Internship Review The Marketing and Sales Department of...

Internship review: The marketing and sales department of B.Z. Berlin While interning at the marketing and sales department at B.Z. Berlin (a tabloid newspaper in Berlin), I was able to gain an insiders view of how both print and digital publications must position themselves in the competitive, ever-changing news marketplace. Marketing within the communications industry is extremely cutthroat and even relatively popular tabloids with an established readership like B.Z. Berlin must fight for market share. Over the course of my internship I grew increasingly aware of the relevance of the four Ps of marketing known as promotion, price, product, and placement (The marketing process, n.d., The Times 100: Business Case Studies). Given the focus of my internship, my primary duties revolved around the promotional aspects of the tabloid. Tabloids by definition must generate heat (buzz) as well as provide light (information) on the news. I was charged with supporting the planning, realization, control and optimization of several advertising campaigns for continuing features on politics, sport, and celebrity gossip. The product we were selling was information, a particular kind of information. We had to convince members of the public that the content we were disseminating was of worthy of their time and money. People usually buy tabloids as impulse buys when they are walking past a news kiosk on the way to work or on their way home. Creating a single, gripping headline orShow MoreRelatedReview: An Internship in the Marketing and Sales Department of B. Z. Newspaper, Berlin1973 Words   |  8 Pages Abstract This paper is a personal review of an internship in the marketing and sales department of B.Z. Berlin (a tabloid newspaper based in Berlin). The paper reviews how my capacities in those department help satisfy the 4Ps (promotion, price, placement, and product) of marketing. Different components of the marketing mix exhibited in my duties included creating a balance of salacious with genuinely positive and heart-warming news; creating cash giveaways to generate regular readership; diffusingRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesSingapore Taipei Tokyo Editorial Director: Sally Yagan Director of Editorial Services: Ashley Santora Acquisitions Editor: Brian Mickelson Editorial Project Manager: Sarah Holle Editorial Assistant: Ashlee Bradbury VP Director of Marketing: Patrice Lumumba Jones Senior Marketing Manager: Nikki Ayana Jones Senior Managing Editor: Judy Leale Production Project Manager: Becca Groves Senior Operations Supervisor: Arnold Vila Operations Specialist: Cathleen Petersen Senior Art Director: Janet Slowik ArtRead MoreMarketing Mistakes and Successes175322 Words   |  702 PagesELEVENTH EDITION MARKETING MISTAKES AND SUCCESSES 30TH ANNIVERSARY Robert F. Hartley Cleveland State University JOHN WILEY SONS, INC. VICE PRESIDENT PUBLISHER EXECUTIVE EDITOR ASSISTANT EDITOR PRODUCTION MANAGER PRODUCTION ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE MARKETING MANAGER ASSISTANT MARKETING MANAGER MARKETING ASSISTANT DESIGN DIRECTOR SENIOR DESIGNER SENIOR MEDIA EDITOR George Hoffman Lise Johnson Carissa Doshi Dorothy Sinclair Matt Winslow Amy Scholz Carly DeCandia

The Character of Marc Antony in Julius Caesar - 773 Words

Blending into the ground, waiting for the perfect moment to lash out, and then attacking when an opportunity presents itself, snakes hunt the same way some people do politics. In Rome, 44 BC, when one man fell prey, another man, camouflaged, found his opportunity to strike. As William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar progresses, the character of Marc Antony slowly reveals that he is not who he at first seems, a cunning manipulator rather than a blindly obedient lapdog. Antony, when he is introduced in Act 1 is running a traditional race on the Lupercal and is asked to touch Calpurnia by Caesar, who is referring to a superstition at the time that the touch of a runner in the race could cause a woman to be fertile. Antony responds to this†¦show more content†¦Interestingly, Antony is completely absent from Act 2. This second Act is the one in which the Cassius and the conspirators against Caesar are recruiting Brutus. In the entire Act, Antony receives a single mention, when Brutus finally agrees to help the conspirators, and they are debating whether to kill him along with Caesar. In this argument, Cassius wants to kill him because he has close ties to their target, while Brutus stands in his defense, calling him â€Å"but a limb† maintaining that he wouldn’t be able to oppose them without Caesar. Every single conspirator, with the partial exception of Cassius completely underestimates Antony because he is so loyal to Caesar, and would seemingly not be able to function without him. Yet, they disregard the fact that Antony is a general of the Roman army, a position that requires no small measure of independent thought in itself. Again, Marc Antony is viewed as a minor character in Act 2. The conspirators disregard him, not only in functionality once Caesar is dead, but as an ally. And, even though, they never try to recruit him, they don’t try to ruin his reputation or disgrace him, anything to take his power. They simply don’t view him as a threat, with the exception of Cassius, who is overridden. Act 3 is the Act in which Caesar is murdered.Show MoreRelatedJulius Caesar: Not a Great Leader Essay704 Words   |  3 Pagesforces in the play Julius Caesar are the characters Marcus Brutus, Julius Caesar, and Marc Antony. Julius Caesar is the center of the ordeal of leadership in Rome when the play begins. When Caesar returns to Rome he is looked upon by the fickle plebeians as a glorious and triumphant hero. The authority of his heroism is questioned when the honorable Marcus Brutus speaks to the townspeople during Caesar’s funeral. Brutus proves to be the better leader for Rome rather than Caesar or Antony. Brutus is wiserRead MoreMarcus Brutus Vs Mark Antony s Funeral Speech Essay1135 Words   |  5 Pagesfuneral of Julius Caesar two characters make speeches to the plebeian mob, Brutus and Marc Antony. Shakespeare shows us the personalities of the two orators and gives one an advantage over the other. Marc Antony has an advantage over Brutus because he speaks after Brut us and he has Caesar’s body. He also interrupts Brutus’ speech. He uses a range of rhetorical devices to manipulate the crowd. Both characters make very powerful speeches that will eventually determine who rules Rome. Both characters beginRead More The Ambitious Marc Antony in Julius Caesar996 Words   |  4 Pages The Ambitious Marc Antony in Julius Caesar nbsp; The tragic and untimely death of Julius Caesar, a condemned Roman tyrant, triggered William Shakespeares creativity. In his play Julius Caesar Shakespeare writes of the treacherous conspirators, Marcus Brutus and Caius Cassius, and their plans to assassinate their Roman leader, Julius Caesar. The story continues to explain how Caesars loyal friend, Marc Antony, helps avenge the brutal murder. After Antony receives soldiers to fightRead MoreA Historical Overview Of Julius Caesar Essay1452 Words   |  6 PagesA Historical Overview of Julius Caesar (Shakespeare style) The fate of a nation determined by one man. With classic alliances and betrayals, the tale of Julius Caesar is still regarded as one of the greatest betrayals in human history. The fate of Rome was heading toward a dictatorship. Only the Roman Republic could stop Julius Caesar from ruling Rome. Little did the Roman Republic know that this assassination would later cause Octavian Caesar to become the first Emperor of the Roman Empire in 27Read MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Julius Caesar 884 Words   |  4 PagesGustav Berner Mrs. Hillard Honors English 10 - F 15 January 2015 Julius Caesar Discussion 1.) Brutus’ trust in others and his love of Rome are his greatest faults. His tragic flaw is the trust he places in others. Brutus is easily swayed to trust Cassius when he plots to kill Caesar. Cassius uses his cunning to trick Brutus into believing Caesar is ambitious and that he is killing Caesar for the good of Rome. Cassius says to Brutus, â€Å"Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world like a Colossus, andRead MoreJulius Caesar Essay On The Truth938 Words   |  4 Pagesrelevant concept in William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, a story showing the stabbing of an uprising leader and the conflict that occurs following the event. More specifically, the idea of truthfulness is especially common regarding the character Marc Antony. William Shakespeare uses the underestimated and loyal character Marc Antony to suggest the theme that a person’s true values is often revealed through conflict. Shakespeare creates the characters in such a manner that they often underestimateRead MoreOctavian and Marc Antony- The Duel of Words and Deeds1091 Words   |  4 PagesOctavian and Marc Antony- The Duel of Words and Deeds Following the Julius Caesars death at the hands of the Senate, Octavian and Marc Antony propelled themselves to the pinnacle of Roman power. First joining together during the Second Triumvirate, these men represented the true power players of Roman politics. As their alliance fractured, both Romans resorted to propaganda to gain an edge over the other. Through insulting the other and polishing their own image, both Antony and Octavian lookedRead MoreThe Tragic Hero Of Marcus Junius Brutus Minor Essay1418 Words   |  6 PagesLepidus; his mother was the half-sister of Cato the Younger, and later Julius Caesar s mistress. Some sources refer to the possibility of Caesar being his real father,despite Caesar s being only 15 years old when Brutus was born. Brutus uncle, Quintus Servilius Caepio, adopted him in about 59 BC, and Brutus was known officially for a time as Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus before he reverted to using his birth-name. Following Caesar s assassination in 44 BC, B rutus revived his adoptive name in orderRead MoreThe Tragedy of Julius Caesar: Compare and Contrast Marc Antony, Cassius, and Brutus641 Words   |  3 PagesMarc Antony, Brutus, and Cassius are all critical characters in William Shakespeare’s famous play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Due to their distinctive personalities and values, there is no trait that all of these characters share, although they do share some traits with one another. Firstly, Marc Antony and Cassius are manipulative in nature, while Brutus is not. Secondly, the root of Brutus and Cassius’ failure is their personality flaw, while Marc Antony proves strong in all the ways they proveRead MoreJulius Caesar by William Shakespeare646 Words   |  3 Pagestragedies is the story of Julius Caesar. In this story, the main character, Julius Caesar, is plotted against his best friend, Brutus, and the head of the conspiracy, Cassius. After Caesar gets assassinated, his right hand man, Mark Antony, tries to get revenge on the people that killed him. However, in this particular story, the main character is not the tragic hero. The tragic hero, Brutus, is the most consistent throughout the play unlike the other three characters, Caesar, Antony, and Cassius. Considering

Differences Between the French and Spanish Free Essays

Englishmen migrated to the New World because they wanted independence, political freedom, and economic opportunity. The Spanish came as conquerors; the resulting political system was entirely autocratic and solely devoted to the furthering of the motherland. Spain gave its colonies little self-rule. We will write a custom essay sample on Differences Between the French and Spanish or any similar topic only for you Order Now Instead, Spanish rulers dictated all the policies of its New World territories. The English and Spanish both wanted to explore and find new territories too politically and economically control. The Spanish colonies developed economically by using the Encomienda system. In this system, Spanish lords exploited and manipulated Native Americans and used them to do manual labor on the land. The Spanish looted large amounts of gold, silver, and other valuables from this new land. This tradition continued into the seventeenth century as Spanish ships would come annually to bring gold and other valuables back to Spain. The Spanish tax burden was very unevenly distributed: it fell more on the poor than the rich, heavily on the agricultural sector, and on Castile far more than Aragon or the Basque country. But the Spanish government’s expenditure continued to climb: – in the first twelve years of Philip III’s reign, he spent over 40 million ducats on the Low Countries’ wars alone. To cover the shortfall, the Spanish government both borrowed money by being interested in bearing state bonds and assigned the revenues from future years to the bankers if they would pay the defense contracts for the present year. By 1607 the government had a debt of almost 23 million ducats and had assigned away all its revenue for four years ahead. By 1644 the crown’s income was pledged to 1648; and by 1664 the crown owed more than 21 million ducats. The English Colonies had abundant natural resources. Their economy prospered in the fur trade, fishing, lumbering, farming and other industries that produced raw materials. This abundance of natural resources stimulated trade into the colonies as developed industries in Europe required raw materials to convert into refined goods. Combined with England’s tradition of partial representation, the English Colonies had a large degree of self-government. In 1603, moderate Puritans in England hoped the new monarch, James I, would be sympathetic to their iews, since he had been raised in Calvinist Scotland. Although this did not prove to be the case, the Puritans still tried to work within the religious system while he was king. The colonies all had some form of a representative assembly that was voted in by popular support. While only white male landowners could vote, this still constituted some degree of democracy. In some colonies, even the governors were decided by popular vote. T he English and Spanish colonies were established for completely different reasons. England colonizes North America. English colonies were first established by the Puritans who were seeking refuge, freedom of religion, and economic opportunity. The English colonists enjoyed far more freedom. English had established dominance in North America. The Spaniards came to America’s on accident in a futile attempt to find an alternate trade route to china, with a thriving community, complex architecture and cities of gold. Conquistadors, soldiers, and missionaries were the primary Spanish colonizers; farmers and traders came later. Colonies were governed by crown-appointed viceroys or governors. Settlers had to obey the king’s laws and could make none of their own. How to cite Differences Between the French and Spanish, Essay examples

Key concepts and principles of assessment free essay sample

Key concepts of assessment, are the aspects involved throughout the assessment process. One of these key aspects is accountability. Assessment is accountable to all learners throughout the whole assessment process. Any learner should know why they are being assessed, and what they need to do to meet any assessment criteria. There is also accountability to award organizations if the award is accredited, and to employers, if their staff is being assessed in any work environment for which they have responsibility.Evaluation of the assessment process needs to take place, and feedback from all parties involved. This informs current, and future processes and aspects, of any assessment that takes place.Another aspect involved throughout the assessment process is progression when assessing what needs to be done next, and by whom it needs to be done by. The types of assessment, identified as Initial, Formative and Summative, as well as diagnostic assessment which may identify the current knowledge of learners, and which may have additional assessment requirements. We will write a custom essay sample on Key concepts and principles of assessment or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Assessment activities must be fit for purpose, with decisions and feedback fit for purpose taking into account any prior learning identified at initial assessment, and fit-for-purpose with any planning decisions and feedback being justifiable and safe.Principles of assessment are how the assessment process is put into practice. Assessments should be Sufficient, Current, Authentic, Reliable and Valid (SCARV). They should be fair and take into account confidentiality and be fit-for-purpose within any criteria set by an examining body. Within the context of SCARV, assessments should be valid with any process for assessment being appropriate for the assessment criteria that is being assessed.All work should be relevant, sufficient and current, for the criteria to which it is being assessed. It needs to be authentic, with no doubt, as to the validity of it being the learner’s own work.Any assessment should follow the principles of SCARF of being current, and up to date with examining bodies requirements, as well as the learner being up to date on current methods, skills, and knowledge within their chosen professional area. The aim of the assessment is to track the progress and give constructive and informative feedback to learners. This helps improve a learner’s progress and inspires them to achieve. By gathering and recording of evidence from assessment, it can be measured against agreed objectives and criteria. It allows any measurable data to be used to track learner, group and overall organizational performance against specific learning domains.Bandler and Grinder (1979) Psychomotor/Cognitive/Affective assessment of specific learning domains describes how the doing (Psychomotor), thinking (Cognitive), and feeling (Affective) are important elements in s etting an optimal learning experience and having clear objectives within the assessment.

An Analysis of the Kite Runner free essay sample

An analysis of The Kite Runner â€Å"For you, a thousand times over† Made by Hasnen Ali Introduction The Kite Runner is an extraordinary book, which reminds us how long the Afghani people have been struggling to triumph over the forces of violence. Because of the books strong story, we get an insight in how people might have experienced the crisis in Kabul, even though it’s been shown through a book. The author Khaled Hosseini was a practicing physician until after the book’s release. This was also his first novel, which was released in 2003 and turned out to be an international bestseller. Even though the story of The Kite Runner is fictional, it’s based on a true story and also on Hosseini’s memories of growing up in Kabul. This also means that the genre of the book is not a fictional novel (many look at it that way), but an historical novel. We will write a custom essay sample on An Analysis of the Kite Runner or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page According to an article in USA Today, The Kite Runner has sold over 1. 4 million copies, which is a phenomenal sale for a first time author. The story tells of a friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Even though they were raised in the same household, Amir and Hassan are from two â€Å"different worlds†. While Amir is the son of a wealthy and respected man (Baba), Hassan is the son of the family servant (Ali). The most important factor in the story is the relationship between Amir and Hassan. Their intertwined lives and fate, shows that throughout the story even though, when their relationship was inseparable in the start. They still manage to become separated through jealousy. Five years later, during the Soviet occupation, Amir and Baba are forced to flee. They spend their new lives in California, and Amir starts a career as an author. Even though Amir thinks that he has escaped his past. He still cannot leave the memory of Hassan behind him. Setting The story uses two main settings. One is Afghanistan and the other is California. We could also say that the story is divided into three sections: the memories of pre-conflict Afghanistan, adjusting to life in America, and returning to Taliban controlled Afghanistan. There is big difference between these places. While Afghanistan used to be a safe and peaceful nation, their reputation completely changed after Taliban started controlling the country. The country is also portrayed as a demolished and deserted place, while California is shown as a way to escape their problems in Afghanistan. California will always be a much safer place to live, for both Amir and Baba, but Baba still misses Afghanistan, since he used to be wealthy and respected. He misses Kabul because in California, he is completely the opposite. He works at a gas station for many hours, and through the book we can feel that he misses almost everything about his previous home. It’s important to understand their struggle to adapt to their new home, because it shows how different Afghanistan is from California, and we also get a better understanding of the story. Structure and characters The Kite Runner starts with a nameless narrator, talking about his past and how it’s been affecting him for the last twenty-six years. The narrator also gives us clues to what might happen, and the troubles that will arise. After going through a few chapters, we get to know the main characters better and their problems. The characters that we first meet are Amir and Hassan. Amir is the narrator and the main character throughout the story. He is an Afghan man with a special childhood. Through most of his life Amir tries to redeem his reputation in the eyes of his father as he felt he was responsible for his mother’s death. He also wants to prove to his father that he isn’t a weakling, and want to become more like Hassan. Hassan is Amir’s best friend during his childhood and he is also his servant. Hassan is known for his loyalty and strong attachment to Amir. Later in the story, it’s revealed that Hassan is Amir’s brother. This means that Amir’s father had an affair with Ali’s wife, and that Hassan is actually his son. Hassan was also known for begin the best kite runner in Kabul. Baba is a wealthy and respected man, but becomes poor after he flees to America. His relationship with Amir is very turbulent, and he wants Amir to become like Hassan, strong and brave. Ali is Hassan’s father and Baba’s best friend. He is a Hazara, but he got the same characteristics as his son. Ali grew up together with Baba, just as Hassan and Amir did. He got a handicap as well; even though it doesn’t stop him from begin a loyal servant. Rahim Khan is Baba’s closest friend and one of the few people who know that Hassan is Amir’s brother. He is the one that calls Amir to go back to Afghanistan. Assef is a bully and is responsible for the rape of Hassan. This guy is also a fan of Hitler, which clearly makes him a sociopath. When he becomes an adult, he also joins the Taliban. He also has hatred towards the Hazara people, and likes to discriminate them. Soraya is Amir’s wife and has troublesome past. She also takes care of Baba, when he is sick and adopts Shorab without doubts. Sohrab is Hassan’s son. He also plays a major part in the book. Assef enslaves him after he is taken from the orphanage. Since Amir is the main character in the book, he also develops most of all the characters. We notice first that he slowly turns against Hassan, his anger and jealousy grows in one direction, even though Hassan doesn’t do anything wrong. The rape of Hassan is really an event that further separates their relationship. Since there is so much drama in this book, it doesn’t end yet. When the Soviet invades Afghanistan, Amir’s family flees to another country, unaware that they lose most of their wealth. For the first time they get a taste of how it is to be poor. Later in the book Amir gets a call from Rahim Khan and returns to Afghanistan. He finds out about Hassan’s son Sohrab, and is determined to bring him back home to America. Before he could save Sohrab, he had to face Assef. Getting beaten by Assef and saving Sohrab could be seen as a final way to redeem himself. This also made his guilt disappear. Themes and tones In this story, there are a lot of different themes we could discuss like example: bullying, friendship, guilt, betrayal, kite, honor, redemption, father and son relationship, man’s inhumanity to man, discrimination and loyalty. There is a lot of ethnic discrimination in Afghanistan and especially the conflict between the Pashtuns and the Hazara. The relationship between Pashtuns and Hazaras has never been stable; because Pashtuns are mostly Sunni Muslims and the Hazara are Shia Muslim. The Hazara has been discriminated mostly because of their faith, language and facial appearance. In the book Ali is loyal to Baba, because Baba’s father adopted Ali after his parents died. Since then Baba has always followed his father’s example and always been kind to the Hazara people. Guilt is also another theme that is brought up. After the rape of Hassan, Amir cannot bear to be around Hassan, because it reminds him of that day. He even lies to Ali, and says that nothing happened. The problem with Hassan is that he takes the blame for everything and he doesn’t want to hurt Amir. Even when Amir tells Hassan to hit him with the pomegranate, he refuses. When Hassan smashes the pomegranate on his own forehead, Amir’s guilt becomes even worse. In the end Amir makes Hassan and his father leave, and Hassan still considers Amir his best friend. The story is written in a way that it still affects you after your done reading. Even though it’s a dark story with a lot of hopelessness for the people in Afghanistan, there still is some hope and happiness. Honor is expressed in many different ways, but the quote â€Å"for you, a thousand times over† is a great example of how they express theirself. Conclusion The kite is a theme in the book that represents freedom, even though you’re not in fully in control of the kite’s fate. I think the theme describes the fate of Amir and how he develops throughout the book To me the story as said earlier is a historical novel, and not a fictional novel. This is because it’s based on a true story and experiences Hosseini had when he was growing up in Kabul. I as writer of this analysis is a Hazara, and I know what kind of suffering the Hazara people have went through. Sometimes I think that Hosseini might be Amir, but they sure do have some similarities. Links: * http://www. usatoday. com/life/books/news/2005-04-18-kite-runner_x. htm * http://www. gradesaver. com/the-kite-runner/study-guide/ * http://www. wikisummaries. org/The_Kite_Runner * http://polsci167. blogspot. com/2011/09/kite-runner-redemption-within-tentative. html

Causes and Effects of Land Pollution Essays

Causes and Effects of Land Pollution Essays Causes and Effects of Land Pollution Paper Causes and Effects of Land Pollution Paper Essay Topic: Water pollution Land pollution is one of the gravest kinds of pollutions. Say so because we do not realize when and how we pollute land due to different things we do and decisions we take. We realize the air is getting polluted when we step out of our houses and take a deep breath. We know when our actions cause water pollution, for we can see for ourselves the quality of the water worsening. Similarly noise, light, visual pollution can all be monitored, because we can all see or sense these kinds of pollution. However, land pollution is a hard one to get since we do not understand and we cannot empowered which of our actions cause destruction of land. What is Land Pollution? When the anthropogenic effects Of development adversely affect land (especially in turns of quality of land), it can be termed as land pollution. This brings us to an important question what counts as an adverse effect? The answer is simple anything that reduces the productivity and potential of a piece of land. Here, productivity and potential refers to prospective uses of a piece of land for any of the different purposes for which land is used; including infrastructure, housing, services, agriculture, forestry, etc. If any of the effects of human development reduce the potential of a piece of land to be used for any good purpose, it amounts to land pollution. Causes of Land Pollution Degenerative Actions encompass a lot of human actions, including deforestation, overuse of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, desertification, mining, inefficient and / or inadequate waste treatment, landfill, litter, etc. Many of these are unavoidable; however, definitely the severity of these actions in terms of the effects they have on the land can be reduced by taking appropriate and adequate corrective measure. For example, the amount of litter produced can be hugely reduced if we all strictly say NO to plastic. The key here is to conduct a thorough EIA Environmental Impact Assessment. Misuse of Land mainly refers to felling of trees to clear land for agriculture, as well as processes like desertification and land conversion. Desertification is when anthropogenic effects of human development and / or other actions converts a piece of (essentially) fertile land into desert-land or drywall. Isnt that a scary thought? Land once converted to desert-land can never be reclaimed by any amount of corrective measures. This is also a serious issue because t does not only affect the land, but also the overall biodiversity of a place, specially when land is cleared for agriculture. A lot Of indigenous flora and fauna is lost in the process. Inefficient Use of Land surprised? Does inefficient use of land count as a cause of land pollution? Yes. Why? Due to the consequences of inefficient use of land. Inefficient use of land as such is not going to cause land pollution. However, inefficient use of land amounts to wastage, and hence shortage of land; and it is precisely during such conditions that man has to resort to assure such as deforestation and others to meet his needs. It is an important, albeit an indirect cause of land pollution that is often largely neglected. Soil Pollution is when the top-most soil layer of land is destroyed or polluted. Soil pollution is again another cause of land pollution that affects not only the land, but also a lot of other things such as forest cover of a region, productivity of land in terms of agriculture, grazing etc. Soil pollution is also caused by wrong agricultural practices, such as overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. This causes non-biodegradable chemicals to enter and accumulate in the food-chain a process often referred to as pontification Oaf pollutant. Land Conversion is the process whereby a piece of land is converted from its indigenous form to a form used for either agriculture or infrastructure. Land conversion is especially a growing problem that we possibly do not have a good or a good enough solution for. The best way to avoid land conversion is to make efficient use of the available land. Using a piece of land to its maximum potential is the key to eliminate many of the causes of land elution. Other key causes of land pollution include arbitration, improper waste disposal, industrial activities, nuclear research, chemicals released by all sorts of he. Y industries, coal-fired power plants, metals production industries, etc. Effects of Land Pollution Effects on Climate Land pollution can affect the general environment of the Earth. Land pollutions leads to loss in the forest cover of Earth. This is in turn going to affect the amount of rain. Less rains mean lesser vegetation. The effect of all different kinds of pollution will eventually lead to problems like acid rains, roundhouse effect, global warming. All of these problems have already initiated and need to be curbed before the situation runs out of control. Extinction of Species One of the major causes Of concern is the extinction Of species. Species are pushed towards endangerment and extinction primarily by two processes. Habitat fragmentation is the fragmentation of the natural habitat of an organism; cause primarily by urban sprawl. Habitat destruction, on the other hand, is when land clearing adversely affects animals special such that their natural habitat is lost. Both the actions can cause some species to go extinct ND others to become invasive. Pontification Pontification is the process in which certain non-biodegradable substances go on accumulating in the food-chain (in one or more species). The most common example is of metallurgy in fish and mercury in eagles. Not only does pontification put the particular species at risk, it puts all the species above and below it at risk, and ultimately affects the food pyramid. Effects on Biodiversity Species extinction and pontification is going to overthrow the balance of nature very significantly. The main reason for this is disturbance created in he food chain. TO give you a very simple example on account Of pontification of mercury in eagles, they might go extinct in the subsequent years. However, we know eagles prey on snakes. Less (or no) eagles will then result in more number of snakes! As you may have realized, land pollution is indeed going to affect a lot more things than we though it will. Hence, I leave you with some corrective measure you can take on a personal level to reduce land pollution. Encourage organic farming buy organic food. Proper garbage disposal separate your garbage before you give it to the airbag collector; and strictly say NO to plastic. Encourage recycling buy recycled products, notebooks, paper, etc. Restrict use of herbicides and pesticides they are not only used in farm, but in your own backyard as well. If we reduce our contribution to garbage and litter, therein itself we will be able to significantly reduce land pollution and probably curb it entirely in the near future. Also do realize this isnt only about land pollution; it is about all kinds of pollution. We need to take steps to prevent damaging our Earth. We have no other place to go.

Legal Consciousness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Legal Consciousness - Essay Example The law pulls us by manipulating our mindsets; as such, it manages to shape our activities. Therefore, behaviors and codes that we observe are resultant of guidelines since the law attracts us into adopting them. The push appears as an obligatory application of the law because when persons fail to follow the law, then they are forced to follow it. As such, the law pushes or forces persons into adopting a desired habit, which shapes their activities. According to Myers (2004), most teachers suffer law consequences because they are mainly ignorant to new codes and regulations that are binding. Therefore, I would update myself frequently to avoid such situations. However, when confronted by challenges, my immediate response would entail evaluating the matter critically to identify my alternatives and the consequences of adopting any of the available option. As such, I would firstly seek to familiarize myself with the current events and novel regulations that affect my duties. I would then adopt an action most suited in correcting the situation and afterwards institute strategies that would avoid future recurrences. An apparent reality that an administrator must understand is that one can never cover problems, thus, facing them remains the viable solution. As such, I would seek to respond to arising problems coherently. Administrators monitor a group of individuals with diverse personalities, intentions and concerns making them face challenges emerging from varied sectors (Parkay & Stanford, 2007). This indicates that an administration post demands one to have a tactical mind that can respond to such predicaments effectively. I would always seek to gather the necessary information before communication my stand when faced by any problem. As such, research would be my guiding term since I never approve an idea of furnishing my client

XBRL Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

XBRL - Research Paper Example It allows semantic meaning that is required for reporting financial and non financial information of businesses. This technology uses XML based language. The main objective of XBRL is to prepare and exchange financial information for further usage of it like analysis of financial information for investment decision making. It is a standard way to communicate with the stakeholders of the businesses through sharing financial information. Specification of standardization of information is developed and published by XBRL International Inc. The information on the XBRL platform can be freely downloaded especially the financial statements can be downloaded as spreadsheet format so that it can be easily used for further analysis (AICPA. 2012, p.1). The information will also be available in multiple languages to meet the purpose of mass target audiences. The professional users of financial statements of business like the security analysts can analyze the company’s financial information by comparing with other competitors very easily. This will be assist by getting automating filling of business information which can be easily compared with the previous financial figures. Again this helps analysts to increase speed along with high level of accuracy of data. The XBRL platform also provides the relevant definition of each reporting concepts and the relationship among various financial parameters and reporting concepts. XBRL facilitates the preparers of financial information of the companies to utilize freely accessible software to tag quarterly and annual financial information within taxonomy. This information is accomplished in an Instance Document that can be easily accessible by the target audiences. This information can be electronically exchanged and also can be validated in computers and also can be readable by the users from any part of the world. XBRL has published guideline for the users in its websites to help the preparers of financial statements (FFIEC, 2006, p.2). What information is required to be provided in XBRL? Requirement of information XBRL has been revised but there is no major change in the basic format of disclosed information in the periodic report or registration statement for new XBRL requirement. One minor change is that the companies have to provide financial statements along with the statement schedule and footnotes. The companies do not need to provide information about executive compensation and statistical disclosure of financial performance in a specific financial year. The companies must have to provide quarterly earnings reports, transition reports and annual reports. XBRL wants to extend the contents of Form 8K which will be revised and updated version of the previous financial statements of the companies duly filled with only SEC. XBRL also needs registration statement of limited security act which will update information about change of price range at the time submitting quarterly or annual financial repor t by the companies. Previously the companies need to provide amended at each time of filling in XBRL platform. For merger and acquisition of business registered with XBRL, it needs the detailed information of revised financial structure of the company and details of the acquisition value. XBRL data need registration statement of securities act which must include financial statements like Form S1 and Form S3. This incorporates the financial information provided by the company (SEC, 2009, p.23). What are the perceived benefits of XBRL? Are there any risks and/or drawbacks? XBRL is perceived to be beneficial for both the preparers and the users of financial statements. Financial analysts, regulatory bodies and investors gain more efficient and faster access financial data. This information

Discuss Competitive Strategies Coca Cola Should Adopt to Develop Essay

Discuss Competitive Strategies Coca Cola Should Adopt to Develop Business Expansion in China - Essay Example the Study: Globalization and the increasing competition in the current business world reflect the growth and development of different businesses and their expansion across different countries. The beverage industry is one of the largest industries in the world. The Coca-Cola Company being one of the leading companies in the world’s beverage industry (www.rediff.com), a research on their business strategies would help in an understanding of how leading companies create and maintain their position in their own countries as well as in other countries through expansions. With 126 years in business, the Coca-Cola Company currently has 142,200 worldwide employees, over 3,500 brands, 49 consecutive years in increased dividends and over 200 countries where their beverages sell (www.thecoca-colacompany.com). The company first entered China in the 1920’s with the first bottling plant established in Shanghai, 1927. It soon expanded its bottling operations to Tianjin, 1927 and then Qingdao, 1930. In 1949, the company closed operations in China when the socialist regime rose. Since its reentry in 1979, The Coca-Cola Company has seen tremendous growth, where over the last quarter century, brands of The Coca-Cola Company have become major household names in China. It recently opened its 42nd bottling plant in the country to help further the company’s dominance in the beverage industry within the country (www.thecoca-colacompany.com). China’s beverage industry reflects a huge market, particularly for large companies like the Coca-Cola Company. The company strongly has its operations in China but the growing competitions and other internal and external factors may affect the successful expansion plans of the company (Zhang & Alon, 2011, p.287). The rationale of the study is... The rationale of the study is based on learning and understanding the competitive business strategies of a leading beverage company that may benefit the expansion of the company in the China market. In the modern world of increased globalization, there is a need to learn the theories and concepts followed by large companies. This is to have a view on the strategies necessary to keep up a position of a company in the industry among its competitor companies. This study would focus on the Coca-Cola Company that already has its operations in the China market and would look for further expansions to which the company has the requirement of innovative and competitive strategies that would keep its position above its competitors. The results of this study would prove indispensible to business development managers and the business development team endowed with the responsibility of identifying expansion opportunities. The study would also help other companies who require strategies to expand business elsewhere. The researcher will gain knowledge in formulation of competitive strategies that can be applied in future endeavors. Hence, this study is rational in the context that the competitive business strategies of one of the leading companies could be learnt and the research would enable other companies to use such strategies in creating their competitive advantages while expanding their businesses.

Strategies for Service Quality

Strategies for Service Quality Literature Review Chapter One: An overview of Service Quality 1.0 Introduction Nowadays, service quality strategy is an important weapon used to gain a competitive advantage over competitors. This chapter starts by defining quality, services and service quality. Some essential elements such as the expectations of service, importance of service quality and its benefits are also being highlighted. It further stresses the need for handling customer complaints and underlines the role of service failure and recovery. 1.2 Meanings of Quality Quality is constantly evolving depending on its application techniques used. Quality is a term that is heard almost everywhere nowadays, from top management business to the small corner shop on the local street to the stall selling fruits in the market. Quality is perceived as a subjective term which means different things to different people in different situations. According to Joseph M. Juran (1988), quality is defined as â€Å"fitness for purpose†. Deming W. Edwards (1982), another quality guru, described quality as being â€Å"a predictable degree of uniformity and dependability at low cost and suited to the market†. However, â€Å"Delighting the customer by fully meeting their needs and expectations† is a more common definition of quality. Other definitions of quality are listed below: â€Å"Quality is a conformance to requirement† (Philip Crosby, 1979) â€Å"Quality is the customers opinion† (Armand V Feigenbaum, 2004) â€Å"Quality is the extent to which the customer or users believe the product or service surpasses their needs and expectations† (Gitlow et al. , 1989) The different definitions of â€Å"quality† given above are not stating the same thing. Thus, it is possible that one business concentrates on quality to meet a specified requirement, but this may not satisfy the customers expectations. Also, it is possible for a product to be of a degree of excellence but may not fit for purpose, that is, the definition underlined by Joseph Juran. Simply expressed, all gurus of quality dance around the definition of quality but none of these definitions stated above is a complete statement of what is meant by quality. 1.3 Importance of Quality The concept of quality is currently so widely used by organisations that it is no longer just an advantage to adopt it but a must for survival. Increased globalisation leads to increased competitive pressures. Therefore, businesses are forced to do their best to be more efficient, more up-to-date with the changing technologies and at the same time to be responsive to the markets. Dale (2003) stresses the importance of quality in that it increases productivity, followed by enhanced performance in the marketplace and improves overall business performance. According to Armand Feigenbaum (2004), quality is considered to be the single most important force resulting in organisational success and growth in both national and international markets. Competition nowadays is fiercer as existing competitors need to improve their offerings while new and low cost competitors emerge in the marketplace (Dale, 2003). Consequently, businesses are required to understand the great significance of quality and try to indulge in continuous and sustainable quality improvements in order to survive. Quality is a key aspect that plays a great role for both goods and services providing enterprises. More specifically, quality and its management have turned out to be progressively significant in pursuing business excellence, superior performance and market supremacy. But why quality in service? This is because organisations face challenges such as meeting customer requirements while remaining economically competitive. Services are labour intensive even today. There is not any substitute for high quality personal interaction between service employees and customers. Thus, quality practices need to be implemented by the service enterprises to identify problems quickly and systematically, establish valid and reliable service performance measures and measure customer satisfaction. 1.4 Services The new catch-all word â€Å"services† is making its rounds in the industry in the last decade. Indeed, the role of services in the world economy has increased considerably within the last ten years, particularly in developed nations. According to Jiang and Rosenbloom (2005), the shifting of the economy in industrialised countries from goods to services is considered to be one of the most essential long-term trends in the business world today. In fact, the service sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in the USA nowadays, accounting for over 75% of the increase in the GNP (Gross National Product) in the last decade. Regan (1963) brought in the idea of services being â€Å"activities, benefits or satisfactions which are offered for sale, or are provided in connection with the sale of goods†. As human beings, we consume services in our everyday life such as switching on the television, talking on mobile phones and using emails. Economies of the world are becoming more and more services based. Some activities such as banking, construction, tourism, accounting and hairdressing can be easily identified. Organisation goals can be achieved by knowing the needs and wants of target markets and thus delivering the appropriate and desired service better than competitors. According to Zeithaml et al. (1990), customers are considered to be the only judge of service. However, it is often difficult for customers to predict satisfaction and evaluate service prior to purchase and consumption and hence, they are more likely to look for information before purchasing services than goods This may be mostly due to the fact that services, in contrast to goods, are commonly said to derive from the four characteristics namely intangibility, heterogeneity, perishability and inseparability. However, some authors have argued that services are not fundamentally different from goods and have also reported that no pure goods or services exist in todays marketplace (McDougall et al. , 1990; cited by Stell et al. , 1996). This stream of thought puts forward that the service/good dichotomy is such that consumers can purchase either a good or service to fulfill their needs. For instance, when consumers need to have their documents copied, they may buy a personal copy machine (a good) or go to a copy center (a service). In these circumstances, services may compete directly with goods (Dholakia and Venkatraman, 1993). So, instead of identifying differences, marketing strategy should be based on the similarities between services and physical goods in relation to the characteristics of the total market offering. 1.4.1 Services in Retail Industry Organisations must be able to identify their most important customers and prospect and at the same time integrating customer insights and powerful analytics into retail decision-making. Thus, this can drive high performance throughout the business. Evidence suggests that services business customers tend to remain with the same service provider if they are continually and continuously satisfied (Hong and Goo, 2004). The building and maintenance of such relationships can attain better financial performance, customer trust, commitment and satisfaction (Hsieh et al, 2002). In order to achieve high performance in the retail industry, there are several attributes that retailers should strive towards to guarantee success and outperform their competitors. They have to excel in areas such as being customer focus, being continuously innovative, establishing a performance-oriented culture and improving the distribution channel. All these add a new dimension of competition. 1.5 Definition of Service Quality Service quality has drawn attention of researchers in recent decades (Zeithaml, 2000). Nevertheless, since there is not a universally accepted definition for service quality, many different meanings exist. For instance, Czepiel (1990) portrays service quality as customers perception of how well a service meets or exceeds their expectations whereas Bitner, Booms and Mohr (1994, p. 97) define service quality as â€Å"the consumers overall impression of the relative inferiority or superiority of the organisation and its services†. Zeithaml et al. (1996) depict service quality as â€Å"the delivery of excellent or superior service relative to customer expectations†. While other researchers (for example, Cronin and Taylor, 1994) view service quality as a form of attitude representing a long-run evaluation in general, Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1985, p. 48) define service quality as â€Å"a function of the differences between expectation and performance along the quality dimensions†. Indeed, this has appeared to be consistent with Roest and Pieters (1997) definition that service quality is a relativistic and cognitive discrepancy between experience-based norms and performances concerning service benefits. As for Gronroos (1983), service quality is viewed as the accomplishment of customers expectations whereas Parasuraman et al. (1985) define it as the gap between customers expectations, in terms of service, and their perception developed by the actual service experience. That is, service quality is an attitude that results from the comparison of expected service levels with perceived performance. Furthermore, Parasuraman et al. (1985) have reported that outstanding service is a profitable strategy as it results in more new customers, fewer lost customers, more business with existing customers, more insulation from price competition and fewer mistakes requiring the re-performance of services. Accordingly, by offering superior service quality, a firm is liable to become more profitable and at the same time to sustain a competitive edge in their served markets. Evidently, superior service quality is a strategic weapon aiming to attract more customers. Lassar et al. (2000) believe that service quality is a significant sign of customer satisfaction and thus delivering superior service quality is a strategy that eventually leads to success. 1.5.1 Service Quality in Retailing With the rapid development in the retail industry nowadays, understanding of retail service quality and identifying determinants of retail service quality has become strategic importance for retailers. By satisfying customers through high quality service, firms not only retain their current customers, but at the same time, their market share also increases. (Finn and Lamb, 1991; cited by Nguyen, 2007) According to numerous marking researchers (for example, Berry, 1986; Reichheld Sasser, 1990; Dabholkar et al., 1996; NcGoldrick, 2002), the offer and supply of high quality service is often perceived to be of fundamental importance in retailing. In the retail context, when customers evaluate retail service, they compare their perceptions of the service they receive with that of their expectations. Customers are seemed to be satisfied only when the perceived service meets or even exceeds their expectations. However, they are dissatisfied when they feel that the service falls below their expectations (Levy and Weitz, 2005). To date, Parasuraman et al. (1988) believe that many studies on service quality relied on service quality construct and scale. Nevertheless, Kaul (2005) and Dabholkar et al. (1996) argue that this application to the retail industry may not be appropriate for service quality in retailing industry as the latter seems to be different from other services. In retail setting, where there is a mix of product and service, retailers are prone to have impact on service quality more than on product quality (Dabholkar et al. , 1996). Hence, since retailers can create such effects, service quality plays a significant strategic role in creating quality perceptions. 1.6 Customer Expectations of Service According to Parasuraman et al (1993), understanding customer expectations is a must for delivering superior and value-added service. Customers have the tendency to compare their perceptions with that of expectations when judging a service. They are satisfied only when the service they have received is the same or exceeds what they expected. Lewis (1991) define expectations as the desires or wants of consumers and what they believe a product or service should offer, which are formed on the basis of previous experience with a company, its competitors and the marketing mix inputs. Thus, identifying what a customer expects is the prime step in delivering high quality of customer service. 1.6.1 Determinants of Customer Expectations of service Berry and Parasuraman (1993) have developed a complete model of customer expectations and have given their opinions through two levels namely desired and adequate expectations and the zone of tolerance in the middle which separates them (refer to Figure 1.3). This model shows the different factors that affect these three features. Desired service is that level of service which a customer expects to receive from a service firm. In fact, it is a blend of what the customer considers ‘can be and ‘should be. It is believed to result from six sources namely, enduring service intensifiers, personal needs, explicit service promises, implicit service promises, word-of-mouth and past experience. Conversely, adequate service level is related to which the customer finds acceptable. It is based on the customers appraisal of what the service ‘will be. It is influenced by five factors such as transitory service intensifiers, perceived service alternatives, customer self-perceived service role, situational factors and predicted service. Berry and Parasuraman (1993) describe a tolerance zone as â€Å"a range of service performance that a customer considers satisfactory†. This concept assumes that customers have expectations of a service attribute on the two given levels which have been discussed above. If the real experiences of a customer fall in the zone of tolerance, then the perceived quality is regarded as good. Understanding the different sources of customer expectations can therefore help managers to perceive correctly what their customers want and expect. They can then put emphasis on the services elements that they can control and deliver the services they have promised. Hence, this model can serve as a valuable diagnostic tool to boost up the overall level of perceived service quality (Kettinger and Lee, 2005).Yet, one of the perplexing issues confronting service businesses is how to measure quality service perceptions of existing and potential customers since many of these factors are uncontrollable and also expectations differ from customer to customer and, possibly, from one situation to the next for the same customer (Young et al. , 1994). Why is Service Quality Important? Across all service industries, service quality remains a critical issue as businesses strive to maintain a comparative advantage over their competitors in the marketplace (Kandampully et al., 1999). As a result, the environment of service organisations is more and more competitive. Ghobatian et al. (1994) point out that â€Å"customers are the lifeblood of any business† and â€Å"service quality can be the means to win and keep customers†. Actually, in todays aggressive environment, the pursuit of service quality is believed to be the most important strategic weapon in achieving a sustainable differential advantage within the global marketplace (Devlin et al., 2000). More importantly, it is conceded that companies that excel in high quality service as perceived by their customers, tend to be the most profitable ones. On the other hand, poor service has been classified as the prime cause for customers switching to competitors (Ghobatian et al., 1994). It is often observed that organisations providing a sophisticated level of service, try to go beyond just satisfying their customers. â€Å"They emphasise the need to ‘delight them by providing them more than what is required. They also now talk about winning customers† (Dale, 2003). The latter highlights some customer service facts and indicates why service quality is crucial for a firm. (See Appendix A) While focusing on the increased importance of service quality, it is also essential to assess the related benefits and costs. Lewis (1991) has underlined some benefits when adopting a quality service strategy such as customer satisfaction and customer retention, loyalty, expanded market share, enhanced firms reputation, improvement in employee morale, low staff turnover, increased productivity, less mistakes, lower costs, high revenues, increased financial performance, high revenues and positive word-of-mouth. On the other hand, Crosby (1979) has identified the costs of poor quality which are related due to lack of responsiveness to customers, low morale of employees, dissatisfied customers and unfavorable word-of-mouth communication. Hence, it is important for businesses to clearly anticipate that service quality is the basic prerequisite for continuous success. 1.7 Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction In a competitive business environment where organisations compete for customers, customer satisfaction is perceived as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a primary element of business strategy (Carl D. McDaniel, 2005). Customers are the foremost decision makers in any marketing effort. They opt for a service offering that adds value to them and optimises their satisfaction. Many researchers such as Brady and Robertson (2001) and Lovelock, Patterson and Walker (2001) conceptualise customer satisfaction as an individuals feeling of pleasure or disappointment resulting from judging against a products perceived performance with respect to his or her expectations. But, Westbrook and Oliver (1981) make use of the confirmation-disconfirmation theory to better explain the meaning of customer satisfaction. This paradigm states that customers assess their levels of satisfaction by comparing their actual experiences with that of their previous experiences, expectations, and perceptions of the products performance. Parasuraman et al. (1994) mention that customer satisfaction is a key consequence of service quality and thus, it can determine the long term success of a service organisation. In the same vein, Oliver (1980) points out that customer satisfaction is affected by customer expectation or anticipation prior to obtaining a service and can be approximated by the following equation: Customer Satisfaction = â‚ ¬Ã‚  Perception of Performance Expectations Based on the above equation, Parasuraman et al. (1994) devise that a service provider can boost up overall customer satisfaction by either improving customer perceptions of a service or by lowering their expectations of it. If a service firm fails to respect this equation, then, this may dissatisfy the customer at the time and, in turn, will result in his or her switching to alternative service firms (McCollough, Berry, and Yadav, 2000; Roos, 1999). Thus, this equation is a valuable tool and a clear reminder that both factors, perceptions and expectations of customer satisfaction need to be managed and controlled by the service provider. An analysis of the literature on the relationship between customer satisfaction and service quality has received a widely held view among researches. Caruana and Malta (2002) point out by mentioning that service quality is an important input to customer satisfaction. Zeithaml et al. (1996) share the same line of thought by suggesting that a customers relationship with a company is strengthened when that customer makes a positive appraisal about the companys service quality and is weakened when a customer makes negative assessments about the companys service quality. They argue that favourable assessment of service quality will result in favourable behavioral intentions like â€Å"praise for the company† and expressions of preference for the company over other companies. Thus, implying that there is a positive relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction. However, the relationship between customer satisfaction and service quality has been criticised for not being inter-related by many researches. For instance, Iacobucci et al. (1995) identify that the vast majority of articles attempting to scrutinise this inter-relationship have been of a non-empirical nature. Similarly, Anderson and Fornell (1994) point out that the literature is not very clear about the distinction between quality and satisfaction. Satisfaction is a â€Å"post consumption† experience which judges perceived quality against expected quality, whereas service quality refers to a global evaluation of an organisations service delivery system (Anderson and Fornell, 1994; Parasuraman et al., 1985). Hence, Dabholkar et al. (2000) suggest that it is recommended that customer satisfaction should be measured separately from service quality so as to understand how customers evaluate service performance. 1.8 Service Quality and Customer trust The trust that customers have in service organisations is an important concern for customer relationship managers. Existing research has accentuated the significance of trust and its implications for driving profitable and long-lasting customer relationships (Garbarino and Johnson, 1999; Morgan and Hunt, 1999). Practitioners and researchers have repeatedly emphasised the importance of service quality which enable firms to build stable and trusting relationships with customers (Grà ¶nroos, 1983; Rust, Moorman, and Dickson, 2002; Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman, 1996). Recent evidence highlights that there exists a positive relationship between service quality and trust (Chiou and Droge, 2006; Sharma and Patterson, 1999). To reinforce this notion, a firm that consistently meets or exceeds the expectations of customers will cultivate more trusting relationships with its customers. The courteous, caring, and responsive employee behaviours that are characteristic of service quality will inspire confidence in customers, particularly in retail outlets and thus will introduce a sense of trust for the retail store in customers (Weisinger, 1998). These related factors of service quality eventually contribute to the development of trust, and trust starts to develop as the customers experience positive service interactions and obtain benefits from this personal interaction. Consequently, the higher the service quality, the stronger is customer trust in an organisation. 1.9 Service Quality and Customer Loyalty The main aim of leading service organisations is to maintain a superior quality of service in an effort to gain customer loyalty. Coupled with this, Zeithaml (1996) believes that a service firms long term success in a market is essentially determined by its ability to expand and maintain a large and loyal customer base. Buttle and Burton (2002) simply describe customer loyalty as â€Å"a customer who continues to buy is a loyal customer†. Boulding et al. (1993) find that there is a positive relationship between service quality and customer loyalty, that is, customers having the repurchase intentions and the willingness to recommend. Sharing the same line of thought, Zeithaml et al. (1990) also report a positive relationship, thereby, customers willingly pay a price premium and intend to remain loyal in case of a price increase. However, Johnson et al. (2001) point out that this positive relationship varies between products, industries, and situations. On the other hand, some researchers argue that it has remained unclear whether or not there is a direct relationship between service quality and loyalty. In the study done by Cronin and Taylor (1992), service quality did not appear to have a significant or positive effect on customer loyalty. Similarly, Bloemer et al. (1999) mention that this relationship has remained relatively underdeveloped. 1.10 Handling customer complaints The phenomenon of customer complaints is considered as an area of great significance for businesses, particularly where organisations are increasingly recognising the value of pursuing long-term relationships with customers. Tax and Brown (1998) identify that only 5-10% of customers who are dissatisfied actually complain. Hence, it is imperative for organisations to encourage their customers to voice their dissatisfaction by providing communication facilities such as customer service desks. However, Blancero and Johnson (2001) argue that customer complaints could result in negative reactions from employees, which may in turn reduce service quality. But complaints can have a positive impact as well. It is an excellent opportunity for an organisation when receiving complaints in order to restore customer confidence and to capitalise on this feedback for helping in organisational improvements (Johnston, 2001; Ramsey, 2003). When focusing on handling customer complaints, it should include adequacy or fairness of the outcome, access to the organisation contact points, friendliness, empathy, active feedback, and speed of response (Stauss, 2002). 1.11 Service Failure and Recovery The retail industry involves a high degree of interaction between employees and consumers and as a result, provides many opportunities for service failures to crop up. According to Michel (2001), service failures include those circumstances when a service fails to live up to the customers expectations. Some consequences of service failures are dissatisfaction, negative word-of-mouth (Mattila, 2001), decrease in customer confidence and a decline in employee morale and performance (Boshoff and Leong, 1998). When service failure occurs, then service providers have to take actions to recover which gives rise to service recovery. Miller et al. (2000) describe service recovery as the actions takes to problems, change negative attitudes of dissatisfied customers and to ultimately retain these customers. Examples of recovery efforts consist of price discounts, improved services, refunds, free products or services, apologies, and acknowledgment of the problem (Kelley et al. , 1993). 1.12 Summary of the Literature Review This chapter has provided a general idea on service quality. It has started by providing an overview of services and quality with emphasis in the retailing industry. In addition, customer expectations, customer trust, loyalty and customer satisfaction have also been discussed. Undoubtedly, in the service quality literature, service quality is proven to provide many benefits to organisations. Literature Review Chapter Two: Related Concepts of Service Quality 2.0 Introduction In this chapter, service quality and its related concepts have been explored. They are as follows: The dimensions of service quality including SERVQUAL, Gap analysis, the three dimensions of Lehtinen and Lehtinen and the Perceived service quality model. Besides, the difficulties in measuring service quality as well as a critical review of the concept of service quality have also been identified 2.1 Dimensions of Service Quality Service quality is not a singular but rather it is a multidimensional phenomenon (Ghobatian et al, 1993). Without doubt, the identification of the quality dimensions to measure is of fundamental necessity as customers base their views about service on these dimensions (Kunst and Lemmink, 1996). Various writers and researchers have suggested a number of dimensions of service quality. For instance, Lehtinen and Lehtinen (1982) identify three dimensions for service quality which are physical quality (tangible aspects of service), corporate quality (company image and reputation) and interactive quality (two-way flow between customers and personnel). They also argue that it is important to differentiate between the output quality of service and the quality associated with the process of service delivery. Indeed, service quality is being perceived as a multidimensional concept. Grà ¶nroos (1984) point out that service quality comprises of three global dimensions: The technical quality which refers to what is delivered or what the customer gets from the service. For example, for a retail store, technical quality may consist of the range of products offered and the availability of parking space. The functional quality, that is, the way in which the service is delivered or how it is delivered. For example, customers of a retail store will assess whether the salespersons are friendly or whether products are easily returnable. The corporate image has to do with how consumers perceive the firm and is built by mainly both technical and functional quality and to some extent other factors such as the traditional marketing activities (pricing, advertising). Unlike Grà ¶nroos (1984) who uses the global measure of service quality, Parasuraman et al. (1985) argue that the criteria used by consumers to evaluate service quality fits ten dimensions: reliability, responsiveness, competence, courtesy, communication, credibility, security, access, tangibles and understanding/knowing the customer. Later, after having carried out successive research, analysis and testing, Parasuraman et al. (1988) refine the dimensions into only five dimensions namely: Tangibles: the appearance of physical facilities, personnel, communication materials and condition of equipment. Reliability: the ability to perform the promised service on time dependably and accurately. Responsiveness: the willingness to help customers, to deal effectively with complaints and provide prompt service. Assurance: the employees knowledge and courtesy and their ability to convey trust and confidence. Empathy: The level of caring, individualised attention provided to the customers. 2.1.1 SERVQUAL Model Based on these five dimensions above, the SERVQUAL instrument has been developed. This particular instrument which is originally developed by A. Parasuraman, Valarie A. Zeithaml and L.L. Berry in 1988, measures service quality through customer opinions. They point out that SERVQUAL essentially comprises of two sections. The first section basically questions customers expectations, while the second part measures customers perceptions. The gap between the expected service and perceived service is measured using the SERVQUAL together with its five underlying dimensions of service quality (tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy). The SERVQUAL incorporates 22 items in each of the two sections which are sub-items of the predefined five dimensions (refer to Appendix B). According to Zeithaml et al. (2006), SERVQUAL has been creatively used in multiple service contexts. Indeed, Parasuraman et al. (1988) suggest that the instrument is applicable across a wide variety of services. In the same line, Getz et al. (2001) put forward that SERVQUAL has been broadly used in a variety of service industries. They also point out that it is a helpful tool comprising of potential applications in assessing effectively consumers expectations and perceptions of service quality. Despite the fact that SERVQUAL is the most well known instrument for service quality, it has been criticised from several researchers. Cronin and Taylor (1992) claim that there are deficiencies in both the conceptualisation and operationalisation of service quality in the SERVQUAL model. Buttle (1996) criticises on the dimensionality of the SERVQUAL scale, especially to the number of dimensions and their stability from contexts to contexts. He also states that the dimensions are not universal. Following the same line of thought, Bahia and Nantel (2000) declare that this model emphas Strategies for Service Quality Strategies for Service Quality Literature Review Chapter One: An overview of Service Quality 1.0 Introduction Nowadays, service quality strategy is an important weapon used to gain a competitive advantage over competitors. This chapter starts by defining quality, services and service quality. Some essential elements such as the expectations of service, importance of service quality and its benefits are also being highlighted. It further stresses the need for handling customer complaints and underlines the role of service failure and recovery. 1.2 Meanings of Quality Quality is constantly evolving depending on its application techniques used. Quality is a term that is heard almost everywhere nowadays, from top management business to the small corner shop on the local street to the stall selling fruits in the market. Quality is perceived as a subjective term which means different things to different people in different situations. According to Joseph M. Juran (1988), quality is defined as â€Å"fitness for purpose†. Deming W. Edwards (1982), another quality guru, described quality as being â€Å"a predictable degree of uniformity and dependability at low cost and suited to the market†. However, â€Å"Delighting the customer by fully meeting their needs and expectations† is a more common definition of quality. Other definitions of quality are listed below: â€Å"Quality is a conformance to requirement† (Philip Crosby, 1979) â€Å"Quality is the customers opinion† (Armand V Feigenbaum, 2004) â€Å"Quality is the extent to which the customer or users believe the product or service surpasses their needs and expectations† (Gitlow et al. , 1989) The different definitions of â€Å"quality† given above are not stating the same thing. Thus, it is possible that one business concentrates on quality to meet a specified requirement, but this may not satisfy the customers expectations. Also, it is possible for a product to be of a degree of excellence but may not fit for purpose, that is, the definition underlined by Joseph Juran. Simply expressed, all gurus of quality dance around the definition of quality but none of these definitions stated above is a complete statement of what is meant by quality. 1.3 Importance of Quality The concept of quality is currently so widely used by organisations that it is no longer just an advantage to adopt it but a must for survival. Increased globalisation leads to increased competitive pressures. Therefore, businesses are forced to do their best to be more efficient, more up-to-date with the changing technologies and at the same time to be responsive to the markets. Dale (2003) stresses the importance of quality in that it increases productivity, followed by enhanced performance in the marketplace and improves overall business performance. According to Armand Feigenbaum (2004), quality is considered to be the single most important force resulting in organisational success and growth in both national and international markets. Competition nowadays is fiercer as existing competitors need to improve their offerings while new and low cost competitors emerge in the marketplace (Dale, 2003). Consequently, businesses are required to understand the great significance of quality and try to indulge in continuous and sustainable quality improvements in order to survive. Quality is a key aspect that plays a great role for both goods and services providing enterprises. More specifically, quality and its management have turned out to be progressively significant in pursuing business excellence, superior performance and market supremacy. But why quality in service? This is because organisations face challenges such as meeting customer requirements while remaining economically competitive. Services are labour intensive even today. There is not any substitute for high quality personal interaction between service employees and customers. Thus, quality practices need to be implemented by the service enterprises to identify problems quickly and systematically, establish valid and reliable service performance measures and measure customer satisfaction. 1.4 Services The new catch-all word â€Å"services† is making its rounds in the industry in the last decade. Indeed, the role of services in the world economy has increased considerably within the last ten years, particularly in developed nations. According to Jiang and Rosenbloom (2005), the shifting of the economy in industrialised countries from goods to services is considered to be one of the most essential long-term trends in the business world today. In fact, the service sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in the USA nowadays, accounting for over 75% of the increase in the GNP (Gross National Product) in the last decade. Regan (1963) brought in the idea of services being â€Å"activities, benefits or satisfactions which are offered for sale, or are provided in connection with the sale of goods†. As human beings, we consume services in our everyday life such as switching on the television, talking on mobile phones and using emails. Economies of the world are becoming more and more services based. Some activities such as banking, construction, tourism, accounting and hairdressing can be easily identified. Organisation goals can be achieved by knowing the needs and wants of target markets and thus delivering the appropriate and desired service better than competitors. According to Zeithaml et al. (1990), customers are considered to be the only judge of service. However, it is often difficult for customers to predict satisfaction and evaluate service prior to purchase and consumption and hence, they are more likely to look for information before purchasing services than goods This may be mostly due to the fact that services, in contrast to goods, are commonly said to derive from the four characteristics namely intangibility, heterogeneity, perishability and inseparability. However, some authors have argued that services are not fundamentally different from goods and have also reported that no pure goods or services exist in todays marketplace (McDougall et al. , 1990; cited by Stell et al. , 1996). This stream of thought puts forward that the service/good dichotomy is such that consumers can purchase either a good or service to fulfill their needs. For instance, when consumers need to have their documents copied, they may buy a personal copy machine (a good) or go to a copy center (a service). In these circumstances, services may compete directly with goods (Dholakia and Venkatraman, 1993). So, instead of identifying differences, marketing strategy should be based on the similarities between services and physical goods in relation to the characteristics of the total market offering. 1.4.1 Services in Retail Industry Organisations must be able to identify their most important customers and prospect and at the same time integrating customer insights and powerful analytics into retail decision-making. Thus, this can drive high performance throughout the business. Evidence suggests that services business customers tend to remain with the same service provider if they are continually and continuously satisfied (Hong and Goo, 2004). The building and maintenance of such relationships can attain better financial performance, customer trust, commitment and satisfaction (Hsieh et al, 2002). In order to achieve high performance in the retail industry, there are several attributes that retailers should strive towards to guarantee success and outperform their competitors. They have to excel in areas such as being customer focus, being continuously innovative, establishing a performance-oriented culture and improving the distribution channel. All these add a new dimension of competition. 1.5 Definition of Service Quality Service quality has drawn attention of researchers in recent decades (Zeithaml, 2000). Nevertheless, since there is not a universally accepted definition for service quality, many different meanings exist. For instance, Czepiel (1990) portrays service quality as customers perception of how well a service meets or exceeds their expectations whereas Bitner, Booms and Mohr (1994, p. 97) define service quality as â€Å"the consumers overall impression of the relative inferiority or superiority of the organisation and its services†. Zeithaml et al. (1996) depict service quality as â€Å"the delivery of excellent or superior service relative to customer expectations†. While other researchers (for example, Cronin and Taylor, 1994) view service quality as a form of attitude representing a long-run evaluation in general, Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1985, p. 48) define service quality as â€Å"a function of the differences between expectation and performance along the quality dimensions†. Indeed, this has appeared to be consistent with Roest and Pieters (1997) definition that service quality is a relativistic and cognitive discrepancy between experience-based norms and performances concerning service benefits. As for Gronroos (1983), service quality is viewed as the accomplishment of customers expectations whereas Parasuraman et al. (1985) define it as the gap between customers expectations, in terms of service, and their perception developed by the actual service experience. That is, service quality is an attitude that results from the comparison of expected service levels with perceived performance. Furthermore, Parasuraman et al. (1985) have reported that outstanding service is a profitable strategy as it results in more new customers, fewer lost customers, more business with existing customers, more insulation from price competition and fewer mistakes requiring the re-performance of services. Accordingly, by offering superior service quality, a firm is liable to become more profitable and at the same time to sustain a competitive edge in their served markets. Evidently, superior service quality is a strategic weapon aiming to attract more customers. Lassar et al. (2000) believe that service quality is a significant sign of customer satisfaction and thus delivering superior service quality is a strategy that eventually leads to success. 1.5.1 Service Quality in Retailing With the rapid development in the retail industry nowadays, understanding of retail service quality and identifying determinants of retail service quality has become strategic importance for retailers. By satisfying customers through high quality service, firms not only retain their current customers, but at the same time, their market share also increases. (Finn and Lamb, 1991; cited by Nguyen, 2007) According to numerous marking researchers (for example, Berry, 1986; Reichheld Sasser, 1990; Dabholkar et al., 1996; NcGoldrick, 2002), the offer and supply of high quality service is often perceived to be of fundamental importance in retailing. In the retail context, when customers evaluate retail service, they compare their perceptions of the service they receive with that of their expectations. Customers are seemed to be satisfied only when the perceived service meets or even exceeds their expectations. However, they are dissatisfied when they feel that the service falls below their expectations (Levy and Weitz, 2005). To date, Parasuraman et al. (1988) believe that many studies on service quality relied on service quality construct and scale. Nevertheless, Kaul (2005) and Dabholkar et al. (1996) argue that this application to the retail industry may not be appropriate for service quality in retailing industry as the latter seems to be different from other services. In retail setting, where there is a mix of product and service, retailers are prone to have impact on service quality more than on product quality (Dabholkar et al. , 1996). Hence, since retailers can create such effects, service quality plays a significant strategic role in creating quality perceptions. 1.6 Customer Expectations of Service According to Parasuraman et al (1993), understanding customer expectations is a must for delivering superior and value-added service. Customers have the tendency to compare their perceptions with that of expectations when judging a service. They are satisfied only when the service they have received is the same or exceeds what they expected. Lewis (1991) define expectations as the desires or wants of consumers and what they believe a product or service should offer, which are formed on the basis of previous experience with a company, its competitors and the marketing mix inputs. Thus, identifying what a customer expects is the prime step in delivering high quality of customer service. 1.6.1 Determinants of Customer Expectations of service Berry and Parasuraman (1993) have developed a complete model of customer expectations and have given their opinions through two levels namely desired and adequate expectations and the zone of tolerance in the middle which separates them (refer to Figure 1.3). This model shows the different factors that affect these three features. Desired service is that level of service which a customer expects to receive from a service firm. In fact, it is a blend of what the customer considers ‘can be and ‘should be. It is believed to result from six sources namely, enduring service intensifiers, personal needs, explicit service promises, implicit service promises, word-of-mouth and past experience. Conversely, adequate service level is related to which the customer finds acceptable. It is based on the customers appraisal of what the service ‘will be. It is influenced by five factors such as transitory service intensifiers, perceived service alternatives, customer self-perceived service role, situational factors and predicted service. Berry and Parasuraman (1993) describe a tolerance zone as â€Å"a range of service performance that a customer considers satisfactory†. This concept assumes that customers have expectations of a service attribute on the two given levels which have been discussed above. If the real experiences of a customer fall in the zone of tolerance, then the perceived quality is regarded as good. Understanding the different sources of customer expectations can therefore help managers to perceive correctly what their customers want and expect. They can then put emphasis on the services elements that they can control and deliver the services they have promised. Hence, this model can serve as a valuable diagnostic tool to boost up the overall level of perceived service quality (Kettinger and Lee, 2005).Yet, one of the perplexing issues confronting service businesses is how to measure quality service perceptions of existing and potential customers since many of these factors are uncontrollable and also expectations differ from customer to customer and, possibly, from one situation to the next for the same customer (Young et al. , 1994). Why is Service Quality Important? Across all service industries, service quality remains a critical issue as businesses strive to maintain a comparative advantage over their competitors in the marketplace (Kandampully et al., 1999). As a result, the environment of service organisations is more and more competitive. Ghobatian et al. (1994) point out that â€Å"customers are the lifeblood of any business† and â€Å"service quality can be the means to win and keep customers†. Actually, in todays aggressive environment, the pursuit of service quality is believed to be the most important strategic weapon in achieving a sustainable differential advantage within the global marketplace (Devlin et al., 2000). More importantly, it is conceded that companies that excel in high quality service as perceived by their customers, tend to be the most profitable ones. On the other hand, poor service has been classified as the prime cause for customers switching to competitors (Ghobatian et al., 1994). It is often observed that organisations providing a sophisticated level of service, try to go beyond just satisfying their customers. â€Å"They emphasise the need to ‘delight them by providing them more than what is required. They also now talk about winning customers† (Dale, 2003). The latter highlights some customer service facts and indicates why service quality is crucial for a firm. (See Appendix A) While focusing on the increased importance of service quality, it is also essential to assess the related benefits and costs. Lewis (1991) has underlined some benefits when adopting a quality service strategy such as customer satisfaction and customer retention, loyalty, expanded market share, enhanced firms reputation, improvement in employee morale, low staff turnover, increased productivity, less mistakes, lower costs, high revenues, increased financial performance, high revenues and positive word-of-mouth. On the other hand, Crosby (1979) has identified the costs of poor quality which are related due to lack of responsiveness to customers, low morale of employees, dissatisfied customers and unfavorable word-of-mouth communication. Hence, it is important for businesses to clearly anticipate that service quality is the basic prerequisite for continuous success. 1.7 Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction In a competitive business environment where organisations compete for customers, customer satisfaction is perceived as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a primary element of business strategy (Carl D. McDaniel, 2005). Customers are the foremost decision makers in any marketing effort. They opt for a service offering that adds value to them and optimises their satisfaction. Many researchers such as Brady and Robertson (2001) and Lovelock, Patterson and Walker (2001) conceptualise customer satisfaction as an individuals feeling of pleasure or disappointment resulting from judging against a products perceived performance with respect to his or her expectations. But, Westbrook and Oliver (1981) make use of the confirmation-disconfirmation theory to better explain the meaning of customer satisfaction. This paradigm states that customers assess their levels of satisfaction by comparing their actual experiences with that of their previous experiences, expectations, and perceptions of the products performance. Parasuraman et al. (1994) mention that customer satisfaction is a key consequence of service quality and thus, it can determine the long term success of a service organisation. In the same vein, Oliver (1980) points out that customer satisfaction is affected by customer expectation or anticipation prior to obtaining a service and can be approximated by the following equation: Customer Satisfaction = â‚ ¬Ã‚  Perception of Performance Expectations Based on the above equation, Parasuraman et al. (1994) devise that a service provider can boost up overall customer satisfaction by either improving customer perceptions of a service or by lowering their expectations of it. If a service firm fails to respect this equation, then, this may dissatisfy the customer at the time and, in turn, will result in his or her switching to alternative service firms (McCollough, Berry, and Yadav, 2000; Roos, 1999). Thus, this equation is a valuable tool and a clear reminder that both factors, perceptions and expectations of customer satisfaction need to be managed and controlled by the service provider. An analysis of the literature on the relationship between customer satisfaction and service quality has received a widely held view among researches. Caruana and Malta (2002) point out by mentioning that service quality is an important input to customer satisfaction. Zeithaml et al. (1996) share the same line of thought by suggesting that a customers relationship with a company is strengthened when that customer makes a positive appraisal about the companys service quality and is weakened when a customer makes negative assessments about the companys service quality. They argue that favourable assessment of service quality will result in favourable behavioral intentions like â€Å"praise for the company† and expressions of preference for the company over other companies. Thus, implying that there is a positive relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction. However, the relationship between customer satisfaction and service quality has been criticised for not being inter-related by many researches. For instance, Iacobucci et al. (1995) identify that the vast majority of articles attempting to scrutinise this inter-relationship have been of a non-empirical nature. Similarly, Anderson and Fornell (1994) point out that the literature is not very clear about the distinction between quality and satisfaction. Satisfaction is a â€Å"post consumption† experience which judges perceived quality against expected quality, whereas service quality refers to a global evaluation of an organisations service delivery system (Anderson and Fornell, 1994; Parasuraman et al., 1985). Hence, Dabholkar et al. (2000) suggest that it is recommended that customer satisfaction should be measured separately from service quality so as to understand how customers evaluate service performance. 1.8 Service Quality and Customer trust The trust that customers have in service organisations is an important concern for customer relationship managers. Existing research has accentuated the significance of trust and its implications for driving profitable and long-lasting customer relationships (Garbarino and Johnson, 1999; Morgan and Hunt, 1999). Practitioners and researchers have repeatedly emphasised the importance of service quality which enable firms to build stable and trusting relationships with customers (Grà ¶nroos, 1983; Rust, Moorman, and Dickson, 2002; Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman, 1996). Recent evidence highlights that there exists a positive relationship between service quality and trust (Chiou and Droge, 2006; Sharma and Patterson, 1999). To reinforce this notion, a firm that consistently meets or exceeds the expectations of customers will cultivate more trusting relationships with its customers. The courteous, caring, and responsive employee behaviours that are characteristic of service quality will inspire confidence in customers, particularly in retail outlets and thus will introduce a sense of trust for the retail store in customers (Weisinger, 1998). These related factors of service quality eventually contribute to the development of trust, and trust starts to develop as the customers experience positive service interactions and obtain benefits from this personal interaction. Consequently, the higher the service quality, the stronger is customer trust in an organisation. 1.9 Service Quality and Customer Loyalty The main aim of leading service organisations is to maintain a superior quality of service in an effort to gain customer loyalty. Coupled with this, Zeithaml (1996) believes that a service firms long term success in a market is essentially determined by its ability to expand and maintain a large and loyal customer base. Buttle and Burton (2002) simply describe customer loyalty as â€Å"a customer who continues to buy is a loyal customer†. Boulding et al. (1993) find that there is a positive relationship between service quality and customer loyalty, that is, customers having the repurchase intentions and the willingness to recommend. Sharing the same line of thought, Zeithaml et al. (1990) also report a positive relationship, thereby, customers willingly pay a price premium and intend to remain loyal in case of a price increase. However, Johnson et al. (2001) point out that this positive relationship varies between products, industries, and situations. On the other hand, some researchers argue that it has remained unclear whether or not there is a direct relationship between service quality and loyalty. In the study done by Cronin and Taylor (1992), service quality did not appear to have a significant or positive effect on customer loyalty. Similarly, Bloemer et al. (1999) mention that this relationship has remained relatively underdeveloped. 1.10 Handling customer complaints The phenomenon of customer complaints is considered as an area of great significance for businesses, particularly where organisations are increasingly recognising the value of pursuing long-term relationships with customers. Tax and Brown (1998) identify that only 5-10% of customers who are dissatisfied actually complain. Hence, it is imperative for organisations to encourage their customers to voice their dissatisfaction by providing communication facilities such as customer service desks. However, Blancero and Johnson (2001) argue that customer complaints could result in negative reactions from employees, which may in turn reduce service quality. But complaints can have a positive impact as well. It is an excellent opportunity for an organisation when receiving complaints in order to restore customer confidence and to capitalise on this feedback for helping in organisational improvements (Johnston, 2001; Ramsey, 2003). When focusing on handling customer complaints, it should include adequacy or fairness of the outcome, access to the organisation contact points, friendliness, empathy, active feedback, and speed of response (Stauss, 2002). 1.11 Service Failure and Recovery The retail industry involves a high degree of interaction between employees and consumers and as a result, provides many opportunities for service failures to crop up. According to Michel (2001), service failures include those circumstances when a service fails to live up to the customers expectations. Some consequences of service failures are dissatisfaction, negative word-of-mouth (Mattila, 2001), decrease in customer confidence and a decline in employee morale and performance (Boshoff and Leong, 1998). When service failure occurs, then service providers have to take actions to recover which gives rise to service recovery. Miller et al. (2000) describe service recovery as the actions takes to problems, change negative attitudes of dissatisfied customers and to ultimately retain these customers. Examples of recovery efforts consist of price discounts, improved services, refunds, free products or services, apologies, and acknowledgment of the problem (Kelley et al. , 1993). 1.12 Summary of the Literature Review This chapter has provided a general idea on service quality. It has started by providing an overview of services and quality with emphasis in the retailing industry. In addition, customer expectations, customer trust, loyalty and customer satisfaction have also been discussed. Undoubtedly, in the service quality literature, service quality is proven to provide many benefits to organisations. Literature Review Chapter Two: Related Concepts of Service Quality 2.0 Introduction In this chapter, service quality and its related concepts have been explored. They are as follows: The dimensions of service quality including SERVQUAL, Gap analysis, the three dimensions of Lehtinen and Lehtinen and the Perceived service quality model. Besides, the difficulties in measuring service quality as well as a critical review of the concept of service quality have also been identified 2.1 Dimensions of Service Quality Service quality is not a singular but rather it is a multidimensional phenomenon (Ghobatian et al, 1993). Without doubt, the identification of the quality dimensions to measure is of fundamental necessity as customers base their views about service on these dimensions (Kunst and Lemmink, 1996). Various writers and researchers have suggested a number of dimensions of service quality. For instance, Lehtinen and Lehtinen (1982) identify three dimensions for service quality which are physical quality (tangible aspects of service), corporate quality (company image and reputation) and interactive quality (two-way flow between customers and personnel). They also argue that it is important to differentiate between the output quality of service and the quality associated with the process of service delivery. Indeed, service quality is being perceived as a multidimensional concept. Grà ¶nroos (1984) point out that service quality comprises of three global dimensions: The technical quality which refers to what is delivered or what the customer gets from the service. For example, for a retail store, technical quality may consist of the range of products offered and the availability of parking space. The functional quality, that is, the way in which the service is delivered or how it is delivered. For example, customers of a retail store will assess whether the salespersons are friendly or whether products are easily returnable. The corporate image has to do with how consumers perceive the firm and is built by mainly both technical and functional quality and to some extent other factors such as the traditional marketing activities (pricing, advertising). Unlike Grà ¶nroos (1984) who uses the global measure of service quality, Parasuraman et al. (1985) argue that the criteria used by consumers to evaluate service quality fits ten dimensions: reliability, responsiveness, competence, courtesy, communication, credibility, security, access, tangibles and understanding/knowing the customer. Later, after having carried out successive research, analysis and testing, Parasuraman et al. (1988) refine the dimensions into only five dimensions namely: Tangibles: the appearance of physical facilities, personnel, communication materials and condition of equipment. Reliability: the ability to perform the promised service on time dependably and accurately. Responsiveness: the willingness to help customers, to deal effectively with complaints and provide prompt service. Assurance: the employees knowledge and courtesy and their ability to convey trust and confidence. Empathy: The level of caring, individualised attention provided to the customers. 2.1.1 SERVQUAL Model Based on these five dimensions above, the SERVQUAL instrument has been developed. This particular instrument which is originally developed by A. Parasuraman, Valarie A. Zeithaml and L.L. Berry in 1988, measures service quality through customer opinions. They point out that SERVQUAL essentially comprises of two sections. The first section basically questions customers expectations, while the second part measures customers perceptions. The gap between the expected service and perceived service is measured using the SERVQUAL together with its five underlying dimensions of service quality (tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy). The SERVQUAL incorporates 22 items in each of the two sections which are sub-items of the predefined five dimensions (refer to Appendix B). According to Zeithaml et al. (2006), SERVQUAL has been creatively used in multiple service contexts. Indeed, Parasuraman et al. (1988) suggest that the instrument is applicable across a wide variety of services. In the same line, Getz et al. (2001) put forward that SERVQUAL has been broadly used in a variety of service industries. They also point out that it is a helpful tool comprising of potential applications in assessing effectively consumers expectations and perceptions of service quality. Despite the fact that SERVQUAL is the most well known instrument for service quality, it has been criticised from several researchers. Cronin and Taylor (1992) claim that there are deficiencies in both the conceptualisation and operationalisation of service quality in the SERVQUAL model. Buttle (1996) criticises on the dimensionality of the SERVQUAL scale, especially to the number of dimensions and their stability from contexts to contexts. He also states that the dimensions are not universal. Following the same line of thought, Bahia and Nantel (2000) declare that this model emphas