LGBT Labor and Employment Issues

Many nations have established different criteria of determining the manner in which the scores of varied companies treat their workforce based on sexual orientation and gender characteristics. Among the many scales deployed is the ‘corporate equality index’. This scale â€Å"rates organizations on a scale running from 0 to 100 percent based on their treatment of gay, lesbian and transgender employees†1.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on LGBT Labor and Employment Issues specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Scores realized upon the administration of gender and sexual orientation scales in some organizations reveal that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered labor issues are pronounced in terms of workforce segregation and stereotyping in the realm of labor and employment. From this perspective, the research paper focuses on comparing experiences of lesbian and gay workers in public versus private sector, and then analyzes the policies of different organizations regarding gay and lesbian workers, both in public and private sectors. In public and private sector, LGBTs have encountered varied experiences. These experiences range from discrimination, inequitable compensation, unequal employment benefits and sexual harassment among others. Much of these experiences arise from ignorance and misunderstanding. While different organizations have made incredible strides in the 21st century through adoption of varying policies to ensure that LGBTs are sealed from discrimination, such individuals remain widely unprotected in the private sector. For instance, managers or administrators may possess little information regarding the LGBTs preferences, historical experiences, facts and perspectives of taking particular sexual orientation. The repercussion is unfair and ineffective rules, policies and actions getting instituted by an organization without taking the consideration of c oncerns of the LGBTs. Rights of LGBTs remain contentious among certain faith groups such s Catholics and evangelistic groups. Such groups widely believe that ensuring the LGBTs have equal access to equal employment opportunities would give rise to slewing gay marriages within their neighborhoods, which result into an inevitable apocalypse. Discrimination based on sexual orientation is a big challenge to modern organizations because the number of the transgendered, gays, lesbians and bisexual is on the rise. In this context, William institute estimates that, in the United States, â€Å"the number of LGBT employees is 7 million in private sector, 1 million state and local employees, and 200,000 employees of the federal government†2. In fact, 30% of all local and state lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered employees dwell in New York and California. On the other hand, â€Å"lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people make up only one half of one percent of state and loc al employees in Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming combined†3. The statistics gives a concrete inference that different states may need to embrace diverse policies in an attempt to address LGBTs discriminations in the labor and employment, both in public and private sector.Advertising Looking for critical writing on gender studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In Tilcsik’s research, two differing resumes were sent to about 1700 potential candidates of a new job opening. Despite the two â€Å"resumes being largely similar in terms of qualifications of the applicants, one resume for every opening mentioned that the applicant had been part of a gay organization in college†4. The results of this study indicated that the applicants who did not have gay signal had higher chances of being invited for an interview (11.5 percent). On the other hand, applicants with gay signals had a chance of 7.2 percent of being invited for the same interview. Therefore, the study makes it clear that both public and private organizations need to enact suitable policies to help reduce the negative impacts. The major policies that are deemed crucial for curtailing incidences of discrimination in public and private sector organization are those seeking to reduce discrimination to near zero percent. Labor and employment human rights activists treat non-inclusion of aspects of gender and sexual affiliation as part of workforce diversity as an attempt to foster discrimination in the labor and employment sector in both public and private sector organizations5. Government advocates for equal rights for all people. Since, public organizations are highly inspired by the culture of the government in developing their policies; instances of discrimination experiences are lesser in public sector than in the private sector. Managers in private sector are widely guided by the human resource models that essentially require the managers to engineer and implement policies placed on them by executive directors and the employee rights. This makes it difficult for managers to come up with policies that ensure fairness and effectiveness for all; and yet ensure that the organization attains its noble role: remain profitable. The situation is even bad in case organizational culture fails to favor the concerns of the LGBTs. In conclusion, it is necessary to carry out an intensive research on the differences between experience of lesbian and gay workers in public versus private sector coupled with scrutinizing policies put in place by organization in both sectors to ensure that such experiences become beneficial to an organization. In this manner, it becomes probable to postulate possible interventions to deal with the rising problems in an endeavor to make private organizations succeed in future as organizations in private sector, especially in this era of globalization. Bibliography Hunter, Chris. 2012. Commi ssioners of Anti-discrimination Amendment. The Salina  Journal 1, no. 2: 415.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on LGBT Labor and Employment Issues specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Tilcsik, Anthony. 2011. Pride and Prejudice: Employment Discrimination against Open Gay Men in the United States. American Journal of Sociology 117 no. 3: 586. Williams Institute. 2011. Estimates of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered  Employees. New York: Williams institute. Williams, Steve. 2011.Trans Workplace Non-discrimination Bill. New Jersey, NJ: Pearson Publishers. Footnotes 1 Chris Hunter, â€Å"Commissioners of anti-discrimination amendment†. The Salina journal 1.2(2012): 415. 2 Williams Institute, Estimates of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered employees (New York: Williams institute, 2011), 45. 3 (Steve Williams 2011, 44) 4 Anthony Tilcsik. â€Å"Pride and prejudice: employment discrimination a gainst open gay men in United States†. American journal of sociology 117.3(2011): 586.Advertising Looking for critical writing on gender studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More 5 Steve Williams, Trans workplace non-discrimination bill (New Jersey, NJ: Pearson Publishers, 2011), 34. This critical writing on LGBT Labor and Employment Issues was written and submitted by user Damian Houston to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

aol essays

aol essays NEW YORK-America Online, Inc. (NYSE: AOL) and Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) announced today the management team and structure for AOL Time Warners finance organization, which will take effect upon completion of the merger of the two companies. In making the announcement, J. Michael Kelly, currently AOLs chief financial officer and senior vice president, who will become chief financial officer and executive vice president of AOL Time Warner, said: We have assembled an extraordinarily talented group of finance executives from throughout AOL and Time Warner, drawing on the strengths of both companies. This is the first step in building the foundation for a world-class finance function. We have the right team, with the right combination of skills and experience, to support the financial and strategic goals of the company and to help us realize the tremendous potential of our merger. Gerald M. Levin, chairman and CEO of Time Warner, who will become CEO of AOL Time Warner, said: "Today's executive appointments will provide AOL Time Warner with an experienced, top-flight, hard-driving financial organization which can establish the operating metrics to support the growth opportunities that will help drive our continually accelerating performance." The following executives were named to key finance positions at AOL Time Warner: John LaBarca, senior vice president, financial operations. LaBarcas responsibilities will include merger integration tracking, internal audit and purchasing. He is currently senior vice president, financial operations at Time Warner Inc. He joined Time Warner in 1993. Frederick Yeager, senior vice president, finance. Yeagers responsibilities will include advising corporate senior management on key financial issues and representing the CFO on other matters. Yeager is currently vice president, finance and development at Time Warner Inc. He joined Time Warner in 1995. Ja...

Communication Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 8

Communication - Assignment Example Fortunately, the team leader was an experienced and competent figure and managed to resolve the conflict. He cleared the real problem in a face-to –face conversation and encouraged the conflict parties to collaboration. The effect was amazing! The team finished the project successfully, and team members improved their relationships. The interview with team leaders was a difficult task for me as it required long preparation; however, I had to react on spot in the discussion all the time. The interviewees were pleased with possibility to share their experience and gave extended and interesting answers. I realized that for a leader it is crucial to share with experience as leadership is not devotion, it is a skill, which can be practiced. For instance, some top managers of the companies can change the sphere of their work from car manufacture to laptops production. The experience of team managing is universal and it can be applied to any sphere that is why it is so important to learn all about

The Album that change my life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Album that change my life - Essay Example The King along with his band group were a force to be reckoned with in the musical sense and also famous for their very powerful visual imagery. King Diamond earned his fame with this album and made his first mass public appearances wearing garish face paint to prove to be as dark as the themes he sang about. With Hank Shermann being one of the most creative Metal guitarists, musically the band was incredible. The dueling performance between Hank Shermann and Michael Denner was very intense as King prowled and lurked singing and screaming the often horrific subject matter that the band based their lyrics upon. Rounding out the group was Timi Grabber on bass and Kim Ruzz on drums. This was in fact the very first pure prog-metal album of all time in the sense that no key-boards were used. Compared to the next release of Mercyful Fate which had more direct structures, "Melissa" contains all the necessary components of progressive heavy metal such as the various themes and arrangements, changes of tempos and moods within any separate song from the album. It is a known fact that the main indicator of a progressive work is complexity, which consists of the above-mentioned components. A considerable part of audience fails to perceive the blasphemy in this album. The fact that it was released in the year 1983 and focused heavily on Anton LaVey's work and used topics like "venom", "Satanism" and "devils workshop" indicate that this was not a band which dealt with image alone and not actual ideals. Further, ideals hold no importance without talent. King delivers an unmatched vocal performance surpassing Bruce Dickson and Rob Halford who were the reigning vocalists of the era. Shermann and Denner were world class guitarists at par with Tipton and Downing. The album begins with their best known song "Evil" which starts off with a rolling head and culminated into an amazing riff backed by excellent guitar work and well paced vocals. it must have carved out a genre of it sown in the 1980's when it was released. The way King drops his voice so as to not overshadow the guitar makes for a perfect contrast with his extremely high falsettos. "Melissa" is in all probability the world's greatest debut. The combination effect of the camp Satanic theme along with the gigantic crests of riffs and the subtle neo- classical themes found in the guitar solos leaves the listener in boundless amazement. The awe inspiring acrobatics of the vocals the sheer sonic heaviness of the entire performance simply adds to the perfection. Playing the album in a dimly lit room with a black candle and closed eye, takes you to another level of existence altogether to be engulfed by devils, death and sacrifice. The music in general is mostly dark and heavy but nevertheless it is catchy and inspiring. The songs are rhythmically inventive embellished with time changes and tempo shifts. The musicians are all in sync with each other and there is seldom a faltered moment in the vocals or instruments. "Melissa" is one of the most famous and influential albums in the history of heavy metal. Merciful fate was dubbed as a "black metal "group in the 80's though by today's standards that assertation stands invalid, it still makes some sense. The black

Social and Physical Benefits of Parks and Recreation Literature Review Essay - 1

Social and Physical Benefits of Parks and Recreation Literature Review Paper - Essay Example n areas in cities in the form of parks and recreation spaces are essential because of their social, physical and psychological benefits, besides preserving the natural resources of the locale. There is increasing evidence from research studies that indicates that â€Å"the presence of natural areas contributes to increased quality of life in many ways† (Chiesura, 2004, p.129) of city residents. Urban nature in the form of parks, forests, and green belts, and its components such as trees and water, positively impacts the environment and ecology of a region. It accomplishes â€Å"important environmental services such as air and water purification, wind and noise filtering, and microclimate stablilization† (Chiesura, 2004, p.130). Thus, parks promote physical health by providing green spaces and fresh air for exercising and walking, and increase social well-being through opportunities for interacting with neighbors at a shared, common location. The social and psychological services of parks and recreation are vital for the livability of modern cities (Chiesura, 2004). This is reiterated by Gidlof-Gunnarsson and Ohrstrom, 2007) who emphasize on the importance of providing easy access to nearby ‘noise-free’ green areas offering relief from environmental stress such as traffic sounds, and opportunities for rest and relaxation. Chiesura (2004) examined the significance of parks for citizens’ well being, and for urban sustainability. The author conducted a survey among visitors of an urban park in Amsterdam, to investigate people’s â€Å"motives for urban nature, the emotional dimension involved in the experience of nature and its importance for people’s general well being† (Chiesura, 2004, p.129). The results demonstrate that parks and recreation spaces are beneficial services fulfilling human needs of an immaterial and nonconsumptive nature. The positive functions of green areas also extends to reduced fear, fewer incivilities, and lower levels of

Brand Equity for the Indian Telecom Market

Brand Equity for the Indian Telecom Market INTRODUCTION Background Telecommunication may well be Indias best told story and an apt indicator of its current economic potential. In around a decade, this booming industry has seen more growth and coverage in newspapers than any other sector. Aiding this superlative growth s of being one of the fastest growing markets in the world, is Indias rising incomes, dropping tariffs, more options with newer entrants and more competition. Also, external conditions like friendly government policies and a stable growing economy over the past decade has resulted in the Telecom sector becoming one of the key areas in Indias growth story. Indias wireless subscriber base as of December 2009 stood at ~ 525 million subscribers with new mobile connections for that month at ~ 19.1 mn which is a 8.5% growth M-o-M.(Edelweiss Monthly Telecom Tracker, 2010) With the markets saturating in most of the developed markets, the wide consumer base and potential in this market has attracted a number of new entrants with players such as Uninor that was launched in only 8 circles (out of the total of 23 Telecom circles present in the Indian market) adding an impressive 1.2 mn subscribers within the first month of its launch. Rationale for this Study There is steadily a paradigm shift that is happening in the way mobile devices are to be used in the future and it could well become the one-touch-point with the convergence of mobile and networking. Rural consumer base is a segment all providers are eyeing with the increasing saturation in the urban markets and growing competition. Given the nature of this highly competitive sector and the rapidly changing needs of the Indian consumer it is highly relevant today for these service providing brands to look at means at targeting subscribers beyond just a pricing or a product strategy. Tariff wars though common to this sector, would in silos prove to be unsustainable and a short term gain strategy. Porter (1990) suggests that branding as a key means of ‘differentiation and one of the most important ‘positioning strategies. The significance of branding from the strategic perspective has been widely acknowledged across marketing literature (Kapferer, 1994, Keller 1999). Aaker (1989) argues that a brand provides a sustainable competitive advantage for firms. According to Farquhar (1989), brands with high equity show greater resilience towards competitor promotions as well as create high barriers to entry. Although the literature identifies several dimensions of brand equity from other industries, specifically Consumer Products and Goods, existing literature on service firms and specifically with respect to the Telecom market is sparse. Despite the growing importance of this sector and its growing contribution to the Indian services market, the topic of how Telecom service providers build brand equity and their focus areas appears to be under researched Expected Contribution By applying the widely accepted Consumer based brand equity model for gauging the components, this study aims at empirically studying the inter relationships and impact of components to the overall equity within the context of the Indian Telecom market. The identification of components of brand equity from the consumers perspective in the context of the Indian Telecom Market Understanding the relationship between the dimensions of brand equity and the overall equity for the top 4 brands in the Indian Market (Source: TRAI, Nov 2009) Testing the relative importance of the dimensions of brand equity towards brand building for the 4 brands considered A comparative framework in understanding the relative changes in perception and ideological differences between the four brands under consideration Implication of Findings Results would provide the relative significance of dimensions contributing to the overall brand equity and hence provide a direction for managers in their brand building in terms of the weight ages to be assigned to the indicators The measurement of the brand equity would help in evaluation of the marketing mix elements. Gaining a knowledge of the relative importance of the dimensions would provide direction to the managers in terms of deciding the promotional support Originality/value The principal contribution of the present research is that it provides empirical evidence of building brand equity, supporting Aakers and Kellers conceptualization of brand equity for the Indian Telecom market. Not only has the CBBE model not been widely adopted in India, the brand building of Telecom service providers has also not been widely explored. Also, it provides a comparative framework for understanding the dimensions across the four brands Flow To accomplish the above stated goals, this paper offers a brief introduction to Indias Telecom market, an overview of the top service providers, their offerings, strategies and technological advances in the field. This is followed by a review of relevant theoretical literature to arrive at the research gap and the research objectives. Next, it describes the methodology and rationale for measuring customer-based brand equity. Analysis, Interpretation, conclusions and managerial implications would be arrived at the end of the study. LITERATURE REVIEW Brand Building in the Indian Telecom Market Strong brands provide a means of competing beyond just functionality and price. Strong brands that connect with the customers provide a better path to growth and the added value to the customers in this case is beyond just features and pricing strategies (Ehrenberg, Goodhardt, Barwise, 1990) Although in the current Indian Telecom market, the aggressive competition has resulted in a virtual price war, empirical analysis states that competitive strategies based on pricing provide only short term and less effective measures (Tayebeh, Farahani Manjappa, 2008) In this context, the identification of dimensions of brand equity and its significance in building brands becomes highly relevant. Indian Telecom Market Overview Market Potential: Enormous business potential for entrants given the low tele- density which is around 42% as per QPAC- Indian Telecom Industry report. Role of Foreign players: The increase in the FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) limit from 49% to 74% in 2005 has further aided in this increasing number of players in the market bettering their offering in terms of functionalities and price.(Telecom Pulse- Enam Securities, 2009) Competitive Landscape: The landscape is highly competitive with aggressive entry of new players in the GSM market. The price wars have forced even the incumbents to join in, in order to arrest the fall in their market share Newer players in the market such as Tata Docomo (TTSL) topped the industry in terms of subscriber adds of upto 3.3 mn in December 2009 while the new entrant Uninor garnered up to ~ 1.2 mn subscribers in the first month of launch as per Edelweiss Telecom Tracker, Dec 2009. Players like Telenor and Elsihat DB are also set to launch their operations in India by June 2010 (Sector Review- India Infoline, 2009) All this indicates that the incumbents no longer can afford to rely on short term measures to hold on to market shares Changing Market Scenario: Attractive Rural Markets: As per government statistics, the mobile penetration in rural regions is only around 13% as opposed to 73% in urban areas (Telecom and Technology Report- Economic Intelligence Unit, 2009) Challenges Faced: Despite the strong growth s, there are issues the market is facing in terms of Increase in fragmentation in the urban markets Competitive nd Aggressive Pricing Strategies Technological Updates: Atleast 60 to 80 million mobile subscribers will be 3-G enabled by 2012 which changes the market scenario. (QPAC- Indian Telecom Industry Report, 2009) The growing acceptance of Value added services (VAS), 3G would allow companys to increase their ARPU (Average Revenue per User) s by shifting from voice to non-voice segments CUSTOMER BASED BRAND EQUITY (CBBE) CONSTRUCT Given the context, companies have realized that investing in the right band building efforts will make brand equity one of their invaluable assets. Developing, maintaining and enhancing brand equity becomes the prerogative for brand building by any company Brand equity theory as proposed by Aaker (1991) was further developed from the consumers perspective by Keller (1993). According to Keller (2008), â€Å"customer-based brand equity is the differential effect that the brand has on consumer response to the marketing of the brand† (p. 70). The brand equity concept is measured broadly from two perspectives Financial based measure Consumer Based measure Various researchers have worked on developing a good model and constructs for its measurement as this is the basis for managing brand equity. In our paper we consider brand equity from the consumer perspective in terms of the value if provides to the consumer. CONCEPTUAL MODEL Aaker (1996) defines brand equity as a multidimensional concept and the components he associates with it include: Brand Awareness Perceived Quality Brand Associations and Proprietary Assets Consumer based brand equity has also been used as a measure has been previously by several researchers such as Yoo and Donthu (2002) and Washman and Plank (2002) Every company and sector looks at building and managing its equity as a means of gaining long term competitive advantage. In the model developed by Yoo and Donthu (2001) based on consumer based equity model, the authors have adopted the following four dimensions for the brand equity construct; Brand Loyalty Brand Awareness Perceived Quality Brand Associations An interesting fact contended by researchers by Srinivasan, Park and Chang (2005) was that apart from product related benefits, ‘non attributes also form strong preferences in terms of building brand equity and associations and forming points of differentiation. This is of high significance in our research given that we are working with service brands. For the purpose of our study, we adopt four dimensions to measure brand equity Generic brand Equity Dimensions Adopted 1 Brand Loyalty 2 Brand Awareness 3 Perceived Quality 4 Brand Associations The understanding of these generic dimensions in the context of the Indian Telecom market is done through the Pilot Qualitative research. This is further applied and tested onto the four brands using the Quantitative research KNOWLEDGE GAP The knowledge gaps identified are as follows: The existing literature points to the presence of various consumer based brand equity models and constructs, but there has been very few studies done in this field in terms of a particular sector but rather the focus is on development of a valid measurement model There are very few studies conducted in this field in the Indian context and specifically there are almost none that have been done from the perspective of identification of components for services There is hence paucity of literature about building service brands. Also, no previous research has examined the link dimensions of brand equity to the overall brand building for the Telecom market There is almost nil literature that is available that relates to branding and its impact on the Telecom market across the world. This would provide a whole scope of opportunities for future research in providing managers specific indicators and relative significance of factors that contribute to brand building. The research has further not been restricted to student samples only and is to be conducted on the actual consumers This article focuses on the measurement and impact of the dimensions on overall rand building exercise which is of paramount importance to the managers specifically in the field of Telecom where there has been sparse research done to arrive at the sector specific factors that contribute to building a strong brand. This research aims to address this need gap in both geography and sector (Indian Telecom market) through this study RESEARCH PROBLEM DEFINITION Research problem To measure the components of brand equity and explore the impact of the different dimensions on the overall equity specifically for the top four service provider brands operating in the Indian Telecom Market. Also to find out which is the most important component of the branding that leads to success in the Indian Market by the application of Consumer based brand equity (CBBE) model. Here, the category is a part of the design as we are specifically looking at how the components work in the case of service brands. Hence, the research findings would be applicable, if any, to other service categories than CPG or Durables. Research Questions To gauge the indicators of different components of Consumer based Brand Equity specifically in the context of the Indian Telecom Market* To Investigate the causal relationship between the dimensions of brand equity and the overall equity for top four service provider brands operating in the Telecom market* in India To use the Customer based Brand Equity model to test the relative importance of the dimensions of Brand Equity towards brand building for the Indian Telecom market* To provide a comparative framework in understanding these dimensions from the perspective of the four brands under consideration. * Here, the top 4 brands in the Indian Telecom Market (Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance and BSNL as of November 2009) are considered as a part of the analysis RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 1.1 Research Design: In order to achieve the objective as explained by the previous section, the following stages are proposed as a part of the research design. RESEARCH DESIGN AND ANALYSIS FRAMEWORK Storyboard PILOT QUALITATIVE RESEARCH The imperative behind this pilot Qualitative Analysis is to identify various parameters that are specific to the Indian Telecom market as derived on the basis of the CBBE model. These parameters are further taken as input for the Quantitative stage in the questionnaire. Data Collection Techniques Depth Interviews was used as the primary means of obtaining the qualitative data. Given the generic nature of the attributes to start with, the depth interviews provide flexibility in data collection and insights on pattern of usage. The purpose of these exploratory and unstructured interviews was to uncover the underlying motivation behind a persons behavior and actions. A guideline/discussion guide (Please refer to Appendix for a snapshot of this guideline used) was prepared for giving a direction and including the information areas to be probed in the discussion. The interview was free flowing on the basis of the responses obtained. A total of 8 depth interviews were conducted to understand the nature of subscribers need satisfaction when it comes to communication. Also, it aims to understand the emotional and functional benefits that is derived The discussion guide prepared broadly follows the below structure: Perspective on the Indian Telecom current market scenario The manner in which communication has changed over time Factors influencing choice of service provider Benefits sought in terms of functional and emotional attributes Brand Associations and Image associated with current players Association of Service Providers with instrumental and terminal values Drivers and restraints in choosing provider The tools and techniques used in order to probe included Projective Techniques such as Word Association, probing on attitudes and behavior with respect to their usage patterns and the emotional and functional benefits sought. Also, Projective and Enabling techniques such as Personification and Bubble drawing was used. The respondents were required to enter their thoughts associated with the provided brands. Data Elicitation techniques such as Sentence Completion and Clustering were used for the identification of instrumental and terminal values with the service providers apart from Brand Mapping QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH The various parameters that have been identified from the pilot qualitative questionnaire are to be tested to apply the CBBE model to the 4 top brands. The questionnaire is used for this purpose in order to identify the brand preferences and test the veracity of the parameters identified from the qualitative research. For this study, for the purpose of data accuracy and constraints, the top 4 brands in the Indian telecom market (as of Nov 2009) are considered Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance Communication and BSNL. Also, this selection allows us to compare and analyze the differences between diverse brands such as Airtel and BSNL. Also, it allows us to analyze the change in perceptions in the market towards brands such as BSNL over the years despite its strong head start in the market. The various parameters that have been identified from the pilot qualitative questionnaire as being variables leading to brand equity interact with each other as well. The independent variables identified are the 16 variables from the factors given below: a) Brand Knowledge b) Brand Associations c) Social Image d) Brand Loyalty e) Product Benefits f) Brand Usage i. These 16 variables have been expressed in form of attitudinal statements for each of the 4 brands. ii. The respondents are required to rate them on a 5 point scale between Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree on the basis of their usage/perceptions. iii. Apart from this, the personal profiles of the respondent including the fundamental demographic details are collected. iv. Also, the usage habits in terms of their brands and the services utilized are also collected for further analysis. The questionnaire that is used is present in Appendix for reference. Following the data collection, the analysis is done using SPSS 15. This is further elaborated in the Data analysis section. 1.2 UNIVERSE SELECTION Qualitative Stage: In the first Qualitative Stage where we are looking at having Depth interviews to identify and assess the parameters specific to the Indian context, it is important to have a representation of the top 4 brands that is to be analysed. Hence the universe selection is as follows for the Qualitative Stage: City Gender SEC Age Current Service Provider DIs Bangalore M A2 20- 35 Reliance 2 Bangalore M B2 26- 40 BSNL 2 Ahmedabad F A1 23-28 Airtel 2 Ahmedabad M B1 25-35 Vodafone 2 Quantitative Stage: In the next stage of Quantitative analysis, we are looking at seeking responses and assessing the parameters identified to apply the CBBE model for the 4 brands. Hence, this should broadly meet the following criteria: Born and Currently residing in India Male or Female Age group between 20 60 Must be a user/have used at least one of the following four brands Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance or BSNL As the questionnaire was to be primarily administered online, it also necessitated the presence of a internet connection and was geographically dispersed across Metros and Tier I cities pan India SAMPLING DESIGN The Pilot qualitative research required Depth interviews from the perspective of the 4 different brand users. A total of 8 depth interviews was conducted for this purpose across genders and SECs. the sampling technique was stratified random with stratification on the basis of he brand Quantitative Stage: a. The questionnaire for the Quantitative stage was administered online. The targeted size was 130 to 150. This was arrived at considering the constraints given that each respondent was to provide responses for all the four brands thus providing rich data per response. b. The current offerings offered by the service providers are not segment-specific. Covering the difference in attitudes depending on changes in age, gender or geographic dispersion is not within the scope of this study and is not statistically analyzed from the point of future research. Hence there is to be no age or gender restriction in the sample selection. c. The cities chosen for sample selection include the metropolitans across the country and Tier I cities which would give a snapshot into the various geographic circles where the service is present within the constraints of administering the questionnaire online. Out of the total of 172 respondents, the number of complete valid responses obtained was 121. The demographics of this set are as follows: The completed responses have been filtered as per the following criteria: a. Location Constraint b. Usage Constraint: User/have used at least one of the top four brands Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance and BSNL Stage 2: DATA ANALYSIS Pilot Qualitative Study The broad parameters arrived at from the in- depth interviews are as follows: Performance of the Brand With the evolution of the Indian Telecom Industry and the emergence of multiple players with competitive offerings, the Indian subscribers are at a stage where the minimum expectation from any new entrant is the presence of a good working model with uninterrupted service quality, responsive customer service and flexible tariff options. â€Å"†¦. Having a clear connection cannot be a factor in choosing†¦.everyone provides that†¦.† â€Å" I would expect the provider to have good and responsive customer service to cater to complaints and resolve issues immediately† â€Å" †¦Apart from the basic services, I would also be interested in new offerings such as music and game downloads..† â€Å" †¦. I prefer lower recharge coupons and flexibility in payment plans..† Loyalty towards the providers Certain subscribers usually tend to stick with the current players unless there is a shift in either their needs or environment. Changes in provider are usually done when there is a shift in location geographically or a personal need. Also, there is the segment of consumers who do not really face an issue of number portability and are willing to switch to a different provider for want of a better offer or tariff â€Å" ..When I went to college, I found my friends with ‘X connection and hence got one as well†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"†¦This second connection was bought when I shifted from Hyderabad to Bangalore for my job..† â€Å"I like the friends circle plan that is offered by brand ‘Y and it suits my usage habits†¦..† Trust Worthiness Presence of a brand for a long duration in the market or with long term usage, subscribers develops a sense of attachment towards the brand that leads to the feeling of trust. â€Å"†¦ I think this brand is good and trust in subscribing to their offerings†¦.† â€Å" I think they are the best in the market, being the leaders in this region..† Brand Association/Image Most urban subscribers are conscious about the fit of the brand with their personalities. The youthfulness of the brand or the positioning also dictates their preference towards it. â€Å" †¦I would like it to be a bit classy and not for everyone†¦.† â€Å".. Trendy, with offers for the students is something I would look out for in my brand..† â€Å" ..The corporate connections are available only with these providers..which says a lot about these brands..† Hence narrowing down from the Pilot qualitative research, the factors that are taken into consideration for Quantitative analysis are as follows: Questionnaire Data Collection- Parameters for Assessment 1) Personal Profile a. Age b. SEC (Data regarding Education and Occupation of the Chief Wage earner is collected and then coded to extract the SEC of the respondent) c. Place of Residence 2) Brand Awareness a. Brand Recall i. Un-Aided ii. Aided b. Identification of Brand Elements i. Color of Brand Logo ii. Associated celebrity iii. Associated Tag Line 3) Brand Knowledge a. Brand Visibility across media 4) Brand Equity (Dependent variable) a. Rating of brand as the ‘Most Preferred Service Provider 5) Brand Associations a. Sincere b. Exciting c. Competent d. Rugged e. Sophisticated 6) Social Image a. I believe the brand is good and would subscribe to its offerings b. Trust 7) Brand Loyalty a. I believe this brand is worth the money I pay for its offerings b. Recommend ability of the brand c. Switching Likelihood to competitors brand given better offerings 8) Product Benefits a. Affordability b. Good Connectivity c. Clarity of Voice d. Responsive Customer Service e. Broad Set of Services and features 9) Brand Usage a. Number of Providers used thus far b. Current Service provider c. Name of brands used so far d. Choose type of services availed from the service provider . Stage 3: DATA ANALYSIS Brand Awareness and Usage pattern study Respondent Profile a. Age Dispersion: 20-60 years b. Locations considered: Metros, Tier I Cities pan India. Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad c. By Gender: Male 62.8% Female 37.2% d. By SEC Classification From fig , it is seen that amongst the total valid respondent s, there is favorability towards SEC A. Given that most of the survey has been online in nature and that locations considered being metros and Tier I cities of India , this is justifiable. Further fig , provides the split across the 4 brands on the basis of SEC. It is clearly seen that both Airtel and Vodafone are mostly similar in terms of their positioning and having a higher incidence towards SEC A1 and A2 Brand Awareness It is interesting to note from fig that apart from Airtel that enjoys almost 95% unaided recall, the other brands are comparable in terms of their recall quotient. Specifically, BSNL as a brand has a higher recall on consumers minds over Vodafone and Reliance. In fig , when aided recall is considered, the disparity amongst brands reduces to a large extent and almost all brands fall between the 93 to 95% range except for new brands such as MTS which currently have a presence only across 11 out of 23 circles. An interesting fact to note from fig above is that in spite of the time elapsed, the ‘Hutch pug still holds a strong bond with the brand and subscribers compensate for the absence of celebritys through these brand symbols Usage Pattern From the fig it can be seen that most of the respondents on an average cluster around the possession of 2 service providers till date. Also, the average period of usage for respondents is around 24 months as is seen from fig STAGE 3: DATA ANALYSIS QUANTITATIVE Step 1: Identifying the important components of Brand Equity brand wise Using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) The various parameters that have been identified from the pilot qualitative questionnaire as being variables leading to brand equity interact with each other as well. These 16 variables have been expressed in form of attitudinal statements for each of the 4 brands and the subscribers are to rate them on a 5 point scale between Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree on the basis of their usage/perceptions. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is used to get this inter relationship or pattern between these variables and to reduce the number of variables. The resulting independent variables are termed ‘factors. The resulting factors and their variable groupings are observed to explain the nature of the factors and the resulting factors or components would be used in further analysis. Further, this is performed for each of the four brands. As a heuristic, factors with close loading on two or more components are rejected as they are not explained uniquely by one component. Further Eigen values are used to identify the number of factors. Principal Component Analysis is the extraction method that is used. Step2: Extracting the Scores of the components of Brand Equity brand wise The score of each of the resulting components of Brand Equity such as Perceived Quality, Brand Worthiness, Brand Loyalty, Brand Knowledge and Brand Personality have been computed using the mean of the weighted average of all the variables that are included within each component of the brand equity. This is calculated for each brand. For example: The component Airtel Brand Worthiness consists of 7 variables. The score of the 7 variables is multiplied by their respective factor loadings. The mean of the ‘weighted score of all the 7 variables is the score of the component Airtel-Brand Worthiness for Brand Airtel. These computed score of the factors and the scores of the dependent variable for Brand Equity are used to calculate the impact of components on the overall brand equity in the next stage Step3: Impact of Components of Brand Equity on the overall Brand Equity brand wise Using Multiple Regression Model On aggregating the variables on to different components brand wise, the next stage is to analyze the impact of these various components on the overall brand equity brand wise. Score on overall equity The dependent variable has the following attitudinal statement to get a brand wise score on the following statement that is measured on a 5 point scale â€Å"Your preference/liking levels for each of the 4 brands as the ‘Most Preferred Service Provider† It is seen that the variables that load onto the components vary brand wise. It is important to find the impact of these components on the overall brand equity for each brand in order to understand the significance each component plays on brand preference for each of the 4 brands. Hence, the weighted scores of the components are used as dependent variables to find their impact on the overall brand equity (as measured by the above rating) using Multiple regression analysis. This is calculated for each of the four brands. The regression model is given as follows: Y = a + b1X1 + b2X2 + b3X3 + b4X4 + †¦..bnXn + e Y = Score on the overall brand equity as given by the dependent variable for each of the brands X1 = Score on Component1 for each of the 4 brands X2 = Score on Component2 for each of the 4 brands X3 = Score on Component3 for each of the 4 brands Xn = Score Brand Equity for the Indian Telecom Market Brand Equity for the Indian Telecom Market INTRODUCTION Background Telecommunication may well be Indias best told story and an apt indicator of its current economic potential. In around a decade, this booming industry has seen more growth and coverage in newspapers than any other sector. Aiding this superlative growth s of being one of the fastest growing markets in the world, is Indias rising incomes, dropping tariffs, more options with newer entrants and more competition. Also, external conditions like friendly government policies and a stable growing economy over the past decade has resulted in the Telecom sector becoming one of the key areas in Indias growth story. Indias wireless subscriber base as of December 2009 stood at ~ 525 million subscribers with new mobile connections for that month at ~ 19.1 mn which is a 8.5% growth M-o-M.(Edelweiss Monthly Telecom Tracker, 2010) With the markets saturating in most of the developed markets, the wide consumer base and potential in this market has attracted a number of new entrants with players such as Uninor that was launched in only 8 circles (out of the total of 23 Telecom circles present in the Indian market) adding an impressive 1.2 mn subscribers within the first month of its launch. Rationale for this Study There is steadily a paradigm shift that is happening in the way mobile devices are to be used in the future and it could well become the one-touch-point with the convergence of mobile and networking. Rural consumer base is a segment all providers are eyeing with the increasing saturation in the urban markets and growing competition. Given the nature of this highly competitive sector and the rapidly changing needs of the Indian consumer it is highly relevant today for these service providing brands to look at means at targeting subscribers beyond just a pricing or a product strategy. Tariff wars though common to this sector, would in silos prove to be unsustainable and a short term gain strategy. Porter (1990) suggests that branding as a key means of ‘differentiation and one of the most important ‘positioning strategies. The significance of branding from the strategic perspective has been widely acknowledged across marketing literature (Kapferer, 1994, Keller 1999). Aaker (1989) argues that a brand provides a sustainable competitive advantage for firms. According to Farquhar (1989), brands with high equity show greater resilience towards competitor promotions as well as create high barriers to entry. Although the literature identifies several dimensions of brand equity from other industries, specifically Consumer Products and Goods, existing literature on service firms and specifically with respect to the Telecom market is sparse. Despite the growing importance of this sector and its growing contribution to the Indian services market, the topic of how Telecom service providers build brand equity and their focus areas appears to be under researched Expected Contribution By applying the widely accepted Consumer based brand equity model for gauging the components, this study aims at empirically studying the inter relationships and impact of components to the overall equity within the context of the Indian Telecom market. The identification of components of brand equity from the consumers perspective in the context of the Indian Telecom Market Understanding the relationship between the dimensions of brand equity and the overall equity for the top 4 brands in the Indian Market (Source: TRAI, Nov 2009) Testing the relative importance of the dimensions of brand equity towards brand building for the 4 brands considered A comparative framework in understanding the relative changes in perception and ideological differences between the four brands under consideration Implication of Findings Results would provide the relative significance of dimensions contributing to the overall brand equity and hence provide a direction for managers in their brand building in terms of the weight ages to be assigned to the indicators The measurement of the brand equity would help in evaluation of the marketing mix elements. Gaining a knowledge of the relative importance of the dimensions would provide direction to the managers in terms of deciding the promotional support Originality/value The principal contribution of the present research is that it provides empirical evidence of building brand equity, supporting Aakers and Kellers conceptualization of brand equity for the Indian Telecom market. Not only has the CBBE model not been widely adopted in India, the brand building of Telecom service providers has also not been widely explored. Also, it provides a comparative framework for understanding the dimensions across the four brands Flow To accomplish the above stated goals, this paper offers a brief introduction to Indias Telecom market, an overview of the top service providers, their offerings, strategies and technological advances in the field. This is followed by a review of relevant theoretical literature to arrive at the research gap and the research objectives. Next, it describes the methodology and rationale for measuring customer-based brand equity. Analysis, Interpretation, conclusions and managerial implications would be arrived at the end of the study. LITERATURE REVIEW Brand Building in the Indian Telecom Market Strong brands provide a means of competing beyond just functionality and price. Strong brands that connect with the customers provide a better path to growth and the added value to the customers in this case is beyond just features and pricing strategies (Ehrenberg, Goodhardt, Barwise, 1990) Although in the current Indian Telecom market, the aggressive competition has resulted in a virtual price war, empirical analysis states that competitive strategies based on pricing provide only short term and less effective measures (Tayebeh, Farahani Manjappa, 2008) In this context, the identification of dimensions of brand equity and its significance in building brands becomes highly relevant. Indian Telecom Market Overview Market Potential: Enormous business potential for entrants given the low tele- density which is around 42% as per QPAC- Indian Telecom Industry report. Role of Foreign players: The increase in the FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) limit from 49% to 74% in 2005 has further aided in this increasing number of players in the market bettering their offering in terms of functionalities and price.(Telecom Pulse- Enam Securities, 2009) Competitive Landscape: The landscape is highly competitive with aggressive entry of new players in the GSM market. The price wars have forced even the incumbents to join in, in order to arrest the fall in their market share Newer players in the market such as Tata Docomo (TTSL) topped the industry in terms of subscriber adds of upto 3.3 mn in December 2009 while the new entrant Uninor garnered up to ~ 1.2 mn subscribers in the first month of launch as per Edelweiss Telecom Tracker, Dec 2009. Players like Telenor and Elsihat DB are also set to launch their operations in India by June 2010 (Sector Review- India Infoline, 2009) All this indicates that the incumbents no longer can afford to rely on short term measures to hold on to market shares Changing Market Scenario: Attractive Rural Markets: As per government statistics, the mobile penetration in rural regions is only around 13% as opposed to 73% in urban areas (Telecom and Technology Report- Economic Intelligence Unit, 2009) Challenges Faced: Despite the strong growth s, there are issues the market is facing in terms of Increase in fragmentation in the urban markets Competitive nd Aggressive Pricing Strategies Technological Updates: Atleast 60 to 80 million mobile subscribers will be 3-G enabled by 2012 which changes the market scenario. (QPAC- Indian Telecom Industry Report, 2009) The growing acceptance of Value added services (VAS), 3G would allow companys to increase their ARPU (Average Revenue per User) s by shifting from voice to non-voice segments CUSTOMER BASED BRAND EQUITY (CBBE) CONSTRUCT Given the context, companies have realized that investing in the right band building efforts will make brand equity one of their invaluable assets. Developing, maintaining and enhancing brand equity becomes the prerogative for brand building by any company Brand equity theory as proposed by Aaker (1991) was further developed from the consumers perspective by Keller (1993). According to Keller (2008), â€Å"customer-based brand equity is the differential effect that the brand has on consumer response to the marketing of the brand† (p. 70). The brand equity concept is measured broadly from two perspectives Financial based measure Consumer Based measure Various researchers have worked on developing a good model and constructs for its measurement as this is the basis for managing brand equity. In our paper we consider brand equity from the consumer perspective in terms of the value if provides to the consumer. CONCEPTUAL MODEL Aaker (1996) defines brand equity as a multidimensional concept and the components he associates with it include: Brand Awareness Perceived Quality Brand Associations and Proprietary Assets Consumer based brand equity has also been used as a measure has been previously by several researchers such as Yoo and Donthu (2002) and Washman and Plank (2002) Every company and sector looks at building and managing its equity as a means of gaining long term competitive advantage. In the model developed by Yoo and Donthu (2001) based on consumer based equity model, the authors have adopted the following four dimensions for the brand equity construct; Brand Loyalty Brand Awareness Perceived Quality Brand Associations An interesting fact contended by researchers by Srinivasan, Park and Chang (2005) was that apart from product related benefits, ‘non attributes also form strong preferences in terms of building brand equity and associations and forming points of differentiation. This is of high significance in our research given that we are working with service brands. For the purpose of our study, we adopt four dimensions to measure brand equity Generic brand Equity Dimensions Adopted 1 Brand Loyalty 2 Brand Awareness 3 Perceived Quality 4 Brand Associations The understanding of these generic dimensions in the context of the Indian Telecom market is done through the Pilot Qualitative research. This is further applied and tested onto the four brands using the Quantitative research KNOWLEDGE GAP The knowledge gaps identified are as follows: The existing literature points to the presence of various consumer based brand equity models and constructs, but there has been very few studies done in this field in terms of a particular sector but rather the focus is on development of a valid measurement model There are very few studies conducted in this field in the Indian context and specifically there are almost none that have been done from the perspective of identification of components for services There is hence paucity of literature about building service brands. Also, no previous research has examined the link dimensions of brand equity to the overall brand building for the Telecom market There is almost nil literature that is available that relates to branding and its impact on the Telecom market across the world. This would provide a whole scope of opportunities for future research in providing managers specific indicators and relative significance of factors that contribute to brand building. The research has further not been restricted to student samples only and is to be conducted on the actual consumers This article focuses on the measurement and impact of the dimensions on overall rand building exercise which is of paramount importance to the managers specifically in the field of Telecom where there has been sparse research done to arrive at the sector specific factors that contribute to building a strong brand. This research aims to address this need gap in both geography and sector (Indian Telecom market) through this study RESEARCH PROBLEM DEFINITION Research problem To measure the components of brand equity and explore the impact of the different dimensions on the overall equity specifically for the top four service provider brands operating in the Indian Telecom Market. Also to find out which is the most important component of the branding that leads to success in the Indian Market by the application of Consumer based brand equity (CBBE) model. Here, the category is a part of the design as we are specifically looking at how the components work in the case of service brands. Hence, the research findings would be applicable, if any, to other service categories than CPG or Durables. Research Questions To gauge the indicators of different components of Consumer based Brand Equity specifically in the context of the Indian Telecom Market* To Investigate the causal relationship between the dimensions of brand equity and the overall equity for top four service provider brands operating in the Telecom market* in India To use the Customer based Brand Equity model to test the relative importance of the dimensions of Brand Equity towards brand building for the Indian Telecom market* To provide a comparative framework in understanding these dimensions from the perspective of the four brands under consideration. * Here, the top 4 brands in the Indian Telecom Market (Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance and BSNL as of November 2009) are considered as a part of the analysis RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 1.1 Research Design: In order to achieve the objective as explained by the previous section, the following stages are proposed as a part of the research design. RESEARCH DESIGN AND ANALYSIS FRAMEWORK Storyboard PILOT QUALITATIVE RESEARCH The imperative behind this pilot Qualitative Analysis is to identify various parameters that are specific to the Indian Telecom market as derived on the basis of the CBBE model. These parameters are further taken as input for the Quantitative stage in the questionnaire. Data Collection Techniques Depth Interviews was used as the primary means of obtaining the qualitative data. Given the generic nature of the attributes to start with, the depth interviews provide flexibility in data collection and insights on pattern of usage. The purpose of these exploratory and unstructured interviews was to uncover the underlying motivation behind a persons behavior and actions. A guideline/discussion guide (Please refer to Appendix for a snapshot of this guideline used) was prepared for giving a direction and including the information areas to be probed in the discussion. The interview was free flowing on the basis of the responses obtained. A total of 8 depth interviews were conducted to understand the nature of subscribers need satisfaction when it comes to communication. Also, it aims to understand the emotional and functional benefits that is derived The discussion guide prepared broadly follows the below structure: Perspective on the Indian Telecom current market scenario The manner in which communication has changed over time Factors influencing choice of service provider Benefits sought in terms of functional and emotional attributes Brand Associations and Image associated with current players Association of Service Providers with instrumental and terminal values Drivers and restraints in choosing provider The tools and techniques used in order to probe included Projective Techniques such as Word Association, probing on attitudes and behavior with respect to their usage patterns and the emotional and functional benefits sought. Also, Projective and Enabling techniques such as Personification and Bubble drawing was used. The respondents were required to enter their thoughts associated with the provided brands. Data Elicitation techniques such as Sentence Completion and Clustering were used for the identification of instrumental and terminal values with the service providers apart from Brand Mapping QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH The various parameters that have been identified from the pilot qualitative questionnaire are to be tested to apply the CBBE model to the 4 top brands. The questionnaire is used for this purpose in order to identify the brand preferences and test the veracity of the parameters identified from the qualitative research. For this study, for the purpose of data accuracy and constraints, the top 4 brands in the Indian telecom market (as of Nov 2009) are considered Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance Communication and BSNL. Also, this selection allows us to compare and analyze the differences between diverse brands such as Airtel and BSNL. Also, it allows us to analyze the change in perceptions in the market towards brands such as BSNL over the years despite its strong head start in the market. The various parameters that have been identified from the pilot qualitative questionnaire as being variables leading to brand equity interact with each other as well. The independent variables identified are the 16 variables from the factors given below: a) Brand Knowledge b) Brand Associations c) Social Image d) Brand Loyalty e) Product Benefits f) Brand Usage i. These 16 variables have been expressed in form of attitudinal statements for each of the 4 brands. ii. The respondents are required to rate them on a 5 point scale between Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree on the basis of their usage/perceptions. iii. Apart from this, the personal profiles of the respondent including the fundamental demographic details are collected. iv. Also, the usage habits in terms of their brands and the services utilized are also collected for further analysis. The questionnaire that is used is present in Appendix for reference. Following the data collection, the analysis is done using SPSS 15. This is further elaborated in the Data analysis section. 1.2 UNIVERSE SELECTION Qualitative Stage: In the first Qualitative Stage where we are looking at having Depth interviews to identify and assess the parameters specific to the Indian context, it is important to have a representation of the top 4 brands that is to be analysed. Hence the universe selection is as follows for the Qualitative Stage: City Gender SEC Age Current Service Provider DIs Bangalore M A2 20- 35 Reliance 2 Bangalore M B2 26- 40 BSNL 2 Ahmedabad F A1 23-28 Airtel 2 Ahmedabad M B1 25-35 Vodafone 2 Quantitative Stage: In the next stage of Quantitative analysis, we are looking at seeking responses and assessing the parameters identified to apply the CBBE model for the 4 brands. Hence, this should broadly meet the following criteria: Born and Currently residing in India Male or Female Age group between 20 60 Must be a user/have used at least one of the following four brands Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance or BSNL As the questionnaire was to be primarily administered online, it also necessitated the presence of a internet connection and was geographically dispersed across Metros and Tier I cities pan India SAMPLING DESIGN The Pilot qualitative research required Depth interviews from the perspective of the 4 different brand users. A total of 8 depth interviews was conducted for this purpose across genders and SECs. the sampling technique was stratified random with stratification on the basis of he brand Quantitative Stage: a. The questionnaire for the Quantitative stage was administered online. The targeted size was 130 to 150. This was arrived at considering the constraints given that each respondent was to provide responses for all the four brands thus providing rich data per response. b. The current offerings offered by the service providers are not segment-specific. Covering the difference in attitudes depending on changes in age, gender or geographic dispersion is not within the scope of this study and is not statistically analyzed from the point of future research. Hence there is to be no age or gender restriction in the sample selection. c. The cities chosen for sample selection include the metropolitans across the country and Tier I cities which would give a snapshot into the various geographic circles where the service is present within the constraints of administering the questionnaire online. Out of the total of 172 respondents, the number of complete valid responses obtained was 121. The demographics of this set are as follows: The completed responses have been filtered as per the following criteria: a. Location Constraint b. Usage Constraint: User/have used at least one of the top four brands Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance and BSNL Stage 2: DATA ANALYSIS Pilot Qualitative Study The broad parameters arrived at from the in- depth interviews are as follows: Performance of the Brand With the evolution of the Indian Telecom Industry and the emergence of multiple players with competitive offerings, the Indian subscribers are at a stage where the minimum expectation from any new entrant is the presence of a good working model with uninterrupted service quality, responsive customer service and flexible tariff options. â€Å"†¦. Having a clear connection cannot be a factor in choosing†¦.everyone provides that†¦.† â€Å" I would expect the provider to have good and responsive customer service to cater to complaints and resolve issues immediately† â€Å" †¦Apart from the basic services, I would also be interested in new offerings such as music and game downloads..† â€Å" †¦. I prefer lower recharge coupons and flexibility in payment plans..† Loyalty towards the providers Certain subscribers usually tend to stick with the current players unless there is a shift in either their needs or environment. Changes in provider are usually done when there is a shift in location geographically or a personal need. Also, there is the segment of consumers who do not really face an issue of number portability and are willing to switch to a different provider for want of a better offer or tariff â€Å" ..When I went to college, I found my friends with ‘X connection and hence got one as well†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"†¦This second connection was bought when I shifted from Hyderabad to Bangalore for my job..† â€Å"I like the friends circle plan that is offered by brand ‘Y and it suits my usage habits†¦..† Trust Worthiness Presence of a brand for a long duration in the market or with long term usage, subscribers develops a sense of attachment towards the brand that leads to the feeling of trust. â€Å"†¦ I think this brand is good and trust in subscribing to their offerings†¦.† â€Å" I think they are the best in the market, being the leaders in this region..† Brand Association/Image Most urban subscribers are conscious about the fit of the brand with their personalities. The youthfulness of the brand or the positioning also dictates their preference towards it. â€Å" †¦I would like it to be a bit classy and not for everyone†¦.† â€Å".. Trendy, with offers for the students is something I would look out for in my brand..† â€Å" ..The corporate connections are available only with these providers..which says a lot about these brands..† Hence narrowing down from the Pilot qualitative research, the factors that are taken into consideration for Quantitative analysis are as follows: Questionnaire Data Collection- Parameters for Assessment 1) Personal Profile a. Age b. SEC (Data regarding Education and Occupation of the Chief Wage earner is collected and then coded to extract the SEC of the respondent) c. Place of Residence 2) Brand Awareness a. Brand Recall i. Un-Aided ii. Aided b. Identification of Brand Elements i. Color of Brand Logo ii. Associated celebrity iii. Associated Tag Line 3) Brand Knowledge a. Brand Visibility across media 4) Brand Equity (Dependent variable) a. Rating of brand as the ‘Most Preferred Service Provider 5) Brand Associations a. Sincere b. Exciting c. Competent d. Rugged e. Sophisticated 6) Social Image a. I believe the brand is good and would subscribe to its offerings b. Trust 7) Brand Loyalty a. I believe this brand is worth the money I pay for its offerings b. Recommend ability of the brand c. Switching Likelihood to competitors brand given better offerings 8) Product Benefits a. Affordability b. Good Connectivity c. Clarity of Voice d. Responsive Customer Service e. Broad Set of Services and features 9) Brand Usage a. Number of Providers used thus far b. Current Service provider c. Name of brands used so far d. Choose type of services availed from the service provider . Stage 3: DATA ANALYSIS Brand Awareness and Usage pattern study Respondent Profile a. Age Dispersion: 20-60 years b. Locations considered: Metros, Tier I Cities pan India. Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad c. By Gender: Male 62.8% Female 37.2% d. By SEC Classification From fig , it is seen that amongst the total valid respondent s, there is favorability towards SEC A. Given that most of the survey has been online in nature and that locations considered being metros and Tier I cities of India , this is justifiable. Further fig , provides the split across the 4 brands on the basis of SEC. It is clearly seen that both Airtel and Vodafone are mostly similar in terms of their positioning and having a higher incidence towards SEC A1 and A2 Brand Awareness It is interesting to note from fig that apart from Airtel that enjoys almost 95% unaided recall, the other brands are comparable in terms of their recall quotient. Specifically, BSNL as a brand has a higher recall on consumers minds over Vodafone and Reliance. In fig , when aided recall is considered, the disparity amongst brands reduces to a large extent and almost all brands fall between the 93 to 95% range except for new brands such as MTS which currently have a presence only across 11 out of 23 circles. An interesting fact to note from fig above is that in spite of the time elapsed, the ‘Hutch pug still holds a strong bond with the brand and subscribers compensate for the absence of celebritys through these brand symbols Usage Pattern From the fig it can be seen that most of the respondents on an average cluster around the possession of 2 service providers till date. Also, the average period of usage for respondents is around 24 months as is seen from fig STAGE 3: DATA ANALYSIS QUANTITATIVE Step 1: Identifying the important components of Brand Equity brand wise Using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) The various parameters that have been identified from the pilot qualitative questionnaire as being variables leading to brand equity interact with each other as well. These 16 variables have been expressed in form of attitudinal statements for each of the 4 brands and the subscribers are to rate them on a 5 point scale between Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree on the basis of their usage/perceptions. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is used to get this inter relationship or pattern between these variables and to reduce the number of variables. The resulting independent variables are termed ‘factors. The resulting factors and their variable groupings are observed to explain the nature of the factors and the resulting factors or components would be used in further analysis. Further, this is performed for each of the four brands. As a heuristic, factors with close loading on two or more components are rejected as they are not explained uniquely by one component. Further Eigen values are used to identify the number of factors. Principal Component Analysis is the extraction method that is used. Step2: Extracting the Scores of the components of Brand Equity brand wise The score of each of the resulting components of Brand Equity such as Perceived Quality, Brand Worthiness, Brand Loyalty, Brand Knowledge and Brand Personality have been computed using the mean of the weighted average of all the variables that are included within each component of the brand equity. This is calculated for each brand. For example: The component Airtel Brand Worthiness consists of 7 variables. The score of the 7 variables is multiplied by their respective factor loadings. The mean of the ‘weighted score of all the 7 variables is the score of the component Airtel-Brand Worthiness for Brand Airtel. These computed score of the factors and the scores of the dependent variable for Brand Equity are used to calculate the impact of components on the overall brand equity in the next stage Step3: Impact of Components of Brand Equity on the overall Brand Equity brand wise Using Multiple Regression Model On aggregating the variables on to different components brand wise, the next stage is to analyze the impact of these various components on the overall brand equity brand wise. Score on overall equity The dependent variable has the following attitudinal statement to get a brand wise score on the following statement that is measured on a 5 point scale â€Å"Your preference/liking levels for each of the 4 brands as the ‘Most Preferred Service Provider† It is seen that the variables that load onto the components vary brand wise. It is important to find the impact of these components on the overall brand equity for each brand in order to understand the significance each component plays on brand preference for each of the 4 brands. Hence, the weighted scores of the components are used as dependent variables to find their impact on the overall brand equity (as measured by the above rating) using Multiple regression analysis. This is calculated for each of the four brands. The regression model is given as follows: Y = a + b1X1 + b2X2 + b3X3 + b4X4 + †¦..bnXn + e Y = Score on the overall brand equity as given by the dependent variable for each of the brands X1 = Score on Component1 for each of the 4 brands X2 = Score on Component2 for each of the 4 brands X3 = Score on Component3 for each of the 4 brands Xn = Score

Mary, Queen of Scots by Gordon Donaldson Essay -- Mary, Queen of Scots

The biography that is being reviewed is Mary, Queen of Scots by Gordon Donaldson. Mary Stuart, was born at Linlithge Palace on December 8, 1542, sixs days later she became Queen of Scotland. Mary became Queen of France and soon her greediness grew and she wanted to take over England. Mary was unwilling to stay in France, so she went back to Scotland. There her second husband died and she was imprisoned in England for the suspicion of the murder. Mary had a bad ending to her life. Mary got caught in attempting an assassination of Queen Elizabeth for which she was beheaded on February 8, 1587. In conclusion, Mary had a hard life trying to keep her thrones. The first chapter in the book discusses the reign of King James V, father of Mary Stuart. He became King of Scotland at the age of one after his father’s death at the Battle of Flodden. His marriage to princess Madeleine ended after her sudden death, and James then married Mary of Guise-Lorraine in 1538. This marriage cemented the Alliance between Scotland and France but worsened relations with England leading to the war with Henry VIII, which ended in Scottish defeat in 1542. James V died in Falkland Palace, on December 14, 1542, â€Å"As a worn-out, desperate man, at the age of thirty years†. His daughter Mary, just six days old, was his successor.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In chapter two Mary, Queen of Scots was being educated in France, where she was sheltered from the danger of Scotland, England and France and their constant bloodshed. During Mary’s childhood, France, England, and Scotland fought over religious decisions and particularly over who should control the church. At the end of the chapter, the â€Å"Book of Discipline†, comes into effect on setting up a regional organization for the Church. In the beginning of chapter three, Mary is eighteen years old, married and then widowed, and she is Queen of Scotland and France. The King of England, Francis, is dying, and Mary has the thirst for more power by trying to become Queen of England. Mary’s sister-in-law, Elizabeth, also finds the idea of being Queen tempting but by being illegitimate by birth, Mary feels she has the upper hand. She marries Lord Darnley, her English cousin, and is infatuated with him in the beginning, but she soon starts to dislike him and refuses his demands for crown matrimonial. Darnley becomes jealous of Mary’s most trusted fri... ...itness the execution of Sir John Gordon in 1562, faced her own end with calm, courage, and dignity†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The strengths of the book are very apparent. The book provides an in depth description of Mary Stuart from her appearance, to the sports in which she liked to play. Also, the book shows pictures of the castles in which Mary stayed in and also of Mary and her first husband, Francis II. In addition, this book can creatively make you visualize specific events that occurred in Mary’s life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The one major weakness of the book was that it was a to informative for the average reader. By describing the many ruling families of England, France, and Scotland, this book proved to be quite confusing in recognizing which family belonged to which country. Also, the author seemed to jump from one time period to the next without any flowing text.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I feel that this book should mainly be read by above-average reading level students in high school/ college or by people interested in that particular time period. I enjoyed reading about Mary Stuart and her troubled life. It was sometimes hard to grasp the content, however, when I did comprehend the material, it was quite interesting.