Ibm Marketing Mix (Denmark)

Marketing: Foundations and applications Course code: BMAN-20390 Marketing analysis of IBM 1. 0 Thesis statement â€Å"Evaluate the marketing strategy of a blue-chip company you are familiar with. Your evaluation should critically discuss the concept of the marketing mix as applied to your chosen organisation and at least one other academic marketing theory. † 2. 0 Limitations IBM is a very large organization so the planning process of a marketing strategy that is coherent with the corporate strategy is made complicated and difficult because IBM operates in a number of significantly different markets.I have therefore since I am an employee of IBM Denmark decided that this is the â€Å"strategic business unit† that I am going to analyze in terms of their marketing strategy. Furthermore the portfolio of products that IBM Denmark supplies ranges from everything to hardware sales, software sales and consultancy services. There might be a significant difference in the way the se products are promoted, and I have therefore narrowed it further down to focus on the tertiary activities, meaning the marketing strategy of the consultancy services (in IBM known as GBS – Global Business Services).This limitation is convenient because it allows me to properly analyze the marketing strategy in this given area – as opposed to making an analysis based upon IBM as a whole with their entire portfolio of products, as this would not be fulfilling in a 2500 word essay. 3. 0 Preface IBM mission statement: â€Å"At IBM, we strive to lead in the invention, development, and manufacture of the industry’s most advanced information technologies, including computer systems, software, storage systems, and microelectronics.We translate these advanced technologies into value for our customers through our professional solutions, services, and consulting businesses worldwide†. From the mission statement above we can conclude that IBM wants to be a leader o n the blue-chip market – which we in terms of their size can conclude they are close to being. In the following essay the reader will be introduced to the marketing strategy of IBM. Furthermore the reader will be introduced to a SWOT analysis, in which it will be discussed and concluded which strategic position IBM has on the current market.In regards to the limitation above this will be an analysis based upon IBMs services provision in Denmark. The reader will find out that the classical approach with the 4ps of marketing doesn’t really apply to this part of the business that IBM conducts. Instead an additional three Ps has been added, and these will be discussed as well. SWOT Analysis One of the trustiest tools in business is the SWOT analysis. Corporations takes a calm, cool look down at the organisations Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threat’s.Then they seek to capitalise on the strengths, eliminate the weaknesses, seize the best opportunities and counter the threats. Figure 4. 1 is a SWOT analysis of the global business services for IBM, and the end result of this analysis should help us to give a clear view of IBM’s strategic position on the market, which we then can use to discuss their marketing strategy. Figure 4. 1 – IBM DK GBS SWOT Strengths: IBM Denmark has been on the Danish market since 1950 – which leaves them with a significant amount of experience of the market.The wide range of their strategic competencies runs from everything from hardware-sales to business consultancy, the latter being one of their profitable areas of expertise. Furthermore IBM DK has a leading position on the Danish services market, being one of the biggest consultancy houses in the country. It is the combination of its size and experience on the market that leaves them to be one of the preferred business partners in Denmark and in the rest of the world. IBM Denmark like most companies believes it is necessary to have a t alented workforce.IBM is present at local universities promoting themselves with the purpose of future recruitment. Through this initiative they attract the students they believe is prospects as future IBM leaders, and sign them off before their competitors. Furthermore IBM is extremely flexible, meaning that leaders across country borders are stationed in different parts of the world. A lot of IBM DKs top leaders are individuals who have a history with IBM, but only in a different SBU. Weaknesses: Being located in Denmark one is urged to believe that it is inevitable to have high operating costs, especially labour cost.Denmark does have one of the highest salary rates in the world. And with a personnel count of nearly 5. 000 people this results in big money. Opportunities: With the increased focus on the environment in recent years – IBM must be innovative and continue to lead the market by supplying greener solutions to their customers. A growing body of evidence asserts th at corporations can do well, by doing good. IBM must differentiate their brand and reputation as well as their products and services, by taking responsibility for the wellbeing of the societies and environments in which they operate.Practicing corporate social responsibility can generate significant returns to their business. Furthermore if IBM could reduce their operating costs, then it would also be possible to reduce their prices, without compromising with the quality of their products. IBM has already taken initiatives to reduce their labour costs. Danish consultants requires a high salary rate, which is why IBM DK wherever possible tries to limit the amount of these consultants. Instead they will bring consultants from India and other low cost countries to Denmark and assign them to the project that is to be executed.This allows them to sell the service for a more competitive price. It has been discussed if IBM should completely shut down its locations in the EU, and outsource the entire European operations to low cost countries – however I personally believe that this would be compromising the quality of the service provided as it surely must be necessary to have people with local market knowledge assisting on the projects. Threats: As the world continues to get smaller, IBM like other big corporations faces the challenge of outsourcing.Especially IBM Denmark is threatened by outsourcing, as Denmark has the highest tax rate in the world, which will force IBM to have higher prices, than what is offered abroad – leaving them more vulnerable to the threat of outsourcing. Furthermore the introduction of changes in various services are not patentable (reference: http://www. mgutheses. org/page/? q=T%200984&search=&page=&rad=#43, page 32), meaning that the innovativeness of a company like IBM can easily be adopted by newcomers to the market.Also, as a service is not a manufactured product, but really a transaction of knowledge  œ it is hard to imagine that it is capital intensive to enter the service industry. Marketing mix â€Å"The marketing mix is an imperative concept in modern marketing and academically it is referred to as a set of controllable tools that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market, so it consists of everything the firm can do to influence the demand for its products† (Kotler and Armstrong 2004).The easiest way to understand the main aspects of marketing is through the famous 4P’s marketing, which was introduced and suggested by McCarthy in 1960 (reference: http://university-essays. tripod. com/marketing_mix. html). It includes marketing strategies of product, price, placement and promotion. It is however interesting if this also applies to a company that sells services and not a material product. Given the unique and distinguishing features of the service industry, researchers have offered different models and approaches to the marketing of se rvices.It is suggested that services marketing does not only include external marketing reaching the customers, but also an internal marketing strategy to motivate the employees (reference: A service quality model and its implications, Christian Gronross, vol 18, No. 4, 1984, pp. 36-44). Figure 2 – The triangle model of services marketing Company Internal MarketingExternal Marketing Employees Customers Interactive Marketing As stated above the internal marketing is for the company to motivate their employees to serve its customers in the best possible way.External marketing is when the company makes its service available to its customers to increase the demand. The interactive marketing involves to the effort of employees to win customers loyalty in the process of their interaction with the customers in delivering the services. This must be closely related to internal marketing. In IBM DK, the consultants and salespeople are paid partly in a fixed salary scheme and a variable scheme depending on their results. Furthermore these same IBM representatives will receive an annual bonus, if IBM on the given project has reached a certain percentage of profit.These incentives through salaries and bonuses can be associated to what we clarify as internal marketing. For the external marketing side – the traditional marketing mix as we know them through the 4p’s can also be applied on services marketing as they are applied on tangible goods. But it is discussed to be difficult. Which is why for services marketing, a modified marketing mix has been developed. The services marketing mix comprises 7p’s and these include the following: * Product * Price * Place * Promotion * People * Process * Physical evidenceIt is important to look closer at some of these P’s, which will be done in the following. Product: The most important question to be asked here is â€Å"are these the right products or services for our customers today†? IBM cont inues to be the leading innovator on the market, spending billions of dollars every year in their research centers providing their customers with the newest technologies and always making sure that the quality of the products is of IBM’s usual reputed quality. Price: As anyone can imagine the price of the service provided is essential for whether or not IBM wins the customer over.As soon as the appropriate experts has analyzed the pre project resources that is to be needed for the project he informs the pricing department. The pricer then based on these assumptions, inflation, currency differences, management desired PTI % (pre tax income), and our cost case calculated a price that is then been presented to the customer. Promotion: When promoting their services IBM first make rational decions on which businesses to approach. Then they divide their promotion into how big the markets are, e. g a segment could be small and medium business†. Within a specific constituency m arket, IBM first identifies which businesses make the most sense to connect with. Then, the IBM determines the most efficient way to reach each of them. whether through individualized marketing or a creative combination of IBM's go-to-market strategies† IBM also enters the business community through professional associations and organizations. Such groups generate interest in IBM and may even help IBM identify new business partners. By sponsoring and participating with them, IBM is able to communicate its message of value to the member businesses.Furthermore IBM through their marketing incentives has adopted a more emotional approach in the way they promote themselves. Rai Cockfield VP Market development states that all people prior to purchase asks the following â€Å"Does this product or service meet my need? Is the company reputable? And is the price reasonable? † Today, he adds a more pressing question, â€Å"Are you reaching me in the way that I see myself? Ã¢â‚¬Ë œ â€Å"That's what endears a person to a company and a product,† he says. (reference: http://www-03. ibm. com/employment/us/diverse/50/ads. html. ) People: An important ingredient to any service provision, is as we have discussed above having qualified personnel. Recruiting the right staff and people and training them appropriately in the delivery of services is essential if IBM wants to continue having their competitive advantage. Providing a service is partly the quality of the service and the quality of the people that delivers it, as these are in constant contact with the customer. As mentioned above, IBM has had university partnerships in order to recruit students. Process:When selling their services IBM has two processes. Either the customer comes to IBM looking for an offer on a service they need provided. IBM then sends the appropriate people to analyse the resources that are needed to provide this service. An offer is then presented to the customer. A different proc ess is when we have existing customers, the client manager is responsible for looking for new business services that we can provide them. And then the process starts over, in regards to presenting an offer after calculating the resources we need for the project.Conclusion IBM wants to be the leader on the Danish market. And in terms of their size we can conclude that they are close to being just that. From the SWOT analysis above we saw that IBM has the needed experience and size to be one of the biggest consultancy houses in the country and in the world. Furthermore with the increasing focus on the environment IBM has the possibility to be the leading innovator for greener solutions – an opportunity that they have successfully capitalized on through their continued research for more environmental solutions.However despite IBM being a big player on the Danish services market, it is important that they reduce their high operating costs. By bringing Indian and other low cost co nsultants into the game, they have somewhat succeeded in doing this as these have lower salary rates. In the marketing of services we have concluded that an external marketing effort is not enough for successfully promoting itself. An internal marketing strategy is also essential for obtaining success. IBM must motivate its employees as these are the focalpoint to customer, in which case it is important that they are motivated and happy.In promoting and marketing themselves IBM has also realised that they in today’s world they must reach their customers on a more personal level, and not merely connect through reputation and price. Connecting with its customers on a personal level and delivering top quality services is what keeps IBM on top of their game and in even in rough financial times they have succeeded in being one of the top choices as business partner.References Websites:http://www. entrepreneur. om/marketing/article70824. htmlhttp://www. scribd. com/doc/10999474/IBM -Strategic-Analysishttp://www. simplemarketingblog. com/2009/06/sandy-carter-integrates-social-media. htmlhttp://www. itsma. com/ezine/analytics-optimize-marketing-mix/http://university-essays. tripod. com/marketing_mix. html

Nursing Sensitive Indicators and Health Care Evaluation Coursework - 1

Nursing Sensitive Indicators and Health Care Evaluation - Coursework Example Nursing-sensitive indicators do define the end results of the nursing interventions and indicate problem progress or resolution towards symptom or problem resolution. Nursing outcome can be defined as a status or measure of nursing diagnosis at a point in time after the nursing intervention, while the nursing-sensitive outcomes can be defined as health status changes upon which care of nursing has influenced directly. Variables that affect patient outcomes include socio economic factors, diagnosis, family support, gender and age. The other one is the care quality provided by support workers as well as other professionals. It is vital for health care facilities and nurses to collect data, which helps in monitoring the ongoing quality as well as cost of patient care (Corrigan, 2002). The use of sensitive outcome indicators is critical to demonstrate effectively that hospitals and nurses make crucial cost effective differences in the provision of safe and high quality patient care. Another thing is that the significance of articulating nursing-sensitive indicators is not easy to overstate. Such articulation as well as correlation of nursing activities with outcomes of health does provide do provide strong support to the appropriate allocation of resources of health care. For instance, studies that compare patient outcomes and staff levels do show that in a case where there are many nurses who are registered, patients do experience shorter stay lengths, fewer implications, overall lower costs as well as decreased mortality rates (Corrigan, 2002). In similar, a consisted and strong relationship has been established between staffing of nurses as well as five outcomes of patients in medical patients: pneumonia, urinary tract infection, upper gastrointestinal bleeding, shock, and length of stay. This does mean that higher nursing staffing levels are associated with lesser adverse effects.All in all, nursing-sensitive indicators are projected to draw the correlations between resulting health status and nursing interventions that patients have received. They are meant to be an attempt for measuring the effectiveness of care of nursing through measuring patient outcomes. It becomes easier to see linkages after diagnosis, intervention as well as outcomes are identified. Since nurses happen to be an essential part of the system of health care delivery, nursing sensitive indicators do capture what nurses do, the outcomes that they achieve as well as the costs involved.  

PEST Analysis of Pizza Hut Inc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

PEST Analysis of Pizza Hut Inc - Essay Example A PEST analysis has been conducted to assess the international marketing environment of the firm. The next section covers the international promotional decisions the firm makes to be a global brand. Pizza Hut’s international market entry strategies are covered in the next portion which illustrates how it assesses the market before it enters it so that it can modify itself accordingly. The international segmentation strategies are then highlighted to show how the firm segments its international market. Lastly, the market research methods of the firm are discussed to show how the firm understands the market it enters and survives in. Pizza Hut and other fast-food chains like McDonald's have been accused of causing obesity due to their calorie contained products which are making nations fat and it seems like the issue will be a national issue and concern (BBC, 2007). Legal actions have been taken against competitors like McDonald's, however, Pizza Hut has been saved from the nega tive image building for now, however, it will have its trickle-down effect and soon legal actions would be taken against the brand too(Dev and Don, 2005). To avoid this, the firm is incorporating healthier meals in its menu which are less in calories but it has not been able to do it on a large scale. However, for now, governments have not been involved to put legal restrictions on fast-food chains but this is becoming increasingly likely and the firm should take action to protect itself. The strategy of introducing healthy meal options should be applied globally so that the firm can be proactive and be saved from government restrictions and legal involvements (BBC, 2007).

Fire Protection Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Fire Protection Strategy - Essay Example Safety engineering is much needed in fire safety because engineering involves careful planning. Incorporating safety measures in structures and buildings is a must under the Building Regulations 2000 (Health and Safety Executive, 2007) and other significant legislations on fire safety and prevention. It should occupy careful study by engineers and architects. The principles in the code must enable the engineer to properly plan the fire safety framework. Experience tells us that many causes of fire are due to poor building design, inadequate emergency procedures, and other necessary measures not being implemented, or not adhering to proper regulations. Furthermore, interior furnishings exacerbate the growth of fires, or they could be the primary cause of fire. Engineers and architects should not neglect installing the necessary fire protective devices in buildings and structures. In public buildings, such as the JB Firth Building, owners should be extra careful in installing furnishings or linings which can be said as â€Å"fuel load† to possible fires. Our report will cover the fire safety strategy, including conclusions and recommendations from our study with respect to the fire safety measures as incorporated in the plan. This will also evaluate whether these are in accordance with the Building Regulations 2000 on Fire Safety and other important legislations on fire safety and prevention. Also included in the report are the application methods of fire risk assessment. We will also examine the materials used in furnishings, structures and linings which should have the strength to withstand fire or heat. We will provide our assessment and summary of the building, and the provisions of the Building Regulations, whether these are being implemented and executed with respect to the detection and warning systems; the means of escape should there be a fire; the internal fire spread linings; the internal

The Impact of Mobile Banking on the Finance Profession in Banking Article

The Impact of Mobile Banking on the Finance Profession in Banking Environment - Article Example   However, there is also a group of stakeholders, including the staff that is concerned about the negative consequences of mobile banking. The crucial question is then how the finance work in the banking environment would be affected. The trending developments regarding mobile banking are well documented. According to SWIFT (2005), mobile banking is still considered as one of the pertinent topics in the finance industry, as well as for banking institutions. This has been exacerbated by the growing ubiquity of mobile phones across the global population. In a population of about 7 billion people, as many as 5 billion people will be in the possession of mobile phones. At the same time, out of all that population, only 2 billion people will be holding the bank accounts. Consumers are now increasingly using their mobile phones in making payments and bank their money. Mobile banking is described as a growing business, with users expected to increase to about 900 million while the transac tion value is expected to exceed 1 trillion dollars by 2015. Finance staff would also have to reap from the benefits that accompany the mobile banking operation. It is agreeable that mobile transfer is cheaper than teller transfer by about fifty times and ATM transfer by about ten times. Mobile banking comes with a lot of flexibility, both to customers and the firm itself. For instance, the service makes it easy for the bank to combine and sell other services and products that are offered in the bank, such as credit cards and loans, with relative ease. Mobile banking is the best way of realizing drastic growth because it is one way for banking institutions to remain competitive (Delloitte 2010). In the most obvious way, the finance staff would is some of the stakeholders to gain when the banks gain. Tiwari, Buse, and Hersatt (2006) acknowledge that increased competition as a result of technological development and globalization has exposed banks to a challenging environment. Mobile banking innovation creates the allowance for the banks to retain their place by introducing the innovative services that are aimed at retaining the customers, as well as increase the revenues. However, the business is still immature, considering that only a few initiatives have succeeded in attracting a significant base of users. In other words, the service is still marred with a lot of uncertainties.  Ã‚  

Midterm exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Midterm exam - Essay Example It is on this account that men will use their positions and wealth to influence vulnerable women to have sex with them, only to abandon them later once they have satisfied their lust regardless of the consequences of their actions, which may include unplanned pregnancies. As such, allowing abortion becomes a key element towards protecting poor women from becoming single parents without intent as well as reducing poverty and street crime. A child deserves to have a better life i.e. access to quality education, healthcare, good nutrition among other basic necessities such as shelter and clothing. Apparently, a poor mother, who cannot even sustain herself, has nothing to offer her child and this implies that families built on this sort of foundation eventually has a high probability of becoming a liability to the society and the government at large. In fact, these are the people who unfortunately end up in the streets begging for assistance as well as conducting heinous acts such as pro stitution and robbery. In this light, abortion enables one to exercise her right to decide on the best time to become a parent, when she has accumulated all the necessary courage and economic stability to sustain herself as well as her offspring (Heary 22). Most of the societies set considerably high moral standards, which prohibit fornication alongside other irresponsible sexual behaviors such as prostitution and adultery. For example, the church has always advocated for celibacy as a natural method of solving dilemmas such as HIV/AIDS among other sex related issues (Beckwith 108). This has influenced greatly the way the society perceives those unfortunate persons who intentionally or otherwise find themselves in these predicaments such as pregnancies out of wedlock. These people are discriminated against as they are perceived to be immoral and therefore, a shame to the society and the families which they come from. Some of the societies will even exclude them from their affairs fo r it will be apparent that they are a bad influence and bad examples to their age mates as well as the generation below them. To avoid all this, it would be of great significance to abort the child in order to maintain the level of standards expected by the society, by concealing sexual involvement. Abortion is also a way of controlling high population growth. In this case, it would be necessary to point out that I come from China, a country which is categorized as one with the highest population, of approximately 1.3 billion people, and which is expected to rise to approximately 1.6 billion people by the year 2025 (Beckwith 109). Due to this, the country has set up a one child policy, in order to slow down the rate of births. However, it has been noticed that there are those who fail to observe this policy, and goes ahead to have more than one child, especially in the rural areas, where analysts indicate that there is the culture whereby couples prefer the birth of boys as opposed to girls, mainly due to inheritance issues. In this context, if the first child is a girl, the parents cannot rest there for they will definitely have no heirs to their property and therefore, they have to bear more children until that time when a baby boy is born. It has been noted that such couples usually lie during census so as to protect themselves from facing the

Library System Essay Example for Free

Library System Essay 2. When the computer introduced to the people before, some of them doubt the efficacy and some just ignored it. The computer is one of the products of the technology. Nowadays the technology has always new innovation to cope up with the people’s everyday activities. Today we used the computer as part of our daily activities to support our needs for the computation purposes, communications, recording transactions and other things that we will need the computer’s help. Having this machine make our work efficiently and effectively, this make our work faster and less time of doing manual routines just to have an output for our work. Now, Information management is the systems and techniques involved in effectively compiling and manipulating useful data. These is used for all the systems for providing an accuracy and recording data in order for easy reviewing and retrieval. In the field of academe, The Library Information System is in need with these for them to have a reliable and accurate data. Table of Content Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Project Context. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Purpose and Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Scope and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5 Review of Related Literature/system . . . . . . . . . . . 6-8 Technical Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 List of Figures, List of Tables, List of Notations . . . 9-12 Introduction Schools set the various pedagogical changes to achieve the current level of education in our country. Because of the growing numbers of computer users, this became an effective medium to demonstrate the knowledge and skills of the students. From the traditional searching process for the books in the libraries, the interactive usage of computers can be now addressed as part of the library system. Project Context The system will be more helpful the university’s library. This will be more efficient in doing the task in a specific time. The system will be used by the librarian for inventory, recording and other purposes for keeping the information in the library. For them to keep track of their records. The system will interact to the accounting system of the university, for payment purposes of the borrowed books that have a penalty for not returned in a given period. The users of this system will interact to this system by scanning the barcode of the books for inventory and borrowing. Encoding of the description of the books for newly acquired books, and the cataloging of the books. 1 Purpose and Description UNC-LIS is the automation of all data and transactions within the library, it will handle all the information’s and data in the library of the university. The UNL-LIS is an application that allows for the retrieval of metadata of books available in a library data store. The user allows using barcode scanner for inventory the library assets and borrowing of books for easy retrieval of datas. A UNC-LIS for a university keeps track of all unreturned books and periodicals in the library and their check-out status. Checkout and return are automated through a bar code scanner (an external device). The library system also interfaces with an external relational database which stores information about the library users (students and stuff), including whether they have any library items checked out. . Library users can access the catalog and recall books and periodicals. As well as additional capabilities the system can easily generate reports such as listing of unreturned books, borrowed books, students that secured library card and listing of current books.