Managerial Finance Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Managerial Finance - Research Paper Example 19964 million. J Sainsbury plc consists of Sainsbury’s - a chain of 547 supermarkets and 343 convenience stores and the Sainsbury’s Bank (Jsainsburys, 2011). One of the most innovative services offered by the company is its online servicing and delivery system. Customers can make their purchases online and Sainsbury will deliver to 90% of the UK households. The system generates over 100,000 orders per week. The firm has a division called Sainsbury Property that has a portfolio that includes 297 freehold and long leasehold properties and 43 joint venture properties (Jsainsburys). The retail operation of the company generates 19 million customers transaction every week. Five Business Ratios (2009-2010) 2009 2010 Net margin 289 / 18911 = 1.53% 585 / 19994 = 2.93% Current ratio 1268 / 4511 = 0.28 1797 / 2793 = 0.64 Return on capital 289 / 4157 = 6.95% 585 / 4966 = 11.78% Debt ratio 9836 / 5679 = 1.73 10855 / 5889 = 1.84 Earnings per share 16.6 32.1 Sainsbury vs. FTSE100 ind ex This part of the paper will demonstrate a comparison between the market price of the Sainsbury common stock and the FTSE 100 index. The graph that show the movement in the price of the stock and the index are illustrated in appendix A and appendix B. In order to evaluate the results further qualitative information based on company news is going to be used to attempt to interpret the results of the graph. The FTSE graph shows many fluctuations in up and down with the steepest downward in July 2011. Overall the general trend of the index prices was that the price of the index went up during the last year. During the first quartile of the graph the trend in prices of the Sainsbury was very similar to the movement in the FTSE 100 graph. The price of the Sainsbury stock peak in September 2010 and it bottom out during April of 2011. A piece of news that always shakes the price of common stocks is the release of quarterly results. The latest quarterly results of the company were release d in March 23, 2011. The graph illustrates that after the release of this piece of news the price of the stock after being the lowest point during the last year it began to steadily go up until May of this year. Analysis of Sainsbury financial performance In order to determine the viability of Sainsbury (J) as possible stock investment alternative this paper will analyze the company’s overall financial performance. The analysis includes their operations and how Sainsbury (J) compares with other similar stocks and its industry sector. By comparing key financial ratios we can visualize the overall financial position of the company and how the company compares to its overall industry sector in order to determine its attractiveness as a stock investment in a personal investment portfolio. Sainsbury (J) has become a leader in the grocery foods sector with a 16.9% market share in the UK. The company has made a number of fundamental changes in recent years in order to enhance overal l competitiveness and fuel future growth. Sainsbury is known to be the world leader in Fair Trade Products with around 25% of all Fair trade Products in the UK. The company was also named Supermarket of the Year at the 2009 Retail Industry Awards for their efforts to innovate and adapt to changing customer needs over the last year. Sainsbury’s operational focus is centered accelerating future growth and sustainability. The five key operational areas the company focuses on in order to further increase its market

The Supply Chain Management at Durham International Manufacturing Research Paper

The Supply Chain Management at Durham International Manufacturing Company (Dimco) - Research Paper Example A successful integration effort requires collective effort between suppliers and distribution. Teaming up will facilitate immense relationship among them. The effort starts with the two parties teaming up on sharing information related to the activities that they do. This will enhance communication between the two since they will have the chance to explore more on the development of new products, and developing extraordinary systems that will facilitate production. Good relationship based on communication will facilitate stream of information continually to work on a successful integrated supply chain. Ways that Dimco Could Benefit from Leveraging B2B E-commerce B2B e-commerce is the electronic swap of business documents among businesses for the principle of conducting business. B2B information switch is a system-to-system swap of data with little or no physical involvement. Dimco can benefit from leveraging B2B e-commerce through various ways. An effective e-commerce solution will e nable Dimco to grow and scale easily to meet market demand and customer requirements by opening new sales channels and constantly reaching new market segment. A B2B e-commerce site will improve Dimco’s sales teams’ visibility into customer orders, and pricing.... B2B e-commerce enables exceptional customer service. E-commerce provides an exceptional opportunity for the B2B organization to improve its customer service initiatives. E-commerce sites can offer access to self-serve account and order information after a customer completes the secure login process. Through integration with an organization’s enterprise resource planning, an e-commerce site can display only the products, services and pricing based on client log in qualifications (Sinha, 2009). Steps Dimco Could Take to Improve its Relationship with Suppliers For Dimco to improve its relationship with suppliers, a variety of steps have to be followed. This will enable good relationship between Dimco and suppliers. Acknowledging past mistakes that were made between Dimco and suppliers and decide whether the relationship is worth saving then hunt for an open and honest communication with the supplier. This will enable Dimco and suppliers to connect and discover more concerning the errors and remedies to prevent future mistakes. Identifying the cause of the mistake is the second step Dimco will take. This will enable Dimco and supplies to find out the real cause of the mistakes that were made in the earlier period. This will allow them to know if there were warning signs before the mistake happened. Ineffectiveness to the origin of a crisis, only the sign will be resolved, and another one that is more destructive to the relationship will unavoidably appear. Dimco will then spot and apply corrective actions to the past mistakes made. These actions can include technical changes, changes in security stocks, increased communication, and changes in personnel. Dimco will finally monitor and maintain the relationship with the suppliers. This will be effective

The Social Impact of Automobile Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Social Impact of Automobile - Essay Example We are popular with possession of the right product, and, at the same time, own our individuality. The car has moved far from being just a tool of convenience or necessity, it has come to life within our minds and our culture. The intricate psychological reasoning for these insecurities is as varied as the individuals themselves. â€Å"Every adult life could be said to be defined by two great love stories. The first – the story of our quest for sexual love – is well known and well-charted. The second – the story of our quest for love from the world – is a more secret and shameful tale. And yet this second love story is no less intense than the first.† (de Botton, 2004). De Botton’s research for possible cures to â€Å"status anxiety† leads to the idea that the admission of ones mortality puts into perspective elements of status, such as careers, possessions, appearance and fame. (Jutkins, 2006). Life experiences that frustrate the fulfillment of people’s basic needs such as independence, competence and interrelationships result in feelings that lead to differing levels of materialistic pursuits. This tendency is especially heightened under the curren t atmosphere of cultural consumerism. To deal with cultural pressures and their effects, people may resort to what psychologist term as compensatory consumption. That is, consuming even more to feel better. â€Å"This is ironic because this additional consumption often stems from the culture of consumerism itself.† (Kasser, Kanner, 2004, p. 16). The market has positioned the most physical of products such as cars, in ways that provide a kind of healing to consumers. Consumers have been drawn into a self-willed daze by an assault of feel-better-about-yourself advertising. The purchase of what we perceive others believe as beautiful possessions enable us to feel significant and worthwhile, at least for a short time. (Davis, 2002). People buy for recognition from family, friends and

The Supply Chain Management at Durham International Manufacturing Research Paper

The Supply Chain Management at Durham International Manufacturing Company (Dimco) - Research Paper Example A successful integration effort requires collective effort between suppliers and distribution. Teaming up will facilitate immense relationship among them. The effort starts with the two parties teaming up on sharing information related to the activities that they do. This will enhance communication between the two since they will have the chance to explore more on the development of new products, and developing extraordinary systems that will facilitate production. Good relationship based on communication will facilitate stream of information continually to work on a successful integrated supply chain. Ways that Dimco Could Benefit from Leveraging B2B E-commerce B2B e-commerce is the electronic swap of business documents among businesses for the principle of conducting business. B2B information switch is a system-to-system swap of data with little or no physical involvement. Dimco can benefit from leveraging B2B e-commerce through various ways. An effective e-commerce solution will e nable Dimco to grow and scale easily to meet market demand and customer requirements by opening new sales channels and constantly reaching new market segment. A B2B e-commerce site will improve Dimco’s sales teams’ visibility into customer orders, and pricing.... B2B e-commerce enables exceptional customer service. E-commerce provides an exceptional opportunity for the B2B organization to improve its customer service initiatives. E-commerce sites can offer access to self-serve account and order information after a customer completes the secure login process. Through integration with an organization’s enterprise resource planning, an e-commerce site can display only the products, services and pricing based on client log in qualifications (Sinha, 2009). Steps Dimco Could Take to Improve its Relationship with Suppliers For Dimco to improve its relationship with suppliers, a variety of steps have to be followed. This will enable good relationship between Dimco and suppliers. Acknowledging past mistakes that were made between Dimco and suppliers and decide whether the relationship is worth saving then hunt for an open and honest communication with the supplier. This will enable Dimco and suppliers to connect and discover more concerning the errors and remedies to prevent future mistakes. Identifying the cause of the mistake is the second step Dimco will take. This will enable Dimco and supplies to find out the real cause of the mistakes that were made in the earlier period. This will allow them to know if there were warning signs before the mistake happened. Ineffectiveness to the origin of a crisis, only the sign will be resolved, and another one that is more destructive to the relationship will unavoidably appear. Dimco will then spot and apply corrective actions to the past mistakes made. These actions can include technical changes, changes in security stocks, increased communication, and changes in personnel. Dimco will finally monitor and maintain the relationship with the suppliers. This will be effective

IT support for virtual teams Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

IT support for virtual teams - Essay Example There are a numerous reasons why virtual teams are turning out to be so popular these days. The basic reason is the reality that we live in the information age, as different to the industrial age. In view of the fact that the information travels at the speed of light, and those who have access to the most modern and fastest communication and collaboration technologies are capable to send data quickly. The capability to transmit data and information at fast speeds, combined with the power of the web, has caused the formation of "virtual corporations." However, the most influential aspect of the virtual team is that it is not limited to their physical location. In addition, virtual teams are as well extremely efficient for the reason that they do not have any "off" hours. For instance, in case of a traditional business environment, where all their staff members are available at the same location, has an 8 hour-work per day. On the other hand, in a virtual environment virtual team membe rs have a 24 hour-work per day. For instance, when the workers in one time zone are inactive, the others are operational. Thus, virtual teams are able to get more done in a small period of time as compared to the traditional teams. A virtual team can contain members from all over the world. It can comprise knowledge and expertise from any culture and any country (Exforsys Inc., 2009). Traditionally, a project team refers to a social group of individuals who are collocated and mutually dependent in their jobs. In fact, they carry out and organize their tasks to attain common objectives and contribute to task for effective results. Virtual teams have objectives similar to the traditional teams, however, they use different infrastructure as compared to traditional project teams. In this scenario, they perform their tasks without having the limitations of time, organizational boundaries and geographical locations associated with

Hazard Identification in a Combined Cycle Power Plant

Hazard Identification in a Combined Cycle Power Plant Fire and Explosion Hazard Identification in a Combined Cycle Power Plant ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION Fire and Explosion are the most prevalent accidents at chemical and process industries which can cause serious damage to properties and loss of productions. Fire and explosion hazards are considered as the first and second major hazards in chemical industries [1]. Besides that, release of toxic materials are prevalent accidents in process industries too. Among these three, fire is the most common but explosion is more significant in terms of its damage potential, often leading to fatalities and damage to property [2]. Also, fire can cause human fatalities, serious injuries, financial losses due to damage of equipment and disruption of productive activity, loss of employment and sometimes irreparable damage to the environment and also other costs such as insurance premiums would increase. Hence, identification of danger factors and the ways of controlling fire and explosion accidents in such these industries are very important [3]. In this paper, the hazard of fire and explosion accid ents at processing sections of a combined cycle power plant using one of the well-known hazard index which is called Dow fire and explosion index, has been estimated. The under studying power plant is comprised process unites and facilities such as gas units, vapor units and hydrocarbon storage site. Natural gas and Gasoline are the main chemical materials that are used and stored in these facilities which consume in Turbine units as fuel to produce electrical energy. The Dow Fire and Explosion Index (hereafter called the DOW Index) is a common hazard index [4]. Hazard indices using the numerical values to classify the various sections of process industries in the terms of fire and explosion and identify process areas with a high risk and estimate the losses due to fire and explosion. However quantify risks in different sectors of the industry make it easy to interpret the results [5-7]. The Dow index has been used in many researches across the world. Among those are the studies of Gupta et al. (1997), Roy et al. (2003), Bernatik and Libisova (2004), and Suardin et al. (2007) [8-12]. These researches showed that this index has been used for different purposes such as rating and classifying the danger, determining the economic impacts, and designing safe processing industries too. Suardin et al. concluded that by applying the (FEI) index, it is possible to design safer and more economical reactor and distillation system [13]. This index has been also used in a number of studies in Iran, especially in the chemical industries. The research of Atrkar Roshan et al. (2013), Jafari et al. (2012) and also Ahmadi et al. (2008 2012) are some examples [13-16]. In this study, the fire and explosion hazards of some process units at a combined cycle power plant using Dow index has been estimated. MATERIALS AND METHODS Process Unit Selection The fire and explosion risk analysis system is a step-by-step objective evaluation of the realistic fire, explosion and reactivity potential of process equipment and its contents. The quantitative measurements used in the analysis are based on historic loss data, the energy potential of the material under study and the extent to which loss prevention practices are currently applied [5]. Dow index was developed by the Dow Chemical Company in the 1960s as a tool for plant engineers to give relative value to the risk of individual process unit losses due to fires and explosions and to communicate these risk to management in terms easily understood, i.e., potential of financial losses due to lost production and damage to plant facilities [17]. In fact, Dow index rates the potential occurrence of fire and explosion hazards in a process unit and estimates the costs in money due to fire and explosion accidents in chemical and/or process units. The latest version of Dow fire and explosion in dex guideline published in 1994 was applied to calculate the fire and explosion index at Turbine processes and Gasoline storage site. The general procedure of Dow index calculation is shown in Figure.1 Figure.1: Dow Index Procedure (Dow’s Guideline, 1994) Process Unit Hazards Factor The Dow FEI is calculated from equation (1): Equation (1): FEI = MF Ãâ€" F1 Ãâ€" F2 = MF Ãâ€" F3 Where MF (Material Factor) is a measure of the potential energy released from the fire or explosion produced by combustion or chemical reactions. It is determined by considering the flammability and reactivity of the materials that are exist at process unit and has a range of 1 ±40 [4, 5]. F1 (General process hazard factor) is a measure of reaction and process unit characteristics such as exothermic or endothermic reactions, handling or transfer of chemical materials, outdoor or indoor units, access condition in emergency situations, drainage and spill control at process unit. F2 (Special process hazard) is a measure of chemical material and operations specifications such as toxicity, amount of flammable materials in process or storage unit, use and distance to fired equipment, dust explosion, extreme pressure or sub-atmospheric pressure, equipment’s corrosion and erosion, leakage-joints and packing, rotating equipment and etc. Each item is represented in terms of â€Å"pen alties† and â€Å"credit factors† [14]. F3 (Process unit hazard factor) is derived from the multiplying the F1 and F2 values. According to the value of the calculated index, the fire and explosion hazard of a pertinent process unit is rated as light, moderate, intermediate, heavy or severe which are shown in Table.1 [5]. Table 1: Degree of Hazard for FEI (Dow’s Guideline, 1994) Degree of Hazard for FEI FEI Range Degree of Hazard 1-60 Light 61-96 Moderate 97-127 Intermediate 128-158 Heavy 159-up Severe After the calculation of Dow index, FEI will be able to determine the radius and area of exposure to fire and explosion incidents using equations (2) and (3): Equation (2): Radius of Exposure = 0.84 Ãâ€" Dow FEI Equation (3): Area of Exposure Where, R is the radius of exposure [5]. Loss Control Credit Factors The preventive and protective measures that have been incorporated in the process design to reduce the fire and explosion hazard are taken into account in the form of Loss Control Credit Factors (LCCF). There are three categories of loss control features including; C1 (process control) which is derived from the multiplying by factors such as emergency power, cooling, explosion control, emergency shutdown, computer control, inert gas, operation instructions and procedures, reactive chemical review and other process hazard analysis. C2 (material isolation) is comprised from remote control valves, dump / blowdown, drainage and interlock items and C3 (fire protection) which accounts for leak detection (alarm and shutdown), fireproofing for structural steel, fire water supply, special systems, sprinkler systems, water curtains, foam, portable fire extinguishers / fire monitors and cable fire protection (instrumentation and electrical cables) [5, 17, 18]. Loss control credit factor is calc ulated using equation (4): Equation (4): LCCF: C1Ãâ€"C2Ãâ€"C3 Loss Control features should be selected for the contribution they will actually make to reducing or controlling the unit hazards being evaluated [5]. As well as the Damage Factor is determined from the Process Unit Hazards Factor (F3) and the Material Factor (MF) and referring to Figure 2. Damage Factor represents the overall effect of fire and blast damage resulting from a release of fuel or reactive energy from a Process Unit [5]. MPPD and BI Calculations The replacement value of the equipment within the exposed area in combination with damage factor can be used to derive the Base maximum probable property damage (Base MPPD) [4]. The actual maximum probable property damage (Actual MPPD) is then calculated by multiplying the Base MPPD by loss credit control factor which is shown in equation (5). The Actual MPPD is used to predict the maximum number of days which is the time required to rebuild the plant to its original capacity, the Maximum probable days outage (MPDO). The MPDO is used to estimate the financial loss due to the lost production: the Business interruption (BI) [18]. BI is the lost profit to the company due to an incident and is calculated by the equation (6): Equation (5): Actual MPPD = Base MPPD Ãâ€" loss control credit factor Equation (6): BI ($US) = Ãâ€" VPM Ãâ€" 0.7 Where VPM is the value of production per month. Figure 2: Damage Factor Determination (Dow’s Guideline, 1994) RESULTS The results of Dow index calculations for under studying units are illustrated in Table 2. For all under studying units, radius of exposure, area of exposure, value of area of exposure, damage factor, Base maximum probable property damage (MPPD), loss control credit factor, Actual MPPD, Days outage and BI loss in terms of US dollar has been calculated which are shown in Table 2. Turbine Unit (Methane) Methane as fuel in Turbine unit with the material factor of 21 had a highest material factor among chemical materials that were presented in process units and subsequently based on the result of Dow index value of 321, it can be indicated that Turbine unit with Methane as fuel, had the highest degree of fire and explosion risk (as mentioned in Table 3 which is considered severe). For Turbine unit with Methane fuel, radius exposure and area of exposure were calculated which are 82.2 m and 21227 m2, respectively. Also for this unit, value of area of exposure was estimated 13.8 US million dollars and damage factor is gained 0.83. After that, Base MPPD by multiplying the value of area of exposure and damage factor is derived which is 11.45 US million dollars. Loss control credit factor is estimated 0.36 which by multiplying it into Base MPPD, Actual MMPD is derived 4.12 US million dollars. Maximum probable days outage for this unit is estimated 50 days and finally the loss due to unit pa uses (BI) is calculated 3.03 US million dollars. Turbine Unit (Gasoline) After that, when Turbine unit uses gasoline as fuel has the second risk ranking with Dow index value of 236 and Gasoline Storage Site Gasoline storage site with Dow index value of 56.8 was the least which is ranked as light fire and explosion risk. Table 2: Results of Dow Fire and Explosion Index Calculation Process Unit Turbine Unit Turbine Unit Storage Vessels Major Material Methane[1] Gasoline Gasoline Material Factor 21 16 16 FEI Index 321 236 56.8 Exposure Radius (m) 82.2 60.42 14.5 Area of Exposure (m2) 21227 11468 660 Value of Area of Exposure ($MM) 13.8 7.45 13.58 Damage Factor 0.83 0.68 0.42 Base MPPD ($MM) 11.45 5.07 5.70 Loss Control Credit Factors 0.36 0.36 0.65 Actual MPPD ($MM) 4.12 1.82 3.70 Days Outage (MPDO) 50 30 25 BI Loss ($MM) 3.03 1.82 8.26 Table 3: The Fire and Explosion Index Ranking at Under Studying Units Process Unit FEI Index Degree of Hazard for FEI Light Moderate Intermediate Heavy Severe Turbine Unit (Methane) 321 Turbine Unit (Gasoline) 236 Storage Vessels 56.8   Discussion According to the results of this study, Turbine unit with Methane fuel has the highest degree of fire and explosion risk. Therefore appropriate control and protective measures should be establish to reduce the fire and explosion risks in this unit. In the other hand, according to the gotten results, Turbine units have the sever ranking of fire and explosion risk and in spite of gasoline storage site is considered as lowest risk of fire and explosion, this unit constrains most losses in money due to business interruption. The reason of this matter is related to the great amount of gasoline fuel which is deposited in 4 vessels and it is about 17 million liters. Conclusion In the present study, the Dow FEI in process units of a combined cycle power plant were calculated. Based on the results, Turbine unit that uses Methane as fuel with Dow index value of 321 has the highest degree of fire and explosion risk. Another Turbine unit with gasoline fuel is ranked second with Dow index value of 236 and severe fire and explosion risk and finally, gasoline storage unit is recognized the least unit in consideration of fire and explosion risk. The findings of this study can be used to estimate the loss due to fire and explosion and also can be used as insurance premium. References 1.Ahmadi, S., J. Adl, and M. Ghalehnovi, Relative ranking of fire and explosion in a petrochemical industry by fire and explosion index. THE JOURNAL OF QAZVIN UNIVERSITY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES, 2011. 2.Khan, F.I. and S. Abbasi, Major accidents in process industries and an analysis of causes and consequences. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 1999. 12: p. 361-378. 3.Mahoney, D.G., Large property damage losses in the hydrocarbon-chemical industries: A thirty-year review. 1997: M M Protection Consultants. 4.Khan, F., T. Husain, and S. Abbasi, Safety Weighted Hazard Index (SWeHI): A New, User-friendly Tool for Swift yet Comprehensive Hazard Identification and Safety Evaluation in Chemical Process Industrie. Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 2001. 79(2): p. 65-80. 5.Chemicals, D., Dow’s fire explosion index hazard classification guide. AIChE Technical Manual, 1994. 6.Etowa, C., et al., Quantification of inherent safety aspects of the Dow indices. Journal of Loss Prevention in the process Industries, 2002. 15(6): p. 477-487. 7.Khan, F.I., R. Sadiq, and P.R. Amyotte, Evaluation of available indices for inherently safer design options. Process Safety Progress, 2003. 22(2): p. 83-97. 8.Gupta, J.P., Application of DOWs fire and explosion index hazard classification guide to process plants in the developing countries. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 1997. 10(1): p. 7-15. 9.Roy, P.K., A. Bhatt, and C. Rajagopal, Quantitative risk assessment for accidental release of titanium tetrachloride in a titanium sponge production plant. Journal of hazardous materials, 2003. 102(2): p. 167-186. 10.Bernatik, A. and M. Libisova, Loss prevention in heavy industry: risk assessment of large gasholders. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 2004. 17(4): p. 271-278. 11.Suardin, J., M. Sam Mannan, and M. El-Halwagi, The integration of Dows fire and explosion index (FEI) into process design and optimization to achieve inherently safer design. Journal of loss prevention in the process industries, 2007. 20(1): p. 79-90. 12.Suardin, J., The Integration of Dow’s Fire and Explosion Index into Process Design and Optimization to Achieve an Inherently Safer Design. 2005, Texas AM University. 13.Roshan, S.A. and M.J. Gharedagh, Economic Consequence Analysis of Fire and Explosion in Petrochemical Feed and Product Pipelines Network. 2013. 14.Jafari, M.J., M. Zarei, and M. Movahhedi, The Credit of Fire and Explosion Index for Risk Assessment of Iso-Max Unit in an Oil Refinery. International Journal of Occupational Hygiene, 2012. 4(1): p. 10-16. 15.Ahmadi, S., et al., Determination of fire and explosion loss in a chemical industry by fire and explosion index. The Journal of Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, 2012. 15(4): p. 68-76. 16.Ahmadi, S., J. Adl, and S. Varmazyar, Risk Quantitative Determination of Fire and Explosion in a Process Unit By Dow’s Fire and Explosion Index. Iran Occupational Health Journal, 2008. 5(1): p. 39-46. 17.Jensen, N. and S.B. Jà ¸rgensen, Taking credit for loss control measures in the plant with the likely loss fire and explosion index (LL-FEI). Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 2007. 85(1): p. 51-58. 18.Sinnott, R., Coulson Richardsons chemical engineering. 1996: Butterworth-Heinemann. [1] Methane is the major component by more than 96 % Concentration of Natural Gas which is consumed as fuel at Turbine Unit in hot seasons of year, alternatively. Hence the MF of natural gas was determined from Methane which has the highest MF value.

Case Study: Office Depot Essay -- Business Case Study

(1) What marketing orientation or approach does Office Depot appear to be using now? How does Office Depot create value for its customers? Describe two things it could do it move it more toward implementing the marketing concept. After the situation has been addressed by Steve Haines, Office Depot appears to be using a societal marketing concept approach. A societal marketing approach is carried out by making good marketing decisions through considering consumers’ wants, the company’s requirements, consumers’ long-run interests, and society’s long-run interests. This tactic focuses on delivering value to customers to improve the consumer and the society’s well-being. Office Depot appears to be focusing on the building profitable customer relationships process of marketing to build value. They are taking their customer relationship management process into account to build their customer relations by delivering superior customer value and satisfaction. They are also realizing that their customers are very important to the success of their firm and are striving to fix any problems associated with their actions. They are trying to create value for their customers by building strong relationships for more reasons than just the idea of profits. A business’s marketing aim is to build specific relationships with the â€Å"right† customers. It is essential to create value for these targeted customers and to obtain a higher customer equity. Two things that Office Depot should do to move it more toward carrying out the marketing concept could include addressing the issues with their services directly to the employees and allowing their customers to realize that their feedback is greatly appreciated and that their ideas and opinions will b... ...s customer service operation and learned of Steve's story, what steps would you take? I would be very upset if I were in charge of Office Depot's customer service operation and learned of Steve's story. I would take several steps to try to resolve the situation. It would be a good idea to require my employees to take several courses that focus on stressing specific customer relations skills. I would also design a policy that each employee would be required to follow when dealing with customers. This would ensure that all employees were displaying good customer relation skills. I also think that it would be a good idea to individually address this specific situation to the employee involved. Maybe, for example, the employee is not aware of what he is doing wrong. Employees need to be individually and specially trained in their field of association with the company.