Research Topics: Free Dissertation Abstract Samples

Dissertation Sample Abstract on Laws of Information Security

The Data Protection Regime in Nigeria: Analysis and Comparison of the Nation’s Existing Laws of Information Security with International Standards   In the emergence of the internet and other online processes, a shift towards a new age has been introduced. Information has acquired ascendancy and considered as one of the most potent tool to date. This situations occasioned by social change have also triggered developments in commerce and trade. Activities, that were once believed to be done only through certain channels and by means of certain specific procedures, are now given the added elements of efficiency and effectiveness with the advent of online technologies. Collectively, these processes are deemed as “e-commerce.” As the term implies, business and other trading procedures are at play. This only implies that the legal coverage is similarly required. At some level, vast economies like that of UK and US have established their individual regimes in the protection of the private interests of the members of its civil society. However, similar developments have yet to be seen in developing and less-developed countries. In this regard, this dissertation will focus on the case of Nigeria. The said state has the reputation in the continent as one of the leading markets and users of e-commerce. However, it appears that there are vast rooms for development required in the information security laws in the state as it also infamous for certain online scams that cons people around the world. This dissertation will look into the aspects of information security laws and data protection procedures present in Nigeria.   Chapter 1 Problem and Its Background A.    Introduction B.     Background of the Topic C.    Aim and Objectives of the Dissertation D.    Plan of the Study E.     Rationale Supporting the Dissertation F.     Importance of the Study G.    Scope and Coverage Chapter 2 Literature Review A.   Introduction B.     E-Commerce C.    The Nigerian Experience: Favourable and Otherwise D.    Information Security and Data Protection E.     The Common Criteria for IT Security Evaluations (ISO 15408) F.     Standards for Information Security Management (ISO17799) G.    Syntehesis Chapter 3 Method and Procedures A.   Introduction B.     Method Used C.    Tools For Research D.    Administration of the Research E.     Ethical Considerations Chapter 4 Presentation, Interpretation, and Analysis of the Data Chapter 5 Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations A.   Summary B.     Conclusion C.    Recommendation     Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Dissertation Sample Abstract on Laws of Information Security

The Data Protection Regime in Nigeria: Analysis and Comparison of the Nation’s Existing Laws of Information Security with Internationa...

Research Paper and Analysis Report on the Identification of Key Factors and Indicators in the Motivation of Employees of Unisys Corporation to Increase Business Profitability

Research and Analysis Report on the Identification of Key Factors and Indicators in the Motivation of Employees of Unisys Corporation to Increase Business Profitability      1. Research Context for the Chosen Topic At the turn of the century, human resources managers will have to face new challenges. The economy and markets are different from those of a decade ago. As paradigms have changed, the characteristics affecting human resources management must also be revised such as organizational structure and functions in order to keep up to pace with relevance, latest trends and strategies. In today’s fast and technological modern world, the challenge that the Information Man faces is time’s nature of putting things in order and in place in the best and most effective way. Life has changed since the invention of the computer which dictated man to deal with things in the most efficient way possible. In the world of big international business industries where transactions and other business operations are governed by law, cultural differences and mutual trust, efficiency counts largely as a common entrepreneurial aim.   Most of the successful business endeavors depend greatly on good interpersonal communication and relationship between the service or product providers and their clients. Persuading customers on trying the offered services and products is only a start on putting up a successful entrepreneurial activity. Gaining the trust of the clients and maintaining patrons is very important to ideal business transaction flows. But all these will be put to waste if issues and problems brought about by cultural differences between employers and employees arise in an organization functioning to achieve a common goal.   This research paper aims to provide investigation regarding the factors and indicators of employee motivation through the critical evaluation of the importance of communication, leadership, team work, training and development, and compensation and benefits putting into context the case of Unisys Corporation. Unisys offices are found in Greater China Cluster including China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The researcher aims to concentrate on the profitability status of the Unisys offices from these three countries. This will be useful in identifying whether similar profitability issues and causative factors are encountered by a single company operating in different locations by focusing on the key factors and indicators of employee motivation through the evaluation of the staff and employees of the business organization.   Along with this the research activity will present relevant data and information to achieve the following objectives:   1.      To present the company profile of Unisys Corporation   2.      To find out the significance and impact of employee motivation through a comprehensive literature review and secondary data evaluation.   3.      To provide primary data on the current employee motivation strategies implemented by Unisys Corporation highlighting the aspects of a.      Communication, b.      Leadership, c.      Team work, d.      Training and development, and e.      Compensation and benefits.   4.      To come up with research-based conclusions and recommendations resulting from completed study.   Unisys Corporation provides services that are centered on creating secure business environments for its clients. Specifically, its expertise includes consulting services, outsourcing, infrastructure development, producing enterprise class servers as well as systems integration. Among the major markets serviced by the company include commercial, transportation, media, financial services, and public and communications sectors (www.unisys.com). But despite a strong global presence, the firm has been encountering some strategic issues resulting in major profitability reduction. Since the company is a customer-oriented business organization, it is then important to undertake investigations and studies regarding the human resources of the company as its primary driving force to profitability and success.    For one hundred and thirty years, Unisys has been helping businesses and governments apply information technology to achieve new levels of competitiveness and success. The company’s long history and technical innovation can be illustrated by presenting the infrastructure developments that occurred within the organization for over a century. Unisys Corporation manufactured and sold the very first commercially viable adding and listing machine under the name of American Arithmometer Co. Unisys was also the Remington Typewriter Co. who first introduced the “noiseless” typewriter and the Sperry Gyroscope Co. that manufactured the sell navigational equipment (www.unisys.com).   Along came other technological innovations such as the portable adding machine that weighs twenty pounds, the artificial horizon and the aircraft directional gyro, the ENIAC which is world’s first large-scale, general-purpose digital computer developed at the University of Pennsylvania by J. Prosper Eckert and John Archly, the UNIVAC that enabled quick counts of statistical information, the B5000 Series which was the first dual processor and virtual memory computer, the first cache memory disk subsystem, the first mainframe based on complementary metal oxide semiconductor (COMES) technology (2200/500) under the Unisys name, the first Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server’s support for 32-processor scalability, and the Intelligent Processing Solutions Limited (ISLE) that positioned the company as one of the major providers of outsourced financial services in the world (www.unisys.com).   Unisys is a worldwide enterprise with clients in more than a hundred countries. Strong alliances with industry-leading companies allow the company to move quickly and confidently across a full range of advanced technologies and services and deliver solutions for secure business operations. The alliances allowed the clients to achieve exceptional performance, control costs, competitive advantage and effective risk management. The company focuses on the alliances with proven success in helping meet the specific needs of organization’s clients. These alliances include Cisco Systems, Dell, EMC2, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, NEC, Oracle, and SAP Technology (www.unisys.com).     Moreover, Unisys understands that social responsibility enhances the reputation and strengthens the long-term relationships of the company with clients and partners particularly the communities where it has business operations. The company has earned place in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DOSE) for four consecutive years recognizing Unisys’ proactive policies in responsibly managing the economic, environmental and social aspects of doing business. Unisys believes in conducting business with respect and concern for the environment by promoting recycling programs worldwide and frequently incorporating recycled materials into in to the company’s products in which more than 24.8 million pounds of obsolete products have been collected and processed since 1997 through Unisys parts-recovery facilities and third parties. Unisys supports diversity councils, composed of employees, whose leadership spans gender, ethnicity and cultures to foster diverse and inclusive environment that maximizes the potential of every employee.     2. Literature Review Human resource management (HRM) is known and accepted in the broadest sense of the term, as a form of management that includes “all management decisions and actions that affect the nature of the relationship between the organization and the employees – its human resources” (Beer et al., 1984). The tasks of those belonging in HRM can be complex as it involves all issues that encompass employee and firm relationship. Today, it can be said that role of HRM in the organization has been expanded and improved as new ways to handle employees are discovered.   Believing that the most important asset of a business is the people in order to achieve sustained business success is the core philosophy of human resource management (HRM). Realizing this leads to a strategic management of people within the organization. Its philosophy is based on the simple belief that human resources are the most important asset in achieving and sustaining business success. Human resource professionals basically deal with such areas as employee recruitment and selection, performance evaluation, compensation and benefits, professional development, safety and health, forecasting, and labor relations (Lippie, 2001).   According to Sims (1998) ensuring employee performance requires establishing a level of competence which the employee should be aware of as a target to be achieved. This is the measure to be used by managers in determining compliance with the standard and in identifying problems met by the employees in meeting the standard. In developing a training program to enhance the productivity of employees the manager will look at the competency problems of the employees and fashion the program to enable the employees to reach and even exceed the competency standard established for their work. This requires a great amount of perceptiveness on the part of the manager in determining what method of training will be most effective in improving employee competence. Some of the training includes computer software training, internet-based training and self teaching by encouraging innovativeness in the workplace (Sims, 1998).   Importance of employee motivation. Motivation can be assumed as the reason or the force behind why a person does what he or she does. Sometimes, it is also a means to make the person perform better and more efficient. Basically there are three assumptions in human motivation established in research. The first one assumes that motivation is inferred from a systematic analysis of how personal, task and environmental characteristics influence behavior and job performance (Wiley, 1997). The next one infers that motivation is not a fixed trait; but rather it refers to a dynamic internal state resulting from the influence of personal and situational factors (Wiley, 1997). This means that motivation may change with changes in personal, social or other factors (Wiley, 1997). Finally, motivation affects behavior, rather than performance (Nicholson, 1995; Wiley, 1997). Wiley explained: “Initiatives designed to enhance job performance by increasing employee motivation may not be successful if there is a weak link between job performance and an employee’s efforts” (p.263).   Definition of motivation varies. Robbins (1998) stated: Motivation – “The willingness to exert high levels of effort toward organizational goals, conditioned by the effort’s ability to satisfy some individual need”. On the other hand, Greenberg and Baron (1997) define the motivation as “the set of processes that arouse, direct and maintain human behavior toward attaining some goal”. This definition contents three key essential aspects: arousal, direction and maintaining. Arousal is to do with the drive/energy behind people’s actions such as their interests to do the things or they do it just want making a good impression on others or to feel successful at what they do. Direction means the choices people make to meet the person’s goal. Maintaining behavior could keep people persisting at attempting to meet their goal hence to satisfy the need that stimulated behavior in the first place.   Mullins (1999) defines motivation as ‘the degree to which an individual wants and chooses to engage in certain specified behaviors’. From this theory, Mullins (1999) identifies four common characteristics which underline the above definition of motivation:   ·        Motivation is typified as an individual phenomenon. Every person is unique and all the major theories of motivation allow for this uniqueness to be demonstrate in one way or another. ·        Motivation is described, usually, as intentional. Motivation is assumed to be under the worker’s control, and behaviors that are influenced by motivation, such as effort expended, are seen as choices of action. ·        Motivation is multifaceted. The two factors of greatest importance are (i) what gets people activated (arousal); and (ii) the force of an individual to engage in desired behavior (direction or choice of behavior). ·        The purpose of motivational theories is to predict behavior. Motivation is not the behavior itself, and it is not performance. Motivation concerns action, and the internal and external forces that influence a person’s choice of action (Mullins, 1999).   From the definitions mentioned, it can be analyzed that motivation is necessary for the growth of the employee in the organization. The employee starts his career through learning, basically the culture of the organization and his responsibilities. Motivation is a vital element to learning because if an organization does not possess the ability to motivate its employees, the knowledge within the organization is not practically used to the fullest (Streakier, 1999). Thus, in every successful learning organization, finding the factors that will motivate its employees to partake in continuous learning and to take advantage of this knowledge, accordingly, becomes their aim (Streakier, 1999).   Streakier (1999) said that although there are many motivational theories constructed to find these motivational factors, the values of the employees in the specific organization are seldom included in the theories; thus, there is a risk for validity problems in the measuring instrument, since a suitable combination of motivational factors can only be created through an understanding of the values in the measured object (in this case, the employees). To respond to this need, Streakier (1999) constructed a model, the dynamic triangle of motivation, for the application of existing motivational theories based on needs. In the dynamic triangle motivation, different variables such as society, organizational culture and the personality of employees were taken into account (Streakier, 1999). Accordingly, by accepting the participation of employees in the motivational process and fostering a dialogue between the examiner and the examined, the values in the organization are allowed to influence the whole motivational process (Streakier, 1999, p. 77).   Impact of employee motivation. (2000) discussed: “Employee loyalty is the underpinning of customer satisfaction with the organization. An enthusiastic and loyal employee will nurture productive working relationships with customers. Consequently, it is better for an organization to keep experienced and productive employees to hire new ones. However, to get and keep loyal workers, the organization must have a long run time horizon. It must invest in its employees through training programs and value them through strong organizational vision. In the face of eroding loyalty, attracting and keeping good people is the key to strategic staffing in all industries and sectors” (p. 333).   The rotation of workers around the labor market, may it be between firms, jobs and occupations, or between the states of employment or unemployment, is called as turnover (Burgess, 1998). Accordingly, turnover is one of the most significant causes of declining productivity and sagging morale in both the public and private sectors (2000, p. 333). Excessive turnover may lead to jeopardy of the organization’s objectives and may negatively affect innovation and cause major delays in the delivery of services and introduction of new programs. It may also lead to loss of key employees, which, in turn may have negative impact on the quality and innovation of services delivered, which in turn, may negatively affect the satisfaction of customers of some departments or government agencies. For some government agencies or departments, customers include not only those people who consume services, but also the employees working in their offices (2000).   Retention of skilled employees is obviously important. They function well and stand out among the others. Furthermore, retentions save the company additional expenses. A company loses approximately million with every 10 managerial and professional employees who leave the organization (1997). A company also loses critical knowledge necessary for better performance when a skilled employee decides to resign. Skilled employees are badly needed because they rarely come. If the training was provided by the organization, the turnover of skilled employees would just put the training expenses into waste. Furthermore, the mobility of the company is affected greatly because every turnover puts tasks left behind by the employee into a halt. Even if there would be a temporary substitute before a new employee is hired, it is unsure if the substitute would perform the task faster and efficiently. Then, the hiring process also wastes a considerable amount of time. It also brings additional costs in advertising.   Snell and Dean (1992) stated that skills, knowledge and experience represent capital due to the reason that they enhance productivity. Companies invest in skills training and development to be competitive, but the failure to manage the person trained could be considered a great setback. Employee retention is basically essential in grasping a complete return on investment. Based on the human capital theory, it is imperative that companies invest in skills training and development, but they should also align the compensations and benefits of the person with his or her achievements. In the case of our company, there is obviously a lack in recognizing the achievements of skilled employees. Without recognition and growth, there is no reason for the employee to carry on his good performance, or worse, to continue his service to the organization (Snell & Dean, 1992).     3. Procedures and Methodologies For this study, primary research and secondary research will be used. Primary research will be conducted using questionnaire surveys that will be sent to the employees of the Marketing Division, Customer Relationship Department, and Quality Management Department, if one exists. If there is no department that specifically handles quality management issues, questionnaires will be sent instead to the Human Relations Management (HRM). Furthermore, the top-management will also be surveyed as well as the several employees in the accounting division. Through this questionnaire survey, the researcher will hopefully get to know the performance level of all the departments mentioned. The researcher will also be conducting interview with certain respondents, particularly in the top-management and the management teams in the three departments, as well as in the HRM.   The questionnaires will be used to collect quantitative data and the interviews will be used to provide qualitative insights into the data collected. The survey will be carried out to identify the possible factors that led to the decline of the company’s profit. The interview on the other hand, will be conducted in order to gain information that the survey cannot provide. These would include data collection and analysis for specific issues faced by the company. The management group and the employees from the company’s strategic and marketing divisions are the target respondents for these processes. As this focus on the Greater China Cluster, Unisys offices in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan will be used. To analyze the findings of the survey, the researcher will make use of the Liker rating scale along with computation of the weighted mean of each survey item. Responses from the interview as well as information from secondary resources will be used to support the calculated values.   Key Activities Time Scale Duration Resources Required Browse on Related Literature visit the library, check online resources, 3 weeks Books, Journals, company documents    consult Unisys for documents       Preparation of the proposal identification of the strategic problem, 4 weeks Secondary Resources,    development of research objectives,   Research-writing books    selection of methodology       Development of data-gathering tools designing of the questionnaire, 1 week Related previous researches,    development of interview schedule    paper, photocopier, word pad program Conduction of research proper selection of respondents, conduction of 3 weeks Interview and survey assistants,    interview and survey    tape recorder, paper, pens Data Analysis computation of survey result, encoding 3 weeks Mescal program, word pad program,    interview responses, interpretation of findings,   research assistants, related literature    integration of relevant secondary resources       Preparation of the Final Dissertation formulation of conclusions and 2 weeks Mescal program, word pad program,    recommendations, editing and formatting,   research assistants, paper, printer    printing             Dissertation Essential Elements To achieve this, you are required to produce a Project Dissertation of between 15,000 and 20,000 words   you must address the following key areas:             • How your recommendations could be implemented given the studies that you have undertaken and your prior experience of the organisation or business sector. You will also be expected to include within your recommendations an outline plan detailing the timescales, management interventions and resources that would be need to be available to implement the recommendations.                           • A reflection upon the development of your skills and competences derived from the experience of undertaking the project.     Course Learning Outcomes Upon successful completion of this module, students will be able to:             • Identify specific substantive problems/issues/tasks within organizational/business sector placing them in a strategic context in their investigations.                           • Formulate a related research question via a review of the activities and operations of the organisation/business sector and the environment within which it operates.             • Demonstrate a clear understanding of different research methodologies and their limitations, and be able to explain when one might be more appropriate than another in the context of the chosen research project.               • Apply appropriate qualitative and quantitative research methods including action research as necessary to analyse organizational/business sector strategic problems.               Critically review your own personal development as a manager and set actionable objectives.                           • Demonstrate appropriate skills in recording, interpreting and analyzing qualitative and quantitative data relating to the research topic.               • Demonstrate that the project findings have been logically derived and that conclusions, solutions/recommendations are fully supported by evidence.               • Derive strategic recommendations for changes in an organization’s or business sector’s activities and strategies and articulate these in a concise and coherent manner for implementation by management.     This module is designed to work in close harmony with the Research Methods module and you will be expected to draw upon ideas and concepts presented to formulate your research and carry out the dissertation. In addition, you are also required to take note of the following elements, which are essential to the success and assessment of your project:                           1. Setting a Context for the Chosen Topic   You must provide an insight into the context underpinning the project, e.g. you may need to give a review of what is currently happening within a specific organisation or particular business sector and to review some key themes relating to the strategic problems you are investigating. Setting an appropriate context will help the reader to appreciate why you have chosen the topic and why the topic is significant.                           2. Undertake a Literature Review   You must carry out a comprehensive review of the published work from secondary sources, which is of specific interest to the central themes of your intended investigation. When doing this, you need to:             Identify the leading authors and practitioners and reflect upon the implications of their contribution to the central themes of the topic area.             • Clearly state the aims and objectives of the review and provide a logical presentation of the research done             • State the specific research question’s) supported where applicable with specific research hypotheses.               3. Developing Valid Methodologies You must provide substantive evidence of why you have used particular research methods and techniques to take your investigations forward. When doing so, you will need to:             • Explain why such techniques and methods are appropriate.             • Indicate that you are aware of the scope and limitations of the methods adopted.             • Discuss the theories, concepts and models used, their rationale and how   They have been applied.   4. Review Your Personal Develop Plan As you commence the project you must reflect upon the personal development objectives that you wish to achieve in conducting and completing your project. As such, you must include a short commentary discussing the extent to which your personal development objectives have been achieved and the skills that you refined or acquired in achieving those objectives.   5. Findings You need to critical evaluate the factors/issues/problems relating to your chosen topic area. You must recognize that there are different perspectives on problems/issues and on the solutions to those problems/issues. Therefore you need to generate balanced arguments and use illustrative examples to justify your findings.   6. Conclusions/Solutions/Recommendations You must summaries the results of your investigation and emphasize the significance of the results. When doing so, you will need to:             • State solutions to problems.               • Make future recommendations for future action and future research.             • Include time scales relating to the review of your recommendations and   their potential implementation together with the resources and management actions likely to be required to support the measures that need to be taken.   7. Referencing All sources of information will need to be appropriately acknowledged and referenced as per the Harvard Convention (Refer to the Student Handbook). Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Research Paper and Analysis Report on the Identification of Key Factors and Indicators in the Motivation of Employees of Unisys Corporation to Increase Business Profitability

Research and Analysis Report on the Identification of Key Factors and Indicators in the Motivation of Employees of Unisys Corporation to ...

As Seen On Screen: Strategy Market Plan

As Seen On Screen: Strategy Market Plan     Abstract               ASOS is known of the most recognized online clothing store in the United Kingdom. It offers products that people often see worn by celebrities. As such, many people are encouraged to try out their items. In addition, the prices of their products are relatively lower compared to high street fashion. Because of these along with other factors, ASOS was able to grow. With the growth of ASOS over the years, it is important to ensure that it can be sustained. The fact that online shoppers and traditional shoppers differ in terms of concerns and behavior, it is critical for ASOS to study the purchasing behavior of their market segment to determine the kind of strategy that they need use to ensure success now and in the future. This research focuses on the various aspects of online retailing in the hopes of investigating the purchasing behavior of ASOS customers and formulating recommendation on how to keep the margin profit of the company on increasing.   Chapter 1   Background of the Study                            For the past 50 years, the retail industry has been under numerous changes (2002). For example, the 1950’s saw downtowns as the center of retailing. People would often go downtown to avail of various products and services. This products and services included clothing, food, hardware supplies and banking services. A decade later, a group of retailers started offering their products and services in large department stores. The idea is to provide convenience to the shoppers. By creating a place were various retailers can offer their products and services, shoppers will no longer have to make several trips to different locations in order to purchase the things that they need. This means that retailers hoped to create a one-stop shop for their customers. As a result, big names such as Wal-Mart and K-Mart made big names in the retail industry. On the other hand, downtown or small scale and specialized retail outlets experienced a decline in the 1970s and 1980s ( 2002).               From the late part of 1980s to the early years of 1990s, a new kind of retailing came in being. Home TV shopping networks as well as warehouse clubs became very popular among consumers. If one-stop department stores aimed to provide convenience to their customers, Home shopping networks brought the idea of convenience to a completely new level. Instead of encouraging customers to drive to their stores, retails brought the stores inside homes and purchasing the desired products is as easy as calling a toll free number. On the other hand, warehouse clubs offered customers the opportunity to buy products in bulk and at discounted prices. Costco and Sam’s Club are some of the warehouse clubs that earned success (2002).               The changes within the retail industry continued well into the late part of the 1990s. Along with the success of internet, retailers were quick to recognize surfing the web as well as the use of other internet applications was fast becoming incorporated in the lives of many people around world. For this reason, they have decided to bring their stores online. The move to utilize the internet was a good decision in terms of marketing. Cable television took 25 years to reach approximately 10 million people, while computers took seven years to do the same. However, the internet was able to manage that feat in just six months. This means that retail store will have more chances of exposure if they have their own website.               Since the utilization of the internet for retailing purposes, many companies have been able to experience the benefits of bringing their businesses online. With this, a need was created to formulate strategies that focus on maximizing the potentials of internet. Nowadays, ecommerce, ebanking and other forms of ebusinesses are becoming a popular choice among the consumers and as such, it is also becoming a popular form of business for companies. Increase in sales are usually expected by companies when they launch an online store of host websites that offers their products and services.               In the retailing industry, etailing is also fast becoming the choice of companies. One of the companies that concentrate in advancing their etailing endeavor is As Seen On Screen 0r ASOS. They offer clothing and other fashion related items that are similar to designer fashion worn by celebrities but a t a lower price. They have a website where they post the products that they currently have. In addition, they show actual photos of celebrities wearing a similar item of clothing that are being sold on their site.               Despite the degree of success that ASOS was able to achieve over the years of their operation, there are still problems that they need to resolve in order to ensure the survival of their business. This is the rationale behind this paper. This paper will be presenting the conditions that ASOS are operating in as well as the various aspects that they need to focus on in order to maintain  steady or increasing follow of profit. These will be done in order to be able to formulate recommendations that will help the specified company in addressing the issues that surround their business. However, the findings of this paper as well as the recommendations that will be formulated have the possibility of being useful to other ebusinesses.     Statement of the Problem                 The problem of ASOS is generally related to the problem faced by most online retailers: the online consumer buying behavior. Not only does buying apparel online represent a new form of consumer behavior in the ‘computer-mediated shopping environment’ ( 1996), apparel online retailers also face intense competition. Attracting consumers with the limited resources available on the internet is a big challenge to online retailers like ASOS. Knowing the online consumer behaviors will let the retailers and managers of these companies formulate and develop effective strategies that will help increase the popularity and sales of clothing online.     Moreover, ecommerce is an expensive business but is also proven profitable once become effective. According to a survey, clothing belonged to the top six categories of holiday gifts in the USA during the 2000 Christmas season (2000)  and about 8.4% of the total weekly online purchases in 2000 is the apparel category (2000). These results suggest that selling clothing online is an effective business especially if a company has marketing strategies that will help in the success of the online business.   According to a study of users who have bought products online, there are five main reasons why people shop through the Internet. These are convenience and ease of use; greater selection; better prices; easier comparison-shopping; and no sales pressure (1997).  On the other hand, there are also reasons why people are not attracted to making purchases online especially when it comes to clothing. The top four most frequently identified reasons why consumers are not purchasing online are ability to judge quality, security, privacy, and easier to purchase locally ( 1998 ; 1999).   Based on these reasons of shopping online and ‘not shopping online’, an online retailer can now focus on what to improve on their services and what to guarantee Internet users to attract them and to be prospective customers   Significance of the Research                 The findings of this research will benefit the specified company, ASOS, primarily. The benefits will come in the form of the recommendations that will be stated in the latter part of the paper. In addition, they will also find the research body useful since it will be focusing on how to interact with consumers specifically when the business uses the internet to transact with their customers. As such, the body of the research will help ASOS in formulating their own strategies and marketing plan. In this turn, this will allow them to increase their profitability by meeting the expectations of their customers.               In addition, the research will also be benefiting the customers of ASOS. This is the case since the strategies that will be recommended will be in relation to improving the services and products that ASOS provides in their online stores. Aside form this, the strategies will also be brushing on the subject of how to improve the website of the company to ensure that the needs of the customers when shopping online will be met. As such, the improvement of the way ASOS conducts business online implies that their customers will be treated to a more convenient online shopping experience.               Looking at the bigger picture, the retail industry, especially those who are selling clothes and other fashion related items, will also find the findings of the research useful. This is more appropriate with retailers who are already online or are planning to create their own online stores. This is the case since the strategies that will be mentioned in this paper will be focusing on the use of the internet as a retailing tool for success.   Objectives                           Any research that has been completed had a set of objectives that guided them in the process. These objectives allowed the researchers to determine the kinds of information that will be useful in arriving at the recommendations for ASOS. In addition, the objectives of the research paves the way for the management of time and resources. This is the case since researchers will not be wasting time on gathering information that will not contribute to the completion of the research.               In the case of this research, the main objective is to investigate the behavior of the consumers who shop online. This is very important since it will allow a company to make projections as well as conduct scenario planning based on previous consumer behavior. This means that trends can be determined and analyzed in order to make forecasts. In turn, these forecasts will serve as the launching point for the formulation of strategies that aims to maintain or improve the performance of the company online.               In order to achieve the main objectives of the study, specific objectives must be present. This will serve as a road map leading to the destination. The specific objectives of this research are as follow:   -       to investigate the behavior of consumers who buy clothes online -       to determine purchasing trends of clothes and other fashion related items online -       to determine the factors that affect the purchasing decisions online shoppers -       to evaluate the current effectiveness of ASOS’ website influencing the consumers’ decision to purchase                 Chapter 2   History of ASOS                 ASOS is the brainchild of Nick Robertson and the company’s co-founder Quentin Griffiths. It was founded on June of 2000. Coming from a company that specialized in product placement, they worked on placing products that were seen on television and films. After a while, they concluded that the market was ready for a kind of store where people will be able to purchase items that are similar to those that were worn by celebrities ( 2005). The basic premise of ASOS is to offer trendy clothes similar to the designer clothes of celebrities at affordable prices.               The company was originally named As Seen On Screen. However, it was formally changed to ASOS in 2003. A year before they changed their name, the company aimed for the London Stock Exchange. To add to their product offering, ASOS began to sell shoes, accessories, beauty products as well as jewelry in 2004. In the same year they were named as the second online clothing store by Hitwise magazine after Next ( 2005).               Steadily, the sales of ASOS grew. There biggest sale was recorded from November to December of 2005. This resulted to an increase in the operating profit of the company. A seventy-one point seven percent increased was noted, which resulted to ₤1.1M operating profit in 2004-2005. In the table below, it is noticeable that the growth of ASOS came only in the years 2004-2005 when there group operating margin was recorded at eight point two and seven point nine respectively ( 2005).             However, it was the company’s belief that the sales could have been higher if only some problems were quickly resolved. One of those problems was the warehousing problems. The number of orders that flooded ASOS during the holiday season of 2004 required them to ship around 2,000 to 3,000 orders per day ( 2005). However, their warehouse was too small to accommodate the number of orders they got for the month of December. This brought about problems in stocking, organizing and processing items that came in large quantities in so little time.   Figure 1: ASOS Financial Performance 2000-2005 ( 2005).                 In addition, any of the items that ASOS were not offered during that season. After the rush of Christmas shopping subsided, many items were not sold and this resulted to a loss in full price sales opportunity. Since the items left in the warehouse ware already out of season, ASOS did not have any other choice but to offer them at discounted price early in 2005.               This loss is noticeable in the table presented above. In 2004, the group-operating margin of ASOS was at eight point two percent, while its group-operating margin for the following year was only at seven point nine.   ASOS Objectives                 Being both in the fashion and retail industry, ASOS needs to be able to meet the requirements of both industries in order to succeed. In relation to the fashion industry, ASOS must ensure that the items they are offering are in season. Being up to date, when it comes to the latest styles, is crucial for the case of ASOS. This is due to the fact that they are capitalizing on the trends that celebrities start. If ASOS is able to maintain this ability then the retail industry requirement can also be meet since trendy or in season clothes are more profitable than those that are not. This has been proven in the case stated earlier where ASOS had to sell out of season clothing at a discounted price. With this in mind, it is the objective of ASOS to offer and deliver the trendiest in season collection to their customers.               Another objective of ASOS is to provide a pleasant online shopping experience to their customer. It is important to associate shopping with being online for ASOS’ case. It is a fact that being physically involved in shopping brings about a different experience compared to shopping online. For example,     ASOS.com                 The ASOS.com website could be improved through a variety of ways that would benefit both the company and the consumer.  For example if video and audio clips were added to some pages, this could increase the interest level for the browsing customer, which could result in increased sales figures.  Customer services could be improved through the addition of a live chat service on the website, providing the opportunity for customers to interact with retail staff directly about any questions or concerns they may have about their shopping experience.  Other issues that would need to be addressed within the ASOS.com website include increased contact with staff, faster processing of refunds and returns and an increase in transparency which could be achieved through more comprehensive information on the company itself.     Chapter 3   Methodology     The research design used in the study is descriptive research. Descriptive research intends to present facts concerning the nature and status of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study (1994). It is also concerned with relationships and practices that exist, beliefs and processes that are ongoing, effects that are being felt, or trends that are developing. In addition, such approach tries to describe present conditions, events or systems based on the impressions or reactions of the respondents of the research (1994).   In addition, the descriptive method is widely used in studies concerning behavioural sciences. This means that this method will be able to capture the essence of the study, which is to determine the purchasing behavior of online shoppers particularly those who are ASOS customers. The use of the descriptive method also suggests that the research will be focusing on obtaining qualitative data. Qualitative research is an umbrella that refers to various research traditions and strategies. This type of research design was chosen since it gives emphasis to attitudes and beliefs of that explain the way they interpret and make sense of their world. In the case of this research, the perception of the consumers regarding shopping online for clothes and other fashion related items. Target Population and Sampling Methods It is important that the researcher be able to define the target population to be able to determine the sampling method that needs to be used. This is the case since sampling methods to be used will be the reflection of the characteristics of the target population defined.  Sampling can be classified into probability or non-probability.  Probability methods describe the target population as a population where every member has non-zero probability of being chosen as subjects.  Non-probability methods describe the target population as a population where members can be selected to be subjects in some random manner.  For this particular research, the sampling methods used are those from the probability methods since the target population was chosen regardless of gender, race, experience or status. It is stated the participant were chosen regardless of sex since members of both sexes were included in the population of the participants. The utilization of the probability methods can also prove to be advantageous since sampling errors can be calculated.  This means that the researcher will be able to determine the degree that sample differed from the population. There are three kinds of sampling under the probability method that can be used – random, systematic and stratified.  The three samplings can be used independently or simultaneously (2005).  The participants were chosen through stratified random sampling. The stratified sampling was chosen because it is more superior compared to random when it comes to lessening sampling errors.   Stratum refers to the subset of the population that shares, at the very least one, common characteristics. In this case, the stratum is being an ASOS customer. Both make and female customers were also included in the research as participants.      Chapter 4   Competitor Analysis     According to (2000), competition is important since it affects the success of a business venture. Proctor added that competition is more than just producing and distributing products and services that matches the needs of the consumers. Competition is about the company’s capability of positioning itself in the market so that they will stand out among the rest in the perception of the consumers.   In the case of ASOS, they do not have any direct competitors when it comes to clothing associated with celebrities. However, it is the case that do compete with  other clothing retailing stores such as Topshop and FIgleaves.com.   SWOT   Strengths             The strength of ASOS is its utilization of the Internet. Through the Internet, it has formed a definite market segment that is composed of mainly Internet users. A firm that limits its attention to fewer market segments can better serve those segments than those firms that influence the entire market. Moreover, its core focus, which is apparel, as worn by celebrities at affordable price gives them a marketing edge for it attracts customers right away. It also gives huge discounts and has broad category coverage.   Weaknesses             Online retailing in general is getting bad publicity nowadays such as poor delivery performance. Another weakness is that ASOS cannot guarantee specific product or brand presence. Internet selling is unlikely to be successful, as consumers like to try on clothes and see the quality of fabric and workmanship.   Opportunities Ecommerce channels now represent 11% of the total UK retail business, and record numbers of products are being procured vie the internet (Thomson et al, 2005). People are attracted by low prices and convenience.  In addition, they have integrated their everyday activities to technology and the Internet, including shopping. As the number of working women, who are ASOS core customers, continues to increase, they will not only need more clothes for work but are also more likely to be financially independent to purchase clothes.   Threats             Online clothing chains from overseas are successfully invading UK and at the same time, branded apparel such as Diesel, Guess and Zara are still popular among the market. Other purely online fashion etailers such as Yoox.co.uk, Brandalley.co.uk are also their main threats. Downturn in the economy could also cause buyers to cut back on overall spending.       Chapter 5     Product Strategy                 The product line of ASOS is defined. The company knows exactly what they want to up out in their website. As the former name of the company suggests, the product line of ASOS is composed of clothing articles as well as other fashion related items that have been seen on celebrity fashion icons or trendsetters. The company’s decision to extend their product line to include beauty products can still be deemed as within the original intentions of the company. This is the case beauty products are now being considered by many, as a fashion must. A good skin is needed in order to make a certain look work.               Since the products of the company focuses on products that must be appealing to the eye of the customers in order to be bought, visual merchandising is important in conveying the aesthetics of the products that they are offering. Customers need to see that the clothing items that are being offered in the website were indeed “as seen on screen”. Like the conventional retail clothing outlets, ASOS does have a window to display their products. The pages of their website serve as the windows where their customers can see the products.                However, unlike conventional retail clothing stores, ASOS do not have any mannequins to dress-up.  Instead, they relay on photos to act as their online mannequins. In order to generate an almost complete picture of a dress being offered on the website, they would display multiple shots of a model wearing the same dress but with varying angles. As such, an almost 360-degree view of the dress can be generated on line. Aside from the pictures of the items being sold on the site, pictures of celebrities wearing the same styled article of clothing are being displayed next to the items. This acts as an assurance that the item was indeed as seen on screen.   Positioning Strategy               The target market segment of ASOS is as defined as their product line. They target people who are eighteen to thirty years of age and who are internet savvy. Based on the questionnaires prepared and used for this research, the biggest bulk of ASOS customers are eighteen to twenty-two years. This age group represents fifty-five percent of the total ASOS customers. It is followed by people who belong in the age brackets twenty-four to twenty-nine and thirty to thirty-five who twenty percent of the ASOS customer population each. Lastly, people who are thirty-six to forty-two years old complete the population representation five percent of the total.   Figure 2: ASOS customer population by age groups               The result of the survey concluded that ASOS targeted the right age group for the products. This is the case since the surveyed revealed that eighteen to thirty year old customers are more open to buying the products that ASOS offers. Another reason for the bulk customers on the said age bracket can be attributed to the fact that people within this age group are more adept at with using computers as well as navigating the internet. In addition, they are also the ones who are part of the corporate world where everything is fast-paced that they do not have the time to go down town and shop for the clothes and other fashion items.               It will be more convenient for them to browse ASOS’ website, pick the item that they want, pay for it online and wait for it to be delivered to their specified address.  This could only take a few minutes depending on the customer, if they know exactly what to buy or if they are still looking for one.  This also suggests that working people can easily do their shopping even while in the office yet not disrupt their tasks. This means that ASOS shopping is a welcomed distraction during workdays. In fact, peak shopping times were recorded at lunchtimes and between 7pm to 9pm.               In relation to gender, eighty percent of ASOS shoppers are women, while only two percent are male as shown on figure 3 below. This is still according to the survey conducted for this research. This may be the case since most of the items that are being offered online are for women. In addition, the marketing activity of ASOS focuses on disseminating information to more women than men. 500,000 emails are sent to females twice a week compared to 100,000 emails sent to males only once a week.   Figure 3: ASOS customer population by gender   Offer Strategy               The success of ASOS is being owed to their ability to offer trendy clothes at significantly lower prices. However, there are still other factors that needs to be considered when discussing the success of ASOS as an online retail clothing store. Aside from the price of the products, the seasonability of the products being offered is also crucial. It is a fact that the fashion industry is always on its toes when it comes to innovation. Various collections come out on a regular basis depending on the season. There are winter and summer collections as well as spring and fall collections.   It is important that will be able to provide the trendiest clothes for a particular season at a relatively lower price to their market segment. This is the case since the customer base of ASOS wants to achieve a look that is the same as that of celebrities who have sponsorship to top and branded designers.   Timing Strategy               Based on the discussion earlier, the sales of ASOS increased significantly during the holiday season of 2004. This is the case because orders for products that will serve as gifts were in demand. In addition, a series of events take place during the holidays. Family reunions and countless parties are set to happen during this time of the year. This means that people will always be on the look out for clothes that they will be able to use during these events.               However, it is also expected that during the holiday season discounts abound. This means that consumers are also on the lookout for bargain deals. In the case of ASOS, they are able to meet the needs of their customers for ideal apparel at reasonable prices. As such, during the holiday season ASOS must be able to get the word going that they will be able to provide quality yet affordable wares for the people.             Activity Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Conceptualization of Marketing Campaign         Formulation of the marketing Campaign         Dissemination of the Campaign to target market segments             Chapter 6   Convenience               Online shopping is often being linked to convenience. People expect online shopping to be a breeze. They are attracted by the fact that they would be able to purchase the things that they needed without even their homes. This is the kind of convenience that etailing is currently offering their customers almost all over the world. However, the convenience that customers are looking for do not stop there. Other considerations must be taken in order to determine if the customers are really being provided the kind of convenience that online shoppers are looking for.               One of the considerations in evaluating convenience in relation to online shopping is the ease of finding the website of the company, in this case ASOS. In this aspects ASOS do not have any problems since the URL of the website is ASOS.com. Once the customer enters this URL they will automatically be directed to the ASOS online store and immediately start shopping.               Once on the website, the customers will be greeted with a page that is easy to navigate. Ton the left side of the screen various categories are listed where the customers can narrow down their searches in order to easily find the clothing item that they are looking for. For comparison purposes photos of the celebrity seen wearing the original clothing item are also shown when the ASOS products are clicked.   Customer Value and Benefit   People will most likely buy from a friend than a salesperson.  This one thing should be kept in mind by anyone who wishes to venture into the battlefield of sales. With that in mind the researcher must keep in mind that way a salesperson presents himself/herself and the products provides a lasting impact on the customer.  It is often said that veteran salespeople can sense if the will be able to close the deal or not within the first 30 seconds of the conversation.   When people are purchasing something they are actually taking into consideration quite a few things like family and friends.  Take the case of women for example, most women especially ones with kids will check if specific brand of cereal has Recommended Daily Allowance of vitamins and nutrients that their kids needs before actually purchasing a box of cereal. People want to make sure that they are getting was would be more beneficial to them and their family and of course they want to make sure that the purchase is worth the money.   This is one of the reasons why salespeople have developed a sales technique involving the features, benefits and advantages of a product or service. According to Dave Fellman (2005), The FAB formula is the idea that all products have features that creates advantages, which in turn provides benefits for the customer. This kind of product presentation makes the customer realize that the product or service being offered is of great value to them.                       In the case of ASOS, the benefits that they are capitalizing on is the fact that ordinary men and women have the opportunity to look like celebrities since the products that they offer are the same as the clothing of celebrities but are more affordable compared to high street fashion prices. As such, people have the chance of improving their self-esteem and boosting their self-confidence just like the celebrities who wear the original version of the clothes that ASOS is selling.   Cost to the Customer               According to the survey conducted for this research, the average of an ASOS basket is around ₤21 to ₤50. This is usually composed of three products in one basket. People who are spending ₤21 to ₤50 represent 55 percent of the ASOS consumer population surveyed for this research. Nevertheless, there those who spend around ₤51 to ₤100 per transaction and they re[resent  thirty percent of the population surveyed. Lastly, there are those who spend less than ₤20 per transaction.               Figure 4: Money Spent of ASOS shopping               However, it is important to note that there are other expenses that need to be considered when shopping online in general. Surfing the internet requires the user to consume electricity and use the services of a telephone, cable or satellite companies, whichever is preferred or available to the customers’ area. This means that online shopping expenses includes electricity and internet access fees. However, these expenses are offset by the fact that no gasoline or fare charges were added to the total expenses since the customers did not have to drive to the store and pick-out the dress and not to mention the hassle-free transaction.  In addition, taxes in the customers’ area must also be considered.   Computing and Category Management               Supply is not a problem for ASOS. This was proven in the past when they were able to meet the holiday shopping needs of their customers in 2004. This is the case despite the problems that they encountered in relation to their small warehouse. Now that ASOS was able to move a bigger warehouse, they will be able to maximize their potential and might be able to surpass their highest recorded sales in the previous years.               However, there is one issue that ASOS needs to resolve immediately. Otherwise, it might affect their sales in the future. From the time ASOS was launched until this day, they only offer clothing items up to size 12. This means ASOS is excluding a segment of the market that can offer them additional profit. This may also cause some customers to get turned off since this suggests that ASOS thinks only people with size 12 bodies have the right to wear celebrity inspired apparel.   Customer Franchise   ASOS customers have provided a number of reasons why they buy at the online store. These include the frequency of new products being added and displayed on the website, the price, the convenience, fast transaction as well as the ability to track the orders. These answers by the participants in the research suggests that ASOS was able to get the trust of their customers and thus people kept on going back to the website to make purchases.   The ability of an online company to get the trust of their customers is crucial .This is the case it is not easy to get a customer to input their credit card information. This is due to the proliferation of spyware that threatens to capture personal information over the internet.   Figure 5: Reason why people shop at ASOS   Customer Care and Service   According to Ross (1999), Total Quality Management is the incorporation of all the functions and processes of the organization (p. 1) to be able to develop the quality of the services and or/products that they offer. With this, it can be stated that customer relationship management programs are included in total quality management. The need to develop an effective total quality management is important due to various reasons. However, these reasons are still geared towards providing customers with the great business experience with the company.  It is also the case that total quality management views customer satisfaction in relation to customer retention and increase in the profits.   These are being considered by ASOS when they designed their website. They wanted to give their customers the kind of shopping experience that would lead them back to the website and make more purchases.   Communication and Customer Relationship     Some researchers believe that customer satisfaction leads to customers who will keep coming back to the same store despite the growing number of available grocery stores.  This results from the customers’ experience when they were conducting business with that particular store.  These researchers believes that the presence of customers who are willing to spend a little more or spend more time on the website just to be able to shop at their preferred store confirms that customer experience,  in this case customer satisfaction can help online stores in increasing their profit.  In fact, a number of companies believe so much in the power of customer satisfaction together with other key factors like revenue and profit that they use it to measure their stores’ over-all performance.    This take on customer satisfaction brings about the concept that business must include customer satisfaction programs in their budget allocation. One such example of this practice can be observed in Sears Roebuck & Co.  Other retail stores even use customer satisfaction rating as a measure for employee compensation.  Employees and executives are being rewarded based on the feedback that the store gets from its customers.  Businesses do this in order to foster a culture of delivering top-quality customer service that will improve financial performance.  This statement simply means that businesses believe that the more satisfied the customers are the more profitable the store will be.  They give much importance to on the fact that it is costly to attract customers but even more expensive to lose them (2004).    According to  (, 2005), the cost of gaining new customers is 6-7 times more expensive than retaining customer and a 5 percent increase in customer retention can also increase profit by 25-95 percent.  However, the on the average American companies lose 50 percent of their customers every 5 years.  This, to a certain degree, proves that there is an indirect relation between customer satisfaction and increase in sales through increased customer retention.   On the other hand, there are those researchers who believe that customer satisfaction does not always translate to customer loyalty or retention. According to two  researchers, Jones and Sasser, customer satisfaction result in varying levels of loyalty, which affects the customers’ disposition towards patronage.  This means that customer satisfaction do not create loyal customers because even satisfied customers have the tendency to change stores. This change of store by the customers can be justified by the level of satisfaction that they will get from another store.  Therefore, the focus of customer satisfaction must be aimed at proving the highest value bundle to the customers in order to ensure the highest level of customer satisfaction (2003).   Even though, the two examples provide different view regarding the relation of customer satisfaction and customer retention, it is evident that customer satisfaction affects customer retention. In addition, customer retention results in increased profit since customer retention lessens the turnover rates (1990).  The only difference that was actually posted by the two articles involves how customer satisfaction affects customer retention.  The first example stated that customer satisfaction automatically results in customer retention while the second views that customer retention is dependent on the degree of satisfaction that the customers get.   In the case of ASOS, They ensure customer satisfaction by creating a more user-friendly website so that their customers will not have a hard time navigating and end up being frustrated by the difficulty of ordering form their online store.   Chapter 7 Recommendations                 Based on the discussions made above, ASOS can better serve their customers if they ensure the requirements of the 7C’s as presented in the previous chapter are met. This means that they must be able to provide outstanding services to encourage relationship between them and their customers. In turn, this will led to customers who are satisfied and willing to do more business with them.               Based on the survey conducted for this research, ASOS customers the things that concern them when they are buying at ASOS are style, price and quality respectively. This means that ASOS must be able to meet these demands of their customers if they want to ensure continued patronage from them.               In addition, customers also want to see improvements in the website. They want more interactive type website. This means music and video clips are believed to be helpful in a customers’ decision to make a purchase. Furthered customer assistance is also being requested. Live chat is being considered by many customers. ASOS can actually provide this kind of service if they outsource it to call centers in Asia for example. It will be cheaper to outsource it than to create an in-house call center.     Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

As Seen On Screen: Strategy Market Plan

As Seen On Screen: Strategy Market Plan Abstract ASOS is known of the most recognized online clothing store in the ...