BE300-TMA FALL 2 01 4-2 01 5 PDF

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ARAB OPEN UNIVERSITY Faculty of Business Studies

BE300 – Marketing Management Tutor Marked Assessment FALL 2014-2015

30 ‫دينار‬ Read carefully the following instructions andboth cases study, and then answer each question in an essay format.To support your analysis use relevant material from BE300 covered so far and other resources such as AOU e-library articles. INSCTRUCTIONS:   

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Cut-off date: Submit this assignment no later than November 25th, 2014. All late submissions require approval from the branch course coordinator and will be subject to grade deductions. Word count:you should discuss the questions in no more or less than the number of words mentioned for each question (plus or minus 10%). Referencing: You must acknowledge all your sources of information using full Harvard Style Referencing (in-text referencing plus list of references at the end). Use E-library: to get journal articles on the topic (Emerald, EBSCO…). Use at least 2 articles. Plagiarism:Remember that you should work the information from references into your own original thoughts and INTO YOUR OWN WORDS. Plagiarism will lead to a significant loss of marks. Extensive plagiarism could mean that you failed your TMA. (Refer to AOU definitions of cheating and plagiarism at the end of this document) Essay guidance: Your response to each question should take the form of a full essay format. Avoid using subheadings and bullet points. Use BE200textbook,slides, case study and E-Library. Plan what you will write, and have a well-organized outline. Using PT3 form:When you have completed your TMA, you must fill in the assignment form (PT3) posted on your moodle account, taking care to fill all information correctly. Turnit-in upload: A soft copy of your TMA and PT3 form should be uploaded to Turnit-in via the link posted on your moodle account, within the cut-off date. This TMA is 20% of BE300 Grade.

For textbook: refer to chapters 2, 3, 5 and 6

TMA 01

BE300 – Tutor Marked Assessment - FALL 2014-2015 Case Study:The importance of customer service at Enterprise Rent a Car

How is customer service data collected? When Jack Taylor founded Enterprise his motto was simple: ‘Take care of your customers and employees first, and profit will take care of itself.’ However, when a company grows it can become more and more difficult to give customers and employees the same sort of personal attention. As a successful business, Enterprise grew until almost inevitably some cracks in customer service developed. It was at this point that the company realised the importance of developing ways of measuring customer service. One of the oldest sayings in business is ‘You manage what you measure.’ This is when the idea of measuring customer satisfaction was developed.The new way of measuring customer satisfaction was called ESQi – the Enterprise Service Quality index. The first survey was carried out in July 1994 and had a 25% response rate. The results indicated a big difference between the best performing and the weakest regions in which the business was operating. However, the survey results were not meaningful enough. Enterprise decided to cut down the survey to the two questions highlighted earlier. Also the survey method was refined to compare ESQi scores branch by branch, rather than region by region. To keep the information up-to-date it was collected and reported for each quarter of the year. Enterprise targeted customers who were highly satisfied and would rent from the company again. These were customers who filled in the top boxes on the survey. Customers who had filled in the survey were called by external telephone researchers. They were asked how many cars they had rented since taking part in the survey and what Enterprise’s share of those rentals had been. Studying the data showed that ‘completely satisfied’ customers were more than three times as likely to become repeat customers as those who said they were only ‘somewhat satisfied’. This piece of information was like a ‘lightning bolt’ for the company. It showed that customer satisfaction has a direct impact on sales and profits. This collection of data on customer opinions is a good example of qualitative data. The collection of data on the numbers of cars rented illustrates quantitative data. Together the analysis of both types of data helped improve Enterprise’s performance. In 1996 Enterprise overtook Hertz as the leading car rental company in the United States.

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BE300 – Tutor Marked Assessment - FALL 2014-2015

However, rather than resting on its laurels, the senior managers of Enterprise looked at the ESQi scores and saw that some sectors of the business were underperforming in terms of customer service. At a meeting of senior executives, Jack Taylor told the group that if the company was to stay No.1 then it would have to keep customer service as the number one priority. He stated: ‘Customer service is the most important thing we do.’ With this he posed a challenge to the leadership team – ‘What are you going to do about it?’ A completely new way of looking at the company was developed, beginning with choosing the winners of the annual President’s and Chairman’s Awards (the top honours in the company) on the basis of ESQi scores. The next step was to make the ESQi scores the basis for determining promotion. This really got people’s attention because Enterprise only promotes from within the company. 99.9% of top executives in the company started their careers behind the counter as management trainees at an Enterprise branch. Using the new formula a person’s career would only develop with a high ESQi score. There was therefore a clear incentive for ensuring high levels of customer satisfaction. ESQi scores were published alongside profits for every branch. Answer the following questions: Question 1: (25Marks) As a result of the conducted research, Enterprise can turn consumer insights into product concepts. a. What does ESQI represent in the case of Enterprise? (5 Marks) b. What are the ways of data collection? Explain. (10 Marks) c. What can you conclude from the mentioned experience of Enterprise? (10 Marks) Word count: 300 words Question 2: (25 Marks) In case Enterprise decided to conduct secondary research instead of the primary researches. a. What can be the reasons to conduct such a research? (10 Marks) b. What are the reliable possible sources? (15 Marks) Word count: 300 words Question 3: (25 Marks) Page 3 of 5

BE300 – Tutor Marked Assessment - FALL 2014-2015

a. What can be the benefits and the limitations of conducting qualitative research? (10 Marks) b. What are the two methods used for qualitative research? Discuss. (15 Marks) Word count: 300 words Question 4: (25 Marks) While Enterprise was conducting its market research, the research agency asked you to provide the company with a research design: a. Explain the two levels of design for Enterprise. (10 Marks) b. What are the reasons for providing this research design? (5 Marks) c. What is the importance of clearly formulating the research problem? (10 Marks) Word count: 300 words

Grades deduction for: TMA Presentation: (up to 5 marks) Up to 5 marks should be deducted for poor presentation or poor organization of the TMA outline and discussion or TMA presented without PT3. Proper referencing: (up to 5 marks) Referencing should be both in-text referencing, plus a list of references at the end using Harvard style. Up to 5 marks should be deducted for poor referencing. Use of E-Library: (up to 5 marks) A minimum use of 2 articles from AOU e-library is required to support the discussions. Up to 5 marks should be deducted for no use or poor use ofe-library. Word count: (up to 5 marks) The answers should be within the specified word count. A deviation of 10% is acceptable; if more, a deduction up to 5 marks will be applied. Arab Open University Definitions of cheating and plagiarism Plagiarism means copying from internet, from unreferenced sources, from other students’ TMAs or any other source. Penalties for plagiarism range from failure in the TMA or the course, to expulsion from the university. According to the Arab Open University By-laws, “the following acts represent cases of cheating and plagiarism:

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BE300 – Tutor Marked Assessment - FALL 2014-2015     

Verbatim copying of printed material and submitting them as part of TMAs without proper academic acknowledgement and documentation. Verbatim copying of material from the Internet, including tables and graphics. Copying other students’ notes or reports. Using paid or unpaid material prepared for the student by individuals or firms. Utilization of, or proceeding to utilize, contraband materials or devices in examinations.”

Penalty on plagiarism: The following is the standard plagiarism penalty applied across branches as per Article 11 of the university by-laws was revisited and modified to be more explicit with regard to plagiarism on TMAs. Penalties include the following: 1) Awarding of zero for a TMA wherein more than 20% of the content is plagiarized. 2) Documentation of warning in student record. 3) Failure in the course to dismissal from the University. All University programs are required to apply penalties that are consistent with the University by laws.

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