Real estate industry is highly dynamic and requires constant monitoring. Its sensitive nature requires business players to be at par with the current technological, economical, social, legal and regulatory trends in the market. Majority of home buyers engages with these trends, in addition to their financial capabilities. Home buyers are keen to buy homes that suit their requirement while putting into consideration the amount of money they have, or their chances of obtaining mortgages. This presents a delicate scenario where buyers or marketers have to find homes suited with their specifications.
Economic and Financial Conditions
Economic reasons profoundly influence participation in the real estate business. Investing in commercial real estate requires a substantial amount of finances, thus engaging in loan consultations with financiers is of utmost importance. The uniqueness of the borrower coupled with rules and principles of the financier presents the need for deliberation in brokering the best deal possible. The marketer also faces a responsibility of negotiating for favourable financial assistance advancement to his client on request. Success of buying and selling of homes depend on the securing of the best and competitive lending rates that suit the concerned parties. Banks in which the home buyers entrust the financing responsibilities should be flexible enough to meet any presented financing need. Loan programs should have an adequate range to cover the needs. A real estate financier in the USA has loan programs extending from $500,000 to over $100,000,000 and has reported an increase in clients pleased with its wide bracket of loan services (Capstone, 2010). Home buyers accessing loan and real estate advisory services arranged by the financiers and marketers prove decisive in the real estate industry linked with information about the market (Majumdar, 34).
For many home buyers, their hard earned savings play a vital role in acquisition of mortgages. In the United Kingdom, a cooperative venture known as Building Society deals with acquisition of mortgages. It is extremely important that potential home buyers possess savings to aid them in obtaining financial services. Mortgage arrangement can be made in accordance to savings or any other asset subject to financiers approval. Savings and assets contribute substantially in the endorsement of a mortgage plan by banks or any other real estate financier.
Technology, Social and Legal Trends
Building technology affects home buyers decisions since consumers social trends, and satisfaction are principle considerations in the buying process. Current and trendy construction technology assures the potential buyers of security and guarantees value for money upon purchase. Marketers toil to locate and present updated homes in which modern building technology has taken shape. It is the responsibility of the home buyer to inspect the presented real estate asset before making any financial commitments. House details such as the number of rooms, air conditioners, security details and power should be checked. If the required repairs on the house are not covered by real estate merchandising agents, then the costs calculations are inevitable to aid the buyer on the worthiness of engaging in the deal. Prior inspection by the potential home buyers has influenced 66% on the final decision according to a report on the Washington Post. It has also been on the advisory notes of real estate purchasing institutions that, marketers and buyers assess the legality of the merchandise at hand. This aims at ensuring that the houses conform to legal requirements of the regulatory bodies concerned. Consequently, this ensures validity of houses and the buyer assumes liability after being adequately informed (Van 57).
Guerrilla Marketing Strategy in Buying a Home
Real estate is a booming business, which is growing at a sky rocketing rate. Most real estate designers build homes in a strategic location and various specifications to suit customers requirements. Competition in the industry has tremendously increased. A number of issues have emerged. Real estate has widely transformed from building simple homes to building unique homes to suit customers specification. Customers have a wide option of selection from many homes and a large pool of sellers. Banking institutions have also played a significant role by providing mortgages at a low rate.
In order for real estate companies to selling homes, they must offer quality services. Such services such as flexible means of payment and sometimes discount might boost their sale. This does not always play a crucial role in selling homes. Customers have their own preferences in terms of location and house specifications. This implies that a customer intending to buy a home in a certain city cannot change his or her mind to buy home in other cities, as a result of some services offered by the real estate company. In buying homes, customers consider many things before making their decisions; most of their preferences come from internal. For example, their tastes will push them to consider buying homes in certain locations. However, external factors always play a part. Sometimes to make the final decision it depends on the extra information or appeal that will present. Advertisement plays an integral role in sparking customer to make their decision. However, many people have generated a negative perception towards advertisement. Some of the most fancied advert barely contributes anything in increasing sale (Jeannet et al 14).
Real estate spends millions of shillings in Setting up of billboard, T.V and radio advertisements. This has become a common trend to almost all real estate companies. In hard economic times real estate becomes one of the adversely affected businesses, this demands a change in advertisement strategies in order to remain competitive in the market. This calls them to cut their advertisement cost and initiates new strategies in marketing. One of the real estate companies in California used a grotesque picture of a stained outline of a dead body in the living room. This picture although shocking attracted attention of many people, and a result it made the company known and surprisingly resulted to increase sales of its homes.
In times of recession, most of the conventional means of advertisements does not contribute in selling homes. In essence, this means increase the spending of real estate companies, consequently deeming them further to loss. This phenomenon has made experts in real estate business devise strategies in advertisements that could make them sail through recession. Guerrilla strategy has emerged as the best option in advertisement on occasions of recession. It is cheap, direct appealing to customers and flexible depending on creativity applied. Many real estate companies are coming up with this unique strategy to restrain competition in the industry. It requires developing a creative and an attractive advert and putting it in the buyers contexts where the company intends to sell homes. This will ensures that the advert directly apply to the relevant customers, hence increasing chances of sales.
References
Jeannet, Jean-Pierre, and Hubert D. Hennessey. Global Marketing Strategies. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1995. Print.
Majumdar, Ramanuj. Marketing Strategies. New Delhi: Allied Publishers, 1996. Print.
Van, der W. B, and Lynne Horan. Marketing Strategies. Observatory: Future Managers, 1998. Print
While home staging is becoming an increasingly more popular aspect of the selling process, several important issues need to be brought to public awareness in this rapidly expanding growth industry. Professional home staging is an extremely effective proven method of making homes look more appealing to prospective buyers. Skillfully staged homes sell up to 87% faster and for about 17% more than non-staged homes (McGrady 2015). However, as valuable a service as this can be, those who are choosing a home staging company neglect, or, rather, rarely even know what vital questions to ask to determine the qualifications of their candidates.
Overview of the Issue
The most obvious problem contributing to this dilemma is that currently, there are no regulations or statutes for the home staging industry. Astonishingly, it is not possible to ask to see a stagers license since no licensing policies exist. Ancillary professions related to home selling, such as home inspection, appraisal services, and mortgage lending companies, require a license to practice. Their licenses are issued after the practitioner completes industry-specific, standardized course requirements and passes a personal background check as well as provides fingerprints.
Meanwhile, the home staging profession does not entail any of these professional qualifications. This is a rather serious issue since many people practicing home staging are not trained or qualified to engage in staging, nor do they merit the publics trust. Until a process of licensing is implemented, it is very difficult to limit the pitfalls and problems associated with choosing the wrong person or company to stage a home.
The Major Problems and Their Evidence
Although regulations still do not exist, responsible home staging companies can and must be diligent when hiring employees. Standards should be followed even without laws or regulations. Stagers should be professionally trained and experienced in specific skills and challenges of home staging or have a degree in the interior design field. True competence is difficult to establish and impossible to ascertain with an inexperienced or hobbyist stager who is using stock photos as examples of work they hope to perform. There are only a few qualified organizations offering substantive accreditation or certification. It is recommended that home stagers hold at least one recognizable professional credential that requires training and education to obtain. One should note that a membership that is based primarily on the payment of fees should never be construed as a substitute for training or education.
Previously owned and used furnishings pose another highly worrisome dilemma. Regardless of their size or time in business, a significant majority of home staging companies operate with furnishings that have been lived upon and used. Pieces of furniture that have been used may contain mold, bed bugs, body fluids, and other contaminants (DAliesio 2011; Grayson 2011; Landsbaum 2015). Disclosure of how the staging company obtained their furnishings should be made in writing. If they were previously lived upon or used, then this information should be revealed to any potential client.
Finally, everyone knows to be careful of who you invite into your home or property. Without any screening or licensing, the home staging industry is particularly ripe for people with criminal backgrounds to set up shop. The accompanying problems that arise can range from shoddy work and diminished home value to pest infestations, all the way to the most catastrophic personal experiences imaginable. Thus, people should be rather cautious when choosing home stagers. It is unacceptable to let absolute strangers in ones house without finding investigating their background.
Straw Solutions and Why They Are not Entirely Effective
The first straw solution is choosing a company based primarily on its time in business and/or their name. Frequently, customers decide to hire a home staging company whose history of operation is long. However, it does not guarantee that such an organization provides the best services. Without inquiring about its standards, one cannot be sure that the company is highly qualified.
The reason why this solution does not work is that even if a company has been operating for several years, it does not mean that it is working with unused quality materials. On the contrary, if it has been in business for years, an organization has a lot of old inventory and furniture that they bought a long time ago. Thus, the furnishings used for house staging by such a company may be not only outdated and unstylish but also quite dangerous due to having been used in many places for multiple times. Therefore, the length of time in business and a famous name can rarely be equaled to a high-quality service. Instead, there is a high probability that they built their business without the standards which they should have followed.
The second straw solution is giving preference to a company based on just a few testimonials and staging photos. Unfortunately, customers frequently disregard this factor and are not worried if there are only several feedback messages on the companys website. The same thing concerns the photos of professional exhibits made by the organizations employees for its customers.
The important thing is that all testimonials should be local and verifiable. Contact information must be recent, and clients should be able to reach the people who left their opinions about the firms services easily. Any business can have family and friends who will claim that the company is doing a perfect job. That is why one should be cautious about anonymous feedback. Home staging firms that want to be trusted should have several testimonials provided by reputable professionals in the real estate and construction industry. The same thing concerns websites owned by home staging firms. It is necessary to pay attention to the photos that are so easy to borrow nowadays. The company has to provide unique pictures and not the ones with logos from stock photo websites. Moreover, photos should also be accompanied by previous customers contact information so that probable clients could verify such information.
What Should Be Done, or Real Solutions
The mentioned straw solutions may be useful and deserve consideration but only in case if the following condition is kept: the stagers should disclose where and from whom they obtained their inventory. If the furnishings were previously owned or purchased from yard sales, Goodwill, Craiglist, of other consignment stores, such a fact should be available to the customers. If a home staging company fails to provide such information, it is a red flag. Most probably, it means that furniture is second-hand or stored in unsuitable conditions, or even both.
The suggested real solution is much better than the straw solutions mentioned earlier. The first straw solution was choosing a company based on how long it has been in business. The real solution emphasizes that no matter how many years a firm has been in business, it still has to prove that it is entirely customer-oriented. A company may be popular, but if it resists revealing where its inventory comes from, no popularity will save it. Moreover, not only should they say where they got the furnishings but they also have to inform the people where and in what conditions they keep their inventory.
The second straw solution was choosing a company that has an insufficient number of staging photos and testimonials. The real solution presupposes requiring the companys experience and not trusting just a few pieces of feedback. The benefit of such a solution is obvious: the more you know about the company, the better chances you receive for quality services and safe cooperation.
Out of all furnishing components, the greatest danger is hidden in second-hand mattresses that may contain such contaminants as bed bugs and mold or even body fluids (DAliesio 2011; Landsbaum 2015). The regulations about mattresses are included in the US furniture and apparel and household textiles compliance requirements (Benson & Reczek 2016a; Benson & Reczek 2016b). According to these policies, the use of second-hand mattresses is extremely damaging to peoples health. Therefore, it is a must for house staging firms to exploit only unused mattresses or at least warn their customers about using second-hand ones. Unfortunately, there are no regulations directly demanding such an attitude from the companies.
Other real solutions include the following suggestions. Customers should inquire not only about the origin of inventory but also about where it is kept and whether it is separated from other materials while being stored. This information is no less important than the employees credentials. Next, one should ask the firm whether it is surety bonded and insured for liability as well as whether they carry a workmans compensation. Another significant issue playing a negative role in the absence of a background check, drug testing, and e-verification for the companys contractors and employees. If a company neglects any of these aspects, it is a sign of unprofessionalism and unpreparedness to perform high-quality services.
Real Solutions in Action: Addressing the Major Concerns
The first major concern for those who want to hire a home staging company is not allowing any dishonest and unprofessional people to enter their house. With that in mind, people should only choose firms with reliable employees who have passed the e-verification procedure, drug testing, and background check. Clients have a right to know in whose hands their property is. It is unacceptable to trust a friendly smile and a few polite words and not inquire about anything about the home stagers experience of certification.
According to Budnitz (2012), the public law of consumer protection in the US is far from being perfect. In such circumstances, people should be especially cautious about letting strangers with no appropriate qualifications to make any changes in their homes. The reason for such a conclusion is that it might be quite troublesome to prove any wrongdoing later. Therefore, the real solution is to demand detailed information about the companys employees and experience. If none can be obtained, its a sign that one should not start cooperation with such an organization.
Another issue that has to be addressed is the problem of second-hand furnishing and its possible adverse outcomes for homeowners. According to the information from Centers for disease control and prevention (2011), bed bugs present a rather dangerous issue. Thus, home staging companies that do not pay sufficient attention to choosing high-quality furnishing put peoples health or even life at risk. If a firm uses second-hand mattresses, or even if it uses the new ones but stores them in unacceptable conditions, such serious problems as mold or bed bugs may spread. As a result, customers who make use of such a companys services may end up having their property filled with not only unpleasant but also contaminating elements. To eliminate the danger of such occurrences, home staging companies should be obliged to reveal the information about when they bought their mattresses and where they keep them. If a client knows that the furnishing is second-hand and does not mind that, it will not be the company to blame. However, it is highly unlikely that anyone would like to engage in business with an organization that may cause harm to property or people.
The third major concern is that the house may get damaged by the staging company when materials are moved in or out of the property. That is why it is particularly essential to deal with the firm that uses clear, professional, and customized contracts. The clients should see from the very beginning the terms of the agreement and the dates when services will be performed (Collins, Jentzsch & Mazer 2011). Also, it is necessary to take into account the issue of fees. Customers should understand clearly what is included in the price and what will require additional payment. By asking for such a contract, people will eliminate the danger of their property being damaged. If a company cannot provide a clear-cut contract, it is a sign of it being a place of employment for hobbyists rather than professionals. Therefore, if such requirements become policy, it will be easy to identify the unprofessional companies who only aim at making money but do not care about their customers at all.
Advantages of Dealing with Professional Home Staging Companies
Along with making a profit for itself, any business should also care about making customers satisfied. When talking about the sphere of home staging, there are many ways of following or disregarding this rule. An essential feature of a good home staging firm is having professionally trained employees. Although there are only a few organizations that suggest training for future home stagers, such training is still possible and necessary. The educational establishment that offers accreditation for home staging professionals is the American Society of Interior Designers. Also, an employee may prove his or her professional readiness by owning a credential such as Certified Staging Professional or Accredited Staging Professional.
When you hear someone saying I am good at what I am doing, it is just that there are no educational programs available, do not trust such a person. A truly dedicated home stager will do everything possible to obtain the necessary education and credentials to please customers and bring success to the company in which he or she works. If a person could not earn any degree at least related to home staging, it is necessary to make sure that he or she has had at least two years of full-time working experience in the field. Only when you make sure that you are hiring a team of professional and diligent people will you be able to stop worrying about any possible adverse outcomes of cooperating with a home staging firm.
Another positive effect of approaching the choice of a home staging company with seriousness is that customers can expect the best services and the most favorable outcomes of their sale. When every aspect and step of the process is discussed and arranged properly, homeowners will not need to worry about anything anymore. They can simply relax and wait for prospective buyers who, according to the statistics, will much more likely purchase a staged property than unstaged ones. Asking about testimonials and other types of evidence does not take long, but the benefits will be immense. Home staging is worth trying, but one should be cautious when choosing into whose hands to put ones property.
Finally, as it was discussed earlier, the greatest threat is hidden both indirect and figurative meaning in mattresses. Other inventory may also present some danger, but numerous regulations concerning mattresses make this issue the acutest one. Before deciding in favor of some home staging organization, it is necessary to check where they take their furniture and what the conditions of its stores are. Used mattresses may contain bed bugs and pests that make the environment unsuitable for healthy living (Soniak 2012). However, it holds not only concerning second-hand inventory. The mattresses may have been bought brand-new, and no one may have ever slept on them, but they may still be hazardous. Customers should not hesitate to inquire about the documentation about the date when mattresses were purchased and the warehouse or other places where they are kept. Peoples safety, as well as security of their property, is in their own hands. Hiring a company that has been in business for many years may not be a bad idea, but it is still not the most effective one. Rather than paying attention to the duration of working experience, clients should check the attitude to work in general and the ways of picking and keeping the furnishing in particular.
Conclusion
Modern home selling is rarely unaccompanied by home staging. The industry that makes the property look more livable for prospective buyers is reported to be rather successful. Unfortunately, not all companies that suggest such services are diligent enough. Sometimes, their employees lack professional training or experience. At other times, firms do not have enough evidence of making the previous customers satisfied. Also, the greatest danger is hidden in the approaches to choosing the inventory for home staging. To make sure that their property is in good hands, customers should follow the following suggestions. First of all, they should not be ashamed of asking questions about the employees qualifications, experience, and background. Secondly, it is necessary to obtain a sufficient amount of evidence about the firms reliability and diligence. Finally, prospective customers should pay particular attention to the furnishing used by the company. If people follow these pieces of advice, they will get a chance of selling their property at the best price and not put their health in danger.
About the Author
Robin Leigh is an owner of a home staging company Staged to Sell. She is experienced in all aspects of residential real estate sales including seller and buyer brokerage, luxury properties, property valuation, financing programs, marketing strategies, new home sales and construction, brokerage management, coaching, and home staging. Before that, she worked for Intero Real Estate Services in Scottsdale, AZ.
Robin is also a member of a fund Childhelp-25 Men Who Thinks They Can Cook. Staged to Sell provides a full range of services that help to make your house look in the most attractive light.
Reference List
Benson, LM & Reczek, K. 2016a, A guide to United States apparel and household textiles compliance requirements. Web.
Benson, LM & Reczek, K. 2016b, A guide to United States furniture compliance requirements. Web.
Budnitz, ME. 2012, The federalization and privatization of public consumer protection law in the United States: their effect on litigation and enforcement, Georgia State University Law Review, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 663-692.
The process of seeking for a job position is often challenging. However, if the person seeks for the job abroad, there are more challenges and unexpected problems. It is also important to pay attention to the fact that the human resource strategies and recruitment process can differ significantly in various countries. Nevertheless, the orientation to the globalisation and its principles results in broadening the international job market.
Moreover, the work in the international company abroad can be discussed as the developed tendency of the present day. The international job market depends on the constant changes in demands for the definite specialists and certain positions. Today, many foreign employees work in the Asian region and at the territories of the North America when the percentage of the job migration in Europe is rather low, and this fact is caused by the unstable economy within the region.
There are many challenges for the persons who seek for the work abroad which are connected with the legal issues, HR strategies, and cultural barriers. Nowadays, the international job market is based on the demands of the IT specialists. This tendency remains unchanged during the recent years because of the constantly developed industry (Rossheim).
Nevertheless, the marketing industry also develops significantly and the demands for the workforce can change in relation to the region. From this point, the employees should pay attention to the popularity of this or that specialisation in different regions.
Many persons begin their career abroad because their company steps into the international arena and opens new offices. The cultural barriers, language issues, and differences in the approaches to the work process become the main challenges for the international employees (Wild and Wild 58). However, it is easier to work in the companys department abroad than to start a new career in the foreign country.
To avoid a lot of difficulties connected with the legal issues (medical insurance, taxes), special work permits, and cultural barriers, many specialists are inclined to search for project jobs for the definite time period. Nevertheless, in spite of the time working abroad, recruiters pay much attention to the competence of applicants, to their education and degrees, and to the work practice.
The work in cities outside the home country is the challenge for the employees competence (Wild and Wild 90-92). Moreover, HR professionals who work in the international companies develop special strategies for managing the workforce diversity, but the pressure experienced by the employees in the foreign country can be significant.
Having analysed the contemporary trends in recruiting employees internationally, it is possible to accentuate the role of the Asian region and North America in developing the globalisation tendencies (Wild and Wild 89). The work of people from all over the world in the US or Japanese international companies becomes the common situation. On the contrary, the European countries develop the active job connections predominately within the European Union because of the consequences of the global economic crisis.
To conclude, it is possible to state that the main challenges which are experienced by employees working abroad is the necessity to adapt to the new and unfamiliar culture, to approve the professional competence, and to resolve definite legal issues. The major problems experienced by HR managers are the necessity to manage the diverse workforce effectively with references to the cultural peculiarities and strategic goals of the company.
Works Cited
Rossheim, John. 2013 Marketing Jobs Outlook. 2012. Web.
Wild, John, and Kenneth Wild. International Business. USA: Pearson-Prentice Hall, 2012. Print.
The achievements in the sphere of design and building show that within a short period of time, certain changes in house constructions may take place. One of the most spread thoughts is offered by Gerald Stryi-Hipp (2006): in 2030, the vast majority of homes will be heated by means of solar thermal only. Such choice will influence the use of energy and help society to save money reducing energy demands as well as improve the design of houses as there will be no need to use some electric tools.
In this paper, the evaluation of three types of homes will be offered to define how materials and requirements for building as well as ethical aspects and technological use may be changed: a luxury home should be provided with a number of electronic gadgetry to help the owner save time and enjoy the design, a family four bedroom detached home aims at improving the life of a family, and a basic one bedroom flat with a number of significant attributes for living.
Luxury Home 2030
Talking about the materials for a luxury home 2030, it is necessary to consider their nature. One of the most effective ways is to use special glass for luxury homes with the help of which the whole home is lightened and open for the sun, still, it is impossible to look through it.
With the help of special digital technologies, it may be possible to change the colour of wallpapers in accordance with the owners mood. There is a special program implemented into the house that allows a person to choose from 1 to 5 colours. The following in-house technologies are possible for the chosen building: FM radio, digital TV that may be placed anywhere in the house, and furniture transformation.
Due to the fact that the technologies are designed into the house before it is built, it is necessary to meet a number of requirements: solar thermal equipment that is located on the roof and provides the whole building with the necessary amount of solar energy, all walls are bearing and may be made of special pressured bricks and compressed earth blocks, and, finally, doors are made of strong wood that holds warm in the house.
The chosen material and design meet the environmental green considerations. It is necessary to support the use of natural material in the building process, this is why the idea of unbroken glass as the main material for the luxury home is justified. Though a number of technologies and mechanisms are implemented into the house, all of them are inside the walls which are made of glass; so, they do not have some harmful effects on people living there.
Family Four Bedroom House
A family four bedroom house should be designed to provide a big family with all necessary services and quality: parents should be confident that their children are in safe, and children, in their turn, should have an access to the most important parts of the house. The material for this type home is wood or professional timber for the walls and roof, and metal rebar to create an appropriate floor.
As big families are not always able to spend much money on the technological aspects of their homes, it is possible to implement the most significant technologies: solar thermal at the roof (to support the green idea of building), heating technologies, and media improvements which are easy to use and hide in urgent cases.
Kitchen technologies are integral in such type of building some members of the family spend much time in there. In relation to building design, a number of ethical issues should be considered to choose building material properly and avoid harm for human health. Use of solar energy in heating is the most effective means that reduce the use of fossil fuels and other chemical substances.
Basic One Bedroom Flat
A first time buyer should get a number of benefits from a new basic one bedroom flat: building materials are usually concrete constructions which are supported by iron details. As a rule, one bedroom flat is a part of a huge construction, this is why it is necessary to define the bearing walls and implement as many technologies as possible in it.
Solar energy is hardly available for such types of homes, still, it is possible to create one huge generator with the help of which heating and cooling of all flats in the building is controlled in one section.
Environmental ethics should remind the designers about the importance to reduce the amount of waste and damage to the environment. Still, the following technologies should be implemented into the design as they influence the quality of human life: security system due to which a person is sure of personal safe, media improvements with the help of which a person saves time and nerves, and entertaining aspects (bath equipment and kitchen accessibility).
Conclusion
In general, all above-mentioned buildings have one idea in common: people have to be protected from all outside damages and dangers: absence of chemical substances, attention to solar energy, and natural building materials are considered. In case the ethical perspective is pointed out while building and designing in 2030, there is a hope for all people to succeed in living and protect personal life to its full extent.
Reference List
Stryi-Hipp, G 2006, In 2030, many homes will be heated using only solar thermal, SBZ, pp. 40-44.
Brand plays an essential role while building the companys image in the world due to its ability to define the communication tone with the customers and potential users of the service. In turn, it contributes to creating the brand personality and its correspondence with the particular needs of the customers (Bajac & Palacious, 2013). In turn, the health care the branding of the organization has to be focused on delivering its promise to the customers and creating trusting relationships (Kemp, Jillapalli, & Becerra, 2014).
A primary goal of this paper is to assess the marketing communication, identity, and brand position while conducting a SWOT analysis, evaluating the essence of benchmarking, and conducting a comparison with the other similar brands. In the end, the conclusions are drawn based on the analyses, which are conducted in this essay to determine the efficiency of the marketing strategy while building the brand image of Plaza Home Health Services.
Marketing Communication, Identity, and Brand Position of Plaza Home Health Services
Marketing communications are important while building the brand, and nowadays, social media is one of the elements, which builds the reputation of the organization in the health care industry (White, 2008). Nonetheless, the company utilizes only the professional means of communications including the business cards, brochures, and communicate to the customers at the location (Fortenberry, 2010). It could be said that content marketing can be considered as one of the aspects to enhance the organizational recognition in the near future.
As for the brand identity, the company focuses on providing high-quality services to its consumers by utilizing the suitable language for the communication via brochures, business cards, and direct contacts (Fortenberry, 2010). In this instance, the brand identity is created with the assistance of creating of the trusting relationship with the customers while utilizing a relevant style for interactions. It could be said that this aspect plays a critical role in the marketing mix, as it identifies the companys position on the market.
Lastly, the importance of the brand positioning cannot be unnoticed, as; in this case, the Plaza Home Health Services positions itself as being a unique company with the exceptional offers and distinct competitive advantage in Georgetown. It remains evident that the company clearly differentiates itself from the competitors in the city due to paying vehement attention to the advantages of the other organizations on the market (Fortenberry, 2010). In the end, the combination of the successful branding will help the company stay competitive in the market and differentiate its services from the competitors.
SWOT Analysis of Plaza Home Health Services
As for the strengths, the company was able to successful to position its brand and differentiate it from the competitors while building an exceptional service. In this instance, the quality of the services was chosen as a primary advantage to build the brand positioning in the region (Fortenberry, 2010). In turn, it could be said that the selecting the right language for communication created an opportunity of building the positive publicity at the beginning of the functioning of Plaza Home Health Services in Georgetown.
Nonetheless, despite the head start the weaknesses are present due to the recent start of the operations in the market and lack of experience in building the sufficient marketing strategy. Utilizing the direct communication, business cards, and brochures limits the companys ability to deliver the message to the potential clients, and it is a reason for the misconceptions in future. Furthermore, the company does not have a sophisticated logo to support the brand (Fortenberry, 2010). It remains evident that the company should refine its marketing mix and adapt to the constantly altering economic environment due to the essentiality of the building a right communication plan to expand the market share (Shaw, 2012).
Nonetheless, the opportunities are present, as the company was not created recently. In this case, it should consider expanding its marketing activities and devote high attention to the social media and content marketing, as they enhance the companys image in the market and create high recognition (White, 2008). In turn, the establishment of strategic partnerships can also be considered as an opportunity since it is beneficial for the both parties. However, it remains evident that the company should combine these aspects while enhancing the companys recognition due to the ability to reach higher results.
Lastly, the threats tend to exist due to the highly competitive nature of the market. As it was mentioned earlier, Plaza Home Health Services does not have a well-developed marketing mix due to the start of the recent functioning on the market. In this instance, the threat of new entrants remains on the high level, as Georgetown has favorable conditions for the development of the similar services. In turn, the competitors can implement the similar value-generation model and become a cause of the reduction of the market share of Plaza Home Health Services and loss of the revenues.
Importance of Benchmarking in Plaza Home Health Services
Benchmarking is an efficient approach, which helps introduce the relevant strategy while comparing it to the competitors (Avilles, 2011). The SWOT analysis revealed that the primary weaknesses and threats imply that the company lacks the logo and lacks the sufficient development of the marketing mix. Nonetheless, these aspects might have an adverse impact on the companys operations.
As for the beneficial influence of the benchmarking, it will help revitalize the brand strategy due to the research of the competition and trends on the market. It remains evident that the research and development plays an important role in business, as it depicts the trends and the actions of the competitors (Tarnay, 2013). Using these findings will assist in introducing the suitable strategy and perform a right marketing mix.
Lastly, the benchmarking will help expand the means of communications and select the right ones to enhance its position on the market. It remains evident that the limited number of the means of the communication creates the difficulties while delivering the desired message to the users by Plaza Home Health Services. In this instance, monitoring the actions of the competitors will help expand its marketing mix and increase its share of the market in the health care industry in the organization.
Comparison with Other Similar Services
Lastly, the comparison with the similar service providers is determined to evaluate the marketing strategy of Plaza Home Health Services. In this instance, Emerald Hills Medical Center is one of the companys competitors, as it operates in the similar industry and utilizes a similar model in the brand building (Fortenberry, 2010). Nonetheless, the inability to deliver the promised quality of the services to the customers in considered as the primary drawback, which was highlighted by the management (Fortenberry, 2010). This feature questions companys reputation and creates the adverse perception of its value creation model.
Nonetheless, in this instance, Plaza Home Health Services has a better positioning of the brand than Emerald Hills Medical Center due to the correspondence of the picture of the quality of the services in the value and positioning of the companys brand. In this instance, Plaza Home Health Services has the bright future, as it successfully promotes its critical competitive advantage. However, the management of Emerald Hills Medical Center understands the essence of the marketing communication due to the necessity of building the base of the loyal customers. In the end, despite having favorable conditions for the brand development and having a more efficient strategy than the competitors, Plaza Home Health Services should consider revitalizing the marketing strategy due to the presence of social and economic fluctuations in the area.
Conclusion
In the end, branding is an essential attribute while building the relationships in the healthcare industry, as it contributes to building trusting relationships with the patients and potential clients. Nonetheless, despite being in the constant contact with the customers and vitality of the health services, the role of the marketing communication, brand creation, and benchmarking cannot be underestimated due to the increasing level of competition in this industry.
The example of Plaza Home Health Services highlighted the significance of these matters while evaluating its brand position on the market with the assistance of the SWOT analysis and evaluation of the competition. Lastly, the importance of the brand recognition cannot be underestimated, as it determines the position of the organization among its competitors in the healthcare industry.
References
Avilles, M. (2011). Benchmarking in health care. Oakbrook Terrace, IL: Joint Commission Resources, Inc.
Bajac, H., & Palacious, M. (2013). Building a brand personality in an emerging country: Is it equally important when brands are consumed publicly and privately. International Journal of Innovations in Business, 2(10), 878.
Fortenberry, J. (2010). Cases in health care marketing. Boston, MA: Johns and Bartlett Publishers.
Kemp, E., Jillapalli, P., & Becerra, E. (2014). Healthcare branding: Developing emotionally based consumer brand relationships. Journal of Services Marketing, 28(2), 126-137.
Shaw, E. (2012). Marketing strategy. Journal of Historical Research in Marketing, 4(1), 30-55.
Tarnay, K. (2013). Research and development in E-business through service-oriented solutions. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
White, P. (2008). How can the worlds of social marketing and healthcare communications join forces to enhance health care reputation? Journal of Communication in Healthcare, 1(4), 431-440.
The scenario of the case is based around the fact that the chief researcher of the beverage production company Drink-At-Home, Inc Mrs. Lee, and her team discovered the possibility of making an instant pina colada. However, the development of the final product may take a year and significant expenditure with no assurance of 100% success or a guarantee that the competitors would not do the same beverage first (Pearson Education par.2). This paper is to define the factors that may result in either successful, or unsuccessful implementation of the product, to provide the quantitative analysis for the possible case scenarios, and to present the optimal solution for the management.
Factors for success of the product development
The specifics of the product development in the food and beverage industry are classified as technical, thus, an external factor of production (Davis, Lockwood and Stone 20). In other words, the large influence lies in the competitors actions, technical and legal regulations, and both financial and technological resources.
To analyze the risks of product development, the manager is to define the disturbing factors (Hakes 74), that include inner disturbances, outer disturbances, and manufacturing variations (Kanji and Asher 112). In the case of the Drink-At-Home, Inc. those factors are the possibility of the final product not corresponding to the developers conception and the possibility that the other companies develop a similar product faster.
The major dilemma for the management, in this case, is what amount of costs spent on product development is justifiable, considering the risks (Doeg 43). This is why considering the existing risk factors for the success of the product the financial forecasting of its development should be based on the ratio of which product development strategy has lesser expenditure with the higher possibility of success (Wood 192).
Quantitative analysis of possible scenarios
There are four possible decisions for the management in this case. The orderly development will take $100,000 for the research and development itself, 100,000$ on the required equipment, and $150,000 on the material and its handling. Thus, it will cost $350,000 with the 90% possibility of success. In this scenario, the management counts on the substantial consumer acceptance with the profits of $800,000.
The second scenario presupposes $80,000 of all the development costs for 8-month research, plus $60,000 more only if success is guaranteed by the initial research. The success possibility is 60%. The expected profits with moderate acceptance are $600,000.
In the third scenario, the reduced development program will cost $60,000 for six months, plus additional costs of $30,000 in a case of success. The possibility of success is 50%. The expected profits are $500,000.
The ratio (the highest profit with the lowest risk) is the discounted value of profit divided by expenditure and multiplied by risk percentage of the expenditure. The table illustrates the indexes for all the scenarios.
Option
Expenditure
Possible success, %
The discounted value of future profit
The ratio
1
$350,000
90%
$800,000
205
2
$140,000
60%
$600,000
257
3
$90,000
50%
$500,000
277
Fig. 1. Table of the ratio (the highest profit with the lowest risk).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the option of the reduced research program and maintaining awareness of the developments of the similar products provide the highest profits with the lowest cost of the research in case of an unsuccessful product.
Works Cited
Davis, Bernard, Andrew Lockwood, and Sally Stone. Food And Beverage Management. Oxford [England]: Butterworth-Heinemann, 1998. Print.
Doeg, Colin. Crisis Management In The Food And Drinks Industry. New York, NY: Springer, 2005. Print.
Hakes, C. Total Quality Management: The Key To Business Improvement. New York, NY: Springer Science & Business Media, 1994. Print.
Kanji, Gopal K, and Mike Asher. 100 Methods For Total Quality Management. London: Sage, 1996. Print.
Pearson Education. Internet Case Drink-At-Home, Inc. Quantitative Analysis for Management, 2015. Web.
Wood, Roy C. Strategic Questions In Food And Beverage Management. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2000. Print.
Metropolitan Jewish Health System (MJHS) is a non profit making organization that was founded in 1907. It offers hospital and health care facilities. This organization has its headquarters in 9323 Seventh Avenue Brooklyn, in New York. MJHS provides care to an estimate of twenty thousand persons in the Greater New York metropolitan area. Its services include home care, rehabilitation, hospice, community service and many more. It is one of the leading health care providers in New York and it is still growing. It has a unique structure that enables it to provide a wide range of services in post-acute and long-term care.
Part of the services provided by MJHS includes supporting education, research and development in search for better ways of providing effective care. Through the institute of Applied Gerontology, we have been able to come up with innovative services that have helped in improving quality of life for all people. As the director of MJHS, I have been assigned the responsibility of exploring the development of a new service that will improve our performance. I would propose Telehealth as the new service to implement in our organization. This paper explores the external, internal analysis as well as the competitive advantage of this strategy.
Definition of Telehealth
Telehealth is a health care service that is delivered through the use of telecommunications technologies. This ranges from the use of telephone to the use of videoconferencing between health care providers and their clients. This can happen in two different countries or within the same country. Sometimes, it includes the use of robotic technology (Cervinskas, et al. 1984). It is a development of telemedicine although it differs from telemedicine in that it focuses on preventive, curative, and primordial features.
Telemedicine encompasses on the curative aspect only. Telehealth is also more technically advanced than telemedicine. In telehealth, health care providers can use emails to converse with their patients, to make drug orders, or communicate with other physicians. In order to introduce this new service, there is need to carry out an internal and external analysis to access the suitability of this innovation in MJHS.
Principles of Business impact and Evolution in Healthcare
Health, care, is primarily about people-to-people interactions. It is about understanding, diagnosis, physical contact, communication and, ultimately, providing care. All of this is facilitated by the technical processes of imaging, pathological testing, information gathering, research and so forth (Hicks, et al. 2009). The task of every health care system is how to maximize the personal contact at the same time as maximizing the technical input, while all the time operating within a suitable financial framework.
People working in developing countries have had to think about how to support local clinicians who may nor have all the skills they need, how to make sure technical information is interpreted wisely in very difficult circumstances and how best to use very scarce resources (Barney, 2007). Telehealth offers help in meeting these conflicting needs by improving access to data and to individuals, while driving down the costs of doing so.
Applications to Home Health Agency
As home telehealth technologies have evolved the purpose and utilization intent has changed. When telephone technologies were first introduced into home care, research questions regarding utilization included:
Will clients use the technology?
Can clients use the technology correctly?
Will nurse incorporate telehealth technology into practice?
More recent research has focused on implementation of successful telehealth models in home care as well as studying specific clinical populations such as patients living with heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and even solitary persons living with mild dementia. Outcomes studies and demonstration projects continue to indicate that home telehealth can improve clinical outcomes as well as cost effectiveness when used correctly. Home telehealth is becoming more recognized by clinical professionals. In 1999, the American Nurses Association published competencies for telehealth technologies in Nursing (Hicks, et al. 2009). The home Healthcare Nurses Association (HHNA) has recognized telehealth as a practice intervention.
Safety Considerations
The overall goal of home health care is to help the client and caregiver transition safely and effectively to self-care. Home telehealth is one tool that facilities achievement of this goal in home care nursing. Three main goals drive home cares need to integrate telehealth into the clients plan of care:
Identify early exacerbation of the clients condition
Reduce unscheduled nurse visits
Decrease emergency room visits
It is difficult for home care nurses to cost-effectively make innumerable visits in order to ensure that the patient is safe and knowledgeable regarding their care in order to keep from returning to the hospital for the same problem. Home telehealth connects the clinician and client remotely in order to maintain contact and yet minimize extra visits and cost. Remote vital sign monitoring, also known as telemonitoring, allows clinicians to track data points that alert to early client health status changes.
Identification of early changes in vital data allows the clinician to intervene before client status decompensate, requiring an emergency room visit or acute hospitalization. When home care nurses visit clients one to two times weekly, trends in vital sign data can be missed. Home telephone health technology is one tool that home care nurses can use to identify early exacerbation (Cervinskas, et al. 1984).
Identification of early signs and symptoms of exacerbation is the key goal associated with home telehealth. Whether the signs and symptoms are related to wound infection, congestive heart failure, or asthma, it is important to define what measures indicate early exacerbation. Complexity of client conditions combined with a critical nursing shortage mandate that home care management focus on efficiency.
Home telehealth technologies offer a method for staying connected with the patient and still maintaining visit frequencies (Bashshur, et al. 2007). Telehealth is not intended to replace nurse visits; rather, it is intended to enhance and promote better communication between the nurse and client. Home telehealth thereby allows home care nurses to maintain projected frequency rates without additional unexpected visits that cost time and money.
Current State and impact of US Healthcare System
However, many questions remain about the potential value to people in resource-constrained settings such as the developed world. There are major problems in inequality access to health care in the US healthcare system, to which telehealth offers a potential solution. It may be valuable in other ways as well. Home telehealth encompasses the utilization of many different technologies that collect many types of health data. A diversity of telecommunication modalities is used to transfer health data, including plain old telephone cable television lines, satellite connections and the internet
Telehealth technology that is placed with the appropriate client will promote active participation in care. Automatic data downloading often promotes client dependence rather than critical thinking about how, when, and why physiologic data change. Telehealth systems that encourage client participation also promote self-care learning, which greatly facilities discharge from care with all goals met (Nemeth, 2008).
Technology appropriately matched with the client and caregivers skill set improves care satisfaction. Clients and caregivers enjoy the continuous link to their healthcare nurse and report reduced levels of anxiety when the technology is available around the clock. Mismatched technology can greatly increase anxiety levels and reduce care satisfaction. If clients are unfamiliar with computer, then asking them to learn computer skills during their critical recovery time will only serve to increase stress and reduce satisfaction.
Scientific and Technology Trends
Telehealth is one aspect of the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in health care. It is widely believed that ICT generally has the potential to improve clinical care and public health. In addition to facilitating medical education, administration and research, appropriate use of ICT may:
Improve access to health care
Enhance the quality of service delivery
Improve the effectiveness of public health and primary care interventions.
Strategy Evaluation
The implementation plan for this strategy allows the business to compete in the global market by producing quality services at low cost. Achieving the implementation plan takes utilization of critical success factors as well as knowledge of the organization. Identification of risks associated with the strategy and plans to combat the risks will allow the business to make necessary provision to address the situations when they occur (Mintzberg, et al 2003). The success of the strategy will be accomplished through continued evaluation of the plan to make necessary changes to realign the strategy with the businesses vision
According to Omolewu (2005), strategic management involves formulating and implementing strategies that enable the organization to reach its objectives. Therefore it is important that MJHS to measure its success in the formulation and implementation of the new service (telehealth); this is called strategy evaluation. The factors that are likely to have an impact on reaching this goal are the size of the organization, management styles, complexity of the environment, nature of the production processes, nature of the problem and the purpose and planning system (Omolewu, 2005).
Strategy evaluation is important to ensure these factors do not hinder the achievement of strategic goals and evaluation should be followed by continuous improvement. Evaluation is a continuous process, which is included in each stage of strategic management. According to Rumelt (2000) strategic evaluation should help us know if the objectives of the business are appropriate, if major policies and plans are appropriate and whether the results obtained confirm or are against critical assumptions on which the strategy rests.
Conclusion
The companys highly regarded brand name is a source of competitive advantage as it lures customer traffic. MJHSs low cost strategy offers are also an effective marketing tool. Likewise, quality appears to be the key element at MJHS as seen by its high turnover growth. The companys strong brand name is an upper hand in positioning itself with the new service. Its critical success factors include Customer Satisfaction, Management, Finance, Innovation, Production, and Service. More importantly, the organizations success in the industry is its ability to differentiate itself from its competitors.
This is done by developing and focusing on the organizations core competencies. The company seeks to standardize as much of the processes as possible. Standardized processes are important to maximize the efficiency of organizations. To achieve an acceptable level of quality, MJHS must invest in technologies and partnerships that support quality improvement and innovation an example of such strategy is telehealth.
Reference List
Barney, J. B. (2007). Gaining And Sustaining Competitive Advantage (3rd ed.). New Jersey: Pearson-Prentice Hall.
Bashshur, Rashid, et al. (2007). Telehealth. New York: Acta Press.
Cervinskas, Jenny, et al. (1984). Telehealth: telecommunications technology in health care and health education in Canada. New technologies in Canadian education. TVOntario, Office of Development Research.
Hicks, Lanis et al. (2009). The application of remote monitoring to improve Health outcomes to a Rural Area. Telemedicine and e-Health.
Mintzberg, H., et al (2003). The Strategy Process: Concepts, Contexts, Cases (4th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson-Prentice Hall.
Nemeth, C. P. (2008). Improving healthcare team communication: building on lessons from aviation and aerospace. London: Ashgate Publishing Ltd.
Omolewu G (2007). Global Strategic management is the key to business success. Wilberforce University, Ohio. Web.
Strategy formulation entails the diagnosis of the situational analysis of the internal condition of an organization. This is followed by the formulation of strategies following the identification of the objectives and mission of the organization (Stahl, 2003). The implementation stage is where strategies are actualized, which also involves continuous assessment of the strategies. An example of a status quo strategy in the home healthcare sector is holding the market share within the physiotherapy markets. Examples of related diversification in the home healthcare agency are hospice and Medicare-certified home health (Harris, 2004).
Three alternative strategies in healthcare are directional strategies that are based on mission, vision, values, and goals. The second is adaptive strategies, for instance, corporate-level strategies and divisional strategies. The third type is the market entry strategies that involve acquisition and mergers. Directional strategies make the situational analysis and strategy formulation focus on the broadest strategies that must be founded on the missions of the organization, values, goals, and vision. Expansion of scope deals with the best method to perform the mission and vision like diversification and penetration strategies.
Contraction of scope deals with divestiture and liquidation strategies. Maintenance of scope is the strategy that keeps the organization on an equal playing field like enhancement and status quo strategies (Swayne, Duncan & Ginter, 2008). Cooperation strategies are like mergers, alliances, and joint ventures that allow the healthcare system to maintain a market, while purchase entry strategies allow the organization to use its finances to enter a market. Market entry strategies assist the organization to find resources within and without that will help it enter a home healthcare market while market position strategies are those that help the healthcare service to establish and maintain its products and services within the home healthcare market.
External Issues Threats and Opportunities
General Environment Issues
Health Care Environment Issues
Service Area & Competitive Issues
Internal Advantages & Disadvantages
social
regulatory
technological
economic
competition
1. social issues 2.regulations 3. healthcare organizations 4. information flow
1. competition with similar products 2. economic power of patients. 3.
Long-Term Competitive Advantage
1. access to patient 2. family support 3. better home environment
Strategies 1. market development 2. product development 3.
Strategies 1. internal venture 2. 3.
Strategies 1.culture 2. objectives
The shining stars- are chosen because they represent products that have high growth, market share, and profits in-home healthcare. Most customers seek services in elderly care and nursing for the critically ill and provide a stable and profitable source of income.
Cash cow- the cash cow is the product that has low market growth but high market share and profitability. In this situation, the home health care agency has a 100% position in the market. We find that services like physiotherapy are often provided by a home care provider.
Healthy children- are those products that have a high profitability market growth and a low share. Often such products offer the organization a chance to grow and hence at a point they can move to the shining star or cash cow sectors. Services like hospice services have the potential to turn into a shining star for the home healthcare agency.
Faithful dogs- these have low market share and growth but are profitable, such products when offered give the organization a less dormant sector that is still profitable.
Black holes- these are products that have market share and growth but have low profitability. This can be seen in instances where costly instruments and technology are used, like cardiovascular services.
Problem children- these are products with high growths, low shares, low profitability which give the organization challenges. These products and services can either shinning stars and cash cows or can be mangy dogs or black holes. Volunteering can be a future cash cow or a mangy dog to the organization depending on how it organizes volunteer work.
Cash pigs- these are products that have high shares, with low growth, and profitability, these in the home healthcare are those that were cash cows, like transportation.
Mangy dogs- these have low growth, share, and profits, and drain an organization, like volunteer response, since they are not obligated, they can offer poor services to the agency.
References
Harris, M.D. (2004). Handbook of Home Health Care Administration. New York: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Swayne, L., Duncan, W., & Ginter, P. (2008). Strategic management of health care organizations (6th ed.). Hoboken: Wiley & Sons Inc.
Stahl, M.J. (2003). Encyclopedia of Health Care Management. New York: Sage publications.
Weigel and Caos (1999) article describes the issues with logistics at Sears, Roebuck, and Company. As a large retail company that operates within a chain of department stores, Sears uses software to develop transportation routes for the distribution and delivery of products. The article outlines the problem with the efficacy of a previously used geographic information system (GIS) for timely route decision-making, the solution designed to eliminate the problem, and the benefits the company obtained from the implemented new system.
The problem encountered by Sears, Roebuck, and Company was related to two essential departments of the company, including Sears logistics services and Sears product services. The companys primary operations depended on the effectiveness and efficacy of these services since they predetermined the speed, time-effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of transportation of products by delivery vehicles. In particular, in the USA, the corporation manages a fleet of over 1,000 delivery vehicles that includes contract carriers and Searsowned vehicles (Weigel & Cao, 1999, p. 113). Within the Sears product services, the company operates as repairing and installing agent managing 12,500 vehicles and responsible technicians. The planning and adjustment of vehicle routs were commonly implemented on the basis of regional subdivisions of offices in accordance with customer location. Vehicle-routing problems with time windows emerged because routes were planned one day before the delivery and were handled mostly manually. It imposed such problematic issues as time, operational, and cost losses. The newly designed software solution had to integrate the core business process and eliminate the problems without high additional costs.
The solution proposed by the creators of the new system was in the implementation of efficient software based on the system of work already existing in the company. In essence, the new system aimed to enhance Sears existing mainframe-based delivery order system (DOS) and national product services (NPS) systems to consolidate operations, improve services, and reduce costs (Weigel & Cao, 1999, p. 114). Thus, the new algorithms improved the existing systems and generated Enhanced Home Delivery System and the Computer-Aided Routing System (Weigel & Cao, 1999). These solutions utilize the geographical information systems approach to incorporate the spatial features and multiple factors influencing the complex logistics process. A central server and several peripheral servers are integrated to ensure uninterrupted information exchange and processing for choosing the most efficient routes for vehicles. In such a manner, the new software solution allowed for automating the logistical processes by implementing advanced GIS and restructuring the decision-making process. Thus, the outcomes were beneficial for the key stakeholders.
The implemented solution to the problem with logistics at Sears benefited both the company and the customers. After implementing the new system, Sears home delivery has become a core competency of the company (Weigel & Cao, 1999, p. 124). Sears logistics services and Sears product services improved their management of time windows. It allowed for significant operational improvements, namely decreased routing time, mileage, and delivery time, which caused a more efficient work of the fleet and improved customer service. In addition, prominent cost reductions were observed, including the enhanced resource utilization calculated in miles per stop and annual savings on delivery costs. In particular, geocoding accuracy increased from 55% to 95%, service orders completed by technicians increased by 3%, ultimate annual savings reached $9 million (Weigel & Cao, 1999). Therefore, the new solution was successfully implemented and provided positive results for the company and its customers.
Reference
Weigel, D., & Cao, B. (1999). Applying GIS and OR techniques to solve Sears technician-dispatching and home delivery problems. Interfaces, 29(1), 112130.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world in 2020, only freelancers worked from home. It was largely considered non-practical, especially in populated cities and towns. However, the pandemic forced people to reconsider most of their practices to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus. Many governments and organizations even went ahead to make homeworking a policy priority. Working from home requires a dedicated space and a quiet environment (International Labour Organization, 2021). This can pose real challenges to employees, especially those who do not have enough space at home (Raposo, et al., 2022). This briefing note aims at exploring the intricacies involved in working at home and how they can be effectively managed.
Potential Benefits of Homeworking
Homeworking has a flexible schedule since it does not affect a persons normal business hours. One can program himself to take up tasks at his most productive times like at dawn when the brain is still fresh for instance (Robinson, 2019). Indeed, some people are in their most productive hours at night while others at the morning (Simon, 2021). It also allows an employee to attend to other activities such as medical appointments and family events more easily (Cappelli, 2021). For parents, it can help to accommodate some of their family demands as they work. A lactating mother can spare some moments to attend to her baby and consequently save money for baby care programs.
Working at home also helps to save money both for the employer and the employee. The funds that have been set aside for internet, electricity bills and office space are saved. The employees also get to save their transportation and traveling expenses as well as work clothing and meals (Korunka, 2021). In addition, working at home make an employee feel freer, which boosts productivity and motivation (Rankins, 2021). The home environment provides an opportunity for one to escape office distractions and stress.
Drawbacks
On the other hand, despite all these benefits, working from home has its drawbacks as well. It leads to increased isolation and loneliness since an employee is cut from colleagues. As long as home working can boost productivity, it can also lead to distractions due to interruptions from children, neighbors, family, and pets (Davey, 2021). They might not understand that work hours should be respected. There is also the challenge of monitoring the performance of remote working employees especially for those employees who are engaged in background duties (Neeley, 2021). In addition, working at home inhibits teamwork making it challenging to collaborate and communicate effectively. It is not practical for employees to brainstorm ideas together through Skype and Zoom meetings.
Conclusions
To overcome the drawbacks of homeworking, a hybrid system should be adopted. This involves combining office and homework to encourage face-to-face interactions. As much as one works at home, he can strive to schedule to attend important meetings to improve communication and interaction with colleagues. It is also significant to establish clear rights and responsibilities to ensure that employees remain familiar with the telecommunication policies of the company. Each employee must ensure that he remains accessible and can be reached promptly by colleagues especially during business hours. Incidentally, this can be achieved through the use of new technology (Rossiter, 2021). Besides, it is advisable that employees keep track of their workflow to align it with what is expected of them. It is only through this workflow tracking that productivity can be effectively measured.
References
Cappelli, P. (2021). The future of the office: Work from home, remote work, and the hard choices we all face. Wharton School Press.
Davey, N. (2021). Work from home opportunities: The ultimate guide to work-at-home success, discover different job and work opportunities that can let you earn money from home. Zen Mastery SRL.
International Labour Organization. (2021). Working from home: From invisibility to decent work. International Labour Organization,.
Korunka, C. (2021). Flexible working practices and approaches: Psychological and social implications. Springer.
Neeley, T. (2021). Remote work revolution: Succeeding from anywhere. HarperCollinsPublishers.
Rankins, L. (2021). Guide to work from home: How to remote work effectively and have less stressful: Asynchronous communication. Independently Published.
Raposo, D., Neves, J., & Silva, J. (2022). Perspectives on design II: Research, education and practice. Springer.
Robinson, B. E. (2019). #Chill: Turn off your job and turn on your life. HarperCollinsPublishers.
Rossiter, T. (2021). Working from Home in easy steps. In Easy Steps.
Simon, M. (2021). Work from home: The ultimate guide on how to find legitimate work from home jobs, lean the foolproof methods on how to find work and earn money online. Editura My Ebook.
