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Assignment 3 SBM “Entrepreneurs must determine what to sell, to whom and how often, on what terms and at what price, and how to get the product or se

Assignment 3 SBM
“Entrepreneurs must determine what to sell, to whom and how often, on what terms and at what price, and how to get the product or service to the customer. In short, a marketing plan identifies a company’s target customers and describes how it will attract and keep them. The process does not have to be complex.” (Scarborough & Cornwall, 2015, p. 274).

With this assignment, you will address some of the basic areas within a marketing plan and help to refine your strategies for creating a successful business.

Using the business from Assignment 2, write a three to four (3-4) page paper in which you:

Identify its primary target market.
Specify three (3) methods you will use to research customer needs and wants.
Describe the marketing mix: a) product, b) pricing strategy, c) promotion, and d) placement/distribution.
Create a one-year advertising budget and plan that incorporates the use of various advertising media and publicity.
Include at least two (2) references outside the textbook.

Assignment 3 SBM “Entrepreneurs must determine what to sell, to whom and how often, on what terms and at what price, and how to get the product or se Read More »

week 2 discussion cloud computing Consider, in 500 words or more, how business processes as services can improve efficiency. This discussion is about

week 2 discussion cloud computing
Consider, in 500 words or more, how business processes as services can improve efficiency. This discussion is about business process as a service and security.
Use at least three sources. Use the Research Databases available from the DanforthLibrary not Google. Include at least 3 quotes from your sources enclosed in quotation marks and cited in-line by reference to your reference list. Example: “words you copied” (citation) These quotes should be one full sentence not altered or paraphrased. Cite your sources using APA format. Use the quotes in your paragaphs. Stand alone quotes will not count toward the 3 required quotes.
Copying without attribution orthe use ofspinbotor other word substitution software will result in a grade of 0.
Write in essay format not in bulleted, numbered or other list format.

week 2 discussion cloud computing Consider, in 500 words or more, how business processes as services can improve efficiency. This discussion is about Read More »

Discussion Post :research question/problem u Explain the importance of a research question/problem. Create a clinical research question related to a

Discussion Post :research question/problem u
Explain the importance of a research question/problem. Create a clinical research question related to a clinical experience you have encountered at work/school. Use the PICOT format to create your question. Select a topic/area of interest to you as this will be your topic you will use for the remaining semester to develop a research protocol.TOPIC OF MY INTEREST WOULD BE SUBSTANCE ABUSE.
Requirements for this post:

Read the PICOT article attached
Word count: Max 500 words
APA format

T
o fully implement evidence-
based practice (EBP),
nurses need to have both

a spirit of inquiry and a culture
that supports it. Inour first article
in this series (Igniting a Spirit of
Inquiry:AnEssential Foundation
for Evidence-Based Practice,
November 2009),we defined a
spirit of inquiry as an ongoing
curiosity about the best evidence
toguide clinical decisionmaking.
A spirit of inquiry is the founda-
tionof EBP, andonce nurses pos-
sess it, its easier to take the next
steptoask the clinical question.1

Formulating a clinical question
in a systematicwaymakes it pos-
sible to find an answermore
quickly and efficiently, leading to
improved processes and patient
outcomes.
In the last installment,wegave

an overviewof themultistepEBP
process (The Seven Steps of
Evidence-Based Practice, Janu-
ary). Thismonthwell discuss
step one, asking the clinical
question. As a context for this
discussionwell use the same

scenariowe used in the previous
articles (see Case Scenario for
EBP: Rapid Response Teams).
In this scenario, a staff nurse,

lets call herRebeccaR., noted
that patients on hermedical
surgical unit had a high acuity
level thatmay have led to an in-
crease in cardiac arrests and in the

number of patients transferred
to the ICU.Of thepatientswho
had a cardiac arrest, four died.
Rebecca sharedwith her nurse
manager a recently published
study onhow the use of a rapid
response teamresulted in reduced
in-hospital cardiac arrests andun-
planned admissions to the critical

Asking the Clinical Question: A Key Step in
Evidence-Based Practice

A successful search strategy starts with a well-formulated question.

This is the third article in a series from the Arizona State University College of Nursing and Health Innovations Center
for the Advancement of Evidence-Based Practice. Evidence-based practice (EBP) is a problem-solving approach to the
delivery of health care that integrates the best evidence from studies and patient care data with clinician expertise and
patient preferences and values. When delivered in a context of caring and in a supportive organizational culture, the
highest quality of care and best patient outcomes can be achieved.

The purpose of this series is to give nurses the knowledge and skills they need to implement EBP consistently, one
step at a time. Articles will appear every two months to allow you time to incorporate information as you work toward
implementing EBP at your institution. Also, weve scheduled Ask the Authors call-ins every few months to provide a
direct line to the experts to help you resolve questions. Details about how to participate in the next call will be pub-
lished with Mays Evidence-Based Practice, Step by Step.

Case Scenario for EBP: Rapid Response Teams

Youre a staff nurse on a busy medicalsurgical unit. Overthe past three months, youve noticed that the patients on
your unit seem to have a higher acuity level than usual, with
at least three cardiac arrests per month, and of those patients
who arrested, four died. Today, you saw a report about a
recently published study in Critical Care Medicine on the use
of rapid response teams to decrease rates of in-hospital car-
diac arrests and unplanned ICU admissions. The study found
a significant decrease in both outcomes after implementation
of a rapid response team led by physician assistants with spe-
cialized skills.2 Youre so impressed with these findings that
you bring the report to your nurse manager, believing that a
rapid response team would be a great idea for your hospital.
The nurse manager is excited that you have come to her with
these findings and encourages you to search for more evidence
to support this practice and for research on whether rapid re-
sponse teams are valid and reliable.

58 AJN March 2010 Vol. 110, No. 3 ajnonline.com

care unit.2 Shebelieved this could
be a great idea for her hospital.
Based onher nursemanagers
suggestion to search formore evi-
dence to support theuseof a rap-
id response team,Rebeccas spirit
of inquiry ledher to take thenext
step in the EBPprocess: asking

the clinical question. Lets follow
Rebecca as shemeetswithCar-
losA., oneof the expertEBPmen-
tors from the hospitals EBP and
research council, whose role is to
assist point of care providers in
enhancing their EBPknowledge
and skills.

Types of clinical questions.
Carlos explains toRebecca that
finding evidence to improve pa-
tient outcomes and support a
practice change depends upon
how the question is formulated.
Clinical practice thats informed
by evidence is based onwell-
formulated clinical questions
that guide us to search for the
most current literature.
There are two types of clinical

questions: backgroundquestions
and foregroundquestions.3-5 Fore-
ground questions are specific and
relevant to the clinical issue. Fore-
groundquestionsmust be asked
in order to determinewhich of
two interventions is themost ef-
fective in improving patient out-
comes. For example, In adult
patients undergoing surgery, how
does guided imagery compared
withmusic therapy affect anal-
gesia usewithin the first 24hours
post-op? is a specific,well-
defined question that can only

guides her in formulating a fore-
groundquestionusing PICOT
format.
PICOT is an acronym for the

elements of the clinical question:
patient population (P), interven-
tion or issue of interest (I), com-
parison intervention or issue of
interest (C), outcome(s) of inter-
est (O), and time it takes for the
intervention to achieve the out-
come(s) (T).WhenRebecca asks
why the PICOTquestion is so
important, Carlos explains that
its a consistent, systematicway
to identify the components of a
clinical issue. Using the PICOT
format to structure the clinical
question helps to clarify these
components,whichwill guide the
search for the evidence.6, 7 Awell-
built PICOTquestion increases
the likelihood that the best evi-
dence to informpracticewill be
foundquickly and efficiently.5-8

To helpRebecca learn to for-
mulate a PICOTquestion,Car-
los uses the earlier example of a
foregroundquestion: In adult
patients undergoing surgery, how
does guided imagery compared

be answered by searching the
current literature for studies
comparing these two interven-
tions.

Background questions are
considerably broader andwhen
answered, provide general knowl-
edge. For example, a background

question suchas, What therapies
reduce postoperative pain? can
generally be answeredby looking
in a textbook. Formore informa-
tion on the two types of clinical
questions, see Comparison of
Background and Foreground
Questions.4-6

Ask the question in PICOT
format. Now thatRebecca has
an understanding of foreground
andbackgroundquestions,Carlos

Comparison of Background and Foreground Questions4-6

Question type Description Examples

Background
question

A broad, basic-knowledge question
commonly answered in textbooks.
May begin with what or when.

1) What is the best method to pre-
vent pressure ulcers?

2) What is sepsis?
3) When do the effects of

furosemide peak?

Foreground
question

A specific question that, when
answered, provides evidence for clin-
ical decision making. A foreground
question includes the following ele-
ments: population (P), intervention or
issue of interest (I), comparison inter-
vention or issue of interest (C), out-
come (O), and, when appropriate,
time (T).

1) In mechanically ventilated pa-
tients (P), how does a weaning
protocol (I) compared with no
weaning protocol (C) affect venti-
lator days (O) during ICU length
of stay (T)?

2) In hospitalized adults (P), how
does hourly rounding (I) com-
pared with no rounding (C) affect
fall rates (O)?

The PICOT question is a consistent,

systematic way to identify the components

of a clinical issue.

By Susan B. Stillwell, DNP, RN, CNE, Ellen Fineout-Overholt, PhD,
RN, FNAP, FAAN, Bernadette Mazurek Melnyk, PhD, RN,

CPNP/PMHNP, FNAP, FAAN, and Kathleen M. Williamson, PhD, RN

[emailprotected] AJN March 2010 Vol. 110, No. 3 59

also not always required. But
population, intervention or issue
of interest, and outcome are es-
sential to developing any PICOT
question.
Carlos asksRebecca to reflect

on the clinical situation onher

unit in order to determine the
units current intervention for ad-
dressing acuity. Reflection is a
strategy to help clinicians extract
critical components from the clin-

ical issue to use in formulating
the clinical question.3 Rebecca
andCarlos revisit aspects of the
clinical issue to seewhichmaybe-
come components of the PICOT
question: the high acuity of pa-
tients on the unit, the number of

cardiac arrests, the unplanned
ICUadmissions, and the research
article on rapid response teams.
Once the issue is clarified, the
PICOTquestion can bewritten.

withmusic therapy affect analge-
sia usewithin the first 24 hours
post-op? In this example, adult
patients undergoing surgery is
thepopulation (P), guided imag-
ery is the interventionof interest
(I), music therapy is the com-
parison intervention of interest
(C), pain is the outcomeof in-
terest (O), andthe first 24hours
post-op is the time it takes for
the intervention to achieve the
outcome (T). In this example,
music therapy or guided imagery
is expected to affect the amount
of analgesia used by the patient
within the first 24hours after sur-
gery.Note that a comparisonmay
not be pertinent in somePICOT
questions, such as in meaning
questions,which are designed
to uncover themeaning of a
particular experience.3, 6 Time is

Templates and Definitions for PICOT Questions5, 6

Question type Definition Template

Intervention or
therapy

To determine which treatment leads to the
best outcome

In _____________________ (P),
how does ______________ (I)
compared with ___________ (C)
affect __________________ (O)
within __________________ (T)?

Etiology To determine the greatest risk factors or
causes of a condition

Are ______________________________ (P)
who have ________________________ (I),
compared with those without ________ (C),
at ____ risk for ____________________ (O)
over _____________________________ (T)?

Diagnosis or
diagnostic test

To determine which test is more accurate and
precise in diagnosing a condition

In ______________________________ (P),
are/is ___________________________ (I)
compared with ___________________ (C)
more accurate in diagnosing _______ (O)?

Prognosis or
prediction

To determine the clinical course over time
and likely complications of a condition

In ___________________ (P),
how does _____________ (I)
compared with ________ (C),
influence _____________ (O)
over _________________ (T)?

Meaning To understand the meaning of an experience
for a particular individual, group, or commu-
nity

How do ______________ (P)
with _________________ (I)
perceive ______________ (O)
during _______________ (T)?

A well-built PICOT question increases the

likelihood that the best evidence to inform

practice will be found.

60 AJN March 2010 Vol. 110, No. 3 ajnonline.com

BecauseRebeccas issue of in-
terest is the rapid response team
an interventionCarlos provides
herwith aninterventionor ther-
apy template to use in formu-
lating the PICOTquestion. (For
other types of templates, see Tem-
plates and Definitions for PICOT
Questions.5, 6) Since the hospital
doesnt have a rapid response
teamanddoesnt have a plan for
addressing acuity issues before a
crisis occurs, the comparison, or
(C) element, in the PICOTques-
tion is no rapid response team.
Cardiacarrestsandunplanned
admissions to the ICUare the
outcomes in the question.Other
potential outcomes of interest to
the hospital could be lengths of
stay or deaths.
Rebecca proposes the follow-

ing PICOTquestion: In hospi-
talized adults (P), howdoes a
rapid response team (I) compared
with no rapid response team (C)

clinical question thatsmost ap-
propriate for each scenario, and
choose a template to guide you.
Then formulate onePICOTques-
tion for each scenario. Suggested
PICOTquestionswill be pro-
vided in the next column.

Susan B. Stillwell is clinical associate
professor and program coordinator of
the Nurse Educator Evidence-Based
Practice Mentorship Program at Arizona
State University in Phoenix, where Ellen
Fineout-Overholt is clinical professor and
director of the Center for the Advance-
ment of Evidence-Based Practice, Ber-
nadette Mazurek Melnyk is dean and
distinguished foundation professor of
nursing, and Kathleen M. Williamson is
associate director of the Center for the
Advancement of Evidence-Based Prac-
tice. Contact author: Susan B. Stillwell,
[emailprotected]

REFERENCES
1.MelnykBM, et al. Igniting a spirit of
inquiry: an essential foundation for
evidence-based practice. Am J Nurs
2009;109(11):49-52.
2.DaceyMJ, et al. The effect of a rapid
response teamonmajor clinical out-
comemeasures in a community hos-
pital. Crit Care Med 2007;35(9):
2076-82.
3.Fineout-Overholt E, JohnstonL.
TeachingEBP: asking searchable, an-
swerable clinical questions. World-
views Evid Based Nurs 2005;2(3):
157-60.
4.NollanR, et al. Asking compelling
clinical questions. In:MelnykBM,
Fineout-Overholt E, editors. Evidence-
based practice in nursing and health-
care: a guide to best practice.
Philadelphia: LippincottWilliams
andWilkins; 2005. p. 25-38.
5.Straus SE. Evidence-based medicine:

how to practice and teach EBM. 3rd
ed. Edinburgh;NewYork: Elsevier/
Churchill Livingstone; 2005.
6.Fineout-Overholt E, Stillwell SB.Ask-
ing compelling questions. In:Melnyk
BM, Fineout-Overholt E, editors.
Evidence-based practice in nursing
and healthcare: a guide to best practice
[forthcoming]. 2nd ed. Philadelphia:
WoltersKluwerHealth/Lippincott
Williams andWilkins.
7.McKibbonKA,Marks S. Posing clini-
cal questions: framing the question
for scientific inquiry. AACN Clin
Issues 2001;12(4):477-81.
8.Fineout-Overholt E, et al. Teaching
EBP: getting to the gold: how to search
for thebest evidence. Worldviews Evid
Based Nurs 2005;2(4):207-11.

affect the number of cardiac ar-
rests (O) and unplanned admis-
sions to the ICU (O) duringa
three-month period (T)?
Now thatRebecca has formu-

lated the clinical question, shes
ready for thenext step in theEBP
process, searching for the evi-
dence. Carlos congratulates
Rebecca ondeveloping a search-
able, answerable question and
arranges tomeetwith her again
tomentor her in helping her find
the answer to her clinical ques-
tion. The fourth article in this
series, tobepublished in theMay
issue of AJN, will focus on strat-
egies for searching the literature
to find the evidence to answer
the clinical question.
Now that youve learned to

formulate a successful clinical
question, try this exercise: after
reading the two clinical scenarios
in Practice Creating a PICOT
Question, select the type of

Practice Creating a PICOT Question
Scenario 1: Youre a recent graduate with two years experi-
ence in an acute care setting. Youve taken a position as a
home health care nurse and you have several adult patients
with various medical conditions. However, youve recently
been assigned to care for hospice patients. You dont have
experience in this area, and you havent experienced a loved
one at the end of life whos received hospice care. You notice
that some of the family members or caregivers of patients in
hospice care are withdrawn. Youre wondering what the fam-
ily caregivers are going through, so that you might better un-
derstand the situation and provide quality care.

Scenario 2: Youre a new graduate whos accepted a position
on a gerontology unit. A number of the patients have demen-
tia and are showing aggressive behavior. You recall a clinical
experience you had as a first-year nursing student in a long-
term care unit and remember seeing many of the patients in
a specialty unit for dementia walking around holding baby
dolls. Youre wondering if giving baby dolls to your patients
with dementia would be helpful.

What type of PICOT question would you create for each of
these scenarios? Select the appropriate templates and formu-
late your questions.

[emailprotected] AJN March 2010 Vol. 110, No. 3 61

Discussion Post :research question/problem u Explain the importance of a research question/problem. Create a clinical research question related to a Read More »

Assessment of Performance variances Read the Widget Company Performance Report document, provided with this Assessment. Imagine that you are the mana

Assessment of Performance variances
Read the Widget Company Performance Report document, provided with this Assessment. Imagine that you are the manager of the production department at the Widget Company and you have been asked to explain the variances found in a performance report, propose possible causes, and make suggestions for how the variances can be remedied. Using the information provided in the Widget Company Performance Report, prepare a memo to your boss that explains the possible causes of the variances in the performance report, and suggest how the company can remedy them. (200-300 words)

Widget Company

Manufacturing Overhead Performance Report

For Month Ended June 20XX

Static Budget at 6,000 units

Actual

Variance (ActualStatic Budget)

Flexible Budget at 6,500 units

Variance (ActualFlexible Budget)

Revenue

$ 60,000

$ 63,240

$ 3,240

F

$ 65,000

$ (1,760)

U

Less:

Variable costs

27,000

31,200

4,200

U

29,250

1,950

U

Contribution Margin

$ 33,000

$ 32,040

$ (960)

U

$ 35,750

$ (3,710)

U

Less:

Fixed costs

24,000

25,000

1,000

U

24,000

1,000

U

Profit

$ 9,000

$ 7,040

$ (1,960)

U

$ 11,750

$ (4,710)

U

2015 Walden University 1

Assessment of Performance variances Read the Widget Company Performance Report document, provided with this Assessment. Imagine that you are the mana Read More »

Do my Powerpoint presentation 15 slides and 15 steps. Each step has to have a picture and a 1-2 sentence description. Waxing Project Due date: Aug

Do my Powerpoint presentation
15 slides and 15 steps. Each step has to have a picture and a 1-2 sentence description.

Waxing Project Due date: August 31, 2020 @ 10:00 pm
Create a PowerPoint Presentation using photos and your written description for each of the following

step. In your description you will have to include the product and tools/implements used. Use full

sentences and proper spelling and grammar. There will be 3 separate presentations. You can put more

than one photo on a page. Dont forget to give specific and thorough details. The more time and effort

you put into these projects the more credits you will earn. You can use the same photo if the step is the

same. Example: Putting on gloves or applying cleanser. You will be required to submit these

presentations on Blackboard. 3 separate projects.

EYEBROW TWEEZING PROCEDURE (Part 2)

1. Put on gloves. Cleansed the eyelid area with cotton balls moistened with gentle eye makeup

remover

2. Used a small brush to remove any powder or scaliness.

3. Saturate cotton or towel with warm water and placed over brows for 1 to 2 minutes

4. Apply a mild toner on a cotton ball prior to tweezing

5. Remove hairs between the brows by stretching skin taut

6. Grasp individual hairs with tweezers and pulled with a quick motion, always in the direction of

growth

7. Tweezed between the brows and above the eyebrow line first

8. Sponge the tweezed area frequently with cotton moistened with an antiseptic lotion

9. Brush hair downward

10. Remove excessive hairs from above the eyebrow line without creating a hard line

11. Shape upper section of one eyebrow and then shaped the other

12. Frequently sponge the area with toner

13. Brush hairs upward

14. Remove hairs from under the eyebrow line

15. Shape lower section of one eyebrow and then shaped the other

16. Sponge area with toner or applied emollient cream and massaged the brows remove any excess

with a cool, wet cotton pad

17. After tweezing is complete, sponge eyebrows and surrounding skin with a toner

18. Brushed the eyebrow hair to normal position

Do my Powerpoint presentation 15 slides and 15 steps. Each step has to have a picture and a 1-2 sentence description. Waxing Project Due date: Aug Read More »

International business management All references should be in correct APA style No plagiarism very important 250 words. Read the case attached and a

International business management
All references should be in correct APA style
No plagiarism very important 250 words.
Read the case attached and answer the following questions below
Jeffrey P. Bezos, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Amazon.com, Inc., says, One thing I love about customers is that they are divinely discontent. Their expectations are never staticthey go up. Its human nature. Do your expectations constantly go up? Is this fair to companies? Why or why not? And do you think it is true that customers expect more today than before?
Need responses to teammates discussions 150 words ( The idea is to create a discussion-like atmosphere among students. Please note that replies such as I like what you said, Thats a good comment, and I disagree with your comment do not count as a complete reply. You must substantiate these general statements by stating specific reasons that support your opinions, adding additional, relevant thoughts, and/or providing alternative ideas. Courtesy in any disagreement is expected; thus, personal attacks are not acceptable and will affect your grade. )

ACSI and Satisfying Global Customers

This activity is important because, as a manager, you must be able to recognize the importance of international market research and business analytics in understanding current products or services in the global market and identifying future opportunities.
The goal of this exercise is to demonstrate your understanding of business analytics and how it can help international businesses configure their marketing mix and conduct marketing research.

Read the case and answer the questions that follow.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI,theacsi.org) is an economic-based index, or indicator, that measures the satisfaction of consumers across the U.S. economy. The ACSI is produced by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI LLC), which is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan. With the leadership of its founderDr. Claes Fornellthe ACSI was created by a team of researchers at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business in 1994, in cooperation with the American Society for Quality and the CFI Group Inc. The U.S. satisfaction index was modeled after Fornell’s Swedish Customer Satisfaction Barometer, which originated in 1989.
ACSI scores in the United States are updated monthly on a rolling basis, factoring in annual data from almost 200,000 customers who represent more than 300 companies from 10 economic sectors and 43 industries. Each month, ACSI issues an update on one or more specific industries. Additionally, a quarterly reported national measure of ACSI serves as a macro indicator of the economic health of the national economy. This national ACSI score reflects an aggregate of customer satisfaction from the measured companies that, together, comprise the largest market share in any given industry, producing a gauge of economic utility and consumer demand in the country. Since its beginnings in 1994, the nationwide ACSI score has ranged from a low of 70.7 in Quarter 1 of 1997 to a high of 77.0 in Quarter 1 of 2017 (on a 100-point scale, where 100 is perfectly satisfied and 0 is not satisfied at all).
The Swedish and American customer satisfaction indices have also evolved into Global Customer Satisfaction Indices (Global CSITM). Some of the countries where ACSI has global partners include Australia, Colombia, India, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, and South Korea. The Global CSI enables organizations around the world to better understand customer satisfaction via ACSI’s scientific methodology, allowing for benchmarking of national economies and multinational corporations’ customers worldwide. Globally, customer satisfaction has become an indicator of the health of each country’s economy at large and, importantly, a driving force that impacts the financial outlook of individual companies.
For example, Amazon uses the ACSI to gauge that it continues to do well on customer satisfaction metrics worldwide. Jeffrey P. Bezos, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Amazon.com, Inc., wrote in the first sentence of his 2017 Letter to Shareholders: “The American Customer Satisfaction Index recently announced the results of its annual survey, and for the 8th year in a row customers ranked Amazon #1.” For Amazon, which also announced that it has surpassed 100 million “Prime” members in 2018, constantly having the correct pulse on what customers think is critically important to its business success. (Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service offered by Amazon that gives users access to free two-day delivery, streaming video and music, and other benefits for a monthly or yearly fee.)
This “customer pulse” traces back to Bezos’s first Letter to Shareholders in 1997, where he focused a whole section on “obsess over customers.” The buzzwords and phrases then, as now, for Amazon are “offering our customers compelling value” and “saves customers money and precious time.” But the company also wants to be part of the customer journey and “accelerate the very process of discovery.” Bezos says: “One thing I love about customers is that they are divinely discontent. Their expectations are never staticthey go up. It’s human nature.” These intricate nuances of customers’ needs, wants, and attributes make it clear that a core performance outcome for Amazon is customer satisfaction globally.
Beyond Amazon’s focus on customer satisfaction globally, some of the core takeaways from cross-cultural satisfaction analyses suggest, for example, that customers in traditional societies have higher levels of satisfaction than those in secular-rational societies. Also, customers in self-expressive nations have higher levels of satisfaction scores than those in nations with survival values. Several customer demographics and country infrastructure variables influence customer satisfaction as well: Literacy rate, trade freedom, and business freedom have positive influences on customer satisfaction. On the other hand, per capita gross domestic product (GDP) has a negative effect on satisfaction.
At the company level, the effects of customer satisfaction on a variety of important business performance indicators have been studied for more than two decades. Amazon certainly understands this. And more and more companies are getting on board with the idea that customer satisfaction is not just a “feel good” thing for companies; it has concrete connection to the bottom-line performance. More than ever, data highlight the importance of the need to satisfy global customers continuously. Previously, a debate about whether companies with superior customer satisfaction also earn better-than-average stock returns had persisted in business circles. Proponents of the customer satisfaction-stock market relationship make a simple, intuitive argument that is highly relevant to both customers and investors: Companies that do better by their customers also do better in the stock market. A 15-year study supports this notion. Cumulative satisfaction portfolio returns over that time period produced results of 518 percent growth compared to only a 31 percent increase in the Standard and Poor’s 500 benchmark (S&P 500). On an annual basis, the customer satisfaction portfolio also outperformed the S&P 500 in 14 out of the 15 years.
These results take on added importance globally when accounting for the lack of understanding many companies’ managers have of their customers’ needs and wants. Research indicates that managers generally fail to understand their companies’ customers in two important ways: Managers overestimate customers’ satisfaction levels as well as the loyalty customers have to the companies’ products and services. Managers’ understanding of how to satisfy customers is also often disconnected from what the customers actually expect the companies to do. Creating a better connection between multinational corporations and their customers is the job of global marketing professionals. This takes research and development (R&D), global marketing strategy development, and implementation of tactical marketing activities.
Sources: Claes Fornell, Forrest Morgeson, and Tomas Hult, “Companies That Do Better by Their Customers Also Do Better in the Stock Market,”LSE Business Review, February 20, 2017; Forrest Morgeson, Sunil Mithas, Timothy Keiningham, and Lerzan Aksoy, “An Investigation of the Cross-National Determinants of Customer Satisfaction,”Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science39, no. 2 (2011), pp. 198215; Tomas Hult, Forrest Morgeson, Neil Morgan, Sunil Mithas, and Claes Fornell, “Do Firms Know What Their Customers Think and Why?”Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science45, no. 1 (2017), pp. 3754; Claes Fornell, Forrest Morgeson, and Tomas Hult, “Stock Returns on Customer Satisfaction Do Beat the Market: Gauging the Effect of a Marketing Intangible”Journal of Marketing80, no. 5 (2016), pp. 92107; and Claes Fornell, Forrest Morgeson, and Tomas Hult, “An Abnormally Abnormal Intangible: Stock Returns on Customer Satisfaction,”Journal of Marketing80, no. 5 (2016), pp. 12225.

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