Write a 2-page analysis of a possibe psychological analysis of the Essay

Write a 2-page analysis of a possibe psychological analysis of the Boston Marathon bomber recently charged with multiple counts of murder - Essay Example Testimony by a social worker indicated that the two boys before the police shot the older brother had been attending meetings and relying on a supportive network of friends that were immigrants to do away with the loneliness that they felt for lack of a family themselves. The fact that they were doing so while they had each other is indication enough that the boy is not a criminal mastermind but was clearly undergoing psychological problems at the time. The criminal mind would have been instigate by his brother who was into criminal activities and hence may have influenced him into engaging in the activities as a way to act out his anger and frustration at all the happy people while deep down he suffered from being alone and the loss of a dear brother whom had been looking up for him and at him since the parents left without a backwards glance towards their children or even reaching out to them (Cullen 98). The combination of the loss and grief from the death of the brother who was his guardian and best friend, the frustration by the parents divorcing and leaving to go to another country without their children, the loneliness and the fact that no one seemed to care about him or his situation not even the government drove him towards the edge of the behavior. The only way the brother had taught him to release his anger and frustration was by engaging in crime and this is what he did when he bombed the Boston Marathon. The fact that the bombing was carried out by pressure cooker that was released is a clear indication that the boy was not a terrorist as he lacked the sophisticated bombings or even a clearly made and elaborate escape plan. He was simply just acting out of the moment. I am sure that he had not even thought about committing the heinous act before and it was purely a spur of the moment probably triggered by the happy faces of people all around without a care in the world about

The Site Environmental Defense Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Site Environmental Defense - Case Study Example Our interactive organization focuses on the protection of our ecosystems such as rivers, forests, and wildlife. We are currently encouraging partnerships and expanding incentives for environmental conservation-related activities. (Source http://www.edf.org/ecosystems) Our organization has been fighting as a voice of change towards environmental conservation and adoption of environmentally friendly practices. Currently, most of our activities are funded by well-wishers and donors. We are also recruiting members and anybody is free to join us by signing up and the end of the page. There are several ways through which members and well-wishers can make their donations and become environmental defenders. Finally, we have initiated a number of campaigns that champion the adoption of a greener economy and protect the rights of individuals to openly speak about their environmental concerns. Links to other pages on the site News of our activities Campaigns Donate Blog About Us Since the early 1980s, Environmental Defense .com has always been a leader in inspiring environmental conservation by creating an opportunity for people to connect and share their concerns regarding environmental protection. Consequently, we have grown to become one of the greatest unbiased sources of information related to environmental protection on the internet. ...Environmental defense.com was begun by a small team of environmental conservationists who were concerned by the diminishing populations of aquatic organisms as a result of excessive use of fertilizers and harmful pesticides such as DTT in several parts of the world during the 1980s. It was discovered that these mostly agricultural chemicals often found their ways into the rivers, lakes, and oceans through run-offs and consequently build up to poison several aquatic species. The group of environmental conservation scientists also noted that as the residues of these harmful pesticides and chemicals continue to build up in these organis ms, they eventually found their way up the food chain thus endangering the lives of humans as well. As a result, the environmentalists teamed up together with a few lawyers and scientists to form Environment Defense.com as an organization that inspires environmental conservation by creating an opportunity for people to connect and share their environmental concerns. Over the years, Environmental defense.com has recruited thousands of members including small volunteer groups and is currently working towards organizing funds through donations to expand the organizations' services and activities globally. Finally, our mission is to defend the environment by inspiring change in corporate organizations, in governments as well as individuals to enable them to contribute towards a greener, healthier and sustainable environment for all. Useful Information on our Activities and Advocacy Throughout the last few decades of our existence, our impacts have been felt in many areas of environmenta l concerns such as health, ecosystems, climate, and oceans.

Arthur Miller Essay Example for Free

Arthur Miller Essay Arthur Miller was born in New York City on October 17th, 1915. His parents were both immigrants in the United States and lead a prosperous life because of the success of his fathers clothing manufacturing business. But the arrival of the disastrous Wall Street crash distorted his business along with the rest of the American economy. As the result, Miller worked as a warehouseman. A View from the Bridge was in a single act in its first version and was produced this way first in verse in 1955. This was then revised and was extended into a two-act play in 1956 when it was presented at the Comedy Theatre in London. In this assignment I will be discussing the role of the protagonist in A View from the Bridge, and I will look into his downfall and the part that he played in it. I will also be looking at the Aristotelian elements of a tragedy that Miller has used, and I will be highlighting and explaining the important dialogue and stagecraft. The play is set in a domestic area of New York called Red Hook and he describes it as the slum that faces the bay on the seaward side of Brooklyn Bridge. It has its roots in the late 1940s when Miller became interested in the everyday lives and work of the dockworkers of New Yorks Brooklyn harbour, where he had previously worked. He described it as a dangerous and mysterious world at the waters edge that drama and literature had never touched where many people worked and were poorly paid, exploited by their bosses, and importantly many were immigrants to the United States. This led to them being treated unequally and they faced racism as the whites were considered as a powerful race. Other factors that played a part in Miller writing this play was the Cold War, which occurred during the 1940s and which affected the economy and arose censorship and freedom. During this time a young lawyer friend of Millers also told him a story about a longshoreman who had ratted to the Immigration Bureau on two brothers, who were living illegally in his very own home. He also visited Sicily a few years later where he say huge levels of poverty that played a part in him including characters of Italian origin and keeping poverty as one of the main themes of this play. These above factors were the entire cultural context that led to Miller writing yet another very influential play A View from the Bridge. This play is a modern tragedy and Miller has followed the rules of a tragedy written by the famous Greek Philosopher Aristotle in a book called Poetics. This book stated that for a play to be a tragedy it should have certain characteristics. Miller has followed these Aristotelian features carefully and this can be seen in the play. Firstly, a prologue accompanies the play in order to make it easier for the audience to concentrate more on the actual lesson being taught by the play rather that getting confused. Alfieri acts as the chorus/narrator, the audiences interpreter of events; he is both commentator and participant in the play and punctuates the action. He introduces new themes and at the same time informs us about the present events and reminds us of past events. He creates interest in the audience by giving them clues and signs of future events, for example we know that the play will end in someones death as he mentions sat there as powerless as I, and watched it run its bloody course. A sense of inevitability is also created in Aristotelian tragedies that can be seen in the above dialogue where Alfieri feels powerless and suggests that this has happened before and is therefore retrospective. Another device known as hubris is also used which is a point in the play of no return and creates immense inevitability. The audience is made to feel a purging of emotions, which is a device known as catharsis. This along with pauses between dialogue and dramatic irony, which is when the audience knows more than the characters, creates tension and heightens their sympathy for some characters or heightens hatred for others. Stage Directions have been used well and they build on dialogue and show how the characters are feeling. Miller has also used stagecraft to an extensive level, and he uses the stage and effects such as lighting to symbolise conflict and other things. For example, the stage consists of the Carbone household and Alfieris law office which represents a conflict between natural and constitutional law, a main theme of the play. This is also an effective use of unity of time and place as the main places of action have been put closely to avoid confusion. Tragedies are also meant to teach and are therefore didactic. For example, community bonds and effects of betrayal are highlighted when Eddie recites to Catherine a fable about former neighbour Vinny Bolzano who had snitched to the immigration about his uncle. He uses this as a warning to Catherine and to make it clear to her the consequences of telling anyone about the illegal entry of Beatrices cousins. They should also involve universal truths so that people can relate to the play with real life. This play teaches many universal truths such as how to love, natural and constitutional law and the community. There is also a unity of time and place which is a device used so that it is easier for the audience to understand the action and so that they can focus on the morals taught by the play. Miller has carefully set up the tragic heros role in this play, in a way so that he matches the description of Aristotles tragedy characteristics. The protagonist isnt famous or rich, but he is seen to have the potential to become great. He also has a fall, which in this case is his death and is caused by a flaw or an error of judgement that is also occurs here. The fall also inspires pity and terror in the audience and in the process teaches them. The other characters are also affected by this fall but in the end there is a restoration of order.

Overview Segmenting B2c Markets Marketing Essay

Overview Segmenting B2c Markets Marketing Essay Over the years, the traditional face of marketing has changed. Whilst organisations recognize that they can no longer take their customers loyalty for granted, and need to adopt ongoing marketing strategies to stay ahead of their competitors (A general review, 2006, p. 23-25). Consequently, the target and strategy are crucial for a companys marketing. The company aims to bring a new brand of multivitamins called Supreme to the market. The product range includes Multivitamin and Iron, Multivitamin and minerals, Zinc, Cod Liver Oil, Effervescent Vitamin C, and Evening Primrose Oil. These different Multivitamins were identified through initial market research undertaking with the proposed target market. Indeed, it needs a detailed analysis for the segmentation and targeting process in order to reach the affluent end of the market. Therefore, it must be focus on the strategy such as segmentation, the differences between B2C and B2B for segmentation processes; the marketing phrase of targeting and how to make a segment and target market for the new range of products. Market segmentation is the process through, which consumers needs and desires, purchasing behaviour and buying habits are identified in order to divide the overall market for certain products into several consumer group market segments. Mass production, mass communication, technology, globalisation has helped create larger and lucrative potential markets. Organisations do not have the resources to or the inclination to be a single force within a loosely defined market (Brassington and Pettitt, 2006, p.193). The whole market can be seen as an orange, each segment of the orange represents a different market based upon geographic, demographic, Geodemographic, psychographic and behavioural similarities. According to the geographical factors for consumers segmentation, is where the geographical position and geographical environment variables to segment the market. Because in different geographic environments customers may have different needs and preferences for the same kind of products. According to statistics, personality factors subdivision is by age, sex, occupation, family income, family, life cycle, race, religion, nationality, variables, thus the market will be divided into different groups. Additionally, geodemographic combines demographic and geographic information together to help organizations know where the customers are and how many people there are. And then, the psychological factors, groups consumers according to their life style, personality, purchasing motivation, attitude, on different variables subdivided into the different groups. At last, the behavioural factors subdivision is that according to the consumers to purchase or used a commodity of time, purchase quantity, purchase frequency and the brand loyalty variables to segment market. segmenting B2B markets Business to business (B2B) segmentation is focused on the organization and the individual buyers. Macro Segmentation is based on the characteristics of organisations and the broader purchasing contexts they operate within. It assumes organisations will exhibit similar patterns and needs, reflected by their same buying behaviour. Bases used for macro segmentation are easily obtained from secondary information and grouped into two main categories which are organisational characteristics and product or service application. There are three organisational characteristics which are size, location and usage rate. Generally, the size of an organisation can make a difference in suppliers and purchasing. Organisations may sell according to the geographic concentration of the industries to serve. Additionally, the quantity of product purchased can categorise the difference in potential customers. Product or service application is the second group of segmentation based on acknowledge that the sa me goods can be used in many different ways. Looking at customer groupings within specific industries defined by standard industrial classification (SIC) codes. The SIC codes help identify sectors with a greater propensity to use particular products for particular applications. For example, glass has many uses to the motor industry.furthermore, Micro segmentation within macro segment a number of smaller micro segments may exist (Brassington and Pettitt, 2006, p.195).To focus on these, the organisation needs to have a detailed knowledge of individual members of the macro segment; while their management philosophy, decision-making structures, purchasing policies and strategies and their needs and wants. Much Information on these can come from published sources, past experience of potential buyer, sales force knowledge and experience, word-of-mouth, or the first hand from potential buyer. Overall, it has a number of ways to be able to segment business to business market to relate the n ature of product sold and the buying organisation. segmenting B2C markets In B2C (business to consumer) markets, there are five main categories of segmentation which are defined geographic, demographic, geodemographic, psychographic and behaviour based. Between them, they cover the full range of characteristics, such as descriptive, measurable, tangible or intangible, relating to the buyers lifestyle and the relationships with the product (Brassington and Pettitt, 2006, p.220). Geographic segmentation, it can be defined as the location for the consumer and based on the regional variables like region, country, city, climate, population density, and traffic. Demographic segmentation variables include age, gender, race, income, family lifecycle, occupation, education, religion, socioeconomic and nationality. Many of these variables have standard categories for the consumers values. Geodemographic segmentation is based on the analysis of people by where they live (Sleight, 1997, p.16) and combines geographic and demographic information together. Psychographic segmentation involves intangible variable such as lifestyle, activities, attitude, interests, values and opinion of the potential customer. Behavioral segmentation is based on actual customer behavior or the individuals relationship with the products. Some variables include benefit sought, end use, usage rate, brand loyalty, buyer readiness, price sensitivity and occasions. All the relevant characteristics from these five categories are suit for the market to segment. 2.4 targeting The target market is identified through market segmentation organisations provide appropriate products and services to meet the needs of customer or several sub-markets. There are three types of targeting for marketing mix strategies which are undifferentiated strategy, differentiated strategy and concentrated strategy. Firstly, the undifferentiated strategy approach is the demanding of the three approaches that assume the whole market is one great homogeneous unit without differences individuals in the market. Secondly, the differentiated strategy contains the development of a number of individual marketing mixes, each of them serve the different segment (Brassington and Pettitt, 2006, p.212). Finally, the concentrated strategy is the most focused approach and involves serving one specific segment. It can lead to detailed understanding of the target segments needs and wants. Discussion The differences between B2B and B2C on the segmentation The B2C markets have some similarities with B2B segmentation. However, the main distinction between both approaches is that a consumer purchases on emotion and a business purchases on logic, although they both selling a product or a service to the individual or groups, the marketing is difference for business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C). The B2B market relies on very different sales strategies to be successful than the business to consumer market because the B2B sales market very relies on relationship selling and the sales can obtain in a longer term sales cycle than B2C(business to consumer) sales. The main difference is that consumer segments always much larger in terms of number of potential buyers. Consumer segmentation also bases on the buyers lifestyle and context because of most consumers purchases fulfill high-end needs rather than simply functional ones (Brassington and Pettitt, 2006, p.197). Certainly, they also have the difference segmentation for their different marketing. By the previous analysis of B2B segmentation, its divided into macro and micro variables or bases. Macro segmentation is the whole market share common general characteristics which have three characteristics are size, location and usage rate; micro segments based on differences in specific buying characteristics. In contrast, in consumer markets, in other words, it is B2C market; five main categories of segmentation are defined as geographic, demographic, Geodemographic, psychographic and behaviour. Thus they can divide into different aspects to segment the B2C market. For example, age, according to the age level to segment the market because these different kinds of multivitamins for different age level have different efficacy. Such as children need iron and zinc, multivitamin and minerals for teens and young, effervescent vitamin C for middle and cod liver oil and evening primrose oil for elderly. In addition, the gender and education level as target. Like high school, college and university, on the different level of studying they need different nutrients to supplement. Furthermore, not the same level of income for the individuals also can decide the different markets. Such cod liver oil and evening primrose oil is much expensive than the other multivitamins. Additionally, ethnic or religious background also can act as a basis to segment a market. Like as some religions cannot consume cod. Moreover, the family life cycle also is a point to have the market. For example, newly married, married for 10 20 years, with or without children. Overall, they both have different property to have the way to segment the market they needed for B2C and B2B. At the end, all the multivitamins products will have the appropriate market in the small groups to sale because of the market have segmented different layer based on the market segmentation standards. segment the market for the new multivitamins It is suggested that two main strategies to segment and target the market for the new multivitamins. One is the brand strategy and another one is the pricing strategy. Firstly, As Ruvalcaba and Elkes (2008) suggest: we have to find a way to diverge from others, to differentiate your offering through your branding work so that the offering stands out as relevant and superior in value to a clear target market. The brand is to give owner produce value-added of intangible assets, it could be used to separate with other competitors products of name, terminology, symbols or design and their combination, value-added source from the products impression of consumer heart formed. Businesses that are at the top of consumers minds have a high market share. Consistent, creative advertising will get the business top of mind awareness (TOMA RESEARCH, 2010). Brand awareness refers to the strength of a brand presence of a brand in the memory of a consumer. Brand awareness can create a reason to buy as well as a basis for a customer relationship (Aaker McLoughlin, 2007). For example, according to the brand awareness and radiation region, the new products can be divided into areas brand, domestic brands and international brand thus the new products have the different market in the geographic area. For multivitamins, the key proposition of the supreme brand is healthy. The main elements of the proposition include the kinds of multivitamins that different populations needed and keep healthy. Moreover, supreme follows a strategy of product innovation, in order to achieve a long term objectives. It takes the form of timely new product launches to enable the brand to more closely meet the needs of different types of consumers in different areas. Secondly, pricing strategy is another popular strategy which utilize for marketing. The limited use of pricing as a strategic tool to gain and hold competitive advantage has created an opportunity for companies willing to redesign their competitive portfolios and go with unorthodox strategy mixes (Thompson Coe, 1997). Cutting price of the products can be considered as an easiest way to absorb the customers. Therefore, pricing control also can be used to segment the different suitable markets. For example, the actions for the new product market can be cutting down the price to open the new market for new products in order to make more consumer known about these products, like have a small gifts if buying a bottle of multivitamins, buying one more than getting another free one or special discount for different type of multivitamins that have different kinds of efficacy, in particular date are very popular in sales industry to obtain more benefit. These actions also can execute in the center of city or the town center to segment the market. The effect of cutting price may increase the quantity demanded, however, a major barrier to the use of value pricing has been the belief that industrial markets are largely inelastic, therefore, price will not be a major determinant of quantity demanded (Barney, 1991). The reason for that is for the company, it is difficult to find the exact right price that matches the expectations of customers. Besides, blindfolded cutting price will lead an unhealthy competition environment with competitors. The result of conflicting on sale  is all companies losing profits at the end. For short term, it could be suitable, acceptable and feasible, but for long term, for example, once the customers have get used to buy the product on a sale price, it is difficult to raise the price again. Then it is unacceptable, the risk is too high. The customers would not consider the price seriously again. Therefore, the pricing strategy is not suitable for long term. Focus on fits the two main criterions of a good marketing strategy. The key of marketing is value, which can be defined as a ratio between benefits and costs between the customer gets and the organizations gives. The suitability of target is obvious, no matter improves the brand awareness, the quantity of product or the price control to share the same purpose, which is to gain profit. It is the mission of marketing. All these two aspects help the supreme to reach the goal, thus brand positioning and price consideration is suitable. Although there are risks, such as investment in advertising and building sponsor relationship with other organisations will cost, it is deemed worth the risks. Overall, continual segmentation is vital to fully understand consumer needs and changing habits. This will help provide appropriate produces to satisfied their needs and wants. Conclusion Segmentation is the tool that enables supreme to identify different groups of customers and markets, and provide the best possible products to meet individual or groups requirements. It also brings a number of benefits to both the consumer and the organization. The new multivitamins market consists of different consumers with differing needs. Focusing on branding positioning is a comprehensive strategy for the new multivitamins products to achieve a successful marketing. Whereas, as a diversified product, it should use many ways and the marketing segment strategies to sale in order to get the profit. In other words, the multivitamins still needs to focus on the different segmenting market. Alluring more consumers and keeping the regular customers in main areas to build brand loyalty are the main missions at present. They are still the primary objects for multivitamins to make profit and sustain operation.

The Portrayal of Murder in The Speckled Band and Lamb to the Slaughter :: Sherlock Holmes Arthur Doyle Roald Dahl Essays

The Portrayal of Murder in The Speckled Band and Lamb to the Slaughter The two stories we are comparing are the 1880`s Sherlock Homes murder mystery tail "The Speckled Band" and the second story is the1900`s thriller "Lamb to the Slaughter". The Speckled Band is an on the edge murder mystery tail, this is one of the many Sherlock Homes tails, it was written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the late Victorians 180`s. Lamb to the Slaughter is a very short thriller, this story was written by the great child's Author Roald Dahl in the 1950`s. In this essay we are not comparing the two stories we are comparing and contrasting the two murders which are. In "Lamb to the Slaughter" the murderer is Mrs Mary Maloney, Mrs Maloney is a pretty woman about 5ft with long dark hair and big brown eyes. She is six months pregnant and is a very loving and caring woman who is extremely organised. The victim that Mrs Maloney killed was none other than her Husband Mr Maloney. Mary new that her husband was having an a affair with another Woman, so when Mr Maloney came home from work one night Mrs Maloney lashed out and smashed her husband around the back of his head with an frozen leg of lamb that she had just taken out of the freezer for supper. Mrs Maloney immediately put the frozen leg of lamb in the Oven and then called the police and told them that her husband had been murdered while she was out. After she killed her husband she went into her bedroom and sat there for half an hour thinking of what to do and say to the police. In the end she thought up of a story, she went out of the house 2 get some Items for the meal when she got back she saw her husband and called the police. When the police arrived she said that while she was out he was murdered, the police checked up on that and it was true. The police tried 2 find the murder weapon around the house and garden and after there search Mrs Maloney insisted that they ate the food she had cooked because she was not up to it, so they did the 3 police officers ate the lamb and the evidence they had spent all day looking for. So in the end Mrs Maloney made up a story before she called the police and after she had murdered Mr Maloney and she got away with murder. The Second story "The Speckled Band" the murderer was Doctor Grimesby

Performance Support Systems :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Performance Support Systems Introduction In all of the research and documentation used to create this paper Performance Support System (PSS) and Electronic Performance Support System (EPSS) are used synonymously. The term Electronic Performance Support System (EPSS) will be used in this paper. Defining EPSS. Performance Support (PS) is the concept of integrating knowledge and learning experiences, with software tools to improve the quality and quantity of worker performance with as little support as possible from other people. PS also provides an electronic foundation to enable organizational learning. EPSS is the computer system the results from applying the concept of performance support (EPSS website). Some people may confuse EPSS with an Information System (IS), an electronic manual, or Computer-Based Training (CBT). IS are designed to help a user use the application, whereas EPSS are designed to provide support on how to do the work. An electronic manual is just an on-line book. An EPSS may contain an electronic manual, but EPSS not only shows you the information, but how to apply it. CBTs facilitates what you need to learn EPSSs facilitates performance. Why Use an EPSS? "The rate of change in organizations today is tremendous. Just when one downsizing or reengineering effort ends, the latest business software is released and there is something new to learn. The result? An environment in which employees are continuously novices again" (Dawson 29). An EPSS can be used to continually train and retrain employees while providing task specific assistance and training at the touch of a button. An EPSS can also provide assistance to infrequently encountered problems as well as create a consistent set of answers to customers’ frequently asked questions. In many corporations today, the time, length, and cost involved in training is excessive. EPSS solves those problems. First, EPSS provides a cost effective way to train employees. Although the initial setup cost of EPSS can be expensive, these cost normally relate to start-up and maintenance. "Instructor led class where teaching time takes roughly 3 times longer compared with computer based instruction. The overhead costs of instructor led training are also much higher. [Also] with instructor led courses, the more students use the program, the more the program costs. Technology based alternatives eliminate these costs" (Winslow & Caldwell 76). Secondly, EPSS provides an alternative to training where employees are absent from work by bring the instruction to the employees.

Continental Airlines

Case Study: Continental Airline? s Tech Strategy Takes Off Continental Airline’s Tech Strategy Takes Off Amrita Ranchhod 152109103 Amrita Ranchhod Pagina 1 Case Study: Continental Airline? s Tech Strategy Takes Off Company profile Continental Airlines is the world’s fifth largest airline. Continental, together with Continental Express and Continental Connection, has more than 2,750 daily departures throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, serving 133 domestic and 132 international destinations. More than 750 additional points are served via current alliance partners. Continental has hubs serving New York, Houston, Cleveland and Guam, and together with its regional partners, carries approximately 63 million passengers per year. Based in Houston, Texas, the airline must provide an IT infrastructure to support its global reach. Its IT department delivers services for internal operations as well as for its customer service and external Web applications. 0. Make a small description of the case pointing out the main management issues. This case study demonstrates how Continental Airlines adopted new strategies and how they got successful when most of the U. S. based airlines were in risk of bankruptcy after the 9/11. The company wasn’t very highly regarded because of its organizational culture and it’s IT and Biz. Strategy weren’t aligned. Continental slowly reinvented itself by using new strategies, â€Å"Worst to First† which made them one of the most admired global airline in the world. They used IT as a service centre and aligned Biz. with IT. 1. Describe the external environment and Continental’s strategic goals After the 9/11, the nation’s airline industry struggled to regain altitude, because of the loss of billion of dollars since a smaller number of people wanted to fly which made thousands of people loose their jobs. But it is believe that the U. S. airlines were already struggling before the attack due to broader economic and competitive issues. Also, economics problems in the U. S. and Japan and the weakening of the dollar has not helped for the recovery of the airline industry. See appendix 1) The legacy carriers – American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United, Continental Northwest and US Airways had to face new lower-cost competitors entering their Amrita Ranchhod Pagina 2 Case Study: Continental Airline? s Tech Strategy Takes Off markets, and all airlines had to face soaring fuel prices over the last years. According to Phil Baggaley, the senior airlines credit analyst for rating agency Standard & Poor’s, â€Å"The legacy carriers were forced to pull back their capacity and that opened a vacuum that the low-cost carriers could fill. I think 9/11 made a material difference in that way -it accelerated a trend that was already occurring. † (www. money. cnn. com). This lead to an unused aircraft, demand for new planes went down which didn’t help the manufacturers and their suppliers. To understand better Continental Airline’s external environment I will use SWOT analysis: Strenghts ? Revenue : Revenues increased of 17. 1% from 2005 to 2006 ? Profits: Operating Profit: during fiscal year 2006 operating profit was $468 million, compared to operating loss of $39 in 2005. Net Profit: during fiscal year 2006, net profit was $343 million, compared to net loss of $68 in 2005. ? CEO: The CEO of Continental Airlines played and important role in stimulating the company. The â€Å"Go Forward Plan† made possible to focus on every aspect of the organization. ? Target Market: Having a well-defined target market, Continental provides services to upper-class and business travelers. ? IT Integration ? Clear Vision Amrita Ranchhod Pagina 3 Case Study: Continental Airline? s Tech Strategy Takes Off Weaknesses ? Financial Difficulties: The company had some financial problems with great amount of debts and operating at loss. ? High Operating Costs: Continental had a high operating cost because they decided to attract consumers by offering in-flight meals preventing them from going to other airlines. Opportunities: ? Reestablishing Customer Base: The airline industry is becoming â€Å"normal† as in returning to pre-9/11 status. ? Align new marketing strategy, more consumer oriented, with low cost strategies. Threats: ? September 11th: The public lost faith in the airline industry after the September 11th and for many companies this meant bankruptcy. Even after this, the majority of the airline industry had lower profits. ? Oil prices were getting high ? Increasing Rivalry As stated in the case study, Continental Airlines was ranked at the very bottom of the list of airlines and regularly received low marks for customer service. Its external environmental was very instable and each carrier was trying very hard to save the company from bankruptcy. The company had 45 different CRM systems and the carrier had no way to verify who the most important customers were. The company’s strategy was mainly to identify and increase the loyalty of continental’s most important customer and also to find new customers even outside the U. S. keeping prices stable and increasing routes. The way they implemented this strategy was basically creating and IT department which would improve customer services and operations. Bethune’s â€Å"Worst to First† business strategy made reorganize the Amrita Ranchhod Pagina 4 Case Study: Continental Airline? Tech Strategy Takes Off company’s structure by launching new service routes. But according in Teradata (www. teradata. com), Bethune’s â€Å"Worst to First† business strategy relied little on technology. Bethune began by reshaping the company with his â€Å"Go Forward Plan,† which still guides the business today. The Go Forward Plan has four interrel ated parts, dealing with the airline’s product, finances, market and people: ? Fly to Win: Understand what products customers want and what they are willing to pay for. ? Fund the Future: Manage costs and cash flow so the airline can continue to operate. Make Reliability a Reality: Get customers to their destination safely, on time and with their luggage. ? Work Together: Create a culture where people want to come to work. The second phase of Bethune’s strategy, â€Å"First to Favorite†, the IT team decided to transform the airline’s CRM systems into one which made possible to save around $6 million costs in operating costs. 2. What are the new management capabilities and business processes? Are they information-intensive? How they work? Continental’s success was due to the use of innovative technologies to improve internal operations and customer service. The real-time data warehouse provided data from 25 internal operational systems and two external data sources loaded into the data warehouse. The source systems included: schedules, inventory, employee and crew payroll, airline tickets, customer care, and others and it was applied to areas such as revenue management, customer relationship management, flight management dashboard and fraud detection. The CVM provided by Continental’s database, allowed them to Amrita Ranchhod Pagina 5 Case Study: Continental Airline? s Tech Strategy Takes Off know the most profitable customers which helped the marketing department in customer segmentation. Management understood that good quality information was critical. According to Jane Beeby, Continental’s Senior Director, as part of its strategy to optimize service, Continental maintains unique 800 numbers for various types of customers. For example, international fliers dial a different number than do customers booking domestic flights. Rewards Program members have their own toll-free line. To even more precisely identify individual customer needs, callers may also respond to a series of network-level prompts before being connected to an agent. (www. cisco. com). The new capabilities and business processes attained by the company made possible to know more about their customers which lead to more profit and consequently to a better customer service. 3. Does IT have a strategic role at Continental? (Apply Porter’s 5 forces model) As an early adopter of new technology, Continental Airlines uses the latest information technology allowing the company to progress. I believe that IT was a brilliant opportunity to invest in the future providing real-time business intelligence which made possible to save $500 million in costs and revenues produced a ROI (Return on Investment) of more than 1. 00% (See Appendix 2). One thing worth mentioning is that one of the key resources at Continental were the employees. More productive employees lead to better margins. The ability to deal with problems efficiently, in turn, created job satisfaction, as employee see their efforts give way results. According to Porter’s analysis, The Five Forces determ ine the competitive intensity and therefore the attractiveness of a market. Amrita Ranchhod Pagina 6 Case Study: Continental Airline? s Tech Strategy Takes Off Threat of New Entrants: Continental is implementing a unique strategy making hard for new companies to enter the market and uncrease barriers. Therefore, there is a low threat of new entrants because the service they are offering is difficult to copy ? Bargaining Power of Suppliers: The bargaining power of suppliers will decrease because as Continental is controlling more information about customers therefore they are offering exactly what costumers need which makes possible to build brand awareness – the bargaining power of the company increases. Threat of Substitutes: The IS strategy gives to Continental Airline a competitive advantage because they control customer’s information therefore they are able to capture loyalty of them and minimize substitutes. ? Bargaining Power of Buyers: Since there is a new IS th e company is increasing barriers for customers switching costs. The buyers are becoming more loyal and establishing a bound to the company services which makes difficult for them to change. Therefore the bargaining power of buyers is decreasing. Conclusion – The information systems at Continental have a strategic impact in because they have a major positive impact in: ? Increasing Industry Rivalry ? Lowering Customer Bargain Power 4. Regarding their business value analyse the IT systems mentioned positioning them in McFarlans’s Matrix. According to the McFarlan’s Matrix listed bellow, for example CRM (Customer Relationship Management) plays a strategic role in Continental’s Airline, because the existing and future expansion is vital to the firm’s success. CRM made possible the Amrita Ranchhod Pagina 7 Case Study: Continental Airline? s Tech Strategy Takes Off lose relationship between the company’s customers and each employee, giving these last ones better information about specific needs of their customers. Loyalty is very important for them, so by using the data warehouse with real time information ensured higher customer retention. The CRM system also facilitated crossselling (off ering customers complimentary products based on their previous purchases) and up-selling (offering customer’s premium products in the same category). Amrita Ranchhod Pagina 8 Case Study: Continental Airline? s Tech Strategy Takes Off 5. How the process of Biz and IT alignment should be performed at Continental? Make 3 recommendations. Alignment is always going to be a moving target. Business objectives are in change, while IT tends to move in more stable patterns. From my point of view the key recommendation is to focus on what can the company achieve now and take one step at a time. For them to be aligned there should be a balanced in terms of communication. Business people â€Å"speak in business language† and IT people in technical terms. To solve this problem, we should put this two together and â€Å"make them† find their own language and this involves communication, process alignment and value demonstration. These people must have the right tools and skills to work together so they can arise the best strategies. In my point of view, creating a new department, in theory is easy but they are always full of obstacles and always busy. For example, employees profiles can be created to gather information about their competencies. Also within the organization make audit objective as ensuring a strong coupling between the business operations and the IT operations and to ensure that both the operations align with the overall business strategy. Amrita Ranchhod Pagina 9 Case Study: Continental Airline? Tech Strategy Takes Off References Chris Isidore, (September 8th 2006), Airlines still in upheaval, 5 years after 9/11: www. money. cnn. com [Acessed at 15th November, 2009] Teradata Corporation, Case-Study – Data Warehousing: www. teradata. com [Assessed at 16th November, 2009] Cisco Systems, Inc, Soaring with Intelligent Contact Management: www. cisco. com [ Assessed at 16th November, 2009] Amrita Ranchhod Pagina 10 Case Study: Continental Airline? s Tech Strategy Takes Off Appendix 1: Amrita Ranchhod Pagina 11 Case Study: Continental Airline? s Tech Strategy Takes Off Appendix 2: Amrita Ranchhod Pagina 12 Continental Airlines Meagan Young Chapter 10 I believe that Lorenzo’s confrontation with Continental’s unions could have been conducted a different way. They could simply listen to each other’s viewpoint and not interrupt with one another is speaking. This way each other can hear their viewpoint and maybe understand one another better. If Lorenzo would have listened to what his employees were trying to say, he may have gotten ideas from them and used them for his company. Both these companies experienced commonalities and contrasts. Both Bethunes and Southwest Airlines experienced debt issues. Both companies were puzzled as how to deal with this situation. Both companies however had the similar approaches as how to deal with the debt situations. Bethune definitely has a better management style than Lorenzo’s. this is because Bethune was willing to come up with solutions to come out of debt. He also made dramatic changes. In 1995, through a â€Å"renewed focus on flight schedules and incentive pay,† he greatly improved on-time performance, along with lost-baggage claims and customer complaints. Better communications was also a key element in improving employee relationships and the spirit of teamwork. Information was shared with employees through newsletters, updates on bulletin boards, email, voice-mail, and electronic signs over worldwide places. As you can see Bethune really wanted to improve Continental Airlines because he wanted what was best for the company. Bethune proved a master at changing employees’ attitudes and their sense of pride. Few top executives ever faced such a negative workforce, reflecting the Lorenzo years. But Bethune changed all this, and in such a short time. is open-door policy and open houses to encourage employees to interact with him and other top executives was a simple gesture, but so effective, as was his opening wide the channels of communication about company plans. The incentive plans for improving performance, and the freeing up of employee initiatives by abolishing the rigidity of formal policies, were further positives. He enge ndered an atmosphere of teamwork and a personal image of an appreciative CEO. This goes to show that Bethune is a trustworthy man and cares much about his company and the employees. The paint issue shouldn’t be a big issue. It gave the company a new look I think. Giving employees some kind of reward such as a bonus or incentive seems ideal. When they reach a certain goal or percentage and show they are hardworking employees, they could receive one of these. Before doing this I would supervise how they are working to make sure they are doing what they are supposed to. After studying their work ethics I would then determine what kind of reward I would present to them. Lack of communication is one of the biggest issues with not only top executives but anyone in the company. I’m sure not all of the upper management had the same ideas for Continental, and because of this some were left behind. This could be a downfall because one of them could have had a really good idea to present to the company. Because workers are not getting paid what they should, you can offer them something else. You can offer them better company benefits. This can help the employee tremendously, especially if they have a family. You could also tell the workers that if they reach a certain percentage that they can receive a raise. All of these ideas can motivate an employee to work harder at their job.