Yasemin Benker

A little Business EVERYWHERE

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

An Interesting Article...

   In previous classes, especially together with the presentations we did, we talked about how businesses keep their customers coming back to them or earn new customers. We pointed out that in some cases some firms keep their companies with their liabilities, by constantly inventing new products or sometimes even tricking their customers to buy their products.
Below is an interesting article, from LA Times, that gives a different point of view and a "warning":
This article also shows understanding of consumers. Businesses also need to understand consumer phycology, wants and needs. This understanding will eventually help them with their products and identifying opportunities in the market.



Buyer beware — of how you're being coaxed into spending

Stores' music, lighting, 'deals' and pricing ranges can all influence what you buy. And if you want to spend less, pay in cash so you can see what you're losing.

Chances are, given the time of year and all, you're about to go shopping (and shopping and shopping and shopping and shopping).

But beware. It won't be just a walk in the mall. Shopping is a far more complex undertaking than you probably realize, according to researchers who delve into the intricacies of consumers' buying habits.

"We have a difficult time controlling our shopping behavior," says Alexander Chernev, associate professor of marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. "It's influenced by lots of forces we usually don't take into account."

We take account of some of them below.

The five senses

"Everyone in the world of retail is trying to get you to spend in their location," says Paco Underhill, author of "Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping" and "What Women Want." "They try to engage you with all five senses."

What you see: Retailers work to present their merchandise in the best light — literally. "They use lighting to make something that looks good look even better," Underhill says. "Everything tends to look better in the store than it does when you get it home."

What you hear: If you like the music a store plays, chances are you'll like the products it sells — and vice versa. That, at least, is the message many stores hope to send with their soundtracks. For example, the strains of Justin Bieber crooning "Someday at Christmas" are pretty much a shout-out to young girls that this is the store for them. Middle-aged nerds? Not so much. "The music can tell you either you belong or you don't belong," Underhill says.

Just as music can attract people into a store, it can help to keep them there, or hurry them out the door. That's because customers respond to the tempo of a store's music, says Deborah MacInnis, professor of business administration and marketing at the USC Marshall School of Business. "Studies show that the slower the tempo, the slower people walk through the store, so the more they put in their baskets and the more they end up buying. If the tempo is faster, people walk faster too. They don't stop to look so much, and they don't buy as much."

What you smell and taste: The sweet aroma of roasting chestnuts. Free samples of Christmas cookies. Like music, those are effective ways of inviting customers into a store and making them feel welcome.

Well duh, you may say. But smell and taste can serve another subtle function too, Underhill notes. "They get your saliva glands going, and that makes you hungry. And when you're hungry, you're more apt to buy anything, not just food."

What you touch: Signs encouraging customers to touch the merchandise are far less common in stores than signs imploring them not to. But research shows that retailers may be missing a rather lucrative boat. "There are three ways that touching an object can make you willing to pay more for it," says Joann Peck, an associate professor of marketing at the Wisconsin School of Business in Madison who has conducted a number of studies analyzing the role of touch in shopping behaviors.

One way — the most obvious — is by giving shoppers information they can't get otherwise, such as how much the object weighs, how soft or hard it is, how rough or smooth it feels. A second way is also quite intuitive. You may be willing to pay more for a cashmere sweater or a small, sleek smart phone just because you like how it feels.

More surprisingly, Peck says, apart from any information or pleasure it gives you, simply touching an object can make you feel a certain sense of ownership. "And you'll pay more for anything you feel like you own."

(Sometimes a lot more. In an experiment at Duke University, researchers asked students who had won tickets for the Final Four basketball tournament how much they'd be willing to sell them for — the answer, on average, was $2,400. They also asked students who had entered the lottery but not won how much they'd be willing to pay for tickets — in that case, the average was a measly $170.)

There are big individual differences in how much people like to touch things, Peck says. But the rule of thumb should probably be, "If you don't want it, don't touch it."

Impulse buying

Suppose you go to a store to buy a new USB cable for your camera. That's all you need. That's all you want. But it may not be all you buy. For while you're standing in line at the cash register, all set to pay and go home, what to your wondering eyes should appear but "The Hair Traffic Controller — the world's greatest pet hair remover"? Now, it just so happens that you own the world's shedding-est sheepdog, and, well …

It's not merely random good fortune that you should find this fantabulous product — on sale, no less! — where you do. Retailers often identify potential "impulse buys" and stock them at the ends of aisles and close to the checkout stand. Shoppers may not plan to make these sorts of purchases, but stores do plan to make these sorts of sales.

By Karen Ravn, Special to the Los Angeles Times
November 22, 2010
Posted by Yasemin Benker at 1:00 AM No comments:
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Monday, November 22, 2010

Business Lesson 22.10.2010



Today, due to Can Kaya’s absence, our class was held in 321 F, the two business and management classes together. It didn’t make quite a difference though because not a lot of people talked anyway.

Mr. Sen started by reminding us what SWOT stands for. As I already mentioned in my previous posts, we do 7s and steeple analyses in order to determine Swot that later affects a businesses strategy.  You can check if your business has achieved its goals by revising(going back to) your strategy and seeing if you have been able to achieve what you have planned.

There are two types of businesses. Some businesses try to monopolize the market (these are financially strong) others try to act together.

Also there are different types of markets. Monopoly is a market where there is only one supplier. Also sometimes there are a lot of different sellers and buyers, this is called a competitive market . When there are a lot of buyers but a few markets ,it is called a oligopoly.

Mr. Sen also pointed out the point that when competition occurres, companies dont reduce their prices and this is a misconcemption of most beginning business students.

Below you may see the questions that occurred to me and my notes on our new topic:
Who regulates the market?
How do we distinct the public and private sector?

Pubic sector: businesses in this organization are owned by the government.
Private sector: individually owned businesses. (can also be a institution or a corporation.

Institutions or corporations are usually found in large businesses. For example Banks, shipping companies, airlines companies are owned by people called share holders.
Also we must nor forget that there are also corporations in public sector.

Privatization is when the gouvernments sells some of its shares.

Large corporations are owned by other large companies.

Proprietorship or sole proprietorship. They are the same thing. These terms mean when a business is owned by only one person.

Towards the end of the lesson, We did a short case study and I noted some important facts:
Public sector organizations are usually burocratic
If you want to make an impact as an individual it is rather hard and this is what sometimes causes partnership.


(seed capital) because it is meant to act like a seed that grows. Also when this metaphor is further examined we can see that just like for a seed, the environment and the “soil” in which a business is “ planted” also matters.

You expect the owner to put into money and then go to sleep : is called a sleeping partner: when one just puts the money and then ‘goes to sleep”

Equivocated profits come from the business its self. The stupid things to do with profits take it and use it their selves. Then there is no opportunity for the business to grow. The sensible thing to do is keep some of the profit for yourself but invest rest of It to the business.

Public good : national security is a public good.
As opposed to a private good, when you consume a private good there is less available for another person to consume.  This does not happen with public goods.
For example your enjoyment of the beauty of a certain city that was decorated doesn’t affect other peoples enjoyment of the same beauty.

Posted by Yasemin Benker at 7:18 AM No comments:
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Monday, November 8, 2010

Some Misconceptions I had




Matrix : dictionary meaning, the tissue between the cells
In terms of business,it can be related to structure.

What values do we share? Friendship, respect, honesty
Negative values: prejudice, hate, intolerance, selfishness

Style : koc school: how do people behave? What things are tolerated and in tolerated
Kadikoy Anadolu Lisesi : is it the same spirit as koc school? The way people talk to each other is different
Shared values shape up the other elements

Structure in an organization: departments, sub departments
Relate to the organization itself : top 3 = they are created by the people in bottom 3
The systems are created because people decide that they are needed

Technology : internal systems, external factor: provides us with the resource : what makes the technology available to us

Data management systems in our school : ara karne, e-okul system,

Generate strengths and weaknesses = by looking at 7 –s and how they’re related to each other and if its powerful.

What makes the piles build the building ? The 7 – S Matrix
More than just a pile of bricks, every single organization is more than just a collection of people
Strategy of school = improve the performance of the students in
The goal is wrong = it should be the future life, not the report card


Posted by Yasemin Benker at 1:06 AM No comments:
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THE 7 S MATRIC IS INTERRELATED

the openings of the 7s matrix are below:

Strategy: analysis of environment, competition, customer needs and ones own strengths and weaknesses, leading plan or course of action
Structure: salient features of the organization chart. Alternatively a description of how the separate entities of the organization and tied together
Systems: proceduralised reports and the routinised processes On the intangible side, includes routinised processes such as meeting formats and norms of conflict management.
Staff : characterization of the major groupings of  people within the firm by education, functional discipline or work background.
Style: description of behavioral patterns
Shared values
Skills



Posted by Yasemin Benker at 12:59 AM No comments:
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I hope you all enjoy my blog about Business Classes in The Koc School.
As I wish it will help all my readers, I would also like to remind you that I am a student in the 11th grade so please forgive my small mistakes (if there are any)

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