What is the most useful source of information on customers generated by any company? Identify all the possible data available on that source.

Why is attitude so important to a successful closing? What are some aspects of a positive attitude that you believe contribute to success in closing (and in selling in general)?

1. Explain how the business planning process is one of revision. Explain two clear examples of your own (not those in the textbook) showing how your calculations in the financial section of the business plan, may force you to go back and change elements in previous sections of the plan.

How can a firm use a cumulative expenditures curve--illustrating the firm's HISTORICAL pattern of product development costs--to guide/improve its future development efforts? (5 points)

Someone says: “Our firm focuses on maintaining long-term relationships with our customers. We don’t have to do any prospecting.” Evaluate this statement.

Read Case Activity: A Social Media Campaign for Yogurt Program on page 244.

Answer the questions in the Writing Prompt section and provide your opinion on the use of social media (based on the chapter) for the public relations activities part of their marketing plan. Participate in the discussion on Social Media with someone else in the course. This is page 244: The discussion on the previous pages examined ways in which an individual can formulate persuasive messages. The ability to use these techniques often leads to charges that public relations practitioners have great power to influence and manipulate people. In reality, the effectiveness of persuasive techniques is greatly exaggerated. Persuasion is not an exact science, and no surefire way exists to predict that people will be persuaded to believe a message or act on it. If persuasive techniques were as refined as the critics say, all people might be driving the same make of car, using the same soap, and voting for the same political candidate. This doesn’t happen because several variables intervene in the flow of persuasive messages. Elihu Katz says the two major intervening variables are selectivity and interpersonal relations; these are consistent with the limited-effects model of mass communication.

For purposes of discussion, the limitations on effective persuasive messages can be listed as:

(1) lack of message penetration,

(2) competing messages,

(3) self-selection, and

(4) self-perception.

This is a Public Relation Subject.

Mark Anderson, a 36 year old married male, will be sent to India to work in the sales office of your medium sized manufacturing facility that produces professional and causal clothing for women. My staffing approach is geocentic – Mark’s position is head of international sales in the sales office. Mark will take is wife Susan who is an elementary school teacher and their son, David who is in the 7th grade. Mark’s assignment is for 3 years. He and his family will then move back to the company’s headquarters to work.

You will need to develop a plan for: Pre-departure training for Mark and his family.

In-country training for Mark and his family.

Repatriation program for Mark.

Position and compensation for Mark upon ending his assignment.

Question 2 options: Groovy Juice Mixers, Inc. Groovy Juice Mixers, Inc. mixes specialty drinks out of apple, guava, and papaya juices. Currently it has 1300, 700, and 600 gallons of each of these kinds of juices in inventory, respectively. Groovy currently has two products, Tropical Breeze and Guava Jive, which sell for $2.20 and $1.70 per gallon, respectively. Tropical Breeze is a mixture of all three ingredients that consists of 20% to 25% guava juice, and also 20% to 25% papaya juice. Guava Jive consists at least 50% and at most 55% guava. It does not have to contain papaya juice, but if it does, it may be at most 10% papaya. Assume inventory is a sunk cost, and that the costs of mixing are negligible. Therefore, Groovy's goal is to obtain the maximum possible revenue from the inventory on hand.

To do this problem you will need 6 Decision Variables:

TA = Number of Gallons of Apple Juice Used in Tropical Breeze

TG = Number of Gallons of Guava Juice Used in Tropical Breeze

TP = Number of Gallons of Papaya Juice Used in Tropical Breeze

GA = Number of Gallons of Apple Juice Used in Guava Jive

GG = Number of Gallons of Guava Juice Used in Guava Jive

GP = Number of Gallons of Papaya Juice Used in Guava Jive Find each of the following:

TA = TG = 608 TP = GA = GG = GP = 16 Total Revenue = (Leave off $ sign and commas) Hint: Total Revenue is between 5536 and 5646

Select one of the following case studies (located in your textbook):
Then complete the following:

• Add your opinion about the choices and decisions being made—if this was your company would you make this choice?  
• What would you do differently?

CASE 1-1 BA-ZYNGA! ZYNGA FACES TROUBLE IN FARMVILLE
CASE 1-2 FRACTURING THE LABOR MARKET—EMPLOYMENT IN THE OIL SERVICES INDUSTRY
CASE 2-1 CATALYA HATS: PULLING A RABBIT OUT OF THE HAT OR COMING UP EMPTYHANDED?  
CASE 2-2 STRATEGY-DRIVEN HR MANAGEMENT: NETFLIX, A BEHIND-THE-SCENES LOOK AT DELIVERING ENTERTAINMENT  

Company: Apple

Discussion Question Chapter 7: Customer Profile Instructions Write a post for the Discussion Forum on this topic, addressing the questions below. Each part should be 1–2 paragraphs or several bullet points in length. Part 1: Identifying the Customer and Problem Describe a primary decision maker in your target segment: who they are, what they like, how they make buying decisions. Describe the primary problem(s) your organization, product or service will help them solve. Part 2: Factors Influencing Customer Decisions Provide a brief profile of your target segment using at least three of the following categories: Geographic characteristics: e.g., location, region, population size or climate. Personal and demographic characteristics: e.g., age, gender, family size, family life stage, income, personality. Social and Psychological characteristics: e.g., culture, social class, lifestyle, motivation, attitudes, reference groups, beliefs. Situational characteristics: e.g., buying situation, level of involvement, market offerings, frequency of use, brand loyalty. B2B/organizational buying considerations: e.g., individual factors, organizational factors, business environment factors, types of complexity Part 3: Reaching the Customer Based on this profile, identify 2–3 marketing strategies or tactics you believe would be effective at reaching this target segment, and briefly explain why they are a good fit. Part 4: Respond to Classmates’ Posts After you have created your own post, look over the discussion forum posts of your classmates and respond to at least two of them. Part 5: Incorporate Feedback Review the feedback you receive from classmates and your instructor. Use this feedback to revise and improve your work before submitting it as part of the “Marketing Plan, Part 2” assignment.

"I couldn't give my boys the things their friends had, and the things I                     and their mother wanted them to have. In fact, we were poor."

Robert Jensen

age: 85

Worked 45 years in a                                                                         fabric factory

"My whole life has been pegged to the future. I tried to instill that into                   my children. None of them has followed it, unfortunately."

Tom Jensen                                                                                   Robert's son

age: 59

an accountant

"I don't believe a bit in the saying 'a penny saved is a penny earned'.                     Make megabucks, spend megabucks. I work hard to have fun."

Michael Jensen,

Tom's son

age: 27

an insurance salesman

These are real statements from a real family. Three generations of the Jensen family are all middle-class Americans, born and raised in this country. They all still live here too. Their philosophies about money, responsibility, life, and future inhabit different worlds. Write a page or so explaining those generational differences in the light of your understanding of the personal and family finance. Be clear and analytical. Express your own opinion freely because you will be judged based on how clear, organized, flowing, meaningful, convincing, and powerful your comments are.

Module 2 -Communication is essential to leadership success, but knowing how and when to use your business communication tools often takes time and practice.

Consider the following case study: You are the manager of a team of workers, and Diego is one of your employees. Before joining your department three months ago, Diego worked six months in another area. Since assigned to your unit, Diego has been repeatedly late for work or absent. Other employees are complaining. You've learned that Diego had a similar problem in the other department. Company policy states that if an employee is warned of such a problem and the behaviors continue, the individual may be given a three-day suspension without pay. One important item to consider: Diego, when he’s on the job, is a top performer and someone you definitely want to keep on the payroll. He can run circles around the other people. He just has problems with tardiness and absenteeism.

Instructions Your goal with this assignment is to create a comprehensive communication strategy to correct Diego's performance issue.You plan to schedule a face-to-face meeting with Diego to address the matter. First, you must notify Diego of the meeting via email. Next, you must plan the agenda for your face-to-face meeting with Diego. Step One: Email - Create an email for Diego to notify him of the meeting. Use Chapter 6: Formatting for Correspondence (pp. 133-147) in Business and Professional Writing: A Basic Guide by MacRae to help you format your email. For the body of your email, use Chapter 8: Bad News Letters (pp. 162-173) as your guide.

When composing your email, consider the following questions: How should you communicate the purpose of the face-to-face meeting to Diego via email? When do you feel is the best time of day and day of week to hold the meeting? Where is the most appropriate location for the meeting? Diego’s work station? Your office? Other locations? Based on your answers, include the date, time, and location for the meeting in the body of your email.

Step Two: Face-to-Face Meeting Agenda - Every successful meeting has a pre-planned agenda. Read the following guidelines on How to Conduct an Effective Disciplinary Interviewby Ruth Mayhew.

When creating your meeting agenda, consider the following questions: What outcome do you need to communicate to Diego during the meeting? What do you believe is the best course of action to handle this problem? Should you counsel Diego and issue a verbal warning? Write a formal letter of reprimand? Suspend the employee for three days without pay? Other actions? How can you clearly communicate company expectations and what you need from Diego moving forward?

According to the text, “harvesting” is a strategy which:

1. Reduces marketing costs even as a product is still being sold
2. Refers to the agriculture industry
3. Is normally an unprofitable strategy
4. Two of the above