Changes for school

My alarm awakens me as a reminder to wake up to go to the most amazing place, School. School is like an amusement park, full of Joy and excitement. A place where every person dreams to go! Now time to really wake up and get to reality. School is the total opposite and If I had the chance to make changes to It, It would BEA number of things. There are many changes that I would Like to make to my school, but one thing would focus on changing would be the lunch.To start off, the amount of time we eve for lunch isn't even enough to take a bite out of your food after buying It. With a little more time for lunch I would be a lot more satisfied being able to finish my food. Another change I would make to the lunch would be the seating. With such a big school and an excessive amount of students there should be more tables and seats where we can eat comfortable without planning or rushing for a seat. The pizza Is another change I would make, I would Like to enjoy I nice tasting pizza Instead eating a pizza that taste like cardboard.Lunch would be so much better with this change on the lunch and result on kids actually wanting to come to school. Although we can't magically make changes to the school, I would want to change the number of students at the school. With so many students attending Ferguson the help in the offices are so hard to get through. For example, when you need to go excuse your absence it looks like they are giving stuff away! Another problem with the massive amount of students is the little time we get to walk in between classes.We et five minutes to play a little game of football to tackle your way through people and get to your class that feels like its yards always! Dismissal is a mess with bumper to bumper traffic and crowds of students crossing the streets. Maybe with a few less people school before, during, and after, wouldn't be such a hassle. If someone gave me the option to change something about my school, definitely it would be the schedule. Five days a week? That's way too much after the third day of school we are all exhausted and ready to drop dead!We spend way too much time at school, eight hours is a lot! Coming up with new hours and days for school would be a good idea. The sun isn't even out by the time we wake up, that's why we should start school at twelve in the afternoon so teachers won't complain anymore that students are falling asleep in class. Changing the school schedule would certainly be something to think about. After explaining my reasonable changes that should be made to the school, now they should be considered into effective regulations In the future.With a better lunch environment, an average number of students and a more comfortable schedule I think going to school would actually be a fun place where students want to be everyday! Now that would lead to many successful people In the next generation! Changes for school By Christianizing reality. School is the total opposite and if I had the chanc e to make changes to it, it would be a number of things. There are many changes that I would like to make to my school, but one thing I have for lunch isn't even enough to take a bite out of your food after buying it.With a here we can eat comfortable without planning or rushing for a seat. The pizza is another change I would make, I would like to enjoy I nice tasting pizza instead eating Although we can't magically make changes to the school, I would want to change to bumper traffic and crowds of students crossing the streets. Maybe with a few less a good idea. The sun isn't even out by the time we wake up, that's why we should they should be considered into effective regulations in the future. With a better lunch everyday! Now that would lead to many successful people in the next generation!

Blue Ocean Martix – Genentech

WK3Assgn2ANeddermeyer General Discussion a. Create a â€Å"measurement matrix† in Excel that identifies, categorizes, and ranks as many relevant performance measurements as you think are important to your chosen company's business strategy. b. Write a one- to two-paragraph summary of why you think these are the important measurement criteria and why you've ranked them in the order you have. Categries| Rank| Quality| 1 – High Prority| People| 2- Medium Priority| Safety| 3 – Low Priority| Growth|   | Measurement| Category| Rank/Priority| Employee Satisfaction| People| 1| Workplace Safety/Injury incidence| Safety| 1|Number of current patents| Growth| 2| Medications in the pipeline| Growth| 1| Excess Medications in warehouse| Growth| 1| Employee Attrition rate| People| 1| FDA Approvals for indications| Growth| 1| FDA denials for indications| Growth| 1| Sales| Growth| 1| Customer feedback| Quality| 1| Effectiveness of treatments| Quality| 1| Sustained customer base (%loyal customers)| Quality| 1| Waste of supplies| Quality| 1| Research & Development products| Growth| 1| % of market share| Growth| 1| % of staff Qualitifcations completed| Safety| 1| Successful regulatory surveys| Quality| 1| Net income| Growth| 1| Revenue| Growth| 1|Ranking in industry| Growth| 1| Litigation volume| Growth| 2| Project timelines for product development| Growth| 1| Timeline for drug manufacturing| Growth| 1| Operating Margin| Growth| 1| Workman Compensation cases opened/closed| Safety| 1| Identification of metrics is a fundamental component of measuring the effectiveness of a business plan or a strategic plan. Metrics help organizations understand the current business climate, the competitive positioning and assists in planning. I did not realize the level of difficulty in the selection of metric until thinking about which metrics would be important to the business I selected.Genentech Inc is Biotechnology Company comprised of scientific professionals, sale staff, researchers, administrative staff and educators. Patents and exclusivity of the manufacturing of the medications, large volume drug sales, and a robust research/development program drives the company to succeed. In addition to the aforementioned metrics, I also selected workplace safety and injury rates as additional metrics because of the potential lost revenue from having to retain placement staff or costs associated with payments to injured staff.Much of my selection was based on some of the categories indicated in Hess’ description of worthwhile metrics. I struggled with the prioritization portion of this assignment as I felt most of the metrics needed to be identified as a high priority performance indicator. Reference Attaway, F. (2012). Organic growth interview. Obtained from Walden University Coursework. Schulz, W. C. (2007), Towards a More Precise SWOT Analysis: SCOT Analysis & Competitive Potential, Unpublished Teaching Note. (5p) Hess, E. D. (2007). The road to or ganic growth: How great companies consistently grow marketshare from within. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Declaration of Independence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Declaration of Independence - Essay Example Although a number of rights were provided by the Constitution during the subsequent 150 years, the Equal Rights Amendment that was intended to provide equality for women was rejected by a referendum. It is in the context of these circumstances that the role of Susan B Anthony is considered important because she devoted her entire life for the cause of women’s suffrage movements. She was a prominent American civil rights leader who played a pivotal role in the 19th century women's rights movement to introduce women's suffrage into the United States. She was one of the important advocates in leading the way for women's rights to be acknowledged and instituted in the American government. Her achievements set the pace for passing the 19th Amendment in 1920, fourteen years after she died. This development eventually allowed women to have the right to vote. Susan B Anthony was a staunch supporter of human rights, which is evident from the fact that during her trial she is known to h ave told the judges to make correct and unbiased opinions about the prevailing law and that as far as possible they should make room for providing benefits in the context of women’s equal rights and liberty while considering that the actual â€Å"rule of interpretation under our national constitution, especially since its amendments, is that anything for human rights is constitutional, everything against human right unconstitutional† (Lutz, 2010, p.121). It on the basis of this line of action that she fought peacefully for rights pertaining to the ballot. Despite fighting a peaceful battle, Susan B Anthony was persistent in getting her way through until she achieved victory in getting equal status before the law for all American citizens. The... The researcher states that human rights cannot be considered to be the same as sets of behaviors, that can be punished or required to be necessarily implemented by law or that can be unfair to people or utilized for repressing marginal groups. During the end of the eighteenth century, John Locke had contended that it was a basic element of God’s innate laws that no individual should cause harm to another in terms of possessions, freedom or health. Such rights cannot be forfeited under any circumstances and the existence of this innate law even implied whatever possible can be done in protecting these rights. It therefore meant that no individual could be put under the rule of another person unless he or she gave consent. The government was responsible to safeguard natural rights. Such conditions limited the ability of the government to do several things legitimately and gave people the right to challenge a government overstepping its authorities. The American democratic govern ment is structured on the basis of the inherent rights of all citizens to make an opinion through voting. By indirectly referring to the provision of basic human rights, Susan B Anthony asserted that the government must provide citizens with security in order to enable them to enjoy their basic rights of voting. In keeping with this line of approach, she fought a peaceful battle for the voting rights for women but she was persistent in her efforts until she was victorious whereby all US citizens would be given equal status before the law.

Freedom of Self as mentioned in Quran Term Paper

Freedom of Self as mentioned in Quran - Term Paper Example afs, and within the Quran it has been used 255 times, plus NAFSUN 61 times and in other forms ANFUSKUM 49 times, NAFSENE 40 times and NAFASUN 14 times. The term has several meanings, and often Islamic scholars have argued that it refers to the personality of a person. In addition, other scholars have attributed its meaning to ‘intellect’, ‘knowledge’ and ‘mind’. However, its reference to the ‘self’ is perhaps the intuition behind this paper. The self as perceived in the Quran is free, and freedom is an absolute part of the self, and even though it functions in the realms of nature, its actions moves from its own nature and is not derived through natural causes. Steiner and Michael (147), human beings operations can be intuitively thought of as transcending the laws of materialism. Further, the Quran bequeaths the human self to be free and sense a pointer to the reason which compels the self to act as a moral agent. Functions and responsibilities do not have a meaning for a man if they are entirely determined. If the self were not thought of as free, then it would be mindless to the demands of ‘ought’ and would respond only to the demands of ‘must’, and in a sense the responsibility arises from its sense of freedom: it is capable of leading a moral life only because it is free. This view implies that the self has a real choice of freedom, and has the ability to decide on any of the options that are available to it, and responsibility for its decision rests entirely on it. Obviously, the self does not enjoy absolute and unlimited freedom, as the freedom is controlled within the conditions under which it derives its existence. The self abides under the aforementioned restraints; however, the self flourishes only in the atmosphere of liberty. In a highly controlled society, its realms of activities may be subject to rising decline and such a society discourages every manner of self-expression and discourages liberty. Under such conditions,

The Fog of War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Fog of War - Essay Example This exercise representing the life drama, especially when it comes to public persons, demonstrates the evolution of human consciousness. Reflecting upon the autobiographical milestones Robert McNamara makes a direct connections to the significant events such as the end of World War I, Great Depression, World War II, bombings of Japan, raise of post war capitalism while working at Ford company, appointment for the Secretary of Defense and Cuban missile crisis, war in Vietnam, and subsequent awareness of the situations and actions during the conferences with principals from Cuban crisis and Vietnam War. It is interesting how he applies in the statistical method in order to analyze the sequence of events talking about proportionality of civil casualties and military efficiency (The Fog of War). The most prominent part of McNamara’s life that left a footprint in the American history, was a period of his appointment for the position of the Secretary of Defense under the Kennedy an d later Johnson administration. By the time he was asked to join the cabinet in November 1960, he had already made a career in Ford Motor Company. Advancing rapidly to the top-level management positions McNamara become the first company head selected outside the Ford family. Probably due to his uncommon ability to immerse in the subject and learn quickly he achieved such an outstanding professional success. Although not having any special knowledge about the defense, McNamara quickly begins to play an active role, introducing several innovations into the ministry and stimulating progress (â€Å"Robert S. McNamara†). Strategically both Kennedy and McNamara opposed the idea of massive retaliation making an emphasis on increasing the limited warfare capabilities through the training and equipment of the American and allies’ military personnel. McNamara argued that the principal military objectives should follow the â€Å"no-cities† concept aimed at destruction of t he enemy’s military forces and not his civilians in the case of both nuclear and conventional warfare. In the Fog of War he states: â€Å"proportionality should be a guideline to war† (The Fog Of War). Due to the huge public resonance to Vietnam War McNamara as a person that embodied the entire system became an object to blame for the failure. It is quite common to demonize a single person and truly believe that only this single person has a responsibility for sufferings the people face because of the war. The Morris’ film is called the Fog of War in order to express the usual uncertainty inherent to the war. This term precisely describes the situation mutual deterrence of the Cold War in general and numerous political incidents between two superpowers in particular. Also I think the term can be applied to express the uncertainty on the personal level considering assumptions, logic, and posterior awareness of the individual who took a direct part in those events . As many of Morris’ films, Fog of War intends to put across a message that the situation tends to go out of control. In fact it is never under rational actor’s control. The example of Cuba missile crisis from the McNamara’s story demonstrates this point. The statement can also be referred to the overall uncertainty not only in the war but in life in general (Anderson, â€Å"the Fog Days†

Operating System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Operating System - Essay Example (e.g. for a system call). This mechanism is used to prevent programming mistakes with system resources. It also shares common system resources in an appropriate manner under OS control. It prevents accessibility to protected memory segments. It also identifies instructions that can cause error conditions and inconsistent system state. Memory location of interrupt handler that signifies interrupts and also will save them in a queue if multiple interrupts are in processing, is called interrupt vector. The interrupt vector is a matrix of pointers to specific interrupt-handling routines. A hardware part that is called the device controller along with any device makes up the computer system. The device controllers basically acts as an interface between the device and the OS of that computer. Device controllers is also responsible of transferring data from other devices that controls it and the local buffers. To store and execute necessary commands in device controller, registers and buffers are integrated in the device controller. To provide interface between a device controller and OS, there is a device driver in OS that presents a steady interface into the device. First the device driver is introduced in to the OS to which the device is to be connected and then User and the system can exchange data with help of device through the device itself. In multiprocessor, two copies of the same data may reside in the local cache of each CPU. If one of the CPU changes the data, the Caches of the other cache coherency includes. Storing the data in multiple caches signifies one of the best ways of storing data. In this kind of shared memory, there is different cache memory for each of the processors. It is possible that many copies of one direction operand would exist on multiple caches that would exist on different processors. If one copy is changed, all the copies that are present on the other

Monopolies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Monopolies - Essay Example The demand curve of a monopolistic seller is the same as that of market demand, as the firm forms the entire industry. In the picture below (fig 1), the D represents the market demand for the product which is the same as the monopolistic seller’s demand curve. In a perfect competition, a particular seller takes up the price set by the market. Hence the demand is horizontal, in the case of this purely competitive seller. However, this line is determined by the market demand and supply curves. This difference in the demand curves of the two types of market structures is very significant. From fig. 1, it is clear that when the monopolistic seller raises the price of the product, the seller may lose some of its buyers. However, the firm will not lose its revenue. In the case of a purely competitive seller, the price is set by the market and hence any price above this will result in buyers switching to other sellers who offer the same product at the market price. All firms in any market maximise their profits when their marginal cost equals the marginal revenue (MR = MC). In the case of a purely competitive seller, the marginal revenue is the same as that of the firm’s demand curve. However, in the case of a monopoly, the marginal revenue curve falls twice as that of the firm’s demand curve (starting form the same point). Hence the marginal cost intersects the marginal curve at a very low value in the case of monopoly. Hence the monopolists maximise their profits by producing lower quantities at higher prices. The main phenomenon to be noted in the case of monopolistic demand curve is that, it is not typically purely inelastic. In the case of a purely inelastic demand, the demand for a product is not affected by the price changes at all. However in the case of a pure monopolistic seller, as said earlier, when the price is raised, the firm loses some of its buyers. The buyers generally buy a

The Appealing Nature of Formulating and Practical Strategies Personal Statement - 3

The Appealing Nature of Formulating and Practical Strategies - Personal Statement Example My profound interest in Business and economics dates back to my teenage years. My father was an Economists. In the course of trying to understand his field of work, I was fascinated by the complex security exchange trading systems in which he spotlighted on. Also, I was fascinated by intricate economic platforms such as online investment hedge funds that were coming up at the time. Owing to my fascination with the subject, Economics as a discipline will equip me with adequate knowledge to master market functionality and enable me to develop skills inherent in my personal endeavors in the business world. The problem-solving aspect of effective management strategies further triggers my concealed curiosity in this course. I have gained a lot from my involvement in various student supporting programs. During my final year in intermediate school, I was fortunate enough to secure an internship at a giant high-tech company in China last summer. All through my internship period, I served in both finance and administration departments. The opportunity provided me with a chance to understand how various systems work together within an organization to effectively enhance its overall performance. My attention climaxed during my field days where I got an opportunity to carry out financial modeling with some experts in the field. I was able to familiarize with policy formulation, an essential component of any institution. My school is described best as welcoming as its environment enabled me to participate actively in all school activities, and I also organized and participated in various functions. As a part of the student council, I represented my faculty in most recreational and sporting activities. I was a member of the school track team and during that period, I managed to secure several trophies.

Management Information Systems Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Management Information Systems - Term Paper Example Today, management information system is used in various levels of management, and it should be supportive to both the short term and long term goals of the organization. The researcher tates that management information systems of companies are built to serve several purposes. It enhances communication among employees as they are able to access the information they need to carry out their daily tasks. An management information system delivers complex information throughout the organization by ensuring that information flow is easy. A MIS will also ascertain that there is an objective system that will be used record and generate information whenever it is required. It also reduces the labor expenses that would have been incurred if the information was handled manually and all these in return helps in achieving the organizational goal of efficiency. A management information system will provide decision makers facts, which they will use to make a decision and this enhances job performanc e in the organization due to availability of information. At the top management level, an MIS will provide management with information necessary to make strategic decisions. However, at the lower levels, the management information system will provide a means for monitoring activities in an organization and a distribution channel for information from management to the employees. In conclusion, the researcher states that business owners need to keep up with the changing trends in MIS and this will foster customer satisfaction.... A MIS will also ascertain that there is an objective system that will be used record and generate information whenever it is required (Nowduri, 2011). It also reduces the labor expenses that would have been incurred if the information was handled manually and all these in return helps in achieving the organizational goal of efficiency. A MIS will provide decision makers facts, which they will use to make a decision and this enhances job performance in the organization due to availability of information (Kroenke, 2010). At the top management level, an MIS will provide management with information necessary to make strategic decisions.at the lower levels, the MIS will provide a means for monitoring activities in an organization and a distribution channel for information from management to the employees. Management information systems will help organizations to make proper decisions, and they will carry out a series of steps when aiding in decision making. The first step is intelligence gathering, where the system will define the problem, gather related data and identify the constraints. The second stage is the design phase where alternatives to the solution of the problem are identified. The last phase is making the choice between the alternatives and this marks the end of the decision making process from where the decision made can be communicated to everyone in the organization. Despite the importance of using management information systems, they also have potential risks associated with them. Management will use the decisions made by the MIS in coming up with decisions and decisions made from ineffective or inaccurate MIS may undermine the efficiency of an organization, and this is because it cause operational risks, which

The Information Age 1960-Present Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Information Age 1960-Present - Essay Example The start of the information age began in 1962 by the invention of the first communications satellite called Telstar by Bell Laboratories. This satellite was deployed into space using a Thor-Delta rocket and was the first satellite to successfully relay the first television pictures, fax images, and telephone calls. The ability to transmit images via satellite allows for the sharing of art throughout the world and at a very first rate. This later led to the development of the Internet in 1968 by the US Army. A vital component that led to the development of the Internet was the invention of the computer. The advent of the packet-switching network is what led to the birth of the Internet. Packet switched network called ARPANET especially led to the development of procedures for internetworking in which several detached networks could be linked together. The Internet contains all the information one would like to know about art. Furthermore, it acts as a storage of images of art which individuals can enjoy without seeing the actual art. The Introduction of Fiber Optic communications occurred in 1970 and it was invented by Robert Lauren, Donald Kreck, and Peter Schultz. This fibre is a strand of silica based glass, and its dimensions are similar to human hair, surrounded by a transparent shield. Light is able to be transmitted through the fibre over long distances at a very high rate so as to transport information. The invention of the Compact Disk was in 1987 by a scientist called James T. Russell. The CD as it is commonly known is an optical disc used for the storage of digital information. This was originally developed for the storage of music and later evolved for the storage of even films. The invention of the Microprocessor was done by Marcain Hoff in 1971. This integrated chip greatly improved the use of transistors, however, it could only perform the function it was originally programmed

Attitude, Legislation, and Litigation Essay Example for Free

Attitude, Legislation, and Litigation Essay Since the beginning of time, people with disabilities were shunned, killed, considered an embarrassment, lock away, hidden away, and sometimes even worse. This attitude slowly started changing in the past 60 years. With these changes, came groups and acts to help inform the public and support the disabled and their families. The writer is going to describe how perception has changed, how legislation and litigation have influenced the education of special needs students, a prediction of what changes may occur in special education in the future, the writer’s initial response to an individual with disability, and how the writer’s response is different now. Perception Changes Over Time With only the basic understanding of human biology, historically people with disabilities and their families were generally treated horribly. People with disabilities in the western world were considered to inferior or weak. However, some of this perception was also dependent on the type of disability. There was a time when Autism was thought to be the fault of the Mom, often referred to as refrigerator Moms. These Moms were believed to be cold and unloving to their children, causing the children to become reserved and introspective. Although the reason for Autism is not fully known at this moment, it is known that it is not due to â€Å"refrigerator Moms. As society has grown, it has gained a better understanding of human biology, and with the help of advocates, the thinking and perception towards in the disabled the western world, is changing. These changes were also occurring in the education of students with disabilities as well, starting with schools for solely the blind and deaf, moving to special education becoming a privilege and not a right, and where only separate buildings or areas of a school were dedicated to students with disabilities, now inclusion is becoming a standard for all students with disabilities (Hardman, Drew, Egan, 2011). Legislation and Litigation’s Influence Legislation and litigation took a back seat for special education, for a long while. In the early and mid 1800’s, some grants for the schooling of the blind and deaf were created. After this grant the Federal government did not get involved again until 1958. With the signing of the National Defense Education Act of 1958, the Federal government had an opening to get involved in education. In 1966, the Bureau for the Education of the Handicapped (BEH) was enacted, creating grants for the education of students with disabilities. The Federal government created an act led the way for special education becoming accepted. States then started to train teachers in special education and researched education programs. Brown v. Board of Education led the way for special education advocates to create changes for students with disabilities, such as the Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Mills v. Board of Education. Mills v. Board of Education. When students with disabilities were turned away from schools, the response led to the Rehabilitation Act 1973 and the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975, later called the Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA is the basis of the entire educational system for students with disabilities today and its biggest influence today. It ensures that all students with disabilities receive a free and appropriate education in the least restrictive environment and that it gives all students an individual education plan (Martin, Martin, Terman, 1996). The Writer’s Prediction With what the writer currently knows about special education, as both a special needs mom and as a special needs para-professional, the writer predicts and hopes, in some cases, that first and foremost more funding become available for assistive technologies, programs, and training, because right now the writer sees a shortage of assistive technologies in the classroom. The writer has personally witnessed teachers purchasing necessary items for their students, and considering how little teachers’ incomes are, this is a sacrifice that teachers should not have to make. Education in general is increasing expectations from teachers, so the writer predicts that there will be more programs and training offered to support those expectations. This also means that the evaluation for teachers and other staff is going to be more strenuous as well as. The expectations on students’ standardized assessments are going to count more towards the teachers. The writer is aware that there is a movement towards standardizing special education standards. The writer feels that this will occur, some of the positive things will be that any state a family moves to, will know what to expect and what special needs assessment will be standardized, which is truly needed at this point. The writer hopes assessments get standardized to a portfolio. While it is not easy to standardize or grade assessements, it works really well for moderately to severely disable students, who cannot take sit down assessments. The writer feels that although there is a movement to emphasize inclusion, this emphasis is going to become greater in the future, eliminating nearly all need for special needs classrooms. This also will make important, that most general education teachers have a background in special needs, to a certain extent. Initial Response The writer grew up in a family with an aunt who was deaf and had intellectual disabilities and two uncles with intellectual disabilities, so disabilities were really nothing new. However, when the writer got a job as a one-on-one para-professional with a student who had moderate disabilities and moderate behavior issues, the writer did have some concerns about the ability to have the patience, caring, strength, and creativity required to do that job. When the writer met the student and the other students that were in the classroom, the writer knew pretty quick that the writer would be able to meet the needs of the students and the classroom. The writer had similar trepidation when moving to a severely disabled classroom and when starting to work with elementary students. The writer feels that the response it always going to be the same, knowing what the writer knows. The response is always trepidation in the writer’s ability to meet the students needs, not the student themselves, and it usually goes away quickly. Conclusion  By looking at how societal thinking and perception has changed, the ways legislation and litigation have influence special needs education, the writers predictions, the writer’s initial responses and current responses, it can be seen how in many ways that attitude, litigation, and legislation have changed toward students with disabilities. With the help of advocates and education acts for students with disabilities, positive progress has come a long way. With continued help, it will go much farther. While these changes will not eliminate the past, it will make a better and more enlighten future for all children.

Stakeholder management in tourism and hospitality

Stakeholder management in tourism and hospitality 2. Structure of the tourism and hospitality industry and role of stakeholders: (Burcu Ozgur, 2008) The stakeholders’ needs and demands are understood and responded to by organizations, based on the concept of stakeholder management. According to (Svendsen, 1998), the main role of stakeholder management is to protect the organization from the damaging impacts of the activities of the stakeholder. Some techniques like consultation, issue analysis, strategic communications, and formal contracts or agreements should be utilized by the organization. (Huber, Scharioth, Pallas, 2004), explained that organizations strive to gain the trust of the main stakeholders, who have a greater influence on them and with whom they have constructive interactions. For any organization, financial success is important and they will use any tools at the expense of the environment, members of staff, and/or local communities. This careless attitude will result in losses and damages in relationships with the stakeholders. The two significant variables for the decision on stakeholders by an organization are a) their possibility of threatening an organization and, b) their possibility of cooperating with an organization. The two relationship variables are cooperative potential and competitive threat. These two relationship variables reflect the capacity of stakeholders’ for cooperation and threat in a specific matter facing the organization. (Lim, Ahn, Lee, 2005), stated that companies can adopt four possible categories for stakeholder management: a) reactive, b) defensive, c) accommodative, and d) proactive. Depending on the stakeholder’s potential for threat and cooperation, companies decide their postures and strategies for stakeholder management such as a) leading, b) collaborating, c) involving, d) defending, e) educating, and f) monitoring. (Clarkson Centre for Business Ethics, 1999), developed a list of the essential principles of stakeholder management. The first principle highlights the requirement of identifying stakeholders’ legitimate interests, which will be used in decision making processes by an organization. The second principle refers to the need for communication between the organization and its stakeholders. The engagement with the stakeholder is required to reduce conflicts. The third principle reflects the idea that there could be differences with the involvement of stakeholders in the organization. While the organization may have official relationships with few of stakeholders, other stakeholders are approached in unofficial ways either through direct contact, press release or advertising. The fourth principle underlines the significance of balancing risks and rewards among various stakeholders impartially and observes the need of distributing benefits to all parties. The fifth principle highlights the need for cooperation with public and/or private entities with the sole objective to reduce risks related to corporate practices. The sixth principle relates the aspect of respecting human rights which are threatened by the present and future activities in an organization. The last principle brings the attention of managers to identify their own difference of interests to normalize stakeholder relationships in order to increase credibility of organization. 3. Strategic Stakeholder Management: Tourism’s Perspective One of the important generators of revenue is the Tourism sector which is also a job generating sector and serves as a medium of development. Tourism sector has gained great importance as it generates economic development and prosperity even in places which would not be used as an economic source. The industry’s coordinated actions; highly fragmented and diverse structure makes it special and successful. The tourism sector could be contemplated as a system. As (Mill Alastair, 2002) mentioned, there are many reasons to view tourism as a system. Some of them are: Interdependency in tourism i.e., all organizations in this sector are interrelated parts and work together to achieve common goals. Dynamic and constantly changing characteristics i.e. it be affected by outer influences such as political uncertainty, war, international relations, terrorism, technological developments, epidemics, and changes in demographic conditions. Complex sector with different types of activities and organizations. Intense competitiveness of tourism i.e. all kinds of tourism organizations have to vie with each other globally. Need for responsiveness. Tourism is a sector where many elements which are independent and any change in one element can cause changes in other parts. Therefore, it’s important to maintain harmony of all parts. The stakeholder management practices should be utilized to create the harmony and forge strong relationships between the tourism organizations and their stakeholders. 4. Environmental trends in the global tourism industry: (Dwyer, Deborah, Nina, Carolina, Noel, 2008) Tourism is closely connected to the environment. The two main reasons for determining the viability and attractiveness of an area as a tourist destination is the natural environment and climate conditions (Dwyer Kim, 2003). The developments for tourism are based on features such as gaining easy access for visitors to natural or manmade environments. The concerns of stakeholders of tourism which include researchers has always centered on the ways tourism development may offer opportunities for managing environmentally sensitive areas and the conservation of unique environments. (United Nations Environment Programme ((UNEP), 2002), reported that the focus is on tourism where it can help in reducing environmental pollution and usage of resources. The main environmental trends include change of climate, depletion of natural resources and loss of biodiversity: Change of Climate: The increase in release of concentrations of greenhouse gases influences the change of climate and global warming. Climate change is a global occurrence and its major effects are felt at the local and regional scale. Effects of climate change and warming trends include: rise in sea-level, changes to ocean currents, melting of glacial and polar ice, losing of snow cover, high heat index and high diurnal temperatures, and changes to precipitation patterns (IPCC, 2007). Climate changes are influential in determining the destinations preferred by tourists and also on the profitability of the industry through increase in costs of energy use. Policies to lessen emission of greenhouse gas will invariably affect the operator costs and destination competitiveness particularly for longer destinations (Dwyer Forsyth, 2008). Depletion of natural resource: The increasing paucity of natural resources required to steer industrial development will give rise to a number of effects. The factors affecting the availability of natural resources like food production, water and energy, are increase in population and economic development. The result of ‘peaking’ in oil production, commonly known as ‘Peak Oil’, will increase the expenses of fossil fuel based energy sources. ‘Peak Oil’ refers to the maximum rate, i.e. ‘peak’ of production of world oil to a point beyond which it goes to permanent decline. The decline in production of oil along with increase in demand will result in increase of fuel costs. Consequently, the new ‘carbon economy’ is set to push the want for energy efficiency and investment in renewable forms of energy. In future, half of the world’s population will face shortage of water due to scarcity of water resources. The arable land and native bush land will diminish extensive agriculture and broad-scale land clearing due to demands for higher food production. Loss of bio diversity: (United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 2003), reported that the main danger to loss of species biodiversity is habitat loss. Loss of biodiversity is expected to substantially affect those destinations that highlight nature based or eco tourism. Analyzing Marketing Opportunities Challenges: The Macro-environment (Amy, Eliza, Cynthia, 2009) The major macro-environmental forces recognize and discuss the affect the ability of hospitality industry to market its offerings. All organizations in the hospitality industry function in a constantly changing macro-environment, and thus giving prospect for marketers to conduct business or pose threats to the companies. The environmental changes have to be monitored closed before marketing strategies are considered by companies. The hospitality marketers must analyze and observe the six major forces (demographic, economic, political/legal, social/cultural, technological and natural/ecological), as shown below: Figure 1: Macro-Environmental Forces Table 1: Macro-environmental Forces 5. Market research Importance of Psychographic Research (Yvette Felix, 2004) (Wells, 1975), defined Psychographic research as â€Å"quantitative research intended to place consumers on psychological dimensions.† According to (Gladwell, 1990), this type of research â€Å"analyzes consumer’s attitudes, perceptions, needs, interests, opinions, activities, and daily lifestyle.† (Shih, 1986), recognized that â€Å"Psychographics is very meaningful and relevant† and (Abbey, 1979) stated that â€Å"it’s very important means to provide additional information beyond the demographic characteristics.† Abbey suggested that psychographic variables produce major differences between the groups of consumers, and these differences were bigger than the differences produced by the demographic profiles. (Mayo, 1975), stated that psychographics are useful than demographics in explaining consumers because they differentiate better between them (Ryel Grasse, 1991). The market segmentation has found a valuable means in Psychographics. (Gladwell, 1990), observed that psychographic characteristics of tourists have to be examined thoroughly by marketer if their destinations need to be marketed successfully to tourist. Psychographic variables are helpful in recognizing various types of tourists, distinguishing their segments and differentiating between the segments (Schewe Calantone, 1978). Psychographic measures provide complete profiles of tourists and give the marketers a clear picture of the tourists they are attracting. Psychographics cannot be independent even though psychographics has a comparative advantage over demographics, (Schewe Calantone, 1978). In order to understand a consumer market better, marketers should use psychographic data along with other criteria such as demographic, geographic, or behaviorist. Psychographic data needs to be incorporated in its research studies of the tourism and hospitality industry to benefit from the k nowledge of its customers. The data was collected through a qualitative research method. Qualitative methods offer varied empirical processes intended to describe and interpret the experiences of participants in a context specific setting. Data was collected from 30 representatives via semi-structured, in-depth interviews. Local residents, governmental, non-governmental and academic stakeholders were considered in order to acquire the opinion locally, regionally and nationally regarding the implementing sustainable tourism development. The concept of sustainable tourism development became important due to fact that local residents are involved in tourism planning and decision-making. (Jackson, 2000). A sampling strategy was arrived at to ensure residents participating were ambassadors of a cross-section of the community. The sampled residents included those who resided in the tourism/non-tourism zone and were directly/indirectly involved with and/or affected by tourism activities. Many of the interviewed residents and who were involved in the industry were engaged as local guides or owners of home stay lodging and resorts, or souvenir and food catering shops. In-depth interviews saw participation of 20 local residents. Convenience sampling constituted a technique of non probability that attempts to get a sample of convenient elements which is less expensive and less time-consuming when compared with other sampling techniques (Malhotra, 2004). Governmental institutions had an essential part in sustainable tourism development initiatives. Therefore, they participated in the study and to aid in establishing a swell of other respondents. This was considered the most appropriate method, as the researcher was not well informed about the formal or informal ‘network connections’ locally (Jennings, 2001). The researcher chose a few respondents involved decision making for the destination i.e. Town Council, Sub-District Administration Organization. Other relevant stakeholders interviewed were the local tourist office, a non-governmental organization and academics. Totally 10 governmental respondents were interviewed. Interview questions related to the sustainable tourism development concept and stakeholders were developed. These questions were directed to five local residents in August 2012. The interviews led to alterations in: (1) interview time and how respondents were approached, and (2) the interview questions usi ng simpler and non-technical terminology. Then, in-depth interviews were conducted in September 2012. In order to gain further insights and data, the questions were open ended. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and organized based on the interview questions.

Strategic Role of the Sales Person for Online Consumers

Strategic Role of the Sales Person for Online Consumers Abstract. This study aims to explore the role of online sales promotions in creating a sustainable competitive advantage for Shell. Based on the literature review and the research objective 4 propositions were developed. Shells representation of the product online plays a key role in driving consumer attitude towards shopping online and the intention to buy. The consumers perception of enjoyable online experience has a positive impact on impulse purchases leading to increase in sales for Shell. The online virtual experience created by the Shell promotion will play a major role in creating a competitive advantage. The communication of trust and credibility by the online promotions of Shell reduces uncertainty and adds perceived value to the brand. Based on the exploratory nature of the research objective depth interviews were used to provide insights into the consumer motives for engaging in the online promotional activity of Shell and how they perceive the information communicated and what are its effects on their decision making process. The information captured was measured using the analytical framework in order to validate the propositions. All the 4 propositions were proved to be valid however the research faces limitations in terms of the sample size and the attributes covered. Therefore using this research as a base it the strategic role of online promotions and its potential for establishing a sustainable competetive advantage could be further explored with a larger sample to reach a conclusion. 1 .0 Introduction Shell is a global organisation with a huge portfolio of businesses across domains. The firm has used the web as a platform to support its business through online marketing and promotions. In 2009 the shell retail department has been involved in Shell fuels campaign which highlights the quote â€Å"Get the most out of every drop† and the Shell retail team is interested in conducting a post implementation review of their retail promotions in 2009, as the retail team is interested in knowing, if their current retail promotion for the Shell fuels campaign 2009 is successful in meeting its promotional objectives, as it has been investing  £40,000 to  £48,000 on its retail promotions. The objective of the promotion chosen is to drive online traffic to the forefront and to influence trial through portal web traffic. The implementation task is outsourced to external agencies and therefore the Shell retail promotions manager Carolyn Thomas is interested to know the perception of ad option by the external customers. Moreover the retail department does not want to cheapen the Shell brand through their promotion. The promotion which is tested in this research would be the e-vouchering promotion used in the U.K. Bowman (1997) states that 80% of sales promotion does not work in the U.K. For example: It has been discussed in the academic research arena that coupon promotions are inefficient. Moreover research suggests that sales promotion is unlikely to attain sustainable competitive advantage; there are exceptions to the above argument example: Tesco, BA (Yeshin, 2006).However this is the case with sales promotions relative to the traditional shopping environment. The existing academic literature in online consumer behaviour suggests that, with technological advancements on the web, the online sales promotion has the potential to achieve a competitive advantage (Ref).Therefore the role of online sales promotions in obtaining a sustainable advantage is explored in t he context of Shell. Furthermore the significance of the promotional activity is analysed through qualitative in-depth interviews which tries to capture the different dimensions of online consumer perceptions on sales promotions. This in turn is validated with reference to the literature review conducted in the context of this research objective. 2.0 Problem Definition: Sales promotion in this context is defined as a planned and implemented marketing activity that enhances product or service appeal and changes consumer behaviour in return for an additional benefit for a purchase or participation (Yeshin, 2006).However existing research suggests that sales promotions can either enhance or destroy brand value, it depends on how the consumer perceives the promotion. Furthermore it is also concluded that the techniques such as coupon promotions offer little in terms of brand sustenance and leads to no lasting positive change in the value of post promotion sales and could also result in damaging the existing perception of consumers on the brand(Ref).However in the case of Shell this would depend on the strategic contribution of the promotional activity implemented by Shell. Therefore it is important to research the strategic role of sales promotion and its impact on the brand image of Shell, as the brand destruction by a sales promotion of one product would have an impact on the overall brand which caters to a wider portfolio of products and services (Ref). 3.0 Research Objective and Process: The Objective of this research is to explore the strategic role of sales promotion in engaging online consumers and its likelihood of obtaining a sustainable advantage within Shell. The methodology chosen for this research is qualitative and would involve depth interviews because this research is exploratory and requires the understanding of consumer perceptions and their feelings towards the online promotions. The sample used for this research involves Shell mangers responsible for the implementation of the promotion as well as the potential online consumers for Shell. This would benefit the Shell retail department in using the interactive elements of the web relative to online consumers perception on its promotion and reduce the risk of value destruction and potentially establish a sustainable advantage. This study would potentially give an understanding on the perceptions of their online consumers in the U.K which is one of their major markets. However this research does face limitations due to time constraints and access to resources ,this research would be considered as a pilot and could be explored in future with more detail for Shells other major markets such as Europe, US , Africa and Middle-East with the leverage of time and resources. Moreover the validity of this research could be enhanced with more samples in the U.K. 4.0 Literature Review This section would literally look again at the existing academic literature on what has already been written about sales promotions and online consumer behaviour within the context of this research (Lee and Lings, 2008).The existing academic literature on sales promotions has concluded that, its less likely to achieve a sustainable advantage because it is often used by marketers as a short term measure to achieve sales targets (Ref). However there is a considerable amount of research happening in the area of online promotions which suggests that there is a potential for online promotions to establish a competitive advantage by taking advantage of the technological advancements on the web, such as the 3 dimensional and interactive features of the web, which could be used by marketers in creating perceived value to the brand and therefore contributing to the long term brand value (Ref). However there is limited research in the role of online sales promotions in establishing an online s ustainable advantage because of the rapid technological developments. Therefore this research would contribute to the existing literature and also would attempt to answer Shells question on if their promotion is creating or destroying its brand value. The research propositions are developed based on the literature review and also would form the basis of an appropriate research methodology. 4.1 Conceptualization of Promotions: Promotions have perhaps witnessed both dramatic growth and change over the years than any other area of marketing communications (Yeshin, 2006).Therefore it is important to review the different definitions relative to the changing nature of promotions (Table 1). Academics Definition The institute of sales promotions(2004) Describes, â€Å"A planned and implemented marketing activity that both enhances product or service appeal and changes customer behaviour positively in return for additional benefit for purchase or participation † Shimp (2000) Suggests that â€Å"a promotion is any incentive used by a manufacturer to induce the trade and/or consumer to buy a brand and encourage the sales force to aggressively sell it† Kotler et al(1999) Defines sales promotion as â€Å"Short-term incentives to encourage purchase or sale of a product or service† Schultz, Robinson and Petrison(1992) Provide a more strategic definition of sales promotion, they suggest that â€Å"Sales promotions are marketing and communication activities that change the price/value relationship of a product or service perceived by the target, thereby (1)generating immediate sales and (2)altering the long term brand value† The Direct marketing association(1994) Similarly argues that â€Å"Sales promotion activities that communicate distinctive brand attributes and contribute to the brand development and reinforcement of brand value are consumer franchise building promotions† Alan Toop(1994) Writing in marketing suggests:† Sales promotion conducts an interactive relationship with its audience. It invites participation, invites consumers to enter ,to apply, to collect† Table 1: Sales promotion definitions Therefore the above contradictions in the definitions, leads to a confusion in the role and purpose of sales promotions, and therefore its been argued seriously in the academic arena, and concluded that the techniques offer-little in the way of brand sustenance, and leads to no lasting positive change in the value of post promotion sales, and as a consequence could result in damage to the existing brand perceptions (Ehrenberg et al, 1991; Ehrenberg, 1994; Jones, 1990; Yeshin, 2006). However this would depend on the strategic contribution of the promotional activity implemented by Shell (Ref).Moreover its been pointed by Gupta et al (1997) that empirical research in the area of sales promotions has been focusing on the short term effects of sales promotions and therefore its been used by most marketers as a tactical tool. In support Peattie and Peattie (1997) argue that the bundling of all the different types of promotions for the purpose of research and study gives a very limited view of the potential achievements of sales promotions and also has encouraged a negative perception on the impacts that promotions can potentially have on the brand. Furthermore in the following paper Peattie et al (1997) argues that most of these preconceptions are caused because of the tendency to view sales promotions as only price based and exclude the promotional activities that add value to the brand. This point is reiterated that the tendency of most researchers in this area has been to generalize sales promotions under money off and coupon promotions (Peattie, 2002). Moreover it has been argued that much of the research on sales promotions has been conducted considering the short term effects of sales promotions and has rarely conducted any research on the more long term contribution of sales promotions such as the communication oriented impact of sales promotion on consumers (Peattie,2002).This implies that in order to make sense and obtain reliable results it is necessary to disaggregate the different sales promotional techniques into their individual components(Yeashin,2006). Therefore in this research the long term contribution of Shells E-vouchering promotion is evaluated. Moreover it is argued that generalising all the promotions to achieve the same goals irrespective of their individual execution would imply incorrect results (Yeashin, 2006).Furthermore it is also pointed out by various authors that in order to focus on the long term impacts of sales promotions a more strategic focus is required and is illustrated by the following quotes ‘Sales promotions have come a long way from the time when it was ‘simply a short term inducement to increase sales (Robinson and Hauri, 1995). ‘Promotions are no longer simply short-term initiatives to lift sales, they are increasingly being used to reinforce brand values (Gay, 1997) The above definitions suggest the need for a long -term focus and the strategic application of sales promotions considering broader dimensions of the potential impacts of sales promotions (Yeshin, 2006).Therefore it is important to explore the broader strategic dimensions of Shells sales promotions in order to reach a credible conclusion on its contribution to the Shell brand. 4.2Strategic dimension of sales Promotions: Research suggests that more often sales promotion is considered as a short term-tactical tool (Yeshin, 2006).Although sales promotion is widely used to fulfil a variety of short-term objectives it often fails to recognize the strategic contribution on the long term, and it could often result in destroying the image or value of the brand (Yeshin, 2006). In order to evaluate its long term benefits it is critical to analyse the contributions of Shells online sales promotion in reinforcing its brand image, enhancing customer loyalty and developing strong relationships with its consumers because this can strengthen its brand position(Ref). Therefore it is important to explore the role of strategy within Shells online sales promotion and its contribution to the long-term effectiveness of the brand. 4.2.1Role of strategy: The strategy should provide a framework to measure and research on the type of sales promotion implemented (Head, 1998; Yeshin, 2006). Although it is suggested that sales promotions should be considered in line with the overall brand building process (Yeshin, 2006). An alternative definition by Schultz et al (1992) provides a more strategic focus on the on the consideration of the sales promotion activity. â€Å"Sales promotions are marketing and communications activities that change the price/value relationship of a product/service perceived by the target, therefore by generating immediate sales and altering long term brand value† The above definition is considered important because it recognizes the need for generating short term sales volume and also promotes the need to consider the long term issues related to the brand (Schultz et al, 1992; Yeshin, 2006).Therefore based on this definition the strategic significance of Shells promotions in engaging online consumers should be evaluated because this definition gives a base for evaluating the promotions of Shell by recognising the short term objective of generating sales volume whilst appreciating the long term issues relative to its brand (Schultz et al,1992).For this reason it is required to explore the impact of sales promotions and its implications to the Shell brand. In order to understand its significance to the Shell brand it is important to identify the strategic use of sales promotions (Yeshin,2006).This would benefit Shell in communicating consistent overall brand image whilst helping each individual promotion achieve its objectives by creating incre ased awareness(Yeshin,2006). It has been pointed that the reduction in product differentiation is one of the reasons for the increased usage of sales promotions(Yeshin,2006).Furthermore various studies suggest that similarities between brands can cause reduction in brand loyalty and is a consequence of increased usage of price oriented promotions(Ehrenberg,1993;Mela et al,1997). However there are various promotions that have demonstrated the potential to enhance the brand and generate loyalty in the long-term. For example: The frequent flyer schemes by airlines, Levis Flat Eric and Pepperami Fanimal(Yeshin,2006).Therefore as Lisa Campbell(1996)work in Promotions and incentives journal suggests ‘Its not the tool we should be blaming but the users. This implies that the sales promotion tool used by Shell is not to be blamed but the way in which it is applied. Therefore it is required to review the literature on the strategic application of sales promotions and its potential benefits. 4.2.2The Strategic Application of Sales promotions: Davies (1992) and OMalley (1993) provide a contrasting view which suggests that sales promotions that are consistent with the overall marketing communications plan can enhance long term brand value and therefore could be considered strategically valuable.Similarily its been argued that sales promotions offering a rebate or discount are likely to cheapen the brand(Aaker,1991).However there are ways to apply promotions strategically and enhance the brand equity rather than destroying it(Aaker,1991). Furthermore the brand equity can be reinforced by strengthening its brand awareness and associations (Yeshin,2006).However based on the research conducted by Peattie et al (1997) it is concluded that sales promotions have the potential to: 1.Improve brand awareness. 2.Stimulate product trial. 3.Act as a communications channel between a company and its customers. Based on the research by Peattie et al (1997) the strategic application of Shells sales promotion is identified to stimulate product trial and act as communication channel between Shell and it consumers. However its contribution to the brand depends on how the consumer perceives the promotion. Furthermore the potential reasons behind using sales promotions needs to be identified in order to understand the reason underpinning Shells Online promotions (Yeshin, 2006). Lee (2002) suggests four reasons for using sales promotions: 1. Reaction to competitors promotions 2. Inertia: This is what the firm always did 3. Meeting short term-sales objectives 4. Meeting long-term objectives However research suggests that most sales promotions fall in the first 3 categories mainly for price based promotions (Lee, 2002).Moreover in most cases it is not used strategically but used as a panic measure. Furthermore it is suggested that sales promotions should be used at a higher level where it is integrated with main strategy (Lee, 2002).Therefore the usage of Shells online promotions and its relationship with the overall strategy needs to be explored. In order to understand this relationship within the context of this research it is important to identify the type of sales promotion strategy used by Shell. 4.2.3Type of strategies: As sales promotion can reflect both push and pull strategies it is important to distinguish between the types of strategies that could be potentially used by Shell (Yeshin, 2006).The push strategy motivates distribution channels and encourages them to promote the product or service to the consumer, whereas the pull strategy is targeted directly towards end users to purchase products or services from the distribution channel (Yeshin, 2006). Based on the above definitions and Shells promotional objective its promotional strategy is identified as a Pull strategy. These definitions of strategy are derived based on its intention to achieve results or goals for the firm(Craig,1983).Therefore in this case Shells choice of Pull strategy is based on its intention to drive online traffic to the forefront and increase the number of trials through its web portal. However there are multiple objectives for a firm at the corporate level and this leads to the design of different strategies to achieve different objectives at the expense of others (Craig, 1983; Shendel and Patton, 1978).Therefore this research tries to focus on the chosen sales promotion and its objective and does not consider the impacts of other objectives and strategies of the firm. Furthermore many research scholars have suggested that sales promotion is unlikely to attain sustainable competitive advantage (Yeshin, 2006).However there are exceptions to the above argument example: Tesco club card, BA Air miles (Yeshin, 2006). Therefore the sustainability of Shells online promotions is not ruled out and therefore needs to be explored. Moreover it is important to adopt a strategic approach rather than a tactical approach, which has been the focus in most cases (Yeshin, 2006). In order to evaluate the effectiveness and sustainability of Shells retail promotions, it is necessary to consider the potential impacts of sales promotion on the consumer. Raghubir et al (2004) argues that promotions may have three forms of impact on the consumer 1. Economic: The monetary benefits derived from the type of the promotional offer and its potential decrease in transaction time that lead to a simplified purchase decision. 2. Informational: It is about communicating the information about a brand which is unknown to the consumer. 3. Emotional: The feelings or emotions that are aroused as consequence of the exposure to the promotion. Therefore the impact of Shells online promotions in the above three forms would be explored in order to evaluate its contribution t 5.0 Measuring the effectiveness of promotions Although sales promotion is argued to be a marketing technique which is beneficial in the short-term. It is important to measure its long term-effectiveness in order to analyse the strategic significance of the activity. As cook (1995) argues it is important to consider the objective of the promotion before evaluation of the promotion in order to choose the best approach. Therefore in this case the post implementation review is done and its long-term effectiveness is considered. Based on the literature review and Yeshin (2006) suggestion the following factors could be used to measure the long term effectiveness of sales promotions: 1. Does the promotional concept fit well with the brand and expected consumer perceptions? 2. Is the promotion perceived to be credible by the consumers? 3. Are there any constraints for the consumer to overcome in responding to the promotion? 4. Is the recommended promotion most likely to achieve the desired objectives? 5. Is the promotion perceived as a value addition in satisfying consumer needs? In order to explore the long-term effectiveness and its contribution to obtain an online competitive advantage for Shell the existing literature on competitive advantage is explored relative to Shells online promotions. 6.0 Competitive Advantage: The information revolution has given firms new ways to outperform their rivals and therefore allows the firm to create a competitive advantage(Ref).This conceptualisation of competitive advantage is important because it is relative to the research objective which explores how the information presented by the sales promotion could contribute to the overall brand. The research by Porter and Miller suggest that it is hard to underestimate the strategic significance of the latest developments in information technology. It demonstrates that Information technology has been transforming the nature of products, processes, companies, industries and even competition itself (Porter and Miller,1985).Although it has been treated as a support service it is suggested that organisations should understand that on a broader perspective, as Information technology could create sustainable competitive advantage (Porter and miller,1985).Therefore with ongoing developments on the web, the strategic significance of Shells online promotions needs to be explored in order to identify its potential in obtaining an online competitive advantage. Information technology should be perceived as medium that can process the information created by businesses and use them through the various technologies that are linked in order to create a competitive advantage (Ref).Therefore it is relevant to discuss the reasons that underpin the strategic significance of Information technology and its impacts on business in order to understand how it could be used to create an online competitive advantage for Shell (Ref). Research suggests that information technology changes the way in which products and services are created and the information provided in order to create value to the consumers (Ref).In the case of Shell the value created is determined by the amount the consumers are willing to pay for their product or service (Ref).Therefore the Shell retail promotions could be considered profitable if the value it creates through the implementation of its promotion exceeds the cost of performing the promotional activity(Ref).This implies that Shell should either perform the promotional activity at a lesser cost or should create perceived value that leads to a premium price(Ref). 6.1Sustainable Competitive Advantage: The online environment is changing the existing roles of competition and strategy because there is a pressure on the average profitability of the industry which is created by the internet (Porter, 1991).Therefore with competition from firms such as B.P, ESSO and Total it is important for Shell to set itself apart from the others (Ref). This could be possible only by achieving a sustainable competitive advantage (Ref).However this could be achieved either by operational effectiveness or strategic positioning(Ref).In the case of operational effectiveness it is required for Shell to do things better than competitors where as in the case of strategic positioning Shell has to do things differently from competitors there by offering something unique to customers(Ref).However the improvement of operational efficiency using the internet does not provide a competitive advantage because the best practise established by Shell can be imitated by its competitors(Ref).Moreover it is argued that co mpetitive advantage tends to be short-lived in the online environment because competitor can easily monitor and offer a similar offer or service(Chaffey et.al., 2000:134).Therefore it becomes difficult to sustain the operational advantage. Hence strategic positioning is considered more important in this case where strategic positioning should involve a series of tailored activities to develop a product or service appeal that would offer a unique value perception (Ref). Moreover the online environment can be used to draw long lasting customer relationships (Ref).The interactive nature of the online environment can be used to build relationships (Ref). This is supported by Gronroos(1994). Buttle (1996:1) statement â€Å"Enduring relationships with customers cannot be duplicated by competitors, and therefore provide a unique and sustainable competitive advantage†. Therefore in order to explore the contribution of interactive online environment in building relationships with the consumer it is required to conceptualise the online consumer behaviour and the factors influencing them. 7.0Online consumer Behaviour: The strategic role of sales promotions in engaging online consumers is explored. Therefore based on the research objective it is important to have a significant understanding on online consumer behaviour and factors influencing them. Research suggests that more than 20% of consumers across several countries are buying products online using the internet and more than 50% of internet users in the U.S buy products and services online (Kim et al, 2009). In the U.K around 40% of internet users buy products and services online (Kim et al, 2009). Although it could be argued that there is no difference between online and traditional consumers (Constantinides, 2004). The new addition is building trust or confidence and is suggested to have a significant influence on online buying process (Ref).Therefore the factors influencing online consumer behaviour needs to be discussed based on the existing literature in order to understand their implications to the online promotions of Shell. 7.1Factors Influencing consumer Behaviour: Based on the previous academic research it is inferred that there are controllable and uncontrollable factors which influence consumer behaviour (Constantinides, 2004). The interaction of controllable and uncontrollable factors determines online decision making process just as in traditional markets (Constantinides, 2004).However in this research the factors that are under the control of the E-marketer would be explored. The existing research on online consumer behaviour indicates a set of controllable factors influencing consumer behaviour (Ref) * The functional attributes of the website such as interactivity and usability. * The psychological elements intended in lowering the level of consumers uncertainty by the communication of Trust and credibility of the website. There has been considerable amount of research on the components of web experience. However there has been minimal attention in their integration. Therefore this research attempts to explore the contribution of these elements in obtaining a competitive advantage. Based on the research objective the online consumer behaviour is conceptualised. 7.2Conceptualisation of Online Consumer behaviour: The online consumer behaviour is the key theme around which this research is based. Therefore it is imperative to introduce the online consumer considered in this research. Based on previous academic research the online consumer is considered to be a computer user and a shopper (Koufaris, 2002).The online consumers could be classified as potential customers and repeat customers as they posses different amount of information and use different criteria to make a purchase decision (Kim et al, 2009).Although it is suggested that different promotional strategies should be used to create initial sales and to generate repeat sales (Ref). This leads to less clarity on the differences in decision making by the two groups of consumers. However the research by Kim et al (2009) shows that the value perception of the transactions made online are strongly influenced by the non-monetary factors like perceived risk factor than by monetary factors like perceived price for potential consumers, in cont rast the repeat customers are strongly influenced by monetary factors than non-monetary factors(Ref). Therefore it is suggested that the promotion needs to be customised for the two different groups. But the extent of customisation and its influence on the consumers need to be tested and validated in the case of Shell (Zhang, 2009). This leads to a proposition where it is important to understand and measure online consumer behaviour. A multidisciplinary approach needs to be taken as it is important to consider Information systems, marketing and physiological perspectives to do a comprehensive analysis on online consumer behaviour (Straub and Watson 2001). There have been various attempts from academics in building models around online consumer behaviour. The key attributes identified from the research are on converting web surfers into web consumers and, reasons for not shopping online. It is interesting to see transaction cost theory being applied to understand the impact of I.T on market structure and consumer behaviour (Malone et al. 1987).Based on the frame work it is inferred that if buyer search costs are substantial it could influence consumer behaviour (Bakos 1997).However it is important to see how effective it is in the context of online consumers. It is argued that online consumers cannot depend on al l 5 senses to make purchase decisions as they are limited to product or services represented through photographs and text descriptions (Koufaris, 2002).However research shows that the representation of the product online and the web experience play a key role in driving consumer attitude towards shopping online and Strategic Role of the Sales Person for Online Consumers Strategic Role of the Sales Person for Online Consumers Abstract. This study aims to explore the role of online sales promotions in creating a sustainable competitive advantage for Shell. Based on the literature review and the research objective 4 propositions were developed. Shells representation of the product online plays a key role in driving consumer attitude towards shopping online and the intention to buy. The consumers perception of enjoyable online experience has a positive impact on impulse purchases leading to increase in sales for Shell. The online virtual experience created by the Shell promotion will play a major role in creating a competitive advantage. The communication of trust and credibility by the online promotions of Shell reduces uncertainty and adds perceived value to the brand. Based on the exploratory nature of the research objective depth interviews were used to provide insights into the consumer motives for engaging in the online promotional activity of Shell and how they perceive the information communicated and what are its effects on their decision making process. The information captured was measured using the analytical framework in order to validate the propositions. All the 4 propositions were proved to be valid however the research faces limitations in terms of the sample size and the attributes covered. Therefore using this research as a base it the strategic role of online promotions and its potential for establishing a sustainable competetive advantage could be further explored with a larger sample to reach a conclusion. 1 .0 Introduction Shell is a global organisation with a huge portfolio of businesses across domains. The firm has used the web as a platform to support its business through online marketing and promotions. In 2009 the shell retail department has been involved in Shell fuels campaign which highlights the quote â€Å"Get the most out of every drop† and the Shell retail team is interested in conducting a post implementation review of their retail promotions in 2009, as the retail team is interested in knowing, if their current retail promotion for the Shell fuels campaign 2009 is successful in meeting its promotional objectives, as it has been investing  £40,000 to  £48,000 on its retail promotions. The objective of the promotion chosen is to drive online traffic to the forefront and to influence trial through portal web traffic. The implementation task is outsourced to external agencies and therefore the Shell retail promotions manager Carolyn Thomas is interested to know the perception of ad option by the external customers. Moreover the retail department does not want to cheapen the Shell brand through their promotion. The promotion which is tested in this research would be the e-vouchering promotion used in the U.K. Bowman (1997) states that 80% of sales promotion does not work in the U.K. For example: It has been discussed in the academic research arena that coupon promotions are inefficient. Moreover research suggests that sales promotion is unlikely to attain sustainable competitive advantage; there are exceptions to the above argument example: Tesco, BA (Yeshin, 2006).However this is the case with sales promotions relative to the traditional shopping environment. The existing academic literature in online consumer behaviour suggests that, with technological advancements on the web, the online sales promotion has the potential to achieve a competitive advantage (Ref).Therefore the role of online sales promotions in obtaining a sustainable advantage is explored in t he context of Shell. Furthermore the significance of the promotional activity is analysed through qualitative in-depth interviews which tries to capture the different dimensions of online consumer perceptions on sales promotions. This in turn is validated with reference to the literature review conducted in the context of this research objective. 2.0 Problem Definition: Sales promotion in this context is defined as a planned and implemented marketing activity that enhances product or service appeal and changes consumer behaviour in return for an additional benefit for a purchase or participation (Yeshin, 2006).However existing research suggests that sales promotions can either enhance or destroy brand value, it depends on how the consumer perceives the promotion. Furthermore it is also concluded that the techniques such as coupon promotions offer little in terms of brand sustenance and leads to no lasting positive change in the value of post promotion sales and could also result in damaging the existing perception of consumers on the brand(Ref).However in the case of Shell this would depend on the strategic contribution of the promotional activity implemented by Shell. Therefore it is important to research the strategic role of sales promotion and its impact on the brand image of Shell, as the brand destruction by a sales promotion of one product would have an impact on the overall brand which caters to a wider portfolio of products and services (Ref). 3.0 Research Objective and Process: The Objective of this research is to explore the strategic role of sales promotion in engaging online consumers and its likelihood of obtaining a sustainable advantage within Shell. The methodology chosen for this research is qualitative and would involve depth interviews because this research is exploratory and requires the understanding of consumer perceptions and their feelings towards the online promotions. The sample used for this research involves Shell mangers responsible for the implementation of the promotion as well as the potential online consumers for Shell. This would benefit the Shell retail department in using the interactive elements of the web relative to online consumers perception on its promotion and reduce the risk of value destruction and potentially establish a sustainable advantage. This study would potentially give an understanding on the perceptions of their online consumers in the U.K which is one of their major markets. However this research does face limitations due to time constraints and access to resources ,this research would be considered as a pilot and could be explored in future with more detail for Shells other major markets such as Europe, US , Africa and Middle-East with the leverage of time and resources. Moreover the validity of this research could be enhanced with more samples in the U.K. 4.0 Literature Review This section would literally look again at the existing academic literature on what has already been written about sales promotions and online consumer behaviour within the context of this research (Lee and Lings, 2008).The existing academic literature on sales promotions has concluded that, its less likely to achieve a sustainable advantage because it is often used by marketers as a short term measure to achieve sales targets (Ref). However there is a considerable amount of research happening in the area of online promotions which suggests that there is a potential for online promotions to establish a competitive advantage by taking advantage of the technological advancements on the web, such as the 3 dimensional and interactive features of the web, which could be used by marketers in creating perceived value to the brand and therefore contributing to the long term brand value (Ref). However there is limited research in the role of online sales promotions in establishing an online s ustainable advantage because of the rapid technological developments. Therefore this research would contribute to the existing literature and also would attempt to answer Shells question on if their promotion is creating or destroying its brand value. The research propositions are developed based on the literature review and also would form the basis of an appropriate research methodology. 4.1 Conceptualization of Promotions: Promotions have perhaps witnessed both dramatic growth and change over the years than any other area of marketing communications (Yeshin, 2006).Therefore it is important to review the different definitions relative to the changing nature of promotions (Table 1). Academics Definition The institute of sales promotions(2004) Describes, â€Å"A planned and implemented marketing activity that both enhances product or service appeal and changes customer behaviour positively in return for additional benefit for purchase or participation † Shimp (2000) Suggests that â€Å"a promotion is any incentive used by a manufacturer to induce the trade and/or consumer to buy a brand and encourage the sales force to aggressively sell it† Kotler et al(1999) Defines sales promotion as â€Å"Short-term incentives to encourage purchase or sale of a product or service† Schultz, Robinson and Petrison(1992) Provide a more strategic definition of sales promotion, they suggest that â€Å"Sales promotions are marketing and communication activities that change the price/value relationship of a product or service perceived by the target, thereby (1)generating immediate sales and (2)altering the long term brand value† The Direct marketing association(1994) Similarly argues that â€Å"Sales promotion activities that communicate distinctive brand attributes and contribute to the brand development and reinforcement of brand value are consumer franchise building promotions† Alan Toop(1994) Writing in marketing suggests:† Sales promotion conducts an interactive relationship with its audience. It invites participation, invites consumers to enter ,to apply, to collect† Table 1: Sales promotion definitions Therefore the above contradictions in the definitions, leads to a confusion in the role and purpose of sales promotions, and therefore its been argued seriously in the academic arena, and concluded that the techniques offer-little in the way of brand sustenance, and leads to no lasting positive change in the value of post promotion sales, and as a consequence could result in damage to the existing brand perceptions (Ehrenberg et al, 1991; Ehrenberg, 1994; Jones, 1990; Yeshin, 2006). However this would depend on the strategic contribution of the promotional activity implemented by Shell (Ref).Moreover its been pointed by Gupta et al (1997) that empirical research in the area of sales promotions has been focusing on the short term effects of sales promotions and therefore its been used by most marketers as a tactical tool. In support Peattie and Peattie (1997) argue that the bundling of all the different types of promotions for the purpose of research and study gives a very limited view of the potential achievements of sales promotions and also has encouraged a negative perception on the impacts that promotions can potentially have on the brand. Furthermore in the following paper Peattie et al (1997) argues that most of these preconceptions are caused because of the tendency to view sales promotions as only price based and exclude the promotional activities that add value to the brand. This point is reiterated that the tendency of most researchers in this area has been to generalize sales promotions under money off and coupon promotions (Peattie, 2002). Moreover it has been argued that much of the research on sales promotions has been conducted considering the short term effects of sales promotions and has rarely conducted any research on the more long term contribution of sales promotions such as the communication oriented impact of sales promotion on consumers (Peattie,2002).This implies that in order to make sense and obtain reliable results it is necessary to disaggregate the different sales promotional techniques into their individual components(Yeashin,2006). Therefore in this research the long term contribution of Shells E-vouchering promotion is evaluated. Moreover it is argued that generalising all the promotions to achieve the same goals irrespective of their individual execution would imply incorrect results (Yeashin, 2006).Furthermore it is also pointed out by various authors that in order to focus on the long term impacts of sales promotions a more strategic focus is required and is illustrated by the following quotes ‘Sales promotions have come a long way from the time when it was ‘simply a short term inducement to increase sales (Robinson and Hauri, 1995). ‘Promotions are no longer simply short-term initiatives to lift sales, they are increasingly being used to reinforce brand values (Gay, 1997) The above definitions suggest the need for a long -term focus and the strategic application of sales promotions considering broader dimensions of the potential impacts of sales promotions (Yeshin, 2006).Therefore it is important to explore the broader strategic dimensions of Shells sales promotions in order to reach a credible conclusion on its contribution to the Shell brand. 4.2Strategic dimension of sales Promotions: Research suggests that more often sales promotion is considered as a short term-tactical tool (Yeshin, 2006).Although sales promotion is widely used to fulfil a variety of short-term objectives it often fails to recognize the strategic contribution on the long term, and it could often result in destroying the image or value of the brand (Yeshin, 2006). In order to evaluate its long term benefits it is critical to analyse the contributions of Shells online sales promotion in reinforcing its brand image, enhancing customer loyalty and developing strong relationships with its consumers because this can strengthen its brand position(Ref). Therefore it is important to explore the role of strategy within Shells online sales promotion and its contribution to the long-term effectiveness of the brand. 4.2.1Role of strategy: The strategy should provide a framework to measure and research on the type of sales promotion implemented (Head, 1998; Yeshin, 2006). Although it is suggested that sales promotions should be considered in line with the overall brand building process (Yeshin, 2006). An alternative definition by Schultz et al (1992) provides a more strategic focus on the on the consideration of the sales promotion activity. â€Å"Sales promotions are marketing and communications activities that change the price/value relationship of a product/service perceived by the target, therefore by generating immediate sales and altering long term brand value† The above definition is considered important because it recognizes the need for generating short term sales volume and also promotes the need to consider the long term issues related to the brand (Schultz et al, 1992; Yeshin, 2006).Therefore based on this definition the strategic significance of Shells promotions in engaging online consumers should be evaluated because this definition gives a base for evaluating the promotions of Shell by recognising the short term objective of generating sales volume whilst appreciating the long term issues relative to its brand (Schultz et al,1992).For this reason it is required to explore the impact of sales promotions and its implications to the Shell brand. In order to understand its significance to the Shell brand it is important to identify the strategic use of sales promotions (Yeshin,2006).This would benefit Shell in communicating consistent overall brand image whilst helping each individual promotion achieve its objectives by creating incre ased awareness(Yeshin,2006). It has been pointed that the reduction in product differentiation is one of the reasons for the increased usage of sales promotions(Yeshin,2006).Furthermore various studies suggest that similarities between brands can cause reduction in brand loyalty and is a consequence of increased usage of price oriented promotions(Ehrenberg,1993;Mela et al,1997). However there are various promotions that have demonstrated the potential to enhance the brand and generate loyalty in the long-term. For example: The frequent flyer schemes by airlines, Levis Flat Eric and Pepperami Fanimal(Yeshin,2006).Therefore as Lisa Campbell(1996)work in Promotions and incentives journal suggests ‘Its not the tool we should be blaming but the users. This implies that the sales promotion tool used by Shell is not to be blamed but the way in which it is applied. Therefore it is required to review the literature on the strategic application of sales promotions and its potential benefits. 4.2.2The Strategic Application of Sales promotions: Davies (1992) and OMalley (1993) provide a contrasting view which suggests that sales promotions that are consistent with the overall marketing communications plan can enhance long term brand value and therefore could be considered strategically valuable.Similarily its been argued that sales promotions offering a rebate or discount are likely to cheapen the brand(Aaker,1991).However there are ways to apply promotions strategically and enhance the brand equity rather than destroying it(Aaker,1991). Furthermore the brand equity can be reinforced by strengthening its brand awareness and associations (Yeshin,2006).However based on the research conducted by Peattie et al (1997) it is concluded that sales promotions have the potential to: 1.Improve brand awareness. 2.Stimulate product trial. 3.Act as a communications channel between a company and its customers. Based on the research by Peattie et al (1997) the strategic application of Shells sales promotion is identified to stimulate product trial and act as communication channel between Shell and it consumers. However its contribution to the brand depends on how the consumer perceives the promotion. Furthermore the potential reasons behind using sales promotions needs to be identified in order to understand the reason underpinning Shells Online promotions (Yeshin, 2006). Lee (2002) suggests four reasons for using sales promotions: 1. Reaction to competitors promotions 2. Inertia: This is what the firm always did 3. Meeting short term-sales objectives 4. Meeting long-term objectives However research suggests that most sales promotions fall in the first 3 categories mainly for price based promotions (Lee, 2002).Moreover in most cases it is not used strategically but used as a panic measure. Furthermore it is suggested that sales promotions should be used at a higher level where it is integrated with main strategy (Lee, 2002).Therefore the usage of Shells online promotions and its relationship with the overall strategy needs to be explored. In order to understand this relationship within the context of this research it is important to identify the type of sales promotion strategy used by Shell. 4.2.3Type of strategies: As sales promotion can reflect both push and pull strategies it is important to distinguish between the types of strategies that could be potentially used by Shell (Yeshin, 2006).The push strategy motivates distribution channels and encourages them to promote the product or service to the consumer, whereas the pull strategy is targeted directly towards end users to purchase products or services from the distribution channel (Yeshin, 2006). Based on the above definitions and Shells promotional objective its promotional strategy is identified as a Pull strategy. These definitions of strategy are derived based on its intention to achieve results or goals for the firm(Craig,1983).Therefore in this case Shells choice of Pull strategy is based on its intention to drive online traffic to the forefront and increase the number of trials through its web portal. However there are multiple objectives for a firm at the corporate level and this leads to the design of different strategies to achieve different objectives at the expense of others (Craig, 1983; Shendel and Patton, 1978).Therefore this research tries to focus on the chosen sales promotion and its objective and does not consider the impacts of other objectives and strategies of the firm. Furthermore many research scholars have suggested that sales promotion is unlikely to attain sustainable competitive advantage (Yeshin, 2006).However there are exceptions to the above argument example: Tesco club card, BA Air miles (Yeshin, 2006). Therefore the sustainability of Shells online promotions is not ruled out and therefore needs to be explored. Moreover it is important to adopt a strategic approach rather than a tactical approach, which has been the focus in most cases (Yeshin, 2006). In order to evaluate the effectiveness and sustainability of Shells retail promotions, it is necessary to consider the potential impacts of sales promotion on the consumer. Raghubir et al (2004) argues that promotions may have three forms of impact on the consumer 1. Economic: The monetary benefits derived from the type of the promotional offer and its potential decrease in transaction time that lead to a simplified purchase decision. 2. Informational: It is about communicating the information about a brand which is unknown to the consumer. 3. Emotional: The feelings or emotions that are aroused as consequence of the exposure to the promotion. Therefore the impact of Shells online promotions in the above three forms would be explored in order to evaluate its contribution t 5.0 Measuring the effectiveness of promotions Although sales promotion is argued to be a marketing technique which is beneficial in the short-term. It is important to measure its long term-effectiveness in order to analyse the strategic significance of the activity. As cook (1995) argues it is important to consider the objective of the promotion before evaluation of the promotion in order to choose the best approach. Therefore in this case the post implementation review is done and its long-term effectiveness is considered. Based on the literature review and Yeshin (2006) suggestion the following factors could be used to measure the long term effectiveness of sales promotions: 1. Does the promotional concept fit well with the brand and expected consumer perceptions? 2. Is the promotion perceived to be credible by the consumers? 3. Are there any constraints for the consumer to overcome in responding to the promotion? 4. Is the recommended promotion most likely to achieve the desired objectives? 5. Is the promotion perceived as a value addition in satisfying consumer needs? In order to explore the long-term effectiveness and its contribution to obtain an online competitive advantage for Shell the existing literature on competitive advantage is explored relative to Shells online promotions. 6.0 Competitive Advantage: The information revolution has given firms new ways to outperform their rivals and therefore allows the firm to create a competitive advantage(Ref).This conceptualisation of competitive advantage is important because it is relative to the research objective which explores how the information presented by the sales promotion could contribute to the overall brand. The research by Porter and Miller suggest that it is hard to underestimate the strategic significance of the latest developments in information technology. It demonstrates that Information technology has been transforming the nature of products, processes, companies, industries and even competition itself (Porter and Miller,1985).Although it has been treated as a support service it is suggested that organisations should understand that on a broader perspective, as Information technology could create sustainable competitive advantage (Porter and miller,1985).Therefore with ongoing developments on the web, the strategic significance of Shells online promotions needs to be explored in order to identify its potential in obtaining an online competitive advantage. Information technology should be perceived as medium that can process the information created by businesses and use them through the various technologies that are linked in order to create a competitive advantage (Ref).Therefore it is relevant to discuss the reasons that underpin the strategic significance of Information technology and its impacts on business in order to understand how it could be used to create an online competitive advantage for Shell (Ref). Research suggests that information technology changes the way in which products and services are created and the information provided in order to create value to the consumers (Ref).In the case of Shell the value created is determined by the amount the consumers are willing to pay for their product or service (Ref).Therefore the Shell retail promotions could be considered profitable if the value it creates through the implementation of its promotion exceeds the cost of performing the promotional activity(Ref).This implies that Shell should either perform the promotional activity at a lesser cost or should create perceived value that leads to a premium price(Ref). 6.1Sustainable Competitive Advantage: The online environment is changing the existing roles of competition and strategy because there is a pressure on the average profitability of the industry which is created by the internet (Porter, 1991).Therefore with competition from firms such as B.P, ESSO and Total it is important for Shell to set itself apart from the others (Ref). This could be possible only by achieving a sustainable competitive advantage (Ref).However this could be achieved either by operational effectiveness or strategic positioning(Ref).In the case of operational effectiveness it is required for Shell to do things better than competitors where as in the case of strategic positioning Shell has to do things differently from competitors there by offering something unique to customers(Ref).However the improvement of operational efficiency using the internet does not provide a competitive advantage because the best practise established by Shell can be imitated by its competitors(Ref).Moreover it is argued that co mpetitive advantage tends to be short-lived in the online environment because competitor can easily monitor and offer a similar offer or service(Chaffey et.al., 2000:134).Therefore it becomes difficult to sustain the operational advantage. Hence strategic positioning is considered more important in this case where strategic positioning should involve a series of tailored activities to develop a product or service appeal that would offer a unique value perception (Ref). Moreover the online environment can be used to draw long lasting customer relationships (Ref).The interactive nature of the online environment can be used to build relationships (Ref). This is supported by Gronroos(1994). Buttle (1996:1) statement â€Å"Enduring relationships with customers cannot be duplicated by competitors, and therefore provide a unique and sustainable competitive advantage†. Therefore in order to explore the contribution of interactive online environment in building relationships with the consumer it is required to conceptualise the online consumer behaviour and the factors influencing them. 7.0Online consumer Behaviour: The strategic role of sales promotions in engaging online consumers is explored. Therefore based on the research objective it is important to have a significant understanding on online consumer behaviour and factors influencing them. Research suggests that more than 20% of consumers across several countries are buying products online using the internet and more than 50% of internet users in the U.S buy products and services online (Kim et al, 2009). In the U.K around 40% of internet users buy products and services online (Kim et al, 2009). Although it could be argued that there is no difference between online and traditional consumers (Constantinides, 2004). The new addition is building trust or confidence and is suggested to have a significant influence on online buying process (Ref).Therefore the factors influencing online consumer behaviour needs to be discussed based on the existing literature in order to understand their implications to the online promotions of Shell. 7.1Factors Influencing consumer Behaviour: Based on the previous academic research it is inferred that there are controllable and uncontrollable factors which influence consumer behaviour (Constantinides, 2004). The interaction of controllable and uncontrollable factors determines online decision making process just as in traditional markets (Constantinides, 2004).However in this research the factors that are under the control of the E-marketer would be explored. The existing research on online consumer behaviour indicates a set of controllable factors influencing consumer behaviour (Ref) * The functional attributes of the website such as interactivity and usability. * The psychological elements intended in lowering the level of consumers uncertainty by the communication of Trust and credibility of the website. There has been considerable amount of research on the components of web experience. However there has been minimal attention in their integration. Therefore this research attempts to explore the contribution of these elements in obtaining a competitive advantage. Based on the research objective the online consumer behaviour is conceptualised. 7.2Conceptualisation of Online Consumer behaviour: The online consumer behaviour is the key theme around which this research is based. Therefore it is imperative to introduce the online consumer considered in this research. Based on previous academic research the online consumer is considered to be a computer user and a shopper (Koufaris, 2002).The online consumers could be classified as potential customers and repeat customers as they posses different amount of information and use different criteria to make a purchase decision (Kim et al, 2009).Although it is suggested that different promotional strategies should be used to create initial sales and to generate repeat sales (Ref). This leads to less clarity on the differences in decision making by the two groups of consumers. However the research by Kim et al (2009) shows that the value perception of the transactions made online are strongly influenced by the non-monetary factors like perceived risk factor than by monetary factors like perceived price for potential consumers, in cont rast the repeat customers are strongly influenced by monetary factors than non-monetary factors(Ref). Therefore it is suggested that the promotion needs to be customised for the two different groups. But the extent of customisation and its influence on the consumers need to be tested and validated in the case of Shell (Zhang, 2009). This leads to a proposition where it is important to understand and measure online consumer behaviour. A multidisciplinary approach needs to be taken as it is important to consider Information systems, marketing and physiological perspectives to do a comprehensive analysis on online consumer behaviour (Straub and Watson 2001). There have been various attempts from academics in building models around online consumer behaviour. The key attributes identified from the research are on converting web surfers into web consumers and, reasons for not shopping online. It is interesting to see transaction cost theory being applied to understand the impact of I.T on market structure and consumer behaviour (Malone et al. 1987).Based on the frame work it is inferred that if buyer search costs are substantial it could influence consumer behaviour (Bakos 1997).However it is important to see how effective it is in the context of online consumers. It is argued that online consumers cannot depend on al l 5 senses to make purchase decisions as they are limited to product or services represented through photographs and text descriptions (Koufaris, 2002).However research shows that the representation of the product online and the web experience play a key role in driving consumer attitude towards shopping online and