Strategies for Maximizing Customer Equity - Case Study Example

ESSAY Ace manufacturing company is one of the household s in the telecommunications and electronic sphere which has dominated the global scenes for the longest time now. It is fair to mention and assert that it has assumed a somewhat of a near monopoly status on the business arena. This is accredited to the fact that the business commentators and actual empirical records or evidence shows that the Ace manufacturing company has been on the hi9gh side as much making sales and revenue from the market is concerned. For instance, it has been ranked at the leading position as the best seller of electronics products especially the television sets over and above its closest rivals and competitors. However, in the recent past, the sales and fortunes of the Ace manufacturing company has been on the low side. In terms of ranking and order or merit, Ace manufacturing company lost its prestigious position and dropped to the third position. In the conventional sense and ordinary world, the drop would inspire curiosity and the urge to get to know what might have happened wrong to occasion the sudden drop (Sand, Tsitouras, Dimitrakopoulos & Chatzigiannakis, 2014). Thus, as a prospective researcher and an external consultant, it becomes an issue of interest to try to gauge what might have happened wrongly in the course of time and in theli8ne of operations of the company. Thus, this report would present a synopsis and a possible chronology of what might have happened to cause Ace manufacturing company to drop from its prime position as a leading distributor and manufacturer of the leading electronic wares in the country (Papasolomou, Thrassou, Vrontis & Sabova, 2014). Accordingly, it is important to note and mention that this report was drafted and considered after the executives of Ace manufacturing company sought to decipher and realize the root cause of the problem. The problem or the issue being the reason as to why the Ace manufacturing company had recorded a dip into the number of sales and subsequent revenues or proceeds which it would have otherwise recorded or realized under different circumstances and situation. In principle, this logic and argument points to the direction that this is a aim of being self-critical on the part of the management of the Ace manufacturing company in order to try to understand and contextualize the reason as to why their sales and revenues must have dipped in the recent past (Lee, 2014). Therefore, it was imperative on their part to invoke our services as a central research institute to help them to contextualize the facts as issues as they happened. In brief, we draw our authority and inspiration to compile this report from the executive management of Ace manufacturing company. Subsequently, it is our main aim to diagnose the reason as to why Ace manufacturing company realized a lapse in their operations and sales. It is needles to mention that the findings and the inferences that would be drawn from the research would be used to draw and postulate or outline a possible line of action in the future of the program (Ancarani, Frels, Miller, Saibene & Barberio, 2014). This is to say that the findings and the inferences that would be made would be used to identify the specific loopholes and lapse that is in the operational framework of the Ace manufacturing company with a clear and articulate aim of trying to correct that situation. Naturally, we as the body of researchers and external consultants on this issue, we would proceed from a theoretical stance of assumption. Specifically, we would seek to explain or learn the role of the distributors in the whole business cycle of Ace manufacturing company. Tentatively, once we pinpoint the issue, we would then inform the company on the prospective and the best line of action that would have to be pursued accordingly. Briefly, our purpose is to identity the problem as to why the sales dipped and then formulate and advisory opinion on the same issue as a recommendation such that Ace manufacturing company would avoid recurrence of the same problem. Intuitively, the main issue of interest for us was to gauge with exact precision the reasons as to why the sales of Ace manufacturing company had dropped after a lengthy period of time where they enjoyed a near monopoly status in the business cycles and environment. Thus, our research and theoretical scope was limited or constrained to the past records of Ace manufacturing company relative to other close competitors. This is to say that we did not consider the whole players in the business who deal in electronics. However specific interest and focus was given to those whom we consider to be the closest business competitors. Also, our reach did not expand to other logistical areas such as the financial muscles or ability to market the products of Ace manufacturing company effectively. It was guided to the number of sales and the specific contribution or role of the distributors in the course of realizing the dream of high sales, high revenues and high returns for Ace manufacturing company. It is however important to note and mention that in the past, the Ace manufacturing company has heavily relied on the services of the distributors to move the wares of the company to the general public and customer by extension. It is to mention that even the highest position of being the best seller was achieved by the direct contribution and support of the distributors. Innately, as a researcher it becomes imperative and critical to review the role of the distributors and whether there is any tint of reason to apportion the lapse to their role and position. Methods of data collection In order to arrive at credible and proper conclusion, it is critical that the methods of collecting data and information is above board and believable. This is to say that the all the prospective avenues and means of the assembling information would have to be considered before any reasonable inference and recommendations are subsequently put forth (Raanathan, 2014). To begin with, given the nature and implication of this research work, it was incumbent and critical that we considered the contributions of the distributors, dealers, customers, executives and the general body of workers in Ace manufacturing company. This was critical so as to enable us to draw parallels and reduce any occurrence of bias from any parties which are direct contributors to the level of sales that are made by the Ace manufacturing company. In order to accomplish the task, we drafted and designed questionnaires to be administered to the mention persons above. It was critical that each of the parties give their honest and an unbiased opinion to the subject matter on what their intuition is on the low sales made by Ace manufacturing company as a whole (Sharma, 2014). Naturally, questionnaires were administered to them, either through mails or face to face depending on the convenience and ease of reaching them. Secondly, interviews were also conducted on the distributors since they were the primary subjects in our theoretical assumptions. This was critically done by asking them questions and interviewing them in person. In the natural and conventional sense, academic and research proponents lay strong emphasis on the direct interviews since the researcher would then be able to discern the disposition and the level or the degree of believability of the research respondents (Berman & Mathur, 2014). For instance, it would be easier to gauge the disposition and the angle of the notion and opinion of the research respondents as they give their responses and answers to the questions that would be asked concerning the subject matter. It is important to note that my whole research population consisted of the dealers, distributors, customers and the executives of the Ace manufacturing company. Thus, just a small random sample was draw from the population. Five research participants were drawn from the population and their opinions were collapsed in order to rhyme and be considered for the analysis and subsequent recommendation writing. Conventionally, it was also imperative that we considered the expert opinion and input from other scholars relative to our subject matter. It is to say that we did literature review by considering the already existing body of knowledge on the subject which was done by previous researchers and thinkers. Similarly, websites and online materials were considered so as to allow the research to flow in the systematic manner (de Rivera, Sánchez, Alcarria, de Andrés & Robles, 2014). This is to say that we considered the opinion and the full works of the other thinkers who have written and researched on the possible reasons as to why the sales of any organisation could drop or dip in the course of the business cycle. ANALYSIS OF WOK TIME USE The opinion and input of the research respondents was tabulated and organized in a structured manner as shown in the tables and charts below. It is important to note and mention that the responses from the research participants were collapsed or synced according to the way and manner in which they did rhyme so as to allow us as the researchers to make accurate and reliable inferences. From the data compiled above herein, the irreducible minimum is that the work being done by the distributors as part of the chain of suppliers of the Ace manufacturing company is commendable and incomparable to none. Thus, it is practically impossible to over-emphasize the contributions and the work that they play in ensuring that the wares or the products of Ace manufacturing company reach the markets and the consumers in a proper fashion. However, there is also a general feel and intuition that the distributors suffer some sort of technical shortcoming in that their technical skills and abilities ought to be upgraded. The respondents such as the customer by way of collapsing majority views concurred that in more than one occasion the distributors have been unable to assist them in installing the wares or repairing them if need be (Rahman, 2014). It is to say that either it was due to lack of capacity and ability to effect the changes or the distributors to assist the customers, but the customers did not feel effectively satisfied with the work that the distributors did regarding being able to be assisted. Thus, it would be fair to assert and mention that the general customers and the market at large might have felt underserved or not fully satisfied by the workmanship of the distributors and dealers and as a result they opted to seek services from other business competitors who may be were better placed to help them and serve them. Similarly, there was the feeling that the distributors did not effectively explain the line features or the articulate functions of some of the wares of the television sets which they sold. It implies that the customers were thus left at their own mercy and wits to figure out how some of the features did function. Conclusion The above report has articulated in chronological terms and aspects the reasons as to why the sales and subsequent proceeds of Ace manufacturing company did fall and drop drastically. The main point theoretical point of assertion and reasoning was that the distributors who are the direct link between the customers and the Ace manufacturing company might have lapsed in the judgment and in their ability to discharge their functions as they ought to have. As a result. It would have been possible and prospective for the customers to shift base in search of better services. Recommendations It would be utterly wrong and unfair to discredit the roles and the functions that the distributors of Ace manufacturing company have played in the Ace manufacturing company. However, as time changes and technology so does the mode of service and operations which ought to be embraced by the distributors. This would be done by conducting training on the distributors on the technical skills and abilities apart from sales. Thus, when the customers visit, it would proper that they get a holistic service at the stores. In practice, this could be done by conducting training and seminars on them so as enlighten them on how to explain the lining features to the customers for instance. References Ancarani, F., Frels, J., Miller, J., Saibene, C., & Barberio, M. (2014). Winning in Rural Emerging Markets. California Management Review, 56(4), 31-52. Berman, B., & Mathur, A. (2014). Planning and implementing effective service guarantee programs. Business Horizons, 57(1), 107-116. de Rivera, D. S., Sánchez-Picot, Á., Alcarria, R., de Andrés, D. M., & Robles, T. (2014). Smart Dynamic Pricing Based on ECA Rules and Electronic Ink Labeling for Retail. In Ubiquitous Computing and Ambient Intelligence. Personalisation and User Adapted Services (pp. 468-475). Springer International Publishing. Lee, S. C. (2014). Value chain and networks of foreign direct investment firms in transitional economies: Korean textile and clothing foreign direct investment in Vietnam. Papasolomou, I., Thrassou, A., Vrontis, D., & Sabova, M. (2014). Marketing public relations: A consumer-focused strategic perspective. Journal of Customer Behaviour, 13(1), 5-24. Sharma, A. (2014). Strategies for Maximizing Customer Equity. Capturing Customer Equity: Moving from Products to Customers, 5, 59. Sand, G., Tsitouras, L., Dimitrakopoulos, G., & Chatzigiannakis, V. (2014, October). A big data aggregation, analysis and exploitation integrated platform for increasing social management intelligence. In Big Data (Big Data), 2014 IEEE International Conference on (pp. 40-47). IEEE. Raanathan, U. (2014). Performance of supply chain collaboration–A simulation study. Expert Systems with Applications, 41(1), 210-220. Rahman, M. (2014). The Dacca Dyeing & Mfg. Co. Ltd. Read More