Product Development Strategy

Product Development Strategy Given the rapid changes in consumer tastes technology arid competition companies must develop a steady stream of new products and services A firm can obtain-new products m two ways. One is through acquisition by buying a whole company a patent or a license to produce someone else s product The other as through new-product development m the company s own research -and-development department By new products we mean original products product improvements product modifications and new brands that the firm develops through its own research-and-development efforts. When an organization introduces a product into a market they must ask themselves a number of questions. Who is the product aimed at? What benefit will they expect? How do they plan to position the product within the market? What differential advantage will the product offer over their competitors? New products continue to fail at a disturbing rate. One source estimates that more than 90 percent of all new products fail in within 2 years Another-study suggested that of the staggering 25,000 new consumer food, beverage, beauty, and healthcare products to hit the market each year, only 40 percent will be around 5 years later Moreover failure rates for new industrial products may be as high as 30 percent. Why do so many new products fail? There re several reasons Although an idea may be good the market size may have been overestimated Perhaps the actual product was not designed as well as it should have beer Or maybe it was incorrectly positioned in the market priced too high or advertised poorly A high-level executive might push a favorite idea despite poor marketing research findings- Sometimes the costs of product development are higher than expected, and sometimes Competitors fight back harder than Expected. However the reasons behind some new product failures seem pretty obvious Try the following on for size. Review of Literature Product strategies When an organization introduces a product into a market they must ask themselves a number of questions. Who is the product aimed at? What benefit will they expect? How do they plan to position the product within the market? What differential advantage will the product offer over their competitors? We must remember that Marketing is fundamentally about providing the correct bundle of benefits to the end user, hence the saying Marketing is not about providing products or services it is essentially about providing changing benefits to the changing needs and demands of the customer (P.Tailor 7/00) Philip Kotler in Principles of Marketing devised a very interesting concept of benefit building with a product For a analysis the book of Principles of Marketing by P.Kotler. Kotler suggested that a product should be viewed in three levels. Level 1: Core Product. What is the core benefit your product offers?. Customers who purchase a camera are buying more then just a camera they are purchasing memories. Level 2Actual Product: All cameras capture memories. The aim is to ensure that your potential customers purchase your one. The strategy at this level involves organizations branding, adding features and benefits to ensure that their product offers a differential advantage from their competitors. Level 3: Augmented product: What additional non-tangible benefits can you offer? Competition at this level is based around after sales service, warranties, delivery and so on. John Lewis a retail departmental store offers free five year guarantee on purchases of their Television sets, this gives their `customers the additional benefit of peace of mind over the five years should their purchase develop a fault. Idea generation New product development starts with idea generation the systematic search for new product ideas. A company typically has to generate many in order to find a few good once. According to one well-known management consultant, For every 1 000 ideas, only 100 will have enough commercial t0 promise to merits a small sca1e experiment only 10 of those will Warrant substantial financial commitment and of those a couple will turn out to be unqualified successes. His conclusion? If you want to find a few ideas with the power to enthrall customer, foil competition, and thrill investors you must first generate hundreds and potentially thousands of unconventional strategic ideas. Internal Idea Sources Using internal sources the company can find new ideas through formal research and development. It can pick the brains of its executives Scientists engineers manufacturing staff Sand sales people Some companies have-developed successful entrepreneurial programs that encourage employees to think up and develop new product ideas. For example 3M s well known 15-percent rule allow employees to spend 15 percent of their tine bootlegging -working on projects of personal interest whether or not those project directly benefit the company. Companies some times look for creative innovation approaches that overcome barriers to the free flow-of new product ideas For example firms like Eureka Ranch-a well known new product hatchery -employ both method and madness in helping companies to jumpstart their new product idea generation process. External Idea Sources Good new product idea also come from watching and listening to customers The company can analyze customer questions and complaints to find new products that better solve consumes problems Company engineers or salespeople can meet with and work. Alongside customers to get suggestions and ideas The Company can conduct surveys or focus groups to learn about Consumer needs and wants. Heinz did just that when its researchers approached children who consume more than half of the ketchup sold find out what would make ketchup more appealing to them The answer change the color So, Heinz developed and launc1iedEZ Squirt green ketchup that comes iii a squeezable bottle targeted at kids Blastin Green ketchup was a smash hit, so Heinz followed up with an entire rainbow of EZ Squirt colors, including Funky Purple Passion Pink, Awesome Orange, Totally Teal, and Stellar Blue. The EZ Squirt bottle s special nozzle also emits a thin ketchup stream, so tykes can autograph their burgers (or squirt someo ne across the table though Heinz neglects to mention that). In all the new line earned the Company a 5 percent increase in sales ii the first year after hitting the grocery shelf. Consumers often create new products and uses on their own and companies can benefit by putting them on the market. For example for years customers were spreading the word that Skin-so-soft bath oil and moisturizer was also a terrific bug repellent. Whereas some Consumers Were content simply to bathe an water scented with the fragrant oil others carried it in their backpacks to mosquito-infested campsites or kept a bottle on the deck of their beach houses Avon tuned the idea into a complete line of Skin-So-Soft Bug Guard PLUS lR335Â ® products including the Insect Repellent Gentle Breeze Moistures Sun block Lotion SPF 30 a combination moisturizer insect repellent and sunscreen. The search for new-product ideas should be systematic rather than haphazard. Otherwise few new ideas will surface and many good ideas will sputter and die Top management can avoid these problems by installing an idea management system that directs the flow of new ideas to a central point where they can be collected reviewed and evaluated hi setting up such a system the company can do any or all of the following. Appoint a respected senior person to be the company s idea manager. Create a cross-functional idea management committee consisting of people from RD, engineering purchasing operations finance and sales and marketing to meet regri1rly and evaluate proposed new product and service ideas. Set up a toll-free number or Web site for anyone who wants to send a new idea to the idea manager. Encourage all company stakeholders-employees suppliers, distributors, dealers-to send their ideas to the idea manager. Set up formal recognition programs to reward those who contribute the best new ideas. Idea Screening The purpose of idea generation is to create a large number of ideas. The purpose of the succeeding stages is to reduce that number. The first idea-reducing stage is idea screening, which helps spot good ideas and drop poor ones as soon as possible. Product development costs rise greatly in later Stages, so the company wants to go ahead only with the product ideas that will turn into profitable products. The object is to eliminate unsound concepts prior to devoting resources to them. The screeners must ask at least three questions: Will the customer in the target market benefit from the product? What is the size and growth forecasts of the market segment/target market? What is the current or expected competitive pressure for the product idea? What are the industry sales and market trends the product idea is based on? Is it technically feasible to manufacture the product? Will the product be profitable when manufactured and delivered to the customer at the target price? Many companies require their executives to write up new-product ideas on a standard form that can be reviewed by a new-product committee. The write-up describes the product, the target market, and the competition. It makes some rough estimates of market size, product price, development time and costs, manufacturing costs, and rate of return. The committee then evaluates the idea against a set of general criteria. For example, at Kao Company, the large Japanese consumer-products company, the committee asks questions such as these: Is the product truly useful to consumer and society? Is it good for our particular company? Does it mesh well with the companys objectives and strategies? Do we have the people, skills, and resources to make it succeed? Does it deliver more value to customers than do competing products? Is it easy to advertise and distribute? Many companies have well-designed systems for rating and screening new-product ideas. Concept development and testing An attractive idea must be developed into a product concept. It is important to distinguish between a product idea, a product concept, and a product image. A product idea is an idea for a possible product that the company can see itself offering to the market. A product concept is a detailed version of the idea stated in meaningful consumer terms. A product image is the way consumers perceive an actual or potential product. Develop the marketing and engineering details Who is the target market and who is the decision maker in the purchasing process? What product features must the product incorporate? What benefits will the product provide? How will consumers react to the product? How will the product be produced most cost effectively? Prove feasibility through virtual computer aided rendering, and rapid prototyping What will it cost to produce it? Concept Development After 10 years of development, DaimlerChrysler is getting ready to commercialize its experimental fuel-cell-powered electric car. This cars nonpolluting fuel-cell system runs directly on methanol, which delivers hydrogen to the fuel cell with only water as a by-product. It is highly fuel efficient (75 percent more efficient than gasoline engines) and gives the new car an environmental advantage over standard internal combustion engine cars or even todays stupefacient gasoline-electric hybrid cars. Last year, DaimlerChrysler put 60 F-cell cars on the road in Japan, Germany, and the United states to test their worth in everyday operation. Based on the tiny Mercedes A-Class, the car accelerates quickly, reaches speeds of 90 miles per hour, and has a 280-mile driving range, giving it a huge edge over battery-powered electric cars that travel only about 80 miles before needing 3 to 12 hours off recharging. Fuel cell systems are also being tested in busses, trucks, and other vehicles. Now DimlerChryslers task is to develop this new product into alternative product concepts, find out how, attractive each concept is to customers, and choose the best one. It might create the following product concepts for the fuel-cell electric car: Concept 1 A moderately priced subcompact designed as a second family car to be used around town. The car is ideal for running errands and visiting friends. Concept 2 A medium-cost sporty compact appealing to young people. Concept 3 A inexpensive subcompact green car appealing to environmentally conscious people who want practical transportation and low pollution. Concept 4 A high-end SUV appealing to those who love the space SUVs provide but lament the poor gas mileage. Concept Testing Concept testing calls for testing new-product concepts with groups of target consumers. The concepts may be presented to consumers symbolically or physically. Here; in words, is concept 3: An efficient fun-to drive fuel cell-powered electric subcompact car that seats four. This methanol powered high-tech wonder provides practical and reliable trans potation with virtually o pollution It goes up to 90 miles per hour and unlike battery-powered electric cars, it never needs recharging It s priced, fully equipped at $20000. For some concept tests a word or picture description might be sufficient. However a more concrete and physical presentation of the concept will increase the reliability of the concept test Today some marketers are finding innovative ways to make product concepts more real to consumer subjects For example some are using virtual reality to test product concepts. Virtual reality programs use computers and sensory devices (such as gloves or goggles) to simulate reality A designer of kitchen cabinets might use a virtual reality program to help a customer see how his or her kitschier would look and work if remodeled with the companys products. After being exposed to the concept consumers then may be asked to react to at by answering questions such as those. The answers will help the company decide which concept has the strongest appeal For example the last question asks about the consumers intention to buy Suppose 10 percent of the consumers said they definitely would buy and another 5 pe rcent said obab1y The company could project these figures to the full population in this target group to estimate sales volume Even then the estimate is uncertain because people do not always carry out their stated intentions. Marketing Strategy development Suppose DaimlerChrysler finds that concept 3 for the fuel cell powered electric car tests is best The next step is marketing strategy development designing an initial marketing strategy for introducing this car to the market. The marketing strategy statement consists of three parts. The first part describes the tar get market the planned product positioning; and the sates, market share, and profit goals for the first few years. Thus: The target market is younger well educated moderate to high income individuals couples or small families seeking practical environmentally responsible transportation The car will be positioned as more economical to operate, more fun to drive, and less polluting than today s internal combustion engine or hybrid cars It is also less restricting than battery powered electric cars which must be recharged regularly. The company will aim to sell 100 000 cars in the first year at a loss of not more than $15 million In the second year the company wall aim for sales of 120,000 cars and a profit of $25 million. The second part of the marking strategy statement outlines the product s planned price distribution and marketing budget for the first year: The fuel cell powered electric car will be offered an three colors-red white and blue-and will have optional air-conditioning and power drive features It will sell at a retail price of $20,000-with 15 percent off the list price to dealers. Dealers who sell more than 10 cars per month will get an additional discount of5 percent on each car sold that month An advertising budget of$5Q million will be split 50-50 between a national media campaign and local advertising. Advertising will emphasize the cars fun spirit and low emissions. During the first year, $100,000 will be spent on marketing research to find out who is buying the car and their satisfaction levels. Business analysis Once management has decided on its product concept and marketing strategy it can evaluate the business- attractiveness of the proposal. Business analysis involves a review of the sales costs, and profit projections for anew product to find out whether they satisfy the companys objectives. If they do the-product can move to-the product development stage. To estimate sales, the company might look at the sales history of similar products and conduct surveys of market opinion. It can then estimate minimum and maximum sales to assess the range of risk. After preparing the sales forecast, management can estimate the expected costs and profits for the product including marketing RD operations accounting and finance costs. The company then uses the sales and costs figures to analyze the new products financial attractiveness. Estimate likely selling price based upon competition and customer feedback Estimate sales volume based upon size of market and such tools as the Fourt-Woodlock equation Estimate profitability and breakeven point Product development So far for many new product concepts the product may have existed only as a word a thawing or perhaps a crude mock-up If the product concept passes the business test it moves into product development Here RD or engineering develops the product concept into a physical product. The product development step however now calls for a large jump in investment It will show whether the product idea can be turned into a work able product. The RD department will develop and test one or more physical versions of the product concept RD hopes to design a prototype that will satisfy and excite consumers and that can be produced quickly aid at budgeted costs. Developing a successful prototype can take days, weeks, months, or even years. Often products under go rigorous tests to make sure that they perform safely and effectively, or that consumers will find value in them. Here are some examples of such product tests: Procter Gamb1e (PG)spends $150 million on 4,000 to 5 0O studies a year test in everything from the ergonomics of picking up a shampoo bottle to how long women can keep their hands in sudsy water. On any given day subjects meet an focus groups e11 their dirty laundry to researchers put prototype diapers on their babies bottoms and rub mysterious creams on their faces Last year one elementary school raised $17000 by having students and parents take part in PG product tests Students tested toothpaste and shampoo and ate brownies while their mothers watched advertising for Tempo tissue PG s paper wipes packaged to fit in a car. At Gillette almost everyone gets involved in new product testing. Every working day at Gillette, 200 volunteers from various departments come to work unshaven troop to the second floor of the companys gritty South Boston plant and enter small booths with a sink and mirror. There they take instructions from technicians on the other side of a small window as to which razor, shaving cream or after shave to use The volunteers evaluate razors for sharpness of blade, smoothness of glide and ease of handling In a nearby shower room women perform the same ritual on their legs, underarms and what the company delicately refers to as the bikini area. We bleed so you. 11 get a good shave at home says one Gillette employee. Test marketing If the product passes functional and consumer tests, the next step is test marketing the stage at which the product and marketing program are introduced into more realistic market settings. Test marketing gives the marketer experience with marketing the product before going to the great expense of full introduction. It lets the company test the product and its entire marketing program-positioning strategy advertising distribution pricing branding and packaging and budget levels. The amount of test marketing needed varies with each new product Test marketing costs can be high, and it takes time that may allow competitors to gain advantages. Produce a physical prototype or mock-up Test the product (and its packaging) in typical usage situations Conduct focus group customer interviews or introduce at trade show Make adjustments where necessary Produce an initial run of the product and sell it in a test market area to determine customer acceptance When the costs of developing and introducing the product are low or when management as already confident about the new product the company may do little or no test marketing In fact test marketing by consumer package-goods firms has been declining in recent years Companies often do not test market simple line extensions or copies of successful competitor products For example. PG introduced its Folgerss decaffeinated coffee crystals without test marketing and Pillsbury rolled out Chewy granola bars and chocolate covered Granola Dips with no standard test market. However when introducing a new product requires a big investment or when management is not sure of the product or marketing program a company may do a lot of test marketing. For instance Lever USA spent 2 years testing its highly successful Lever 2000 bar soap in Atlanta before introducing it internationally. Frito-Lay did 18 months of testing in three markets on at least five formulations before introducing its Baked Lays lin e of low fat snacks. And Nokia test-marketed its N-Gage cell phone/mobile game player extensively in London before introducing it worldwide. Standard test Marketing Using standard test markets, the company finds a small number of representative test cities conducts a full marketing campaign in these cities and uses store audits consumer and distributor surveys, and other measures to gauge product performance. The results are used to forecast national sales and profits discover potential product problems and fine tune the marketing program. Standard test markets have some drawbacks. They can be very costly and they may take a long time-some last as long as 3 to 5 years Moreover competitors can monitor test market results or even interfere with them by cutting their prices in test cities increasing their pro motion or even buying up the product being tested. Finally test market give competitors a look at the companys new product well before it is introduced nationally Thus competitors may have tune to develop defensive strategies and may even beat the company s product to the market For example while CLOROXÂ ® was still test marketing its new detergent with bleach in selected markets PG launched Tide with Bleach nationally Tide with Bleach quickly became the segment leader GLOROXÂ ® later withdrew its detergent Despite these disadvantages standard test markets are still the most widely used approach for major in-market testing However many companies today are shifting toward quicker and cheaper controlled and simulated test marketing methods. Control Test Marketing Several research firms keep controlled panels of stores that have agreed to carry new products for a fee Controlled test marketing systems like ACNielsens Scan track and Information Resources Inc s (IRI) Behavior Scan track individual consumer behavior for new products from the television set to the checkout counter. In each Behavior Scan market WI maintains a panel of shoppers who report all of their purchases by showing an identification card at check-out in participating stores and by using a handheld scanner at home to record purchases at nonparticipating stores. With in test stores, IRI controls such factors as shelf placement price and ia-store promotions for the product being tested IRI also measures TV viewing in each panel household and sends special commercials to panel member television sets Direct mail promotions can also be tested. Commercialization Commercialization is the process or cycle of introducing a new product into the market. The actual launch of a new product is the final stage of new product development, and the one where the most money will have to be spent for advertising, sales promotion, and other marketing efforts. In the case of a new consumer packaged good, costs will be at least $ 10 million, but can reach up to $ 200 million. In general one can say that it will cost about a dollar for each dollar of sales turnover achieved. Commercialization is often confused with sales, marketing or business development. The Commercialization process has three key aspects: The funnel. It is essential to look at many ideas to get one or two products or business that can be sustained long-term It is a stage-wise process and each stage has its own key goals and milestones It is vital to involve key stakeholders early, including customers Commercialization of a product will only take place, if the following four questions can be answered: When? The company has to decide on the introduction timing. When facing the danger of cannibalizing the sales of the companys other products, if the product can be improved further, or if the economy is down, the launch should be delayed. Every single bank in Nigeria today has been commercialized. But its sad enough to know that most of these banks are not straight forward in their various dealings with their clines/customers. Where? The company has to decide where to launch its products. It can be in a single location, one or several regions, a national or the international market. This decision will be strongly influenced by the companys resources, in terms of capital, managerial confidence and operational capacities. Smaller companies usually launch in attractive cities or regions, while larger companies enter a national market at once. Global roll outs are generally only undertaken by multinational conglomerates, since they have the necessary size and make use of international distribution systems (e.g., Unilever, Procter Gamble). Other multinationals use the lead-country strategy: introducing the new product in one country/region at a time (e.g. Colgate-Palmolive). To Whom? The primary target consumer group will have been identified earlier by research and test marketing. These primary consumer groups should consist of innovators, early adopters, heavy users and/or opinion leaders. This will ensure adoption by other buyers in the market place during the product growth period. How? The company has to decide on an action plan for introducing the product by implementing the above decisions. It has to develop a viable marketing mix and create a respective marketing budget. Test marketing gives management the information needed to make a final decision about whether to launch the new product. If the company goes ahead with commercialization- introducing the new product into the market-it will face high costs The company may have to build or rent a manufacturing facility. And it may have to spend in the case of a new consumer packaged good between $10 million and $200 million for advertising sales promotion, and other marketing efforts in the first year. The company launching a new product must first decide on introduction timing. If DaimlerChrysler s new fuel cell electric car will eat into the sales of the company s other cars its introduction may be delayed If the car can be improved further, or if the economy is down, the company may wait until the following year to launch it. Next, the company must decide where to launch the new product-in a single location, a region the national market or the international market. Few companies have the confidence capital and capacity to launch new products into full national or international distribution. They will develop a planned market rollout over time. In particular small companies may enter attractive cities or regions one at a time Larger companies, however may quickly intro- 1uce new models into several regions or into the full national market. There are the following step of commercialization. Launch the product Produce and place advertisements and other promotions Fill the distribution pipeline with product Critical path analysis is most useful at this stage Organizing for new product Development Many companies organize their new product development process into the orderly sequence of starting-with idea generation and ending with commercialization Under this sequential product development approach one company department works individually to complete its stage of the process before passing the new product along to the development next department and stage. This orderly step-by step process can help bring control to complex and risky projects. But it also can be dangerously slow. In fast changing highly competitive works markets such slow but sure product development can result in pro4uct failures lost sales arid profits and crumbling market positions Speed to market and reducing new product development cycle time have become pressing concerns to companies in all industries. In order to get their new products to market more quickly many companies are adopting a faster team-oriented approach called simultaneous product development (or team bad or collaborative product-development) Under this approach company departments work closely together through cross functional teams overlapping the steps in the product development process to save time and increase effectiveness Instead of passing the new product from department to department the company assembles a team -of people from various departments that Stays with the new product from start to finish. Such teams usually include people from the marketing finance design, manufacturing and legal departments and even supplier and customer companies. top management gives the product development team general strategic direction but no clear cut product idea or work plan It challenges the team with stiff and seemingly contradictory goals- turn out carefully planned and superior new products but do it quickly -and then givers the team whatever freedom and resources it needs to meet the challenge In the sequential process a bottleneck at one phase can seriously slow the entire protect In the simultaneous approach, if one functional area hits snags it works to resolve them while the team moves on. The Data Collection Primary Data BOOKS Principal of Marketing (Eleventh Edition) Part III Chapter# 9 Page # 274,276,280,282 Web site www.learnmarketing.net www.wikipedia.org www.infotrends.com Secondary Data Organization PG Pakistan Private (Ltd

Race, Gender, & Mass Media

Honestly when I signed up for this class at the end of last year I was kind of looking forward to it. When I heard the name of the class I thought it would be very interesting and give me a new perspective on the world and my place in it. To me, this class will be about how the media portrays the genders and races of the world; how the advertisements we see in our everyday lives affect the way we go about them.I would like to think that I know a little bit about this subject already. I watch the news and try to stay up to date on current events. I know about the rioting in Ferguson and I think I have basic knowledge of why it's happening. The media plays a huge part in what the public sees so unless we are actually there we don't know the whole situation. In this class I hope to learn a lot more about how the media can obstruct the truth in these circumstances. I also hope to learn more about how the media portrays genders.I know it has a lot to do with gender roles, white men are se en as more dominant. I also know that women are not looked upon as equals even in 2014. The media shows women as dependent on men when in fact that is not true. There are plenty of independent and thriving women in today's society. Women are not as respected as men and they are often times paid less, offered less benefits, and discriminated simply because â€Å"they are women†. I know that in America and a lot of the world we are a society of rape culture.Women are taught not to dress specific says and to learn to defend themselves while men are not taught anything on the subject. I have seen rape Jokes on social media more than once and can't begin to understand why someone would think that something so serious is a Joke. It blows my mind that girls can be denied education because they are showing their shoulders. How can that be more important than education and why are boys not punished for looking? I hope to learn a lot more about the gender area of the media because as a woman, it affects me in my everyday life.Mass media has a huge effect on the perception of race as well. Black males are often made out to be vicious and dangerous, Mexicans are seen as dirty and poor, and no one cares enough to distinguish the different branches of Asian nationality; they are all grouped together as â€Å"Chinese† or â€Å"Japanese†. When a white person commits a crime, what the news stations air is completely different than what they would air if a person of different race committed the same crime. A huge example of this and one that I already mentioned is the riots in Ferguson.I hope that in this class I learn why inequality like this is still happening in modern day society. Basically in this class I hope to learn a lot more about the way our society sees gender and race in areas such as the media. Out of all my classes this year this is the only one I really look forward to, and not Just because my friends are in it, but because I'm interested in the content of the class. Hopefully I learn a lot this year about subjects that matter in today's society.

Outrageous Argumentative Essay Topics on Domestic Violence Tips

Outrageous Argumentative Essay Topics on Domestic Violence Tips If you're interested in our variety of services provided, you're able to easily contact us in case of need. A fast visit to our on-line site is going to have you spoilt for choice. The term can be categorized on several bases. Because of this, wider research ought to be undertaken in this discipline, and its practical value may not be overestimated. There are various types of essays on domestic violence. Help your audience to comprehend the problem better by discussing the effects of domestic violence, even if it's not the main point of your paper. In a sociology class by way of example, you could be requested to compose an argumentative essay on domestic violence. When you're writing an argumentative essay about domestic violence, it's essential not to get rid of the plot. There is a particular controversy linked to this matter, that's why it can be chosen as a superior argumentative essay topic. First and foremost you must receive a hot topic that would ordinarily spark controversy. Only a pick a topic about which you're passionate and then you may start your research. Find out more about the topic thoroughly. Domestic violence is often related to mistreatment of women. It remains a significant social problem in many countries all over the world. It is a serious issue that affects a large percentage of every society, no matter how wealthy the nation. It is among the serious social problems that should not be ignored. More preventive measures have to be taken since the predicament is threatening. Sensitive social and mental issues need careful and expert handling, so we've recruited skilled psychologists and social workers to counsel our writers. Therefore, it's essential to particularly outline the significance of emotional abuse. Serious health problems have been linked with domestic violence. You ought to have a stronghold on the way the audience views the topic that you're writing about so you can better relate to them. This essay is all about the arabic language and the way it could help the people people will discover that it's difficult to get a great job if they don't know an asian. Therefore, many students and employees decide to obtain affordable essay rather than writing it themselves. Lots of people are getting to be abusive to their relatives and partners. However, you can rest assured that you're getting a fine work for the price tag you're paying. And, the time that it to ok to gather all this to find prepared for a trip. If you're in an abusive relationship or know a person who is, it's your responsible to use the many resources out there to be able to find assist. An important number of deaths are happening on daily basis, as a consequence of domestic violence only. 85000 of those are a casualty of over 6 counts. Females are usually the perpetrators in spousal violence in all cultures which have been studied up to now. Normally, we have a tendency to think about women and children as being the key victims. Women and kids are frequently the soft targets. In many cases, the abusive partner appears perfect in the early phases of the relationship. You need to have a solid grasp of the audiences perception of the topic which you have selected If you've ever sat and watched politicians speak, you've undoubtedly noticed that they not just have a way with words but they have a superior understanding of what's going on in the minds of the majority of people. The variety of things, that should be done during the day, is not possible to count, and this all causes numerous psychological issues, which people aren't always able to address timely. There are hundreds and hundreds of people who are traumatized for the remainder of their lives.

The Basic Buddhist Teachings - 773 Words

Explain the basic Buddhist teachings including the Three Marks of Reality, the Four Noble Truths, and the Noble Eightfold Path. The Three Marks of Reality denote the nature of human existence: the reality of suffering (which does not mean the presence of sorrow, but rather the existence of a constantly-changing world where neither extreme happiness nor misery is stable); the impermanent nature of all things, including human existence; and finally egolessness or the notion that there is no stable, human self (OBrien, 2012, Three Marks). The Three Marks of Reality relate directly to the Four Noble Truths, the first tenant of which is that there is suffering in the world, and the second of which is that there is a cause of suffering: suffering caused by the false conception that there is a stable human ego. The third noble truth is that there is an end to suffering, and the fourth is that the end to suffering can be achieved by following the Eightfold Path (OBrien, 2012, Four Noble Truths). The Eightfold Path is divided into three basic sections: that of wisdom, ethical conduct, and mental discipline. Right view and right intention means understanding what the Buddha taught and striving to follow the path for the right reasons. Right speech, action, and livelihood mean acting in a beneficial manner towards others. Right effort, mindfulness and concentration require the practitioner to discipline him or herself with meditation (OBrien, 2012, Eightfold Path). Amongst allShow MoreRelatedThe Buddhist Culture For My Project1316 Words   |  6 Pages I chose to learn about the Buddhist culture for my project. I’ve always wondered how they believe and worship, and this gave me an opportunity to find out. I was bummed when I went to the Buddhist Temple in Murfreesboro to not be able to go in. 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Observation Essay About Gymnasts - 984 Words

Zachary Grenier Paper 3 Professor Stutzman November 20, 2011 Androgynous Athletes or Just Girls? It’s midafternoon, class-bound students are passing each other in the halls, and all I can hear is loud music secreting from two large oak doors with fogged glass. I peer in through the slightly ajar door to observe something amazing. A circus of sorts was hiding just outside the hallway. Flipping, jumping, spinning, and tumbling, in every direction I looked. Metal apparatus stretch high into the sky with silhouettes of strong bodied females gracefully swinging from bar to bar. On my left an elevated floor with more scattered females charging down a path of blue mats concluding with cartwheels and back flips. To my right a more†¦show more content†¦I could see the girls were fighters and like a pack of wolves will surround each other in protection. I viewed the maternal instinct women are born with and a camaraderie known to anyone who’s played a team sport. Most female students at Southern have no camouflage and surface appeal gives it all away. Some are purely there for education, while others to impress the male student body. The motivation behind their look and stride is about attracting attention. Most girls at Southern show pride for sports through a sweatshirt or boyfriends track jacket. Like in the fifties, the same rules apply to college relationships and symbols of commitment remain the same. The women’s gymnastics team is distinct though. They were consistently worried about each other and impressions were made through achievements not a letter jacket. No armoire is worn on their battlefield, just calloused hands and dedication. I just stood there for over an hour in pure awe. So while I stand in admiration of these girls, their personalities and talents woven intricately together to form a resilient team, I can’t help but put them on a pedestal. 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Gaps of Service Quality Free Essays

Measuring Perceived Service Quality Using s e rv q ua l: A Case Study of the Croatian Hotel Industry ? s u z ana m ar k ovi c Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija, Croatia s an j a r as p o r Polytechnic of Rijeka, Croatia The purpose of the study is to examine customers’ perceptions of service quality in the Croatian hotel industry. The aim is to assess the perceived service quality of hotel attributes and to determine the factor structure of service quality perception. A modi? d s e rv q ua l scale was used to assess service quality perceptions from the perspective of domestic and international tourists. We will write a custom essay sample on Gaps of Service Quality or any similar topic only for you Order Now Data were collected in 15 hotels in the Opatija Riviera (Croatia), using a self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive statistical analysis, exploratory factor analysis and reliability analysis were conducted. The study results indicate the rather high expectations of hotel guests regarding service quality. ‘Reliability,’ ‘empathy and competence of staff,’ ‘accessibility’ and ‘tangibles’ are the key factors that best explained customers’ expectations of hotel service quality. The results of the quantitative assessment of perceived service quality may provide some insights on how customers rate the service quality of a particular hotel. Thus, the ? ndings can be used as a guide for hotel managers to improve the crucial quality attributes and enhance service quality and business performance. Key words: service quality, servqual, factor analysis, reliability analysis, hotel industry Introduction In the highly competitive hotel industry, service becomes one of the most important elements for gaining a sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. Consequently, the efforts of service managers and academic researchers are directed towards understanding how customers perceive the quality of service. Customers are likely to view services as a variety of attributes that may, in different ways, contribute to their purchase intentions and perceptions of service quality. Although researchers (Gronroos 1984; Parasuraman, Berry and Zeithaml 1985, Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry 1988; Zeithaml, Parasuraman and Berry 1990) have focused m anag e m e n t 5 ( 3 ) : 195–209 195 ? Suzana Markovic and Sanja Raspor on different aspects of service quality, they all agree that the emphasis should be on customers. The most common de? nition of the concept is attitude, which results from a comparison of customers’ expectations with perceptions of performance (Parasuraman, Berry and Zeithaml 1985, Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry 1988). What is more, customers perceive service quality as a multidimensional concept. The speci? c nature of services makes it dif? cult to provide, measure and maintain their quality. However, Parasuraman Berry and Zeithaml and Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1985, 1988) presented the s e rvq ual scale, which became the most popular instrument for measuring service quality. The model has been applied in various service industries, including tourism and hospitality. In most of the researches the instrument was modi? ed to suit the features of a speci? c service. The study has several objectives. The ? rst objective is to determine the level of perceived service quality in Croatian hotels. The second aim is to establish the number of dimensions of perceived service quality in the hospitality industry, using the modi? ed s e rvq ual model. Finally, the third objective is to test the reliability of the modi? ed s e rvq ual model. Conceptual Background p e r c e i ve d s e rvic e q ual i t y The service quality construct is mostly conceptualized in the context of service marketing literature (Lee, Lee and Yoo 2000). Therefore, it deals with the concept of perceived service quality. According to Zeithaml, Parasuraman and Berry (1990), perceived service quality is the extent to which a ? m successfully serves the purpose of customers. Customers determine the perceived or cognitive value of service based on their experience with the service delivered. Ghobadian, Speller and Jones (1994) stated that customers’ expectations, service delivery process and service outcome have an impact on perceived service quality. Yoo and Park (2007) found that employees, as an integral part of the service process, are a critical element in enhancing perceived service quality. Furthermore, Edvardsson (2005) pointed out that service quality perceptions are formed during the production, delivery and consumption process. The author concluded that customers’ favorable and unfavorable experience, as well as their positive and negative emotions may have an important impact on 196 m anag e m e n t  · vo lu m e 5 Measuring Perceived Service Quality Using servq ual perceived service quality. Similarly, O’Neill and Palmer (2003) have reported that customers’ perceptions of service quality may, to a large extent, be in? uenced by the degree of their prior experience with a particular service. In the hospitality industry, several studies have examined hotel attributes that guests may ? d important when evaluating the performed service quality. Literature review suggests that cleanliness (Atkinson 1988; Knutson 1988; Gundersen, Heide and Olsson 1996), security and safety (Atkinson, 1988; Knutson, 1988; Gundersen et al. 1996), employees’ empathy and competence (Atkinson 1988; Knutson 1988; Barsky and Labagh 1992; Gundersen, Heide ? and Olsson 1996; Choi and Chu 2001; Markovic 2004) , convenient location (Knutson 1988; Barsky and Labagh 1992), value for money (Atkinson 1988; Gundersen, Heide and Olsson 1996; Choi and Chu ? 001) and physical facilities (Choi and Chu 2001; Markovic 2004) are attributes that hotel guests perceive as being important. It should be noted that according to some authors, perceived service quality has been accepted as an antecedent of customer satisfaction (Churchill and Suprenant 1982; Oliver 1997). What is more, Rowley (1998) argued that perceived service quality is an attitude related to, but not the same, as satisfaction. It is evident that the relationship between these two concepts is complex and that they have a causal ordering. e rvi c e q ual i t y m e as u r e m e n t One of the main research instruments for measuring quality in service industries is the s e rvq ual model, developed by Parasuraman Berry and Zeithaml and Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (1985; 1988). The model contains 22 items for assessing customer perception s and expectations regarding the quality of service. A level of agreement or disagreement with a given item is rated on a sevenpoint Likert-type scale. The level of service quality is represented by the gap between perceived and expected service. The s e rvq ual model is based on ? e service quality dimensions, namely tangibles (physical facilities, equipment and personnel appearance), reliability (ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately), responsiveness (willingness to help customers and provide prompt service), assurance (knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to gain trust and con? dence) and empathy (providing individualized attention to the customers). During the last few years a variety of service quality studies have been conducted (Ladhari 2008). Among others, service quality was n u m b e r 3  · fal l 2 0 1 0 97 ? Suzana Markovic and Sanja Raspor measured in: accounting and audit ? rms (Ismail 2006), health spas ? (Snoj and Mumel 2 002; Markovic, Horvat and Raspor 2004), higher ? ? education (Russel 2005; Markovic 2006), hotels (Markovic 2003, 2004; Juwaheer 2004; Wang, Wang and Zhao 2007; Raspor 2009), insurance (Tsoukatos, Marwa and Rand 2004), public-transport (Sanchez Perez 2007), restaurants (Andaleeb and Conway 2006; Namkung and Jang 2008), travel agencies (Martinez Caro and Martinez Garcia 2008), and web-sites (Parasuraman, Zethaml and Malhotra 2005; Nusair and Kandampully 2008). Despite its wide usage, the model has been criticized by a number of academics (Carman 1990; Babakus and Boller 1992; Teas 1994). Criticism was directed at the conceptual and operational base of the model, mostly its validity, reliability, operationalization of expectations, and dimensional structure. However, there is general agreement that s e rvq ual items are reliable predictors of overall service quality (Khan 2003). As a result of these criticisms, alternative measures of service quality for speci? c service settings were developed. In the tourism and hospitality industry, Knutson et al. (1991) developed l o d g s e rv, a model utilized to measure service quality in the lodging industry. The model is based on ? ve original s r evq ual dimensions and contains 26 items. Getty and Thompson (1994) introduced another speci? c model for hotel settings, called l o d g q ua l, as did Wong Ooi Mei, Dean and White (1999) who developed a h o l s e rv model. The l o d ge q ual model identi? ed three dimensions, namely tangibles, reliability and contact. On the other hand, the h o l s e rv model includes 27 items, grouped in ? e original s e rv q ua l dimensions. Furthermore, d i n e s e rv is a model used for measuring restaurant service quality (Stevens, Knutson and Patton 1995). It contains 29 items and ? ve s e rv q ua l dimensions. O’Neill et al. (2000) developed the d i ve p e r f model for assessing perceptions of diving services. The model consists of ? ve servqual dimensions and 27 items. e c o s e rv was int roduced by Khan (2003). It was utilized to measure service quality expectations in eco-tourism, using 30 items and ? ve s e rvq ual dimensions. All of these models represent modi? ations of the s e rvq ual instrument, aiming to improve its original methodology. However, Cronin and Taylor (1992) argued that performance is the measure that best explains customers’ perceptions of service quality, so expectations should not be included in the service quality measurement instrument. They developed a performance-only scale called s e rvp e r f and tested it in four industries. Results indicated 198 m anag e m e n t  · vo lu m e 5 Measuring Perceived Service Quality Using servq ual that the s e rvp e r f model explains more of the variation in service quality than s e rvq ual; it had an excellent ? in all four industries and it contains only half the number of items that must be measured. These results were interpreted as additional support for the superiority of the servperf appr oach to the measurement of service quality. Several authors used the performance-only approach to assess service quality in tourism and hospitality settings. Travelers’ perceptions of hotel attributes were measured in Hong Kong’s hotels (Choi and Chu 2001), hotels of Mauritius (Juwaheer 2004) and Malaysian hotels (Poon and Lock-Teng Low 2005). The question of whether service quality should be measured as the difference between customers’ perceptions and expectations, or whether some alternative approach is more appropriate remains part of an extensive debate in service quality literature. Methodology Hotel guests’ perceptions were measured with a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was developed on the basis of a literature review and adopted to suit the speci? c features of a hotel setting (Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry 1988; Zeithaml et al. 1990; ? Snoj and Ogorelc 1998; Pizam and Ellis 1999; Markovic 2003). As a foundation or questionnaire development, the s e rvq ual model was used. The original items were slightly modi? ed to suit the hospitality setting. For example, instead of ‘x y z Company has modernlooking equipment,’ the statement was modi? ed to the ‘Hotel has modern-looking equipment. ’ The original item ‘Guests feel safe in their transactions with employees’ was replaced by the item ‘Guests feel safe and secure in their stay. ’ The reason for this change is the confusing meaning of the word ‘transactions’ and the fact that safety and security are regarded as an important factor in a hotel stay. Moreover, in order to measure attributes speci? to the hotel environment, the following items were added: ‘parking area’ (Pizam and Ellis 1999), ‘appropriate location,’ ‘available and clear information,’ ‘variety of facilities’ (Snoj and Ogorelc 1998), ‘clean and tidy hotel,’ ‘feeling safe and secure,’ ‘ease of ? nding a way around the hotel’ ? and ‘typical service quality for hotel category’ (Markovic, 2003). All the statements in the questionnaire were positively worded. Finally, the modi? cation resulted in the deletion of one original s e rvq ual item and the inclusion of eight new items, leaving a total of 29 hotel attributes. These attributes represented seven dimensions: ? e original servqual dimensions (tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, as- n u m b e r 3  · fal l 2 0 1 0 199 ? Suzana Markovic and Sanja Raspor surance, empathy) and two new dimensions, named as accessibility and output quality. The questionnaire consisted of two parts. The ? rst part measured guests’ perceptions of hotel attributes using a modi? ed s e rv q ua l model. Service quality perceptions were measured on a seven-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 ‘strongly disagree’ to 7 ‘strongly agree. ’ The second part was designed to capture respondents’ demographic and traveling characteristics, hich included country of residence, age, gender, purpose of visit, duration of staying at a hotel, level of education, and hotel category. The target population of the survey was guests staying in hotels on the Opatija Riviera (Croatia) during the summer of 2007. Qu estionnaires were distributed in 15 (2-, 3- and 4-star) hotels, after hotel managers agreed to participate in the study. Reception desk employees were asked to administer the questionnaires to guests during their hotel stay, and to collect them after completion. In each hotel questionnaires were randomly distributed to the guests. Of 265 returned questionnaires, 12 were not included in the analysis because of incompleteness. Thus, data analysis is based on a sample of 253 valid questionnaires. The response rate was 26 per cent. Descriptive statistical analysis was used to describe respondents’ demographic characteristics and to evaluate service quality perceptions of hotel guests. An exploratory factor analysis was performed on the 29 perception attributes included in the questionnaire in order to determine underlying dimensions of hotel service quality perceptions. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation was conducted. Items with eigenvalues equal to or greater than 1, factor loadings above 0. 4, and factors which contain at least three items were retained (Hair et al. 2006). Furthermore, a reliability analysis was performed to test the reliability of the scale and inner consistency of extracted factors. For this purpose, Cronbach’s alpha coef? cients were calculated. Results In order to achieve the study’s goals, descriptive analysis, factor analysis, and reliability analysis were performed. The results are presented as follows. First, respondents’ demographic and traveling characteristics are provided. Next, the results of descriptive analysis of guests’ perceptions are presented. Third, the results of factor and reliability analyses are interpreted. The statistical analysis was conducted on 253 valid questionnaires. The demographic and traveling characteristics of the respondents 200 m anag e m e n t  · vo lu m e 5 Measuring Perceived Service Quality Using servq ual tab le 1 Demographic pro? le of the respondents Items Percentage Gender Items Percentage Age Male 51. 8 16–25 3. 6 Female 48. 2 26–35 15. 4 Purpose of visit Business Visit friends, relatives Vacation Others 36–45 26. 1 . 1 46–55 19. 4 4. 3 56–65 25. 7 86. 2 0. 4 Level of education Primary school 66 and above 9. 9 Country of residence Austria Croatia 16. 6 Secondary school 29. 2 Italy 20. 9 Higher education 24. 1 Germany 14. 6 University and above 36. 4 Others 36. 8 Others 3. 6 11. 1 6. 7 Duration of staying at a hotel Hotel category 4-star 53. 3 1–3 days 19. 0 3-star 3 3. 3 4–7 days 49. 8 2-star 13. 4 8–15 days 28. 1 are presented in table 1. The sample included domestic (16. 6 per cent) and international tourists (83. 4 per cent). There were slightly more males (51. 8 per cent) than females (48. per cent), and most of the respondents (55 per cent) were older than 46 years. More than 60 per cent of hotel guests in the sample had a university or college education. About 86 per cent of the respondents indicated that the main purpose of their visit was vacation. Most of them stayed at a 4-star hotel, for between four and seven days. The results of the descriptive statistical analysis of guests’ perceptions in the hotel industry are shown in table 2. The range of service quality perceptions items was from 1 (very low perceptions) to 7 (very high perceptions). The mean scores of guests’ perceptions ranged from 4. 7 to 6. 34. The lowest perception item was ‘offering a variety of facilities,’ which indicates that hotels do not provide enough suitable facilities that could enhance hotel quality. On the other hand, hotel guests’ highest perceptions were regarding the ‘ease of ? nding a way around the hotel,’ Furthermore, guests highly assessed the following hotel attributes: ‘feeling safe and secure,’ ‘willingness for helping guests’ and ‘courteous hotel staff. ’ These indicate that a hotel’s staff has one of the crucial roles in n u m b e r 3  · fal l 2 0 1 0 201 ? Suzana Markovic and Sanja Raspor tab le 2 Average scores of service quality perceptions in hotel settings Attributes Mean St. dev. v1 Modern-looking equipment 5. 31 1. 48 v2 Visually appealing physical facilities 5. 53 1. 23 v3 Neat hotel staff 6. 13 0. 90 v4 Visually appealing materials (pamphlets, web-sites) 5. 53 1. 23 v5 Clean and tidy hotel 6. 06 1. 05 v6 Appropriate location 6. 19 1. 00 v7 Parking area 4. 96 1. 87 v8 Performing service in the promised time 5. 98 0. 93 v9 Interest in solving guests’ problems 6. 09 1. 00 v10 Performing services right the ? rst time 5. 99 0. 89 v11 Service without delays 6. 02 0. 84 v12 Error-free service 5. 81 . 98 v13 Knowing the exact time when service will be performed 6. 00 0. 90 v14 Hotel staff provides prompt service 5. 98 0. 91 v15 Willingness to help guests 6. 25 0. 80 v16 Hotel staff has time to answer guests’ questions 6. 13 0. 94 v17 Hotel staff instills con? dence 6. 14 0. 92 v18 Courteous hotel staff 6. 25 0. 82 v19 Hotel staff has knowledge to answer questions 5. 99 0. 90 v20 Feeling safe and secure 6. 29 0. 81 v21 Providing individual attention 5. 81 1. 03 v22 Convenient opening hours 5. 94 1. 01 v23 Hotel staff provides personal attention 5. 86 0. 98 v24 Guests’ best interests at heart 6. 02 0. 87 25 Understanding guests’ speci? c needs 5. 86 1. 01 v26 Ease of ? nding one’s way around the hotel 6. 34 0. 85 v27 Available and clear information in the hotel 6. 17 0. 89 v28 Offering a variety of facilities 4. 77 1. 66 v29 Typical service quality for hotel category 6. 03 1. 09 Overall mean for 29 attributes 5. 92 performing high service quality. The overall mean score for service quality perceptions items was 5. 92. This score indicates rather high perceptions of hotel guests regarding service quality. The exploratory factor analysis extracted ? ve factors, which accounted for 65. 1 per cent of variance in the data. Since the ? th factor contained only two items, it could not be considered as a factor and is not interpr eted. The results are presented in table 3. Most of the factor loadings were greater than 0. 60, implying a rea- 202 m anag e m e n t  · vo lu m e 5 Measuring Perceived Service Quality Using servq ual Factor analysis and reliability analysis results of hotel guests’ perceptions (n = 253) Items (n = 29) Factors f1 f2 f3 f4 f5 Communalities v9 0. 751 0. 688 v12 0. 732 0. 703 v13 0. 671 0. 595 v11 0. 658 0. 675 v10 0. 648 0. 615 v14 0. 623 0. 664 v22 0. 623 0. 557 v8 0. 586 0. 584 v3 0. 505 0. 614 v25 0. 731 0. 793 v16 0. 725 0. 748 v23 . 723 0. 776 v21 0. 713 0. 711 v19 0. 688 0. 616 v17 0. 632 0. 688 v27 0. 622 0. 683 v6 0. 693 0. 580 v26 0. 686 0. 625 v20 0. 618 0. 679 v18 0. 554 0. 685 v5 0. 549 0. 509 v24 0. 537 0. 632 v29 0. 529 0. 447 v15 0. 482 0. 598 v2 0. 784 0. 778 v1 0. 748 0. 723 v4 0. 501 v28 % of Variance Cronbach alpha Number of items 0. 684 0. 675 0. 669 2. 577 1. 514 18. 879 14. 774 8. 887 5. 222 65. 104 0. 869 0. 785 — 0. 953 8 3 2 v7 Eigenvalue 0. 56 2 0. 771 5. 551 4. 953 4. 284 19. 142 17. 079 0. 916 0. 917 9 7 sonably high correlation between extracted factors and their individual items. The communalities of 29 items ranged from 0. 47 to 0. 793 indicating that a large amount of variance has been extracted by the factor solution. Only one item (‘typical service quality for hotel category’) was below the suggested value of 0. 50 (Hair et al. , 2006). n u m b e r 3  · fal l 2 0 1 0 203 ? Suzana Markovic and Sanja Raspor The four remaining factors are labeled as follows: f 1 – ‘reliability’ (solving guests’ problems and performing error-free service at promised time), f2 – ‘empathy and competence of staff’ (staff knowledge and ability to provide individual attention), f 3 – ‘accessibility’ (appropriate location of the hotel and ease of communication and ? ding the way around the hotel) and f 4 – ‘tangibles’ (appearance of the fac ilities, equipment and communication materials). The ? rst factor contains most of the items and explains most of the variance. Thus, hotel service reliability is an important determinant of perceived service quality. The results of the reliability analysis showed that Cronbach’s alpha coef? cients of the extracted factors ranged from 0. 785 to 0. 917. That is well above the minimum value of 0. 60, which is considered acceptable as an indication of scale reliability (Hair et al. 2006). Thus, these values suggest good internal consistency of the factors. Finally, Cronbach’s alpha value for the overall perception scale is 0. 953 and indicates its high reliability. Discussion and Conclusion Perceptions of hotel service quality are the degree to which hotel guests ? nd various hotel attributes important in enhancing their satisfaction with the hotel stay. In the present study, it was revealed that the main dimensions of perceived service quality in hotels are ‘reliability,’ ‘empathy and competence of staff,’ ‘accessibility,’ and ‘tangibles. ’ Two of these are similar to the s e rvq ual model, while others overlap with the original s e rvq ual dimensions. However, the studies conducted in the hotel sector identi? ed different outcomes with regard to the number and interpretation of dimensions guests use to assess perceived hotel service quality. Akan (1995) reported a seven-dimension structure, labeled as ‘courtesy and competence of the personnel,’ ‘communications and transactions,’ ‘tangibles,’ ‘knowing and understanding the customer,’ ‘accuracy and speed of service,’ ‘solutions to problems’ and ‘accuracy of hotel reservations. ’ Wong Ooi Mei et al. (1999) identi? ed ‘employees,’ ‘tangibles’ and ‘reliability’ as key dimensions of service quality in the hospitality industry. Moreover, Choi and Chu (2001) reported the following seven dimensions: ‘staff service quality,’ ‘room qualities,’ ‘general amenities,’ ‘business services,’ ‘value,’ ‘security’ and ? ‘i d d facilities,’ Markovic (2003) identi? ed a three-dimension solution, interpreted as ‘empathy and assurance of hotel staff,’ ‘reliability,’ and ‘physical quality. ’ This implies that the number and de? nition of the dimensions depend on the measurement context. 204 m anag e m e n t  · vo lu m e 5 Measuring Perceived Service Quality Using servq ual Furthermore, the ? ndings of this study reveal that among the four dimensions, reliability’ has emerged as the most important predictor of perceived service quality. In the hospitality industry, this dimension refers to solving guests’ problems, performing error-free service at the promised time, providing prompt service, convenient opening hours of hotel facilities. This ? nding is similar to Knutson et al. (1991) and Juwaheer’s (2004) research conducted in hotel settings. The indicators of factor and reliability analyses are also consistent with similar studies conducted in the hospitality industry. The proposed factor structure of the present study, as well as in the studies ? onducted by Choi and Chu (2001) and Markovic (2003) have explained the rather high percentage of variance in original data – 65. 1 per cent, 67. 2 per cent and 73. 9 per cent, respectively. The Cronbach alpha values are 0. 95 (this study), 0. 94 (Choi and Chu 2001) and 0. 92 ? (Markovic 2003) and indicate high reliability of the instruments. It can be concluded that the modi? ed version of the s e rv q ua l model is suitable for use by hotel managers in gaining easily interpretable and reliable data on hotel guests’ attitudes regarding perceived service quality. The results of this study suggest that solving guests’ problems, performing error-free service, employees’ attitude, appropriate location, and the appearance of the facilities are the key attributes for a hotel’s success on the Opatija Riviera. Thus, the ? ndings can be used as a guide for hotel managers to improve crucial quality attributes and enhance service quality and business performance. There are several limitations that need to be acknowledged. The data were collected in a small although important tourist destination in Croatia. The questionnaires were distributed during the summer months. Thus, the results’ interpretation should be limited to this group of hotel guests. It is possible that guests staying in hotels out of the main tourist season might have different perceptions of the service quality. Also, the measurement of hotel guests’ perceptions was limited to 29 hotel attributes. 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Costs of Production Oil Industry

Question: Describe about the Costs of Production for Oil Industry. Answer: Oil industry is one such example where initial fixed cost of discovering and developing an oil field involves huge fixed cost in terms of equipment for drilling, setting up wells and system to transport oil and technology but once the oil field starts producing oil, every extra barrel generated is revenue. Variable cost comprised of power, water needs, etc is very small compared to fixed cost. It gets revenue for every barrel of oil. (Gellert, 2016) Marginal costs depend on circumstances as it might be high in one scenario and low in other for same industry. A manufacturing facility which has to pay high price on ordering at short notice and need to pay overtime to workers will have high marginal cost. In jewellery manufacturing with competition intensity increasing in terms of designs because of high cost of labour, raw material and more time needed, cost of producing one extra jewellery item would be high. (Pietersz, 2005). In hotel industry, as number of guests come profitability increases but after a point when guests become more than availability, they need to invest in infrastructure and land which drives up marginal cost. References Gellert, A. (2016) Do oil companies have fixed variable costs of production?,Small Business Chron, . Pietersz, G. (2005)Marginal cost. Available at: https://moneyterms.co.uk/marginal-cost/ (Accessed: 9 December 2016).