netrashetty
Netra Shetty
Assurant is a specialty insurance company headquartered in New York City. Assurant’s four businesses provide a wide range of insurance products and related services, including creditor-placed homeowners insurance, manufactured housing homeowners insurance, credit insurance, individual health and small employer group health insurance, group dental insurance, group disability insurance, group life insurance, pre-funded funeral insurance, and extended warranties for electronics, appliances, and vehicles. The Fortune 500 company distributes its insurance products and services through various distribution channels.
As the world’s largest maker of air conditioning, heating and refrigeration equipment, Carrier Corporation is no stranger to global commerce. The Farmington, Conn.-based company does business in 167 countries. Its products are designed and manufactured in sites around the world.
Carrier had conducted trade-off research on its line of hi-wall ductfree split air conditioning units, which are used in commercial and residential settings, but that research had focused on issues like efficiency, sound level, size, etc. As designers readied new models, the company wanted to find out which control features (things like timing functions and air distribution options) would be most desirable and feasible, given the amount of money budgeted for control features during product development. In addition, was there an opportunity to make Carrier’s products stand out in the individual foreign markets by offering features customized to those markets?
"Our products and those of our competitors offer a menu of features. We wanted to look at those features currently offered, as well as others we thought were possible, and try to understand which ones were most valued by customers," says Bob Whitwell, director, global ductfree split systems, Carrier Corp.
"We wanted to see if we could use the same product in every market and, if so, what the potential impact of doing that would be on customer satisfaction. We also wanted to understand if there were opportunities for differentiation in individual markets by providing some features that aren’t generally valued on a global basis."
Kano method
Rather than a standard conjoint study, which it had used in the past, Carrier and its research partner, BAIGlobal, Tarrytown, N.Y., conducted face-to-face interviews with potential commercial and residential users of the ductfree systems in Italy, Spain, Korea and Singapore using the Kano method.
Based on the work of Noriaki Kano, a professor at Tokyo Rika University, the Kano method aims to uncover the subtle reasons why certain product attributes are more desirable than others by requiring respondents to answer two-part questions for each attribute: "How do you feel if a feature is present in the product?" and "How do you feel if the feature isn’t present?" Respondents must answer each part with one of five replies:
I like it that way.
It must be in the product.
It does not make a difference to me.
I can live with it that way.
I dislike it that way.
The Kano method tells you how attractive a feature is and how a person views it by classifying it into one of six categories based on the combination of answers to the two-part questions:
Attractive - The customer is more satisfied when the product has this feature, but is not necessarily dissatisfied if it doesn’t. On a car, for example, an automatically retracting radio antenna is nice to have but its absence wouldn’t make a person choose not to buy the car.
Must-be - The product must have this feature or the consumer would be dissatisfied, but the consumer is neutral about it otherwise, because it’s an expected feature. Continuing with the car example, you expect a car to have good brakes.
One-dimensional - The more of the feature, the better. The better a car’s gas mileage, the happier the consumer is. If it doesn’t have it, people are dissatisfied.
Reverse - The customer does not want the feature and having it means dissatisfaction. An example might be a car’s color.
Indifferent - The customer doesn’t care either way. Having the feature doesn’t mean satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
Questionable - The customer’s responses on this feature contradict themselves.
As the world’s largest maker of air conditioning, heating and refrigeration equipment, Carrier Corporation is no stranger to global commerce. The Farmington, Conn.-based company does business in 167 countries. Its products are designed and manufactured in sites around the world.
Carrier had conducted trade-off research on its line of hi-wall ductfree split air conditioning units, which are used in commercial and residential settings, but that research had focused on issues like efficiency, sound level, size, etc. As designers readied new models, the company wanted to find out which control features (things like timing functions and air distribution options) would be most desirable and feasible, given the amount of money budgeted for control features during product development. In addition, was there an opportunity to make Carrier’s products stand out in the individual foreign markets by offering features customized to those markets?
"Our products and those of our competitors offer a menu of features. We wanted to look at those features currently offered, as well as others we thought were possible, and try to understand which ones were most valued by customers," says Bob Whitwell, director, global ductfree split systems, Carrier Corp.
"We wanted to see if we could use the same product in every market and, if so, what the potential impact of doing that would be on customer satisfaction. We also wanted to understand if there were opportunities for differentiation in individual markets by providing some features that aren’t generally valued on a global basis."
Kano method
Rather than a standard conjoint study, which it had used in the past, Carrier and its research partner, BAIGlobal, Tarrytown, N.Y., conducted face-to-face interviews with potential commercial and residential users of the ductfree systems in Italy, Spain, Korea and Singapore using the Kano method.
Based on the work of Noriaki Kano, a professor at Tokyo Rika University, the Kano method aims to uncover the subtle reasons why certain product attributes are more desirable than others by requiring respondents to answer two-part questions for each attribute: "How do you feel if a feature is present in the product?" and "How do you feel if the feature isn’t present?" Respondents must answer each part with one of five replies:
I like it that way.
It must be in the product.
It does not make a difference to me.
I can live with it that way.
I dislike it that way.
The Kano method tells you how attractive a feature is and how a person views it by classifying it into one of six categories based on the combination of answers to the two-part questions:
Attractive - The customer is more satisfied when the product has this feature, but is not necessarily dissatisfied if it doesn’t. On a car, for example, an automatically retracting radio antenna is nice to have but its absence wouldn’t make a person choose not to buy the car.
Must-be - The product must have this feature or the consumer would be dissatisfied, but the consumer is neutral about it otherwise, because it’s an expected feature. Continuing with the car example, you expect a car to have good brakes.
One-dimensional - The more of the feature, the better. The better a car’s gas mileage, the happier the consumer is. If it doesn’t have it, people are dissatisfied.
Reverse - The customer does not want the feature and having it means dissatisfaction. An example might be a car’s color.
Indifferent - The customer doesn’t care either way. Having the feature doesn’t mean satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
Questionable - The customer’s responses on this feature contradict themselves.
One of the perceived impacts or effects of global integration are the establishment of international alliances or coalitions, which link firms of the same industry based in different countries (Agnihotri & Santhanam, 2003). With international alliances, international policies and agreements will be established and reinforced, thus, effecting an increase in the establishment of harmonious relationships among companies. In addition, international alliances strengthens the industry where specific companies belong to, thus, reinforcing their bond that would enable them to come up with strategies for further improvement and development. Second impact of globalization is the development and improvement of the whole organization in order to address challenges or problems, for in line with the participation in globalization is the increase in the number of problems to be encountered (Agnihotri and Santhanam, 2003). With this, it can be understood that along with global integration is the need to develop, improve, innovate, and adopt new strategies and methods in relation to systems modification to enable adjustment to the changes and challenges being encountered by the organization. Modification and restructuring in the organization is needed because along with the company’s intention to expand and widen its target market is the need for additional workforce and management processes and styles that would enable the company accommodate the increase in changes. Restructuring and remodeling of the company, thus, serves to be a good way of adjustment.
Third impact of global integration is the establishment of government dealings. In the globalized era, the choice of foreign marketplace to go in and the style of entrance will largely depend on the dialogue with the foreign governments concerned (Agnihotri & Santhanam, 2003). This is because the international business must be able to make negotiations and agreements with the government concerned, in order to comply with necessary requirements and encourage harmonious relationships. In addition, the ‘muscle power’ of a multinational firm can be very important in choosing the shift of power equilibrium, such that it must control its association with the foreign government to its improvement (Agnihotri & Santhanam, 2003). Establishing a good and manageable relationship with the government concerned ensures a lasting relationship with the firm, thus, extending its operations in the foreign country. Last major impact of globalization is the increase in competition among other firms in the same industry. A firm may be in a improved position to contend with its global competitor, as it can enhance its possessions globally (Agnihotri & Santhanam, 2003). Being able to participate in its foreign target market makes the global firm more advanced and more developed compared to its rivals in the same industry, for it is able to meet the standards and demands of its foreign customers. From this perception, major suppliers and stakeholders would prefer the global firm to other firms.
For this research paper, the focus on the integrated global industry environment from the subsidiary perspective of Mobile Phone Service Company is presented as research context for two reasons. First, the importance and relevance of this environment as the operational context of multinationals have greatly increased in recent years. Many global industries have recently become integrated in nature as the environmental pressures of both geographic dispersion and global integration mentioned above have intensified over the years (Makhija et al., 1997). Second, the incorporated global industry environment gives a suitable research framework for this study, which examines the feat repercussions of global integration of business tasks that are disseminated geographically. Thus, this paper will respond to the next queries:
With reference to business management, do business performance appraisal and management development of Mobile Phone Service Company significantly affect its progress?
What are the variables that significantly affect the perception of the respondents regarding global integration of Mobile Phone Service Company?
Does global integration significantly affect the progress of Mobile Phone Service Company?
What are the recommended solutions to the problems of Mobile Phone Service Company in accordance to global integration?
As the world’s largest maker of air conditioning, heating and refrigeration equipment, Carrier Corporation is no stranger to global commerce. The Farmington, Conn.-based company does business in 167 countries. Its products are designed and manufactured in sites around the world.
Carrier had conducted trade-off research on its line of hi-wall ductfree split air conditioning units, which are used in commercial and residential settings, but that research had focused on issues like efficiency, sound level, size, etc. As designers readied new models, the company wanted to find out which control features (things like timing functions and air distribution options) would be most desirable and feasible, given the amount of money budgeted for control features during product development. In addition, was there an opportunity to make Carrier’s products stand out in the individual foreign markets by offering features customized to those markets?
"Our products and those of our competitors offer a menu of features. We wanted to look at those features currently offered, as well as others we thought were possible, and try to understand which ones were most valued by customers," says Bob Whitwell, director, global ductfree split systems, Carrier Corp.
"We wanted to see if we could use the same product in every market and, if so, what the potential impact of doing that would be on customer satisfaction. We also wanted to understand if there were opportunities for differentiation in individual markets by providing some features that aren’t generally valued on a global basis."
Kano method
Rather than a standard conjoint study, which it had used in the past, Carrier and its research partner, BAIGlobal, Tarrytown, N.Y., conducted face-to-face interviews with potential commercial and residential users of the ductfree systems in Italy, Spain, Korea and Singapore using the Kano method.
Based on the work of Noriaki Kano, a professor at Tokyo Rika University, the Kano method aims to uncover the subtle reasons why certain product attributes are more desirable than others by requiring respondents to answer two-part questions for each attribute: "How do you feel if a feature is present in the product?" and "How do you feel if the feature isn’t present?" Respondents must answer each part with one of five replies:
I like it that way.
It must be in the product.
It does not make a difference to me.
I can live with it that way.
I dislike it that way.
The Kano method tells you how attractive a feature is and how a person views it by classifying it into one of six categories based on the combination of answers to the two-part questions:
Attractive - The customer is more satisfied when the product has this feature, but is not necessarily dissatisfied if it doesn’t. On a car, for example, an automatically retracting radio antenna is nice to have but its absence wouldn’t make a person choose not to buy the car.
Must-be - The product must have this feature or the consumer would be dissatisfied, but the consumer is neutral about it otherwise, because it’s an expected feature. Continuing with the car example, you expect a car to have good brakes.
One-dimensional - The more of the feature, the better. The better a car’s gas mileage, the happier the consumer is. If it doesn’t have it, people are dissatisfied.
Reverse - The customer does not want the feature and having it means dissatisfaction. An example might be a car’s color.
Indifferent - The customer doesn’t care either way. Having the feature doesn’t mean satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
Questionable - The customer’s responses on this feature contradict themselves.
As the world’s largest maker of air conditioning, heating and refrigeration equipment, Carrier Corporation is no stranger to global commerce. The Farmington, Conn.-based company does business in 167 countries. Its products are designed and manufactured in sites around the world.
Carrier had conducted trade-off research on its line of hi-wall ductfree split air conditioning units, which are used in commercial and residential settings, but that research had focused on issues like efficiency, sound level, size, etc. As designers readied new models, the company wanted to find out which control features (things like timing functions and air distribution options) would be most desirable and feasible, given the amount of money budgeted for control features during product development. In addition, was there an opportunity to make Carrier’s products stand out in the individual foreign markets by offering features customized to those markets?
"Our products and those of our competitors offer a menu of features. We wanted to look at those features currently offered, as well as others we thought were possible, and try to understand which ones were most valued by customers," says Bob Whitwell, director, global ductfree split systems, Carrier Corp.
"We wanted to see if we could use the same product in every market and, if so, what the potential impact of doing that would be on customer satisfaction. We also wanted to understand if there were opportunities for differentiation in individual markets by providing some features that aren’t generally valued on a global basis."
Kano method
Rather than a standard conjoint study, which it had used in the past, Carrier and its research partner, BAIGlobal, Tarrytown, N.Y., conducted face-to-face interviews with potential commercial and residential users of the ductfree systems in Italy, Spain, Korea and Singapore using the Kano method.
Based on the work of Noriaki Kano, a professor at Tokyo Rika University, the Kano method aims to uncover the subtle reasons why certain product attributes are more desirable than others by requiring respondents to answer two-part questions for each attribute: "How do you feel if a feature is present in the product?" and "How do you feel if the feature isn’t present?" Respondents must answer each part with one of five replies:
I like it that way.
It must be in the product.
It does not make a difference to me.
I can live with it that way.
I dislike it that way.
The Kano method tells you how attractive a feature is and how a person views it by classifying it into one of six categories based on the combination of answers to the two-part questions:
Attractive - The customer is more satisfied when the product has this feature, but is not necessarily dissatisfied if it doesn’t. On a car, for example, an automatically retracting radio antenna is nice to have but its absence wouldn’t make a person choose not to buy the car.
Must-be - The product must have this feature or the consumer would be dissatisfied, but the consumer is neutral about it otherwise, because it’s an expected feature. Continuing with the car example, you expect a car to have good brakes.
One-dimensional - The more of the feature, the better. The better a car’s gas mileage, the happier the consumer is. If it doesn’t have it, people are dissatisfied.
Reverse - The customer does not want the feature and having it means dissatisfaction. An example might be a car’s color.
Indifferent - The customer doesn’t care either way. Having the feature doesn’t mean satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
Questionable - The customer’s responses on this feature contradict themselves.
One of the perceived impacts or effects of global integration are the establishment of international alliances or coalitions, which link firms of the same industry based in different countries (Agnihotri & Santhanam, 2003). With international alliances, international policies and agreements will be established and reinforced, thus, effecting an increase in the establishment of harmonious relationships among companies. In addition, international alliances strengthens the industry where specific companies belong to, thus, reinforcing their bond that would enable them to come up with strategies for further improvement and development. Second impact of globalization is the development and improvement of the whole organization in order to address challenges or problems, for in line with the participation in globalization is the increase in the number of problems to be encountered (Agnihotri and Santhanam, 2003). With this, it can be understood that along with global integration is the need to develop, improve, innovate, and adopt new strategies and methods in relation to systems modification to enable adjustment to the changes and challenges being encountered by the organization. Modification and restructuring in the organization is needed because along with the company’s intention to expand and widen its target market is the need for additional workforce and management processes and styles that would enable the company accommodate the increase in changes. Restructuring and remodeling of the company, thus, serves to be a good way of adjustment.
Third impact of global integration is the establishment of government dealings. In the globalized era, the choice of foreign marketplace to go in and the style of entrance will largely depend on the dialogue with the foreign governments concerned (Agnihotri & Santhanam, 2003). This is because the international business must be able to make negotiations and agreements with the government concerned, in order to comply with necessary requirements and encourage harmonious relationships. In addition, the ‘muscle power’ of a multinational firm can be very important in choosing the shift of power equilibrium, such that it must control its association with the foreign government to its improvement (Agnihotri & Santhanam, 2003). Establishing a good and manageable relationship with the government concerned ensures a lasting relationship with the firm, thus, extending its operations in the foreign country. Last major impact of globalization is the increase in competition among other firms in the same industry. A firm may be in a improved position to contend with its global competitor, as it can enhance its possessions globally (Agnihotri & Santhanam, 2003). Being able to participate in its foreign target market makes the global firm more advanced and more developed compared to its rivals in the same industry, for it is able to meet the standards and demands of its foreign customers. From this perception, major suppliers and stakeholders would prefer the global firm to other firms.
For this research paper, the focus on the integrated global industry environment from the subsidiary perspective of Mobile Phone Service Company is presented as research context for two reasons. First, the importance and relevance of this environment as the operational context of multinationals have greatly increased in recent years. Many global industries have recently become integrated in nature as the environmental pressures of both geographic dispersion and global integration mentioned above have intensified over the years (Makhija et al., 1997). Second, the incorporated global industry environment gives a suitable research framework for this study, which examines the feat repercussions of global integration of business tasks that are disseminated geographically. Thus, this paper will respond to the next queries:
With reference to business management, do business performance appraisal and management development of Mobile Phone Service Company significantly affect its progress?
What are the variables that significantly affect the perception of the respondents regarding global integration of Mobile Phone Service Company?
Does global integration significantly affect the progress of Mobile Phone Service Company?
What are the recommended solutions to the problems of Mobile Phone Service Company in accordance to global integration?
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