Social Networking Relationships

Social Networking Relationships Social Networking Relation 1.0 Introduction â€Å"Social networking is really recommendation between people about the things that they are interested in and they like†¦ this has stimulated people’s attention in terms of the importance of public relation. The people who are going on these sites didn’t want to be monetised, they didn’t want to be advertised to, so again editorial communication is so powerful, they would rather be communities that can exchange views that are untarnished.† Sir Martin Sorrell Social media is a global phenomenon in which old demographics no longer apply. Conversations happen at the click of a button. New communities are born every day and brands need to be involved; in the first instance to listen, and then to participate. Social media is booming. Every day new statistics, white papers and articles appear discussing its continued growth. Independent market analyst Datamonitor (2008) has revealed how quickly the number of people participating in online social networking is growing: the United Kingdom currently leads Europe, in terms of membership, and is expected to reach 27 million users a threefold increase on todays figures by 2012 (www.datamonitor.com). â€Å"Social networking sites are the reality television of the Internet,† said Jon Gibs (Senior Director of Media, Nielsen//NetRatings). â€Å"The content is relatively inexpensive for publishers to produce, and social networking is not a fad that will disappear. If anything, it will become more ingrained in mainstream sites, just as reality TV programming has become ubiquitous in network programming,† Gibs continued (www.acnielsen.com). â€Å"However, again like reality programming, the concept of ‘reality’ alone, or in this case ‘social networking,’ is not enough. In this competitive marketplace, sites also have to provide consumers with distinct content they can identify with.† A new survey reveals that almost 50 percent of attorneys are members of online social networks and over 40 percent of attorneys believe professional networking has the potential to change the business and practice of law over the next five years. â€Å"Online professional networking is a growing area of importance in the legal industry,† said Ralph Calistri, Chief Executive Officer of Martindale Hubbell and senior vice president of Global Client Development at LexisNexis. â€Å"As we develop a global network for the legal community through Martindale-Hubbell, objective research such as this survey by Leader Networks serves as an important way for us to listen to clients and guide our efforts.† Table: United States: Top 10 Social Networking Sites (March 2008) Source: AC Nielsen The Internet has broadened the area of word of mouth influences from interpersonal communication among acquaintances to online communication to general public (e.g. posting reviews). Harrison-Walker (2001) defined word of mouth as â€Å"informal person-to-person communication between a perceived non-commercial communicator and a receiver regarding a brand, a product, an organization, or a service.† Marketing practitioners try to encourage such â€Å"informal† communication in a positive manner, and several approaches such as â€Å"viral marketing† (Wilson 2000) and â€Å"buzz marketing† (Rosen 2000) have been developed. Facebook was created in February 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, a student at Harvard University. According to Zuckerberg, â€Å"The idea for the website was motivated by a social need at Harvard to be able to identify people in other residential houses† (Moyle, 2004). Today Facebook has more than 7.5 million registered members at over 2,000 U.S. colleges and is the seventh-most-popular site on the entire Web with respect to total page views (Cassidy, 2006). Social networking sites are online spaces that allow individuals to present themselves, articulate their social networks, and establish or maintain connections with others. These sites can be oriented towards work-related contexts (e.g. LinkedIn.com), romantic relationship initiation, or connecting those with shared interests such as music or politics (e.g. MySpace.com). Users may use the sites’ communication tools to interact with those they know from offline contexts, such as school, or they may use the sites to meet new people. The way in which these sites allow for new connections to be made between individuals has resulted in proposed legislation which would bar libraries and schools to block minors’ access to social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook (McCullagh, 2006). MySpace in particular has generated public concern due to its large member base 78 million registered accounts according to one source (Wright, 2006) many of whom are teenagers. There is little academic work examining online social networks. A 2005 survey of academic community members found that 90% of the undergraduates participated in a social network community, primarily Facebook, MySpace, and Friendster, and that many of them disclosed personal information such as email address (Stutzman, 2006). In her ethnographic work examining self-presentation and social connections among Friendster users, boyd (2004) notes that users have a variety of motivations for using the site, including connecting with old friends, meeting new acquaintances, dating, and furthering professional networks. In one of the few pieces to examine this new breed of online fora, Donath and boyd (2004) point out that one of the chief hallmarks of these sites is that links between individuals are mutual, public, unnuanced and decontextualized. In the sites that Donath and boyd examine, public displays of connections serve to warrant, or signal the reliability of, one’s identity claims. Social networking sites are distinguished from the first wave of virtual community sites in that they allow for both maintenance of existing social ties and formation of new connections. A hallmark of the early research on computer-mediated communication and virtual communities in particular is the assumption that individuals using these systems would be connecting with those outside their pre-existing social group or location, liberating individuals to form communities around shared interests, as opposed to shared geography (Wellman et al., 1996). However, some online community researchers have explored how online communities present opportunities for people in a common offline community to extend their interaction. Such a theme is articulated by Wellman et al. (1996), who note that â€Å"Although CSSNs [computer supported social networks] do transcend time and space, not all ties are either totally on-line or off-line. Much on-line contact is between people who see each other in person and live locally† (p.222). 1.1 Research Question This research studies the importance of social networking sites and aims to identify how motivations for using social networking sites influence the degree of interaction and the generation of word-of-mouth. Next, in order to study use patterns of social networking sites between users in United Kingdom and to explore the relationship between the degree of interaction and the generation of word-of-mouth, the following questions are generated. Why / how often do people use social networking sites? Are social networking sites users generating word-of-mouth? If so, what makes users generate word-of-mouth? Do the motivations of using social networking sites influence on the degree of interaction or on the generation of word-of-mouth? H1 Exploring the relationship between the purpose of using social networking sites and the degree of users’ interaction H2 Exploring the relationship between the purpose of using social networking sites and the generation of word-of-mouth H3 Exploring the relationship between the degree of users’ interaction and the generation of word-of-mouth in social networking sites Main Research Question: How effective are motivations for using social networking sites influencing degree of interaction and word of mouth in United Kingdom? At the same time, the growing importance of word-of-mouth on social networking sites is understood and discussed by both marketing practitioners and academics, and online word-of-mouth communication is considered as a new marketing tool (Kozinets, 1999; Croteau, 2006; Peattie, 2007; McKinsey Quarterly, 2007). Due to the similar characteristics between social networking sites and word-of-mouth communication, namely, relationship and interaction among people, a number of researchers tried to find out the connection between online communities and word-of-mouth, then, came up with various ways to measure word-of-mouth in the virtual world (Kozinets, 2002; Godes et al, 2005; Dwyer, 2007). In addition, after their introduction, social networking sites brought in a new organisational framework for online communities. According to Boyd and Ellison (2008), early online communities were constructed as ‘communities of interest’, but social networking sites these days are constructed as personal. In other words, social networking sites are centred around people rather than topics or ‘topical hierarchies’. 2.0 Literature Review 2.1 General Overview The study of personal influence and the idea that there are certain people who are especially influential over others has fascinated researchers, practitioners, and the general public for more than 60 years. Variously named in academic and popular circles, these people have been called opinion leaders (Katz Lazarsfeld, 1955), early adopters (Rogers, 1962/2003), influential (Weimann, 1994), and Influential Americans ® (Keller Berry, 2003), while the process of personal influence has been linked to, or synonymous with, various phenomena such as compliance gaining (strategic attempts to seek compliance from others in interpersonal settings; Wilson, 2002), the diffusion of innovations (how ideas spread in a culture; Rogers, 1962/2003), buzz (contagious word-of-mouth commentary about products, services, brands, and ideas; Walker, 2004), and tipping points (the point at which an idea, behavior, or product â€Å"tips,† crossing a threshold from being a minor phenomenon to a wild epidemic; Gladwell, 2000). Numerous organizations, for-profit and not-for-profit, in an assortment of industries (consumer products, fashion, health care, law, higher education, etc.) have sought to capitalize on a renewed awareness and interest in the influential role that informal conversation and relational networks play internally to an organization (e.g., in terms of sharing knowledge within and across organizational units; Cross Parker, 2004; May Zorn, 2002) and especially to external audiences (e.g., in the case of viral and buzz marketing). Thus, although the power of stimulating word-of-mouth and relational networks has been known for some time (Arndt, 1967; Whyte, 1954), a more recent phenomenon is when certain firms seek to consciously engineer buzz in relational networks (Balter Butman, 2005; Dye, 2000; Godin, 2001; Ozcan, 2004; Rosen, 2000;Walker, 2004). For example, some firms (such as Big Fat Inc.) pay people to go out and talk up a brand, either in face-toface or online settings, where the fact that they are employed by a marketing agency is not disclosed (a form of â€Å"undercover† marketing). Other firms (such as BzzAgent, Inc.) actively recruit volunteers who willingly participate in a campaign by going out and buzzing the product or service (oftentimes in exchange for points that can be redeemed for prizes or the knowledge that they are the first among their peers to have access to a new product) and then report back to the buzz marketing company their own and others’ feedback about the product (the company then compiles and analyzes these various reports from the field and presents them to the client). Still others (e.g., Proctor Gamble’s Tremor program) form an extensive network of carefully selected teenagers to create buzz among peers for their clients’ brands and products (Wells, 2004). These distinct kinds of organizational marketing practices have raised a number of ethical concerns, some more than others. In addition to whether or not the institutional identity of the agent is disclosed, whether or not the person buzzing the brand is doing so for some form of compensation, and whether or not agents involve minors younger than age 13 (Wells, 2004), a significant concern is that through buzz marketing marketers are better able to infiltrate everyday conversations and relationships (Walker, 2004), which might be regarded as further instantiation of corporate colonization of the lifeworld (Deetz, 1992). With traditional forms of marketing and advertising efforts, consumer audiences can â€Å"tune out† or â€Å"turn off† the advertising. However, what happens when the marketing is your friend or family member, in online and offline conversations? Is society increasingly falling prey to the â€Å"commercialization of chit-chat?†(Walker, 2004). Although these concerns are not new— for example, marketing to known others has been well-documented and critiqued in terms of Tupperware parties (Frenzen Davis, 1990; Taylor, 1978) and multilevel marketing companies (Biggart, 1989; Carl, 2004; Fitzpatrick Reynolds, 1997)—the fact that increasing numbers of well-known, mainstream organizations seek to amplify buzz in social networks has elevated the concern (Vranica, 2005). 2.2 Word of mouth Word-of-mouth has grown in popularity over the past several years as a marketing and research medium (BzzAgent, 2005). Marketers seeking to find new methods for reaching customers and communicating with them have wondered if word-of-mouth could provide a potential solution to the dwindling return of traditional marketing platforms. Since the beginning of organized marketing programs, marketers viewed word-of-mouth as an incredibly valuable, yet uncontrollable, result of effective marketing practices. Many marketers have implemented plans to fool word of mouth into occurring, seeding the marketplace with shills (paid actors talking up products and services). They found the results effective but extremely risky, since consumers didn’t like being deceived. In recent years, a number of companies have formed, seeking to harness the power of authentic word of mouth (BzzAgent, 2005). By organizing real consumers, they train them to share their honest opinions more effectively. Defining word of mouth can be tricky, especially in light of the Internet and recent emergence of buzz marketing firms. According to Buttle’s (1998) review of marketing research, Arndt (1967) discussed word of mouth as face-to-face communication about a brand, product, or service between people who are perceived as not having connections to a commercial entity. Bone’s (1992) definition is similar though she noted that word of mouth could be a group phenomenon: â€Å"An exchange of comments, thoughts, and ideas among two or more individuals in which none of the individuals represent a marketing source† (p. 579). Stern (1994) distinguished word of mouth from advertising in that word of mouth is face-to-face, interactive, ephemeral, spontaneous, and does not include such features as clever turns of phrases or jingles. Buttle (1998), however, found these definitions unsatisfactory because (a) Word of mouth can include talk about an organization (in addition to a brand, product, or service), (b) it can be electronically mediated (such as cell phone, chat rooms, e-mail, Web sites, â€Å"tell-a-friend† hyperlinks, etc.), and (c) more and more companies may offer incentives or rewards for consumers to spread word of mouth or make referrals (e.g., to refer friends and family members for a company’s services). Buttle concluded that currently the only distinguishing feature of word of mouth may be that â€Å"word of mouth is uttered by sources that are assumed by receivers to be independent of corporate influence† (p. 243). In contrast to traditional word of mouth marketing research, research on buzz marketing is still in its infancy. Verlegh, Verkerk, Tuk, and Smidts (2004) mentioned, but did not study, buzz marketers in their experimental research on whether or not financial incentives used when stimulating customer referrals alter the meaning of the situation such that consumers would perceive the word of mouth episode to be â€Å"persuasive† rather than just friendly, peer advice. Thomas (2004) represented an early conceptual piece on buzz marketing where it was defined as the â€Å"amplification of initial marketing efforts by third parties through their passive or active influence† (p. 64). An early empirical study that applied insights from existing word of mouth and social network research from a firm’s perspective was conducted by Godes and Mayzlin (2004). Abundant research demonstrates that word of mouth (WOM) is one of the most influential channels of communication in the marketplace. The reasons for WOMs power are evident: word of mouth is seen as more credible than marketer initiated communications because it is perceived as having passed through the unbiased filter of people like me. At a time of declining trust in institutions, research shows that its influence is growing stronger. In a recent national survey (Harris Interactive, 2006a), U.S. consumers were asked which information sources they find useful when deciding which products to buy in four common product categories. WOM and recommendations from friends/family/people at work/school were by far the most influential sources for fast food, cold medicine, and breakfast cereal. For personal computers, a highly technical category, we saw a strong reliance on expert advice in the form of product reviews and websites, followed by WOM as the next most useful. The consumer marketplace in which any enterprise operates is a complex, dynamic system. A study found that disinterested, ill-prepared and unwelcoming salespeople lead to more lost business and bad word-of-mouth than any other management challenge in retailing. There are a variety of different triggers for having a bad shopping experience, including things like parking or how well the store is organized. Some of those things retailers can do something about and some of them they cant. But frankly, a very important part of the retail experience is the interaction with the sales associate, says Wharton marketing professor Stephen J. Hoch, director of the Baker Initiative. In a telephone survey of 1,000 shoppers who were asked about their most recent retail experience, 33% reported they had been unable to find a salesperson to help them. Many of these shoppers were so annoyed by this one problem that they said they would not return to the store. According to the Wharton analysis, sales associates who are missing in action cost American retailers six percent of their customers. Add to that the 25% of consumers reporting they were ignored outright by sales associates no greeting, no smile, not even eye contact (Arndt, 1967; Aaker et al, 1996; Reingen and Kernan, 1986). This lack of engagement turned off three percent of customers to the point where they said they would permanently stay way from the store in which they encountered this behaviour. Hoch remains puzzled by sales associates who retreat from potential customers. You would think that if these sales associates are spending the whole day interacting with people, they would be a lot happier in their own life if they were friendly. Instead, they pull into their shell (Brown and Reingen, 1987). Whats wrong with saying, Hi, how are you doing?' According to Paula Courtney, president of the Verde Group, survey respondents were not frustrated by sales associates who seemed overworked or outmanned by shoppers. Its the conscious ignoring that irritates them, she says. Customers would walk into a store and the store representative would see them and continue to put items on the shelf or watch the cash register or do administrative work absolutely ignoring the fact that an actual person was in the store (Cox, 1963, cited in Brown at el, 2007). In the above example, the degree of interaction was bad with consumers at a particular retail outlet. This provided bad word of mouth and hampered long term sustainability for the retailer. In other words, this forms the central part of the dissertation that degree of interaction and word of mouth are slightly interrelated. 2.3 Motives of Social networking British anthropologist Robin Dunbar estimates that humans can only maintain stable relationships with around 150 people. That number refers to significant relationships like those in a family or tribe and other purposeful groups. Yet in todays over-informed digital business world, where bloated data moves at the speed of thought, its not who you know that really counts, but who knows you (Kozinets, 1999; Boyd and Ellison, 2008). Professional online social networking tools are invaluable in creating personal brand equity and raising awareness about who you are, especially beyond your 150 closest friends (BBC News, 2005). Online social networking software enables you to find quality people who may not be familiar with you, or with your organization, and creates an opportunity to connect with them and sell them on your opportunities (Boyd and Ellison, 2008). They may be unfamiliar with your company or business, or may not have even been looking for something. Because you already know someone who knows them, you can feel more comfortable that they are a quality prospect or at least can do some checking around (Boyd and Ellison, 2008). Also, because of that mutual connection, you can more easily overcome cumbersome barriers and begin a relationship with a little more trust and warmth than with a total stranger. Like Six degrees of Kevin Bacon, social networking sheds light on the contacts you never knew you had. For example, you can contact people in your network to: Rekindle old connections Maximize value in your weak connections Build business relationships with clients or hiring managers Find and meet prospective job-seekers Grow a referral network Heighten your corporate and personal brand Make new connections and grow your sphere of influence Open doors to future career opportunities, increased pay, or promotions Increase visibility, which improves influence and effectiveness internally with your organization as well as externally Social networking also helps you find new leads for networking into companies to: Educate yourself and ask questions about other organizations Conduct competitive intelligence on companies, industries, or individuals Make fewer cold calls and better prepare for them Leverage contacts you already have With the help of existing literature, Ridings and Gefen (2004) categorised four reasons to join online communities: ‘information exchange’, ‘social support exchange’, ‘friendship, and ‘recreation’. Firstly, people choose to use online communities to access and exchange information. By using online communities, people can access a huge amount of information generated by other users since online community providers offer effective systems or technologies in order to make their users easily exchange, create, request and search information (Hagel and Armstrong, 1997). The second reason why users participate in online communities is to obtain the social support. Wellman et al (1996) suggested that online communities give emotional support and sociability to their users by giving ‘a sense of belonging’. For instance, Mickelson (1997) gave examples of online communities which focus on recovering social problems such as alcohol and drug addicts in order to explain why the social support can be the motivation of using online communities. Thirdly, people join online communities to manage relationships. To seek friendship or to generate social capital, which can be defined as the resources gathered through the relationships among people (Coleman, 1988), online community users interact with other users with the aim of establishing and continuing relationships. For example, offline social capital can be generated by means of online tools, especially using social networking sites when people want to expand or keep up their offline relationships. Lastly, recreation is another reason why people experience online communities. In conclusion, how word-of-mouth affects consumer behaviour can be described by those three factors; tie strength, homophily, and source credibility. As mentioned above, Brown et al (2007) and other researchers (Silverman, 1997; Money et al, 1998; Bansal and Voyer, 2000) explored the nature of word-of-mouth in online communities. Finally, the summary of the research above is compared by Brown et al (2007) as the following Table 1. Table 1: A Comparison between offline and online social network constructs Offline Online Tie Strength Definition The intensity of a social relation between pairs of individuals The intensity of an interactive and personalised relationship between an individual and a website Homophily Definition The degree to which pairs of individuals are similar in terms of certain attributes The congruence between a user’s psychological attributes and website content Source Credibility Definition Perceived competence of the individual source providing information Perceived competence of the website and its membership Source: Brown et al, 2007, pp. 10 Table 1 Bottom line: It could be seen that different internet users have diverse motives to enter social networking sites. Fulfilment of motives can enhance positive word of mouth and higher degree of interaction of a particular website. As per previous academic literature there have been negligible cases that internet users have entered social networking with out motivations. This forms the foundation of dissertation. 3.0 Research Model 3.1 Research approach The research strategy we intend to adopt is a combination of multi-methods, of deductive, inductive and exploratory. Quantitative data will be collected throughout the life cycle of the project, from secondary sources: journals, databases, past dissertations, newspapers and magazine articles etc. We propose to use the following secondary databases to conduct quantitative data research: Emerald Full text Emerald Reviews Emerald Abstracts Swet Wise Reuters Business Insight Regional Business News Questia Media Primary research will be conducted, using a closed questionnaire designed to predict average behaviour of children in general (Saunders et al. 2003). The inductive approach takes to account interpretivism or social considerations, which enables to establish the intentions of the respondents more clearly. Saunders et al (2003) says that data collected using open-ended questions allows individuals more flexibility in answering, which may confirm a hypothesis or other wise. The limitation or disadvantage of this approach is that it is subjective and can only be applied to a limited sample of participants (Saunders et el. 2003). Exploratory research will be conducted on a pilot group consisting of young internet users (mainly with Orkut profiles) within the age group 15-20 who will participate in a discussion on the following; the influence of motivations for using social networking sites on degree of interaction and word of mouth in United Kingdom. 3.2 Research Design A research design is a program that guides the investigator in the process of collecting, analyzing and interpreting observations. According to Nachmias Nachmias (1987) it is logical model of proof that allows the researcher to draw inferences concerning causal relationships among the variables under investigation. Consequently, the appropriate research design will depend on the problem to be investigated (Churchill, 1991), the purpose of the research, the research questions, and the state of the knowledge existing prior to the research plan (Eisenhardt, 1989). Research methods and data collection, form an elementary part of the research design. Typically, the research methods and the data collection techniques are functions of the purpose of the research design. The purpose of the research may be organized into three groups based on what the researcher is trying to accomplish: explore a new topic, describe social phenomena or explain why something occurs. The three basic types of research designs are: Exploratory (Case Studies), Descriptive and Casual. 3.2.1 Case Study The case study approach is the most widely used in management fraternity. A Case study is the collection and presentation of detailed information about a particular participant or small group, frequently including the accounts of subjects themselves. It’s a form of qualitative descriptive research and it deals intensely at an individual or small participant pool, drawing conclusions only about that participant or group and only in that specific context. This research design is not used to focus on topics such as discovery of a universal, general

Experience Brings Success

Experience Brings Success Bonnie R. Humpherys Instructor: Carol Bartlo Daemen College April 24, 2012 Introduction After graduating college, many students are often confused about the next step in life. While the main goal is to achieve success, college students are faced with many different opportunities after graduation. Some of these opportunities include becoming and entrepreneur, pursuing more education or working for an existing business to gain experience.The cost of college tuition continues to rise and as a result we are asking ourselves whether it is really worth spending years working towards a degree when the same time could be spent earning money. Pursuing more education and working for an existing business promises and provides students with knowledge and experience needed to succeed. Generally, in this fast pace society both knowledge and experience are needed to succeed in the workforce. According to â€Å"Entrepreneurship and Development† Lazaer quotes â€Å"m any college graduates are unemployed due to lack of experience in their field of study. Instead of thinking of different options many students automatically believe that they will obtain a high paying job as soon as they graduate college. Gaining experience in their field of study while acquiring more knowledge in graduate school can prepare students for career advancement. â€Å"As new social groups enter higher education, socially privileged groups, whose reproduction was traditionally ensured by college degrees, increase their investments in education to stay ahead of newcomers. (Lazaer 2005) Being that more people are going to college every year the work force has become very competitive.Generally an undergraduate degree is no longer valued as an advanced degree in the work force. After conducting a survey of twenty-five college students and five professionals I was able to make inferences and draw statistical conclusions. Being that I surveyed a wide variety of majors and prof essions the results varied greatly. Generally 71% of the respondents, both graduates and undergraduates chose to â€Å"pursue more education† as a plan after graduation. In addition to pursuing more education 46% of respondents chose to â€Å"work for an existing business while pursuing more education. Though 71% of respondents chose to pursue more education it can be concluded that most undergraduate students do not have the financial ability to pursue an advanced degree. It can also be concluded that many college graduates do not pursue an advanced degree because they do not have the financial ability to attend. Being that many of the respondents who chose other graduation plans agreed to pursue an advanced degree if they had the financial ability, this conclusion can be deemed valid. Appendix AAccording to the results, many of the Undergraduate respondents that chose to work for an existing business want to gain experience. Being that 75% of the professionals responded to pursue more education while getting experience, it can be concluded that work experience is very important in your career. Along with gaining experience, over 75% of the professional respondents agreed that an advanced degree is very important to obtain a job and for career advancement. Being that many of these respondents are already in their career fields their opinion can be deemed valid because they have first hand experience in their daily lives.Over 50% of the student respondents agreed that there is a lot of competition to obtain job and an advanced degree is essential for career advancement. Overall, due to the results from the other questions and the charts below the overall conclusion of not having the financial ability is what limits students from pursuing an advanced degree. Appendix A Conclusions In the society that we live, having a college degree is very important. Most businesses and practically all government agencies require at least a bachelor’s degree for an entry-level position.In order to obtain these entry-level positions it is very important to have experience. Gaining experience while pursuing an advanced degree is very essential to career advancement. As more people go to college each year undergraduate degrees are no longer as valuable for employment and advancement. Although many college students do not have the financial resources to attend, investing in an advanced degree opens up a vast amount of opportunities. Generally, pursuing more education while working for an existing business helps students gain the necessary knowledge and experience for employment and advancement.Refrences Lazaer, E. (2005). Entrepreneurship and development. Journal of Labor Economics23(4), 649-680. Retrieved from www. jstor. org. daeme. iii. com/stable/10. 1086/491605 Leibebstein, H. (1968). Entrepreneurship and development. The American Economic Review, 58(2), 72-83. Retrieved from http:/www. jstor. org. daeme. iii. com/stable/ Pringle, C. (n. d. ). Perceived fulfillment of organizational employment versus entrepreneurship: Work values and career intentions of business college graduates. Journal of Small Business Management, 29, 23-56. Zemke, R. (2001).Where do leaders come from? . Training, 38, 44-48. Retrieved from http://search. proquest. com/docview/203413677? accountid=10399 Appendix A The Future for College Graduates The purpose of this survey is to gain insight into advanced degrees and professional employment. What is your undergraduate major? __________________________________________ What are your plans immediately after graduation? * Become an entrepreneur * Become an entrepreneur and pursue more education * Go to work for an existing business * Go to work for an existing business and pursue more education * Pursue more education Other, please specify ___________________________ Why do you feel your choice in the above question will be best for you? ______________________________________________________________ _______________ _____________________________________________________________________________ Will your choice give you the immediate and future earnings potential you most desire? Definitely Most likely Not sure Unlikely What level of interest do you have for becoming an entrepreneur immediately after graduation?Much interest Some Interest Little interest No interest What level of interest do you have for pursuing an advanced degree immediately after graduation? Much interest Some Interest Little interest No interest Do you feel you have the financial ability to attend graduate school immediately after graduation? Yes No Page 1 of 2 If you did have the financial resources to attend graduate school immediately after graduation, would you then choose to go to graduate school? Yes NoWhat level of interest do you have for going to work for an established business immediately after college? Much interest Some Interest Little interest No interest What is the value of an advanced degree f or business professionals to obtain employment? Very valuable Valuable somewhat valuable Not very valuable What is the value of an advanced degree for business professionals for career advancement? Very valuable Valuable somewhat valuable Not very valuableWhat is the value of professional work experience for business professionals for career advancement? Very valuable Valuable somewhat valuable Not very valuable Do you feel you would be at a disadvantage entering the professional workplace without an advanced degree? Yes No How do you feel about the competition for obtaining employment? Very competitive Competitive Somewhat competitive Not competitive How much pressure do you feel about the amount of experience professional positions now require?Much Pressure Some pressure Little pressure No pressure Page 2 of 2 Appendix B The Future for College Graduates The purpose of this survey is to gain insight into advanced degrees and professional employment for college graduates. What shoul d college graduates do immediately after graduation? * Become an entrepreneur * Become an entrepreneur and pursue more education * Go to work for an existing business * Go to work for an existing business and pursue more education * Pursue more education Other, please specify ___________________________ Why do you feel your choice in the above question is best for college graduates? _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ Will that choice give graduates the immediate and future earnings potential they desire? Definitely Most likely Not sure Unlikely Do you feel new graduates have the financial ability to attend graduate school immediately after graduation?Yes No If college graduates did have the financial resources to attend graduate school immediately after graduation, do you think they would then choose to go to graduate school? Yes No What is the value of an advance d degree for business professionals to obtain employment? Very valuable Valuable somewhat valuable Not very valuable What is the value of an advanced degree for business professionals for career advancement?Very valuable Valuable somewhat valuable Not very valuable What is the value of professional work experience for business professionals for career advancement? Very valuable Valuable somewhat valuable Not very valuable Do you feel workers would be at a disadvantage entering the professional workplace without an advanced degree? Yes No How do you feel about the competition for obtaining employment? Very competitive Competitive Somewhat competitive Not competitive

Stereotypes And Stereotypes Of The Media - 1734 Words

In our media-intensive culture, it is not difficult to find different opinions as well as stereotypes. Stereotypes are found in the media every day and affect our opinion as well as how we perceive others. Stereotypes of the GLBT community in the media are most commonly found in movies or in TV shows but they rarely talk about their sexual identity. When their identity is being portrayed, it is shown with some form of stereotype. The identity of the homosexual seems to stem from a stereotype itself; sometimes as if the GLBT community has formed their identities based on stereotypes. Men are commonly shown as â€Å"feminine† while women are portrayed to be â€Å"masculine†. Other stereotypes such as that all gay men are all into fashion or that†¦show more content†¦These very stereotypes have influenced all of our views on LGBT men and women. Stereotypes are damaging ideas about how a group of people are supposed to behave and act. It dehumanizes them by lumping them into broad categories it takes away their traits that makes them unique and it does not define their personality and turns them into a form of objects. The idea that the male homosexual is directly linked to feminism is inaccurate. While there are some males who express themselves in behaviors that are considered to be feminine, there are others who do not. Gay men are displayed to seem interested in fashion, are meticulous, and are emotional but in reality not all men display these characteristics. This stereotype damages gay males in the extent that they are playing a role in which gay men are hiding their uniqueness as individual human beings because of the formation of these stereotypes. Sexual behavior and desire varies from person to person and like all humans, gay people also have sexual needs. The stereotype of them having sex with multiple partners also increases the generalization that all gay people may have AIDS or HIV. According to US statistics, gay people of all races are in fact the most severely affected with HIV but the misconception that they all have AIDS or HIV is wrong. This is harmful to the gay community because men and women who are heterosexual fear

Global United Consultants - Business Plan - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 2095 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? Table of Contents 1.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.1.TARGET MARKET 1.2.KEYS TO SUCCESS 1.3.OBJECTIVES 1.4.COMPETITIVE EDGE 2.COMPANY SUMMARY 2.1.BUSINESS DESCRIPTION 2.2.MANAGEMENT 2.3.SERVICES 2.4.LOCATION HOURS 3.MARKETING 3.1.MARKET RESEARCH 3.2.WHAT THIS MEANS FOR GUC 3.3.COMPETITION 3.4.PROMOTIONAL STARTEGY 4.FINANCES 4.1.CAPITAL 4.2.START UP EXPENSES 5.CONTACT DETAILS Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Global United Consultants Business Plan" essay for you Create order 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Global United Consultants was incorporated on 20 Jan 2014 by Mr Muhammad Hamza Saleem. The company was allocated company number 08852385 by Companies House UK. Global United Consultants was incorporated after Mr Saleem gained the degree of Master of Business Administration in Innovative Management from Coventry University. As he is a qualified Management Consultant, Mr Saleem wanted to provide business management consultancy services to young and experienced businesses in the UK as every year hundreds of new businesses start up in the UK, and they all need to be managed well to prosper and help boost the economy. Most of these businesses have been set up by entrepreneurs who have seen an opportunity to develop a new product or service, and pursued that vision in search of independence and financial reward. While these businessmen start with substantial ideas to support their new ventures, most do not have the skills, assistance or advice in order to help them transform their ide as into reality. Additionally, the technological and legislative pressure along with the demand of customers for quality and professional service, inundate even the most educated of businessmen. Global United Consultants (GUC) is here to help these visionaries to realise their business dream and turn it into solid, dependable reality. GUC will enable entrepreneurs to manage their business operations successfully from organisational behaviour and structural management to human and financial resource management, and from customer management to change and acquisition management. 1.1. TARGET MARKET GUC will target businesses in the local geographical region initially and then target businesses further away with an aim of targeting businesses nationwide by the 5th year operations. The other segmentation of the business market that GUC will target will be based on company firmographics. Initially the company will target businesses that deal in service provision and have a high requirement for marketing and management consultancy services. These businesses, as they will be dealing in services mainly, will need service providers or in other words; human resources. GUC can assist and empower these businesses through assistance with managing human resources effectively so as to best benefit their respective businesses. The other segmentation that will be used by GUC while targeting customers; is the size of the business. As GUC is a start-up business itself, the company will target start-up businesses and young businesses within the first 5-10 years of business operations. The reas on for this decision is also because these businesses may find it the hardest to manage change and acquisitions. A recent news article in the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"The Telegraphà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ read, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“British businesses too focused on selling up rather than scaling up.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  This shows that businesses in the UK are selling faster than they are growing and GUC wants to change this trend by assisting business owners to scale up by giving them the advice and guidance along with the encouragement to expand. The company wishes to build long lasting mutually beneficial business relationships with young businesses so as to gain and retain life-long customers. 1.2. KEYS TO SUCCESS GUC success will be determined by a few factors of which some of the major factors are: Customer satisfaction and retention Providing a quality service Being technology savvy Investing in education and training of employees. Employee retention Sustainable growth 1.3. OBJECTIVES GUC aims to fulfil the following objectives within the first three years of business operations: Providing quality management consultancy services. Refraining from the use of a loan Running business finances off its own cash flow and gaining a profit by year 2 operations. Begin recruitment by 6th month of operations. Gaining good business contracts and achieving sales targets through effective marketing Increase services provided through employment of various skilled employees Increase market share through increase of target area. 1.4. COMPETITIVE EDGE Global United Consultants is focused specifically on helping small and medium sized emerging businesses to maximize their potential for success. The company combines Blue Chip training with small business experience and local presence to provide top quality services. The company differentiates itself in the following manner: Extensive market research Cost-effective personal interaction with customer Project based consultation (tailored services) 2. COMPANY SUMMARY 2.1. BUSINESS DESCRIPTION Global United Consultants is a London based company that provides business management and marketing solutions to new and existing business. Research shows that most businesses and entrepreneurs suffer major problems with regards to business identity, the basics of branding, effective marketing solutions and operational strategies required for their success. These lead to a drop in expectations and lack of business growth. GUC believes that it can step in and improve this situation for customers, to assist them in gaining a good market share and effectively profits. It is the companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s philosophy to form a learning environment that will bring employees with diverse interests and backgrounds together on a platform to overcome these challenges professionally thereby making all of our customer businesses a success, ensuring the success of GUC. 2.2. MANAGEMENT GUC is headed by Mr Muhammad Hamza Saleem who is its only Director and prime Management Consultant. Mr Saleem has been chosen for the position of prime Management Consultant as he has recently gained his degree form Coventry University and has since gained management experience from both energetic small firms and experienced industry leaders. Mr Saleem has worked in marketing, business development, and corporate strategy for a number of small and large organisations, and has experience of providing marketing consultancy services to small and medium sized businesses. 2.3. SERVICES GUC specialises in providing the advice and guidance with regards to the following: Organisation Management Change and Acquisition Management Customer Management Resource Management Marketing Management Some of the services that the company will provide will be as follows: Assessing customer needs through consultation Reviewing customer business functions, goals and requirements and identifying obstacles in policies, procedures, marketing, management and organisation of business. Overseeing all aspects of research into the improvement of the relevant functions and processes. Deciphering research results into hard facts and presenting solutions and professional views to management based on this research. Advising on cost of implementation and ensuring cost effectiveness and efficiency of implementation procedure. Assisting with the implementation of improved business processes and procedures Overseeing relevant staff and their training in line with implementation. 2.4. LOCATION HOURS GUC is based at 24 Westham Lane, London, E15 4SA. This location has been chosen so as to provide a physical presence and attract customers through physical marketing and window promotion. The company will operate between the hours of 9am to 5pm GMT unless the business requires different working hours from its employees. Initially, it may be the service department that may need to vary hours to suit customer needs. 3. MARKETING 3.1. MARKET RESEARCH A recent speech by Her Majesty The Queen announced that the government is pledging to make the UK, the best place to start a business. This pledge along with the recent recovery from the financial crisis of 2008 that has affected self-employed wages drastically and the international investor attention turned towards the UK, means that this is a good time for businesses to form and prosper; and businesses have taken this opportunity to form in the thousands. The Department for Business Innovation and Skills published the following figures that show small business statistics at the beginning of 2013. The business population in the UK totalled 4.39 million businesses nationwide that employed a total of 24.3 million people. All businesses in the UK had a combined turnover of 3300 billion GBP Small and Medium Enterprises accounted for 99.9% of all private sector business in the UK. SME also accounted for 59.3% of private sector employment (14.4 million people) and 48.1% (1600 billion GBP) of private sector turnover. Small businesses alone accounted for 47% of private sector employment and 33.1% of turnover. 62.6% of all businesses were sole proprietorships 3.7 million in total 28.5% of all businesses were companies à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" a total of 1.4 million companies 8.9% of all businesses were partnerships à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" a total of 434,000 Nearly a fifth of businesses were operating in the construction sector SMEs accounted for only 27.5% of employment in the financial and insurance sector whereas they accounted for 95.4% of all employment in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector. Arts, entertainment and recreation accounted for only 22.5% of private sector turnover whereas agriculture, forestry and fishing accounted for the majority of it. London had more firms than any other region in the UK, with 841000 private sector businesses in the area; and the south east had the second largest number of firms with 791000 in this area. Together, they account for nearly a third of all firms in the UK. 3.2. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR GUC The above statistics published by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills mean that GUC needs to concentrate on a few major factors: Targeting the London and South East regions for majority of market share. Targeting the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector for human resource services. Providing service to specifically target sole proprietorships as they make the majority of SMEs Providing a wider range and more specialised services within Human Resources and recruitment to provide a supply for the huge employment demand in the industry within SMEà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s. 3.3. COMPETITION Yell.com shows approximately 150 businesses that provide business and management consultancy services within 5 miles of GUC. As seen above, there are over 841000 private sector businesses in London alone and all these businesses need consulting services. Although the supply may seem high, the demand if higher and the service providers have different niches that do not cater to all types of businesses. Similarly, GUC has a niche and provides specific services for a specific target market and so, not all of the companies listed below are in direct competition with GUC. Some of the other business and management consultants providing services (not necessarily the same services as GUC) in the E15 area are shown below. Alma Business Management Consultancy Ltd 54, Alma St, London, E15 1QA Tel: 020 8257 0342 Slivers of Time Ltd Unit 3, Essex House, 375-377, High St, London, E15 4QZ Tel: 020 8586 5677 East London E-Learning Ltd Boardman House, 64, Broadway, Londo n, E15 1NT Tel: 0870 2012000 Challenge Life Ltd 49, Broadway, London, E15 4BQ Tel: 020 8911 8773 Infra Solutions Group 275-285, High St, London, E15 2TF Tel: 0844 4148748 Fethiye Consultant 124, Chobham Rd, London, E15 1LZ Tel: 07771 150452 Sibam Ltd 45, Fairland Road, London, E15 4AF Tel: 020 8150 6158 Judith 39, Maryland Square, London, E15 1HF Tel: 020 8983 6498 Hcentra Ltd 48 Stopford Road, London, E13 0LZ Tel: 020 7870 1205 Marionet Consulting 55, Printers Mews, London, E3 5NZ Tel: 020 8981 5282 Global Gate Consult Ltd 210a, High Road Leytonstone, London, E11 3HU Tel: 07979 182300 CLR Management Training Consultancy Ltd 89, Fairfield Rd, London, E3 2QA Tel: 020 8983 9300 Concept Business Advisors Ltd 246-250, Romford Road, London, E7 9HZ Tel: 020 3730 3838 Composition Advisory Ltd Flat 306, Lexington Building, Fairfield Rd, London, E3 2UH Tel: 07939 201855 Advance Business Tips Ltd 14a, Crescent Rd, London, E13 0LT Tel: 07401 538180 3.4. PROMOTIONAL STARTEGY GUC will promote its business and services through a variety of promotional tactics which effectively cater to the requirements of the business. Some of the marketing tools that will be used are mentioned below: Personal Marketing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" marketing to friends, family and professional contacts through word of mouth. Digital Marketing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" marketing through the use of devices such as text messages on mobile phones. Internet Marketing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Marketing through the use of the company website, search engine optimisation and social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Print Marketing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" The use of print media such as flyers, posters, newspapers adverts and adverts on business magazines and directories. Promotional Merchandise à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" This can be used at business events to promote the business as part of a Guerrilla Marketing campaign Referral marketing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Promoting employee and customer referrals through the use of rewards or perks for referrals. 4. FINANCES 4.1. CAPITAL The company director and prime Management Consultant Mr Muhammad Hamza Saleem will provide a capital of  £50,000 for business start-up expenses. This capital will fund the business start-up and will be replenished from company profits to be invested wisely into company assets. This directorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s loan will be repaid to the director from second year onwards from 20% of profits per annum until the full sum is paid back. No interest has been charged on this director loan. 4.2. START UP EXPENSES The following table shows a summary of set up expenses that are likely to be incurred by the business within 3 months of start-up. Cost Incurred Price Company Set up  £20 Business Insurance  £350 Legal Services  £300 Financial Services  £500 Office Furniture  £600 Office Equipment  £1200 Cost of Marketing Material (flyers, business card etc)  £275 Stationery (letter heads, compliment slips and others)  £125 Cost of Office Space  £2400 Business Rates  £450 Company Website  £600 Utility Bills  £400 Contingency (Buffer)  £7220 Total Start-up costs incurred  £8664