CompareandContrast Essay Microsoft vs Apple

Their products can last years like their laptops for example, but if you have a windows based laptop you need to replace it very year in order to keep up with technology. When talking about what to compare with these two companies I am going to focus on the logo, stocks, and their operating systems. Apple is a more consumer-based product, while Microsoft tends to reach out more towards businesses. Apple's logo is more classic and just a picture of an apple with a bite out of the apple. While Microsoft's is just the name Microsoft with four colored squares that look like a window.Microsoft looks like a combination of Google and Apple's design elements. Microsoft tries to use design elements from multiple companies in order to help them with the public. No more logo in technology is more known than Apple's. Microsoft has tried many times to rebind themselves. According to Matt Burns, Microsoft's logo is â€Å"simply me†, and I couldn't agree more (Burns, 2012, Para. 3). Microsof t has regained its position as the number 2 most valuable US company right behind Number 1 Apple. Apple is a maker of closed and proprietary Technology products.Apple has earned a commanding market value of 669 billion in comparison to Microsoft's 408 billion. Apple develops its in secret and unveils them to the public with presentations shown to people all over the world. Apple and Microsoft are in a dead heat this year with shares of Apple rising 21. 5% and Microsoft rising at 20. 3%. â€Å"During the intermediate term, it's a close battle, too. Shares of Apple are up 69. 8% over the past three years, just marginally ahead of the 63. 6% rise by Microsoft. (Karate, 2014, p. ) The edge goes to Apple; over the last five years Apple is up 314% compared to Microsoft 91 % gain. Contrary to popular belief prior to the phone 6 coming out, Microsoft outsold Apple on cellophanes. The trouble for Microsoft though is only 5. 8 million out of 36 million was smartness. Apple SO X and Microsoft Windows are two of the most used operating systems. When is comes to the operating systems Apple has more software bundled with their operating system than Microsoft. There are more titles available on the Windows platform. SO X has more offerings in music and video production.You can run windows non Mac, but you can't run SO X on windows. So you have the best of both worlds on an Apple computer. When it comes to security of the operating system a vicious program can change the system on windows without you even knowing it. When it comes to Apple, SO X added â€Å"sandbagging to improve protection against mallard and Trojan. † (â€Å"Apple vs.. Microsoft,† 2014, Para. 6) When it comes to viruses you have to buy additional software to protect it on a Microsoft operating system, but with Apple it comes built into their operating system.When you want to upgrade your operating system it is more affordable with Apple. If you wanted the newest operating system with Apple it would be free if you had the prior operating system, and with Microsoft it would cost 1 19. 99 for just the upgrade version. With Apple you can just install it from the App store, but with Microsoft you would have to go to a tore to purchase it. While SO X has the benefit off faster startup and higher performance, the graphics applications run faster on Windows.The question of what company is better in my opinion is Apple. All the hardware and software just works well together. Apple offers an absolutely flawless integration of hardware and software. Only with Apple do you get a system built by the same group who makes the operating system, the applications and the computer. The Apple operating system and its hardware make for a far more reliable, less troublesome environment than Windows. Microsoft just does not have a consistent, coherent and unified brand like Apple clearly does.

Collins and Yeskel

Rising personal debt is one of the consequences of growing inequality. Over 60 percent of americans carry a personal debt every month and the average family is said to cary a nine thousand dollar debt. The reading talked about how people are now using credit cards to pay for things like groceries and gas, something we would of paid for in cash on the regular in the past. I find this very dangerous. The main reason i find this dangerous is because having to buy groceries and gas on credit probably means you don't feel you have the money at the given time to actually pay for it.This means a person is living pay check to pay check and has little to no money to put in savings which could hurt in the future. I feel this is primarily dangerous for middle to low income households. If one of these households are buying food and gas on credit and cant afford to put money in savings and they happen to fall on a hard time they will put themselves into further debt and cause family issues.Suburb anization of america was driven by the government and contributed disparities of wealth between whites and blacks by creating areas between the 1930’s-1960’s that were categorized by zones where certain people could live. On maps areas were broken down by color to determine the most desirable places to live. Green was a desirable area where it was predominately white and red was an undesirable place to live where it was mostly black, mixed race, or other races.The FHA would give loans based off of this data based off of who applied for them and also loans interest rates would be adjusted accordingly in the same fashion. Today we see that older generations properties in these suburban areas are starting to mix racially since this older style of suburbanization has been outlawed. Over time the larger interest rates and zoning has created problems between different ethnic groups and not areas are becoming more diverse.

Pathways to College Essay

Pathâ€Å"Less than 17% of African-American and Latino students will finish high school and graduate from college. † (Landy, 2013) Less than 70% of students in Milwaukee graduate from high school. (Pathways PowerPoint, 2013) Only a little over 25% of the people in Wisconsin hold a four-year college degree. (O’Connell, 2014) This educational disparity leads to economic disparity which affects the entire state, not just the urban areas with a higher achievement gap since most jobs with an annual salary over $30,000 will require a four-year degree. (Winters, 2014) There is a program called Pathways to College that is working hard to change these shocking statistics. We are here tonight to show you that Pathways to College is a cause worthy of your and your organization’s time, talent, and treasure. The problem is that not enough people know about Pathways to College. We would like to take a few minutes of your time to introduce you to this exceptional program. According to Pathways director Kelly Ramirez, Pathways to College was the vision of past WLC president Tim Kriewall and the program accepted its first students in 2007. Although located on the WLC campus, Pathways to College is a non-profit organization independent from WLC. With the mission â€Å"to create a belief that college is an option for everyone (Pathways pamphlet),† the program assists lower-income college prospects who are â€Å"first-generation† students (neither of their parents have graduated from college) and have the potential to succeed in college. In this program, students develop academically, socially, and spiritually for college. The program also assists them in finding the financial resources to attend college. The ultimate goal is to increase â€Å"the number of lower income and minority students pursuing and completing a post high school education. † (Pathways pamphlet) The Pathways to College program consists of four components. First is Pathways Prospects in which families visit the WLC campus to become familiar with a college environment and prepare for the Pathways program. (Pathways pamphlet) Next is the precollege component, which is the center of the program. Students in grades 6-12 participate in the after school prep center at least once a week and also once a month on Saturday mornings. They study, receive tutoring and mentoring, attend life skills workshops, and participate in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and literacy programs. In addition, the program sponsors a summer academy for grades 6-11 which focuses on academics, sports, and fine arts such as art, dance, drama, and music. (Pathways pamphlet) Director Ramirez said that in addition, high school seniors are able to broaden their educational horizons every summer on an international trip. (This year they are going to Puerto Rico!) Freshman, sophomores, and juniors take a Civil Rights tour in the Southern states, visit colleges in California, and colleges on the East Coast on alternating years. For the first time in the coming 2014-2015 school year, Pathways to College will be privileged to implement the final component, the college program, as the first graduating class of Pathways begins college next fall! Ramirez said the directors of the program will continue to encourage and mentor these college students. They will keep tabs on the students’ grades and attendance. In addition, financial support, workshops over school breaks, and internship as well as job and career assistance will also be offered. (Pathways PowerPoint, 2013) Finally there is the parental program. Parents also attend workshops throughout the school year. These regular meetings offer help with life skills and support for guiding their child toward college. (Pathways pamphlet) It takes a special student to be accepted into the Pathways program. Ramirez informed us that at present there are 17 Pathways partner schools. Teachers at these schools identify students that they feel meet the program qualifications of a low-income, first-generation student with a minimum â€Å"C† grade average and minimum behavior problems at school. Once accepted into the program, students must sign the Pathways to College Covenant. Here they promise attend at least 80% of the activities offered, exhibit Christ-like behavior at all times, keep up schoolwork and grades, and keep an open communication with their parents and with the Pathways program. Parents must also sign the covenant and agree to attend at least 80% of the parent programs, support and encourage their son or daughter in his/her academic career, and do everything to promote a loving Christian household. As long as these commitments are maintained, the child is welcomed and encouraged to stay in the program. (Pathways to College Covenant) Besides the above commitments, there is no monetary cost to the parents or the students who are selected for the program. This is not to say that the program itself comes without a price tag, however. Pathways director Kelly Ramirez said that the annual budget for Pathways is a half million dollars. This budget is totally dependent on grants, private donors, foundation contributions, and fund raisers. She also said that even though the directors have pulled the $500,000 budget together for this year, this just covers the basic program for its 240 students. A larger staff and a more reliable long-range financial picture are needed to lighten present workloads, add a kindergarten-4th grade component, and expand this program to its maximum capacity of 700 students. We feel this is a great program, which we ourselves promote and support. We don’t want you to just take our word for it, however. We’d like you to hear from families that have already benefited from the Pathways to College program. (YouTube testimonial) (Attention Era, 2013) Better yet, come see for yourself. If you can come early to class some Monday afternoon, stop by and visit with some of the volunteers and students in the program. Drop in and talk with Director Kelly Ramirez or Executive Director Milton Cockroft in their offices in the administration building. Now you are aware of the Pathways to College program. You have seen for yourself the great work that Pathways to College is doing with these young people. That’s all well and good, but you figure, â€Å"Well, this is all far removed from me and my family and my business. I know there’s a sales pitch coming, but it really has nothing to do with me. † It has everything to do with you, your family, and the community. Successful college graduates of this program will produce dedicated, responsible, skilled workers with whom you will be working and that will be working for the companies that you own or manage. This can only mean success for you and your business! In addition, these young people won’t need help from the government and other agencies but will have great potential for a productive future. First of all there will be decreased need for WIA funding. (â€Å"U. S. Department,† 2014) As young people with STEM training at Pathways, they have excellent prospects for good paying jobs since â€Å"47% of Bachelor’s degrees in STEM occupations earn more than PhDs in non-STEM occupations. † (â€Å"The case for,† 2013) Over a lifetime, a college graduate will earn $1,000,000 more than someone who only earned a high school degree. (Pathways PowerPoint, 2013) As you can see from the following chart (Youth Indicators, 2011), it does take education to get out of poverty. Every graduate will be one more person to contribute his/her talents and skills to society. Every graduate will help and encourage the next generation of friends and family to also go to college, which will have a positive ripple effect on the community. (Some Pathways parents themselves have already been inspired to enroll in college!! ) Best of all, you will know that you had enough love and foresight to take a part in enriching the lives of these deserving young people and the lives of those they touch. Now you are convinced that Pathways is certainly a great program and worthy of your support. However, you are thinking, â€Å"Jeepers, I’m going to college. I have a family to support. You’re barking up the wrong tree, ladies. I don’t have any extra money! † Don’t you? Let’s put Pathway’s half million dollar budget into perspective. Ramirez says that it costs about $3000 a year for each child that goes through the program. If we in this room would adopt a child and split that amount up among us, and then divide that by the weeks in a year, it would cost each of us no more per week than the price we’d pay for a latte at Starbucks! If you own or manage a business there are other things you can do. Visit your company’s HR department to see what type of donation your company could make. Perhaps you could have your company or PTA make Pathways the beneficiary of its next fund raiser. There are other things Pathways can use that are just as valuable as money/treasure. Pathways can use your time and talents. If you are great at math or grammar, for example, think about tutoring a struggling student. Maybe you don’t have time to come in to tutor once a week. As a sales manager, you could lead a once-a-year workshop instructing students how to write a resume. As the assistant manager of a bank, you could offer your financial expertise by teaching a workshop on money management. As a cook and cafeteria manager you could give a nutrition workshop. These are just a few suggestions to get you started. You have seen for yourself the great work Pathways is doing for these young people! You know that the program is worthy of support in the form of your time, talents, and treasure. You are aware of Pathways to College. Please spread the word and help us make others aware! References Attention Era. (2013, March 10). Pathways to College-the story [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www. youtube. com/results? search_query=Pathways%20to%20College&sm=12. The case for STEM education as a national priority: good jobs and American competitiveness. (2013, June). Retrieved from http://www. stemedcoalition. org/wp-content/uploads/2013/ 10/Fact-Sheet-STEM-Education-Good-Jobs-and-AmericanCompetiveness-June-2013. pdf Landy, B. (June 13, 2013). Graph: U. S. college graduation rates are rising, but the rest of the world is catching up [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://tcf. org/blog/detail/graph-u. s. – college-graduation-rates-are-rising-but-the-rest-of-the-world-is O’Connell, M. (2014, February 11). The role of education in the state of the economy. Paper presented at the Wisconsin ACT Organization 2014 Annual Conference, Middleton, WI. Pathways to College. (n. d. ). [Information pamphlet] Pathways to College. (n. d. ). Pathways to College covenant [Organization contract] Pathways to College. (2013). What path are you on? [PowerPoint] Ramirez, K. (2014, February 19 and March 3). Interview by C. Ristow and R. Flagg. What are Needs of Pathways to College? U. S. department of labor employment and training administration notice of availability of funds  and solicitation for grant applications for Youth Build. (2014, February 18). Retrieved from http://www. doleta. gov/grants/pdf/YouthBuild SGA-DFA-PY-13-04. pdf Winters, D. (2014, February 11). The brutal facts about the changing labor market and the need for an educated workforce. Paper presented at the Wisconsin ACT Organization 2014 Annual Conference, Middleton, WI. Youth indicators 2011 America’s youth: Transitions to adulthood youth indicators 2011America’s youth. (2011, December 26). Retrieved from http://nces. ed. gov/pubs2012/ 2012026/figures/figure_32a. asp.

PRINCESS DIANA LESSON LEARNED Personal Statement

PRINCESS DIANA LESSON LEARNED - Personal Statement Example Thus, she considered human lives to be precious and she used her resources to help the needy individuals. This quality made her win the hearts of millions of people. Another very important leadership quality that was also held by the Princess was that of being alert and informed of the happenings around the world. She not only kept herself updated but also intervened and helped in situations where she could be of assistance. This positive attitude along with her active involvement made her a much liked personality. These lessons regarding the leadership of Princess Diana are of utmost importance. She formed a prime example of an effective leader because of her kind heartedness and compassion towards the people. Also her attentiveness towards the occurrences globally made her take active decisions for helping the people which made her popular amongst the masses. A leader can only be successful if he is aware and responsive to the issues faced by the common people. Also, a true leader is one who uses his power and authority for the goodness of the people. These qualities were possessed by the Princess and this earned her the love and following of many people from around the

Psychological effects of Propaganda in relation to Totalitarianism Essay

Psychological effects of Propaganda in relation to Totalitarianism - Essay Example Totalitarianism is a new form of government falling into the general classification of dictatorship, a system in which technologically advanced instruments of political power are wielded without restraint by centralized leadership of an elite movement for the purpose of affecting a total social revolution, including the conditioning of man on the basis of certain arbitrary ideological assumptions, proclaimed by the leadership in an atmosphere of coerced unanimity of the entire population. (qtd. in Linz 66). Therefore in a totalitarian regime propaganda is the psychological weapon used to make the unassuming masses toe the political line. The role of propaganda in bringing about such a revolution has been emphasized. History is littered with examples of the use of propaganda in transforming hitherto placid peoples into bloodthirsty vengeful killers. Records of such unimaginable violence raise many questions about the darker side of human nature and what goads ordinary individuals into performing unspeakable acts. Thus the focus of this essay will be to study the psychological effects of propaganda in relation to totalitarianism. Totalitarianism relied heavily on fear to control individuals, stifle resistance, root out dissent and eliminate opposition. According to Bramstedt, propaganda and fear share a symbiotic relationship, "Terror without propaganda would lose most of its psychological effect, whereas propaganda without terror does not contain its full punch" (175). Fear and terror were used to prompt individuals to behave in the manner approved by the regime. Propaganda had the effect of taking the edge out of the sting of terror by justifying the heavy-handed tactics employed as essential in the journey towards a bright future and by painting a rosy picture of the future under the current government. The combined use of fear and propaganda to great effect was demonstrated in the aftermath of the Russian revolution. The Bolsheviks under Lenin unleashed the red terror on the populace to deal with the insurgents. The secret police known as the Cheka and the red army under Trotsky sought to destroy the anti-Bolsheviks with a firm hand. Thousands were executed in cold blood or imprisoned in concentration camps that spread like a rash throughout the country. The masses cowered in fear and were psychologically ripe for the effects of propaganda. Agitation propaganda had been employed by Lenin via inflammatory publications like the Pravda to discredit the Tsarist regime and to fan the flames of revolution. Having seen the revolution to its bloody end and by demonstrating their might the Bolsheviks set about establishing a totalitarian system. Propaganda was used to garner popular support for the government and to enlighten the masses about the benefits of communism. People were led to b elieve that communism was the panacea for all their problems and the rewards were manifold for those who embraced its tenets. Needless to say the masses were convinced and thus propaganda bolstered by fear laid the groundwork for the development of a powerful Soviet Russia. The Nazis used a like combination of propaganda

Frankford Avenue Bridge (Pennsylvania) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Frankford Avenue Bridge (Pennsylvania) - Essay Example Frankford Avenue Bridge was constructed in Poquessing Creek of Bristol Pike-Frankford Avenue, Route 13 between Cornwells Heights of Bucks County in the state of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia city in Philadelphia County (Beckman 200). The bridge was constructed in 1904 by JohnMcMenamy, Webster and Henry H as chief and assistant engineer respectively. The Bridge is current owned by Transportation Department of Pennsylvania. The bridge provides an early example of concrete bridges that were supported by steel with closed-spandrel arch that was single spanned. The exterior parts of the bridge resemble stonework with scored spandrel walls that demarcate voussoirs surrounding the arch ring. The parapet of the bridge is decorated by urn-shaped balusters that was common in the early 20th century Introduction There was a rapid evolution of bridge engineering in America during 19th century. During this period, patents were mostly given to contractors who had new designs with new construction m odes. By the year 1900, wooden timber was no longer used to construct bridges across rivers and streams. Wood was replaced by iron and steel as the latter constructed strong massive bridges that supported heavy locomotives. Wood was also sidelined because it could easily burn and be washed away when the river overflows. Steel bridges became more common in the late 19th century and they gave birth to a new era of designing and constructing bridges. Many Americans did not accept this new bridge design because of their industrial outlook. Steel bridges had no or minimal ornamentation and were vulnerable to rust. By late 19th century, France invented concrete, a new material that was accepted by many American engineers because of its comprehensive strength. In addition, concrete could be combined with steel to make bridges that were strong and fireproof (Beckman 215). By the year 1900, there were a small number of concrete-steel constructions of bridges in Midwestern US. Many eastern pa rts of the country had not explored the new technology but useful bridge making ideas and technology, begun in eastern US in late 19th century (Condit 39). In 1904, Philadelphia city and Bucks county begun the construction of a barrel arch bridge (7T-0") using steel and concrete. It had ornamented balustrade that was urn-shaped with a facade that resembled masonry. The bridge signified an important moment in bridge engineering history (Bromley 17). The construction of Frankford Avenue Bridge begun in 1895 and continued up to 1910.Steel-concrete bridges at this time were characterized by spandrel arches that were closed that later declined after 1910. Spandrel arches were meant to ensure that performs the intended function while at the same time reducing the amount of concrete used (Condit 42). Concrete and Steel Frankford Avenue Bridge was the first bridge in southeast US that utilized concrete and steel and was constructed along Pine Road over Penny pack Greek in Philadelphia (1983 -94).It was a two-span bridge with arches of 25’-5†. It also had a wire mesh which acted as a binding element. Bridge’s exterior resembled masonry. The most popular concrete reinforcing system in USA in the year 1904 was the system patented by Joseph Melan. It was used in construction concrete arch bridge in America. It included curved soffit steel I-beams which later developed other variations that included

Management and Organizational Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Management and Organizational Behaviour - Essay Example According to Mullins, "Organisational behaviour does not encompass the whole of management; it is more accurately described in the narrower interpretation of providing a behavioural approach to management" (Mullins, 1993, p.2). rganizational behaviour includes people behaviour, management processes, organizational context and processes, and the influence of external environment. The term "behaviour science" is used to explain "a selective, interdisciplinary approach to the study of human behaviour" (Mullins, 1993, p.2-3). The main disciplines, which help to explain the nature of organizations and human behaviour, are psychology, anthropology and sociology. 2. An organization can be considered as a single system. Organizational factors are interdependent, and "cannot be studied in isolation" (Mullins, 1993, p.2). The main headings include the individual, the group, the organization and the environment. The individual can be seen in isolation or as a part of a group, "in response to expectations of organization" or environmental influences (Mullins, 1993, p.3). For the college under analysis, an individual represents by a student and a teacher, a managerial staff member, etc. An important aspect of the study of organizations is the study of people -behaviour in groups. This can give indications of why certain groups are effective and others are not. Group members in an organization will have one or more goals in common, such as students groups, teaching and management staff. Communication is essential within each group and members of a group have roles to play in order to achieve the group task. Expected behaviour patterns are developed within each group and these are referred to as norms. The organization is the basic framework within which individuals and groups behaviour occur. A college itself represents a formal structure of organization within which individuals and groups interact in order to reach the common goal. The quality and nature of the decisions made are influence by the nature of the structure. The environment contains a range of influences that affect an organization. They include: socio-demographic, technological, economic and political factors. In general, the environment of the eastern European countries can be characterized as economically unstable and backward in contrast to leading European countries. For this reason, to stress the importance of how the college is positioned with respect to its environment is necessary. 3. An open-system view recognizes that the social system is in a dynamic relationship with its environment, whereby inputs are received, transformed and outputs are passed on. Morgan in "Images of Organization" (1986 cited Mullins 1993, pp.6-7) singles out "contrasting metaphors" which help to understand organizational behaviour. They include: machines, organisms, brains, cultures, political systems, psychic prisons, flux and transformation, instruments of dominance. According to Morgan "viewing organisations as machines can provide the basis for efficient operation in a routine, reliable and predictable way". The college structure can be viewed as a bureaucratic structure which consists of parts that managed in accordance with changing environment. Organisms mean leaving systems which are able to adapt changes of rapidly changing environment. The college structure is a flexible system which reacts on changes and adapts

The Chrysler PT Cruiser Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Chrysler PT Cruiser - Essay Example The Chrysler PT Cruiser The Chrysler Group is Daimler Chrysler AG’s unit which is world’s fifth biggest automaker producing company in both passengers as well as commercial vehicle segments. The Chrysler PT Cruiser is built by Chrysler which is a â€Å"retro† styled station wagon. It is the marquee of Daimler Chrysler. The model resembles in size and shape to the 1997 Chrysler CCV prototype. The marketing plan is all about repositioning and revitalising the PT Cruiser that has been struggling since many years and underwent a decline stage. PT Cruiser has been one of the successful retro-styled vehicles. More than 1.3 million PT Cruiser cars were manufactured since the year 2000. However, despite its stylish look and many advanced features, the sales of the car have been plummeting in the recent years. It has been analysed that the reason behind the sales slide and the failure of the PT Cruiser have been that the Chrysler didn’t invest the required sum in this model. It has even b een argued that the reason behind its failure has been that the car was never improved by the company over its life span. The target segment was primarily the middle aged people who bought these cars. There are always two basic strategic choices for any company. Either the company can segment the market or it can treat its entire market as its potential customers for the goods and services that it renders. By the word ‘segmentation’ the development of the unique marketing strategies in order to meet the market needs of the market place, is perceived. (Weinstein, 2004). In addition to the middle aged people the target segment should be youngsters as well. By driving its attention towards this particular segment, the company can gain a significant number of customers in comparison to the middle aged people. In terms of psychographic segmentation, the company needs to segment its market to the outgoing people who usually hangout with their friends and relatives. The company has been providing its services all over the world; however, it would be better if the company targets the Asian countries as there is huge potential in these countries. In terms of benefit segmentati on, the company needs to focus upon investing in the style of the product as it has not gone through much change with respect to the product and there has been no investment made to upgrade it. In terms of physiographic segmentation, the company can target both the economy minded as well as the high income group people. Marketing Objectives The main objective of the company must be to invest adequate resources so that they can appeal to the mass consumers. In the era of competition, it is important for the companies to keep themselves updated with the modern technologies. The major reason for the failure of the product has been that the model and features provided by the car were same throughout its entire of its 11 years existence in the market. Therefore, the main objective of the company must be to make changes in the product model along with providing new advanced features with the aim to beat the

US Economic Situation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

US Economic Situation - Essay Example This essay discusses that  the problem lies in somewhere else. As the country is technically upgraded enough, the production technique they use in the industrial sector is mostly capital intensive. This leads to unemployment as the labour input is not extensively used in the production system. Nevertheless, the population of the country is not as high as the developing countries. Hence the unemployment rate is not so severe in this country. It has been found that the rate of unemployment in this country has remained at the level of 5.8 per cent for the last two years. The country has witnessed economic growth near about 5 per cent in the last quarter of this year.From this paper it is clear that  US economy is globally considered as a developed economy. However this paper will examine the amount of stress the country has witnessed in the path of development for the last two years. Globalisation has caused the integration of this economy with various developing as well as under de veloped and many other developed countries. The appreciation of the exchange rate causes low inflation and it influences the international trade in a greater extent. The United States achieves the score 76.2 in case of economic freedom. The freedom in business has fallen compared to the last year. However, control over the government spending has achieved modest gains compared to the recent past.  It has been found by the US officials that the unemployment rate of the country has fallen to 5.5 per cent in the last quarter.

Roots of British Intelligence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Roots of British Intelligence - Essay Example Also important to note was the fact that the formation of this Intelligence Branch did not create a service-wide acceptance of the contributions of intelligence to war or peace. During the Boer War, Britain was forced to realize the importance of intelligence, as it failed to incorporate intelligence operations in its strategy and implementation. This forced Britain to focus in on how intelligence could be used during both war and peacetime. 1 A main obstacle to the place of intelligence in the 20th century British army focused on the delineation of the objectives of intelligence operations as well as being able to recognize what kind of person would be required to place those concepts into effect. It is important to remember that the concept of peacetime preparation for field intelligence had not been distinguished clearly at this time, and gathering military intelligence during times of peace was very overt as well as ad hoc in approach. Furthermore, other issues stood out as well. Wartime interactions between intelligence officers and soldiers were often filled with feelings of mistrust, and there was also no solid approach or agreement about training different intelligence corps at this time. The time of the Boer War through the beginning of the First World War demonstrated the makings of a commitment to intelligence as a need, and a desire to train professional intelligence officer corps developed. This commitment an d appreciation, however, were not adequately translated into policy implementation, and the outbreak of war in 1914 found Britain's military intelligence preparations to be woefully inadequate for the issues that would lay ahead. 2 The military was able to recognize from the start that the type of officer to be involved in intelligence would be that of a different caliber. As far as the proper training of these men was concerned, however, it was open to some argument. It was obvious to see that the purpose of instructions and the lessons learned were not used at the turn-of-the-century War office. A good example of this is the fact that the start of the Boer War actually revealed that British military intelligence was extremely disorganized. It was obvious that the military could not predict of prepare for the start of the war, and the Intelligence Division's efforts here were hurt because they did not have enough training or resources, probably resulting from the fact that the army's leadership was also not interested in making the best use of them. However, as the Boer War came to a close, it became clear that British intelligence was evolving into something that was much more organized and useable, although this certainly did not promise for this concept of intelligence to play a large role in military affairs. Another factor that hurt this development of intelligence was the fact that all of the intelligence work made during the war was de-emphasized after the post-war demobilization. The Royal Commission on the War in South Africa, which reviewed all aspects of the origins and conduct of the war, seemed very happy with the prewar focus of the intelligence department as well as its ability to become more organized. As a result, they suggested that there was no necessity for general departmental reform or a more permanent or consequential peacetime intelligence establishment. The ad hoc

Democracy and an Age of Democratization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Democracy and an Age of Democratization - Essay Example Two of the characteristics include competitive political parties and an independent judiciary. The presence of competitive political parties in the American democracy influences its ability to function effectively throughout the political system of the country. Political parties are so essential because they offer means through which citizens can be mobilized to support the vision of society. Mobilization happens during elections where the competing political parties, sell out their agendas and seek support from the public. During this process, the parties offer citizens with meaningful choices in the leadership of the country, and opportunity for participation in shaping their future nation. Within the political parties, the citizens interact freely to contest for public offices, express their vision for the society, and demonstrate their needs and interests (Gizzi et al 210). In an effective democracy, political parties develop a common vision for a significant group of the population so as to exert pressure on the political system of the country. This help to place the citi zens’ local interests on a national context. In the United State of America, citizens are usually divided on the basis of interests, policies, and leaders. This makes it easier for political parties to provide grounds for compromise as well as uniting the society. The political parties nominate leaders to assume leadership of the country and support them during the election period. They, therefore, form the main linkage between the government and the cultural, religious, ethnic, economic, and many other societal groups. Political parties also support certain legislation in an attempt to improve the welfare of the society and act on citizens’ interest (Gizzi et al 199).  

Property, Plant And Equipment Essay Example for Free

Property, Plant And Equipment Essay Items of property, plant, and equipment should be recognised as assets when it is probable that: [IAS 16.7] it is probable that the future economic benefits associated with the asset will flow to the entity, and the cost of the asset can be measured reliably. This recognition principle is applied to all property, plant, and equipment costs at the time they are incurred. These costs include costs incurred initially to acquire or construct an item of property, plant and equipment and costs incurred subsequently to add to, replace part of, or service it. IAS 16 does not prescribe the unit of measure for recognition – what constitutes an item of property, plant, and equipment. [IAS 16.9] Note, however, that if the cost model is used (see below) each part of an item of property, plant, and equipment with a cost that is significant in relation to the total cost of the item must be depreciated separately. [IAS 16.43] IAS 16 recognises that parts of some items of property, plant, and equipment may require replacement at regular intervals. The carrying amount of an item of property, plant, and equipment will include the cost of replacing the  part of such an item when that cost is incurred if the recognition criteria (future benefits and measurement reliability) are met. The carrying amount of those parts that are replaced is derecognised in accordance with the derecognition provisions of IAS 16.67-72. [IAS 16.13] Also, continued operation of an item of property, plant, and equipment (for example, an aircraft) may require regular major inspections for faults regardless of whether parts of the item are replaced. When each major inspection is performed, its cost is recognised in the carrying amount of the item of property, plant, and equipment as a replacement if the recognition criteria are satisfied. If necessary, the estimated cost of a future similar inspection may be used as an indication of what the cost of the existing inspection component was when the item was acquired or constructed. [IAS 16.14] Initial Measurement An item of property, plant and equipment should initially be recorded at cost. [IAS 16.15] Cost includes all costs necessary to bring the asset to working condition for its intended use. This would include not only its original purchase price but also costs of site preparation, delivery and handling, installation, related professional fees for architects and engineers, and the estimated cost of dismantling and removing the asset and restoring the site (see IAS 37, Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets). [IAS 16.16-17] If payment for an item of property, plant, and equipment is deferred, interest at a market rate must be recognised or imputed. [IAS 16.23] If an asset is acquired in exchange for another asset (whether similar or dissimilar in nature), the cost will be measured at the fair value unless (a) the exchange transaction lacks commercial substance or (b) the fair value of neither the asset received nor the asset given up is reliably measurable. If the acquired item is not measured at fair value, its cost is measured at the carrying amount of the asset given up. [IAS 16.24] Measurement Subsequent to Initial Recognition IAS 16 permits two accounting models: Cost Model. The asset is carried at cost less accumulated depreciation and impairment. [IAS 16.30] Revaluation Model. The asset is carried at a revalued amount, being its fair value at the date of revaluation less  subsequent depreciation and impairment, provided that fair value can be measured reliably. [IAS 16.31] The Revaluation Model Under the revaluation model, revaluations should be carried out regularly, so that the carrying amount of an asset does not differ materially from its fair value at the balance sheet date. [IAS 16.31] If an item is revalued, the entire class of assets to which that asset belongs should be revalued. [IAS 16.36] Revalued assets are depreciated in the same way as under the cost model (see below). If a revaluation results in an increase in value, it should be credited to other comprehensive income and accumulated in equity under the heading revaluation surplus unless it represents the reversal of a revaluation decrease of the same asset previously recognised as an expense, in which case it should be recognised as income. [IAS 16.39] A decrease arising as a result of a revaluation should be recognised as an expense to the extent that it exceeds any amount previously credited to the revaluation surplus relating to the same asset. [IAS 16.40] When a revalued asset is disposed of, any revaluation surplus may be transferred directly to retained earnings, or it may be left in equity under the heading revaluation surplus. The transfer to retained earnings should not be made through the income statement (that is, no recycling through profit or loss). [IAS 16.41] Depreciation (Cost and Revaluation Models) For all depreciable assets: The depreciable amount (cost less residual value) should be allocated on a systematic basis over the assets useful life [IAS 16.50]. The residual value and the useful life of an asset should be reviewed at least at each financial year-end and, if expectations differ from previous estimates, any change is accounted for prospectively as a change in estimate under IAS 8. [IAS 16.51] The depreciation method used should reflect the pattern in which the assets economic benefits are consumed by the entity [IAS 16.60]; The depreciation method should be reviewed at least annually and, if the pattern of consumption of benefits has changed, the depreciation method should be changed prospectively as a change in estimate under IAS 8. [IAS 16.61] Depreciation should be charged to the income statement, unless it is included in the carrying amount of another asset [IAS 16.48]. Depreciation  begins when the asset is available for use and continues until the asset is derecognised, even if it is idle. [IAS 16.55] Recoverability of the Carrying Amount IAS 36 requires impairment testing and, if necessary, recognition for property, plant, and equipment. An item of property, plant, or equipment shall not be carried at more than recoverable amount. Recoverable amount is the higher of an assets fair value less costs to sell and its value in use. Any claim for compensation from third parties for impairment is included in profit or loss when the claim becomes receivable. [IAS 16.65] Derecogniton (Retirements and Disposals) An asset should be removed from the balance sheet on disposal or when it is withdrawn from use and no future economic benefits are expected from its disposal. The gain or loss on disposal is the difference between the proceeds and the carrying amount and should be recognised in the income statement. [IAS 16.67-71] If an entity rents some assets and then ceases to rent them, the assets should be transferred to inventories at their carrying amounts as they become held for sale in the ordinary course of business. [IAS 16.68A] Disclosure For each class of property, plant, and equipment, disclose: [IAS 16.73] basis for measuring carrying amount   depreciation method(s) used useful lives or depreciation rates gross carrying amount and accumulated depreciation and impairment losses reconciliation of the carrying amount at the beginning and the end of the period, showing: additions disposals acquisitions through business combinations revaluation increases or decreases impairment losses reversals of impairment losses depreciation net foreign exchange differences on translation other movements Also disclose: [IAS 16.74] restrictions on title expenditures to construct property, plant, and equipment during the period contractual commitments to acquire property, plant, and equipment compensation from third parties for items of property, plant, and equipment that were impaired, lost or given up that is included in profit or loss If property, plant, and equipment is stated at revalued amounts, certain additional disclosures are required: [IAS 16.77] the effective date of the revaluation whether an independent valuer was involved the methods and significant assumptions used in estimating fair values the extent to which fair values were determined directly by reference to observable prices in an active market or recent market transactions on arms length terms or were estimated using other valuation techniques for each revalued class of property, the carrying amount that would have been recognised had the assets been carried under the cost model the revaluation surplus, including changes during the period and any restrictions on the distribution of the balance to shareholders

Customer Switching Behaviour for Mobile Networks

Customer Switching Behaviour for Mobile Networks EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Consumers use services everyday, these ranges from taking the train or opening a bank account to talking on a mobile phone. Businesses also rely on a wide range of services on a daily basis, but on a much larger scale compared to consumers. However, customers are not always satisfied with a particular service that they maybe using and often resort to switching their service provider in order to resolve the issue or pursue better value from a less expensive service. The objective of this study is to investigate customer-switching behaviour in the mobile industry, why it takes place and what factors influence it. This topic area has been chosen, as customer switching and the mobile phone industry are contemporary and relevant to the present day and will continue to evolve overtime. Research has been undertaken using secondary and primary data collection methods. Secondary data provided a background to the mobile phone industry and an overview of customer switching behaviour in services. Primary data consisted of self administered questionnaires to a convenient sample of university students, this enabled data to be collected which would provide an idea of mobile phone users contemplation of switching and their understanding of why they believe they would switch from one service to another. Findings revealed that a majority of customer switching is due to high call and monthly charges and consumers trying to obtain more free minutes and texts. This contrasts with the literature and precious studies, which have found other reasons to cause customer switching, which illustrates how causes of switching differ in every industry according to the nature of the service. CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Project Aims The aim of this project is to determine the reasons as to why consumers switch from one mobile phone network to another? The research objectives that arise from the aim will therefore be: 1 To evaluate whether competitors offerings are causing consumers to switch from one network to another 2 To evaluate whether retail offerings are causing consumers to switch to gain a better deal 3 What actions of the service firms or their employees cause customers to switch from one service provider to another The research will be UK based geographically using a convenient sample of university students and will be done using both primary and secondary research methods. The research may help managers and researchers understand service switching from a customers perspective in the mobile phone industry and the switching drivers may provides answers as to what has influenced customer behaviour. The results of the research will be analysed to provide recommendations. The reason for choosing this topic area is that there appears to be a lack of research on customer switching behaviour in the mobile phone industry. This study aims to explore this topic are further. 1.2 Background on Mobile Phones Service Mobile phones service refers to a service whose customer base includes firms using mobile phones for business and customers using it for their personal use. Mobile phones have become substitutes for fixed telephone lines and have led to the decline in calls made from fixed telephone lines. The take up rate of mobile phones is constantly increasing and over the years the growth in the use of mobile phones has been dramatic. According to EMC mobile user numbers reached the 1.5 billion mark in June 2004 and is set to reach 2 billion by July 2006 and 2.45 billion by the end of 2009. (http://www.cellular.co.za, 2005) Mobile phones today are not solely used to make calls, additional value added services such as Short Messaging Service (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), radio, internet access and so on. This means that the benefits and use of mobile phones is also expanding, which is also contributing to industry growth. This has become a focus point for the various operators as intense competition has led to increasingly lower voice call prices. SMS was first used in 1992 and is currently the fastest growing communications technology in history. Worldwide, 135 billion text messages were sent person to person in the first quarter in 2004 (http://www.cellular.co.za, 2005). Retail revenues from voice and data services (including MMS, SMS) account for 79% of the total revenue of the four main UK mobile operators (Vodafone, O2, Orange and T-Mobile), which accounted for  £13.6 billion in revenues in 2003, (see appendix 1). CEPG Research Company conducted a study of the mobile telecommunications industry in 2002, in which findings showed that turnover had reached  £32 billion a year, with the sector contribution to GDP being  £19.4 billion (2.2%), (ofcom.org.uk/research/telecoms, 2005). The demand for mobile phones has never been so great as it has become a must have for people of all ages; consumers are constantly exchanging their outdated phones for the latest colour handsets. The popularity of mobile phones is immense and it is perceived that this interest in mobile phones will continue to grow over the next decade or so, as demand increases and new models and technology is introduced to mobile phones. 1.3 Mobile Phone Service Industry The mobile phone industry is one of the fastest growing sectors of the British economy, with the UK making up the second largest mobile market in Europe, with a share of 18% (Datamonitor, Nov 2004). This growth is due to factors such as changes in government policies towards communication (deregulation), economic growth and developments in information technology. The more recent growth has come from existing mobile phone users upgrading their handsets, which have led to mobile phone companies and network operators targeting first time buyers (Datamonitor, Nov 2004). Mobile phones are not only seen as a vital element for success in business but also as a much wanted item for social use. This is evident in the increasing number of individuals both young and old who now have at least one mobile phone. As indicated by an Oftel report, in Britain over one million people own a mobile phone instead of a fixed telephone line. 2.3 million UK residents live without a fixed line telephone at home. The popularity of the fixed line phone drastically declined after the mass introduction of mobile phones to the UK. It is worth noting however, that fixed phone line companies have not taken this lightly and have retaliated by introducing mobile phones linked to fixed home lines and companies such as BT setting up their own mobile networks i.e. BT until recently owned O2 and also offering special discounted rates to encourage customers to use their fixed lines. There are four main network providers in the UK; they are T-mobile, O2, Vodafone and Orange. In 2004 there were 342.43 million mobile subscribers, which is an increase of 8.54 percent from the previous year and a penetration rate of 87.63 percent. T-mobile UK accounted for 15.06 million subscribers, Orange UK had 13.75 million, O2 UK had 13.06 million and Vodafone UK had 12.98 million (mobile communications). Recently there have been changes in terms of ownership of the major mobile phone networks. T-mobile is now one of the three strategic growth areas of Deutsche Telekom, a German network provider and O2 is now owned by Spanish firm Telefonica. Orange was sold to German mobile phone network Mannesman, which was then taken over by Vodafone, who sold Orange to France Telecom. Orange has a strong network in the UK and overseas but recent management decisions by France Telecom have reversed their user growth and subscriber numbers, which has been partly due to customers switching to other networks. Customers can become concerned that, if their chosen network provider is owned by a firm overseas, their needs will not be met as well as they could by a UK owned provider. Additionally events such as these can contribute to switching behaviour through customer confusion, as found by Oftel (2003), where many consumers switched due to confusion over re-branding of the network. 1.4 Customer Switching Behaviour in the Mobile Phone Industry According to research by TNS Telecom Trak, consumers tend to use their handsets for about twenty months before upgrading to a new one. Telecommunications regulator OFTEL found that this is also the average amount of time that a majority of mobile phone users will stay with the same mobile provider for. Oftels research ascertained that 90% of consumers thought about changing their network when changing handsets. Oftel published a report in April 2003, which provided an overview of the key findings of trends in consumer behaviour in the mobile market based on a residential consumer survey conducted in February 2003. Research was carried out by Recom (Research in Communications) amongst a representative sample of 2,289 UK adults, 75% of who claimed to have a mobile. Findings revealed that 26% of mobile customers have switched network/ supplier. There was a strong indication that the rise in switching in the last quarter was a reflection of confusion over re-branding and rise in mobile penetration. One in ten (9%) of mobile customers were found to have switched network at least twice since owning a mobile, including customers switching back to a previous operator. Men (37%) and younger mobile users, 15-34 (38%) were found to be most likely to switch multiple times, which included returning to a previously used network. Although the switching differed according to type of package, 36% of contract customers had switched multiple times compared to those on prepay (33%). 24% of customers had switched once in the last 6 months, compared to three in ten (28%) of those that had switched twice and 43% that had switched more than 3 times. The same survey also revealed that in November 2002, 34% of consumers stated that they had switched mobile network, which was believed to have a result of customer confusion caused by the re-branding of O2 (formally BTCellent) and T-mobile (One2One). Yet this rise was temporary and soon returned to the previous level of 27%. In February 2003, 7% of T-mobile customers said that they had switched network having previously being with One2One, this was the same for O2 customers who had switched from BTCellnet. This accounted for 3% of all switchers who were confused by the re-branding during February. The current percentage of mobile consumers that have switched mobile network remains at 26%. When looking at multiple switching, two in ten (18%) of mobile customers had changed their network once, and seven out of ten claimed to have never switched network. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter will review all existing literature related to the mobile phone industry with a focus on customer switching habits and their surrounding elements such as consumer lifestyles, services themselves, competitor offerings and loyalty to help understand the research problem. This chapter will also review the contributions other researchers have made to the concepts of switching behaviour, yet it should be noted that literature on mobile phone choice is sparse and issues relating to why customers actually switch services remains unexplored in marketing literature which will be explored through this study. 2.1 Classification of Services There is no one single definition of services that is universally accepted, although many authors have attempted to define it. Yet very few products are 100% service or 100% tangible, they usually consist of a combination of both. Gronroos (1990) defines services as: â€Å"A service is an activity or series of activities of more or less intangible nature that normally, but not necessarily, takes place in interactions between the customers and the service employee and/or physical resources or goods and/or systems of the service provider, which are provided as solutions to customer problems†. This illustrates the fact that services can take place through physical form, for example this project is concerned with customers switching network provider service (which is intangible) but to have that service to begin with, customers need to purchase a mobile phone, which is a tangible product. Therefore switching behaviour in such a situation may differ from switching a service, which is not integrated with hardware; this may be due to the fact that when physical products are also involved, the costs and risk of switching is different to when there is just a service alone. Brassington (2003) acknowledged that most products tend to have a combination of both physical goods and service e.g. purchasing a gas appliance; this would require the professional fitting service as well as purchasing of the appliance itself. Kotler (1997) also recognised that some services are a combination of both a service and a product and has incorporated this in his definition of services: â€Å"Any act or performance that one party can offer to another that is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything. Its production may or may not be tied to a physical product.† This emphasises two key elements: 1. Intangibility A Service cannot be experience before it is purchased, 2. Lack of ownership there is no ownership in a pure service as there is no physical product involved. This is further illustrated in the Figure 1 below which illustrates Kotlers (1997) four categories of products, which are: 1. A pure service 2. A major service with accompanying minor goods/services 3. A tangible good with accompanying service 4. A pure tangible product New services are being introduced on a daily basis to satisfy and meet all customer needs from individual consumers to business consumers. The service industry comprises the majority of todays economy. In 2001, it represented 80 percent of the GDP of the USA (U.S Bureau of Economic Analysis). Keiningham et al (2003) said â€Å"there is a growing recognition among managers of the importance of measuring the share of business a customer conducts with a particular service provider (share-of-wallet) as opposed to simply repurchasing a product or service at some point in the future or continuing to keep a business relationship with a service provider†. This indicates the importance of retaining and maintaining customers and the importance of the relationship with them. Research carried out by Bitner (1990); Boulding at al, (1993) looked at service quality in service organisations, Crosby Evans and Cowles (1990); Crosby and Stephens (1987) researched relationship quality and Cronin and Taylor (1992) looked at overall satisfaction with regards to the issue of customer retention in service organisations. These researchers all agreed that service organisations could improve the likelihood of customers intention to remain with a particular service organisation, as it is these features that contribute to customer satisfaction and the growth of the organisation. The above studies all illustrated strategies relating to customer retention in services. Yet issues relating to why customers actually switch services remain unexplored in marketing literature. 2.2 Characteristics of Services When describing the main characteristics of a service, it can be depicted as being intangible, as a service has no physical dimension but can take place through a tangible product as is the case with mobile phones and network providers, as discussed earlier. A service can also be described using a tangible noun as Shostack (1987) exemplified that an ‘airline means transportation and a ‘hotel means lodging rental. Berry (1980) described a good as ‘an object, a device, a thing in comparison to a service which is ‘a deed, a performance, an effort. This further illustrates the fact that consumers cannot see, touch, hear, taste or smell a service; all they can do is experience the performance of the service as said by Carman and Uhl, (1973) and Sasser et. al, (1978) but, the experience may not be possible in all cases without some form of hardware in addition. Because services are delivered by individuals, each service experience will differ from another; as a result each purchaser will receive a different service experience. Additionally, when a consumer purchases a good, they own it, yet with a service the consumer only has temporary access or use of it, as the service is not owned, only the benefit of it is. Wyckham et al (1975) and Kotler (1986) defined this concept as ownership. 2.3 The Services Marketing Mix As previously discussed above, many features separate services from tangible products, yet the marketing principles remain the same for both. One particular difference is that there is close contact between individual employees from the supplier organisation and the customer themselves. Because of this, the traditional marketing mix needs to be re-evaluated in terms of the 7ps. Product: This refers to the features of the product or surrounding it, which in this case would be a good service or supplementary services surrounding it. These features should be benefits, which the customer would desire, and the surrounding features would be competing products performance. (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2004). Place and Time: Delivering a service to customers involves place, time of delivery and distribution channels used. Delivery can be done both physically and through electronic distribution channels according to the nature of the service being provided. Services can be delivered directly to customers or through intermediary firms, e.g. rental outlets. (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2004). Promotion and Education: these are three fold, firstly information and advice needs to be provided to customers, target customers need to be persuaded towards a product, and they need to be encouraged to take action. Service promotional communication are usually educational, informing potential customers of the benefits of the service, where and when to obtain it and how. These communications are delivered through individuals (sales people) or media (TV, radio, newspapers etc.). (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2004). Price and Other User Outlays: In services monetary values refer to rates, fees, admissions, charges, tuition, contributions, interest etc. (Gabbott and Hogg, 1997). Physical Environment: A firms service quality can be perceived through the appearance of buildings, landscaping, vehicles, interior furnishing, equipment, staff members, signs, printed materials and other visible cues. These are physical evidence and impact customer impressions. (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2004). Process: A service is delivered to a customer through a process, which is the method and actions in the service performance. Poor processes can result in slow and ineffective service and unsatisfied customers. Front line staff may also find it difficult to do their jobs well as a result of poor process, which can again lead to service failure. (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2004). People: Services tend to involve direct interaction between customers and firms employees. The experience of the interaction, for example talking to call centre staff, can influence the customers perceptions of service quality. The implication is that firms need to train and motivate their employees to ensure good service quality. (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2004). 2.4 Marketing in Services Image is often a key factor in differentiating a service from its competitors. Marketing is therefore important in service because it enables the customer to link an image with a brand. Examples of these can be seen on delivery vehicles, which are painted, hotel soap and shampoos etc. When consumers have no experience with a product, they tend to ‘trust a favoured or well-known brand name; therefore service marketers need to build a favourable brand image. Some consumer theorists have linked service quality with consumer behaviour intentions, in that the quality of the service will determine whether the consumer remains with that particular provider or defects to a competitor. When consumers perceive high service quality, the behavioural intentions will be positive, as they will remain with the service provider. In contrast, poor service quality will lead to the relationship with the customer weakening resulting in defection to a competitor. Financially the firm will benefit more by retaining customers through increasing service quality; this is demonstrated in the figure 2 below. The figure above shows that the more favourable a firms service quality is, the more likely the customer is to remain with the firm, benefiting the firm. But when the service quality is poor, the customer will show unfavourable behavioural intentions, which will result in defecting/ switching. This highlights that in order to prevent customers from switching and to enable the firm to continue making profits, the firm needs to retain customers through good service quality. Service firms and service marketers need to recognise the significance of these reasons as they can lead to negative effects on share and profitability as noted by Rust and Zahorik (1993). This can arise from negative word of mouth, which will in turn deter potential customers. These reasons can also help markets to plan their promotional campaigns according to the aspects that are causing customers to switch. As maintained by Reichheld and Sasser (1990) companies can boost profits by almost 100% by retaining just 5% more of their customers. 2.5 Marketing in the Mobile Phone Industry As the market becomes more competitive, firms will endeavour to maintain their market share by focusing on retaining their current customers. It can be said that recent competition amongst mobile phone networks has become aggressive, especially with all the competitive price plans and handsets on offer, which are being promoted by the networks. More recently a ‘camera wars are taking place between mobile brands as consumers are considering this an important feature when purchasing mobile phones, Marketing magazine (2004). When network 3 entered the market, they were able to encourage many consumers to switch mobile networks from their existing providers to 3. this was done using challenging and direct advertising comparing brand and product features with those of competing networks. Marketing magazine (2004). As a result of this, 3 were able to reach the one million-customer mark faster than any other network since launching. It is evident that mobile phone networks are being innovative in their marketing tactics in the aim of securing higher customer bases. Much of the marketing the mobile networks today to do this are directed towards consumer confusion tactics. Consumer confusion tactics are where consumers are provided with large amounts of decision-relevant information, in regards to mobiles, this is seen in the form of deals, discounts, leaflets, newspaper adds and television advertising line rentals from as little as 99p per month. Confusion marketing and overload aims to confuse consumers into a state of stress and frustration, resulting in information overload and sub-optimal decisions. Price confusion is the most common confusion marketing tactic used in the mobile telephone market today in order to assist companies to gain a competitive advantage. It has been found that this tactic of confusion marketing appears to work and confuses customers to such an extent that they end up being persuaded b y this marketing literature and the information overload that they are provided with that they purchase the plan that is sold to them without investigating it further as they feel that they have all the information that they need and have made an informed choice. Confusion usually arises from 3 main sources: i) Over choice of products and stores there are independent mobile phone shops opening up regularly, and new mobile phones are being introduced to the market every month. ii) Similarity of products all the price plans available are very similar in terms of price as well as network call charges. iii) Ambiguous, misleading or inadequate information conveyed through marketing communications For example, many retailers are offering line rental for 99p per month, what consumers are not aware of is that they have to pay the full line rental for the first six months and then they claim their cash back. But using confusion marketing can have adverse effects on consumers. The ‘information overload can cause consumers to shop around, which can reduce brand loyalty towards the firm. 2.6 Decision Making Process for Mobile Phones When customers purchase a product or service they go through a complex process of three stages: the pre purchase stage (decision to buy), the service encounter stage and the post purchase stage. This can be applied to the purchasing of mobile phones. The post purchase stage will determine the customers future intentions on whether or not to remain loyal to that service provider or to switch service. During the post purchase stage, customers evaluate service quality and their satisfaction/dissatisfaction with the service experience. This is done by comparing what was initially expected with what they perceived they received from a particular provider. If expectations are met, customers are likely to be satisfied and therefore more likely to make repeat purchases and remain loyal. If customer expectations are not met, customers may complain about poor service quality, suffer in silence or resort to switching service provider. It has become evident in recent years that customers no longer â€Å"suffer in silence† with bad service to the extent that they previously and if they experience service that they are not satisfied with then are more likely to switch in order to receive a better service/better value for their money. When considering the purchase process of mobile phones, again there are complex factors, which influence the decision the decision process which include both macro and microeconomic conditions, but it generally tends to follow the traditional buying process. When faced with the problem of whether or not to purchase a mobile phone, consumers will initially take part in an information search before choosing which one to buy. The consumers decision-making process is directed by preferences that the consumer has already formed regarding a particular brand. Beatty and Smith (1987) and Moorthy et al (1997) argue that this means the consumer is most likely to make a choice based on a limited information search and without evaluating fully all the alternative brands available. As indicated by Dhar and Wertenbroach (2000), limited information search and evaluation of alternatives can result in a situation where the consumers choice is driven by hedonic considerations. Utilitarian goods are co nsidered to be instrumental and functional whereas hedonic good are seen as being fun and exciting, but some goods can have both features, as stated by Barta and Ahtola (1990). With relation to mobile phones the choice has both utilitarian (e.g. communication, SMS, planning) and hedonic (e.g. games, music, camera) features. Wilska (2003) believes the younger the consumer gets, the more they value the hedonistic features in their mobile phones. The mobile phone market is a technology driven market, therefore products are created based on consumers possible future needs which tend to be hedonistic features. Riquelme (2001) explored the level of knowledge consumers have when choosing between different mobile phone brands. The study focused on main factors, which were: telephone features, connection fee, access cost, mobile-to-mobile phone rates, call rates and free calls), which respondents had to rate according to importance. Findings revealed that respondents with previous experience about products predicted their choices well, although they over-estimate the importance of features, cal rates and free calls and under-estimated the importance of the monthly access fee, mobile-to-mobile phone rates and the connection fee. 2.7 Customer Switching Behaviour There is no one clear definition of customer switching, due to the lack of research into this area, although very few authors have attempted to define it. According to Brassington (2003) customer switching refers to â€Å"consumers who are not loyal to any one brand of a particular product and switch between two or more brands within the category†. Switching behaviour has also been referred to as defection or customer exit (Hirschman, 1970; Stewart, 1994) and refers to a customers decision to stop purchasing a particular service or patronising the service firm completely as agued by Bolton and Bronkhurst (1995) and Boote, (1998). Yet it can be argued that this is not a valid definition of customer switching as this definition refers to the consumers behaviour as abandonment of the use of a product/service although, whereas switching is concerned with consumers using one product/service provider and then deciding to switch to another. Many models have attempted to portray customer switching behaviour in services yet they all imply that switching derives from a gradual dissolution of relationships as a result of multiple problems encountered over time as found by Bejou and Palmer (1998) and Hocutt (1998). 2.8 Causes for Dissatisfied Service and Switching Bitner et al (1994) has looked at the events that lead to satisfying and dissatisfying service encounters for customers from an employees point of view. Bitner et als (1994) study found that employees were inclined to describe the customers problems with external causes such as delivery system failures as the most prominent followed by problem customers. A small percentage of dissatisfactory incidents were classified as spontaneous negative employee behaviours such as rudeness or lack of attention. It was evident that the employees were biased in terms of not blaming themselves for failures. Past research associating customer and employee views on critical factors compelling customers to switch offers assorted assumptions. Schneider and Bowen (1985) and Schneider, Parkington, and Buxton (1980) found a strong relationship between employee and customer attitudes regarding service quality on the whole in the banking service. The results from their study contradicted those of a study carried out by Brown and Swartz (1989). Data was collected from patients based on experiences with their physicians and were compared to what physicians perceived of the experiences of their patients. Results showed large differences inversely associated to patient satisfaction in general. Thus researchers have different views regarding customer and employee attitudes on service quality. When considering switching in the financial service, Mintel International Group believes the critical factor causing consumers to switch providers is price. Price is a sensitive issue and one that is close to th e heart of customers so it is perceived that they may consider switching on the basis of this if they are not satisfied with the service they are receiving. But it can be concluded that the customers view holds greater value, as it is their opinion that brings in business for a firm. Bolton Brankhurst (1995) and McDougal (1996) have looked at customer switching behaviour in relation to complaints, which they believe leads up to the defection. They suggested, that this field should be further explored, as there is a lack of research that tries to investigate the correlations between the factors that influence service switching and those that influence complaints before switching. Complains are again another major area of concern. The first Customer Switching Behaviour for Mobile Networks Customer Switching Behaviour for Mobile Networks EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Consumers use services everyday, these ranges from taking the train or opening a bank account to talking on a mobile phone. Businesses also rely on a wide range of services on a daily basis, but on a much larger scale compared to consumers. However, customers are not always satisfied with a particular service that they maybe using and often resort to switching their service provider in order to resolve the issue or pursue better value from a less expensive service. The objective of this study is to investigate customer-switching behaviour in the mobile industry, why it takes place and what factors influence it. This topic area has been chosen, as customer switching and the mobile phone industry are contemporary and relevant to the present day and will continue to evolve overtime. Research has been undertaken using secondary and primary data collection methods. Secondary data provided a background to the mobile phone industry and an overview of customer switching behaviour in services. Primary data consisted of self administered questionnaires to a convenient sample of university students, this enabled data to be collected which would provide an idea of mobile phone users contemplation of switching and their understanding of why they believe they would switch from one service to another. Findings revealed that a majority of customer switching is due to high call and monthly charges and consumers trying to obtain more free minutes and texts. This contrasts with the literature and precious studies, which have found other reasons to cause customer switching, which illustrates how causes of switching differ in every industry according to the nature of the service. CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Project Aims The aim of this project is to determine the reasons as to why consumers switch from one mobile phone network to another? The research objectives that arise from the aim will therefore be: 1 To evaluate whether competitors offerings are causing consumers to switch from one network to another 2 To evaluate whether retail offerings are causing consumers to switch to gain a better deal 3 What actions of the service firms or their employees cause customers to switch from one service provider to another The research will be UK based geographically using a convenient sample of university students and will be done using both primary and secondary research methods. The research may help managers and researchers understand service switching from a customers perspective in the mobile phone industry and the switching drivers may provides answers as to what has influenced customer behaviour. The results of the research will be analysed to provide recommendations. The reason for choosing this topic area is that there appears to be a lack of research on customer switching behaviour in the mobile phone industry. This study aims to explore this topic are further. 1.2 Background on Mobile Phones Service Mobile phones service refers to a service whose customer base includes firms using mobile phones for business and customers using it for their personal use. Mobile phones have become substitutes for fixed telephone lines and have led to the decline in calls made from fixed telephone lines. The take up rate of mobile phones is constantly increasing and over the years the growth in the use of mobile phones has been dramatic. According to EMC mobile user numbers reached the 1.5 billion mark in June 2004 and is set to reach 2 billion by July 2006 and 2.45 billion by the end of 2009. (http://www.cellular.co.za, 2005) Mobile phones today are not solely used to make calls, additional value added services such as Short Messaging Service (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), radio, internet access and so on. This means that the benefits and use of mobile phones is also expanding, which is also contributing to industry growth. This has become a focus point for the various operators as intense competition has led to increasingly lower voice call prices. SMS was first used in 1992 and is currently the fastest growing communications technology in history. Worldwide, 135 billion text messages were sent person to person in the first quarter in 2004 (http://www.cellular.co.za, 2005). Retail revenues from voice and data services (including MMS, SMS) account for 79% of the total revenue of the four main UK mobile operators (Vodafone, O2, Orange and T-Mobile), which accounted for  £13.6 billion in revenues in 2003, (see appendix 1). CEPG Research Company conducted a study of the mobile telecommunications industry in 2002, in which findings showed that turnover had reached  £32 billion a year, with the sector contribution to GDP being  £19.4 billion (2.2%), (ofcom.org.uk/research/telecoms, 2005). The demand for mobile phones has never been so great as it has become a must have for people of all ages; consumers are constantly exchanging their outdated phones for the latest colour handsets. The popularity of mobile phones is immense and it is perceived that this interest in mobile phones will continue to grow over the next decade or so, as demand increases and new models and technology is introduced to mobile phones. 1.3 Mobile Phone Service Industry The mobile phone industry is one of the fastest growing sectors of the British economy, with the UK making up the second largest mobile market in Europe, with a share of 18% (Datamonitor, Nov 2004). This growth is due to factors such as changes in government policies towards communication (deregulation), economic growth and developments in information technology. The more recent growth has come from existing mobile phone users upgrading their handsets, which have led to mobile phone companies and network operators targeting first time buyers (Datamonitor, Nov 2004). Mobile phones are not only seen as a vital element for success in business but also as a much wanted item for social use. This is evident in the increasing number of individuals both young and old who now have at least one mobile phone. As indicated by an Oftel report, in Britain over one million people own a mobile phone instead of a fixed telephone line. 2.3 million UK residents live without a fixed line telephone at home. The popularity of the fixed line phone drastically declined after the mass introduction of mobile phones to the UK. It is worth noting however, that fixed phone line companies have not taken this lightly and have retaliated by introducing mobile phones linked to fixed home lines and companies such as BT setting up their own mobile networks i.e. BT until recently owned O2 and also offering special discounted rates to encourage customers to use their fixed lines. There are four main network providers in the UK; they are T-mobile, O2, Vodafone and Orange. In 2004 there were 342.43 million mobile subscribers, which is an increase of 8.54 percent from the previous year and a penetration rate of 87.63 percent. T-mobile UK accounted for 15.06 million subscribers, Orange UK had 13.75 million, O2 UK had 13.06 million and Vodafone UK had 12.98 million (mobile communications). Recently there have been changes in terms of ownership of the major mobile phone networks. T-mobile is now one of the three strategic growth areas of Deutsche Telekom, a German network provider and O2 is now owned by Spanish firm Telefonica. Orange was sold to German mobile phone network Mannesman, which was then taken over by Vodafone, who sold Orange to France Telecom. Orange has a strong network in the UK and overseas but recent management decisions by France Telecom have reversed their user growth and subscriber numbers, which has been partly due to customers switching to other networks. Customers can become concerned that, if their chosen network provider is owned by a firm overseas, their needs will not be met as well as they could by a UK owned provider. Additionally events such as these can contribute to switching behaviour through customer confusion, as found by Oftel (2003), where many consumers switched due to confusion over re-branding of the network. 1.4 Customer Switching Behaviour in the Mobile Phone Industry According to research by TNS Telecom Trak, consumers tend to use their handsets for about twenty months before upgrading to a new one. Telecommunications regulator OFTEL found that this is also the average amount of time that a majority of mobile phone users will stay with the same mobile provider for. Oftels research ascertained that 90% of consumers thought about changing their network when changing handsets. Oftel published a report in April 2003, which provided an overview of the key findings of trends in consumer behaviour in the mobile market based on a residential consumer survey conducted in February 2003. Research was carried out by Recom (Research in Communications) amongst a representative sample of 2,289 UK adults, 75% of who claimed to have a mobile. Findings revealed that 26% of mobile customers have switched network/ supplier. There was a strong indication that the rise in switching in the last quarter was a reflection of confusion over re-branding and rise in mobile penetration. One in ten (9%) of mobile customers were found to have switched network at least twice since owning a mobile, including customers switching back to a previous operator. Men (37%) and younger mobile users, 15-34 (38%) were found to be most likely to switch multiple times, which included returning to a previously used network. Although the switching differed according to type of package, 36% of contract customers had switched multiple times compared to those on prepay (33%). 24% of customers had switched once in the last 6 months, compared to three in ten (28%) of those that had switched twice and 43% that had switched more than 3 times. The same survey also revealed that in November 2002, 34% of consumers stated that they had switched mobile network, which was believed to have a result of customer confusion caused by the re-branding of O2 (formally BTCellent) and T-mobile (One2One). Yet this rise was temporary and soon returned to the previous level of 27%. In February 2003, 7% of T-mobile customers said that they had switched network having previously being with One2One, this was the same for O2 customers who had switched from BTCellnet. This accounted for 3% of all switchers who were confused by the re-branding during February. The current percentage of mobile consumers that have switched mobile network remains at 26%. When looking at multiple switching, two in ten (18%) of mobile customers had changed their network once, and seven out of ten claimed to have never switched network. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter will review all existing literature related to the mobile phone industry with a focus on customer switching habits and their surrounding elements such as consumer lifestyles, services themselves, competitor offerings and loyalty to help understand the research problem. This chapter will also review the contributions other researchers have made to the concepts of switching behaviour, yet it should be noted that literature on mobile phone choice is sparse and issues relating to why customers actually switch services remains unexplored in marketing literature which will be explored through this study. 2.1 Classification of Services There is no one single definition of services that is universally accepted, although many authors have attempted to define it. Yet very few products are 100% service or 100% tangible, they usually consist of a combination of both. Gronroos (1990) defines services as: â€Å"A service is an activity or series of activities of more or less intangible nature that normally, but not necessarily, takes place in interactions between the customers and the service employee and/or physical resources or goods and/or systems of the service provider, which are provided as solutions to customer problems†. This illustrates the fact that services can take place through physical form, for example this project is concerned with customers switching network provider service (which is intangible) but to have that service to begin with, customers need to purchase a mobile phone, which is a tangible product. Therefore switching behaviour in such a situation may differ from switching a service, which is not integrated with hardware; this may be due to the fact that when physical products are also involved, the costs and risk of switching is different to when there is just a service alone. Brassington (2003) acknowledged that most products tend to have a combination of both physical goods and service e.g. purchasing a gas appliance; this would require the professional fitting service as well as purchasing of the appliance itself. Kotler (1997) also recognised that some services are a combination of both a service and a product and has incorporated this in his definition of services: â€Å"Any act or performance that one party can offer to another that is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything. Its production may or may not be tied to a physical product.† This emphasises two key elements: 1. Intangibility A Service cannot be experience before it is purchased, 2. Lack of ownership there is no ownership in a pure service as there is no physical product involved. This is further illustrated in the Figure 1 below which illustrates Kotlers (1997) four categories of products, which are: 1. A pure service 2. A major service with accompanying minor goods/services 3. A tangible good with accompanying service 4. A pure tangible product New services are being introduced on a daily basis to satisfy and meet all customer needs from individual consumers to business consumers. The service industry comprises the majority of todays economy. In 2001, it represented 80 percent of the GDP of the USA (U.S Bureau of Economic Analysis). Keiningham et al (2003) said â€Å"there is a growing recognition among managers of the importance of measuring the share of business a customer conducts with a particular service provider (share-of-wallet) as opposed to simply repurchasing a product or service at some point in the future or continuing to keep a business relationship with a service provider†. This indicates the importance of retaining and maintaining customers and the importance of the relationship with them. Research carried out by Bitner (1990); Boulding at al, (1993) looked at service quality in service organisations, Crosby Evans and Cowles (1990); Crosby and Stephens (1987) researched relationship quality and Cronin and Taylor (1992) looked at overall satisfaction with regards to the issue of customer retention in service organisations. These researchers all agreed that service organisations could improve the likelihood of customers intention to remain with a particular service organisation, as it is these features that contribute to customer satisfaction and the growth of the organisation. The above studies all illustrated strategies relating to customer retention in services. Yet issues relating to why customers actually switch services remain unexplored in marketing literature. 2.2 Characteristics of Services When describing the main characteristics of a service, it can be depicted as being intangible, as a service has no physical dimension but can take place through a tangible product as is the case with mobile phones and network providers, as discussed earlier. A service can also be described using a tangible noun as Shostack (1987) exemplified that an ‘airline means transportation and a ‘hotel means lodging rental. Berry (1980) described a good as ‘an object, a device, a thing in comparison to a service which is ‘a deed, a performance, an effort. This further illustrates the fact that consumers cannot see, touch, hear, taste or smell a service; all they can do is experience the performance of the service as said by Carman and Uhl, (1973) and Sasser et. al, (1978) but, the experience may not be possible in all cases without some form of hardware in addition. Because services are delivered by individuals, each service experience will differ from another; as a result each purchaser will receive a different service experience. Additionally, when a consumer purchases a good, they own it, yet with a service the consumer only has temporary access or use of it, as the service is not owned, only the benefit of it is. Wyckham et al (1975) and Kotler (1986) defined this concept as ownership. 2.3 The Services Marketing Mix As previously discussed above, many features separate services from tangible products, yet the marketing principles remain the same for both. One particular difference is that there is close contact between individual employees from the supplier organisation and the customer themselves. Because of this, the traditional marketing mix needs to be re-evaluated in terms of the 7ps. Product: This refers to the features of the product or surrounding it, which in this case would be a good service or supplementary services surrounding it. These features should be benefits, which the customer would desire, and the surrounding features would be competing products performance. (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2004). Place and Time: Delivering a service to customers involves place, time of delivery and distribution channels used. Delivery can be done both physically and through electronic distribution channels according to the nature of the service being provided. Services can be delivered directly to customers or through intermediary firms, e.g. rental outlets. (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2004). Promotion and Education: these are three fold, firstly information and advice needs to be provided to customers, target customers need to be persuaded towards a product, and they need to be encouraged to take action. Service promotional communication are usually educational, informing potential customers of the benefits of the service, where and when to obtain it and how. These communications are delivered through individuals (sales people) or media (TV, radio, newspapers etc.). (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2004). Price and Other User Outlays: In services monetary values refer to rates, fees, admissions, charges, tuition, contributions, interest etc. (Gabbott and Hogg, 1997). Physical Environment: A firms service quality can be perceived through the appearance of buildings, landscaping, vehicles, interior furnishing, equipment, staff members, signs, printed materials and other visible cues. These are physical evidence and impact customer impressions. (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2004). Process: A service is delivered to a customer through a process, which is the method and actions in the service performance. Poor processes can result in slow and ineffective service and unsatisfied customers. Front line staff may also find it difficult to do their jobs well as a result of poor process, which can again lead to service failure. (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2004). People: Services tend to involve direct interaction between customers and firms employees. The experience of the interaction, for example talking to call centre staff, can influence the customers perceptions of service quality. The implication is that firms need to train and motivate their employees to ensure good service quality. (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2004). 2.4 Marketing in Services Image is often a key factor in differentiating a service from its competitors. Marketing is therefore important in service because it enables the customer to link an image with a brand. Examples of these can be seen on delivery vehicles, which are painted, hotel soap and shampoos etc. When consumers have no experience with a product, they tend to ‘trust a favoured or well-known brand name; therefore service marketers need to build a favourable brand image. Some consumer theorists have linked service quality with consumer behaviour intentions, in that the quality of the service will determine whether the consumer remains with that particular provider or defects to a competitor. When consumers perceive high service quality, the behavioural intentions will be positive, as they will remain with the service provider. In contrast, poor service quality will lead to the relationship with the customer weakening resulting in defection to a competitor. Financially the firm will benefit more by retaining customers through increasing service quality; this is demonstrated in the figure 2 below. The figure above shows that the more favourable a firms service quality is, the more likely the customer is to remain with the firm, benefiting the firm. But when the service quality is poor, the customer will show unfavourable behavioural intentions, which will result in defecting/ switching. This highlights that in order to prevent customers from switching and to enable the firm to continue making profits, the firm needs to retain customers through good service quality. Service firms and service marketers need to recognise the significance of these reasons as they can lead to negative effects on share and profitability as noted by Rust and Zahorik (1993). This can arise from negative word of mouth, which will in turn deter potential customers. These reasons can also help markets to plan their promotional campaigns according to the aspects that are causing customers to switch. As maintained by Reichheld and Sasser (1990) companies can boost profits by almost 100% by retaining just 5% more of their customers. 2.5 Marketing in the Mobile Phone Industry As the market becomes more competitive, firms will endeavour to maintain their market share by focusing on retaining their current customers. It can be said that recent competition amongst mobile phone networks has become aggressive, especially with all the competitive price plans and handsets on offer, which are being promoted by the networks. More recently a ‘camera wars are taking place between mobile brands as consumers are considering this an important feature when purchasing mobile phones, Marketing magazine (2004). When network 3 entered the market, they were able to encourage many consumers to switch mobile networks from their existing providers to 3. this was done using challenging and direct advertising comparing brand and product features with those of competing networks. Marketing magazine (2004). As a result of this, 3 were able to reach the one million-customer mark faster than any other network since launching. It is evident that mobile phone networks are being innovative in their marketing tactics in the aim of securing higher customer bases. Much of the marketing the mobile networks today to do this are directed towards consumer confusion tactics. Consumer confusion tactics are where consumers are provided with large amounts of decision-relevant information, in regards to mobiles, this is seen in the form of deals, discounts, leaflets, newspaper adds and television advertising line rentals from as little as 99p per month. Confusion marketing and overload aims to confuse consumers into a state of stress and frustration, resulting in information overload and sub-optimal decisions. Price confusion is the most common confusion marketing tactic used in the mobile telephone market today in order to assist companies to gain a competitive advantage. It has been found that this tactic of confusion marketing appears to work and confuses customers to such an extent that they end up being persuaded b y this marketing literature and the information overload that they are provided with that they purchase the plan that is sold to them without investigating it further as they feel that they have all the information that they need and have made an informed choice. Confusion usually arises from 3 main sources: i) Over choice of products and stores there are independent mobile phone shops opening up regularly, and new mobile phones are being introduced to the market every month. ii) Similarity of products all the price plans available are very similar in terms of price as well as network call charges. iii) Ambiguous, misleading or inadequate information conveyed through marketing communications For example, many retailers are offering line rental for 99p per month, what consumers are not aware of is that they have to pay the full line rental for the first six months and then they claim their cash back. But using confusion marketing can have adverse effects on consumers. The ‘information overload can cause consumers to shop around, which can reduce brand loyalty towards the firm. 2.6 Decision Making Process for Mobile Phones When customers purchase a product or service they go through a complex process of three stages: the pre purchase stage (decision to buy), the service encounter stage and the post purchase stage. This can be applied to the purchasing of mobile phones. The post purchase stage will determine the customers future intentions on whether or not to remain loyal to that service provider or to switch service. During the post purchase stage, customers evaluate service quality and their satisfaction/dissatisfaction with the service experience. This is done by comparing what was initially expected with what they perceived they received from a particular provider. If expectations are met, customers are likely to be satisfied and therefore more likely to make repeat purchases and remain loyal. If customer expectations are not met, customers may complain about poor service quality, suffer in silence or resort to switching service provider. It has become evident in recent years that customers no longer â€Å"suffer in silence† with bad service to the extent that they previously and if they experience service that they are not satisfied with then are more likely to switch in order to receive a better service/better value for their money. When considering the purchase process of mobile phones, again there are complex factors, which influence the decision the decision process which include both macro and microeconomic conditions, but it generally tends to follow the traditional buying process. When faced with the problem of whether or not to purchase a mobile phone, consumers will initially take part in an information search before choosing which one to buy. The consumers decision-making process is directed by preferences that the consumer has already formed regarding a particular brand. Beatty and Smith (1987) and Moorthy et al (1997) argue that this means the consumer is most likely to make a choice based on a limited information search and without evaluating fully all the alternative brands available. As indicated by Dhar and Wertenbroach (2000), limited information search and evaluation of alternatives can result in a situation where the consumers choice is driven by hedonic considerations. Utilitarian goods are co nsidered to be instrumental and functional whereas hedonic good are seen as being fun and exciting, but some goods can have both features, as stated by Barta and Ahtola (1990). With relation to mobile phones the choice has both utilitarian (e.g. communication, SMS, planning) and hedonic (e.g. games, music, camera) features. Wilska (2003) believes the younger the consumer gets, the more they value the hedonistic features in their mobile phones. The mobile phone market is a technology driven market, therefore products are created based on consumers possible future needs which tend to be hedonistic features. Riquelme (2001) explored the level of knowledge consumers have when choosing between different mobile phone brands. The study focused on main factors, which were: telephone features, connection fee, access cost, mobile-to-mobile phone rates, call rates and free calls), which respondents had to rate according to importance. Findings revealed that respondents with previous experience about products predicted their choices well, although they over-estimate the importance of features, cal rates and free calls and under-estimated the importance of the monthly access fee, mobile-to-mobile phone rates and the connection fee. 2.7 Customer Switching Behaviour There is no one clear definition of customer switching, due to the lack of research into this area, although very few authors have attempted to define it. According to Brassington (2003) customer switching refers to â€Å"consumers who are not loyal to any one brand of a particular product and switch between two or more brands within the category†. Switching behaviour has also been referred to as defection or customer exit (Hirschman, 1970; Stewart, 1994) and refers to a customers decision to stop purchasing a particular service or patronising the service firm completely as agued by Bolton and Bronkhurst (1995) and Boote, (1998). Yet it can be argued that this is not a valid definition of customer switching as this definition refers to the consumers behaviour as abandonment of the use of a product/service although, whereas switching is concerned with consumers using one product/service provider and then deciding to switch to another. Many models have attempted to portray customer switching behaviour in services yet they all imply that switching derives from a gradual dissolution of relationships as a result of multiple problems encountered over time as found by Bejou and Palmer (1998) and Hocutt (1998). 2.8 Causes for Dissatisfied Service and Switching Bitner et al (1994) has looked at the events that lead to satisfying and dissatisfying service encounters for customers from an employees point of view. Bitner et als (1994) study found that employees were inclined to describe the customers problems with external causes such as delivery system failures as the most prominent followed by problem customers. A small percentage of dissatisfactory incidents were classified as spontaneous negative employee behaviours such as rudeness or lack of attention. It was evident that the employees were biased in terms of not blaming themselves for failures. Past research associating customer and employee views on critical factors compelling customers to switch offers assorted assumptions. Schneider and Bowen (1985) and Schneider, Parkington, and Buxton (1980) found a strong relationship between employee and customer attitudes regarding service quality on the whole in the banking service. The results from their study contradicted those of a study carried out by Brown and Swartz (1989). Data was collected from patients based on experiences with their physicians and were compared to what physicians perceived of the experiences of their patients. Results showed large differences inversely associated to patient satisfaction in general. Thus researchers have different views regarding customer and employee attitudes on service quality. When considering switching in the financial service, Mintel International Group believes the critical factor causing consumers to switch providers is price. Price is a sensitive issue and one that is close to th e heart of customers so it is perceived that they may consider switching on the basis of this if they are not satisfied with the service they are receiving. But it can be concluded that the customers view holds greater value, as it is their opinion that brings in business for a firm. Bolton Brankhurst (1995) and McDougal (1996) have looked at customer switching behaviour in relation to complaints, which they believe leads up to the defection. They suggested, that this field should be further explored, as there is a lack of research that tries to investigate the correlations between the factors that influence service switching and those that influence complaints before switching. Complains are again another major area of concern. The first