The demand for highly competent and skilled employees is greater than ever before because of highly intensive level of competition in the marketplace. This demand also increases the level of importance of learning and training for the members of workforce so that they would be able to deal with increasing number of organisational challenges in an effective manner. Specific advantages of promoting and facilitating learning and training in the workplace include increased level of productivity and team spirit, improvements in organisational culture and climate, improvements in the image of the company and its overall performance, as well as consequent positive implications on profitability levels of private entities. Banfield and Kay (2008) use the notion of six ‘Es’ of training in their explanation of why organisations do train employees. Namely, according to authors six ‘Es’ consist of engaging, educating, enhancing, empowering, energising, and enlightening employees. At the same time, it is important to clarify differences between learning and training. Schuler and Jackson (2007) convincingly argue that the differences between learning and training have to be drawn according to the purposes of each. Specifically, training is organised in order to impart knowledge and skills directly related to specific tasks or job, whereas learning is concerned with improving future behaviour and performances in general. Moreover, Erasmus and Schenk (2009) draw clear distinctions between the terms of ‘training’, ‘education’ and ‘development’. Specifically, training is specified as a job-related learning, whereas education is the preparation of an employee for a different job. Employee development, on the other hand, is a broad terms that comprises education, training, as well as, various forms of learning. An alternative definition of training has been proposed as “the process whereby people acquire capabilities to perform jobs” (Mathis and Jackson, 2010, p.250), whereas specific form of training which is the focus…
The People’s Republic of China has an area of 9.6 million square kilometres which comprises over 1.35 billion population (China country profile, BBC, 2011). Rapidly deviating from the centrally-planned economy the country had adhered to for several decades, and embracing the elements of free market economy, China is seen by many as an emerging superpower able to compete with highly developed countries in the global marketplace (Lou and Wang, 2009). Interestingly, the current dynamic of employment relationships in China somehow resemble the second industrial revolution in Europe that has commenced at the second half of the 19th century. Specifically, the common features include harsh working conditions, impaired employee rights, underdeveloped employment laws, migrant labour, high employee turnover etc. However, while the second industrial revolution in Europe has been caused by the introduction and perfection of mass production and production line, in the case of China the current dynamic of employment relationships is caused by the increasing forces of globalisation in general, and China’s accession in WTO in particular. Employment relations can be defined as “a contractual relation in the framework of which one party (the employee) undertakes to perform dependent work personally for wages for the other party (the employer)” (Barancova and Olsovska, 2011, p.73). The most common legal characteristics of employment relationship include: a) the type of personal obligation; b) the subordination of employee in personal and economic levels; c) payment of wages; and social character. The Impact of Globalisation on Employment Relations in China Generally, the major impacts of globalisation on employment relationships in China include the introduction of labour contract system, employee wage system changes, marketisation of social security, changes in labour rights, changes in corporate culture in China, and changes in labour union legislation. The Introduction of Labour Contract System The introduction of labour…
By John Dudovskiy
Category: International Business
The process of globalisation has had significant impacts on personal and professional aspects of lives of people across the globe. Moreover defined as “information, capital, and innovation flow all over the world at top speed, enabled by technology and fuelled by consumers’ desires for access to the best and least expensive products” (Ohmae, 1995, in Murray, 2006, p.13), globalisation has resulted in substantial implications on employment relation practices and legislations for many countries worldwide. Globalisation supporters advocate “the elimination of trade barriers such as tariffs so that developing countries can compete in the global market, thereby reducing dependency on developed ones” (Weightman, 2011, p.21). At the same time, globalisation also has its critics who point to increased chances of economic disruptions taking country affecting other countries, greater chances of various diseases being transported to other countries in unintentional manner, violations of employee rights and the abuse of their labour in undeveloped and developing countries etc. References Murray, W.E. (2006) “Geographies of globalisation” Routledge Weightman, B.A. (2011) “Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East, and Southeast Asia” John Wiley & Sons
By John Dudovskiy
Category: International Business
Consumer decision making process comprises five stages: need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase and post-purchase behaviour. Marketing managers attempt to influence consumer behaviour during each of these stages as it has been discussed below in a greater detail. Need Recognition Need recognition is the first stage of consumer decision making process and it can be explained as “result of an imbalance between actual and desired needs” (Lamb et al, 2011, p.190). Interestingly, need recognition may relate to actual need of a perspective customer to a specific product or service, as well as, ‘perceived’ customer need imposed by businesses through effective marketing communication strategies. Specifically, the emergence of the latter form of customer need plays an integral role in customer impulse shopping, and accordingly retailers attempt to create a ‘need’ in customer’s mind for the products and services they are offering. For instance, ‘imposed’ needs in retail environment may include ‘need’ to be refreshed and energised by consuming a range of soft drinks and energy drinks sold by retailers, as well as, ‘need’ to follow fashion trends by purchasing specific items sold by retailers. Information Search The second stage of consumer decision making process relates to information search. Once a need is recognised by a perspective customer, he would seek for information about the available ways to satisfy the need. It is important to stress that “the extent to which the consumer needs to search for information depends on his current information levels and the perceived value of the additional information” (Pradhan, 2009, p.123). Customers are greatly influenced by marketing strategies of retailers during this stage of the decision – making process as well. Namely, retailers communicate information about the brand through various communication channels that might include any combination of advertising, direct marketing, public relations and…
By John Dudovskiy
Category: Consumer Behaviour
The concept of e-commerce relates to the practice of buying and selling products over the internet (Lee, 2008) and it has a significant impact on consumer consumer behaviour. Pozzi (2009) divides online retailers in two following categories: First, retailers that sell online, as well as, maintaining traditional physical offline stores. Retailers belonging to this category have commenced their businesses in traditional offline stores and they adopted online sales channel as well during the last decade in order not to miss convenient opportunity of increasing their revenues. Major retailers such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Next, Debenhams and many others belong to this category. Retailers employing both, online and offline sales channels have wide range of marketing tools available for them to be used in affecting consumer behaviour (Callen, 2009). Online customers of these businesses usually represent individuals and organisations that have formed their brand loyalty prior to the adoption of online sales channel by the retailer. Second, retailers that rely only on online sales channel and do not have any offline stores. Global retailers such as Amazon, EBuyer, very.co.uk do not trade through offline physical stores and they rely only on online sales channel in order to conduct their business operations. While adopting such a strategy may offer substantial benefits in terms of cost savings, because no stores need to be maintained and accordingly, fewer numbers of employees are sufficient to be employed, nevertheless this strategy limits the opportunities for retailers in terms of impacting consumer behaviour. Specifically, online-only retailers are in a disadvantaged position compared to their offline competitors in terms of affecting consumer behaviour through enhancing the quality of store atmosphere and effective positioning of products within the stores. Moreover, unlike offline retailers, online-only retailers lack the opportunities of impacting consumer behaviour through providing ‘warm’ customer service experiences…
By John Dudovskiy
Category: E-Commerce
The study of decision making models plays an integral role in analysing the level of rationality of customer decision making. Namely, the concept of four modes of consumer decision making proposed by O’Guinn et al (2011). The concept divides consumer decision – making into four different modes according to the level of their involvement, as well as, the level of their personal experiences with the brand. High Involvement Low Involvement Low Experience Extended problem solving Limited problem solving High Experience Brand loyalty Habit or variety seeking Extended problem solving Extended problem solving customer decision – making mode relates to a situation where customers lack experience in a specific consumption setting, nevertheless, the setting is perceived by them as a highly involving. The products are usually of a high value and they also contribute to an individual’s social status, however, their purchase is often associated with significant amount of risk in terms of making improper purchase decision. Purchasing the first car or the first house can be mentioned as instances for extended problem solving. Limited problem solving Customer decision – making mode of limited problem solving, relates to a situation where both, customer experience, as well as, the level of their involvement are low. Considered to be the most common mode of decision – making, it lacks systematic approach in terms of decision – making. Examples for this mode of decision – making might include searching for and purchasing products and services associated with pest control within private properties. In other words, as Perrey and Spillecke (2011) confirm, limited problem – solving customer decision – making mode relate to situations where customers are attempting to find appropriate solutions to their unpleasant issues. Retailers often attempt to attract such type of customers by employing a range of marketing…
By John Dudovskiy
Category: Consumer Behaviour
Consumer behaviour can be defined as “the totality of consumers’ decisions with respect to the acquisition, consumption, and disposition of goods, services, time, and ideas by human decision – making units” (Hoyer and Macinnis, 2008, p.3) and it is an important point extensively explored by marketers. In other words, consumer behaviour is the study of decision – making process and all activities that relate to acquiring evaluating, using and disposing associated with products and services. Moreover, the study of consumer behaviour involves learning customer perception about the company’s products and products of its competitors, the pattern of usage of the product by customers, customer attitude towards brand and product advertisements etc. There are wide ranges of factors that impact upon consumer behaviour in direct and indirect ways. Specifically, these factors include marketing initiatives engaged by businesses, culture, values and group norms associated with customers, demographic characteristics of consumers, as well as, their social status, customer motives to making a purchase, the nature of their personalities, etc. At the same time, “values, shared beliefs or group norms internalised by individuals, are developed through the process of socialisation and acculturation” (Saxena, 2009, p.163). Accordingly, recognising this fact, retailers attempt to formulate their integrated marketing communication strategies addressing and accommodating values, shared beliefs, and cultural differences associated with their target customer segment. References Hoyer, W.D. & Macinnis, D.J. (2008) “Consumer Behaviour”, 5th edition, Cengage Learning Saxena, R. (2009) “Marketing Management” 4th edition, Tata McGraw-Hill Education
By John Dudovskiy
Category: Consumer Behaviour
Morley and Parker (2010) define information system as a discipline that is formed from elements of business and computer science and is developing to form a separate area of scientific study. It has been stated that “healthcare information systems and healthcare processes are closely entwined with one another. Health care processes require the use of data and information and they also produce or create information” (Wager et al, 2009, p.65) Three basic components of system are explained by Bagad (2010) as input, process/transformation and output. In information system inputs are data that are going to be transformed. The process component of an information system transforms input into an output. Output is considered to be the final product of a system. In case of an information system, an output would be obtaining necessary information in a desired format (Currie, 2009). Explanations of all of the components of information system are offered by Stair et al (2008) in the following manner: Components of information system Definitions Data Input the system takes to produce information Hardware A computer and its peripheral equipment: input, output and storage devices; hardware also includes data communication equipment Software Sets of instructions that tell the computer how to take data in, how to process it, how to display information, and how to store data and information Telecommunications Hardware and software that facilitates fast transmission and reception of text, pictures, sound, and animation in the form of electronic data People Information systems professionals and users who analyse organisational information needs, design and construct information systems, write computer programs, operate the hardware, and maintain software Procedures Rules for achieving optimal and secure operations in data processing; procedures include priorities in dispensing software applications and security measures Source: Stair, R.M, Reynolds, G & Reynolds, G.W. (2008) “Fundamentals of Information Systems” fifth…
Secondary data authors have proposed specific strategies public sector organisations can use in order to increase customer satisfaction levels. The most popular recommendations proposed by secondary data authors include adopting business approach towards the issues of customer services, increasing the level of funding of customer services, institutionalising training and development programs for public sector customer service representatives, outsourcing customer services operations to the private sector, and increasing the level of accountability of public sector customer service managers. Adopting Business Approach towards the Issues of Customer Services The most popular recommendation found during the literature review in terms of increasing the quality of customer services in public sector organisations relates to the adoption of relevant business principles. Recommendations of this nature have been offered by authors like Kassel (2010), Sims (2010) and Starling (2010). The authors point to the high customer service standards in the private sector, and argue that the duplications of those practices by public sector could offer the benefits of increased levels of customer services. However, there is a serious shortcoming associated with the works of above mentioned authors. Specifically while they give a recommendation of adopting business approach towards the issues of customer services they recommendation is very general and authors fail to offer any specific guidance in terms of how the business approach could be efficiently adopted by public sector organisations. Increasing the Level of Funding of Customer Services Beevers (2006), Flynn (2007) and Bovaird and Loffler (2009) associate the issues of lower customer services quality in public sector compared to the level of customer services of private sector to the amount of funding organisations in each sector attract. The authors convincingly argue that private sector organisations justly associate the achievement of their organisational objectives with the level of customer satisfaction that is directly…
“A literature review introduces the problem, develops the background by providing a history of scholarly work on the subject, and ends with the purpose and the rationale for the study” (Wysocki, 2007, p.215). According to Brown (2006) there are five criteria for the evaluation of the validity of literature review: purpose, scope, authority, audience and format. Accordingly, each of these criteria have been taken into account and appropriately addressed during the whole process of literature review. McNabb (2008), on the other hand, formulates three fundamental purposes of literature review that are described below: First, literature review shows the audience of the study that the author is familiar with the major contributions that have already been done to the research area by other authors. Second, literature helps to identify the key issues in the research area and obvious gaps in the current literature. Third, the literature review assists the readers of the research in term of comprehending the principles and theories that have been used by the author in different parts of the study. References Brown RB, 2006, Doing Your Dissertation in Business and Management: The Reality of Research and Writing, Sage Publications McNabb, DE, 2008, Research Methods in Public Administration and Non-Profit Management: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches, 2nd edition, ME Sharpe Wysocki, DK, 2007, Readings in Social Research Methods, Cengage Learning
By John Dudovskiy
Category: Literature Review