A Game of Thrones Chapter Sixty-five

Arya The scent of hot bread drifting from the shops along the Street of Flour was sweeter than any perfume Arya had ever smelled. She took a deep breath and stepped closer to the pigeon. It was a plump one, speckled brown, busily pecking at a crust that had fallen between two cobblestones, but when Arya's shadow touched it, it took to the air. Her stick sword whistled out and caught it two feet off the ground, and it went down in a flurry of brown feathers. She was on it in the blink of an eye, grabbing a wing as the pigeon flapped and fluttered. It pecked at her hand. She grabbed its neck and twisted until she felt the bone snap. Compared with catching cats, pigeons were easy. A passing septon was looking at her askance. â€Å"Here's the best place to find pigeon,† Arya told him as she brushed herself off and picked up her fallen stick sword. â€Å"They come for the crumbs.† He hurried away. She tied the pigeon to her belt and started down the street. A man was pushing a load of tarts by on a two-wheeled cart; the smells sang of blueberries and lemons and apricots. Her stomach made a hollow rumbly noise. â€Å"Could I have one?† she heard herself say. â€Å"A lemon, or . . . or any kind.† The pushcart man looked her up and down. Plainly he did not like what he saw. â€Å"Three coppers.† Arya tapped her wooden sword against the side of her boot. â€Å"I'll trade you a fat pigeon,† she said. â€Å"The Others take your pigeon,† the pushcart man said. The tarts were still warm from the oven. The smells were making her mouth water, but she did not have three coppers . . . or one. She gave the pushcart man a look, remembering what Syrio had told her about seeing. He was short, with a little round belly, and when he moved he seemed to favor his left leg a little. She was just thinking that if she snatched a tart and ran he would never be able to catch her when he said, â€Å"You be keepin' your filthy hands off. The gold cloaks know how to deal with thieving little gutter rats, that they do.† Arya glanced warily behind her. Two of the City Watch were standing at the mouth of an alley. Their cloaks hung almost to the ground, the heavy wool dyed a rich gold; their mail and boots and gloves were black. One wore a longsword at his hip, the other an iron cudgel. With a last wistful glance at the tarts, Arya edged back from the cart and hurried off. The gold cloaks had not been paying her any special attention, but the sight of them tied her stomach in knots. Arya had been staying as far from the castle as she could get, yet even from a distance she could see the heads rotting atop the high red walls. Flocks of crows squabbled noisily over each head, thick as flies. The talk in Flea Bottom was that the gold cloaks had thrown in with the Lannisters, their commander raised to a lord, with lands on the Trident and a seat on the king's council. She had also heard other things, scary things, things that made no sense to her. Some said her father had murdered King Robert and been slain in turn by Lord Renly. Others insisted that Renly had killed the king in a drunken quarrel between brothers. Why else should he have fled in the night like a common thief? One story said the king had been killed by a boar while hunting, another that he'd died eating a boar, stuffing himself so full that he'd ruptured at the table. No, the king had died at table, others said, but only because Varys the Spider poisoned him. No, it had been the queen who poisoned him. No, he had died of a pox. No, he had choked on a fish bone. One thing all the stories agreed on: King Robert was dead. The bells in the seven towers of the Great Sept of Baelor had tolled for a day and a night, the thunder of their grief rolling across the city in a bronze tide. They only rang the bells like that for the death of a king, a tanner's boy told Arya. All she wanted was to go home, but leaving King's Landing was not so easy as she had hoped. Talk of war was on every lip, and gold cloaks were as thick on the city walls as fleas on . . . well, her, for one. She had been sleeping in Flea Bottom, on rooftops and in stables, wherever she could find a place to lie down, and it hadn't taken her long to learn that the district was well named. Every day since her escape from the Red Keep, Arya had visited each of the seven city gates in turn. The Dragon Gate, the Lion Gate, and the Old Gate were closed and barred. The Mud Gate and the Gate of the Gods were open, but only to those who wanted to enter the city; the guards let no one out. Those who were allowed to leave left by the King's Gate or the Iron Gate, but Lannister men-at-arms in crimson cloaks and lion-crested helms manned the guard posts there. Spying down from the roof of an inn by the King's Gate, Arya saw them searching wagons and carriages, forcing riders to open their saddlebags, and questioning everyone who tried to pass on foot. Sometimes she thought about swimming the river, but the Blackwater Rush was wide and deep, and everyone agreed that its currents were wicked and treacherous. She had no coin to pay a ferryman or take passage on a ship. Her lord father had taught her never to steal, but it was growing harder to remember why. If she did not get out soon, she would have to take her chances with the gold cloaks. She hadn't gone hungry much since she learned to knock down birds with her stick sword, but she feared so much pigeon was making her sick. A couple she'd eaten raw, before she found Flea Bottom. In the Bottom there were pot-shops along the alleys where huge tubs of stew had been simmering for years, and you could trade half your bird for a heel of yesterday's bread and a â€Å"bowl o' brown,† and they'd even stick the other half in the fire and crisp it up for you, so long as you plucked the feathers yourself. Arya would have given anything for a cup of milk and a lemon cake, but the brown wasn't so bad. It usually had barley in it, and chunks of carrot and onion and turnip, and sometimes even apple, with a film of grease swimming on top. Mostly she tried not to think about the meat. Once she had gotten a piece of fish. The only thing was, the pot-shops were never empty, and even as she bolted down her food, Arya could feel them watching. Some of them stared at her boots or her cloak, and she knew what they were thinking. With others, she could almost feel their eyes crawling under her leathers; she didn't know what they were thinking, and that scared her even more. A couple times, she was followed out into the alleys and chased, but so far no one had been able to catch her. The silver bracelet she'd hoped to sell had been stolen her first night out of the castle, along with her bundle of good clothes, snatched while she slept in a burnt-out house off Pig Alley. All they left her was the cloak she had been huddled in, the leathers on her back, her wooden practice sword . . . and Needle. She'd been lying on top of Needle, or else it would have been gone too; it was worth more than all the rest together. Since then Arya had taken to walking around with her cloak draped over her right arm, to conceal the blade at her hip. The wooden sword she carried in her left hand, out where everybody could see it, to scare off robbers, but there were men in the pot-shops who wouldn't have been scared off if she'd had a battle-axe. It was enough to make her lose her taste for pigeon and stale bread. Often as not, she went to bed hungry rather than risk the stares. Once she was outside the city, she would find berries to pick, or orchards she might raid for apples and cherries. Arya remembered seeing some from the kingsroad on the journey south. And she could dig for roots in the forest, even run down some rabbits. In the city, the only things to run down were rats and cats and scrawny dogs. The potshops would give you a fistful of coppers for a litter of pups, she'd heard, but she didn't like to think about that. Down below the Street of Flour was a maze of twisting alleys and cross streets. Arya scrambled through the crowds, trying to put distance between her and the gold cloaks. She had learned to keep to the center of the street. Sometimes she had to dodge wagons and horses, but at least you could see them coming. If you walked near the buildings, people grabbed you. In some alleys you couldn't help but brush against the walls; the buildings leaned in so close they almost met. A whooping gang of small children went running past, chasing a rolling hoop. Arya stared at them with resentment, remembering the times she'd played at hoops with Bran and Jon and their baby brother Rickon. She wondered how big Rickon had grown, and whether Bran was sad. She would have given anything if Jon had been here to call her â€Å"little sister† and muss her hair. Not that it needed mussing. She'd seen her reflection in puddles, and she didn't think hair got any more mussed than hers. She had tried talking to the children she saw in the street, hoping to make a friend who would give her a place to sleep, but she must have talked wrong or something. The little ones only looked at her with quick, wary eyes and ran away if she came too close. Their big brothers and sisters asked questions Arya couldn't answer, called her names, and tried to steal from her. Only yesterday, a scrawny barefoot girl twice her age had knocked her down and tried to pull the boots off her feet, but Arya gave her a crack on her ear with her stick sword that sent her off sobbing and bleeding. A gull wheeled overhead as she made her way down the hill toward Flea Bottom. Arya glanced at it thoughtfully, but it was well beyond the reach of her stick. It made her think of the sea. Maybe that was the way out. Old Nan used to tell stories of boys who stowed away on trading galleys and sailed off into all kinds of adventures. Maybe Arya could do that too. She decided to visit the riverfront. It was on the way to the Mud Gate anyway, and she hadn't checked that one today. The wharfs were oddly quiet when Arya got there. She spied another pair of gold cloaks, walking side by side through the fish market, but they never so much as looked at her. Half the stalls were empty, and it seemed to her that there were fewer ships at dock than she remembered. Out on the Blackwater, three of the king's war galleys moved in formation, gold-painted hulls splitting the water as their oars rose and fell. Arya watched them for a bit, then began to make her way along the river. When she saw the guardsmen on the third pier, in grey woolen cloaks trimmed with white satin, her heart almost stopped in her chest. The sight of Winterfell's colors brought tears to her eyes. Behind them, a sleek three-banked trading galley rocked at her moorings. Arya could not read the name painted on the hull; the words were strange, Myrish, Braavosi, perhaps even High Valyrian. She grabbed a passing longshoreman by the sleeve. â€Å"Please,† she said, â€Å"what ship is this?† â€Å"She's the Wind Witch, out of Myr,† the man said. â€Å"She's still here,† Arya blurted. The longshoreman gave her a queer look, shrugged, and walked away. Arya ran toward the pier. The Wind Witch was the ship Father had hired to take her home . . . still waiting! She'd imagined it had sailed ages ago. Two of the guardsmen were dicing together while the third walked rounds, his hand on the pommel of his sword. Ashamed to let them see her crying like a baby, she stopped to rub at her eyes. Her eyes her eyes her eyes, why did . . . Look with your eyes, she heard Syrio whisper. Arya looked. She knew all of her father's men. The three in the grey cloaks were strangers. â€Å"You,† the one walking rounds called out. â€Å"What do you want here, boy?† The other two looked up from their dice. It was all Arya could do not to bolt and run, but she knew that if she did, they would be after her at once. She made herself walk closer. They were looking for a girl, but he thought she was a boy. She'd be a boy, then. â€Å"Want to buy a pigeon?† She showed him the dead bird. â€Å"Get out of here,† the guardsman said. Arya did as he told her. She did not have to pretend to be frightened. Behind her, the men went back to their dice. She could not have said how she got back to Flea Bottom, but she was breathing hard by the time she reached the narrow crooked unpaved streets between the hills. The Bottom had a stench to it, a stink of pigsties and stables and tanner's sheds, mixed in with the sour smell of winesinks and cheap whorehouses. Arya wound her way through the maze dully. It was not until she caught a whiff of bubbling brown coming through a pot-shop door that she realized her pigeon was gone. It must have slipped from her belt as she ran, or someone had stolen it and she'd never noticed. For a moment she wanted to cry again. She'd have to walk all the way back to the Street of Flour to find another one that plump. Far across the city, bells began to ring. Arya glanced up, listening, wondering what the ringing meant this time. â€Å"What's this now?† a fat man called from the pot-shop. â€Å"The bells again, gods ha'mercy,† wailed an old woman. A red-haired whore in a wisp of painted silk pushed open a second-story window. â€Å"Is it the boy king that's died now?† she shouted down, leaning out over the street. â€Å"Ah, that's a boy for you, they never last long.† As she laughed, a naked man slid his arms around her from behind, biting her neck and rubbing the heavy white breasts that hung loose beneath her shift. â€Å"Stupid slut,† the fat man shouted up. â€Å"The king's not dead, that's only summoning bells. One tower tolling. When the king dies, they ring every bell in the city.† â€Å"Here, quit your biting, or I'll ring your bells,† the woman in the window said to the man behind her, pushing him off with an elbow. â€Å"So who is it died, if not the king?† â€Å"It's a summoning,† the fat man repeated. Two boys close to Arya's age scampered past, splashing through a puddle. The old woman cursed them, but they kept right on going. Other people were moving too, heading up the hill to see what the noise was about. Arya ran after the slower boy. â€Å"Where you going?† she shouted when she was right behind him. â€Å"What's happening?† He glanced back without slowing. â€Å"The gold cloaks is carryin' him to the sept.† â€Å"Who?† she yelled, running hard. â€Å"The Hand! They'll be taking his head off, Buu says.† A passing wagon had left a deep rut in the street. The boy leapt over, but Arya never saw it. She tripped and fell, face first, scraping her knee open on a stone and smashing her fingers when her hands hit the hard-packed earth. Needle tangled between her legs. She sobbed as she struggled to her knees. The thumb of her left hand was covered with blood. When she sucked on it, she saw that half the thumbnail was gone, ripped off in her fall. Her hands throbbed, and her knee was all bloody too. â€Å"Make way!† someone shouted from the cross street. â€Å"Make way for my lords of Redwyne!† It was all Arya could do to get out of the road before they ran her down, four guardsmen on huge horses, pounding past at a gallop. They wore checked cloaks, blue-and-burgundy. Behind them, two young lordlings rode side by side on a pair of chestnut mares alike as peas in a pod. Arya had seen them in the bailey a hundred times; the Redwyne twins, Ser Horas and Ser Hobber, homely youths with orange hair and square, freckled faces. Sansa and Jeyne Poole used to call them Ser Horror and Ser Slobber, and giggle whenever they caught sight of them. They did not look funny now. Everyone was moving in the same direction, all in a hurry to see what the ringing was all about. The bells seemed louder now, clanging, calling. Arya joined the stream of people. Her thumb hurt so bad where the nail had broken that it was all she could do not to cry. She bit her lip as she limped along, listening to the excited voices around her. â€Å"—the King's Hand, Lord Stark. They're carrying him up to Baelor's Sept.† â€Å"I heard he was dead.† â€Å"Soon enough, soon enough. Here, I got me a silver stag says they lop his head off.† â€Å"Past time, the traitor.† The man spat. Arya struggled to find a voice. â€Å"He never—† she started, but she was only a child and they talked right over her. â€Å"Fool! They ain't neither going to lop him. Since when do they knick traitors on the steps of the Great Sept?† â€Å"Well, they don't mean to anoint him no knight. I heard it was Stark killed old King Robert. Slit his throat in the woods, and when they found him, he stood there cool as you please and said it was some old boar did for His Grace.† â€Å"Ah, that's not true, it was his own brother did him, that Renly, him with his gold antlers.† â€Å"You shut your lying mouth, woman. You don't know what you're saying, his lordship's a fine true man.† By the time they reached the Street of the Sisters, they were packed in shoulder to shoulder. Arya let the human current carry her along, up to the top of Visenya's Hill. The white marble plaza was a solid mass of people, all yammering excitedly at each other and straining to get closer to the Great Sept of Baelor. The bells were very loud here. Arya squirmed through the press, ducking between the legs of horses and clutching tight to her sword stick. From the middle of the crowd, all she could see were arms and legs and stomachs, and the seven slender towers of the sept looming overhead. She spotted a wood wagon and thought to climb up on the back where she might be able to see, but others had the same idea. The teamster cursed at them and drove them off with a crack of his whip. Arya grew frantic. Forcing her way to the front of the crowd, she was shoved up against the stone of a plinth. She looked up at Baelor the Blessed, the septon king. Sliding her stick sword through her belt, Arya began to climb. Her broken thumbnail left smears of blood on the painted marble, but she made it up, and wedged herself in between the king's feet. That was when she saw her father. Lord Eddard stood on the High Septon's pulpit outside the doors of the sept, supported between two of the gold cloaks. He was dressed in a rich grey velvet doublet with a white wolf sewn on the front in beads, and a grey wool cloak trimmed with fur, but he was thinner than Arya had ever seen him, his long face drawn with pain. He was not standing so much as being held up; the cast over his broken leg was grey and rotten. The High Septon himself stood behind him, a squat man, grey with age and ponderously fat, wearing long white robes and an immense crown of spun gold and crystal that wreathed his head with rainbows whenever he moved. Clustered around the doors of the sept, in front of the raised marble pulpit, were a knot of knights and high lords. Joffrey was prominent among them, his raiment all crimson, silk and satin patterned with prancing stags and roaring lions, a gold crown on his head. His queen mother stood beside him in a black mourning gown slashed with crimson, a veil of black diamonds in her hair. Arya recognized the Hound, wearing a snowy white cloak over his dark grey armor, with four of the Kingsguard around him. She saw Varys the eunuch gliding among the lords in soft slippers and a patterned damask robe, and she thought the short man with the silvery cape and pointed beard might be the one who had once fought a duel for Mother. And there in their midst was Sansa, dressed in sky-blue silk, with her long auburn hair washed and curled and silver bracelets on her wrists. Arya scowled, wondering what her sister was doing here, why she looked so happy. A long line of gold-cloaked spearmen held back the crowd, commanded by a stout man in elaborate armor, all black lacquer and gold filigree. His cloak had the metallic shimmer of true cloth-of-gold. When the bell ceased to toll, a quiet slowly settled across the great plaza, and her father lifted his head and began to speak, his voice so thin and weak she could scarcely make him out. People behind her began to shout out, â€Å"What?† and â€Å"Louder!† The man in the black-and-gold armor stepped up behind Father and prodded him sharply. You leave him alone! Arya wanted to shout, but she knew no one would listen. She chewed her lip. Her father raised his voice and began again. â€Å"I am Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Hand of the King,† he said more loudly, his voice carrying across the plaza, â€Å"and I come before you to confess my treason in the sight of gods and men.† â€Å"No,† Arya whimpered. Below her, the crowd began to scream and shout. Taunts and obscenities filled the air. Sansa had hidden her face in her hands. Her father raised his voice still higher, straining to be heard. â€Å"I betrayed the faith of my king and the trust of my friend, Robert,† he shouted. â€Å"I swore to defend and protect his children, yet before his blood was cold, I plotted to depose and murder his son and seize the throne for myself. Let the High Septon and Baelor the Beloved and the Seven bear witness to the truth of what I say: Joffrey Baratheon is the one true heir to the Iron Throne, and by the grace of all the gods, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm.† A stone came sailing out of the crowd. Arya cried out as she saw her father hit. The gold cloaks kept him from falling. Blood ran down his face from a deep gash across his forehead. More stones followed. One struck the guard to Father's left. Another went clanging off the breastplate of the knight in the black-and-gold armor. Two of the Kingsguard stepped in front of Joffrey and the queen, protecting them with their shields. Her hand slid beneath her cloak and found Needle in its sheath. She tightened her fingers around the grip, squeezing as hard as she had ever squeezed anything. Please, gods, keep him safe, she prayed. Don't let them hurt my father. The High Septon knelt before Joffrey and his mother. â€Å"As we sin, so do we suffer,† he intoned, in a deep swelling voice much louder than Father's. â€Å"This man has confessed his crimes in the sight of gods and men, here in this holy place.† Rainbows danced around his head as he lifted his hands in entreaty. â€Å"The gods are just, yet Blessed Baelor taught us that they are also merciful. What shall be done with this traitor, Your Grace?† A thousand voices were screaming, but Arya never heard them. Prince Joffrey . . . no, King Joffrey . . . stepped out from behind the shields of his Kingsguard. â€Å"My mother bids me let Lord Eddard take the black, and Lady Sansa has begged mercy for her father.† He looked straight at Sansa then, and smiled, and for a moment Arya thought that the gods had heard her prayer, until Joffrey turned back to the crowd and said, â€Å"But they have the soft hearts of women. So long as I am your king, treason shall never go unpunished. Ser Ilyn, bring me his head!† The crowd roared, and Arya felt the statue of Baelor rock as they surged against it. The High Septon clutched at the king's cape, and Varys came rushing over waving his arms, and even the queen was saying something to him, but Joffrey shook his head. Lords and knights moved aside as he stepped through, tall and fleshless, a skeleton in iron mail, the King's Justice. Dimly, as if from far off, Arya heard her sister scream. Sansa had fallen to her knees, sobbing hysterically. Ser Ilyn Payne climbed the steps of the pulpit. Arya wriggled between Baelor's feet and threw herself into the crowd, drawing Needle. She landed on a man in a butcher's apron, knocking him to the ground. Immediately someone slammed into her back and she almost went down herself. Bodies closed in around her, stumbling and pushing, trampling on the poor butcher. Arya slashed at them with Needle. High atop the pulpit, Ser Ilyn Payne gestured and the knight in black-and-gold gave a command. The gold cloaks flung Lord Eddard to the marble, with his head and chest out over the edge. â€Å"Here, you!† an angry voice shouted at Arya, but she bowled past, shoving people aside, squirming between them, slamming into anyone in her way. A hand fumbled at her leg and she hacked at it, kicked at shins. A woman stumbled and Arya ran up her back, cutting to both sides, but it was no good, no good, there were too many people, no sooner did she make a hole than it closed again. Someone buffeted her aside. She could still hear Sansa screaming. Ser Ilyn drew a two-handed greatsword from the scabbard on his back. As he lifted the blade above his head, sunlight seemed to ripple and dance down the dark metal, glinting off an edge sharper than any razor. Ice, she thought, he has Ice! Her tears streamed down her face, blinding her. And then a hand shot out of the press and closed round her arm like a wolf trap, so hard that Needle went flying from her hand. Arya was wrenched off her feet. She would have fallen if he hadn't held her up, as easy as if she were a doll. A face pressed close to hers, long black hair and tangled beard and rotten teeth. â€Å"Don't look!† a thick voice snarled at her. â€Å"I . . . I . . . I . . . † Arya sobbed. The old man shook her so hard her teeth rattled. â€Å"Shut your mouth and close your eyes, boy.† Dimly, as if from far away, she heard a . . . a noise . . . a soft sighing sound, as if a million people had let out their breath at once. The old man's fingers dug into her arm, stiff as iron. â€Å"Look at me. Yes, that's the way of it, at me.† Sour wine perfumed his breath. â€Å"Remember, boy?† It was the smell that did it. Arya saw the matted greasy hair, the patched, dusty black cloak that covered his twisted shoulders, the hard black eyes squinting at her. And she remembered the black brother who had come to visit her father. â€Å"Know me now, do you? There's a bright boy.† He spat. â€Å"They're done here. You'll be coming with me, and you'll be keeping your mouth shut.† When she started to reply, he shook her again, even harder. â€Å"Shut, I said.† The plaza was beginning to empty. The press dissolved around them as people drifted back to their lives. But Arya's life was gone. Numb, she trailed along beside . . . Yoren, yes, his name is Yoren. She did not recall him finding Needle, until he handed the sword back to her. â€Å"Hope you can use that, boy.† â€Å"I'm not—† she started. He shoved her into a doorway, thrust dirty fingers through her hair, and gave it a twist, yanking her head back. â€Å"—not a smart boy, that what you mean to say?† He had a knife in his other hand. As the blade flashed toward her face, Arya threw herself backward, kicking wildly, wrenching her head from side to side, but he had her by the hair, so strong, she could feel her scalp tearing, and on her lips the salt taste of tears.

Challenges and Current Trends of Crm in Pc Industry: a Case Study at Dell Asia Pacific

Challenges and Current Trends of CRM in PC Industry: A Case Study at DELL Asia Pacific, Bukit Minyak ABSTRACT In the new millennium, customer service oriented performance has emerged as key success factors in maintaining the organizational competitiveness. This has led Customer Relationship Management (CRM) to take the driver seat role in creating a more loyal and profitable customer base at competitive cost. CRM has evolved from advances in information technology and constant pressing needs from customers to create value in the products and services. In current business environment, CRM is a strategic business tool that seamlessly integrates all the functional departments across the organization to work towards maximizing customer value through strategic partnership. CRM has played a key role in the PC industry by taking PC manufacturers closer to customers in terms of understanding their needs, buying behaviors and value creation in the supply chain. Armed with CRM strategies and, IT enabled customer and sales database, PC manufacturers have reoriented their business around the customer. DELL, as one of the world largest PC manufacturers, have strengthen its market share by positioning itself to provide customers with superior value, high-quality, relevant technology, and customized products and services, coupled with its IT integrated CRM solutions. At DELL, e-CRM oriented business solutions are initiated to automate and centralize customer database to embrace long-term partnership and PC market dominance. This project paper will analyze the current CRM trends and future challenges in PC industry based on the case study conducted at DELL Asia Pacific, Bukit Minyak. Furthermore, the paper will also address the selected DELL site, on its strategic effort in utilizing CRM methodologies supported by IT solutions to stay ahead of competitions. Categories and Subject Descriptors [Transaction Processing and Enterprise Resources Planning System]: Traditional Transaction Processing Application General Terms Management, Measurement, Documentation, Performance, Economics, Experimentation, Human Factors, Theory Keywords Customer Relationship Management (CRM), PC industry, Information Technology (IT), Web-based customer interaction (WCI) 1. INTRODUCTION Breakthroughs in Information Technology (IT) have changed the fundamental rule of the way business is being conducted in modern organizations. IT business icons like e-Commerce, K-Economy, etc have made things more complicated, where focus of the business has evolved and oriented around customer. Basically, customers are in the position to continuously demand and dictate what exactly they want at competitive cost – value-added products and services. Organizations are competing among each other to be the market leader, and emerging innovative IT solutions are helping organizations to achieve its competitive advantage. One of the key areas of business competencies is the ability of organizations to sustain the highest level of customer oriented service performance. The new business model is changing the producers’ mindset from product-centered to customer-centered business. This has led Customer Relationship Management (CRM) to take the center stage position to create a loyal and profitable customer base at competitive cost. 1. What is Customer Relationship Management (CRM)? CRM is a strategy used by organizations to comprehensively learn about customers’ needs and behaviors in order to establish constructive relationship with them; after all it is the core of business success. Basically, CRM is a notion regarding how an organization can keep their most profitable customers with increased values of interaction to consequently maximize the profits. This is achieved through the understanding of the drivers of current and future customer profitability to appropriately allocate the resources across all areas that affect customer relationships i. e. , communication, customer service, product/ service development, etc. Customer relationship management revolves around three key technology areas: the Internet, the customer call center and a data warehouse of customer-related information. Customer information is captured through company call center, the Internet, and other communications channels. It is this customer information, which established a â€Å"360-degree† picture of the customer that anyone throughout the organization can access when working with them. Through the Internet, both company employees and the customers themselves are able to access business transacted data from daily production systems, which are then enhanced with customer-centric information such as sales and service call activity, key customer contacts, and specific products purchased. From these technologies, there are also offshoots into emerging technology areas such as wireless technology, for facilitated remote access by customers and company field representatives; workforce management software, for streamlined back-office operations that are organized around the CRM business model; and Web-based customer interaction (WCI). Even though, there are many technological components to CRM, the useful way to view CRM is as a total business processes that will help bring together pieces of information about customers, sales, and marketing effectiveness and responsiveness, and market trends. Therefore, by integrating people, process and technologies, the relationship with both external and internal customers are maximized. 1. 2CRM Goals and Objectives Through the implementation of CRM, organizations would be able to identify their most profitable customers and leverage those relationships to the point of optimal profit. Furthermore, successful CRM programs will ensure active participation from all employees in the organization. CRM will utilize all possible ways to identify what exactly customer is looking for, market the organization’s strength, and ability to fulfill the customers’ needs, retained the customers through value added services. The main idea of CRM initiatives is that it helps businesses use technology and human resources to gain insight into the behavior of customer and the value of those customers. These are the fundamentals for customer loyalty program. There are several goals and objectives of CRM in a business framework (Kalakota & Robinson, 2000): †¢ Use existing relationships to grow revenue – enhance profitability by identifying, attracting the best customers. †¢ Use integrated information for excellent service – by using customer information to best serve customers’ needs. †¢ Introduce more repeatable sales processes and procedures – companies must improve consistency in account management and selling. †¢ Create new value and instill loyalty – the ability to respond to needs and accommodates requests. Implement a more proactive solution strategy – use proactive consumer relations that resolve problems on the first call. 1. 3CRM Architectural Framework In the CRM architecture, a company must first recognize the customer-centric approaches in the business processes. The demand of integrating the customer life cycles, interaction and servicing processes in an applicati on of CRM architecture is obvious. Thus, it is clear that the CRM is built to be customer-centric and in nature organizing CRM processes around the customer, rather than respectively to marketing, sales or any other internal function. Figure 1 illustrates the summary of CRM architecture. CRM architecture examined how products are built, how they’re deployed and customized, and integrated with external applications. A CRM product is selected primarily on its functionality; however its architecture should be a significant influence on the decision to buy or vice versa. 4. Integration with Business Application Tools CRM is definitely not a stand-alone program, it must be designed in away that it can be integrated into the company’s total business processes as shown in Figure 2. CRM must be able to work effectively with other business processes to value add the total operations. Basically, CRM tools will gather, analyze and store critical information captured at customer touch points. Together with ERP/ data warehouse, CRM database will provide the relevant information for business decision-making processes that relates to sales and marketing strategies, business development of new or existing customer and company’s strategic direction. 1. 5Role of e-CRM and Its Strategies -CRM refers to achieving CRM through using Internet technologies, primarily the web and e-mail – allied to database marketing to gear up for the new 24-hour global economy. e-CRM will focus on how to use the web site, databases and e-mails to manage customer relationships by providing online content and services. In order to achieve and support the organizational effort on e-CRM, companies must focus on few key strategies, as followings: †¢ Real time: e-CRM operates in a lmost instantaneous real time and it can be integrated seamlessly together, without the loss of efficiency. Closed loop: e-CRM operates within a closed loop system, resulting in huge gains in efficiency. †¢ Multi-channel: e-CRM is based on the architecture and available across all channels, where changes to activities through one channel are automatically and immediately updated across all channels. 2. Literature Review CRM is a highly fragmented environment and has come to mean different things to different people (Mckie, 2000). The same understanding of CRM, also have been agreed and shared by Winer (2001) and Goodhue (2002). One view of CRM is the utilization of customer related information or knowledge to deliver relevant products or services to customers (Levine, 2000). Another school of thought, CRM is inclusive of the whole organization including its internal and external environment and ‘key processes of the firm’s customers’ (Day, 2000). While such definitions are widespread, they tend to offer a narrow insight into the basic characteristics of CRM. As CRM evolves, comprehensive definitions are emerging, with an emphasis on multi dimensional business objectives. Goldenberg (2000) believed that CRM is not merely technology applications for marketing, sales and service, but rather, when successfully implemented, a cross-functional, customer-driven, technology-integrated business process management strategy that maximizes relationships and encompasses the entire organization. According to Light (2001), CRM evolved from business processes such as relationship marketing and the increased emphasis on improved customer retention through the effective management of customer relationships. Relationship marketing emphasizes that customer retention affects company’s profitability, in that it is more efficient to maintain an existing relationship with a customer than create a new one (Payne et al. , 1999; Reichheld, 1996). Christopher et al. (1991) also agreed that CRM has its roots in relationship marketing which is aimed at improving long run profitability by shifting from transaction-based marketing, with its emphasis on winning new customers, to customer retention through effective management of customer relationships. Sandoe et al. (2001) argued that advances in database technologies such as data warehousing and data mining, are crucial to the functionality and effectiveness of CRM systems. In later stage, relationship marketing emerged and had led others such as Newell (2000) to explore strategic methods for maintaining and improving customer loyalty. Furthermore, Peppard (2000) suggested that technological advances in global networks, convergence and improved interactivity, are key to explaining the growth of e-business and CRM. The increasing use of digital technologies by customers, particularly the Internet, is changing what is possible and what is expected in terms of customer management (Tamminga and O’Halloran, 2000). The appropriate use, for instance, of automation technologies, such as interactive voice response systems and Web-based frequently asked question pages, could be popular with customers and highly cost effective (Petrissans, 2000). Also for customers, CRM offers customization, simplicity, and convenience for completing transactions, regardless of the channel used for interaction (Gulati and Garino, 2000). CRM initiatives have resulted in increased competitiveness for many organizations as witnessed by higher revenues and lower operational cost. Managing customer relationships effectively and efficiently boosts customer satisfaction and retention rates (Reichheld, 1996a, b; Jackson, 1994; Levine, 1993). CRM applications help organizations assess customer loyalty nd profitability on measures such as repeat purchases, money spent, and longevity. In particular, customers benefit from the belief that they are saving time and money as well as receiving better information and special treatment (Kassanoff, 2000). Despite the diverging definitions, reality is that CRM is a complex combination of business and technological factors, and thus strategies should be formulated strategically and accordingly. 3. PC Industry The introduction of the first PC in the mid 1970s led to an industry that emerged as one of the largest and most dynamic sector. PC industry eventually became a multi-billion dollar worth of business that have gone through various growth phase. Today, the world’s PC industry is booming due to emerging demand for IT growth, which is parallel to explosive growth of world’s population. PC became the driving force for the whole computer industry. PC industry dynamics changed by the late-1990s when PCs became the means to get to the Internet. In the next decade a cellular-based packet communications network and broadband will further grow the Internet. Over the next 10 years the PC industry will prosper and thrive with two additional driving forces —consumer electronics devices built with computing platforms (information appliances) and mobile devices such as PDA and mobile phones. The PC industry is very competitive and has a good record of adapting to emerging technologies and market trends. This is likely to happen again and the PC industry will embrace information appliances and mobile devices. 3. 1PC Market Trends Trends in Table 1 showed that, the worldwide shipment for PC never stops growing from 1975 to 2005. In fact the industry volume had seen an increasing trend ever since the year 1990. However, the growth percentage began to slow down starting in late 1990s. This is the evidence that the PC industry is at the end of the growth stage, and soon will enter into the maturity stage. Apart from the effect due to the product life cycle maturity, other aspect of business such as globalization, economical and financial crisis, and presence of China market posed treat to the global PC industry. Table 1: Worldwide PC Market Growth (Source: eTForecasts, 2003) | |   | | | |Gender |Male: 31 (65%) |Female: 17 (35%) | |Occupation |Technical: 36 (75%) |Business: 12 (25%) | |Age Group |21 to 45 years old | |Income | < RM 2,000: Nil | | |RM 2,000 – 5,000: 29 (60%) | | |RM 5,000 – 8,000: 16 (33%) | | |> RM8,000: 3 (7%) | |PC Accessibility |100% | |Internet Accessibility |100% | From this survey, one important finding was all working group of people especially those who are from in dustrial organization, regardless of their income or position they hold, all of them some how able to access to PC either at home or workplace, as well as to Internet. This mainly because of current environment, which require PC and related electronics gadget to be a necessity items in day-to-day lifestyle. Furthermore the cost to purchase these devices is very much affordable, and for those who don’t own it, they are still able to access the Internet or Web-based services either at office during working hours or at Cybercafe at leisure hours. In this study, majority of the respondents is male and those who are working in technical areas, in fact both the gender and occupation background have some sort of relationship between them. Most of the male respondents are from technical background i. e. , technical or operations based managers, engineers or technicians. In contrast, most of the female respondents is working in the business related environment i. e. , sales or marketing, purchasing and finance executives. This indirectly relates to the way the understudy respond to the survey, basically, technical oriented person viewed this survey from product feature, functionality and technical superiority point of view. However, business people is more inclined to pricing, customization and human touch aspect i. e. , customer services. In this study also, majority of the respondents’ income falls in the range of RM 2,000 to RM 5,000, which indicating most of them are belongs to supervisory, executive and engineer category, with smaller group holding managerial and senior executive positions. Table 4, revealed the results based on the first section of the survey, which gave an overview of PC market trends and conditions among the understudy. The survey results shows that, educated and computer literate consumers are keeping abreast of current PC market trends in terms of product knowledge, service availability and PC manufacturers who is the trend setter. Today’s business society is more sensitive to changes surrounding them, they wouldn’t like to be left out in IT progress, and therefore they keep upgrading or changing the PC and its accessories within couple of years. Survey findings shows that, the understudy changed their PCs typically after 5 years and only 37% are changing within 3 to 5 years. This is due to majority of them are using the company’s PC or rather its costly for engineers or executives with reasonable income. Since the accessibility to Internet is possible, literally everywhere, today’s consumers are well informed and keep up with the changes in the PC market. There are consumers, who is still prefer to purchase PCs from computer shop, since they feel unsafe to do on-line transactions, however this trend will change in future as more consumers will be secured from spyware. Furthermore retailers will continue to loss their market share, mainly because of unavailability of after-sales support, and orders through mail became legacy. As for call-centers, business is expected to boom in future, since they have started to use some innovative IT solutions. Based on the findings of survey, it’s very obvious that desktop PCs are still the favorite product ype among the respondents, and those who are working in organization mainly use it. On top of that desktop PCs’ competitive price made it affordable by moderate-income group. As for mobile PCs i. e. , notebook and palmtop is common among managers and senior executives, and this product segment have bright future, since it is best suited for fast moving business environment. |Table 4: Part 1- PC Purchase Experience | |Survey Criteria |Results | |Frequency of changing PC hardware and accessories. < 3 years: Nil | | |3 to 5 years: 13 (27%) | | |> 5 years: 35 (73%) | |Purchasing Channel |Computer shop: 15 (31%) | | |Retailer: Nil | | |Internet: 29 (61%) | | |Toll Free Phone/ Call Centers: 4 (8%) | | |Mail Orders: Nil | |Product Type |Desk Top: 27 (56%) | | |Notebook: 14 (29%) | | |Palmtop: 6 (13%) | | |Others: 1 (2%) | |Brand |Acer: 5 (10%) | | |HP-Compaq: 6 (13%) | | |DELL: 18 (38%) | | IBM: 11 (23%) | | |Toshiba: 1 (2%) | | |Fujitsu: 2 (4%) | | |Clone: 5 (10%) | |Purchasing preference |Brand: 15% | | |Price: 31% | | |Service: 29% | | |Quality/ Reliability: 14% | | |Appearance: 1% | | |Functionality: 4% | | |Customization: 6% | As consumers become more knowledgeable, they tend to b e very intelligent in making decision, and selecting the right product, with excellent services from the competitive PC manufacturers. The PC market is volatile in the sense that superior product or service is expected at very competitive price, and only that manufacturer with efficient operations is able to survive. In today’s market, DELL emerged as the market leader, and this clearly reflected in the survey result, which revealed that 38% of the respondent had chosen DELL. The next contenders are IBM and HP-Compaq, however the pricing is still not as competitive as DELL. Whereas Toshiba and Fujitsu products such as notebooks are as considered as high-end products, and therefore it is serving only targeted market segments, i. e. , managers and senior executives with higher income. About 5% of the respondent preferred to purchase clone PCs, which is very low priced, and those consumer groups with lower income still can afford. In future, clone PC market will continue to deteriorate, as there will a price war. In this section also, assessment was made to study the respondents’ urchasing behavior, and what are the factors influencing the preferences that leads to the decision making of the purchasing process. Based on this study, there are two very important criteria that influence t he respondents, price and customer service factors. Basically, pricing was the main concern, due to majority of the group is moderate earners, and therefore they are looking for the best buy and next they expect are excellent services for worth of money. These factors is followed by branding and, product quality and reliability factors, which lately consumers are more sensitive of the brand, which is due to their vast exposure about the market trends, and the main contributing factor is the Internet and Web-based technology. Modern consumers have high expectations on PC performance in terms of quality and reliability. Other non-critical factors that influence the purchasing decision is high customization, product with more functionality and attractive and appealing appearances. Based on section two of the survey, only those respondents, who use DELL PC were assessed from various perspectives, such as consumers’ total experience with DELL, what are the customer touch points, DELL’s marketing and business strategies and, area that DELL can do better and how DELL can position itself as counteract from its competitors’ strategic move. Basically, findings from this section of survey were summarized into the SWOT analysis as shown in Table 5. A quick glance of SWOT analysis shows that internally DELL has tremendously improved and able to turnaround its weaknesses to further strengthen its position in the market. This was very obvious scenario couple of years ago, where DELL was competing with IBM, was then the PC market leader. However, DELL has aggressively worked on new strategies based on their identified weaknesses internally and market opportunities externally, and that made them capture the market leadership position. Without any hesitation, DELL continued on its strategic planning, with focus on key IT solutions, such as Web-based customer information portal, enhanced e-survey to capture voice of customers and other e-CRM strategies to monitor very closely on customer service performance metrics. Table 5: SWOT Analysis of DELL Product in PC Market | |Strength |Weakness | |1 |Build-to-Order approach |1 |No intermediary retailing channel | |2 |Value added customer service | | | |3 |Direct interface with end custome rs | | | |4 |Customer service specialist | | | |5 |Customer oriented business model | | | |6 |Good after sales support | | | |7 |On-Line purchasing | | | |8 |Product differentiation | | | |9 |Clear market segmentation | | | |10 |Comprehensive product information | | | |11 |Web based customer service portal | | | |Opportunity |Threat | |1 |Product leasing program |1 |Short product life cycle | |2 |Attractive payment scheme |2 |Competitive pricing | |3 |New potential market – Government agencies & higher learning|3 |No brand loyalty | | |institutions. |4 |Clone PCs | |4 |Completing the PC peripherals and accessories product range. | | Apart from that, SWOT analysis also revealed the market opportunities, which DELL should be focusing for future growth. The new opportunities are product leasing program and, emerging of new potential market segment, which is local government agencies and higher education centers. Most importantly, these are the untapped markets that DELL should c oncentrate its future efforts to maximize the return. Regarding the external threat, DELL came up with many effective counter strategies that the threats are no longer pose any risk. 5. 2 PC Market – DELL Competition Competition in the PC market remained fierce during the last few years as notebook adoption continued and consumers reacted to falling prices. Worldwide PC shipments were in line with forecasts, growing 15. 2% year-on-year to 44. 6 million units, according to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker, Commercial demand showed some signs of recovery and consumers remained active during the holiday season. Strong growth in Europe and sustained notebook demand were key sources of growth, although limited supply of flat panel displays constrained shipments for some vendors. On an annual basis, shipment growth moved into double digits for the first time since 2000, boosting shipments to a record 152. 6 million on growth of 11. 4%. DELL’s underlying strengths are its abilities to penetrate into new markets with all the advantages under its belt. From the latest statistics, DELL’s server market is able to gain market share and grew by 31 percent during the last few quarters. This is contradicting to other PC vendors as they experienced declining server sales and market share and it shows that, DELL is able to strategize and implement very aggressive business and marketing plans to obtain success. 5. 3DELL e-CRM Strategies Being a giant PC maker and customer-oriented, DELL depends on sophisticated IT applications in carrying out their business processes ranging from line assembly across administration to customer relationship management. DELL has also invested substantially in building its IT infrastructure in order to create an advance and effective work place. Nonetheless, DELL also prepares its staffs to be IT oriented in performing their jobs, and this enables DELL to stay ahead of their competitors. As observed, DELL’s e-CRM strategies are closely in line with the model of CRM architecture frameworks, which was illustrated in Figure 2. The e-CRM strategy of DELL has begun with customer acquisition, value enhancement and customer relationship retention. In other words, DELL has fully utilized the IT edge in carrying out CRM operations and also use as their business analytical tools. DELL has prepared a very comprehensive web site and call centers to interact with its customers. Further enhancement of the web site and call centers, enable DELL to stand out as far as e-CRM is concerned. The Strategies In customer acquisition, DELL emphasize in direct interfacing with customers. In that sense, DELL eliminates the intermediaries in their distribution channel. All information of products can be obtained on-line and is assisted by well-trained e-CRM specialists. There are several creative features on the web that need to be highlighted. Among them are: 1. On-line configuration: Suitable for those who intend to purchase a customized system. 2. Automated order process: Once order is confirmed, the specification of goods will be informed to assembly floor to start the production and it is achieved via a fully automated process. 3. Payment on-line: The payment scheme prepared by DELL is user friendly. 4. Order status check: While waiting for PC system to be delivered, customer can check the good delivery status on-line. 5. Comprehensive technical support: DELL is well known for its technical support on-line and also call-center. DELL committed to reply their customers queries within 4 hours. 6. Information rich web site: Customers can easily access to detail information via on-line, such as E-value. DELL always emphasizes on the customer-centric approach, enhancing the customer value, thus creating sales opportunities. More importantly, DELL has managed to use strategically the innovative IT solutions in this process as following: 1. Value-add to customer: Customers are always delighted by the kind of service provided by DELL. 2. Customer database: To ensure customer have full accessibility of information they require, and should be maintained up-to-date. 3. Knowledge database: Product knowledge and experience is shared between customers and DELL employees for mutual benefits. More importantly DELL adds value to customer by creating opportunity of upgrading and cross selling of its product: 1. Continuous update of information: Educate customer awareness on DELL product update. 2. Voice of Customer: Using e-Survey to capture customer inputs and feedbacks regarding product and service performance. 3. Free software upgrades: DELL customers are entitled for selected operating and applications software through its website such as Windows XP and McAfee. 4. Customer Care: Providing additional product safety and security features in terms of quick on-line tips to combat spyware and adware. DELL continued to invest in keeping its infrastructure as one of the best IT platform. For instance, DELL staffs are able to access to internet or intranet through wireless broadband connection within the plant. This allows them to respond immediately to any issues pertaining to customer feedback and complaint. 6. 0Conclusions and Recommendations The customer expectations have risen in recent years and the firms have come up with a number of innovative ideas of serving customers. This has provided the customer with the flexibility and convenience. Similarly, various groups of customers would require different level of services and support. For first time buyer, they may require installation and training services while big corporations with internal computer specialist may expect more comprehensive CRM program coupled with other value added services. However, the important motto would be the exercise and implementations to keep the customers satisfied, and that would be the ultimate goal for each and every organization. DELL certainly has given their best to expand their customer horizon, and they are definitely on the right track towards creating profitable customer base. With that, we can expect more and more innovative business ideas from DELL in future, which will continue to delight the ever-demanding customers. We also would like to recommend that, DELL should explore further in areas concerning market opportunities, as mentioned in the SWOT analysis table. Carefully analyzing and turning each opportunity into their advantage would prepare DELL to scale at greater heights. DELL also needs to fine-tune continuously its e-CRM strategies to further strengthen their customer centric approach. REFERENCES [1]Agrawal, V. & Mittal, M. (2002). Customer Relationship Management: The e11 Way. White paper of Delhi Business Review, Vol. 3, No. 1, January –June 2002. [2]Boon, O. , Corbitt, B. & Parker, C. (2002). Conceptualising the Requirements of CRM from an Oraganizational Perspective: a Review of the Literature. AWRE 2002. [3]Bull, C. (2003). Strategic issues in customer relationship management (CRM) implementation. Business Process management Journal, Vol. 9 No. 5, 2003, pp 592-602. [4]Chen, IJ. & Popovich, K. (2003). Understanding customer relationship management: People, Process and technology Business Process Management. Journal, Vol. 9, No 5, 2003, pp672-688. [5]Christopher M. , Payne, A. and Ballantyne, D. (1991). Relationship Marketing. Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford. [6]Day, G. (2000). Managing Market Relationships. Journal of the Academy Marketing Sciences, Vol. 28, No. 1. [7]Goodhue, D. , Wixon, B. nd Watson, H. (2002). Realising business benefits through CRM: hitting the right target in the right way. MIS Quarterly, Vol. 1, Issue 2, pp74-94. [8]Jenkinson, A. (1996). Valuing Your Customers: From quality information to quality relationships through database marketing. McGraw-Hill, London [9]Kalakota, R. and Robinson, M. (2000). e-Business Roadmap for Success. Addison-Wesley, United States. [10]Kassanoff, B. (2000). Build loyalty into your e-business. Proceedings of DCI Customer Relationship Management Conference. Boston, MA, 27-29 June [11]Light, B. (2001). A review of the issues associated with customer relationship management systems. Proceedings of the 9th European Conference on Information Systems, pp1232-1241 [12]Newell, F. (2000). Loyalty. com: Customer Relationship Management in the New Era of Internet Marketing. McGraw-Hill, New York, NY [13]Payne, A. , Christopher M. and Clark, M. (1999). Relationship Marketing for Competitive Advantage. Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford. [14]Payne, A. A Strategic Framework for Customer Relationship Management. A BT CRM White Paper [15]Peppard, J. (2000). Customer relationship management (CRM) in financial services. European management Journal, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp 312-327 [16]Petrissans, A. (2000). Customer Relationship Management and the Challenge of the Internet. Cap Gemini Ernst and Young-IDC, Toronto. 17]Tamminga, P. & O’halloran, P. (2000). Finding the real value in CRM: leveraging IT solutions through the customer driven approach. Cutter IT Journal Vol. 13, No. 10, pp4-11 [18]Turban, E. et al. (2004). Information technology for management: transforming organizations in the digital economy. 4th Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc, USA [19]Winer, R. (2001). A Framework for Customer Relationship Management. California Management Review, Vol. 34, No. 4. [20]Xu, Y. et al. (2002). Adopting customer relationship management technology. Industrial Management & Data Systems 102/8 2002, pp 442-452. Appendix 1 PC Industry Research Questionnaire Respondent Particular | |Age: __ Gender: __ Male __ Female | | | |Occupation: __ Technical __ Business | | | |Income Group: __ Below RM2,000/= __ RM2,000/= to RM5,000/= | |(per month) __ RM5,000/= to RM8,000/= __ Above RM8,000/= | | | |Accessible to Internet: __ Yes __ No | Part I – PC Purchase Experience |1 |Have you ever own a PC (either at home or work place? __Yes |__ No | | | | | |2 |How many time have you bought a PC for the last 5 years? |Please state: __ | | | | | |3 |Through which channel the PC is purchased? |__ Computer shop | | | |__ Elect. Appliance Retailer | | | |__ Internet | | | |__ Toll free telephone | | | |__ Mail order | | | |Others: | | | | | | |4 |What type of PC do you purchase? |__ Desktop |__ Notebook | | | |__ Palmtop |Other: _____ | | | | | |5. |What is the PC brand have you purchased? __ Acer |__ HP-Compaq | | | |__ Dell |__ Toshiba | | | |__ IBM |__ Fujitsu | | | |__ Clone | | | | | |6. |What is sequence of criteria in purchasing a PC? __ Brand | | |(from top to bottom1 to 7) |__ Price | | | |__ Service | | | |__ Reliability/Quality | | | |__ Appearance | | | |__ Functionality | | | |__ Customization | Part II: Experience with Dell (For those who has bought Dell PC only) |1 |What are your experience using Dell products? __ Good |__ Fair | | | |__ Bad | | | | | | |2 |Have you ever visited Dell’s web site? |__ Yes |__ No | | | | | |3 |Have you called to Dell’s toll free call center? |__ Yes |__ No | | | | | |4 |Have you read through Dell advertisement on printed material? __ Yes |__ N o | | | | | |5 |What channel do you find the most effective to get information from Dell |__ Internet | | | |__ Toll Free Call | | | |__ Printed material | | | | | |6 |Do you find Dell web site user friendly? __ Yes |__ No | | | | | | |7 |Do you satisfy with Dell’s |Very Dissatisfied |Dissatisfied |Neutral |Satisfied |Very satisfied | | |i. service quality | | | | | | | |ii. product quality | | | | | | | |iii. technical support | | | | | | | |iv. rice | | | | | | | | | | |2 |Does Dell continuously provide information/promotion of its product to you? |__ Yes |__ No | | | | | |3 |Can Dell employee address you by name when you call them? |__ Yes |__ No | | | | | |4 |Can Dell identify you purchase immediately when you require after sale technical support? __ Yes |__ No | | | | | |5 |Does Dell employee friendly and helpful? |__ Yes |__ No | | | | | | |8 |Will you return to Dell for subsequent purchase? |__ Yes |__ No | | | | | |9 |Do you agree Dell has successfully created good relationship with you? __ Yes |__ No | | | | | | |10 |Do you have any suggestion for Dell to further improve its Customer Service | | |Please state: | | | | [pic] ———————– Receivable/ Payable Profitability Analysis Production Planning Inventory Mgm’t Shipping Personnel Planning Payroll Back Office Functions Front Office Functions Figure 1: CRM Architecture Framework Globally Dispersed Customers Customer Support Cross-Functional Processes Breaking Down Department Walls Complete Integrated Solution Integrated CRM Applications Enhance Partial Functional Solutions Retain Marketing Mgm’t Order Mgm’t Sales Mgm’t Sales Planning Pricing After Sales Service Sales Force Automation Figure 2: Integration of CRM with Business Application Tools Customer Support Traditional Touch Points Retail Store Front Service Departments Cross-sell & Upgrade Proactive Service Direct Marketing Electronic Touch Points Website/ Internet E-mail Call Centre Voice Response System Direct Marketing Customer Life Cycle Customer Touch Points Acquire CRM Technology ERP/ Data Warehouse

Dowry System Essay

Dowry System is a common social problem. its harmful for our society. now we will read a paragraph about Dowry System. lets go for read Dowry System paragraph. Dowry is the money or property that is demanded by the bridegroom when he marries a bride. The system of dowry has now become a curse to the society. The torture upon the women by men is a very common sight of today. Sometimes the women become a victim of loss of life as a result of the torture by their husbands. The main reason of dowry is negative attitude of the parents of the bridegroom and the lack of education of the bride. The bridegroom takes dowry and the womenfolk become victims of dowry. The dowry system affects the whole society. The parents of the bride sell properties and become penniless to fulfill the demand of the bridegroom. Sometimes they cannot keep their word they give before getting their daughters marrying. On the other hand, the bridegroom gets huge property without any efforts. I have the social voice. This social curse can be eliminated by making womenfolk educated and self-dependent. The menfolk also should be given proper education to change their attitude. Gender discrimination Gender discrimination means to create difference between men and women. Specially in the third world countries women is considered inferior to men. In spite of their having merits and capabilities, they are not given what they deserve. They are working in the family and out side the family, but their contribution is not seen with due honour. There are various reasons why women are not given equal rights. Firstly most of the people of our country are not educated. They fail to see the potentialities of the women and the contribution they have made in different sectors of our life. They think, as women are physically weaker than men, they will not be able to perform many duties that men can do and hence they must be dominated by men. Secondly people of our country are superstitious. They do not know their religion properly. In religion men and women have been given equal position. But in the name of religion they try to dominate over women and do not give opportunity to flourish. Female children are the worse sufferers. Even their birth is not received warm heartedly where at the birth of male children they distribute sweets to express their happiness. The female children are considered burden of the family. They are not given equal food, equal opportunity for education. They become objects of negligence and victims of social injustice. This is a great problem which is to be solved. If our people are educated and given proper knowledge of religion they will understand the value of woman and can learn about the contribution they are making. If our female children are groomed up properly they will be able to carry any responsibility bestowed upon them and our society will advance very quickly. Illiteracy has been the bane of independent India. It is a shame to note that, the country that gave Epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata to the world should, in the 21st Century turn out to be one among the most illiterate countries of the world. How this has come to be is of course not far to seek. Even in the understanding of a layman, it is clear that India has remained so very illiterate because it has, for centuries been slave to someone or the other. The rulers, whoever they may have been never wanted the Indians to be educated as, an educated mass of men would be difficult to reign, and so they never wanted them to raise their heads, and so, kept them away from the light of education. So much of course can be understood but, the sad story of the Indian masses is that even their own rulers, the Indians had no different attitude, they also wanted the Indians to remain mostly illiterate for much the same reason as the foreigners had wished. Just like the foreign rulers the Indian rulers also thought that an educated public may not be so easy to control so they also followed the track laid by their predecessors. Besides this, if the masses remained uneducated, any kind of manipulation could be easily managed in the favour of the rulers. Thus, since the Indian rulers also wanted to keep the Indian masses away from the light of knowledge, the result is for all of us to see that, even after fifty years of independence, India is still lagging behind the world in its ratio of educated/literate and the illiterate. This goes without saying that, an educated gentry is far more difficult to handle and to satisfy than an uncouth ^educated lot. For this simple reason the Indian rulers kerned it fit to keep education a far off dream for the majority and the image that the foreigners had established has been maintained by our Indian rulers for simple selfish reasons that are obvious. For this reason I feel that, the rate of literacy in India is no surprise. This has been the definite policy of the Indian rulers just to suit their vicious designs and their own inefficient policies. Illiterate masses can be led like sheep and goats very easily however and wherever they are taken. They can be very easily aroused on any emotional issues, they can be easily convinced into understanding and thinking as their rulers want them to. If the masses were to be educated it would not have been so easy for the politician to do what and how he wants to do on any issue. People would have to be convinced with genuine reasoning to the correctness of all that is being done or being planned. For this simple reason, even the dawn of the 21st, Century finds India listed among the countries with the lowest ratio of education. Now, after a little over fifty years, the Government has seen and understood the folly of such a lame policy of education. Now the Government is re-scheduling its literacy programmes and making a mark of the fundamental right of each resident of India to the right of education. If the masses had not been kept illiterate, they would have in so many years, raised a hue and cry about their right to education and the Governments of the past years would not have found it all so very smooth sailing. However, at least now the Government has awakened to the fact and need of correct education but, let us remember that the decades already lost cannot come back or regained. For, to complete the task in hand and to manage the huge backlog makes the job rather cumbersome and time consuming’ besides being difficult to achieve. It is hoped that, if the direction taken is continued we will in the course of another decade be higher on the grade educated/literate countries.

Planning Proposal Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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Analysis & Estimation of Travel Demand Assignment

Analysis & Estimation of Travel Demand - Assignment Example The questions provides a practical basis for collecting the required information for analysis and estimation of the travel demand. Large volumes of information could also be collected from many respondents within the targeted transportation companies in the city. This is typically possible within a relatively short time period. Because no much movement is required when trying to reach the respondents, the survey as a whole is very cost effective. With this survey instrument, the aspects of validity and reliability of the collected data is preserved. The research results can easily and quickly be quantified. Nevertheless, the survey instrument is disadvantageous in that to a certain extent, it is inadequate in understanding certain forms of information that is completely implied such as behaviour, emotions, and feelings with regard to the posed questions. To some extent, the data collected may not be valid enough especially where estimates are considered for answers. There is also the possibility of the respondents interpreting the questions different. Trip generation is basically the fundamental step in the process of initiating transportation forecasting. In this regard, there is the need to acquire all the necessary information that could ultimately lead to an effective travel demand forecasting. Trip generation would help the authorities of the City of Omaha predict number of that could be destined for the city’s traffic analysis zone. In order to achieve the objective of the trip generation step, the questionnaire focuses on residences through the companies offering the transport services. In this case, the first thing considered in designing the questions was the key aspects required in trip generation. The questions were then structured with respect to the variables required for the analysis. The companies involved were some of the key

GAAP versus IFRS Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

GAAP versus IFRS - Research Paper Example IFRS stands for International Financial Reporting Standards. It includes the accounting standards proposed by International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and International Accounting Standards (IAS). IFRS is becoming the international standard for the preparation of financial statements especially of public corporations (Haris, 2013). Now the question is why corporations are conversion new standards of IFRS from GAAP? There are some benefits which IFRS is offering to corporations. Some of the benefits are as follow: According to Julie (2013), IFRS enable corporations to present its financial statements on the same basis as its international competitors are adopting, it makes the comparison easier. To facilitate more accurate comparisons to foreign competitors, some U.S. companies may view IFRS as an opportunity to supplement their current reporting with reporting or commentary based on IFRS. Most of the U.S. Corporation’s glance at new markets therefore they have to take on with IFRS in order to secure licenses, raise capital, or comply with requirements of local regulators. Overseas clients, merchants, or lessors might too involve IFRS financial statements. IFRS is beneficial for the firm who want to raise the capital abroad or it is most beneficial for the corporations who have international investors. Corporations having subsidiaries in countries require having IFRS in order to use one accounting language company-wide. Haris (2013) stated that the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is using in more than 110 countries. Majority of the countries among these 110 countries are developed. So IFRs must have some key distinction from the U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) which are as follow: IFRS is more of a principle based accounting standards where as GAAP has more rule based accounting standards. Principle based accounting standard has the capability to effectively corresponds and detain the economic

Strategy management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Strategy management - Essay Example The company is leading independent oil company in Africa and they have increased the penetration of their operation in the continent by exploring new oil basins in Ghana. Average daily production capacity of the group is 78,300 barrels of oil. Production capacity of Tullow Oil plc has increased by 35% over the last one year while at the same time the company has achieved a profit after tax of $689 million in the year 2011 (Tullow Oil plc, 2013). Industry experts have pointed out that completion of $2.9 billion farm down in Uganda has helped Tullow Oil plc to achieve financial flexibility and inorganic growth. Industry Analysis The study will try to analyze the oil and gas sector of UK in order to analyze the business environment in which Tullow Oil plc is operating. Tullow group is basically a British firm hence it will be feasible to analyze the oil and gas industry dynamics of UK. ... large players who have achieved high degree of vertical integration in the field of oil exploration, oil refining, crude oil production, transportation and marketing. Buyer- seller relationship in the oil and gas industry of the country is flexible because a seller can act as buyer in particular stage of the transaction. There is a complex buyer seller relationship which decreases the buyer power significantly. There are two types of buyers such as individual buyer and institutional buyer in the oil and gas industry of UK. Generally institutional buyers such as chemical companies and independent retailers make large purchases from oil and gas companies hence loosing such a client would impact negatively on the revenue of big companies. Presence of buyers who make large purchases has forced oil and gas companies to customize product offering. Price of undifferentiated product portfolio such as crude oil and gas is dependent on the supply and demand equation created by mercantile excha nge of London, New York and Dubai, which has further decreased the buyer power. Overall the buyer power is assessed as moderate. Supplier Power Companies like Smith International, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes and Halliburton are major suppliers for large oil and gas companies in United Kingdom. Generally oil companies need technical supports such as polycrystalline diamond compact bits, measurement while drilling from suppliers in order to continue the operation (Market Line, 2012b). Supplier power is also dependent on demand and supply equation of the industry hence overall supplier power is assessed as moderate. New Entrants It is very difficult to analyze the threat of new entrant in the industry because there is a possibility that a company can work in one or more section of the value