Teaching and Training Employees on Customer Relationship Management - Assignment Example

SMART Objective Business Objectives To lower our price from the current price of 32 GB at $599 and 64 GB at $699 which will increase our sales by 20% To increase our market share by at least 15% in the Publishing industry To make iPad a competitive device through increasing its features in order to compete effectively in the fast changing publishing industry To lower the overall cost of production by at least 5% so we can increase the overall profitability To increase IT so as to increase our site navigation through curbing web attacks, security flaws as well as increasing the overall site security Marketing objectives To increase our brand awareness by 60% and this will increase our market share in publishing industry and keep us ahead of our competitors To retain our old customers while attracting new customers by at least 5% To bring to our consumer a larger selection of our products by increasing our online library services by presenting more e-books as well as expanding number of languages that can be used with the iPad To train our Human Resource on Customer Relationship Management so as to improve our customer To adopt new technology so as to improve our customer experience on our site Strategy The publishing industry in which Apple Inc. is operating is a competitive one, therefore it is recommended for apple adopts porter’s generic strategies to gain competitive advantages over its core competitors. According to Michael Porter, a company’s strength can fall into two broad categories: differentiation and cost advantage. According to Brennan K, (2012) in adopting these strengths in either narrow or broad scope, 3 generic strategies result: focus, differentiation and cost leadership. Through porter’s generic strategies Apple’s iPad can differentiate its self from other competitors’ product or compete on the bases of cost leadership. Ether, Apple Inc. can couple the generic strategy with a focus on a specific, the general market or a narrow customer base. It’s also important to noting that organizations can both develop a premium product and be extremely operationally efficient and by adopting the generic strategies Apple will be an excellent example. The diagram below shows porter’s generic strategies (Brennan K, 2012). Target Scope Advantage Low Cost Product Uniqueness Broad (Industry Wide) Cost Leadership Strategy Differentiation Strategy Narrow (Market Segment) Focus Strategy (low cost) Focus Strategy (differentiation) The strategic option justification The generic strategy for Apple Inc and the iPad will entail 3 main strategies. To beginning with, under the focus strategy Apple should focus on a 100% on innovation. It should embark on both company as well as product innovation so as to continue improving the iPad and make it more appealing to the customers, extend the product range, reduce environmental damages, improve production processes and reduce labour cost (Brennan K, 2012) . Secondly, under cost leadership strategy, Apple Inc should consider lowering the current price of iPad 1 so that it can be the lowest cost producer in the publishing industry. When there is price war, Apple will be in a position to maintain some profitability while the competition suffers losses. Even with absence of the price war, as the publishing industry matures and the prices does done, Apple will be in a position to produce iPad’s more cheaply and remain profitable for a long period of time. Apple can gain cost advantage through making optimal outsourcing and vertical integration decisions, acquiring unique access to a large source of lower cost materials and improving process efficiencies. This strategy will help Apple to lower the price of iPad so that it can effectively compete with brands such as kindle, iPed and Sony reader. Finally, under the differentiation strategy, Apple Inc. should added and improve the existing features on the iPad so that it can offer unique attributes which are valued by consumers and that consumers perceive to be better than or different from those offer by the major competitors. the uniqueness of the iPad which will be as a result of the value added will allow the company to charge a premium price on it to cover the extra cost incurred in the offering the unique iPad. As a result of iPad’s unique attributes, should the suppliers increase their prices on raw materials, Apple Inc. will be able to pass down the cost of production its consumers who cannot get substitute iPad’s easily. For Apple to successful embrace differentiation strategy, it needs to hire highly skilled and creative product development team, access to leading scientific research, corporate reputation for quality and innovation, and Strong sales team with the ability to successfully communicate the perceived strengths of the iPad. Charting/Value Curve Source: Author 2012 The graph above shows the value curve of the current iPad against Amazon’s kindle before adopting the generic strategies. However, after strategizing and improving on the above aspects, it can be able to stay ahead of its competitors and its new value curve will appear as shown in the diagram below. Source: Author, 2010 Market Segments Market Segment Features Young adults age between 16yrs and above This group of customers is our main target especially because they are readers and will be looking forward to use Apple’s iPad which has an E-reader Beside an E-reader, the young adults will enjoy features on the ipad including downloading music and videos from the internet Young adults will find the weight of an iPad more appealing which will make it easy for them to carry it around as compared to desktops and portable laptops Innovators This group of customers like adopting a product first even when they may not need it but for the satisfaction of being the first to have it and for this reason, they will be a good target market as they will easily adopt all innovations we add to the ipad This are young in age, like to take risk, have high social classes and they like to go to the internet world to access the consumer journals and for this reason Apple iPad will be a perfect solution for this group Early Adopters This group of people likes to benefit from using new products in the market as they seek to stand out from the rest of the population by seeking these new products. This market segment is can easily be sized and is usually willing to spend money for this product and therefore they will be good targets for the ipad They are usually opinion leaders in the society, are social and are well educated. This will work to our advantage as they winning them will mean increased sales Older people who do not use computers The iPad’s operating System has been proven to be easier to learn as compared to the OS’s which will suit this group the iPad allows physical interaction via its multitouch feature that makes computing easy for the older generation. Therefore an iPad will be a good solution for the elderly who would like to use computer services but find computers too complicated. Travelers or home theatre gurus Travel frequently or the home theatre gurus who rather than their carrying their iPod Touch on the airplanes or taking their laptops on the airplane for movies, the iPad is able to resolve this two problems with the power of a battery. Prospective Kindle customers iPad is a device that one can leave right on their living rooms for fast access of emails, music without having to turn on their laptops or their desktops as it is an perfect supplementary for the laptop or desktop. It targets those people whose computing tasks are mainly around the multimedia or the internet and due to its portability and multitouch features, it suits this audience perfectly. Source: Author 2012 Tactics and Action According to (Hall.D & Jones. R, 2011) Marketing mix is a group of controllable, tactical marketing tools that Apple can blend to produce the response it wants its target market. Product, promotion, place and price are the components or the 4 P’s that make up the marketing mix Product The iPad is an e-reader device that contains a variety of features; it like a bigger iPod or iPhone Touch. The device is very thin with a dimension of “9.56 in × 7.47 in” and has a battery life of 10 hours. iPad has the ability to listen and purchase music, view photos, surf the internet, purchase and read e-books, read e-mails, and carry out multiple application. There will be a more improved version of the iPad with a higher hard drive capacity. The iPad will also feature a flash player, camera, HDMI, mircoSD memory card, and an adapter for everything. Price The iPad device can be bought at multiple price points “with the 16GB model without 3g capability as the cheapest at $499, 32GB at $599, and 64GB retails for $699. The consumer can also sign up for AT&T data plan for internet connection which is wireless, this data plan can also enable the consumer to access various AT&T hotspots for free. Apple is known for charging higher, however through the cost leadership strategy the company will be able to sell the iPad at a lower price as compared to its competitors. Apple will also do special buldles for buying iPad during different times of the year Place The iPad is likely be sold in area where other Apple products are sold, since there are several retail shops which sell Apple products so purchasing the iPad will not be a problem. 284 multiple Apple store are located in the US in which these products will be sold. Consumers can also order these the iPad online. The improved iPad will be out in a few months, and its availability will depend on the customer demand like the shortage experienced on iPad during its initial release. Promotion Apple will promote the improved iPad through advertising on Television and Magazine with focus on: Target market Time to reach target market Attain the objects at the lowest feasible cost Evaluation, control and Implementation of plan It is recommended that the strategies above be implemented using the balance score card which is a strategic management tools that allows the company’s managers to measure its strategies against its objectives (Carpenter & Sanders,2010). This plan is analyzed against external and internal business processes perspective, financial, learning and growth perspective for the Apple iPad. Financial perspective Under this perspective, the scorecard focuses on growth, risk and profitability strategies. Apple Inc is looking forward to lower its prices so as to increase profitability and growth. This will be done by charging 10% less of the market price. The company will be hoping to be the number one product as customers will be able to afford it. The main initiative of this move is to increase the company’s market share. “To succeed financially, how should we appear to our share-holders?” Financial Objectives Measures Targets Initiatives To Lower price 10% less of Market price To be Ranked No. 1 To increase profitability and growth To Increase Market Share Retail Actual 60% To increase Market Awareness To be a Competitive Device Improve device features Color Touch screen Better Technology add new product features External Business Forces Perspective Under this perspective, the aim here is to increase satisfaction of the customers through increasing the brand awareness on the Apple ipad so to stay ahead of its competitors. In order to know the outcome of this, we will measure by how much our market share on the e-reader market has increased. In order to achieve this objectives, there will be need to increase the cost of advertisement on a variety of advertising media including radio, TV, newspapers and magazines. We also intend to increase the number of customers by retaining the old ones as we attract new ones. The aim at the end of the year is to increase our sales by at least 5% and so as achieve this strategy, Apple Inc should offer loyalty fees and give benefits to customers. This will entail giving discounts to customer for being members, giving free e-books for recommending another person. This will help retain old customers while attracting new ones. Thre is also need to increase the variety of products for the customers through presenting more e-books as well as increasing the languages. “To satisfy our shareholders and customers, at what business processes must we excel?” External Business Process Objectives Measures Targets Initiatives To increase iPad Awareness Increase Market Share 60 percent Advertise in different media -Retain old customers While Attract New Increase no, of customers 5 percent -increase Customer benefits - increase Loyalty prices -Product Expansion - having Larger Library - expand Languages - 2 new languages - 10% more eBooks -Partnerships with customers -Customer feedback Internal business process In order to achieve the strategy of satisfying the customers, there is need to reduce the costs of producing and this will entail partnering with manufacturing and supplying and lower the cost of production and through this action, we aim to reduce our costs by 5%. The company should also seek to better its website so as to improve the security of the site, navigation and to give users a faster access to their site. This objective will be measured based on the customers feedback as well as number of visits made to the site “To satisfy our shareholders and customers, at what business processes must we excel?” Internal Business Process Objectives Measures Targets Initiatives Lower the cost of Production The Amount of money saved 4% To get Cheap contract with manufacturers Lower the cost of Distribution The amount of Profit earnes 4% To Reduce Value Chain To Increase IT on the site for better navigation No of visits, customer feedback Better and Faster site, improved site security IT Seminars and employee training Learning and Growth “To achieve our vision, how will we sustain our ability change and improve?” Learning and Growth Objectives Measures Targets Initiatives To better Customer Service To train Employees To get 100% satisfaction - To Teach employees CRM - Staff training Adopt new and better Technology Amount of technology implemented Each year Improve hardware as well as the software This will basically entail teaching and training employees on Customer relationship management to increase customer satisfaction of the customers to 100%. This will also be done by adopting new and better technology which will make customer experience better on the site References Brennan K (2012) Strategy in Tablets retrieved on 7th January 2012 from http://www.newba.com/?p=348 BCS (2010) iPad 'reveals new market segment' retrieved on 7th January 2012 from http://www.bcs.org/content/conWebDoc/34322 Carpenter, M. A., & Sanders, W. G. (2010). Strategic management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. WWDC 2011 A Competitive Analysis of Apple's Platforms Retrieved on 5th January 2012 from http://www.winsupersite.com/article/apple/wwdc-2011-competitive-analysis-apples-platforms-136401 lliev V,Lindinger A & Poettler G(2004) Apple computer Inc strategic Audit Retrieved on 5th January 2012 from http://www.andreaslindinger.net/downloads/strategicmgmts-lindingeretal.pdf Hall.D & Jones. R., Business Studies (2nd ed.), ³Marketing Mix´, 2011. pp.36-54 Marshall N (2010) Understanding the Target Audience for the Apple iPad Retrieved on 5th January 2012 from http://www.cellfanatic.com/2010/01/27/understanding-the-target-audience-for-the-apple-ipad/ Evans J (2010) Apple 2011: iPad sales hit 40 million Retrieved on 5th January 2012 from http://blogs.computerworld.com/18550/apple_2011_ipad_sales_hit_40_million Read More