b.List the steps in the Internet value chain, and discuss the time, quality, and cost of the
experience to the consumer.

c.What cost, quality, and time benefits will Ford likely encounter with their new
arrangement with CarPoint? What causes these benefits?
d. How will a service like CarPoint likely affect dealers’ behavior toward their customers?

What has Facebook done well and why haven't others copied all aspects of their marketing plan?

2-3 paragraph response. Describe two distinct reasons why someone who has never used a drug in his or her life might refuse a test at work. Convert those reasons into well-founded ethical arguments. Meaningful response is needed to at least two of your peers.

You are a marketer for LifeStock, a members-only store that provides both goods and services to customers. The company offers an impressive array of departments: Grocery, Hardware, Home Goods, Pharmacy, Eye Care, Pet Supplies, Fresh Food Automotive, Gas, and Car Wash. Describe how your marketing strategy differs for the goods and services that your store provides. In replies to peers, provide additional ideas or strategies that could be employed for differentiating the marketing strategy.

5. CarPoint is a comprehensive consumer-oriented automotive web site offering users complete car-buying and care information on all makes and models. It provides fast, convenient access to detailed specifications and pricing information on both new and used cars. It also provides reviews and advice from leading automotive writers, and personalized maintenance and recall information. Ford Motor Company was CarPoint’s first partner. Ford’s concept is to allow consumers to order any model car to their exact specifications and receive immediate feedback on availability. Consumers are able to schedule delivery and service at their local dealership, making it easier for consumers to buy cars over the Internet. Once a consumer decides what car she wants to buy, CarPoint locates an existing car, regardless of where in the country it is, or they place an order for a new custom car to be built at the factory and delivered to the consumer’s local dealership. During the process, both the manufacturer and the dealer will get instant, online status reports on the order from the time the order is placed until it is delivered to the customer. Ford sees its advantage in better managing its order-fulfillment process. It streamlines production and allows better inventory management through its supply chain. Required: a. Think about a typical car-buying experience where a consumer visits dealership and buys a car. List the steps in that value chain, and discuss the time, quality, and cost of the experience to the consumer.

What are the various methods used to make marketing communications more effective?

The project manager develops a process improvement plan to encourage continuous process improvement during the life of the project. Discuss.

What about accepting friends request on social media from a colleague at work? May such an action result in major issues at work place? Do you think there should be any policies at the work place that would prohibit coworkers from having each other on social media?

What are the attributes of an effective ambidextrous organizational structure? Please explain.

Read Case Ticketmaster – Making Better Decisions passage below and answer the following questions 1-4 in bold :

Case Study: Ticketmaster
In 2010, Ticketmaster found out the hard way that the entertainment industry is not, in fact, as recession-proof as it was once widely believed to be. The company, which sells tickets for live music, sports, and cultural events, and which represents a significant chunk of parent company’s Live Nation Entertainment’s business, saw a drop in ticket sales that year of a disconcerting 15 percent. Then there was the mounting negative press, including artist boycotts, the vitriol of thousands of vocal customers, and a number of major venues refusing to do business with Ticketmaster.

Yet 2012 has been more friendly to the company—under the leadership of former musician and Stanford MBA- educated CEO Nathan Hubbard, who took over in 2010 when Ticketmaster merged with Live Nation, the country’s largest concert promoter. Third-quarter earnings were strong, with just under $2 billion in revenue, a 10 percent boost from the same period last year, driven largely by Live Nation’s ticketing and sponsorship divisions. Ticketmaster was largely responsible as well, thanks to the sale of 36 million tickets worth $2.1 billion, generating $82.1 million in adjusted operating income, which translates to an increase of 51 percent for the year.
That’s because Hubbard knows how to listen, and read the writing on the wall, “If we don’t disrupt ourselves, someone else will,” he said, “I’m not worried about other ticketing companies. The Googles and Apples of the world are our competition.”

Some of the steps he took to achieve this included to the creation of Live Analytics, a team charged with mining the information (and related opportunities) surrounding 200 million customers and the 26 million monthly site visitors, a gold mine that he thought was being ignored. Moreover Hubbard redirected the company from being an infamously opaque, rigid and inflexible transaction machine for ticket sales to a more transparent, fan-centered e-commerce company, one that listens to the wants and needs of customers and responds accordingly. A few of the new innovations rolled out in recent years to achieve this include an interactive venue map that allows customers to choose their seats (instead of Ticketmaster selecting the “best available”) and the ability to buy tickets on iTunes.

Hubbard eliminated certain highly unpopular service fees, like the $2.50 fee for printing one’s own tickets, which he announced in the inaugural Ticketmaster blog he created.
Much to the delight of event goers—and the simultaneous chagrin of promoters and venue owners, who feared that the move would deter sales—other efforts toward transparency included announcing fees on Ticketmaster’s first transaction- dedicated page, instead of surprising customers with them at the end, while consolidating others. “I had clients say, ‘What are you doing? We’ve been doing it this way for 35 years,’” Hubbard recalled, “I told them, ‘You sound like the record labels.’”

Social media is an integral part of listening, and of course, “sharing.” Ticketmaster alerts on Facebook shows friends of purchasers who is going to what show. An app is in the works that will even show them where their concert going friends will be seated. Not that it’s all roses for Ticketmaster—yet. Growth and change always involve, well, growing pains, and while goodwill for the company is building, it will take some time to shed the unfortunate reputation of being the company that “everyone loves to hate.” Ticketmaster made embarrassing headlines in the first month of 2013 after prematurely announcing the sale of the president’s Inaugural Ball and selling out a day early as a result, disappointing thousands. But as the biggest online seller of tickets for everything from golf tournaments to operas to theater to rock concerts, and with Hubbard’s more customer-friendly focus, Ticketmaster should have plenty of opportunity to repent their mistake

1. Identify the problems that Ticketmaster was facing, using cause and effect analysis. What were the Symptomatic Effects? What were the Underlying Causes?

2. What process(es) did Nathan Hubbard use to Generate Alternatives? What alternatives were available to Mr. Hubbard? What types of Uncertainty did he experience?

3. How did Mr. Hubbard select his most desirable alternative? Describe which type of Decision Making he used, and explain your findings.

4. Were the recent decisions that Mr. Hubbard made effective, according to the concepts in Chapter 7 – Decision Making? Explain your response.

Giving a feedback can be a make or a break tool in the manager employee relationship. In 400 - 600 words explain how a manager can make this process a make relationship. Mention the Do’s and the Don’ts that a manager should follow during this process.

There are some flaws that deprives a manager from being a real leader. In 800-1000 words explain what they are and how these flaws can negatively affect the relationship between a manager and his employees.