Here are the first essay questions we've prepared (we will add more alternatives in the next few days). Please choose one of the essay questions and prepare an essay of approx. 500 words in length (+/- 10%) and e-mail it to either Ted or Gerhard in the course of the next five weeks. We will then post it and correct it in this forum (without disclosing your names, of course) so that all students can benefit from the feedback. Here are the first few questions:
1) Is Job Redesign really always a motivational tool for employees, or do companies mostly use it to add extra work in a new package?
2) If you could choose only one motivational method based on either Theory X or Theory Y, which would you choose? Why?
3) Advertising budgets comprise a substantial part of the marketing budget of a company. Are the returns justified or do advertising costs usually exceed the additional revenues that are generated? Why or why not?
4) Your best employee is considering leaving the company. What motivational steps would you consider in order to retain the employee? Why?
5) In what situations does teleworking offer an added value for a company and in what situations is it counterproductive?
6) If you consider the Griffin/Ebert “consumer purchasing decision” illustration, do you feel this correctly represents the buying process? Why or why not?
7) Is “customer relationship management” (CRM) a new concept that will still be applied in ten years from now or is it merely a phase? Why or why not?
8) Can companies really ‘create’ needs by means of new products or do they merely build on existing needs? Please give arguments supporting your answer.
Here are the further essay questions Ted sent to you:
1) What do you think is the best method for selecting employees: application forms, tests, interviews, or something else? Explain why.
2) Which conditions should be provided for a satisfying job?
3) Which benefits programs should an Austrian organization offer and why? (retirement plans, health care, etc.)
4) Explain the importance – from your point of view – of workforce diversity.
5) Which motivation theory is most/least useful for you? Describe it briefly and give reasons for your opinion, mentioning at least 2 less/more useful theories as well.
6) Which motivation theory do you believe? Describe it briefly and give reasons for your opinion, mentioning at least 2 others you don’t believe.
7) How useful do you consider job enrichment, job enlargement and job redesign?
8) Could you imagine taking part in a work sharing program? What is your opinion of flexitime? What advantages do these models have and what problems could arise?
9) How would you evaluate the contingency approach to management? To what extent do you think it is valid?
10) Briefly describe the managerial styles you know of and explain which one you feel is best and worst, giving reasons why.
11) How do you build a successful sales team? What impact do leadership theories have on any one team member’s productivity?
12) What leadership style would you prefer as an employee and how is this different/similar to your preferred style as a manager?
13) What the hell is marketing? What does the general public associate with the term? Then define marketing in your own words. How can it help improve the results of an organization?
14) What’s the difference between marketing and publicity? Why do you think marketing influences the minds of consumers?
15) Which element of the marketing mix do you consider to be most/least important and why?
16) What influence does a brand have on the consumer and vice-versa?
17) Explain the consumer buying process as you see it – at which stage does marketing/advertising have an influence?
18) Explain the stages of a PLC and describe their impact on marketing/ advertising, using an example. To which products/services is the PLC most and least applicable?
19) What role does the distribution mix play in the marketing strategy of a service provider? Compare B2C and B2B scenarios.
20) How would you evaluate electronic retailing?
21) Rate various pricing objectives in terms of usefulness and describe their impact on pricing decisions.
22) What are the most common types of retailing and retail stores in eastern Austria?
23) How important/unimportant are intermediaries for a manufacturer?
24) Imagine pharma corporations aim to push the legalization of DTC advertising in Austria? How would you evaluate this development? Bearbeitet von: GerhardFenkart am: 10/28/06 13:15
Advertising – do costs exceed additional revenues?
Years ago Henry Ford stated “I know half of my advertising is wasted; but I don’t know which half”. This statement is one of the most popular quotations in the advertising industry. This article tries to answer the question whether costs of advertising exceed the additional revenues generated by them or not. It won’t be possible to answer this question finally but certain aspects of advertising will be shown.
Why to do advertising? This question is often asked in many companies. Advertising often costs a lot of money and the results are not that clear. Advertising has the image of being a huge black hole where you can put millions of Euros into and nothing comes out. But what would happen if we would not be doing advertising? Would anybody know about our products or services? Probably some people would but would it be as many as with advertising? The need for advertising also depends a lot on competition. If competitors are doing a lot of advertising there will be a strong need to advertise too.
Advertising serves a lot of necessary tasks. First of all advertising also means information for the customers. Mainly this means information that some kind of product is available, where it is available and at which price it is. Information about special promotions or price reduction is also important. Therefore advertising is necessary to promote a product or to boost its sales figures.
On the other hand advertising serves more than this informational aspect. It is also able to associate a product with a certain image. It can be quite interesting to add the image “High quality” to a product because customers maybe will be willing to buy it at a higher price then, or – on the other hand – the image of a cheap product which will result in higher attractiveness for price-sensitive buyers. Advertising is also used to create a need for certain new types of products.
But how much are the additional revenues because of advertising? There is no general answer for that question. But of course advertising can be measured. You can test how much people can remember your campaign or how much your turnovers of a special product are affected by a certain advertising campaign. Costs of advertising should never be underestimated but neither should be their effects. Probably it would also be a bad idea to simply stop advertising to save costs – turnovers and revenues would be soon heavily affected by this. Despite of those limitations it is always important to try measuring advertising. This also allows optimizing future advertising campaigns – even tough it won’t be possible to eliminate some more or less useless parts of advertising completely. You will always target customers, which simply won’t buy your product – no matter how often they see your ad or receive your promotion-mailing, too.
As a result it is impossible to give a clear answer to the question whether costs exceed the additional revenues generated by advertising. Just one thing seems to be quite sure: The costs of not doing advertising could exceed the costs of doing advertising too.
Korrektur
Advertising – do costs exceed additional revenues?
Years ago Henry Ford stated, “I know half of my advertising is wasted; but I don’t know which half”. This statement is one of the most popular quotations in the advertising industry. This article tries to answer the question whether the costs of advertising exceed the additional revenues generated by them or not. It won’t be possible to give a definite answer to this question __ but certain aspects of advertising will be shown.
Why __ do advertising? This question is often asked in many companies. Advertising often costs a lot of money and the results are not that clear. Advertising has the image of being a huge black hole that you can put millions of Euros into and where nothing comes out. But what would happen if we would not advertise? Would anybody know about our products or services? Probably some people would, but would it be as many as with advertising? The need for advertising also depends a lot on competition. If competitors are doing a lot of advertising there will be a strong need to advertise, too.
Advertising serves a lot of necessary tasks. First of all, advertising also provides information for __ customers. Mainly, this encompasses information that some kind of product is available, where it is available and at which price it is available. Information about special promotions or price reductions is also important. Therefore, advertising is necessary to promote a product or to boost its sales figures.
On the other hand, advertising serves more than this informational aspect. It is also used to associate a product with a certain image. It can be quite interesting to attach the image of “High quality” to a product because customers might be willing to buy it at a higher price then. On the other hand, the image of a cheap product might result in higher attractivity for price-sensitive buyers. Advertising is also used to create a need for certain new types of products.
But how high are the additional revenues resulting from advertising? There is no general answer for that question. But of course, advertising can be measured. You can test how many people can remember your campaign or how much your turnoverfrom a special product is affected by a certain advertising campaign. Costs of advertising should never be underestimated but neither should __ their effects. Probably, it would also be a bad idea to simply stop advertising to save costs – turnover and revenues would soon be heavily affected by this. Despite __ those limitations, it is always important to try measuring advertising. This also allows managers to optimize future advertising campaigns – even though it won’t be possible to eliminate some more or less useless parts of advertising completely. You will always target customers that simply won’t buy your product – no matter how often they see your ad or receive your promotion-mailing, too.
As a result it is impossible to give a clear answer to the question whether costs exceed the additional revenues generated by advertising. Just one thing seems to be quite sure: The costs of not ___ advertising could exceed the costs of __ advertising, too.
Der Aufsatz ist Dir gut gelungen. Der Aufbau wurde sorgfältig strukturiert und Du hast Dir wirklich große Mühe gegeben, die 'klassischen' Aufsatzelemente auch auf Englisch einzubauen. An Stilmitteln haben mir sowohl Dein Einstiegszitat (immer guter Ausgangspunkt bei einem Aufsatz) und Dein Endsatz irre gut gefallen. Auch die Tatsache, dass Du immer wieder rhetorische Fragen gestellt, finde ich gut. Man sollte das zwar nie übertreiben (hast Du eh nicht!), aber in gesundem Ausmaß ist das immer wieder ein nützliches Instrument, um den Leser dezidiert auf den nächsten Punkt hinzulenken. Die Wortwahl ist gelungen und die Satzlänge und -zusammensetzung im Regelfall ausgezeichnet.
Inhaltlich hast Du die Frage ebenfalls gut beantwortet, wenn auch gleich ich mir hier etwas mehr Tiefe im Sinne von Praxisbeispielen bzw. eigenen Erfahrungen gewünscht hätte.Es ist mir aber völlig klar, dass Ihr in einer Prüfungssituation dafür kaum Zeit haben werdet, d.h. erwarte ich mir das DORT natürlich nicht.Insbesondere hätte ich hier etwas mehr Gewicht auf das Endzitat (Vergleich Kosten NICHT werben mit Kosten werben) gelegt - selbst wenn es sich um ein fiktives Beispiel gehandelt hätte. Das ist mir deshalb wichtig, weil dem Leser bei Theoriefragen oft ein Anker zum Verständnis fehlt (Ihr kennt das: Man liest ein Lehrbuch, fragt sich "was meint der da jetzt?", bekommt ein Beispiel dazu und dann ist auf einmal alles klar). Um den dafür notwendigen "Wortplatz" zu schaffen, hätte man Absätze 3 und 4 zusammenziehen und etwas kürzen können. Abgesehen davon gab es aber logisch schlüssige Argumente.
1) "to answer this question finally": Eine "endgültige Antwort" ist im Idealfall eine "defintive answer".
2) "Why to do advertising?": Nach einem "why" kommt NIE ein "to".
3) "advertising also means information for the customers." Das ist absolut kein Grammatikfehler und ich habe auch keinerlei Punkte abgezogen. Ich betone es aber, weil wir auf Englisch weitaus seltener "means" im Sinne von "Das bedeutet" verwenden, als auf Deutsch üblich. Hier ist so ein Fall, wo es gerade passt, aber als Vorsichtsmaßnahme würde ich "means" trotzdem immer nur dann verwenden, wo dann "that" folgt. Das ist stilistischer besser.
4) "maybe will be": Ein Klassiker! Die Formulierung gibt es nie, man nimmt "might be"
5) "or – on the other hand – the image of a cheap product which will result in higher attractiveness for price-sensitive buyers": Wenn man das gemeinsam mit dem ersten Teil als Gesamtsatz lässt, dann ist es grammatikalisch falsch. Du müsstest analog zum ersten Teil ("to add/attach the image of 'high quality' to a product...") auch hier mit "add/attach to" arbeiten. Wenn Du aber daraus zwei Sätze machst, muss das nicht sein. Deshalb empfehle ich im Zweifelsfall, eher kürzere Sätze zu verwenden. Es stimmt zwar, das längere grammatikalisch richtige Sätze eleganter sind als kürzere grammatikalisch richtige Sätze, längere grammatikalisch fehlerhafte Sätze sind es aber mit Sicherheit nicht.
6) "how much people": Die Formulierung funktioniert nie: "How many people"
7) "turnovers": "Turnover" ist immer singular.
8) "Despite of those limitations": Nach "despite" kein "of"
9) "This also allows optimizing": Meistens ist es gut, nach allows ein Subjekt einzubauen (d.h. der, der darf) und dann einen Infinitiv zu verwenden. Hier ginge auch "This allows the optimization of". Ich kann mir ad hoc allerdings keine Situation vorstellen, wo nach "allows" ein Gerund käme.
10) "You will always target customers, which simply won’t buy your product": Wetten, dass Dir Word ein Grammatikfehler angezeigt hat, weil Du "which" ohne Komma verwendet hast? Hier ist Word strenger als das Universum selbst. Oxford-mäßig ist zwar richtig, dass man "which" nur nach einem Komma ansetzt (weil es eine für den Satz eher unwichtige Nebeninfo gibt). Allerdings wird "which" inzwischen so oft als Synonym für "that" verwendet (wo kein Komma passt), dass es auch von Linguisten akzeptiert wird. Total richtig wäre d.h. "... customers that simply won't...", aber "which" ist völlig in Ordnung, nur eben ohne Komma (mit Komma wäre die Kernaussage "You will always target customers" aus und nicht, was aber wesentlich ist, "non-buying customers").
11) "to do advertising" geht schon, aber stilistisch ist es wichtig, auch hin und wieder direkt einfach "to advertise" zu verwenden. Manchmal - wie im letzten Satz - hört es sich nämlich unrund an.
Re: MARS 2009 EssaysOriginal Briefly describe the managerial styles you know of and explain which one you feel is best and worst, giving reasons why.
To begin with, I’d like to explain what managerial styles are. Early theories tried to identify specific characteristics associated with strong leadership. It once was believed that taller people were better leaders then shorter people, because of their physical appearance. However, the attention shifted from managers’ characteristics to their behaviour. Nowadays managerial styles are defined as patterns of behaviour that a manager shows in dealing with subordinates.
Talking about management styles, three main types ranging from autocratic to democratic to free-rein style are known. Those three types involve different kinds of responses to human relations problems. As managers generally do not conform completely to one style, mixtures in styles are common. A manager who adopts an autocratic style naturally issues orders and expects subordinates to obey those orders without asking questions. A manager who asks his subordinates for input, but retains the final decision-making power uses the democratic style of leadership. With the free-rein style a manager means to function only as adviser to his /her subordinates, while he/she allows them to make their own decision.
From my point of view it is impossible to categorise this management styles in good and bad one’s, as the individual management style depends largely on the sector where a manager is working and on the desires of his/her subordinates. Considering the army, it is crucial for the commander to have the sole decision-making power over his/her subordinates. This leadership style is also important for industries requiring a rapid decision-making process.
If I had to choose the worst managerial style, I would definitely choose the autocratic style, as today’s employees prefer to be asked for their opinions to getting orders which have to be obeyed without question. My favourite style is a mixture of the democratic style, which is the most adopted style in Austrian companies, and the free-rein style. The usage of a completely democratic or free-rein-style might be appropriate in most management situations depending on subordinates and companies, even though a combination of both styles offers a wider spectrum of dealing with subordinates. We will find the democratic style for example when a new employee is going to be hired and the employees in the relevant department might be asked to tell what they are thinking about the new employee, but the head of department will make the final hiring decision alone. The free-rein style can be used at companies or departments where employees have the necessary skills and the needed self-motivation to work without supervision.
In my opinion, flatter organisational structures ask employees to become more and more independent and to take more responsibility in their companies. For the increasing number of companies with flat hierarchies a mix of the democratic and the free-rein style could be the best model to lead teams or departments, because more responsibility can motivate subordinates and make them aware of the company’s problems. As a result, it is possible to get creative solutions to problems while employees become more self-motivated. To bear in mind, it is also necessary to retain the decision-making power for crucial matters. Otherwise chaotic situations might occur and as a result one person doesn’t know what another person is doing.
To sum up, a good leader has to adapt his managerial style to his/her subordinates’ desires and skills and also - to a certain degree - to the requirements of the sector.
Korrektur Briefly describe the managerial styles you know of and explain which one you feel is best and worst, giving reasons why.
This essay discusses various managerial styles and emphasizes selected strengths and weaknesses. To begin with, I’d like to explain what managerial styles are. Early theories tried to identify specific characteristics associated with strong leadership. It once was believed that taller people were better leaders then shorter people _ because of their physical appearance. However, the attention shifted from managers’ characteristics to their behaviour. Nowadays, managerial styles are defined as patterns of behaviour that a manager shows in dealing with subordinates.
Talking about management styles, three main types ranging from autocratic to democratic to free-rein style are known. Those three types involve different kinds of responses to human relations problems. As managers generally do not conform completely to one style, mixtures in styles are common. A manager who adopts an autocratic style naturally issues orders and expects subordinates to obey those orders without asking questions. A manager who asks his subordinates for input, but retains the final decision-making power uses the democratic style of leadership. When using the free-rein style, a manager aims to function only as an adviser to his /her subordinates, while he/she allows them to make their own decisions.
From my point of view, it is impossible to categorise these management styles into 'good' and 'bad' ones, as the individual management style depends largely on the sector in which a manager is working and on the needs of his/her subordinates. Considering the army, it is crucial for the commander to have the sole decision-making power over his/her subordinates. This leadership style is also important for industries requiring a rapid decision-making process.
If I had to choose the worst managerial style, I would definitely choose the autocratic style, as today’s employees prefer to be asked for their opinions rather than receiving orders which have to be obeyed without question. My favourite style is a mixture of the democratic style, which is the most commonly adopted style in Austrian companies, and the free-rein style. The usage of a completely democratic or free-rein-style might be appropriate in most management situations depending on subordinates and companies, even though a combination of both styles offers a wider spectrum of dealing with subordinates. For example, __ the democratic style might be suitable ___ when a new employee is __ to be hired. It might make sense to ask the employees in the relevant department to say what they think about the new employee, but the head of department will make the final hiring decision alone. The free-rein style can be used in companies or departments where employees have the necessary skills and the required self-motivation to work without supervision.
In my opinion, flatter organisational structures ask employees to become more and more independent and to take more responsibility for their companies. For the increasing number of companies with flat hierarchies, a mix of the democratic and the free-rein style could be the best model through which to lead teams or departments because more responsibility can motivate subordinates and make them aware of the company’s problems. As a result, it is possible to receive creative solutions to problems while employees become more self-motivated. It is important to bear in mind that it is also necessary to retain the decision-making power for crucial matters. Otherwise chaotic situations might occur and as a result, one person wouldn't know what another person is doing.
To sum up, a good leader has to adapt his/her managerial style to his/her subordinates’ needs, desires and skills and also - to a certain degree - to the requirements of the sector.
Ich finde den Aufsatz inhaltlich toll und sprachlich gut gelungen. Zwar gab es Grammatikfehler, aber die Satzstrukturen und gewählte Begriffe waren über große Strecken bestens gewählt. Inhaltlich hast Du hier auch gut illustriert, was ich im vorigen Aufsatz - der ebenfalls gut gelungen ist - mit Illustrationsbeispielen meinte. Es müssen nicht irgendwelche betriebswirtschaftlichen Leckerbissen sein, die man sich ewig überlegt, sondern kurze Beispiele veranschaulichen und vertiefen die Argumente entscheidend. Gute Arbeit!
1) "To begin with, I’d like to explain what managerial styles are.": Das ist kein idealer Einstiegssatz für einen Aufsatz, Report usw. In irgendeiner Form sollte man für den Leser nochmals klarstellen, worum es hier eigentlich geht. Das ist auch auf der Prüfung wichtig.
2) "a manager means to function": Hier, wie im vorigen Aufsatz, ist "means" stilistisch eher unüblich. "aims" würde besser passen (Als Faustregel: "means" für "This means that..." reservieren)
3) "on the desires of his/her subordinates": Hier würde inhaltlich "needs" besser als "desires" passen.
4) "We will find the democratic style for example when": Mit Komma vor "for" und nach "example" wäre das grammatikalisch richtig. Gewöhne Dir zur Sicherheit aber eher an, "for example" - gefolgt von einem Komma - zu Beginn des Satzes anzusetzen. Das ist deshalb sinnvoll, weill ein "for example" zwischendurch zu sehr komplizierten und oft wenig sinnvollen Formulierungen verleitet.
5) "needed self-motivation": Ich nehme an, Du wolltest "necessary" nicht zwei Mal hintereinander verwenden. Nimm dann aber lieber "required" - "needed" ist nicht 100% falsch, man würde es aber als Native Speaker nicht so sagen.
6) "to get creative": Ich würde hier keine Punkte abziehen, weil das ein Native Speaker durchaus auch sagen könnte. Allerdings würden Lektoren, die bei Umgangssprache eine striktere Handhabung haben, hier für "receive" plädieren.
7) "To bear in mind,": Als Satzopener würde man eher "You should bear in mind", "It is important to bear in mind" bzw. "One should/must bear in mind" verwenden.
8) "Otherwise chaotic situations might occur and as a result, one person doesn’t know what another person is doing.": Du eröffnest die theoretische Möglichkeit mit einem Conditional ("might") und das ist auch richtig so. Du musst den Conditional aber auch bis zum Ende des Gedankens beibehalten, d.h. "wouldn't" statt "doesn't".
Is Job Redesign really always a motivational tool for employees, or do companies mostly use it to add extra work in a new package?
In my opinion Job Redesign is hard to define because of the substantial similarity to Job Enrichment and Job Enlargement.
Job Redesign should help to design a more satisfactory fit between workers and their job. Job Redesign could be positively used to combine tasks for increasing job variety, but as we all know in some cases there is a slight difference between the perfect world and the reality.
For instance some HR-managers use this motivation tool in truth as a package for hiding extra work they would like to add without additional personnel cost.
The economic idea behind isn’t that bad, if the relevant workers could be categorised by the motivational method based on McGregors Theory “Y”. In this situation workers will probably see the fact of having more work but at the same time they will see the opportunity for rising in job position. Workers categorised on the motivational method based on McGregors Theory “X” would probably be recently dissatisfied and asked too much in this new challenging situation.
Mostly big companies or conglomerates are able to form natural work groups, witch is also a way of Job Redesign, and motivates team orientated workers in working on projects together with different people.
Establishing a higher level of client relationship could also be a seen as a way of Job Redesign. Outgoing and communicative people would appreciate the interaction with costumers this could lead to a higher level of motivation and job satisfaction.
To conclude, in some companies Job Redesign is used as a motivational tool but in other companies it is used to add extra work in a new package. A positive usage of Job Redesign depends on honesty, company philosophy, managerial stance and to the ability to communicate.
Korrektur
Is Job Redesign really always a motivational tool for employees, or do companies mostly use it to add extra work in a new package?
The main topic of this essay is the question of whether job redesign is merely an elegant term that companies package additional work in. In my opinion, Job Redesign is hard to define because of the substantial similarity to Job Enrichment and Job Enlargement.
Job Redesign should help companies to achieve a more satisfactory fit between workers and their jobs. Job Redesign could be positively used to combine tasks for increasing job variety. However, as we all know, in some cases there is a slight difference between the perfect world and ___ reality.
For instance, some HR-managers actually use this motivation tool ___ as a package for hiding extra work they would like to add without additional personnel costs.
The economic idea behind this isn’t that bad if the relevant workers could be categorised by the motivational method based on McGregor's Theory “Y”. In this situation, workers will probably acknowledge the fact of having more work but at the same time they will see the opportunity for rising in job position. On the other hand, workers categorised by the motivational method based on McGregor's Theory “X” would probably be __ dissatisfied and too challenged by this new demanding situation.
Mostly,large companies or conglomerates are able to form natural work groups, which is also a form of Job Redesign. Thereby, they motivate team orientated workers to work on projects together with different people.
Establishing a higher level of client relationship could also be _ seen as a form of Job Redesign. Outgoing and communicative people would appreciate the interaction with customers and this could lead to a higher level of motivation and job satisfaction.
To conclude, in some companies, Job Redesign is used as a motivational tool but in other companies it is used to add extra work in a new package. A positive usage of Job Redesign depends on honesty, company philosophy, managerial stance and __ the ability to communicate.
Ich weiß, dass Du im Written English noch gewisse Herausforderungen hast und deshalb schätze ich es umso mehr, dass Du Dich da so hineingetigert hast. Von der grundsätzlichen Satzstruktur sieht es gut aus, zudem verwendest Du einige Writing-Phrases schon ganz richtig. Ich glaube, wie Du Dich weiter verbessern kannst ist (1) einfach so viele von den Dingern wie möglich zu schreiben und Dir inkl. Feedback korrigieren zu lassen und (2) vorerst darauf zu achten, keine Sätze zu schreiben, die mehr als ca. 12-16 Wörtern haben.
Inhaltlich passt es, aber es gibt aus meiner Sicht zwei verbesserungswürdige Punkte. Erstens ist der Aufsatz zu kurz (die 250 Wort-Regel gilt für die Prüfung, nicht für den Homework-Aufsatz). Zweitens fehlen mir Beispiele dafür, wie Manager Extra-Arbeit verpacken können, ohne Motivation auszulösen (d.h. Beispiele für Dein Hauptargument). Du hast bestimmt an eine 250 Wortgrenze dabei gedacht, aber selbst in dem Fall wäre es besser, Beispiele für Dein Hauptargument anstelle der 'Pro-Job Redesign'-Beispiele zu liefern.
Sehr gut hat mir wiederum der Einbau des McGregors gefallen. Das war gut überlegt und nicht auf der Hand liegend. Ebenfalls gut durchdacht und formuliert ist Deine Conclusio.
1) Wie im vorigen Aufsatz (eins höher) empfehle ich auch Dir bei einem Aufsatz (egal welche Länge) mit einem Satz einzusteigen, der die Frage nochmals kurz widergibt/zusammenfasst.
2) "Job Redesign should help to": Die Formulierung funktioniert häufig. Eleganter (und oft die einzige Alternative) ist es aber stets, die Person/Organisation/etc. einzubauen, auf die das "should" zutrifft (z.B. "Job Redesign should help companies to...")
3) "Redesign could be positively used to combine tasks for increasing job variety, but as we all know in some cases there is a slight difference between the perfect world and the reality.": Diesen Satz würde ich auf zwei splitten. Es hat zwar hier keine grammatikalische Auswirkungen, aber bei so langen Sätzen neigt man oft dazu, Fehler zu machen, die bei zwei kürzeren Sätzen nicht geschehen wären.
4) "in truth": In dem Satz willst Du "eigentlich". "In truth" ist eine gute, sogar sehr lässige Übersetzung davon, aber ich würde empfehlen, es nur zu Satzbeginn zu verwenden, da es sonst zu schwierig wird. Besser ist im obigen Kontext "actually".
5) "see the fact": Für "fact" eher "accept", "acknowledge", "realize"
6) "big companies": Kein Fehler im engeren Sinn. Versuche Dir aber, "large companies" (und überhaupt eher "large" als "big") anzugewöhnen. Es hört sich einfach professioneller an.
6) "costumers": ACHTUNG! Klassischer aber wichtiger Rechtschreibfehler. Es sind die "Customers". Das Wort "costumers" gibt es nicht, wenn es aber existieren würde, dann würde es so etwas wie "Menschen, die sich gerne verkleiden" bedeuten. Nicht alle Kunden sind so.
Re: MARS 2009 EssaysOriginal Is Job Redesign really always a motivational tool for employees, or do companies mostly use it to add extra work in a new package?
To start with I would like to analyze the term „job redesign“. Job redesign could be several operations which should make the job more motivating and interesting. Now the question is if job redesign is a motivating tool or only adding extra work. The answer is: It depends on the type of job redesign. There are some kinds of job redesign, for example job enlargement and job rotation. These are the two kinds of job redesign which I might analyze more detailed. The first kind I would like to deal with is job enlargement. Job enlargement means that the employee gets some additional tasks which should be more challenging for him/her. These tasks should give him more responsibility too. The second form of job redesign which I would like to analyze is job rotation. Job rotation means that the employee has to change his workplace to get to know as much different workplaces as possible. The employees get to know many different jobs and tasks which is very important for their personal knowledge. Job rotation is also good for the employees’ identification with the company. If they get to know more tasks and workplaces that might be good for their motivation. All in all I think that there are many possibilities to motivate employees. There are many kinds of job redesign which are perfect motivators. Job rotation is in my opinion one of the best way to motivate employees. On the other hand I don’t think that job enlargement without offering a higher salary or fringe benefits is motivating. Employees get a lot of extra work, but not more money or benefits for it. I don’t think that this is motivating. To conclude, I am pro job rotation, but against job enlargement as a motivator.
Korrektur Is Job Redesign really always a motivational tool for employees, or do companies mostly use it to add extra work in a new package?
The main topic of this essay is the question of whether job redesign is merely an elegant term that companies package additional work in. To start with, I would like to analyze the term "job redesign“. Job redesign involves several operations which should make an employee's job more motivating and interesting. Now, the question is whether job redesign is a motivational tool or only adds extra work. The answer is: It depends on the type of job redesign. There are various kinds of job redesign, for example job enlargement and job rotation. These are the two kinds of job redesign which I will analyze in more detail. The first kind I would like to deal with is job enlargement. Job enlargement occurs when the employee gets some additional tasks which should be more challenging for him/her. These tasks should give him more responsibility, too. The second form of job redesign which I would like to analyze is job rotation. Job rotation occurs when the employee has to change his workplace to get to know as many different workplaces as possible. The employees get to know many different jobs and tasks, which is very important for their personal knowledge. Job rotation is also good for the employees’ identification with the company. If they get to know more tasks and workplaces, that might be good for their motivation. All in all, I think that there are many possibilities to motivate employees. There are many kinds of job redesign which are perfect motivators. In my opinion, job rotation is ___ one of the best ways to motivate employees. On the other hand, I don’t think that job enlargement without offering a higher salary or fringe benefits is motivating. Employees get a lot of extra work, but not more money or benefits for it. I don’t think that this is motivating. To conclude, I am pro job rotation, but against job enlargement as a motivator.
Ähnlich wie oben war dieser Aufsatz etwas zu kurz (d.h. keine 500 Wörter) - ich wurde aber gerade aufgeklärt, dass jener nur zu Prüfungs-Übungszwecken diente, vielleicht dieser hier auch. Inhaltlich hast Du die Frage logisch nachvollziehbar und - für Prüfungszwecke - ideal beantwortet. Für Aufsatzzwecke (d.h. wo eine Vorbereitungszeit vorhanden ist) hätte ich mir allerdings auch etwas mehr an konkreten Beispielen, Praxisargumenten usw. gewünscht. Vielleicht kannst Du das für die Endfassung noch einbauen?
Sprachlich hat mich auch bei Dir Dein Einsatz beeindruckt. Du hast mir im Laufe des Unterrichts angedeutet, dass Du Dich in Englisch nicht 100% wohl fühlst, aber mir gefällt sehr gut, wie Du den Aufsatz aufgebaut hast und welche Phrasen/Begriffe Du eingebaut hast. Es ist eh logisch, dass es Grammatikfehler gab (wo nicht?), aber ich bin sicher, wenn Du (ähnlich wie der Poster vor Dir) immer wieder solche Kurzaufsätze schreibst, Dir Feedback holst und Dir Deinen eigenen Schreibstil (d.h. eine Sammlung an Sätzen, die Du immer verwenden kannst) aufbaust, Deine Selbstsicherheit im Englischen sehr rasch ansteigen wird.
1) Ich habe auch hier einen Einstiegssatz eingebaut, damit der Leser (auch ohne Kenntnis der Frage) weiß, worum es geht.
2)"": ACHTUNG! Im Originaltext, den ich per Mail bekam, hatten die Anführungszeichen das deutsche Format (ersten unten, zweiten oben). Bitte bei der Prüfung und (vor allem) in Eurem Beruf beachten, dass im angloamerikanischen Raum Anführungszeichen auf beiden Seiten oben sind. Auch bei Zahlenformaten bitte immer bedenken, dass der Trenner zur Dezimalstelle auf Englisch ein Punkt, kein Komma ist und links davon alle Trenner immer Kommas sind (z.B. 100,000,000,000.00). Diese Dinge mögen wie Lapalien aussehen, für einen English Native Speaker (vor allem, wenn er/sie die deutschen Varianten nicht kennt) wirken Fehler in diesem Bereich aber sehr seltsam!
2) "Job redesign could be": Bei Definitionen von Konzepten, Strategien oder Tools ist es häufig so (wie auch hier), dass Zeitwörter wie "include" bzw. "involve" sehr hilfreich sind.
3) "the job": Auf Englisch eher "an employee's job" - "die Arbeit" verwenden wir nicht so wie im Deutschen.
4) "There are some kinds of job redesign,": "Some" würde nur passen, wenn nach "redesign" ein "that" bzw. "which" folgen würde. Ich glaube, Du meinst "einige" und da wäre "a few" oder "various" besser.
Re: MARS 2009 EssaysKurzer Zwischenpunkt. Ich vergesse hin und wieder die Emoticons auszuschalten und dadurch erscheinen bei einigen Tastenkombinationen Smileys oder grantige Gesichter usw. Ich checke meistens nacher nochmals, um sicherzugehen, dass es keine gibt, falls aber doch: Das hat in keinster Weise etwas mit meiner Beurteilung zu tun (d.h. ein "böses Gesicht" bedeutet nur, dass ich irgendeine Zahl und danach Parentheses getippt habe, nicht das ich mit der Arbeit unzufrieden war)!
In what situations does teleworking offer an added value for a company and in what situations is it counterproductive?
Teleworking is a form of flexitime that allows people to perform some or all of a job away from standard office settings.
Most important thing in telecommuting is that the employer, as the employee is using the same technology standard.
Both, company and employee can profit from telecommuting for a few reasons.
Starting with the advantages for the employees there is at first the main target group parents with little children.
Telecommuting is the best possibility to organize work and at the same time grow up children or organizing a study.
Main advantage is that employees don’t have to go anywhere – and they can so win up to 2 hours and more per day because commuting is not longer necessary.
The work time per day is also very flexible, at most time you can choose when and where you do your work.
There are normally just a few hours per week while you have to be available for phone calls or video conferences.
One more positive Effect is that sometimes the employer is responsible for the technical equipment – that means he places notebook and mobile phone on the employee’s disposal. In the other case the employee just gets an additional amount of money for using his or her own home-equipment.
An big advantage for the employer is, that they have the possibility to provide employees, who had a period of restriction, an easy way to come back to their work.
So when they physically come back in the company the beginning is not that hard – because the contact with work, and the contact to the company was already given.
Disadvantages for teleworkers are that they sometimes feel alone because contact to colleagues is very rare. So teamwork is not possible.
In this case the social contact is reduced to a minimum.
Negative aspects for the employers are that they cannot control the real work time.
They are also responsible to keep the telecommuters on the same technical standard as in the company.
The employer should also take care for their employees, in form of having regular contact with the telecommuters and maybe also invite them regularly to team meetings – so that the social contact and an identification with the company is given.
I had already the chance to work from home. I enjoy to do this very much – I’m telecommuting for more than 6 months now. I can choose when, how long, and where I do my work. There are Deadlines when I have to deliver my results.
In my case I enjoy it so much because it is my second job. If it would be my only job, I wouldn’t like it that much, because teamwork and social contact is absolutely missing.
My opinion is that teleworking is a good method to motivate normal full time employees. Giving employees the chance to do their work – if this is possible – from home, in times when in the office is calm, for example Christmas holidays, hot summer days, workdays between public holiday and weekends.
Telecommuting is a very good solution for many types of employees – for example students, parents with children or also older people who don’t want do commute that often. But there are people who can handle the lack in social contact – and there are people who cannot.
Korrektur
In what situations does teleworking offer an added value for a company and in what situations is it counterproductive?
This essay discusses the question of whether or not teleworking enhances a job environment. Teleworking is a form of flexitime that allows people to perform some or all of a job away from standard office settings.
The most important factor in telecommuting is that both the employer and the employee use the same technology standard.
Both, the company and theemployee, can profit from telecommuting for a few reasons.
Starting with the advantages for the employees, there are, at first, the main target group, namely parents with little children.
Telecommuting is the best possibility for parents to organize work and at the same time raise children or ___ study.
The main advantage is that employees don’t have to go anywhere – and they can thereby win up to 2 hours and more per day because commuting is no longer necessary.
The work time per day is also very flexible. Most of the time, you can choose when and where you do your work.
There are normally just a few hours per week during which you have to be available for phone calls or video conferences.
One more positive effect is that sometimes the employer is responsible for the technical equipment – that means he places notebook and mobile phone at the employee’s disposal. In the other cases, the employee just receives an additional amount of money in exchange for using his or her own home-equipment.
A big advantage for the employer is ___ that he has the possibility to provide employees who have had a prolonged period of absence an easy way to come back to their work. ___When they physically came back to the company, the beginning would not be that hard – because the contact with work, and the contact to the company would already be given.
Disadvantages of teleworking for teleworkers are that they sometimes feel alone because contact to colleagues is very rare. ___ Teamwork is not possible.
In this case, the level of social contact is reduced to a minimum.
Negative aspects for the employers are that they cannot control the real work time.
They are also responsible for keeping the telecommuters on the same technical standard as they would have in the company.
The employer should also take care of his employees in form of having regular contact with the telecommuters and maybe also inviting them regularly to team meetings __ so that the social contact and an identification with the company is given.
I have already had the chance to work from home. I enjoy doing this very much – I’ve been telecommuting for more than 6 months now. I can choose when, how long, and where I do my work. There are deadlines by which I have to deliver my results.
In my case, I enjoy it so much because it is my second job. If it would be my only job, I wouldn’t like it that much, because teamwork and social contact are absolutely missing.
My opinion is that teleworking is a good method to motivate normal full time employees. Giving employees the chance to do their work – if this is possible – from home, in times when in the office is calm, for example the Christmas holidays, hot summer days, workdays between public holiday and weekends would be examples for this.
Telecommuting is a very good solution for many types of employees – for example students, parents with children or also older people who don’t want do commute that often. But there are people who can handle the lack in social contact – and there are people who cannot.
Inhaltlich gut beantwortet- ein schöner Mix aus Theorie, Beispielen und Eigenerfahrungen. Genau so macht man das. Bezüglich der Grammatik werden wir vor der Diplomprüfung im nächsten Sommer noch etwas arbeiten müssen. Ich würde empfehlen, wir setzen uns einmal hin, machen eine Art flächendeckenden Grammatiktest und konzentrieren uns dann auf Bereiche, wo es noch etwas aufzubauen gibt.
1)Auch hier wäre ein Einstiegssatz zur Klärung des Themas gut.
2) "Most important thing": Zwei wichtige Punkte hier: Wenn "most important", dann MUSS davor ein "the" stehen. Weiters ist "thing" in so einem Fall nicht das stilistisch beste Wort. Meistens passen "factor", "issue" oder "point" besser.
3) "the main target group parents with little children. ": Das wäre einer der Fälle, wo es wichtig wäre, ein Komma einzubauen (vor "parents"). Wenn man etwas auf diese Weise ausdrückt, ist "namely" ("nämlich") auch ein schönes Wort, das man sich einprägen sollte (sorgt für mehr Transparenz und ist zudem elegant). Vor "namely" ist IMMER ein Komma.
4) "The": Es ist weitaus häufiger so, dass Menschen mit deutscher Muttersprache zu OFT "the" verwenden. Du gehörst zu jener Minderheit, die es zu selten verwenden. Ich könnte mir vorstellen, dass es auch bei Dir früher umgekehrt und man Dich darauf aufmerksam machte. Öfter ist aber in Deinem Fall besser.
5) "and they can so win": Gutes Wort für "dadurch" ist "thereby"
6) "An big advantage": "A" oder "an" bezieht sich auf das Folgewort (d.h. "big"). Grundsätzlich gilt: Wenn der Folgebuchstabe ein Konsonant ist, dann "a", bei einem Vokal "an". Es gibt aber folgende, seltene Ausnahme. Wenn ein Vokal wie ein Konsonant ausgesprochen wird (z.B. "university", "union", "universe", "unanimous"), dann nimmt man "an". Wenn umgekehrt ein Konsonant nicht ausgesprochen wird (z.B. "herb"), dann nimmt man "an".
7) "is, that they": Dort, wo man auf Deutsch "..., dass" verwenden würde, hat man im Englischen nie ein Komma vor dem "that".
8) "the beginning is not that hard – because the contact with": Hier erläuterst Du eine theoretische Möglichkeit (d.h. etwas, was nicht stattgefunden HAT sondern stattfinden KÖNNTE). Da solltest Du bei jedem Zeitwort den Conditional verwenden.
9) "So teamwork is not possible." Ich würde Dir momentan empfehlen, auf "So" zu Satzbeginn zu verzichten. "So" ist normalerweise ein Verbindungswort und zu Beginn des Satzes führt es oft dazu, dass ein Satz zu einer Phrase wird (ähnlich wie wenn Du einen Satz mit "Damit" beginnst- es gibt Situationen, wo es geht, aber da muss man schon sehr sattelfest sein).
Re: MARS 2009 EssaysOriginal:
Pros and cons of teleworking
Teleworking or telecommuting is a modern way of working which allows managers and sales people to join the company’s computer network from outside. Therefore the performance of teleworking is strongly tied to the quality of the available electronic data interchange connection, laptop computers and mobile phones.
The benefit for the company and the employee are obvious. Firstly, white-collar workers need to spend less time in the office to communicate with their colleagues. They can communicate by means of email or telephone during their trips or from their home offices. This saves the employee a lot of time which he would otherwise use for commuting to his office. This “additionally gained” time can be invested more productively by the employee and saves him overtime. In the end, the felt stress level is reduced and the employee is more effective for the company.
A second benefit of telecommuting is that working hours are no longer fixed to the usual core time (e.g. 9am to 5pm) of one time zone. The information flow between people travelling for the company and the back office is speeded up. Managers or sales people can pass on information from the market whenever they feel it is necessary. They can clarify open points with the team in the plant and reply quicker to customers questions. This “bought” time may be used as an competing tool in the market or -if not necessary to use it this way- this additional time may be used internally to reduce the stress during assessing requests carefully and making an adequate offer.
Even though the benefits of teleworking are high, several drawbacks have to be taken into account. To begin with quality of the data connection is crucial. The data transfer needs to be quick and reliable. The possible danger of not transferred emails or a break down during an ongoing query at the company’s work station causes additional work: telephone calls would be necessary to check whether the email has been transferred successfully or the back office workforce would have to send confirmations. Therefore a bad data connection does not only destroy the upper mentioned “purchased” time but consumes also a lot time while generating stress.
In addition connection quality is also related with security. Very often the transferred data are sensitive. Therefore the connection itself and the accessibility to the company’s computer network has to be protected from hackers or professionals who spy for the competition.
An other possible counterproductive challenge is the increased personal distance between the back office and the travelling employees. This effect may be come up if the company culture is not ready for telecommuting or if the personal standing of the teleworker is weak. For the back office it is important to learn that its work is essential for the results of the teleworker because he has to rely on this quality. Sometimes it may even be important to modify working procedures and habits to incorporate the teleworker better into the work flow. This will be especially important if the company is used to deal with issues informally or is hardly used to structure stored content.
On the other side telecommuting may become a lonesome way of working for the one “outside”. These persons have to have a strong character and should be good in building up durable relationships to colleagues in the back office. During their stay in the company they do not only have to do their normal work but also use this time for renewing relationships to make the future communication with the back office more easily.
All in all I think telecommuting is an interesting and cost-effective innovation. If a company understands to implement an appropriate infrastructure it will gain a lot of advantage and productivity. Nonetheless it is important to realise that the successful introduction of telecommuting into a company is not just an add-on but has to be guided and controlled be management to capitalise on the benefits and avoid the frustration.
Korrektur:
Teleworking or telecommuting is a modern way of working which allows managers and sales people to join the company’s computer network from outside. In order for this to work, the performance of teleworking is strongly tied to the quality of the available electronic data interchange connection, laptop computers and mobile phones.
The benefit for the company and the employee are obvious. Firstly, white-collar workers need to spend less time in the office to communicate with their colleagues. They can communicate by means of email or telephone during their trips or from their home offices. This saves the employee a lot of time which he would otherwise use for commuting to his office. This “additionally gained” time can be invested more productively by the employee and saves him overtime. In the end, the felt stress level is reduced and the employee is more effective for the company.
A second benefit of telecommuting is that working hours are no longer fixed to the usual core time (e.g. 9am to 5pm) of one time zone. The information flow between people travelling for the company and the back office is speeded up. Managers or sales people can pass on information from the market whenever they feel it is necessary. They can clarify open points with the team in the plant and reply quicker to customers’ questions. This “bought” time may be used as a competitive tool in the market or -if it is not necessary to use it this way- this additional time may be used internally to reduce stress when assessing requests carefully and making adequate proposals.
Even though the benefits of teleworking are high, several drawbacks have to be taken into account. To begin with, the quality of the data connection is crucial. The data transfer needs to be quick and reliable. The possible danger of not transferred emails or a break down during an ongoing query at the company’s work station causes additional work: telephone calls would be necessary to check whether the email has been transferred successfully or the back office workforce would have to send confirmations. Therefore, a bad data connection does not only destroy the upper mentioned “purchased” time but also consumes a lot time while generating stress.
In addition, connection quality is also related to security. Very often, the transferred data are sensitive. Therefore, the connection itself and the accessibility to the company’s computer network have to be protected from hackers or professionals who spy for the competition.
Another possible counterproductive challenge is the increased personal distance between the back office and the travelling employees. This effect might come up if the company culture is not ready for telecommuting or if the personal standing of the teleworker is weak. For the back office it is important to learn that its work is essential for the results of the teleworker because he has to rely on this quality. Sometimes, it may even be important to modify working procedures and habits to incorporate the teleworker better into the work flow. This will be especially important if the company is used to dealing with issues informally or is hardly used to structure stored content.
On the other side, telecommuting may become a lonesome way of working for the one “outside”. These persons have to have a strong character and should be good in building up durable relationships to colleagues in the back office. During their stay in the company, they do not only have to do their normal work but also use this time for renewing relationships to make the future communication with the back office easier.
All in all, I think telecommuting is an interesting and cost-effective innovation. If a company understands how to implement an appropriate infrastructure, it will gain a lot of advantages and productivity. Nonetheless it is important to realise that the successful introduction of telecommuting into a company is not just an add-on but has to be guided and controlled by management to capitalise on the benefits and avoid frustration.
Re: MARS 2009 EssaysOriginal
Question:
Which motivation theory is most/least useful for you? Describe it briefly and give reasons for your opinion, mentioning at least 2 less/more useful theories as well:
To begin with, there exist many motivational theories that are mentioned and discussed in technical literature. Under consideration of Maslow´s Hierarchy of Needs Model, Theory X and Y, and Expectancy Theory. All of these theories do have a wise approach, but from my point of view the Two-Factor Theory by Frederick Herzberg is the most useful one.
The bases for this theory are motivation factors and hygiene factors, two components which are responsible for, either job dissatisfaction or satisfaction.
Hygiene factors are factors which absence leads to dissatisfaction, but not to satisfaction if they are present. Herzberg calls it “no dissatisfaction” instead. Such hygiene factors could be working conditions or salary.
Motivation factors are understood by items like recognition, responsibility, achievement and many more, which presence cause job satisfaction, but “no satisfaction” – not dissatisfaction - if they are missed.
I am convinced that this theory is well applicable to everyday working life.
First, because it is fairly easy for a company to motivate staff by avoiding hygiene factors and providing motivation factors. Furthermore, the theory is easy to see through. To analyze this in greater detail, it has to be considered how time intensive it can be, to find out how staff could be motivated. As far as I am concerned, the Two-Factor Theory can be seen as a clear instruction of motivating staff. Herzberg gives a lot of examples for each factor, which fact makes it easy for a company to choose an appropriate way to motivate an employee. I am sure that every employee all over the world could be motivated by one of Herzberg´s motivation factors. Who does not want to get more money or appreciation? Who would not feel motivated in such cases?
Despite its advantages, it is indispensable to analyze how staff assess the present working environment, including both hygiene and motivation factors. Only if it is clear how employees feel about their situation, especially if the company is failing to meet expectations, it is possible to act.
Let us now turn away from my favorite motivational theory and discuss the least useful one – again from my point of view.
I feel that Theory X and Y by Douglas McGregor is the worst one, because it is fairly generalized. It is just not possible to divide personalities into only two groups.
Theory X and Y says, that managers either think their staff is naturally lazy and uncooperative. In this case, theory X, employees have to be punished or rewarded to make them work. It is like with a stick and a carrot. Or, like in theory Y, managers tend to be the opinion that people are naturally self-motivated, energetic and interested in being productive.
In regards to my previous statement, it is just too simple to believe that there are only two kinds of managers existing. This theory only deals with black or white, but completely forgets the varied mixtures, which make life interesting. Besides this theory does not give any advice how to deal with your employees, nor examples how to motivate staff.
Before finishing, it has to be said that everybody is an individual and has to be treated individually. Sure, such an individual treatment requires a lot of tact and knowledge of human nature, but it ensures motivation, both in work and private-life!
Korrektur
To begin with, there are many motivational theories that are mentioned and discussed in technical literature. Among these are Maslow´s Hierarchy of Needs Model, Theory X and Y, and Expectancy Theory. All of these theories have a wise approach, but from my point of view, the Two-Factor Theory by Frederick Herzberg is the most useful one.
The bases for this theory are motivation factors and hygiene factors, two components which are responsible for either job dissatisfaction or satisfaction.
Hygiene factors are factors whose absence leads to dissatisfaction, but not to satisfaction if they are present. Herzberg calls it “no dissatisfaction” instead. Such hygiene factors could be working conditions or salary.
Motivation factors are understood to consist of items like recognition, responsibility, achievement and many more, whose presence cause job satisfaction, but “no satisfaction” – not dissatisfaction - if they are missed.
I am convinced that this theory is well applicable to everyday working life.
First, this is because it is fairly easy for a company to motivate staff by avoiding hygiene factors and providing motivation factors. Furthermore, the theory is easy to see through. To analyze this in greater detail, it has to be considered how time intensive it can be to find out how a company’s staff could be motivated. As far as I am concerned, the Two-Factor Theory can be seen as a clear instruction for how to motivate staff. Herzberg gives a lot of examples for each factor, which makes it easy for a company to choose an appropriate way to motivate an employee. I am sure that every employee in the world could be motivated by one of Herzberg´s motivation factors. Who does not want to get more money or appreciation? Who would not feel motivated in such cases?
Despite its advantages, it is indispensable to analyze how a company’s staff assesses the present working environment, including both hygiene and motivation factors. Only if it is clear how employees feel about their situation, especially if the company is failing to meet expectations, is it possible to act.
Let us now turn away from my favorite motivational theory and discuss the least useful one – again from my point of view.
I feel that Theory X and Y by Douglas McGregor is the worst one, because it is fairly generalized. It is just not possible to divide personalities into only two groups.
Theory X and Y say that managers either think their staff is naturally lazy and uncooperative or the opposite. In the case of theory X, employees have to be punished or rewarded to make them work. It is like the analogy of a stick and a carrot. On the other hand, in theory Y, managers tend to be of the opinion that people are naturally self-motivated, energetic and interested in being productive.
In regards to my previous statement, it is just too simple to believe that only two kinds of managers exist. This theory only deals with black or white, but completely forgets the varied mixtures which make life interesting. Besides, this theory does not give any advice on how to deal with your employees, nor examples for how to motivate a company’s staff.
Before finishing, it has to be said that everybody is an individual and has to be treated individually. Sure, such an individual treatment requires a lot of tact and knowledge of human nature, but it ensures motivation, both in work and private-life!
Could you imagine taking part in a work sharing program? What is your opinion of flexitime? What advantages do these models have and what problems could arise?
This essay discusses the advantages and disadvantages of work sharing programs and flextime programs.
Therefore it is necessary to explain the above mentioned terms. The first term to be described is “work sharing program”. According to Griffin/Ebert this program is a method of increasing job satisfaction by allowing two or more people to share a single full-time job.
To be honest I could imagine taking part in a work sharing program. I work for the Food Industries Association of Austria and my duties are mainly organizing events and specific projects. Although our secretary supports me by taking messages I have sometimes difficulties in fulfilling my work on time. Due to the fact that I study next to my full-time job I usually need days off for exam preparation.
Therefore it would be wonderful to share my job with a colleague. I could work mornings and my counterpart afternoons. This would allow me to spend more time for studying without taking time off.
On the other hand our company has introduced a flextime program. This program allows to choose our own working hours. Of course, there are some restrictions. We have to be reachable within certain core hours which are from 9:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. From my point of view flextime does not satisfy all employees. For instance, due to my studies I am not able to use this arrangement because I have to leave on time. Moreover I am not able to work overtime. Therefore I have to use the standard working model from 8:00 AM to 4:30 P.M.
In addition, telecommuting is also a possible alternative. A colleague who practices this model comes into the office from Tuesday through Thursday. The other days he works at home. According to my co-worker he is very satisfied with this program. It allows him to spend more time with his family and it reduces the need to commute. Therefore valuable time can be better used. Moreover this model gives the chance to have the lifestyle he wants.
Conversely, the employer also benefits from this program since flexibility increases productivity. Furthermore staff morale is improved because of higher level of commitment and job satisfaction.
In my opinion teleworking is a perfect model especially for women with children. Since they are able to work at home there is no need to find suitable childcare. Furthermore it gives mothers the freedom to work without leaving home.
Although work sharing programs and flextime programs have advantages they also have many disadvantages.
It is sometimes rather difficult to coordinate meetings since employees are working different schedules. In addition, teleworkers cannot share office duties. Also some employees find teleworking more stressful because of emotional and technical isolation. Another fact is that teleworkers usually work more so nobody would think they take advantage of working at home. Last but not least family members have to accept to keep disruption to a minimum.
To sum up, introducing work sharing programs and flextime programs have advantages and disadvantages. Employers and employees have different expectations. Therefore both must determine these expectations in advance.
Korrektur:
This essay discusses the advantages and disadvantages of work sharing programs and flextime programs.
Therefore, it is necessary to explain the abovementioned terms. The first term to be described is “work sharing program”. According to Griffin/Ebert, this program is a method of increasing job satisfaction by allowing two or more people to share a single full-time job.
To be honest, I could imagine taking part in a work sharing program. I work for the Food Industries Association of Austria and my duties mainly involve organizing events and specific projects. Although our secretary supports me by taking messages, I sometimes have difficulties in fulfilling my work on time. Due to the fact that I study next to my full-time job, I usually need days off for exam preparation.
Therefore, it would be wonderful to share my job with a colleague. I could work mornings and my counterpart afternoons. This would allow me to spend more time for studying without taking time off.
On the other hand, our company has introduced a flextime program. This program allows us to choose our own working hours. Of course, there are some restrictions. We have to be reachable within certain core hours which are from 9:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. From my point of view, flextime does not satisfy all employees. For instance, due to my studies, I am not able to use this arrangement because I have to leave on time. Moreover, I am not able to work overtime. Therefore, I have to use the standard working model from 8:00 AM to 4:30 P.M.
In addition, telecommuting is also a possible alternative. A colleague who practices this model might come into the office from Tuesday through Thursday. The other days he would work at home. According to my co-worker, he is very satisfied with this program. It allows him to spend more time with his family and it reduces the need to commute. Therefore valuable time can be used better. Moreover, this model gives him the chance to have the lifestyle he wants.
Conversely, the employer also benefits from this program since flexibility increases productivity. Furthermore, staff morale is improved because of a higher level of commitment and job satisfaction.
In my opinion, teleworking is a perfect model, especially for women with children. Since they are able to work at home, there is no need to find suitable childcare. Furthermore, it gives mothers the freedom to work without leaving home.
Although work sharing programs and flextime programs have advantages, they also have many disadvantages.
It is sometimes rather difficult to coordinate meetings since employees are working different schedules. In addition, teleworkers cannot share office duties. Also, some employees find teleworking more stressful because of emotional and technical isolation. Another fact is that teleworkers usually work more so nobody would think they are taking advantage of working at home. Last but not least, family members have to accept keeping disruption to a minimum.
To sum up, introducing work sharing programs and flextime programs have advantages and disadvantages. Employers and employees have different expectations. Therefore, both must determine these expectations in advance.
Is “customer relationship management” (CRM) a new concept that will still be applied in ten years from now or is it merely a phase? Why or why not?
To be optimally prepared to give a comprehensive answer to the accumulated question, it might be helpful to give a brief overview on the development of CRM during the past years.
It is a matter of common knowledge that the concept of CRM spread quickly as soon as companies realized, that customers who are brimmed over with enthusiasm for a company show a higher level of loyalty than clients, who simply settle for their purchased products. In a nutshell, the editor shares the conviction that CRM in its broadest sense covers all interactions with customers in an assiduous and precise mode and therefore opens up possibilities for all kinds of service operations like acquiring customers, providing customer services and retaining valued customers in an advanced status of ultimate perfectness . Customer loyalty is an asset to be considered seriously in this modern world of globalization. It´s not on the balance sheet, although it actually should be, especially in the service sector as it is mentioned in Griffin/Ebert`s “Business Essentials”.
Hence the writer will elucidate that, in the upcoming ten years CRM will get more and more important and the current situation is just part of the initial phase.
Companies using CRM seek to combine the advantages of small companies - i.e. quickly identify the factors that are important to their clients - with professional CRM tools only big enterprises are able to apply.
Needless to say that the previously mentioned small companies have a much better understanding of their clients` needs and therefore experience a higher customer loyalty.
Just imagine your favourite restaurant. You are acquainted with the place and its staff and in return the personnel may be familiar with your preferences. They might lead you directly to your favourite table, immediately serve the drink you normally start with and make extra suggestions with regard to the menu. They even know the kind of wine that suits your taste with every dish you order.
All in all they give you the feeling that you are a very important and appreciated person.
You are left with the impression that all emphasis is placed on you as a customer.
Transferring this situation to big business, it seem obvious, that global acting companies only have a chance to create such a climate, where customer-loyalty can prosper, if they put all their efforts into a system that has the ability to trace as many transactions a customer is generating in a lifetime relationship as possible. To make it effective, standardization will be a must. For this reason the application of data warehousing and data mining is without alternative. Using these technologies and anticipate a customer`s needs could really amaze a patron. But only if the right conclusions are drawn an organisation can take the chance to be one step ahead of competition concerning future requirements. However, one cannot deny that there is also a serious danger in the misuse of CRM. Imagine an enterprise knowing all about your private needs and habits. How would you react to that? At first glance, it would probably make you happy. But what if this company doesn’t deal respectfully with your data? You will immediately terminate the relationship or even take legal action.
The prospect of this evolutionary process is, that all the big companies will spare no efforts to gather data of clients in order to use it in a sophisticated way for an overall business concept. Starting with customer detection and segmenting, followed by detailed and customized attraction programs, the concepts will further develop customer retention measurements which are mechanisms for registering customer complaints, handling problems and complaints and finally open up a mechanism for correcting service deficiencies. Eventually those enterprises who will finally give the client the certitude that they are treating him with respect will finally win the race for customers’ constancy.
Korrektur
To be optimally prepared to give a comprehensive answer to the chosen question, it might be helpful to give a brief overview on the development of CRM during the past years.
It is a matter of common knowledge that the concept of CRM spread quickly as soon as companies realized that customers who are brimmed over with enthusiasm for a company show a higher level of loyalty than clients who simply settle for their purchased products. In a nutshell, the editor shares the conviction that CRM in its broadest sense covers all interactions with customers in an assiduous and precise mode and therefore opens up possibilities for all kinds of service operations like acquiring customers, providing customer services and retaining valued customers in an advanced status of ultimate perfection . Customer loyalty is an asset to be considered seriously in this modern world of globalization. It´s not on the balance sheet, although it actually should be, especially in the service sector as it is mentioned in Griffin/Ebert`s “Business Essentials”.
Hence, the writer will elucidate that, in the upcoming ten years, CRM will become more and more important and the current situation is just part of the initial phase.
Companies using CRM seek to combine the advantages of small companies - i.e. quickly identifying the factors that are important to their clients - with professional CRM tools only big enterprises are able to apply.
It is needless to say that the previously mentioned small companies have a much better understanding of their clients` needs and therefore experience a higher customer loyalty.
Just imagine your favourite restaurant. You are acquainted with the place and its staff and in return the personnel may be familiar with your preferences. They might lead you directly to your favourite table, immediately serve the drink you normally start with and make extra suggestions with regard to the menu. They even know the kind of wine that suits your taste with every dish you order.
All in all, they give you the feeling that you are a very important and appreciated person.
You are left with the impression that all emphasis is placed on you as a customer.
Transferring this situation to big business, it seem obvious that globally active companies only have a chance to create such a climate, where customer-loyalty can prosper, if they put all their efforts into a system that has the ability to trace as many transactions a customer generates in a lifetime relationship as possible. To make it effective, standardization will be a must. For this reason, the application of data warehousing and data mining is without alternative. Using these technologies and anticipating a customer`s needs could really amaze a patron. But only if the right conclusions are drawn can an organisation take the chance to be one step ahead of competition concerning future requirements. However, one cannot deny that there is also a serious danger in the misuse of CRM. Imagine an enterprise knowing all about your private needs and habits. How would you react to that? At first glance, it would probably make you happy. But what if this company didn’t handle your data confidentially? You would immediately terminate the relationship or even take legal action.
The prospect of this evolutionary process is that all the big companies will spare no efforts to gather data on clients in order to use it in a sophisticated way for an overall business concept. Starting with customer detection and segmenting, followed by detailed and customized attraction programs, the concepts will further develop customer retention measurements which are mechanisms for registering customer complaints, handling problems and complaints and finally open up a mechanism for correcting service deficiencies. Eventually, those enterprises who finally give the client the certitude that they are treating him with respect will win the race for customers’ constancy.
Re: MARS 2009 EssaysOriginal
What influences does a brand have on consumers and vice-versa?
A term, design, or trademark used in connection with the distribution and sale of one or more grades of commercial fertilizers – that is what typically defines “a brand”.
What exactly lies at the bottom of this term and why does a brand name often means more than just a decorative imprint on a product package? Let us start at the very beginning, at the birth of a brand - the development.
When it comes to creating a new brand or brand name a whole variety of decisions need to be made. Which brand name or brand symbol to decide for? Better using the firm name as an overall brand name or indroducing independent brands for specific product lines or product ranges? How to communicate the new brand? The key answer to all these questions is the target group … the consumer.
A brand personality trait is what should provide symbolic meaning or emotional value and can furthermore constribute to consumers’ brand preferences. A brand must have an appealing, recognising factor to customers and should deliver a certain image or message, that has to be tailored to the individual target group. But sucessfully positioning a brand’s personality requires measurements …
The invention of a brand name or a brand symbol itself doesn’t necessarily devour the highest amount of time or money. The establishment of a strong brand implements incredibly important tasks like meeting consumer needs, offering appropriate value as well as ongoing relationship marketing. To built or maintain consumer loyaty can yield significant marketing advantages including reduced marketing costs, resistance among loyal consumers to competitors’ propsitions and higher profits.
Nowadays consumers tend to be less loyal especially when it comes to low-involvement purchases – in sense of basic, inexpensive products like milk or bread. They are more and more seeking for novelty and unexpectedness, meaning not always sticking to the same goods. Nevertheless, once a brand creates good associations in the consumers’ heads - which can be based on one’s own experiences, mouth-to-moth communication or simply advertisement – there is a higher chance that consumers are buying more or other products with the same brand name on it.
Brands make it easier for consumers to catagorize and distinguishes products from several different suppliers. That is a main point as people want to oriented themselves by specific shematas and need to have criterions for making a purchasing decision.
High brand loyalty can enable companies to create a need in a way that doesn’t necessarily rely on the products’ characteristc features itselves, moreover it becomes an urge to simply have to have a product with exactly THAT brand name on it. Whenever this is the case – companies have a good chuckle as high prices are more willing to be accepted and even pleased, as being able to afford a high prized brand product could be an initital reason for someone to purchase it. Others simple buy such goods just because they are subconciously thinking that the more expensive the better the product must be - even tough if equal quality, lower prized or same looking goods were available.
Especially on the clothing sector these phenomenon can be observed. Of course do a lot of people wear brand shirts because they like the quality or the style of the shirts, others probably buy those goods also for the reasons of communicating a certain lifestyle. However, at any time when pear pressure and general acceptance pushes someone to brand glorification, it could be society to be blamed for
… or is it simple the weakness of the individual?!?!?!?
Korrektur
A term, design, or trademark used in connection with the distribution and sale of one or more grades of commercial fertilizers – that is what typically defines “a brand”.
What exactly lies at the bottom of this term and why does a brand name often means more than just a decorative imprint on a product package? Let us start at the very beginning, at the birth of a brand - the development.
When it comes to creating a new brand or brand name a whole variety of decisions need to be made. Which brand name or brand symbol to decide for? Is it better to use the firm name as an overall brand name or to introduce independent brands for specific product lines or product ranges? How should the new brand be communicated? The key answer to all these questions is the target group … the consumer.
A brand personality trait is what should provide symbolic meaning or emotional value and can furthermore constribute to consumers’ brand preferences. A brand must have an appealing, recognition factor to customers and should deliver a certain image or message that has to be tailored to the individual target group. But successfully positioning a brand’s personality requires measures …
The invention of a brand name or a brand symbol itself doesn’t necessarily devour the highest amount of time or money. The establishment of a strong brand brings with it incredibly important tasks like meeting consumer needs, offering appropriate value as well as ongoing relationship marketing. Building or maintaining consumer loyalty can yield significant marketing advantages including reduced marketing costs, resistance among loyal consumers to competitors’ propositions and higher profits.
Nowadays consumers tend to be less loyal especially when it comes to low-involvement purchases – in the sense of basic, inexpensive products like milk or bread. They are increasingly seeking novelty and the unexpected, meaning not always sticking to the same goods. Nevertheless, once a brand creates good associations in the consumers’ heads - which can be based on one’s own experiences, mouth-to-mouth communication or simply advertisement – there is a higher chance that consumers will buy more or other products with the same brand name on it.
Brands make it easier for consumers to categorize and distinguish products from several different suppliers. That is a main point as people want to orient themselves by specific schematas and need to have criteria for making a purchasing decision.
High brand loyalty can enable companies to create a need in a way that doesn’t necessarily rely on the products’ characteristic features themselves. Moreover, it becomes an urge to simply have to have a product with exactly THAT brand name on it. Whenever this is the case – companies have a good chuckle as high prices are more willing to be accepted and consumers are even pleased, as being able to afford a high priced brand product could be an initial reason for someone to purchase it. Others simply buy such goods just because they subconciously think that the more expensive a product is, the better it must be - even if equal quality, lower priced or identically looking goods are available.
Especially in the clothing sector, these phenomena can be observed. Of course, a lot of people wear brand shirts because they like the quality or the style of the shirts, others probably also buy those goods for the reasons of communicating a certain lifestyle. However, at any time when peer pressure and general acceptance pushes someone to brand glorification, society could be to blame
… or is it simply the weakness of the individual?!?!?!?
Explain the consumer buying process as you see it – at which stage does marketing/advertising have an influence?
When consumers buy a product, they seldom go into the shop without knowing what they want to buy. Even when they only want to purchase “every-day goods”, like milk, bread or soap, they think about what they need first and then go out and get it. But especially when it comes to the purchase of expensive goods, that are not bought very often, like cars, TV-sets or skis, consumers run through a whole buying process. This buying process consists of five stages, namely the “Problem/Need Recognition”, the “Information Seeking”, the “Evaluation of Alternatives”, the “Purchase Decision” and the “Postpurchase Evaluation”.
In the first stage the consumers recognise for example the need to replace their old skis because they are out of fashion now. Next, they search for information about stores, which sell skis, the different available styles and the prices of skis. They also ask their friends and family about their opinion. In the “Evaluation of Alternatives”-phase the potential buyers ask themselves which styles of skis they like, what colours they prefer, which ones are available for them and how others will react to their new skis. At the end of this phase the consumers have two or three suitable alternatives to choose from. Afterwards they have to make their decision on what alternative they want to buy. This decision can be made rationally, when for example the cheapest one is taken, or emotionally, when the most liked one is bought. But the buying process doesn’t end with the purchase of the product, it goes on with the “Postpurchase Evaluation”. In this stage the consumers want to find out if they made a good decision, for example by observing the reactions of others or by comparing the new skis with the old ones.
Now, as we know the five stages of the buying process, you maybe ask yourselves, why this is interesting for the marketing people. To answer this question I will explain the importance of marketing in the buying process to you immediately: As marketing is not only advertising, but also personal selling and sales promotion, it influences the buying process at every stage!
In the “Problem/Need Recognition” phase it is for example especially for a new product necessary to be advertised in order to show the consumers what items do exist to make their lives easier and more beautiful. In the “Information Seeking” stage and the “Evaluation of Alternatives” stage personal selling is the key word, so that potential buyers can collect all the data they need directly from the sellers. Furthermore it is easier to get to know the consumers and convince them of the benefits of a product if you speak directly to them.
When it comes to the “Purchase Decision” sales promotion and personal selling can be very helpful. If the wanted good is for example a car, it will be a good idea to let the interested people try it. If it is possible to give away samples or to grant discounts, this should be done as it probably will influence the consumers decision in a positive way.
Last but not least, the most important thing is the after sale service, which wants to garantee that the buyers are really satisfied with their purchase. You can reach this goal by offering complaint and service hotlines, that shall help the consumers to solve their problems as quickly as possible. Advertisements for the sold products are also a good idea, so that the buyers see their new product for example on TV and feel proud that they already have it. In this stage of “Postpurchase Evaluation” it is important to keep the consumers satisfied, because only satisfied people buy the product or brand again and will tell their friends about their positive experience.
Korrektur
When consumers buy a product, they rarely go into the shop without knowing what they want to buy. Even when they only want to purchase “every-day goods”, like milk, bread or soap, they think about what they need first and then go out and get it. But especially when it comes to the purchase of expensive goods that are not bought very often, like cars, TV-sets or skis, consumers run through a whole buying process. This buying process consists of five stages, namely the “Problem/Need Recognition”, the “Information Seeking”, the “Evaluation of Alternatives”, the “Purchase Decision” and the “Postpurchase Evaluation”.
In the first stage, the consumers recognise, for example, the need to replace their old skis because they are out of fashion now. Next, they search for information about stores which sell skis, the different available styles and the prices of skis. They also ask their friends and family about their opinions. In the “Evaluation of Alternatives”-phase, the potential buyers ask themselves which styles of skis they like, what colours they prefer, which ones are available for them and how others will react to their new skis. At the end of this phase, the consumers have two or three suitable alternatives to choose from. Afterwards, they have to make their decision on what alternative they want to buy. This decision can be made rationally, when, for example, the cheapest one is taken, or emotionally, when the most liked one is bought. But the buying process doesn’t end with the purchase of the product. It goes on with the “Postpurchase Evaluation”. In this stage, the consumers want to find out if they made a good decision, for example by observing the reactions of others or by comparing the new skis with the old ones.
Now, as we know the five stages of the buying process, you maybe ask yourselves, why this is interesting for the marketing people. To answer this question, I will explain the importance of marketing in the buying process to you immediately: As marketing is not only advertising, but also personal selling and sales promotion, it influences the buying process at every stage!
In the “Problem/Need Recognition” phase, for example, it is necessary - especially for a new product - to be advertised in order to show the consumers what items exist to make their lives easier and more beautiful. In the “Information Seeking” stage and the “Evaluation of Alternatives” stage, personal selling is the keyword, so that potential buyers can collect all the data they need directly from the sellers. Furthermore, it is easier to get to know the consumers and convince them of the benefits of a product if you speak directly to them.
When it comes to the “Purchase Decision”, sales promotion and personal selling can be very helpful. If the desired good is, for example, a car, it will be a good idea to let the interested people try it. If it is possible to give away samples or to grant discounts, this should be done as it probably will influence the consumer’s decision in a positive way.
Last but not least, the most important thing is the after sale service, which aims at certifying that the buyers are really satisfied with their purchase. You can reach this goal by offering complaint and service hotlines that help the consumers to solve their problems as quickly as possible. Advertisements for the sold products are also a good idea, so that the buyers see their new product on TV, for example, and feel proud that they already have it. In this stage of “Postpurchase Evaluation”, it is important to keep the consumers satisfied, because only satisfied people buy the product or brand again and will tell their friends about their positive experience.
Which motivation theory is most useful for you? Describe it briefly and give reasons for your opinion, mentioning at least 2 less useful theories as well.
This essay discusses various motivation theories and emphasizes the most and least useful ones from the author’s point of view.
To begin with, the author would like to describe the - in her opinion - most useful theory - the two-factor theory:
The two-factor theory is based on the belief that employee motivation and job satisfaction depend on hygiene factors and motivation factors.
Hygiene factors, such as working conditions, regular payment, and job security, are related to the work environment. If hygiene factors are absent, employees become dissatisfied. On the other hand, the presence of hygiene factors does not mean that satisfaction occurs. Then, employees are simply "not dissatisfied".
Motivation factors, for example recognition, and responsibility, are related to the work performance itself. Motivation factors cause that employees feel more satisfied and motivated. Again, the absence of motivation factors does not mean that employees become dissatisfied. In this case they are neither dissatisfied nor satisfied.
The author is convinced that this theory works out in most instances because it is quiet easy to perform. Whenever dissatisfaction occurs, the situation can be improved by implementing hygiene factors. Moreover, once each worker’s motivation factors are identified – make them available and employees become more satisfied.
However, the important task is that managers have to find out employees’ hygiene and motivation factors since every single person has different priorities.
A less useful theory than the two-factor theory is the human resource model.
This model refers to the theory X and theory Y, which classify a manager’s beliefs about his employees. Managers who tend toward theory X believe that employees are lazy, irresponsible, and not very ambitious. For this reason workers either have to be punished or rewarded to be made more productive.
Managers who tend toward theory Y believe that workers are ambitious, self-motivated, and growth oriented.
The author feels that these theories are self-fulfilling prophecies. Managers who act corresponding to theory X will never get motivated employees as they show a negative attitude in the first place. It can be assumed that people won’t improve their productiveness if managers think they are lazy and uncooperative anyway.
The very same applies for theory Y.
The least useful motivation theory is the hierarchy of needs model.
According to this theory, human needs are classified into five categories and are arranged in a hierarchy of importance. Before people can satisfy higher-level needs, such as social esteem needs, lower-level needs have to be fulfilled.
Aside from the fact that people have different needs, that can’t be classified "across-the-board", this theory does not provide any guideline for action in the workplace.
To summarize the author’s opinion, it can be said that all motivation factors and taken actions regarding employee motivation have different influences on each worker. Therefore the author considers all motivational theories to be more or less generalizations. As mentiond before, the most useful theory might be the two-factor theory since here clear guidelines for actions are given.
Korrektur
This essay discusses various motivation theories and emphasizes the most and least useful ones from the author’s point of view.
To begin with, the author would like to describe the - in her opinion - most useful theory - the two-factor theory:
The two-factor theory is based on the belief that employee motivation and job satisfaction depend on hygiene factors and motivation factors.
Hygiene factors, such as working conditions, regular payment, and job security, are related to the work environment. If hygiene factors are absent, employees become dissatisfied. On the other hand, the presence of hygiene factors does not mean that satisfaction occurs. Then, employees are simply "not dissatisfied".
Motivation factors, for example recognition, and responsibility, are related to the work performance itself. Motivation factors cause employees to feel more satisfied and motivated. Again, the absence of motivation factors does not mean that employees become dissatisfied. In this case, they are neither dissatisfied nor satisfied.
The author is convinced that this theory works out in most instances because it is quite easy to perform. Whenever dissatisfaction occurs, the situation can be improved by implementing hygiene factors. Moreover, once each worker’s motivation factors are identified – make them available and employees become more satisfied.
However, the important task is that managers have to find out employees’ hygiene and motivation factors since every single person has different priorities.
A less useful theory than the two-factor theory is the human resource model.
This model refers to the theory X and theory Y, which classify a manager’s beliefs about his employees. Managers who tend toward theory X believe that employees are lazy, irresponsible, and not very ambitious. For this reason, workers either have to be punished or rewarded to be made more productive.
Managers who tend toward theory Y believe that workers are ambitious, self-motivated, and growth oriented.
The author feels that these theories are self-fulfilling prophecies. Managers who act corresponding to theory X will never get motivated employees as they show a negative attitude in the first place. It can be assumed that people won’t improve their productivity if managers think they are lazy and uncooperative anyway.
The very same applies for theory Y.
The least useful motivation theory is the hierarchy of needs model.
According to this theory, human needs are classified into five categories and are arranged in a hierarchy of importance. Before people can satisfy higher-level needs, such as social esteem needs, lower-level needs have to be fulfilled.
Aside from the fact that people have different needs that can’t be classified "across-the-board", this theory does not provide any guideline for action in the workplace.
To summarize the author’s opinion, it can be said that all motivation factors and taken actions regarding employee motivation have different influences on each worker. Therefore, the author considers all motivational theories to be, more or less, generalizations. As mentioned before, the most useful theory might be the two-factor theory since here clear guidelines for actions are given.
Re: MARS 2009 EssaysOriginal
Explain the stages of a PLC and describe their impact on marketing/advertising.
This essay discusses the stages of a product life cycle and emphasizes the effect of marketing activities to the product positioning.
To begin with I would like to highlight the complexity of launching a new product. According to Griffin/Ebert Pharmacists who develop a new substance can take as long as 8 to 10 years to get a new product through the approval process at the Food and Drug Administration.
Therefore creating a successful new product has become more and more sophisticated. Due to the fact of new products hitting the market each year has increased dramatically. Under these conditions, those products with the best marketing mix effort concerning the PLC will survive in the market.
When a product reaches the market, it enters the product life cycle – a series of stages through which it passes during its profit-producing life. PLC includes four stages, namely introduction, growth, maturity and decline.
It has to be stressed that marketing efforts before launching a product is as highly important. Before a new product will be launched pre-marketing has to be established. My experience has shown that especially in the pharmacy branch the target group, marketing strategies, product messages, sales aids and promotion tools have to be clearly defined and completed for launch. Promotional expenses are high for producing sales flyers.
Firstly, the term introduction is described as the beginning stages when the product reaches the marketplace. Marketers focus on making potential consumers aware of the product and its benefits. Focused in the pharmacy, the sales representatives are provided with the summary of product characteristics, samples of the product and invitations for launching symposia. Launching a new product will include all factors of the marketing mix beginning from advertising to press conference. Therefore extensive promotional costs erase all profits.
Secondly, if the new product attracts enough consumers, sales start to climb rapidly. In the stage of growth the profit starts to increase, and other firms move rapidly to introduction their products. The marketing mix is in this stage also important to attract the target group. The product benefits have to be pointed out and that we have better studies than the competitors.
Thirdly, in the stage of maturity the sales growth starts to slow. Although the product earns its highest profit level. The fact is that the competitors try to forces price cutting and to weaken other products. Toward the end of this stage, sales start to fall. In the pharmacy this stage will be very long upstanding, especially if the products receive the possibility for a new indication. Promotion costs are focused on personal selling and advertising and maybe for disclosing new information press conference will be organised.
In the last stages – decline – sales and profits continue to fall, as new products in the introduction stage take away sales. Introducing generics is challenging the market share of the original product. Generics are drugs that have copied the substance of the original products under another name when the patent of the original one is ran out. In regards to upcoming changes, the following facts play a crucial role. The company has to decide how long marketing efforts will help to keep up high market share. At any time the firms end or reduce promotion support but may let the product linger to provide some profits.
In conclusion the company has to fulfil the customers need and the marketing demand in each step to obtain the maximum profit in the product life cycle.
Korrektur
This essay discusses the stages of a product life cycle and emphasizes the effect of marketing activities on the product positioning.
To begin with, I would like to highlight the complexity of launching a new product. According to Griffin/Ebert, pharmacists who develop a new substance can take as long as 8 to 10 years to get a new product through the approval process at the Food and Drug Administration.
Therefore, creating a successful new product has become more and more sophisticated. Due to the fact of new products hitting the market each year, the level of competition has increased dramatically. Under these conditions, those products with the best marketing mix effort concerning the PLC will survive in the market.
When a product reaches the market, it enters the product life cycle – a series of stages through which it passes during its profit-producing life. PLC includes four stages, namely introduction, growth, maturity and decline.
It has to be stressed that marketing efforts taken before launching a product are as highly important as those taken post-launch. Before a new product is launched, pre-marketing has to be established. My experience has shown that especially in the pharmacy industry, the target group, marketing strategies, product messages, sales aids and promotion tools have to be clearly defined and completed for launch. Promotional expenses are high for producing sales flyers.
Firstly, the introduction phase is described as the beginning stages when the product reaches the marketplace. Marketers focus on making potential consumers aware of the product and its benefits. In regards to the pharmacy industry, the sales representatives are provided with the summary of product characteristics, samples of the product and invitations for launching symposia. Launching a new product will include all factors of the marketing mix beginning from advertising to press conference. Therefore, extensive promotional costs erase all profits.
Secondly, if the new product attracts enough consumers, sales start to climb rapidly. In the stage of growth, the profit starts to increase, and other firms move rapidly to introduce their products. In this stage, the marketing mix is also important to attract the target group. The product benefits have to be pointed out as does the fact that we have better studies than the competitors.
Thirdly, in the stage of maturity, the sales growth starts to slow. This is the case although the product earns its highest profit level. The fact is that the competitors try to force price cutting and to weaken other products. Toward the end of this stage, sales start to fall. In the pharmacy industry, this stage will be very long lasting, especially if the products receive the possibility of a new indication. Promotion costs are focused on personal selling and advertising and maybe in order to disclose new information, press conferences will be organised.
In the last stages – decline – sales and profits continue to fall, as new products in the introduction stage reduce sales. Introducing generics challenges the market share of the original product. Generics are drugs that have copied the substance of the original products under another name when the patent of the original one has run out. In regards to upcoming changes, the following facts play a crucial role. The company has to decide how long marketing efforts will help to keep up a high market share. At any time, the firms may end or reduce promotion support but may let the product linger to provide some final profits.
In conclusion, the company has to fulfil the customer’s need and the marketing goal in each step is to obtain the maximum profit in the product life cycle.
Re: MARS 2009 EssaysOriginal
What do you think is the best method for selecting employees: application forms, tests, interviews, or something else? Explain why.
I think that this question is very difficult to answer,because the ideal method definitely depends on the job the applicant is applying for.Making an aspiring waitress do a polygraph test is most likely a waste of money. On the other hand, companies recruiting a manager should spend a lot of time getting to know the applicants well!
I would now like to explain the most used methods.
An application form is an effective method used to gather general information about the candidates,such as educational backround and job history.It enables the HR Managers to compare the applicants and eliminate people without the needed job experience or with lack of qualification. This is especially important for jobs a huge amount of people are applying for. This method is in most cases followed by an interview and/or some kind of test. In interviews,the personell managers get to know the candidates better and have a chance to ask questions or clarify things that could have been misunderstood from the application form.Moreover, the applicants have to chance to get to know the company and find out more about their future job. Yet I have to question the role of job interviews as a predictor of job success, because here looks,clothing,the degree of nervousness and chemistry between the interviewer and applicant play a much bigger role than the hard skills needed to perform the job well. There are various types of interviews,like the structured interview and a stress interview for example. In a structured interview, the questions are prepared in advance and are the same for each candidate. This gives all applicants a more or less equal chance to present themselves and allows the companies to store the information in a more organized form,which is important for the final decision. Stress interviews are also quite common in many companies. In this case, the employer pretty much tries to intimidate the applicant by asking a bunch of questions the candidate wouldn´t expect, very private questions or questions that have nothing to do with the job or the applicant. The aim of this type of interview is to see how the candidate copes with stress. Another method of recruiting employees is by testing their skills, ability and knowledge. This form is usually used together with an interview and an application form. In order for these test to be valid,all candidates must be given the same questions,the same amount of time to answer them and the same testing environment such as lighting and resources.
As I mentioned before,the most useful method depends on the job the candidates are applying for. Let´s pretend that someone is applying for the job of a marketing manager in a big company. I would suggest starting with application forms. After reducing the number of candidates to a few, I would recommend organising an assessment center, where about 5-10 condidates are observed by trained staff for a few days. Parts of the AS Center are job-related simulation,interviews,role games and psychological tests. One can easily see how people can work in teams,lead people and cope with stress.The AS Center concentrates on soft skills, because the HR managers expect the selected candidates to have more of less the same hard skills and job experience. The obsevations are documented and evaluated by trained observers, who recommend the ideal candidate for the job. This method is quite time and cost effective, but I think there is no better way to choose the perfect applicant for the job!
Korrektur
I think that this question is very difficult to answer, because the ideal method definitely depends on the job the applicant is applying for. Making an aspiring waitress do a polygraph test is most likely a waste of money. On the other hand, companies recruiting a manager should spend a lot of time getting to know the applicants well!
I would now like to explain the most commonly used methods.
An application form is an effective method used to gather general information about the candidates,such as educational backround and job history.It enables the HR Managers to compare the applicants and eliminate people without the needed job experience or with lack of qualification. This is especially important for jobs a huge number of people are applying for. This method is, in most cases, followed by an interview and/or some kind of test. In interviews,the personell managers get to know the candidates better and have a chance to ask questions or clarify things that could have been misunderstood from the application form.Moreover, the applicants have the chance to get to know the company and find out more about their future job. Yet I have to question the role of job interviews as a predictor of job success, because here looks,clothing,the degree of nervousness and chemistry between the interviewer and applicant play a much bigger role than the hard skills needed to perform the job well. There are various types of interviews,like the structured interview and a stress interview, for example. In a structured interview, the questions are prepared in advance and are the same for each candidate. This gives all applicants a more or less equal chance to present themselves and allows the companies to store the information in a more organized form,which is important for the final decision. Stress interviews are also quite common in many companies. In this case, the employer pretty much tries to intimidate the applicant by asking a bunch of questions the candidate wouldn´t expect, very private questions or questions that have nothing to do with the job or the applicant. The aim of this type of interview is to see how the candidate copes with stress. Another method of recruiting employees is by testing their skills, ability and knowledge. This form is usually used together with an interview and an application form. In order for these test to be valid,all candidates must be given the same questions,the same amount of time to answer them and the same testing environment such as lighting and resources.
As I mentioned before,the most useful method depends on the job the candidates are applying for. Let´s pretend that someone is applying for the job of a marketing manager in a big company. I would suggest starting with application forms. After reducing the number of candidates to a few, I would recommend organising an assessment center, where about 5-10 candidates are observed by trained staff for a few days. Parts of the AS Center are job-related simulation,interviews,role games and psychological tests. One can easily see how people can work in teams,lead people and cope with stress.The AS Center concentrates on soft skills, because the HR managers expect the selected candidates to have more of less the same hard skills and job experience. The obsevations are documented and evaluated by trained observers, who recommend the ideal candidate for the job. This method is quite time and cost effective, but I think there is no better way to choose the perfect applicant for the job!
Re: MARS 2009 EssaysOriginal
What the hell is marketing? What does the general public associate with the term? Then define marketing in your own words. How can it help improve the results of an organization?
This essay aims to identify what the general public associates with marketing, what marketing might be according to experts, and how it can help improve the results of an organization.
Most of the people in this world know the term marketing, and most of them have an opinion about it. There are for sure many different public views on marketing and I doubt that I am able to tell what the general public associates with that term. However, I know of two big public opinions. There are the ones who regard marketing as advertisements they see on TV or posters or hear on the radio, and there are people, mostly dissatisfied or discerning customers, who think of marketing as a means of companies to rip them off. Nevertheless I dare to say that a great percentage of those who have an opinion about marketing probably don’t know what marketing really is. At least they don’t know what it is according to marketing experts.
But is it even important for them to know what the definition is? Here is what I have to object to the always well-sounding definitions of the marketing specialists. We all know that marketing has something to do with selling things by making them (more) attractive to the customer. Considering that it is a marketer’s job to sell things, how could a marketing specialist ever give a definition of marketing that does not make marketing look good?
According to the American Marketing Association marketing is “the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational needs”. Frankly, this is the most abstract and theoretical definition that I could ever imagine.
If I had to define marketing in my own, simple words I would say: “Marketing includes everything a company does to make a customer feel the need of having to have a product”. It means basically the same as the first definition, just without all the details. I am convinced that if you ask someone what a company has to do to makes him or her feel the need of having to have a product you will get exactly the four basic components of the marketing mix (product, price, place, and promotion) which are described in the upper definition. The only difference to the marketing mix I could imagine in a customer’s answer is that promotion might be described as “manipulating customers” or “convincing me to buy something I don’t need”.
The fact that some people would think that marketing is a means to convince them to buy something they don’t need shows that there are people who get influenced by marketing enough to make expenses they would not make if there were no marketing. This alone would improve the results of an organization a little. However, this only symbolizes the promotion-part of the marketing mix. If the product was not fairly easily available, didn’t have a good price, or didn’t have at least something qualitative at it the customer might still not buy it, even if he gets manipulated to buy the product. Marketing is responsible for all of these components and therefore indispensable for improving results of an organization.
Korrektur
This essay aims to identify what the general public associates with marketing, what marketing might be according to experts, and how it can help improve the results of an organization.
Most of the people in this world know the term marketing, and most of them have an opinion about it. There are certainly many different public views on marketing and I doubt that I am able to tell the reader everything that the general public associates with that term. However, I know of two big public opinions. There are the ones who regard marketing as advertisements they see on TV or posters or hear on the radio, and there are people, mostly dissatisfied or discerning customers, who think of marketing as a means of companies to rip them off. Nevertheless, I dare to say that a great percentage of those who have an opinion about marketing probably don’t know what marketing really is. At least they don’t know what it is according to marketing experts.
But is it even important for them to know what the definition is? I would like to object to the always well-sounding definitions of the marketing specialists here. We all know that marketing has something to do with selling things by making them (more) attractive to the customer. Considering that it is a marketer’s job to sell things, how could a marketing specialist ever give a definition of marketing that does not make marketing look good?
According to the American Marketing Association marketing is “the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational needs”. Frankly, this is the most abstract and theoretical definition that I could ever imagine.
If I had to define marketing on my own, simple words I would say: “Marketing includes everything a company does to make a customer feel the need for having to have a product”. It basically means the same as the first definition, just without all the details. I am convinced that if you ask someone what a company has to do to make him or her feel the need for having to have a product, you will get exactly the four basic components of the marketing mix (product, price, place, and promotion) which are described in the upper definition. The only difference to the marketing mix I could imagine in a customer’s answer is that promotion might be described as “manipulating customers” or “convincing me to buy something I don’t need”.
The fact that some people would think that marketing is a means to convince them to buy something they don’t need shows that there are people who get influenced by marketing enough to make expenses they would not make if there were no marketing. This alone would improve the results of an organization a little. However, this only symbolizes the promotion-part of the marketing mix. If the product was not fairly easily available, didn’t have a good price, or didn’t have at least something qualitative about it the customer might still not buy it, even if he is manipulated to buy the product. Marketing is responsible for all of these components and therefore indispensable for improving the results of an organization.
This essay discusses the difference of marketing and publicity, as well as, the influence of marketing on the customers´minds.
Marketing and publicity are two main components for a company´s success, which often complement each other.
Let us begin with defining the word marketing: It can be seen as a process of interesting potential customers and clients for a product or service. This process involves developing, placing, pricing, and promoting a product, which is also known as the marketing mix.
One part of marketing is the advertising, which can be described as “paid media”. The most common advertising media are television, newspapers, direct-mails, radio, magazines, and outdoor-advertising.
Due to the fact that customers are confronted nearly everywhere with advertising and often tend to ignore them - as these advertisements overstock the market - this form of marketing is usually seen as negative. Moreover customers think that the bulk of advertising messages strives to persuade or even to manipulate them.
Compared to marketing, publicity is a part of the promotion tool where information about a product or company is communicated to the public nearly for free. There are several ways for doing this, such as press releases and press conferences, public events, and interviews.
In contrast to advertising, publicity has more customers´credibility through the non-paid form. Besides it is often written in an independent and objective style, which makes this promotion tool more believable for the public.
Unfortunately most companies do not pay much attention in publicity. They believe it might be easier to purchase customers with extensive advertising campaigns.
Therefore it is necessary to raise the awareness that publicity can be a cheap, and often an effective way for creating customer satisfaction. However, the best solution for attracting customers and maximizing profits is a well-balanced combination of both, marketing and publicity.
As already mentioned, customers are confronted with marketing tools in many situations. On the one hand, it can make their life easier through advising or informing them and offering new products. But on the other hand marketing has an incredible influence on the public, due to the fact that it is a welcome instrument for persuading, manipulating, and even creating new desires. So from this point of view, marketing influences the minds of consumers.
This leads to the question how this influence works. The most common ways for reaching the customers are, beside the traditional advertising media, subconscious forms, like attracting famous persons to promote products or using them, or even by sponsoring public events, and, of course, through publicity. Moreover another technique is reaching target groups, that are easy to influence, such as children, who expect their parents to fulfill their created wishes.
What are the reasons for this mind influence? Through to the fact that everyone achieves a healthy, lucky, successful and easy life, the consumers are open-minded for products which ensure these values. This is the point where companies expect profits with creating new customer needs. For example, by generating the awareness of healthy food through labeling goods with surnames like “low fat” and “no sugar”. So the producers take an advantage of the customers wishes and even not-realized desires.
This leads us to the conclusion that it is getting more and more important to be self-confident, little influenceable and to follow our own goals, simply because these are the components which make a human individual.
Korrektur
This essay discusses the difference between marketing and publicity as well as the influence of marketing on the customers´minds.
Marketing and publicity are two main components for a company´s success which often complement each other.
Let us begin by defining the word “marketing”: It can be seen as a process of interesting potential customers and clients in a product or service. This process involves developing, placing, pricing, and promoting a product, which is also known as the marketing mix.
One part of marketing is the advertising, which can be described as “paid media”. The most common advertising media are television, newspapers, direct-mails, radio, magazines, and outdoor-advertising.
Due to the fact that customers are confronted with advertising nearly everywhere and often tend to ignore it - as these advertisements overstock the market - this form of marketing is usually seen as negative. Moreover, customers think that the bulk of advertising messages strives to persuade or even to manipulate them.
Compared to marketing, publicity is an element of the promotion tool where information about a product or company is communicated to the public nearly for free. There are several ways for doing this, such as press releases and press conferences, public events, and interviews.
In contrast to advertising, publicity has more customer credibility through its non-paid form. Besides, it is often written in an independent and objective style, which makes this promotion tool more believable for the public.
Unfortunately, most companies do not pay much attention in publicity. They believe it might be easier to purchase customers with extensive advertising campaigns.
Therefore, it is necessary to raise the awareness that publicity can be a cheap, and often an effective method for creating customer satisfaction. However, the best solution for attracting customers and maximizing profits is a well-balanced combination of both, marketing and publicity.
As already mentioned, customers are confronted with marketing tools in many situations. On the one hand, it can make their life easier through advising or informing them and offering new products. But on the other hand, marketing has an incredible influence on the public due to the fact that it is a welcome instrument for persuading, manipulating, and even creating new desires. So from this point of view, marketing influences the minds of consumers.
This leads to the question of how this influence works. The most common ways for reaching the customers are, besides the traditional advertising media, subconscious forms, like attracting famous persons to promote products or using them, or even by sponsoring public events, and, of course, through publicity. Moreover, another technique is reaching target groups that are easy to influence, such as children, who expect their parents to fulfill their created wishes.
What are the reasons for this mind influence? Due to the fact that everyone strives for a healthy, lucky, successful and easy life, the consumers are open-minded towards products which ensure these values. This is the reason why companies expect profits by creating new customer needs. An example for this would be generating the awareness of healthy food by labeling goods with surnames like “low fat” and “no sugar”. In such situations, the producers would take advantage of the customers wishes and even of desires that they are not yet aware of.
This leads us to the conclusion that it is becoming more and more important to be self-confident, not to be easily subjectable to external influences and to follow our own goals, simply because these are the components which make a human individual.
What the hell is marketing? What does the general public associate with the term? Then define marketing in your own words. How can it help improve the results of an organization?
The main topic of this essay is the question of “What the hell is marketing?” The author will give you a brief overview what the general public associate with the term in comparison to his own perceptions.
All in all, this essay should show how marketing helps to improve the results of an organization.
When most people think of marketing, they think of funny thinks like advertising, promotions, campaigns and every other similar marketing tactic. Basically, it can be said that this perceptions are
correct but that’s not even half the battle.
Marketing isn’t just generating tactics or ad’s. Marketing is based on analysis and profound knowledge. In light of the fact, that without customers no business would be possible, marketing starts by customer analysis. Customer analysis means having a solid understanding about how customers behave, their understanding, their motivations, their perceptions and preferences.
Furthermore it is substantial to know about their attitudes, their knowledge and their emotions. Under these conditions, marketers split customers into target groups matching market segments such as geographic, demographic and psychographic variables. This could be illustrated by means of the following example. Considering the fact that Eskimos really don’t need air-conditions professional marketers would not address Eskimos as the correct target group for air-conditions.
Under these conditions marketing helps organization to gain profit while saving costs in reference to target-oriented communication. In contrast to this a communication by watering can principle, with means no segmentation, would cost a lot of money without any value for the organization.
Marketing is, in fact, the analysis of customers, competitors as well as measuring weaknesses and strengths of the own organization and goods. Combining this understanding into an overall understanding of what segments exist, deciding on targeting the most profitable segments and positioning the perfect good for example, improve the results of an organization.
How to deliver a positioning ? Well, this is where the general public association of marketing, as mentioned earlier, takes place and the tactics come in. Branding, advertising, pricing, distributing and communicating goods and services better than other competitors is mostly based on consistent analysis that marketing is really responsible for. This might lead the reader to believe marketing is rather scientifically and awful boring. But based on the authors personal experience, marketing could be an suspenseful and exciting field. In this context it is important to mention that product development could also be a vital part of marketing. Therefore developing a new product, based on analysed customer needs, is creative, exciting and satisfies individual, organizational needs and goals.
In addition, it is important to mention that branding and advertising are driving factors in reference to a products publicity. Usually advertising is developed together with advertising agency’s. The marketing department is responsible for the agency-briefing, witch states for example the overall goal, the tonality of the campaign the advertising mix, witch means upon a closer examination the variety in kinds of advertising such as TV-, radio-, or print advertising, and view things more.
To sum up, marketing is more comprehensive that it seems to be for the public. Marketing could help to improve a companies results by introducing the right product at the right time, at the right place, to the right price, into the optimal market. Last but not least, successful marketing is a profitable supply of customer needs!
Korrektur
The main topic of this essay is the question of “What the hell is marketing?” The author will give you a brief overview of what the general public associates with the term in comparison to his own perceptions.
All in all, this essay should show how marketing helps to improve the results of an organization.
When most people think of marketing, they think of variousactivities like advertising, promotions, campaigns and every other similar marketing tactic. Basically, it can be said that these perceptions are correct, but that’s not even half the battle.
Marketing isn’t just a process of generating tactics or ad’s. Marketing is based on analysis and profound knowledge. In light of the fact that without customers, no business would be possible, marketing starts with customer analysis. Customer analysis means having a solid understanding about how customers behave, their understanding, their motivations, their perceptions and preferences.
Furthermore, it is substantial to know about their attitudes, their knowledge and their emotions. Under these conditions, marketers split customers into target groups matching market segments such as geographic, demographic and psychographic variables. This can be illustrated by means of the following example. Considering the fact that Eskimos really don’t need air-conditions, professional marketers would not address Eskimos as the correct target group for air-conditions.
Under these conditions, marketing helps organizations to gain profit while saving costs in reference to target-oriented communication. In contrast to this, a communication via the watering can principle, which means no segmentation, would cost a lot of money without any value for the organization.
Marketing is, in fact, the analysis of customers, competitors as well as measuring weaknesses and strengths of ones own organization and goods. Combining this understanding into an overall understanding of what segments exist, deciding on targeting the most profitable segments and positioning the perfect good, for example, improve the results of an organization.
How should a positioning be delivered? Well, this is where the general public association of marketing, as mentioned earlier, takes place and the tactics come in. Branding, advertising, pricing, distributing and communicating goods and services better than other competitors is mostly based on the consistent analysis that marketing is really responsible for. This might lead the reader to believe marketing is rather scientific and awfully boring. But based on the author’s personal experience, marketing can be a suspenseful and exciting field. In this context, it is important to mention that product development can also be a vital part of marketing. Therefore developing a new product based on analysed customer needs, is creative, exciting and satisfies individual, organizational needs and goals.
In addition, it is important to mention that branding and advertising are driving factors in reference to a product’s publicity. Usually, advertising is developed together with advertising agencies. The marketing department is responsible for the agency-briefing, which states, for example, the overall goal and the tonality of the campaign, the advertising mix, which means, upon closer examination, the variety in forms of advertising such as TV-, radio-, or print advertising, and several things more.
To sum up, marketing is more comprehensive than it seems to be for the public. Marketing can help to improve a company’s results by introducing the right product at the right time, in the right place, at the right price, into the optimal market. Last but not least, successful marketing is a profitable supply of customer needs!
Re: MARS 2009 EssaysOriginal
2) If you could choose only one motivational method based on either Theory X or Theory Y, which would you choose? Why?
At the beginning I have to say, that my personnel managerial style is based on a very positive point of view towards my employees.
This brings me directly to the differnces between Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X simply describes the existing human resources as lazy, with lack of ambition, a significant dislike of responsibility, they seem to be self-centered and resist change. It also says, people are not very bright and they are gullible. For me this description of humans is definitly to negative and offers a perspective of a classified society designed back in the Middle Ages (It is documented that there were at least revolutions, and there are still examples in the recent past, namely Eastern Europe!). There might be people who fit to this archetype but there are very less of them.
On the other hand Theory Y highlights all the positive attributes an employee can have. Starting with the picture of an energetic, ambitous human who seeks for responsibilty all the time. Who wants to bring his/her company forward and can be selfless. This angle of view sums up all these features as generally intelligent. There have to be critics about this theory as well. If everybody fits into it, there are only managers left, but how works for them? The time of 100 percent automation hasn’t come yet, and actually it looks like no machine will be ever able to replace a person. When it comes down to it, a machine can only do what it has been said.
As I mentioned before, Theory Y is my choice throughout the whole working day, because it’s a lot easier for me to communicate with other people, thinking in a the modest way possible about the others. As long as it sounds a bit naive, it does make sense if you take a closer look onto this behaviour: The response can just be as nice as the starting phrase allows.
In my experience I had the chance to meet so many different characters, who let me find out the truth behind this thesis. That doesn’t mean a general applicability of Theory Y, there’s always the danger of a laissez-faire situation which can result in disrespect and finally brings down staff morale, maybe even enviousness. Of course this is a situation which simply displays errors made.
Here you can size managerial quality by analyzing a supervisors reaction. An extraordinary situation like the one discribed before can lead to a short-term change from Theory Y to Theory X. Despite real life can’t be run by only two thoughts, meaning the exceptional gap in between, that covers most things. Sometimes you have to introduce an hierachical style to keep a clear structure inside an organization, no matter if there exists a pure hierachy or a flat structure. Such a step can only be meant as a helping tool to bring back everybody on the road to the assigned objective. The importance of objectives is underestimated very often.
Like I said before it’s important to have the ability to change between the different theories if necessary. Obviously nobody can act the same way all the time. As long as things like a bad start in the morning is forcing a human beeing into a not as bright mood like elsewise (I insist on the fact that everybody is guided by actions that happen around him/her, and ends up in a different approach of several problems, as well as it shouldn’t happen, this is the Human-Run!).
Summarizing all above my choice of Theory Y is a helpful tool for myself on the one hand and a powerful tool influencing morale on the other. You can’t only use a single one of this theories, but it’s very important to show tendencies!
Korrektur
At the beginning, I have to say, that my personal managerial style is based on a very positive point of view concerning my employees. (OR: “attitude towards”)
This brings me directly to the differences between Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X simply describes the existing human resources as lazy, with lack of ambition, and a significant dislike of responsibility. They seem to be self-centered and resist change. It also says that people are not very bright and they are gullible. For me, this description of humans is definitely too negative and offers a perspective of a classified society designed back in the Middle Ages (It is documented that there were ultimately revolutions, and there are still examples in the recent past, namely in Eastern Europe!). There might be people who fit to this archetype but there are very few of them.
On the other hand, Theory Y highlights all the positive attributes an employee can have. This starts with the picture of an energetic, ambitous human who seeks for responsibility all the time. This is someone who wants to bring his/her company forward and can be selfless. This angle of view sums up all these features as generally intelligent. There have to be critics of this theory as well. If everybody fits into one of these categories, there would only be managers left, but would this work for them? The time of 100 percent automation hasn’t come yet, and actually it looks like no machine will ever be able to replace a person. When it comes down to it, a machine can only do what it has been programmed to.
As I mentioned before, Theory Y is my choice throughout the whole working day, because it’s a lot easier for me to communicate with other people when thinking in as modest a way about the others as possible. Even though it sounds a bit naive, it does make sense if you take a closer look at this behaviour: The response can be just as nice as the starting phrase allows.
In my experience, I had the chance to meet so many different characters, who let me find out the truth behind this thesis. That doesn’t mean a general applicability of Theory Y, there’s always the danger of a laissez-faire situation which can result in disrespect and finally brings down staff morale, maybe even envy. Of course, this is a situation which simply displays errors made.
Here you can size managerial quality by analyzing a supervisor’s reaction. An extraordinary situation like the one described before can lead to a short-term change from Theory Y to Theory X. Additionally, real life can’t be grasped by only two thoughts, meaning the exceptional gap in between them that covers most things. Sometimes you have to introduce a hierachical style to keep a clear structure inside an organization, no matter whether there exists a pure hierachy or a flat structure. Such a step can only be meant as a helping tool to bring back everybody on the road to the assigned objective. The importance of objectives is underestimated very often.
Like I said before, it’s important to have the ability to change between the different theories if necessary. Obviously, nobody can act the same way all the time. As long as things like a bad start in the morning leave a human being in a worse mood than otherwise (I insist on the fact that everybody is guided by actions that happen around him/her, and ends up with a different approach to several problems. Although this shouldn’t happen, it is human nature!).
Summarizing all of the above, my choice of Theory Y is a helpful tool for myself on the one hand and a powerful tool for influencing morale on the other. You can’t only use a single one of these theories, but it’s very important to show tendencies!
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