Strands or subtopics on Orientation and mobility needs of students with visual impairment at the University of Ghana research proposal paper

Research problem

In this information age, almost every human activity, from ordering a Big Mac to performing one's job, depends on the ability to process written communication, much of which is in the form of icons and other graphic symbols not readily accessible to blind persons. If, however, the most severe problem of those who are blind continues to be the speedy and accurate processing of written communication, the second most serious problem remains the difficulty of traveling from one point to another in order to engage in social and economic activity. The problem of mobility outdates the problem of written communication by hundreds of years. Independent travel, requiring extreme concentration of one's perceptual and physical abilities, has remained a serious challenge for persons who cannot see, as indicated by blind persons who employ the cane method for independent mobility (Hanvey & Philpot 2001). Blind people and those with very limited sight need to be taught mobility skills to enable them to move safely and purposefully in their environment. The skills include:  self-protection techniques: for example, in unfamiliar environments holding the hand and forearm in front of the face for protection while trailing the other hand along the wall or rail;  checking for doorways, steps, stairs and obstacles;  using auditory information to locate objects: for example, the air-conditioner, an open doorway; traffic noise;  long-cane skills: moving about the environment with the aid of a long cane swept lightly on the ground ahead to locate hazards and to check surface textures;  using electronic travel aids such as sonic spectacles with a sound warning built into the frame and using a sighted guide (Roberts 1998). This paper is a proposal to create a research study on orientation and mobility needs of students with visual impairment at the University of Ghana.

Aims and objectives

1.    To define orientation and mobility

2.     To gather the historical background of orientation and mobility training for students with visual impairment 

3.    To analyze orientation and mobility techniques for students with visual impairment.

4.    To understand orientation and mobility devices for students with visual impairment

5.    To analyze orientation and mobility training in foreign countries

6.    To study orientation and mobility needs of students with visual impairment at the University of Ghana

Literature Review

The person with impaired vision needs sufficient mobility skills and confidence to negotiate the outside environment, including crossing the road, catching buses or trains, and locating shops. Increased mobility adds significantly to the quality of life for persons with impaired vision. Mobility training is usually regarded as a specialist area of instruction.  Actually, it is the environment itself that is handicapping for example, money access machines, urinals, or pay telephones placed too high to be used by persons in wheelchairs or with dwarfism. In a sense, a handicap is the disadvantage imposed by the disability the person experiences in his or her particular environment (Westwood 2003). Different disabilities result in different handicaps. Blindness is a disability that commonly results in one’s inability to get around and be mobile. Deafness is a disability that commonly results in one’s inability to understand. Thus, while blindness handicaps an individual’s mobility and transportation, deafness often handicaps an individual’s communication. But both blindness and deafness often result in the handicap of being pitied, stigmatized, feared and considered less of a human being. Handicaps, therefore, are the burdens imposed upon individuals by society and the environment in which they must function. They are by- products of the interaction between the deviation and the environment (Shapiro 2000). Mobility training for visually impaired people especially a student who has such condition will help him/her move along everyday living without worrying about his/her safety and without asking other people for assistance. Mobility training will make sure that a visually impaired student can enjoy studying.

Methodology

Qualitative method will be used in the study. Qualitative method thrives on understanding data through giving emphasis on determining people’s words and actions.  Qualitative method has an orientation that it should gather data that can be acquired through quantitative methods. The tasks of understanding and presenting qualitative research can be very demanding and can be compared to the task of understanding statistics. In qualitative research, the researcher creates a natural setting which he/she can use to understand a phenomenon of interest. Even if the focus is on a smaller case, qualitative research usually unearths a very big amount of information from the respondent. . The research will make use of a descriptive research. Descriptive method of research attempts to describe a data that was gathered. Descriptive approach focuses on the questions regarding what things are like, not why they are that way. Descriptive research can be in the form of sociological studies which explains the social structure of a community, the changes that happened to society over the past years and an organization’s operation. A descriptive research deemed as competent creates a notion that the existence of problems would be more difficult to deny.

References

Hanvey, C & Philpot, T 2001, Practicing social work, Routledge,

New York.

 

Roberts, A 1998, Coping with blindness: Personal tales of

blindness rehabilitation, Southern Illinois University Press,

Carbondale, IL.

 

Shapiro, A 2000, Everybody belongs: Changing negative attitudes

toward classmates with disabilities, Routledge Falmer, New York.

 

Westwood, P 2003, Commonsense methods for children with special

needs: Strategies for the regular classroom, RoutledgeFalmer,

New York.

PESTLE analysis of McDonalds

PESTLE analysis to explain company's international strategy for McDonald

If you need a PESTLE Analysis, just send your instructions at ivythesis@gmail.com

TABLE OF CONTENT                                                                                                           Page

I.     INTRODUCTION                                                                                                                 3

II     BACKGROUND                                                                                                                   3

III    PESTLE ANALYSIS

A.        POLITICAL FACTORS                                                                                                 4

B.        ECONOMIC FACTORS                                                                                               4

C.        SOCIAL-CULTURAL FACTORS                                                                                 5

D.        TECHNOLOGY FACTORS                                                                                          5

E.         LEGAL FACTORS                                                                                                         6

F.         ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS                                                                                   6

IV   CONCLUSION                                                                                                                   7

V     RECOMMENDATION                                                                                                         8

VI   REFERENCE                                                                                                                         9

I.                  INTRODUCTION

Globalization has made the globe considerably smaller.  States lines have turned into practically a divider separating certain regions of a massive unitary community.  Businesses are the one that are highly affected by this occurrence.  The virtual closeness of states has made trade and commerce an international event.  Together with these advances, the key standards of business are similarly taken into account.  The discussions in this paper shall involve an analysis of the international expansion strategy utilized by a multinational company.  In this case, the situation surrounding McDonald’s will be taken into consideration.  The following annotations and propositions employed in the following discussions are to be supported by claims on journals and academic pieces that address international expansion strategies and international marketing theories.

II.               BACKGROUND

The modest beginnings of McDonald’s in Illinois turned out to be among the main brand names in the international scene.  It has been synonymous to what is widely-accepted the fast-food concept. The company operates over thirty one thousand stores all over the world to date. It was one of the first to perfect the concept of fast service in the food industry in its early days of operations in 1955. Given that the products of the company are mainly western in character, its operations has also expanded to the Asian region. The first McDonald’s store operated in Hong Kong in 1975.  The first shop operated at Paterson Street in Causeway Bay.  Up to this data, the functions of McDonald’s in Hong Kong covers over two hundred restaurant chains spread in the whole of Hong Kong alone.  In the rest of the globe, it operates thousands of store franchises that functions autonomously.

III.            PESTLE ANALYSIS

Pestle is an analysis of the external macro environment in which a business operates. According to  (2008), pestle stands for political, economic, social, technology, and environmental factors.

A.       Political Factors

The international operations of McDonald’s are highly influenced by the individual state policies enforced by each government. (2001, 705) For instance, there are certain groups in Europe and the United States that clamor for state actions pertaining to the health implications of eating fast food. (2005) They have indicated that harmful elements like cholesterol and adverse effects like obesity are attributable to consuming fast food products.

On the other hand, the company is controlled by the individual policies and regulations of operations. Specific markets focus on different areas of concern such as that of health, worker protection, and environment. All these elements are seen in the government control of the licensing of the restaurants in the respective states. For instance, there is an impending legal dispute in the McDonald’s franchise in India where certain infringement of rights and violation of religious laws pertaining to the contents of the food. The existence of meat in their menus in India is apparently offensive to the Hindu religion in the said market. There are also other studies that points to the infringement of McDonald’s Stores with reference to the existing employment laws in the target market. Like any business venture, these McDonald’s stores have to contend with the issues of employment procedures as well as their tax obligations so as to succeed in the foreign market.     

B.       Economic Factors

Organisations in the fast food industry are not excused from any disputes and troubles. Specifically, they do have their individual concerns involving economic factors.  Branches and franchises of fast food chains like McDonald’s has the tendency to experience hardship in instances where the economy of the respective states is hit by inflation and changes in the exchange rates.  The customers consequently are faced with a stalemate of going over their individual budgets whether or not they should use up more on these foreign fast food chains. (2004) Hence, these chains may have to put up with the issues of the effects of the economic environment.  Particularly, their problem depends on the response of the consumers on these fundamentals and how it could influence their general sales.  In regarding the operations of the company, food chains like McDonald’s tend to import much of their raw materials into a specific territory if there is a dearth of supply.  Exchange rate fluctuations will also play a significant role in the operations of the company.

As stated in the paragraph above, McDonald stores have to take a great deal of consideration with reference to their microenvironment. The company’s international supply as well as the existing exchange rates is merely a part of the overall components needed to guarantee success for the foreign operations of McDonald’s. Moreover, it is imperative that the company be cognizant of the existing tax requirements needed by the individual governments on which they operate. This basically ensures the smooth operations of the McDonald’s franchises. In the same regard, the company will also have to consider the economic standing of the state on which they operate on. The rate at which the economy of that particular state grows determines the purchasing power of the consumers in that country. Hence, if a franchise operates in a particularly economically weak state, hence their products shall cost higher than the other existing products in the market, then these franchises must take on certain adjustments to maintain the economies of scale.

C.       Socio-Cultural Factors

Articles on the international strategies of McDonald’s seem to function on several fields to guarantee lucrative returns for the organisation.  To illustrate, the organisation improves on establishing a positive mind-set from their core consumers.  McDonald’s indulge a particular variety of consumers with definite types of personalities. ( 1994) It has also been noted that the company have given the markets such as the United Kingdom, an option with regards to their dining needs.  (2005) pointed out that McDonald’s has launched a sensibly valued set of food that tenders a reliable level of quality for the respective market where it operates.  Additionally, those who are aged just below the bracket of thirty-five are said to be the most frequent consumers of McDonald’s franchises. ( 2005)

 

The multifaceted character of business nowadays is reflected in the harsh significance of the information on the subject of the existing market.  This procedure is essentially identified in the field as market research. (1997)  Information with regards to the appeal and potential fields of the market would double as obstructions to the success of the company if this area of the operations is neglected.  In the case of McDonald’s they establish a good system in determining the needs of the market.  The company uses concepts of consumer behaviour product personality and purchasing decisions to its advantage. (  1998) It is said to have a major influence on the understanding of the prospective performance of the organisation in a particular market. (2000)

D.    Technological Factors

McDonald’s generates a demand for their own products. (2006) The company’s key tool for marketing is by means of television advertisements.  There are similarly some claims that McDonald’s are inclined to interest the younger populations more.  The existence of play spots as well as toys in meals offered by the company shows this actuality. ( 1995) Other demonstration of such a marketing strategy is apparent in the commercials of they use.  They employ animated depictions of their characters like Grimace and Hamburglar. Other advertising operations employ popular celebrities to promote their products.  The like  has become endorsers for McDonald’s worldwide “loving’ it” campaign.  Moreover, the operations of McDonald’s have significantly been infused with new technology.  Elements like the inventory system and the management of the value chain of the company allows for easy payments for their suppliers and other vendors which the individual stores in respective markets deal with. The integration of technology in the operations of McDonalds tend to add value to their products. Basically, this is manifested in the improvements on its value chain. The improvement of the inventory system as well as its supply chain allows the company to operate in an international context.

E.        Legal Factors

There has been the recurrent bellowing in opposition to the fast food industry.  This has similarly made McDonald’s apply a more careful consideration on their corporate social responsibilities.  On the whole, this addressed the need of the company to form its corporate reputation to a more positive one and a more socially responsible company. ( 2005) The reputation of McDonald’s is apparently a huge matter.  Seen on the website of the company, it seems that they have acquired strides to take in hand the key social censures that they have been berating them in the past decades.  The company has provided their customers the relevant data that they need with reference to the nutritional substances of their products.  This is to attend to the arguments of obesity charged against the products of the company.  In the same way, the consumers provided freedom in choosing whether or not they want to purchase their meals.

This is tied up with the socio-cultural attributes of the market on which they operate. For instance, operations in predominantly Muslim countries require their meat to conform to the Halal requirements of the law. In the same regard, those that operate in countries in the European Union should conform to the existing laws banning the use of genetically modified meat products in their food. Other legal concepts like tax obligations, employment standards, and quality requirements are only a few of important elements on which the company has to take into consideration. Otherwise, smooth operations shall be hard to achieve.  

F.        Environment

The social responsibilities of McDonald’s on the state are influential to the operations of the company.  These entail accusations of environmental damage.  Among the reasons why they are charged with such claims is the employ of non-biodegradable substances for their drinks glasses and Styrofoam coffers for the meals. (1997) Several civic groups in Hong Kong have made actions to make the McDonald’s franchises in Hong Kong aware of the rather copious use of Styrofoam containers and the resultant abuse of the environment.   (1997) further indicated that in 1995, McDonald’s Hong Kong went over the Styrofoam used by both Australia and the United States combined.

IV.       CONCLUSION

Debatably, the most significant contribution of this generation is the combination of globalization and internationalization in the businesses sector.  Developments in the international setting have an effect on the more particular factors in the operations in individual organisations. Alterations could take placer and require intense modifications to the operations such that it could have an adverse effect on the entire structure of the company.  However, as indicated in the arguments and comments in this paper, this could be acquired by setting a certain level of flexibility in the organisation.  This level of flexibility is basically acquired through the acquaintance of both the internal and external environment of the company.

Even though McDonald’s may have been deemed as demigod in the fast food business in the international scene, what it preserves as revealed in its processes is the need for flexibility.  The slight changes that take place in the market have an effect on the operations of the business in any case.  This denotes that having the information on the effects of these alterations swiftly provides these fast food industry giants to take fine-tuning actions on their acts and still preserve their market position.  As implied in the introduction of this paper, the markets of nowadays manifest a cutthroat rivalry with the individual competitors, recognized brands or otherwise. Hence, any business in spite of the muscle of the brand name or the size of its reserves could not afford any failures in their individual markets.  

V.        RECOMMENDATION

The following recommendations shall be based on the conclusions and arguments above. 

 

l          Political Factors

 

Since it is apparent that the company is expanding continuously, it is wise to deal directly with the proper authorities in the respective markets that they intend to operate in. This way, a good way of establishes good relationship with the government. It is advisable that the company rests on the good graces of the government on which they will be penetrating. To do this, all they have to do is accomplish all the prescribed acts and satisfy all the prerequisites for doing business. The company must also be acquainted with the law in order to know what their responsibilities and their possible liabilities.

 

l          Economic Factors

 

Before penetrating the market, the company must carry out a well conducted market research, especially in the movements in the economic environment. The frequency of the shifts in the inflation rate as well as the fluctuations in the exchange rate affects the operations of the company.

 

l          Socio-cultural Factors

 

Obtain the relevant information from the target market in addition to the individual customers of the organisation. It is imperative that before a franchise is granted to a particular market, a well drafted and comprehensive market research should be conducted initially so as to establish the acts that would conform to good customs, public policies, and morals of the said state. Similarly, the company should find out the shifts in areas like the consumer behaviour and purchasing patterns of the market. Fundamentally, this is the key condition for executing a suitable customer relationship management system.

 

l          Technological Factors

 

Use the internet to their advantage. The cost-effectiveness, interactivity and real-time effects of the communications are a good way to find suppliers. It is also a good way to correspond with the respective McDonald’s headquarters in every state. The company must also look into the use of IT to enhance their inventory operations. As the operations in its inbound and outbound logistics improve, the company will expect significant savings and reduction of costs in the operations.  

 

l          Environmental Factors

 

Find out the environmental regime that governs the operations in every market. Monitor the waste disposal of the company. Minimize the use of Styrofoam materials and plastic cups. Constant updating of the social corporate responsibility is imperative. This should also entail that the headquarters should take in hand a manner of internal control of those that would infringe upon this company objective. Sanctions such as revoking of the franchise license or a particularly high fine should be installed to serve as a deterrent to infringement.   

 

l          Legal Factors

 

Hire local counsels to deal with the legal conflicts in individual markets on which the company may encounter. This is shall ensure the company that the lawyers that will handle their legal affairs are more versed with the legal regime that would iron out certain creases on their operations.

 

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT ( CRM )

 

Customer Relationship Management

 

Concept of Customer Relationship Management

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) can be defined as the development and maintenance of mutually beneficial long-term relationships with strategically significant customers ( 2000). CRM according to  and  (2001) is an IT enhanced value process, which identifies, develops, integrates and focuses the various competencies of the firm to the ‘voice’ of the customer in order to deliver long-tern superior customer value, at a profit to well identified existing and potential customers.

Customer relationship management focuses on strengthening the bond between customers and the firm by maximizing the value of the relationship for the benefit of both the customer and the firm. As a business philosophy, CRM is based upon individual customers and customized products and services supported by open lines of communication and feedback form the participating firms that mutually benefits both by buying and selling organizations. The buying and the selling firms enter into a ‘learning relationship’, with the customer being willing to collaborate with the seller and grow as a loyal customer. In return, the seller works to maximize the value of the relationship for the customer’s benefit. With the objective of most businesses today being to create and maintain loyal customers at a profit, CRM provides the platform for seeking competitive advantage by embracing customer needs and building value-driven long-term relationship ( 2003).

 

CRM and Marketing

The starting point of a relationship marketing strategy is a deep understanding of why customers would want a relationship with you as a provider of value. The answer, stated simply, is that a sustained relationship with you must itself provide additional value to the customer. The growing adoption of a customer relationship management system is evidence that more and more providers are trying to put the customer’s interest at the heart of their business by integrating marketing, customer support, and other functions to maximize added value in a dialogical relationship. CRM is a holistic approach to the generation, production and representation of a value-creation system (marketing, customer service and logistics). The aim is to move the supply chain nearer to the customer to link customer needs and more directly into the management of supplies, design, manufacturing, packaging, transport, and the ultimate purpose of all this – profitable exchange. The technology captures and provides information about interaction history, enabling a consistency of experience for valuable customers in all interactions – inquiry, order, delivery, maintenance, upgrade and so on. CRM systems can send customers reminders about essential servicing and tailored offerings based on past trading history and personal information profiles ( 2001).

 

 

Marketing Mix: 4Ps

The marketing mix can be defined as the blend of tools and techniques that marketers use to provide value for customers. It is most widely known as ‘4Ps’ : Place, Product, Price and Promotion. Place refers to the routes organizations take to get the benefits of the product or service organizations take to get the benefits of the product or service to the intended customers – channels of distribution. Product means both tangible product and service and all the ways in which an organization adds value. Price means not just the price charged, but also all aspects of pricing policy. Promotion is not just the more specialized ‘sales promotion’, but also every way in which a product is promoted to customers.

 

CRM and Marketing Mix

Customer Relationship Management calls for a long-term beneficial relationship between the customer and the organization. Because of CRM, the marketing mix shifted from Place, Product, Price and promotion to a more ‘customer-focused’ approach. The marketing mix now is more concerned with the customers’ wants and concerns than do the Ps.

Place, rather than implying organizations’ methods of placing products where they want them to be, can be thought of as ‘Convenience for the customer’, recognizing the customers’ choices for buying in ways convenient to them. Product, rather than being something that a company makes, which then has to be sold, can be thought of as a ‘Customer benefit’ – meaning satisfactions wanted by customers. Price may be what companies decide to charge for their products, but ‘Cost to the customer’ represents the real cost that customers will pay. Promotion suggests ways in which companies persuade people to buy, whereas ‘Communication’ is a two-way process also involving feedback from customers to suppliers ( and  2002).

 

The last several years saw the rise of Customer Relationship Management as an important business approach. Its objective is to return the world of personal marketing. The concept is relatively simple. Rather than market to a mass of people, market to each customer individually. In this one-to-one approach, information about a customer is used to frame offers that are more likely to be accepted ( and  2001).

 

CRM and Personalization

Implementation of better technology is not what CRM really all about; it is about creating the process that promotes longer more beneficial customer relationship. Creating beneficial customer relationships entails a better knowledge of customers. Analysis of a given customer’s profile and every interaction with that customer will provide predictive information on his or her behavior and how he or she prefers to be treated. Only after this has been completed, will a company be prepared to personalize that customer’s experience through all customer touch points. Personalization is not only a critical cornerstone of CRM but also one of the most challenging to accomplish. A company must be able to effectively learn from each customer interaction, record the results of that learning to gain a better understanding of each customer’s preferences, and determine how the company can best serve that customer over his lifetime. This understanding will allow the company to communicate the right information to the customer at the right time using the right channel, and will ensure that all of those interactions are complete and consistent. The overall market place is raising customer expectations at the same time that brand loyalty is decreasing. With the competition as close as a mouse-click away in some cases, customers have come to expect that an organization will completely understand their needs and preferences ( and  2002).

 

Managing Key Customers

Traditional marketing strategies focused on the 4Ps (place, product, price and promotion) to increase market share. The main concern was to increase the volume of transactions between seller and buyer (1999 cited in  and  2001). CRM is a business tactic the goes further than maximizing transaction volume. The purposes of CRM are to boost profitability, revenue, and customer satisfaction. A company wide set of tools, technologies, and procedures support the association with the customers to raise sales. CRM is primarily a strategic business and process issue rather than a technical issue.

CRM consists of three components:

• Customer – The customer is the only source of the company’s present profit and future growth. However, a good customer, who supplies more profit with less resource, is always limited since customers are well informed and the competition is fierce. Information technologies can provide the abilities to distinguish and manage customers. CRM can be thought as a marketing approach that is based on customer information ( 1999 cited in  and  2001).
• Relationship – The relationship between a company and its customers involves continuous bi-directional communication and interaction. The relationship can be short-term or long-term, continuous or discrete, and repeating or one-time. Relationship can be attitudinal or behavioral. Even though customers have a positive attitude towards the company and its products, their buying behavior is highly situational ( 1999 cited in  and  2001).
• Management – CRM is not an activity only within a marketing department. Rather it involves continuous corporate change in culture and process. The customer information collected is transformed into corporate knowledge that leads to activities that take advantage of the information and the market opportunities. CRM required a comprehensive change in the organization and its people ( and  2001).

 

Maintaining Beneficial and Delightful Relationship: Relationship Marketing

Rather than pursue a market relationship to bring a product and a consumer/.buyer together, relationship marketing and CRM attempt to establish and cultivate a marketing relationship that enables cooperative problem solving. Communication is participated in for the purpose of informing, answering, listening, aligning and matching. Maintaining beneficial and delightful relationship with the customers is possible through the following: Retention of selected customers, rather that recruiting new ones to replace valued defectors.

• A focus on long-term associations, with an orientation to identifying and meeting future customer needs.
• A focus on service benefits rather than features – a system orientation which customizes offerings, including communication, through interaction.
• Emphasis on high levels of customer service through repetitive interaction.
• High levels of commitment based on promises to and from selected customers.
• High level of customer contact.
• Interactive-marketing function connected with all other business functions, not separated like the traditional marketing function.
• Interactive marketing supported by marketing mix activities – customers involved in design of solutions, rather than unilateral attempts to change attitudes.
• People in the supplier organization become critical marketing resources as ‘part-time marketers’.
• Direct management of customer portfolio.
• Continuous real-time dialogue with customers.
• The seller considers relationship marketing as a communication process that enhances the relevance of the seller’s offering.
• The buyer considers relationship marketing as a communication process that should enhance the relevance of the seller’s offering ( 2001).

 

Relationship marketing focuses on the individual customer, but also other stakeholders, and seeks to manage the relationships to add value for each person ( 2001).

 

Good CRM: Customer Retention and Loyalty

The CRM approach is customer-centric. This approach focuses on the long-term relationship with the customers by providing the customers benefits and values from the customers’ point of view rather than based on what the company wants to sell. The basic questions that CRM tries to answer are:

• What is the benefit of the customer?
• How can we add the customer’s value?

Four basic tasks are required to achieve the basic goals of CRM (,  1999 cited in  and  2001).

• Customer Identification – To serve or provide value to the customer, the company must know or identify the customer through marketing channels, transactions, and interactions over time.
• Customer Differentiation – Each customer has their own lifetime value from the company’s point of view and each customer imposes unique demands and requirements for the company.
• Customer Interaction – Customer demands change over time. From a CRM perspective, the customer’s long-term profitability and relationship to the company is important. Therefore, the company needs to learn about the customer continually. Keeping track of customer behavior and needs is an important task of a CRM program.
• Customization/Personalization – “Treat each customer uniquely” is the motto of the entire CRM process. Through the personalization process, the company can increase customer loyalty.

 

Principles of CRM

The overall processes and applications of CRM are based on the following basic principles.

• Treat Customer Individually – Remember customers and treat them individually. CRM is based on philosophy of personalization. Personalization means ‘content and services’ to customer should be designed based on customer preferences and behavior ( 1999 cited in  and  2001). Personalization creates convenience to the customer.
• Acquire and Retain Customer Loyalty through Personal Relationship – Once personalization takes place, a company needs to sustain relationships with the customer. Continuous contacts with the customer – especially when designed to meet customer preferences – can create customer loyalty ( and  2001).
• Select Good Customer based on Lifetime Value – Find and keep right customers who generate the most profits. Through differentiation, a company can allocate its limited resources to obtain better returns ( and  2001).

 

Customer Life Cycle

Customer relationship management is its broadest sense simply means managing all customer interactions. In practice, this requires using information about the customers and prospects to more effectively interact with the customers in all stages of the organization’s relationship with them (customer life cycle). The stages of customer life cycle are:

• Acquiring customers – The first step in CRM is to identify prospects and convert them to customers. CRM helps organizations to better understand their customer’s needs.
• Increasing the value of the customer – Personalization is the key to increasing the value of the product or service of the customer.
• Retaining good customers – The cost of acquiring a new customer exceeds the cost of keeping good customers.

 

Product Life Cycle Stages

• Introductory Stage – Losses or at best profits are experienced often during the introductory stage. This is because sales are low and promotion and distribution costs are relatively high ( 2000).
• Growth Stage – New competitors enter the market attracted by the prospect of large-scale production potential and the large profits to be made as the market grows in size and economies of scale come into operation. There is little change in prices and promotional expenditure fro the introductory stage, though both may be slightly reduced. Sales are expanding during this stage ( 2000).
• Maturity Stage – The maturity stage follows on from the onset of the decline in the rate of sales growth. The latter produces over-capacity in the industry in which in turn leads to increased competition. It is a stage in which profits decline. During the maturity stage, firms implement frequent price reductions and increase advertising and consumer promotions ( 2000).
• Decline Stage – sales of most products eventually start to decline for one or more of several reasons. These include technological progress, shifts in consumer tastes and increased domestic and foreign competition ( 2000).

 

Dealing with Customers as Partners

Amazon has adapted well to the new customer. The company recommends books based on the buyers’ previous purchases and on other customers who have bought similar books. As preference change, Amazon makes suggestions to reflect these changes. Co-creating personalized experiences is a strategy as firms aim toward micro segmentation – namely the market of one. Customers have become co-creators of products and services by selecting from a menu of features. Organizational flexibility becomes the thrust as firms endeavor to satisfy changing customer desires. Market segmentation research is designed to identify market segments within a larger market and to recognize the needs and wants of one or more groups so that the marketing mix can be directed toward the satisfaction of their needs. The study of buyer behavior is helpful in learning about the characteristics that consumers’ exhibit in searching for, purchasing, and evaluating the goods and services they seek ( 2003).

 

CRM and Product Awareness

In the past, the prime approach to attracting new customers was through media and mail advertising about what the firm has to offer. This advertising approach is undiscriminating, reaching many people including current and people who would never become customers.

 

 

IMPLEMENTING CRM: AMAZON.COM

 

The US-based company Amazon is well known as the world’s biggest e-Retailer of books, head to head with  and  for the title of the world’s largest bookstore, even though Amazon sells online only. From a start-up in 1995, annual sales have grown to more than $1 billion and the company has 2.5 million customers – but reported its first profit only in2002. Other products include CDs and videos. The UK site () was formed in 1998 by the takeover of Bookpages, and the UK is now Amazon’s biggest market outside the USA.

Amazon.co.uk followed the US parent’s example of using heavy advertising to promote brand awareness. Traffic to the site is encouraged using the affiliate system. For example, popular search engines such as AltaVista offer links to books related to the key words. The site is user-friendly, enabling e-Shoppers to find books quickly by title, author or subject. Users can find their title in seconds from a few keywords. Synopses and contents lists are provided, along with a list of other relevant books. Amazon keeps a record of customers' preferences and advises when new books likely to be of interest are published. One of the main selling propositions is a discount of up to 40 per cent - but such deep discounting made it hard for the company to reach profitability. Amazon is renowned for customer service, security and fast delivery ( and  2002).

 

Personalization

When customers buy something from Amazon.com, they can see the following statement; “Customers who bought this item also bought these items”. If a customer has a previous purchasing experience with Amazon.com, the company will support a ‘Welcome to Recommendations’ Web page. The personalized Web pages, vast selection of products, and low price lead customer loyalty and long-term relationship of Amazon.com. More than 20 million people have purchased at Amazon. Com. The percentage of returning customers is about 15 to 25 percent, compared with 3 to 5 percent for other e-business retailers.

Amazon.com assembles large amounts of information on individual customer buying habits and personal information. Based on a customer’s previous purchases and Web surfing information, Amazon.com recommends books, CDs and other products. Sometimes a customer buys additional products because of this information. Through it ‘1-Click’ system, which stores personal information such as credit card number and shipping address, Amazon.com simplifies the customer buying process ( 2000 cited in  and  2001).

 

Data Mining

Data Mining can be used to build a picture of products most likely to be wanted by individual customers. Products tailored specifically can be offered pro-actively. Amazon uses such a system to match new books to existing customers who are likely to be interested in them ( 2004).

 

Differentiation and Customization

Information technology enables forms to pay more attention to what makes consumers different from one another. Focusing on such variation serves as the basis for positioning a brand as being highly intimate with consumers. Amazon uses customers’ purchase histories to make suggestions about additional books that they might enjoy. The system is based on detecting patterns in the purchase histories of other customers who have bought some of the same books as the target customer. Such automatic response systems are simply usage-based segmentation systems that capitalize on the firm’s database to create more customized communications than traditional mass media ( 2001).

Even though one can search online and find the identical book at a lower price than at Amazon.com, Amazon is the clear leader in selling books online. This is a combination of greater awareness of Amazon and unique value. Amazon built a customer-focused principle. It targets customers on a one-to-one basis through Internet-based services.

 

Unique Customer Value and Experience

Amazon created a unique value in their customer interaction through customer relationship management. Amazon through its deep understanding of the way customers shop and the customers’ need for support in their purchasers have successfully integrated CRM. By providing recommendations based on past purchasing behavior and the opportunity to know that ‘customers who bought this book also bought’, or what other readers/listeners/viewer have thought of the product offer opportunity to the customers to make informed decisions and potentially extend their purchases. A leading example of CRM is shown by the Amazon website, where the customers have an enjoyable experience in buying a book, but can also view their own information such as: previous purchases, review recommendations, track delivery and be informed of new releases, updates and news. The customer has a positive experience being informed of the transaction status and returns vital profile information for future targeted support products.

 

One-to-One Marketing

Amazon.com has developed a one-to-one marketing strategy. The customers are identified individually and classified in terms of their purchase and consumption habits and preferences. This is done through data mining and purchase histories. The customers are differentiated in terms of why they buy a particular product to gain a greater share of their total purchasing power.

 

Conclusion

Customer Relationship Management is all about the creation and maintenance of equally beneficial and long-term relationship between the organization and its customer. It focuses on strengthening the bond between customers and the organization by increasing the value of the relationship for the benefit of both the customer and the organization.

CRM starts with information and knowledge. It is of utmost importance that the organization understands its customers’ needs, wants and preferences. Adapting CRM means a change in marketing focus. The organization must build a more customer-focused approach to marketing. CRM is a marketing approach that is based on customer information. The relationship between an organization and its customers involves mutual communication and interaction. In order to effectively utilize the CRM strategy the organization must:

1. Identify the customers

2. Differentiate each customer

3. Interact with the customers

4. Personalized or customized products

 

CRM is based on the philosophy of personalization. Each customer should be treated individually and uniquely. Content and services to customers should be designed based on customer preferences and behavior. Personalization leads to customer loyalty if the organization maintains effective communication with the customers.

 

 

References

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What is the research evidence for the part the “critical period" plays in second language learning? What might be the implications for teaching?

Critical Period in Second Language Learning

 

What is the research evidence for the part the “critical period" plays in second language learning? What might be the implications for teaching?

 

Introduction

One of the arguments about adolescent or adult second language learning is that they cannot learn another language the same way as they have acquired their first in spite of the claims that the two processes are similar in many aspects. Native speakers acquire their mother tongue at an early age by picking it up in the rich cultural and linguistic environment they were born or grew up in. Adolescent or adult learners cannot feasibly do so in learning a second language because they have already lost their "magic" for picking up a language.

 

Critical Period in Second Language Learning

Critical period is defined by  (1989) as “selected timed in the life cycle in which may structures and functions become especially susceptible to specific experiences that may alter some future instantiation of that structure or function.”

In addition,  (1992) also defined “critical period as environmental events in which must happen at certain times in the development of an organism for normal development to occur.”

( 1991) defined it as “any phenomenon in which there is a maturational change in the ability to learn, with a peak in learning in some maturationally defined period and a decline in the ability to learn, given the same experiential exposure, outside of this period.”

Originally, critical period is used in species-specific behavior. It is the period when imprinting is observed in certain species such as young birds and rats.  (1987) lists four characteristics of the imprinting as below.

·         It tends to appear under well-defined developmental conditions.

·         It cannot be forgotten or revised once it has been established

·         It involves the recognition of species' characteristics rather than individual characteristics.

·         It may be learned long before it is manifested.

 (1987) assumes that only the first characteristic above is applicable to the human language acquisition.

A pioneering work by (1967) explores the critical period hypothesis and concluded that “Between the ages of two and three years language emerges by an interaction of maturation and self-programmed learning. Between the ages of three and the early teens the possibility for primary language acquisition constitutes to be good; the individual appears to be most sensitive to stimuli at this time and to preserve some innate flexibility for the organization of brain functions to carry out the complex integration of sub-processes necessary for the smooth elaboration of speech and language. After puberty, the ability for self-organization and adjustment to the physiological demands of verbal behavior quickly declines. The brain behaves as if it had become set in its ways and primary, basic skills not acquired by that time usually remain deficient for life.” (1967)

In second learning, two very important factors which comprise the critical period hypothesis are age factor and length of learning process (1959). According to their critical period hypothesis, after puberty when the plasticity of the brain is lost, the functions of the various parts of the brain cannot be rearranged, and "complete or nativelike mastery of languages, first or second, is difficult and unlikely" (1988). Therefore, language learning is difficult for adult learners after puberty.  (1967), who further developed the critical period hypothesis, believed that the lateralization of language functions in the left hemisphere is considered to be completed by puberty. If we assume that second language learners were adults, we would not expect them to go through the similar process as children growing up in a target language situation. Grown-ups tend to have their own psychological egos and they may have been influenced by many other affective factors that may prevent them from mingling, socializing, or learning the way native-speaking children or even non-native speaking children do. Their language learning may be hindered by many affective factors or may be limited to certain situations.

The second factor is the length of the learning process. If adults learning a second language follow the similar process of children acquiring their first language in general, it may not expect any adult language learners to take all the time they need or learn in the fashion as children do to attain their proficiency. It may be theoretically sound, but realistically impossible. Time is usually not on adult language learners' side since they themselves need to survive or support their families in the new target language environment and culture by working on jobs. They are not in a position to choose the kind of language environment that is optimal in learning a second language. Because of the biological, socio-cultural, and socio-psychological constraints, adult language learners have other problems young learners do not have. These problems include, but not limited to such affective factors as attitude, motivation, social distance or perceived social distance from the target language group.

As research (1977;  1977) has indicated, adult language learners may develop an attitude problem that will impact their learning or proficiency in a second language in one way or another. This attitude has something to do with the target language, its culture, and people. If second language learners have resentment or prejudice against a certain ethnic group, they may have a difficult time dealing with the language and culture of that particular group. Target language, culture, and its people are often closely linked together. Any bias against an ethnic group may end up affecting the learners' attitude toward whatever symbolizes that group, including their language and culture. Attitude, in turn, is closely linked to motivation. Non-native speakers learning a second language may have different motivations.  (1972) studied several kinds of motivations of second language learners. Some may have an instrumental motivation, which means that their desire to learn a language is totally utilitarian. It is driven by the pragmatic concerns of being able to utilize a language to enter a college, get a job, or further a career. Some others may have an integrative motivation, which means that some second language learners are willing to integrate themselves within the culture of that language group and become part of that society. Generally speaking, the attitude and motivation of second language learners usually play an important role in their second language learning process. If adult learners have a negative attitude toward a language, an ethnic group, or even the target language environment, they may not be motivated to learn the said language willingly.

Another chain reaction coming out of the attitude factor is the social distance or perceived social distance proposed by  (1979). When second language learners have an attitude problem and lacks motivation, they may also have developed some perceived social distance, holding a negative view or assuming certain kind of opinion based on their understanding of the target language, culture, and its people. Acton explained that it was not particularly relevant what the actual social distance was between cultures, since what the learner perceives formed the person's reality. People perceive the cultural environment through the filters of their own worldview and then act upon that perception. When learners encounter a new culture, their acculturation will be affected by how they perceive their own culture in relation to the culture of the target language.

Implication to teaching

Adults who spend the time and effort to learn a second or new language may do it for different reasons and purposes. The majority of them may not have the luxury of having an optimal learning environment envisioned by certain language acquisition or learning theories. They need the basic interpersonal communicative skills (1984) to survive in the target society first.

The purpose of acquiring or learning a language is for communication. To achieve such a purpose, a native speaker or a non-native speaker alike will have to possess certain degree of competence.

In second language learning and teaching, the communicative competence theory proposed by  (1980) and  (1981) is the most commonly espoused and relevant. There are four areas of communicative competences that they depicted. These include grammatical competence or linguistic competence, sociolinguistic competence, discourse competence and strategic competence. “Grammatical competence or linguistic competence includes the mastery of the language code such as lexical items, rules of word formation, sentence formation, literal meaning, pronunciation, and spelling. Sociolinguistic competence indicates the mastery of appropriate language use in different social contexts, with emphasis on appropriateness of meanings and forms. Discourse competence refers to the speaker or writers mastery of combining meanings and forms to achieve a unified text in different modes such as a telephone conversation or persuasive essay through the use of cohesion devices relating utterance forms and coherence rules to organize meanings. Finally, strategic competence requires the communicator's mastery of verbal and non-verbal strategies to compensate for breakdowns in communication for lack of the previously mentioned competence or performance limitations such as use of dictionaries and paraphrasing to enhance communication effectiveness.” (1980; 1981)

The reason second language learners need to resort to learning grammar is that it provides some general and systematic guidance on the structure and syntax. However, some second or foreign language professionals do not consider grammar to be an important element in second or foreign language learning or teaching. They believe that language can be learned holistically through the context without explicit instruction in grammar.  (1992) claimed that "the effect of grammar is peripheral and fragile" and that "direct instruction on specific rules has a measurable impact on tests that focus the performer on form, but the effect is short-lived."

In the same context, other professional believe that grammar is the only substance in second or foreign language teaching. They would equate language learning and teaching with grammar. Learning a second language is learning the grammar of that language. The traditional grammar-translation method is a typical example.

Age factor is an important element for us to consider in second language learning. Teaching grammar to children is easier since children are capable of acquiring a new language given the rich cultural and linguistic environment and necessary exposure to the target language. For children with less knowledge of the world, rules are acquired through hypothesis testing, not grammar teaching. It is a waste of time to teach children grammar.

However, adult second language learners are more mature compared to children. Adult are more worldly knowledge and are able to use their analytical powers in language learning. Adult language learners may have already lost "the magic" of acquiring a language that children possess; explicit grammar instruction can play a major role in their language learning process. Adult learners are able to comprehend the rules of grammar with the knowledge from either their first language or other experiences derived from their worldly knowledge. They are ready to apply the rules they have learned, and the rules of language will provide them with some perspective on the basic patterns of that language. With analysis of grammar rules and practice, they can induce or deduce meaningful hints out of these rules. In other words, by offering rules of grammar to adult learners, we are offering them a useful and pragmatic tool to compensate for their lack of intuition on the target language.

Grammar instruction does not mean presenting meaninglessly structural information that learners cannot use. On the contrary, it serves as a tool to refine and further "build on what learners already knew and to give them opportunities to deductively construct new meanings" (1999). Grammar plays a very important role in second language learning for adult learners. It provides rules and general guidance that facilitate better understanding of the structures of the target language. The purpose of language learning is to be able to effectively communicate in the target language. Linguistic or grammatical competence is an integral component of the communicative competence. Explicit grammar instruction can enhance the development of the linguistic competence and improve on second language learners' fluency and accuracy so they can use the second language effectively to advance themselves in every aspect in the target language society.