Throckmorten Furniture Essay Example for Free

Throckmorten Furniture Essay Question # 1 Before the customer buys a product that is very important to him and is quite expensive he will go through a process. This process commences when the customer feel a sort of deprivation, a motive to buy that commodity. Once that motive becomes more intense it becomes a drive and forces him to take a course of action as to attain the product. So now the customer’s starts gathering information about the good he wants to buy. After that he will weight the pros and cons of all the alternatives he could think of as to decide upon the best possible alternative. After he is confident about his decision, with the support of his findings, he will actually make the purchase. The process doesn’t stop quite yet the consumer will also experience a post purchase satisfaction or dissatisfaction as per his experience with the product he bought. If he feels that his money spent was well spent then he will spread positive word of mouth about the product and where he got it from and hence become a loyal customer. Else, he will provide negative publicity for the company and its products and this in turn will stain the image of the company. Likewise to the above stated process our consumers who buy furniture will also go through the same experience. The need to buy the furniture can be aroused from many sources like a magazine. If the consumer sees a magazine in which there is a living room which is so nicely decorated he might feel that his own living room isn’t good enough and feels that he also has to upgrade. Nevertheless the drive to get new furniture could also be building up in the consumer for many years but due to the fact that he couldn’t afford it, the barrier coming in between him and his purchase. The need arousal for the furniture can be countless depending on the personality types of different consumers. After the urge to get the new furniture is strong the customer will go to various sources to collect information on the furniture type. He will pay more attention to advertisement which emphasizes the benefit of a particular type of furniture material. He will also seek advice from friends and family as he feels that their advice is more â€Å"original† as there is nothing in it for them if they recommend a particular furniture type. Whereas if the sales person of a particular store recommends the same thing to the customer he would look at it with more skepticisms as he feel that there is something in it for the sales person a commission or a bonus. Hence the customer always looks towards friends and family for the best possible advice. At times some of the members in the family are opinion leaders who the consumer thinks knows everything and will help him make the right decision. Nevertheless, the internet is also a very popular source for seeking information in this present day and age. With just a click the consumer can get all the possible information about the best raw material, the best prices, etc. the reason why the consumers goes to such a length to seek information is that he has no idea about furnitures. He wants to make the best decision but for this he first needs to educate himself. The consumers will evaluate furniture of varying stores keeping in mind the image of the store, the image of the brand, sales of the furniture piece, comparative advantage of the brand with competition, etc. After the various brands have been compared the time comes to make the final decision. It’s logical to assume that the consumer will select that brand which has the highest rating on the criteria’s that are most important to him. After this the consumer will realize how good or bad his decision was after the furniture’s being used. If he feel that the furniture looks and feels good and friends and relatives has showered him with praises on his decision then he will be delighted with his judgment. Else he will just be stuck with something because he spent a lot of money on it. Question # 2 Throckmorten Furniture has established itself as a unique designer and expensive store. It aims to cover the upper –middle class. Its furniture is expensive but nevertheless it enhances the prestige of the customer. The furniture is meant to satisfy the consumer’s emotional desire of having a unique one of its kind product. Throckmorten Furniture provides its consumers the benefit of its products uniqueness and exclusiveness which is provided by the furniture fabulous shape and design and durable quality. The consumers know that if they buy the furniture from this store they will be getting something more than furniture and that very fact becomes their motive to buy from Throckmorten. Furthermore, the services that Throckmorten provides to its consumers have given it the edge of retaining and further attracting consumer. Throckmorten Furniture feels that the consumers are the most valuable asset which they have to take care of that is why they have always stayed proactive and hired a well equipped sales force which knows how to treat their customers. The corporation follows the marketing principle that is why it makes the furniture types that the consumers would like to see in their houses. Their constant endeavor to strive for excellence has provided them with an edge that makes it so popular. Throckmorten Furniture is able to provide this unique value to their customers by continuously focusing on the quality of its products, may it be raw material, work in process or finished goods Throckmorten has always tried to make the process more efficient by reducing wastages but in that attempt not compromising on the products quality. Quality is very important for this company and it knows that very well that is why they have quality control at each part of the process. Throckmorten Furniture provides the service value to its consumer by spending a lot of money in hiring the right salesperson. They have places a handsome amount of money in the training of their sales staff as well. Question # 3 Throckmorten can offer its customers guarantee for their furniture. The customers can get a money back or exchange for their furniture if they are not satisfied. This will decrease the fear that normally creeps into consumers’ mind when they buy such expensive furniture that â€Å"they would be stuck with it even if they don’t like it†. This would be a unique value that the company would be providing to its customers and would definitely give them an edge as far as competition is concerned. Doing this will be a bit more complicated as now the corporate would have to examine the furniture to see that’s it not damaged and will also have to tackle fraudulent claims by some customers who want to misuse this facility. This after sales service would prove to the customers that Throckmorten is very confident about its products. Not many furniture companies would be willing to take such a step and that is the very fact that would lead to positive publicity for Throckmorten. Question # 4 Promotion of the product is very important for the furniture industry as the consumers have little knowledge about varying furniture types they maybe scared of making a purchase decision. So it’s the job of the industry to educate them of the specification of this industry. As various survey indicate the customers likes the experience of shopping for furniture they find it enjoying but nonetheless when the point comes to make the final decision they just feel that they aren’t ready for that. The loss they would experience is too immense, so this is why the furniture industry has to show the consumers how easy the task really is. The home furnishing council print advertisement was a fantastic way to put the consumer at ease. After reading it the consumer feels that buying new furniture isn’t that difficult or scary. Hence the company should focus on promoting the product. The more the customers see the print advertisement, the more familiar they will become with the brand. This will lead to the creation of a sort of bond that would compel the customer to buy from that particular store as they feel that the brand has to be good as they have â€Å"heard† of it a lot. For instance, if the customer seeks unique design in exclusive magazines if they like it they will be bound to buy it. Hence the power of mass media should not be under estimated. The company should therefore promote its furniture in all the right places, as it tend to fulfill the requirement of the upper class it cant just advertise in any magazine but only exclusive ones which their target audience views. The same goes with TV ad’s the advertisement should be placed in between those TV soaps that are viewed by the target market. Additionally Personal Selling of the product should also be focused by training the sales person as to how to interact with clients. The salesperson shouldn’t pressurize the client yet he should give them the time and space they desire. The placement of the furniture, the store layout and environment should also be given due consideration as these are the elements that are self speaking prompting element for Throckmorten Furniture. But, the marketer should always remember that they shouldn’t overdue their promotion efforts. If they flood the consumers with varying sorts of promotion efforts than that would just lead to the waste of their efforts as they wouldn’t notice them. Moreover, nowadays   with the TiVo and other digital devices the consumers can easily block the marketers efforts hence they need to be more clever in making a promotional appeal that is short yet effective, that’s the key to success! References: Kotler , Philip , Armstrong, Gary (2007). Principles of Marketing,.Prentice Hall; 12 edition. Schiffman , Leon , Kanuk, Leslie (2006). Consumer Behavior .Prentice Hall; 9 edition . Blythe , Jim (1997). The Essence of Consumer Behaviour (Essence of Management Series) . Prentice Hall PTR.

Employee Theft in the Restaurant Industry Essay -- essays research pap

Employee Theft in the Restaurant Industry It has been estimated that about $52 billion a year is lost due to employee theft and that approximately 95% of all businesses experience employee theft. Employee theft amounts to 4 percent of food sales at a cost in excess of $8.5 billion annually, according to the National Restaurant Association (Neighbors 2004.) The small Business Administration indicates that 60 percent of business failures are a result of employee theft. There are several reasons why the restaurant industry is extremely susceptible to employee theft. They are: †¢ High employee turnover †¢ Easy access to cash †¢ Food and Liquor are highly desirable items There are many different way in which restaurant employees steal from their employers, some of the ways are: 1) Under-ringing of sales and the tearing up order tickets are two longtime scams in the food and beverage industry. An employee serves a customer in the restaurant, and the customer pays the check at the meal's end, but instead of putting the money and ticket in the register, the employee tears up the order ticket and pockets the cash. The restaurant owner has no record of that order or money tendered. Or an employee sold something for $17.50," and rang in $7.50 The employee put the $17.50 in the register and at the end of the night, would pocket the extra $10.00. Since the cash in the register drawer would match the transactions listed on the register tape, the theft would not be known. ... Employee Theft in the Restaurant Industry Essay -- essays research pap Employee Theft in the Restaurant Industry It has been estimated that about $52 billion a year is lost due to employee theft and that approximately 95% of all businesses experience employee theft. Employee theft amounts to 4 percent of food sales at a cost in excess of $8.5 billion annually, according to the National Restaurant Association (Neighbors 2004.) The small Business Administration indicates that 60 percent of business failures are a result of employee theft. There are several reasons why the restaurant industry is extremely susceptible to employee theft. They are: †¢ High employee turnover †¢ Easy access to cash †¢ Food and Liquor are highly desirable items There are many different way in which restaurant employees steal from their employers, some of the ways are: 1) Under-ringing of sales and the tearing up order tickets are two longtime scams in the food and beverage industry. An employee serves a customer in the restaurant, and the customer pays the check at the meal's end, but instead of putting the money and ticket in the register, the employee tears up the order ticket and pockets the cash. The restaurant owner has no record of that order or money tendered. Or an employee sold something for $17.50," and rang in $7.50 The employee put the $17.50 in the register and at the end of the night, would pocket the extra $10.00. Since the cash in the register drawer would match the transactions listed on the register tape, the theft would not be known. ...

Performance Management System Essay

Purposes: – * It will be linked on performance, be a fair and transparent system * Rewarding the employees for their contribution to the growth of the organization in alignment with the strategic organizational goals * Rewarding their achievements as well as their contribution to their teams * Motivating individuals by indicating their position in the organization structure. * Motivate the employees in order to increase their efficiency * Foster a healthy employment relationship and commitment. Use – This system will be a vital component of the performance appraisal process as it will interpret the evaluation of the entire process and route the end result to a more meaningful conclusion for the appraise and the appraiser. It system will be used to build trust in the employee that diligence, perseverance and hard work is acknowledged and rewarded by the organization. This will ensure the best of the employees to come up and contribute to the overall growth of the organization. Frequency – Annually, March – April every year after the initial stages of performance appraisal process have concluded. Responsibility- The appraiser will have the authority to recommend the appraiser for the incentives and rewards. This will be further evaluated by the concerned the Head HR of the project and then of the Unit and approved. Format – Reward System will consist of financial as well as non-financial incentives. 1) Financial Incentives a. Merit and performance based incentives It is a tangible form of recognition and motivates employees to achieve more in the tryst of achieving and producing worthwhile results. Based upon the bracket to where the employee scores on the final evaluation of the performance appraisal system, the employee can be rewarded performance incentives in the following way – Rating| Incentive – Salary hike| Excellent(5)| + 20 % raise in the salary| Very Good(4)| +15% raise in the salary| Good (3)| +10 % raise in the salary| Average (2)| +5 % raise in the salary| Poor(1)| NA| The rating will be based on the objective scores of the final evaluation based on statistical calculation and the range of these will be defined precisely and clearly. A. Team based incentives * The team successfully completing the project before the deadline, * complying with the business standards of the organization, * fulfilling all the contractual obligations and expectations of the client * Providing a innovative solution that surpasses the stated expectations of the client Will ensure a 5 % hike in the salary of the team members known as Team Bonus. For every successful implementation of the project by the team on the client end, the team will be eligible of additional 7% profit share generated by the project implementation. This incentive will be disbursed among the team equitably. B. Competency and skill based incentives This component will reward those employees which showcase exceptional level of competencies inclusive of the behaviours and attribute of the appraise and the KSAs for their job level i.e. knowledge of the domain working in, interpersonal skills of the individual, team management skills and other defined competencies important for the job level. The reward will be +2% raise for each competency in which the employee is exceptionally outstanding. 2. Non-Financial incentives – A. Publication of achievements in the online journal of the organization Achievements of the employees for developing an innovative solution, path breaking discoveries will be published in the online journal of the organization. B. Inclusion in the hall of fame The employees will be included in the Hall of Fame for doing research and publishing their findings in the International Journals of high recognition. C. Best Team player award of the month This award will be nominated by the team members and recommended by the Team Lead and if the condition exists that no one is eligible for it in a particular month then it can be omitted too for that month. It will be published on the online portal of the company and will include an exclusive company sponsored dinner for the employee and his/her family. An employee can receive this award a maximum of 4 times a year only. D. Best Team player award of the year This award will be based on the overall feedback of all the employees based on the comprehensive performance appraisal report. Every team can recommend maximum of 2 members for this award. The review committee constituted for every location will further evaluate the contenders for the position and based on these parameters the award will be given. The other incentive related with this award will be 3 day – 4 night company sponsored holiday for the employee and spouse. E. Star team of the year This award will be based on the targets achieved by the team, compliance with the standards set by the organization, timeliness, team cohesiveness (which will be inferred from the performance appraisal of all the members of the team) and based on the recommendation of the DC Project Head. A star team will get an additional bonus of 5 % for that year. Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) The Performance Improvement Plan – (PIP) is designed to facilitate constructive discussion between the appraisee and appraiser and to clarify work performance to be improved. It is implemented at the discretion of the appraiser. Once the appraisee has developed the plan, the document is reviewed by the appraiser to determine if the activities outlined will help the employee to attain the desired level of performance. The supervisor will monitor and provide feedback to the employee regarding their performance and may take additional disciplinary action, if warranted. The below form needs to be filled by the appraisee during the Performance Appraisal Process: Performance to be improved| The employee lists the activities they will initiate to improve performance – including skills to be improved and changes made to meet work performance expectations. (List short and long term goals to be accomplished as applicable.)| Targeted date for improvement – by when?| Expected results| Dates reviewed by employee and supervisor| | | | | | The appraiser should jointly review the form above and the following 6 items needs to be answered with the appraisee when using the document. 1. State performance to be improved (be specific and cite examples). 2. State the level of work performance expectation and that it must be performed on a consistent basis. 3. Specify the support/resources you will provide to assist the employee. 4. Communicate your plan for providing feedback to the employee (meetings, with whom and how often). 5. Specify possible consequences if performance standards are not met. Potential Appraisal Please complete the following Appraisal of Potential for your employee. This Appraisal concentrates on other types of tasks, or other greater responsibility the employee is capable of doing, and in what direction their personal interests lead them. * In your opinion, what skills, knowledge talent, qualities should be developed or strengthened? Please be specific. * What is he/she personally doing to become more proficient in his/her assignment, and to prepare for more responsibility? * What are your plans and recommendations for a development program for this employee? Be specific. * What do you see as this employee’s next step positions? * What specific performance results were achieved during this review period (include all quantitative measures)? * Indicate major performance results achieved in the supervision of others. Include such items as staffing, delegating, motivating, resolving conflict, and development of staff. * Describe how well performance results were achieved compared to position  standards and specific performance requirements. * Comment on the methods and approach used by the employee in performing the job. Rate the employee on the following characteristics or how does the employee fair on following behavioural characteristics: * Decision making * Independent * Confidence towards the job * Handling stress and pressure * Inter-personal skills, both with superiors and subordinates * Leadership, motivating and conflict handling

King Lears Journey Through Hell in William Shakespeares...

King Lears Journey Through Hell in William Shakespeares King Lear Shakespeares tragedy King Lear is a detailed description of the consequences of one mans deci-sions. This fictitious man is Lear, King of England, whose decisions greatly change his life and the lives of those around him. As Lear takes on the rank of King he is, as one expects, a man of great power but he surrenders all of this power to his daughters as a reward for their display of love towards him. This sud-den surrender of his throne results in a chain reaction of events that send him through a journey of hell. King Lear is a typical description of one mans journey through hell in order to compensate for his sin. As the play begins you can almost immediately see†¦show more content†¦This damage of Gods authority results in chaos that tears apart Lears world. Leaving him, in the end, with nothing. Following this Lear begins to banish those around him that truthfully care for him because at this stage he cant see beyond his nose evil wear. He banishes Kent, a loyal servant, and his youngest and most loved daughter Cordelia. This results in Lear surrounding himself with people who only wish to use him which leaves him very vulnerable. This is precisely what happens and it is through this that he discovers his wrongs and amends them. Following the committing of his sins, Lear becomes abandoned and estranged from his kingdom, which causes him to loose insanity. While lost in his grief and self-pity the fool is introduced to guide Lear back to the sane world and to help find the Lear that was ounce lost behind a hundred Knights but now is out in the open and scared like a little child. He actually being out on the lawns of his castle dramatically repre-sents the fact that Lear has now been pushed out from behind his Knights. The terrified little child that is now unsheltered is portrayed by Lears sudden insanity and his rage and anger is seen through the thun-derous weather that is being experienced. All of this contributes to the suffering of Lear due to the gross sins that he has committed. The pinnacleShow MoreRelatedHuman Suffering in Inferno and King Lear Essay example1555 Words   |  7 PagesBoth Shakespeare’s King Lear and Dante’s Inferno explore the reasons for, and results of, human suffering. Each work postulates that human suffering comes as a result of choices that are made: A statement that is not only applicable to the characters in each of the works, but also to the readers. The Inferno and King Lear speak universal truths about the human condition: that suffering is inevitable and unavoidable. While both King Lear and the Inferno concentrate on admonitions and lamentationsRead More Essay on Facing the Consequences in King Lear999 Words   |  4 PagesKing Lear:   Facing the Consequences      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Shakespeares tragedy King Lear is a detailed description of the consequences of one mans decisions.   This fictitious man is Lear, King of England, whose decisions greatly alter his life and the lives of those around him.   As Lear bears the status of King, he is, as one expects, a man of great power.   But, sinfully, he surrenders all of this power to two of his daughters, as a reward for their demonstration of love towards him.   This untimelyRead MoreEssay on King Lear/Inferno1246 Words   |  5 PagesAssignment #2 (Inferno / King Lear) Both Shakespeare’s King Lear and Dante’s Inferno explore the reasons for and results of human suffering. Both works postulate that human suffering comes as a result of choices that are made. That statement is not only applicable to the characters in each of the works, but also to the readers. The Inferno and King Lear speak universal truths about the human condition: that suffering is inevitable and unavoidable. While both King Lear and the Inferno concentrateRead MoreWilliam Shakespeares King Lear Essays1856 Words   |  8 PagesWilliam Shakespeares King Lear A man more sinned against than sinning King Lear is one of Shakespeares more complex plays and within it many different themes are addressed and explored. KingRead More Action and Observation in Shakespeares King Lear Essay2306 Words   |  10 PagesAction and Observation in King Lear      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Auden once asserted that Shakespearean tragedy is necessarily parabolic, pertaining to the only myth that Christianity possesses: that of the unrepentant thief. We as the spectators are thus implicated in the action since each of us is in danger of re-enacting [this story] in his own way.1 The sufferings of the hero could be our own sufferings, whereas in Greek tragedy, such a notion is precluded precisely because the misfortunes of a character