Oil, War and U.S. Foreign Policy. Essay Example for Free

Oil, War and U.S. Foreign Policy. Essay The war against Iran by the Anglo-American powers has been in planning since 1990s as part of their Greater Middle East strategy. A number of sources have recently reported plans by the Iranian government to institute a Tehran oil bourse and this might be the hidden agenda behind the evident march to war by the Anglo-American powers on Iran. The oil bourse argument is a red herring which diverts the attention of people from the real geopolitical grounds which is behind the real motive for the march to the war which is a high risk game on the nuclear weapon. In 1996, two neo-conservatives, Douglas Feith and Richard Perle who later played an important role in the formulation of the Pentagon policy in the Middle East under the Bush administration authored a paper which was presented to the elected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The advisory paper, â€Å"A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm†, had the intention of making Netanyahu to make â€Å"a clean break from the peace process†. Feith and Perle also demanded Netanyahu to strengthen the defense of Israel against Syria and Iraq and to attack Iran as the prop for Syria. More than a year before the declaration of the former US president George W Bush of his â€Å"shock and awe† operations against Iraq, he made his January 2002 State of the Union address which is now infamous to the Congress in which he Iran, together with North Korea and Iraq as members of the â€Å"axis of evil† trio. This occurred before anybody in Tehran had even considered establishing an oil bourse in trading oil in various currencies. According to Engdahl, the US believed that the Tehran oil bourse would be the casus belli, which would trigger the pushing of Washington down the road to the potentiality of annihilation of Iran, which seems to be based on the notion that trading on oil openly to other nations in other currencies would make Tehran set in to motion a chain of events in which buyer after buyer, nation after nation, would come to buy oil no longer in US dollars but in euros. This in turn according to an argument, would lead to a panic in selling of the US dollars on the world foreign exchange markets and also lead to the collapse of the role of the US dollar as the reserve currency, which is one of the pillars of the â€Å"US Empire†. According to Engdahl in his book, A Century of War, the creation of â€Å"petrodollar recycling† in 1974, which is a process where the by then US secretary of state Henry Kissinger was deeply involved, led to oil price hike of 400% and this was orchestrated by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Engdahl puts it that US dollar did not manage to become a â€Å"petrodollar† even though Kissinger emphasized the process of â€Å"recycling petrodollar†. According to the author, what Kissinger was referring to was the initiation of a new phase of global hegemony of US in which the export earnings from the petrodollar of OPEC oils lands would be recycled back to the hands of the major London and New York banks and later re-lent in the form of US dollars to other nations which are deficient in oil such as Argentina and Brazil and this led to the creation of what was soon to be known as the Latin America debt crisis. By this time, the US dollar had been a fiat issue since August 1971 following the abrogation of the Bretton Woods Treaty and refusal by the then US president Richard Nixon to redeem US dollars which were held in foreign central banks for gold. Due to the 400% increase in oil prices, nations such as Germany, France, and Japan suddenly had the reason to buy oil in their own currencies with the aim of lessening the pressure on their reserves of trade dollars which was rapidly declining. This led to the coming up of the Pentagon and US treaty partly with their secret diplomacy by Kissinger through bullying threats According to Engdahl, the US military were sent to Afghanistan for two main reasons; the first reason was to restore and control the world’s largest supplier of opium in the world while at the same time use the drugs as a geopolitical weapon against their opponents especially Russia. The control of the drug market is an essential ingredient for the liquidity of the corrupt and bankrupt Wall Street financial market. U. S. Military and CIA Interventions in the Middle-East. Blom traces the origin of the current conflict from the brutal 1980-88 war which was between Iran and Iraq. At the time of the war, Kuwait was busy stealing oil from the Iraqi territory which was worth more than $2. 4 billion of oil. Soon after the battle, United Emirates and Kuwait started to exceed the production quotas that had been established by OPEC and this led to flooding in the oil market leading to a reduction on oil prices. This led Iraq to become deeply in debt and the then president Saddam Hussein declared this policy a threat to hi country by pointing out that Iraq was loosing billions of dollars each year due to the drop in oil prices. In an attempt to offset these loses, Saddam decided to gain possession of the two Gulf islands which were blocking Iraq from ownership of Rumaila oilfield. Kuwait continued to ignore Iraq’s territorial and financial demands and the OPEC’s request to follow the quota system and this led to Iraq to form large number of troops who were posted along the Kuwait border. This led to the intervention of the US who viewed themselves as the world’s supper power. After Iraq attacked Kuwait, US came to the defense of Kuwait by declaring that their interest was in protecting nations with whom they had longstanding and deep ties while at the same time, The White House declared their concern about the buildup of troops by Iraq. According to the author, United States had an official position on the Kuwait-Iraq border dispute. This is evident from the official statement that were found by the Iraqis in some of the Kuwait intelligence files which was a memorandum concerning a meeting between the CIA Director William Webster and Kuwait state security in November 1989. in the document, there was an agreement between the Americans and Kuwait that it was of great importance to take advantage of the deteriorating economic situation in Iraq with the aim of putting pressure on Iraq’ government so as to delineate their common borders. It is evident that US was involved from the beginning and advised Kuwait to apply pressure on Iraq so as destabilize the country economically. The CIA later denied these allegations saying that it was a fabrication. Blum puts it that the US has been behind the Kurdish’ slaughter of many innocent citizens and also encouraged the Shiite Muslims in Iraq to rebel. All these were done in an attempt to incite Saddam so that he could incite a coup which would result in to the intervention of the United States. The killings in the Persian Gulf by the American soldiers have been due to a voice command from George Herbert Walker Bush according Blum. The United States started supporting Afghan Islamic fundamentalists in 1979 in their bid to fight the Soviet Union. The US continued with their support despite the kidnapping of American ambassador in the capital city of Kabul in February 1979. American intervention according to Blom had some hidden agenda. The US was using lies and tricks to gain influence of Iraq so as to control the oil prices. In both cases, the authors recognize the use the use of tricks by the US government to make the Middle East unstable. Both the authors share a common view on the idea behind the control of Middle East affairs. In both cases, the authors acknowledge the use of military force in the wars in the Middle East and in both cases, it appears that US is the main cause of all these wars. The aim of the United States according to the two authors is to take control of the rich oil nations and make sure that they continue to price and sell oil in US dollars. They both acknowledge the pretence of the US to send their military force in these countries with the aim of restoring peace while in the real sense; the US is after establishing permanent military base in places such as Iraq so that they can control the resources of these countries. Under the Bush administration, there was a severe military attack in Iraq with the aim of removing Saddam from power with the pretence that he was behind manufacturing of nuclear weapons. After the attack, it became apparently clear that such a thing never existed in Iraq. Bush was only accomplishing a war that was started by his father against Saddam who had refused to consent to the demands of the United States. The Use of Torture in Iraq and Afghanistan. A lot has been said regarding what lies behind the shocking images of torture at Abu Ghraib which were released in 2004. many American were shocked by such images and novel with the exception of one American; Alfred McCoy who had been following the operations of the Central Intelligence Agency since the early 1970s, when the agency tried unsuccessfully to stop the publication of his book, The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade. McCoy had long been conducting study on the pioneering research by the CIA in to the methods of psychological torture. He writes that the CIA had started this project in the early 1950s with their initial study on the Chinese and Soviet methods of breaking and interrogating prisoners. The author has a negative image regarding the torture policies that America has used in the last decades. The CIA’s discovery of Psychological torture had its breakthrough in the 17th century. This was in contrast to the physical approach which they saw most of the times produced unreliable information or heightened resistance. Under the new psychological paradigm introduced by the CIA, the interrogators used two essential techniques; self-inflicted pain or disorientation so as to make the victims feel responsibility of their own suffering. The first stage of psychological torture involves the use of non-violent methods to by the interrogator to disorientate the subject. After disorientating the subject, the second stage involves simple self inflicted discomforts which may be in form of standing for many hours with the arms in extended position. Although psychological torture is less brutal due to the fact that there is no touch, the torture leaves both the interrogator and the victim with deep psychological scars. Victims normally require long-term treatment in order to recover from the trauma far much more than the physical pain. On the part of the interrogator, they may suffer from dangerous expansion of ego which may eventually lead to escalating cruelty and lasting emotional problems. According to McCoy, torture was conducted by the CIA directly and also indirectly through outsourcing. The use of torture is against humanity since it involves forcing the subject to confess in criminal cases with the assumption that they are guilty prior to trail. The CIA also used this method to serve as a deterrent to other potential offenders. According to the author, torture did less in bringing any trustworthy information or truthful confession neither did it prevent other people from breaking the law in any significant way. Following the September 11 bombing of the Twin Towers in the US, the administration of the former President George W. Bush allowed US intelligence service and the military to use torture as the only means to â€Å"quickly obtain information†. They did this by creating a category of prisoners who they claimed fall outside the protection by any treaty or law obligations and are deemed to be tortured. According to the CIA, they argue that this policy which considered the most abusive approach to interrogation is the most efficient and effective quick way to get information that is accurate and useful. From McCoy’s book, he clearly puts it that torture is always not a good way of producing reliable information. The experience from Colonel John Rothrock, who was heading a combat interrogation team in Vietnam, reported that â€Å"he doesn’t know any professional intelligence officers of my generation who would think this [torture] is a good idea,† but the US under the Bush administration failed to listen and this led to death of many innocent people in the name of state security. These torture cases were concealed from the general public and the Congress when CIA was busy for the past half of the century developing and applying a sophisticated form of psychological torture which were meant to go against investigation, prohibition or prosecution and this made it very successful. Americans have found themselves have found themselves in six separate accounts of this same moral quagmire in the last 50 years period. The first was the exposure of the CIA sponsored torture which took place in South Vietnam in 1970, Iran in 1978, Brazil in 1974, Honduras in 1988, and the cases in Iran and Iraq. Each of these cases was exposed at different times and as each case fades, the agency resumes with their lethal work in the shadows. The role of torture in the geopolitics of the Middle East is to divert attention on the real issue. While the CIA was busy torturing prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq, they were at the same time busy exporting opium to other countries. The use of torture was also a means of making sure that no information was leaked to the public. Another role that torture play is to make the subject confess to what the interrogator expects them to do. Also the use of torture by the CIA was to make people from Middle East to desist from any corporation with those who could get in to their secret conducts in these countries. An example is when McCoy was doing a research for his book in the mountains of Laos; a group of CIA machineries attempted to kill him and even threatened his translator to stop working for him. While these were happening, the CIA was secretly transporting opium using Air America helicopters to South Vietnam. Use of torture helped the American’s to exert great influence in the Middle East as those who experienced the tortures gave their experiences once they were out of the prison. The psychological damage was so much that the victims could not become normal again. This coupled with the killings of many people during the war led to weakening of these nations such that American control of oil and drugs like opium could be easy. All these acts were conducted with the aim of building an â€Å"American Empire†. Works Cited. Alfred McCoy. A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation, from the Cold War to the War on Terror (American Empire Project).

Cuba :: essays research papers

Cuba   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cuba is the largest island of the West Indies, lying south of Florida and east of Mexico's Yucatà ¡n Peninsula. The Republic of Cuba is combined with the surrounding islands. On the East, Cuba is separated from the island of Hispaniola by the Windward Passage. The U.S. maintains a naval base at Guantà ¡ namo Bay in the Southeast. The capital and largest city of Cuba is Havana.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The island extends about 760 miles from Cabo de San Antonio to Cabo Maisà ­ , the western and eastern extremities. The average width is about 50 miles. The total area is 44,218 square miles including the area of the Isla de la Juventud (Isle of Youth) and of other islands of the country. Land and Resources   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  About 1/4 of the surface of Cuba is hilly, the remaining consists of flat or rolling terrain. The hilly areas are scattered throughout the island and do not come from a central mass. The main 3 ranges are the Sierra de Trinidad in the central part of the island, the Sierra Maestra, in the Southeast, and Sierra de los Órganos in the West. The first two ranges are under 3000 feet. The Sierra Maestra, has the greatest in altitude and mass, and contains Pico Turquino (6561 ft), the highest point in Cuba. Most of the soil of Cuba is relatively fertile.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the natural features of the island is the large number of limestone caverns. Most of the many rivers of Cuba are short and unnavigable. The main river is the Cauto, located in the Southeast. The coast of Cuba is very irregular and is indented by numerous gulfs and bays. Cuba :: essays research papers Cuba   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cuba is the largest island of the West Indies, lying south of Florida and east of Mexico's Yucatà ¡n Peninsula. The Republic of Cuba is combined with the surrounding islands. On the East, Cuba is separated from the island of Hispaniola by the Windward Passage. The U.S. maintains a naval base at Guantà ¡ namo Bay in the Southeast. The capital and largest city of Cuba is Havana.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The island extends about 760 miles from Cabo de San Antonio to Cabo Maisà ­ , the western and eastern extremities. The average width is about 50 miles. The total area is 44,218 square miles including the area of the Isla de la Juventud (Isle of Youth) and of other islands of the country. Land and Resources   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  About 1/4 of the surface of Cuba is hilly, the remaining consists of flat or rolling terrain. The hilly areas are scattered throughout the island and do not come from a central mass. The main 3 ranges are the Sierra de Trinidad in the central part of the island, the Sierra Maestra, in the Southeast, and Sierra de los Órganos in the West. The first two ranges are under 3000 feet. The Sierra Maestra, has the greatest in altitude and mass, and contains Pico Turquino (6561 ft), the highest point in Cuba. Most of the soil of Cuba is relatively fertile.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the natural features of the island is the large number of limestone caverns. Most of the many rivers of Cuba are short and unnavigable. The main river is the Cauto, located in the Southeast. The coast of Cuba is very irregular and is indented by numerous gulfs and bays.

Developing Multichannel Strategy

Developing Multi-Channel Strategy Dr Stan Maklan and Dr Hugh Wilson Cranfield Customer Management Forum in collaboration with IBM Business Consulting Services Contents A strategic approach to channels †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 1 Process overview†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 2 Step 1 Identify problems and opportunities†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 4 Cost reduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Improved customer experience †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 4 Improved access †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 5 Steps 2 and 3 Current and future state analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 6 Define the marketing context †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ . 6 Sales complexity matrix †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Product coverage map – current and future state †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 8 Building alternate channel chains †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 10 Step 4 Assess alternatives and choose†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 13 Channel curves – how customers value alternatives â₠¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 13 Cost analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 4 Prioritisation matrix †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 15 Step 5 Implementation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 18 Metrics†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 18 Testing new channel chains†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 19 Customer research cannot predict outcomes †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 9 Experimental design helps†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã ¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 19 Roll out†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 20 People must support new ways of working†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 20 Management, not technology, guides channel innovation †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 21 Summary comments †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3 Step 1: Identify the nature of the problem or opportunity †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 23 Step 2: Conduct a current state analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 23 Step 3: Create a future state Product Coverage Map †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 23 Step 4: Evaluate potential new channel chains †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 23 Step 5: Pilot priority new channel chains and roll out successful pilots. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 3 Appe ndix 1 Directional policy matrix †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 24 1 Cranfield Customer Management Forum in collaboration with IBM Business Consulting Services Figures Figure 1: Process Overview †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 2 Figure 2: Analysis and Generating Alternatives †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 6 Figure 3: Sales Complexity Factors and Weightings †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 7 Figure 4: Sales Complexity Score †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Figure 5: Current Coverage Map – IT Services Provider †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 9 Figure 6: Redrawn Coverage Map (Future)†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 10 Figure 7: Current Field Sales Led Combinations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 11 Figure 8: Alternate Channel Chain †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 12 Figure 9: Channel Curve †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 13 Figure 10: Cost Comparison – Field Only versus Multi-Channel†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 14 Figure 11: Prioritisation Matrix†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 6 Figure 12: Example of Prior itisation Matrix†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 17 Figure 13: Directional Policy Matrix†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 24 2 Developing multi-channel strategy A strategic approach to channels Distribution and channel-to-market strategy used to be an afterthought for most marketers. Once the difficult judgements about product range, price and promotion were made, channel strategy was determined by objective economic and logistic factors, such as minimum order size and shipping costs.The internet, coupled with a proliferation of complex global supply chains, has elevated channel choice to the pantheon of critical marketing issues. Customers make channel choices alongside their product-service choices and expect suppliers to offer sales, marketing and service across multiple channels – online, telephone and physical presence. Offering all channel choices to all customers across all products and services is too costly for most companies. For many companies, channel strategy is now every bit as critical to their success, as are brand and product range policies.Companies must now determine how to serve different customers through a combination of channels that meets customer needs at a competitive cost. The strategic marketer wants to move the discussion of channel strategy beyond distribution costs and efficient order sizes by determining how channel strategy creates product-service innovations, reduces cost and improves customer loyalty. A successful channel strategy delivers differentiated solutions to different customer segments whilst meeting the marketing, sales and service requirements particular to each productservice.Balancing the needs of customers and the characteristics of individual products and services, identifying trade-offs, identifiable costs to be borne by each chan nel and creating customer value through channel innovation are the marketing challenges companies face. 1 Developing multi-channel strategy Process overview Channel strategy typically develops in an ad-hoc manner. Analysing a company’s channel policies is sometimes akin to an archaeological expedition: one digs through time discovering layers of historical decisions, sales partnerships and customer deals.We believe that there is great benefit for most companies in treating channel strategy development as a process. Just as strategic marketing planning revolutionised the way marketing plans were developed, a systematic approach to channels will improve companies’ chances of accomplishing their strategic channel objectives. We have developed a simple process framework to help marketers meet these channel challenges (Figure 1). Figure 1: Process Overview Step 1: Problem Opportunity Step 2: Current State Analysis Step 3: Future State Analysis Step 4: Choose Step 5: Impleme nt Cost Experience AccessMarketing Context Channel Coverage Maps Channel Chain Development Channel Curve Prioritisation Matrix Customer experience People Metrics Step 1 – Identify problems and opportunities: The process begins with the organisation identifying problems and or opportunities. We categorise these into three types: cost reduction, improvement of customer experience and improving customer access. Often companies are faced with a need to do a combination of these three. Steps 2 & 3 – Current and future state analysis: These stages make extensive use of tools developed by the Cranfield Customer Management Forum.Step 2 begins with traditional market place analysis; identification of customer segments and priority product (service) offers. These offers and customer segments are grouped in a channel coverage map – current and future. The map identifies logical bundles or groups of solutions and customers which form the basis for development of separate ch annel chains, combinations of channels that serve the customer at each point in the purchase and service process. Step 4 – Choose: Evaluates each channel chain for its cost and ability to generate customer value.The latter is estimated through channel curves, a research based technique that evaluates customer preference for each channel at each point in the purchase and service process. Finally, a prioritisation matrix is developed that identifies the most important channel investments to be made. 2 Developing multi-channel strategy Step 5 – Implement: Implementation is a critical element of channel marketing. Channel innovation is challenging for organisations because of the people issues involved – customers and sales people.This section of the report illustrates the importance of test marketing channel innovation, aligning compensation plans to desired behaviour and ensuring the new channel system is able to â€Å"learn† from customer experience, and a dapt as it is rolled out. 3 Developing multi-channel strategy Step 1 Identify problems and opportunities There are a limited number of famous examples of reinventing industries through channel innovation: E-Bay and Amazon spring to mind immediately. Those companies started from the â€Å"white sheet of paper† or the third process stage of the above model.The firms participating in our collaborative research project are all established players in their markets with existing channel structures. They may be responding to low cost, internet pure play competitors. For established companies embarking on channel strategy development, it is worthwhile to engage senior management in a discussion about the objectives of channel policies. Our experience suggests that it is useful to frame the discussion around a limited number of strategic objectives: cost reduction, improved customer experience and better customer access to the company (e. g. overage). Cost reduction Cost reduction is self explanatory. Many established firms face the twin challenges of customers expecting their traditional personal (expensive) sales and service whilst willing to pay only at prices charged by new competitors operating, for example, only via the internet. BT’s Major Business unit, dedicated to serving its largest customers, faced just such a challenge. Traditional telephony revenues were flat or declining as costs fell throughout the industry. Growth was generated through increased sales of IT related solutions such as routers and servers.Margins are lower in IT versus telephony and the channel â€Å"norm† was different indirect channels and self service over the internet. BT could not profitably compete in the new areas whilst retaining its channel structure and cost. By allocating sales tasks sensibly between field sales, desk based sales and the internet, BT reduced costs as a percentage of revenue through channel strategy – whilst increasing market coverage . Improved customer experience Improved customer experience is linked with customer retention and increased recommendation.Companies normally measure key indicators of their customer processes (e. g. telephone answering, complete orders on time, resolution of customer problem with first phone call) to illustrate the efficiency of their customer management but they measure their effectiveness with customer satisfaction scores. There are very few executives today that fail to espouse their need for improved customer satisfaction – this is rapidly becoming the motherhood and apple pie of boardroom conversation. But improving customer experience normally entails costs – better people, better systems, more capacity.Of course, every company wants improved customer experience at lower cost per customer, but this is rarely possible. Often the strategy is to â€Å"encourage† 4 Developing multi-channel strategy self ordering and service online and convincing oneself that customers really prefer this experience. This is not always true, nor is measuring customer satisfaction always instructive. Increased customer satisfaction does not necessarily change customers’ buying behaviour and customers defect to competitors for different reasons than they remain loyal. The message is clear.Customer experience is an essential part of marketing and customer retention, particularly in the services sectors. But companies cannot invest on the basis of â€Å"more is better†. Companies need to understand how customers value each element of the package of benefits they receive and how they make trade offs between them; how much experience would a customer sacrifice for lower prices online? How will improved customer experience lead to business outcomes? Land’s End, a successful mail order clothing retailer, embraced the internet early on.It understood selling clothes to people not able to try them on in a shop, so the addition of the online chan nel to its traditional telephone-catalogue one, was not too difficult. It uses the internet to extend and enhance its customer experience by providing complementary services. For example, one can design and dress up a virtual personal model to sample clothing virtually. Nonetheless, Land’s End displays prominently its toll free number so that online customers can immediately access helpful call centre staff.It also offers real time chat and personal assistance. Land’s End’s investment in the online channel was not justified by reduced call centre costs – it is there to provide a better customer experience. Improved access Finally, improving customers’ access to your products and services is a basic tenet of good business and a traditional channel strategy objective. With new technology, companies can offer unprecedented access to sales, service and customer data ubiquitously. Companies can now access customer segments hitherto unreachable or unprof itable to serve.BT’s Major Business Unit’s channel innovations not only reduced its costs, but allowed BT to increase account penetration. For example, a BT Account Director might negotiate the right to sell leased lines (typically low value items) to each branch of a national financial services company. Whilst the deal is negotiated with the customer’s head office, it is sold branch by branch with a desk-based telephone channel. Previously, the Account Director would have had to organise field sales people to call on each branch – uneconomical. Improved access increased sales.Many estate agents offer online services to improve customer access to their databases of properties and, more importantly, improve access to updates in property details. Whereas, previously, potential buyers would need to call agents regularly and receive posted updates of properties, changes in prices or competing bids, now they can be notified online or via SMS messages. 5 Develo ping multi-channel strategy Steps 2 and 3 Current and future state analysis Strategic alternatives can be developed through analysis of current channel combinations and generating imaginative new ones.See Figure 2. The tools used for analysing the current state and determining the future state are identical so these steps are discussed together. Figure 2: Analysis and Generating Alternatives Define the Market Context Define the market Determine customer segments Determine product-service priorities Generate Channel Strategy Alternatives Sales complexity Matrix -product complexity and customer value 2. Product coverage map -current state analysis 4. Generate alternative channel chains 3.Future coverage map – Create productcustomer combinations Define the marketing context Whilst the focus of this paper is channel strategy, the framework illustrates that channel strategy should be considered in the context of the company’s product (service) strategy. The salient aspects are: †¢ Agreeing the market definition as consumers or end customers would define it. Mapping the flow of goods and services through to the end customer to determine who buys what from whom. Segmenting the market into distinct, needs based customer segments.Setting appropriate investment strategies for each productservice market on the basis of your competitiveness in the market and the market’s inherent attractiveness. Normally, this is done with the Directional Policy Matrix, a strategic marketing planning tool described in Appendix 1. †¢ †¢ The market context illustrates the major market segments and the strength of existing distribution networks from suppliers through intermediaries (hereafter the channel chain). It also determines the priority productsservices for channel investment. It provides the necessary background 6Developing multi-channel strategy data for analysing current channel policy and generating alternatives for the future. Sales complexity matrix The first step in the analysis of the current state is to determine the sales complexity for each of the priority offers (combinations of product and or service) determined above. The more complex a product (service) is to sale and service, the more complex, personal and interactive the effort required by the company. Conversely, buying low cost, low risk, easy to configure products can often be done directly by customers online.Most often a sale, even for complex solutions, is made through a combination of channels, but one channel is designated as the lead or prime channel. Sales complexity is one of two prime determinants of the dominant channel: the other is how important the customer. Sales complexity can be estimated as a weighted average of scores for each of the key components of sales complexity. Let us take the case of an IT service provider. It provides three types of services: computer installation, configuration of sales and marketing software applications and ma rketing consulting.Under each of these three service headings there are three to five more specific service offers. For example, the software configuration services comprise the installation of complex front office solutions, databases, data mining tools, sales force automation systems and simple contact management systems. The company determines factors that comprise sales complexity and then determines a weighting for each factor to arrive at the following list and weightings (Figure 3): Figure 3: Sales Complexity Factors and Weightings Complexity FactorOrder size – the bigger the order, the more complex Limited customer knowledge of the product or service – less customer knowledge creates more complexity Length of the sales cycle – long sales cycles increase complexity Difficulty configuring – installing – the more difficult to configure, the more complex the sale Training – the greater the requirement to train customers in the use of the application/equipment, the more complex After sales service – the more service required, the more complex the sale Weighting .15 . 25 . 10 . 20 . 20 . 10Against each of the services offered, the company scores each of the complexity factors from one to ten in order to create a weighted average score for each line of service (Figure 4). 7 Developing multi-channel strategy Figure 4: Sales Complexity Score Order size Limited Customer knowledge Sales cycle Configuration Training Service Sales Complexity Score Weighting Application Configuration Front Office Database Data Mining Tools Sales Force Automation Contact Management Hardware Deployment Desktop Mobile phone PDA Laptop Consulting Service DB management Sales Network Customer strategy 0. 5 10 7 3 5 2 8 6 4 7 5 5 3 0. 25 7 6 9 5 2 2 5 7 3 5 7 10 0. 1 7 6 3 5 2 2 5 7 2 7 7 7 0. 2 7 9 5 7 2 3 6 7 3 8 8 6 0. 2 7 8 9 6 2 3 4 5 3 6 6 NA 0. 1 4 3 5 4 2 3 4 4 4 7 7 NA 7. 15 6. 85 6. 3 5. 5 2 3. 4 5. 05 5. 85 3. 6 6. 2 6. 7 7. 3 Pro duct coverage map – current and future state The product coverage map identifies how we wish to reach our customers as a function of the complexity of the product-services that we sell to them and the attractiveness of the customer. It determines the lead channel for combinations of customer segments and product-services from the perspective of the company’s strategy.The customer perspective is developed in the next phase (channel chains) and overlaid onto the coverage map to provide a balance between company and customer agendas. The coverage map is constructed sequentially from the following: †¢ Sales complexity scores on agreed dimensions to generate a continuum from simple to highly complex. The products and services considered in this phase are normally those identified as important from the Directional Policy Matrix. Major customer segments ideally defined in the first stage (Marketing Context). Developing ontiguous blocks of customer-complexity service spac e. †¢ †¢ The company in this example identifies its priority customer segments from the market context and they are listed below in reverse order: †¢ †¢ †¢ Owner managed businesses Mid sized retail financial services providers Large professional services companies Figure 5 illustrates two axes of the coverage map: (1) customer segments (prioritised) and (2) product-services ranked in order of complexity. 8 Developing multi-channel strategy The middle of the matrix describes how the company sells each productservice to each customer.These are, in order of INCREASING cost: customer self-service on the net (I), desk-based sales conducted by telephone (T), distribution partners (D)1, and field-based account managers (FS). Figure 5: Current Coverage Map – IT Services Provider High Complexity product-service Sales Force Automation Appl. Low Complexity product-service Consumer Strategy Owner Managed Businesses Medium Retail Financial Services Large Professio nal Services Front Office Application Database Application Sales Data Mining Network Mgt Tools Database Mgt PDA Deployment Laptop Deployment Desktop Deployment Contact Mgt Application FS FS T I I FS D FSD D T FS D FS I T I D FS T T I FS FS D D T T FS FS FS FS FS I = self service over the internet, T = Deskbased account managers D = Third party distribution partners FS = Field sales – account management There are obvious anomalies in the coverage map illustrated in Figure 5. Expensive field account managers sell some very simple products-services: perhaps there is a culture that an account manager handles 100% of the customer’s requirements. Distributors sell the company’s complex database applications and sales networks to very large companies for historical reasons; does the company lack sales expertise in these areas?However, the distributors may dis-intermediate the company and take control of key accounts, so is this a wise policy? To owner managed businesse s, some of these complex services are sold via the internet which has a low success probability. Even smaller, owner managed businesses need some help to understand these services. Figure 6 illustrates how the company assigned a â€Å"lead† channel for each product-service and customer segment combination to reflect the selling demands of the product-service and the size of the sales opportunity.These new contiguous blocks of customer-solution become the unit of analysis for the next stage of the process: building combinations of channels to serve each block (channel chains). Such distribution partners are often known in the IT industry as VARs or Value Added Resellers. They are often small to medium sized IT services firms that provide specialist industry or application expertise. 1 9 Developing multi-channel strategy Figure 6: Redrawn Coverage Map (Future) High Complexity product-service Low Complexity product-service Sales Force PDA Automation Laptop Desktop Contact Mgt De ployment Appl.Deployment Deployment Application Consumer Strategy Owner Managed Businesses Medium Retail Financial Services Large Professional Services Front Office Database Sales Data Mining Application Application Network Mgt Tools Database Mgt D D D D T T T T I I I FS FS FS D D D T T T T I FS FS FS FS FS FS T T T T I I = self service over the internet, T = Deskbased account managers D = Third party distribution partners FS = Field sales – account management The redrawn coverage map focuses vital field sales resources on selling large, complex solutions to the biggest, priority customer segment.Distributors sell large, complex solutions to smaller, lower priority segments. Desk-based sales teams handle the middle ground: modest complexity across customer segments. Self service over the internet is reserved for the simple products-services and lower priority customers who are considered to buy largely on price and for whom a lower cost sales model is needed in order to be co mpetitive. This exercise puts some structure on the channel strategy but it is not realistic in the modern world for one channel to manage an opportunity through the sales and service cycle.Whilst the company now has a lead channel for each opportunity, it needs to build secondary channels to reflect customer segment preferences and manage scarce resources optimally. Building alternate channel chains The channel chain maps out how we can reach the contiguous groups identified in the redrawn product coverage map. If the product coverage map allows the company to find a rationale for how it wishes to serve customers, the channel chain analysis encourages the company to think about creating customer value through channel innovation.Different customers have different needs for information, counselling and support at different stages of the sales, service and customer development cycle. For reasons of simplicity and accountability, many companies insist that one person (or team) take com plete responsibility for all communications with a customer at all stages of the cycle. This may be a luxury few firms can afford today. Additionally, many customers wish to supplement their traditional customer managers with immediate answers online whilst their account manager is otherwise occupied.Failure to provide a mix of channels can frustrate clients and drain valuable business development from account managers. Channel chains allow companies to think creatively about how to engage with a customer in the manner most 10 Developing multi-channel strategy valued by the customer whilst allocating customer management resources optimally. Figure 6 identifies four contiguous blocks of channel lead and productservice solution: field sales, distributor, desk-based and internet.Each of these blocks should be analysed further to create business rules for the management of opportunities through the sales, service and customer development cycle. Figure 7 illustrates the current channel c hain for the contiguous block of selling complex applications to large customers. There are a number of shortcomings with the current channel chain from the perspective of the company. The limited field sales resource is stretched by taking full responsibility at all stages of the customer engagement cycle.Whilst customers appreciate this simple and personal service, sales people do not have sufficient time to focus on developing big opportunities. During the early stages of a customer engagement, the channels operate in separate silos largely and respond to enquiries that come to them instead of operating to a set of business rules that determine where the opportunity is best handled. Figure 7: Current Field Sales Led Combinations Marketing activities Deskbased (telephone) Internet Distributor Field sales Operations Stage Lead generation Inquiry Qualify lead Proposal Follow up Close Implementation Assess new customer needs Customer developmentFigure 8 illustrates the result of the creative process that generated a framework for team based selling: integrating a number of channels that aligns the appropriate channel to the different tasks. Valuable field resources are focused upon the tasks for which they are uniquely and best suited: generating compelling sales proposals and closing the sale. Integrating the internet and desk-based channels into the process under the leadership of the field sales force, qualifies out poor leads quickly and therefore allows the company to pursue more sales leads.The teambased selling approach provides better response to customer queries 11 Developing multi-channel strategy throughout the selling engagement and reduces the cost of sale to the company. So the alternate channel chain increases the number of sales opportunities, reduces the cost of sale and increases the sales success rate. Figure 8: Alternate Channel Chain Marketing activities Internet Deskbased (telephone) Distributor Field sales Operations Stage Lead generation Inquiry Qualify lead Proposal Follow up Close Implementation Assess new customer needs Customer developmentSimilar channel chain reengineering is done for all four coverage map blocks identified in Figure 6 to generate strategies for improving sales effectiveness and increasing sales coverage. It remains to assess the impact of alternate channel chains on the target customer and develop a full costing for each to ensure that channel strategy maximises customer value as well as company efficiency. 12 Developing multi-channel strategy Step 4 Assess alternatives and choose The assessment of alternate channel chains is based upon two criteria: cost and customer value. Channel curves – how customers value alternativesCustomers have their own criteria for assessing how well a company manages the supplier-customer relationship. Channel curves assess how well different channel chains deliver against customers’ key criteria. Customer research generates a list of key criteria a nd the weighting of each criterion in the customers’ total assessment of a supplier. Judgement and research suggest how each chain delivers against each criterion on a one to ten scale. The result is a weighted average utility score for alternate chains. Figure 9 illustrates this for our case example: how large professional services firms assess IT suppliers’ channel chains.The new, mixed channel chain generates a slightly higher weighted average customer utility score but the difference is likely within the margin of error of the method. The extensive personal contact of the traditional channel chain generates small advantages for the most important customer criteria but this is offset by a mixed chain’s ability to respond very quickly to simple requests and greater access to technical resources 24/7 because field sales people do not have the deep technical know-how that is available via the desk and online channels. Figure 9: Channel Curve Weights 10 3 . 18 . 17 . 15 . 10 . 08 . 02 Traditional chain (Weighted Ave . 66) Alternate chain (Weighted Ave . 69) 5 1 le op pe of es ie y e er liit q qu na e so pll er Pe s sim tto se a al on o os sp o op re pr d id e ap at R ur cc ac e,, ett pl m se om tis C C er xp le s ca n ni m em c ch bl T Te ro pr off p h hi rs ce ic ne r rv wn s se O ed iis s om es st iin us us C bu y m m n nd U ds an s st er The channel curve analysis reassures the company that the mixed channel chain is no less preferred than its traditional approach and 13 Developing multi-channel strategy enerates a list of key issues that the mixed chain must address – intimate knowledge of the customer business for example. These can be translated into key metrics against which to assess the new chain. Cost analysis Cost reduction is always of interest to companies designing their channel policy and in this illustration, necessary for the company to remain competitive. Other companies might find that overall customer utility fall s with some new channel chains and they would expect a significant cost reduction in order to compensate for potential lost business.Conversely, some firms may design more expensive channel chains that are highly valued by customers and they need to know how much incremental cost will be generated. Costing channel chains is a matter of detailed estimation of the degree to which different customer groups will use different channels and each channel’s effectiveness at converting inquiries into sales. The exercise generates metrics for efficiency (cost) and effectiveness (conversion or attainment of other objectives) that will enable managers to assess channel policy continually.In this case, the IT services provider compared the cost of traditional field sales force against a team-based multi-channel approach as illustrated by Figure 7 and Figure 8. In this illustration, revenue increases 50% whilst costs decrease so that the cost per order falls by almost 3%. This results in s ales costs, as a percentage of total revenue falling from 23% to 15. 6%. Figure 10: Cost Comparison – Field Only versus Multi-Channel Field Only Sales process Inquiries Qualify Proposal Follow up Close Assess new opportunities Customer development Revenue Total cost Cost per order Cost ? 000 2000 3500 4000 2000 200 Cost per process ? 0000 50000 100000 200000 20000 Multi-Channel Cost ? 000 1200 3000 4000 3000 240 Cost per process ? 10000 30500 80000 200000 10600 Customers 100 100 70 40 10 10 Customers 120 120 85 50 15 15 10 50M 200 11900 20000 15 75M 240 11680 10600 1190 1160 14 Developing multi-channel strategy The sales processes above are taken directly from Figure 7 and Figure 8. Lead generation and implementation costs are not affected by the channel chain in this case example so they are excluded from the cost analysis. For purposes of presentation, we assume that the current channel chain generates sales of ? 0M through 100 orders. The new channel chain will allow more inquiries to be processed but there is no difference in the percentage of inquiries that pass through to proposal and are followed up. The closing success rate is slightly higher in the new channel chain because field sales people are focused on critical junctures of the sales process. The big difference is in the costs of qualifying each lead, generating a proposal and following it up. Prioritisation matrix The generation of alternate channel chains is both a rational and creative exercise.In the examples we present, some channel chain innovations are obvious – this is for presentation purposes. Some of the most exciting marketing developments over the past decade have resulted from very radical approaches to channels. The use of a comprehensive set of tools and frameworks should not diminish the creativity of managers in thinking about novel ways to meet customer needs. For example, online betting exchanges, such as Betfair (www. betfair. com), reduce customers’ cost , improve their access to betting occasions and for the first time, allow them to back and lay bets.The incumbent fixed odds, high street betting shops are responding but the online new entrants generated this innovation. Thinking creatively about channel chains for each contiguous block of customer-solutions will create a number of channel chain combinations that customers will value and may be cost effective. Few organisations, if any, can implement many channel chains simultaneously due to the complexity involved: implementation is discussed in the next section of this paper. A simple means of setting priorities amongst channel combinations is suggested – the prioritisation matrix illustrated in Figure 11.This matrix is defined by two axes: attractiveness of the channel chain to the organisation and attractiveness to the customer. It results in four solutions and attendant generic strategies for each. 15 Developing multi-channel strategy Figure 11: Prioritisation Matrix At tractiveness to organisation High Attractive to organisation †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Revenue potential Increased coverage Margin improvement Reduced complexity Fit to strategy Ease of implementation Selective trials with consumers Priority investments Attractive to customer †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Convenience Cost Speed of response Availability Product information Ease of useLow priority investments Partner Break into stages Gain experience Watch and prepare Low Low High Attractiveness to customer Much of the analysis required to complete the prioritisation matrix has already been done. Understanding the attractiveness to the customer and key dimensions of attractiveness are generated by the channel curve analysis. The attractiveness to the organisation is largely done; the prioritisation matrix adds some new dimensions, such as ease with which the company can implement the solution, fit to overall strategy and ability to reduce sales complexity in the organisation.The four generic strategies corresponding to the boxes of the matrix are: †¢ Invest: The channel chain is attractive to both customers and the organisation so it is a win:win. †¢ Selective trials: The channel chain is attractive to the organisation but not to the customer. Here judgement is needed. Is the potential gain, for example in cost, worth the loss of customer satisfaction? Will customers learn to accept the new channel chain? Will they defect if unhappy? Will competitors follow our lead so that this channel chain becomes the industry norm? Can some negatives with the new chain be overcome?Find â€Å"clever† solutions: These options are highly valued by customers but not by the organisation. Perhaps they are too costly, too difficult to implement or operate or do not fit with the overall strategy. Can you partner with another firm to reduce the cost and complexity? Can the new chain break the solution into smaller, more managea ble pieces or be implemented in stages? Perhaps you can trial the new chain and learn how to implement it at lower cost. At least, one needs to keep a watching brief on these channel combinations lest competitors implement them first and take valuable customers.Low priorities: These are valued neither by the organisation, nor its customers, so are generally not done. †¢ †¢ 16 Developing multi-channel strategy The organisation must agree a scale on which to grade high-low on the two axes and normally this is done on a scale between one and ten. The matrix itself is populated with channel chain investment options illustrated by circles and the size of each circle can be scaled to reflect the cost or potential revenue benefit. This is illustrated for our IT services company in Figure 12 below.Each channel chain investment is described by its chief characteristic; for example one says â€Å"field sales automation† and that is the channel chain that essentially enhances the productivity of the current field sales chain. The diameter of the circles represents the investment being made by the company in channel innovations. Figure 12: Example of Prioritisation Matrix Attractiveness to organisation †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Revenue potential Increased coverage Margin improvement Reduced complexity Fit to strategy Ease of implementation High Attractive to organisation Distributor extranet Field sales automation Desk based sales Customer portalAttractive to customer †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Convenience Cost Speed of response Availability Product information Ease of use Low Field sales Low High Attractiveness to customer In this example, we can see that the largest channel investments are in chains and solutions that are least attractive to customers. The channel investment most valued by customers (more field sales people) is unattractive to the company and not receiving a lot of investment. Perhaps this is t he most attractive to customers because they are not used to team based, multi channel selling from the company.Perhaps they are not convinced that the company can implement it effectively and are worried that service levels will fall. The two projects that are in the top right quadrant receive the smallest investment. The prioritisation matrix suggests that the company should increase investment in the portal and extranet. Field sales automation is not what customers value so that might be implemented selectively. Desk based sales might be critical to making team selling work but it seems to dominate the investment portfolio. Perhaps it could be introduced more slowly to allow funding to be redirected to projects of higher customer priority.Field sales investment is valued by customers but is not attractive to the company; can investment be more selective until other channels demonstrate their value to customers? 17 Developing multi-channel strategy Step 5 Implementation Developing new channel chains is a change programme and most managers have first hand experience of change. This white paper does not wish to summarise the vast literature and experience of change management in its final section. We will highlight some unique aspects of channel chain change programmes that merit attention.This section discusses: †¢ †¢ †¢ Design of metrics Piloting channel chains with customers Rolling out new channel chains and ongoing development thereof Metrics The prime metrics for assessing and managing the development of channel chains are illustrated by Figure 10, the cost and conversion analysis. Ultimately, the organisation wishes to sell more at lower cost per sale. Alternate chains are developed and their efficiency and effectiveness are measured. Achieving the targeted ROI for such investments is usually contingent upon a few key conversion and cost estimates.However the role of channels in marketing strategy goes beyond sales and most companies adop t a balanced scorecard type approach comprising: †¢ Financial measures such as costs per sale, sales costs as a percentage of revenue, number of sales, average order size, conversion from inquiry to sale and repeat purchase rates. Reputation measures the impact of alternate channel strategies on customers’ perception of the organisation – modernity, professionalism, value for money, value for time, knows-mybusiness, easy to do business with and other relevant measures.Relationship measures include the number of senior level contacts with a client per annum, the breadth of those contacts (in the case of the IT company it might measure marketing director contacts), frequency of customer interaction, customer satisfaction, customer willingness to recommend our company. Knowledge tries to measure how much we know about each customer’s behaviour, attitude and purchase process. People looks at the extent to which our own customer facing people are satisfied, enga ged, productive, supportive of the business’ overall goals, feeling confident about their customer management competencies. †¢ †¢ †¢ 18 Developing multi-channel strategy For a comprehensive review of metrics see the Customer Management Forum white paper ‘Measuring multi-channel effectiveness using the balanced scorecard’. Testing new channel chains Channel chain innovation represents two challenges: 1. Channel innovations are complex change programmes that require sales people to embrace new ways of working and are often accompanied by complex new technology. Unlike backoffice automation, channel chain mistakes impact customers and there are few â€Å"second chances† if customer service levels erode as new ways of working bed down in the organisation.The business case is normally â€Å"theoretical† and assumptive. We have described the stages of developing new channel chains and highlighted the need to seek customer research at key in tervals. Where the brief is cost reduction, savings can be forecasted. However, where the brief is to enhance customer experience and extend the offer, it is difficult to be sure to what extent improved customer experience leads to changes in customer behaviour. It is intuitively appealing to assume that a better experience improves customer satisfaction and that higher levels of satisfaction generate more purchases.Intuitive yes, but often wrong. Regrettably, proving empirically the relationship between customer satisfaction and behaviour is fraught and companies must test this in their own specific context. 2. Customer research cannot predict outcomes Whilst the process outlines some of the customer research activities that can be undertaken during the development of new channel chains, research experts have long realised that customers cannot predict how they will react to situations that they have yet to experience.So extensive surveys, observation of customer behaviour in resea rch laboratories and even examples from other industries do not predict behaviour. This is not to say that research is a wasted effort, only to suggest that research does not substitute for testing channel innovation on a small scale before proceeding to reorganise one’s entire channel strategy. Experimental design helps Given the difficulties identified above, companies need to prove channel innovation in the marketplace with real customers. However this process must be managed carefully in order not to damage vital customer relationships.We recommend that companies create an experiment where a small, but sufficient number of customers are exposed to the new channel chain. Key metrics, discussed above, are determined in advance of the experiment and they can be assessed in-market. 19 Developing multi-channel strategy On the basis of observed changes in customer behaviour, Sales ability to work in the new channel chains and the ability of the company’s processes to sup port the channel innovation, a company can invest with much greater confidence. Roll outSome of the case studies produced by the Cranfield Customer Management Forum illustrate how a successful pilot improves the chances for a successful roll out. With hard evidence of the benefit, people are more willing to support the changes required to scale the pilot into a full channel programme. People must support new ways of working The channel innovations we have seen at the Cranfield Customer Management Forum typically involve a company moving from a very dominant single channel (e. g. field sales) to a broad, team-based multichannel strategy.Case histories explored by the Forum illustrate a number of issues: †¢ Field sales forces feel threatened over their ability to control the customer experience (who is saying what to MY customers? ) and a potential reduction in status. There is often the unstated worry that senior management is evaluating critically individuals’ operationa l performance and ready to micro manage customers from head office. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, there are worries over compensation. Introducing team based selling with a view to reducing sales osts is often interpreted as a threat to sales peoples’ current compensation structure. How will sales incentives be shared between the channels? Managers of new channels, such as desk-based sales and the internet, do not know how to integrate with field sales operations. They are not sure how to measure success; what is their contribution to an overall sales target perhaps under the control of a field sales director? Their teams tend to be remote from the customer and field sales so personal relationships and trust are hard to develop.Companies do not know how to compensate each channel. During the introduction phase, management wishes to reassure the field that its compensation will not be reduced so that incentives for new channels represent added cost. This is not sustai nable. Team based selling often requires new technology and that entails risks of the technology not working, or people not operating the new technology properly. Customer facing technology is particularly risky as valuable customers experience your teething problems. †¢ †¢ †¢ 20 Developing multi-channel strategyThe Cranfield Customer Management Forum has documented successful channel innovation in such circumstances. The elements common in such cases are: †¢ The implementation of the channel innovation is not rushed. There is adequate time to consult with sales people, train people in ways of working, build teams between the old and new people and just get used to the idea of change. It is not uncommon for channel change programmes to last for three to four years. Of course, throughout that period, innovations are being introduced but at a pace that the organisation can manage.The customer relationship manager remains in control of the overall engagement with hi s or her customer. The relationship manager is fully aware of the activities of other channels with his or her account and can override the policies and recommendations of the â€Å"system†, retaining full control over the customer experience. Software is tried and tested thoroughly by live sales teams before large scale rollout. Support for changes in working practices are severely undermined when promised technology that makes â€Å"it all work† disappoints its users.People feel let down by the company and distrust the motives behind the changes. There is a frank and open discussion about compensation. Companies cannot be expected to fund double or triple compensation for the sake of harmony. However, the compensation system must encourage team selling. In the BT example of selling leased lines to bank branch offices, desk based sales people receive bonuses for each sale made. At the same time, the national account (field sales) manager for that bank is credited with the sales made by desk based sales against his or her overall target with the bank for the year.The relationship manager is therefore rewarded for the successful desk based sales campaign. In this way, there is alignment between the channels’ compensation plans. †¢ †¢ †¢ Management, not technology, guides channel innovation In all the cases of successful channel innovation reviewed by the Cranfield Customer Management Forum, we found that CRM technology played an essential role in enabling new ways of working to be managed at a large scale consistently. However, successful companies did not begin by picking an application and then building processes that embed the application in their organisation.They started with a clear view of what they were trying to accomplish and used approaches akin to channel mapping and channel chain development to achieve it. 21 Developing multi-channel strategy Once they understood the channel chains that they were trying to implem ent, they built a comprehensive set of business rules around each chain. This allowed the company to have rules for such events as major customers making enquiries online, telephone based sales campaigns to major customers and avoiding conflicts with distributors’ sales campaigns.These rules took time to develop and often were built with the help of outside consultants. The rules are managed by very senior sales managers as they represent the underlying logic of the channel strategy. For successful companies, the allocation of sales complexity scores to products and services is a top management issue as is the process by which various channels will work together. In order for the rules to be dynamically updated, there are important governance structures established for team based selling.Each company finds its own way to integrate the policies, investment, people development and compensation of its channels. However these policies are not developed in isolation of the overall customer relationship strategies. Resource owners are not free to do as they please; senior managers must live the team-based values that they espouse. 22 Developing multi-channel strategy Summary comments Traditionally, â€Å"channel† was a poor relation to other elements of the marketing mix.New technology and business models have changed this 180 degrees: scholarship and managerial practice are catching up to this new reality. We develop a systematic five step plan for companies to develop their channel strategy. Step 1: Identify the nature of the problem or opportunity Is the motivation for channel innovation cost, improving customer experience, increasing customer access or a mix of the above? Step 2: Conduct a current state analysis First look at the market context: define the market, determine and establish priorities between customer segments and inally determine and set priorities between product-service offers. Then determine the complexity of each priority product service offer and rank the offers in order of complexity. Using the Product Coverage Map, identify the lead channel for each priority customer segment along that ranked order of complexity. Identify anomalies. Step 3: Create a future state Product Coverage Map To address these anomalies, identify major groupings of offer-customer with lead channels. Draw channel chains for each grouping.Enter into a creative exercise to develop better channel chains for each grouping. Step 4: Evaluate potential new channel chains Evaluate in consideration of customer preference (Channel Curve analysis) and cost. Set priorities between alternatives. Step 5: Pilot priority new channel chains and roll out successful pilots. Consider that channel innovation is a major change process. Research and adoption of â€Å"best practice† alone will not provide the leadership necessary for successful channel innovation. Customers cannot evaluate that which they have not experienced.Best practice fails to account for the context-specific nature of each company’s customers, ways of working, established Sales practices and information technology expertise. In implementation it is important to ensure that customer-facing people support new ways of working, implementation is not rushed to meet artificial schedules, customer managers retain control of the process and act as guardians of the customer experience and there is effective feedback between those leading the change and those affected by it.Despite the difficulties in channel innovation, for many companies it is a must-do activity. Since best practice is very emergent, there are opportunities for companies to generate real competitive advantage through channel strategies. 23 Developing multi-channel strategy Appendix 1 Directional policy matrix The Directional Policy Matrix (DPM) is a strategic marketing planning tool that allows managers to make investment decisions across a portfolio of opportunities. Figure 13: Direction al Policy Matrix MARKET SEGMENT

Chacarter Analysis in Chekhov’s The Bet

â€Å"The Bet† is quite an interesting story since it can be appreciated as a simple reading-piece or as a complex, contentious, argumentative text that deals with the very controversial topic of capital punishment. From the very beginning, it grabs the reader's attention by introducing the death penalty issue as the chief subject of a pretty heated discussion between two characters that, by merely expressing their point of view, will become the two main characters of the story. One of them is an old banker who has made a great fortune by participating in some highly profitable investments.The other one is a young, promising lawyer who shares his life with, apparently, no one. The banker, old-fashioned as he is, believes capital punishment is far more effective than imprisonment for life; however, this being said, the young lawyer stands up and does not hesitate when it comes for him to speak out his point of view: that life imprisonment is what should be applied by law becaus e â€Å"†¦ The death sentence and the life sentence are equally immoral, but†¦ To live anyhow is better than not to all. Consequently, a lively discussion arose and the banker got aired away by excitement and, therefore, betted two million pounds that the lawyer wasn't going to be strong enough to stay in solitary confinement for five years. In the heat of the moment, or maybe because of his self-determination; not only did the lawyer take the bet, but actually made it worth for fifteen years. But who was the strongest? Who was going to successfully prove his point of view to the others? Well, the author (Anton Chekhov) wrote this particular story in an absolutely objective way: he did not evidence his personal point of view whatsoever.In fact, this story turned UT to be so impartial that it is rather hard to tell who's right and who's wrong when it comes to an end. Therefore, we can only assume that, in order to achieve this degree of neutrality, the author had to use tw o much defined personalities. This is probably why this two men can be described so easily: because of their strong and determined character that will only help us understand why do they stand by this two very opposite ideologies. The lawyer, as far as he has been described throughout the story, totally fulfils this requirement by being as ambitious, focused and determined s he is.And why can the reader be so sure that the lawyer is that ambitious? Simply because it takes a lot of this quality to be able to give up absolutely everything for the humble figure of two million pounds. And why can the audience describe this amount of money as a humble figure? Just because, compared to freedom, this money is completely worthless. Why would someone be after so much money if he is wasting fifteen years of his life by staying voluntarily locked up? Earnestly, It cannot be explained since nothing should really matter when your freedom is at stake†¦ Nothing would be more important.After a ll, let us Just remember that the lawyer's ambition is far from stopping there: he was also quite hungry for wisdom and knowledge. During his incarceration years, the lawyer did actually grow to enjoy, and even love, the reading and learning of various aspects such as languages, philosophy, history, sciences, medicine, theology and literature. Besides, once the bet was accepted by both men, it was decided that the lawyer would stay under the strictest supervision, being exclusively aloud to ask for books, a musical instrument, wine, cigarettes and newspapers.Nevertheless, the lawyer refused wine and tobacco because â€Å"†¦ Wine excites the desires, and tobacco spoilt the air of his room†¦ â€Å". Therefore, he had to adjust by getting used to spend all of his time surrounded by books. He, then, went from Shakespeare and Byron all the way to The Gospel and a manual of medicine. The more he spent in that prison, the more information he got into his system. But it was neve r quite enough. Nothing was ever enough. Now, when it comes to the lawyer's extreme determination, there is one specific quote that fits in perfectly: â€Å"†¦ UT I would stay not five, but fifteen years†. This informs all possible doubts about the lawyer being ready to sacrifice everything for one simple bet. Moreover, it verifies that he is a rather lonely and solitary man. Albeit we can only guess what was going through the lawyer's mind when he decided to extend the five-year bet by ten years; supposing that he might have felt that five years were not nearly enough as for him to demonstrate he was right and â€Å"defeat† the banker might be a quite accurate presumption.Also, when it comes for him to demonstrate how wiser he had grown during those shelter years, he immediately wants to make everyone aware of his knowledge. This is why he decides to write a letter in six different languages, all of which he learned while being in prison; and asks the banker to m ail it to anyone who could correct him so that, should they find not one mistake, a shot should be fired as for him to be aware of whether he had done well or not. The banker, satisfying the lawyer's request, did as he had been asked to and, as a consequence, two shots were fired.This filled the lawyer's hart with an â€Å"†¦ Unearthly happiness†¦ â€Å", thus it corroborates that he was strong-minded about making the most out of this fifteen years even if many other men would have insider it a waste of time and a way of throwing a person's life away. Let us not forget that the lawyer's determination went so far that he actually turned down the to million pounds payment that was owed to him for being able to cope with the voluntary fifteen-years imprisonment. He even said he despised â€Å"†¦ Freedom and life and health. And that is why, to provide evidence for it, he was to leave the prison â€Å". Five hours before the time fixed, and so break the compact†¦ † Was he or was he not ready to do anything and everything as to impose his standpoint? I think he was, he finitely was. Being as focused as he is might be considered as another great quality of his that allowed him to muddle through with the voluntary imprisonment. He somehow managed to make up a plan that would, eventually, prevent him from finding himself full of spare time and nothing to spend it on.It must be really hard to stay in a room for fifteen year without losing your mind. Admirably, he achieved it. Even though, the first couple of years he spent in that room weren't especially easy for him (â€Å"†¦ He suffered severely from loneliness and depression†¦ â€Å", spent days eating and drinking ND lying on his bed, yawned angrily while talking to himself and wrote things so as to tear them up later), he did finally focus and realized how much he could accomplish if he only took it seriously and worked hard. And he did.Just remember the extent of his adva nced language, theology, philosophy, history, sciences and literature studies, and decide for yourself whether he wasted his time or not. He used up those years by learning new skills: he read books, studied various subjects, played the piano, and finally found a way so as to let people know that he had done all those things. His thirst for knowledge could only be satisfied by learning more and more, non-stop; and after carrying out this Job, he made sure his efforts were properly recognized.It takes a lot of strength to be capable of dedicating such a lot of time to one particular thing, but it takes even more vigor to do it from prison and for fifteen years. He controlled himself well enough, focusing on â€Å"the task† and; as a result, proved that voluntary incarceration could be handled as promised. When I was told to write an essay describing either the banker or the lawyer, I thought it couldn't really be done. However, finding three main qualities that made them so di fferent but gave them both a strong character was not as hard as I thought it would be.I decided to choose the lawyer simply because, in my opinion, he's constantly developing. At the very beginning of the story, he says that life should be appreciated more than anything else. Yet, when the story comes to an end; he states that, after going through everything that he went through during those fifteen years, he now despises life and health. Besides, he is pretty ever-changing, as it can be seen when he modifies his activities from year to year during his incarceration time.Now, as far as I'm concerned, none of this transformations he went through, was really a decisive point when it comes for the reader to choose which is better: incarceration for life or capital punishment. Why? Well, simply because his condition after spending fifteen years in Jail substantiates the fact that lifelong imprisonment kills slowly: the lawyer was so thin that â€Å"He was a skeleton with the skin draw n tight over his bones†¦ â€Å", his face was yellow and his cheeks hollow, his hands were thin and delicate and his hair had grown silver. â€Å". No one could have believed that he was only forty. Consequently, I believe that, in order to finish this piece of writing properly, some words about the main theme of the story should be wrote down. Therefore, I shall include my personal opinion on the subject: I believe that â€Å"The State Is not God. It has not the right to take away what it cannot restore when it wants to. † It isn't immoral to apply imprisonment for life as a way of punishment for those who kill or rape. It is only fair. However, it is quite understandable when people think of a murderer and wish they could see him gone for good.Even so, nowadays, we cannot afford having people who take Justice on their own hands applying the eye for an eye ancient policy, it Just wouldn't work†¦ It would turn societies into many messy anarchist systems. When you make use of that kind of policy, you turn into an even more immoral person than whoever did it simply because you are committing the same crime (even if it isn't against the law) and you are simply doing it as a vendetta. Likewise, it is not up to the State to decide who dies and who doesn't. If the State kills, no matter the reasons they might give for doing such a thing, it is still like killing someone.It shouldn't even be considered as a possibility to deal with the criminals because it only sends out one message: killing is the solution; and that can only lead to a more violent society. This being already said, I suppose this story never gives out a conclusion. It has an open ending as regards the capital punishment matter. It never says who's right and who's wrong and, because of this, it gives the reader the opportunity to consider the two viewpoints and make up an opinion for himself. Or at least, that is what happened to me. This confirms how this story is, after all, incre dibly objective.

Gobbledygook - Definition and Examples

Gobbledygook s Gobbledygook is inflated, jargon-cluttered prose that fails to communicate clearly. Contrast with clarity and plain English. Also spelled gobbledegook. Stephen R. Covey describes gobbledygook as language that is so pompous, long-winded, and abstract that it is unintelligible (Style Guide for Business and Technical Communication, 2012). The term  gobbledygook  was coined in 1944 by Texas lawyer Maury Maverick, who expressed disdain for the gobbledygook language of his colleagues. The word was inspired by the turkey, always gobbledy gobbling and strutting with ludicrous pomposity. Examples and Observations: Gobbledygook or bureaucratese is another kind of doublespeak. Such doublespeak is simply a matter of overwhelming the audience with technical, unfamiliar words. When asked why U.S. forces lacked intelligence information on Grenada before they invaded the island in 1983, Admiral Wesley L. McDonald told reporters that We were not micromanaging Grenada intelligence-wise until about that time frame.(William Lutz, The World of Doublespeak. Doublespeak: From Revenue Enhancement to Terminal Living. Harper Row, 1989)Where the combined value of the above payments before actual assimilation remains greater than the combined value of the payments after assimilation, the former level of pay will be protected. These protection arrangements apply to the combined value of payments before and after assimilation, not to individual pay components, excepting the provision relating to retention of existing on-call arrangements.(Agenda for Change, Central Manchester and Manchester Children’s Univ ersity Hospitals NHS Trust, 2005) To the ordinary guy, all this is a bunch of gobbledygook. But out of the gobbledygook comes a very clear thing: you cant trust the government; you cant believe what they say, and you cant rely on their judgment.(H.R. Haldeman, recording made in the Oval Office, June 14, 1971)Gobbledygook in Sentence StructureIn sentence structure, gobbledygook is usually due to lack of time and care, as perhaps with the personal pension plan which defined foreign emoluments as earnings of a person resident but not domiciled in the United Kingdom from duties performed wholly or partly in the United Kingdom for a non-resident employer. It’s as clear as dirty dishwater, and perhaps more time should have been spent drafting it. Clear, concise writing cannot be done in a hurry, as the French writer Pascal realized when he once wrote to a friend, I have made this letter longer than usual, only because I have not had time to make it shorter.(Jean Aitchison, The Language Web: The Power and Problem of Words. Cambridge University Press, 1997) Adverse Effects of GobbledygookAs doublespeak, gobbledygook may either substitute for a speakers lack of knowledge or insight about a subject, or it may once again serve to confuse. . . .In 1972, Ford Motor Company sent a letter to those who purchased the defective 1972 Mercury Montego: With respect to possible mechanical deficiencies, the rear axle bearings of the cars can deteriorate. Continued driving with a failed bearing could result in disengagement of the axle shaft and adversely affect vehicle control.(Ken Kirk, Writing for Readability. ASTD, July 2010)Doctor Who MomentsOften when listening to football managers and coaches explain the game I find myself thinking of those moments in Dr Who when, with catastrophe approaching, Matt Smith suddenly announces, Theres a good chance that if we can reverse the polarity on this lithium crystal then the magnetic vortex will suck the Daleks into a different time-space continuum and the planet will be saved. Has anybody got a hatpin?Their midfield was playing off us, the Time Lords of the dugout tell us as relegation hurtles towards our homes like a Zygon battle trireme carrying an explosive payload the size of Ronaldos wallet. We need to get more offensive in the off-loading zone. Frankly, we all know it is a pile of gobbledygook, but if it has the sheen of plausibility it is more fun to believe in it than not.(Harry Pearson, Will Andy Carroll Prove the Difference That Destroys the Planet? The Guardian, Nov. 12, 2010) The Lighter Side of GobbledygookOh, meltdown. Its one of those annoying buzzwords. We prefer to call it an unrequested fission surplus.(Charles Montgomery Burns in Homer Defined, The Simpsons) Pronunciation: GOB-ul-dee-GOOK Editing Exercises: Exercise in Eliminating Deadwood From Our WritingExercise in Eliminating Wordiness in Business WritingPractice in Cutting the Clutter

The Definition of an Angle

The Definition of an Angle In mathematics, particularly geometry, angles are formed by two rays  (or lines) that begin at the same point or share the same endpoint. The angle measures the amount of turn between the two arms or sides of an angle and is usually measured in degrees or radians. Where the two rays intersect or meet is called the vertex.   An angle is defined by its measure (for example, degrees) and is not dependent upon the lengths of the sides of the angle. History of the Word The word angle  comes from the  Latin  word  angulus, meaning corner. It is  related to the  Greek  word ankylÃŽ ¿s  meaning crooked, curved, and the  English  word ankle. Both Greek and  English  words come from the Proto-Indo-European  root word ank-  meaning to bend or bow.   Types of Angles Angles that are exactly 90 degrees are called right angles. Angles less than 90 degrees are called acute angles. An angle  that is exactly 180 degrees is called a straight angle  (this appears as a straight line). Angles that are greater than 90 degrees and less than 180 degrees are called  obtuse angles. Angles that are larger than a straight angle but less than 1 turn (between 180 degrees and 360 degrees) are called  reflex angles. An angle that is 360 degrees, or equal to one full turn, is called a full angle or complete angle. For an example of an obtuse angle, the angle of a typical house rooftop is often formed at an obtuse angle. An obtuse angle is greater than 90 degrees since water would pool on the roof  (if it was 90 degrees) or if the roof did not have a downward angle for water to flow.   Naming an Angle Angles are usually named using alphabet letters to identify the different parts of the angle: the vertex and each of the rays. For example, angle BAC, identifies an angle with A as the vertex. It is enclosed by the rays, B and C. Sometimes, to simplify the naming of the angle, it is simply called angle A. Vertical and Adjacent Angles When two straight lines intersect at a point, four angles are formed, for example, A, B, C, and D angles. A pair of angles opposite each other, formed by two intersecting straight lines that form an X-like shape, are called  vertical angles  or  opposite angles. The opposite angles are mirror images of each other. The  degree of angles will be the same. Those pairs are named first.   Since those angles have the same measure of  degrees, those angles are considered equal  or  congruent.   For example, pretend that the letter X is an example of those four angles. The top part of the X forms a v shape, that would be named angle A. The degree of that angle is exactly the same as the bottom part of the X, which forms a ^ shape, and that would be called angle B. Likewise, the two sides of the X form a and an shape. Those would be angles C and D. Both C and D would share the same degrees, they are opposite angles and are congruent. In this same example, angle A and angle C and are adjacent to each other, they share an arm or side. Also, in this example, the angles are supplementary, which mean that each of the two angles combined equals 180 degrees (one of those straight lines that intersected to form the four angles). The same can be said of angle A and angle D.

How does the portable smart phones or computers make easy for doctors Essay

How does the portable smart phones or computers make easy for doctors to not be on the sceen but still assist nurses, EMT's, etc - Essay Example Boone 13). Through technological advancement, the treatment may be conducted through communication being that some of the required treatment gadgets are available within the health centre. Through online doctoral services surgical operations maybe done by the doctor online or the instructions maybe received through online services being that the nurse may not be able to withhold all the instructions that maybe given through online calls (Chayko 18). Through the introduction of PDA, I phones, 3 & 4 G devices an online doctor should be able to give I instruction to the nurse being that this is the same procedure that the nurse assists the doctor to perform (Wang 04). Education Through smart phones and computers doctors are able to carry out online trainings on how to handle specific procedure within the health institutions so that there would be reduction in number of doctors within the health centers at the same time while there are other patients suffering in different places over th e world. Due to clarity of pictures and sound, the doctors can accurately convey treatment information within the shortest time possible so that immediate action be taken to salvage the patient’s health status that could have worsen leading to more complications (Gary B. Shelly 34). Early treatment is better regardless of how scary it maybe, doctors believe in performing first aid before hospitalizing any patient who sufferers from accidents and severe injuries which are likely to lead to blood wastage which could lead to instant death. In the five forces model representing the operations in a health centre, we consider utilizing the buyer branch of the model in order to compare the Monash health centre to other health centers in connection with the use of smart phones and computer in distance diagnostics (Karl Barksdale 38). In order to outdo the competitors in the medical field, Health centre has involved the services of virtual doctors who are cheap compared to hiring a do ctor to come to the hospital. However, in order to perfectly test the online services, it happened by coincidence that the qualified doctor in the specified field was away, being that we had anticipated such situations; the doctor was contacted through phone (Gary B. Shelly 42). The challenge that our competitors in the medical field are not able to catch up with is the purchasing of online communication and diagnostic gadgets that are able to encored information, process and decode the output in then language that a doctor can understand. This has greatly helped the company despite the high cost involved in purchasing the gadget (Chayko 20). Smart gadgets Through availability of wireless network cards doctors are able to communicate with the nurses through both voice and data so as to elaborate the procedure well that the interpreter may not forget about the information that is sent both through voice and data. Through submission of both online movies and book reviews. The video ch art programs are well illustrated to ascertain that the information to be conveyed (Louis E. Boone 49). Through the clear pictures it would be possible to sit as we wait so that water drains out of the labella that had battery. The reason behind the preference of computers and smart phones is that they have a lot of good pictures and audio sounds. Through the involvement of smart phones and computer is also influenced by the quality of information being conveyed