Database Forum replies
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Replies.docxInstructions:
You will be required to write substantive replies to a minimum of 2 other classmates’ threads. Each reply must be a minimum of 200 words and include at least 2 scholarly resources. Acceptable sources include the textbook, the Bible, outside scholarly articles, etc.
Substantive replies, in contrast to perfunctory replies, add value to the forum, enhance learning, and contain references to any new concepts or ideas presented.
The following suggestions will aid you in successfully composing substantive responses:
1. Compare/contrast the findings of others with your research.
1. Compare how the findings of others relate/add to the concepts learned in the required readings.
1. Share additional knowledge regarding the key topic that relates to the thread.
Aysia Johnson (1)
Key Concept Explanation
The term defects has two meanings. One relates to the actual quality of a product and whether or not it is lacking in any area not purported or intended by the manufacturer. The second meeting relates to service defections aka “a defecting customer�. A defecting customer is one who switches business because they are dissatisfied with the product or service. Dissatisfaction with the product results from a variety of issues operations managers must understand in order to be aware of which aspects of the process need adjusting. This aspect therefore is where a cross-section between operations and marketing is applicable. The way in which service defections are measured will depend on what the company wants to know and which area they feel they stand the best chance to increase profit. this can be through increasing the number of new customers or customer retention. Some companies can measure this through sheer numbers, while other companies can measure this through their membership or rewards programs. Every company has defecting customers, but each company engages in a different approach to rectify the issue, so they can maximize their profit.
Comparison
In this week's discussion, a lot was mentioned about controlling processes. One article posted in this week's module mentioned key ways to measure performance. It was mentioned that tangible objects are easier to measure through units and other forms whereas intangible objects such as managerial performance are not as easy to measure. While this is true, it is also important to note that company’s measurement tools will be different even if they are in the same industry because no two companies have the same factors affecting performance. These differences in companies can stem from market fluctuations, the nature of the company, and even factors such as seasonal changes. Measurement tools must be relative to the position before one accurately measures service quality. Comparing this to customer defection, it is safe to say that performance quality measures must be in place before a plan is implemented to combat customer defection. Measuring tools also must identify discrepancies in perceived quality quickly because as soon as a defect is realized, another one may present itself- “Services typically face intense competition, changing customer demand, and shrinking of product life cycles which means they have to push out new service offerings even before existing products/services mature because of preemptive actions from their competitors� (Jayaram & Xu, 2016 p.268). Other factors that must be addressed are the courses of action taken by the company after it has dropped the ball. These strategies should be a competition to deliver the best resolution in addition to building the best product or service- “Although firms widely implement some service recovery strategies (such as apology or compensation), several others (such as explaining the source of failure or following up on the resolution of the customer’s problem) are less known, and therefore seldom implemented� (Mostafa et.al, 2014 p. 301).
Article Summary
John, J. D., John, J., & Stevens, D. P. (2014). A proposed defection management system for retention of at-risk customers. Academy of Business Research Journal, 2112-131.
This article factors in all components to customer loyalty that should be considered and proposes a management strategy for customer defection. It starts by mentioning that losing customers is not entirely bad because some customers are not worth keeping. The company must identify its target audience and ideal customers and center their efforts around the group that will best sustain them. When a customer is lost, a company loses money from that customer, but also must spend money to gain a new customer, so it is a double snare. The company will also have to spend money on determining the needs of their new customers whereas old customers are consistent. We article notes the differences between managing customer defections and strategizing for customer retention. If the ladder is not properly executed the former is inevitable, however both have solutions. The authors propose that a proper system should encompass three things. First, it must be able to differentiate between internal and external changes in the environment that affect consumers and the operations process. Second, image the effects of customer defections long-term. Third, you must be able to determine which risk are too great to undertake that will most likely result in customer defection and whether that defection will be too costly for the company. “...each of these three tasks can be grouped into their respective subsystems of activities and processes and labeled as the customer defection alert subsystem, the customer assessment subsystem, and the customer recovery subsystem� (John et. al, 2014 p.118). These factors combined with proper training of employees put a company end its best position to retain customers and maintain profit.
Biblical Integration
According to scripture, Christians should see resolving issues as necessary and desirable. Depending on the degree of the dissatisfaction of customers, a company can actually face legal trouble. A Christian running a company should avoid this and should take advantage of the time in which a customer can still be won back. “Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison� (Matthew 5:25, KJV). From a practical standpoint, a Christian running a business should want to resolve customer complaints simply because it is an opportunity for them to show their good graces given to them by the Holy Spirit- “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord� (Hebrews 12:14, KJV). Also from a practical standpoint, Christians should not be focused on their own interests only because they lose the opportunity to grow as complaints are cause for new initiatives and endeavors that can make the company better. This takes a great deal of humility, but it is necessary for growth- “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others� (Philippians 2:3-4, KJV).
Application
This topic applies to real world scenarios especially in the marketing sector that goes hand-in-hand with customer defection. In marketing, there are various forms in which one can engage include Word of Mouth marketing- “...As customers acquire information about the service quality and price of competing providers in their market (e.g., through word of mouth, increased advertising in the local market, etc.), they are able to gauge which provider offers the best fit with their own preferences over service quality and price� (Buell, et.al, 2016). Customer defection will likely lead to a decrease in a company landing new customers because people speak to one another about their level of satisfaction and it deters people from pursuing business. Long-term customer retention has proven to be of particular interest to a lot of companies as rewards programs and other incentives are given to long-term customers. This will likely not change in the near future because as previously discussed, there are costs associated with losing customers that extend past the money the company no longer receives to the money given to attract new customers. Also as time goes by there appears to be a greater push toward trends involving customization of products and services to meet individualized needs. When this occurs, the likelihood that literal defects will occur increases as well as customer defection as a result of those defects in products and the dissatisfaction of services in general. There is what is called MCP systems (Mass customization production) to address dynamic means- “To dynamically meet the evolving demand of specific product configurations, a well-designed modularity in MCP systems must be able to cope with several types of changes simultaneously� (Wang, 2013 p. 1852). The fact that there are whole systems geared toward addressing the needs of customization shows that adapting to customer preferences will be a key component to organizational success in the near future.
Key Concept Explanation
A strategy map is an extension of the balanced scorecard, as it also measures financial, customer, internal, and organizational growth perspectives within the organization (Meredith & Shafer, 2016). Strategy maps are designed to identify, illustrate, and monitor cause and effect relationships between an organization’s business processes (Meredith & Shafer, 2016). Han and Zhong (2015) indicate that a gap exists between an organization’s strategy formulation and actual implementation. Therefore, strategy mapping is a tool used by managers to illustrate to their employees the relationships between the organization’s strategy and daily tasks. Han and Zhong (2015, p. 940) explain that the map, “highlights the inner relationships among each component in a strategic plan to facilitate easier understanding and communication among stakeholders.” I selected this key concept because although I am familiar with the Balanced Scorecard, strategy mapping is foreign to me. Thus, intellectual curiosity prompted me to dig deeper into strategy mapping.
Comparison (200 words)
The textbook presents strategy mapping as an extension of the Balanced Scorecard, briefly describing the concept’s development by Kaplan and Norton. Likewise, Han and Zhong (2015) and Héctor, Luis, Ricardo, Miguel, and Pedro (2017) also tip their hat to Kaplan and Norton and describe strategy mapping as a tool to describe cause and effect relationships between processes in an organization. Additionally,Meredith and Shafer (2016) highlight the value of strategy mapping as a way to enhance employees’ understanding of the organization’s implementation of its overarching strategy. This is consistent with the findings of Han and Zhong (2015) and Héctor et al. (2017).
However, the textbook very strictly describes the strategy map as a tool for the for-profit business sector, whereas Han and Zhong (2015) demonstrate its value in the non-profit industry. Further, unlike the textbook, both Han and Zhong (2015); Héctor et al. (2017) concluded that each strategy map must be developed and adapted to the specific situation and mission of the organization. Likewise, Krstevski and Mancheski (2016) advocate that balanced scorecard and strategy maps must evolve to incorporate the growing trend of the value of innovation and intellectual capital as opposed to only physical assets.
Héctor et al. (2017) criticized the notion of determining cause and effect relationships without using quantifiable data because the relationships are generated subjectively using the managers’ experience instead of hard data. Meredith and Shafer (2016) recommend that managers tie measures into the strategy map to verify hypothesis, but do not suggest specific ways to quantify the data. Héctor et al. (2017)applied DEMATEL, a methodology used to identify casual relationships, to the strategy mapping process and concluded that using quantifiable data was more effective than managerial opinion alone. Jafari, Shahanaghi, and Tootooni (2015) utilized net present value (NPV) to determine the value of each path on the strategy map for each scenario.
Article Summary (200 words)
The article I selected to expand upon is Strategy Maps in University Management: A Comparative Study written by Han and Zhong (2015). I selected this article because I currently work in the service sector for the Air Force, and my results are based on intangible resources and outcomes such as customer service. Han and Zhong (2015) apply the strategy map tool to the university and education sector and focus on its potential to link organizational strategy to intangible assets and results. Han and Zhong (2015) argue that strategy mapping is particularly suitable for the university sector because it is not a rigid tool, instead strategic mapping can be adapted and revised in response to societal changes. The authors indicate that higher education institutions have turned to strategic planning as a powerful way to adapt to rapidly changing environment. Rabetino, Kohtamäki, and Gebauer (2017) also indicate that organizations must recognize the importance of intangible assets within the strategy map, such as organizational culture.
The use of a strategy map can assist university leadership through decision making by illustrating their available options in alignment with their goals and available resources (Han & Zhong, 2015). Further, the authors argue that the most valuable resources within a university are intangible, such as culture, knowledge and human capital. The utilization of a strategy map to demonstrate the transformation of intangible assets into tangible outcomes is key to communicating with university stakeholders (Han & Zhong, 2015).
While analyzing the use of strategy mapping by universities, the authors discovered that different universities built their strategic maps in unique ways, as there is no consensus on what should be included in a non-profit strategy map (Han & Zhong, 2015). However, the authors did determine that a few themes were common across the different strategy maps, including vision statement, mission statement, goal, theme, stakeholders, and learning and growth (Han & Zhong, 2015).
The strategic mapping process for universities was similar to the process used for businesses. First, the mission, vision, and values were defined. Then strategic goals were identified and categorized, these included goals such as education, research, social service, cultural innovation, and discipline (Han & Zhong, 2015). Next, each goal was matched with its stakeholders such as students, faculty, donors, and the resident country (Han & Zhong, 2015). Lastly, supporting elements were drawn from the strategic elements as well, including staff quality, infrastructure, service, organizational actions, and international cooperation (Han & Zhong, 2015). This strategy map linked tangible supporting elements such as logistics services with intangible strategic values of the university such as quality education.
Biblical Integration (100 words)
In 1 Corinthians, Paul writes to the Corinthian church, answering questions about living a holy life. Chapter 1 verse 7 reads, “I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord” (English Standard Version). The context of this verse is that Paul is guiding Christians regarding the unmarried and the widowed. However, this verse can be applied in a business sense as well. The intent to is to convey that dedication to the Lord should be our first priority, and to avoid distractions away from that priority. The strategy map set out to do just that, tie processes to the organization’s strategic goals as to not become misaligned. 2 Timothy reads, “but avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness” (ESV). This is another indication that distractions arise when a person or organization focuses on the wrong target. Lastly, Proverbs 18:21 reads,” death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits” (ESV). In today’s modern world, the power of the tongue can be extended to communication in general. This is applicable to strategic mapping because there is no value in a strategy unless it is properly communicated throughout the entire organization.
Application
Strategy mapping is a powerful tool that can be used as a standalone mechanism or tied to a balanced scorecard. Research indicates that there is a disconnect between the formulation of strategic goals of organizations and the implementation of those goals (Han & Zhong, 2015). This is why a strategy map can greatly benefit many organizations. The strategy map is a visual representation of how everyday tasks are linked to the organization’s strategic vision. The strategy map should be disseminated throughout the entire organization and employees are encouraged to see where their role lies within the strategy map.
The strategy map can be applied to both tangible, business-based organizations, as well as intangible, non-profit organizations. The key to properly using a strategy map is for organizational leadership to determine the environment that their organization operates within and adapt the mapping technique to their particular needs (Héctor et al., 2017).
