netrashetty
Netra Shetty
Aleris International is a producer of aluminum rolled and extruded products, recycled aluminum, and specification aluminum alloy manufacturing. It headquarters are in Beachwood, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, and it has access to 40 production facilities across the world.[1]
Aleris was formed in 2004 through the merger of Commonwealth Industries, Inc. and IMCO Recycling Inc.[1]
In February 2009, the US Justice Department filed suit against Aleris alleging that 15 of its plants had violated the Clean Air Act by emission of pollutants. In August 2009, Aleris settled the suit with the government, and agreed to pay a $4.6 million fine and spend an additional $4.2 million on new pollution controls at its plants.[2][3]
Aleris filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on 12 February 2009.[4] It announced plans in May 2010 to exit bankruptcy as a privately-held company owned by investment funds of Apollo Management, Oaktree Capital Management, and Sankaty Advisor
When planning new products, companies often start by segmenting their markets and positioning their merchandise accordingly. This segmentation involves either dividing the market into product categories, such as function or price, or dividing the customer base into target demographics, such as age, gender, education, or income level.
Unfortunately, neither way works very well, according to Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen, who notes that each year 30,000 new consumer products are launched—and 95 percent of them fail.
"The jobs-to-be-done point of view causes you to crawl into the skin of your customer and go with her as she goes about her day, always asking the question as she does something: Why did she do it that way?"
The problem is that consumers usually don't go about their shopping by conforming to particular segments. Rather, they take life as it comes. And when faced with a job that needs doing, they essentially "hire" a product to do that job. To that end, Christensen suggests that companies start segmenting their markets according to "jobs-to-be-done." It's a concept that he has been honing with several colleagues for more than a decade.
"The fact that you're 18 to 35 years old with a college degree does not cause you to buy a product," Christensen says. "It may be correlated with the decision, but it doesn't cause it. We developed this idea because we wanted to understand what causes us to buy a product, not what's correlated with it. We realized that the causal mechanism behind a purchase is, 'Oh, I've got a job to be done.' And it turns out that it's really effective in allowing a company to build products that people want to buy."
Christensen, who is planning to publish a book on the subject of jobs-to-be-done marketing, explains that there's an important difference between determining a product's function and its job. "Looking at the market from the function of a product really originates from your competitors or your own employees deciding what you need," he says. "Whereas the jobs-to-be-done point of view causes you to crawl into the skin of your customer and go with her as she goes about her day, always asking the question as she does something: Why did she do it that way?"
Hiring a milkshake
In his MBA course, Christensen shares the story of a fast-food restaurant chain that wanted to improve its milkshake sales. The company started by segmenting its market both by product (milkshakes) and by demographics (a marketer's profile of a typical milkshake drinker). Next, the marketing department asked people who fit the demographic to list the characteristics of an ideal milkshake (thick, thin, chunky, smooth, fruity, chocolaty, etc.). The would-be customers answered as honestly as they could, and the company responded to the feedback. But alas, milkshake sales did not improve.
The company then enlisted the help of one of Christensen's fellow researchers, who approached the situation by trying to deduce the "job" that customers were "hiring" a milkshake to do. First, he spent a full day in one of the chain's restaurants, carefully documenting who was buying milkshakes, when they bought them, and whether they drank them on the premises. He discovered that 40 percent of the milkshakes were purchased first thing in the morning, by commuters who ordered them to go.
The next morning, he returned to the restaurant and interviewed customers who left with milkshake in hand, asking them what job they had hired the milkshake to do. Christensen details the findings in a recent teaching note, "Integrating Around the Job to be Done."
The analysis of the procedure should be included at p<0.05, adjusted R2, measures that will indicate strong relationship between the situation and snack appropriateness ratings. The HK market with several competitors are attractive since there exists ample opportunity for additional product or brand alternatives. Although markets with many competitors are generally not attractive opportunities, the methodology utilized by the study allows the marketer as well as the manufacturer to assess the quality as well as the quantity of competition. The open-end questions give respondents free latitude in making their responses. An example of such a question is "What is the principal reason for your dislike of product A?" A drawback to their use is that open-end questions may yield such a variety of responses that the task of condensing and analyzing them is both time consuming and difficult to handle statistically. Multiple choice questions allow respondents to choose from among several possible answers and that the question outcome can be tabulated easily and interpreted with greater precision than can answers to open-end questions. Multiple choice questions may take any of several forms; arguably the most popular of these are checklists and rating scales.
There is more to developing good questionnaires than just wording good questions, it is important to have scheduled a desired time. Successful questionnaire development includes identifying the specific problem, understanding the subject matter and knowing the respondents, as appropriate survey method, sample size, type of sampling and type of questions have to be given adequate consideration. Survey research is a powerful tool that can help technical communicators identify and elaborate on the theories and practices. In most cases, the respondents want to know how the researchers are going to use the data and to what ends. Since, the respondents' names are not important in most mailed questionnaires, respondents should be told not to include their names on the questionnaire. If names are requested, researchers should explain the purpose and the procedure for ensuring confidentiality. Researchers decide to use open questions and unstructured responses must then decide on the structure and scope of the questions.
Survey Evaluation
Aleris was formed in 2004 through the merger of Commonwealth Industries, Inc. and IMCO Recycling Inc.[1]
In February 2009, the US Justice Department filed suit against Aleris alleging that 15 of its plants had violated the Clean Air Act by emission of pollutants. In August 2009, Aleris settled the suit with the government, and agreed to pay a $4.6 million fine and spend an additional $4.2 million on new pollution controls at its plants.[2][3]
Aleris filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on 12 February 2009.[4] It announced plans in May 2010 to exit bankruptcy as a privately-held company owned by investment funds of Apollo Management, Oaktree Capital Management, and Sankaty Advisor
When planning new products, companies often start by segmenting their markets and positioning their merchandise accordingly. This segmentation involves either dividing the market into product categories, such as function or price, or dividing the customer base into target demographics, such as age, gender, education, or income level.
Unfortunately, neither way works very well, according to Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen, who notes that each year 30,000 new consumer products are launched—and 95 percent of them fail.
"The jobs-to-be-done point of view causes you to crawl into the skin of your customer and go with her as she goes about her day, always asking the question as she does something: Why did she do it that way?"
The problem is that consumers usually don't go about their shopping by conforming to particular segments. Rather, they take life as it comes. And when faced with a job that needs doing, they essentially "hire" a product to do that job. To that end, Christensen suggests that companies start segmenting their markets according to "jobs-to-be-done." It's a concept that he has been honing with several colleagues for more than a decade.
"The fact that you're 18 to 35 years old with a college degree does not cause you to buy a product," Christensen says. "It may be correlated with the decision, but it doesn't cause it. We developed this idea because we wanted to understand what causes us to buy a product, not what's correlated with it. We realized that the causal mechanism behind a purchase is, 'Oh, I've got a job to be done.' And it turns out that it's really effective in allowing a company to build products that people want to buy."
Christensen, who is planning to publish a book on the subject of jobs-to-be-done marketing, explains that there's an important difference between determining a product's function and its job. "Looking at the market from the function of a product really originates from your competitors or your own employees deciding what you need," he says. "Whereas the jobs-to-be-done point of view causes you to crawl into the skin of your customer and go with her as she goes about her day, always asking the question as she does something: Why did she do it that way?"
Hiring a milkshake
In his MBA course, Christensen shares the story of a fast-food restaurant chain that wanted to improve its milkshake sales. The company started by segmenting its market both by product (milkshakes) and by demographics (a marketer's profile of a typical milkshake drinker). Next, the marketing department asked people who fit the demographic to list the characteristics of an ideal milkshake (thick, thin, chunky, smooth, fruity, chocolaty, etc.). The would-be customers answered as honestly as they could, and the company responded to the feedback. But alas, milkshake sales did not improve.
The company then enlisted the help of one of Christensen's fellow researchers, who approached the situation by trying to deduce the "job" that customers were "hiring" a milkshake to do. First, he spent a full day in one of the chain's restaurants, carefully documenting who was buying milkshakes, when they bought them, and whether they drank them on the premises. He discovered that 40 percent of the milkshakes were purchased first thing in the morning, by commuters who ordered them to go.
The next morning, he returned to the restaurant and interviewed customers who left with milkshake in hand, asking them what job they had hired the milkshake to do. Christensen details the findings in a recent teaching note, "Integrating Around the Job to be Done."
The analysis of the procedure should be included at p<0.05, adjusted R2, measures that will indicate strong relationship between the situation and snack appropriateness ratings. The HK market with several competitors are attractive since there exists ample opportunity for additional product or brand alternatives. Although markets with many competitors are generally not attractive opportunities, the methodology utilized by the study allows the marketer as well as the manufacturer to assess the quality as well as the quantity of competition. The open-end questions give respondents free latitude in making their responses. An example of such a question is "What is the principal reason for your dislike of product A?" A drawback to their use is that open-end questions may yield such a variety of responses that the task of condensing and analyzing them is both time consuming and difficult to handle statistically. Multiple choice questions allow respondents to choose from among several possible answers and that the question outcome can be tabulated easily and interpreted with greater precision than can answers to open-end questions. Multiple choice questions may take any of several forms; arguably the most popular of these are checklists and rating scales.
There is more to developing good questionnaires than just wording good questions, it is important to have scheduled a desired time. Successful questionnaire development includes identifying the specific problem, understanding the subject matter and knowing the respondents, as appropriate survey method, sample size, type of sampling and type of questions have to be given adequate consideration. Survey research is a powerful tool that can help technical communicators identify and elaborate on the theories and practices. In most cases, the respondents want to know how the researchers are going to use the data and to what ends. Since, the respondents' names are not important in most mailed questionnaires, respondents should be told not to include their names on the questionnaire. If names are requested, researchers should explain the purpose and the procedure for ensuring confidentiality. Researchers decide to use open questions and unstructured responses must then decide on the structure and scope of the questions.
Survey Evaluation
Last edited: