https://research-methodology.net Necessary knowledge to conduct a business research Sat, 19 Aug 2023 12:31:31 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://rm-15da4.kxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/cropped-logoBRM-32x32.jpg https://research-methodology.net 32 32 https://research-methodology.net/role-of-social-media-on-profitability-of-hospitality-organisations/ Thu, 15 Jan 2015 05:04:05 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=6282 The 21st century has been dubbed as an information age (Bell and Blanchfower, 2011) and internet in general, and social media in particular are playing an instrumental role in facilitating the spread of information throughout the globe at a rapid speed. Moreover, increasing levels of interactivity of social media platforms is further contributing to the level of their popularity, and nowadays social media has been effectively adopted by many businesses along a wide range of industries as a highly effective marketing and communication platform. At the same time, the level of use of social media varies between various industries, as well as, individual organisations within a particular industry, and while some organisations are beginning to realise substantial opportunities offered by social media, others are already utilising these opportunities to a full extent. This essay contains a critical evaluation of the role of social media on the popularity of a tourism destination. The essay starts with discussions about increasing influence of social media on consumer behaviour. This is followed by critical analyses of potential benefits of social media to hospitality organisations. Moreover, issues related to negative impacts of social media on the performance of hospitality organisations are also addressed in this essay. Essay is concluded by providing a set of recommendations to strategic and marketing managers of hospitality organisations in terms of benefiting from opportunities offered by social media to a maximum extent. Introduction 1 Increasing influence of social media on consumer behaviour in service sector 2 Potential benefits of social media to hospitality organisations 5 Negative impacts of social media on the performance of hospitality organisations 8 Recommendations for managers of hospitality organisations in relation to social media 10 Conclusions 14 References 16 Cathay Pacific DoubleTree Club Hotel Facebook Hampton Hotels Twitter How do I receive the report? Once payment…]]> https://research-methodology.net/warner-bros-porters-five-forces-analysis/ Mon, 10 Mar 2014 00:40:49 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=5703 Five forces framework introduced by Porter (1980) has been acknowledged as an effective tool used in strategy formulation. Application of the framework is associated with analysis of five separate factors determine the overall level of competitiveness in the industry. Warner Bros. Porter’s Five Forces Analysis can be illustrated in the following manner: Threat of new entrants in film, television, and music entertainment industry has been traditionally moderate due to high levels of cost barriers. However, internet and rapid developments in information technology have increased the threat of new entrants to the industry through providing opportunities to lower cost barriers. Bargaining power of buyers is immense as there are no switching costs for the customers of Warner Bros. Buyer bargaining power is also fuelled by abundance of offers in films and manufacturing industry. Threat of substitute products for products offered by Warner Bros. is significant. Substitutions for Warner Bros. products include a wide range of video games, as well as, increasing popularity of major social networking websites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. Bargaining power of suppliers is greater in films and entertainment industry compared to many other industries. Due to the unique nature of this industry famous actors can be classified as suppliers at the same time as serving as human resources. According to this approach, the success of sequels of famous Warner Bros. franchises such as Lord of the Rings, Batman, Harry Potter and Hangover is possible only through attracting A-list actors and actresses who have great bargaining power. Rivalry among existing competitors in global entertainment industry is intense and major companies competing in the industry along with Warner Bros. include Paramount Pictures Corporation, The Walt Disney Studios, Fox Filmed Industries and others. This portal also contains SWOT and PESTEL analyses for Warner Bros.   References Porter, M. (1980) “Competitive…]]> https://research-methodology.net/warner-bros/ Sun, 09 Mar 2014 00:40:28 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=5690 Warner Bros. is a subsidiary of Time Warner and during the year of 2012 alone the company has produced 18 films in English language internationally and 23 films in local languages around the globe (Annual Report, 2012). The portfolio of Time Warner along with Warner Bros. comprises a set of famous media and entertainment brands such as Time, New Line Cinema, Sports Illustrated, TNT, People, TBS, Cinemax, HBO and CNN. Time Warner has generated the revenues of USD 28.7 billion during 2012, with operating income amounting to USD 5.9 billion (Annual Report, 2012). Warner Bros. represents Film and TV Entertainment segment of Time Warner and during the year of 2012 Warner Bros. has generated USD 12 billion revenues which accounts to 39% of Time Warner total revenues. Warner Bros. vision is associated with ‘sharing stories from the most talented and creative voices in the industry in a consistent manner’. Core mission of Warner Bros. has been specified as ‘creating and distributing great stories to audiences around the globe’. Warner Bros. produces feature films in two formats: on its own and through co-financing arrangements with other companies. “Warner Bros. feature film strategy focuses on offering a diverse slate of feature films with a mix of genres, talent and budgets” (Annual Report, 2012. p.24). In other words, product differentiation strategy is the main business strategy currently pursued by Warner Bros. strategic level management. Attempts to lead technological changes mark another important aspect of Time Warner and Warner Bros. corporate strategy. Specifically, the company is taking digital efforts to the next level according to its principles of Contents Everywhere, and consumers are being provided with access to service thorough increasing numbers of platforms such as mobile devices in innovative manners. Warner Bros. is one of the leading global entertainment companies that has successfully…]]> https://research-methodology.net/warner-bros-pestel-analysis/ Fri, 07 Mar 2014 00:31:25 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=5698 PESTEL analysis can be explained as “a checklist to analyse the political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, environmental and legal aspects of the environment” (Rao et al., 2009, p.115). The framework assists with analysis of the impact of each of these individual aspects of external environment to be used in decision-making by senior management. PESTEL analysis for Warner Bros. is illustrated on the following table: Political Political situation in the US and foreign markets Censorship on media and entertainment in emerging markets  Impacts of lobbying groups  in film and entertainment industry Effects of industry pressure groups Economical Impact of US foreign trade deficit issue Resign costs of advertising Level of US unemployment Inflation rate in the US Changes in the US taxation system   Social Value changes in the US and other market Increasing influence of internet on social life Changes in demographic challenges Increasing importance of work-life balance Acceptance of same-sex marriages by increasing numbers of states in the US Technological Increasing popularity of 3D technology Maturation of films in DVD format Emergence of innovative platforms to consume entertainment products  Increasing integration of IT in various stages of film production Technological breakthroughs in film production Ecological Problems associated with global warming Rising environmental concern of people globally Increasing importance of eco-tourism and related issues Increasing importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) Legal Licensing issues with other organisations in the industry Problems related to intellectual property Legal barriers to enter emerging markets Changes in the US rules and regulations in relation to films and entertainment industry. Warner Bros. PESTEL Analysis References Rao, C.A., Rao, B.P. & Rao, K. (2009) “Strategic Management and Business Policy: Text and Cases” Excel Books]]> https://research-methodology.net/warner-bros-swot-analysis/ Thu, 06 Mar 2014 00:24:25 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=5693 Strengths Warner Bros. has a solid financial position with USD 12 billion revenues generated during the year of 2012 alone with more than USD 1.2 billion operating income (Annual Report, 2012). Moreover, Warner Bros. has produced a series of successful franchises such as The Lord of the Rings, Batman, Harry Potter and Hangover that have immense contributions to the level of profitability of the company. Knowledge and experiences associated with the production of these successful franchises can be specified as strengths of Warner Bros. The agreement of Warner Bros. with Netflix Inc. that allows the company to stream previous sessions of shows’ series shown on CW network can be added to the list of its strengths due to the associated potentials for profit maximisation.   Weaknesses Overdependence of Warner Bros. on the home market in the US is its major weakness in global competition. US government debt issues and implications of this issue on consumer spending patterns in the future increases the level of urgency of this weakness on long-term perspectives. Moreover, recent damage to Warner Bros. brand image for being used for infringing Cat Meme Copyright can be listed as weakness for the company that has to be addressed by senior level management.   Opportunities There is an attractive profit maximisation opportunity for Warner Bros. through introducing new instalments to its successful franchises such as The Lord of the Rings, Batman, Harry Potter and Hangover. Expansion of digital distribution capabilities represents opportunity for Warner Bros. to strengthen its role as a leader of technological changes in the industry. Moreover, the levels of Warner Bros. revenues can be further increased through higher integration of product placement marketing strategy.   Threats Business threats faced by Warner Bros. are diverse and they primarily include further decline of the sales of DVDs due…]]> https://research-methodology.net/social-networking-service-branding/ Sun, 19 Jan 2014 04:49:12 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=5365 Branding is one of the success factors in business and the segment of social networking services is not an exception. Branding can provide a number of advantages to products and services, including social networking services such as increasing the levels of product recognition, assisting with new products positioning, and formation of strong brand equity. Due to the highly intangible nature of social networking services, their brand value can be stated to be highly subjective. Specifically, when Facebook went public in May 2012, its share has been priced as USD38, causing the company to be valuated at USD104 billion, the highest valuation for a newly listed public company to date. However, its share price has been reduced to USD18 after only several months by August 2012 (Miller, 2013). Social networking service is a highly competitive area and the major players in this market include Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and others. Social networking site Estimated unique monthly visitors Alexa Rank Facebook 750,000,000 2 Twitter 250,000,000  9 LinkedIn 110,000,000 14 Pinterest 85,500,000 36 My Space 70,500,000 138 Google Plus+ 65,000,000 N/A Comparisons of various aspects of social networking sites as of July 2013 Source: eBizMBA  Interestingly, assessment of popularity of social networking sites is not a straightforward matter. For example, opening a Google Mail (Gmail) account automatically registers a new Google+ social networking profile, and for this reason Google has been subjected to criticism in terms of proving inaccurate data of the popularity of its social networking platform. All of the successful social networking service provides listed above target specific customer segment among population. For example, LinkedIn is mainly aimed at professional aiming to establish and sustain professional networks whereas Pinterest positions itself as an informal social networking site. However, a certain tendency can be observed in this regard in a…]]> https://research-methodology.net/role-of-women-in-media-advertising-a-brief-literature-review/ Sat, 05 Oct 2013 01:19:25 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=4454 The role of women in media advertising has been discussed by many authors from various angles. According to Ross and Byerly (2008) traditionally media advertisements have positioned women as passive and submissive. At the same time, Ross and Byerly (2008) state that this prescribed role for women in media is being changed at the moment, however certain limitations still exist. Cheng and Chang (2009) relate to the role of women in media advertising to sex appeal. Moreover, Cheng and Chang (2009) argue that this situation is not likely to change for a foreseeable future and authors attempt to justify this viewpoint by referring the basic human nature. Accoring to Abel et al. (2010) the integration of female body images in advertisement in various forms has increased significantly during the last two decades. It has been noted that women in advertisements are represented thinner and well below their average weight. Mogel (2010) addresses the issues of media stereotyping in relation to woman. Specifically, according to Mogel (2010) media stereotyping perceives the role of women as intimate objects with submissive characters. Biermann (2011) addresses the same issue and argues that the role of women in many parts of the world is stereotyped by the media as housewives with the main concerns for house cleaning. According to Saad (2012) the significance of the nature of female representation in TV and radios are greater compared to the print media. Saad (2012) explains his stand in a way that while TV media and radio force their advertising on their viewers, in print media generally advertisement are less interruptive, in a way that people can skip them if they want to do so. McAllister and West (2013), on the other hand, relate the reasons of images of women being used more frequently than images of men…]]> https://research-methodology.net/lean-forward-and-lean-back-media-explanation-of-difference/ Fri, 04 Oct 2013 00:03:01 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=4446 Media can be defined as “communication channels through which news, entertainment, education, data, or promotional messages are disseminated” (Business Dictionary, 2013). Katz (2012) divides media into two categories: lean forward and lean back. The following table illustrates the major differences between lean forward and lean back media. Lean forward Lean back Magazines Newspapers Direct Main Yellow Pages Television (via DVRs, Video on Demand) Internet Television (other) Radio Outdoor The main differences between lean forward and lean back media Source: Katz (2010)  In simple terms, lean forward media is a type of media where receivers lean forward to interact and control the flow of information in an active manner. In lean back form of media, on the other hand, viewers can lean back and do receive the information in a passive manner. According to categorisations provided above print media can be specified as lean forward media.   References Katz, H. (2010) “The Media Handbook: A Complete Guide to Advertising Media Selection, Planning, Research, and Buying” 4th edition, Taylor & Francis Media (2013) Business Dictionary, Available at: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/media.html]]> https://research-methodology.net/viral-marketing-criticism/ Tue, 28 May 2013 03:47:56 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=3727 Major points of viral marketing criticism include lack of control over the impact of a viral marketing campaign, vulnerabilities to manipulation and spamming, and limited level of accesability.       Lack of Control over the Impact One of the serious disadvantages associated with viral marketing relates to lack of control over the impact of viral marketing campaign. Unlike the majority of alternative marketing campaigns; in some cases it is not possible for businesses to stop a viral marketing campaign. The necessity to stop the marketing campaign may arise when the campaign is proving to be counter-productive, or the level of demand exceeds the company’s production capabilities.   Vulnerability to Manipulation and Spamming Disadvantages of viral marketing might include vulnerability to manipulation and spamming. This is especially true in occasions where incentives are provided for the spread of viral message, and in individuals might become motivated to send the message to other individuals that do not wish to receive the message. In this way, there can be a risk for a viral marketing campaign to be a counter-productive.   Limited Level of Accessibility Lilien and Grewall (2012) consider limited level of accessibility as a serious disadvantage of viral marketing. Specifically, Lilien and Grewall (2012) point to a wide range of media formats such as Flash Player, Firewall software etc. and argue that internet users need to be equipped with the relevant software in order to be impacted by a viral message.   References Lilien, G.L. & Grewal, R. (2012) “Handbook of Business-to-Business Marketing” Edward Elgar Publishing]]> https://research-methodology.net/social-media-as-effective-platform-for-viral-marketing/ Mon, 27 May 2013 03:47:52 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=3725 The definition of social media can be formulated as “websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking” (Oxford Dictionaries, online, 2012). Social Networking Sites (SNS), on the other hand, can be defined as “sites built around the needs of like-minded individuals, and are built by those individuals” (Wertime and Fenwick, 2012, p.12).   Social media is perceived to be the primary platform for distribution of viral marketing messages. Increase in the numbers and types of social media can be interpreted as an indication of increasing significance of viral marketing in scope and depth. The following set of important features of social media can be specified: Firstly, users of social media add value to it by their participation. The numbers of users is considered to be one of the main indicators of popularity, and consequently the success of social media. Accordingly, engaging in viral marketing through the types of social media that has large numbers of participants can be considered as an effective approach to viral marketing. Secondly, social media reflects collective intelligence. According to its type and purpose, the database is regularly enriched by its members by the addition of texts, articles, video, pictures etc. Specific marketing messages are usually integrated with these elements with the intention for these messages to go viral. Thirdly, social media is associated with a high level of accessibility and usability. Increasing levels of accessibility and usability though mobile phones, tablets, and other devices have positive implications on the potentials of viral marketing on the platform of social media. Fourthly, social media is an effective platform for sharing information within a small niche. Each segment within various types of social media is usually built and maintained around the interest of specific group of individuals. This creates…]]>