Introduction to Arts Essay Example

Introduction to Arts Essay Definition of Terms A. Art According to various authors 1. J. V Estolas Art is derived from the Latin word â€Å"ars†Ã‚  Ã‚  which means ability or skill 2. A. Tan Art is taken from the Italian word â€Å"artis†, which means craftsmanship, skill, mastery of form and ideas, between materials and techniques. 3. F. Zulueta Art  is a product of mans needs to express himself. 4. C. Sanchez Art is concerned itself with the communication of certain ideas and feelings by means of sensuous medium, color, sound, bonze, marble, words and film. 5. Plato Art is that which brings life in  harmony with the beauty of the beauty of the world   6. John Dewey 7. Panizio and Rustia – B. Appreciation C. Art Appreciation Art Appreciation simply means being able to look at works and form your own opinions. Naturally, those arty terms will be explained along the way. D. Humanities The  humanities  are  academic disciplines  that study the  human condition, using methods that are primarily  analytical,[citation needed]  critical, or  speculative, as distinguished from the mainly  empirical  approaches of the  natural sciences. E. Subject Four Common Essential of Arts Common essentials of arts are  line, shape, texture, light, value, color, and space. The Subject of Arts Ways of Representing the Subject 1- REALISM – the attempt to portray the subject as it is. Realists try to be as objective as possible. 2- ABSTRACTION – the attempt of the artist to show only his idea or his feeling; not as objective as the realist. 3- SYMBOLISM – the use of a visible sign of an idea to convey to the viewers, readers or audiences the message of his work. 4- FAUVISM – the artist use of bright colors which shows pictures of comfort, joy and pleasure. This is the method used by Henry Matisse, Raoul Drify and George Ronault. 5- We will write a custom essay sample on Introduction to Arts specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Introduction to Arts specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Introduction to Arts specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer DADAISM – is a protest movement in the art that is playful and experimental. â€Å"Dada† means a â€Å"hobby horse†. Dadaism is most often nonsensical. Marcel Duchamp is the famous painter using this method. 6- FUTURISM – developed in Italy about the same time as cubism appeared in France. Futurist painters wanted their works to capture the mechanical energy of modern life. 7- SURREALISM – this method mirrors the evils of the present society. Surrealism means super realism, influenced by Freudian psychology which emphasizes the activities of the subconscious state of the mind. IMPRESSIONISM – this method presented the artist’s impression on the art subject, not as detailed as a realist painting. 9- EXPRESSIONISM – are art works describing pathos, morbidity chaos or even defeat. Introduced in Germany from 1900 – 1910. Kinds of Subject 1. Realism Realism  in the  visual arts  and  literature  is the general atte mpt to depict subjects as they are considered to exist in third person objective, without embellishment or interpretation and in accordance with secular,  empirical  rules.   As such, the approach inherently implies a belief that such  reality  is  ontologically independent of mans conceptual schemes, linguistic practices and beliefs, and thus can be known (or knowable) to the artist, who can in turn represent this reality faithfully. As  Ian Watt  states, modern realism begins from the position that truth can be discovered by the individual through the senses and as such it has its origins in Descartes  and  Locke, and received its first full formulation by  Thomas Reid  in the middle of the eighteenth century. The attempt to portray the subject as it is. Realists try to be as objective as possible. 2. Abstraction – Abstraction is the attempt of the artist to show only his idea or his feeling; not as objective as the realist. 3. Distortion 4. Surrealism – This method mirrors the evils of the present society. Surrealism means super realism, influenced by Freudian psychology which emphasizes the activities of the subconscious state of the mind. Subject and Content The Four Main Functions of Arts Aesthetic through art, man  becomes conscious of the  beauty of nature. He benefits from  his own work and from those done by his fellowmen. He learns to use, love, and preserve them for his enjoyment and appreciation. Utilitarian -with the creation of the various forms of art, man now lives in comfort and happiness. Through art,  man is provided with shelter, clothing, food, light, medicine, beautiful surroundings, personal ornamentals, entertainment,  language, transportation, and other necessities and conveniences of life. Art not only enriches man’s life but also improves nature through landscape gardening, creation of super-highways and through propagation of natural  resources. Cultural through the printed matter, art transmits and preserves skills and knowledge from one generation to another. It burdens one’s cultural background and makes man more civilized and his life more enduring and satisfying. Social Art has social functions when it addresses aspects of life, as opposed to one persons point of view or experience Other Functions Personal The personal functions of art vary from  person to person. Physical Works of art that are created to perform some service have physical functions. The Scope of Art According to: Monopolies Custodia Sanchez Josefina Estolas Panizio and Rustia The Origin of Art The very concept of the ‘birth’ or ‘origin’ of art may seem inappropriate, since humans are by nature artists and the history of art begins with that of humanity. In their artistic impulses and achievements humans express their vitality, their ability to establish a beneficial and positive relationship with their environment, to humanize nature; their behavior as artists is one of the characteristics for selection favorable to the evolution of the human species. Evidence from a huge analysis of rock art and cave paintings and engravings shows that, from their origins, humans have also been  Homo aestheticus.

Swot Analysis of Bank Al-Falah Essays

Swot Analysis of Bank Al-Falah Essays Swot Analysis of Bank Al-Falah Essay Swot Analysis of Bank Al-Falah Essay SWOT Analysis of Bank Al-Falah Here we have applied this very useful technique to identifythe strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats ofBank Al-Falah. Strengths Strengths Strong Financial Position Strong Financial Position As we can see in the financial statements of the bank, the financial position of the organization is very sound and its profitability is in increasing. The Earning per sharehas been increased on a rate of about 50%, which is a verypositive sign. Highly Qualified Employees Highly Qualified Employees The bank has highly qualified and skilled workforceand it has succeeded to attract the best bankingprofessionals from across the country due to its growingpace and sound reputation. Conducive Environment Conducive Environment The management of the bank is very muchconcerned with the development of and improvement of theworking environment. The bank has state of the art andpurpose built branches where all the modern technologiesare provided to get the efficiency of the workforce and thecustomer satisfaction. Govt. Support and Encouragement Govt. Support and Encouragement As the owners of the bank belong to UAE and thetype of their investment in Pakistan is a foreign investment,the govt. is fully supporting the bank management due to itspolicy to maximize the foreign investment in the country, toget the economic prosperity. Fastest Growing Financial Institution Fastest Growing Financial Institution Due to its successful business policies and thestrong financial position the bank has achieved thereputation of fastest growing financial institution in thecountry. It has greatly increased the customers confidencein the bank Huge Expansion Plan Huge Expansion Plan Due to its strong financial position the bank has undergone a huge expansion plan to compete with the existing bank all over the country and with the passage of time the branch network is expanding at a very good pace. Young and Energetic Workforce Young and Energetic Workforce As the bank is a newer one in the country, the bankhas an advantage over its competitors because the majorityof its workforce is young and not very much over aged. Thus the bank is getting maximum out put from its youngand energetic workforce by spending comparatively less ontheir remunerations. Islamic Banking Division Islamic Banking Division The bank is one of the pioneers of the commercialbanks who have started the Islamic Banking along with theirconventional banking. The bank has a separate network ofits Islamic Banking Division which has 16 branches acrossthe country and this network is also expanding at a very good pace. Weaknesses Waiver of charges Waiver of charges Currently the middle management of bank Al-Falah is thebig reason for waiver of charges. Bank Al-Falah loosing alot of its income likes (Cheque book charge, online charges,statement charges, and other things) because ofmanagement. This is a weakness of bank Al-Falah. Inexperienced workforce Inexperienced workforce As the majority of the workforce consists of young professional, they lack in their experience. And sometimes ack of experience becomes a hurdle while serving to thecustomers. It is the point where they feel difficulty whilecompeting the other bank, which have a very experiencedworkforce. Over work Load on Employees Over work Load on Employees It was observed in the branch that as compared tohuge business the bank is dealing in, the no. of employeesis lesser and thus there is an increased workload on theemployees. Due to this the efficiency of the employees isreduced. Employees are not very much Employees are not very much Motivated Motivated As discussed before, the workload is high and theemployees, especially the credit department, have to dolate sittings to complete their tasks. On the other hand thebank has revised its salary increments policy to decreasethe increment rate, as a result a decreased motivation levelof employees is observed Opportunities Rapidly Growing Economy Rapidly Growing Economy At present the Pakistan’s Economy is growing on avery fast pace. The rapid growth of economy has resulted inthe increase in the growth rate of all economic sectorsespecially in the banking sector which is growing at afastest speed than ever and in future the growth is expectedto increase even a higher rate. Increased Interest Rates Increased Interest Rates The SBP has revised the interest policy and theinterest rates have been linked with the KIBOR rates. Dueto which the banks interest rate has been substantiallyincreased which will greatly increase the banks’ profitability. Mega Projects Financing Mega Projects Financing As the increase in overall business activity in thecountry, the investors are launching various types of MegaProjects especially in housing and textile the bank has agreat opportunity to finance these projects at very profitableterm. Huge Demand for Consumer Huge Demand for Consumer Financing Financing The increase in per capita income and overalleconomy has resulted into a great demand for theconsumer financing especially for home finance and carfinancing and it is said that this trend will increase more infuture. The bank can earn a lot by focusing on its consumerfinancing sections. Merger with UBL Merger with UBL After the privatization of United Bank Limited,  themanagement of the BAL has purchased the majority sharesof the UBL, and it is planning to merge these two banks. AsUBL is the second largest bank in the country, this mergercan make the bank the largest bank of the country. Growing Trend of Islamic Banking Growing Trend of Islamic Banking There is a very good growth trend in the Islamicbanking in the country and in the world as well. BAL has theadvantage of having full fledged Islamic Banking networkand the growth in this particular field can be very fruitful forthe bank. Spending Practices of Mass Spending Practices of Mass As the Pakistani’s are known for their extravagantpractices, and to fulfill their funds requirements they don’thesitate from getting loans from banks. Thus there is a verygood scope for the bank to run successful business in suchcircumstances.

Improving the innovation capability of Blackberry Assignment

Improving the innovation capability of Blackberry - Assignment Example This Canadian company decided to change its name to Blackberry as consumers were having a difficult time correlating the Blackberry name with Research in Motion. This trading name gives the Blackberry device a solid brand image associated with the company and its core values, which was a positive marketing decision made by the organisation. Between 2000 and 2007, Research in Motion had been the foremost pioneer in smartphone technology, being a pioneer in the technology industry. The market, at the time, did not provide consumers with a variety of options when it came to evolving mobile phone technology and, upon the launch of the Blackberry Pearl 8100, it was the only company that had a comparable offering, thus setting the product category for the industry. It was not until today’s leaders in smartphone technologies, such as Apple and Samsung, launched their first smartphone versions in the retail market that Blackberry began to quickly lose market share and also their reput ation for being an untouchable innovator in the industry. This essay describes how innovation is managed at Blackberry, how innovation projects are managed and carried out along the existing business model, and how culture supports or hinders innovation production at the firm. Findings are supported by both secondary and primary data, including an Internet chat interview with a representative from Blackberry, Christophe Lefort, general manager of Blackberry in France who agreed to participate in a 20 minute online interview. Strategy Unfortunately, Blackberry does not publicise its internal operational strategies and innovation efforts as this would deplete its publicized competitive advantages for a struggling organisation. In 2002, at the height of the business’ pinnacle as an innovator, the company experienced explosive sales volumes of its earliest Blackberry devices. By 2008, the company had become a cost leader, having launched multiple versions of the widely-accepted B lackberry device whilst reducing operating expenses, boasting a stock price of over $144 (Yahoo! Finance 2013). However, it quickly became apparent that Apple and Samsung, in 2008, had produced much more innovative smartphone devices, thus both companies seizing market share from Research in Motion and quickly gaining brand loyalty. By 2012, stock valuation in Research in Motion was less than $8 per share as the company struggled enormously to regain its footing as a pioneering leader. With a highly leveraged business model coupled with consumers that were quickly becoming entranced with the innovative technologies offered by Apple, Blackberry nearly approached bankruptcy. Therefore, the new business, Blackberry, would find considerable competitive danger by publicizing its internal efforts at innovation and strategy. It was just recently, in 2013, that Blackberry launched its latest Blackberry smartphone model which did find success in its target markets, thus providing the capital required for Blackberry to continue operating, to persevere as a publicly traded company, and determine the next innovation to save the company’s future. Having identified these limitations in available research, the current strategy for innovation as a survival methodology and to regain positive brand reputation can be explored, with assistance from the interview respondent. Prior to 2008, no representatives at then Research and Motion believed that they would lose their innovative competitive edge. Even industry experts believed that RIM would maintain its leadership position in the smartphone industry indefinitely which continued to push its stock prices ever higher with each news release about impending product developments. Essentially, Research in Motion

Families in Poverty Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Families in Poverty - Assignment Example 1d. Women, infant and children get benefited from WIC as they get food supplement, free information on health, milk and formulas for babies, immunization referrals and reduction in medical expenses. However, the cons of this program is that it gets misused by the family who can take care of themselves, difficult to access for women living in rural areas and results in increase prices for formulas for parent not on WIC program, since half of the formula being sold in US is been subsidized by WIC. (Rector & Sheffield, 2011) 2a. After reading the article it can be said that the writer was implicitly implying that the poor we consider today are not really poor. If one pays attention closely, poor according to statistics own air-conditioning, a car, X-box, PlayStation and are not living over crowdedly, which shows that they are better off than the middle class of previous years. The sarcasm that the poor worries about paying the air-conditioning bill and putting food on the table implies that the eligibility criteria for government welfare should be reevaluated. The question ‘how a poor person can be poor, if they own a TV and air-conditioning?’ is actually an exclamation rather than question, because what poverty actually means is that the person is homeless, foodless and in time of severe hardship, rather than worrying about being not able to pay AC bills. 2b. As of now, owning such items will disqualify the participant form being considered poor, because the government definition of a poor household include house/apartment installed with air-conditioning, television, car, two color televisions, DVD player and VCR. 3. If I could formulate a plan or strategy to remove poverty, it will include all the departments of the State and a meeting at national level (Smiley & West, 2012). The plan will comprise of few different techniques and this will involve increasing of minimum wage to $11 per hour, as lack of money is the major

Business in India Essay Example for Free

Business in India Essay In order to do business in India, it is necessary ensure that the business is set under the required procedures and regulations of industrial undertaking.   The goods to be manufactured should fall within licensed, relicensed or small scale sector.   A license allows a company to use the property of the licensor.   The properties could either be intangible items like trademarks, patent rights and production techniques. To get the license, one is required to fill an application with the Ministry of Industry. Starting a company in India for the aforesaid involves assessing the commercial opportunity for self, managing business, obtaining legal requirements, money, business premises, obtaining workers and developing the marketing schemes for the products to be produced and the services to be offered. In this case Roger Smith at Prime Pumps has suggested that Maddock Inc and Governor Inc enter the Indian market as a joint venture.   It will be a great idea to take since a joint venture business has the advantage of sharing risks, sharing of technology to increase and improve production and it is possible to conform to government’s regulations.   Also, in a joint venture business internationally, there are quick political connections and distribution channels. Having done business together, it means that the two business associates will experience the converging of their strategic goals while diverging their competitive goal.   In this they will only operate to improve their business by influencing market power and learning from one another while restraining admittance to their personal proprietary skills. Advantages of early entry into a foreign market The company enjoys monopoly since there could be no other companies producing the same products. This increases the profits and hence the company can expand its operations in a very short time limit. A company enjoys reduced labor cost as there are no other firms to compete with in determining wage packages.   The workers will not have options to choose which companies to work for in regard to the pay accorded. Ability to secure a wide market in the absence of other competing companies hence increased sales will be experienced. Disadvantages of early entry into a foreign market Lack of competition could lead to poor production quality of goods or services that a company is dealing with. Poor quality goods could pose a health hazard situation to the consumer and this could also lead to a crisis in the economy A company might not have the power to confront the government when its operating alone in a foreign market pertaining the rights of foreign companies and this could cause oppression on the side of the company for lack of bargaining power. Peter should be careful to consider what the targets are for the business to be set up in India, where to locate the business and the manner in which it should be established.   He should outline how ready is the business to give back to the community in terms of employing the local citizens in India, producing quality services and products.   They should also investigate and learn the interests and requirements of the people of India and provide possible solutions to the same. Peter will have to estimate the potential correctly to avoid underestimation of India’s complexity or overestimation of the probabilities in India. Overestimation or Underestimation may lead to failure and it is necessary to give a due consideration to the factor of the inherent difficulties and uncertainties of operating in the Indian system.   It is worth noting that India is has a large economy in the world and it offers high prospects for development in practically all areas of business. Also the inefficient bureaucracy of the Indian government is moving slowly which calls for reforms. Since Melanie has limited knowledge regarding international law, it will not be appropriate for Peter to share with her what other companions have suggested because she might not even understand.   Lack of knowledge on international law means that Melanie will not have an idea of how to deal with any occurrence in the international field. Conclusion For a business to thrive in a foreign country, the owners should ensure that they comply with federal regulations so that there will be a smooth running of the business without disturbance from the local authorities.   For the joint venture business, the partners should sign up the partnership deed to ensure they conduct themselves as per the requirements. It is important that individual also have a general knowledge of international law and business operations to avoid any inconveniences.

Absence Measurement and Management Essays -- null

This essay answers the following questions. 1) Why and how should absence be proactively managed without damaging the psychological contract? 2) What advice would you give to the Directors to measure absence levels and causes? 3) What procedures would you recommend should be established to manage absence? You must justify your recommendations. 4) How should the devolution of People Management responsibilities to first line managers be handled? 1) Why and how should absence be proactively managed without damaging the psychological contract? The psychological contract is an informal, unwritten contract between employer and employee. It includes their mutual agreement towards obligations to one and other. It will entail certain expectations which should be attempted to be upheld. This contract is based on trust and respect, and employees with effective managers should have a strong understanding of what their psychological contract entails, as well as their formal written contract which can be upheld legally. All employees at Insure it Wright, should understand both of these contracts and it is important when attempting to manage an issue, such as absence, that the psychological contract is not affected. The directors have identified absences as an issue, which is having a negative impact on the organisation as a whole and the service it is providing. This should be dealt with as swiftly as possibly in a manner which will not affect the psychological or written contract. They are having issues with several types on absence, particularly short term and unauthorised absence. Absence must be so rigidly monitored because, a large amount of absence will have a negative impact on the company financially. Particul... ...: http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/factsheets/absence-measurement-management.aspx. Last accessed 20th of April 2014. †¢ CIPD staff. (2012). The Role of line managers in HR. Available: http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/factsheets/role-line-managers-hr.aspx. Last accessed 24th April 2014. †¢ 1.BLACK, C. and FROST, D. (2011) Health at work: an independent review of sickness absence. Cm 8205. London: Department for Work and Pensions. Available: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/health-at-work.pdf. Last accessed 28th April 2014. †¢ Taylor, Baldry, Bain & Ellis. (2003). A Unique Working Environment': Health, Sickness and †¢ eAbsence Management in UK Call Centres. Work, Employment & Society . 17 (3), 435-458 †¢ James P, Cunningham I & Dibben P. (2002). Absence management and the issues of job retention and return to work. Human Resources and Management Journal. 12 (2), 82-94.

Implementing Relationship Marketing: the Role of Internal and External Customer Orientation

Developing an internal and external customer orientation will facilitate the implementation of relationship marketing principles by businesses. Relationship marketing highlights the need for an external customer orientation, which in turn raises the need for customer-oriented employees. Employees will only be customer-oriented if an internal customer orientation is evident in the business. Four constructs pertaining to the internal customer orientation of small- to medium-sized textile retailers in the North-West Province were identified.After checking for internal consistency, effect sizes were determined for these constructs analysing the practical significance of employees’ as opposed to management’s opinion on the underlying constructs. Similarly, four constructs referring to the external customer orientation of the same businesses were identified. The four identified constructs underpinning an external customer orientation were also checked for internal consistency and the practical significance of customers’ as opposed to management’s opinion on the underlying constructs was determined through effect sizes.It was found that the identified businesses lack both an internal and external customer orientation. Recommendations are made to improve internal customer orientation for the sake of an improved external customer orientation. An improved external customer orientation will facilitate implementation of relationship marketing principles in these businesses. INTRODUCTION According to Saren and Tzokas (1998:187) researchers in relationship marketing have come to realise that there is a need for detailed empirical evidence on how this approach could be implemented in order to promote a beneficial customer-business relationship.Morris, Brunegee and Page (1998:360) and Fornier (1998:343) argue that a lack of knowledge and consensus about relationship marketing and the activities involved in the implementation thereof has led to diffi culties in operationalising the construct. This study addresses this concern by arguing that a relationship marketing orientation is facilitated by management being sufficiently orientated to the needs and expectations of employees (internal customer orientation) as well as to those of customers (external customer orientation).The internal and external customer orientations of small- to medium-sized textile retailers in the North-West Province were investigated by means of effect size analyses. The goal and objectives of the study are subsequently explained, followed by a theoretical exposition on the interface between relationship marketing as well as internal and external customer orientation. A description of the research methodology is followed by the empirical results on internal and external customer orientation of the businesses that participated in the study.Conclusions are drawn from these empirical findings. Finally, managerial implications are discussed based on the concl usions. GOAL AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The goal of this study is to explore internal and external customer orientation as elements facilitating relationship marketing implementation by small- to medium-sized textile retailers in the North-West Province. This goal will be achieved through the following objectives: to explore the interface between relationship marketing, and internal and external customer orientation; †¢ to report on empirical findings related to internal and external customer orientation of small- to medium-sized textile retailers in the North-West Province; and †¢ to consider the managerial implications of the above empirical findings for managing these retailers. FOSTERING INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL CUSTOMER ORIENTATION TO FACILITATE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF RELATIONSHIP MARKETINGSheth and Parvatiyar (1995:261) define relationship marketing as â€Å"an orientation that seeks to develop close interaction with selected customers, suppliers and competitors for va lue creation through co-operative and collaborative efforts†. This definition suggests that businesses should pursue profitable business relationships. Morgan and Hunt (1994:22) define relationship marketing as â€Å"all marketing activities directed towards establishing, developing and maintaining successful relational exchanges†. This definition sets out the ultimate goals of relationship marketing, but does not show what relationship marketing entails.Attempts have been made to address this limitation by emphasising the dimensions and activities of relationship marketing. These dimensions and activities include (Too, Souchon and Thirkell, 2001:290): †¢ customer retention; †¢ product benefits; †¢ quality improvement; †¢ customer service; †¢ customer commitment by the business; and †¢ frequent contact with the customer. The first four issues refer to the business’ customer orientation while the last two relate to customer relationsh ip management practices.Kotler and Armstrong (2001:9, 667-681) indicate that relationship marketing is the process of creating, maintaining and enhancing strong value-laden relationships with customers and other stakeholders. According to this definition, relationship marketing does not end with customers, but includes all stakeholders (i. e. employees, channel members, stockholders and others). Relationship marketing advocates the establishment of long-term and profitable relationships between (both internal and external) partners or stakeholders (Zikmund and d’Amico, 2001:8).These relationships are not naturally sustained and should therefore not be taken for granted (Day, 2000:25). Long-term and profitable relationships are only established when trust, commitment and service are inculcated in relationship partners (Buttle, 1996:8-9). Stakeholder relationships also have to transcend functional boundaries (Beth, Burt, Copacino, Gopal, Lee, Lynch and Morris, 2003:67-68). Rela tionship marketing advocates that an engineer should, for example, take time to see how he could best design the product to satisfy the customer’s needs.The same applies to the accounting department – it should develop credit and payment terms that will best suit the customer while it needs also realising a profit for the business (Ostroff and Smith, 1992:22-23). In this respect Day (2000:24-30) argues that the ability to create and maintain relationships depends, inter alia, on the integration of key internal processes in the business. The implementation of relationship marketing therefore depends on a well-developed internal (employee) and external customer orientation.Taher, Leigh and French (1996:218) argue that in order to be customer-oriented, marketers should provide exceptional performance in quality, delivery and cost competitiveness (i. e. customer orientation). The business should also understand how customers measure value and how these value expectations c an be met. To win orders, a business should exhibit an external customer orientation that manifests the relative strength of the business in relation to its competitors (Koufteros, Vonderembse and Doll, 2000:526).To attain lasting customer orientation careful attention should be given to detail, meeting promises and swift response to the requirements of customers – i. e. competitive capabilities. The same authors define competitive capabilities further as a business’ ability to meet customer expectations compared to its competitor’s ability to do the same. Day (2000:28) argues that a customer orientation should be â€Å"immediately evident† in the mindset of those who deal directly with the customer. Kennedy, Goolsby and Arnould (2003:77-79) found that the development of an external customer orientation will be facilitated by: leadership. Staff members must experience â€Å"an unbroken circuit of passionate, sincere, unified and committed leadership from top levels to local managers†; †¢ centrality of customer requirements and performance feedback. This will also assist in achieving the required inter-functional co-ordination and alignment; and †¢ collection and dissemination of external customer data. This data, however, only becomes conducive for customer orientation development when it is widely circulated in the business to become a shared organisation-wide platform from which decisions are made.Patterson and Smith (2001:438) also support this notion. It is stressed that customer orientation should be explicit, otherwise the business risks over-serving unprofitable accounts and wasting resources that might be allocated to profitable customer groups. In this respect Reinartz and Kumar (2002) distinguished between customer groups and suggested ways of managing each group for increased profitability. Relationship marketing raises the need for customer orientation, which in turn raises the need for customer-oriented employees.Bendapudi and Leone (2002:83) indicate that customers form relationships with employees who serve them, and that these relationships may be stronger than the customer’s relationship with the business represented by the employee. Employees will not be able to develop social relationships with customers if they were not recruited and trained with this in mind (Patterson and Smith, 2001:438). Without customer oriented employees it will be difficult to implement customer orientation because employees are the ones who have to make it happen.If customer-orientation is lacking, the implementation of relationship marketing will suffer. This is because dissatisfied customers will never develop good relationships with the business (Engel, Blackwell and Miniard, 1995:47). Attracting, developing and motivating employees as internal partners foster an internal customer orientation (Conway and Willcocks, 2000:81). Day (2000:28-29) recalls the efforts made by many businesses to m ake employee satisfaction and retention a top priority in recognition of the damage that high employee turnover and disgruntled employees can cause to customer relationships.Employee performance and attitude play an important role in service delivery to external customers. Employee satisfaction impacts on employee attitudes, which in turn influence employee performance and interaction with external customers. Employee interaction with external customers obviously plays a pivotal role in the ultimate success of the business (Lewis, 1989:41). Strauss (1995:62-77) distinguishes between internal customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction. He argues that internal customer satisfaction entails employees’ satisfaction with the performance of internal suppliers (workflow satisfaction).Internal customer satisfaction should, however, not be confused with employee satisfaction – i. e. the satisfaction of employees with their working conditions. He argues further that interna l customer satisfaction reflects in external customer satisfaction. For purposes of this study the identified relationship between internal and external customer satisfaction is acknowledged, but the distinction between internal customer orientation and employee satisfaction is rejected. Employees in small- to medium-sized textile retailing businesses are not dependent on intricate internal workflow processes.As they derive their workflow inputs directly from management, a distinction between management inputs (relating to Strauss’ employee satisfaction concept) and workflow inputs will be vague. Strauss (1995:63) himself points out that if managers are prepared to take responsibility for quality and act as role models, they can expect commitment from their employees – which will eventually result in improved bottom-line results. Sasser (2003) explains the relationship between employee and customer satisfaction in terms of value the business creates for employees, who in turn will be able to create value for customers.If the value created for employees and customers exceeds costs, value is being created for investors. Internal customer orientation is the result of a conscious management decision about the â€Å"organizational setting† (Strauss, 1995:68). Concerning this organisational setting Malherbe and Pearse (2003:2-12) found significant positive relationships between job enrichment characteristics and job satisfaction, and eventually between job satisfaction and service quality in the South African retail industry.Chaston (1995:332-349) investigated possible actions to establish a stronger internal customer orientation in UK clearing banks, and concluded, inter alia, that management’s improved understanding of internal customer needs will be helpful in this regard. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Small- to medium-sized textile retailers from six selected towns and cities in the North-West Province were investigated to assess their interna l and external customer orientation. Retailers from Brits, Klerksdorp, Lichtenburg, Mafikeng, Potchefstroom and Rustenburg were sampled.These cities and towns were chosen on the basis of their geographical representation in the province. They also represent the largest centres of economic activity in the province. A sampling frame of 61 small- to medium-sized textile retailing businesses were constituted by using information obtained from the Potchefstroom City Council, the Bureau of Marketing Research and Braby’s databases. The sampling frame included independent tailoring businesses, textile, fabrics, and cloth retailing businesses (retailers, merchants or distributors).Forty-eight (N1=48) of the 61 business owners/managers were willing to participate in the study and were subsequently interviewed. One hundred and four (N2=104) employees, as found on the 48 premises, were also interviewed. Finally, two hundred and thirty (N3=230) customer responses were gathered using avail ability sampling for periods of two hours at each of the 48 business premises. Separate questionnaires, incorporating close-ended structured items, were developed for management, employees and customers as three separate groups of respondents. Owners/managers had to respond to 77 items.Thirty one (31) of these items pertaining to internal customer orientation were duplicated in the employees’ questionnaire, requiring respondents to respond to them from an employee’s perspective. Thirty-three (33) of the items on external customer orientation related to owners/managers were also put to customers, requiring them to evaluate it from their perspective. Respondents had to respond to the items according to a four-measure Likert scale where: 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = agree and 4 = strongly agree. The responses were statistically processed with the help of SAS software (SAS Institute Inc. 1999). The reliability of constructs associated with internal and external customer orientation was tested by means of Cronbach’s Alpha values and average inter item correlations (Clark and Watson, 1995) as reported below. The practical significant difference between specifically defined constructs for employees and owners/managers (internal customer orientation) as well as for customers and owners/managers (external customer orientation) is indicated by using effect sizes. Effect sizes are calculated as availability sampling was used instead of random sampling.As explained above, the six cities and towns, the businesses who participated in the study, the interviewed employees and the interviewed customers of these businesses were not randomly selected. Statistical inference is therefore not relevant. This eliminates the use of t-tests and p-values as a technique to analyse statistically significant differences between means of responses from management and employees (or management and customers). Unlike t-tests, effect sizes are independent from s ample size, as a standardised difference based on the maximum standard deviation between compared groups is calculated (Steyn, 2000).The effect sizes (d-values) were calculated by using the following formula (Cohen, 1988:20-27): [pic] where: †¢ d = effect size; †¢ [pic] is the difference between means of two compared groups (e. g. management and employees or management and customers); and †¢ [pic] is the maximum standard deviation of the two compared groups. To calculate effect sizes, the maximum standard deviation is used instead of a mean standard deviation to allow for a more conservative approach to practical significance (Steyn, 2000). Cohen (1988:20-27) gives the following guidelines for interpreting effect sizes: †¢ d ? 0. indicating no practically significant effect; †¢ d ? 0. 5 indicating a moderate effect that could be significant if more data had been collected; and †¢ d ? 0. 8 or larger indicating a practically significant effect. EMPIRICAL RESULTS Empirical results regarding both the internal and external customer orientations of small- to medium-sized textile retailers in the North-West Province are subsequently discussed. Empirical results: internal customer orientation Four constructs associated with internal customer orientation, as well as the items comprising these constructs, are reported in Table 1.The items comprising these constructs are also indicated. The four constructs exhibited Cronbach’s Alpha values all greater than 0. 6, indicating â€Å"good or adequate† reliability of the measurement scale (Clark and Watson, 1995:315). Average inter item correlations ([pic]) are also reported in Table 1. Clark and Watson (1995:316) indicate that the average inter item correlation should also be used as a measure of internal consistency. They recommend that the average inter item correlation should lie between 0. 15 – 0. 50.It is evident from Table 1 that the average inter item correlations fall within this range, indicating internal consistency of the constructs. TABLE 1 CRONBACH’S ALPHA AND AVERAGE INTER ITEM CORRELATIONS FOR INTERNAL CUSTOMER ORIENTATION |Construct |Cronbach’s Alpha |Average inter item | | | |correlation ([pic]) | |1. Management’s involvement with employees |0. 752 |0. 1 | |Applying management principles strictly | | | |Seeking people who can think of new strategies | | | |Culture of supporting staff | | | |Treating staff the same as external customers | | | |Creating an enabling culture for staff creativity | | | |Exercising staff chievement recognition and reward | | | |Following fair disciplinary action | | | |Development and training of staff | | | |Appreciation of staff contribution to business success | | | |Conducting formal performance appraisals | | | |Making staff a part of solutions | | | |Aggressively competing for talented staff | | | |2. Employee development through communication and participative management |0. 713 |0 . 4 | |Promoting staff learning | | | |Encouraging a learning culture | | | |Practising participative management | | | |Marketing the business’ vision to staff | | | |Creating messages to inspire staff action | | | |Understanding the reality staff experiences | | | |Consulting staff with regard to leadership style | | | |Maintaining a two-way channel of communication in the business | | | |3. Acknowledgement of employees’ expertise and potential |0. 659 |0. 5 | |Incorporating knowledgeable staff inputs into business decisions and activities | | | |Acknowledging that staff is the business’ primary asset | | | |Involving current staff in the process of appointing new staff | | | |Giving responsibility and accountability to staff for their respective performance | | | |areas | | | |Collaborating with staff to draw up strategies, plans and objectives | | | |Arranging for staff to visit customers | | | |4. Satisfaction of customer needs is realised through an integra ted effort by all |0. 623 |0. 5 | |involved in the business | | | |All departments working in collaboration with customer focus in mind | | | |Successfully satisfying customers’ needs and wants | | | To indicate the practically significant differences between employees’ and owners’/managers’ view on internal customer orientation, effect sizes were calculated on the respective constructs. These effect sizes are reported in Table 2. Practically significant effects on constructs 1, 2 and 3 are revealed. Construct 4 only revealed a small effect.TABLE 2 EFFECT SIZES FOR INTERNAL CUSTOMER ORIENTATION Construct description |Business owners |Employees |Effect size | | |Mean |Standard deviation|Mean |Standard deviation| | |1. Management’s involvement with employees |3. 103 |0. 447 |2. 787 |0. 445 |0. 707 | |2. Employee development through communication and |3. 137 |0. 504 |2. 767 |0. 504 |0. 734 | |participative management | | | | | | |3. Acknowledgement of employees’ expertise and potential |3. 086 |0. 557 |2. 674 |0. 554 |0. 40 | |4. Satisfaction of customer needs is realised through an |3. 489 |0. 695 |3. 327 |0. 750 |0. 216 | |integrated effort by all involved in the business | | | | | | Empirical results: external customer orientation Four constructs relating to external customer orientation, as well as the items associated with these constructs, are reported in Table 3. The correspondent Cronbach’s Alpha values for the four constructs are all above 0. 6, indicating â€Å"good or adequate† reliability of the measurement scale (Clark and Watson, 1995:315).Average inter item correlations ([pic]) are once again reported in Table 3. These correlations fall within the range of 0. 15 – 0. 50 indicating internal consistency of the constructs (Clark and Watson, 1995:316). TABLE 3 CRONBACH’S ALPHA AND AVERAGE INTER ITEM CORRELATIONS FOR EXTERNAL CUSTOMER ORIENTATION |Construct |Cronbach’s Alpha |A verage inter item | | | |correlation ([pic]) | |Building customer relationships through the efforts of employees is important |0. 762 |0. 7 | |Attracting, maintaining and enhancing relationships with customers | | | |Establishing and maintaining profitable customer relationships | | | |Maintaining a mutually committed long-term oriented relationship with customers | | | |Moving customers from one level of the relationship to the next | | | |Extending priority treatment to regular customers over irregular ones | | | |Interacting with regular customers | | | |Forging long-term committed relationships with customers | | | |Employees developing business relationships with customers | | | |Fostering an intimate understanding between customers and staff | | | |The business’ offer to customers is geared towards satisfying customer needs |0. 665 |0. 6 | |Delivering an offer exactly as required | | | |Extending quality and durability as the business’ core offer | | | |Deliverin g superior offers not available from competitors | | | |Continue improving the total offer to customers | | | |Delivering a tailor-made offer to customers | | | |Viewing delivery of the offer from customers’ perspective | | | |Delivering customer satisfaction |0. 642 |0. 6 | |Offering high levels of customer service | | | |Managing and maintaining the delivery of customer satisfaction | | | |Successfully satisfying customers’ needs and wants | | | |Custom fitting service to customers’ particular requirements | | | |Delivering services to the satisfaction of customer desires | | | |Customer orientation of employees |0. 619 |0. 6 | |Instilling customer orientation among staff | | | |Formulating and realising a customer orientated mission statement | | | The effect sizes on the respective constructs for the practically significant difference between customers’ and owners’/managers’ view on external customer orientation are reported in Table 4. Practically significant effects are revealed on constructs 2 and 3, while construct 4 exhibit a moderate effect size. Construct 1 revealed a small effect size.TABLE 4 EFFECT SIZES FOR EXTERNAL CUSTOMER ORIENTATION Construct description |Business owners |Employees |Effect size | | |Mean |Standard deviation|Mean |Standard deviation| | |1. Building customer relationships through the efforts of |3. 303 |0. 557 |3. 100 |0. 442 |0. 364 | |employees is important | | | | | | |2. The business’ offer to customers is geared towards |3. 408 |0. 423 |2. 928 |0. 465 |1. 32 | |satisfying customer needs | | | | | | |3. Delivering customer satisfaction |3. 528 |0. 445 |3. 202 |0. 399 |0. 733 | |4. Customer orientation of employees |3. 360 |0. 591 |2. 991 |0. 635 |0. 581 | CONCLUSIONS From the above empirical results the following conclusions regarding the internal and external customer orientation of small- to medium-sized textile retailers included in this study can be drawn. Internal custom er orientationFrom the effect sizes reported in Table 2 it is evident that management and employees differ significantly (practically significant effect sizes) on the following issues: †¢ management’s involvement with employees (construct 1). Management feels more involved with employees than employees experience it to be the case ([pic] > 0); †¢ employee development through communication and participative management (construct 2). Management is of the opinion that employee development takes place through communication and participative management, while employees do not experience the same ([pic] > 0) ; and †¢ acknowledgement of employees’ expertise and potential (construct 3).Management feels that employees expertise’ and potential is acknowledged, while employees do not feel the same ([pic]> 0). An small effect size was calculated for construct 4. Management and employees therefore agree that satisfying customer needs is realised throu gh an integrated effort by all involved in the business (construct 4, Table 2, [pic] and [pic] both > 3. 0, indicating agreement on the Likert-type scale). External customer orientation As far as external customer orientation, as reported in Table 4, is concerned, owners/managers and customers differ significantly (practically significant effect sizes) on: †¢ whether the businesses’ offer to customers is geared towards satisfying customer needs (construct 2).Management feels it to be the case, while customers differ significantly ([pic] > 0); and †¢ delivery of customer satisfaction (construct 3). Customers feel significantly less satisfied than management thought them to be ([pic] > 0). As far as customer orientation of employees is concerned, a moderate effect size was determined (Table 4, construct 4). Owners/managers are of the opinion that employees are customer-oriented ([pic] > 3. 0) while customers do not experience it to the same degree ([pic] & lt; 3. 0). Table 4 also indicates an insignificant effect size on construct 1. Management and customers therefore agree that it is important to build customer relationships through the efforts of employees (construct 1, [pic] and [pic] both > 3. 0). MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONSWhen considering the internal customer orientation of small- to medium-sized textile retailers participating in this study, it is evident that employees do not feel appreciated by management. Employees indicated that management is not involved with them and that their expertise and potential is subsequently ignored. They also do not feel empowered through communication or participative management initiatives (or rather the lack thereof) from management’s side. Management and employees agree on a basic principle of the marketing concept (Barnes, 2001:7), namely that customer satisfaction is dependent on an integrated effort of all involved in the business. From the above it is clear that a certain amount o f goodwill is evident among employees.Employees recognise the importance of an integrated effort of all involved in the business to satisfy customer needs. It is recommended that management of these businesses capitalise on this aptitude of employees. Communication with employees on matters relating to management of the business will encourage employee participation, paving the way for the implementation of participative management techniques. This will draw on the latent expertise and potential of employees and will ultimately contribute to employee development and a sense of management involvement. As indicated by the empirical results, small- to medium-sized textile retailers participating in this study lack a pronounced external customer orientation.Customers do not regard the businesses as being geared towards satisfying their needs. They are also of the opinion that employees of small- to medium-sized textile businesses are not sufficiently customer-oriented. By improving thei r internal customer orientation as suggested above, the external customer orientation of businesses may take a turn for the better. This may contribute to greater customer satisfaction as the interaction between customers and (more appreciated, and thus better satisfied and motivated) employees improve. After all: management and customers both agreed that the efforts of employees are important to build customer relationships.This is consistent with Sasser’s (2003) exposition that an improved internal customer orientation will contribute towards a better external customer orientation that will result in more satisfied customers.