Why CRM?

CRM or Customer Relationship Management is one of the new efforts of marketing. Due to globalization, marketers realise that mass market has emerge and the segmental market is becoming bigger and unreachable.

A person in Malaysia now could sell a purse to a customer in US, UK, Australia or even Uganda. The question that has been pondering in the mind of marketers; "how to reach these potential prospect or customer? How to ensure it is personalise and a relationship could be developed? They now found out that CRM would make the difference.

It is then CRM being exercise where 3 main components are being utilised:

1. People

2. Technology

3. Process

People? Yes, it involve the front desk, the back office system, data mining to manage the huge data warehouse.

Technology? Yes it involves, call centre (people + technology), sms, fax, web sites etc.

Process? Yeas again, since all these interlinked system are done using processes which is handled by soft wares, human actions to activate such as phone calls etc.

The main idea behind all these is meeting the mass market demand and personalise or one to one business at one go. Here it would contribute to relationship marketing which later would tremendously contributed to customer loyalty and customer retention.

One businessman told me, "Hey, we personalised the customer needs despite the market is global. Its great!"

The question is, what are the cost that might be involve? The question is to build or buy the system? Well define your goals, objectives, resources capabilities and decide after a good ranking is being made. Well me? I develop it but it took a year to complete with our IT guys. Buying well it might cost as low as RM400k until RM1.2 million.

Mine? It works but we treat a lot of bugs along the way. Any example in market? SAP is a good example.

Presentation: (Group work)

You are trying to propose a new CRM system to your management. Prepare slide presentation of which your time given by your Chairman is only 10 minutes. You are not obliged to how many slide to be presented but ONLY the time.

(Note: for a speech of 120 word per minutes, normally 1 hour need 12 - 15 slides.)

Assignment: (Individual)

From the slide presentation you are required to transformed into a proposal paper with the same intention of the said presentation.

Ethics, our action and societal culture; the relationship

Any action that we do everyday has its own value. It might be negative or positive value but there is a value. This value contributes and transform into impact.

In a bigger perspective the impact will be translated as our style, our family culture and adding all the family cultures in a particular society or community it will in return turn to be a society culture.

“A continuous practice may develop an attitude,” (Olson & Zanna, 1993). It is important to remember that, an attitude will later turn to behaviors.

“When a values being developed and becoming norms to a group of society, it will then become a culture,” (Solomon, 1984)

For that reason, we as a person need to understand that, what ever we does must be ethical, moral and the basis of these ethical values, morality must be based on real understanding of ethics and morality. The best based is on religion and to Muslim, it is Quran and Hadith. The religion in this world is teaching us these values ensuring the mankind would have a good life where the morality is good and hence develops a society of good values.

According to Kant view, “An action is moral, if its intention is good and the action is good.” and according to Kant also, "For any motral action, it focuses on good names, good start, and good intention and does not only look at the result of an action". In Quran says;

{2:42} And do not mix up the truth with the falsehood,

nor hide the truth while you know (it).

A society(Masai, in Africa) which has develop a practice of drinking the cow’s blood in their daily life will later becomes a norms and later translated to be a culture despite other world might say that is not hygienic. That goes to any deeds or action against a religion or immoral and with continuously doing it, it will turn to be a norm and later becomes a culture of the society. As it reaches here, the whole society will be living in darkness.

A free sex, a gambling and talking using awful words will one day be a norm if we continuously doing it despite at the early stage it might be an argument due to immorality act. Can we imagine it? Can we accept it or we are practicing toward such a culture?

Let’s evaluate and think over on these issue and many more issues which is against morality. It might be legal but immoral. Do you know one?

slide week 1

https://www.yousendit.com/download/YWhQK0drQXAwVWxjR0E9PQ

week 3 slides

Managing Organization

In most cases that I have met or appointed as a consultant or provide advices to companies, I realize that many of the key management do not understand what is POLC that is Planning, Organizing, Leading and Control. I was surprised that they knew the words but would not be able to explain in a detail the understanding, the theories within each of the words and hence they are not able to execute the knowledge. It is important to understand that in managing the organization, the key thing is POLC.

I would propose that if anybody is learning or would like to learn POLC and able to use is the below flow charts could be the one of the best way to understand and how to apply it.

Steps:
1. Learn and understand the meaning of words

2. Understand theories in each of the words – if Planning, how many type of planning available which can act as a tool and which is the best one to be use according to your organization.

3. Draw a mind mapping to understand fully for number 2.

4. Chart a plan to use POLC and not to forget inserting the tools

5. Apply

If you still had problem, then a consultant would the right answer for you. Call him and meet him to seek a clear way of using the POLC. It is important to remember that some scholars might not use POLC but POLE (Planning, Organize, Lead and Evaluate). However it is the same since the control section involves – monitoring, performance evaluation and corrective measures.

Slide for week 5:

https://www.yousendit.com/download/dXFVck8wdGpOQnl4dnc9PQ

Assignment question:

https://www.yousendit.com/download/dXFVck81TlFGOFJFQlE9PQ

Doctrine crafting and execution of strategy; a crucial need

We wake up in the morning, have a bath and later part after breakfast; we then make our move to the office. For retiree, the schedule might be more relaxing. However for both working and non working (retiree) or even entrepreneur, the word strategy is still very important to their daily life.

The question is how many of us realize that we are a strategist? And how many of us do realize that, doctrine crafting and execution of strategy is very much important as much as we need our food. Do we? Are we free from strategic planning or crafting of strategy as we move out from the house to the office? Or shall we just drive without thinking which route to take? Do we need strategy in ensuring our work done at office? Do we need plan in meeting the sales target this year, planning for growth of our company, family income or even getting married. Do we need to plan or in a strategic approach, do we need to craft a strategy and later execute it?

The answer is yes we do. Do we have to doctrine the strategic philosophy in our life? Yes we do. And do we have to learn all the strategies to move forward? Yes we do. And ask ourselves, do we plan? Yes we do. If we don’t plan then we plan to fail. We can’t just do anything we want to do without a piece of planning. We need to PLAN. And this plan is termed as crafting of strategy and implementing the plan is termed as execution of strategy.
The only thing is that such a small plan is not complex and does not need a proper well laid planning with the external and internal analysis. In an organization handling we need the complete crafting and execution of strategy which includes external, internal analysis. We also need to choose the right strategic choices and later monitoring, control process. The most non forgettable activity is corrective measures. All these are needed in a complex crafting and executing of strategy especially in running a firm and business as a method to ensure the sustainability + profitability of the firm.

Assignment Question - EDBM:

https://www.yousendit.com/download/bFFOSmIrcTIzS28wTVE9PQ

Can we survive without strategic management?

Addressing the issue above would be an abstract matter to those who might have not come to any school of studies in strategic management or crafting and executing strategy. Despite of these situations, everybody must have undergoes the process of strategic thinking and executing strategy thinking in their daily life.

In most people it is only a thinking process and does not requires any proper planning, studying and it is only a mind process matter. Unlike to those who went to business schools in any universities would be able to restructure, organize and place all the knowledge of strategic planning and strategic executions into a right flow or sequence. This capabilities of putting all this thinking and planning process with the addition of activities such as analysis shall contribute to an effective strategic planning and strategic execution.

To make it more effective the monitoring, control and evaluating the performance will definitely induce a high yield of effects. For that reason only those who read, learned, understand and exercise the strategic processes will only benefit from it.

Weekk 1 lecture:

https://www.yousendit.com/download/S1VBa0ZUVEhOMUJMWEE9PQ

Week 2 lecture:

https://www.yousendit.com/download/RmNDQk01YUkrV3cwTVE9PQ

Marketing and IMC – Integrated marketing Communication

Learning marketing is a very important activity to all people as long as they are alive. It might be for a degree that he or she is looking forward, a promotion in the work place or even just for knowledge. Why, because marketing is very much related to our life activities, knowing people, selling ideas to people, getting votes from people. All these activities I have mentioned in my previous writings.

But what most important to those who are looking forward to be a professional marketer or marketing as the basis of career, career ladder; then IMC or integrated marketing must be one of the module learned and later practice in real life.

IMC or Integrated Marketing Communication started in 1990’s where marketing mix; the P’s has been seriously looked at. The one that IMC is focusing is the P – Promotion. According Wikipedia library; “It is a shift in advertising and media industry that has caused IMC. It is a holistic approach to marketing communication.

Integrated marketing communication is integration of all marketing tools, approaches, and resources within a company which maximizes impact on consumer mind and which results into maximum profit at minimum cost

All we can say that the shifts in the advertising and media industry have caused IMC to develop into a primary strategy for marketers which involves:
From media advertising to multiple forms of communication.
From mass media to more specialized (niche) media, which are centered around specific target audiences.
From a manufacturer-dominated market to a retailer-dominated, consumer-controlled market.
From general-focus advertising and marketing to data-based marketing.
From low agency accountability to greater agency accountability, particularly in advertising.
From traditional compensation to performance-based compensation (increased sales or benefits to the company).
From limited Internet access to 24/7 Internet availability and access to goods and services.
The goal of selecting the elements of proposed integrated marketing communications is to create a campaign that is effective and consistent across media platforms. Some marketers may want only ads with the greatest breadth of appeal: the executions that, when combined, provide the greatest number of attention-getting, branded, and motivational moments.
Others may only want ads with the greatest depth of appeal: the ads with the greatest number of attention-getting, branded, and motivational points within each.
Although integrated marketing communications is more than just an advertising campaign, the bulk of marketing dollars is spent on the creation and distribution of advertisements. Hence, the bulk of the research budget is also spent on these elements of the campaign.

Week 1 slides:

https://www.yousendit.com/download/S1VBT2pDOC90d0dGa1E9PQ

Week 2 slides:

https://www.yousendit.com/download/S1VBT2pHcWZubHdLSkE9PQ

Week 3 slides:

https://www.yousendit.com/download/S1VBT2pORkUwMEdGa1E9PQ

Week 4 slides:

https://www.yousendit.com/download/S1VBT2pCSU83bUJMWEE9PQ

Managing Human Resource is a challenge

Managing human resource has changed. Previously managing human resource is only towards getting the requirement form departments for personnel and later advertise and doing the selections followed by recruitment.

Training only comes when there is brochures send by agencies or human resources training companies and later the HR manager would distribute to all head department and inquire ‘who wants to send staff for training?’ ‘We still have some budgets for this year’!!

Practice has change now a days, the HR has a vital stand together with the corporate planner (who does the strategic planning for the company) and also the CEO or directors. It is to align the HR with the corporate vision, mission and objectives. Later HR manager or head is responsible to build a capable organization to ensure the strategy planned could be executed effectively. The failure or the strategic executions is crucially depending on the strategic planner/corporate planner and HR.

The challenges in being an HR currently is more difficult compared to last 10 years or even last 5 years.

Week 6, 7 & 8 slides:

https://www.yousendit.com/download/RmNDcmxjTkxrUm14dnc9PQ

Week 8:

https://www.yousendit.com/download/RmNBa0ZRNDQ3N0R2Wmc9PQ

week 11:

https://www.yousendit.com/download/THE3eEVYQVNlcElLSkE9PQ

Ethics, does it carry any meaning to global warming?

We have been talking, preaching, giving speeches on global warming. The President of US, the Malaysia’s premier and almost everybody in town talking about t. The question is, “does it help? Do all this people really mean what they that they? Do we?

Let’s evaluate. We get up in the morning; do we change our habits for not smoking cigarete? for not using anything that might cause global warming? Air-condition?

Then we start our car. Make a move to our lovely office. Do we change by preserving the air and not polluting the air by using public transport, by cycling to office, by car pooling? we don’t. We are not going to be late to the office or we get fired. Or because the government is not seriously making a move towards they says; “preserve the world”, “reduce the global warming”. There are no electric buses; all the busses are using diesel with all the black smokes and it hurts the eyes, hurts the lung and it sticks to our nice ironed shirts and pants.

The moment we reach our office, it is centralized air-condition, one of the biggest contributors to the global warming. To those working in the factories they just continue the last night shift, releasing the entire nitrogenous compound (via the smoke) to the air.

While he is one of the people who are responsible to release that compound into the air, he is happy, “I am doing my job, I have done it, and my immediate superior shall admire me.”

The release is 24 hours a day until and forever. So that goes to every body. Actually who is saving the world? Who is destroying the world? I think the best words to say are “Let us destroy the world faster and the speed now is still slow. We need to destroy the world faster and faster so that many people will die faster, and including us.”

For that reason, with we do not understand ethics in work place, ethics is business and apply ethics in our life, we are just another murder to the beautiful world.

Slides week 3:

https://www.yousendit.com/download/VGljblFPYStlaFFLSkE9PQ

Slides week 4:

https://www.yousendit.com/download/VGljYUp6VEh0QTBLSkE9PQ

Managing Human Resource is a challenge

Managing human resource has changed. Previously managing human resource is only towards getting the requirement form departments for personnel and later advertise and doing the selections followed by recruitment.

Training only comes when there is brochures send by agencies or human resources training companies and later the HR manager would distribute to all head department and inquire ‘who wants to send staff for training?’ ‘We still have some budgets for this year’!!

Practice has change now a days, the HR has a vital stand together with the corporate planner (who does the strategic planning for the company) and also the CEO or directors. It is to align the HR with the corporate vision, mission and objectives. Later HR manager or head is responsible to build a capable organization to ensure the strategy planned could be executed effectively. The failure or the strategic executions is crucially depending on the strategic planner/corporate planner and HR.

The challenges in being an HR currently is more difficult compared to last 10 years or even last 5 years.

Week 1 slides:

https://www.yousendit.com/download/VGljYUo5OW5VbThLSkE9PQ

Week 2 slides:

https://www.yousendit.com/download/VGljYUo5OW5uSlNGa1E9PQ

Week 3 slides:

https://www.yousendit.com/download/VGljYUo2eFhvQUlLSkE9PQ