Evaluate how an organisation implemented an information system (such Essay

Evaluate how an organisation implemented an information system (such as a CRM, SCM or ERP - Essay Example In the modern world with increased expectations from customers, relationship marketing has become an important factor in financial services. Therefore, the management function of banks needs to critically analyse those areas where prospects can be found owing to industry amalgamation, virtual distribution and the growing ability to transfer cash just with the snap of a mouse which has made it efficient for customers to shift their loyalty from one bank to the other. It is this necessity that has prompted many banks to establish a relationship with their customers by coming up with a well-managed system that ensures that banks fully understand their customers, retain existing clients through enhancedconsumer experience, remain attractive to new customers and gain new clienteles and contracts, increase cost-effectiveness and cut back on consumer organization costs. In this scenario, CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is an information system that presents an opportunity for banks t o develop concrete relationships with their clients who can then market their services through word of mouth, making it hard to change loyalty by switching to other banks among others (Hwang and Wen,2009; Kamakura et al., 2005). HDFC Bank, India, launched the use of CRM in 2008 to achieve its vision of â€Å"One Bank† to enable it make available to the customers more information about the bank and attract new customers in order to boost its profitability and customer satisfaction. HDFC Company Profile and Porters Five Forces Analysis HDFC is a commercial bank based in India and is the largest private universal bank by market capitalization having a customer base totalling over 25 million, an elaborate distribution network consisting of 2,544 branches spreading across 1399 cities around the world. The bank also has a huge workforce with over fifty five thousand employees. For HDFC Bank to effectively apply its core competencies to achieve a profit above the industry average, i t is important to assess its potential for profitability and strategic position in the Indian banking industry. The Indian banking sector is defined by a high bargaining power of customers owing to the fact that banks provide uniform services. This is mainly due to the fact that nearly all banks strive to make available requisite information to their clients through such facilities as internet and mobile banking thus increasing buyer information availability and buyer price sensitivity. On the other hand, The Reserve Bank of India, the nation’s central bank and regulatory body, has created numerous regulatory standards and benchmarks which have to be met by banks. This in effect lowers the bargaining power of commercial banks in general and HDFC in particular. The industry is also highly competitive given the numerous numbers of public, private, foreign and cooperative banks offering financial services similar to those offered by HDFC. The availability of substitutes outside of the realm of common product boundaries of HDFC such as mutual funds, Government securities and T-bills increases the propensity of customers to switch to alternatives. Lastly, HDFC faces a low level of threat of new entrants to the industry due to the high number of banking regulations created by the Reserve Bank of India (Goyal and Joshi, 2012). CRM Customer Relationship

Offshore Jobs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Offshore Jobs - Essay Example are some of the countries where MNCs from USA, UK, Germany and other developed nations have started outsourcing the jobs. This trend has picked up in a big way in the last 15 to 20 years. In fact, as this trend kept growing, a debate also started in the political spheres about the job losses taking place in USA, Germany, UK etc. In the recently concluded Presidential elections in the USA, outsourcing became a big issue, with the candidates spelling out their own versions of the truth on outsourcing by many companies. But as per the indications available the trend appears unstoppable in the immediate future. The high turnover rates amongst IT staff in some of the Indian cities points towards the availability of opportunities in this sector which propels the staff to switchover jobs from one company to another looking. The research conducted by McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) points out that even after a huge hike in salaries in the outsourcing destinations, the salaries are still quite low as compared to the cities in the America and leading EU nations. While the criteria of selecting the sites depends on a variety of factors like, work culture, infrastructure availability, talent pool etc. besides the wages; the study points out that many companies have preferred to go for tried and tested nations like India and China. Though the infrastructure is far from satisfactory in some of the cities of India, still some of the companies have expressed their confidence in these cities based on their past experience and the availability of other similar companies in the vicinity. At the same time, the study points out that many companies like Amazon.com, Telefonica, Intel and Sakonnet Technology have preferred offshore centers in the African cities like Cape Town, Tangier, Cordoba, Rio de Jenerio etc. But in general it has been found out that some of the hot spots have become favorites of companies which have followed the trend observing the 'first mover's cost advantage'. But this trend also results in overheating of the job market in those cities and the infrastructure too starts deteriorating. Citing the example of Gurgaon, a place near the capital city of India the study finds out that the area has become very populous with many shopping malls, multi-story apartments etc. when leading companies set up their operational units in these cities. But gradually it has started taking its toll with paralyzing traffic congestions, frequent power cuts, communication network breakdowns etc. But, the fact that so far the reverse trend has not started, points towards the cost advantage still being favourable to the MNCs. The availability of huge numbers of unemployed educated youth at offshore hot spots makes these locations all the more attractive. MGI studied 28 low-wage countries and figur ed out that about 6.4 million young professionals are available in 2003 for far less number of jobs. It has been projected through the study that supply of college educated talent will continue to outstrip the demand from MNCs offshore operations for many-many years to come. In general some of the key factors identified for choosing a location include Cost, availability of skills, suitable political and legal environment; market potential of the region or country; risk factors; and infrastructure. Though destinations like Dubai have also been

The Online Virtual Shopping Marketing Essay

The Online Virtual Shopping Marketing Essay Since the development of the Internet, especially in recent times, most of our daily activities are conducted over the internet and goods and services are bought at the click of a mouse. Increasingly, consumers are choosing to make purchases using the Internet and skipping the trip to the store. A modern consumer may purchase a CD player, a couch, groceries, e-books, movies, tickets, software or even a new car at 4.00am without having to leave his or her house, deal with traffic and salespeople, or even change out of her pajamas. Furthermore, a consumer is no longer restricted to products available in one store, one town, or even one country because the Internet transcends boundaries and is literally accessible from anywhere in the world. The Internet essentially is a global network of connections and has become the worlds fastest growing commercial market place. It has developed into a significant and accepted business standard through which consumers and businesses come together in the buying and selling process. Most firms and businesses today have incorporated the concept of e-commerce at some level of their operations and this includes some traditional companies who have now integrated the internet into their businesses. As such, many physical retail stores have expanded their market through the Internet, by having both a virtual store and a physical store, guaranteeing them the best of both worlds. High-volume websites, such as Yahoo!, Amazon.com and eBay, also offer hosting services for online stores, to all retailers for their products and services. These stores are presented as part of an integrated navigation framework. These collections of online stores are sometimes known as virtual shopping malls or onlin e marketplaces. These online marketplaces provide a one stop shop for consumers to shop at their convenience for all the goods that they need. According to a Forrester Research, Understanding Online Shopper Behaviors, US 2011, May 17, 2011, E-commerce Business to Consumer (B2C) product sales totaled $142.5 billion, representing about 8% of retail product sales in the United States. The $26 billion worth of clothes sold online represented about 13% of the domestic market, and with 72% of women looking online for clothing, it has become one of the most popular cross-shopping categories. Forrester Research estimates that the United States online retail industry will be worth $279 billion in 2015. see Forrester: Online Retail Industry In The US Will Be Worth $279 Billion In 2015, TechCrunch. February 28, 2011. Online shopping has become a very popular way of purchasing goods for consumers. All that is required for the consumer is a computer, internet access and a method of payment. The main attractions in shopping for goods on the internet include the opportunity to search for various goods and services, compare the prices offered by various shops, read reviews made by customers who have purchased the same goods or service, order and pay for them and have them delivered, all from the comfort of ones home. Other attractions include the cooling-off period which applies to most online purchases, discounts, promotions and freedom from being pressurised by a salesperson into buying expensive (sometimes unwanted) extended warranties. In other words, customers are attracted to online shopping not only because of the high level of convenience, but also because of the broader selection, competitive pricing, and greater access to information. In comparison with conventional retail shopping, the info rmation environment of virtual/online shopping is improved by providing additional product information such as relative products and services, a choice of alternatives and attributes of each alternative, as well as the reviews and comments by those who have bought or used those goods. This equips the buyer with more information to make a more informed decision. The Nielsen Company conducted a survey, in March 2010 which polled more than 27,000 Internet users in 55 markets from the Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East, North America and South America to look at questions such as How do consumers shop online?, What do they intend to buy?, How do they use various online shopping web pages?, and the impact of social media and other factors that come into play when consumers are trying to decide how to spend their money on which product or service. According to that research, reviews on electronics (57%) such as DVD players, cell phones or PlayStations and so on, reviews on cars (45%), and reviews on software (37%) play an important role and have influence on consumers who tend to make purchases and buy these goods online. In addition to online reviews, peer recommendations on the online shopping pages or social networks play a key role for online shoppers while researching future purchases of electronics, cars and travel or concert bookings. See Bonsoni.com on July 10, 2011 (2011-07-10). Research shows word of mouth drives online sales. Bonsoni.com. On the other hand, according to Nielsen Global Online Shopping Report. Blog.nielsen.com. 2010-06-29, 40% of online shoppers indicate that they would not even buy electronics without consulting online reviews first. However, despite the convenience and ease offered by online shopping, there is always the potential for abuse. Arguably the anonymity afforded by the internet has done much to damage the level of trust consumers are willing to place in it, g iven that the internet has no boundaries, and a consumer can access goods and services from any part of the world. According to Proffessor Ian Lloyd in Lloyd I.J. Information Technology law (2008) fifith edition Oxford, pg 483, The Global Top level Domain name .com gives no indication where a business is located and even where the name uses a country code such as .de or .uk, there is no guarantee that the undertaking is established in that country. It is relatively common practice, based in part upon security concerns to keep web servers geographically separate from the physical undertaking. Therefore a website may, for example have an address in German (.de) (or in Hong Kong (.hk), but its owner however might be a United Kingdom-registered compa ny. Furthermore, one of the differences between distance buying and the traditional forms of buying is that there are no face to face interactions between the contracting parties and the goods are not inspected physically by the consumer. Consequently, consumers may find that the goods are faulty on delivery, a wrong order or that the goods are not the correct specifications. Consumers are therefore concerned with the ease with which they can return an item for the correct one or for a refund.  To improve confidence, business often attempt to adopt online shopping techniques which are user-centred. They describe goods with photos, texts and multimedia files, provide background information, advice, or how-to guides designed to help consumers decide which product to buy and provide link to supplemental product information, such as instructions, safety procedures, demonstrations, or manufacturer specifications. Also they provide for ease of return and refunds by providing information to c ustomers on how to return goods for refund or exchange. Some customers on their own part now refer to show rooming before purchasing online. By this, customers first inspect the goods in the shops before purchasing them online. Furthermore, most laws on E-commerce make provision for the protection of the consumer in online contracts. Other problems that undermine consumers confidence in online shopping includes Fraud and security concerns. These include identity theft, phishing, denial of Service attacks etc. The perpetrators get hold of consumers credit card information and use it to commit fraud. To combat this, most online businesses adopt encryption on their websites as well as other security measures to prevent fraudsters from getting hold of customers information. The use of Paypal accounts are also useful in securing against fraud on the Internet. Other disadvantages of online shopping include lack of full cost disclosure and Data protection. In conclusion, the trend of shopping online has come to stay. Online shops are open 24 hours of the day and can be accessed from anywhere where there is an internet connection. The ease and convenience of shopping online will always lure more consumers to it. However, consumers must be alert and aware of the risks involved and take extra care when shopping online. Due to the openness and competitiveness of the online market, most business will always strive to maintain the highest standard of security as well as a user centred website to boost their business.

The Trade War between America (USA) and the European Union (EU) :: essays papers

Chiquita Brands International Inc. is best known as the world’s number one distributor of banana’s, which account for more than half of its sales. For the past decade, Chiquita’s sales have dropped dramatically and the company is now on the verge of bankruptcy. Currently, Chiquita is trying to avoid filing for a Chapter 11 by attempting a major financial restructuring of their debt. There are many factors that have contributed to the company’s downward spiral, although all of these factors are linked to the trade barriers imposed by the European Union on banana imports. The European Union enacted import restrictions on banana’s in 1993, and just recently, is attempting to revise the old regime in order to comply with the World Trade Organization. The EU is preparing to introduce a new import system dubbed â€Å"first-come first-served† which they believe will be a WTO compatible system. Chiquita filed a lawsuit in January, 2001 against the European Union seeking reparations in the amount of $525 million for their losses that resulted from the old biased import system (Palmer). Chiquita is just one of many companies that were affected by this biased import regime, but some other companies still managed to work around the import restrictions. Chiquita’s rivals, Dole Food and Fresh Del Monte, although bruised as well by the European restrictions and falling banana profits, are in much better shape. Both have managed to increase their market share in Europe, largely at Chiquita’s expense (Alden). Chiquita, however, sought out and fought a political battle against the European Union with the United States government backing them. The old EU import regime was not only an issue for the companies involved, but for the United States as a whole, since it affected banana’s and other agricultural products sold in the US. The regime initially was enacted in 1993, and was later ruled in 1997 to not be in compliance with the World Trade Organization (PR Newswire). The regime was designed in part to protect less efficient banana growers in former European colonies. Chiquita’s management has complained for years that the policies of the EU have cost the company millions by favoring banana’s from Caribbean producers in former European colonies. The EU’s rules were judged to discriminate in favor of growers in EU territories and the Caribbean at the expense of Latin American producers and U.

Emily’s Refusal to Allow Change in Her Life in “A Rose for Emily”

â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is a short story written by William Faulkner, an American author. Uniquely narrated in the first person perspective with the use of we, â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is a story about a woman named Emily who had a strong attachment or dependence on her father. It seemed time stopped when her father died that contributed to Emily’s refusal to see and accept change.She experienced true aristocracy with her father who ruled her life and constructed a different reality for her. He let her believe that she is different from anybody else and that no man truly deserves her. Her father’s restrictions towards her and her social roles dominated her life even after her father’s death. Thus, in this short story, Faulkner highlights that social roles restrict an individual to manifest his or her true self, constraining rather than liberating her.As Faulkner used the pronoun â€Å"we,† it can be inferred that the narrator is some of the to wnspeople sympathizing with Emily. By means of flashbacking, the narrator presents well-structured and detailed events of Emily’s life that can provide a deeper understanding of why there is pride and isolation in her character.The story begins with Emily’s death at the age of 74 and flashes back to the near distant past of Emily’s life. Emily is a spinster perceived as a lonely woman who is so attached to the traditions and aristocracy of the past to the extent that she cannot accept change.She shuts herself to the world and continually personifies the past until her death. Even with the emergence of materialism and when aristocracy was no longer a trend, Emily constantly believes that she would still be respected. This makes her a grotesque or unique personality in the setting that encourages the townspeople to analyze her life.Emily’s father who represents the ruling class of the South contributed most to her arrogant personality. Emily was raised in a n upper class home which made them prominent in the community. Hence, she perceived herself as rich and powerful, and their position in the community had unconsciously taught her to hold herself high from the surrounding people even after her father’s death.As time passed by, perspective about class and status changed. People accepted the changes of time and ideas. However, Emily, who was a complex and well-developed character, chose not to adapt because of the social roles she grew up with. Thus, the story illustrates that privilege and aristocracy can sometimes be a prison.The Negro who was an obedient gardener and cook and who provided Emily’s basic and practical needs is also symbolic in the story. This man connected Emily outside her small world. Yet, he isolated himself from the community for fear that he may disclose something about Emily that will disdain his loyalty.Thus, the Negro unconsciously killed her relationship with the world outside and supported Emil y’s violence against herself.   The Negro somehow fed Emily’s perception towards herself. The Negro, whom Emily had control over encourage Emily’s role in the society as aristocratic.The rose in the story represents affection. It is the affection given by the narrator to Emily. Other people may perceive Emily’s pride and violence as something immoral, but the narrator’s point of view towards Emily is different. He clearly sympathizes with Emily and understands the reason behind Emily’s arrogance. The narrator justifies her actions through presenting series of events about her past. She was a victim of bitterness and complete attachment.The community itself during her father’s time constructed a different reality for her that caused her to become so confident. The rose in the story may also signify Emily’s love for Homer. It represents the soft side of Emily which the outside world cannot see. She was perceived by the people a s scandalous and proud. Yet, like any other person, Emily needs love and affection. Her love was violent and harsh though which represents the thorns of the rose.

Liszt’s Sonata in B Minor

The Piano Sonata in B minor (German: Klaviersonate h-Moll), S. 178, is a musical composition for solo piano by Franz Liszt, published in 1854 with a dedication to Robert Schumann. It is often considered Liszt's greatest composition for solo piano. The piece has been oft analyzed, particularly regarding issues of form. The sonata is notable for being constructed from five motivic elements that are woven into an enormous musical architecture. The motivic units undergo thematic transformation throughout the work to suit the musical context of the moment. A theme that in one context sounds menacing and even violent, is then transformed into a beautiful melody. This technique helps to bind the sonata's sprawling structure into a single cohesive unit. Michael Saffle, Alan Walker, and others contend that the first motive appears at the very start of the piece until bar 8, the second occurs from bar 9 until 12 and the third from measures 13 to 17. The fourth and fifth motives appear later in the piece at measures 105-108 and 327-338 respectively. Broadly speaking, the Sonata has four movements although there is no gap between them. Superimposed upon the four movements is a large sonata form structure, although the precise beginnings and endings of the traditional development and recapitulation sections has long been a topic of debate. Charles Rosen states in his book The Classical Style that the entire piece fits the mold of a sonata form because of the reprise of material from the first movement that had been in D major, the relative major, now reprised in B minor. Alan Walker, the forefront contemporary Liszt scholar, believes that the development begins roughly with the slow section at measure 331, the leadback towards the recapitulation begins at the scherzo fugue, measure 459, and the recapitulation and coda are at measures 533 and 682 respectively. Each of these sections (exposition, development, leadback, and recapitulation) are examples of Classical forms in and of themselves, which means that this piece is one of the earliest examples of Double-function form, a piece of music which has two classical forms occurring simultaneously, one containing others. For instance the exposition is a sonata form which starts and ends with material in B minor, containing the second part of the exposition and development wandering away from the tonic key, largely through the relative major D. In using this structure, Liszt as influenced by Franz Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy, a work he greatly admired, performed often and arranged for piano and orchestra. Schubert used the same limited number of musical elements to create a broad four movement work, and used a fugal 4th movement. Already in 1851 Liszt experimented with a nonprogrammatic â€Å"four-movements-in-one† form in an extended work for piano solo called Grosses Concert-Solo. Thi s piece, which in 1865 was published as a two-piano version under the title Concerto pathetique, shows a thematic relationship to both the Sonata and the later Faust Symphony.