Everyday Learning vs. Scientific Learning Essay

There are many tasks that a child learns in their early life. Some of which include learning how to crawl, then walk and learning how to talk. I think a child learning how to talk and communicate is very important. That alone will shape them and how well they will communicate later in their life. Our system of language and the process of communication are closely linked. Communication can be described as any act by which one person gives to or receives from another person information about that person’s needs, desires, perceptions, knowledge or affective states. Communication may be intentional or unintentional, may involve conventional or unconventional signals, may take linguistic or non-linguistic forms and may occur through spoken or other modes. Children learn communication from their parents. Communication is not something that can be studied; it is something that people have to learn by doing. As a parent, good communication needs to be emphasized as they are talking and listening to the child. A child can tell when a parent is not really listening to them, and this can create a big problem in the relationship. Children who feel misunderstood or feel like they aren’t being listened to will start to hold their feelings inside. This is the exact opposite of what good communication should be. Communication is necessary for everything we do in life and we learn it while we are children. The communication skills learned by children from their families will stick with them throughout their lives. In order to have a society of good communicators, it needs to start in the home. Parents need to start communicating with their children and need to show them how to communicate with others. This is a skill that will be valued all throughout life and is something that shouldn’t be ignored. The skill of communication will be valued in every relationship throughout life. It is a necessity.

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Professional Project Handbook and Guidance 2011/12 The Professional Project Handbook and Guidance Booklet – 2011/12 Page 2 The Professional Project Foreword Please may I extend a warm welcome to those students studying the Professional Project (PP). We intend the Project to be a rewarding experience and one which encourages and supports you in your time at Newcastle Business School. This is a demanding element of your programme but one which we hope you will find engaging and helps focus on your future career. Wishing you well in your studies. Regards Dr. Simon Lillystone Module Tutor NX0315 – The Professional Project Handbook and Guidance Booklet – 2011/12 Page 3 The Professional Project Handbook and Guidance Booklet – 2011/12 Page 4 The Professional Project CONTENTS PAGE Page SECTION 1 – Introduction 7 SECTION 2 – Section A of Project 10 SECTION 3 – Section B of Project 11 SECTION 4 – Reflective Statement 12 SECTION 5 – Written Presentation Format 13 SECTION 6 – Reference Specifications and Format 18 SECTION 7 – Project Submission Information 20 APPENDIX A – Specimen Title page 3 APPENDIX B – Specimen Declarations Page 22 APPENDIX C – Specimen Contents Page 24 APPENDIX D – Ethics in Research & Consultancy (Guidelines & Procedures for Students Undertaking UG Projects) 25 Handbook and Guidance Booklet – 2011/12 Page 5 The Professional Project Handbook and Guidance Booklet – 2011/12 Page 6 The Professional Project SECTION 1 – INTRODUCTION Module Background Information The Professional Project is a 30 point module which will be taken by all direct entry final year students to an undergraduate programme of study at NBS. It counts for 25% of the marks on the final year of the Honours degree and its importance should not be underestimated. The module provides an opportunity to explore the key study competences required to achieve academic success and develop these into employment competences to promote career success. These competences will be developed, practised and written up as part of the Project and applied to an investigation of a business issue/problem. To support this individual investigation into an applied business problem or issue the student will be given a defined topic to research and relevant information relating to the topic. The information will be set in the context of an appropriate academic framework and the student will be expected to draw relevant conclusions, write up and submit the work in an approved format. The target length of the whole project will be 8,000 to 10,000 words. A workshop programme and eLearning Portal will support the process. Learning Outcomes This module is intended to be taken by direct entry final year students to an undergraduate programme of study at NBS. At the end of the module students will be able to: 1. Apply key intellectual competences at level six and critically appraise their employment competences to support continuing professional/career development 2. Conduct a literature review involving the critical evaluation of appropriate theories, models, frameworks and principles and apply those principles to a particular business problem or issue drawing appropriate inferences and conclusions. Aims The Professional Project promotes the development of key competences required to achieve academic and professional career success. These competences will be developed, practised, written up and applied to an investigation of a business issue/problem. The student will be supported in their learning by an eLearning Portal and a workshop programme. The student will be given guidance as to the nature of work to be undertaken in the workshop programme. The module will make use of current research activity related to the chosen subject and, where appropriate, to that specifically carried out by staff of Newcastle Business School. Formative assessment will take place within the contact sessions and may take place through tasks set and theory/practice related discussions including Handbook and Guidance Booklet – 2011/12 Page 7 The Professional Project research into career paths. Approaches to Teaching and Learning and Formative Assessment The module is intended to deliver knowledge of and attendance to the competences and abilities for effective study at level six together with entry to and participation within the graduate labour market. It provides an opportunity to undertake a major piece of academic research into a specific business related problem. The module necessitates a broad syllabus where much use will be made of directed study supported by the facilities of the Careers Service, Study Skills Centre and Library. This approach will facilitate the development of students as independent learners. The creation of Learning Sets will be encouraged to facilitate understanding of the issues and problems associated with the completion of the project. The process leading to the completion of the project will include reading, reflection and research. This will be incorporated into the workshop programme which will support the student throughout the process. It is intended that the project will be closely allied to their preferred field of employment. Through the project and workshop activities it is envisaged that students will appreciate the importance of active engagement in competences and career development to improve NBS graduate success in securing appropriate careers or future study opportunities The module is supported by a Learning and Teaching Plan that outlines the formal sessions and by an elearning Portal. The assessment for this module will be an individual project, incorporating the writing up of the student's understanding of personal and professional competence development and an investigation into an applied business problem or issue. The student will be given a defined topic to research and relevant information relating to the topic. The information will be set in the context of an appropriate academic framework and the student will be expected to draw relevant conclusions, write up and submit the work in an approved format. The target length of the whole project will be 8,000 to 10,000 words. The learning outcomes will be achieved through the lecture/workshop programme and will culminate in the completion of the final project. The project will demonstrate the student's understanding of the above learning outcomes. Formative assessment will take place within the workshop sessions and may take place through tasks set and theory/practice related discussions. Workshop Support Programme This is a taught programme with weekly workshops during the first semester followed by six workshops in the second semester. The Project will not be individually supervised. Instead the students will be expected to work in learning sets. However, it must be noted that the final project is to be an individual piece of work. Handbook and Guidance Booklet – 2011/12 Page 8 The Professional Project Recommended Reading List for Module Cottrell, S (2008) The Study Skills Handbook 3rd Edn Palgrave MacMillan Basingstoke Armstrong (2005) A Handbook for Leadership and Management: a guide to managing for results. Kogan London Toplis, J. Dulewicz, V. and Fletcher, W. (2005) Psychological Testing – a Manager's guide. CIPD London Cameron (2007) The Business Student's Handbook: learning skills for study and employment (available as an e-book) Bolles, RN (2008) What colour is your parachute? A practical manual for job hunters. Ten Speed Publishing Walliman, N (2001) Your Research Project Sage Publications Bell, J (2005) Doing your research project Open University Press Cottrell, S. (2008) Critical Thinking Skills Palgrave Basingstoke Jankowicz,A. D (2005) Business Research Projects Thompson Business Press Remenyi,D, Williams,B, Money,A & Swatz,E (2007) Doing Research in Business and Management Sage Publications Bryman,A & Bell E (2003) Business Research Methods Oxford University Press Price, G. & Maier, P. (2007) Effective Study skills – unlock your potential. Pearson Education McMillan, K. Weyers, J. (2009) The Smarter Student Prentice Hall / Pearson London McMillan, K. & Weyers, J. (2007) How to write dissertations & project reports Prentice Hall/ Pearson London Additional Learning Resources (e. g. websites, CD Roms) Blackboard Site The module is supported by the e-learning portal. It is imperative that the site is fully utilised by the students. Certain links t o psychological tests are available under the site which will be used to support the learning process. eLearning platform at Northumbria http://elearning. unn. ac. uk/ Handbook and Guidance Booklet – 2011/12 Page 9 The Professional Project SECTION 2 – SECTION A OF THE PROJECT The Project is intended to link personal and professional career development with an academic piece of work in the form of a literature review. The appreciation of professional, career and personal development should not be underestimated. It should provide evidence to support that development with critical reflection by the student. A series of psychometric tests are available via BlackBoard to support your self-analysis. The outline of Section A of the project should take the form seen below with supporting evidence shown in the appendices. Part 1: Who I am as a learner? †¢ †¢ Implications for your learning Family & friends to comment Discuss the implications of the questionnaire findings and show how these relate to how you learn. Appendix A – VARK, Myers Briggs, Belbin Inventory Part 2: Implications for career choice †¢ †¢ †¢ Lifelong learning Transferable skills Justify chosen career choice Discuss how your personality type and how you learn affect your choice of career Appendix B – curriculum vitae, two job adverts, a standard application form Appendix C – PowerPoint Presentation Handbook and Guidance Booklet – 2011/12 Page 10 The Professional Project SECTION 3 – TOPIC SELECTION (SECTION B) General topic areas will be defined by the nature of the programme e. g. , those students studying finance would be expected to focus their topic on this area. However, the selection of a final suitable question or issue for Section B of the Project rests with the student. In some cases ideas can be gleaned from many sources. Work placement experiences, aspired career paths, tutor research interests, course work and readings are just a few. Copies of recent projects may suggest ideas as well. Normally projects that are available for inspection have achieved a mark of 60% or more. It is intended that suitable projects will be made available on the Blackboard site. Originality The question or issue needs to be related to business or management or to the specific named degree the student is studying. It is the student's responsibility to verify that the title and the approach of the project are original. However, a student may not claim exclusive rights to a topic area. Guidelines for Suitable Questions The student can assume that the question as initially conceived will evolve as the project progresses. By evolve it is meant that the particular aspect of the question which becomes centred to the project may well change in one direction or another as the project progresses. This evolution or â€Å"fine tuning† of a question is quite usual and should be expected. The goal is to find a question which is general enough to be significant, but specific enough to become focused. In any event, the final title as established should not be changed without consent of the Project Supervisor. Handbook and Guidance Booklet – 2011/12 Page 11 The Professional Project SECTION 4 – REFLECTIVE STATEMENT A vital element of the project is critical reflection by the student. It is important therefore to produce a reflective statement which will link the two sections of the project together. This is a very important area of the project and should be a considered and well thought out element of the final piece of work. The workshops will provide guidance and support on critical reflection as part of the programme. Handbook and Guidance Booklet – 2011/12 Page 12 The Professional Project SECTION 5 – WRITTEN PRESENTATION FORMAT Length The total length of the project should not exceed 10,000 words. As a general guide Section A of the project should be between 3,000 and 4,000 words while Section B of the project should be between 5,000 and 6,000 words. The word count is to be declared (Appendix B). Summarising and compressing the information in your project into 10,000 words is one of the skills that students are expected to acquire, and demonstrate as part of the project process. The word count does not include abstract, title page, contents page, glossary, tables, appendices and end material. If the project is to be very much shorter (i. e. ess than 8,000 words), it is necessary to clear this in advance of the final deadline with your tutor. Some slippage is acceptable but anything in excess of 11,000 words will be penalised. Referencing It is the student's responsibility to see to it that all ideas, opinions, conclusions, specific wordings, quotations, conceptual structures and data taken directly or indirectly from the work of others and used in the project are appropriately cited and referenced. (THE IMPORTANCE OF PROPER REFERENCING – SEE SECTION 7 – CANNOT BE OVER EMPHASISED). Structure and Components TABLE OF CONTENTS Title page Declaration and Word Count Abstract (to cover both sections) Acknowledgements Contents Page List of figures Glossary (if appropriate) Section A Part 1: Who I am as a learner? Implications for your learning Family & friends to comment Part 2: Implications for career choice Lifelong learning Transferable skills Handbook and Guidance Booklet – 2011/12 Page 13 The Professional Project Justify chosen career choice Appendix A – VARK, Myers Briggs, Belbin Inventory Appendix B – Curriculum vitae, two job adverts, a standard application form Appendix C – PowerPoint Presentation Section B Part 1 Introduction Reason for choice of topic Academic objectives of Project Outline of sections Part 2 Setting the Scene – (if required) Part 3 Literature Review Rationale for literature reviewed Critical review of literature relating to academic objectives Part 4 References Bibliography Appendices A B C Reflective Statement Last Page o o It is useful to specify the last page so that the reader may ensure that no pages have been omitted in error. Summary and Conclusions Title – The title should be succinct yet clearly specify the content of the report. This should be descriptive and explicit rather than poetic or implicit. Twelve words is normally the maximum length. It should be agreed and finalised as part of the final draft. It may be different from the original proposed title. Acknowledgements – The student may wish to thank those people who have been particularly helpful in the preparation of the project. Consideration of persons external to the NBS is particularly appropriate. Facetious acknowledgements are not acceptable. Abstract – The purpose of the abstract is to summarise the entire project, including a description of the problem, the student's contributions, and conclusions. Four keywords are required. (See sample Appendix C. ) Handbook and Guidance Booklet – 2011/12 Page 14 The Professional Project Declarations and Word Count – To be included (See sample Appendix B). Do not forget to sign. No signature: No Mark. Introduction – The purpose of this section is to contextualise the study. This means that the significance or importance of the subject is set out. If there is no apparent importance to the study to any external reader, the topic may not be appropriate. Personal interest may inspire selection of the project topic, but ultimately, its mportance to others should be specified. This can often be done by positioning the project in relation to other work that has been published, either as an advancement, continuation, compilation or verification. This part should also tell the reader how the topic will be unfolded and the order of forthcoming material. Literature Review – A review of the current literature surrounding the q uestion or issue should provide a clear understanding. It should be up-to-date and relevant. Conclusion – This section explains the relationship between the body of knowledge and the question. It should present the case for the project's success in meeting its goals, as well as any shortcomings and limitations that apply. It may suggest further work or study needed on the question or issue, as well as ways the new work can be used or applied in other cases. It is not meant to be a summary or restatement of the entire project, which belongs in the abstract. If the student has developed any strong personal opinions about the subject which seem appropriate to relate, this is the place where such content is appropriate. Appendices – Often the concepts of the study can be clarified in graphic form, or data presented in tabular form. Normally, this material should be entered into the text at or near the place it is referred to in the text. Where such material would be inconvenient to include in the text itself, it can be included in an appendix. As a general rule, if figures, tables, charts or quotes are less than a full page and can be conveniently included in the text, you will want to do so, since reference to appendices is awkward for the reader. All such material, in the text or at the end, should be titled and sequentially numbered. Tabular material which is presented in landscape format should be bound with the top of the table to the spine. Appendices are labelled alphabetically, although if there is little such material and it is all of a similar nature, it may all be included in one Appendix. Appendices are referenced in text in parentheses (Appendix A) not (see appendix A). Writing Style The level of writing must be appropriate to the level of the Bachelor's degree. Specifically, acute attention should be paid to correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure and clarity of style. Also, it is the student's responsibility to edit the text for typing errors, uncover all spelling errors even if the document is, typed by another party. Note that a spell-check programme does not uncover all spelling errors, e. g. principal v principle. Normally, there should be no first person references (I, we, us) in Section B of the project. If self-reference is required, reference may be made to â€Å"the present author† Handbook and Guidance Booklet – 2011/12 Page 15 The Professional Project or â€Å"this study†. The exception to this is in the conclusion section B and Section A, where personal comments may be appropriate. Students from overseas who wish to develop their English style and grammar may wish to make use of the Study Skills Centre. Page Layout Pages should be numbered in sequence at the top right hand corner, starting with and including the title page (Appendix A). Margins and headings: the specifications are 1? † left margin, 1? † on the other three sides. The page number should be above the top margin line. The right margin should be unjustified (left ragged), since the spacing between words used to make the right margin even inhibits readability greatly, while adding little aesthetically. Headers and footers are to be used with discretion. Please do NOT include your name in any header or footer. Tables and charts should be numbered in sequence by chapter, e. g. Table 3. 1 is the first table in Chapter 3. Each figure should be properly referenced and accompanied by a descriptive title which completely explains the contents of the figure. It is not acceptable to insert photocopies of tables into the body of the project. Tables should be word processed into the project. In broad terms this principle also applies to diagrams – no photocopies from books etc. There will, of course, be occasions when a photocopy of a table or a diagram is specifically required in order to illustrate points peculiar to the original. Use of such photocopies must be cleared with the supervisor. Similar principles apply to the appendices with regard to tables and diagrams. It is recognised that there will be circumstances (e. . a project on advertising) where photocopies are necessary. The project must be word-processed, and final copy must be printed single sided on A4 paper. Spacing may either be set at double or one and a half line spacing, depending on the machine used. Spacing greater than double spacing is not acceptable. The body of the project should be in Font size 12 (This is written Font Size 12) or similar. Arial is the pref erred font face. Legibility Both the draft and final copies of the project must be produced in such a manner that the text is entirely legible. This means an image suitable for good reproduction from a photocopier. Colour Printing Handbook and Guidance Booklet – 2011/12 Page 16 The Professional Project Black printing is the norm. Colour printing must be used with discretion. There are no extra marks for colour. The University makes no guarantee as to the provision of colour printing facilities. Retention of Working Papers The working documents (e. g. notes, any photocopies of articles used, drafts etc) used for your project MUST be retained by the student until formally notified of the award of their degree. As part of the NBS quality control a stratified sample of students will be asked by letter (after projects have been handed in) to submit their working papers. Please ensure you keep you working papers so that if called for they can be produced. The University tries to be reasonable over this. We do not expect you to keep every scrap of paper. We do expect you to keep the bulk of the important working papers. Thus students would normally (for example) be expected to include in their working papers some (but not necessarily all) successive drafts of the project. Any photocopies of library material etc you use should also be kept. Working Papers MUST be accessible. i. e. DO NOT pack them away in some inaccessible place such as luggage you are shipping home. If your project includes calculations, the working papers for those would be expected. And if your project includes a survey or questionnaire the original papers for those should be kept – along with names and addresses of any firms or individuals involved. Keep all computer based material in digital format, CD, etc. Production of â€Å"working papers† includes being able to produce the discs. Do not keep material on the hard drive. Failure to produce working papers when requested by the University to do so constitutes an Academic Irregularity, which may adversely affect the awarding of the students' degree. If it is not possible to establish, by inspection of the working papers, the sources of material in the project the award of the degree will be delayed until the matter is resolved. Handbook and Guidance Booklet – 2011/12 Page 17 The Professional Project SECTION 6 REFERENCE SPECIFICATIONS AND FORMAT Plagiarism and Citation The intellectual work of others which is being summarised in the report must be attributed to its source. It is assumed that all ideas, opinions, conclusions, specific wordings, quotations, conceptual structures and data, whether reproduced exactly or in paraphrase, which are not referenced to another source is the work of the student. If this is not the case, an act of plagiarism may have occurred, which is cause for disciplinary action at the course or University level. Plagiarism Please pay particular attention to originality and the proper acknowledgement of your sources. It is important that the work you submit: †¢ Is original in as far as the Project constraints allow †¢ Gives proper acknowledgement to any work by others which is used in completing your project Originality means that the project subject is presented in a way which differs from any other: †¢ Published works †¢ Study guides †¢ Projects/Projects of other students, past or present This does not preclude the use of the same material from wider reading (to support it with examples, or relevant opinions and ideas, or to place it within the context of existing knowledge). In fact, credit is specifically given for references in the assessment scheme. It does mean, however, that the sources of any such material MUST be identified. You should ensure that: †¢ Words or phrases taken verbatim from published works are placed in quotation marks and the source acknowledged. †¢ Quotations take the form of brief relevant extracts (only exceptionally exceeding 100 words in length). Where lengthier use of a published work is appropriate, you may summarise or paraphrase an author’s words, but the source of the summary or paraphrase must again be fully acknowledged by textual reference. Unacknowledged use of the work of others (plagiarism) is regarded as dishonest practice and will be dealt with on that basis, as per the University’s Regulations. Format in Text The format for reference styles is laid out in the Northumbria University Library publication Cite Them Right and is available on the UNN Website. Two styles of Handbook and Guidance Booklet – 2011/12 Page 18 The Professional Project referencing are defined, the British Standard (Numeric) System and the Harvard System. Please use the Harvard System for your project. A comprehensive discussion on referencing is laid out in the library's publication, which must be followed in detail. The following is a brief sample for illustration only: The Harvard (Name/Date) System uses name and year in text, e. g. According to Steinman (2003) there are three parts†¦ or A recent study (Steinman 2003) states there are three parts†¦ Direct quotes should have author, year and page number. This should be done as (Steinman, 2003:6) or Steinman (2003:6). If a quote crosses over pages you would write (Steinman, 2003:6-7). The purpose of the page reference is to enable the reader to find easily your source material. Particular points should also have page references whereas general themes from a complete article do not require the precise page number. Format in References Section The Harvard (Name/Date) System is listed at the end of the text in alphabetical order by author and date, e. g. Lafferty, B. A and Hult, M. T. (2001) A Synthesis of Contemporary Market Orientation Perspectives, European Journal of Marketing. Vol. 35:no. 12:pp. 2-109 Full specifications and examples are illustrated in the library's monograph. Referencing Electronic sources: e. g. from the World Wide Web should be as follows: PC MAGAZINE. URL: http//www. ziff. com/~ PC Mag/(date of downloading/viewing) (Name, Date (of article), Title) (i. e. as well as any date attached to a document on the web, electronic references should also include the date on which the web was read for the particular source). The citation for non English w orks should follow the same order as English works. For books: author, date, title of book, publisher. For articles: author, date, title of article, title of journal, volume and page numbers. Further details for other electronic referencing are in the Library's monograph â€Å"Cite them Right† Handbook and Guidance Booklet – 2011/12 Page 19 The Professional Project SECTION 7 – PROJECT SUBMISSION INFORMATION Projects are to be submitted to SHAPE UNN Office (room 309C) by no later than 4. 00 PM Friday 23rd March 2012. You must NOT exceed the deadlines given without an approved PEC. In exceptional circumstances late submission of the Project, up to a maximum of 2 weeks, may be sought. These must be approved in advance, with appropriate evidence, and are not meant to cover administrative difficulties. INCLUSION OF A DISK COPY OF THE PROJECT THREE CDs containing a complete copy of the body of the Project (appendices may be omitted as may diagrams within the body of the Project) is to be submitted along with the Project. The title page of the Project must be the first page on the disk. Non submission of a disk, or submission of a corrupt or blank disk will be regarded as an Academic Irregularity. Computer programmes are available which detect changes in grammar and style. The University uses such programmes as an aid in detecting plagiarism. Evidence from such programmes will be used in any disciplinary action taken by the University in cases of alleged plagiarism. Confidentiality This is regarded as an exceptional procedure and this must be agreed by the Tutor [who must be asked to the confidentiality form available on the blackboard site] and declared by the student to Reception on submission. The confidential Project will be pulped. If the confidentiality form is not submitted at hand in the Project will be regarded as non-confidential. It would be prudent to also state that the Project is confidential in footer on each page of the Project. Binding Requirements for Undergraduate Projects All Projects are bound in standard Business School covers. Students are required to submit TWO copies of the completed project. Newcastle Campus Projects submitted at Newcastle campus are submitted bound in standard Business School format. Handbook and Guidance Booklet – 2011/12 Page 20 The Professional Project Please note the Declarations statement must be signed and all pages in the correct order before taking the copies of the Project for binding. The procedure is: †¢ †¢ †¢ Pick up binding materials from SHAPE UNN office. Take the binded copies and CDs along to SHAPE UNN office by no later than 4. 00 pm on or before your hand in date with your Disc. Sign on the submission log sheet at the Reception to signify you had submitted the Project on time. Failed Projects A failed Project may or may not, depending upon the student's overall performance, be re-submitted. That decision is made by the Examination Board. If a student's performance merits a re-submitted Project according to the assessment regulations such that it would enable a student to improve upon the class of degree awarded the University (i. e. Examination Board) will invite the student to re-submit their Project. The student may accept or reject this offer. The Examination Board may direct that a new and unrelated topic be investigated. Any student whose Project falls into this category is so advised via the standard University Examination results letter sent at the end of the summer term. That letter will state whether re-submission is invited or not. Re-submitted Projects are submitted following the same process as described for first submission. The fees payable will be notified to students in their offer to retrieve and students should note that they will need to pay for the binding of this resubmission. Supervision is limited to one 20 minute meeting with the original tutor who will review the problems with the original submission. Mark Disclosure It is impossible for the prospective mark which a Project might achieve to be accurately estimated before a Project is formally marked. Every Project is marked and a sample is moderated. Some are marked a third (or more) time(s) either by External or Internal Examiners. The mark attached to a Project is a result of this process. It is therefore simply not possible for a tutor to give a definitive view as to exactly what standard a Project might reach. This does not, of course, preclude a tutor giving general guidance as to the calibre of the students work, but such guidance should be given and taken with due consideration to the above and can not be considered a binding assurance . Students will receive a copy of the completed assessment sheet following the conclusion of the examination boards. Handbook and Guidance Booklet – 2011/12 Page 21 The Professional Project APPENDIX A Proforma Note: This information must fit within the outline shown so that it will be visible through the window in the front cover. Please ensure your family name is in BLOCK CAPITALS NAME This is the position of the window in the front cover sheet Thomas JONES BA (Hons) Business Administration Helen Smith The Ethics of Advertising April 2009 Newcastle DEGREE TUTOR TITLE DATE O CAMPUS STUDENT No: 00/123456 Project submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the BA (HONS) BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION of Northumbria University Handbook and Guidance Booklet – 2011/12 Page 22 The Professional Project Appendix B DECLARATIONS I declare the following:(1) that the material contained in this Project is the end result of my own work and that due acknowledgement has been given in the bibliography and references to ALL sources be they printed, electronic or personal. (2) the Word Count of this Project is: Section A: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Section B: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Reflective Statement: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Total Word Count: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. (3) that unless this Project has been confirmed as confidential, I agree to an entire electronic copy or sections of the Project to being placed on Blackboard, if deemed appropriate, to allow future students the opportunity to see examples of past Projects. I understand that if displayed on Blackboard it would be made available for no longer than five years and that students would be able to print off copies or download. The authorship would remain anonymous. 4) I agree to my Project being submitted to a plagiarism detection service, where it will be stored in a database and compared against work submitted from this or any other School or from other institutions using the service. In the event of the service detecting a high degree of similarity between content within the service this will be reported back to my supervisor and second marker, who may decide to undertake further investi gation which may ultimately lead to disciplinary actions, should instances of plagiarism be detected. 5) I have read the University Policy Statement on Ethics in Research and Consultancy and the Policy for Informed Consent in Research and Consultancy and I declare that ethical issues have been considered and taken into account in this research. SIGNED: 1 †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. DATE: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1 Handbook and Guidance Booklet – 2011/12 Please remember to sign the declaration before submitting your Project. Page 23 The Professional Project Appendix C TABLE OF CONTENTS Title page Declaration and Word Count Abstract (to cover both sections) Acknowledgements Contents Page List of figures Glossary (if appropriate) Section A Part 1: Who I am as a learner? Implications for your learning Family & friends to comment Part 2: Implications for career choice Lifelong learning Transferable skills Justify chosen career choice Appendix A – VARK, Myers Briggs, Belbin Inventory Appendix B – Curriculum vitae, two job adverts, a standard application form Appendix C – PowerPoint Presentation Section B Part 1 Introduction Reason for choice of topic Academic objectives of the Project Outline of each part Part 2 Part 3 Setting the Scene – if required Literature Review Rationale for literature reviewed Critical review of literature relating to academic objectives Part 4 References Bibliography Appendices: Reflective statement Last Page o o It is useful to specify the last page so that the reader may ensure that no pages have been omitted in error. Handbook and Guidance Booklet – 2011/12 Page 24 Summary and Conclusions The Professional Project Appendix D Ethics in Research The Northumbria University policy for ethics in research is to be found on the NBS Research Group Blackboard site. Checklist for NBS Students designing and conducting primary research Completely based on secondary data which has previously been published, is desk based and does not involve people in data collection? NO Does your research involve engagement with people in primary data collection? e. g. interview, focus group, questionnaire etc. YES YES There are not normally ethical issues to address. However you should remain ethically aware. Please ensure that you have not breached plagiarism or copyright regulations and have adequately referenced your material Handbook and Guidance Booklet – 2011/12 You should not involve children or vulnerable adults in your research (other than authorised exceptions with CRB checks) If researching in an NHS context, please discuss ethical approval with a representative from your workplace and gain advice from your supervisor/School Ethics Sub Committee before proceeding Read the policy on informed consent: http://northumbria. c. uk/static/worddocuments/informe dconsent and gain consent from the organisation and people involved. Use implied, verbal or written consent and complete, where appropriate, an informed consent form (available on Blackboard) Read guidelines and address anonymity/confidentiality in research design and writing up: http://northumbria. ac. uk/static/worddocuments/ethicsp olicy. doc Read guidelines on data protection : http://northumbria. ac. uk/sd/central/uso/ndp/nudpp Ensure that you have NOT used inducements to obtain participants Page 25

How does Stevenson present good and evil in “Jekyll and Hyde”? Essay

The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a tale of contrast between good and evil. Robert Louis Stevensons novel demonstrates the adverse effects of scientific experiments and how the perception of doors can lead to evil. Furthermore â€Å"Jekyll and Hyde† is full of dual personality which in itself creates god and evil. Also it suggests that good cannot exist without evil. Firstly many of the rich and respected went out at night to experience how the other half lived. Here among the dim lit alleyways of the East End and under the protection of darkness did the upper class come out to play. They were frequently involved in illicit activities such as gambling, prostitution, brawling, heavy drinking and opium taking. They wanted to break away from the restraining shackles of society and enjoy the thrill of a concealed life at night away from the tight morals that governed the upper class. It was therefore no surprise that Enfield also led a secretive concealed life at night. ‘Coming home from some place at the end of the world, about three o’clock of a black winter morning’. ‘Some place at the end’ suggests that Enfield is letting on too Mr Utterson that he was taking part in the extreme pleasures the city had to offer. However he was not going to openly admit as the effect on his reputation would be damming and the respect of Utterson would be lost as this secret life was a secret that could not be disgusted even to fellow aristocrats. ‘Extreme’ being that it is commented on as being the end of the world. Furthermore ‘black winter morning’ is using pathetic facility to show us that Mr Hyde is about as the author portrays the weather to be Mr Hydes appearance. Even though these illicit wanderings may be considered to some as being evil, the person who is partaking in the activities should be may be considered as good as he is not lying but also saving disgrace and disrespect from all other lawyers. The secret, shaded society knew full well that if they were discovered their well respected position and occupation would collapse from underneath them. This was even more so for lawyer as they earned a living from devils advocate therefore due to the strong religious beliefs in the 1870s people already hated lawyers as they do today due tot heir association with the devil. This shows that good cannot live without evil, as if their was no evil how could there be good. Secondly Stevenson presents good and evil through the perception of doors. Mr Hyde’s door is described as being ‘blistered and disdained’. The author presents the door as a personified form of Mr Hyde, ‘Blistered’ can mean burnt; burnt is disfigured; disfigured is mutated. Mr Hyde has been created through the mutation of Dr Jekyll’s ego. The author does this because the door is the entrance to Mr Hydes beginning and other egos’ life. Also the word ‘disdained’ means rejected and as Mr Hyde appears to be lonely due to him never mentioned as being civilized or having friends he could be described as being rejected. Therefore the door is shown as a personified form of Mr Hyde’s mind and body due to the door being rejected and mutated. Finally due to the door being the beginning of the creatures life if this door did not exist good could have been destroyed and at the same time evil destroy itself aswell. Another example of good not being able out live without evil is the street in which the door of Hyde’s house resides, ‘the street shone out in contrast’ supports Stevensons theory of good being unable to exist without evil. As the street ‘shone’ which is usually associated with happiness, and happiness is one of the many emotions of good. Therefore this street was good yet to support the authors theory he had to include evil some how and so decided to put the entrance to pure evils residence. Thirdly Stevenson portrays Mr Hyde as a sinister, violent, evil man. ‘Trampled calmly over the child’s body’ suggests to us the reader that this man is evil as why does he just trample over a child’s’ body. The adverb ‘calmly’ implies that his moves were not premeditated but fluid as if his actions came naturally to him, almost as if he walks over children regularly. Whereas the word ‘trampled’ implies that Mr Hyde is not all there, as if he is intoxicated with drug usage or excessive alcohol consumption. Also trampling may suggest that a state of panic has arisen in Mr Hyde’s mind to get home without being recognized or arrested due to his mutation of Jekyll. Furthermore Mr Hyde is described as being indescribable ‘he gave an impression of deformity without any namable malformation’ suggests that Mr Hyde possesses an aura of evil but shows know deformation from normal human form. This implies that no one knows how to describe Mr Hyde yet he is not deformed therefore suggesting his pure evil. No one has ever seen pure evil they have only felt or seen examples of what it can do also evil has never taken human form before. Whereas Dr. Jekyll is described as, ‘a well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty†¦ with every mark of capacity and kindness’. The word ‘kindness’ suggests that he was a generous, good man. Furthermore from these two examples you can see that Stevenson implies that Hyde represents evil and Jekyll represents good through the novel. In addition the Victorians believed in physiognomy which was where they thought that the way you looked linked with your personality. This relates to what I have already mentioned about the appearances of Jekyll and Hyde- Hyde being evil as he was ugly and Jekyll being good as he was an attractive man. In the Victorian times everyone would have believed this as they were all very superstitious due to there being no scientific proof to argue against some of the misguided teachings of the church. Fourthly Stevenson presents good and evil through referring to the teachings of the bible due to the fight of good and evil, and duty and temptation in the human soul: a story as old as genesis. Jekyll says that ‘the terms of this debate are as old and common place as man’. ‘This debate’ refers to the eternal struggle of all forms of good and evil. ‘Common place’ suggests that us the reader has grown accustom to evil always accompanying good. Furthermore ‘as old†¦as man’ is referring to the struggle of good and evil which Adam and Eve encountered with the temptation to eat the fruit off the forbidden tree. Due to this Stevenson created a philosophical theory that without human interference there would be no emotion as only good would exist and as Stevenson has demonstrated throughout the novel good cant exist without evil. This is therefore suggesting that mankind is the evil in the world which is why Stevenson portrays Hyde as being ‘Ape like’ suggesting that if mankind had not evolved from apes the evolution of evil would not have happened, Fifthly Stevenson portrays good and evil through evolution. Jekyll is shown as conceiving Hyde as his ‘lower element† Hyde is actually perceived as being lower on the evolution scale by the author. Utterson found Hyde both ‘dwarfish’ and ‘troglodytic’. ‘Dwarfish’ and ‘troglodytic’ are both associated with cave dwellers and through the course of evolution we have lived in caves however that was some ten thousand years ago thus suggesting of his un-evolved nature. Whilst other remarks describe Hyde as being ‘ape-like’ it is with no doubt then that Hyde is suppose to not have evolved fully therefore suggesting that Hyde is immortal. Therefore if Hyde is shown as being immortal then the author is implying that evil is indestructible whilst good exists. Finally Stevenson presents good and evil through the use of pathetic facility in the weather. When Hyde is around Stevenson uses â€Å"at night under the face of the fogged city moon† to increase the tension of Hydes appearance. The word ‘fogged’ suggests that it’s misty and eerie. Eerie usually been associated with spookiness/horror so therefore the presence of horror is created by the appearance of Hyde. This type of weather is a pun on Hyde’s name due to you being able to ‘hide in fog’. Alternatively the weather seems to be nice and pleasant when Jekyll’s around. â€Å"It was a fine, dry night†¦ the lamps unshaken by the wind†. The word ‘unshaken’ may suggest how calm the weather is, comparing to Jekyll as he is also a ‘calm’, ‘gentle’ person. However towards the end of the novel anti-pathetic facility occurs as the weather is good yet Hyde appears. ‘I sat in the sun†¦ I was once more Edward Hyde ‘. Moreover you would think this would occur all through the novel, however near the end anti-pathetic fallacy is used as when Jekyll is around the weather is also bad. This may reflect on the personalities as Jekyll is starting to be overcome by the evil of Hyde and so in turn is becoming evil. This makes the reader confused and not sure what to think with this unexpected change however that is how Stevenson has presented some of the different forms of good and evil throughout the novel. In conclusion Robert Louis Stevenson presents good and evil as being partners, partners that should never be separated over wise the effects could be disastrous. Therefore Stevenson has shown us the reader that evil must co-exist if not to cause self-destruction. Furthermore he presented Jekyll as being addicted to Hydes evil and the more he tried to fight his addiction to further he sank into its horrific power. Also Stevenson shows us that for the world to survive good has to be forever locked in conflict. However Stevenson also presents good and evil through the perception of doors and how the shackles of society which many people crave are so easy to come by as to loose. We have grown up to believe that good always triumphs over evil yet if that is so eventually one day nature will conquer over man kind, as Stevenson proves that mankind is the route of all evil and therefore it is us that has to co-exist with nature.

IRAC Brief Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

IRAC Brief - Assignment Example However, the company, through its subsidiaries conducts business in the USA, the Latin America and different other parts of the world. The business activities of Bridgestone Corporation included the shipment and sale of automobile anti-vibration rubber parts (AVP) to different car manufacturers, suppliers, subsidiaries and affiliates in the USA and elsewhere (Department of Justice, 2014). Rule: The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio ruled that Bridgestone Corporation engaged in a conspiracy to allocate sales, rig bids and assign and maintain prices for AVP contrary to the provisions of both the Sherman Act and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (Department of Justice, 2014). Consequently, the court ruled that Bridgestone Corporation pays $425 million criminal fine (Bridgestone Corporation, 2014). Analysis: The provisions of section 1 of Sherman Act of 1890 offers that any practice, conspiracy or restraint to fair trade competition among different states in the USA or within foreign nations is illegal (Muchmore, 2012). Thus, the USA department of Justice (USDOJ) alleged that the company’s practices of converging and discussing issues of price fixation and sharing of market shares between the affiliates, subsidiaries and supplier amounted to the violation of this provision of the law. Further, the USDOJ alleged that through rigging for bids and tenders for supply of AVP, Bridgestone Corporation violated the provisions of 15 U.S. Code  § 78dd The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, which prohibits influencing or inducing officials to do, or omit doing any act that is their rightful duty (Department of Justice, 2014). In this respect, since Bridgestone Corporation, its subsidiaries, affiliates and suppliers engaged in rigging bids for winning tenders for supply of AV P to different states in the USA, its activities amounted to the violation of this provisions of the

Good for Grades, Hapiness, Writing, and Multicultural Citizenship Essay

Good for Grades, Hapiness, Writing, and Multicultural Citizenship - Essay Example After discovering my love for reading suspense thrillers, I noticed positive changes in my studies and attitudes. I researched more about the effects of reading books on people and discovered diverse beneficial academic and psychological outcomes. This essay is about reading and its benefits to students. Students should read more, because it will improve their grades, enhance their writing skills and studying attitudes, uplift their moods, and help them become multicultural citizens. Reading more is equal to getting better grades. For some students, this is not exactly motivating, because they are not precisely into reading more class materials. By reading, however, I refer to leisure reading that consists of quality books. Yes, I rate my favorite authors as capable of writing quality books, because they use a wide range of vocabulary and I learn a great deal from their writing styles. It is important to read something interesting, or else there is no motivation to read. Go ahead and read Star Trek if one finds science fiction as riveting. Or read Twilight, if one enjoys teen romance with a vampirish theme. Reading can improve student’s grades, because extensive reading improves comprehension. It develops comprehension by enhancing one’s vocabulary. ... Reading also enhances fluency (Houghton Mifflin Company). Studies show that â€Å"unless students can accurately and effortlessly deal with the word-identification demands of reading, difficulties will result in comprehension and overall reading achievement† (LaBerge & Samuels qtd. in Houghton Mifflin Company). Reading helps students relate words to its meanings and diverse functions. Evidence also shows that when people have a habit of reading, their reading performance also improves (Bridge, Winograd, & Haley; Dowhower; Herman qtd. in Houghton Mifflin Company). Reading begets reading. People who read more can read and speak better. Reading can also develop positive attitudes toward reading and studying (Day 1). Day talks about how students, who love reading, suddenly enjoy reading more school material and nurture positive attitudes in studying. The love for leisure reading transfers to academic reading too. I myself can attest to this, because reading helped me concentrate o n academic materials. Since concentration is needed when reading Koontz and Tracy, I honed my concentration abilities. I soon found out that I can also concentrate more on reading, thanks to Koontz and Tracy. I did not know that they could teach me concentration skills. Reading also builds my enthusiasm for studying. Studying is mainly reading, unless computations are required. It is hard to study when one detests the process of reading. Some students hate studying, because they do not like reading. But when they learn to love reading their favorite books, they will somehow learn to love reading class materials too. Somehow, it transfers and the positive feelings that go with leisure

An analysis of ethics in the 21st Century Research Paper

An analysis of ethics in the 21st Century - Research Paper Example Types of ethics will give us information about how ethics are related with various folds of our life. Amongst the type of ethics we will discuss in brief about Business Ethics in our report. This discussion would include details of business ethics as in what business ethics are, how they affect business and limitations of business ethics. After getting information of business ethics we will discuss about ethics in 21st century and finally moving on with the conclusion of report about what we have discussed in the report. Ethics may be defined as the philosophical study of behavior that is considered as correct amongst a particular profession or group. Ethics are also termed as Moral Philosophy. It is the discipline or study guiding about what is morally correct and what not. Ethics and values are essential for the development of every society, state, region or country. Today the world around us is changing with a fast pace thus creating uncertainty in lives. This may be due to cut throat competition and globalization. Thus ethics may serve as a guidance laying principles of conduct which is considered as morally correct. The universal values for natural environment, health and safety, human rights, equality of men and women and principles of human conduct all comes under study of Ethics. It is a broad term covering almost all the spheres of life laying principles for fair behavior (Singer 2011). Business Ethics is about responsibly doing the business. It means that the businessmen must keep away from indulging in unfair trade practices like publish misleading advertisements, adulteration, black marketing etc. The businessmen should supply quality products to their consumers at reasonable prices all the time. There should be no unfair competition and monopolies. Workers exploitation should not be there and they must get proper wages with good working condition. Business Ethics can be divided into two parts

Chinese stock bouble 2007 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Chinese stock bouble 2007 - Research Paper Example This led to the skyrocketing of trading volume, as retail investors sought to reap the benefits of the record-making rise. According to a 2008 report by Yao and Luo, the SSE had hit 6124.04 by October 2007 (10).   That this was a stock bubble, was not lost on analysts - vice chairman of the National People’s Congress in China, Cheng Siwei, was among one of the many analysts to point out that, following a year of volatility, the Chinese stock market was overheating (qtd. in Tucker & Dyer). Even though the government took steps to tackle the dramatic situation, it could not succeed in heading the bubble off. By the end of 2007, the stock bubble had ‘burst’ - the SSE Composite Index began to see a fall right after October 2007 and, by the middle of 2008, had plunged to a shocking 2651.6 1 - less than half of what the index had been at its peak (Yao and Luo 7). This paper looks at this stock market crash - also known as the Chinese Stock Bubble 2007 - in detail, out lining what it was, the reasons because of which it occurred, and its effects on economic conditions within and outside of China. In addition to this, this paper also uses its review of the Chinese Stock Bubble to provide recommendations for avoiding such market crashes, in the future. THE CHINESE STOCK BUBBLE It has been seen that the Chinese stock market was, preceding the crash, characterized by volatility. This is demonstrated in How We Explain the Chinese Stock Market Bubble?, a report that graphs the rise and fall of the SSE Composite Index, from 2005 to 2008 as follows (1). As apparent from the graph, the Chinese stock market saw a boom at the beginning of 2007. This picked up momentum, until the market crashed at the end of the year. According to Yao and Luo (2), prices of stocks shot up after the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China became listed on several Chinese stock exchanges. The authors point out that, by the time the market had begun to heat, the combined market value of the 1500 odd companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges exceeded a massive 32 trillion RMB (2). Following the American economic recession of 2007 and a realization in investors that large Chinese companies had been moving to milk cash from â€Å"ignorant, prudent savers,† the bubble began to fizzle off - and fast (Yao and Luo 2). Within months, the market value of listed companies had begun to plummet; by June 2008, the combined market value of listed companies had fallen to less than half of what it had been during the bubble (Yao and Luo 2). Individually, the Shanghai Composite Index fell down by over 60%, while the Shehzen Composite Index saw a 60% plunge (Xinhui). Reasons for the Chinese Stock Market Crash American Sub-Prime Lending. While the official explanation for the Chinese stock market crash centred on the influence of American sub-prime lending on the Chinese economy, analysts have argued that this is a superficial justification that do es not delve into the actual reasons underlying the crash (Xinhui). Xinhui points out one valid argument for such criticism - the sub-prime loan crisis resulted in an 11% drop in the S&P Index, whereas the Chinese stock market crash was much more massive. Critically analyzing this chain of thought gives one food for thought - it is hard to believe

Gatsby vs. Gatsby; novel vs. film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Gatsby vs. Gatsby; novel vs. film - Essay Example One time Nick gets an invitation to one of the many parties where he gets to meet Gatsby and they recognize each other, having served in the First World War together. Gatsby’s aim of hosting the parties is to attract the beautiful Daisy. He even gets to ask Nick to organize an â€Å"accidental meeting† so they re-unite; a plan that finally succeeds. Things take a different twist when Daisy’s husband, who is also in an extramarital affair, becomes suspicious of their affair. After a night drive that kills Tom’s mistress, Tom goes hunting for, and shoots Gatsby then himself. Nick sets up a silent burial for Gatsby then returns to his initial home. Decades later in 2013, Baz Luhrmann directed a film, in the same name, featuring famous stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio. The Great Gatsby film was successful almost instantly that it won awards in its first year. This essay will compare the film and novel in detail and evaluate their representation on the theme of the human condition of always yearning for better or higher positions. The novel did not rise to fame immediately, it was published, but after the author died; it was integrated into the high school English literature curriculum where its popularity began. The popularity is attributed to its close relation to real life events that overly engage the readers in that it portrays themes with both emotional and moral significances which are considered universal human attributes. What this means is that in reading the book, one always learns something more with regards to what being human entails. In the novel, the main theme portrayed revolves around constant and insatiable human longing which is an inevitable part of human beings. The evidence in the Great Gatsby is seen in the characters like Gatsby, who is a millionaire, but still feels unsatisfied as long as he does not have Daisy. These and other attributes of human beings are brought out using different styles in the novel as this text will discuss. In

Product Marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Product Marketing - Assignment Example The report also aims at ensuring that Howden Joinery identifies problems facing it thus becoming very innovative a thing that will ensure that old customers are retained with new customers joining the company. The study looks at the basic fundamental in new product development. For the implementation of a good and improved new product development process the report offers the main elements which include; anchoring the innovative process with top management in the company, splitting the innovation process in two distinct part assigning responsibilities to each, establishing a link between technological and business strategy, developing communication of the strategy to all employees in the company, corporate marketing, among others. New product development (NPD) attempts to describe the whole process that involves bringing a new service or product in the market. (Ulrich and Eppinger, 2004) The new product development process involves; Most companies will view new product development as the most important stage in producing and marketing its products within the entire life cycle management process used in the market share expansion and growth. Ulrich and Eppinger (2004) argues that new products occur in various categories with some being new to the company , others are new to the market while others create new markets. Some concepts in new product process are slight modifications of those in existence when contrasted against a different measure; however some new product development processes are purely inventions from the companies. These new product development processes are; Idea Screening Howden Joinery should carry out idea screening with an aim of doing away with those ideas that are not worthwhile. This will save the company from allocating resources to such concepts. The company should evaluate whether its customers will benefit from the given product, this they can do by conducting a thorough research on the customer's tastes and references. (Ulrich and Eppinger, 2004) The company should assess the technical feasibility in the manufacturing of a given product. Here Howden Joinery will need to know the raw materials needed in production, their availability, and the cost of buying, transporting and processing. After which they will assess the marketability of the product. Lastly, the screeners should carry out a research as to whether their product will earn them some profit; this will incorporate the total cost of production labour and the selling price for the manufactured product. In evaluating the existing process it is important for the company to perform an Evaluation of the current development process. (Michael, 2004) Such an evaluation may touch on specific areas that need improvement. Examination can be in terms of both the performance and means applied. Howden joinery will discover the unemployed activities, streamlining opportunities and executing ones in order to trim down the general time of the cycle (Michael, 2004) Business Analysis According to Michael, (2004) Howden Joinery should carry out a business analysis so as to help in knowing the financial position of the business. This can be done through estimating the likely price tag of its products based upon the feedback from the customers and the

Dracula and The Strange Case Essay Example for Free

Dracula and The Strange Case Essay Dracula, by Bram Stoker, and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, are classic examples of Gothic literature. Gothic literature is a genre that combines elements of both horror and romance. It is identified by its use of terror and horror to shock the reader, and this is usually created by setting the novel in huge, austere castles, with mysterious protagonists and horrific imagery.  In the opening of Chapter 2 of Dracula, we are being described the imposing castle of the protagonist Count Dracula, in the eyes of a Solicitor’s clerk’s journal, called Jonathan Harker. This first person narrative, which also appears in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in the form of the Mr Utterson, creates a lot of terror as the fact that they are describing it, really makes the reader come to terms that this actually happened. However, we do not know whether what they are saying is true or false, as we only have the word of the respective characters, given the piece a sense of mystery and suspense. As these two passages are based on description (describing the house and Mr Hyde in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and describing Count Dracula’s house in Dracula), adjectives are key in creating tension and terror. In Dracula, the adjectives reflect that in the dark, all your senses are heightened, so everything seems bigger, â€Å"I stood next to a great door, old and studded with large iron nails, and set in a projecting doorway of massive stone†. This piece is also given an aural dimension by adding noise. In the phrase, â€Å"the sound of rattling chains and the clanking of massive bolts drawn back. A key was turned with the loud grating noise of long disuse† the adjectives used are onomatopoeic which gives the reader a sense of sound which brings the writing to live. In The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, negative adjectives are used to describe the house to create an unpleasant aura surrounding the house, associating it with evil, â€Å"the door was blistered and distained. [it bore] the marks of prolonged and sordid negligence†.  The theme of light and dark plays a large part in Gothic literature, where darkness symbolises evil and horror and light symbolises happiness and safety, down to humans primitive terror of darkness. Both the ‘stories’ take place in the dark, automatically creating a sense of terror. In Jonathan Harker’s Journal, he likens the situation to a ‘horrible nightmare’, meaning the reader can empathise with him. In both passages, we are given a vivid description of the outside of the buildings, but we are not told about the inside, leaving it up to the readers imagination. This is very effective as it makes the reader feel like he is actually in the scene being described. In Chapter 2 of Dracula, Stoker personifies the house, â€Å"it was not likely that my voice could penetrate through these frowning walls†. This is effective as it again makes you think what is on the inside, and in this case, who is doing the ‘frowning’. Again this same technique is done in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The phrase, â€Å"a certain sinister building thrust forward its gable† gives the house a sense of its own power, through the personification. This is also shown by likening the faà §ade of the house to a face, â€Å"a blind forehead of discoloured wall†. In the two passages, the door is focused on: â€Å"the door which was equipped with neither bell nor knocker† and â€Å"I stood close to a great door, old and studded with large iron nails†. This is because it is the gateway between what we know, and what we don’t know as a reader. The fact that there is â€Å"neither bell nor knocker† is important as it gives the house an impenetrable quality, making the reader guess what it is the doors are hiding. It also demonstrates the use of contrast to create tension. Contrast is effective as when to juxtaposed things are linked together, tension is created as the reader is unsure what is happening. Contrast is shown by the main protagonist from Dracula. We are told that he is black and white, symbolising that he is both dead and alive. We are not told anything about the two main protagonists. However the image the reader is presented with are very different in the two passages. In The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, we are disgusted by this amoral character who tramples over this small child. In the phrase, â€Å"the two ran into one another naturally enough at the corner; [but] the man trampled calmly over the child’s body†, the adverb, â€Å"calmly† is the most horrific as it shows he had no problems with what he did. However, in Dracula, the Count is shown to be very hospitable and welcoming, â€Å"I bid you welcome to my house. Come in; the night air is chill, and you must need to eat and rest†. This stark contrast raises the issue as to whether Count Dracula is all that he seems, hence creating terror.  Both these passages play on the readers’ fear of the unknown. Both authors use varied techniques to create terror and successfully bring the reader into the narrative. What makes The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde more horrific is that it uses all the Gothic themes, except he then places it into London, making it much more believable than castles and counts. The fear is that it really could be anywhere.

Success Guide to CRM From Information Technology Perspective

Success Guide to CRM From Information Technology Perspective Abstract The research work is majorly classified into seven different sections. The first section deals with a brief description of CRM, its rise in the industry, its importance in the organizations and its evolution. The next section deals with Electronic Customer Relationship Management, which is the web-version of Customer Relationship Management deployable in organizations. It is a collection of work put together between various Front-end systems, Data-handling technologies and Back-end systems. All these put together form the backbone of Customer Relationship Management. Third section deals with the approaches to Customer Relationship Management. Customer Service,Campaign ManagementandSales Force Automation(SFA) are core of the CRM system and they are discussed in detail. Apart from which other modules such as Operational CRM, Analytical CRM is also presented with a brief description. Fourth section deals with the modules of Customer Relationship Management which needs to be taken into c onsideration for developing a CRM software solution. Primarily the modules of importance in most of the organizations such as Marketing module, Service module, Sales module, and Call center module are dealt with. Each of the modules is in turn covered in detail encompassing the finer divisions in individual module. Fifth section focuses on the types of Customer Relationship Management. Business-to-Business CRM, Business to -Consumer CRM and other CRM related application areas, technical functionality and support required are presented with. Additionally each section is illustrated in detail so that a future organization/individual can have a quick understanding of their requirements and adapt a one which meets their requirements. Sixth, seventh sections provide the list of software vendors, their existing products and how one can select a software as per the needs and requirements of the user. This piece of research work mainly focuses on enabling an individual to understand ones re quirements and facilitates the person in adopting a module which meets all the desired needs. 1. Introduction: Information Technology has made a huge impact on how a business operates; thereby it is being seen as an important area of commerce which needs to be tapped. Despite the large scale investments in trying to automate a business entity, many businesses have failed to attract customers. The factors such as time frame of response, understanding customer needs and new ways to attract customers are making it difficult for the businesses to cope up with. Customers pose a key role in success of an e-business and it has called for extensive research in understanding the key areas of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in the field of Information technology. Customer Relationship Management from the Information Technology perspective is called as Electronic Customer Relationship Management (ECRM). 1.1 What is CRM? In todays market trend, customers are more educated, better informed, more technology aware and hence demanding more in the service they buy. So, the task becomes more challenging for business managers in attracting the profitable customers. Hence, small as well as big Information technology companies are working hard for maintaining good customer relationships and reaching customer satisfaction. To improve business strategy and plans, firstly, companies need to emphasis more on customers needs and behaviors in order to develop stronger customer relationships. The very first approach comes in this methodology is CRM. CRM stands for the customer relationship management. It is the process or methodology used to interact with customers, which will help bring together lots of information about customers, sales, marketing effectiveness, and customer responses and market trends. It helps businesses use available technology and resources to gain behavior and value of the customer. It broadl y covers concepts used by companies to manage their customer relationships very effectively by capturing, storing and analyzing customer information. For example by having such database created with customers need, matching customer needs and product plans and offerings, knowing what other products customer had purchased, etc. can improve product quality, indirectly improving customer relationships. Thus, CRM is the one of the important aspect in the business industries. (Eric Williams 2006) 1.2 Evolution of CRM CRM must start with an industry business strategy, which will offer positive changes in organization and work processes, which are then enabled by Information technology. In 1960s, academic researchers found that the 4Ps marketing framework i.e. product, price, place and promotion was less valuable than ongoing business relationships. By 1980s, marketing teams used to describe his new focus on understanding customer segment and achieving high customer satisfaction. In 1990s, CRM became the umbrella term; computer systems were deployed to support sales and service processes. By late 1990s, the real impact of these systems was outside the corporate world. Explosive growth in the internet usage broadened the concept as e-CRM to manage online customers. Now, multi-channel systems are available to support direct, internet and partner channels to allow user to use whatever mode of communication, they pleased. (Digital Publishing Solutions May 2007) These systems could typically answer many of the questions such as: How can oneself improve sales activities to have better idea of business improvement. How one can improve capability for leading the generation, account management and opportunities. How to make meaningful decisions on measuring the results from marketing campaign. How to resolve customer service troubles, make queue time shorter, make customer happy by offerings. All in all, how one can improve customer relationship. To answer these questions, CRM was developed to provide best operating practices in sales, marketing and customer services. This is where, companies started using CRM to store customer history, real time activities accumulation, which each department could bring up a record and see all customer interactions. 1.3 Why is CRM important? Everyone faces with the products and services at every single turn. But in realty, many of the product and service providers do actually not know the persons those using them. Major corporations failed to realize that it is the customer who is their biggest ally. Several millions of dollars are lost yearly because they failed to make profit, beat their competitors and stay ahead in this race. They wasted their money in marketing and endeavoring to gain the customers. They all are prone to make same mistake at some point of time. The main reason behind this failure was the attitude of companies towards their customers. The customer is the real king, who makes decision on failure and success of any service or product company. Many of the companies are not open to customers suggestions and more often that they do not provide the customer with a proper avenue and expel their ideas. This often leads to customers unhappiness and eventually their loss. Here comes the real need of the CRM. ( Rick Cook, 2008) CRM take into consideration the customers need and behavior towards services and products provided by companies. Companies can define their business strategy that primarily focuses on the customer, their ideas and suggestions. Benefits of CRM are listed below as business perspective: Increased sales through better timing by analyzing needs based on historic databases. Identifying improvement areas by understanding specific customer requirements. Increasing business, by highlighting and suggesting alternatives or enhancements. Identifying profit making customers. Better marketing of products. Enhanced customer satisfaction and retention. Enhanced customer loyalty. Improved quality communication and networking. Increased overall efficiency with reduction of total cost of sales. Better stand against global competition. Once business starts to look after existing customers effectively, effort can be made to gain new customer thus expanding market value. 2. Electronic Customer Relationship Management: Electronic Customer Relationship Management (ECRM) is the current trend with most business organizations be it small or large. The companies are hesitant in using the traditional strategies for running its businesses. The customers are treated as the most important part of the implementing a business strategy. That is the reason why ECRM has gained a lot of importance in the past decade. Romano (2001) defined ECRM as, â€Å"ECRM is concerned with attracting and keeping economically valuable customers and eliminating less profitable ones†. This aspect of the CRM which deals with the customers over its online business portals helps to identify the key customers and by spending more resources on them to make the business run better. The solutions offered to these businesses are of wide range and they are often sold as a package at very high prices. The nature of a business plays a vital role as adopting these CRM packages is not only waste of money but also huge waste of time. This could even lead to loosing customer base which are absolutely essential for running business. It is highly important to retain customers for a business as a recent study by McKinsey Co. revealed that if there is gain of 10% repeat customers then it will add about a profit of 10% to the company (Sims, 2000). It is highly obvious that a successful business should try and retain customers even though it is at a cost of their own terms. It is important to understand the three requirements that a CRM must address to be successful from IT point of view. 2.1 Front-end Systems In 2.1 shown below, the front-end systems constitute the key aspects of the business such as sales force market automation, customer service automation and application software. In case of online business or retailer, sales force and market automation is totally dependent on how the website looks and what features does it provide in order to attract and retain customers. Tracking all the customers and identify the potential customers will help the managers to take important decisions and capture the market. Customer service automation is a must as it the only place for a customer to reach out if they need any help. It includes setting up of call centers, communication technology infrastructure and websites. As these represent the face of a business it is important to automate these technologies. (Boon et al. 2002) 2.2 Data-Handling technologies The number of customers who shop increase day by day and it is impossible to keep track of them. As a result it has become obvious that one has to employ software tools which can manage the customer information and also be able to provide a proper links between them to help serve the customers. The techniques of data warehousing, data mining and knowledge management helps by making the CRM a better choice. In 2.1 below, the important modules which are part of data-handling technologies are shown. Data warehousing manages the companys data which is stored on a backend system and maintains the records regarding the data such as extracting, loading data in the repository and also managing the metadata. Data warehouses consists of business intelligent tools, tools to retrieve and manage data. Alex (2000) defines Data mining as a tool that automates the detection of relevant patterns within a database. The term explains how much a tool like this would help a business prosper; it gives the business, time to focus on the long term customers of the company and address various other issues. It helps in building strategy close to how the patterns reflect. Knowledge management uses the data warehouse and works as an intelligence tool by trying to establish new links within the data. For example, if a person searches for an item and if it is not found on the database then a tool like this could help the business by recording the information and possibly the customer. This improves the ef ficiency of business and customer satisfaction. These technologies are evidently a mark of the high standards a business can establish in order to survive their competitors within the global market (Compton, 2004). 2.3 Back-end Systems It is the backbone of the business without which everything else goes in utter vain. The data integrity is often considered a major player in getting all the acts together i.e. by bringing together the front-end systems and data handling technologies. It is important to integrate technologies into CRM as it forms a good strategy to work along with all the applications within the system. (Boon et al. 2002) The hierarchy present at the back-end systems as shown in 2.1 depicts the non-sales departments such as application software, enterprise wide applications, and ERP and supply chain management. In first stage, organization starts to analyze the Information systems available in place to suit their needs. The application software is deployed across the platforms they feel necessary and then it is important to establish a link between these applications which are called Enterprise Wide Applications (EWA). These help in interchanging the data between the application software and the systems. This could help the business establish all important background work as it highly important to maintain synergy between them and also update them whenever necessary to increase the speed with which they work. ERP forms the next stage of hierarchy wherein it integrates the EWA with the supply chain management which is a part of the front end and also data handling technologies. (Boon et al. 2002) The technology is considered to be the key player for any organizational success as it can be seen from the above literature. ‘IT infrastructure generally has been described as a set of IT services, including communications management, standard management, security, IT education, service management, application management, data management and IT research and development (Hwang et. al., 2002). ECRM is in short, the customer relationship management which is implemented electronically across the organizations. As CRM is mostly implemented as web based applications, the systems mentioned above play a crucial role in the management of CRM from small and medium businesses to very large scale organizations. Proceeding further, we will see various approaches in the implementation of CRM or ECRM. 3) Approaches to CRM: There are different approaches to CRM implementation and it is presented in different packages focusing on different aspects. In generalCustomer Service,Sales Force Automation (SFA) and Campaign Management are considered as core aspects of the CRM system. Customer service: Customer service is the provision for the customers before, during and after the purchase. â€Å"Customer service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer expectation. (Jamier L. Scott. 2006). Its importance depends on the product, industry and customer. Customer service provided by a person or by automated mean as self-service (for example, Internet service). In bookRules are to break and Laws are to Follow, Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, Ph.D. wrote that customers have memories. They will remember you, whether you remember them or not. Further, customer trust can be destroyed at once by a major service problem, or it can be undermined one day at a time, with a thousand small demonstrations of incompetence.† From the point of organization view, customer service plays important role in generation of income and revenue. From this perspective, customer service must be included as part of the overall approach to the systematic improvement. Campaign management: It may happen that company may not always require all the details pertaining to particular customers history. In such cases to avoid large sending of data and insecurity, many of the organizations prefer campaign management. Enterprise campaign management solutions allow customer to provide centralized databases to send one or multiple dialers. Rather than sending down all the record, part of the record will be send as and when required. This simplifies the management of the complex dialing campaigns. Sales Force Automation: These are the information systems, which automatically records all the stages in a sale process. Such systems keep track of the all contacts that has been made with the customer, purpose of the contact, and any follow up that might be required. This ensures that sales efforts will not be duplicated, reducing the business risks. It also lists potential customers of related products. It might happen that different department may contact same customer number of times for same purpose. To avoid such a risk, SFA must be fully integrated in all the departments that deal with customer service management. 3.1 Various approaches of CRM: Operational CRM Analytical CRM Sales Intelligence CRM Campaign management Collaborative CRM Consumer Relationship CRM (White PaperonArchitecture for CRM approachesin Financial Services) Operational CRM: Operational CRM provides support for front end business processes, which includes sales, marketing and services. Interactions with customers are generally stored in customers database history and company staff can retrieve information as and when required. So, the need for direct contact with customer for his requirement details will be eliminated and reaching to the customer at right time and right place will be more preferable. Operational CRM processes customers data for various purposes such as managing campaign, marketing automation, sales force automation, sales management system, etc. Few of the benefits of the operational CRM systems are as follows: It delivers personalized and effective sales, marketing and service through multiple channels. Enable 360 degree view of the customers details while interacting with them. Sales or service department can easily access history of the all customers interaction, without referring directly to customer. In sales source automation, company can automate their critical sales and sales force management tasks. Few of the examples include account management, contact management, forecasting, and sales administration keeping track of customer preferences as well as performance management. (Effective CRM Consulting 2009) In customer service and support, many companies automate some service requests, complaints, product returns and information requests. Key infrastructure requirements of CSS include volume processing capability and reliability, multiple channels support such as web, phone/fax, face-to-face, etc. In case of the Marketing Automation, information regarding business environment, industry trends macro-environment variables is stored. And then business strategy is defined. Predictive business model is defined. Analytical CRM: Analytical CRM includes the process of understanding the behaviors of customers, analyzing this data for marketing effectiveness and planning strategies of cross-selling, up-selling, etc. The process of analytical CRM starts with analyzing the customer profiles by targeting various categories of customers and evaluating their responses. These responses can be tracked using customer complaints or through transactional data or by direct customer contacts through satisfaction survey. This data of attitudinal and behavioral responses of customers is input for the next process which is nothing but customer behavior modeling. This includes building of predictive models according to the analysis data for various set of customers. The customer behavioral modeling helps to understand the homogenous customer segments. Also the methods like association discovery which is nothing but understanding the associations between the customer needs. Here only Operational CRM and Analytical CRM are discussed as they are different from the other approaches. The other approaches of CRM namely, Sales CRM, Campaign management, Consumer relationship CRM explanations are not furnished here as they are presented in very much details in the subsequent section, modules of CRM. 4) Modules of CRM: The key functionality of a CRM solution can be studied under 4 basic modules. They are Marketing, Service, Sales and Call centre. All these modules are Collaborative, Analytical and Operational. 4.1 Marketing Module The marketing module ofCRMcomprises of functionalities regarding short term execution of marketing related activities and long term planning within the company. It also helps in activities like planning, Campaign Management and lead management. Marketing module enables different communication channels to run marketing campaigns by the company, which targets potential buyers in using a product or a group of products as a message. One positive way to increase marketing effectiveness is to get better the way leads are captured and acted on. The old method is when an investigation is presented to the organizations web site; an email is generated and delivered to the department of marketing. Novel way is, a new prospect record is automatically formed in the master database which presents the lead source and campaign, assigns it to a sales representative, and emails the prospect with information or instructions scores the lead. Leads can be allocated upon product curiosity, region, or any additional defined criteria. Automated processing is defined by quicker routing and the facility to scrutinize the lead progress on a real time basis as leads are qualified and converted. The whole lot is processed and followed up in the CRM database, but more importantly such types of workflow improvements effects in greater conversion rates. (Kevin M. Turner, 2007) CRM marketing tools afford the infrastructure to prop up a huge variety of lead generation strategies which may be by email marketing, through advertising, direct mail, or trade shows. CRM also facilitates the marketer with metrics which validate financial plans and establishes the worth of marketing to management and sales. Target Marketing: Attaining the correct message at the correct time from the right people is vital. Wish to aim only the decision makers those with a practical role of engineering for technical illustration at trade fare? In order to win over, organizations need to elevate consciousness among their most accessible objectives, at the appropriate time with less cost and endeavor. CRM enables an institute to manipulate the valuable knowledge captured through accessible customer relations. As CRM is in place as infrastructure, setting up and maintaining an effective route for getting customer support CRM and sales customers to enter required knowledge into the database is simple. Have a glance at marketing, the sales and support business processes and workflows, and then categorize communication and marketing opportunities. Mixed with a focus on marketing targets and tactics, now have a map to yield the value in CRM by target marketing. (Kevin M. Turner, 2007) Campaign Management and Effectiveness Tracking: The CRM solutions have incorporated marketing tools to support complete campaign management to conduct the webinars, the marketing campaigns, seminars, trainings, events etc. Choose targets, give invitations, obtain registrations through the web, deliver automated replies and reminders, create attendee lists, and carry out satisfaction surveys. Each detail, offline and online, may be watched, measured, and administered as part of the operation. Every movement that has been made with each of the individual analysis and clientele is captured. Outcome is radically improved marketing administration effectiveness and efficiency, along with a current, shared, and a complete picture of every touch which is made with each client and viewpoint. Icing on the cake is that marketers can obtain benefit of the data obtained to observe real-time campaign metrics, and gauge the efficacy of individual campaigns by kind, time period or medium. Email Marketing and Communications: Email marketing plan is the core of marketing success today. Email marketing is timely, cheap, and when done exactly, effectual. Along with CRM, the sales and customer support staff capture and update email addresses in the main CRM repository during their usual tasks. Its vital to confine and keep up an updated email database of clientele and scenarios. Modules of CRM have complete email marketing facilities built in. A lot of of them do have the capability to send batch emails and trace the reads. However there is a big market of well-known on demand email marketing attributes which â€Å"plug in† to CRM functionality and offer considerably better features to make generating professional email interactions better and perk up the deliverability. In addition, email programs also help to tackle the intricacies of government regulations, tracing, and delivering. If used jointly with CRM, it will have a totally fledged email marketing solution which is professional, acquiescent and effectual. (Kevin M. Turner, 2007) Marketing Administration: CRM can supervise marketing administration activities, which in numerous cases are time intense, not possible, and pricey to administer devoid of automation. Newsletter List Management: Saving and continuing supporting the lists of subscribers for alerts and newsletters may be a full time activity, but the task may be automated by combining a web page to the CRM repository where lists are followed up. The integration allows the subscriber to check current preferences, modify and append to their subscriptions, the login, and authenticates requests and one can send the customer an email to corroborate and thank them. (Kevin M. Turner, 2007) Literature Fulfillment: CRM modules can track supplies and rearrange points and direct orders for dispensation. Moreover, the user wants the ability to follow up fulfillment requests and check their order records. In few cases, literature fulfillment requests are required to come from associates, prospects, or clients via web site, all of which can be contained. Event Management: Events managing require lots of dexterity. A site must be booked, salespersons contracted, presenters scheduled, fund-raisers signed, broadcasts sent, registrations noted, fee processed, and of course the affair must be held. By making the most of CRM for event management, marketing department can with no trouble and efficiently carry out far more events, whilst building a record of sources concerned that may be required in the prospect. Customer Surveys: CRM systems can carry survey administration and consecutively can get better end results for both the corporation and the consumer. Survey invitations may be sent by email from the CRM system, provoking the member to click on a link which guides them to a web survey on organization site. The email address or an approved identifier rooted in the link can combine the study to the members details in the CRM record, where it can get details and also reported about. The CRM workflow may also send announcements as soon as a survey is received. (Kevin M. Turner, 2007) 4.2 Service Module The service module of CRM focuses on how effectively the system is managing customer service which is either planned or unplanned. It helps in activities like Service Contract Management, Service Order Management, and Planned Services management, Installed Base (Equipment) Management, Warranty Management, Service Level Agreement Management, Scheduling, Resource Planning and Knowledge Management. Service contract management: Maintain a variety of service contracts, including labor contracts, standard parts and usage-based contracts. Administer service contracts, manage service-level agreements, automatically verify entitlement, and alert agents when a customers contract is about to expire. Claim and warranty management: Synchronize with third-party logistic providers to avoid unnecessary goodwill allowances and ensure timely customer credits. Handle the entire warranty and claims process, from RMA (return merchandise authorization) to receipt and inspection. Maintenance and Installation: Minimize downtime with planned protection service. Predict impact of new product installation for accurate and fast service. Track customers installed base of products and their pattern with graphical hierarchical demonstration. Customer support and service: Access data on the service histories, the service entitlements and contracts, the installed base, service levels, and the warranties by an easy-to-use communication center screen (SAP Customer Relationship Management on Environment 2006) 4.3 Sales Module This Module ofCRM Solutionsfocuses mainly on the sales team of the company to execute the pre-sales process and manage, making it more organized. The sales teams in most companies are responsible for capturing customer interaction, capturing any leads or opportunities, the CRM helps them to process this data and monitor it in the future. This helps in organizing all relevant data captured and received for a deal to be put into one place, it could hold data as expected budget, prospective customers, total spending, key players, important dates, products interested in and expected closing dates of a deal. Each of these can be stand only applications depending on organizational need. It is important that the right software is selected at the right time and more importantly implemented correctly for any CRM to be effective. Important key sales procedures includes Sales forecasting and planning: Anticipated sales volume over time and provide a total picture of predictable revenue. Augments the precision of sales forecasts and demand plans. Increase performance with coordinated planning and implementation of sales actions across all channels. Territory management: Gets better resource utilization with apparent visibility into accessibility and assignments. Consign the right sources at the correct time in the exact locations to optimize team performance. Maximize distribution of sales sources and account reporting across clearly defined areas. Accounts and contacts management: Present a single, inclusive view of all data required to supervise sales accounts. Capture, monitor and track all vital information about prospects, customers, and partners. Access key contacts, detailed customer profiles, critical relationships, critical relationships, and the position of all recent communications from any place and at any time. Activity management: Seamlessly synchronize e-mail, calendar entries, contacts, and tasks with important groupware solutions. Handle customer visits, account profiles and activity-driven sales activities. Focus on the combined energy of sales team events to proven to promote money-making b Success Guide to CRM From Information Technology Perspective Success Guide to CRM From Information Technology Perspective Abstract The research work is majorly classified into seven different sections. The first section deals with a brief description of CRM, its rise in the industry, its importance in the organizations and its evolution. The next section deals with Electronic Customer Relationship Management, which is the web-version of Customer Relationship Management deployable in organizations. It is a collection of work put together between various Front-end systems, Data-handling technologies and Back-end systems. All these put together form the backbone of Customer Relationship Management. Third section deals with the approaches to Customer Relationship Management. Customer Service,Campaign ManagementandSales Force Automation(SFA) are core of the CRM system and they are discussed in detail. Apart from which other modules such as Operational CRM, Analytical CRM is also presented with a brief description. Fourth section deals with the modules of Customer Relationship Management which needs to be taken into c onsideration for developing a CRM software solution. Primarily the modules of importance in most of the organizations such as Marketing module, Service module, Sales module, and Call center module are dealt with. Each of the modules is in turn covered in detail encompassing the finer divisions in individual module. Fifth section focuses on the types of Customer Relationship Management. Business-to-Business CRM, Business to -Consumer CRM and other CRM related application areas, technical functionality and support required are presented with. Additionally each section is illustrated in detail so that a future organization/individual can have a quick understanding of their requirements and adapt a one which meets their requirements. Sixth, seventh sections provide the list of software vendors, their existing products and how one can select a software as per the needs and requirements of the user. This piece of research work mainly focuses on enabling an individual to understand ones re quirements and facilitates the person in adopting a module which meets all the desired needs. 1. Introduction: Information Technology has made a huge impact on how a business operates; thereby it is being seen as an important area of commerce which needs to be tapped. Despite the large scale investments in trying to automate a business entity, many businesses have failed to attract customers. The factors such as time frame of response, understanding customer needs and new ways to attract customers are making it difficult for the businesses to cope up with. Customers pose a key role in success of an e-business and it has called for extensive research in understanding the key areas of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in the field of Information technology. Customer Relationship Management from the Information Technology perspective is called as Electronic Customer Relationship Management (ECRM). 1.1 What is CRM? In todays market trend, customers are more educated, better informed, more technology aware and hence demanding more in the service they buy. So, the task becomes more challenging for business managers in attracting the profitable customers. Hence, small as well as big Information technology companies are working hard for maintaining good customer relationships and reaching customer satisfaction. To improve business strategy and plans, firstly, companies need to emphasis more on customers needs and behaviors in order to develop stronger customer relationships. The very first approach comes in this methodology is CRM. CRM stands for the customer relationship management. It is the process or methodology used to interact with customers, which will help bring together lots of information about customers, sales, marketing effectiveness, and customer responses and market trends. It helps businesses use available technology and resources to gain behavior and value of the customer. It broadl y covers concepts used by companies to manage their customer relationships very effectively by capturing, storing and analyzing customer information. For example by having such database created with customers need, matching customer needs and product plans and offerings, knowing what other products customer had purchased, etc. can improve product quality, indirectly improving customer relationships. Thus, CRM is the one of the important aspect in the business industries. (Eric Williams 2006) 1.2 Evolution of CRM CRM must start with an industry business strategy, which will offer positive changes in organization and work processes, which are then enabled by Information technology. In 1960s, academic researchers found that the 4Ps marketing framework i.e. product, price, place and promotion was less valuable than ongoing business relationships. By 1980s, marketing teams used to describe his new focus on understanding customer segment and achieving high customer satisfaction. In 1990s, CRM became the umbrella term; computer systems were deployed to support sales and service processes. By late 1990s, the real impact of these systems was outside the corporate world. Explosive growth in the internet usage broadened the concept as e-CRM to manage online customers. Now, multi-channel systems are available to support direct, internet and partner channels to allow user to use whatever mode of communication, they pleased. (Digital Publishing Solutions May 2007) These systems could typically answer many of the questions such as: How can oneself improve sales activities to have better idea of business improvement. How one can improve capability for leading the generation, account management and opportunities. How to make meaningful decisions on measuring the results from marketing campaign. How to resolve customer service troubles, make queue time shorter, make customer happy by offerings. All in all, how one can improve customer relationship. To answer these questions, CRM was developed to provide best operating practices in sales, marketing and customer services. This is where, companies started using CRM to store customer history, real time activities accumulation, which each department could bring up a record and see all customer interactions. 1.3 Why is CRM important? Everyone faces with the products and services at every single turn. But in realty, many of the product and service providers do actually not know the persons those using them. Major corporations failed to realize that it is the customer who is their biggest ally. Several millions of dollars are lost yearly because they failed to make profit, beat their competitors and stay ahead in this race. They wasted their money in marketing and endeavoring to gain the customers. They all are prone to make same mistake at some point of time. The main reason behind this failure was the attitude of companies towards their customers. The customer is the real king, who makes decision on failure and success of any service or product company. Many of the companies are not open to customers suggestions and more often that they do not provide the customer with a proper avenue and expel their ideas. This often leads to customers unhappiness and eventually their loss. Here comes the real need of the CRM. ( Rick Cook, 2008) CRM take into consideration the customers need and behavior towards services and products provided by companies. Companies can define their business strategy that primarily focuses on the customer, their ideas and suggestions. Benefits of CRM are listed below as business perspective: Increased sales through better timing by analyzing needs based on historic databases. Identifying improvement areas by understanding specific customer requirements. Increasing business, by highlighting and suggesting alternatives or enhancements. Identifying profit making customers. Better marketing of products. Enhanced customer satisfaction and retention. Enhanced customer loyalty. Improved quality communication and networking. Increased overall efficiency with reduction of total cost of sales. Better stand against global competition. Once business starts to look after existing customers effectively, effort can be made to gain new customer thus expanding market value. 2. Electronic Customer Relationship Management: Electronic Customer Relationship Management (ECRM) is the current trend with most business organizations be it small or large. The companies are hesitant in using the traditional strategies for running its businesses. The customers are treated as the most important part of the implementing a business strategy. That is the reason why ECRM has gained a lot of importance in the past decade. Romano (2001) defined ECRM as, â€Å"ECRM is concerned with attracting and keeping economically valuable customers and eliminating less profitable ones†. This aspect of the CRM which deals with the customers over its online business portals helps to identify the key customers and by spending more resources on them to make the business run better. The solutions offered to these businesses are of wide range and they are often sold as a package at very high prices. The nature of a business plays a vital role as adopting these CRM packages is not only waste of money but also huge waste of time. This could even lead to loosing customer base which are absolutely essential for running business. It is highly important to retain customers for a business as a recent study by McKinsey Co. revealed that if there is gain of 10% repeat customers then it will add about a profit of 10% to the company (Sims, 2000). It is highly obvious that a successful business should try and retain customers even though it is at a cost of their own terms. It is important to understand the three requirements that a CRM must address to be successful from IT point of view. 2.1 Front-end Systems In 2.1 shown below, the front-end systems constitute the key aspects of the business such as sales force market automation, customer service automation and application software. In case of online business or retailer, sales force and market automation is totally dependent on how the website looks and what features does it provide in order to attract and retain customers. Tracking all the customers and identify the potential customers will help the managers to take important decisions and capture the market. Customer service automation is a must as it the only place for a customer to reach out if they need any help. It includes setting up of call centers, communication technology infrastructure and websites. As these represent the face of a business it is important to automate these technologies. (Boon et al. 2002) 2.2 Data-Handling technologies The number of customers who shop increase day by day and it is impossible to keep track of them. As a result it has become obvious that one has to employ software tools which can manage the customer information and also be able to provide a proper links between them to help serve the customers. The techniques of data warehousing, data mining and knowledge management helps by making the CRM a better choice. In 2.1 below, the important modules which are part of data-handling technologies are shown. Data warehousing manages the companys data which is stored on a backend system and maintains the records regarding the data such as extracting, loading data in the repository and also managing the metadata. Data warehouses consists of business intelligent tools, tools to retrieve and manage data. Alex (2000) defines Data mining as a tool that automates the detection of relevant patterns within a database. The term explains how much a tool like this would help a business prosper; it gives the business, time to focus on the long term customers of the company and address various other issues. It helps in building strategy close to how the patterns reflect. Knowledge management uses the data warehouse and works as an intelligence tool by trying to establish new links within the data. For example, if a person searches for an item and if it is not found on the database then a tool like this could help the business by recording the information and possibly the customer. This improves the ef ficiency of business and customer satisfaction. These technologies are evidently a mark of the high standards a business can establish in order to survive their competitors within the global market (Compton, 2004). 2.3 Back-end Systems It is the backbone of the business without which everything else goes in utter vain. The data integrity is often considered a major player in getting all the acts together i.e. by bringing together the front-end systems and data handling technologies. It is important to integrate technologies into CRM as it forms a good strategy to work along with all the applications within the system. (Boon et al. 2002) The hierarchy present at the back-end systems as shown in 2.1 depicts the non-sales departments such as application software, enterprise wide applications, and ERP and supply chain management. In first stage, organization starts to analyze the Information systems available in place to suit their needs. The application software is deployed across the platforms they feel necessary and then it is important to establish a link between these applications which are called Enterprise Wide Applications (EWA). These help in interchanging the data between the application software and the systems. This could help the business establish all important background work as it highly important to maintain synergy between them and also update them whenever necessary to increase the speed with which they work. ERP forms the next stage of hierarchy wherein it integrates the EWA with the supply chain management which is a part of the front end and also data handling technologies. (Boon et al. 2002) The technology is considered to be the key player for any organizational success as it can be seen from the above literature. ‘IT infrastructure generally has been described as a set of IT services, including communications management, standard management, security, IT education, service management, application management, data management and IT research and development (Hwang et. al., 2002). ECRM is in short, the customer relationship management which is implemented electronically across the organizations. As CRM is mostly implemented as web based applications, the systems mentioned above play a crucial role in the management of CRM from small and medium businesses to very large scale organizations. Proceeding further, we will see various approaches in the implementation of CRM or ECRM. 3) Approaches to CRM: There are different approaches to CRM implementation and it is presented in different packages focusing on different aspects. In generalCustomer Service,Sales Force Automation (SFA) and Campaign Management are considered as core aspects of the CRM system. Customer service: Customer service is the provision for the customers before, during and after the purchase. â€Å"Customer service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer expectation. (Jamier L. Scott. 2006). Its importance depends on the product, industry and customer. Customer service provided by a person or by automated mean as self-service (for example, Internet service). In bookRules are to break and Laws are to Follow, Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, Ph.D. wrote that customers have memories. They will remember you, whether you remember them or not. Further, customer trust can be destroyed at once by a major service problem, or it can be undermined one day at a time, with a thousand small demonstrations of incompetence.† From the point of organization view, customer service plays important role in generation of income and revenue. From this perspective, customer service must be included as part of the overall approach to the systematic improvement. Campaign management: It may happen that company may not always require all the details pertaining to particular customers history. In such cases to avoid large sending of data and insecurity, many of the organizations prefer campaign management. Enterprise campaign management solutions allow customer to provide centralized databases to send one or multiple dialers. Rather than sending down all the record, part of the record will be send as and when required. This simplifies the management of the complex dialing campaigns. Sales Force Automation: These are the information systems, which automatically records all the stages in a sale process. Such systems keep track of the all contacts that has been made with the customer, purpose of the contact, and any follow up that might be required. This ensures that sales efforts will not be duplicated, reducing the business risks. It also lists potential customers of related products. It might happen that different department may contact same customer number of times for same purpose. To avoid such a risk, SFA must be fully integrated in all the departments that deal with customer service management. 3.1 Various approaches of CRM: Operational CRM Analytical CRM Sales Intelligence CRM Campaign management Collaborative CRM Consumer Relationship CRM (White PaperonArchitecture for CRM approachesin Financial Services) Operational CRM: Operational CRM provides support for front end business processes, which includes sales, marketing and services. Interactions with customers are generally stored in customers database history and company staff can retrieve information as and when required. So, the need for direct contact with customer for his requirement details will be eliminated and reaching to the customer at right time and right place will be more preferable. Operational CRM processes customers data for various purposes such as managing campaign, marketing automation, sales force automation, sales management system, etc. Few of the benefits of the operational CRM systems are as follows: It delivers personalized and effective sales, marketing and service through multiple channels. Enable 360 degree view of the customers details while interacting with them. Sales or service department can easily access history of the all customers interaction, without referring directly to customer. In sales source automation, company can automate their critical sales and sales force management tasks. Few of the examples include account management, contact management, forecasting, and sales administration keeping track of customer preferences as well as performance management. (Effective CRM Consulting 2009) In customer service and support, many companies automate some service requests, complaints, product returns and information requests. Key infrastructure requirements of CSS include volume processing capability and reliability, multiple channels support such as web, phone/fax, face-to-face, etc. In case of the Marketing Automation, information regarding business environment, industry trends macro-environment variables is stored. And then business strategy is defined. Predictive business model is defined. Analytical CRM: Analytical CRM includes the process of understanding the behaviors of customers, analyzing this data for marketing effectiveness and planning strategies of cross-selling, up-selling, etc. The process of analytical CRM starts with analyzing the customer profiles by targeting various categories of customers and evaluating their responses. These responses can be tracked using customer complaints or through transactional data or by direct customer contacts through satisfaction survey. This data of attitudinal and behavioral responses of customers is input for the next process which is nothing but customer behavior modeling. This includes building of predictive models according to the analysis data for various set of customers. The customer behavioral modeling helps to understand the homogenous customer segments. Also the methods like association discovery which is nothing but understanding the associations between the customer needs. Here only Operational CRM and Analytical CRM are discussed as they are different from the other approaches. The other approaches of CRM namely, Sales CRM, Campaign management, Consumer relationship CRM explanations are not furnished here as they are presented in very much details in the subsequent section, modules of CRM. 4) Modules of CRM: The key functionality of a CRM solution can be studied under 4 basic modules. They are Marketing, Service, Sales and Call centre. All these modules are Collaborative, Analytical and Operational. 4.1 Marketing Module The marketing module ofCRMcomprises of functionalities regarding short term execution of marketing related activities and long term planning within the company. It also helps in activities like planning, Campaign Management and lead management. Marketing module enables different communication channels to run marketing campaigns by the company, which targets potential buyers in using a product or a group of products as a message. One positive way to increase marketing effectiveness is to get better the way leads are captured and acted on. The old method is when an investigation is presented to the organizations web site; an email is generated and delivered to the department of marketing. Novel way is, a new prospect record is automatically formed in the master database which presents the lead source and campaign, assigns it to a sales representative, and emails the prospect with information or instructions scores the lead. Leads can be allocated upon product curiosity, region, or any additional defined criteria. Automated processing is defined by quicker routing and the facility to scrutinize the lead progress on a real time basis as leads are qualified and converted. The whole lot is processed and followed up in the CRM database, but more importantly such types of workflow improvements effects in greater conversion rates. (Kevin M. Turner, 2007) CRM marketing tools afford the infrastructure to prop up a huge variety of lead generation strategies which may be by email marketing, through advertising, direct mail, or trade shows. CRM also facilitates the marketer with metrics which validate financial plans and establishes the worth of marketing to management and sales. Target Marketing: Attaining the correct message at the correct time from the right people is vital. Wish to aim only the decision makers those with a practical role of engineering for technical illustration at trade fare? In order to win over, organizations need to elevate consciousness among their most accessible objectives, at the appropriate time with less cost and endeavor. CRM enables an institute to manipulate the valuable knowledge captured through accessible customer relations. As CRM is in place as infrastructure, setting up and maintaining an effective route for getting customer support CRM and sales customers to enter required knowledge into the database is simple. Have a glance at marketing, the sales and support business processes and workflows, and then categorize communication and marketing opportunities. Mixed with a focus on marketing targets and tactics, now have a map to yield the value in CRM by target marketing. (Kevin M. Turner, 2007) Campaign Management and Effectiveness Tracking: The CRM solutions have incorporated marketing tools to support complete campaign management to conduct the webinars, the marketing campaigns, seminars, trainings, events etc. Choose targets, give invitations, obtain registrations through the web, deliver automated replies and reminders, create attendee lists, and carry out satisfaction surveys. Each detail, offline and online, may be watched, measured, and administered as part of the operation. Every movement that has been made with each of the individual analysis and clientele is captured. Outcome is radically improved marketing administration effectiveness and efficiency, along with a current, shared, and a complete picture of every touch which is made with each client and viewpoint. Icing on the cake is that marketers can obtain benefit of the data obtained to observe real-time campaign metrics, and gauge the efficacy of individual campaigns by kind, time period or medium. Email Marketing and Communications: Email marketing plan is the core of marketing success today. Email marketing is timely, cheap, and when done exactly, effectual. Along with CRM, the sales and customer support staff capture and update email addresses in the main CRM repository during their usual tasks. Its vital to confine and keep up an updated email database of clientele and scenarios. Modules of CRM have complete email marketing facilities built in. A lot of of them do have the capability to send batch emails and trace the reads. However there is a big market of well-known on demand email marketing attributes which â€Å"plug in† to CRM functionality and offer considerably better features to make generating professional email interactions better and perk up the deliverability. In addition, email programs also help to tackle the intricacies of government regulations, tracing, and delivering. If used jointly with CRM, it will have a totally fledged email marketing solution which is professional, acquiescent and effectual. (Kevin M. Turner, 2007) Marketing Administration: CRM can supervise marketing administration activities, which in numerous cases are time intense, not possible, and pricey to administer devoid of automation. Newsletter List Management: Saving and continuing supporting the lists of subscribers for alerts and newsletters may be a full time activity, but the task may be automated by combining a web page to the CRM repository where lists are followed up. The integration allows the subscriber to check current preferences, modify and append to their subscriptions, the login, and authenticates requests and one can send the customer an email to corroborate and thank them. (Kevin M. Turner, 2007) Literature Fulfillment: CRM modules can track supplies and rearrange points and direct orders for dispensation. Moreover, the user wants the ability to follow up fulfillment requests and check their order records. In few cases, literature fulfillment requests are required to come from associates, prospects, or clients via web site, all of which can be contained. Event Management: Events managing require lots of dexterity. A site must be booked, salespersons contracted, presenters scheduled, fund-raisers signed, broadcasts sent, registrations noted, fee processed, and of course the affair must be held. By making the most of CRM for event management, marketing department can with no trouble and efficiently carry out far more events, whilst building a record of sources concerned that may be required in the prospect. Customer Surveys: CRM systems can carry survey administration and consecutively can get better end results for both the corporation and the consumer. Survey invitations may be sent by email from the CRM system, provoking the member to click on a link which guides them to a web survey on organization site. The email address or an approved identifier rooted in the link can combine the study to the members details in the CRM record, where it can get details and also reported about. The CRM workflow may also send announcements as soon as a survey is received. (Kevin M. Turner, 2007) 4.2 Service Module The service module of CRM focuses on how effectively the system is managing customer service which is either planned or unplanned. It helps in activities like Service Contract Management, Service Order Management, and Planned Services management, Installed Base (Equipment) Management, Warranty Management, Service Level Agreement Management, Scheduling, Resource Planning and Knowledge Management. Service contract management: Maintain a variety of service contracts, including labor contracts, standard parts and usage-based contracts. Administer service contracts, manage service-level agreements, automatically verify entitlement, and alert agents when a customers contract is about to expire. Claim and warranty management: Synchronize with third-party logistic providers to avoid unnecessary goodwill allowances and ensure timely customer credits. Handle the entire warranty and claims process, from RMA (return merchandise authorization) to receipt and inspection. Maintenance and Installation: Minimize downtime with planned protection service. Predict impact of new product installation for accurate and fast service. Track customers installed base of products and their pattern with graphical hierarchical demonstration. Customer support and service: Access data on the service histories, the service entitlements and contracts, the installed base, service levels, and the warranties by an easy-to-use communication center screen (SAP Customer Relationship Management on Environment 2006) 4.3 Sales Module This Module ofCRM Solutionsfocuses mainly on the sales team of the company to execute the pre-sales process and manage, making it more organized. The sales teams in most companies are responsible for capturing customer interaction, capturing any leads or opportunities, the CRM helps them to process this data and monitor it in the future. This helps in organizing all relevant data captured and received for a deal to be put into one place, it could hold data as expected budget, prospective customers, total spending, key players, important dates, products interested in and expected closing dates of a deal. Each of these can be stand only applications depending on organizational need. It is important that the right software is selected at the right time and more importantly implemented correctly for any CRM to be effective. Important key sales procedures includes Sales forecasting and planning: Anticipated sales volume over time and provide a total picture of predictable revenue. Augments the precision of sales forecasts and demand plans. Increase performance with coordinated planning and implementation of sales actions across all channels. Territory management: Gets better resource utilization with apparent visibility into accessibility and assignments. Consign the right sources at the correct time in the exact locations to optimize team performance. Maximize distribution of sales sources and account reporting across clearly defined areas. Accounts and contacts management: Present a single, inclusive view of all data required to supervise sales accounts. Capture, monitor and track all vital information about prospects, customers, and partners. Access key contacts, detailed customer profiles, critical relationships, critical relationships, and the position of all recent communications from any place and at any time. Activity management: Seamlessly synchronize e-mail, calendar entries, contacts, and tasks with important groupware solutions. Handle customer visits, account profiles and activity-driven sales activities. Focus on the combined energy of sales team events to proven to promote money-making b