Mobile Devices and Self Service eCommerce Imagine that you have been hired by the startup e-Commerce company Sports R US to provide a convenient self-service solution for customers accessing sports products.
Mobile Devices and Self Service eCommerce
The Web application would need to be available on mobile devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets, laptops, notebooks). The application also needs to work on multiple Web browsers (i.e.., Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and others to support self-service tasks. Sports- R-US has asked you to provide a Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) guide for design and implementation of this service.
Note: You may create and / or make all necessary assumptions needed for the completion of this assignment.
Mobile Devices and Self Service ecommerce Assignment Guidelines
This assignment must address the following topics:
Information Gathering
Design Strategy
Prototyping
Implementation
Write a six to eight (6-8) page paper in which you:
1. Describe the following:
Purpose and goals of a mobile self-service.
Target segment (audience).
Audience needs and wants.
Resources necessary to achieve the desired outcome.
Design of the Website for mobile devices
Interfaces applicable to mobile devices.
2. Design each of the following using Microsoft Visio or any open source wire framing or mockup tool. Note: The graphically depicted solution is not included in the required page length.
The Sports R US home page for a mobile device.
The self-service Web page to review products and checkout using mobile devices.
3. Recommend one (1) prototype that could be created.
4. Determine the type of evaluation method to use in a Web design for the best user experience.
5. Provide key details of how the mobile self-service will be implemented on various mobile devices.
6. Use at least three (3) quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources.
Mobile Devices and Self Service ecommerce Paper Format
7. Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
Typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
Include a reference page. Citations and references must follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.
Supermarket Brand Preferences Amongst Students From my last proposal that you have done on it. I am happy with that. So thank you so much.
And now I would like you to work on its Research Questionnaires which I have to survey to ask students soon.
Supermarket Brand Preferences Amongst Students
I would like you to make around 20-24 questions.
When you have done this, I will send it to ask my tutor about my questionnaires paper ( it is important that I have to update all work to let mt tutor knows) and
need for his feedback.
Which this can leads to a final dissertation.
C. Research Question
The central theme of the paper is related to the retail industry in the UK and the various factors that can attract the students to the retail companies.
Therefore, the central question of the research will be
1. To study the various factors that influence the attitude and behavior of consumers towards supermarkets in London. This may focus on marketing factors
including product prices, location and promotion and so on.
This can be accentuated with the help of sub-questions that can be stated as follows:
– What is the student favorite supermarket in London?
– Why and how that supermarket attracts you to be its customer?
– What makes student behave differently towards buying a product from all supermarkets?
– What did those supermarkets do to encourage the student to buy the product from their stores?
Evaluation of eCommerce in B2B in China The subject of the dissertation is Evaluation of E-commerce in B2B in China.
Evaluation of eCommerce in B2B in China
1. Discuss the importance of e-commerce in the B2B context in China
2.state of knowledge in b2b website
3. talk about e-commerce in general, especially in B2B, the implication in China, cultural context, culture scale.
4.need to find the gap that existing reading research do not have
5. critical analysis In China, B2B electronic markets are still in their early stages of development. The lack of basic business infrastructures has delayed the development of e-markets.
1. Introduction
2. Choose an organization of your choice and develop an overview of a plan for a project.
The project could be a new device, service, program, or etc.
Utilize examples from your text or examples online that meet your specific needs in developing the Communication Plan for the Project that will substantively explain, and analyze the positive contributions to the success of the project. Include design, structure, communication channel methods, assigned roles, leadership, groups, teams, and control measures. include the concepts from operations and project management that you have learned so far.
As an example, processes, projects, flowcharting, effectiveness efficiency, critical path, quality management, quality control, and the project management life-cycle.
Providing customers with the highest quality products remains one of Samsung’s major objectives. Accordingly, the company consistently develops new devices to meet customer needs. Following the success of the A-Series smart phones in the market, the company intends to inject more innovation into developing a more sophisticated gadget for technology lovers. The new Smartphone, dubbed Samsung Galaxy A10, is expected to hit the market in November 2017. Its sleek design and attractive specifications which include a super AMOLED 5.5” touch screen, gorilla glass screen protection, Android 6.0 Marshmallow, 16 Megapixel camera, 40 GB internal memory and up to 200GB expandable memory, make the A10 the next Samsung gem.
This plan details information regarding the project including its definition, goals and objectives, roles and responsibilities, project management approach, project timeline, budget and the communications plan.
Background Information
The smart phone market has been advancing at a significant rate and this has created major competition in the industry. This means that companies must be more vigilant when it comes to innovation in order to remain relevant among smart phone users. Samsung has been a smart phone market leader and it is imperative that this position is maintained through continuously developing new models to tap the ever growing demand for modern technology. While the company has produced numerous phone models, the Galaxy A series has been a great success, since the introduction of the Samsung Galaxy Alpha in 2014. The A series has since advanced, with the latest mode being the Galaxy A9. Given the rapid growth in the industry and changing client demands, Samsung must maintain the momentum by producing better phones, to ensure that it maintains its competitive advantage. The A10 comes with the latest Android, greater feel and bigger memory and is therefore bound to achieve this objective
Project Approach
The project will be implemented in phases as follows:
Phase I: Market research and analysis
Phase II: Software design
Phase III: Agreement on Android contract
Phase IV: Development
Phase V: Phone testing
Phase VI: Phone rollout
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
This project aims at achieving the following:
Develop a smart phone that appeals to modern mobile users
Enhance user experience through better technology, software and phone interaction
Provide a phone with greater storage capacity
Provide a long-lasting smart phone through strong materials such as metal casing and glass protection
Compete effectively with similar brands in the market
PROJECT SCOPE
Scope Statement
This project encompasses the production of the Samsung Galaxy A10, a smart phone that is meant to give the user greater capabilities through more advanced technology and phone capabilities. The project which is will last for a period of six months is expected to produce an exceptional smart phone to meet the needs of technologically savvy users. The new device will possess the following characteristics: super AMOLED 5.5” touch screen, 4G internet capability, dual sim capability, gorilla glass screen protection, Snapdragon 800 processor, Android 6.0 Marshmallow, 16 Megapixel camera, 40 GB internal memory and up to 200GB expandable memory, data saving mode, inbuilt battery, proximity and fingerprint sensor, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Hotspot connectivity. In achieving this, a group of 10 engineers and developers will be involved in developing the phone. The project aims at achieving the set goals and objectives with a budget provision of $25,000; with $5,000 being for research and $20,000 for execution.
Project approach and implementation
To ensure that the Samsung Galaxy A10 phone is availed to the market by January 2017, the following activities will be implemented. The activities represent phases within the project, with each having its own set of deliverables.
Market research and analysis: This is the first phase of the project and it will involve performing a background research on the competitive environment, technology and customer expectations on smart phones. This is important because it helps in establishing the feasibility of the project and whether it will provide any returns for the company (Shenar & Dvir, 2013). It will also give insights on possible considerations when designing the device by evaluating customer responses and competitor plans.
Software design: This marks the beginning of the production process and will involve developing the phone’s software. This includes ensuring that it compatible with Android in order to give users a seamless experience.
Agreement on Android contract: Android is the operating system provider for A10 and a license from the company is thereby required. This will involve negotiation with the Google, Android provider, to come up with an agreement on the license.
Development: This phase represents the actual phone development and involves actual production of the phone. During this phase, procurement processes, input material supply and manufacturing of the smart phone will take place. The various processes involved are divided among the team members to ensure that the phone is of the greatest quality possible (Shenar & Dvir, 2013).
The flow chart for production of the phone is shown as below
Phone testing: To ensure that the product delivered to the customer is fault-free, testing prior to delivery is necessary. In this regard, Samsung will distribute 100 handsets to selected customers and engage them on a feedback program. The customers who will use the phone for one month will provide feedback based on their experiences; including any device flaws and improvement that should be done on the phone.
Phone rollout: This is the final stage in the project and will involve rolling out the phone in the market. This process will be marketing-intensive; with the objective of making the phone known to users.
Roles and responsibilities
Role
Responsibilities
Participant(s)
Samsung Management
§ Decision making and funds approval
§ Project guidance
§ Project approval
Jong-Kyun Shin (CEO and Head, IT & Mobile Communications)
Project Committee
§ Approve funding
§ Direct resource allocation
§ Conflict resolution
§ Provide directions to project manager
§ Review performance milestones
Insert Names
Jong-Kyun Shin (CEO)
Sang-Hoon Lee (CFO)
Smith Park (Member)
Song Lee (Member)
John Adams (Member)
Lynn Ming (Member)
Project Manager
§ Manage project according to specifications, goals and objectives
§ Team lead
§ Link between project and project committee
§ Communicate project to participants
§ Communicate guidance from project committee
§ Supervise consultants
§ Supervise suppliers and vendors
§ Provide project direction including acquisition of resources
§ Problem resolution
§ Budget execution
§ Approve budgets
§ Sign and spearhead contracts
Steve McDonald
Project participants (Researchers, Engineers and developers)
§ Conduct market and technology research
§ Understand user needs
§ Communicate with project manager on project goals
§ Review project goals and deliverables
§ Develop product
§ Participate in teams and perform according to stakeholder expectations
§ Provide recommendations based on knowledge
§ Identify barriers to project achievement and communicate the same
§ Assure product quality
§ Identify potential issues and offer recommendations
To be identified
PROJECT SCHEDULE/TIMELINE
Considered one of the major aspects of successful project management, the schedule provides a list of activities to be achieved by the project and the set time required in implementation (Lapoint & Haggard, 2015). A well developed schedule will ensure that the project is completed within the given time period.
Market research
June 2016
Phone technology research
June-August 2016
Patents and licenses
August 2016
Project execution
August-November 2016
Trials and testing
December –January 2016
Roll-out
January 2016
PROJECT BUDGET/COSTS
The budget forms the third component in project planning and management and is an important resource in ensuring that the project is done to completion (Brüggen & Luft 2016). In order for the budget to be effective it must accommodate possible risk by providing an emergency fund (Brüggen & Luft 2016). The budget is presented as follows:
INCOME
Internal Sources
$20,000
Bank funding for research
$5,000
EXPENDITURE
Research
Technology research
$3,500
Market research
$1,500
Input material
$5,000
Licenses (Legal and Android)
$1,200
Development
$7,000
Staff
$1,000
Meetings (Stationery, conferencing charges, meals and refreshments
$1,400
Marketing
$900
Launch
$1,800
Miscellaneous
$500
Contingency funds
$1,200
RISK ASSESSMENT
Risk assessment in the project plan seeks to identify and prioritize the potential risks and thus develop a mitigation approach relative to these risks (Fabricius & Büttgen, 2015). According to Maley (2012), risk assessment is a continuous process because issues keep emerging as the project continues to be implemented. In this regard, continuous assessment will be undertaken and possible approaches to mitigation discussed between the implementers and project manager.
Risk
Impact
Risk Level (High, Medium, Low)
Probability
Possible mitigation
Obsolete technology resulting from newer developments
This would impact phone and project returns
H: Technology changes is rapid and the rate of smart phone development is high
Very likely
Constant research to determine possible changes; project may need to be overhauled to accommodate new technology
Failure to meet timeline
Delay in launch; Loss of customers and revenue
M: The timeline set considers all factors to ensure completion; Huddles however may occur
Likely
Adhere to set timelines; ensure constant update of project progress
Budget constraints and new budget items
Quality and completion time
M: The budget considers all budget items necessary; new budget items may result from unforeseen costs
Likely
Provide a contingent budget plan; adhere to budget to the greatest extent possible
Inadequate knowledge and skills
Quality, completion time, achievement of project goals
L: Project implementers are selected based on possession of excellent knowledge and skills
Unlikely
Ensure implementers are qualified; provide training
Customer rejection of device
Poor returns from the project
H: Customer bargaining power in the industry is very high
Very likely
Ensure quality product; keep up with technology advancement; offer affordable price; extensive marketing before launch
COMMUNICATIONS PLAN
Communicating the project plan forms an important aspect and should be given major priority, to ensure that all members participating in the project execution are informed about the project expectations.
Communication objectives
This communications plan achieves the following objectives:
Provide clear information on project execution
Ensure that all stakeholders have the required information on the project, processes, roles, budget and other issues
Maintain correspondence between stakeholders
Ensure stakeholders are updated on project progress
Promote accountability among project implementers
Audience and key messages
This communication plan targets the following individuals as its audience:
Samsung Management: Key messages include project impact, project progress, budget requirements, information gathered from research.
Project Committee: The committee will expect information on project progress and execution, budget requirements, issues and challenges, new ideas and changes to project execution, resources required.
Project Manager: The manager acts as a link between the management and committee and implementers. Key messages include feedback on progress, feedback on budget and resource requests, project functions approval, project milestones and achievements, issues and challenges, new ideas and information from research.
Project participants (Researchers, Engineers and developers): Project execution guidelines, budget and resource allocation, timelines, response to queries and solutions to identified challenges.
Any other relevant individual: Key messages as deemed relevant
Communication methodology
To ensure effective communication, this project will utilize a variety of communication approaches including: face-to-face communication, meetings, email, video conferencing, memos and reports as suggested by Bourne (2016). A combination of these channels will ensure that information is effectively delivered to the intended audience in a correct and coherent manner (Maley, 2012). The following communication modes will characterize the project.
Email communication on progress and new developments: This will be a constant form of communication and will ensure that the management effectively communicates any expectations, approval information and other details related to the project. The executing team will also be expected to provide constant updates on the project progress and other information such as challenges encountered and possible solutions.
Monthly status reports: To promote accountability and efficiency, the team will be expected to develop monthly reports indicating their progress and next steps. The monthly report will be sent to the manager for review before being shared with the committee and senior management.
Bi-weekly project status meetings: These meetings are aimed at updating progress and providing implementers with an opportunity to share experiences and issues encountered in the process of project execution. It is also a chance for the management to communicate new and emerging project components and make plans for the future.
Project manager monthly feedback: After the monthly status reports have been shared, the project manager will give feedback on the progress based on his input and that of the committee and senior management. This will inform future performance and offer recommendations for improvement.
These approaches do not limit communication and any member of the project may pass vital information at any point during the project execution.
CONCLUSION
This project plan effectively outlines the project plan to be used in the development of the Galaxy Samsung A10 smart phone. The plan details the objectives of the project, the scope of work, timelines, budget and communication plan to ensure successful implementation. Adhering to the plan will ensure that the new phone is completed by the launch date and within the intended quality.
REFERENCES
Borkowski, P. (2015). A Framework for Risk Analysis In Infrastructure Projects. Research
Papers Of The Wroclaw University Of Economics / Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego We Wroclawiu, (401), 69-82. doi:10.15611/pn.2015.401.06. Retrieved from eds.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=a10cb05e-b553-445d-8a13-aaf3d78d390c%40sessionmgr106&vid=15&hid=127
Bourne, L. (2016). Stakeholder Relationship Management: A Maturity Model for Organisational Implementation.
Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Brüggen, A., & Luft, J. L. (2016). Cost Estimates, Cost Overruns, and Project Continuation
Decisions. Accounting Review, 91(3), 793-810. doi:10.2308/accr-51202. Retrieved from eds.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=a10cb05e-b553-445d-8a13-aaf3d78d390c%40sessionmgr106&vid=10&hid=127
Fabricius, G., & Büttgen, M. (2015). Project managers’ overconfidence: how is risk reflected in
anticipated project success?. Business Research, 8(2), 239-263. doi:10.1007/s40685-015-0022-3. Retrieved from eds.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=7&sid=a10cb05e-b553-445d-8a13-aaf3d78d390c%40sessionmgr106&hid=127
Lapoint, P. A., & Haggard, C. R. (2015). Design Prototypes Inc. Project Management (C): When Management Decides To Shorten A Project Schedule. Journal of the International Academy for
Case Studies, 21(4), 75-82. Retrieved from eds.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=a10cb05e-b553-445d-8a13-aaf3d78d390c%40sessionmgr106&vid=11&hid=127
Maley, C. H. (2012). Project Management Concepts, Methods, and Techniques. Boca Raton, FL:
CRC Press.
Shenar, A. J., & Dvir, D. (2013). Reinventing Project Management: The Diamond Approach to
Successful Growth and Innovation. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.
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Report on two companies and their related histories within the same line of business.
Pick two competing companies, one of which is successful in their line of business and one who hasn’t been successful in recent years. Identify the role technology played in both companies. Your comparison must thoroughly examine the entire role that technology has played. This should address the following points for both companies:
•What part of the business do you consider to be the primary technology? (for example in a computer company it may really be the software bundled with the computer that provides the competitive edge or in the pizza business it may really be a novel method of delivery which is the distinguishing innovation that establishes a competitive edge).
•What type of strategy did each company employ? Did they take an offensive role or defensive role? How did their strategy affect the outcome of their success? Was there an impact on the entire industry as a whole?
•Report on whether each company performed internal innovation and if so, how was this accomplished? If they didn’t use internal innovation – describe their methodology. What was the management’s role in fostering the incorporation of the innovation?
Finally, you are expected to provide an analysis of both the strategies, recommendations and a conclusion.
SAMPLE ANSWER
In the telecommunication industry, just like any other industry, technology is regarded as a prerequisite factor to business success. Apple Inc and Toshiba are two of the main telecommunication companies in the world. The rise in the need for more improvised devices by the consumers give the companies need for technological advancement. It takes use of expertise innovations to remain competitive in the industry. The more diverse and innovative a company is the higher the chances of getting more income. Apple Inc has managed to increase its profitability over the past five years while Toshiba Company has had its net income reduce over the years. Technological strategies employed by both companies have been the differentiating factor regarding their success levels.
Role of technology
Technological capability is the knowledge and skills needed in the identification, appraisal, utilization, and development of techniques required for business success. In this digital era, innovation is essential for competitive sustainability. In business term, innovation means doing something differently concerning productivity, value, or quality by use of emerging or already approved technologies in the world (Abid 2015). Recent technological innovations including online shopping, digital marketing and communication, and social networking are some of the technological changes that have largely affected telecommunication industry. Effective business planning, marketing, and technological strategies have been employed by leading companies in the industry.
Primary technology
Over the years, Apple Company has largely invested in technology and choosing innovation to increase its market share, financial growth, and overall competitiveness. The company has used technology to differentiate its products and reach out to more consumers. It uses digital technology to gain a competitive edge through advertising and extensive promotions. The company has differentiated its products by launching products such as iOS to maintain consumer loyalty (Leo 2015). Its team of skilled personnel keeps changing the design and use of its products according to consumer specifications. Apple’s primary technology is the production of unique customized products. The products have an appeal that is specific to consumer needs making the rivals unable to copy the products. Apple uses devices that use iOS while its rivals use Google.
Toshiba Company pursues a competitive edge in the telecommunication industry by offering diverse products in electronics, digital products, social infrastructure, and home appliances. While its rivals mostly concentrate on intensive paper verticals such as legal and education, Toshiba has differentiated its innovative strategies by focusing on retail, logistics, and manufacturing. Unlike Apple Company, which has a high market in cell phones, Toshiba is widely known for its office printing devices and computers. The company’s primary technology lies in POS systems which have essentially differentiated it from other market rivals. Toshiba computers are known to be of high quality and also durable (Minita 2014). However, due to the innovative changes on phones by companies such as Apple, computers are increasingly losing their demand. Some phones produced by Apple have the substitute form of a computer, and their portability makes their demand rise on computers.
Company strategies
Companies use either defensive or offensive strategy to compete in the market. A defensive strategy is said to be reactive. A company develops a defensive strategy to protect its market share, profitability, and position. An offensive strategy involves the use of aggressive and direct competition. Companies that rely on aggressive strategy invest highly in research and development and technological innovation.
Apple has used both defensive and offensive competitive strategies in some ways. Through the application of information technology, the company used advertising to campaign for its PC and highlighted the product features which in essence made the products made by other rivals inferior. The result was an increase in competition edge for Apple and an increase in revenue. The campaign was made after other rival companies introduced their products but Apple strategized by increasing its product features to curb the competition.
Another use of defensive strategy by Apple was in the introduction of iOS. The introduction of a new product is a defensive strategy that if well utilized can lead to optimization of the competitive edge by the resulting company. Through the use of media, the company was able to launch the devices and attract a substantial number of loyal customers. The devices are not only appealing to consumers but are one in a kind. They are not found in any other outlet apart from the Apple stores, and this gives Apple an upper hand until the competitors can copy the design (Leo 2015). The launch of new products that are custom-made has seen the share value of Apple rise above the industry average.
On the other hand, Toshiba has applied defensive strategies through extensive advertisement of its products that are of high quality. Most consumers buy Toshiba products due to their appeal and quality. Another way the company has hedged the competition through defensive strategies is lowering of its product prices compared to its rival Apple. Low price for its products and consistent quality has enabled Toshiba products to remain in the market for a long time.
Toshiba has tried to increase its market share by trying to reach out to specific operating sites that the real users are. The company has tried to establish a market in retail stores, warehouses, factory floors, and distribution centers. The company applies information technology in the diversification of its market to the four operational stores. Through E-commerce, the company has been able to establish a relationship with more customers in the retail and distribution industry. The result has been increasing in sales revenue which and an improvement in profitability.
Being a market leader in POS system, Toshiba Tec has used its global awareness to enhance its operations. The company has used technology in inventing a paper re-using system which allows toner to be printed on and erased from the temporary papers (Minato 2014). The re-using system enables customers to recycle papers and save on operational costs. Since most businesses are focused on increasing profits at a reduced cost, the invention of the re-using system was a good initiative that captivated the users. The product was uniquely designed and penetrated a new niche in the market for the company. The new technology in printing business led to an increase in revenue for Toshiba Company.
Toshiba has used technology to social responsibility. In 2013, the company was able to launch MFP system that can be used together with the re-usable paper. Use of the MFP system saves customers cost as well as avoid degradation of the environment. The system also enables power saving and print management. The strategy is both offensive and defensive. It is defensive since it’s a new product in the telecommunication industry and offensive as it renders competitor’s devices less attractive to the consumers.
Analysis
Companies employ a specific strategy to increase their competitive edge. Use of defensive and offensive strategies by Apple and Toshiba through the launch of new products and product features intensifies the competition in the industry and makes less competitive company go out of business. Also, the strategies lead to more product differentiation, price wars, and increase in product quality. Consumers are always the beneficiaries in either of the strategies (David 2014). The strategies have heightened the competition in the telecommunication industries, and more capital is being set aside for research, development and technological innovations.
From the strategies employed by both Apple and Toshiba, it is clear that technology has been paramount ensuring their survival in the telecommunication industry. Though both of the companies have been highly innovative, Apple Company stands out due to its advancement in recent technological trends that are attractive to modern users. Consumers have increased their demand for telecommunication devices that are multi-purpose, and Apple Company has been able to satisfy them. Toshiba success rate has reduced in the past years since it hasn’t been able to adapt to the new products provided in the telecommunication industry. Although it has technologically been able to differentiate its products, it has been outdone by Apple in innovations.
A company maximizes its competition through the use of both external innovation and internal innovation. External innovation is applied to the product and the outer market while internal innovation comprises of changes in the internal structure of an organization (David 2014). Apple and Toshiba both used information technology to make changes to their business processes to cut costs, increase product quality and efficiency, as well as increase customer satisfaction.
Instead of increasing production capacity and storing inventory in the production houses, Toshiba merged with other retail outlets and distribution centers to decrease customer delivery time and stock holding time. Apple innovated its internal functions by the production of custom made devices and incorporation of customers and experts in the design of its products. The company also maximized vertical integration of its internal processes to cut costs and improve on quality.
The role of management in the incorporation of the internal innovations was to ensure all the departments were integrated, and every member of staff was focused on the goals of the organization. The management also ensured employees are motivated by giving them the freedom to express their views on innovations as well as give advice on how they would like the company to be run. Expertise skills were needed in making the innovations, and it was the management role to recruit competent staff for the jobs and merge the needs of the shareholders to the strategies.
Effective competitive edge is realized through the application of both defensive and offensive strategies in a controlled manner. Since the telecommunication industry is rapidly changing, it requires the players to remain alert for new changes and means to outdo its rivals. Apple Company has established a niche in the telecommunication industry through the application of various technological strategies. The company has widely relied on digital and information technology to differentiate its products and launch unique products. Through extensive campaigns and advertisements in the media, the management of Apple Company has been able to reach out to customers and produce products that are appealing to the market (Laudon 2016). The company has taken advantage of its brand name to launch new products that have increased its sustainable competitive edge.
Toshiba has applied technology by diversifying its products. The company which is mostly known for the provision of office printing services invented Barcode printers which provide multiple purposes to the consumer. MFP and re-usable paper systems are some of other technological innovations that Toshiba Tec has applied to bridge the competition gap. The products are cost saving and environmentally friendly (Minato 2014).
Recommendations
The strategies employed by each company were different but effective as per the goal of each organization. Since the two companies are in the telecommunication industry, it is clear that Apple is more aggressive in its innovations, and that’s why it has a higher market share than Toshiba. Though Toshiba has a wider product base, Apple’s revenue is high due to the high demand of its products compared to Toshiba.
Since competitors wait for a innovation so as to improvise and outdo the original inventor, Apple should maximize on its unique products by ensuring the products offer comprehensive satisfaction to the customers and also ensure it keeps introducing new products. The company highly depends on iPhone, which is a weakness that can be exploited by competitors. On the other hand, Toshiba should focus on how to improvise its products to fit the demand of the consumers, especially in the digital sector.
Conclusion
Though Apple and Toshiba are in the telecommunication industry, their differing strategies have bridged their profitability gap. Apple offers unique products that are appealing to the consumers through the use of information technology. Extensive advertisement in the new media platforms has increased the company’s market share and profits. Toshiba heavily relies on office printing devices and computers which gave Apple the opportunity to launch new products and take over the market. Technology is paramount to the success of any company especially in the modern digital world (Laudon 2016).
Write a final paper that clearly applies economic analysis on a specific way that would significantly improve health care. Also discuss how it would affect access, quality and cost. Please apply healthcare economics concepts that you have learned.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Healthcare Economics
The healthcare sector encounters challenges that hinder provision of services to clients. Economics approaches come in handy in solving certain challenges. Often, systematic economic considerations and evaluations of problems help institutions maximize care delivery to their customers. Usually, healthcare organizations apply economic theories regarding, producers, consumers, as well as the society when handling financial problems. Economic theories allow organizations to adequately understand the tendencies of their customers, service providers, competitors, regulators, and generally, business environment (Wels, 2014). Information of this nature is usually crucial in decision-making processes. This paper analyzes an appropriate economic way that would significantly better health care. Particularly, the paper addresses how such a way would solve problems associated with care accessibility, quality, as well as cost. The paper also aims at applying critical economic concepts when analyzing the described strategy.
Strategy to Improve Healthcare
For healthcare systems to realize improvements, they should efficiently handle their specific problems. Such problems include economic hindrances such as inadequacy of resources and staff, market failure stiff competition, and unfavorable economic environments. Usually, economic hardships hinder efficacy of service delivery to customers, and they may worsen when not solved in time. They hinder care affordability, accessibility, and they may also impair its maintenance to high standards. Stakeholders should address challenges from their sources for them to completely overcome them. For example, there may be a need to modify certain regulations such as those guiding the provision of health insurance. Economic analysis of healthcare sectors should particularly enable stakeholders to inform relevant authorities such as local and state governments on appropriate courses of their regulations. The approach would include effective definitions of health packages, programs, benefits and others financial concerns. Economic approaches would also offer reliable research findings that would be the basis for allocation of resources to different schemes and departments in healthcare. The strategy should involve parties directly associated with the presenting challenges such as policy regulators and health care managements.
Effective Strategy and Improvement of Cost, Quality, and Accessibility of Care
Effective strategies that would lower the cost of healthcare should address existing issues associated with high prices of care. It would facilitate the understanding of stakeholders about drivers of the cost of care. There are numerous determinants influencing the cost of health and efficient strategies should enable the identification of specific factors. Again, strategies should inform how these drivers raise the cost of care, and also, why different determinants cause their specific alterations on the cost of care. Usually, regulatory agencies would play centrally in implementing effective approaches of managing healthcare costs. For instance, while insurance policies are meant to lessen healthcare costs for individuals, poor economic considerations could impair their effectiveness and accomplishment of primary objectives. For instance, overwhelming costs of care would economically drain the public through premiums. In addition, people would suffer losses through out-of-pocket expenditure in acquiring services to supplement their health needs. Other critical issues whose inclusion in economic strategic plans would improve healthcare costs include expenditure on prescription medications and management of preventable diseases (Health Care Service Corporation, 2015). In addressing costs associated with prescription medicines, important factors include price fluctuations, demand for specific types of medicines, and their appropriate use by prescribers and patients. An efficient strategy would also lower the cost of healthcare by promoting practices that protect people from diseases. Some diseases are expensive to treat yet measures of their prevention are cheap (Kottke & Isham, 2010, p. 73). For instance, an economically sustainable strategy would include public education on health and cost consequences of behavioral practices such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and inappropriate dieting. Adoption of recommendations by the public would see to the reduction of cases of cost-intensive diseases, and it would eventually minimize financial straining associated with high treatment cost.
Care quality is also a crucial consideration for planners. Provision of high-quality health services saves costs in the long-run. An efficient economic strategy would address factors that contribute to poor-quality in healthcare. For instance, it would address issues such as medication errors which do not just compromise patient safety, but also cost institutions significant financial losses. It would be important to establish sources of errors and set up strategies to avoid them. In most cases, errors could be drug-related, operative, procedure-based, or diagnostic and so on. Avoiding errors would make care less wasteful and economically sustainable. So as to handle quality concerns effectively, institutions should budget for quality services including accurate diagnostic techniques, adherence to standard procedures, and enhancement of the skills of their professionals. Generally, institutions should proactively promote patient safety so as offer high-quality care that remains economically viable. In the US, several reputable hospitals go as far as establishing departments charged primarily with advocating for patient safety (Andel, Davidow, Hollnader, & Moreno, 2015, p. 46).
Issues associated with care inaccessibility include inadequacy of medical facilities, services such as emergency care, drugs, as well as insufficient general and specialized staff. In addition, there are hindrances such as poor infrastructure, cultural and social restrictions, and importantly, financial constraints. Stakeholders in healthcare should address specific hindrances to care accessibility. For instance, they should prioritize on staffing hospitals, equipping them adequately, and enabling them to offer services of varied nature. Effective strategies should also address accessibility from the perspective of customers. For instance, the society may discourage adolescents to seek sexual health (Chandra-Mouli, McCarraher, Phillips, Williamson, & Hainsworth, 2014, p. 115). To overcome such limitations, healthcare stakeholders may budget for educational programs for communities.
References
Andel, C., Davidow, S., Hollnader, M., & Moreno, D. (2015). The economics of health care quality and medical errors. Journal of Health Care Finance, 39(1), 31-48.
Chandra-Mouli, V., McCarraher, D. R., Phillips, S. J., Williamson, N. E., & Hainsworth, G. (2014). Contraception for adolescents in low and middle income countries: needs, barriers, and access. Reproductive Health, 11(1), 112-123.
Health Care Service Corporation. (2015). Economics of health care. Retrieved from http://www.hcsc.com/pdf/economics_health_care2.pdf
Kottke, T. E. & Isham, G. J. (2010). Measuring health care access and quality to improve health in populations. Prev Chronic Dis, 7(4), 73.
Wels, S. (2014). What is health economics? Retrieved from http://www.jhsph.edu/departments/international-health/global-health-masters-degrees/master-of-health-science-in-health-economics/what-is-health-economics.html
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Select one of the research study articles that you found, giving preference to one that has an abstract that falls short of APA standards. (You will find these standards noted in the APA Publication Manual sections) Use the following questions as a guide to asses the abstract, and then rewrite the abstract accordingly:
• Did the author include a reference to the research study using a format consistent with the APA Publication Manual?
• Did the author mention the problem addressed within the study?
• Did the author state the central purpose of the study?
• Is information about the sample, population, or subjects provided?
• Are the key results summarized?
• Is the journal article clearly a report of a research study (instead of an essay, opinion paper, typology, or synthesis of past research)?
• Is the abstract no longer than a short paragraph (i.e., less than 1 double-spaced page)?
Be sure to submit the text of the original abstract, your brief assessment based on the above questions, and your revised abstract to your Instructor. Also copy and paste the original copy of the abstract in the word document at the beginning of your assessment before beginning the assessment and then follow with the corrected abstract.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Original Abstract
With the explosion of the e-commerce in the past decade, different buying patterns
and preferences have emerged for customer groups and other demographics. These patterns have been measured and collected by numerous independent marketing, business and even academic studies to understand how consumers connect with the new adventure of e-commerce. As the internet and online shopping is growing at a very fast pace worldwide, investigating this trend within Bangladeshi context is crucial considering that it is a relatively new trend in the country, the result is a lack of literature. This paper consists of the groundwork with a brief introduction of recent trends in e-commerce on people of Bangladesh; particularly its impact on university undergraduate students in Sylhet region. This has been followed by their general perceptions and preferences of the online shopping including products and website selection. Each of these e-commerce “characteristic” is compared to information combined from survey questions and open-ended discussions with a small sample group of university students at undergraduate level in Sylhet region. It also investigates into positive as well as negative website characteristics and sum up the favorable elements into a description of an e-commerce website that would suitable to the group being studied. Findings have been presented by means of the formation identified during the data analysis, indicated that an increasing number of the students at undergraduate level are now using the internet for purchase. It also observed that between male and female students, male students are purchasing products online more than female students. Although student’s participation is increasing, there are some limitations for what the potential numbers of students are not able to purchase via online (Rahaman et al., 2015)
Abstract Revision
The format in which the author included references is not in agreement with the APA Publication Manual. The Author of the research paper mentioned the problem addressed in the study. The research is about the present trends in e-commerce as seen in a sample of undergraduate university students in the Sylhet region of Bangladesh. The Author indicated through contextual analysis the main purpose of the study. The objective of the study being to show the potential of e-commerce (Harris, 2006).
The author provided some information about population, sample or subjects of the study. The subjects of the study include undergraduate university students in the region of Sylhet in Bangladesh. A summary of key results, as witnessed in the abstract of the research paper, is provided although very briefly (Beins, 2012).I analyzed the article and discovered that it was not an essay, typology, opinion paper or synthesis of past studies. Rather, it was an abstract of a research paper, of which I assured to be an original work of research that was carried out. However, I found the abstract to be longer than one paragraph and single spaced.
Revised Abstract
E-commerce has been adopted successfully in the past decade. It has caused the emergence of likes and numerous buying cycles for a variety of consumer groups and other factors of the population. The information being inferred from the study of consumer trends is used to understand how buyers relate to the advent of e-commerce. This research paper examines the effect of this new trend in Bangladeshi, but there is a hindrance of published materials. The paper introduces new and emerging trends in Bangladeshi, the effect it has on the undergraduate university students in Sylhet region.
Inquiries into the positive and negative characteristics of the websites adding the active elements to come up with a perfect image of e-commerce that relates to the sample being researched. Results show that an increasing number of undergraduate students mainly use the internet for shopping. Also noted, was the fact that more male students were buying goods online than their female counterparts. However, there exist some demerits of e-commerce, although the number of pupils participating in online shopping is rising steadily.
References
Beins, B., & Beins, A. (2012). Effective writing in psychology: Papers, posters, and presentations. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Harris, M. J. (2006). Three steps to teaching abstract and critique writing. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 17(2), 136-146.
Rahaman, M. (n.d.). Online Shopping Trends, Pattens and Preferences of University undergraduate students: A Survey Study on Sylhet region. Retrieved March 29, 2015, from http://publicationslist.org/data/gdeb/ref-8/GDEB_6.5.pdf
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Assignment 1: Starting a Business Online, Part 1
Due Week 4 and worth 200 points
Imagine that you own a small, local clothing store along the Jersey Shore boardwalk and decide that you want to engage in e-Commerce.
Write a 4-5 page paper on the following:
1. Identify the advantages and disadvantages of taking your small business online by performing a SWOT analysis. Include 2-4 items in each category.
2. Because the Internet connects computers all over the world, any business that engages in e-Commerce instantly becomes an international business. The key issues that any company faces when it conducts international commerce include trust, culture, language, government, and infrastructure. Explain how you would address each of these issues.
3. Businesses that operate on the Web must comply with the same laws and regulations that govern the operations of all businesses, but they face 2 additional complicating factors as they try to comply with the law. First, the Web extends a company’s reach beyond traditional boundaries. Second, the Web increases the speed and efficiency of business communications. Explain how you would overcome these complicating factors that come with e-Commerce in order to comply with the law.
4. Law enforcement agencies have difficulty combating many types of online crime. Describe 2 online crimes prevalent in e-Commerce and what you would do to prevent these crimes.
Your assignment must:
• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
• Identify the basic elements of the technology infrastructure used to conduct electronic business.
• Explain the basic communications and network concepts used in electronic commerce and the basic functioning of the Internet and the World Wide Web.
• Describe the critical legal and ethical issues related to electronic commerce.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues in fundamentals of e-business.
• Write clearly and concisely about fundamentals of e-business using proper writing mechanics. SAMPLE ANSWER
Starting a business online
In this current age of technology, the internet has become a fundamental tool in advertising and marketing business. Every business, small or large ones, benefit in the same way from the internet through e-commerce. E-commerce is defined as the use of the Internet and the World Wide Web to conduct some business activities (Barnes et al., 2013). The definition of e-commerce may differ according to the nature of the enterprise.
The Internet is an interconnection of computer networks. It is one of the core virtual infrastructures on which the framework of E-commerce is built on. The other infrastructure is the World Wide Web. The World Wide Web; conventionally known as WWW, is a model on which the Internet is built on. The World Wide Web primary function is to provide access to resources over the internet (Cavusgil et al., 2013).
Small business, like a local retail clothing store, are the ideal businesses that need the aid of e-commerce to scale up its business activities. In essence, a local clothing store stands to gain an advantage over its competitors of the same nature when it embraces the idea of e-commerce. Although, e-business models vary according to the nature of the business. The type model of e-commerce that the local online store will use is between the business and consumer.
The local store will have an online retail store. This online retail store will be in the form of a website. The website must be well structured, the search engine that is optimized and appropriately customized to fit the size of the business it holds. For optimum utilization of the resources and usefulness provided by the Internet, the information found on the website should be reliable, relevant and simple. A small online retail store site does not need to have a website that depicts information that is of no essence in the business being conducted at the shop. It should be kept strictly business oriented.
SWOT Analysis.
The main advantages of adopting an e-commerce method of conducting business are quite many. The local store will join the global business markets. The company will expand and enter international markets. The wider the market, the larger the customer base. Other than that, it is easier to handle small businesses in an e-commerce model. The size of the company dictates the number of transactions that the person running the company will have to manage. This little number of operations owing to the size of the enterprise takes fewer resources to handle electronic transactions over the e-commerce platform (Turban et al., 2015).
The local clothing store can easily offer customer service. Seeing that the number of products provided by a small business is small. Then it is easier to attend to the needs of their clients.
The cost of marketing was so high for small business. But, the advent of the internet saw a solution to this problem. It is now easier to market a little business using the internet, thus saving the company a significant amount of money that would have been utilized in the traditional marketing.
Another reward for small businesses adopting the e-commerce model is reduced cost of outsourcing. Smaller business can use technology to their advantage by contracting another company to perform services for them. This will ensure that small businesses keep up with larger companies, but at a cheaper cost than their counterparts (Barnes et al., 2013).
The fact that a local clothing store is categorized as a small business, the influence of shareholders in companies is withdrawn. The owner of the local clothing store, therefore, does not need to worry about the opinions of shareholders when making crucial business decisions because the shareholders are absent.
The e-commerce platform in the form of a website makes it easy for interested parties to view business information. Moreover, a website for a small business is easy to maintain since updates can be done easily as opposed to large websites designed for larger businesses.
Focusing on the website for the local clothing store, it is quite affordable to get a well-designed site. After the site is created, all that is needed is a domain name and a host. A domain name can be obtained while the website can be hosted by one of the many available and reliable web hosting companies that charge web-hosting annually at an affordable price. Therefore, the cost of e-commerce is quite low compared to the significant returns that this platform is going to yield. Therefore, it makes investing in an online clothing store quite affordable for a small business (Huang et al., 2013).
The Internet also provides a way for the company to gauge their productivity. This is possible through the statistics that one can get from having a website. The amount of traffic on the web will show the number of people visiting the site. Thus, you can gauge the size of the market the business is operating in. Also, you can tell the type of customers visiting your site. This information will be useful developing the company to reach a wider customer base and increase its diversity of clients. It also provides a chance for the company owner to learn from the client’s feedback and provide customer care in an excellent manner (Andam et al., 2014).
Everything that is positive must also have a negative side to it. Therefore, there are a few downsides to e-commerce. One of the weaknesses is the reliability of information about the business that is on the website. If that information is not updated on a regular basis then, the site will end up providing outdated information that will be unreliable to the needs of the business.
Technology also has hitches. These hitches include a power blackout that may render communication over the internet to be impossible. Therefore, the website needs to be hosted by a good web hosting company that will provide unrestricted access to the website at any time. If the web hosting company is not a good one, you will find that the website is always crashing. This may lead the website’s position on the search engine ranking to go down due to an unreliable connection.
Owing to the high number of the business on the web, it is quite an uphill task for a small business to reach the right customers or audience. This is attributed to the fact that some websites have better search engine optimization techniques than others. This puts some business at a disadvantage. Thus, there is a need to use search engine essentials to the best of your advantage. This will ensure that the percentage of the audience or traffic you receive on the web relates positively to the business (Longenecker et al., 2013).
The issue of bad publicity weighs significantly on the significance of an e-commerce platform about the sales made by the enterprise. At a particular time, you may find that a customer is not satisfied with the service or products that your company offers. This may drive the customer to air bad comments about your business as a way of expressing their frustration. The bad publicity may influence other customers. This may lead to the enterprise taking an adverse turn for the worst.
As we all know that image is a crucial thing to protect in the business industry. The Image of a business is everything. Therefore, this issue needs to be dealt with as soon as it comes up. An excellent way to do this is to provide excellent customer care and use feedback from the client to improve the quality of the products and services that a business offers.
The internet has a lot of potential regarding business matters. The internet has made the world be a global village. This means that communication has become faster and cheaper. Considering that communication is a vital organ for running a small business that has a high potential for expansion. More communication will enable the company to reach even the furthest customers in the world. This shows that there are opportunities for business exposure and increased sales that need to be utilized by small businesses.
Security issues are very crucial to a business that is still growing. To sustain the gradual growth over an e-commerce platform, a company needs to assure customers of security. Secure financial transactions, in this case, electronic transactions are a god way to win over the customer’s trust. Cyber theft and other criminal activities that happen over the internet lead to significant losses to business owner. Therefore, this threat needs to be dealt with following the laws that govern cyber activities.
In conclusion, the internet is a very useful tool. It can be used for some activities. The activities may be helpful to small businesses that join the e-commerce platform recently. It will be a big boost to the customer base and sales made by the enterprise. It is quite clear that the advantages of starting a small business online outweigh the disadvantages. The high potential for advertising, business exposure, and increased sales is good enough for a small business to grow with time.
References
Andam, Z. R. (2014). e-Commerce and e-Business.
Barnes, S., & Hunt, B. (Eds.). (2013). E-commerce and v-business. Routledge.
Cavusgil, S. T., Knight, G., Riesenberger, J. R., Rammal, H. G., & Rose, E. L. (2014). International business. Pearson Australia.
Huang, Z., & Benyoucef, M. (2013). From e-commerce to social commerce: A close look at design features. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 12(4), 246-259.
Longenecker, J., Petty, J., Palich, L., & Hoy, F. (2013). Small business management. Cengage Learning.
Turban, E., King, D., Lee, J. K., Liang, T. P., & Turban, D. C. (2015). Electronic commerce: A managerial and social networks perspective. Springer.
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There are few online clients who are just ready to connect with any online store through its sites and if customers determine an online store as untrustworthy and undependable, then economic impact of this factor on the overall business will be considerable. This is the reason why effective strategies should be made by the organisations in order build and keep up trust in consumers towards internet shopping. The purpose of this assignment is to analyse strategies in which trust is built and maintained by the organisations for the customers towards online shopping and how competitive advantage is obtained by the organisations by using e-commerce as a e marketing tool.
Assignment Task (25%)
You are required to determine and evaluate strategies that build and maintain trust in consumers towards online shopping so that they are attracted to purchase products and perform repeat purchase.
Your report should include the following:
1. Assessing in which way organisations obtain competitive advantage by utilizing e-commerce
2. Analyse in which way organisations attract customers through social media to buy their products online and to promote sales.
3. Critically analyse the strategies that organisations use to build and maintain trust in consumers towards internet shopping.
The Task is an individual report and must be presented in a report format (1,500 words). It is important that your report is properly structured.
Below is an indicative structure for your report:
Title Page
Table of Contents
A list of all the chapters, sections, headings, and sub-headings. Appendices and Figures should be provided as well as all page numbers as clearly as possible.
Executive Summary
Introduction
Conclusion
Reference List / Bibliography:Your report should include references to the appropriate e-commerce and marketing literature (textbooks, journals and websites).
PLEASE TAKE YOUR TIME AND READ MY REQUEST.
IT IS 1500 words and remember that this paper work is from United Kingdom not from America college,
SAMPLE ANSWER
ABSTRACT
Use of E-commerce is gaining popularity in the globalized world market. Most business organizations in the retail sector have factored in e-commerce in their business models and are gaining a lot of profits. E-commerce is gaining popularity because e-commerce model offers a wide variety of products, and the platform reaches more new markets and niche markets (Lee, 2012). E-commerce also utilizes the notion of an endless supply of goods enhancing business operations. This paper conceptualizes the notion that online stores are gaining popularity and that untrustworthiness and undependability can ruin the reputation of such organizations. The paper provides insights through analysis of strategies in which trust is built and maintained in the dynamic online market. On the same note, the paper provides ways in which organizations can gain a competitive advantage by adopting e-commerce in their marketing model.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction………………………………………………….…………..…….4
Ways in which organizations obtain competitive advantage by using e-commerce………………………………………………………………………………….…4
Social media as a marketing tool……………………………………………..….5
Strategies that organizations use to build and maintain trust in consumers towards internet shopping……………………………………………………………….………………6
Recommendation……………………………………………..……………………8
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………8
References……..……………………………………………………………………10
Introduction
E-commerce as a marketing tool is gaining an advantage with as technology advances. Research shows that the online shopping tendency is increasing. And organizations adopting e-commerce to market their goods are enjoying increased sales due to; widespread of the internet across the globe, the convenience of online stores (Turban et al., 2015). And on the same note, increasing importance attached to online shopping by leading supermarkets such as Wal-Mart and LeShop. Most organizations no longer engage in price wars to win customers. Instead, they invest in knowledge, corporate social responsibilities, and a good customer relation defines well-positioned and profitable companies. For e-commerce to function directly and increase sales, it must be tied to customer relationship management (CRM). E-commerce provides a platform where the trading relationship is forged and maintained. Organization must develop shopping sites with unique selling propositions as a basis of differentiation from other organizations to gain competitive advantage. E-commerce refers to the transaction of business by a personal computer, mobile phones or other devices connected to a communication network. It is the realization of the whole value chain of a business process in an electronic environment, achieving the goal of buying and selling of products, services or information.
Ways in which organizations obtain competitive advantage by utilizing e-commerce
E-commerce enables organizations to expand its market base across the globe. Powerful e-commerce tools enable business organizations to reach buyers anywhere in the globe without the need to add staff and overhead costs in satellite business premises. However, to gain a competitive advantage business should understand cultural values for different people and market their products in a friendly manner without raising ethnic or racial differences (Huang & Benyoucef, 2013).
The depth and effectiveness of online product catalog also provide a competitive advantage to business organizations. Modern e-commerce tools enable organizations to merchandise goods tailored to customer needs. Customers can search online stores based on customer profile, histories and search terms to assess products. This personalization of goods enables enterprises to showcase on superior product knowledge and thus earn customer loyalty. Therefore, an organization should develop good and effective product catalogs that can feature products that online shoppers are interested.
Small business also obtain a competitive advantage by using e-commerce is that it allows such organization to offer differentiated experiences by specializing in specific market niches or segments. The use of information technology and e-commerce enables organizations to observe trends and develop strategies based on the behavior of customers and potential customers. This can be achieved using customer relationship management (CRM) and Business Intelligence (BI) (Kwahk et al., 2012).
Social Media as a Marketing Tool
Social media is a powerful tool that a business organization uses to market their products to attract customers to make online purchases and promote sales. Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram can be used to generate website traffic. By sharing SEO blog posts, pictures and videos and other content from the company site makes social media click through and surf on your site. Once they are in your site marketers can inspire these visitors to make purchases, consult or even sign up for a mailing list hence increase the customer base and sales.
Social media is used to build brand and organization reputation. Organizations use social media as a brand building tool. A company can build organization reputation and brand by consistently creating great content revolving around the company’s advantages, values and benefits (Lee, 2014). Because online shopping is built upon trust, reliability and credibility, reputation, and brand recognition is vital to winning customers purchase products from a company website. By engaging customers in a creative way, organizations can build their brand based on core values. On the same note, the companies will be able to understand customer needs through informative conversation and hence help in attaining business sustainability.
Social media provides repeat exposure to company products and profile. Social media provides a company an opportunity to remind the customer over and over again about the products they offer this can increase sales made through online shopping dramatically. With effective social media marketing strategies, an organization can post informing photos, product reviews and videos about what they offer repeatedly to target customers (Close, 2012). Therefore, increasing chances of making sales and shorten the sales cycle dramatically.
Organizations can build authority using social media. Be as it may, social media helps new businesses establish authority and credibility in your field. Service based business use social media as a way to create presence and awareness for their services. Other ways that can be associated with social media as a means of creating competitive advantages and increase online shopping include: social media can enable an organization to land in huge contracts. Social media provides an opportunity for an organization to understand customer taste and preferences and also understand customer views to help in developing better products.
Strategies that organizations use to build and maintain trust with consumers towards internet shopping
According to Jonathan Lee (2014), trust is a strategic asset for a business organization that engages in e-commerce and online shopping. Business enterprises spent ages in building trust and therefore it is paramount that organizations grasp the consumer’s perceptions towards privacy and credibility. Organizations also need to develop native digital brands to build and maintain trust by connecting with customers in unique ways.
Building trust through transparency: transparency is critical for a company to establish its presence and win customer trust to purchase their products online. Companies should embrace transparency and use this during online conversations.
Accountability: Companies should engage with their customers openly through social media to ensure there is accountability. Companies should always prove themselves accountable for providing quality services, great products, and good customer service. The company can always use fun and simple engagement but ensuring that ethics and a good code of contact are always maintained.
Ensuring customer privacy: Organizations can build trust in consumers towards internet shopping by ensuring data privacy. Organizations should invest in customer confidence. Most customers are complacent in behavior when it comes to their privacy and breaching this trust can harm customer relationship.
Delivering what is promised: organizations should market exactly what they have instead of duping customers with catchy product review and promising quality while their products are substandard (Lee, 2014). Enterprises should ensure that they deliver to the customer what they promise during the advertisement campaign so as to win customers trust towards internet shopping. A discrepancy between what is promised in digital platforms and the product can hurt a band reputation.
Corporate Social Responsibility: engaging in CSR can help an organization to build trust with their customers. A Socially responsible company gains more sales because their clients know that they are not interested in profit only, but also giving back to the society (Lee, 2014).
Recommendations
The secret to online shopping is creating a credible brand and winning customer trust. Therefore, business organizations should invest in building strategies that can help in building a reputation and build customer trust. Organization should develop depth product catalog and innovative product reviews that provide detailed information about the products and services the company offers.
Business enterprises should also engage in spending a considerable amount of time and resources to invest in understanding customer needs. This can be achieved by marketing and communicating with prospective clients using social media. Developing marketing strategies and utilizing e-commerce tools amid using social media to build trust and accountability can increase online presence. Therefore, increasing online shopping hence increasing sales volume, sales cycle and help an organization achieve organizational goals and business sustainability.
Conclusion
E-commerce is one of the powerful marketing tools that can help the organization achieve success. Organization can use social media effectively to drive a potential customer towards the company site to make online purchases. However, caution should always be adopted to ensure that organization reputation is build to help in winning customer loyalty. Organization should ensure that they provide genuine products as promised through advertisements in social media to ensure that they win customer loyalty (Lee, 2014). On the same note, business organizations should ensure transparency and accountability in online business strategy to so as to win customers to make online purchases. Privacy with customers should also be maintained because customers prefer to keep confidentiality when making online purchases. And as such, business enterprises can enjoy thriving sales through online shopping.
References
Lee, I. (2012). Electronic commerce management for business activities and global enterprises: Competitive advantages. Hershey, PA: Business Science Reference.
Turban, E., King, D., Lee, J. K., Liang, T. P., & Turban, D. C. (2015).Electronic commerce: A managerial and social networks perspective. Springer.
Huang, Z., & Benyoucef, M. (2013). From e-commerce to social commerce: A close look at design features. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 12(4), 246-259.
Kwahk, K. Y., & Ge, X. (2012, January). The effects of social media on E-commerce: A perspective of social impact theory. In System Science (HICSS), 2012 45th Hawaii International Conference on (pp. 1814-1823). IEEE.
Close, A. G. (Ed.). (2012). Online Consumer Behavior: Theory and Research in Social Media, Advertising and E-tail. Routledge.
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Attached are the files needed. Please don’t hesitate to call if you need any other files. Subject is Electronic marketing.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Electronic marketing
Executive summary
The increasing development of information technology especially the internet and the World Wide Web has opened opportunities for the travel industry especially hospitality and tourism. ICT has completely reformed the role of every player in this industry especially in the value improvement process. Studies reveal that effective utilization of information technology is very vital in the hospitality and tourism industry since it enhances competitiveness and development. The technology enables the industry to create variations in their services as well as productions and expenses.
The fast revolution in business environment as a result of advancement in technology requires industries to develop relationships and cooperation and also be very creative ion the way they do their business especially marketing. Internet promotes speedy reforms in the operation, provision and structure of the travel industry. The structural changes in the travel industry entail enhanced and speed response to communication and delivery of needs within their area of specialisation. Consequently, business ought to choose the most appropriate e marketing strategy so as to realize maximum profits within their area of specialization.
e marketing has therefore especially through the web gives rise to new and very appropriate mode of creating awareness in the travel industry. The approach defines clearly the way marketers embrace marketing mix variables so as to deliver services and to reach to their client’s in a timely manner. The products of both hospitality and tourism are easily available on the internet since the process is fast and easily available to all the internet users. However, the travel industry is a very competitive and challenging industry. The clients in this industry are very selective and always choose where to put their money based on what they prefer.
The role of Electronic marketing in the travel industry
Advancement in the internet and how it is utilized has a direct impact on how e marketing operations are carried out. The changes have created new ways of creating awareness to the clients. Internet therefore reduces marketing costs and eliminates middle men in the marketing process (Anchi, Konishi, Lei,Petalas, Stiegler, and Sugiyama, 2003. 300).
E marketing has increased competition within the travel industry especially through the use of technology mediated channels. Travel industry has embraced technology through the creation of internal and external value besides creating technology convergent strategies. In order to achieve all this strategies, both hospitality and tourism industry have organized their resources within knowledge and cooperation. E marketing has in turn enhanced exchange of information and customization of products due to increased demand of internet economy (Rodríguez, 2003.45).
E marketing has influences how marketing mix operates to a larger extent. The technology has influenced every aspect of service delivery and all the crucial stages involved in the market mix. The technology has had a direct influence on product, price, promotion and destination of the various products. Consequently, this process has reflected on how the consumer desires to receive services which have become the main focus in e marketing (Bindiganavale, Vijayaraman and Gurdeep, 2002.23).
Product means Customer value; Price means Cost to the consumer; Promotion means Communication; and Place means Distribution, access or Convenience. E marketing has therefore changed the way people, process and design is handled in the travel industry. The new changes in the industry are very vital especially in relation to both hospitality and tourism industry.
Internet plays various roles in this field of hospitality and tourism in terms of marketing. Internet is a medium that enhances exchange of information hence provides so many forums for information exchange for marketing purposes. E marketing has the way both clients and travel industry transacts business (Kotler, 2003.57).
Internet has enhanced market research especially information concerning marketing. The stakeholders in this industry are able to understand and get the latest information on how to improve on their business. The new marketing trends in the market are easily accessed and embraced. The customers who are the main stakeholders in the travel industry are now enjoying the services being provided. This is because e marketing has enhanced marketing customer relationship through the implementation of marketing activities.
The marketers in the travel industry are now able to plan their activities strategically and also enhance their networks with their clients. All marketing institutions provide distribution and marketing services to their clients. E marketing has enhanced this through provision of a channel upon which so many products can be displayed at the same time. In some instances, e marketing creates connections for virtual business especially connections for small business (Porter, 2001.100).
E marketing has enhanced advertisement and public relations. There is a new channel upon which clients are able to receive information. In addition, the clients are able to receive information materials within a very short time. The development of the websites has enhanced accessibility of information by the clients without having to spend a lot of money and time.
Travel industry main objective is to ensure that customers are aware of the prices being offered. E marketing has enhanced and improved sales promotion and offering of prices. Internet has become the preferred mode of communication of prices and new products to clients. Companies are now able to own their own products due to the connectivity through the database. Furthermore, there has been enhanced ease of access and distribution of travel products. This has now become the preferred mode of distributing new products in the market (Turban et al., 2000).
Comparison of Tourism and Hospitality industries
Similarities
Both tourism and hospitality industry use Social media as a strategy to create awareness in the tourism industry. Social media are web based services which enhance online marketing. (Yang, Kim & Dhalwani, 2008. 34). Hospitality industries use online marketing to develop online communities. This has ensured that new business models are developed. Some of the new business models which have been developed in the hospitality industry as a result of social media include new product marketing channel (Chung & Buhalis, 2008.20; Ulusu, 2010.35; Yang et al., 2008.67). This has enhanced the relationship between the consumers and the business people through eliminating the challenges of both time and space (Bolotaeva & Cata, 2010.45; Sigala, 2003.70).
Electronic marketing in the hospitality industry through social media and community marketing has therefore enabled marketers to collect information concerning their current consumers and the potential consumers from their database. Business people are able to tell the consumer’s needs based on history of community utilization. The process also enhances direct feedback from the consumers concerning their needs (Sigala, 2003.32).
Hospitality industries have achieved high levels of ownership through the internet and e marketing. This is enabled through monitoring of every activity and evaluating all the needs of the consumers. The information gathered through the social media and community marketing is used to improve on the products being delivered or even create new products based on the client’s preferences. Social medias have therefore enhanced creation of awareness of the new products in the hospitality industry hence target the new clients (Chung & Buhalis, 2008.56).
Online communities are very useful since they enhance the relationship between the client and the marketers. This factor is further enhanced by the ability of the website to draw consumers to its site through creation of value hence trust (Zott, Amit, & Donlevey, 2000.90). The website ensures that internet users are able to interact with other users within the same community and with the hospitality industry (Sigala, 2003.100).
Tourism industry has embraced social media as a form of e marketing to a very large extent. The medium has had far reaching impacts in the tourism industry especially with how the business communicates to its clients. The platform is easily accessed by everyone through the internet. Tourism sector prefers this mode of communication since people are able to exchange information more easily (Admin, 2010). The channel has enhanced the rate at which tourism industries accesses customers and promotes its brands in an efficient manner.
Electronic marketing:
Hospitality and Tourism industry are composed of some known clients. Email marketing therefore entails creating awareness to such kind of clients through emails (Cho, 2010). Email marketing has become a very important sector in the hospitality and tourism industry. The approach has been received very well by both the marketers and the business people in the industry. The process is cheaper as compared to the traditional forms of communication hence it is able to reach to more audiences at the same time. The approach is used to send reminders to clients hence is very important in converting audience into quick action (Chaffey, 2003)
Differences in the application of Electronic marketing mix strategies between Hospitality and Tourism industry
Tourism
Hospitality
Online marketing in Destination marketing organizations
Tourism is an industry that relies largely on information. Due to this fact, internet has become the most efficient mode of accessing and distributing information this industry. Most of tourism industries around the world are now appreciating the use of internet in transacting their businesses. As mentioned before in this study, tourism is an information-intensive industry and Internet is the most effective and efficient tool in information exchange worldwide. Most tourism organizations are by now familiar with the Internet (Law, 2002b.34).
Tourism industry has therefore enabled tourism destinations and businesses to strengthen themselves in the current society. The environment is so competitive hence each and every player in the tourism sector has been forced to accept change.
The internet has is being used to provide information to the clients about their destinations. Even the smallest countries are now able to market themselves through the internet. Creation of awareness through the internet has therefore benefited all areas of marketing. Some of the fields within tourism industry that have been enhanced include market research and segmentation besides effective utilization of the market mix strategies (Liu, 2000).
Tourism has embraced e marketing in DOMs as a tool for making discoveries especially in the marketing strategies. This has been enhanced through utilization of online marketing and the use of social media to create awareness. Most people are now aware of tourism destinations through the social media platforms like facebook and twitter.
Destination brand
Destination is the country whose main aim is to attract visitors. Destination brand is therefore very significant when it comes to identification of this particular place by tourists.
(World Tourism Organization and European Travel Commission, 2010). The main aim of destination branding is to promote a given country positively. This has been enhanced through e marketing in the tourism industry. Tourism industry has embraced various marketing strategies to achieve this (Cai, 2002.34). One of the most reliable modes of creating awareness by the tourism industry through e marketing is communication accurately an authentic product to the consumer through the internet. The moment the visitors discover that this is not the case, they refuse to come back. Tourism has cleverly embraced e marketing by ensuring that the branding process is very accurate, the one to be remembered and also very useful to the clients (Kolb, 2006).
Branding of the destination through e marketing within the tourism industry has focused on making people value the destination of tourism. This is through audio visuals and communicating about the brand (World Tourism Organization and European Travel Commission, 2008).
Hospitality industry has embraced e marketing in a big way just like the tourism industry. The industry has been branded the name e travelling in the recent days. This is simply because all its transactions are done online. Some of the services transacted through online services in the hospitality industry include customer compliance and satisfaction, value addition for both travel businesses and the clients and privacy of the clients. The upcoming hospitality industries have embraced e marketing so as to remain competitive in the fast growing hospitality industry around the world.
E-Booking
E Booking has become the trend in the hospitality industry. Consumers prefer doing all their bookings online as compared to long to the traditional forms which were very expensive and time wasting. E marketing has ensured that online booking is made efficient. This has increased the rate at which clients do their bookings. Each and every hotel industry has now come up with bargain hunters whereby people are able to book hotels online without necessarily having to travel. This has been enabled through creation of websites by these companies. Travel agencies are mandated with the responsibility of offering these services in an efficient manner to the clients. Rooms are made available online hence clients can access them (Christian, 2001.12).
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Hospitality industries have embraced this technique so as to increase the website traffic. This is done through the use of the relevant key words which are displayed in the content of the company websites. (Cho, 2010). The search engines are primary, secondary or targeted search engine (Ledford, 2008).
Primary search engine is the main search process in the Hospitality sector. The engine avails most of the information about the company to the website. (Ledford, 2008). Secondary search engine on the other hand entails dealing with smaller information which targets smaller groups of people. The process is not very specific (Ledford, 2008). Targeted search engines in the tourism sector deals with specific topics within the e marketing (Ledford, 2008)
Theories to Explain Participation in Electronic marketing by travel industry
Economic theory
E marketing has an economic power due to its ability to enhance relationship between marketers and clients (Hagel & Armstrong, 1997.89). Due to the fact that clients who use internet to access services comprise of consumers who have interest in specific products, consumers will only purchase products from industries with which they have trust in. consumers therefore contribute to increased profits for any particular industry that deals in travelling services. Consumers are now able to access more information compared to before hence their ideas are very important in enhancing product development and advertisement. (Butler, 2001.78). According to research, economic theory clearly explains participation of both clients and industries in online activities (Gu & Jarvenpaa, 2003.29). According to Butler (2001.73), resource based model that entails perceived value is realized if the consumers hope to get more value from a service as compared to resources spent. The perceived benefits are therefore the information that is provided by others. Consumers sacrifice their time and money to receive these benefits from the travel industry. The moment the benefits gained go beyond the perceived value, then the clients increase in number hence profit to the industry. Similarly, according to Gu and Jarvenpaas (2003.12),consumers will only contribute to the industry if the perceived benefits exceed the costs and are sure of receiving more tangible benefits as compared to intangible as such, industries ought to focus on increasing the levels of benefits so as to gain more clients through e marketing (Barnett and Standing, 2001.34).
Social theories
Social theory involves reciprocal interaction between the clients and the industry. Individuals within this arena expect to receive some form of rewards. There are two forms of social theories thus the social exchange and the social identity. Despite the fact that participation in the process of marketing does not necessary lead to benefits to the clients, they only want to receive reciprocal interaction from the industries (Rayport and Jaworski, 2001.56).
Summary of findings and Conclusion
Summary of the Findings
E marketing leads to flexibility in the marketing structure. The success of any business therefore relies upon quick response to changes in technology within the industry so as to meet the needs of the clients. Information technology therefore has to be utilized so as to deliver the requirements of the clients. Use of the internet has enhanced interaction, efficiency and competitiveness with the tourism industry.
The new economy is changing the way distribution of products and customer behavior used to happen. The main concern of most tourism industries is how to change from the traditional way of doing business to a more advanced and acceptable form. It is undoubtedly clear that this concern has been addressed by the change in the internet hence e marketing (Soteriades, 2002.47; Siegel, 2003.56). It is very evident that only strategic marketing will be able to promote the travel industry through embracing the internet. Tourism has approached this aspect by appreciating the fact that internet offers every tool that is very relevant in every market and business.
Electronic marketing is not an activity that can be developed independently and implemented separately. The technology has to be taken as a new way of doing business that is there to serve the current and also future needs of the travel industry.
Conclusion
Hospitality industry and tourism industry have both embraced Electronic marketing as a form of doing business. The two industries converge at some point especially in the way they create awareness to their clients. In both industries, the main aim is to attract visitors from within and outside their destinations. However, the two companies differ to some degree in the way they utilize technology. Hospitality industry is concerned to a larger level with bookings whereas tourism industry is concerned with marketing their destinations. Tourism industry is therefore a key player in e marketing hence the largest consumer and user of e marketing technology. The services advertised by tourism industry thorough e marketing range from branding to marketing their destinations.
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