Service Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Service Marketing - Essay Example Further, it has been observed that the annual sales of Apple have gone above the figure of $4,406 that does not take into account the online sales. These sales are much higher than the sales of jeweler Tiffany & Co. and therefore depict Apple’s success. Amongst its many operations, the back-end and front-end included, Apple believes in being spotless in every move so as to achieve success (Banker, 2011). With that in mind, Apple keeps a critical eye on the demands of its products. Comparing its operations with its rivals such as Best Buy, it has been observed that Apple has adopted a rather technical approach in the arena of service encounters and its related areas. It sells one brand that has comprehensible positioning, fewer products, and stores in hundreds as compared to the 4000 of Best Buy. The company believes that employees need to handle pressure to perform better customer service. However, with its increasing retail outlets, many of its employees have stated that the quality of its staff has been on a decline (Banker, 2011). Where it comes to meeting customer needs, from the design of the store to the post purchase behavior, every aspect has been responded creatively by Apple. Dividing its customers into various segments, Apple encounters some customers that are well aware of what they want. This segment immediately finds out the intended product they want to purchase, and pays for it. With the fast product selling process described earlier on one hand, the other hand has a group of customers who take it slow. More specifically, these customers browse and play with the products to decide their requirement. In order to tackle such a vast market, Apple therefore, follows a service design approach that consists of a floor plan and a genius bar that handles customer queries and gives them advice. Other than that, the design also consists of a check-out system for speedy service. For the layout of the outlet, an airy approach to associate to every ne ed of the customer is followed. It is therefore the creativity and innovation in service encounters that sets Apple apart from its competitors. This is so because if the customer experience is low, the overall perception of the brand is also reduced (Ofir et. al, 2008). 3. Analysis of managerial implications Analyzing it implication on the managerial roles, surveillance is one of the key tools needed. More specifically, with surveillance being constant in nature, the role of the managers must also be to continuously prepare for cost control preparations for the new product and market. The managerial roles must consider a need to identify low costs of the inputs and outputs in improvement measures. Other than that, the costs are also related to innovation, technology, and information. Moving further on the implication factor, it has been observed that with the new markets, new tools for maximizing incomes must be considered. In this scenario, both markets that are the fresh market an d the processed market, must be brought into the picture whilst the assessment. Moreover, buyer expectations in every situation need to be continuously monitored when alternatives are considered. To understand the cultivar selection and significance of the quality of the product is an important aspect in the discussion for managerial implications. It is important to understand that commitments to quality might be easier to change than the selection preferences. Where many customers consider service as a criterion before purchasing a product, adding  delivery, commitment by the supplier, the packaging, specification bonding, and quality with service would be able to win even those customers who prefer other  things. The overall package provided will therefore be able to win the company loyal

Business acquisitions are among the most important strategic Essay

Business acquisitions are among the most important strategic investment decisions - Essay Example The location of businesses in other countries, either in the form of greenfield FDIs, crossborder M&As or other forms of direct investment, entails a set of challenges and risks which impact on the business that seeks to gain entry into another country. One of this is the risk associated with currency exchange rates, which will be discussed in the succeeding section of this report. At this point, more attention shall be devoted to discussing the other sources of organisation risk. Economic nationalism. In a report by the Economist Intelligence Unite (Chance, 2006), certain events the author chose to call â€Å"backlash† after decades of liberalisation and openness to FEI and crossborder M&As (more pronounced against M&As). Recent resurgence in protectionism against FDIs and M&As, for instance, is seen in the attempt to block the acquisition by Lenovo (China) of the personal computer (PC) division of IBM (US), and the takeover bid by Mittal Steel (Netherlands) for Arcelor (Luxembourg). Both of these deals, despite the attempts to prevent them, were consummated. Some deals, however, failed because they were successfully blocked by the local elements: CNOOC (China) of Unocal (US); Dubai Ports World of P&O Steam Navigation Company (UK), and Pepsi (US) of Danone (France). Behind some of these cases is the negative sentiment with which developed countries perceive takeover bids by companies in emerging markets, because of the impression (not necessarily just ified) that these less-developed countries were more prone to undesirable behaviour such as poor standards of governance and less socially responsible behaviour. The shock of seeing Chinese and Asian companies, for instance, take control of prominent brand names, acquire technology, or securing natural resources has prompted a German politician to compare such investors to â€Å"the biblical plague of locusts† (Chance,