Customer Intimacy and Other Value Disciplines

Introduction This essay is based on an article, Customer Intimacy and Other Value Disciplines by Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema (1992). The Value Disciples model focuses on three areas, which organizations should act upon in their operations to gain market shares. Treacy and Wiersema (1992) note that an organization should choose one of the value disciplines and concentrate on it constantly and vigorously, but it must also not ignore the other two areas. The two areas must meet the industry standards.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Customer Intimacy and Other Value Disciplines specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Operational excellence enhances organizational operations through quality services at low prices. Organizations should focus on efficiency, management of the supply chain, and streamline operations. Product leadership should focus on innovation, product design, development, short time frame, and bra nding in a highly dynamic market. Customer intimacy requires organizations to succeed in customer service and attention by tailoring products and services to meet specific needs of customers. In addition, organizations should also concentrate customer relationship management, exceed customers’ expectations in product and service delivery, focus on customer lifetime value, and be reliable and close to customers. Therefore, according to Treacy and Wiersema (1992), these are the three ways to achieve market leadership. The problem or opportunity for the organization Losing market share Compaq, Home Depot’s competitors, and Adidas lost market shares to their rivals because of the failure to understand and focus on the three ways for achieving market leadership. On the other hand, organizations, such as Compaq, Nike, and Home Depot gained significant market shares from their competitors because they focused on one of the value disciplines. Firms could lose market shares du e to several reasons. For instance, Compaq lost market share to Dell other competitors because of weaknesses in its delivery systems. Dell realized that Compaq and IBM delivery systems were weak. While its competitors concentrated lower prices, Dell developed an efficient operating model that eliminated dealers and distributors. This enhanced operational efficiency and excellence. As a result, Dell was able to acquire a significant market share from its competitors. Second, organizations lose market shares when they fail in product development. Product development requires creativity, which might be lacking in an organization. Firms that lose market shares have failed to recognize and embrace new ideas from outside. Unlike successful firms, organizations that lose market share fail to develop and commercialize their ideas fast. This could result from a failure to engineer business and management processes quickly. When organizations fail to pursue new solutions persistently, their p roducts may become obsolete as competitors develop better ones to meet emerging needs of customers. Therefore, product leaders must persistently seek for new solutions and commercialize the resultant products. Johnson Johnson has been able to get new ideas, develop them quickly, and seek for new solutions. Third, firms also lose market share due to failure to focus on customer service and related aspects of customer management. There are organizations, which have poor customer service. In most cases, customers tend not to visit such stores again. Such organizations underestimate the value of customers to their business.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It is imperative for organizations to stress the importance of customer service. Home Depot managed to outperform its competitors because it focused on intimate customer service. The company realized that not all customer s required similar services. Home Depot ensures that its customers get the right product irrespective of its price. Home Depot employees spend adequate time necessary to ensure that all customers get products that will solve their problems. This is the company’s first priority. Fourth, changes in the market may also result into a loss of market shares. For instance, when competitors emerged, GE realized that it could no longer rely on the loaded dealer concept to meet its customers’ needs. Consequently, the company had to review its distribution model. The model was expensive for some dealers. Moreover, low-priced competing products from Circuit City emerged to take GE’s market share. The underlying causes of the problems or opportunities Distribution channels and competition Organizations face several challenges during their existence. Some of these challenges could be both internal and external. Irrespective of the sources of the problems, firms should find ap propriate solutions for overcoming problems. One major challenge that Compaq faced in the PC market was in its distribution channel and retail stores. The distribution channel resulted in slow deliveries and inventory movement. On this note, Dell saw an opportunity to conduct direct deliveries of computers to its customers immediately. The move was so radical that other PC makers did not anticipate it, and the direct delivery was able to enhance efficiency in the operating model as the company sought for operational excellence. At the same time, Dell was able to enhance its production efficiency and meet the market price as it strived to perfect its Web delivery model. Compaq still relied on distributors and retailers despite their delays and costs. GE had to review its loaded dealer concept as the strategy became expensive and unsustainable for many small retailers. At the same time, the company started to experience effects of competition from City Circuit. Moreover, low-priced pr oducts also entered the market. GE was quick to react to such changes, and it did not lose huge segment of its market shares to competitors. The company embarked on developing high quality products at relatively competitive prices with minimal challenges. Consequently, it had to abandon the dealer concept and focus a new operational strategy. This changed the product manufacturing, selling, and distributing strategies.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Customer Intimacy and Other Value Disciplines specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In this new distribution model, the Direct Connect System, GE ensured that its retailers and distributors did not have their own inventories. Instead, they used a virtual inventory of GE, which was supported by a computer program. The computer-based logistics model allowed retailers to see the available products at GE and make their orders based on customers’ demands. Failure to customized products to meet customers’ specific needs Home Depot was able to acquire market share from its competitors because it listened to its customers. This implies that Home Depot competitors failed to focus on customers’ specific needs. The company ensured that its clerks spent adequate time with customers in order to establish their needs and identify specific products, which could solve their home-repair issues. Home Depot focused on excellent customer service, which other competitors had ignored. Its first priority was meeting unique needs of customers irrespective of the cost of products. Home Depot based its business model on customer satisfaction, low prices, and provision of relevant information to customers. However, any customers who only expressed price concerns were not within the core market of the company. While other companies had failed to establish customer intimacy, Home Depot exploited this opportunity to gain its market share. Other firms, such as Kraft Foods have developed customer intimacy, which has allowed them to segment their services and enhance efficiency. Organizations that focus on customer intimacy have also changed their approaches to meet such requirements in customer intimacy. For instance, Kraft ensures that its advertisement, products, promotional materials, and operations in a single outlet or in stores in a specific area must appeal to a given customer base within that locality. The company has concentrated on collecting information from its customers and applying analytical techniques from collected data in order to derive insights for strategic decision-making. Not many companies use data to get insights for decision-making. Moreover, Kraft invested in educating its salespersons so that they could develop merchandise programs for their specific stores in different locations.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Product development Normally, firms that have failed to develop their products to meet changing needs of customers lose their market share to competitors, which continuously develop new products for dynamic, unique needs of their customers. Thus, failure to develop new products could be an underlying cause of problems in a competitive market. Organizations that aim to be product leaders must strive to develop latest products and services for customers. However, not many organizations may challenge themselves adequately to attain that goal. This could happen for three reasons. First, creativity is a technical process, which is elusive. It requires organizations to identify and accommodate ideas that emanate outside the company. Second, organizations must commercialize their ideas fast. However, turning an innovative idea into a revenue-generating venture is a challenging task. It requires investment, collaboration within the entire organization, and the speed to achieve the desired o utcomes. Finally, organizations must engage in constant search for new solutions in order to improve upon their products. This would ensure that their solutions and technologies do not become obsolete in the market due to competition. This is the most critical aspect in product development. However, product development may face some impediments in an organization. For instance, bureaucracy in a firm slows down product development and its subsequent commercialization. Thus, any bureaucratic organization will fail in the process of developing new innovative products. Organizations, which seek for product leadership, must eliminate bureaucracy and make quick decisions. Companies that rely on data have enhanced their decision-making abilities as the case of Kraft indicated. Such companies facilitate all processes with urgency. In addition, they engage in a constant search for new ideas and implementation processes to shorten the product development cycles. For instance, Japanese automob ile industry has relied on concurrent development processes to reduce the time it takes to develop products and supply them to the market. Such strategies allow them to evaluate several ideas and adopt only those with favorable outcomes. Suggested solutions for the problems or opportunities Based on the article, Treacy and Wiersema (1992) noted that organizations could overcome their challenges by adopting one of the three disciplines and achieving the industry standards on the other two. That is, a focus on customer intimacy, product leadership, and operational excellence offer both solutions and opportunities for organizational challenges (Treacy and Wiersema, 1992). Firms that focus on operational excellence insistently concentrate on discovering new ways of reducing overhead costs, eliminating redundancy procedures, lowering transactional and other unnecessary costs, and enhancing business processes across different departments. Therefore, organizations must focus on delivering quality products at competitive prices without inconvenience to customers. Operational excellence defines a company’s internal procedures and its relationship with customers and other stakeholders with ultimate aims of delivering efficiency through lean processes. Another approach that a firm may use to solve its problems and exploit the available opportunities is through customer intimacy. In this approach, companies must consistently develop and shape their products and services to meet dynamic, unique needs of individual customers. They may adopt analytical techniques in order to derive insights from their customers’ behaviors and habits. Such insights can facilitate decision-making and development of appropriate customer service and communication tools. The final approach is product leadership. This aims to solve challenges and identify opportunities associated with product development. Organizations must focus on developing new products and services that meet need s of their customers. However, any organization that strives to become a product leader must have the required resources and management capabilities for risk management due to unforeseen challenges. Such organizations must attract new ideas, develop them fast, and concentrate on improving their ideas and products. According to Treacy and Wiersema (1992), it is difficult to plan to excel in product leadership, particularly if the idea may never thrive. At the same time, deep analysis of processes may also not be effective for product leaders. Instead, product leaders should recognize opportunities and react to them immediately as they occur. A quick reaction allows product leaders to handle the unknown effectively. Such organizations must also protect environments in which they operate. At the same time, organizations must understand their internal capabilities and culture as defined by their value discipline. Moreover, such organizations must also evaluate their competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. Above all, product leaders must strive to sustain product leadership. Reference Treacy, M., and Wiersema, F. (1992). Customer Intimacy and Other Value Disciplines. Harvard Business Review, 84-93. This case study on Customer Intimacy and Other Value Disciplines was written and submitted by user Eli Cook to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Characteristics of Ancient Monumental Architecture

Characteristics of Ancient Monumental Architecture The term monumental architecture refers to large humans include pyramids, large tombs, and burial mounds, plazas, platform mounds, temples and churches, palaces and elite residences, astronomical observatories, and erected groups of standing stones. The defining characteristics of monumental architecture are their relatively large size and their public nature- the fact that the structure or space was built by lots of people for lots of people to look at or share in the use of, whether the labor was coerced or consensual, and whether the interiors of the structures were open to the public or reserved for an elite few.   Who Built the First Monuments? Until the late 20th century, scholars believed that monumental architecture could only be constructed by complex societies with rulers who could conscript or otherwise convince the residents into working on large, non-functional structures. However, modern archaeological technology has given us access to the earliest levels of some of the most ancient tells in northern Mesopotamia and Anatolia, and there, scholars discovered something amazing: monumentally-sized cult buildings were constructed at least 12,000 years ago, by what started out as egalitarian hunters and gatherers. Before the discoveries in the northern Fertile Crescent, monumentality was considered costly signaling, a term that means something like elites using conspicuous consumption to demonstrate their power. Political or religious leaders had public buildings built to indicate that they had the power to do so: they certainly did that. But if hunter-gatherers, who ostensibly didnt have full-time leaders, built monumental structures, why did they that do that? Why Did They Do That? One possible driver for why people first started building special structures is climate change. Early Holocene hunter-gatherers living during the cool, arid period known as the Younger Dryas were susceptible to resource fluctuations. People rely on cooperative networks to get them through times of social or environmental stress. The most basic of these cooperative networks is food sharing. Early evidence for feasting- ritual food sharing- is at Hilazon Tachtit, about 12,000 years ago. As part of a highly organized food-sharing project, a large-scale feast can be a competitive event to advertise community power and prestige. That may have led to the construction of larger structures to accommodate larger numbers of people, and so forth. It is possible that the sharing simply stepped up when the climate deteriorated. Evidence for the use of monumental architecture as evidence for religion usually involves the presence of sacred objects or images on the wall. However, a  recent study by behavioral psychologistsYannick Joye and Siegfried Dewitte (listed in the sources below) has found that tall, large-scale buildings produce measurable feelings of awe in their viewers. When awe-struck, viewers typically experience momentary freezing or stillness. Freezing is one of the main stages of the defense cascade in humans and other animals, giving the awe-struck person a moment of hyper-vigilance toward the perceived threat. The Earliest Monumental Architecture The earliest known monumental architecture is dated to the periods in western Asia known as pre-pottery Neolithic A (abbreviated PPNA, dated between 10,000–8,500 calendar years BCE [cal BCE]) and PPNB ( 8,500–7,000 cal BCE). Hunter-gatherers living in communities such as Nevali Çori, Hallan Çemi, Jerf el-Ahmar, D’jade el-Mughara, Çayà ¶nà ¼ Tepesi, and Tel Abr all built communal structures (or public cult buildings) within their settlements. At Gà ¶bekli Tepe, in contrast, is the earliest monumental architecture located outside of a settlement- where it is hypothesized that several hunter-gatherer communities gathered regularly. Because of the pronounced ritual / symbolic elements at Gà ¶bekli Tepe, scholars such as Brian Hayden have suggested that the site contains evidence of emergent religious leadership. Tracing the Development of Monumental Architecture How cult structures might have evolved into monumental architecture has been documented at Hallan Çemi. Located in southeastern Turkey, Hallan Cemi is one of the oldest settlements in northern Mesopotamia. Cult structures significantly different from regular houses were constructed at Hallan Cemi about 12,000 years ago, and over time became larger and more elaborate in decoration and furniture. All of the cult buildings described below were located at the center of the settlement and arranged around a central open area about 15 m (50 ft) in diameter. That area contained dense animal bone and fire-cracked rock from hearths, plaster features (probably storage silos), and stone bowls and pestles. A row of three horned sheep skulls was also found, and this evidence together, say the excavators, indicates that the plaza itself was used for feasts, and perhaps rituals associated with them. Building Level 3 (the oldest): three C-shaped buildings made of river pebbles about 2 m (6.5 ft) in diameter and mortared with white plasterBuilding Level 2: three circular river-pebble buildings with paved floors, two 2 m in diameter and one 4 m (13 ft). The largest had a small plastered basin in the center.Building Level 1: four structures, all constructed of sandstone slabs rather than river pebbles. Two are relatively small (2.5 m, 8 ft in diameter), the other two are between 5-6 m (16-20 ft). Both of the larger structures are fully circular and semi-subterranean (excavated partly into the ground), each with a distinctive semicircular stone bench set against the wall. One had a complete auroch skull which apparently hung on the north wall facing the entrance. The floors had been resurfaced multiple times with a distinctive thin yellow sand and plaster mixture over a relatively sterile fine dirt fill. Few domestic materials were found inside the structures, but there were exotics, including copper ore and obsidian. Examples Not all monumental architecture was (or is for that matter) built for religious purposes. Some are gathering places: archaeologists consider plazas a form of monumental architecture since they are large open spaces built in the middle of town to be used by everyone. Some are purposeful- water control structures like dams, reservoirs, canal systems, and aqueducts. Sports arenas, government buildings, palaces, and churches: of course, many different large communal projects still exist in modern society, sometimes paid for by taxes. Some examples from across time and space include Stonehenge in the UK, the Egyptian Giza Pyramids, the Byzantine Hagia Sophia, the Qin Emperors Tomb, the American Archaic Poverty Point earthworks, Indias Taj Mahal, Maya water control systems, and the Chavin culture Chankillo observatory. Sources Atakuman, Çigdem. Architectural Discourse and Social Transformation During the Early Neolithic of Southeast Anatolia. Journal of World Prehistory 27.1 (2014): 1-42. Print. Bradley, Richard. Houses of Commons, Houses of Lords: Domestic Dwellings and Monumental Architecture in Prehistoric Europe. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 79 (2013): 1-17. Print. Finn, Jennifer. Gods, Kings, Men: Trilingual Inscriptions and Symbolic Visualizations in the Achaemenid Empire. Ars Orientalis 41 (2011): 219-75. Print. Freeland, Travis, et al. Automated Feature Extraction for Prospection and Analysis of Monumental Earthworks from Aerial Lidar in the Kingdom of Tonga. Journal of Archaeological Science 69 (2016): 64-74. Print. Joye, Yannick, and Siegfried Dewitte. Up Speeds You Down. Awe-Evoking Monumental Buildings Trigger Behavioral and Perceived Freezing. Journal of Environmental Psychology 47.Supplement C (2016): 112-25. Print. Joye, Yannick, and Jan Verpooten. An Exploration of the Functions of Religious Monumental Architecture from a Darwinian Perspective. Review of General Psychology 17.1 (2013): 53-68. Print. McMahon, Augusta. Space, Sound, and Light: Toward a Sensory Experience of Ancient Monumental Architecture. American Journal of Archaeology 117.2 (2013): 163-79. Print. Stek, Tesse D. Monumental Architecture of Non-Urban Cult Places in Roman Italy. A Companion to Roman Architecture. Eds. Ulrich, Roger B. and Caroline K. Quenemoen. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley, 2014. 228-47. Print. Swenson, Edward. Moche Ceremonial Architecture as Thirdspace: The Politics of Place-Making in the Ancient Andes. Journal of Social Archaeology 12.1 (2012): 3-28. Print. Watkins, Trevor. New Light on Neolithic Revolution in South-West Asia. Antiquity 84.325 (2010): 621–34. Print.