Paauwe (2004) stresses the role of various types of team building activities in order for the each individual member of the team to be motivated. In order to achieve a greater positive impact, Paauwe (2004) stresses, team building activities have to be conducted in an environment outside of office and in informal circumstances. Shermon (2004) expands the above point by stating that company management has to adopt a proactive approach in terms of celebrating memorable dates that relate to everyone such as company anniversaries and a range of national and international holidays, as well as celebrations related to individual members within the workforce such as birthdays, additions to family etc. Moreover, Johns et al (2005) offer interesting viewpoint in terms of motivating employees in the workplace. Specifically authors state that managers have to be effectively motivated themselves in order to be able to motivate their subordinates. However, Johns et al (2005) fail to provide any sound recommendations in terms of self-motivation to be engaged by managers. Johns et al (2005) also maintain that employee motivation activities should be institutionalised within business activities and not to be occasional activities managers engage in. Furthermore, the authors state that there should be an employee motivation program established in organisations that should ensure systematic employee motivation through a range of measures that might include training and development programs, appreciations of the most notable contributions to the success done by individuals and groups through tangible and intangible means etc. Torrington et al (2008) take this advice to the next level by stating that ‘infrastructure of motivation’ should be present within organisations that include devising organisational systems including various policies and procedures in such a way that they contribute to the level of employee motivation. References Torrington, D, Hall, L & Taylor, S, 2008, Human Resource…
Johns et al (2005) divides motivational tools exercised by companies into two categories: tangible and intangible. Tangible motivational tools include money, facilities, benefits, travels and some perks of the job, whereas such elements of employee recognition, appreciation letters, informal talks etc. Byars and Rue (2007) highlight the efficiency of intangible motivational tool, stating that this form of motivation causes a deeper emotional attachment compared to tangible motivational methods if effectively implemented, and at the same time they are cost effective for companies as well. This idea has been supported by a range of other authors as well who list the shortcomings of monetary motivation with statements like “money can motivate individual performance; however, the impact on performance is typically short-lived” (Marciano, 2010, p.33). Another effective employee motivation tool that has been mentioned by Simon (2007) involves the trend of ‘employee ownership’. Namely, nowadays increasing number of companies are offering or awarding stock options of the company to their employees. Simon (2007) stresses that the effectiveness of this strategy is ensured by two facts. Firstly, employees are going to feel appreciated for their contribution to the company through ‘employee ownership’ motivational tool. Secondly, ‘employee ownership’ plan will effectively motivate employees for future efficient performances, because employees will feel the sense of ownership for the business. Currently, this form of motivational tool is especially popular with a number of leading retailers in UK such as Tesco, Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury’s and others. It needs to be said that although many works have been done to address issues associated with motivation in the workplace most aspects of the issue are explored only in the surface within the business context. In other words, motivation issues within the business context are studied only with cause-and effect approach as “we can only observe the outward behaviour…
The third largest supermarket in UK, J Sainsbury plc (Sainsbury’s) has been founded in 1869, and currently has 890 stores that consist of 547 supermarkets and 343 convenience stores. The company has 150,000 employees and serves more than 19 million customers a week (Company Overview, 2011, online). Sainsbury’s operates mainly in three segments (J Sainsbury’s plc, 2011, online): supermarket and convenience retailing; Sainsbury’s Bank joint venture financial services; Property investment through British Land joint venture and Land Securities joint venture. Sainsbury’s has a range of stakeholders to deal with. A stakeholder can be defined as “someone who has invested money into something, or has some important connection with it” (Chorley et al, 2008, p.2). According to Kozami (2002) stakeholders can be divided into two categories: internal and external. An internal stakeholder for the company is someone who works for the company and therefore is interested in various aspects of the business. External stakeholder, on the other hand, is someone who is interested in the performance and other aspects of the business, even though the individual does not work for the company. Sainsbury’s internal stakeholders include shareholders of the company, managers at all levels and other employees of the company. External stakeholders of Sainsbury’s, on the other hand, include customers of the company, its numerous suppliers, and the local communities, as well as governments Sainsbury’s operates in. At has also to be mentioned that Sainsbury’s internal stakeholders can be external stakeholder of the company at the same time. For example, Sainsbury’s employees who also happen to be local residents are the type of individual who are internal and external stakeholders at the same time. Effectiveness of Sainsbury’s Communication Strategy Sainsbury’s communication strategy comprises most of the elements of popular communication strategy that include advertisement, letters, newsletters, oral communication, company magazine, formal…
Today increasing numbers of businesses are entering in various forms of strategic alliances with various parties in order to increase their efficiency and market share in one way or the other. It has been stated that “strategic alliances are cooperative agreements between firms that go beyond normal company to company dealings. Alliances and/or cooperative agreements can involve joint another’s products or joining forces to manufacture components or assemble finished products” (Aswathappa, 2011, p.383) It is clear that parties engage in strategic alliances because they expect to get substantial benefits from the partnership. However, the actual success of the partnership depends on many factors, including aims and objectives of the parties, the nature of their alliances, the culture between the companies entering in alliances and others (Das, 2010). This article represents a critical discussion of the viewpoint according to which strategic alliances, in all forms are beneficial to the parties involved. The article starts with discussing the essence of strategic alliances making distinctions between its various forms. Then the benefits of strategic alliances are described by referring to the real life examples in the global marketplace and discussing the issue in a greater detail. Moreover, the article also includes analysis downsizes of strategic alliances exploring the reasons for these downsizes, as well as formulating recommendations about how negative effects of strategic alliances can be avoided. Essence and Forms of Strategic Alliances Hitt et al (2009) state that the reasons why companies form strategic alliances include reducing the level of competition, enhancing the level of competitiveness, obtaining access to resources, taking advantage of competitive edge of strategic partners, and promote innovation. Reuer (2004), on the other hand, adopts simplistic approach when explaining the essence of strategic partnerships comparing alliances to the marriage between two people. This comparison may not fully reflect…
There are no arguments amongst special events industry researchers and practitioners that the success of special events depends on the level of effectiveness of marketing and overall management. However, the role of crisis management is greater in special events than a range of other businesses because special events are associated with unforeseen circumstances in a greater extend (Matthews, 2008). It has been stated that “crisis management starts with avoiding action, keeping your finger on the pulse so that as soon as the pace hots up – at the first signs of the beginning of a crisis slide – you can take pre-emptive action” (Armstrong, 2008, p.162). This article represents a brief literature review on the topic of crisis management in the management and marketing of special events and addresses the most important aspects of the issue on the basis of secondary data research. The majority of authors who have contributed to the research area in a significant way have offered their own version of definition of its main terms. Crisis management has been defined as “preparation for low-probability or unexpected events that could threaten an organisation’s viability, reputation, or profitability” (Pride and Ferrell, 2008, p.455). An alternative definition of crisis management is offered by Lamb et al (2008) in a way that it is “the coordinated effort to handle the effects of unfavourable publicity, ensuring fast and accurate communication in times of emergency” (Lamb et al, 2008, p.527). On the other hand, some authors (e.g., Bowdin et al, 2006, Glaesser, 2006, and Tong, 2010) have attempted to define the functions of crisis management and offered viewpoints like “crisis management as an institution refers to the group of persons who are responsible for crisis management activities. They are the dominant bearer of the functional crisis management” (Glaesser, 2006, p.21). The…
There are numerous event evaluation concepts and methods that have been suggested by authors. According to Allen (2002) economic performance of any event can be considered as a primary indicator of its success if analysed from the perspective of various stakeholders. The preference to economic performance of the event as the main success measure is also given by Silvers (2008), and Tum et al (2006). The following event evaluation measures according to types of events have been proposed by one of the respected scholars in events industry Getz (2000): Firstly, Economic Development and Tourism a) Market share of specific event or events sector in a specific region needs to be analysed. b) Economic impact of the event, including the level of employment opportunities for people c) Sustainability of events. Self-supporting aspect of events can be stated to be the foundation of this specific event success measure d) Competitive advantage of events compared to the events in different locations can also be stated as success measure e) Image improvement side of the event, together with the scale and the scope of publicity that was attracted by the event. f) Rate of habitation of the event. This measure includes assisting hotel and transportation business in the region, as well as assistance provided to local residents. 2. Community a) The intensity of political support the event was able pull off and the level of local attendance b) Willingness of attendants to pay for the event c) The level of volunteer support that the event was able to generate d) The accomplishment of the event in of developing the spirit of community and pride in various stakeholders 3. Art and Culture a) The accomplishment of the event in advertising and developing local talent b) The success the event was able to achieve in providing…
In the present marketplace, the customers are more informed than ever as they can reach out for the best offers available in the market, identify different alternatives by different companies, therefore, it can be said that they are the reasons for the best values to be created in the marketplace (Lancaster, Massingham and Ashford, 2002). Kotler and Kelly (2006) stated that Customer Perceived Value is the difference between the prospective customer’s evaluation of all the benefits and all the costs of an offering and the perceived alternatives. Customer Perceived Value is based on the difference between what the customer gets and what he/she gives for different possible choice. The creation of Customer Perceived Value The marketers usually create value increasing the value of the customer offering by some combination of raising functional or emotional benefits and/or reducing one or more various types of costs. Even if the same product is being offered by two different companies, if one of the companies provides better customer services, post sales service, training, on-time delivery and maintenance, the perceived value of the same product tends to increase because of the reliability of the selling company and their added values when selling the product. Moreover, the more perceived value is also given to the company with a better corporate image as it indicates that the company is reliable and trustworthy, as it is one of the key factors in deciding when purchasing a product. However, the companies also face complexities as consumers have varying degrees of loyalty to specific brands, stores and companies. As Kotler and Keller (2005) state that the key to generating to high customer loyalty is to deliver high customer values. Furthermore, high customer values can also be delivered by offering the customer more than just the basic product but also extra…
By John Dudovskiy
Category: Consumer Behaviour
A variable can be defined as “something that can be changed, such as a characteristic or value” (Cherry, 2011, online). There are various types of variables, but for this paper marketing variables can be divided into two groups: psychological and market related. Baker and Hart (2007) inform that psychological variables are the type of variables that are related to a process such as perception, motivation, personality, attitude, lifestyle etc. Each of these variables are complex on their own and are utilised by marketing professionals in order to achieve a desired outcome that is naturally to make a sale. At the same time it has been stated that “behavioural psychology ignores the complex mechanisms of the mind by dumping all the psychological variables into a ‘black box’” (Smith, 2003, p.84) The integral components of motivation as a psychological variable, according to Klein (2007), are needs, wants, and drive. If this concept is applied to furniture business it can be understood that furniture manufacturing and selling companies first attempt to arise a need for their products in the minds of perspective customers. Then the ‘need’ can be transformed into ‘want’ through the application of various marketing techniques. Consequently, an appeal to the ‘drive’ will be made by marketers through specific techniques, for instance indicating to the affordability of their products by introducing monthly instalment payment plans. For instance, in Habitat furniture stores in UK occasionally a member of staff offers a free glass of Champaign to customers upon entry to the store. Coupled with calming music or song, and motivating shopping environment this strategy often motivates customers to make a purchase from the store. Kozami (2002) links motivation to the theory of Hierarchy of Needs introduced by Abraham Maslow. According to the theory, the need of an individual is divided into five…
By John Dudovskiy
Category: Consumer Behaviour
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become one of the most important aspects of a business practice that companies cannot afford to ignore. It needs to be specified that “CSR is concerned with treating the stakeholders of the firm ethically or in a responsible manner” (Hopkins, 2007, p.15). It can be stated that the importance of CSR increases with the size of the company due to the fact that in large companies any CSR related issues will attract wider media coverage and accordingly will have greater implications. This article analyses one of the most important aspects of CSR, being responsible towards the natural environment of host country in case of BP Plc, a global oil and gas company based in London, UK. The article starts with the outline of the company, followed by the analysis of CSR issues BP is facing in host countries. Also measures required to be undertaken by BP in order to address CSR challenges effectively are described in the paper, as well as the limitations of acknowledged measures are acknowledged. BP Company Outline BP is an international oil and gas company that operates in more than 80 countries under two segments: exploration and production, and refining and marketing (Reuters, 2011, online) The company has more than 79,000 employees globally that are working on 22,100 retail sites, 14 wholly or partly owned refineries and producing 2,426 barrels of oil per day (BP at a Glance, 2011, online). Steffy (2010) informs about mergers and acquisitions engaged by BP with a range of companies especially highlighting the merger with Amoco in 1998, and the acquisition of Arco in 2000 and states that these events became factors contributing to the current size and state of the company. BP is engaged in CSR initiatives intensively, promoting the projects related to the renewable…