Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Establishment Plans for Small Business Ventures - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 2077 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? PRODUCE ESTABLISHMENT PLANS FOR SMALL BUSINESS VENTURES Introduction This assignment is based on small business management and will describes what steps one has to take so that he can meet his vision and mission statements to achieve the goals of the organization. Customers are considered as a king in all businesses. While making this assignment, we can know how to make Customerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s satisfaction, how to compete with the competitors, ways to increase the sale of product and maximization of profit. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Establishment Plans for Small Business Ventures" essay for you Create order Part One: Explore and Articulate Business Vision Concepts Answer 1.1 We have taken vision statement of puma. The vision of puma: Fair, Honest, Positive, Creative. Puma believe that our position as the creative leader in sport lifestyle gives us the opportunity and the responsibilities to contribute to a better world for the generation to come. A better world in PUMA vision à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" would be safer, more peaceful and more creative than the world we know today. The 4 keys is the tools we develop to help us to stay true to puma vision and we use constantly asking customers about their needs and requirements and we are being honest, fair, positive and creative in everything we do. Answer 1.2 As the PUMA have good brand name it is popular in the entire world for its quality and sports lifestyle products. So the main thing of its vision statement has to maintain quality of its products. PUMA has to listen about the needs and requirements of the customers and provide produ ct according to them. As the puma is famous for its sports life style products so the products should be comfortable and light weight. Answer 1.3 For small business to established, vision concepts are such that it is easily liked by people for their good quality products. To establish a business proper planning is necessary where to start a business because place is important to any business. We should start a business according to people living in that particular area. What trend is going on and what they like or what are their needs and requirements of the people living in that area. Also living standards of the people is very important in success of any business. Answer 1.4- The culture of Puma is unique and has been one of the key reasons behind the success of the company. We are focused on ensuring that we provide great value products for our customers every day. Puma has an extensive programme of environmental and social initiatives, which we feel are improving our commu nity and our environment. View our Triple Bottom Line Report for more information about our most recent environmental and social activities. We aim to ensure that these values flow on to our stakeholders our team members, customers, suppliers, shareholders and our community. The big businesses like Puma and the Nike shoes interact with their customers to get knowledge about what kind of shoes they wanted and what is the latest trend going on. They hear customers and try to bring what they want. This helps them to achieve their vision statement and also they share their motive with their employees and motivate them to achieve. Vision Statement of PUMA:- Pumaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s vision for the next ten years à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Inspire the world, create the future.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Pumaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s arm envisions a future where just about everything you see and touch from the walls in your house and the floor you walks on to your car windows and coffee mugs is a display powered by Pumaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s services. On one hand, Pumaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s display vision of the future probably isnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t that far off in a number of ways: soon, everything will be connected. Ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s also pretty terrifying though, in that it depicts a world where ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s impossible to escape all of these products and services for even a moment. 1.3 Small Business venture:- In small business to established, vision concepts are such that it is easily liked by people for their good quality products. To establish a business proper planning is necessary where to start a business because place is important to any business. We should start a business according to people living in that particular area. Also living standards of the people is very important in success of any business. Vision:- To develop into a most popular and successful product in particular areas. Being the best means providing outstanding quality, service, and pri ce which should satisfy the customer and get a view that they have got value for what they spent. Part Two: Formulate and Communicate an Ethical Framework for Business Operations Answer 2.1 Business value: For start of new business first thoroughly look out place where someone want to start business, like look financial conditions of people living in that area and possibility of expansion of business. Personal values: values like faithful contribution of all workers working in business. Loyalty towards the enterprise so that business runs in proper way and serves quality products to the people. Ethnic value: The code of moral principles and values that governs the behaviour of a persons or group with respect to what is right or wrong. Treat the customers nicely, so that the feel comfortable while eating. No barrier of racism should be there Social values and responsibility: Treat people nicely, Increased percentage of overall sales growth, increased percentage of profit growth, improved customer service, continued high quality products. Answer 2.2: Policies for business practices Customerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s policies- We should make some policies in favour of customers some of them would be: Customer relationship must be very good. Listen to customer first-what they really want in product Guarantee and warrantee policy Refund policy Discount on special occasions Policies for the Employee: Income Policy, Attendance policy, A policy for giving views in meetings, Policies related to rewards. Policies for Competitors: We should do that competition which will not cause some problem in market. Making awareness about which new products are introduced by the competitors. Find youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢re lacking points compared with competitors. Comparing their price offered to customers on special occasions. Policies for communities: We will make policies for different communities by providing them jobs during vacancies and by providing awareness of their health and safety by organizing some seminars and plays. Part Three: Identification of Meaning of Fostering Entrepreneurship and Innovation Answer:3.1 The most important persons who are giving their contribution in achieving the objectives in the business are employees and if the company thinks that their employs are doing well in their job they should be rewarded by giving incentives. Owner can give some offer to them like holiday packages or tour trip. Promotion can also be a good idea for the hard working employees. We can give them some discount on products. One another way of rewarding is by giving honor to the hard workers during special parties organized by business. Answer 3.2: Plans for improving our services 1. by taking feedback and ideas directly from the customers: Feedback will be helpful to know the services provided by the business and if there is something to improve, can be improved at time. 2. By making all types of shoes available in the showroom: This will attract the customers to buy the product according to their need. 3. By keeping suggestion box: Suggestion box will help the business by getting different suggestions from their cust omers. By reading suggestion letters a business can get new ideas and if possible can take best ideas into practice. 4. By making facility of internet dealing: We can provide internet facility to customers because people sometime have no time to visit the shop for shopping internet deals can easily help them to purchase their favourite product just by doing little work on interne. Answer3.3: Innovation involves a wide range spectrum of original concepts, including new ways of doing business, new business models, business application of technology and communities, new management techniques, telecommunication, transport and finance. We will prepare a business plan for our business so that it will go with that way. Recognition of employees does make for a better work place. Recognition can really build up morale and productivity. If you are a manager or employer, it soon becomes pretty clear that using a carrot is far better than using a stick to motivate the people under you. Re cognition goes a long way in providing the carat. Part Four: Establish Business Goals and Objectives and Formulate Strategic Plans for Specific Small Business Ventures We choose Te puke for opening a showroom of shoes because it is beautiful small town where people like to enjoy their leisure time by playing and where people have keen interest in their professions our shop provides all necessities for their feet comfort. Answer 4.1: Objectives Profit maximisation: Providing the best service to the customers, selling quality products at reasonable prices helps to increase sale and hence profit. Full Customer satisfaction: Customers are known as king in every business and first priority should be given to the customer. Customer should be treated well and should be carefully heard. If any customer having any problem with any issue regarding products that should be solved first. Opening of branches in different cities: Having branches in different cities of New Zealan d where people can take advantage of our products. Goodwill of the business: Image of the business display where the business stand. If a business is popular it means the reputation of the business is really good, on the other hand if it is not popular then we have to take some steps to improve our business. Answer4.2:Goals to achieve objectives: Decorated showroom to attract customer. To work legally with every aspect of business. To be aware of government regulation. Do Advertising to increase sale. Having a well talented and experienced staff. Making time to time list of the competitors. Our Business Format: We will write out our basic business concept. Our second point will be to gather all the data that can on the feasibility and the specifics of our business concept. Focus and refine our concept based on the data we have compiled. Outline the specifics of our business. Using a what, where, why, how approach might be useful. Put your plan into a compelling form so that it will not only give you insights and focus but, at the same time, will become a valuable tool in dealing with business relationships that will be very important to you. Answer4.4: Detail Strategies: Business Our business is related to shoes store. Location Te puke, Jellicoe Street. Price we have different prices of products according to their quality. Promotion- Give advertisement in newspaper, distribute flyers in the street and to residentsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ mail boxes and also banners etc. Target Market à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" our target market are people who comes to our shop and visitors. Resources- Employees, money, computers for recording data and other technical tools and all products. Details ownership- Manager has take charge but talented staff will be recruited so. Staffing- Employees can be employed as a full time or part time, depending upon the necessity for the job. If there is any problem regarding less or more employment it will be decided by owner of the shop? However an employee will be good communicator and experienced. Organisational and Operational Management-The owner and some experienced staff members will organise and operate the business. Answer4.5: Appropriation and complexibility of our business plan according to the business opportunity Well we know that today is modern era and the techniques and time is changing day by day. So our business plan should also be flexible (not much) and relevant to the time conditions. Well at some stages we have to change staffs or should train them according to the current or advanced method of business. Well some of the points due to which our business plan can be complex are- Economic factors Legal factors Community factors etc. Answer4.6: Our business plan is very much relevant, informative and advanced, as it has been made according to the practical point of view. Some of the points are given below- Advanced Profitable Low cost (expenses) more profit Perfect Marketing idea Very much understandable On the basis of current market aspects Answere4.7: Documentations of business proposal Clear objectives Clear goals Perfect vision Vision statement Formulated statured Rent $250 per week Power $500 per week Water $150 per week Wages and salaries of employees $2000 per week Internet and phone $100 per month REFERENCE: 1. www.answers.com 2. www.yahoo.com 3. www.google.co.nz 4. www.wikipedia.org 5. With the help of RBC lecture notes

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Employment at Will - 1179 Words

The employment at will doctrine is such that, an employer can terminate an employee, at any time and for any cause, or no cause at all. Employment at will employees do not have an agreement and surety of continued employment, which is an issue of employee rights. There are several employees right issues at workplaces; among which, one of the biggest issue of employees is their uncertainty towards their length of work employment. This leads to a lack of job security and an unsafe, and an unfair working environment for the employee. An employee should be able to enjoy basic employee rights. They should be able to participate and be informed about what is happening, in the workplace. Moreover, they should have the right to privacy, which†¦show more content†¦If both can enjoy the freedom of contract then both deserve the freedom of speech as well. At the end, it is not fair upon the employee because he/she does not have the bargaining power and ultimately has to deal with the e mployer’s decisions, even if it is fired for reasons unknown. Employees should have the right to freedom of speech and right to privacy outside the workplace. Under Employment at will doctrine, an employer can terminate an employee any time for any reason or for no reason. In the case of the company at Fargo, the business owner made a decision to fire the employee because the employee was setting a bad reputation for the company by leaving negative comments about the company on his Facebook page. If we look at it from a utilitarian approach, then firing an employee at-will is, however, reasoned to be needed for better productivity and efficiency. To get rid of unproductive employees it is best that they are at will employees because only, then they can ensure efficiency by having productive workers and better outcome. Since employers have the right to hire and fire whenever they please, in this situation it is reasonable for the employer to fire the employee for discovering that she had left negative comments about their business on the Facebook page. In the utilitarian approach it is best to abide by those that provide greatest benefits f or greater number of people. On the other hand, employees should notShow MoreRelatedEmployment Between Employment And Employment2870 Words   |  12 PagesTASK ONE Employment Differences Casual employment normally means that one works when required mostly because the employer cannot always predict when that work needs to be done. If an individual is employed to do casual work, this must be made clear in their employment agreement. With fixed employment according to Section 66 of The Employment Relations Act 2000. 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Monday, December 9, 2019

A compare and contrast essay on blues and gospel music free essay sample

Have you ever gone out on Saturday night to hear someone sing the blues? Have you ever gone to a Baptist church the next morning and heard a Joyful gospel song? You may think the two musical expressions have nothing in common, but If you listen closely and study their histories, you will find some surprising similarities. When you first hear gospel music and the blues, you cant help noticing how different hey are In mood and in the stories they tell.Blues songs are sad, full of heartbreak and disappointment. They talk about everyday problems Like losing a Job or a girlfriend, like having no money or no friends. Gospel songs, on the other hand, are the happiest songs youll ever hear, full of Joy and hope. Unlike the blues, gospel songs tell about the power of faith In tunes so catchy, they make you want to get up and dance. We will write a custom essay sample on A compare and contrast essay on blues and gospel music or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Both kinds of music, however, have African roots and similar African musical forms.For example, blues is known fir its blue or bent notes notes that exist somewhere in between the formal notes and the do-re-me scale. Gospel music also has bent notes. The other characteristic of African music they both have is the congregation answers. In the same way, a blues singer intones a line, and an instrument echoes or answers him or her. Both, blues and gospel music help create what we know as rock music today. In the sasss black musicians in the South and northern cities like Chicago, where blackAmericans had migrated in large numbers, started playing a new type of blues that was faster and a heavier beat. The style was rhythm and blues. Later, black artists like Ray Charles and James Brown added gospel harmonies and piano riffs to the rhythm-and-blues mix. This new sound found a wider and wider audience and came to be called rock and roll. So you see, even though gospel and blues songs have deferent moods and tell different kinds of stories, their roots and musical characteristics are very similar. Both have had a big a big influence on todays pop music. They are Like two deferent sides of the same coin. Many important black musicians grew up singing the blues on Saturday night and gospel songs on Sunday morning, and the qualities of both kinds of music come together In their musical styles. Resources:www. Walked. Right://Fagan. Com/gospel . Thump://WV. Scarify. Com/ holster/blues. HTML may think the two musical expressions have nothing in common, but if you listen they are in mood and in the stories they tell.Blues songs are sad, full of heartbreak and disappointment. They talk about everyday problems like losing a Job or a songs tell about the power of faith in tunes so catchy, they make you want to get up different moods and tell different kinds of stories, their roots and musical Both have had a big a big influence on todays pop music.

Sunday, December 1, 2019

The Marketing Orientation free essay sample

The Marketing Orientation Lay Views of Marketing Ask the average person what marketing is and a range of answers will probably be forthcoming. Typically, the answers offered tend to fall into three loose categories:- Presenting an organisation and its products to potential customers. Launching, advertising and promoting new products to support the sales force. Llaslng with advertising and sales functions to attract new customers to existing products. The problem with all of the above, however, is that they emphasise what marketers do rather than what marketing actually Is. To arrive at a more formal definition, we herefore need to consider the underlying philosophy behind the marketing function which, as we shall see, has evolved subtly over the years. Generally speaking, the marketing concept can be seen as having evolved via three distinct developmental stages:- Production Orientation (pre 1950s) Sales Orientation (1950s-80s) Marketing Orientation (1980s+) A word of caution, though. We will write a custom essay sample on The Marketing Orientation or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In each of the above, the dates provided represent only a rough guide to the dominance of particular business orientations they are not absolutes, as some text books would have us believe. The reality is that organisations ave always deviated from these general trends. Even today, for instance, we can find firms still rooted in the traditional production orientation phase, whilst Adam smith espoused the virtues of a market-led approach to management as early as the eighteenth century! tore In many ways, the production orientation phase can be seen as an inevitable consequence of mass industrialisation. Expressed simply, this phase in the development of marketing is characterised by a continual focus upon the product. Manufacturers work on the assumption that products, when produced in sufficient quantities and at the correct price, generate consumer demand. When sales fall, the response is therefore simply to lower prices further through increased productivity. It is a simple philosophy and highly effective in situations where demand far outstrips supply. The classic example of the production orientation is the Ford Motor Company. Prior to the Second World War, conditions were right for mass automotive production. Craft production techniques maintained high prices and demand was far in excess of supply mainly because very few people could actually afford a car. Within this climate, Henry Ford developed the assembly line method of production and the Model T Ford was born, the first relatively inexpensive mass-produced car. The focus was very much on minimising production costs wherever possible, hence Fords now famous assertion that consumers could have any colour, as long as its black! The Model T Ford was a resounding success, but its market dominance was actually quite short-lived. Many of the problems the company experienced are typical of an organisation adopting a production orientation in its marketing strategy. In particular, low-cost mass production is very easy to replicate by new market entrants and Ford was almost put out of business by intense competition from General Motors. As both supply levels and consumer disposable income increased, GM began to offer a greater range of colours and refinements to a more discerning new clientele. The Ford Motor Company soon began to face severe financial problems, particularly when supply eventually began to overtake demand. Supply-demand problems are not the only dangers associated with a production orientation, however. So-called marketing myopia can also be a danger, companies focused solely upon their own products and those of their immediate competitors failing to recognise threats emerging in other industries. Expansion in the dry leaning industry, for example, was halted almost overnight by developments in fabric technologies and the growth in domestic appliance ownership. On a more general level, even where a product does not become obsolete, over-refinement can lead to a widening gulf between consumer needs and product specification. The home video recorder, for instance, became increasingly complex during the 1980s and 90s, to the extent that consumers began to complain quite vocally that the product was becoming too complicated to actually use! So, the production orientation centres management of the marketing function around ass production of the product itself, continuous cost reduction and product innovation forming the basis of marketing strategy. Such an approach is very replicated by competitors and the tactic is vulnerable to marketing myopia and problems of consumer-product fit. The Sales Orientation To a certain extent, the adoption of a sales orientation can be seen as an intuitive (some would say knee-jerk! ) reaction to the problems of the production oriented phase. If demand is falling, simply go for the hard sell and persuade customers to buy through aggressive promotion. It is this philosophy which leads to the common ay view of marketing as merely being selling. The problem with this approach is that it still focuses attention firmly on the product as produced, the emphasis being upon sales rather than consumer satisfaction. This is fine where a companys market affords few opportunities for repeat business (e. g. fitted kitchens, double glazing). Even here, though, it can be argued that dissatisfied customers can damage a companys reputation through word of mouth. Moreover, where competition intensifies, a sales orientation demands ever larger budgets in order to merely hold on to existing consumers. Quite simply, a company ends up pending more and more money on promotion Just to stand still. Take the example of the package holiday. From the mid 1960s, demand increased dramatically and the initial success of a few companies (e. g. Thomson) was soon under severe threat from intense competition. The holiday market became ever more cut-throat and the emphasis was firmly on cutting prices to drive out competitors. Low prices were often at the expense of quality and consumer satisfaction, however, and travel agents soon became as notorious as estate agents in the consumer psyche. Established companies began to resort to ever more ingenious (or often Just bizarre! methods of promotion. Thomson, for example, introduced the so-called honest holiday brochure, including negative comments about a particular hotel or resort alongside the traditional sales blurb. Initiatives such as these were, however, typically greeted with cynicism by consumers. Moreover, they completely missed the point instead of making a virtue of honesty about your products weaknesses and spending a fortune trying to persuade customers to buy a product you know doesnt quite satisfy their requirements, wouldnt it be far simpler to Just find out exactly what the consumer wanted and then provide it?!? The sales orientation, then, uses aggressive pricing and promotion to counter increasing competition and falling demand. Such a strategy can be quite effective as a short-term fix, but in the longer term organisations must strive to provide added value as price differentiation narrows and there are few further production savings to be made. Towards a Marketing Orientation interrelated sets of environmental factors:- Increasingly sophisticated and diverse consumers, with more disposable income (e. g. epending on the consumer, a car can be a mode of transport, a status symbol or even a hobby). Increasing competition and globalisation (e. g. ue to low labour costs overseas, falling trade barriers, the growth of the Web). Decreasing product differentiation (e. g. generic drugs, look-a-like products and clones, lower price differentiation, etc. ). New technologies (e. g. traditional watch-making effected by developments in electronics, printing effected by computer technologies, music CDs and cassettes by mp3s on the Web, etc. . In essence, the marketing orientation places the customers needs at the heart of business strategy and is based around a view of marketing as being the ability to create and keep profitable customers (Brown, 1987). Lets consider that definition for moment. By creating customers, Brown means that organisations should be monitoring the environment in which the business operates and acting on opportunities presented by changes in consumer needs and/or competitor activities. Similarly, keeping customers refers to the need to minimise threats to the organisations existing customer base arising from changing consumer needs and/or competitor activities. And profitable customers? The key here is the need to focus primarily upon those customers with the potential to generate revenues which exceed business costs, rather than on Just pursuing any customer at any price. In effect, then, the emergence of a marketing orientation marks a transition from an organisation having an efficiency goal (Doing the right things) to the adoption of an effectiveness goal (Doing things right). So, a more appropriate definition of the term marketing might be as follows:- Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably. Chartered Institute of Marketing (1999) Characteristics of the Marketing Orientation Sadly, no single definition of a marketing orientation exists on which all would agree. Some authors focus primarily upon the need for customer and competitor intelligence (e. g. Kohli Jaworski, 1990), for instance, whilst others focus more on the organisation of the business unit itself (e. . Narver Slater, 1990). In a review of the literature, however, Lafferty and Hult (1999) identify four key features of a marketing oriented firm, common to all current theoretical perspectives:- Customer Focus: All models place the importance of identifying and satisfying customer needs at the heart of the business, together with the need to strive to provide added value to the customer in the face of intense competition and the ontinual erosion in product/service differentiation. This focus is seen as pervading all areas of the organisation as a guiding principle, of equal relevance even to those functions with no direct customer contact at all. Marketing is thus seen as a business philosophy rather for all within the organisation, rather than as Just a particular person or teams Job. Information Dissemination: The second common feature is the emphasis on a need for comprehensive information about the organisations customers, competitors and operating environment. There is a recognition that successful organisations are ntelligence driven, with a thorough understanding of customer needs and motivations, together with the potential impact of competitor activities upon them. Information is disseminated throughout the firm, not Just within the marketing function, and input is encouraged from all areas and levels. Interfunctional Coordination: Following on from the above, it is not sufficient to merely disseminate intelligence if the organisational mechanisms are not in place to ensure inclusive planning. All models of the market-led firm therefore stress the need to act upon information received in a coordinated way, with strategic and actical decisions being taken interfunctionally. Taking Action: Finally, all models agree that organisations need to be continually amending strategy in light of current and anticipated market developments. This responsiveness should be corporate wide, utilising all of the firms resources to proactively ensure continuing satisfaction of customer needs. ursuit of added value at the heart of its activities, has a corporate culture which shares information and ideas across functions, and adopts a management structure which ensures maximum responsiveness to changing circumstances via inclusive tactical decision-making processes. Identifying the Business Orientation How do we know if a business is marketing-oriented? One test is simply to ask the company the deceptively simple question: What business are you in? Exercise: Ask a senior manager in your own o rganisation this question. What do you make of his or her reply? What does it tell you about the organisations approach to marketing? If you get the opportunity, try asking senior members of staff in the Business School the same question! If the organisation is production or sales oriented in its marketing philosophy, the answer given will focus firmly on the product or service offered for sale. So, seen from this perspective, a senior executive of a company such as IBM might describe the business in terms of selling computers. By contrast, a marketing oriented executive would probably define IBM as providing solutions to customers business problems. In this latter definition, the emphasis has switched from selling a product to satisfying consumer needs. Managing Marketing In a marketing-oriented organisation, successful management of the marketing function cab be divided into four key areas: analysis, planning, control and organisation. Analysis: Successful marketing begins with a thorough understanding of company, ompetitor and market activities. Information and its dissemination becomes a crucial resource, informed by marketing research and the ongoing development and refinement of marketing information systems. Planning: Following on from the above, market opportunities must be rigorously assessed and appropriate strategies developed. Through careful planning, customer needs become the focus of corporate decision-making and resources are more efficiently allocated toward their satisfaction. In effect, the marketing function acquires a crucial role in subsequent production, financial and human resource Control: Progress of the strategies developed must be continually monitored and, where necessary, amended appropriately. The marketing-oriented company sees control mechanisms as an essential failsafe, enabling corrective action to be taken as soon as possible should the need arise. Organisation: Last but not least, effective marketing management requires an organisational structure which allocates specific responsibilities to specific individuals, encourages effective communication throughout the organisation and, most importantly perhaps, encourages all those employees within the organisation ho do not have direct contact with the consumer to nevertheless remain totally focused upon satisfaction of the customers needs. We will return to all of the above in subsequent sessions, particularly the final session in the marketing block. CASE STUDY: CORUS The case study for this lecture is called Developing a stronger customer focus and concerns organisational changes made by the steel corporation Corus. The case study itself poses five basic questions to help guide your analysis:- 1 . Why is it important for business organisations today to be willing to change? 2. What external difficulties did Corus face while it was introducing the change process? 3. Why did Corus Construction and Industrial Unit create a series of account managers? 4. How did the changes that took place at Coruss Construction and Industrial Unit involve a change of culture? 5. How could you evaluate the effectiveness of the changes made at Corus? When reflecting on the case study after the session, there are a few particular issues you might want to consider in relation to these lecture notes. For instance:- Does the company now satisfy the criteria for a marketing oriented organisation in erms of its customer focus and organisational philosophy? What were the obstacles and potential pitfalls in achieving the current business orientation? What do you think a senior Corus executive might give today as an answer to the question What business are you in? Do the changes made simply involve marketing, or are there specific areas you might pick out where the interface with strategic management and operations are particularly apparent? Thinking about issues such as these after discussion of the case studies each week will help enormously when it comes to the course assignment and exam!