Duties of Students Essay Example for Free

Duties of Students Essay The responsibilities of students include: preparing a programme of work at appropriate intervals in each academic year in consultation with supervisors and ensuring that any deviation from the programme is reported without delay to the supervisors; Discussing with the supervisors the type of guidance and comment they find most helpful and agreeing a schedule of meetings; taking the initiative in raising problems or difficulties, however basic they may seem; maintaining the progress of the work in accordance with the stages agreed with the supervisors, including the presentation of written material as required in sufficient time to allow for comments and discussion before proceeding to the next stage; informing the supervisors of impending requirements related to expenditure within the budget; providing a formal annual report to the Faculty Graduate Research Committee (RD 47 form). And other progress reports as required; completing a Training Needs Analysis and maintaining a Personal Development Plan using the facilities provided by the University; attendance at the post-graduate training modules in Research Methods offered by the Faculty or centrally provided in collaboration with the Graduate School; attendance at the programme of personal skills training for post-graduate researchers offered by the Graduate School; planning when they intend to submit their thesis, taking due account of the opinion of their supervisors; Before submission, clearing any laboratory area in which they have been working, including the safe disposal of surplus chemicals and other materials; maintaining a repository of all primary data concerned with the research programme, either in notebooks or computer disk or machine print-outs, for retention until any publications from the thesis have completed the relevant peer review cycles; writing the thesis is the students own responsibility. Students are expected to have a good command of the English language. Students are strongly advised to show drafts of their thesis to the supervisors so that the appropriate advice and comments may be given well ahead of the date for formal submission; student representation on the Faculty Graduate Research Committee is important, so you should ensure that you know who your representative is. It is important to keep written records of the work done, progress with related studies and outcomes from supervisory meetings. Together with the written reports to supervisors and, of course, any publications in conferences and journals, these notes are invaluable for the preparation of the transfer report and in writing the final thesis.

Media Rights for Barclays Premier League in Singapore

Media Rights for Barclays Premier League in Singapore 1. Background Information In 1998, StarHub first introduced the English Premier League to Singapore and has constantly secured broadcasting rights for the past 12 years. During that period, local telecommunications rival, SingTel, has launched their own pay-TV service named mio TV on July 2007, signaling its intention to rival StarHub to be the nations main pay-TV provider. In 2008, SingTel made its first step by securing the media rights to the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League from 2009 to 2012. With the rights for these prestigious European football competitions, many StarHub pay-TV customers were forced to sign up with SingTels mio TV to satisfy their needs. One year on, in October, SingTel rocked the nation by announcing their victory in the bidding war for the media rights for the English Premier League, which is known now as the Barclays Premier League, from 2011 to 2013. The victory was greeted with dismay from many football fans, as they now have to make the jump from StarHubs pay-TV over to mio TV to get their dosage of English football. This effectively ended StarHubs 12-year broadcasting rights of the league, which would certainly result in a fall of subscribers in time to come. 2. Purpose of the Report This report aims to identify the various economic concepts shown in the textbook, and show how they are applicable in the actual business world using the decisions of StarHub and SingTel as examples. 3. The Art and Science of Economic Analysis 3.1 The Economic Problem In the article, it is clearly identified that the resources which led to Starhub bringing in the Barclays Premier League (BPL) to Singapore are human capital and the entrepreneurial ability of the firm. Human capital was shown in the form of knowledge they had on the wants of the locals, and the entrepreneurial ability of StarHub made them realize that they could profit from this project. It was exactly the same two factors that led SingTel to wrestle for the BPL media rights from StarHub. Having observed the huge economic benefits StarHub enjoyed with the monopoly of the BPL media rights in Singapore, SingTel realized they too, would profit hugely from the ownership of the BPL media rights. Thus, SingTel launched a bid to rival StarHub for the rights, which sparked off a bidding war between the two telecommunications firm. Eventually, SingTel earned the rights to broadcast the leagues game for the next 3 years, starting from 2010. 3.2 The Science of Economic Analysis SingTels decision to foray into the Pay-TV market and especially, the market for televised sports like soccer is not due to a normative economic statement, or opinion, made by their staff. Instead, it has been based on a positive economic statement, which is backed by concrete facts. The decision to outbid StarHub for the BPL media rights was greeted by the stock market with changes to the share prices of both firms. StarHubs price dived 16 cents to a low of $2.01 before closing at $2.03 yesterday. SingTels share price rose from $3.25 to $3.31 before closing at $3.28. (A whole new ball game in pay-tv market, 2009, October) This supports the statement that the local market for the BPL is lucrative, as the stock market has made changes to reflect the expected future gains of SingTel, and the foreseen loss of StarHub. Having said so, the change in the share prices are definitely in response to SingTels successful bid, thus eliminating the possibility that the fallacy that association is causation was committed. 4. Economic Tools and Economic Systems 4.1 Three Economic Questions Of course, before the bid was launched, SingTel had to know what to do should they win the bid. Hence, the three economic questions learned in Microeconomics come into play. Firstly, SingTel has identified the broadcasting of Barclays Premier League matches as a service they wish to provide to the nation. Secondly, the launch of mio TV in 2007 paved the way for the bid, with SingTel in the clear that they would use the mio TV as a portal to broadcast programmes, especially the BPL games in the future. With the above two questions answered, SingTels ultimate aim was to overtake StarHub as the nations leading pay-TV provider. Hence, their target market would be the existing subscribers to StarHubs pay-TV, and more notably, the huge number of subscribers to the BPL games and other sports programmes. 4.2 Negative Spillover Costs Negative spillover costs have been incurred with SingTels foray into the local pay-TV market. This is supported by the article which mentioned that SingTels foray into pay TV which split the football content which previously all resided with StarHub actually fuelled soccer fans ire. Thanks to competition between the duo, they said, football fans have to sign up for both StarHub and SingTels pay-TV services to enjoy all of the matches they had previously received when StarHub was the sole pay-TV player. (A whole new ball game in pay-tv market, 2009, October) With that, it is clear that the move by SingTel has not gone down well with sports subscribers of StarHubs pay-TV and has created unnecessary inconvenience. 5. Economic Decision Makers 5.1 The Firm The answers from the three economic questions, namely what service to produce, how and who to produce the service for, reiterates the fact that SingTel is a firm, just like StarHub. Firms are economic units created by entrepreneurs looking to earn money through the combination of the various resources to produce a good or provide a form of service. A more specific term to describe SingTel and StarHub are that they are separate corporations. Corporations are one of the most highly-valued forms of business, often equipped with significant financial power. Funds can be raised quickly through the sale of the corporations stocks, which also leads to the company having an array of stockholders. Behind the strong financial wealth are several drawbacks. Firstly, stockholders are unable to have a significant say in the operations of the corporations with their votes making up only a minority. Instead, a board of directors is often entrusted with the job of making corporate decisions with their bigger shares. Corporate income is also taxed twice, resulting in more profits being used to pay taxes. Despite that, corporate incomes are often huge sums of money, and the taxes would not be able to affect it much. 6. Demand, Supply and Markets 6.1 Demand, Supply and Market Equilibrium for SingTels mio TV For SingTels mio TV, the demand and supply increases by the same value. The increase in demand is attributed to the successful bid of SingTel for the Barclays Premier Leagues media rights. With the media rights, SingTel is able to broadcast the BPL games on their pay-TV service. This would cause a significant increase in the subscribers for mio TV as the subscribers want their dosage of BPL football. This is in line with the taste and preferences of the subscribers, which is a determinant of demand. Hence, there will be a rightward shift for demand. The change in supply for SingTels mio TV is due to SingTels expectations on the future prices of their sports package, which is a determinant of supply. With the hype for the BPL matches present now, it would bring along sales for the sports package. However, in a years time, people might be more interested in other sporting events, and the BPL matches would not appeal as much to the public. As a result, SingTel would then have to reduce their prices to increase sales as the sport package would turn into a luxury product, instead of a necessity. This would see a leftward shift for supply. With an identical shift in the demand and supply curve, the equilibrium price will remain the same. 6.2 Demand, Supply and Market Equilibrium for StarHubs pay-TV For StarHubs pay-TV, a fall in demand has been observed. This is a result of their failure to continue providing Singapore with the BPL matches on their pay-TV service. As such, consumers desperate for their fix of football decided to make the jump to SingTels mio TV due to their taste and preference for the BPL matches. This is the determinant of demand that causes the fall in demand. There is no change reflected in the supply curve as the channels in the sports package are still present. However, the only difference is the removal of the BPL content. Hence, there is no change in supply. As such, the equilibrium price has reduced to account for the fall in demand. 7. Elasticity of Demand and Supply 7.1 Price Elasticity For many Singaporeans, the Barclays Premier League matches are not considered as a necessity to them. Hence, the demand of SingTels sports package is more price elastic to the general public. This means that they are very responsive to changes in the price plans for the matches, and would be unlikely to sign up for the package should it be too pricey. However, to the football fans in the nation, it is a content they are not able to live without. Therefore, the demand of the package is less price elastic to them, suggesting they are not responsive to price changes. This indicates that they would be willing to sign up for the package, regardless of the change in price. 7.2 Income elasticity With the nation recovering quickly from the economic recession, as seen from the recent reports stating that Singapores economy expanded at a stunning pace of 19.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2010. (Singapore economy zooms 19.3% in Q2, 2010, July), the money income of consumers has risen. To them, SingTels sports package is a normal good, as compared to StarHubs sports package, which has been deemed as an inferior good. This is highly due to SingTels success in securing the media rights for the BPL games, which allows them to broadcast the BPL games and other related programmes on mio TV. Thus, with the increase in money income of consumers, they would be more willing to purchase the sports package launched by SingTel. 8. Production and Cost 8.1 Costs in the Long Run and Economies of Scale Firstly, the successful bid for the BPL media rights and ESPN Star Sports brought an increase to the amount of channels available for mio TV. This would indicate an increase in the output by SingTel. Next, average cost for SingTel decreases as they would see an increase in subscribers, especially with football fans rushing to sign up for their sports package. This would cover up the cost incurred between q and qa. Lastly, with the increase in customers for SingTels mio TV service, they would have to increase their plant size to cater to the increase in demand. The plant size could increase in the form of having more service centers around the island, with more technicians and customer service officers hired to meet demands. This would open up the opportunity to create a more extensive division of labour, reflected from qa to q. In the long run, SingTels decision to take over as the exclusive broadcaster of BPL content would enable them to earn a tidy sum of profit. SingTel was not afraid of suffering losses even though StarHub reported that they lose money from providing sports content to pay-TV customers. (A whole new ball game in pay-tv market, 2009, October) They knew that as they were the only pay-TV operator showing BPL content, they would be able to benefit from the media rights with business opportunities coming in from all over the market, including advertising and partnership deals. 8.2 Explicit and Implicit Costs In the case of SingTel, they have incurred both explicit and implicit costs in their decision to outbid StarHub for the BPL media rights. The explicit costs incurred are the money spent on bidding for the exclusive media rights for the Barclays Premier League and the cost of operating mio TV. The implicit costs, also known as the opportunity cost incurred, would be the reduction of their budgets to spend on other genres of programmes. This reduces their ability to bid for other genres of programmes such as primetime blockbusters. 9. Oligopoly Duopoly 9.1 Barriers to Entry With only two pay-TV operators in Singapore, the oligopoly could be identified as a duopoly. A duopoly is a form of oligopoly where only two dominant players are present in a market. As with all kinds of market structure, barriers to entry are in place to deter additional competition. Firstly, there is a high-start up cost involved to enter the pay-TV industry. With bids starting from six-figure sums, a lack of start-up funds would certainly spell the end of the new company as they would not be able to compete with the financial power of StarHub and SingTel. Secondly, StarHub and SingTel have been around for some time, establishing a reputation along the way. The general public is more accustomed to these brands, and any new entrants to the pay-TV market would find it hard to persuade customers to switch to their service. This is true till they are able to force competition through providing exclusive content that the customers demand or other attractive deals. In the case of SingTels mio TV, their original entry to the industry back in 2007 was tough as StarHub was the only established player in the market. SingTels mio TV was finally able to garner the support of customers when they secured the rights to the elite European football competitions. Lastly, the new entrants would probably suffer losses early on, as a large output is required before low production costs can be achieved. This is also known as the economies of scale. The economies of scale would not benefit the new entrants as it takes time to establish high economies of scale. This would put them at a disadvantage as they are unable to effectively compete with the other pay-TV providers. 9.2 Price Leadership Price leadership refers to a player in the market that establishes a price for the rest of the industry to abide to. The player that sets the market price is usually one of the forerunners in the industry, and others in the market would follow suit. This is practiced to avoid price competition as everyones prices will be kept the same. In the case of SingTel, after they have taken over the media rights for the BPL games from StarHub, pressure was inflicted by the public for prices to remain the same. Fans feared that a change in ownership of the rights would cause a hike in the price for BPL matches, due to the exorbitant bid made by SingTel for the rights. Hence, SingTel agreed to maintain the same price that StarHub used to charge for their sports package, appeasing the public. Thus, price competition was not present in this scenario. $25 million StarHub pay-TV SingTel mio TV Raise Raise Maintain Maintain $25 million $20 million $20 million $20 million $25 million $20 million $25 million9.3 Game Theory SingTels huge bid for the Barclays Premier League media rights was not made without any form of theory. Instead, SingTel and StarHubs bids for the BPL media rights could be represented by the game theory. In the game theory presented above, the figures used are generic as the actual bid was not disclosed to the public. The objective of the game theory is to avoid the worst possible outcome, which in this scenario, is losing the bid for the rights. Hence, neither SingTel nor StarHub would think of maintaining their current bid. This is because if the other party decides to raise their bid, it would effectively rule them out of the competition. Thus, neither side would maintain their bid, ruling out the option of both parties maintaining their bids. As such, the only likely choice would be for both telecommunications firm to raise their bid. The difference was that SingTel decided to raise their bid significantly, which outweighed StarHubs raised bid with ease. Hence, SingTel obtained the media rights for the Barclays Premier League. 10. Conclusion In conclusion, SingTel has come a long way to achieve its goal of overtake StarHub as Singapores dominant pay-TV operator in sports. When SingTel first started, they experienced difficulties attracting customers as they were unable to rival what StarHub was able to offer to its subscribers. It was only when they obtained the broadcasting rights for the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League that football-mad customers decided to make the switch to SingTels mio TV. A year ago, SingTel stepped up its attempt to overtake StarHub by outbidding the latter for the BPL media rights for the next three years. Their successful bid enabled them to be the new price leader in the industry, and many football fans from StarHub made the jump from StarHubs pay-TV to SingTels mio TV to get their fix of football. This led to an increase in demand of SingTels mio TV, and a fall in demand for StarHubs pay-TV. Looking at the long term benefits, SingTels costs have been reduced due to an increase in the economies of scale, through establishing more service centers and hiring more workers to meet the increased demand. With a huge number of customers making the switch from StarHub pay-tv to SingTel mio TV due to their need for football, it has allowed SingTel to overtake StarHub as the nations dominant pay-TV operator in sports.

Consumer Behaviour Towards Milk Products

Consumer Behaviour Towards Milk Products Consumer behavior is the study of when, why, how, and where people do or do not buy products. It blends elements from psychology, sociology, social anthropology and economics. It attempts to understand the buyer decision making process, both individually and in groups. It studies characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics and behavioral variables in an attempt to understand peoples wants. It also tries to assess influences on the consumer from groups such as family, friends, reference groups, and society in general. Consumer behavior is influenced by: demographics, psychographics (lifestyle), personality, perceptions, motivation, knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and feelings. Consumer behavior concern with consumer need consumer actions in the direction of satisfying needs leads to his behavior of every individual depend on thinking process. Consumers with similar incomes and socio-demographic characteristic, facing similar relative prices, and equipped with similar information, tend to choose similar baskets of goods ( Connor, 1991). There is much research on dairy products that show that socio-economic factors and consumers demographic factors have a major impact on their consumption of dairy products (e.g. Bogue and Ritson, 2006; Armstrong et al., 2005; Valli and Traill, 2005; Tendero and Bernabeu, 2005; Vermeir and Verbeke, 2006; Viaene and Gellynck, 1997; Kotler, 1997). In addition, cultural diversity may have an important influence on consumption (Valli and Traill, 2005). There are large differences in the quality of life indicators between urban and rural areas (Sengul and Sengul, 2006). Also there are differences among the urban and rural populations in terms of their socio-economic and demographic characteristics. Customer behavior study is based on consumer buying behavior, with the customer playing the three distinct roles of user, payer and buyer. Relationship marketing is an influential asset for customer behavior analysis as it has a keen interest in the re-discovery of the true meaning of marketing through the re-affirmation of the importance of the customer or buyer. A greater importance is also placed on consumer retention, customer relationship management, personalization, customization and one-to-one marketing. Social functions can be categorized into social choice and welfare functions. The idea that customers prefer one product or one service over another is not new. The ability to identify and measure the elements of such preference decisions with any accuracy and reliability has only recently become available. Research into this area of consumer behavior has brought understanding to some of the major issues with standard customer satisfaction research. Most importantly, we have come to realize that high customer satisfaction does not assure continued customer preference. CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR CULTURAL FACTORS: Culture Sub-Culture Social Class SOCIAL FACTORS: Reference Group Family Role and Status PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS: Motivation Perception Learning Attitudes Beliefs PERSONAL FACTORS: Age and Life-Cycle Occupation Economic Situation Lifestyle Personality Figure 1.2 Factors affecting Consumer Behavior Consumer behavior is defined ad the mental and emotional process along with the physical activities of the people who purchase/consume goods and services to satisfy their particular needs and wants. Consumer is the most important person to the marketer because the marketer takes in to consideration on the liking and disliking of the consumer and he produces the goods and services accordingly. Consumer behavior is important for the three persons. For consumer: As a consumer most of the time will spend time in the market and a lot on decision making that what to buy and how to buy and meeting and conferencing with different types of peoples and friends with different types of good and services. For producer: Consumer behavior is also important for producer because producer design and manufacture different types of product and services keeping in view the wants and needs of consumer. For scientist: The knowledge of consumer behavior is also important for scientists, whether the scientist is working for profitable organization or non profitable organization. One of the advantages of consumer behavior can be seen when looking at advertisers and how they advertise by keeping the consumers in mind. Advertisers spend a lot of money to keep individuals and groups of individuals (markets) interested in their products. To succeed, they need to understand what makes potential customers behave the way they do. The advertisers goal is to get enough relevant market data to develop accurate profiles of buyers that is basically to find the common ground and symbols for communication. This involves the study of consumer behavior, the mental and emotional process and the physical activities of the people who purchase and use goods and services to satisfy particular needs and wants. Along side the behavior of organizational buyers (the people who purchase the products and services for use in business and government). The primary mission of advertising is to reach prospective customers and influence their awareness, attitudes and buying behavior. This can be done successfully only through knowing the consumer preferences, behavior towards various stimuli i.e. consumer behavior. 1.2 CONSUMER PERCEPTIONS, ATTITUDES AND MOTIVES TOWARDS MILK PRODUCT 1.2.1 Consumer Perceptions As a consumer, decision making is a very important factor as good decision making will see the Prosper but poor decision making could cost it a lot. In the fact, consumer perceptions influence all the decision of consumer. Perception is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment. The perception is important in the study of consumer behavior because people or consumer behavior is based on their perception of what reality is, not on reality itself. A number of factors operate to shape and sometimes distort perception. These factors can reside in the perceiver, in the object or target being perceived, or in the context of the situation in which the perception is made. Factor in the perceiver: Attitudes Motives Interests Experience Expectations Factor in the situation: Time Work setting Social setting Factors in the target: Novelty Motion Sounds Size Background Proximity Similarity PERCEPTIONS Figure 1.3 Factors that influence perceptions. Perceptions and Individual Decision Making, Organization Behavior (Fifth Edition) When an individual looks at a target and attempts to interpret what he or she sees, that interpretation is heavily influenced by the personal characteristic of the individual perceiver. Personal characteristic that affect perception include a persons attitudes, personality, motives, interests past experiences and expectations. Characteristic of the target being observed can affect what is perceived. Loud people are more likely to be noticed in a group than the quiet ones. For example of the milk product is the milk product with more benefit and promotion are more likely to be noticed in consumer mind than the low promotions. So, too, are extremely attractive or unattractive individuals. Because targets are not looked at in isolation, the relationship of a target to its background also influences perceptions. Based on study by Grunert et al. (2000) mentioned that consumer perception of dairy product quality was characterized by four major dimensions, hedonic, health-related, convenience related and process related. The information of the product itself rather than the physiological properties of the product influenced consumer acceptance of dairy product. Watanabe et al. (1997) classified consumer characteristics of milk consumption and indicated that men, middle-aged people, and people with no calcium concerns preferred soda and alcoholic beverages. People with relatively stronger health concerns consumed more milk products. Hsu and Kao (2001) evaluated product attributes and demographic factors that influenced purchases of fluid milk products in Taiwan using consumer survey data. Their result revealed that larger households purchases more fluid milk products. Households with higher income and household shoppers with higher educational levels tended to reduce purchases of flavoured milk products. 1.2.2 Consumer Attitudes As a consumer, each of us has a vast number of attitudes towards products, services, advertisements, direct mail, the internet, and retail stores. Within the context of consumer behavior, an appreciation of prevailing attitudes has considerable strategic merit. To get at the heart of what is driving consumers behavior; attitude research has been used to study a wide range of strategic marketing questions. For example, attitude research is frequently undertaken to determine whether consumers will accept a proposed new-product idea, to gauge why a firms target audience has not reacted more favorably to its new promotional theme, or to learn how target customers are likely to react to a proposed change in the firms packaging design. 1.2.1.1 The Attitude-Toward-Object Model The attitude towards object model is especially suitable for measuring attitudes towards a product or service category or specific brands. According to this model, the consumers attitude toward a product or specific brands of a product is a function of the presence and evaluation of certain product-specific beliefs and attributes. In other words, consumers generally have favorable attitudes towards those brands that they believe have an adequate level of attributes that they evaluate as positive, and they have unfavorable attitudes towards those brands they feel do not have an adequate level of desired attributes or have too many negative or undesired attributes. Conducting consumer attitude research with children, especially gauging their attitudes towards products and brands is an ongoing challenge. What are needed are new and effective measurement approaches that allow children to express their attitudes toward brands. 1.2.1.2 The Attitudes-Toward-Behavior Model The attitude toward behavior model is the individuals attitude toward behaving or acting with respect to an object rather than the attitude toward the object itself. The appeal of the attitude toward behavior model is that it seems to correspond somewhat more closely to actual behavior than does the attitude toward object model. 1.2.1.3 Theory of Reasoned Action Model The theory of reasoned action represents a comprehensive integration of the attitude components which is the consumer in this case, that ultimately are the building blocks of preference on multinational milk brand. The model is designed to provide a better understanding of how consumer preference is formed and, correspondingly, to provide the means to accurately predict consumer preference behavior. Figure 1.3 provides an overview of customer preference formation from the theory of reasoned action point of view. In order to understand preference it is need to determine the functional or performance demands involved in the purchase, the desired emotive outcomes, and the subjective norms consumers use to determine their desire for one milk product or brand over another. The primary assumption of the model is that individuals make considered purchases. In some cases the consideration may be minimal and the purchase behavior almost habitual. In another the period of consideration (incubation) may be extensive and each element of the consideration process carefully examined. Belief that the behavior leads to certain outcomes Attitude toward The behavior Evaluation of the Outcomes Preference Behavior Intention to buy milk Beliefs that specific referents think I should or should not perform the behavior Subjective comparison norm Motivation to comply with the specific referents Figure 1.3 Basic Structural Model of Customer Preference Formation Source: Adapted from Icek Ajzen and Martin Fishbein, Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behavior (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1980), 84. The important contribution of the reasoned action model is the realization that consumers utilize the model in all purchase experiences of milk to a lesser or greater extent. Of equal importance is the realization that the components used to make a preference decision are also the ones employed by a consumer to evaluate the performance success of the milk product or service purchased and the company responsible for them. Therefore, as the components of preference on milk brand change, the elements influencing satisfaction change accordingly. The relationship is dynamic and fluid therefore static or predetermined satisfaction analytic packages often miss the most important elements of preference and can create a false sense of security on the part of companies who think that since their customer satisfaction scores are high they must in turn have relatively loyal customers. The theory of reasoned action assumes a consequence for the action taken. People prefer some product, someone, or some service because they determined the object was best aligned with companys performance and emotive requirements as judged through our comparative norms. People evaluate the performance in light of how well the product, person or service meets their preference expectations. (www.icrsurvey.com//Customer%20Preference%20Formation_1205.doc) 1.2.3 Consumer Motivation Motivation is one of the important factors that can influence the consumer behavior. Motivation is the processes that account for an individuals intensity, direction and persistence of effort towards attaining a goal. The famous theory in the development of motivation concepts is the Abraham Maslows hierarchy of needs. HIRARCHY OF NEEDS THEORY It is probably safe to say that the most well-known theory of motivation is Abraham Maslows hierarchy of needs. The hypothesized that within every human being there exists a hierarchy of five needs. These needs are: Physiological: includes hunger, thirst, shelter, sex and other bodily needs. Safety: includes security and protection from physical and emotional harm. Social: includes affection, belongingness, acceptance and friendship. Esteem: includes internal esteem factors such as self-respect, autonomy and achievement and external esteem factors such as status, recognition and attention. Self- actualization: the drive to become what one is capable of becoming: includes growth, achieving ones potential and self-fulfillment. Need 3: Social Need Need 1: Physiological Need Need 2: Safety Need Need 4: Esteem Need Need 5: Self Actualization Figure 1.2.3 Maslow Hierarchy of Needs Model As each of these needs becomes substantially satisfied, the next need becomes dominant. In terms of the figure 1.2.3, the individual moves up the steps of the hierarchy. From the standpoint of motivation, the theory would say that although no need is ever fully gratified, a substantially satisfied need no longer motivates. So, if the consumer wants to motivate someone, according to Maslow, the consumer need to understand what level of the hierarchy that consumer is currently on and focus on satisfying the needs at or above that level. While customers have different motivations for consuming the things they do, all consumers have motivations that guide them to want, and purchase certain goods or services. Some motivations for consumption could include the need for status, social acceptance, security or individuality while other motivations are unconscious and can be utilized by marketers to hook consumers into buying a product they never knew they always wanted. Beyond more emotional appeals there is the very real and tangible model of needs proposed by Abraham Maslow in his Hierarchy of Needs pyramid. Maslows theory indicates that most consumer motivations can be attributed to where they fall on the pyramid of needs he developed. The lower level on Maslows pyramid begins with basic physiological needs (dinking fluids, eating, sleeping, etc.), and climbs all the way to the highest level on the pyramid to the need for beauty (as cited in Lindquist Sirgy, 2003, p. 250-251). Maslow believed that a person moved through each level of need sequentially. In other words, once the needs in one category were met completely, a person would move up to the next most immediate category, and his or her purchasing motivations would change as a result of the new category to which he or she would become a part of (as cited in Lindquist Sirgy, 2003, p. 250-251). Maslow separated the five needs into higher and lower orders. Physiological and safety needs were described as lower order needs and social, esteem and self-actualization as higher-order needs. The differentiation between the two orders was made on the premise that higher-order needs are satisfied internally (within the person), whereas lower-order needs are predominantly satisfied externally (by things such as pay, union contracts and tenure). Unfulfilled Needs, Wants, and Desires Tension Learning Drive Behavior Goal or Need Fulfillment Cognitive Processes Tension Reduction Figure 1.4 Model of Motivation Process Source: From Jeffrey F. Dugree et al. Observations: Translating Values into Product Wants, Journal of Advertising Research, 36, 6, (November 1996) The figure above is presents a model of the motivational process. It portrays motivation as a state of need-induced tension that drives the individual to engage in behavior that he or she believes will satisfy the need and thus reduce the tension. Whether gratification is actually achieved depends on the course of action pursued. The specific goals that consumers wish to achieve and the source of action they take to attain these goals are selected on the basis of their thinking processes (cognition) and previous learning. Therefore, marketers must view motivation as the force that induces consumption and through consumption experiences, the process of consumer learning. 1.3 RESEARCH PROPOSAL 1.3.1 The Factors Affecting Consumer Behavior towards Milk Product Consumer purchases are strongly influenced by cultural, social, personal and psychological characteristics. It is difficult for marketers to control such as factors but they should take these into account because it does provide marketers with a guideline. 1.3.1.1 Cultural Factors Cultural factors have a significant impact on customer behavior: 1. Culture Culture is the most basic cause of a persons wants and behavior. Growing up, children learn basic values, perception and wants from the family and other important groups. Marketing are always trying to spot cultural shifts which might point to new products that might be wanted by customers or to increased demand. For example, among this particular family was believed that fresh milk has the highest nutritious value among all types of milk and fitness has created opportunities (and now industries) servicing customers who wish to buy: Low calorie foods Health club membership Exercise equipment Activity or health-related holiday etc 2. Subculture Each culture contains sub-cultures groups of people with share values. Sub-cultures can include nationalities, religions, racial groups, or groups of people sharing the same geographical location. Sometimes a sub-culture will create a substantial and distinctive market segment of its own. For example, people from one country only accept one flavor of milk, it is plain milk. So the people will only buy plain milk and do not want to choose other milk flavor. 3. Social class These are relatively permanent and ordered divisions in a society whose members share similar values, interests and behaviors. For example, high class people who really very concern about their health especially their body shape will only buy low fat milk instead of other types of milk. Cultural factors exert a broad and deep influence on consumer behavior. The marketer needs to understand the role played by the buyers culture, subculture and social class. http://tutor2u.net/business/marketing/buying_cultural_factors.asp 1.3.1.2 Social Factors A consumers behavior is also influenced by social factors, such as the consumers small groups, family, and social roles and status. Because these social factors can strongly affect consumer responses, companies must take them into account when designing their marketing strategies. 1. Reference Groups Groups are a persons behavior is influenced by many small groups. Groups which have a direct influence and to which a person belongs are called membership groups. References groups are groups that serve as direct or indirect points of comparison or reference in the forming of a persons attitudes or behavior. Marketers try to identify the reference groups of their target markets. The importance of group influence varies across products and brands, but it tends to be strongest for conspicuous purchases. For example, an individual may choose a selected milk brand based on their group reference. References by the group can also known as mouth to mouth advertising. The reference group may validate the experience faced by the customer. 2. Family Family family members can strongly influence buyer behavior. We can distinguish between two families in the buyers life. The buyers parents make up the family of orientation. From parents a person acquires an orientation toward religion, politics, and economics and a sense of personal ambition, self-worth, and love. The family of procreation-the buyers spouse and children-exerts a more direct influence on everyday buying behavior. The family is the most important consumer buying organization in society, and it has been researched extensively. Marketers are interested in the roles and relative influence of the husband, wife, and children on the purchase of a large variety of products and services. Consumers are also affected and influenced by the presence of a family member. For example, the parents normally decide what milk product they want to purchase but the children can decide what the flavor is. 3. Role and status Roles and Status a person belongs to many groups-families, clubs, organizations. The persons position in each group can be defined in terms of both role and status. Role consists of the activities people are expected to perform according to the people around them. Status reflects the general respects given to role by the society. People often choose products that show their status in the society. Apart from that, consumers are also affected by their role they play and the status they hold in the society. For example, a general managers role and status will definitely differ from the role and status of a clerk. Bearing this in mind, the needs of customers also change. 1.3.1.3 Personal Factors A buyers decisions are also influenced by personal characteristics such as the buyers age and life-cycle stage, occupation, economic situation, life style, and personality and self-concept. These factors are divided into: 1. Age and life cycle Age and Life-Cycle State people change the goods and services they buy over their lifetimes. The types of milk people buy change during their lifetimes. As people grow older and mature, their desires change. The make up of family cycle also change their behavior. For example, when one person was a kid, he always drinks chocolate milk. But as he grows older, his preference in chocolate milk change becomes low fat plain milk or yogurt. Marketers often define their target markets in terms of life-cycle stage and develop appropriate products and marketing plans. 2. Occupation Occupation a persons occupation affects the goods and services bought. Marketers try to identify the occupational groups that have an above-average interest in their products and services. A company can even specialize in making products needed by a given occupational group. For instance, blue collar workers would buy cheaper milk brand whereas executives will prefer to buy more expensive brand. 3. Economic Situation Economic Situation a persons economic situation will greatly affect product choice. A person with higher purchasing power will be more willing to spend on famous cheese whereby, someone with middle income will choose local cheese, which offer better values. Marketers of income-sensitive goods closely watch trends in personal income, savings, and interest rates. If economic indicators point to a recession, marketers can take steps to redesign, reposition, and re-price their products. 4. Lifestyle Life Style people coming from the same subculture, social class, and even occupation may have quite different life styles. Life style is a persons pattern of living as expressed in his or her activities, interests, and opinions. Life style captures something more than the persons social class or personality. The life-style concept, when used carefully, can help the marketer gain an understanding of changing consumer values and how they affect buying behavior. People who always consume and wear branded stuff might always want to consume only famous milk brand comparing to people who consume milk despite their famous brand. 5. Personality and self concepts (self-image) Personality and Self-Concept each persons distinct personality will influence his or her buying behavior. Personality refers to the unique psychological characteristics that lead to relatively consistent and lasting responses to ones own environment. Many marketers use a concept related to personality-a persons self-concept. 1.3.1.4 Psychological Factors A persons buying choices are also influenced by four major psychological factors motivation, perception, learning, and beliefs and attitudes. Motivation Motivation a person has many needs at any given time. A need becomes a motive when it aroused to a sufficient lever of intensity. A motive is a need that is sufficiently pressing to direct the person to seek satisfaction. Motivation is based on Maslows hierarchy of Needs. According to Maslow, a person tries to satisfy the most important need first, which is known as the survival needs or the psychological needs. When the important need is satisfied, it ceases to act as a motivator and the person will subsequently try to satisfy the next important need, known as safety needs. Base on Maslow theory, it is stated that a person should meet their basic and physiological needs like food, shelter, and clothes. It can be applied to milk as well whereby a person with low income will think how to eat food which can fulfill their body need such as rice before they consume milk which is nutritious but can not satisfy their hunger. Perception Perception a motivated person is ready to act. How the person acts is influenced by his or her perception of the situation. Two people with the same motivation and in the same situation may act quite differently because they perceive the situation differently. Perception is the process by which people select, organize, and interpret information to form a meaningful picture of the world. Learning when people act, they learn. Learning Learning is the reinforcement process, which an individual gained through the experiences. The practical significance of learning theory of marketers is that they can build demand for a product by associating it with strong drives, using motivating cues, and to the same drives as competitors and providing similar cues because buyers are more likely to transfer loyalty to similar brands then to dissimilar ones. Or it may design its brand to appeal to a different set of drives and offer strong cue inducements to switch (discrimination). Belief and Attitudes Beliefs and Attitudes through acting and learning, people acquire their beliefs and attitudes. These in turn influence their buying behavior. A belief is a descriptive thought that a person has about something. Marketers are interested in the beliefs that people formulate about specific products and services. If some of the beliefs are wrong and prevent purchase, the marketer will want to launch a campaign to correct them. People have attitudes regarding religion, politics, clothes, music, food, and almost everything else. An attitude describes a persons relatively consistent evaluations, feelings, and tendencies toward an object or idea. Attitudes put people into a frame of mind of liking or disliking things, moving toward or away from them. Based on study (Morrison, 2002) attitude describes a persons relatively consistent evaluations consistent evaluations, feelings and tendencies toward and object or an idea. (Morrison, Alastair M, Ph.D., Hospitality and Travel Marketing, 3rd Edition, Thompson Learning, United States) SUMMARY Markets must be understood before marketing strategies can be developed. The consumer market buys goods and services for personal consumption. Consumers vary tremendously in age, income, education, tastes and other factors. Marketers must understand how consumers transform marketing and other inputs into buying responses. Consumer behavior is influenced by the buyers characteristics and by the buyers decision process. Buyer characteristics include four major factors: cultural, social, personal, and psychological. A persons buying behavior is the result of the complex interplay of all these cultural, social, personal, and psychological factors. Many of these factors cannot be controlled by marketers, but they are useful in identifying and understanding the consumers that marketers are trying to influence.

Big Fun in BookWorld: Jasper Fforde’s The Well of Lost Plots :: Essays Papers

Big Fun in BookWorld: Jasper Fforde’s The Well of Lost Plots The Well of Lost Plots is a highly entertaining romp through the strange, yet mostly familiar world from the imagination (and extensive reading list) of Jasper Fforde. This is the third book in a series that continues to grow. In the first two books, The Eyre Affair and Lost in a Good Book, our heroine Thursday Next is a literary detective for the Special Operations Network (or SpecOps) of the British Police Force. She verifies the authenticity of rare books and manuscripts, investigates thefts and other criminal behavior, and looks into anything out of the ordinary related to the literary world. Thursday Next’s world is our world – with a few twists. Due to the invention of time travel, and subsequent disruptions of the time line, things have turned out a little different in Thursday’s mid-1980’s England. For instance, when the series begins England is still fighting the Crimean War. This world is a strange mixture of high-tech and no-tech. The airplane was never invented, nor apparently needed. But mega-corporations such as the sinister and omnipresent Goliath Corporation engage in genetic experiments that, among other things, reintroduce from extinction both the Dodo bird and Neanderthal man. In The Eyre Affair Thursday discovers that she has an unexpected talent – she can read herself into books. She discovers BookWorld, the world behind the world of fiction, where characters from literature have lives beyond the pages of their books. In Lost in a Good Book Thursday becomes an agent for Jurisfiction, the agency that keeps order in BookWorld. She is recruited by Miss Havisham (yes, from Dickens’ Great Expectations) and, in addition to retrieving a former enemy from Poe’s The Raven, she manages to save all life on earth from turning into a gooey pink sludge. In The Well of Lost Plots, the third book of the series, Thursday is living in BookWorld hiding out from the Goliath Corporation and hoping to find some peace and quiet. What she finds instead is bureaucracy, politics, intrigue, and a messy underworld; all of which fuel the creative process of fiction writing. When Jurisfiction agents start dying in freak accidents, Thursday begins an investigation that leads her to uncover corruption at the highest levels in BookWorld. This series is the embodiment of metafiction, which The American Heritage Dictionary, 4th Edition (http://www.dictionary.com) defines as â€Å"fiction that deals, often playfully and self-referentially, with the writing of fiction or its conventions.

Female Depression among Group Home Residents Essay -- Social Psycholog

A greater insight into female depression could lead to improvements in group home settings. Specifically with a focus on youth (ages 12-17), the relationship between experience in the justice system will be gathered and interpreted with emotions and symptoms of depression. Critically exploration of the relationship between females who experience symptoms of depression and the justice system using respondents who reside in group homes will lead to a greater understanding of the causes and services that could be made available. Defining Concepts For the purposes of this study depression is â€Å"based on a predicted probability of a person experiencing a major depressive episode (Mitura & Bollman, 2004).†Questions which address â€Å"feelings of sadness, depression, losing interest in most things, feeling tired/low energy, trouble concentrating and trouble falling asleep over the previous 12 months† would be effective for gathering data specific to this study (Mitura & Bollman, 2004). Youth will be defined as participants between the ages of 12 and 17. Experience in the justice system is expanded to include personal encounters in both the capacity of a victim and offender. Group homes are â€Å"community - based homes for young people who are in need of group care (McMann Youth, Family and Community Services Association, 2009)†. Group homes in this study are characterized by the structured, planned and supervised nature of the programs within the home and based upon the assessed needs of the individual ( Ibid) Disciplines The disciplines related to the research being conducted include the fields of psychology and medicine. Psychology covers the aspects of the mind and behaviour of those suffering from depression. The medical field in also di... ...f replicated, similar results would surface (Berg, 2009). This research project will uncover opinions and experiences through interviews and potentially focus groups. Conclusion Females living in a group home setting lack research into depression related to the criminal justice system. Although the subject matter may evoke a great deal of personal hardships, the results would lead to a better understanding of the negative effects of our justice system on girls that do not have continuous parental support. The group home setting provides challenges with obtaining subjects, although with access to this vulnerable population, depression rates could be decreased. The experiences and emotions that come out of this study will provide a glimpse into to complex life of depressed Calgary girls living in group care and hopefully bring positive change to their lives.

The Effect of Humour in Galloway’s the Cellist of Sarajevo

People of all ages and cultures respond to humour. Riddles and jokes have been told for centuries to make light of situations and to make people laugh. Humour is the tendency of particular experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. People are able to be amused, laugh, or smile at something funny, and therefore they are considered to have a sense of humour. To find something humourous depends on the person and their taste in humour and there are many instances when humour does not result in laughter because of the mood of the surroundings or the context. Humour is an emotion that enables us to experience joy even when faced with adversity. It can be seen that in Galloway’s The Cellist of Sarajevo, humour is used in a dark way to lighten the mood. This is done so that the readers have glimpses of light in a dreary time. Humour helps people, in this case the characters, carry on their lives in times of adversity. Galloway uses the lives of Kenan and Dragan to exemplify how humour, in the slightest form, can make a dreary day a little more pleasant. Through examining the life of Kenan, a middle aged man, it will be proven that humour has an important role in his daily life. Kenan has the duty of carrying canisters to the brewery to bring clean, filtered water for his family and Mrs. Ristovski, the neighbour. Before the war, Kenan was a clerical assistant at an accounting firm. His journey to the brewery is very risky because at any point he may be shot; therefore, humour has a huge impact in the way Kenan presently lives his life. Before Kenan leaves his house his wife and him joke about their clothes: â€Å"Would you like me to get you some shoes?†¦ No, she says. But I’ll take a hat if you have time†¦ Of course, he says. I would assume you would like mink? † (Galloway, 26). At a time of war, fancy clothes will not benefit either of them, but he leaves his wife in a good mood. Amila and Kenan use light humour to make a dark situation a little easier to bear. Another example in which Kenan uses his humour to make his grey, dreary journey a little more pleasant is when he walks across an older man fishing for pigeons: â€Å"How’s the fishing today? Kenan asks, †¦ They’re biting well, the man says, †¦ Do you need a licence this time of year? e asks, smiling so the man understands it’s a joke† (Galloway, 64). Seeing the man fishing for pigeons was a brief distraction for Kenan and also a window of hope; with seeing the man, Kenan felt that if he could finish his mission of collecting water for his family, he could also fish for pigeons to help his family. The humour is light; it makes the reader pause, and makes the characters forget about th eir surroundings and just smile. Kenan made slight of the situations he faced so that he can smile, and make it seem that life will carry on with the war. Just as Kenan used humour in his life, Dragan, previously a baker does the same to fill the void of his missing son and wife who left on the last bus to Italy. Dragan now lives with his sister and her family, and to have his space he goes to collect bread from the bakery for the family. While on his journey he has seen many men and women running to cross roads so that the snipers have less probability of hitting them. Dragan likes to see the running as a game: â€Å"The man runs in a straight line. He’s fast. A new world record? Maybe. Perhaps they will have to notify the people at Guinness† (Galloway, 230). Dragan uses sarcasm to make an almost dangerous situation seem funny since the civilian has survived. Dragan likes to see things for what they are, and to make the most of a situation. There is no need to focus on the bad when there is also much to be grateful for. Just like Kenan, Dragan does face a lot of danger and hardships with dealing with the loss of his family, but his humour and sarcasm seem to help him push through and carry on with his life. Dragan uses his wit make it through the tough and challenging times, especially since he has no one by his side. Although Galloway’s The Cellist of Sarajevo is about a devastating, tragic time in history, he manages to use humour in the characters to lighten the mood of the book. By examining how Kenan and Dragan use humour, it has been shown that humour assists in fighting adversity. No matter what situation the character was faced with, they still had their humour, and as long as their sense of humour was alive, their sense of hope would live. As the humour helps the characters in the novel, it also makes the readers have something to tone down the darkness and despair of reality of the war. All persons are different and have appeal to a different sense of humour, but as long as there is something to put a smile on one’s face, then there is something worth fighting for. Works Cited Galloway, Steven. The Cellist of Sarajevo. Toronto, Vintage Canada, 2008 â€Å"Humour. † Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n. d. Web. January 30, 2010

Case analysis: Deloitte & Touche Essay

In Deloitte & Touche, women had accounted for almost half of all new hires throughout the 1980s, yet by 1991, of the 50 candidates being nominated for partnership on that year, only four were women. There was serious imbalance of male and female gender in the workforce despite steps to ensure that the firm would be hiring women during the 1980s. Moreover, the high turnover of women leaving was accruing huge expenses for the firm . In this paper, I will first discuss the challenges faced in the organization and the reasons why the management saw a need for an organization change. Next, I will argue that the current situation favors the change process and despite the possible restraining forces; Deloitte & Touche is in a good position in successfully implementing the strategies. I will then discuss the possible restraining forces that would hinder the change and comment on the recommendations and strategies by the Task Force. Lastly, I will suggest further solutions that would help in overcoming the restraining forces so that this would further aid in the development of the change process. Mike Cook had initially assumed that the main reason why women left the workforce in greater numbers was due to family commitments. However, despite the strategies implemented in the 1980s to hire more talented women and ensuring that there was no glass ceiling for women in the firm, the statistics in 1991 proved that the previous solutions were not adequate and that the firm was incurring huge expenses due to the high rate of turnovers. Thus in 1992, a Task Force was formed whereby the firm hired outside consultants to find out why women were not advancing at the same rate as men, and why they were leaving at a higher percentage rate. After much investigations and interviews, the Catalyst report showed that the top two reasons for their departure was because the women had perceived that there was a male dominated work environment and that opportunities for career advancement was difficult. An imbalance work-life which was perceived by Mike Cook as the main reason was ranked third in importance. Clearly, the management had earlier identified the main reason incorrectly. When one examines the situation at hand, the firm is in a favorable position to execute the change. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, the critical mass, whom are the partners in the firm are suddenly aware of the  real problem the plagues the firm. Engaging the critical mass is crucial as their support for the change is important and their leadership would help transmit effectively the change strategies. Secondly, the firm is presently at the third stage of the development process, whereby they have diagnosed correctly the exact problem. In addition, Lois Evans, one of the top-ranked women in the firm had similarly echoed that the current work environment was a crappy place for any woman to be. By identifying the precise problem, the organisation can now tackle more effectively and implement the appropriate solutions to change the male dominated corporate culture. Changing a corporate culture is extremely difficult and this in my opinion is the biggest restraining force. The challenge for any organization is how to reinforce people in changing an old culture that has lasted for so long. The key to the success is not to impose cultural changes, but to facilitate an environment whereby employees are involved in finding their own new approaches to change. Another major restraining force that might occur is that many male employees might sense a threat in their positional power. In addition, many male workers might start wondering whether these changes would benefit them, and would start questioning the strategies suggested by the Task Force which seems to favor women only. The organization at present is still not accustomed in seeing women in positions of power and thus by developing leadership platforms for women such as an advisory council might bring about suspicion and insecurity for the men. In examining the recommendations suggested by the Task Force, I do agree that the firm should hold workshops and seminars to educate and communicate to the employees that men and women are colleagues . I would suggest that during these workshops, change agents should inform the male workers their subtle actions and words can actually create an unwelcome culture for women. Insensitive comments that make women feel uncomfortable in the workforce should also be avoided. For example, statements such as â€Å"someone working part-time is not interested in the career† or â€Å"she has kids, maybe he should handle the international assignments† should not be made formally, as well as in an informal setting. In addition, managers should also learn to avoid gender stereotypes that women are incapable to handle challenging  assignments simply because they are mothers. Therefore by increasing the awareness of the dangers of stereotyping, male employees would understand and be mo re acceptable when they recognize and see major changes in the work environment that might favor women employees. I similarly agree with the Task Force that the firm should build goals in their business planning and provide directional goals for women in leadership . Defining the criteria to measure and monitor progress for women is also crucial. This is because better information and improving access to career development and training opportunities are significant ways in educating the women their route of advancement. It is obvious that if you do know what is available, the possibility of you attempting to take part would be much higher. Thus it is important to ensure that women receive the same opportunities as men and this can be solved by designing a program to monitor the promotion rates among women and men. I would therefore suggest that the Human resource department have a program that tracks work assignments to ensure that women at Deloitte & Touche are considered for premier clients and projects at equal rates as their male counterparts. Offices should be evaluated annually, ensuring women are being offered fair shots at career-advancing assignments. Another solution is to include women as assessors and to ensure that they are included on senior promotion interview boards. However, one should be cautious and avoid achieving a fix quota. The firm must highlight that equality and meritocracy still exists in the workplace between men and women. This is crucial so that the firm would avoid to be seen as promoting a women-favored environment only. Besides the listed solutions in the case study, there are further considerations that Mike Cook might need to consider. Firstly, it is important to have a policy that is clear to the staff within the organization. Moreover, identifying the right people within the firm to implement the policies is vital as electing change agents who might unconsciously or consciously disagree with the new corporate philosophy might in return sabotage the whole change process rather than aid it.  Secondly, the creation of a positive environment has to start with the chief executive officer and the leaders, and they must set the example in creating an atmosphere of encouragement for the women. The management must also be prepared to provide sufficient resources for the training and development of women. Thirdly, in the creation of a flexible work environment for women as recommended by the Task Force, the challenge the organization face is to dispel myths that the only way a worker can contribute and have the potential for career advancement is on accumulating work hours or â€Å"face time†. While the management should allow women to work at home on occasional periods, and be connected to the work site via a computer through tele-working, the complexity of have this flexible work environment or working from home is in the method of supervision. Managers therefore need to plan and prepare for the experience of tele-work and develop appropriate communication and accountability strategies. Managers should also be respectful to the employee and their personal workspace and have to be careful not to neglect the worker, causing them to fall into the â€Å"out of sight† trap. In conclusion, Deloitte & Touche is in a good position in sustaining and implementing the change process. This is because the firm has correctly identified the root problem and possess a strong Task Force in recommending sound strategies. However, the firm must still be aware of possible restraining forces and also take time to set the right policies and choose the correct change agents within the firm to spearhead this change process. Managers should also be aware of the difficulties in having a flexible work environment, and thorough research and planning should be invested into this program so that they are better prepared to handle the transition.