145Difficulty: Easy57. Which of the following is considered to be one of the four problems that can deter a firm from using CRM (customer relationship marketing)? . Competitors can often hack into CRM systems. b. Building and maintaining a customer database requires a large investment. c. It is very difficult to find and train database employees. d. Long-term results of such systems are still unproven. e. Focusing too much on databases separates a company from its customers. Answer: bPage: 145Difficulty: MediumAACSB: Reflective Thinking58. Building a database would not be worthwhile for a company in all of the following cases EXCEPT ________. a. where the product is a one-in-a-lifetime purchase b. where customers show little loyalty to a brand c. here the company already has an above average relationship with its customers d. where the unit sale is very small e. where the cost of gathering the informati on is too high Answer: cPages: 145–146Difficulty: Hard59. All of the following are examples of the perils of CRM EXCEPT ________. a. implementing CRM before creating a customer strategy b. the enormous cost that might eventually drain significant profits from the organization c. rolling out CRM before changing the organization to match d. assuming more CRM technology is better e. stalking, not wooing, customers Answer: bPage: 146Difficulty: Medium60.Marketers from which of the following are most likely to use database marketing? a. An airline b. A candy bar manufacturer c. A grand piano maker d. A toothpaste manufacturer e. None of the above would use database marketing. Answer: aPage: 146Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Reflective Thinking True/False61. Managers who believe the customer is the company’s only true â€Å"profit center† consider the traditional organization chart to be obsolete. Answer: TruePage: 120Difficulty: Easy62. The modern customer-oriented organi zation chart places top management at the top of the pyramid as long as they can think like consumers. Answer: FalsePage: 120Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Reflective Thinking63. There are two determinates of customer-perceived value: total customer benefit and total customer cost. Answer: TruePage: 121Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills64. Customer-perceived value is the perceived monetary value of all the purchases a customer makes on an annual basis. Answer: FalsePage: 121Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills65. Consumers tend to be value maximizes—they estimate which offer will deliver the most perceived value and act on it. Answer: TruePage: 121Difficulty: Easy AACSB: Analytic Skills66. At the heart of a good value delivery system is a set of core business processes that help to deliver distinctive customer value. Answer: TruePage: 123Difficulty: Hard AACSB: Analytic Skills67. Professional buyers and purchasing agents operate under various constraints and occasional ly make choices that give more weight to their personal benefit than to the company’s benefit. Answer: TruePage: 123Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Reflective Thinking68. The value proposition is stated in the price of a product and readily recognized by the average consumer. Answer: FalsePage: 123Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills69. The value delivery system includes all the experiences the customer will have on the way to obtaining and using the offering. Answer: TruePage: 123Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills70. For a consumer to be delighted with a product or service he or she must perceive that performance exceeds expectations. Answer: TruePage: 124Difficulty: Easy AACSB: Analytic Skills71. The ultimate goal of the customer-centered firm is to create high customer satisfaction. Answer: FalsePage: 124Difficulty: Hard AACSB: Reflective Thinking72.One key to customer retention is customer satisfaction. Answer: TruePage: 125Difficulty: Easy73. Consumers’ expe ctations result exclusively from past buying experiences. Answer: FalsePage: 125Difficulty: Medium74. A highly satisfied customer generally stays loyal longer, pays less attention to competing brands, and is less sensitive to price. Answer: TruePage: 125Difficulty: Medium75. Price perception is the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs. Answer: FalsePage: 129Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills76. Conformance quality and performance quality is essentially the same thing in a marketing sense. Answer: FalsePage: 129Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills77. Two products with very different performance qualities can have the same conformance quality if both products deliver their respective promised quality. Answer: TruePage: 129Difficulty: Hard AACSB: Analytic Skills78. Marketers have found that pricing plays the most essential role in defining and delivering high-quality goods and services t o target customers. Answer: FalsePage: 130Difficulty: Easy AACSB: Reflective Thinking79.The midsize customers for most organizations receive good service, pay nearly full price for the products and services they purchase, and are often the most profitable. Answer: TruePage: 130Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Reflective Thinking80. A profitable customer is a person, household, or company that over time yields a revenue stream that exceeds by an acceptable amount the company’s cost stream of attracting, selling, and servicing the customer. Answer: TruePages: 130–131Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills81. The best thing a company can do in the face of company mistakes is to discourage the customer from complaining. Answer: FalsePage: 129Difficulty: Easy AACSB: Reflective Thinking82. Quality is the key to value creation and customer satisfaction. Answer: TruePage: 130Difficulty: Medium83. The least profitable 10% to 20% of customers can reduce profits by 50% to 200% per acc ount. Answer: TruePage: 130Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills84. Most companies measure customer satisfaction and individual customer profitability. Answer: FalsePage: 131Difficulty: Medium85. Unprofitable customers who defect to a competitor should be encouraged to do so. Answer: TruePage: 131Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Reflective Thinking86. Customer profitability analysis (CPA) is best conducted with the tools of an accounting technique called activity-based costing (ABC). Answer: TruePage: 131Difficulty: Medium87. According to customer profitability analysis (CPA), platinum customers spend the most money with the organization, thereby making them valuable. Answer: FalsePage: 131Difficulty: Hard AACSB: Analytic Skills88. Customer lifetime value (CLV) describes the net present value of the stream of future profits expected over the customer’s lifetime purchases. Answer: TruePage: 132Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills89. A good illustration of a personal touch in the hotel business would be if the hotel employees (e. g. , registration, maid service, et cetera) call a guest by his or her name. Answer: TruePage: 133Difficulty: Easy AACSB: Reflective Thinking90. A customer touch point is the time when the customer makes a purchase. Answer: FalsePage: 133Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills91. The aim of customer relationship management is to keep the costs of meeting and tracking consumers as low as possible. Answer: FalsePage: 133Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Reflective Thinking92.All companies should practice one-to-one marketing. Answer: FalsePage: 135Difficulty: Medium93. A key driver of shareholder value is the aggregate value of the customer base. Answer: TruePage: 136Difficulty: Medium94. Customer churn is how rapidly a store can move customers through its checkout facility or process. Answer: FalsePage: 137Difficulty: Medium95. The average company loses 25% of its customers each year. Answer: FalsePage: 138Difficulty: HardAACSB: Analy tic Skills96. A customer database is simply a listing of a customer’s name, address, and phone number for credit reference.Answer: FalsePages: 142–143Difficulty: Easy97. It’s often easier to reattract ex-customers (because the company knows their names and histories) than to find new ones. Answer: TruePage: 142Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Reflective Thinking98. Cluster analysis is a good example of a statistical technique that might be employed in datamining. Answer: TruePage: 143Difficulty: MediumAACSB: Analytic Skills99. It always costs less to serve loyal customers than to attract new ones. Answer: FalsePage: 146Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills100.Database marketing is most frequently used by business marketers and service providers (hotels, banks, airlines, and insurance, credit card, and telephone companies) that normally and easily collect a lot of customer data. Answer: TruePage: 146Difficulty: Medium Essay101. Compare and contrast the traditional o rganization chart for an organization against the modern customer-oriented organization chart. Suggested Answer: For a visual comparison, see Figure 5. 1. With respect to a written description, students should note that the modern customer-oriented organization chart is inverted (see the traditional model [e. g. top management—middle management—frontline people—customers]). Customers are at the top, followed by frontline people, then middle management, and, lastly, top management. Students might also provide some discussion on why the inversion is beneficial. Pages: 120–121Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills102. Provide a customer-centered definition of the term quality. Suggested Answer: Quality is the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on the ability to satisfy stated or implied needs. This is clearly a customer-centered definition. Page: 129Difficulty: Easy AACSB: Reflective Thinking103.Differentiate betwee n performance quality and conformance quality. Give an example of two products that have different performance quality but are of equal conformance quality. Suggested Answer: Performance quality is the quality of the product’s attributes. Conformance quality is the extent to which the product delivers the performance quality promised to consumers. A Lexus provides higher performance quality than a Hyundai: The Lexus rides smoother, goes faster, and lasts longer. Yet both would deliver the same conformance quality if both delivered their respective promised quality. Page: 129Difficulty: Hard AACSB: Analytic Skills104. The case for maximizing long-term customer profitability is captured in the concept of customer lifetime value. How is customer lifetime value calculated? Suggested Answer: Customer lifetime value describes the net present value of the stream of future profits expected over the customer’s lifetime purchases. The company must subtract from its expected reve nues the expected costs of attracting, selling, and servicing the account for that customer, applying the appropriate discount rate (depending on cost of capital and risk attitudes). Page: 132Difficulty: Hard AACSB: Analytic Skills105.Peppers and Rogers outline a four-step framework for one-to-one marketing that can be adapted to CRM marketing. What are those four steps? Suggested Answer: The four steps are: (1) Identify your prospects and customers; (2) differentiate customers in terms of their needs and their value to your company; (3) interact with individual customers to improve your knowledge about their individual needs and to build stronger relationships; and (4) customize products, services, and messages to each customer. Page: 135Difficulty: Hard AACSB: Analytic Skills106. A key driver of shareholder value is the aggregate value of the customer base. Identify the five strategies employed by winning companies to improve the value of their customer base. Suggested Answer: Win ning companies improve the value of their customer base by excelling at the following five strategies: (1) reducing the rate of customer defection; (2) increasing the longevity of the customer relationship; (3) enhancing the growth potential of each customer through â€Å"share-of-wallet,† cross-selling, and up-selling; (4) making low-profit customers more profitable or terminating them; and (5) focusing disproportionate effort on high-value customers. Page: 136Difficulty: Hard AACSB: Reflective Thinking107. Today, companies are increasingly concerned about customer defection. There are three main steps a company can take to reduce the defection rate. Characterize those three steps. Suggested Answer: The three steps are: (1) The company must define and measure its retention rate; (2) the company must distinguish the causes of customer attrition and identify those that can be managed better; and (3) the company must compare the lost profit equal to the customer lifetime value from a lost customer to the costs to reduce the defection rate. Page: 137Difficulty: Hard AACSB: Analytic Skills108. Discuss the concepts of a data warehouse and datamining. Suggested Answer: Data are collected by the company’s contact center and organized into a data warehouse. Company personnel can capture, query, and analyze the data. Inferences can be drawn about an individual customer’s needs and responses. Through datamining, marketing statisticians can extract useful information about individuals, trends, and segments from the mass of data. Datamining involves the use of sophisticated statistical and mathematical techniques. Page: 143Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills109.Assume that a marketing manager of a small company is in the process of implementing the use of a database to assist his or her company in its marketing efforts. Considering the information found in the text, list five ways that the marketing manager might be able to use the database for marketing efforts. Suggested Answer: Five ways to use a database for marketing efforts include: (1) to identify prospects; (2) to decide which customers should receive a particular offer; (3) to deepen customer loyalty; (4) to reactivate customer purchases; and (5) to avoid serious customer mistakes. Pages: 143–-145Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Reflective Thinking110. Describe four situations or cases when building a customer database would not be worthwhile for a company. Suggested Answer: Four situations or cases when building a customer database would not be worthwhile for a company would be: (1) where the product is a once-in-a-lifetime purchase; (2) where customers show little loyalty to a brand; (3) where the unit sale is very small; and (4) where the cost of gathering information is too high. Pages: 145–146Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Reflective ThinkingAPPLICATION QUESTIONS Multiple Choice111. John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems, said, â€Å"Make your customer the ce nter of your culture. † Customer-centered companies are adept at building customer relationships, not just producing products; they are skilled in ________, not just product engineering. a. service engineering b. market engineering c. cultural engineering d. innovation engineering e. management engineering Answer: bPage: 119Difficulty: Medium112. Immediately below the customers in a modern customer-oriented organization chart, we would expect to find the ________ of an organization. . top management b. marketing department c. middle management d. frontline people e. service department Answer: dPage: 121Difficulty: Easy AACSB: Analytic Skills113. All of the following are considered to be customer costs EXCEPT ________. a. financial cost of acquiring the product b. financial cost of disposing of the product c. time spent acquiring the product d. the risk of social stigma associated with acquiring the product e. All of the above are considered to be customer costs. Answer: ePage: 121Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Reflective Thinking114.When a consumer considers a product or service, he or she will choose whichever product or service delivers the highest ________. a. customer-perceived value b. customer-perceived cost c. consumer discount d. consumer relationship e. consumer synergy Answer: aPage: 121Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills115. Buyers do not always make logical or rational decisions. They might purchase the most expensive and least quality item for example. Which of the following would be another good example of this behavior? a. The buyer is not seen by the seller as being very intelligent. b. The buyer might be under orders to buy at the lowest price. . The buyer might be underage. d. The buyer might be under pressure to resist sales messages. e. The buyer refuses to listen to or read any advertising. Answer: bPage: 123Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Reflective Thinking116. If a company were to focus its marketing efforts on all the experiences the customer will have on the way to obtaining and using the offering, it would be focusing its marketing efforts on the customer’s ________. a. perception system b. cost versus benefit system c. demand d. psychological system e. value delivery system Answer: ePage: 123Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills117. _______ is defined as â€Å"a deeply held commitment to rebuy or repatronize a preferred product or service in the future despite situational influences and marketing efforts having the potential to cause switching behavior. † a. Customer satisfaction b. Customer value c. Loyalty d. Customer profitability e. Quality Answer: cPage: 123Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills118. Whether the buyer is satisfied after purchase depends on the offer’s performance in relation to the ________. a. buyer’s reactions b. buyer’s expectations c. seller’s delivery d. seller’s expectations e. both the buyer’s and seller’s demand s Answer: bPage: 124Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills119. Buyers form expectations in all of the following ways EXCEPT ________. a. from past buying experience b. from friends’ and associates’ advice c. from marketers’ information d. from competitors’ information e. from inherited traits Answer: ePage: 125Difficulty: Easy AACSB: Analytic Skills120. Field Grocery is considering using _________ to pose as customers and report on strong and weak points in customer service at Field Grocery stores. a. intelligence agents b. covert operatives c. mystery shoppers d. market mavens e. opinion leaders Answer: cPage: 126Difficulty: Easy121. 3M makes it easy for dialog to occur with its customers. 3M claims that over two-thirds of its product-improvement ideas come from listening to ________. a. customer suggestions b. entrepreneurial product ideas c. customer complaints d. media feedback e. customer reactions to competitive products Answer: cPage: 129Difficu lty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills122. According to GE’s former chairman, John F. Welch Jr. , â€Å"________ is our best assurance of customer allegiance, our strongest defense against foreign competition, and the only path to sustained growth and earnings. † a. Quality b. Customer satisfaction c. True value d. Sustainable enterprise e. Motivation Answer: aPage: 129Difficulty: Hard AACSB: Analytic Skills123. With respect to customer profitability analysis, ________ customers are the most likely dropped as customers because of poor profitability. a. granite b. wood c. iron d. plastic e. lead Answer: ePage: 131Difficulty: Medium124. Jim is a residential construction contractor. Although one particular realtor provides Jim with a large volume of work, the realtor frequently demands discounts for sending him customers. This realtor is best described as a(n) ________ customer. a. latinum b. gold c. lead d. iron e. ivory Answer: dPage: 131Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Reflective Thinking125. Harrah’s has used effective ________ to almost double its share of customers’ gaming budgets by targeting offers to specific customer segments. a. customer relationship management b. customer lifetime value c. customer profitability analysis d. customer satisfaction analysis e. customer-value delivery Answer: aPage: 135Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills126. Many banks and phone companies now charge fees for once-free services to ensure minimum customer revenue levels. This is an example of ________. . reducing the rate of customer defection b. making low-profit customers more profitable c. enhancing the growth potential for each customer through cross-selling d. increasing the longevity of the customer relationship e. focusing disproportionate effort on high-value customers Answer: bPage: 136Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Reflective Thinking127. When Bob found out his friend was thinking about buying a new car, he strongly recommended that his friend lo ok into the newest line of Ford sedans. Bob is best characterized as a(n) ________ for Ford. a. first-time customer b. member c. partner d. advocate e. rospect Answer: dPage: 137Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Reflective Thinking128. Carol is currently considering buying a Motorola cell phone offered by her service provider in conjunction with a two-year service contract. Carol is best characterized as a(n) ________ for Motorola. a. first-time customer b. member c. partner d. advocate e. prospect Answer: ePage: 137Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Reflective Thinking129. Southwest Airlines offers a Rapid Rewards program, an example of a ________ that allows customers to count flights they have taken toward free future flights. a. value proposition b. value delivery system c. lub membership program d. one-to-one marketing program e. customer churn Answer: cPage: 140Difficulty: Easy AACSB: Analytic Skills130. The skillful use of database marketing and ________ has made catalog house Fingerhut one o f the nation’s largest direct-mail marketers. a. everyday low prices b. expanded home delivery options c. relationship building d. competitor’s mistakes e. retailer alliances Answer: cPage: 145Difficulty: Hard AACSB: Analytic Skills Short Answer131. What do modern managers believe is their company’s only true â€Å"profit center†? Suggested Answer: Managers believe the customer is their only true profit center. Page: 120Difficulty: Easy AACSB: Analytic Skills132. Customer-perceived value is based on two components. What are those components? Suggested Answer: The two components of customer-perceived value are total customer value and total customer cost. Page: 121Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills133. What is the definition for customer-perceived value (CPV)? Suggested Answer: Customer-perceived value (CPV) is the difference between prospective customer’s evaluation of all the benefits and all the costs of an offering and the perceived alter natives. Page: 121Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills134. Using European automobile giant Volvo as your illustration, create a value proposition for the company. Suggested Answer: Students may have several answers; however, any value proposition must be built on their stated positioning objective of â€Å"safety. † Other benefits that might be worked into a value proposition could be a long-lasting car, good service, and a long warranty period. Basically, the value proposition is a statement about the total experience customers will gain from the company’s market offering and from their relationship with the supplier. Page: 123Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Reflective Thinking135. How do customers determine their level of satisfaction with a product? Suggested Answer: In general, satisfaction is a person’s feelings of pleasure or disappointment that result from comparing a product’s perceived performance to the customer’s expectations. Page: 124Di fficulty: Easy AACSB: Reflective Thinking136. Give an example of a â€Å"branded customer experience. † Suggested Answer: Students may have several answers. One example from the book is that of Joie de Vivre Hospitality Inc, which operates a chain of boutique hotels, restaurants, and resorts in the San Francisco area. The boutique concept enables hotels to offer personal touches, such as vitamins in place of chocolates on pillows. Page: 125Difficulty: Hard AACSB: Reflective Thinking137. Companies need to be especially concerned today with their customer satisfaction level. Why? Suggested Answer: Companies need to be especially concerned today with their customer satisfaction level because the Internet provides a tool for consumers to quickly spread bad word of mouth to the rest of the world. Page: 126Difficulty: Easy AACSB: Reflective Thinking138. Identify three ways companies with customer complaints can recover customer goodwill. Suggested Answer: Five methods are identifie d in the text. Students should present three of the following: (1) Set up a 24/7 toll-free â€Å"hotline† to receive and act on customer complaints; (2) contact the complaining customer as quickly as possible; (3) accept responsibility for the customer’s disappointment; (4) use customer-service people who are empathic; and (5) resolve the complaint swiftly and to the customer’s satisfaction. Page: 129Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills139.Define the term quality. Suggested Answer: Quality is the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs. Page: 129Difficulty: Easy AACSB: Analytic Skills140. What are the three ways that customer profitability can be assessed? Suggested Answer: Customer profitability can be assessed individually, by market segment, or by channel. Page: 131Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills141. What are the four classifications (tiers) of customers in cus tomer profitability analysis using activity-based costing? Suggested Answer: The tiers would be platinum customers (most profitable), gold customers (profitable), iron customers (low profitability but desirable), and lead customers (unprofitable and undesirable). Page: 131Difficulty: Hard AACSB: Analytic Skills142. What is a customer touch point? Suggested Answer: A customer touch point is any occasion on which a customer encounters the brand and product—from actual experience to personal or mass communications to casual observation. Page: 133Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills143. One-to-one marketing is not for every company. For whom does this style of marketing work best? Suggested Answer: One-to-one marketing works best for companies that normally collect a great deal of individual customer information, carry a lot of products that can be cross-sold, carry products that need periodic replacement or upgrading, and sell products of high value. Page: 135Difficulty: Ha rd AACSB: Reflective Thinking144. A 5% reduction in the customer defection rate can increase profits by 25% to 85%, depending on the industry. Explain how this is so. Suggested Answer: Acquiring new customers can cost five times more than satisfying existing customers. Customer profit rate also tends to increase over the life of the retained customer due to increased purchases, referrals, and price premiums and reduced operating costs to service. Page: 138Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Reflective Thinking145. Explain how a company frequency program might work. Suggested Answer: Frequency programs are designed to provide rewards to customers who buy frequently and in substantial amounts. Frequency programs acknowledge the validity of the 20–80 rule. Page: 139Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills146. Describe the process of database marketing. Suggested Answer: Database marketing is the process of building, maintaining, and using customer databases and other databases (products, suppliers, resellers) for the purpose of contacting, transacting, and building customer relationships. Page: 143Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills147. How do companies use their databases to identify prospects?Suggested Answer: Many companies generate sales leads by advertising their product or service. The ads generally contain a response feature, such as a business reply card or a toll-free phone number, and the company builds its database from customer responses. It sorts through the database to identify the best prospects, then contacts them by mail, phone, or personal call to convert them into customers. Page: 143Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Reflective Thinking148. Give an illustration of how a company can use a customer database to reactivate customer purchases. Suggested Answer: Companies can install automatic mailing programs that send out birthday or anniversary cards, Christmas shopping reminders, or off-season promotions. Other illustrations by students should be in a similar vein. Page: 145Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Reflective Thinking149. One of the main problems that can prevent a firm from effectively using CRM is that some of the assumptions behind CRM may not always hold true. Give an example of one of these assumptions that might not always hold true. Suggested Answer: It may not actually cost less to serve more loyal customers. Page: 146Difficulty: Medium AACSB: Analytic Skills150. According to information provided in the text, what are the four main perils of CRM? Suggested Answer: The four main perils are: (1) implementing CRM before creating a customer strategy; (2) rolling out CRM before changing the organization to match; (3) assuming more CRM technology is better; and (4) stalking, not wooing, customers. Page: 146Difficulty: Hard AACSB: Analytic Skills