Managing Change in Organisations - Improved HR onboarding process Essay Example for Free

Managing Change in Organisations Improved HR onboarding process Essay The main goal of this change initiative is to improve the financial results of the company by improving the engagement and performance of the new HR employees at Mars, Inc. It’s aimed to be achieved by introducing a new, globally aligned, best-in-class 1-year-long induction process with supporting tools and learning events. The target group of new HR associates1 includes those who joined HR at Mars less than 12 month ago, either from externally (from other company) or internally (from other department). As Mars,Inc. is a large family-owned business with over 100 years of history and globally well known brands. It has unique and mature company culture which is driven by its 5 principles: Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Effectiveness and Freedom. These principles drive the behaviour of the employees at all level of the hierarchy and have been shaping the characteristics of the organisation. Mars, Inc. fits well to ‘elaboration of structure phase’ (Granier 1972) of the organisational life-cycle: the company is led by a team of professional managers and is very much decentralised with a small headquarter. The business units of the countries therefore enjoy a lot of freedom and responsibility to drive the local business effectively. This approach reflects also in the way they shape the processes within the company: the global process standards are mainly just broadly defined with limited (if any) written documentation about them, which lets the local teams shape it and use it as best fits to their needs. As it has the advantage to allow tailor-made solutions to best assist local business objectives, it also has disadvantages. It is not uncommon that extra local resources are needed to shape the process, and when the process has changed too much, it becomes difficult to compare the practices and results of different units. It also often happens that local units come up with very similar best practices after investing significant resources locally in process development, which resources could have been reduced if globally – or at least regionally – someone would have co-ordinated these development initiatives. As part of the company culture, Mars, Inc. refers to employees as associates, therefore in my paper I will use both terms to reflect the same concept. Realising the potential of this kind of centralisation led the business leaders to setting up global functional centres of expertise, like the Mars University (Mars U) is for learning and development within Mars, Inc. The Mars U is responsible for designing and deploying world-class learning programs, which enable the competency building of employees, so they can achieve their full potential in contributing to the business to achieve its goals. It has matrix structure and its smaller teams are set up by functions (named â€Å"Colleges† of HR, finance, supply, etc.), regions (they coordinate the deployment of functional development programs in a region) and special learning and development related areas (like learning technology). Mars U therefore faces the challenge of balancing between centralisation and decentralisation by providing centrally defined and globally aligned learning solutions in a matrix organisation with decentralised leadership. That is the same challenge in case of the new induction process initiative. In the near past an introductory training program existed for new HR employees, which was similar in all the regions, but inconsistent in content, so it gave a lot of space for local solutions to flower. Moving from this decentralised approach to a more centralised one may cause push backs from the associates in these local units, thus careful change management is essential. Nature of change By assessing the nature of change based on the description above, this change can be categorised with the terms of Ackerman (1997) as ‘transitional’ as the intention is to â€Å"achieve () a desired state† by setting up a globally aligned world-class induction process for new HR associates, which is a significant difference from the current decentralised approach. One can argue whether it is not defined as ‘transformational change’ as it can result a difference in an organisational process and change in the culture, but as it won’t change fundamentally neither areas, the definition of ‘transitional change’ fits better in this case. To give a full picture about the nature of change, it need to be emphasised that after finishing this particular change project, the change itself will not stop, it will continue as ‘developmental change’ by continuously improving the set up induction process. From another perspective, using the categories of Mintzberg and Waters (1985) this change initiative can be identified as ‘determined’ or planned change as the goal, that need to be achieved, is clearly set, as well as the process how to get there. It does not mean though, that ‘emergent’ changes will not come up during the project, as it may happen that a locally designed induction process which works well will have an improving effect on the globally designed process and tools to ensure the implementation of the best possible practices. Drivers of the change This change initiative has mainly internal triggers. First and foremost, improve the productivity of every new HR associates by providing them all the essential knowledge, competencies and network they need in their new role. Improving their engagement level is also an important trigger, as engaged associates have usually better performance and they less likely to leave the business (Buckingham and Coffman, 2005). In case of HR department, better performance of associates, among other things, could lead to better internal and external customer satisfaction or decrease of costs by effective ways of working, while improved retention cut the costs and time invested in recruitment and training of a new employee. Although the internal triggers are more relevant in this case, the external drivers also need to be mentioned. Mars, Inc. had several acquisitions in the last few years which led to an incoherent culture in the different business segments. To enable exchangeability of human resources and best practices, setting up centrally aligned processes is a key. Also, considering that Mars, Inc. operates in a quickly changing market (FMCG), being innovative and best-in-class in its processes could ensure competitive advantage and retention of employees. Nonetheless, the change needs to be done in a global environment fitting to the expectations of different cultures in different regions. Key Stakeholders As in case of most major changes in an organisation, winning the support of top level management is essential. In this case the management means the Global HR Leadership Team of Mars, Inc. who also plays the role of sponsor of the project and expected to play a key role by being role model in using the new induction process. Their influence is very high as they could stop or change this initiative any time. Their attitude toward the change to be expected very positive, still, contracting with them is critical as many priority projects are currently going on in the business so need to ensure proper focus. Driving the change process requires change agents to ensure smooth implementation: the Mars U associates in the regions and other (local) learning or talent development specialists. As the project aligns well with their general purpose of their roles – to improve associates capabilities, – their attitude is expected to be positive. As they will play the role of connecting the project leaders with associates in their regions or units, their influence is also very high, but mainly only in their area of responsibility. The communication and deployment of the change will focus mainly on the HR managers as they will be the most affected by the change, as they need to change their ways of working the most. Thus, 5 their attitude can be either positive or negative depending how valuable the new process seems to them. Their influence can be high in the area of their responsibility – so the more senior the manager is the higher is the influence. Also important stakeholders, but less influential, are the new HR associates. The new process is all about them, but from change management perspective they play a smaller role, as their attitude to be expected very positive. In any case, careful communication toward them needs to be planned to ensure their full involvement in the process and gain feedback from them to identify potential areas for improvements. There are also some other key stakeholders, like the trainers of the courses, whose contribution to the success can be very important, but as they are interchangeable in the roles, their influence on the process can be categorised as moderate. Furthermore, there are some other subject matter experts (e.g. learning technology or global communication specialists), who will be involved during the design and communication phases, but their influence is rather small and their attitude is expected to be supportive. Management objectives To summarise the main objective, the goal is to implement in all business segments and units of Mars, Inc. a newly designed, globally aligned, efficient and engaging functional induction process with its supporting tools (guides and learning modules) for every new HR employees, which supports their development in the first 12 months after joining in their new role and covers the essential Mars specific knowledge and provides network needed for achieving high performance. The new process and tools should be used by mid of 2013 in all business units. Task 2 For a successful change project it’s not only important to see where we would like to go, but to be able to define how we will get there, we need a careful and detailed analysis on where we are at the moment. Besides a general process overview in the organisation (e.g. by the support of models like ‘McKinsey 7S’ (Waterman et al. 1980) or ‘Burke-Litwin Causal model’ (Burke Litwin, 1992)), we also need to understand why do we have the problem in our organisation. For this we may use problem analysis models, like the ‘Fishbone diagram’ or the ‘5 Whys?’ (Taiichi 1988) model. Input-Transformation-Output model To better understand the functional induction process, by the ‘Input-Transformation-Output model’ (RDI, 2012a) the main elements can be summarised visually: This model can support the planning process in several ways. It is easier for the change leaders to identify the key stakeholders (see the detailed stakeholder analysis above), to keep objectives always in mind and focus on the processes which need to be changed in order to be able to achieve the desired output. Furthermore, it gives a great overview about who shall be involved in reviewing and developing the process by providing feedback before, during and after the change. Nonetheless, it is essential to be clear on both the transformed and transforming resources required for the whole process to avoid disturbance due to the lack of them. Cause-and-Effect Analysis After having a broader overview of the issue, before taking any actions, a thorough problem analysis is a must. Even though having an initial idea about what can improve the current situation, in a complex organisation with a huge overall impact of the topic, the change leader need to ensure addressing the right issues and providing the right solutions based on that. In defining all the relevant causes of a problem can help the Cause-and-Effect Analysis (Ishikawa, 1968) or Fishbone diagram. In case of our described example, the model looks like this: After defining the list of important causes, the major ones to be selected by the analysing team then the potential actions can be planned. When it’s presented to the management team, their duty is then to decide on which topics to focus on the actions. In this example case, a globally aligned process with supporting tools and metrics are very much missing. When it’s designed and ready to be deployed, then these should be available to all HR managers to be able to drive the induction processes locally and measure their own efficiency. Plan the change After the green light of the management team concerning the project initiative, can start the proper, detailed planning: the development of the change strategy, in which the desired outcome, key actions, milestones, action owners and resources needs are defined. Winning the commitment of the key stakeholders also need to be carefully planned with a supporting communication plan. As unexpected situations are likely to disturb the planned flow of actions, to minimise the potential disturbance, a risk analysis in advance of doing actions can help the project management team to prepare for these scenarios or totally avoid them. Also, a continuous review of the change project is highly recommended to ensure the project execution is on track to achieve the project goal (see the 8 potential feedback sources in the Input-Output model) – this also can be part of the change strategy plan. The next step is then to execute the plan. When unexpected situations happen, continuous adjustments of the plan may be required to ensure proper improvement and keep the progress to achieve the final goal. After all planned actions are executed, the project leader should control that the project goal has been achieved as defined. If no, the project still continues. If yes, the project shall be formally closed with the involvement of the project sponsors and the success should be feed back to the key stakeholders. Task 3 Business Process Transformation Although Mars, Inc. in this situation chose to go on with a change project concentrating on only one function (HR) to improve its induction process, using the Business Process Transformation (BPT), i.e. Business Process Re-engineering model could have led to better results. By talking generally about the BPT model, one can say that improving the customer engagement and cutting the operational costs by improving and simplifying processes (cross-functional) within the company, is in the heart of this approach (Hammer 1990). Let use the definition of re-engineering by Hammer and Champy (1993) to show the key characteristics of this model: the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical contemporary modern measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service, and speed. This approach is one of the favourites currently in change management, as it promises â€Å"dramatic improvements† in business performance and customer satisfaction, even though it has its own challenges. The most important is that it requires a holistic view from the business leaders to face the issues within an organisation. It needs broad perspective to be able to come out of functional silos and to view the process as a whole, from the very beginning till the very end. If the change project happens only within a single function, there is high probability of missing some important opportunities of improvement. By using the example of Mars, a cross-functional approach could lead to a different, although very thorough solution – like implementing a standardised, world-class induction experience in every part of the company, during which the new employees can learn the most important functional and business knowledge to best support the customer focused processes. Based on its holistic view, the BPT approach requires more complexity from change management perspective as well as total alignment and drive from the top management team. The process improvement strategy should be aligned with the vision, mission and business strategy of the company, while the desired behaviours and key performance indicators should be also clearly defined and communicated to support the process and the measure of success (RDI 2012b). The process improvement initiative should start with a company-wide analysis of the current situation, keeping in mind not only how the processes can be simplified, but also what could be the benefits for the customers by the change initiative. The analysis then will be followed by the definition of the detailed plan: to where and how the company would like to get. To achieve great improvement in company results, increasing the amount of invested efforts and resources and high risk taking is unavoidable – although most probably in mid- and long-term the investment of these extra resources will pay. All these mentioned characteristics of the model lead to the fact that this model can’t be used without a heavy top down and centralised approach due to its holistic nature and complexity. Starting a process improvement initiative from any other level of the organisation without the full support and involvement of the company top leaders can lead to only a temporary and restricted (to a region or function) solution. Managing the implementation of the change at Mars, Inc. Although the change project defined by Mars also intends to improve the measures mentioned in the re-engineering definition, the main difference lies in the adjectives used by the authors: dramatic, fundamental and radical. So in this case we can’t really talk about BPT approach, as it would rather mean taking the whole on-boarding and induction process in all functions of the company and use that to work on, even though it could be very beneficial for the company. Also, without winning the top management support for a holistic change approach, the project leader of this initiative better use a general Change management (RDI 2012c), or preferably, the Total Quality Management (TQM) 2 methodology with using some holistic OD models – like the ‘Burke-Litwin model’ (Burke Litwin 1992) or the ‘McKinsey 7S model’ (Waterman et al. 1980) – for analysing the potential areas of change interventions. Definition of TQM by Kanji (1990): â€Å"TQM is the way of life of an organization committed to customer satisfaction through continuous improvement. This way of life varies from organisation to organisation and from one country to another but has certain principles which can be implemented to secure market share, increase profits and reduce costs.† The principles of the TQM approach fits well to the culture of Mars, Inc. by focusing on continuous improvement opportunities, on customer needs and motivating employees at all level of the organisation to take part of this and drive innovations. It also reflects in all of the 5 principles of the company3. The management style also resonates well with the principles of TQM, as it engages the collaborative company culture with empowering and motivating the employees to drive continuous improvement for achieving better quality in everything within the business. Although a lot of things fit well to use this model for the change case at Mars, to fully benefit of the TQM methodology, the project leader and the participants shall be skilled to use all its principles to achieve the best possible result, which is currently not yet the case. Task 4 Measure of Success – Processes There are certain elements of the change process, which we can check and measure during and after the project to evaluate the success. Firstly, it is inevitable to set with involvement and communicate to the key stakeholders a clear vision, a well defined ‘S.M.A.R.T. objective’ (Doran, 1981) and some key performance indicators regarding the desired end result of the change initiative. Additionally, it is also important element of the second success factor, which is the level of commitment to the change of the key stakeholders. During the implementation phase, the success of the process can be measured at the key milestones: whether they were achieved on time by providing good quality results within the allocated resource limits. In this phase, the ability of flexible to any disturbance and opportunities through the process is also essential, to keep or even improve the result quality of the change, or to use less resources to achieve the original goal. It may be measured by reaction the quickness of the response or the amount of extra resources needed to keep the good progress. In connection to this, reviewing the key challenges and capturing the lessons learnt for the future also shows the efficiency of the process. Last, but not least, a clear project closure can also indicate how well the project went. Measure of Success – Outcomes If we have a closer look on the change initiative of Mars, Inc., the desired outcome which we wish to measure lies in the main objective4. The company’s main goal is to improve the efficiency and Quality, Mutuality, Responsibility, Effectiveness and Freedom For details see the Management Objective paragraph performance of the new HR employees. As HR is a support department with less direct impact on financial results and the quality of end products than other areas in the business, measuring these goals may be difficult, especially if we need to focus on only the new employee. So it’s advised to define other measures, like the individual performance or future career potential of the new employee, which can be measured by the company globally standardized performance evaluation system. Although the improved employee performance is difficult to be described with exact figures, we can also use historical data to compare the past and the present, and measure factors which can influence performance (e.g. the Line Manager’s evaluation of the performance or the engagement level of the new associate). Besides the employee performance, the efficiency of the new process shall be measured as well (e.g. could we involve everybody we intended to use the new process). Furthermore, as in case of all change projects, defining the return on investment can show the level of success. For example the cost of resource investment of the change project may be compared with the amount of money were saved by better retention of the new associates. By measuring the outcome of a new process we also need to investigate the resource needs of sustaining the process efficiently on long term. 1References: Ackerman, L., 1997, Development, transition or transformation: the question of change in organisations. In: Van Eynde, D., Hoy, J and Van Eynde, D (eds) Organisation Development Classics. San Francisco, Jossey Bass. Buckingham, M. and Coffman, C., 2005. First, Break All The Rules: What the Worlds Great Managers Do Differently. Simon Schuster. Burke, W. W. and Litwin, G. H., 1992. A causal model of organizational performance and change. Journal of Management, 18 (3), 523-545. Doran, G. T., 1981. Theres a S.M.A.R.T. way to write managements goals and objectives. Management Review, Volume 70, Issue 11, pp. 35-36.

User Sampling Methods :: essays research papers

1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sampling Methods When surveying, for any purpose, it is important to recognise that the results are only as representative as the survey subjects (the sample), and as such much academic research has been performed in to techniques for selection, broadly placing them in one of two categories – probability sampling and non-probability sampling. In short, with probability sampling the participants are selected by chance. There are dozens of methods of selecting members, using a variety of mathematical techniques, but the key is that each subject has a random, calculable chance of being selected. There is no human intervention involved in the selection. Method  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Characteristics Simple (random) Sampling  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The sample is selected entirely at random Stratified  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The population is first divided in to exclusive subgroups based on some predetermined criteria (e.g. location), then samples are selected at random Proportionate Stratified  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As above, but a smaller group that would otherwise not provide statistically valid results may be oversampled then the results weighted to correct for this. For example, if a particular group is too small to provide a statistically significant sample, more members of that group would be sampled Clustering  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The starting point for the sample is randomised, then assumes that the sample at that point is representative of the region. For example, selecting a street corner, interviewing the first 10 people, and assuming that they are representative of the area Table 2 - Probability Sampling Methods Non-probability samples, however, contain an element of human bias in the sample selection. Again, there are various methods for the selection, the most common of which are: Method  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Characteristics Quota  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Respondents are preselected to ensure that the sample is representative Purposive  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Subjects are selected as they have some specific characteristic, for example, hold a certain position or job type Convenience  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The sample is selected by availability Snowballing  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Contacts provide information about other potential respondents Self-selection  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Respondents volunteer themselves for selection Judgement  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An â€Å"expert† uses his or her judgement to nominate people for sample Table 3 - Non-probability Sampling Methods Most samples use a combination of sample selection methods. For example, quota sampling is often used to ensure that a random sample is actually representative of the population. 2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Survey types There are three basic surveying techniques that are suitable for consideration in the project: †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Interview †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Telephone †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Self Administered Survey 2.1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Interview (face to face) This category includes in-depth interviews, focus groups and projective methods (such as word association tests) which are not suitable for use in this project. There are several distinct advantages to this type of survey, such as: †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Response rates tend to be higher than other methods †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ability to reassure the subject about their responses

Impulse buying Essay

impulse buying refers to any purchase which a consumer makes which is unplanned and unneeded. the purpose of this paper is to find factors behind triggering this phenomena in consumers. the impact of different variables are analyzed by making their relationships with impulsive buying. These factors include promotional campaigns like low cost sale and discounts etc, income, layout of the store and behavior of sales person. the study is based on primary and secondary data which is analyzed further by using different techniques and methods. after analysis it has been found that the income level of a person has a significant effect on impulsive buying, moreover the other factors like promotional campaigns are mainly affecting this behavior due to pricing strategies, layouts of stores and behavior of sales persons also trigger the urge of impulsive buying. keywords: impulse buying, store layout, promotional activates, sales people, income. Introduction: In impulse buying a product is purchased spontaneously which is unplanned it could be anything,; a service, existing and new products to which the consumers are generally attracted because of various factors. Barratt, Rook 1987 stated that consumer gets attracted towards a product to buy it without considering its consequences of delaying a product to fill a pre-determined need. It is very much possible that consumer may experience positive and negative consequences of a product bought through impulsive buying after its post purchase evaluation. There are many researchers who have worked extensively on this topic and come up with more or less same definition and amplification of impulse buying. According to Cobb & Hoyer 1986; Piron, 1991; Rook, 1987; Rook & Fischer, 1995; Weinberg & Gottwold, 1982; searched and wrote that the urge of buying a product is of that the product is calling them to buy it, ultimately this urge leads them to purchase the product and some researchers stated that the urge of buying products are very dominant and powerful that the consumer cannot resist them. In Pakistan the number of retail outlets, shopping malls and super stores are increasing rapidly as compared to traditionally open bazar. This includes places likes Metro Cash N Carry, Hyper Star, Pace, Makro and Suburban etc. These are a  few of the prominent shopping malls in Pakistan with many outlets. The factors behind the success of these stores is their layout of well managed hassle free environment, availability and placement for fresh and hygienic vegetables, meat and fish which gets the attention and appreciation of consumers moreover the high-level of service and the behavior of sales staff make the visit of the consumers more comfortable and valuable especially for the working class who have minimum time for shopping. Attributes or characteristics of impulse buying behavior of consumer: The tempting and overwhelming force emerging from the product which produces feelings in consumer heart. Urge of buying a product immediately. Delaying the purchase of needed product. Ignoring the consequences of product purchased through impulse buying. Feeling of desperation in terms of buying a product. Literature Review: From the start of 1950’s till today a lot of research has been done on this topic in this long span of time many researchers who have conducted research on this always come up with very interesting findings or results. Recently many researchers have moved their area of focus from western to Asian countries and are investigating the buying patrons of the people living in Asia. Many of them have identified and observed some common variables according to a researcher (Beatty & Farrell, 1998). The ratio and chances of impulse buying increases with the passage of time. He or She spends more time in the store than before, the more they spend time on shopping and browsing upon different product the more it with increase the chance of impulse buying. Some researchers have also stated that the impulse buying is relatively more common in females as compared to males (Giraud, 2001). According to a researcher (Giraud, 2001) finds that the mood of the consumer also affects impulse buying behavior which means that when the customer is in a good mood, he or she will embark themselves with the products which fall in the category of impulse buying and if he or she is in bad mood the person will tend to reward his or herself less. (Maiet Al, 2001) Stated that the spending on impulse buying is done more by young generation and usually the age segment falls in the range of 18-40 years old. (Rook, 1987.) Stated that the urge and temptations of buying a particular product is so strong  that a person can postpone the purchase of a well needed product which solves their existing problem. The Importance and concept of store layout can never be bypassed by the true marketers and operational managers because the store layout influences the buying behavior of the consumer for example IKEA, LEGO and Zara Men etc are the famous brands which focuses heavily on store layout of a retail store. (Crawford & Melewar, 2003) stated that the true marketers should work on store layout and should provide a good layout to provide an ease of shopping to the consumer. A good standard and effective store layout let alone achieve the goal of providing convenience to the customer the role of good and trained sales person is also very important. According to (Crawford & Melewar, 2003) an interaction with a well trained sales person can trigger impulse buying behavior of consumer it also reduces the tension of customer by guiding them. One study conducted by (Wang and Zhou, 2003) shows that promotional activities show increases impulse buying by consumer when there are sales or discounts on products. according to researchers (dholakia,2000:rook 1987) when a consumer see promotional incentives on some products this things affects the impulse buying of him or her. Factors affectingaffectig impulse buying: The followingfollowig are the factors which affects impulse buying behavior of consumer Promotional activities Income Presence of others Store layout Sales person Promotional Activities: The word promotion in terms of marketing means by using different strategies marketers can influence the buying behaviorbehaviour of consumerconumer to buy a product to increase sales of the company. This could be achieved by sales discount, advertisement and free product. It is a human psychepsychy when evere they see a free product or discount they tend to buy to take advantage of this despite of affect they in actual did not need that product. Janakiraman Eded al, 2006 stated that willingness to buy the unneeded and unrelated commoditycomodity increases the chances of the impulse buying because of unexpected price discounts. Income: The income level influence and affect the impulse buying pattern of consumer greatly. The more a person is getting inco0me the more he will do impulse buying. In good economic conditions, the income levels of people go high, many economists and researchers have reported the increase in sales of products which also includes the purchase of products done thought impulsive buying. Presence of others: Store layout: Sales person The interaction between consumers and sales person is of very prime importance. A good competent salesperson could influence the consumer to buy product impulsively. Objective of the study: As we have told you earlier in this research paper that many researchers have conducted research on this topic especially in developed countries like England, Norway, Canada, America etc. Now the researchers and analyst areAnd also conducting research in developing countries like Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Poland, Bangladesh, and Thailand etc. Our objective of the study is to find out the factors effecting consumer impulse buying behavior in Pakistan. Theoretical framework: in this research paper we have taken impulse buying as dependent variable and sales force, promotional activities , income , store layout and presence of others as independent variables and formed several hypothesis which are given below H1: There is a positive relationship between promotional activities and impulse buying. H2:There is a positive relationship between income level and impulse buying. H3: There is a positive relationship between store layout and impulse buying. H4: There is a positive relationship between sales force behavior and impulse buying. H5:There is a positive relationship between presence of others and impulse buying. Research Methodology: The study has been conducted on the bases of two types of information  sources, primary data and secondary data. In primary data we gathered the data through questionnaires designed specifically on the basis of nature of questions to cover the concept of the study. In questionnaires the first section is devoted to the demographics and then a scale is designed. In the following questions the scale we design to assess each factor and its related question is from 1 to 5 Strongly disagree

Article Report On How On Start A Consulting Business

The article posted by http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/41384. The title of the article is â€Å"How to Start a Consulting Business† Obviously like most people I was reading one day and happened across this article. This article had a lot of information and really had me turning my gears. Here is a bit of information that compelled me to want to do more and to do this business feasibility plan. In 1997 U.S. businesses spent just over $12 billion on consulting. According to Anna Flowers, spokesperson for the Association of Professional Consultants in Irvine, California, the association has recently noticed an increase in calls for information from people who want to get into the business. Melinda P., an independent consultant in Arlington, Virginia, thinks more people are getting into the consulting field because technology has made it easier to do so. The same technology that has helped me to be successful as a consultant has made it easier for others to do the same, she says. A consultant s job is to consult. Nothing more, nothing less. It s that simple. I had been quite nervous for some time with giving advice and getting paid for it, what if I’m wrong? This article helped me understand this was what I was doing already and that by focusing on this solely I could enhance the information and get paid accordingly. There s no magic formula or secret that makes one consultant more successful than another one. There was a lot more and I have reviewed this article a massShow MoreRelatedBusiness Types And A Proposed Staffing Plan1730 Words   |  7 Pagesearning a stable income or spending retirement on a free enterprise venture can impact livable means. In this assignment, business types and a proposed staffing plan will be defined. A financial plan will be outlined to ensure compliance with regulatory rules are in place. My passion for unexplained hair loss in African Americans led me to the startup of Hair and Scalp Consulting. Hair loss occurrences can be extremely emotional and result in depression. A study published in The Journal of ClinicalRead MoreEssay on Reham851 Words   |  4 PagesDiscussion Questions Cisco Case Questions 1. At the start of the case, Cisco’s information systems are failing, yet no one steps forward to lead the effort to replace them. Why is this? Why were no managers eager to take on this project? At the beginning of the case, Cisco’s information systems were failing because they were experiencing exponential growth and the IT systems that were in place could not provide the reliability and maintenance for this magnitude of growth. Companies that experienceRead MoreUse Of Technology Through Online Service Support And A Cloud Storage System1082 Words   |  5 Pagesmore on IT services, adapting to the changing technology. Making IT consultant companies a more attractive and lucrative business. OxTech will provide to schools all aspects of IT support including network and wireless, website management, server management among others. Also will facilitate the use of technology through online service support and a cloud storage system. This report will analyze external factors, critical in the decision-making of whether to establish or not a new IT company that willRead MoreDiscussion Topics: Great Leadership1394 Words   |  6 Pagesorganizational culture, and organizatio nal change. The Cultural Change Situation  article from Human Resource Planning (available in the Doc Sharing) is a great synthesis piece that addresses all of these topics through a detailed study of firm’s attempted move to team-based management. As you read through the report, pay close attention to the discussion about Harley-Davidson and Shelby Die Casting, and their eventual conclusions about how to manage resistance to change.   Also, keep in mind our OCI materialRead MoreManaging Staffing And Consulting Service Industry1517 Words   |  7 Pagesto help create innovative HR strategies for your clients. With your previous experience of Arthur Anderson’s partial acquisition, I believe you will be able to execute this proposal in the most efficient way to remain as a leader of staffing and consulting service industry. Below is the outline to my analysis. 1. Introduction of Wanted Technologies 2. Current Trends within Human Resource Industry 3. Challenges to Big Data Analytics 4. Recommendations 1. Introduction of Wanted Technologies WantedRead MoreExplore the Ups Website1502 Words   |  7 PagesThe UPS website provides information and services regarding billing, shipping, tracking, and business solution for large and small businesses, and individuals. Services for Individuals are: †¢ My UPS and UPS account – This service has features such as billing information, account summary, address book, etc; and can be maintained online by the customer. †¢ Shipping – The customer can create and start a shipment online, calculate the time and cost for the shipment, schedule pick-ups, and createRead MoreWhat does Entrepreneur Means Essay1044 Words   |  5 Pagesto English as, to mean, to do something or to undertake. Therefore, entrepreneur defined as someone who undertakes a business venture. The first academic to use the word was the economist Richard Cantillon in 1730; Cantillon adds a risk taker element into the definition. The basic definition of an entrepreneur is a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk (dictionary.com, 2014). However, Scholars did not come up with a singleRead MoreAnalyzing Career Choices1340 Words   |  5 Pagesespecially when faced with a decision to choice between two attractive job offers (Clinton Van der Merwe2006). Certainly, each of these jobs will have its positive and negatives aspects. Thus, how would you make an informed choice on the best offer? This requires a good decision-making system. This report presents a way such decision can be carried out. Accountant and auditor job Pay and compensation According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (2012), the average annual pay for accountantsRead MorePrice Tags On Health Care976 Words   |  4 PagesNews, I picked Martha Bebinger’s article on â€Å"Price Tags on Health Care? Only In Massachusetts.† The article focuses on how private health insurance companies in Massachusetts have shared price tags of the medical care to be offered with their users. This event is seismic as sharing information that was considered heavily guarded to the public is one step to making the Obamacare work for our Medical care. As much as they have tried to make this step, the article points out many caveats that stillRead MoreBusiness Plan Essay4284 Words   |  18 PagesBusiness Plan Business Plan: Progressive Consulting What follows is a complete business plan for a hypothetical company. Please copy or save to your disk and use as an example in developing your own business plan. If you would like to read a series of articles jump to Web Marketing . For additional business aids click on The Practical Tools of Consulting 1. 0 Executive Summary Progressive Consulting will be formed as a consulting company specializing in marketing of high technology products in