Self Reflection Mbti Type

Self Reflection: Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Christopher Wright Seton Hill University Principles of Management, SBU 180-98, ADP Session 2 Lyzona Marshall, 10/15/12 Who are ENTJ’s? ENTJ’s are one of sixteen personality types, making up about 3-5 percent of the American public. ENTJ’s are Extroverts, Intuitive, Thinking, Judging personality types. They tend to be natural leaders, who make decisions based upon objective analysis, weigh pros versus cons, arriving at logical decisions.They often express opinions, messages, directions, plans, and goals clearly. ENTJ’s like to get right to the point without any unnecessary outside noise. Business leaders who are ENTJ’s are effective in communicating the company’s goals and direction, setting the standard by which expectations are measured. These types of leaders think big picture, what is going to happen in future and how do I need to plan for it, not getting caught up in the now.What do the letters ENTJ mean and what are the associated pros and cons with the individual letters as a manager? E – Extrovert. An extrovert could excel in negotiation, while they could be a hindrance in conflict resolution. N – Intuitive. Intuitive thinkers would help in business development but would slow down analyzing financial statements. T – Thinking. Thinking types would help in analyzing headcount to cost ratio but would hinder discussion in performance reviews with employees. J – Judging.Judging types would benefit business expansion or project management but would interfere with analyzing costs. Some additional pros and cons associated with ENTJ’s are critical thinkers, planners (plan for everything, including back up plans), level headed (ability to stay calm in a crisis or stressful situations), calculated risk takers, orderly, self centered or arrogant, trouble expressing affection, opinionated or stubborn, set unrealistic expectations, hasty decision m aking, critical of incompetence or inefficiency, not free with compliments.An ENTJ is a leader, direct approach type. They are big picture thinkers, identify potential problems, and create a plan to change those problems. However, ENTJ’s must develop their Intuitive and Thinking skills or they run the risk of not being able to apply logic to their ideas. This could lead an ENTJ to become dictatorial and abrasive.

Wind Mobile

Wind Mobile Political The Canadian Radio – television and Telecommunications Commission (CRT) unwanted Globalize company ownership (Rococo) Competition Bureau – independent agency that investigates offences across the Canadian business scene Canada's telecoms laws Major acts of Parliament regulate the Canadian telecoms sector including the Canadian Radio- television and Telecommunications Act. Telecommunications Act, Broadcasting Act and Radio communications Act.Environmental Market and trade cycles according the Canadian community Market routes and distribution trends within Canada G network and LET net speeds Taxation issues with internationally owned companies Socio-cultural Average consumer within Canada pays $70 per month Lifestyle trends of business, regular and student consumers Brands of cell phone gadgets are a strong influence for consumers to purchase a product or not. Currently Apple and Samsung are in the lead.Marketing and advertising for Wind Is currently pushing for the consumer who seeks the best services at a lower price, working against competitors. Technology Competing cell phone technology developments and also the highest quality In mobile lines and Internet speeds. R & D activities within the company. Maturity in technology. Consumer buying mechanisms and what they seek to have. Technology access (phone signals) licensing, patents. Threats Bell, Rogers and Tells Well established competitors known for their product established.Continuous threats of Public Mobile Wind Is known to drop calls and consumers are not happy about this. Heavy push on laws and regulations against pricing of current cell phone plans. Opportunities Develop a stronger call line to avoid drop calls Students want better deals and therefore want to providers such as wind Joint entire with another large well known company such as Bell Mobile. Sell company to a Canadian owner or co-ownership.By task_Mackinac Unwanted Globalize company ownership (Rococo) 36 ne twork and LET net speeds Apple and Samsung are in the lead. Marketing and advertising for Wind is currently Competing cell phone technology developments and also the highest quality in mobile lines and internet speeds. R & D activities within the company. Wind is known to drop calls and consumers are not happy about this. Heavy push on laws and regulations against pricing of current cell phone plans. Opportunities

Ebay Strategy

Short history of eBay Pierre Omidyar launched the first online auction in 1995 under the name ‘Auctionwatch’ under the domain name of www. eBay. com with the intention of creating a person- ­? to- ­? person trading community based on a democratized, efficient market where everyone could have equal access through the same medium, the Internet. The initial concept was to attract neighbours and other interested in the San Francisco Bay area residents to the site to buy and sell items of mutual interest. From there, the business grew to succession year after year. 1996: Jeffrey Skoll became co- ­? president and director of eBay. 997: Margaret Whitman became CEO of eBay. 2004: eBay acquired a share in Craigslist. 2005: eBay acquired Rent. com and Shopping. com. 2006: Acquisition of Skype. 2007: eBay acquired Stubhub. com. 2008: Margaret Whitman resigned as CEO. John Donahoe was her successor. During the years 2006- ­? 2008, eBay experienced a drop in gross merchandise sales to - ­? 12% and a reduction in number of auctions listed to - ­? 15%. This signalled a downturn in business for eBay, and a need to overcome the challenges which it now faced. Between 2006 and 2008 : eBay’s share of the US e- ­? commerce market had fallen from 19% to 17% (Amazon market hares, same period: from 3,7% to 5,3%). In 2008, John Donahoe took over the firm. Donahoe was a man who liked change. He believed that the firms marketplace sector had reached its maturity and a change in strategy was needed for the firm to move forward. In other words, he believed that the emphasis should no longer be put on the market place sector of eBay but on expanding the business by providing an array of other services. Question 1: Porters’ five forces: When eBay was first set up in 1995, it was the first business in the online auction industry. Since then, the industry has grown significantly. eBays competitors includeAmazon, uBid, Yahoo, and Google. Due to the incre asing interest in the online auction industry, eBay is now facing competition from a number of different rivals, most importantly Amazon. 1. Bargaining Power of buyers: Medium Buyers have the power to negotiate a price which suits them through setting their preferred bid. There is no pressure on buyers to surpass their preferred price limit. However, the number of buyers in the market is vast therefore their power is limited. 2. Bargaining Power of Sellers: Low As a result of endless number of sellers in the market, the bargaining power is low as there are many alternatives which an offer buyers good value and at a low price. Unless dealing with high end items or collectibles, which may be rare, the bargaining power of suppliers is low. 3. Existing Rivalry among competitors: Medium: The online auction industry is oligopolistic in the sense that there are a few large companies who own a large proportion of the market shares (eBay, uBid). However eBay is facing competition from severa l online retailers (Amazon, Overstock). 4. Threat of Substitutes: High Many consumers still prefer to use traditional methods for purchasing and selling items such as in- ­? store purchases. Consumers prefer to use this ype of purchase for many reasons. Firstly for security purposes, there is no risk in giving cash- ­? in- ­? hand to an establishment as opposed to giving credit card details online. Also, buyers have the opportunity to check the value of the good they wish to purchase. Many retail outlets have also extended their market to an online level. 5. Threat of new entrants: Medium The threat from new entrants is medium. As a result of low barriers of entry into the market, it is not difficult for businesses to be created. Businesses find it difficult to generate regular customers, as they must build up a reputation of having a safe nd secure website. In this sense, eBay has a competitive advantage as it has created a strong, trusted environment for its customers. Risin g competition in the market will, in turn, cause improvements in product quality and innovation. Also in order to generate good profits, eBay must focus on the sector of suppliers which regulates the most profits, this being the suppliers of high end items such as collectible products. EBay can differentiate by specialising in the market for collectible goods. Question 2: PEST Analysis:  §? Political: The internet is a tax free environment. EBay is not affected by the governments’ laws on axes. However, eBay is affected by certain policies considering the sale of certain products in different countries. For example, the CNIL in France. Economical: As a result of the economic crisis, consumer behaviour is changing. Consumers have less disposable income to spend caused by problems associated with the economic downturn such as rising unemployment rates, inflation rates etc. Sociological: Consumer behaviour has changed dramatically in recent years. Consumers want a quick and co nvenient way to source their products/services; the internet provides this through online retailers and auctions. The number of internet sers has amplified (insert statistics later? ). Technological: The internet has revolutionised, its range of activities has expanded with time. Along with offering search engines to quickly find products/ services, internet now makes it possible to quickly make transactions between buyers and sellers (PayPal).  §?  §?  §? The combined aspects of political, social, economic and technological will strengthen competition in the industry. In reference to economical, the economic crisis will cause companies to differentiate and work harder to find a competitive advantage over its rivals. In relation to technological, the use of e- ­? ommerce is becoming more and more popular; it has transformed the market place. Changing demographics has meant the internet and e- ­? commerce has become a more prominent force in the lives of consumers. E- ­? commerce is appealing as a more attractive industry as opposed to traditional retail outlets. It is less expensive for companies to create a business online as they can avoid the cost of employing a sales workforce. Also, as technology progresses, there will be the opportunity for firms to globalize, therefore expanding their market reach into different countries, and increasing their consumer base. Online businesses ill be able to target a larger number of consumers worldwide. In the current economic crisis, people need to increase their cash flow. This is an advantage for online auctions such as eBay as people can sell items that they no longer use. It creates a larger market for second- ­? hand items such as worn- ­? once clothing. Question 3: Key Success Factors: Online auctions and retailers †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ These key success factors apply to both online retailers and online auctions. However, in the case of the online auctions, a key success factor w ould be the necessity to create a community of trusted buyers and sellers. Online auctions uch as eBay emphasise the importance of good values among their users such as honesty and trustworthiness. A second key success factors for online auctions is the importance of attracting and keeping sellers as without sellers supplying the items, the market would not exist. It is essential that online auctions are made attractable to sellers. This can be done by offering suppliers the option to set a minimal price for their products, further advertisements of their products e. g. eBay will display sellers products on their homepage for a minimal fee. As shown, there are specified key success factors for online auctions. †¢ Necessity to create a community Necessity to attract suppliers Expertise in technology Brand name Generate traffic to the site: by attracting and keeping customers Overcome internet users nervousness about using the internet for e- ­? commerce Security of payment Que stion 4: Our strategic map conveys that this is an oligopolistic market. There are two main competitors who hold strong positions in the market, those being eBay and Amazon. Both businesses have a strong reputation in the market combined with a wide variety of auctions/product categories. EBay is a household name when it comes to online auctions. The map shows hat eBay holds the strongest position in the market. Amazon lacks in number/variety of auctions compared to eBay but it still managed to hold a strong position in the market through its well- ­? established brand name. In comparison with eBay, Yahoo holds a weak position in the market. It lacks in brand recognition as an online business. Yahoo also has a limited variety of auctions paralleled with the market giants eBay and Amazon. Question 5: Swot Analysis  §?  §?  §?  §? Strengths: Global brand for online auctions (Brand awareness). Quality and Quantity of products. Community spirit. Payment security (Paypal). Oppo rtunities:Acquisition of new business. Develop a market in emerging countries (India, Brazil†¦). Increase in online shopping.  §?  §?  §? Weaknesses: Model opened to fraudulent activities. System breakdowns. Increasing customer demands Threats: Substitute products (stores, online shopping web sites†¦). Success attracts competition. Interest and foreign currency exchange rates. Consumers’ fear of fraudulence  §?  §?  §?  §?  §?  §?  §? The SWOT analysis reveals that eBays strengths outweigh its weaknesses. eBays most promising strength is its globally known brand name. EBay has been established as a household name with its continued success in the - ­? commerce industry. It is still possible for eBay to expand and grow in this industry due to the increasing interest in online shopping. A notable weakness of the online commerce industry would be its systems openness to fraudulence. This has been faced by many businesses in the market including eB ay. Even though eBay was subject to controversy over this problem it has still emerged in a strong position nevertheless. Question 6: After computing the current ratio, we found that the company is able to pay its liabilities with its assets. 2005 2006 2007 Current Assets Current Liabilities 3990993 1266792 4970586 2518395 7122505 099579 Current ratio = current 3,15 1,97 2,30 assets /current liabilities It means that in 2007, the company can reimburse its liabilities with its assets 2 times. We noticed that the net income is decreasing (- ­? 70%). In fact, the gross merchandise sales are decreasing (- ­? 20%) and the auction listed too (- ­? 14%). The working capital shows us that eBay has enough cash available for the firm day to day operations. Working capital = current assets- ­? current liabilities 2005 2006 2007 2724201 2452191 4022926 The average collection period in 2007 is about 22 days. That means the company wait just 22 days before receiving the

Discuss the importance of the Sahara and the Indian Ocean in ancient Essay - 3

Discuss the importance of the Sahara and the Indian Ocean in ancient African history - Essay Example The Saharan region, especially Egypt, has provided historical information necessary for enhancing studies involving progressive and evolvement in traditional African societies. Most archaeological activities are concentrated in this region because the evidence has not suffered significant distortion from human activities. Most archaeological studies have concentrated on the Sahara and Indian Ocean. Studies on Saharan traditional communities have focused on urbanization, stateless societies and trade activities (Wendorf 3). These studies provide vital information required for understanding the historical background of Africa. The notion of an African continent being divided by the Sahara desert is not a priority of the past historical studies. Most historians viewed the region as an intermediate area beyond which lay the land for Africans. Europeans described Sahara as an impenetrable land inhabited by the indomitable and hostile Tuareg. Sahara was the last region to be mapped during the European conquest, with most of the regions being less affected by colonization. Studies focusing on the historical aspect of communities inhabiting the Saharan region have emphasized on the various ways in which diseases, technology and foodstuffs have affected the evolvement of the modern communities. Traditional studies link the presence of camels and Islam religion as indication of African connection to global community through trade. Use of camels and spread of the Islam religion were normally concentrated in the Saharan region with the Indian Ocean acting as the connecting channel. Enhancement of trade, introduced in the Saharan region led to the association of other African communities forming a, â€Å"formal, intra-regional economic network† (Wendorf 3). This led to the establishment of traditional trade centers in various regions that coordinated all the trade activities, especially in Egypt where

Building a trusting nurse-patient relationship Essay

Building a trusting nurse-patient relationship - Essay Example As disclosed, there are various methods of collecting data pertinent to the patients’ history and current health condition; such as â€Å"interviews, observations, physical examinations, laboratory and diagnostic tests† (Cape Fear Community College, n.d., p. 74). There are explicitly identified subjective data that can only be solicited from interviewing the patients, such as: sensations or symptoms, feelings, perceptions, desires, preferences, beliefs, ideas, values, and personal information (Nursing Data Collection, Documentation, and Analysis, n.d.). In this regard, the current discourse aims to present interviewing techniques that seek to effectively develop trust during the complete nursing assessment and history taking process. Interviewing Techniques It was acknowledged that there are two main focuses of the nursing interview process: (1) to develop trust and rapport with the patients and (2) enable the nurses to solicit relevant and accurate information, as requ ired (Nursing Data Collection, Documentation, and Analysis, n.d.). ... It was explicitly cited that â€Å"to continue to build rapport with patients, nurses should introduce themselves, discuss the purpose of the interview and explain the nurse’s role to the patient (Jarvis, 2012; Kennedy-Sheldon, 2009). As emphasized, â€Å"your appearance, demeanor, posture, facial expressions, and attitude strongly in?uence how the client perceives the questions you ask† (Nursing Data Collection, Documentation, and Analysis, n.d., p. 30). From among the most appropriate behavior, the following are noteworthy: focus one’s attention completely to the patient; be aware of cultural disparities regarding distance and touch; apply the most appropriate facial expression; assume a non-judgmental stance in attitude; apply silence as needed to enable both the interviewer and the patient to recollect thoughts; and listen intently. b. Verbal Communication Techniques During Interview It was explicitly cited that â€Å"to continue to build rapport with patie nts, nurses should introduce themselves, discuss the purpose of the interview and explain the nurse’s role to the patient (Jarvis, 2012; Kennedy-Sheldon, 2009; cited by Victor, 2013, par. 7). During the application of verbal communication patterns, the interviewer should be able to ask the needed questions: open- or close-ended questions, depending on the information that needs to be responded to. For instance, open-ended questions are typically used when the nurse or interviewer needs to pry on subjective data, as noted above. Close-ended questions typically solicit facts and quick yes or no responses. Likewise, there are types of questions that list or enumerate the expected responses. This type of questioning is

Rebellion against an Authoritarian Society Essay

Rebellion against an Authoritarian Society - Essay Example The doctors and Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) see McMurphy as a threat to the system, because he promotes free will, freedom, changes, and autonomy through questioning authority and inspiring fellow inmates to express themselves and demand their rights, and so the system deals with him through enforcing rigid rules and regulations and continuously breaking the spirits of their patients through oppression, manipulation, and sometimes, even though electric shocks and lobotomy. McMurphy is a threat to the â€Å"system,† because he questions its norms and assumptions, which instigates debate and discussion on the legitimacy of its power. An authoritarian society will never condone a sane man questioning the system because that questioning can lead to a revolution that will oust those in power. In the same line of reasoning, the hospital management sees McMurphy as a sane person, because he is rational enough to question the irrationality of the system. However, they also see him as insane, because they believe that he cannot change a social institution. McMurphy is a threat to the system because he is a bad example to the rest of the subservient society, or specifically, the inmates of the hospital. The patients are called inmates because they are supposed to be free since they can leave the hospital anytime. However, because of Nurse Ratched’s control over them, they feel helpless and instead of resolving their psychological issues, they becom e more reliant on the system. McMurphy tells his fellow inmates: â€Å"God Almighty, shes got you guys comin’ or going.’ What do you think she is, [sic] some kind of a champ or something [sic]?† He asks others to analyze their situation by criticizing the legitimacy of its control over them. He wants them to open their eyes that their conformity to rules and regulations already stifles their freedoms and free will. He says that Nurse Ratched is not a champ, which means that they are the champ. They are the champ of their sanity and their fates.

Commerce Bank Case - research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Commerce Bank Case - - Research Paper Example Secure infrastructure for financial transaction over wireless network can be possible only if the commerce bank initiates security measures through the enrollment of one-time password system and making engagement with gateway Internet service provider by establishing proper service level agreements. Moreover, the commerce banks should adhere with the international regulations and standards companies as well as governments such as Internet Retailers Association. The commerce bank case is therefore going to analyze the core problem facing banking system and better suggestive ways to curb this issue for better managerial perception in banking service operations. Introduction Service operations management is one of the exercises delivered in a management system of a given company as a supply chain that intersect business operation towards the customer and the actual sales. Through optimizing service-intensive supply, high performance service is realized. In line of business service opera tions management must accommodate any prevailing inconsistent and arising uncertain demand to eliminate flaws in business supply chain. For an effective service operation management to incur, the management should establish customer satisfaction by reducing obsolescence costs, enhancing inventory levels and minimizing technician visits through proper planning. However, balancing and optimizing service levels as well as costs delivers extensive and sustainable gain over the competitors (Clark & Johnston, 2008). Objective The objective of this case assignment is to establish the main problem facing the proper operation of commerce bank at large. However, the case study will analyze possible problems encountered during Service Operations Management within this commerce bank cases study. The level of service operations within the commerce bank has drastically been affected, leading to the need of security aspect to be taken into consideration since; the business works hand in hand with money matters and therefore the need of high profile security is needed. The issue of e-commerce relies on the computer security and Data security components for its operational service due to Privacy issue in the banking system. This translates to security issue specifically to oversee how the security affects banking system and the need for restraining this facet at large. Problem Statement The main problem facing the commerce bank in general is the issue of security incurred in its operational management. For these subsidiary branches to communicate well and do its financial transactions, security issue plays a bigger role. Communication channels become one of the vital components in this operation as far commerce bank issue if availed. The main issue in this commerce bank case study is to establish the core problem facing commerce banking system and suggest or make a clear recommendation on how this problem can be eliminated for effectiveness to prevail within the banking system strategies. Security The problems facing the commerce bank is therefore the availability of resources, the services provided by the banking system and the security on regards to online transaction processes. According to the report from the American banking system, 60 percent of the problems facing banking system has been indicated to represent security concerns while 30 percent for quality service and the remaining 10

My View of American Undergraduate Culture Essay

My View of American Undergraduate Culture - Essay Example My View of American Undergraduate Culture The book mentioned that, after fifteen years of teaching anthropology at a large university. Therefore Nathan decided to do what anthropologists do when confused by a different culture: Go live with them. She enrolled as a freshman, moved into the dorm, ate in the dining hall, and took a full load of courses. And she came to understand that being a student is a pretty tricky job,too. Since everyone's campus experience is brand new and different, I am going talk about somethings she did not mention in her book. Moreover I would like to discuss something she mentioned, because I have an differing view on those things (Bryson 93). Rebekah Nathan intended to participate in every step of being a freshman. And she was trying to learn how to integrate into campus life, in order to touch students better. During this particular type of research, Rebekah Nathan tried her best to observe all the details around. For example, "at the first day of the new semester, every freshman had to go to the designated place, because they should check in and get keys of their dorms. While Rebekah Nathan got the key, her roommate was a little depressed, because she knew that her roommate was not a girl who got a similar age to herself. However, when Rebekah was looking at her roommate, her roommate was still smiling to Rebekah.This is only a part of her experiences, she also participated in activities as many as she could, on account of understanding students' thoughts. In addition, she tried to communicate with other students on her own initiative, as she wanted to know what they were doing everyday and how students manage their college lives. Nathan spend much of book discussing individual student experiences and not much time on peer groups. I consider that Rebekah Nathan does not involve every type of situations, hence I am going talk about something she did not cover (Nathan 56). Gym is the first step for me to learn of American undergraduate culture, because this place is a public place for all the students to exercise, no mater where you are from or what language you speak, students just play together. Additionally, in my opinion, it is more comfortable to playful learn, because it is a kind of leavening influence. For instance, when I just came to UConn, I was too shy to talk to any American student. However, one of my Chinese friends told me that I could go to the gym, people in gym were pretty nice and easy to talk, because when you were playing with them, it meant that you guys had same hobby, therefore it would be easier to communicate. After I arrive at gym, I straightly walked to the basketball place, because I played it a lot when I was in high school, and it was also my most adept movement. I stood on the sidelines, a little while, some American students ask me if I wanted to play together, I said" Sure!"with nodding. During the game, a strong guy ran me down incautiously, but he put the ball down and help me up rapidly with saying" Sorry." From the se point, I found that American students were greatly friendly in human behavior. To communicate with American students is the most orderly way to learn of American undergraduate culture.Since I was a truly freshman, I was easier to communicate with American students than Rebekah Nathan. As I was talking to my American friends, I found that American students could say anything they want. Sometimes they even played joke of their won country, it really shocked me, because in my country, people all

Db3 team and leadership Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Db3 team and leadership - Research Paper Example In business, changes are a natural part of its lifecycle. Organizational changes bear anxiety across all levels of the corporate hierarchy even in the best of times. What leaders should be ready to, is the resistance to change that comes from the employees’ fear of the unknown or an expectation of loss.  As a leader, the employer should discuss all possible changes with the employees and reduce such resistance or to lead it to a manageable level. An employer may encourage its employees by demonstrating innovative thinking, it means proving that changes within the organization are for good. This may include series of meetings, discussion sessions about the potential pros and cons of the changes. A good leader will always show one’s respect for other’s perspectives and ideas. Delegating is another way for the leader to prepare its employees for changes. Rather than thinking on the possible problem that may occur during the new period, it is useful to ask employee s how they plan to deal with possible issues. When the organization starts it work, there are no procedures or special rules. With time, they appear, confusing employees, making them scare of the possible changes of their stable and scheduled work, which they had performed for a certain time. However, as practice shows, the proper discussion and the explanation of those necessary changes (whether it is the implementation of the procedure or other organizational changes) lead to mutual understanding between leaders and employees. Why Were So Afraid of Change -- And Why That Holds Businesses  Back, (2013). The Forbes, Available from

Illegal Immigration in the United States Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Illegal Immigration in the United States - Essay Example On the other side stand those who advocate the granting of amnesty and citizenship to all illegal immigrants. The only consensus which emerges on the issue is that the current immigration policy is inadequate, and is badly in need of urgent reform. The fact that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detains almost half a million illegal immigrants this year, and follows â€Å"a policy of mandatory detention, detaining individuals in inhumane and unsafe conditions, depriving them of access to legal counsel and a fair hearing in court† (Esposito and Davis, 5), is a testament to a failed immigration system. An analysis of the issue of illegal immigration is required to find a middle ground which will be acceptable to the two opposing factions. The anti-illegal immigration group agitates for the deportation of all illegal immigrants. This group unequivocally blames the government for inaction, and sees a conspiracy to form a North American Union with open borders between th e USA, Canada and Mexico. This faction calls for the securing of the national borders, blocking access to welfare measures and employment for illegal immigrants, rejecting amnesty, rejecting birthright citizenship to the children born to illegal immigrants, stopping all temporary worker legislation, and strictly enforcing immigration laws (Greenley, 16). The anti-illegal immigration group supports its stand by listing several adverse effects of immigration. As â€Å"foreigners enter the country with fewer skills on average than native-born workers, immigration --- lowers the average skill level in the American work place† and leads to lower wages, and fewer job opportunities, for American workers (Hall, VanMetre and Vedder, 203). Today’s immigrants bring with them a diversity of language, customs, distinct physical traits, and religions. They hold on to their cultural roots, emphasize the preservation of their ethnic identity, and do not submit to assimilation. This is seen in â€Å"immigrant isolation† and â€Å"ethnic concentration† (Hall, VanMetre and Vedder, 205), and cause fractures in the American social fabric. Divisive multiculturalism destroys the American identity. One very valid argument is that illegal immigration poses a threat to national security, allowing drug-dealers, terrorists and criminals into the country. Another centers round the high consumption of government resources and taxpayer money by illegal immigrants, through â€Å"medical, welfare and education benefits† while paying minimum taxes (Greenley, 17). All these reasons engender a strong resentment towards illegal immigrants. The supporters of a liberal illegal immigrant policy counter the above arguments. They argue that â€Å"in the long run, immigration attracts new investment and promotes entrepreneurial initiative,† and â€Å"makes the American labor market more competitive, thus enhancing its overall efficiency† (Hall, VanMetre and Vedder, 204). It cannot be denied that large numbers of intelligent and highly skilled immigrants come to America. The unskilled immigrants migrate to the low-paying jobs, such as cleaning and food service, which native-born workers do not desire. Again, cheap labor adds to the flexibility of business, leading to cheaper prices, better quality products, and higher profits. American society has a long tradition of â€Å"celebrating diversity† (Hall, VanMetre and Vedder, 205). The pro-immigration group contends that multiculturalism is part

Learning English as 2nd language Research Paper

Learning English as 2nd language - Research Paper Example Many of the important educational innovations in current practice such as untracking and mixed-age grouping--are the direct result of teachers adapting their teaching to the challenge posed by children from culturally diverse backgrounds (Barry Mclaughan, Online Article, 1992). Culture, social identity, ethnicity, religion, and perceived class status, all need to be taken into consideration in language learning, and all have differing causes and affects in both the teaching and the learning of a second language. A clear teaching perspective, which is based on a solid theoretical foundation, is of vital importance to both the successful application of language learning, and for that of the well-being of the student, if language learning is to be both effectively taught and learnt. An understanding of the variations and diversities within cultures needs to be respected, encouraged, and accepted within the classroom setting, which will then lead to a suitable, and comfortable, learning environment, where students can relax and concentrate without feelings of inferiority. And methods of teaching need to be carefully considered, with an emphasis on a good teacher/student relationship that leans towards creating confidence within the student. In this chapter, we will be to analysing the language awareness/self concept of two groups of children by class analysis. The available interviews will be examined and analysed in order to understand how do the children feel about learning English as a second language and how, or if, this is affecting them in general. Interview Procedures. The interviews were conducted in an open plan setting, in order to put the children at ease, and therefore helping them to feel comfortable when responding. There were seven interview groups, with 5-6 children within each group, making a total of approximately forty children. Three of the groups were from Germany and four were from Greece. Differing questions were posed to each group, through which an understanding of the children's perceptions of language learning, and the affect upon the child will be determined. The Group A interviews were conducted with Greek attending children, learning English as a second language, in a German school, and those of group B, concerned children learning English in a Greek school. This first section of this chapter will determine what the students thought in terms of their teacher's ability to teach, their view of how s/he treated them in the academic environment, and how this affected the self of the group. The second section will establish how the behaviour in the classroom can be translated as strong or weak self-expression, and consequently interpreted as either a strong or weak self. And the third section will be dealing with how children feel about academic excellence, classroom performance, and their different cultural attitudes towards diverse minorities. Students' interview questions regarding teachers. In this section we will be

Restaurant and Bar Essay Example for Free

Restaurant and Bar Essay Work Plan Statement of Problem We are pitching an idea for an all you can eat all-inclusive Asian style cuisine. The restaurant will be located in Bellevue, Washington near Bellevue Square and within walking distance of the Microsoft and Expedia towers. The restaurant will offer a variety of Asian cuisines such as sushi, dim sum, teriyaki, and other popular foods sought by young adults and small families. We are asking for $750,000 from venture capitalists to finance our project. Schedule/Division of the work -May| Bao Tu| Find detailed information for project and needs in Bellevue| 2-May| Peter Calimlim| Composition: List benefits and features of products and services related to business| 4-May| Timofey Khval| Research costs, other financial information completed| | Linh Ninh| Organization: Pick the important and related things to investors needs| | My Tran| Research, develop market strategy| 10-May| Bao Tu| Set the target market and find their tastes. Find competitors and research them| | Linh Ninh| Develop ideas for opening| Peter Calimlim| Execution/Evaluation: Revise presentation for 3-4 minute speech. Practice Individually| 16-May| Group| Group meeting to share research and other ideas| 18-May| My Tran| Develop ideas for closing| | Timofey Khval| Compile information into tables, financial statements, graphs| 23-May| Bao Tu| Finish research and preparation for presentation| 25-May| Timofey Khval| Analysis of information completed| | My Tran| Completion of rough draft for opening and offering| | Linh Ninh| Compete rough draft of marketing strategy, closing ideas| 27-May| Group| Finish research and individual portions. Meeting to develop presentation| 1-Jun| Group| Meeting to rehearse presentation, make final revisions| 4-Jun| Group| Meetings to continue rehearsal, work on visual aids (if necessary)| 6-Jun| Group| Presentation date| 1-May| Bao Tu| Find detailed information for project and needs in Bellevue| 2-May| Peter Calimlim| Composition: List benefits and features of products and services related to business| 4-May| Timofey Khval| Research costs, other financial information completed| | Linh Ninh| Organization: Pick the important and related things to investors needs| | My Tran| Research, develop market strategy| 0-May| Bao Tu| Set the target market and find their tastes. Find competitors and research them| | Linh Ninh| Develop ideas for opening| | Peter Calimlim| Execution/Evaluation: Revise presentation for 3-4 minute speech. Practice Individually| 16-May| Group| Group meeting to share research and other ideas| 18-May| My Tran| Develop ideas for closing| Timofey Khval| Compile information in to tables, financial statements, graphs| 23-May| Bao Tu| Finish research and preparation for presentation| 25-May| Timofey Khval| Analysis of information completed| | My Tran| Completion of rough draft for opening and offering| | Linh Ninh| Compete rough draft of marketing strategy, closing ideas| 27-May| Group| Finish research and individual portions. Meeting to develop presentation| 1-Jun| Group| Meeting to rehearse presentation, make final revisions| 4-Jun| Group| Meetings to continue rehearsal, work on visual aids (if necessary)| 6-Jun| Group| Presentation date|

Effect of Loyalty Cards on Customer Loyalty

Effect of Loyalty Cards on Customer Loyalty Background of the topic: The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze and investigate the effect of the loyalty cards on customer loyalty and how does it helps large organizations to achieve its goals. When shopping in supermarkets there is one experience that everyone has, when customers finish with their shopping and get to a checkout, the assistant will ask the customers, whether they have a clubcard. This will continue every time whenever those customers without a clubcard shops in the future, the assistant will keep on asking them for a clubcard unless they get one for themselves. Now there is a question that will come across every customers mind, what is a clubcard and why does every company insist them and every customer to be a part of the clubcard family? Now people become curious and they want to get a clubcard too. The assistant says to fill up a form with the customers general details like name, address and contact details and the day customer fills the form, next day they will receive a clubca rd. Impressive, now why companies offer clubcards to their customers, how do companies benefit from these schemes they provide for their customers? Background of this research title is concerned with the highly competitive market where retail giants have to survive and maintain their competitive edge to always stay ahead in the race or even to survive the downfall whenever necessary. Unlimited majors are taken and a huge amount of time and money is spent to attract customers who bring revenue to the company. Having a large number of competitors around, it is very difficult to have a competitive advantage. Basic mean for this subject matter is to identify the purpose and importance of relationship marketing, and its benefits to make strategic decisions. Loyalty cards can significantly boost business profits whilst simultaneously building customer loyalty. Studies show that loyalty cards are one of the most cost effective ways to build brand loyalty and improve customer retention. Loy alty cards are used by all the major retail and supermarket chains as a vital tool to improve profitability, but one does not need to be a national high street store in order to run a profitable reward card scheme. One of the reasons the supermarkets are taking business away from independent retailers are the incentives offered in their loyalty card schemes. The loyalty cards market in the UK is one of the most significant in the world and forms the backbone of marketing and customer retention planning. With over 85% of UK Households possessing loyalty cards it is really a case where companies can afford not to offer a loyalty card service to their customers. There are different companies who offer loyalty schemes for their customer and give customers shopping vouchers after they spend certain amount of money through those loyalty cards. Main objective behind loyalty cards is to keep customer loyal with the company by offering them discounts and gifts on their shopping so they spend more money in their shops and markets. Most common example of loyalty card is Tesco club card, Sainsbury nectar card and other such cards offered by different companies in the country. But most of the people wont understand the idea behind those loyalty cards that how they work. The success of the Tesco Clubcard has been well documented, in 2002 a Market and Opinion Research Poll found that Tescos Clubcard had been more successful than the programmers offered by rival supermarkets (Smith, 2004). Rationale: Why is this study being done Tesco got a huge amount of success with its loyalty schemes unlike its competitors. The reason behind this study is to find out why Tesco was so successful with their Loyalty cards, Tesco Club cards, as they are named, and how it played a very important role in maintaining their customers loyalty, which is very important for any business today. The theory behind this concept is Relationship Marketing, and how it was used by Tesco to grow its business. Background of this research title is concerned with the highly competitive market where retail giants have to survive and maintain their competitive edge to always stay ahead in the race or even to survive the downfall whenever necessary. Unlimited majors are taken and a huge amount of time and money is spent to attract customers who bring revenue to the company. Having a large number of competitors around, it is very difficult to have a competitive advantage. Basic mean for this subject matter is to identify the purpose and importance of relationship marketing, and its benefits to make strategic decisions. Companies offer such countless schemes for their customers to retain and maintain customer loyalty for their store. There are many other factors behind these loyalty schemes where companies benefit. Loyalty card schemes are not only beneficial for the customers, but are equally beneficial for the companies as well. Significance: How does the study contribute The aim of the research is to identify the impact of the Tesco Clubcard on customer loyalty. This will contribute to contrast customer perceptions of the Clubcard, staff and â€Å"feeling valued† to identify which factor has the greater impact on customer loyalty to store. The paper is useful to both practitioners and academics in the fields of relationship marketing and loyalty. The research provides some initial insight into consumer perspectives in the value of loyalty cards. Tesco has succeeded with the strategy of loyalty cards, but its competitors did not. Retailers like Sainsburys and ASDAs who are the competitors of Tesco, did not manage to promote their business using their loyalty cards as Tesco did. Tesco got a huge amount of success with its loyalty schemes unlike its competitors. Tesco has been known for their best customer service where as its competitor, Asda have been known for their best value and low competitive prices. Now why has Tesco chosen such a marketi ng strategy to attract customers and increase revenue? The reason behind this study is to find out why Tesco was so successful with their Loyalty cards, Tesco Club cards, as they are named, and how it played a very important role in maintaining their customers loyalty, which is very important for any business today. The theory behind this concept is Relationship Marketing, and how it was used by Tesco to grow its business. Tesco has chosen a marketing strategy where they need to gain customers faith and trust to maintain a good relationship with them. Hence they need to know everything about their customers individually. How will they keep a track of each and every customer they have? There are many strategies to know your customers and Tesco uses such strategies to have a good track of their customers. The best way to do this is by the method of loyalty cards. Companies can know much more about their customers through loyalty cards. This study will show how Tesco collects data of t heir customers and use that data to improve their customer service in order to gain customer satisfaction. Aims Objectives: The aim of the research is to investigate the influence of the Tesco Clubcard on customer store loyalty. In 1995, Tesco introduced the loyalty Clubcard that was to offer, â€Å"Benefits to regular shoppers whilst helping the company discover more about its Customer needs†. The main aim of this research will be to compare the Loyalty schemes of Tesco Clubcards with its competitors like Sainsburys and ASDA, and find out why Tescos Clubcards were a huge success unlike Sainsburys Nectar and Asda loyalty cards did not succeed in promoting their business. The study also focuses on the need of customer loyalty and what steps were taken by Tesco to retain and maintain its customer loyalty. (www.tescocorporate.com) Sign Posting: A glance at the major and successful organizations around the globe shows that their success is partly due to their ability to apply the theory of relationship marketing. In the contemporary business arena, all organizations, large or small improve their effectiveness and efficiency by applying this theory, thus improving their customer service and customer relations which play a very important role for any business organization. This study shows the brief idea of the Relationship Marketing and how it has been used by the retail giant, Tesco to gain their customers loyalty and retain it for a long time. Tesco is the company on which this whole study has been based on. At the first there is some information and idea has been explained about Relationship Marketing and how is plays a vital role in companys marketing strategies. It also discusses about the benefits of the relationship marketing and how it is used by the company to achieve its aims and objectives. This will later on conti nue with the main topic, that is, the success of Tescos loyalty cards other than its competitors. It will discuss the concept of the loyalty cards and the different strategies used by Tesco and even its competitors to get a competitive edge in the surviving market. The later part of the study also shows how Clubcards are beneficial for the customers as well as the company. Then research methodology is identified that how the research will be conducted, it includes that how the research will designed means the ways through effective data can be find out. Literature Review In this discussion outcomes from the previous research will be demonstrate to provide the clear understanding to the topic. In this chapter views of different authors and researches will be quoted to support the research. It will include the work of researchers who have worked on this matter and have reached to some conclusion. As a literature review chapter it will consist of basic definitions of customer loyalty, customer relationship, loyalty cards and the most important one relationship marketing. This chapter will also explain these theories and how are they applicable for the strategies used by the companies to achieve their goals and success. Customer Relationship: What does it mean for an organisation and its customer to have a relationship with each other? What kind of a relationship would they have with each other? Do customers have relationships with enterprises that do not know them? Is it necessary that the companies know their customers or the other way around? What kind of a relationship would that be if both the parties are unaware of the relationship they have? Can the enterprise be said to have a relationship with a customer it does not know? Is it possible for a customer to have a relationship with a brand? It can be said that customers would know the products but not the company. Experts have studied the nature of relationships in business for many years, and there are many different perspectives on the fundamental purpose of relationships in business strategies. It can be said that the only aim of the company is not only to gain maximum profits out of their customers or having the greatest market share or the rank the company is. Instead, to be successful in the era of interactivity, when it is possible to deal individually with separate customers, the business objective must include establishing meaningful and profitable relationships at least with the most valuable customers, and making the overall customer base more valuable. Technology plays a very crucial role in maintaining this relationship between companies and customers. In short, the company strives to get a customer, keep that customer for a lifetime, and grow the value of the customer to the organisation. Relationships are the crux of the customer-strategy enterprise. Relationships between customers and enterprises provide the framework for everything else connected to the customer-value business model. This is the same model used by Tesco in order to gain a competitive advantage in the most competitive markets in the world. The exchange between a customer and the enterprise becomes mutually beneficial, as customers give information in return for personalized service that meets their individual needs. Because we are talking about relationships between businesses and their customers, it is important that we agree on a few of the elements that make up a genuine relationship. And while dictionary definitions are not bad as starting points, the most important issue for us to consider is how well our own definition of relationship helps companies succeed in the â€Å"customer dimension† of competition. Lets list some of the distinct qualities that should characterize a relationship between an enterprise and a customer. First, a relationship implies mutuality. In order for anyone to consider a relationship, both the company and its customer have to participate in and be aware of the existence of the relationship. This is the most common factor which is needed to be realized by both the parties. This means that relationships must inherently be two-way in nature. Second, relationships are driven by interaction. When the company and the customer interact, they exchange information, and this information exchange is a best tool for building the relationship. This, of course, also implies mutuality. But interactions dont have to take place by phone or in person or on the Web. An interaction takes place when a customer buys a product from the company that sells it. This is where the customer and the company are in face to face for a reason which builds up this relationship. Every interaction adds to the total information content possible in the relationship. This leads to the third characteristic of a relationship: It is iterative in nature. That is, since both the customer and the company are interacting mutually, the interactions themselves build up a history, over time—a context. This context gives a relationships future interactions greater and greater efficiency, because every successive interaction represents that the company and the customer is growing into a healthy relationship than before by communication and a benefit for both the parties. The mo re that company communicates with its customer, the less they need to say the next time around to get their point across. Another characteristic of a customer relationship is that it will be driven by an ongoing benefit to the customer and the company. The customers convenience is one type of benefit, for the customer, but not the only one. Participating in a relationship will involve a cost in money, time, or effort, and no customer will engage for long in any relationship the company wont be more beneficial for that customer, of it that customer is not getting more benefits that before. However, precisely because of the context of the relationship and its continuing benefit for the customer and the company, each party in a relationship has an incentive to recover from mistakes. Relationships also require a change in behavior on the part of both, the customer as well as the company, in order to continue. After all, what drives the ongoing benefit of a relationship is not only its c ontext, its history of interactions, developed over time, but also the fact that the customers and the companys current and future actions reflect that previous context. This is an important characteristic, because companies sometimes mistakenly believe that interactions with a customer need is always the same, the communication from the companys side, cannot deliver same behavior pattern to every customer. In other words companies need to have relationships with their customer individually because the behavior of every customer is not always the same, which can result in different kind of relationship pattern with the company. But unless the companys actions toward a particular customer are somehow different, there is a possibility of miscommunication and can ruin the relation between that customer and the company, which will be no ongoing benefit for the customer, and as a result the customer might not continue the relationship. Every relationship is different. Relationships are c onstituted with individuals, not with populations. This means relationships are with the individual customer and not the whole segment of the customer population of the company. As a result, a company who wants to engage its customers in relationships must be prepared to participate in different interactions, remember different customers and their behavior or spending habits, and engage in different behaviors toward different customers.(Peppers .D, Rogers. M 2004) During the last few years there has been a growing interest in studying the economics and markets of long-lasting customer relationships where customer relationships play a vital role for every company. This kind of relationship can help to increase revenue for the company which can be a long term process and a continuous growth of the relationship between the organization and the customer. Heskett introduced the concept of market economies, which means achieving results by understanding the customers behavior instead of by concentrating on developing scale economies. (Heskett, J.L., 1987) A mutually satisfactory relationship between the company and its customers makes it possible for customers to avoid significant transaction costs involved in shifting from one company or a service provider which can be beneficial for both, the customer and the company. However, customer retention is not enough. Some long-lasting customer relationships, where the customers are obviously satisfied with what they get, are not profitable even in the long run, as Storbacka says. There is clear evidence that from a profitability point of view intelligent relationship building where company can be beneficial to the customer as well as themselves in the long run, then only such a management make sense. (Storbacka, K., 1993) Customer Loyalty: The whole point of a relationship is to keep your customers, and simultaneously grow new customers. So what is customer loyalty? Those whove tried to answer that question have approached it from two different directions: attitudinal (what Barnes calls â€Å"emotional†) and behavioral (what Barnes calls â€Å"functional†). Although each of these two definitions of loyalty is valid, they have different implications and lead to very different prescriptions for businesses. The attitudinal definition of loyalty implies that loyalty is a state of mind. Customers are loyal to a brand or a company if they have a positive, preferential attitude toward it. They like the company, its products, or its brands, and they therefore prefer to buy from it, rather than from the companys competitors. In purely commercial terms, the attitudinal definition of customer loyalty would mean that someone who is willing to pay a premium for Brand A over Brand B, even when the products they represe nt are virtually equivalent, is loyal to Brand A. But the emphasis is on willingness, rather than on actual behavior, per se. In terms of attitudes, then, increasing a customers loyalty is virtually equivalent to increasing the customers preference for the brand. It is closely tied to product quality and customer satisfaction. Any company wanting to increase loyalty, in attitudinal terms, will concentrate on improving its product, its image, or other elements of the customer experience, relative to its competitors. The behavioral definition of loyalty would mean that someone is willing to pay a premium for Brand A over Brand B, even without respect to the attitudes or preferences that underlie that conduct. By this definition, customers are loyal to a company if they buy from it and then continue to buy from it. Loyalty is concerned with repurchase activity, regardless of any internally held attitudes or preferences. In the behavioral definition, loyalty is not the cause, but the re sult of brand preference. A company wanting to increase customer loyalty will focus on whatever tactics will in fact increase the amount of repurchase behavior— tactics that can easily include, without being limited to, raising consumers general preference for the brand or their level of satisfaction with it. (Peppers .D, Rogers. M 2004) Customer loyalty could be termed a â€Å"customers commitment to do business with a particular organization, purchasing their goods and services repeatedly, and recommending the services and products to friends and associates†. It is a term which is neither easy to gain nor maintain, rather it is vulnerable, where â€Å"even if its customers are satisfied with the service they will continue to defect if they believe they can get better value, convenience or quality elsewhere†. (McIlroy, A. and Barnett, S. (2000) In order to investigate the concept of loyalty, we see the framework of Sopanen (1996) to reveal six different types of loyalty: (1) Monopoly loyalty, where there are no available choices. (2) Inertia loyalty, where customers do not actively seek substitutes. (3) Convenience loyalty, where loyalty is solely defined by location. (4) Price loyalty: where customers are influenced by the lowest price. (5) Incentivized loyalty, where loyalty relates to the benefits gained from reward cards and programmers. (6) Emotional loyalty, where customers are influenced by factors such as brand. From this we can observe that loyalty programs such as Tesco Clubcard can be considered an incentivized type of loyalty, which can be exhibited by customers, but the strength of this loyalty is often questioned. â€Å"As organizations become increasingly customer focused and driven by customer demands, the need to meet the customers expectations and retain their loyalty becomes more critical† (Disney, 1999, p. 491). Customer loyalty is one of the fundamental goals of marketing (Selnes, 1993). Not only does it guarantee repeat customers, but it also decreases the need for companies to spend large portions of their budgets on advertising and promotion in order to attract new customers. Mittal and Lassar (1998) identified that customer loyalty is very often thought of as an outcome of customer satisfaction. This explains why customer satisfaction has become an essential concept in marketing and its quest is one of the most important goals for businesses (Webster, 1994) Relationship Marketing: Relationship marketing is very much interlinked with the notion and practice of customer care. There is no doubt that the development of relationship marketing has had and will continue to have major implications for the marketing managers. Comprehensive accounts of the development, meaning and implications of relationship marketing for the contemporary marketer are given by Lancaster and Massingham. As so often, there are many different views as to the precise nature and hence definition of relationship marketing. So, for example, Groonroos stressed the element of mutual exchange ad trust in relationship marketing as follows. â€Å"Relationship marketing is a process including several parties or actors, the objective of which has to be met. This is done by mutual exchange and fulfillment of promises, a fact that makes trust an important aspect of marketing†. Stone and Woodcock on the other hand put more emphasis on the traditional tool of sales, communication and customer care techniques. Again we see overlap between these two areas. â€Å"Relationship marketing involves the use of a wide range of marketing, sales, communications and customer care techniques and processes to: identify named individual customers, create a relationship between the company and these customers, and manage that relationship to the benefit of both the customer and the company†. Perhaps one of the simplest and yet the most powerful summaries of what relationship marketing is however, is that provided by Buttle. â€Å"At its best, RM (relationship management) is characterized by a genuine concern to meet or exceed the expectations of the customers and to provide excellent service in an environment of trust and commitment to the relationship†. Buttle goes on to indicate what is involved in successful relationship marketing and the commitment of the company required to generate this success. â€Å"To be successful relationship marketers, companies must develop a supportive organizational culture, market the RM idea internally, intimately understand customers expectations, create and maintain a detailed customer database, and organize and reward employees in such a way that the objective of RM, customer retention, is achieved†. This illustrates that relationship marketing has major implications for both how we think about marketing and our approach to the practice of marketing. It affects and includes the provision of marketing information, organizational systems and procedures, and the elements of marketing strategy. Relationship Marketing refers to Promotional and needs and maintain the relationship. This proposal is concerned with Relationship management and marketing at how it is been used by companies to maintain existing customers, retain lost customers and attract new customers. (http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/relationship-marketing.html) Relationship marketing is systems-oriented, yet it includes managerial aspects. A systems approach is well suited as a basis for a general theory of marketing, because it makes it possible to include all relevant actors, environmental influence, and even the process nature of marketing. (Kuhn, T.S. (1957) The concept of relationship marketing has emerged within the fields of service marketing and industrial marketing. The phenomenon described by this concept is strongly supported by ongoing trends in modern business. Grà ¶nroos defines relationship marketing in the following way: Marketing is to establish, maintain, and enhance relationships with customers and other partners, at a profit, so that the objectives of the parties involved are met. This is achieved by a mutual exchange and fulfillment of promises. Such relationships are usually but not necessarily always long-term. Establishing a relationship, for example with a customer, can be divided into two parts: to attract the customer and to build the relationship with that customer so that the economic goals of that relationship are achieved. (Grà ¶nroos, C. (1990) More businesses are moving toward relationship marketing in dealing with their customers as more customers expect a personalized experience. Considering relationship marketing vs. transactional marketing for http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/generic/0,295582,sid11_gci1253633_mem1,00.html) Relationship marketing is a marketing strategy that emphasizes customer loyalty, customer retention and long-term customer engagement. Using the relationship marketing approach, an organization aims to develop strong, long-term connections with customers by providing them with information directly suited to their needs and interests. This approach often results in increased word-of-mouth activity, long-term purchasing behavior and a willingness to provide information. The goal of every enterprise, once you strip away all the activities that keep everybody busy every day, is simply to get, keep, and grow customers. Whether a business focuses its efforts on product innovation, operational efficiency and low price, or customer intimacy, for that firm must have customers or the enterprise isnt a business—its a hobby. This is true for nonprofits (where the â€Å"customers† may be donors or volunteers) as well as for-profits, for firms large and small, for public as well as private enterprise. What does it mean for an enterprise to focus on its customers as the key to competitive advantage? Obviously, it does not mean giving up the product edge, or the operational efficiencies, that have been successful in the past. It does mean using new strategies, nearly always requiring new technologies, to focus on growing the value of the company by deliberately and strategically growing the value of the customer base. Companies needed to build compr ehensive customer databases. Companies had been maintaining product databases, sales force databases, and dealer databases. Now they needed to build, maintain, mine, and manage a customer database that could be used by company personnel in sales, marketing, credit, accounting, and other company functions. As customer database marketing grew, several different names came to describe it, including individualized marketing, customer intimacy, technology enabled marketing, dialogue marketing, interactive marketing, permission marketing, and one-to-one marketing. Modern technology makes it possible for enterprises to learn more about individual customers, remember those needs, and shape the companys offerings, services, messages and interactions to each valued customer. The new technologies make mass-customization (otherwise an oxymoron) possible. At the same time, technology is only a partial factor in helping companies do genuine one-to-one marketing. The following quotes about custome r relationship management (CRM) make this point vividly: â€Å"CRM is not a software package. Its not a database. Its not a call center or a Web site. Its not a loyalty program, a customer service program, a customer acquisition program or a win-back program. CRM is an entire philosophy.† (Steve Silver) â€Å"A CRM program is typically 45 percent dependent on the right executive leadership, 40 percent on project management implementation and 15 percent on technology.† (Edmund Thompson, Gartner Group) (Peppers .D, Rogers. M 2004) Loyalty Card: Any retailer running a loyalty card scheme could call up customer details and purchase history from incoming phone numbers. In many firms, loyalty cards are used for direct marketing and not much else. Using them to dramatically improve customer service seems a fitting reward for loyalty. Marketing program designed to enhance brand loyalty by cultivating an ongoing relationship between a marketer and his customer. Successful loyalty programs encourage the consumer to buy frequently, to increase the amount spent each time, and to concentrate all or most of their related purchases on that brand. Most loyalty programs offer perks for membership in a club or program and reward purchases. Rewards may be based on the dollar value of purchases made or on the frequency of purchases. The most well-known loyalty programs are airline frequent-flyer programs that offer discounts against future travel called award miles. Most large supermarket chains now have frequent-buyer clubs that offer no-coupon discounts as well as newsletters and http://www.answers.com/topic/loyalty-program) A loyalty card program is an incentive plan that allows a retail business to gather data about its customers. Customers are offered product discounts, coupons, points toward merchandise or some other reward in exchange for their voluntary participation in the program. A secondary goal of a loyalty card program is to build repeat business by offering participating customers something that isnt available to non-participating customers. Loyalty cards often resemble plastic credit cards but they can also be keychain fobs or stickers. Typically a loyalty card has a barcode or magnetic stripe thats scanned at the point of sale (POS). The card identifies the customer and sends information about what the customer bought to a database. The information in the database is used to help the retailer understand and influence his customers buying habits. According to research carried out by Boston Universitys College of Communication, eighty-six percent of American shoppers are listed in a loyalty database; a majority of survey respondents said receiving the card was worth giving up some measure of privacy. Loyalty schemes are necessary for the retailers because it helps them in attracting the customers and when they came to them they try to retain them by offering their services on discounted rates and by offering them further discounts and services. Smith states the importance of loyalty cards and schemes in the following sta tement â€Å"if Effect of Loyalty Cards on Customer Loyalty Effect of Loyalty Cards on Customer Loyalty Background of the topic: The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze and investigate the effect of the loyalty cards on customer loyalty and how does it helps large organizations to achieve its goals. When shopping in supermarkets there is one experience that everyone has, when customers finish with their shopping and get to a checkout, the assistant will ask the customers, whether they have a clubcard. This will continue every time whenever those customers without a clubcard shops in the future, the assistant will keep on asking them for a clubcard unless they get one for themselves. Now there is a question that will come across every customers mind, what is a clubcard and why does every company insist them and every customer to be a part of the clubcard family? Now people become curious and they want to get a clubcard too. The assistant says to fill up a form with the customers general details like name, address and contact details and the day customer fills the form, next day they will receive a clubca rd. Impressive, now why companies offer clubcards to their customers, how do companies benefit from these schemes they provide for their customers? Background of this research title is concerned with the highly competitive market where retail giants have to survive and maintain their competitive edge to always stay ahead in the race or even to survive the downfall whenever necessary. Unlimited majors are taken and a huge amount of time and money is spent to attract customers who bring revenue to the company. Having a large number of competitors around, it is very difficult to have a competitive advantage. Basic mean for this subject matter is to identify the purpose and importance of relationship marketing, and its benefits to make strategic decisions. Loyalty cards can significantly boost business profits whilst simultaneously building customer loyalty. Studies show that loyalty cards are one of the most cost effective ways to build brand loyalty and improve customer retention. Loy alty cards are used by all the major retail and supermarket chains as a vital tool to improve profitability, but one does not need to be a national high street store in order to run a profitable reward card scheme. One of the reasons the supermarkets are taking business away from independent retailers are the incentives offered in their loyalty card schemes. The loyalty cards market in the UK is one of the most significant in the world and forms the backbone of marketing and customer retention planning. With over 85% of UK Households possessing loyalty cards it is really a case where companies can afford not to offer a loyalty card service to their customers. There are different companies who offer loyalty schemes for their customer and give customers shopping vouchers after they spend certain amount of money through those loyalty cards. Main objective behind loyalty cards is to keep customer loyal with the company by offering them discounts and gifts on their shopping so they spend more money in their shops and markets. Most common example of loyalty card is Tesco club card, Sainsbury nectar card and other such cards offered by different companies in the country. But most of the people wont understand the idea behind those loyalty cards that how they work. The success of the Tesco Clubcard has been well documented, in 2002 a Market and Opinion Research Poll found that Tescos Clubcard had been more successful than the programmers offered by rival supermarkets (Smith, 2004). Rationale: Why is this study being done Tesco got a huge amount of success with its loyalty schemes unlike its competitors. The reason behind this study is to find out why Tesco was so successful with their Loyalty cards, Tesco Club cards, as they are named, and how it played a very important role in maintaining their customers loyalty, which is very important for any business today. The theory behind this concept is Relationship Marketing, and how it was used by Tesco to grow its business. Background of this research title is concerned with the highly competitive market where retail giants have to survive and maintain their competitive edge to always stay ahead in the race or even to survive the downfall whenever necessary. Unlimited majors are taken and a huge amount of time and money is spent to attract customers who bring revenue to the company. Having a large number of competitors around, it is very difficult to have a competitive advantage. Basic mean for this subject matter is to identify the purpose and importance of relationship marketing, and its benefits to make strategic decisions. Companies offer such countless schemes for their customers to retain and maintain customer loyalty for their store. There are many other factors behind these loyalty schemes where companies benefit. Loyalty card schemes are not only beneficial for the customers, but are equally beneficial for the companies as well. Significance: How does the study contribute The aim of the research is to identify the impact of the Tesco Clubcard on customer loyalty. This will contribute to contrast customer perceptions of the Clubcard, staff and â€Å"feeling valued† to identify which factor has the greater impact on customer loyalty to store. The paper is useful to both practitioners and academics in the fields of relationship marketing and loyalty. The research provides some initial insight into consumer perspectives in the value of loyalty cards. Tesco has succeeded with the strategy of loyalty cards, but its competitors did not. Retailers like Sainsburys and ASDAs who are the competitors of Tesco, did not manage to promote their business using their loyalty cards as Tesco did. Tesco got a huge amount of success with its loyalty schemes unlike its competitors. Tesco has been known for their best customer service where as its competitor, Asda have been known for their best value and low competitive prices. Now why has Tesco chosen such a marketi ng strategy to attract customers and increase revenue? The reason behind this study is to find out why Tesco was so successful with their Loyalty cards, Tesco Club cards, as they are named, and how it played a very important role in maintaining their customers loyalty, which is very important for any business today. The theory behind this concept is Relationship Marketing, and how it was used by Tesco to grow its business. Tesco has chosen a marketing strategy where they need to gain customers faith and trust to maintain a good relationship with them. Hence they need to know everything about their customers individually. How will they keep a track of each and every customer they have? There are many strategies to know your customers and Tesco uses such strategies to have a good track of their customers. The best way to do this is by the method of loyalty cards. Companies can know much more about their customers through loyalty cards. This study will show how Tesco collects data of t heir customers and use that data to improve their customer service in order to gain customer satisfaction. Aims Objectives: The aim of the research is to investigate the influence of the Tesco Clubcard on customer store loyalty. In 1995, Tesco introduced the loyalty Clubcard that was to offer, â€Å"Benefits to regular shoppers whilst helping the company discover more about its Customer needs†. The main aim of this research will be to compare the Loyalty schemes of Tesco Clubcards with its competitors like Sainsburys and ASDA, and find out why Tescos Clubcards were a huge success unlike Sainsburys Nectar and Asda loyalty cards did not succeed in promoting their business. The study also focuses on the need of customer loyalty and what steps were taken by Tesco to retain and maintain its customer loyalty. (www.tescocorporate.com) Sign Posting: A glance at the major and successful organizations around the globe shows that their success is partly due to their ability to apply the theory of relationship marketing. In the contemporary business arena, all organizations, large or small improve their effectiveness and efficiency by applying this theory, thus improving their customer service and customer relations which play a very important role for any business organization. This study shows the brief idea of the Relationship Marketing and how it has been used by the retail giant, Tesco to gain their customers loyalty and retain it for a long time. Tesco is the company on which this whole study has been based on. At the first there is some information and idea has been explained about Relationship Marketing and how is plays a vital role in companys marketing strategies. It also discusses about the benefits of the relationship marketing and how it is used by the company to achieve its aims and objectives. This will later on conti nue with the main topic, that is, the success of Tescos loyalty cards other than its competitors. It will discuss the concept of the loyalty cards and the different strategies used by Tesco and even its competitors to get a competitive edge in the surviving market. The later part of the study also shows how Clubcards are beneficial for the customers as well as the company. Then research methodology is identified that how the research will be conducted, it includes that how the research will designed means the ways through effective data can be find out. Literature Review In this discussion outcomes from the previous research will be demonstrate to provide the clear understanding to the topic. In this chapter views of different authors and researches will be quoted to support the research. It will include the work of researchers who have worked on this matter and have reached to some conclusion. As a literature review chapter it will consist of basic definitions of customer loyalty, customer relationship, loyalty cards and the most important one relationship marketing. This chapter will also explain these theories and how are they applicable for the strategies used by the companies to achieve their goals and success. Customer Relationship: What does it mean for an organisation and its customer to have a relationship with each other? What kind of a relationship would they have with each other? Do customers have relationships with enterprises that do not know them? Is it necessary that the companies know their customers or the other way around? What kind of a relationship would that be if both the parties are unaware of the relationship they have? Can the enterprise be said to have a relationship with a customer it does not know? Is it possible for a customer to have a relationship with a brand? It can be said that customers would know the products but not the company. Experts have studied the nature of relationships in business for many years, and there are many different perspectives on the fundamental purpose of relationships in business strategies. It can be said that the only aim of the company is not only to gain maximum profits out of their customers or having the greatest market share or the rank the company is. Instead, to be successful in the era of interactivity, when it is possible to deal individually with separate customers, the business objective must include establishing meaningful and profitable relationships at least with the most valuable customers, and making the overall customer base more valuable. Technology plays a very crucial role in maintaining this relationship between companies and customers. In short, the company strives to get a customer, keep that customer for a lifetime, and grow the value of the customer to the organisation. Relationships are the crux of the customer-strategy enterprise. Relationships between customers and enterprises provide the framework for everything else connected to the customer-value business model. This is the same model used by Tesco in order to gain a competitive advantage in the most competitive markets in the world. The exchange between a customer and the enterprise becomes mutually beneficial, as customers give information in return for personalized service that meets their individual needs. Because we are talking about relationships between businesses and their customers, it is important that we agree on a few of the elements that make up a genuine relationship. And while dictionary definitions are not bad as starting points, the most important issue for us to consider is how well our own definition of relationship helps companies succeed in the â€Å"customer dimension† of competition. Lets list some of the distinct qualities that should characterize a relationship between an enterprise and a customer. First, a relationship implies mutuality. In order for anyone to consider a relationship, both the company and its customer have to participate in and be aware of the existence of the relationship. This is the most common factor which is needed to be realized by both the parties. This means that relationships must inherently be two-way in nature. Second, relationships are driven by interaction. When the company and the customer interact, they exchange information, and this information exchange is a best tool for building the relationship. This, of course, also implies mutuality. But interactions dont have to take place by phone or in person or on the Web. An interaction takes place when a customer buys a product from the company that sells it. This is where the customer and the company are in face to face for a reason which builds up this relationship. Every interaction adds to the total information content possible in the relationship. This leads to the third characteristic of a relationship: It is iterative in nature. That is, since both the customer and the company are interacting mutually, the interactions themselves build up a history, over time—a context. This context gives a relationships future interactions greater and greater efficiency, because every successive interaction represents that the company and the customer is growing into a healthy relationship than before by communication and a benefit for both the parties. The mo re that company communicates with its customer, the less they need to say the next time around to get their point across. Another characteristic of a customer relationship is that it will be driven by an ongoing benefit to the customer and the company. The customers convenience is one type of benefit, for the customer, but not the only one. Participating in a relationship will involve a cost in money, time, or effort, and no customer will engage for long in any relationship the company wont be more beneficial for that customer, of it that customer is not getting more benefits that before. However, precisely because of the context of the relationship and its continuing benefit for the customer and the company, each party in a relationship has an incentive to recover from mistakes. Relationships also require a change in behavior on the part of both, the customer as well as the company, in order to continue. After all, what drives the ongoing benefit of a relationship is not only its c ontext, its history of interactions, developed over time, but also the fact that the customers and the companys current and future actions reflect that previous context. This is an important characteristic, because companies sometimes mistakenly believe that interactions with a customer need is always the same, the communication from the companys side, cannot deliver same behavior pattern to every customer. In other words companies need to have relationships with their customer individually because the behavior of every customer is not always the same, which can result in different kind of relationship pattern with the company. But unless the companys actions toward a particular customer are somehow different, there is a possibility of miscommunication and can ruin the relation between that customer and the company, which will be no ongoing benefit for the customer, and as a result the customer might not continue the relationship. Every relationship is different. Relationships are c onstituted with individuals, not with populations. This means relationships are with the individual customer and not the whole segment of the customer population of the company. As a result, a company who wants to engage its customers in relationships must be prepared to participate in different interactions, remember different customers and their behavior or spending habits, and engage in different behaviors toward different customers.(Peppers .D, Rogers. M 2004) During the last few years there has been a growing interest in studying the economics and markets of long-lasting customer relationships where customer relationships play a vital role for every company. This kind of relationship can help to increase revenue for the company which can be a long term process and a continuous growth of the relationship between the organization and the customer. Heskett introduced the concept of market economies, which means achieving results by understanding the customers behavior instead of by concentrating on developing scale economies. (Heskett, J.L., 1987) A mutually satisfactory relationship between the company and its customers makes it possible for customers to avoid significant transaction costs involved in shifting from one company or a service provider which can be beneficial for both, the customer and the company. However, customer retention is not enough. Some long-lasting customer relationships, where the customers are obviously satisfied with what they get, are not profitable even in the long run, as Storbacka says. There is clear evidence that from a profitability point of view intelligent relationship building where company can be beneficial to the customer as well as themselves in the long run, then only such a management make sense. (Storbacka, K., 1993) Customer Loyalty: The whole point of a relationship is to keep your customers, and simultaneously grow new customers. So what is customer loyalty? Those whove tried to answer that question have approached it from two different directions: attitudinal (what Barnes calls â€Å"emotional†) and behavioral (what Barnes calls â€Å"functional†). Although each of these two definitions of loyalty is valid, they have different implications and lead to very different prescriptions for businesses. The attitudinal definition of loyalty implies that loyalty is a state of mind. Customers are loyal to a brand or a company if they have a positive, preferential attitude toward it. They like the company, its products, or its brands, and they therefore prefer to buy from it, rather than from the companys competitors. In purely commercial terms, the attitudinal definition of customer loyalty would mean that someone who is willing to pay a premium for Brand A over Brand B, even when the products they represe nt are virtually equivalent, is loyal to Brand A. But the emphasis is on willingness, rather than on actual behavior, per se. In terms of attitudes, then, increasing a customers loyalty is virtually equivalent to increasing the customers preference for the brand. It is closely tied to product quality and customer satisfaction. Any company wanting to increase loyalty, in attitudinal terms, will concentrate on improving its product, its image, or other elements of the customer experience, relative to its competitors. The behavioral definition of loyalty would mean that someone is willing to pay a premium for Brand A over Brand B, even without respect to the attitudes or preferences that underlie that conduct. By this definition, customers are loyal to a company if they buy from it and then continue to buy from it. Loyalty is concerned with repurchase activity, regardless of any internally held attitudes or preferences. In the behavioral definition, loyalty is not the cause, but the re sult of brand preference. A company wanting to increase customer loyalty will focus on whatever tactics will in fact increase the amount of repurchase behavior— tactics that can easily include, without being limited to, raising consumers general preference for the brand or their level of satisfaction with it. (Peppers .D, Rogers. M 2004) Customer loyalty could be termed a â€Å"customers commitment to do business with a particular organization, purchasing their goods and services repeatedly, and recommending the services and products to friends and associates†. It is a term which is neither easy to gain nor maintain, rather it is vulnerable, where â€Å"even if its customers are satisfied with the service they will continue to defect if they believe they can get better value, convenience or quality elsewhere†. (McIlroy, A. and Barnett, S. (2000) In order to investigate the concept of loyalty, we see the framework of Sopanen (1996) to reveal six different types of loyalty: (1) Monopoly loyalty, where there are no available choices. (2) Inertia loyalty, where customers do not actively seek substitutes. (3) Convenience loyalty, where loyalty is solely defined by location. (4) Price loyalty: where customers are influenced by the lowest price. (5) Incentivized loyalty, where loyalty relates to the benefits gained from reward cards and programmers. (6) Emotional loyalty, where customers are influenced by factors such as brand. From this we can observe that loyalty programs such as Tesco Clubcard can be considered an incentivized type of loyalty, which can be exhibited by customers, but the strength of this loyalty is often questioned. â€Å"As organizations become increasingly customer focused and driven by customer demands, the need to meet the customers expectations and retain their loyalty becomes more critical† (Disney, 1999, p. 491). Customer loyalty is one of the fundamental goals of marketing (Selnes, 1993). Not only does it guarantee repeat customers, but it also decreases the need for companies to spend large portions of their budgets on advertising and promotion in order to attract new customers. Mittal and Lassar (1998) identified that customer loyalty is very often thought of as an outcome of customer satisfaction. This explains why customer satisfaction has become an essential concept in marketing and its quest is one of the most important goals for businesses (Webster, 1994) Relationship Marketing: Relationship marketing is very much interlinked with the notion and practice of customer care. There is no doubt that the development of relationship marketing has had and will continue to have major implications for the marketing managers. Comprehensive accounts of the development, meaning and implications of relationship marketing for the contemporary marketer are given by Lancaster and Massingham. As so often, there are many different views as to the precise nature and hence definition of relationship marketing. So, for example, Groonroos stressed the element of mutual exchange ad trust in relationship marketing as follows. â€Å"Relationship marketing is a process including several parties or actors, the objective of which has to be met. This is done by mutual exchange and fulfillment of promises, a fact that makes trust an important aspect of marketing†. Stone and Woodcock on the other hand put more emphasis on the traditional tool of sales, communication and customer care techniques. Again we see overlap between these two areas. â€Å"Relationship marketing involves the use of a wide range of marketing, sales, communications and customer care techniques and processes to: identify named individual customers, create a relationship between the company and these customers, and manage that relationship to the benefit of both the customer and the company†. Perhaps one of the simplest and yet the most powerful summaries of what relationship marketing is however, is that provided by Buttle. â€Å"At its best, RM (relationship management) is characterized by a genuine concern to meet or exceed the expectations of the customers and to provide excellent service in an environment of trust and commitment to the relationship†. Buttle goes on to indicate what is involved in successful relationship marketing and the commitment of the company required to generate this success. â€Å"To be successful relationship marketers, companies must develop a supportive organizational culture, market the RM idea internally, intimately understand customers expectations, create and maintain a detailed customer database, and organize and reward employees in such a way that the objective of RM, customer retention, is achieved†. This illustrates that relationship marketing has major implications for both how we think about marketing and our approach to the practice of marketing. It affects and includes the provision of marketing information, organizational systems and procedures, and the elements of marketing strategy. Relationship Marketing refers to Promotional and needs and maintain the relationship. This proposal is concerned with Relationship management and marketing at how it is been used by companies to maintain existing customers, retain lost customers and attract new customers. (http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/relationship-marketing.html) Relationship marketing is systems-oriented, yet it includes managerial aspects. A systems approach is well suited as a basis for a general theory of marketing, because it makes it possible to include all relevant actors, environmental influence, and even the process nature of marketing. (Kuhn, T.S. (1957) The concept of relationship marketing has emerged within the fields of service marketing and industrial marketing. The phenomenon described by this concept is strongly supported by ongoing trends in modern business. Grà ¶nroos defines relationship marketing in the following way: Marketing is to establish, maintain, and enhance relationships with customers and other partners, at a profit, so that the objectives of the parties involved are met. This is achieved by a mutual exchange and fulfillment of promises. Such relationships are usually but not necessarily always long-term. Establishing a relationship, for example with a customer, can be divided into two parts: to attract the customer and to build the relationship with that customer so that the economic goals of that relationship are achieved. (Grà ¶nroos, C. (1990) More businesses are moving toward relationship marketing in dealing with their customers as more customers expect a personalized experience. Considering relationship marketing vs. transactional marketing for http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/generic/0,295582,sid11_gci1253633_mem1,00.html) Relationship marketing is a marketing strategy that emphasizes customer loyalty, customer retention and long-term customer engagement. Using the relationship marketing approach, an organization aims to develop strong, long-term connections with customers by providing them with information directly suited to their needs and interests. This approach often results in increased word-of-mouth activity, long-term purchasing behavior and a willingness to provide information. The goal of every enterprise, once you strip away all the activities that keep everybody busy every day, is simply to get, keep, and grow customers. Whether a business focuses its efforts on product innovation, operational efficiency and low price, or customer intimacy, for that firm must have customers or the enterprise isnt a business—its a hobby. This is true for nonprofits (where the â€Å"customers† may be donors or volunteers) as well as for-profits, for firms large and small, for public as well as private enterprise. What does it mean for an enterprise to focus on its customers as the key to competitive advantage? Obviously, it does not mean giving up the product edge, or the operational efficiencies, that have been successful in the past. It does mean using new strategies, nearly always requiring new technologies, to focus on growing the value of the company by deliberately and strategically growing the value of the customer base. Companies needed to build compr ehensive customer databases. Companies had been maintaining product databases, sales force databases, and dealer databases. Now they needed to build, maintain, mine, and manage a customer database that could be used by company personnel in sales, marketing, credit, accounting, and other company functions. As customer database marketing grew, several different names came to describe it, including individualized marketing, customer intimacy, technology enabled marketing, dialogue marketing, interactive marketing, permission marketing, and one-to-one marketing. Modern technology makes it possible for enterprises to learn more about individual customers, remember those needs, and shape the companys offerings, services, messages and interactions to each valued customer. The new technologies make mass-customization (otherwise an oxymoron) possible. At the same time, technology is only a partial factor in helping companies do genuine one-to-one marketing. The following quotes about custome r relationship management (CRM) make this point vividly: â€Å"CRM is not a software package. Its not a database. Its not a call center or a Web site. Its not a loyalty program, a customer service program, a customer acquisition program or a win-back program. CRM is an entire philosophy.† (Steve Silver) â€Å"A CRM program is typically 45 percent dependent on the right executive leadership, 40 percent on project management implementation and 15 percent on technology.† (Edmund Thompson, Gartner Group) (Peppers .D, Rogers. M 2004) Loyalty Card: Any retailer running a loyalty card scheme could call up customer details and purchase history from incoming phone numbers. In many firms, loyalty cards are used for direct marketing and not much else. Using them to dramatically improve customer service seems a fitting reward for loyalty. Marketing program designed to enhance brand loyalty by cultivating an ongoing relationship between a marketer and his customer. Successful loyalty programs encourage the consumer to buy frequently, to increase the amount spent each time, and to concentrate all or most of their related purchases on that brand. Most loyalty programs offer perks for membership in a club or program and reward purchases. Rewards may be based on the dollar value of purchases made or on the frequency of purchases. The most well-known loyalty programs are airline frequent-flyer programs that offer discounts against future travel called award miles. Most large supermarket chains now have frequent-buyer clubs that offer no-coupon discounts as well as newsletters and http://www.answers.com/topic/loyalty-program) A loyalty card program is an incentive plan that allows a retail business to gather data about its customers. Customers are offered product discounts, coupons, points toward merchandise or some other reward in exchange for their voluntary participation in the program. A secondary goal of a loyalty card program is to build repeat business by offering participating customers something that isnt available to non-participating customers. Loyalty cards often resemble plastic credit cards but they can also be keychain fobs or stickers. Typically a loyalty card has a barcode or magnetic stripe thats scanned at the point of sale (POS). The card identifies the customer and sends information about what the customer bought to a database. The information in the database is used to help the retailer understand and influence his customers buying habits. According to research carried out by Boston Universitys College of Communication, eighty-six percent of American shoppers are listed in a loyalty database; a majority of survey respondents said receiving the card was worth giving up some measure of privacy. Loyalty schemes are necessary for the retailers because it helps them in attracting the customers and when they came to them they try to retain them by offering their services on discounted rates and by offering them further discounts and services. Smith states the importance of loyalty cards and schemes in the following sta tement â€Å"if