LBSMK 2004 SERVICES MARKETING personal evaluation project (PEP) Literature review

LBSMK 2004 SERVICES MARKETING personal evaluation project (PEP) - Literature review Example Yet, the causes of such dissatisfaction are varied and extensive. The concept of â€Å"satisfaction gaps† emerged from marketing research, which is the difference between customer expectations and their corresponding experience. This paper will attempt to propose a solution to such gap in a marketing-related problem of a service establishment. 2.0. Critical Analysis of the Issue and Literature Review 2.1. The Problem For the purpose of anonymity and confidentiality dictated by research ethics, the business establishment which will be discussed in this paper will be called simply as Company X (Bryman and Bell 2007). Company X is a technology service company whose specialisation is laptop, desktop and cellular phone repair. It was established in 2000 and is located in Eastern-Central Britain. The establishment showed good performance in its first three years of operation. This was mainly the reason why Company X was sub-contracted by a Northern European mobile phone company in 2 004 to serve its clientele in the geographic area covered by Company X, for repair and replacement of parts, if necessary. Subcontracting with the mobile phone company lifted the spirits of both management and technicians. The technicians performed well and helped generate both revenue and more patrons for Company X. Mobile phones which were already off-guarantee period were still being brought by former customers mainly because of their prompt service and technical know-how. Things went well for Company X that its sub-contracting functions with the mobile company was renewed for three-consecutive years. In 2008, a laptop and desktop manufacturer based in the North America commissioned Company X as one of its official service centres. Management was ecstatic. Its 10 best technicians were offered training packages to further hone their skills while the remaining 22 technicians were left to attend to the service needs of their growing clientele. Management promised that the rest of th e technicians will also attend training in two batches after the 10 have returned to resume their tasks. While the company operated for only 12 hours each day, technicians worked in three eight-hour shifts, or seven technicians per shift. When job orders increased to levels where the technicians can no longer put-up with the deadlines they set for completion of the service requests, management opted for overtime with pay instead of hiring new technicians. The rationale volunteered by management is that hiring new technicians will not ensure that deadlines will be met since they would not be sure if the applicants can deliver up to management expectations by simply looking at their resumes. With an additional sub-contracting project and fewer technicians to work on repair orders, problems started to surface. To date, absenteeism became rampant. Patrons are starting to be dissatisfied with the service jobs they requested. Technicians who used to be accommodating and interacted with cu stomers with a smile have turned grumpy. Customers have aired their complaints with customer service. The mobile company had threatened not to renew their contract if the customer service issues will not be addressed. In the operation manager’s latest quarterly report, revenue for the last month dropped by 40% of the previous six

Successful FDI Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Successful FDI - Essay Example This paper addresses benefits and disadvantages of FDI to both home and host countries and presents a brief business plan for the company linking its foreign investment proposal and analyzes its future plans. E-Walky Plc: E- Shoe and Slippers Electronic shoes and slippers from E-Walky Plc will be extremely amazing experience to the new generation. In today’s technology-driven business environment and life-style, the company plans ‘e-walking’ of new generation. E-Walky, a public limited company headquartered in Colorado, is in its very progressive stage of developing new products, e-shoes and slippers. The days yet to come are to witness how the slippers and shoes can be integrated with advanced technology to make an easier life to both sportsmen and general public. Company plans to campaign its brand name ‘E-Walky’ for its products and chooses China for its FDI. It’s truly going to be a mere micro-computer in every one’s foots, being att ached to the down-part of slippers and shoes covered by specific metals for its safety as well as water-proof purposes. These micro-chips can automatically measure the distances one walks, counts his footsteps, measure the speed of a sportsman and so on. Count-down, safety-walk and speedy-walk are some extremely useful utilities that the company itself kept secret and rather surprising to the public. Its usefulness to electronically track one’s footsteps will attract indoor players of badminton and tennis as well as outdoor players of cricket and football. Its importance to play ‘two-men game’ and group games will certainly appeal to children and youngsters. Its importance to health and convenience to use inside houses will attract both house-wives and old aged customers. More specifically, all these customers will find its operation wonderful and convenient due to the small ‘remote controller’ in their hand. E-Walky Business Plan The main objective of E-Walky is to design and develop electronic shoes and slippers to its customers in and outside the US to continuously promote the digitized life for both general public and sportsmen. The main mission is to create a generation of ‘e-walking’ with help of the highly advanced technology the company adopted in developing E-Walky shoes and slippers. The financial management of the company proposed an initial investment of $10 million to establish the enterprise based in Colorado and to expand the business by directly investing in China with an approximate expenditure of $25 million. It plans to start its R&D and manufacturing activities in the US and to sell around 1.5 million shoes in the US markets within first 12 months. At the same, the company’s operation will be held in large scale in China to market around 10 million products through major countries like Japan, UK, India, Brazil etc. The management expects that once its marketing starts in the US, it will a ttract a large number of sportsmen and other people from around the world. As planned, the penetration pricing policy would be used as a competitive tool to merit the firm and build a long-term brand image for the company (Hirschey, 2009, p. 567). The financial department proposed that the company would be able to sell more than 13 million products worldwide returning an